Annus mirabilis

On Tuesday I begin my attempt to obtain a master's degree. I expect this to be rather like trying to run through a brick wall for two years without stopping. I am going to archives/library school, but today's top programs are not the cuddly, bespectacled, snack-and-nap-time affairs you might be thinking they are, where you sit around on cushions all day debating the pros and cons of Library of Congress vs. Dewey Decimal. You see, about fifteen years ago a bunch of highly forward-thinking prats came up with the brilliant idea of combining library science with information technology, producing a scaly, grumpy half-breed discipline that is not entirely one or the other. As a result there are very few classes in my program involving actual books but lots with names like "Design in a Mosaic of Responsive Adaptive Systems" and "Drupal Configuration and Customization." At the end of the two years, however, if I can still stand up, I will be qualified to get non-corporate jobs that actually pay me a living wage and allow me not to hate my life. I will also be able to bring compassionate radical feminism to a profession whose leaders really do wield power over people's lives.

In view of all this, I am putting this blog on hiatus until further notice. Art and theory and punk rock and feminism are still the most important things in my life--I am only starting to understand how much I need them. But the best way for me to guarantee that I can make a difference in them later (making the riot grrrl archive, writing, activism, etc.) is to focus on school now. I may update sometimes when I need a break, but I probably won't.

This has been an amazing year for me (no small thanks to Carebear and Jon), but now it's over and I have to do practical engagement workshops and figure out what "informatics" means. I can't think of a better way to go out than to contribute to Mairead's Sleater-Kinney tribute in Venus. After that, I really have nowhere else to go.

Keep pogoing in the interval,
love,

Lizzie Pogo