Category: Random

Remember to always look on the positive side!

And Happy Friday to you! Thanks for your words of encouragement – I know my readers will appreciate them, too.

In regards to the werewolf that I mentioned earlier…well, I feel like a werewolf sometimes, and I do bite! Yummmy! Yeah I used to bite my therapist and dentist, not that much rn, but occasionally to ppl around me. U probably don’t know how it feels like to bite someone since you are a wall. Anyway, meow! There is nothing on the student conduct handbook that prohibits biting, right? Though I feel like they just throw students a disordered conduct when they want to sanction someone w/o a good reason. 🙁

No biting! I’m a wall, so pretty impervious to bites from everything but heavy machinery, but you humans have soft outer coverings that make you vulnerable to hard objects like teeth. Though I’m not a lawyer, I suspect state laws about assault and battery would cover biting were BC’s internal policies to fall short. But they don’t. The phrase “physical violence” is a good catch-all. Consent almost always provides good guidance: next time the urge to bite someone strikes, ask whether it’s OK if you bite them, and abide by the answer. No means no.

okey… human world is so hard to understand, I wish I’m a unicorn after all. lol

Be the mythical animal that is within you.

Did Washington know about the dinner?
Was there Presidential pressure to deliver?
Or did you know even then it doesn’t matter where you put the U.S. capital?

I’m not entirely sure, because I was not in the room where this happened. Though, point of family pride for me, an ancestor of mine through my Dad’s side was an actual dining room wall at 57 Maiden Lane, and saw and heard everything! But no worries, NYC has done pretty well for itself in the intervening years.

I know that cats Meow, dogs barks, but what noises do unicorn make? Also, is it okay that I always feel like a werewolf during full moon? Oh, and do you think BC will mandate a 14 days quarantine for all students given the increasing COVID cases – that would be a horror movie to my mental health lol.

I’ll take your questions one at a time. Unicorns: Would anyone know if they heard one? This book may have clues: bit.ly/BCL-unicorns. Werewolf: As long as you only FEEL like a werewolf, we’ll all be fine. Please don’t bite anyone. Quarantine: Unless numbers spin really out of control I assume BC will stick with the tried and true: quarantining known cases and contacts. The positivity rate at BC is twice what it had been, but is currently (last week) 0.8%. Middlesex County rate for the last two weeks is 2.8%.

A previous answer says smoking on campus is not allowed. Where are medical cannabis patients supposed to go if 1) smoking is illegal in public and 2) we can’t smoke on BC’s campus and 3) students in dorms don’t have access to a private property ?? Hike out to the reservoir each time (and even then, be worried about its illegality?) what mixed messaging by legislation – smoking is legal but only for property owners, or people who don’t live in restricted apartments of some sort?

This is a great question. I’ve put out feelers to the Office of Student Conduct and University Health Services and will get back to you on this when I hear more. I will note I’ve been told BC’s hands are tied here because of federal funding.

I wish I was born somewhere else. This country is rotten. People say the politics are corrupts, the laws dont work, the police is innefective and violent, but the problem is the people. The people makes this country suck. The biggest problem in the country is the people themselves. And I hate this. I wish I could go to another country. But Im poor. I dont even have money to go to another city, much less another country. And if I try to get out illegally I will probably die. How can leave this horrible place?

I’m sorry you’re in that position. If your country is a functioning democracy, it’s worth getting involved in organizations that can redress some of these ills; sometimes people are a problem because they see no hope of change. If your country is not a functioning democracy, make sure to strengthen bonds with family and/or friends and watch out for each other. You might not be able to change your country, but you may be able to improve your small corner of it. Big changes always start small. Keep the faith; sometimes change takes a long time.

Thank you for answering everyone’s questions!

You’re very welcome! Answering questions is what makes me happy!

It’s the year of ox! By any chance we can have an ox visit to the library?

