I've had a great deal of respect for Paul Giamatti since Sideways, particularly, and thought he did a bang-up job as Screw-On Head.  Today I ran across his reading of Walt Whitman's "A Noiseless Patient Spider", which is a beautiful poem and wonderfully read.  (download from PoetryFoundation.org)

A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
 
-Walt Whitman

Quick updates on the life of the Wa (that's me).

All my ducks are in a row to go to McGill.  I got my CAQ (documentation) and my funds (loans), and I put in my notice at the two places that need it (my apartment and my job).  I've been telling people I'm leaving August 15th, which is indeed the plan.  I'm scared to death.

Part of the reason I'm scared is that I've fallen in love.  Really, really more in love than I was even a little bit prepared for, and now I have no idea what to do.  I've got some big decisions to make, and some serious conversations ahead.  And some tears to shed, I'm certain.  Love has the very strangest timing.

Theo's been talking about revitalizing La Casa, which I guess I'll believe when it happens.  He's still sitting on two scripts, and after that … well, honestly, I'd really love to get back to writing comics on a regular basis.  I've had some good ideas while we've been on hiatus.  If we do get back to it, I'd like to try a different format.  The 2×2 panel at 600×800 now seems a little too cumbersome, and I wonder why we ever chose it.  My super-secret goal is to be nominated for best new webcomic for next year's WCCA.  We've also thrown around the idea of starting a webcomics-review site.  We've been thinking about it for about a year now, and mostly because Eric doesn't update as often as he used to and Fleen is more-or-less completely uninteresting to us.

I've been playing softball over the summer, and our team has won one game out of about … ten.  We can't even maintain a perfect losing record.  We were on track to win a second game, but then the bastards came back in the bottom of the 7th and kicked our asses.  It was hell of fun, though.

Yesterday it hit 101 degrees.  That's not hell of fun at all.  That's just hell. 

I've been giving it some thought, and from here on out the "Dancing Librarian" exlibrius category will be a little more strict with its content.  I'm going to try and narrow it down to be more pertinent, library-related information.  One of the reasons I moved to ahniwa.com was so that I wouldn't feel guilty when I didn't post library-related news.  Even so, I'd like to offer that more specific content, unadulterated, for those readers who might not be too interested in my other ramblings and much more frequent linkish posts.

That said, I'm also going to make more of an effort to keep up on my library-related reading (I'm 976 posts behind in my "library" bloglines right now), and in turn write more that directly concerns libraries and librarians as well.

Everyday is a sweet, romantic, predictable animation that simply made me smile, so I thought I'd share.  I'm sure it helps that I've been in a wacky, romantic mood lately.

(via lore) 

To mark its anniversary, the Secret Crocodile Adventure Club is going sequential!  Or at least, as the Archcroc V admits, "sequential for as long as I can stand!"  I've been a member since pretty early on, and enjoyed it immensely.  Theo and I even competed in the first (and so far, only) guest-croc competition, in which we placed moderately well and which earned a lovely print that now hangs proudly on my wall.  Even so, I'm really excited for Stig's promise of sequential crocodile stories, and a more story-telling, webcomicky feel.

If you enjoy it, I really recommend signing up for the weekly mailing.  The rantings and ravings of the majestorial Archcroc V are just as if not more amusing than the illustrations themselves.  For now, go check out Prince on the Mountain, page 1.