Beaver Can's blog

"Sparrows do not belong at the library"

Yes, I actually said that yesterday. I am starting to sound more and more like one of those stereotypical old-maid librarians every day. This is not something they have taught me at library school - I think it just comes naturally.

The scenario: I'm coming back to my office, which is located in the basement of a branch of the Toronto Public Library, from a coffee break. Two kids are fooling around on the wheelchair ramp outside the library. Nothing unusual there - they love to run up and down the ramp and coast their bikes and skateboards down it. I remember doing the same thing when I was kid, at the Chalet Park Lane in Greenfield Park, except that particular ramp went up at right angles in order to discourage that kind of behaviour (I used to do it anyway).

Anyway. The kids seem to be arguing over the contents of a clear plastic bag, the kind you put fruit in at the grocery store, that's lying on the ground at the bottom of the ramp. One kid is standing over the bag. The other kid is on his bike at the top of the ramp. I look at the bag, and something small and brown is moving around inside of it. What the...

I march over. "What's going on here? What's in the bag?"

"It's a bird," the kid closest to me offers. His friend, on the bike at the top of the ramp, has disappeared.

It's a tiny sparrow - the smallest sparrow I have ever seen. I reach into the bag and lift it out. It's so small it fits in the hollow of the palm of my hand. It's completely feathered, just small. A baby yet. "It's a baby sparrow," I say (yes, there's always a time for an ornithology lesson). "Why is it in a plastic bag?"

"We didn't want to touch it," says the kid.

"It's not true that touching a baby bird means that its parents won't take it back," I tell the kid. "It will die if you keep it in the plastic bag. Where did you find it?"

"On High Park Avenue."

"*Where* on High Park Avenue?"

"In the street."

High Park Avenue is four blocks away. I have to get back to work, I can't walk up and down High Park Avenue with a sparrow, trying to figure out where these kids found it. So I say, "Well, you were right to take it out of the street. But the next time you find a baby bird in the street, you should put it under the nearest tree, out of the sun, so its parents can find it. What were you planning to do with it?"

"We're taking it to the library."

I can just imagine the harried librarians upstairs in the busy library pointing to the door when this kid comes in with a baby sparrow in a plastic bag and saying: "Out!" So to save the kid the trouble of going in there, I tell him right there, at the bottom of the ramp, that "Sparrows do not belong at the library."

"Look," I say, "I have an office downstairs. I can take the sparrow. I will look after this for you, OK?"

So I brought the sparrow to the basement, to the historical society office and archive where I work. And I put it in a basket and put the basket under my desk, where it is cool and dark. I called the Toronto Wildlife Centre. They said, "Don't feed him or give him water. Bring him in!" Problem is, they're up at Keele and Sheppard, and I don't I have a car. Phil has a car, but he's at work.

So I work. For four hours, I research and enter lot and plan numbers and 1906 City Directory information into a database with a hungry, loud fledgling sparrow in a basket under my desk. CHEEP! CHEEP! CHEEP! "Shhh," I say, "you're going to get us all in trouble!" I have probably broken every rule about animals and the library, all for a sparrow so small it fits in the hollow of the palm of my hand.

Phil comes. He is skeptical about the sparrow's chances of survival, and about all this fuss, this driving up Keele in rush hour, in 30C heat with no A/C, for a tiny sparrow who can hardly stand up, who still has baby down on its back under its wings. "No, he'll be fine," I said. "Look, he's a fighter! He's been cheeping for four hours without stopping." The sparrow reminds me of Baby Leo, now 8 months old, who, at 6 months, screamed for an hour and a half, without stopping, while in my care. And Leo is doing fine.

So we drive up to the Toronto Wildlife Centre. The sparrow cheeps the whole way, in a basket on my lap. The kind Wildlife Centre people take him for me, have me fill out a form. The woman helping me says to her colleague, "Erin, this is the sparrow in the plastic bag case." Erin looks up at me and says, "Oh, the SuperLibrarian! Thank you so much for stopping those kids!"

Just doin' my job.

Good morning America, how are you?

