Indielinguist's World

Aquarian man in his 30s (he/him/his). Indie fan + linguist/archivist. This blog's almost half my age, full of old fandom stuff. Feels good to look back...

[indielinguist]

Current Reads (as of 6/10/2026)

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - 81% read

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - FINISHED!!!

[indielinguist]

Mango Languages app

I recently found out that one of the larger city libraries nearby offers Mango Languages free access for their digital-only patrons, and a library card for them is available to anyone in the whole state.

I've never used that particular app before, but I thought I'd give it a go, since it's free thru that library.

I may write a longer post later so I can nerd out on language learning apps, but for now, I'm cheerfully getting back into Spanish!

[indielinguist]

Book: Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (Down East Books, 2021)

I've been reading Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith, a Maine-based author. The book was published in 2021 by Down East Books. All chapters have been read:

George Washington ✅

James K. Polk ✅

Ulysses S. Grant ✅

Chester A. Arthur ✅

Benjamin Harrison ✅

Theodore Roosevelt ✅

William Howard Taft ✅

Warren G. Harding ✅

Franklin Delano Roosevelt ✅

Dwight D. Eisenhower ✅

John F. Kennedy ✅

Lyndon B. Johnson ✅

Richard M. Nixon ✅

Gerald R. Ford ✅

James E. Carter ✅

George H. W. Bush & George W. Bush ✅

Barack Obama ✅

Donald Trump ✅

✅ = read

I initially read the chapters in chronological order, but then after I finished Chester A. Arthur, I decided to skip around and read the chapters from shortest to longest.

[indielinguist]

Eddie Vedder performing his song "Rise," which debuted on the soundtrack of the film Into the Wild (2007).

[indielinguist]

Official music video for Mt. Joy's track "Lemon Tree."

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #3

I've added a couple of books to my current reads lately:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (pub. 2021) - 3% read I got to meet the author at a recent book event. Purchased this book from him and got it autographed. I'm a huge history buff, and I love U.S. presidential trivia.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (pub. 1972) - 57% read This is a slow-burner, historical fiction novel. I'm powering through it, and it was kinda dull at the beginning, but it seems to be picking up a bit now.

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross (Laundry Files #5, pub. 2014) - 18% read I've been working through the Laundry Files series, and it's been a great time! This one involves vampires.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2012) - 57% read Another slow-burner. Trying my best to get through the whole thing.

[indielinguist]

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 6% read

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 62% read

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 18% read

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

NEW: Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty (pub. 2012) - 26% read I've been reading this at the workplace, for professional development.

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 10%

Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 76%

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 59%

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - no new progress

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - no new progress

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 86%

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - FINISHED!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - 49%

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 27%

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - FINISHED!

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - FINISHED!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - FINISHED!

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #3

I've added a couple of books to my current reads lately:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (pub. 2021) - 3% read I got to meet the author at a recent book event. Purchased this book from him and got it autographed. I'm a huge history buff, and I love U.S. presidential trivia.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (pub. 1972) - 57% read This is a slow-burner, historical fiction novel. I'm powering through it, and it was kinda dull at the beginning, but it seems to be picking up a bit now.

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross (Laundry Files #5, pub. 2014) - 18% read I've been working through the Laundry Files series, and it's been a great time! This one involves vampires.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2012) - 57% read Another slow-burner. Trying my best to get through the whole thing.

[indielinguist]

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 6% read

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 62% read

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 18% read

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

NEW: Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty (pub. 2012) - 26% read I've been reading this at the workplace, for professional development.

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 10%

Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 76%

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 59%

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - no new progress

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - no new progress

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 86%

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - FINISHED!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - 49%

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #3

I've added a couple of books to my current reads lately:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (pub. 2021) - 3% read I got to meet the author at a recent book event. Purchased this book from him and got it autographed. I'm a huge history buff, and I love U.S. presidential trivia.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (pub. 1972) - 57% read This is a slow-burner, historical fiction novel. I'm powering through it, and it was kinda dull at the beginning, but it seems to be picking up a bit now.

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross (Laundry Files #5, pub. 2014) - 18% read I've been working through the Laundry Files series, and it's been a great time! This one involves vampires.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2012) - 57% read Another slow-burner. Trying my best to get through the whole thing.

[indielinguist]

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 6% read

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 62% read

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 18% read

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

NEW: Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty (pub. 2012) - 26% read I've been reading this at the workplace, for professional development.

[indielinguist]

Current progress:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 10%

Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 76%

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 59%

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty - no new progress

[indielinguist]

There comes a point in your life where you know yourself better than anybody else does.

- Personal Mantra

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #3

I've added a couple of books to my current reads lately:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (pub. 2021) - 3% read I got to meet the author at a recent book event. Purchased this book from him and got it autographed. I'm a huge history buff, and I love U.S. presidential trivia.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (pub. 1972) - 57% read This is a slow-burner, historical fiction novel. I'm powering through it, and it was kinda dull at the beginning, but it seems to be picking up a bit now.

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross (Laundry Files #5, pub. 2014) - 18% read I've been working through the Laundry Files series, and it's been a great time! This one involves vampires.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2012) - 57% read Another slow-burner. Trying my best to get through the whole thing.

