• We talked about a great, great many things today at Immersion--we had over 12 hours together! I got to tell my group members about an article I read ("Re-Visioning Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning" by Dane Ward), and then we all talked about Palmer Parker's "Heart of a Teacher" chapter from The Courage to Teach.

• Some more Octavia Butler--I broke down and bought Lilith's Brood for my final trip of the Summer (at last!). I read a bit of this at the airport and while in my native Vermont friend's recommended Burlington coffee shop, after exploring down by the water.

• I didn't think that Survivor was anything to be ashamed of at all. In fact, I really enjoyed the questioning of the Missionaries a lot.
• My suitcase has a hole patched with pink duct tape, and I haven't started packing yet. I'm off to Immersion for a week, and I'm feeling a bit anxious!
  

• Amid procrastination, Survivor.

• More Survivor, which I am enjoying.
• Immersion documents!
  

• Critical Library Instruction
• I started Survivor, which is a bit scandalous (it's the book that Octavia Butler didn't want you to read!)...
  

• Firebrands, which reminds me of Library Heroes in many ways.
• Doonesbury compliations, since they were left out on the kitchen table.
  

• Today was catch-up. I read my notes from HOPE and googled all the things that the hackers had taught me about over the weekend.

Before I get to tackling a summary of this weekend's HOPE conference, I wanted to plug another week of events coming up that many of my friends are working on: DebConf, a conference that circles Debian, a free operating system, and also an event/opportunity for free/libre/open source folks to collaborate and develop over the course of a week.

One part of DebConf is devoted as an introduction for non-techie folks: Debian Day. It's FREE--you just need to register (just send an email with intent to attend to: debianday@debconf.org). The schedule for Debian Day is up here. I'm lucky enough to be on the panel about "Pedagogical Freedom" on Sunday at 11:30am. Come out and find out more about the free software movement!

• These past few days have been devoted to hacking everything from culture to typewriters to toenails.

• Dane Ward, "Re-Visioning Information Literacy for Lifelong Meaning."
  • "We continually experience the world of inner information.

• Katelyn Angell, "Boom or Bust: The Need for Senior Services Librarians." from Progressive Librarian #32
• "The Career Risks of Scrutinizing the Physical Side of Books"
  

• Over breakfast:
  • A bit of No History, No Self zine (I put in an order with Stranger Danger and got some great stuff for the collection I'm building--thanks to Jenna for her review).
  • Angry Black-White Girl, which has one of my very favorite works of art of all time reprinted on the back cover: Adrian Piper's Calling Cards.
  

• Today I went over to the dark side, instead of getting a million things done on my to-do, and to-read lists: IRC.

The presence of Grace Lee Boggs at the U.S. Social Forum this year--95 years into her life as an activist and free thinker--was one of the aspects of the Forum that touched everything else that I experienced in Detroit.

Image from Americans Who Tell the Truth

During one celebration of her 95th birthday at the Social Forum, I heard Grace talk about once living in an apartment that she could only access via an alleyway that was infested with rats. "And that was important," she said, "because it made me rat-conscious!" I am amazed by her resilience and her tremendous mind.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to hear Grace Lee Boggs speak with Immanuel Wallerstein. Introduced as "avid seekers of new truth," they have known each other since the 60's and seemed delighted to share the stage. Here are a few notes I took as I listened.