Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I love Mindy Kaling. I love The Mindy Project. And I love her Harvard speech . Today as we begin our 2nd day of Summer Reading '14 and I'm feeling a little tired I'm tapping into my inner warrior...

I am thankful that there are people like Anne Lamott out in the world. I loved this: "Let us commence"  by Anne Lamott I am honored and surprised that you asked me to speak today. This must be a magical day for you. I wouldn't know. I accidentally forgot to graduate from college. I meant to, 30 years ago, but things got away from me. I did graduate from high school, though -- do I get a partial credit for that? Although, unfortunately, my father had forgotten to pay the book bill, so at the graduation ceremony, when I opened the case to see my diploma, it was empty. Except for a ransom note that said, see Mrs. Foley, the bookkeeper, if you ever want to see your diploma alive again. I went to Goucher College in Maryland for the best possible reasons -- to learn -- but then I dropped out at 19 for the best possible reasons -- to become a writer. Those of you who have read my work know that instead, I accidentally became a Kelly girl for a while. Then, In a dazzling...

Came across this absolutely wonderful commencement speech that J.K. Rowling recently gave to the '08 grads of Harvard University. There was some good strong advice in this article that I found moving after an especially hard two weeks. The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates, The first thing I would like to say is 'thank you.' Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I've experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world's best-educated Harry Potter convention. Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back ...