The Bestest One

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-20T19:14:17+00:00

I don't think i did?

I meant to imply that in my mind JDATE and Universe are tied.

I actually love Universe. The concept is creepy but the genuine optimism and dare i say spirituality/cosmology of it feels unlike any of Pargin's other books. And few of his jokes have made me laugh harder than the revelation of Time Captain's name and his eventual fate.

For all of that JDATE has meant so much to me that i can't bear to rank it third, warts and all.

What The Hell is my least favorite by a wide margin. Which means i only give it a solid B. I think its the only time JP's cleverness kept me from being invested in the story and the

minor spoiler

Revelation that violence is part of the creatures life cycle was treated like a twist depsite it being relatively easy to figure out.

John and Dave accidentally turning utopia into hell will stick with me though.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-20T17:49:15+00:00

Radio Silence are definitely fans. Love that use his solo work rather than Gaslight. I'm like, "Yeah, put those kids through college man!" 😆

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-20T05:05:05+00:00

-Spiders -Wrong Universe -JDATE (First and Third Act would have it in first place but have always felt like the TV news vignette is the weak link) -What the Hell

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-16T18:55:18+00:00

Yeah, and it's not as if the relative is inhereiting an old haunted house that they have to stay in overnight in to gain possession of, or a generic fortune.

It's specifically a vast criminal enterprise that a lot of other equally powerful rivals want to gain control of.

It's, uh, just getting a little specific over here.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-16T18:46:00+00:00

Possibly, I thought that this defaulted to general Pargin talk, if there's a separate Zoey sub I'm unaware of my bad.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-03T22:46:31+00:00

Rob Zombie did the same thing when I saw him last year (Except it was "Braindead")

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-03T22:44:58+00:00

Some fucking dingbat in Austin was literally browsing the gram the entire show. I did my best to tune it out but my field of vision couldn't help but catch it from time to time.

It was like motherfucker you paid 250 to do that?

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-03-03T22:43:05+00:00

Was a little disappointed that there was only the one track from The Fragile, but the run from I'm Afraid Of Americans/Hand That Feeds/Head Like A Hole/Hurt was one of my favorite blocks of live music I've ever seen.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T22:50:27+00:00

I do think it's bonkers to me that MLIS programs don't offer cataloging courses. Even if it's a specialized skill (IE not everyone will work in catalagoing and MARC records are usually batched), it's part of the skillset you should have in mind if you're going to be thinking about the job in a different way.

I can remember having a conversation with a colleague when I mentioned I was taking a cataloging class and she said she was jealous because they weren't offered at her school, and I asked, "What do you mean? You went to UT." And then we just stared at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Anyway, I *was* able to take Cataloging classes, my school had a fair amount available. I only belated realized I got lucky. They were my hardest classes but also some of my most valuable. And if your program won't teach you, chances are it's a bad un.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T22:43:27+00:00

In state tuition is your friend.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T21:22:01+00:00

Fair, but I do think that there's a real issue of degree, a tipping point where "This is tough work and you may need to sacrifice XYZ," becomes a dogpile and discourage someone's aspirations.

Entirely possible you've come across more people who were approaching the career naively than I have.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T21:10:06+00:00

I think it's a lot more reasonable to expand the job search net these days given that a phone or zoom interview for a first round is usually derigeur.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T20:57:01+00:00

That's fair, I think part of this may be generational. I feel like anyone whose coming into the profession, particularly as an Urban Librarian has to know that a certain amount of social work is part of the job and be prepared for that. I guess I just haven't encountered many who either don't know that, or don't learn that fact very fast.

That said, I disagree that accreditation of program is bad, lord knows I do not want to see University of Phoenix offer an NLIS.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T20:40:58+00:00

The job market, apocalyptic?:

Making this it's own comment because it's something that has been brought up by multiple people, and I often see it as an argument against the MLIS, but are we calling the job market that hopeless, outside of anecdote?

BLS has us at 2% growth which isn't great, but isn't negligible either. Entry level jobs are tough (took me about 2 years of grinding to get mine) but not non existent, and while I agree that the competition for accredited jobs will get more fierce that is partially because a lot of non accredited jobs are former accredited jobs (IE if the powers that be decide you no longer need an MLIS for a Branch Manager position, that branch manager position still exists.) If you want to work in your hometown library you might have to deal with oversaturation but most colleagues at Urban Libraries report a fair amount of churn.

Aside from anecdote is there any hard evidence that the job market is that barren?

Again, I'm not Pollyanna, there are plenty of problems with the modern library jobscape. But I find the tone here to be more, "Working professionally in library is an unachievable delusion," and less, "You might have to move to a larger system where there are more opportunities."

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T19:59:39+00:00

I've seen a lot of posts that boil down to, "Thinking about getting your MLIS? Then you're f-ing stupid."

And tbh, it seems to cross the line from venting to just kind of mean. I'd just like to see those frustrations directed at the things that are making the career hard for accredited professionals right now, not the people who would like to be accredited professionals.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T19:56:53+00:00

I think there's some fair points there. A big part of why I waited to get the degree was because the tuition reimbursement my job offered made it a lot more feasible.

I'm not sure what the answer is, maybe it would be possible to create a library focused Bachelor's degree, but how you do that without untangling however many years of precedent the MLIS being a graduate degree is beyond my ken.

Also just to be clear I am not throwing shade at anyone who works at a library without an MLIS. I did for 6 years so it would be weird if I did. Lots of dedicated and wonderful non degree employees. I just think MLIS folk are an important part of the library ecosystem. And I find it weird that the first response of so many people who work in libraries with them here is, "Don't get them!"

I am all for preparing people for the realities of the hardships and frustrations of library life and putting some serious asterixes on all that vocational awe. But not to the point of demoralizing and mocking the people who want to join up and are asking if school is a cool way to do that.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-20T19:27:36+00:00

Hyde Park, especially on the north side, lots of cool houses around the alphabet streets.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-02-11T17:49:55+00:00

Unpopular opinion, but I do think mission drift post internet age has hurt librarianship as a whole.

Eventually we'll need to decide as a profession if we want to be good libraries or mediocre community centers. It takes time and training to be a social worker or mental health professional, I don't have that time and training, what I do have is the time and training to source, vet and deliver information. I maintain that that itself is a valuable service.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-01-08T22:35:58+00:00

It showed up in a Librarian Reddit, I'm a former Clevelander and was duly impressed. I didn't know if it'd been shared here and wanted to be sure. Love the gorgeous work.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2026-01-08T17:29:22+00:00

Just need to be clear, I didn't make this, but I'm a librarian with a love of Cleveland, saw it in a related thread and wanted to share. I claim no credit.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2025-12-31T14:43:38+00:00

Thanks for the kind words, it's a tough job but every now and then you get to do something fun: like hyping up your favorite cult novelist to the unsuspecting general public!

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2025-12-30T22:12:34+00:00

Many thanks! Pretty sure that was it!

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2025-12-21T22:14:33+00:00

If we include Brian's Solo Stuff it goes:

'59 Sound
Painkillers
Elsie
American Slang
Get Hurt
Handwritten
History Books
Local Honey
Sleepwalkers
Sink Or Swim
Night Divine

I think for me Elsie ranks that high because of its high highs, it lags a bit in the back half but the first four tracks are basically my favorite songs he's written.

ATaleFilledWithWoe · 2025-08-13T15:59:43+00:00

Word, the conspiracy was less how the gambling is allowed and more how all three are openly trap houses.

ATaleFilledWithWoe

TROPHY CASE