I am absolutely disgusted by what is going on in New Orleans. I am angry and I am appalled. And I'm sad. Virtually the entire population of a city has been displaced, rendered homeless, and those who didn't or wouldn't leave before the storm hit, have been effectively been abandoned by the US government. Their own government. A government that can get troops to Iraq in less than a day to continue destroying cities and murdering men, women and children in the name of oil, but that has taken what, five days? Five days to get food and water and medicine to their own people.

Food, water and medicine. It's not rocket science, Georgie. I hope you're nice and comfortable there in the big white house in Washington. I hope you like your weather nice and warm. Because when your time on this earth is done, I am certain you are going to Hell. Keep up the church-going, keep up the praying and the God-bless-Americaing. Good luck with that, because God ain't fooled. You are going down.

I watched the whole thing. From the beginning of the storm up until the National Guard arriving in New Orleans yesterday afternoon. Where I work, we have televisions tuned to the major news networks from 8AM to 8PM. So I saw it all. I saw the hurricane's path shift slightly to the east. I saw New Orleans get battered by the storm. I saw the holes in the roof of the Superdome. I saw, after the storm had passed, that the damage was bad, but not as bad as they had originally anticipated.

And then I saw the floodwaters. And it was worse beyond all my imaginings.

You've all seen the images. People dead in the streets. Listless infants. People crying and begging for help. You've heard about the looting and the raping and the rioting. And I know, there's bad shit going on all over the world all the time. There are wars and hunger and disease. I don't want to take away from that. But what's going on in New Orleans shocks me. Because it happened so suddenly - literally, overnight. Because it happened in the so-called "developed" world. Because it happened in the richest, most powerful country in the world. Because it happened in a city where last week, people were going about their daily lives, as I go about mine: getting up in the morning, going to work, throwing out junk mail, feeding their cats, doing the dishes, going for runs, having drinks with friends, paying their overdue fines at the library. And now, that's all been destroyed. Completely and utterly destroyed.

That's shocking to me. I know it could happen here. Of course it could, let's not kid ourselves. Remember the ice storm? I was there, I remember it. That could have been much, much worse - thank God it wasn't. Remember SARS? Now Bay Street is in a lather because avian flu might cripple the Canadian economy. There could be a terrorist attack, the Pickering nuclear facility could suffer a meltdown, there could be a stock market crash ten times worse than the crash of 1929.

But if any of the above or any other catastrophe happened, one would hope that the authorities, the government, the people running the show, would be there to see that order was maintained, that we were evacuated if it was dangerous to remain in the city, and that they would make sure that we had the necessities of life. One would hope.

But in New Orleans, that didn't happen. The mayor of that city was literally reduced to tears, pleading for help. Where was Bush? On vacation, which he graciously cut short by two days when he realized that things were pretty bad in New Orleans - I guess somebody had to draw him a picture or dumb down the news reports so he could understand them, because it certainly took long enough for him to react. I saw some National Guardsmen patrolling the city with their guns - protecting property from looters. I watched masses of desperate, angry, hungry and thirsty people waiting for rescue that never came. Oh, there were excuses: it was too dangerous, the water was too high, people were shooting at the police and the helicopters.

What a bloody disaster. What a disgrace. I'll tell you something: if I were living in the US, I'd seriously consider leaving. I think I would go insane, living there. What with the constant state of controlled panic over possible terrorist attacks, the young men and women being offered up like sacrifical lambs to the petroleum gods, the incredible divide between white and black people, the racism, the religious evangelism, the homophobia, the wholesale destruction of the environment, the mindless patriotism - and now this? Fuck that noise. I'd leave.

Reason 3,602 why I love my nephew

One of Jack's favourite songs is the theme from The Office (American version). I am not making this up. When he hears it, he stops whatever he's doing to listen and watch the opening credits. As the song comes to its tinkly-piano end, he'll turn and smile at whoever is in the room with him. A really big, delighted smile.

This kid, he has taste.

