Stephen King Wrote a Book For Me and Put My Name on It: CHRISTINE

People often ask me how to spell my name. It’s not Kristine, though that spelling is more familiar to many Minnesotans. So I often say, “Christine with a C.”

People then respond, “Like the Killer Car!!”

(or, “Like in Phantom of the Opera!”)

People have referenced the Killer Car with regards to the spelling of my name since elementary school. It wasn’t until 2011 and my self-imposed “Summer of Banned Books” that I read Christine. 

Christine was also the first Stephen King book I ever read.

This Stephen-King-Free Life of mine has often shocked friends, acquaintances, fellow English Major, Education Major or Library IT classmates.

During my childhood, a Stephen-King-Free Life was almost unheard of. I was both embarrassed and proud to have never read him. While classmates read Pet Cemetery I read David Copperfield. All the books I did not read, was afraid to read (was discouraged from and/or not allowed to read) turned me into a bit of a literature snob.

So when I approached Christine as an adult, I was sure I’d find a trite, cliché horror story, poorly written, that probably would never be as scary as Edgar Allen Poe (who I probably read too much of according to my mom).

I was proven wrong on all accounts… though Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King are different birds.

I understand why my parents banned and sheltered us from Stephen King. There was fucking, there was swearing (see “fucking”), there was abuse, there was drunkenness, and there was unbridled evil that never died. This Evil that ultimately triumphs in some ways fits very well with the Conservative Christian worldview.

But Stephen King doesn’t offer Hope in the end. And the narrative I was taught was, yes, there is Evil in the world; horrors and demonic possessions exist in reality… have existed, will exist, and in some people presently exists... BUT the Salvation and Love that triumphs in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, makes these Stephen King stories (and even Edgar Allen Poe) a Dangerous Lie.

However, what struck me most while reading the book was that I discovered that Stephen King is a Really Very QUITE Good Writer. And that may have been the most disturbing discovery of all.

Christine lurking the the foreground.

After reading Christine, a library I worked at started tossing (recycling) their entire collection of hardbound LIFE magazines dating back to the original November 1936 weekly.

Devastating but understandable: library space is finite; no one was using them; gazillions of copies of LIFE exist out there and online. However, I was also aghast because my childhood and teen years had been populated with magazines from the 1920s thru the 1960s. They and encyclopedias were my TV substitute.

This tossing of LIFE came on the heels of me having read “Christine” and I immediately started paging through every 1957-1958 copy of the magazine that was left, hoping to find the 1958 Plymouth Fury Christine advertised in all her original glory.

I suddenly HAD To HAVE an original advertisement of Christine!

But most of 1957 had been confiscated by the art department, so I claimed what I could: I salvaged part of 1941, 1948, 1965 and fifteen pounds of April-June, 1958 LIFE.

Not a single advertisement dedicated solely to Christine.

But I did find two ads that included Christine… sandwiched between ads and articles about Ketchup, Khrushchev, and Kentucky bourbons… there she is… lurking.

Christine being obsessed over - mani-pedi-wax.

Not Just Another Pretty Zine ... but MANY Pretty, Pretty Zines: FLY AWAY ZINE MOBILE In Town NOW!

Before I started blogging in 2007, I seriously, seriously considered becoming a zinester.  I researched zines online... printed out pages and pages and pages of DIY advice for zinesters.  I experimented with elaborate covers and took copious notes on what I wanted my zine to contain.  I found myself on the hellish road to attempted zine perfectionism.

Blogs saved me from myself.  I allow myself to be lazy about how and when I write.  Nothing feels set in stone on a blog... and I love that.  But I still have good intentions of going back down the Zine-hell road. I won't rest peacefully until I do.

Lucky for We... the 8th Annual TwinCities Zinefest is about to inspire us Minnesotans again.  I browsed through my first ZineFest last year and this year I'll be woManning a table dedicated to the unique Zine Library Collection/Archives from the MCTC library where I work and am a student.  Having come late to the scene, zines still overwhelm me so I look forward to learning more from the people who stop by the booth than my own aborted attempts at being a perfectionist zinester.

Perfectionism and Zines don't belong in the same sentence.  Labor of Love and Frustration of Love and Love of Love and Zines do belong in the same sentence.