Happy Lunar New Year to you, too! I have not heard of any available therapy oxen, but will keep them in mind for the future. And… since Valentines Day is coming; with regard to oxen love, did you know we have a children’s book in the ERC with the amazing combo of subject headings: “Romance Fiction” and “Oxen — Juvenile fiction”? bit.ly/XOOX

One that is life changing, one that you have to re-read because that’s how good it is. One that you think about all day and all night. A poem that will keep me up at night. A poem that is motivational, yet deterring. A poem that is happy, yet sad. Something that can really help me in life. If you can ever find a poem like this I don’t know how I may ever repay you. Honestly walls are great like that you give them a question and somehow they come up with an answer, even if it’s not the one you’re looking for.

This is a very challenging question, because different poems and poets resonate with different people at different times of their lives. Finding the right poem for you at the right moment is something like finding the right person; just as no person is the best person for everyone or every moment, no poem could do that, either. Also, just as you shouldn’t depend on another person to change your life, it’s also risky to depend on a poem to do so. That said, here are some poems that have resonated with many people; perhaps they might resonate with you right now: poetryfoundation.org/poems/44484/to-autumn, poetryfoundation.org/poems/52192/at-the-fishhouses, poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=28618. If you’d like to read widely but don’t know where to start, the poetry foundation has a great page where you can browse by topic, form, period, or region: poetryfoundation.org/poems/browse. Good luck on your quest, and may you discover many meaningful poems!

It disgusts me how objectified they are. Should I be attracted or does that have something to do with my sexuality?

Human desire and attraction has never seemed to me to correspond to anything rational, so I think you should feel comfortable about whoever you are or are not attracted to. Media objectification of women’s bodies has certainly merited a lot of scholarly attention. If you’re interested, here are some books related to the subject in our collection: bit.ly/BCL-women-media.

Why do people develop those fetish? Is it due to nature or is it something related to childhood experience?

The honest answer is that we don’t know. It was alleged in the Steele Dossier that there was some activity with a prostitute in Moscow involving urine, but it hasn’t been verified. As to how people develop sexual fetishes, it’s anyone’s guess. Freud would likely have attributed it to childhood experiences. This wall’s approach to human sexuality is that as long as everyone involved is a freely consenting adult, it’s none of my business.

Thanks for the book recommendations, I’ll definitely check one or two out from somewhere.

You’re welcome! Check with your local library – you may have some great options for checking out eBooks.

I am currently writing a book, but I have almost no time to work on it. I want to write every day, but I study the whole day and when my free time in the evening comes, I just can’t bring myself to write. I want to relax and just “chill” as they say. Can you give me some tips to motivate and bring myself to write and not lose motivation?

Writing is hard to begin with, and when it’s pitted against all the other things we’re obligated to do it often takes a back seat. You *do* need time to recharge, so try not to pit it against that. Find a 20-30 minute time in the day you can commit to writing, even if “writing” ends up meaning sitting in a chair looking at a blank screen sometimes. You may need to pull time away from other obligations. Meanwhile, don’t expect magic. Writing is hard work, so be kind to yourself. I highly recommend Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird to put you in the right mindset: disciplined, but also able to laugh. Good luck!

A little flat, a little chilly. Stay warm out there!

Since I’m in a fabulous library, I can answer a lot of my own questions. I also contact our reference librarians by chat and email (libguides.bc.edu/ask-a-librarian). When it’s a question of a more personal nature, I tend to ask Dad (the NYC apartment wall) or Mom (the north shore sea wall).  The Level 3  Library Door has also been a great friend to me and we discuss issues of common concern, you know, lobby gossip…

This thesis is not available through our repository or via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. “At the request of the author, this graduate work is not available to view or purchase.” You could try contacting the thesis advisor (kathleen.bailey@bc.edu) to see if she can provide any assistance.

Being alive. Being you. You’re worthy.

Humans are bad at assessing abstract risks to start with, but humans with lots of money from the fossil fuel industry have also spent decades trying to confuse matters, and that has affected our politics and how people think about the issue. http://bit.ly/bc-denial

This is a bit of a traditional mystery. There’s a classic essay from the early 90s that says Macs are Catholic and PCs are Protestant, but I think some of the comments definitely apply to Android as well. http://bit.ly/bc-macs

Altruism can also benefit you & still be altruism. For a more exhaustive survey of the ethics of doing good, see this Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on altruism: plato.stanford.edu/entries/altruism