Who is this guy?

Yeah, that's me; though these days the glasses are smaller and the goatee is shorter.

I'm at home today listening to music and cleaning up the house. First it was the new Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun. Great stuff. Then it was classic Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gyspies. Good live recording. Great guitar. Highlight for me was "Changes." Now I am spinning a relatively new artist, Lizz Wright -dreaming wide awake. This is a lovely CD.

Had the exterminator here today. We've had this dilemma. Part of my philosophy of living is "to be kind and gentle to every living thing." Yet we've had carpenter ants in the kitchen. I'm afraid they are eating the walls. Is it still killing, if you hire the killing done? I'm afraid it is.

We have mice outside my office at the library. They are delightful to watch. We have a large bird feeder in an atrium. The mice help eat the seeds that fall to the ground. It is a whole ecosystem on display. The mice were discovered by the public on Wednesday, our Storytime day. Some of the mothers freaked out, talking about disease and vermin. The staff got involved...fears of disease, mouse bites, droppings; the general mess and nuisance. I got an assistant director involved and discovered he and I think along similar lines. Ultimately, we have decided to place bait inside the storage areas inside the building but leave all the area outside alone (though we may give the public the perception that more drastic means have been employed). The plan is to let nature take its course. My supervisor told me there have always been mice in the atrium. We don't want to poison or birds or chance hurting larger raptors that may come to feast on well-fed mice. He told me he used to have a hawk visit and hunt from the railing outside my window.