File this under “Secret Lives of Librarians”. I spent a brief time in the video game industry, and while the games Iworked on weren’t be-all-end-all titles, they faired well, and the people I worked with were phenomenal. I was in a bottom rung position but having the best time of my life, and the only way to go was up. But, fate came knocking, and while I went on to library school, some of my best friends are still making games.
But maybe you’re interested in getting into the business. Maybe you want to do level design, or make physics engines, or do character models. Sound? Maybe you want to test? Oversee production? Or maybe there’s even an avenue outside of direct contact with the creation of games, like video game journalism
Paid to Play: An Insider’s Guide to Video Game Careers is by David S.J. Hodgson and Bryan Stratton. They’ve highlighted 50 careers that exist within the video game industry, and have included portions of over 100 interviews with other industry professionals. It is a great book to truly gauge the options out there, and the comics are all done by the folks at Penny Arcade. So, maybe take some classes here, do some research, and see if there’s a spot for you in the industry.
Fact: My mom’s parents made tombstones for a living, and her family friends were in the funeral home business. My mom was one of those people who could watch Six Feet Under without blinking. I think because of this, I’ve always been around death, and have only seen it on an intimate level for families. In perusing for today’s BotD, I noticed Beyond the Good Death: The Anthropology of Modern Dying by James W. Green. Here’s a quick blurb from inside the bookjacket:
Death is political, as the controversies surrounding Jack Kevorkian and, more recently, Terri Schiavo have shown. While death is a natural event, modern end-of-life-experiences are shaped by new medical, demographic, and cultural trends.
Beyond Good Death takes a look at the factors in what people consider a “good death” or a “bad death”, whether it be heroic, peaceful, or an ethical madhouse, and peers into the evolution of societies that shape our modern views on one of the few inevitable events in life. Regardless of one’s own views, it provides an interesting dissection of why we think what we think when the end arrives.
My Sophomore year of college, I had a roommate who dropped out because he played Madden 2002 all day (this was new at the time.) I went away for the weekend, came back, and had already been given a new roommate. As I walked in, he looked at me nervously and said “Hello I’m Ryan have you checked your e-mail you should,” just like that, no pause. “Um.. Alright.”
This is an excerpt from that e-mail, which I will never delete.
Hi, I’m being moved into your room this weekend (Saturday
morning around noon I’ll be bringing my stuff by van…)
I thought I’d e-mail you and let you know a few things about
me and some of the stuff I have which I can bring with.
[…]
I enjoy lots of different things, I like movies, my favorites
include Dancer In The Dark, The Crow, Interview With The
Vampire, Lord of the Rings, Indochine (a French film), and
many others. I also enjoy music, and my tastes range greatly
but usually include everything except extremely hard rap and
twangy country. I also like playing on my computer and
hanging out with friends.
[…]
Another important thing to tell you is that I am a
homosexual. If you have any concerns about this, please let
me know, I will not be offended if you just ask me straight
out.
I look forward to living in Garner [our dorm’s name] and to being your
roommate… please let me know about what stuff I should move-
in with.
Now, what I didn’t know at the time was that Ryan was chased out of his old dorm because someone found out that he was gay (the guilty party was expelled). What Ryan didn’t know is that I’ve had extended family members who have been out since before I understood the concept of sexual orientation.
But that’s a pressure I won’t understand, and a persecution many have to face. And if I support my friends and family, I should probably learn more about how one goes about approaching an issue of equality. So when I see a book called The Lesbian and Gay Movement: Assimilation or Liberation? by Craig A. Rimmerman, I imagine it is time for a self-education. This takes on the different movements and issues as a collective, trying to discuss two different viewpoints: Is being accepted part of assimilating oneself into the mainstream, or is it to liberate their rights from oppression? Ideally, the end goal is to make issues a non-issue in society, but the angle one uses when getting their point across is of great inerest and debate.
The book focuses on the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy and the military ban of “outed” homosexuals, the AIDs epidemic, and same-sex marriage. It is a book with fully cited sources, and unlike many works about Gay Rights, focuses more on opposing camps of Gay Rights advocates than it does of a pro- or anti- rights stance. I’m not saying you’ll get all the answers, but maybe you’ll get a better shot at the different questions.
Here’s a weird one: Today’s BotD is Small Gas Engine Repair by Paul Dempsey That’s not really the weird part. What struck me is that one could argue, “Interesting, Barry, but with all this hybridization/alternative fuel sourcing/farm-animal-utilization going on now-a-days, how long will this book be relevant?” That got me thinking. First, have people talked about alternative energy sources for anything other than home and car? Is there a hybrid riding mower out there? The answer got a lot weirder when I found sites like Evatech, who apparently make remote control hybrid mowers. Freaky! But think of the fuel economy when it doesn’t have to carry you around, and the energy economy on yourself when you don’t have to push it. It’s like a Roomba for your backyard!
Well, all of that aside, what struck me beyond that point was a consideration of obsolete technology. Who could still make a record player? Who, in 50 years, will be able to make a record player? Who in 50 years will know how to make a small gas powered engine? What about in 100? After all of that, now I’m interested in how these things work. The biggest problem with doing the Book of the Day is never having enough time to complete them all myself.