Fly Away Zine Mobile

Zine Love is no better demonstrated than by the Fly Away Zine Mobile!  Debbie will make another Minnesota stop at this Saturday's Twin Cities Zinefest in Powderhorn Park and if you haven't yet, you really, really gotta must see the Zine Mobile with your own eyes.  By appointment, Fly Away Zine Mobile and Debbie parked outside my library this past week.  I took pictures.  But you come visit and climb inside.  It's adorable and awesome.  Thank you Debbie for sharing with us... and thank you to all drivers, supporters and zine librarians who understand it isn't always about the money... but it is about the pretty, pretty pictures.

While at the Zinefest, please show your love to a bookstore I love : Boneshaker Books. They will love you back.

Bike Zines

DIY zines

Librarians do it best :)

Zine Mobile Ukulele

Polar Bear Zine Mobile Rug

Summer 2011 : Reading the Good (Banned, Challenged & Censored) Stuff

A Spring semester project on censorship has inspired my 2011 summer reading agenda.  The books are listed in a variety of sources: ALA | Frequently Challenged Books; a MnCLU 1983 survey titled “A Report of a Survey On Censorship In Public Elementary And High School Libraries And Public Libraries In Minnesota.”; Focus on the Family (FOF) CitizenLink.com; an article on Censorship and Metaphors by Fenice Boyd and Nancy Bailey; The Music Man. 

With the majority of the books picked out, I began brainstorming how to blog about it.  Then a Minneapolis bookstore, Boneshaker Books*, launched a 30 Days of Reading challenge for June.  30 Days of Reading gave me an initiative to tap into my occasional Type A personality and create a formal plan of action.  Wha-lah - Summer 2011 Book Itinerary:

• Differences in Definition of Censorship, Challenged and Banned.  (June 1^st)

• First Book : In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak circa 1970

(Showed up on nearly every Challenged/Banned/Censored list  – almost every year.  I didn’t know it was a kid’s picture book until I went to the library to pick it up.)

• Second Book : Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume circa 1970

(Thanks to my Jesus background and FOF, I have yet to read a single Judy Blume book.  Seeing this book on the list of the 1983 survey, about the same time it was denied from my repertoire, inspired a semester-long search digging into censorship via FOF.)

• Third Book : The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier circa 1974

(A book I know nothing about other than it shows up on pretty much every banned, challenged book list out there.  I remember fellow English Ed majors discussing it back in the day – but I’m pretty clueless.)

• Fourth Book : Christine by Stephen King circa 1983

(So many Stephen King to choose from.  So little time.  Often lists just say “all books” by Stephen King – as they also do to Judy Blume.  I chose this one because…. Duh.)

• Fifth Book : Briar Rose by Jane Yolen circa 1992

(First heard about it in the article by Bailey and Boyd on Censorship Metaphors.  Was BURNED in a homophobic book burning back in the 1990s.  Whenever a book about the Holocaust is burned by the Christian Right – brownie points.  Yep – that was a really tasteless, multi-layered pun.  Something I just discovered?!  Yolen references Anne Sexton’s poem by the same title from Sexton’s Transformation collection – a book I kinda, sorta wrote about back in 2008.)

• Sixth Book : Animal Farm by George Orwell circa 1946

(This book is the only one actually censored by the government.  I’ve balked at reading this one for years.  I hope the timing is right.) 

• Seventh Book : The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam circa 11th Century and 19th Century (Edward FitzGerald's translation)

(My dad was a Music Man – and his favorite musical was – The Music Man.  This poem shows up throughout the movie as an example of trashy literature pushed by the town librarian.  If you’re lucky and live in the TC – I’m planning a Music Man viewing party with my Library Buds to top off the summer.)

• Poetry Alternative – Howl by Allen Ginsberg circa 1956

(A classic.  I normally avoid male beatnik writers.  Love the women.  I roll my eyes at most of the Beat men.  Maybe Ginsberg will turn that trend around. O – and it was seized by the government.)

_________________

I don’t expect to finish all of these before the end of June, but follow me through June for daily Tweets or blogs about what I’m reading – and what others are reading.  I find reviews pretty boring and often totally useless so I’m going to focus more on reviewing reviews of the books – especially from the vantage point of Focus on the Family.  Things might get personal – but I’ll try to keep it Jesus-Free.

FYI: With the exception of George Orwell (1984), I have not yet read any of the books or authors on the list. Yep - I'm a Judy Blume, Stephen King, & Maurice Sendak Virgin.

My biggest challenge?  Reading books I may not want to read.  I’ve quit forcing books on myself.  I highly discourage it.  Timing is everything when it comes to reading and love - so I may wander off the chosen path a bit – but I do intend on starting AND finishing the books listed above – before I’m back to reading required reading – on Censorship.  Yep – I'm taking a library class dedicated to Censorship next fall!!! 

