It’s not truly a librarian conference until there are strong words about the nuances that differentiate the Borg Collective and the Q Continuum.  (Let us not speak of librarian pon farr.)  That’s just what happened at the benignly named Beyond Literacy: Are reading and writing doomed?  Learning French from a pill? Sacre bleu!  Post-literacy is a blessing… from aliens!?! Nanu nanu!  Better telepathy through technology?  It’s like he’s reading my mind!  This guy needs to put on his own conference.  I’m crafting my tin foil hat already.

The highlight of the day was of course Sherman Alexie.  We laughed, we cried, we passed in the hall at least twice.  I am a big fan of Sherman Alexie’s books, and of course Smoke Signals  (Would that I could get away with a Fry Bread Power t-shirt.) but I was unaware of his television work, such as laying a smackdown on Stephen Colbert and doing an interview with Oprah in a flu induced haze.  (Before the interview the vomited up a melon ball which he had not previously eaten.  That’s the reality warping power of Oprah!)  He was a great speaker and I highly recommend going to see him if you ever get the chance.  Just be aware that he really… really… really likes librarians.  (Wear an oatmeal sweater at your own risk.)