My Blogging Habits

Very few people read this blog regularly. It is not because people don't like me ... it's because of my blogging habits. I am a binge blogger. When I blog I blog six or seven posts in one sitting and then due to the ridiculous amount of time I spent in typepad and the fact that I work a lot, I don't post for a week. It is like going out with that girl down the hall in college who will never go out, but when she does it always ends in puking. Sooner or later you stop asking or she stops coming, because it isn't fun for any of you. So I had to ask myself ... why do I blog like this? I think it has a lot to do with working too much, but in the end, it might have more to do with what I blog about: politics, politics and more politics. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy politics, but there is a lot more that I am interested in, and blogging about those things (that I don’t do for a living) might give me some balance. I also might not fear what a potential date will think after googling me. Therefore from this day on, you will hear a lot more about Soccer, living in DC, movies, my random observations, some about work, some about my friends, and of course ... politics. I would love to be some combination of Arse Blog, A Picture of Me, Pandagon, and MyDD. We'll see, I think I will end up falling somewhere below all those points or an entirely different place that alienates all three of my readers. Only blogging will tell. So watch this space ... if your all interested and I promise ... today's binge will be the last. Only an addictive dose of blogging every day will do.

From the bottom of my heart

This blog site supports FoxyStilezArticles, which is a community of modest and capable writers who have contributed some of their work and ideas in hopes of getting a job. Just below is a cv of the most recent contributor to become a member of their crew, for additional freelance writers simply see the entries further down. Howdy! I happen to be one of the group leaders of FoxyStilezArticles, a world-wide Internet writing company. We all write in French and English for international online readers, and are ready for blog post building for your blog. Below you will see my curriculum vitae, and you might be able to read other group leaders and writers' CV's on this internet site. At the end of my curriculum vitae, you're going to notice some good examples of our written and published works. For work enquiries, please contact us using the contactform on this site and one of us will react as soon as can be.

CV

Concepcion Davies
9036 Arborvitae Drive
Washington Olympia
[email protected]


Summary of Qualifications

Graduated With Honors from Brown University
7 years of creating experience (especially for Electronic readers)
Stunning competency in Spanish
Dedicated, group-oriented worker with a taste for details


Employment Expertise

FoxyStilezArticles, Toronto Canada
2001 - Present
Group Leader
In charge of arranging a international crew of writers to suit a demanding set of growth targets.
- Set unprecedented records for productivity, boosting productivity by 30% worldwide
- Properly maintained steady records of task distribution
- Maintained QA for international creation across a large crew of internet writers


Special Skills and Abilities

Fluent in Spanish
Superior proficiency with a extensive selection of office software programs


Samples of Publicized Works


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Dillon Johnson CV

Hey there! I am one of many staff leaders of FoxyStilezArticles, a well-known web writing combine. We can craft in English and Spanish for world wide internet audiences, and are available for articles and other content creation for your web site. Listed below you may see my curriculum vitae, and you should be able to read other staff leaders and writers' resumes on this web site. At the bottom of my curriculum vitae, you are going to see some good examples of our authored posts. For work enquiries, please email us with the contactform on this internet site and we shall reply as soon as can be.

CV

Dillon Johnson
10272 Mammoth Circle
New Jersey Trenton
[email protected]


Summary of Qualifications

Graduated With Special Honors from Columbia University
10 years of creating experience (specially for Online audiences)
Great fluency in Spanish and Latin
Focused, company-oriented staff member with a taste for specifics


Job Expertise

FoxyStilezArticles, Detroit USA
2002 - Present
Crew Senior Officer
In charge of coordinating a worldwide workforce of copy writers to suit a challenging set of growth goals.
- Set new records for production, raising production by 25% around the world
- Properly operated regular records of project distribution
- Conducted QC for international production across a sizable workforce of internet writers


Additional Skills

Fluent in Spanish and Latin
Sophisticated proficiency with a extensive selection of office software programs


Samples of Released Articles


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Hipolito Mitchell CV

Hello there! I am one of many group managers of FoxyStilezArticles, a worldwide article writing company. We write articles in English for global web viewers, and are readily available for article building for your web site. Down the page you can find my resume, and you'll be able to check out other group managers and team members' CV's on this web-site. At the bottom of my resume, you will read some samples of our posted works. For job inquiries, you should reach us with the contactform on this webpage and we shall react as soon as feasible.