Love and Thanks to Minneapolis Central Library! I couldn’t afford this Summer Reading List without you!  Seriously.

*I’m proud to volunteer at Boneshaker Books.  If you stumble across this blog series and don’t live close enough to the Minneapolis store to buy books there, you’re going to have to overlook my bias and drool from a distance.  If you’re from the TwinCities, get your bloomin’ arse in there and Buy A Book Already!

QUESTIONs :
1. What books are you planning to read, or avoid reading, this summer?
2. What books have you read that you know were at some point censored or banned from a library or your home?

LINKS
Twitter:
teandoranges (moi)
30 Days of Reading
Boneshaker Books

The Stuff You Find in Books - OTHER PEOPLE'S BOOKMARKS

My library job occasionally requires that I shelf-read... read call numbers on all the book spines within a section and make sure 301.412 Of 101n 1973 sits to the left of 301.412 Of 2n 1973.

I also pull out slips of paper or paperclips and unfold dog-ears.  People leave behind class notes, paycheck stubs, bus passes, student IDs, expired coupons galore, sticky post-its, pens and pencils... all of which once-upon-a-time worked as bookmarks.

The most interesting bookmarks so far?  A New Orleans style Pattypan squash recipe, a bag of tiny rubber bands for braces and a Thank-You note from a grieving widow to someone who attended her husband's funeral.  And some very lovely bookmarks.

I've kept a couple bookmarks.  Everything else is recycled.

If you get to the Pattypan squash recipe before I do - Please send me a review!

Pattypan squash New Orleans
(Makes 4 servings)

8 pattypan squash (about 5-inch diameter)
1 1/2 c water
1 large white onion, chopped
1 small bay leaf
1 c crushed cooked tomatoes
1/4 c freshly chopped parsley
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 c cooked brown or white rice
1/4 c chopped parsley
_____________________________________
1. Cut squash into wedges; simmer inpot with water, onion, and bay leaf until tender. Drain but reserve cooking liquid. Discard bay leaf.

2. Mash vegetables with fork; place in microwave-safe serving dish. Mix in tomatoes, parsley, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Add rice and cooking liquid as needed to keep moist.

3. Stir well, reheat in microwave, and serve garnished with parsley.

 I'm a Pattypan virgin. Is there a better way to cook this and avoid the microwave?

When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Librarian...

... or at the very least work in a library.

I first heard about blogs when applying for grad school in Madison for a MLIS (Masters in Library & Information Sciences). Somewhere in my librarian grad school research I read and got it in my head that a blog would be one way to show MLIS programs that I meant business.

Problem is Hot4Jesus took on a life of its own. By the time I sent in my Madison application I cringed at the possibility of my application and my sacrilegious blog mixing like oil and water. In true Xtine form, I applied to only one program: Madison. I didn’t get accepted. I highly doubt my blogs had anything to do with not getting accepted. I’d been out of college for way too long (though just right for me) and who knows why else – other than Madison is pretty darn competitive and luck would have it that “God” didn’t want me going there anyway.

No – seriously – while looking at other library grad programs I kept hearing rave reviews about a two year Associates program in Minneapolis for Library & Information Technology (LIT). After I sat down with the department head I was sold hook, line and sinker.

I’m starting my second year in the LIT program and absolutely love it. Actually I’m on the two and a half year track. Once again – typical Xtine. Maybe I’ll continue and pursue a Masters. Maybe I won’t. Either way, this summer I started work in the campus library after years of whoring myself out for tips.

Every shift in the stacks makes my head spin - creatively speaking – and I’ve been itching to blog about it. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to get me blogging in such a way that doesn’t make someone blush – so until a more professional library blog phase comes along I’m going to let it all hang out.

Years ago I worked in the Rolvaag Library at St. Olaf College. Back then I was innocent and could barely look anyone in the eye. Soon after graduating, I quit my teaching career to pursue music, the stage, writing and me. It’s taken over ten years but I know that if I had a job shelving books and answering mundane questions for the rest of my life, I’d be a happy camper… especially if I can write about the books, about my love affair with Jesus, about anything under the sun. Maybe someday music.

So here goes... The stuff that inspires me about libraries. The stuff that inspires me about print and images and audio and and and. The stuff that inspires me about helping people find what they are looking for – when we finally work up the courage to search.

I’ll write library posts when I can – and maybe sometimes when I should be doing homework instead.

Bis dann…