days of life

Yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day – a day for celebrating female contributions to the techie world. I work in the library field which is 80 odd % female. Chances are there’s gonna be a lot of good ones. My two best bosses ever (and I s’pose I think of them as sorts of mentors too though never in any sort of official capacity)  are Maryce Johnstone (in my current job with Gale) and Kate Curr (in a previous job with the NSW Parliamentary Library). I find them both inspiring, both have had decades of involvement in the techie side of librarianship, one selling library systems and databases and the other managing such. Both are practical and down to earth, both seem to keep on getting things done, both remain interested in new developments. Both are inspiring.

fetish; words.

Words and books and texture. Something of a fetish have I. While I have decided against the OED for now (finding a place to live seems preferable for the moment), I have occasionally indulged, in recent weeks, in my passion for nice books. I have at last, embarked on a proper reading of The Sandman in a lovely faux leather, hardcover edition (made possible by Amazon’s large discount). I am part way through and have found pleasure reading such a nice tale in such a nice edition. To be followed by Watchmen. Both Sandman and Watchmen are things I should have read long, long ago. My lack of reading was not for wont of availability; afterall I knew folk who were buying the individual comics of Sandman as they appeared. Oh well, I am reading it now and I read other things then.

Then there are the words themselves. I have found, though have yet to purchase, a full copy of “A Dictionary of the English Language” edited by Samuel Johnson. It is admittedly, on CDROM, and ultimately I would like a physical copy one day. Also on CDROM from the same publisher is “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” by Copernicus. Just recently, I dipped into one of my favourite blogs, which I’ve not read in a while, to find discussion of a new book by OUP entitled “The Oxford History of English Lexicography” by AP Cowrie. A mighty work on the history of English. From the points raised and quoted in Hat’s initial comments, it sounds fantastic. And delightful. And intriguing. Though at US$350 I think it’s an unlikely purchase for now. Perhaps when the exchange rate improves or Amazon heavily discounts. While it is cheaper from UK sources, as often seems the case at the moment, it is not sufficiently cheaper.

a way

Way. The Pennine Way. Peaty bogs; lost wanderings across misty moors. Rain and mist and might and nought. Miserable majesty: a step, a slog, a climb, a place, a mind; another step. Peat. Smell. Life.

The Pennine Way is a 400km trek from England to Scotland, taking in the Yorkshire Moors, Hadrian’s Wall. It brings to mind images of tweed jackets and a pointer at the side. Around 15-18 days of 15 miles, or thereabouts, per day, the last day potentially a 27 mile exhaustion.

It’s stuck in my head.

It’s been there many a year but has returned to the fore. The only thing for which I can gather any passion at all. A time to dwell; to walk mile by mile, day by day. A sense of wilderness and solitude. But a bed. In a room. Each night.

I have no plan. I have a book. An idea. A desire of sorts.