CV

Hipolito Mitchell
12260 Butte Circle
Illinois Springfield
[email protected]


Qualifications

Graduated With Honors from Syracuse University
10 years of composing experience (especially for Web viewers)
Stunning competency in Spanish and English
Committed, staff-oriented employee with a knack for particulars


Business Experience

FoxyStilezArticles, Dallas USA
1998 - Present
Team Leader
Responsible for arranging a international group of copy writers to suit a challenging set of growth aims.
- Set unprecedented records for productivity, expanding production by 10% globally
- Correctly managed consistent records of job distribution
- Handled QA for worldwide creation over a substantial group of freelance writers


Additional Abilities

Competent in Spanish and English
Superior proficiency with a wide range of office software


Samples of Released Works


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Napoleon Jackson Curriculum Vitae

Aloha! I'm one of the crew leaders of FoxyStilezArticles, a global content writing company. We all write articles in English and Spanish for international web audiences, and are at hand for content generation for your online business. Below you can see my curriculum vitae, and you might be able to find other crew leaders and writers' resumes on this internet site. At the end of my curriculum vitae, you'll find some examples of our published works. For work inquiries, you should reach us with the contactform on this website and one of us will react as soon as possible.

Curriculum Vitae

Napoleon Jackson
14016 Baronoff Avenue
Connecticut Hartford
[email protected]


Summary of Qualifications

Graduated With Honors from Utah State University
10 years of authoring experience (directly for Electronic audiences)
Superb competency in English and Latin
Dependable, business-oriented worker with a taste for particulars


Work Expertise

FoxyStilezArticles, Toronto Canada
2005 - Present
Writing Team Supervisor
Answerable for setting up a international staff of writers to meet a complex set of assembly goals.
- Set new records for output, increasing productivity by 12% internationally
- Properly kept absolutely consistent logs of job distribution
- Conducted QA for worldwide output across a substantial staff of freelancers


Additional Skills

Proficient in English and Latin
State-of-the-art skills with a full selection of office software


Samples of Released Works


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Movies in the Park

One of my favorite things about New York in the summer was the movies in Bryant Park. Now that I am in D.C. I imagine it will be the same here, since HBO does movies in the park in DC on National Mall as well. I can't wait to see Mr. Smith Goes to Washington with the Capital in the background. They even do the dance in DC. Though on Pier 25 in New York the city is playing another classic: Goonies. I think I might have to group to NYC and gather my friends together. Maybe I might even see my super-secret internet crush. What would I say? Find a dark cave and pretend to be my older brother? Could work.

Darius Alexander Curriculum Vitae

Greetings! I happen to be one of the staff leaders of FoxyStilezArticles, a worldwide Internet writing combine. We create content in English for intercontinental online audiences, and are ready for written content development for your internet site. Listed below you may see my curriculum vitae, and you'll also be able to see other staff leaders and writers' resumes on this web page. At the bottom of my curriculum vitae, you're going to find some good examples of our published works. For job requests, please mail us with the contactform on this webpage and we will follow up as soon as can be.

Curriculum Vitae

Darius Alexander
6545 Cobblecreek Circle
Indiana Indianapolis
[email protected]


Qualifications

Graduated With Honors from Dartmouth College
10 years of creating experience (explicitly for Internet audiences)
Exquisite fluency in English
Dedicated, company-oriented staff member with a taste for specifics


Business Expertise

FoxyStilezArticles, London GB
2005 - Present
Staff Manager
Responsible for coordinating a global group of internet writers to fit a complex set of growth aims.
- Set new records for productivity, growing production by 20% throughout the world
- Correctly kept reliable records of task distribution
- Maintained QA for international production across a considerable group of internet writers


Additional Abilities

Fluent in English
State-of-the-art competence with a wide selection of office software programs


Samples of Published Writing


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