Sunday, April 7, 2013

Of uniforms and costumes...

I have rambled about female superheroes' costumes in the past. Then I stumbled upon this... 


And they have sensible heel heights too. I especially enjoyed reading the comments. 

Although I still wonder about the purpose of capes. Of course they could be used as protection from the elements. Shade during hot months and coat during cold months. But really, that is stretching it a bit too far. I still think excess pieces of clothes and clothing restrict movements. (I have said the same thing about flying ribbons from hair and other excess pieces of clothing such as that thing extending several meters away from your "belt".) They may in all likelihood be used against the superhero. Imagine you getting away and landing six feet from your enemy, far enough for ordinary arms to reach, but since your cape is still flapping behind you, your enemy could just use it to grab you back. But originally in Superman, I think they were meant to convey movement, especially when he was flying.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Excuses

I have been to graduate school. I am still in graduate school, trying to earn my master's degree in Library and Information Science. 

It proved to be more difficult than we thought. It is also disappointing. On many fronts it is disappointing. Not least of which is my overall performance. The drive to excel seemed to deflate midway through it all. And I am still scrambling to get back into full shape.

One disappointment is the rampant plagiarism even in graduate school. It is even commonplace in a profession that should be in the forefront on the fight against it.  

Another disappointment is the dearth of good thesis topics and outputs. Somehow librarians become limited with what their own libraries need or what is perceived to be needed by their libraries. I understand the concept of progression in research, but it can be taken only so far.

Research should be about what is needed to be known or made known. Regardless of whether our institution needs it or not, research should be about the discovery of new things and knowledge and information. It should be about discovery of new knowledge and information that may interest not just the library profession but a good portion of society as well.  

And my greatest disappointment is that my thesis might turn out to be another thesis written in the spirit of “requirement”. It is not off to a good start. It sucks right now.