Monday, September 20, 2010

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

I decided when I began reading I, Claudius, that I needed to do some quick reading, to reach my goal of reading 25 books in the first year.  I have about nine weeks to finish six books, so I'm going to have to move quickly.  In an effort to make sure I stay at some kind of respectable pace, I set a goal of reading at least 30 pages of I, Claudius each day.  So far, after 8 days, I'm on page 243, and over half way through, so I suppose I've been successful in that regard.

As for I, Claudius, it's a great read so far.  It basically puts historical characters into a fictional story, which was always an idea of mine, if I were to write a book.  I'd had an idea for taking a well-known figure (I can't say who of course), and then writing some fictional story about his formative years, or I guess the years before he became the famous figure he is today.  I never really got past the first page though, so you can consider that one still a "work in progress."

On a sort of unrelated note, the Calgary Public Library has been forced to cut $3 million from its' budget for next year.  Shameful to say the least, that in a well-off country like Canada, we are making cuts to education; the only thing that really keeps us, well-off.  For the library, this means delaying the opening of a new branch, and possibly closing on Sundays and one weeknight a week, to keep costs down.  It also means the long-rumoured new downtown library isn't anywhere close to being built, and Calgary will continue to be serviced by an ugly, inadequate building meant to service a city of 400,000 people.  It disgusts me that the second most used library in Canada, is also the most poorly funded library.  Shame on Calgary City Council for letting such a great and necessary institution slip into such dire straits.  The need for a public library is as important as ever, yet has been relegated to "nice to have, but not necessary" status.

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