Parliamentarians and Mardi Gras Queens

Argh! Wireless keeps cutting out and I lost most of a blog post. Note to self: do posts in Word, then cut and paste.

Anyway…attended my first meeting, Council Orientation, for which I’m a committee member. I wasn’t really needed, but I never get tired of hearing Council Parliamentarian Eli Mina talk about the elegance and usefulness of parliamentary procedure. While I’m not a procedure wonk, Eli makes things go much more smoothly during meetings, and makes PP seem almost compelling. His best piece of advice for anyone involved in any sort of committee work or governance is “you can disagree without being disagreeable.” Hope to see evidence of this credo. Lots of intros from other key ALA players, including new President Carol Brey-Casiano, who urged the initiates to “never say no to anything that’s offered as an opportunity.” While I understand her point, I’m learning that it’s often healthier to say no once in awhile. I’m still not very good at saying no, but I try.

After I ducked out of that meeting, I traipsed all over trying to find out how to get wireless to work here at Hynes. I finally learned the secret handshake at Conference Services. While at the desk, I recognized the voice of Colleen Salley, a wonderful New Orleans storyteller, children’s author and retired professor. I first became aware of Colleen when I attended a memorial service for her friend and “darling boy,” Bill Morris, a champion of children’s literature at HarperCollins. I covered the service for Cognotes, but truly enjoyed learning about Bill Morris, and hearing Colleen. She stopped me on the exhibit floor a couple days later to thank me for the article and said she was taking an extra copy to show her daughter. Anyway, I reintroduced myself to her and we had a lovely chat. I mentioned that I read where she was the Queen of the Crewe du Vieux Mardi Gras parade last year, following in the footsteps of author and poet Andrei Codrescu. Ever the storyteller, she told me about her experience, and said she’d learned from Andrei to not get pie-eyed too early in the day, as the Queen and King are taken from place to place and toasted. Apparently the much-toasted Andrei was complete toast by the end of the day and had no memory of his day of honor. Colleen said she heeded Andrei’s warning and behaved herself, staying uncharacteristically sober as a judge. Unfortunately, the heavy black eyeliner from her Queen Nefertiti outfit made it appear, in every picture taken of her, that she was fully in her cups. It was such a treat to run into her….she’s delightful and ever gracious.

Now, ready for my first meeting of the Public and Cultural Programs Committee.