Argh! Blog silence, blog silence, and yet more blog silence!

Things just get more and more labyrinthine in their franticness chez Sycorax Pine, until I feel just barnacled over with endless work. The job search gallops apace (I have a couple of interviews now, which means I have made it past the first two rounds of cuts for a few schools, which will now live forever in my affection), the dissertation is moving into turbo-drive, and another semester of teaching is winding down.

But meanwhile, I had to make a brief bloggy appearance to tell you about another delight that LibraryThing has brought into my life: SantaThing.

SantaThing is a program that LibraryThing is inaugurating this year, a program that allows you to send books off to a total stranger and receive some in return this holiday season. It is like an even more surprising BookMooch, a gift economy that is entirely speculative and thus a good bit more thrilling and adventurous (and you know how I love the idealism of BookMooch).

Here's what happens: before this Thursday, prospective SantaThingers should go to the SantaThing site and pay $25 via PayPal. Then you will enter in some basic words of guidance: how would you describe your literary interests? The types of books you would like to receive? Hate to receive on the level of cataclysmic disaster? After this you provide your name and address to LibraryThing, which will keep this info private. They will pick a Secret Santa for you on Thursday, and you will submit gift ideas (based on the info you have about your SantaThingee) that are worth up to $20 (on Amazon) to LibraryThing. They arrange and pay for the shipping, and your gifts should arrive at their destination by Christmas Eve.

I have to say, the prospect of getting not just book recommendations, but actual books from a total stranger is thrilling to me. For that matter, the idea of getting to send some of my favorite books on to people who have never encountered them is oddly pleasing as well. Delightful! If it interests you, go and check it out at the links above.

Meanwhile, my apologies for my blog-sluggishness (bluggishness?) - things are just so crazy here that I feel guilty every time I even contemplate writing a blog entry. I will try to pop in for an update whenever I can, but I hope to be back to my full bloggy splendor (ok, perhaps it would be better to say my full bloggy devotion) in February or March. Meanwhile, my love to you all!