I have an absolutely disgusting confession. I don’t know if you’re prepared for it, so grab your barf bag and cross your fingers: I absolutely love Tabasco-flavored Cheez-Its. I know, right!? They’re so gross! Yet, I cannot get enough of them. And the real kicker is that I don’t like Tabasco on anything else. But when I saw our brand new edition to the library, Tabasco: an Illustrated History, I knew I’d found today’s book. Fantastic images and an interesting stories about the McIlhenny family who started the product. Even beyond the fact that Tabasco Sauce is the focus of this, its really interesting to read the story, see the old pictures, and learn a little about an American family success story.
So today’s Book of the Day is a real upper! Let’s take a look!
AAHH!!!! New book! New book! New book!
YES! Thank goodness. I can’t takeanymore nuclear scares.
I’d much rather get my fashion on with A cultural history of fashion in the twentieth century : from the catwalk to the sidewalk. It is 177 pages of designs, designers, and the integration of innovation into daily wear. Certainly this is more uplifting than the first choice, plus I truly can respect someone who can go through this book and point out shifts in cultural asthetic paradigms… I see pretty pictures for the most part. But at least it can be enjoyed on both levels.
Hey! It is Deaf Awareness Week! If you’re on campus, I recommend you check out the following:
MELANIE MCKAY CODY
Hudson Auditorium, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
3:30-5 p.m.
Melanie McKay Cody will give a presentation, Cultural Identity. Cody, a Deaf American Indian, has been employed with the Kansas State Department of Education as a linguistic specialist. This fall, she will be a professor at William Woods University, Fulton, Mo.
There’s more on campus. And because of this week’s event, I’ve got a book for you:Day by day : the chronicles of a hard of hearing reporterby Elizabeth Thompson. It is what it says it is: Thompson’s account of the life of a hard-of-hearing journalist brings awareness to people functioning, living with identity over disability, and interacting in the world.
Other events are taking place on campus, including a documentary showing at 7pm tonight, Audism Unveiled.
A lot of things go wrong in the tech world. Web pages crash. Microsoft ads are created on Apple computers. You know how things can be. One thing that might confuse you are the 4 entries for what appears to be the same book coming into the RSS Feed of new items. Think again! Actually, that’s a multi-volume set, The Encyclopedia of Global Warming & Climate Change, and it is here to ROCK YOU. Or at least sway you to a greener life.
I actually think this book is perfect. Somewhere between policitcal gobbledygook and activist buzzwords, you may be lost on what the issues are, the arguments mean, and the definitions of the terms thrown around. No matter how you feel on the issue, it can’t hurt to keep up on what people are fighting about.
You’d never know it looking at me: I’m a fairly large dude. I do, however, run. I try to throw down a half hour on a treadmill at a fairly fast pace, and considering that my surroundings are pretty lackluster, I’m left to my own thoughts to keep me from falling asleep and pulling a Kool-Aid Man through the back of the gym.
But, man, do I get to thinking. I think I’ve dissected about thirty rock albums, as well as debated over who was a better wrestler, Animal or Hawk, both from the Legion of Doom (Hawk, if you’re curious). And of course, interspursed is the serious life stuff.
Its that awkward flow of information that frames What I Talk About when I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. This memoir is a jumble of thoughts centered around the author’s long-distance running hobby adopted in adult life. Haruki manages to squeeze out a life story, constantly hinting at what might make the most subtle instance or object a significant answer to a greater of life’s mysteries. Next time you let your mind drift off as your physical world slips into monotony, consider your surroundings, your life, and think about giving this book a once-through.
After a sick day (yesterday), I come back to the blog to find my stat tracker telling me that traffic is up about 1299%. That’s a lot of percent. So I figured I should pick a book that highlights a few things about the library.
First, this book is from the McNaughton Collection. This collection is part of a rotating, leased collection of books which are intended to provide current leisure reading to campuses around the nation. Since we participate, we have a selection always available. So, while I’m featuring a book from the collection now, there is no guarantee it will be here forever. The collection is housed together on the second floor of the library.
Second, the book is the 25th novel by American author Philip Roth. Now, between librarians, Mr. Roth has mixed emotions for us. There might be a librarian who thinks he is absolutely brilliant, and there might be librarians who think that he has added to negative stereotypes of Jewish culture, as well as negative stereotypes about New Jersey: sort of like a sophisticated Kevin Smith but without an obvious underlying love of the state. Or the funny. One thing most of us have agreed on is that his best work might be a recent title called The Plot Against America, an alternative history story, somewhere between science fiction and a “what if?” tale involving Charles Lindberg (of flying planes fame) winning the presidency, being a Nazi sympathizer, and trying to ruin America on our way into World War II. That’s not what he normally writes like, and for some reason it was brilliant.
No, what he normally writes like is captured in the Book of the Day, Indignation. The story is about a 1950s boy from Newark, New Jersey (which could be the beginning description for any Philip Roth book) named Marcus Messner who decides to transfer to a college in Ohio after his father starts becomes overbearing with safety concerns. Culture shock hits Marcus immediately, and his experience shapes the rest of the novel. Who knew the Midwest could shock anyone?
