Quick Guide to Boxing Books

All right folks, I have eleven hours before before I start revising the fifth draft. So all I have left in me is this:

How to Pack Books

Let's face it, an academic's net worth is mostly in books. Together they are far and away the most expensive thing I own, and I'm not about to risk the lives of my babies because my job requires me to move them about the country. Here's how to pack them!

1) Find medium-sized boxes. Unless you are a part-time body builder, a large box is a mistake. If you are reusing boxes, make sure the box is not damp or damaged.

2) Reinforce the bottom with packing tape. A lot.

3) Wrap delicate or special books in packing paper. You may think you should wrap books in plastic or in bags to protect them. Do not do this! If you are very concerned about dampness, line the bottom and sides of the box with a plastic or garbage bag. If you are going to be storing the books for a long period of time, wrap books in acid-free paper.

4) Put large hardcover books flat against the bottom of the box, with the spine against the sides of the box. Stack paperbacks on top of them. Fill open spaces by placing books sideways, always with the spine down.

5) Lift the box halfway through packing to make sure it isn't too heavy. If you don't fill a box, stuff the top and open spaces with the packing paper or big bubble wrap.

6) Seal the top and sides of the box with tape. Mark the box well.

Other Tips:
-If ever you wanted to catalog your books, now is the time. It will never be easier.

-It might help to pack books according to general theme. That way, if you find yourself needing to look at a book about tobacco growth in seventeenth-century Virginia, you can just open the box with "Early America" books in it.

-Check for library books or borrowed books before you pack. This sounds like a no-brainer but you'll be kicking yourself when the library is hollering for their Stedman critical edition and you aren't sure which of the 18 boxes it is in.

Hopefully this will be of some use as we all prepare to scatter once again!

"As long as there's a dead Nord, it's hard to go wrong."

Here is a short article on Scandinavian crime novels; namely, why Scandinavians want to read about crime when they've reduced their crime rates to among the lowest on the planet.

It also might provoke some of you to put "Scandinavian-crime-fiction writer" on your list of backup careers if this academia thing doesn't work out!

F. Unny. Funny.

I've been off the radar since late June due to thesis work, and will likely be in and out throughout July. Aside from putting the pressure on some of my fellow graduate students to pick up my slack here, I will be stopping in to dispense the occasional hilarity.

Grad school support staff Will pointed out the other day that with this whole swine flu scare, which apparently even those Harry Potter kids aren't immune to, we've forgotten our last round of Revenge of the Barnyard: Avian Flu.

But MadTV has not forgotten. Take a look.



This is what happens when childhood meets reality.

Room for Debate: College Costs

An issue which affects us both as students and future educators. Let's hear from some experts.

Here's something of a round table on skyrocketing college costs, and the panelists' take on the solution.

How Much Student Debt is Too Much?

I will say that I think one of these people is wholly incorrect, and I suspect another may also have missed the boat, though their argument is somewhat defensible. But that's all I'll say, so you can make up your mind and then sound off in the comments.

"The Idea Strikes Me As Close to Being Nuts"

ChixSoup med school correspondent Laura and I were discussing our basic dilemma regarding the news. We both think that it is important to watch the news, so we know what's going on. We also think that the news is depressing. And then when we finish watching the news, we have to turn to the enormous pile of work that awaits us. Major bummer...

...except that there's a 5-minute hilarity boost. See below.

Autotune the News: Spa Regulation, Serbians, and Sotomayor

It, too, is fair and balanced! There's a few more where that came from, including one on a topic near and dear to my heart: pirates. Cheers to my work being relevant!

EDIT: There's more where that came from...plus lyrics. Auto-Tune the News Website

Smart People. Bad Ideas: Part 1

Graduate school escapee Kate sent me an email with the following text:

"You have to watch this and make sure you don't have anything in your mouth!"

This followed:

Cat Meets Insanity

It is clear that an innovative but unhinged individual is behind this. It is like they thought, "Hey, cats like fish, so let's take cats SCUBA diving in the ocean! Also, I happen to be mechanically inclined and able to outfit little Cleo here in her own personal Nautilus!". Grad students, these people are in your departments. Hire independent pet-sitters and proceed with caution.

Historical Movie Review: Night at the Museum II

I've been MIA for a bit, simultaneously attempting to finish the thesis and recover from mono. I think the thesis is winning. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

In any case, a few weeks back Kristina and Kate were going to the movies and I tagged along. We went to see Night at the Museum II, a welcome respite from our usual Nights at the Library: Eternity. We left the theater both amused and slightly disturbed. Below, excerpts from our email chain, preceded by my summary.

The main gist: Ben Stiller is called back to the museum mothership from his lame but lucrative job when his sometimes-fake, sometimes-real buddies are shipped off the Smithsonian. Having stolen the magical tablet from the American Museum of Natural History and consequently losing it to an Egyptian pharaoh who lisps a British accent, aforementioned buddies rely on Stiller and a resurrected, very flighty Amelia Earhardt (no pun intended) to save the day. Oh, and Teddy Roosevelt is still seeing Sacajawea.

Kristina opened with a generally positive description: "delightfully achronological mix of characters that also spans continents and disciplines, probably the only film that can {almost) meaningfully combine Egyptian pharoahs, slapping monkeys, a bouncing balloon dog, and Albert Einstein -- in bobble-head form, no less"

Kate was pretty PO'ed and not about to let the film off the hook for its assault on archives:
Speaking of the vault and the 'wholly-accurate preservation methods,'... good grief. Um, clothing, like say, space suits and uniforms, go in drawers. So do skeletons, come to think of it. Was that supposed to be a real specimen of a giant octapus or a rubbery and conveniently-life-like model? And please, that place cannot be effectively climate-controlled. Or cataloged. Which, take it from me, is a curator's worse nightmare. But, I think we now have another possible location for the Ark of the Covenant. Maybe we should tell Harrison Ford."

I wonder if historical and "historical" films will be ruined for me. Frankly, reading Last of the Mohicans makes me slightly ill, but watching The Patriot still makes me laugh instead of inspiring a tirade about familial loyalty and the chance of people falling into wells. What do people think? Can medical students watch Scrubs? Do law students even bother with the many Law and Orders? Can anthropology and sociology students watch anything?