Goodnight Moon

Do you remember this book from your childhood - Goodnight Moon? I came across an interesting article the other day regarding this book. Apparently, the author, Margaret Wise Brown, signed away the royalties to that book to Albert Clarke, her neighbor's 9 year old son. And what became of Mr. Clarke? He basically squandered $5 million in royalties and had about $27,000 left to his name in 2000.

On one hand, that's kind of cool she would give some of the royalties to a child. On the other hand, it probably helped ruin his life. He was kind of a problem child to begin with, and he didn't get any money from it until the age of 21. But if you had hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties coming in every year and never had to find a real job, that would sure as hell change your life. And thanks to Bill Clinton, he and his children will have royalties coming in from that book until 2043. That article is kind of interesting.

At least it's better than leaving everything in your will to your pet.

How the States Got Their Shapes

I recently finished reading / skimming through a book called How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein. It probably isn't something you think about it but it's an interesting book. I mean, why does Michigan have that area on the other side of Lake Michigan? This book will tell you.

Each state gets its own chapter, so it's basically broken down into 51 chapters (DC gets its own) of 3-5 pages each. It's even presented alphabetically, so you can skip over the states that don't really matter (sorry, Tennessee!). I have to admit that I really blew through the second half of the book because the book can get incredibly dry. I hate to spoil it for you, but a lot of state boundaries are set because of rivers and/or mountain ranges.

I think the most interesting thing(s) I learned were how much foresight our forefathers had in planning our country out and acquiring land. They intended each state to be equal in size (hence you get a lot of states shaped like Wyoming, Colorado, etc.) but then some states come along and screw that up (Texas). There are also a few notes about how much impact one individual can have on a state's boundary lines because of their political connections.

Also of interest is why California is so freakin' big when it came into the Union so late - it's basically because the United States needed California more than California needed the US. With access to the Pacific Ocean and the amount of people flocking here during the Gold Rush, California could have been its own country. So basically, California set up its own boundary and the government was like, "Okay, you get to keep all that land if you join us." ¡Viva California!

Fines

From The Story of Libraries comes this passage which was inscribed at a library in the High Middle Ages:

"If anyone attempts to carry away one of these books by theft, by fraud or in any other manner, let his name be struck from the book of the living, that he not be inscribed with the just - but instead delivered to the fire of hell, to be tormented endlessly."

Kind of makes paying 30 cents a day in late fines seem pretty light, huh? :)

Book Club

If anyone wants to keep up with my textbook reading and join my Book Club for discussions, you'll need to track down copies of: The Story of Libraries, The Whole Library Handbook 4, Using Sources Effectively and Avoiding Plagiarism and Developing Library & Information Center Collections (5th Edition).

First meeting is next week. I'll bring cupcakes.

Everything I'm Cracked Up To Be

I finished reading Everything I'm Cracked Up To Be, the autobiography of '90s female singer Jennifer Trynin. You may possibly remember her biggest hit single, "Better Than Nothing" which she admits probably should have been titled "I'm Feelin' Good."

Overall, the book is pretty good and funny. Trynin recounts the big label bidding war that erupted over her debut album, Cockamamie. Her two albums garnered a lot of critical praise but failed to capture a huge commercial audience. She's incredibly honest in things she did to help mess up her own career, and that things didn't work out like she wanted them to. In the end, she's okay with that and she's happy with how her life turned out. There are some amusing stories from the road, like when a DJ left her alone on live radio and Jen ended up interviewing herself for a few minutes. She recounts how she flirted and made out with her bass player while she had a boyfriend back home. She has some funny stories about being put on tour with another female artist named Shalah! who, according to one blog is actually Paula Cole. I think any fan of the '90s alt-rock scene would enjoy it. In the meantime, enjoy her hit single "Better Than Nothing / I'm Feelin' Good."