I know I haven't written in awhile, but I have been insanely busy with work lately, and very busy planning a 3 year old girl's birthday party. Do you have any idea how much thought is required for said birthday party? We have eye patches to buy (pirate theme), bouncy houses to rent, pinatas to stuff, and guest lists to comprise.

Anywho, I attended the ICOLC spring conference in Fisherman's Wharf a few weeks ago. It was a smashing success, but most importantly I went on the Internet Archive Tour in the Presidio. I got to meet Brewster Kahle and see all the geeky things involved with digitizing books, including the Espresso (?) book printing Machine. The press printed and bound a book in 10 minutes flat, and it was most awesome to see it done through the see-through encasing.

I also got to see a rack of pedabytes (see left or above however this text wraps). I believe a pedabyte is a million gigabytes. wow! Also, did you know that they digitize something like 1,000 books a week at the Internet Archive. I heart the Internet Archive.

I'm just getting around to last month's BAM challenge. March's theme was "Craft." Since I am a knitter and a seamstress, I think I read enough books about crafting, so decided to apply the theme loosely to this month's selection. I chose to read, The Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb. I chose this book because I am very interested in Afghanistan, its people and culture. I also read Kabul Beauty School last month and was very disappointed in the writing and storyline. So, I was pleased that Lamb offered a better presentation of the Afghani people and their history.

This book is written from a journalistic view, and takes place over a period of years. Lamb explores the effect of war and the Taliban on this country, its people -particularly women- and it's culture. This book is a must read.