[indielinguist]

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith - 6% read

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - 62% read

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross - 18% read

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - no new progress

NEW: Master the Matrix: 7 Essentials for Getting Things Done in Complex Organizations by Susan Z. Finerty (pub. 2012) - 26% read I've been reading this at the workplace, for professional development.

[indielinguist]

Higher Ed/Professional Development

I work for a university, and one of the perks of my job is that I am able to take up to four credits per fall/spring/summer semester, graduate or undergrad, for free.

This spring, I took a grad-level class on digital preservation. I found the material we studied really interesting. I volunteer at my local historical society, so what I was hoping to get out of this course was skills and knowledge about digitizing analog media. My term project for the class ended up being me testing out and critiquing a digital preservation tool (a CZUR ET24 Pro book scanner) to see whether it would be a viable tool for digitization work.

My findings, unfortunately, told me that it was not. Or rather, that the CZUR scanner has some limitations. It did really decently with text-only docs. The scanner captures an image of the object and saves it in .jpg format, and then the user is able to take that source image and export it as a different file type (.doc/.docx, .xls/.xlsx, .txt., .pdf, .tif). But when trying to digitize photos, I found the book scanner to be less reliable.

This happened to be the first class that I've taken using my employee tuition waiver (been working at the university for about 2 1/2 years). I've got to admit, it was challenging getting back into Academics Mode after having been away from school for 10+ years. And nowadays, I've got a lot more adult things going on in life, more distractions, stressors, etc. And plus, it was a totally online, asynchronous class, which took a bit longer for me to adjust to (socially) than I expected.

All in all, I'm glad I took this class. It's reignited my passion for learning and knowledge-seeking. It has been a dream of mine for the past few years to pursue a career as some kind of archivist, reference librarian, etc. I applied to and have been admitted to the information & library science program that my university offers. I'll be taking a new class this summer!

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #3

I've added a couple of books to my current reads lately:

Maine's Hail to the Chief by Mac Smith (pub. 2021) - 3% read I got to meet the author at a recent book event. Purchased this book from him and got it autographed. I'm a huge history buff, and I love U.S. presidential trivia.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (pub. 1972) - 57% read This is a slow-burner, historical fiction novel. I'm powering through it, and it was kinda dull at the beginning, but it seems to be picking up a bit now.

The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross (Laundry Files #5, pub. 2014) - 18% read I've been working through the Laundry Files series, and it's been a great time! This one involves vampires.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (pub. 2012) - 57% read Another slow-burner. Trying my best to get through the whole thing.

[indielinguist]

African Trilogy by Zidrou, illustrated by Raphaël Beuchot

I just finished reading Zidrou's African Trilogy, illustrated by Raphaël Beuchot. Zidrou is the nom de plume of Belgian comic book writer Benoît Drousie. The whole trilogy addresses contemporary social issues in an African context.

Volume #1 is entitled Once Upon a Time in Africa. It is set in an unspecified African country under a contemporary totalitarian regime. The central character is a storyteller nicknamed "Once Upon a Time" who entertains locals. But all forms of cultural expression have been banned by the State. Themes include personal liberty, human rights, and cultural resilience.

Volume #2 is entitled Turntable. It is a piece of biographical fiction set in Belgian Congo (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), centered on Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931). Themes include friendship, connection, and colonialism.

Volume #3 is entitled A Little Piece of Her. It is set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the main character is Chinese lumber worker Yu Kiang. He nurtures a romantic relationship with a Congolese woman and forms a bond with her two children. Themes include female genital mutilation, personal autonomy, and human rights (especially for women & girls).

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #2

Just finished:

Anno Domini 1000, written & illustrated by Thomas Gilbert, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #HistoricalFiction

The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute. #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture

Still reading:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (52%) #ContemporaryFiction

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (45%) #HistoricalFiction #western

Up next is:

The Rhesus Chart (Laundry Files #5) by Charles Stross #SciFi #horror

Once Upon a Time in Africa (African Trilogy #1), written by Zidrou and illustrated by Raphaël Beuchot, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #ComicBook #folklore #mythology

[indielinguist]

Read and finished Once Upon a Time in Africa (African Trilogy #1). It was a really enjoyable read! And the artwork was phenomenal!

Next up in that same series is:

Turntable

A Little Piece of Her

[indielinguist]

Read Turntable! On to A Little Piece of Her!

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #2

Just finished:

Anno Domini 1000, written & illustrated by Thomas Gilbert, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #HistoricalFiction

The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute. #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture

Still reading:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (52%) #ContemporaryFiction

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (45%) #HistoricalFiction #western

Up next is:

The Rhesus Chart (Laundry Files #5) by Charles Stross #SciFi #horror

Once Upon a Time in Africa (African Trilogy #1), written by Zidrou and illustrated by Raphaël Beuchot, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #ComicBook #folklore #mythology

[indielinguist]

Read and finished Once Upon a Time in Africa (African Trilogy #1). It was a really enjoyable read! And the artwork was phenomenal!

Next up in that same series is:

Turntable

A Little Piece of Her

[indielinguist]

Current Reads #2

Just finished:

Anno Domini 1000, written & illustrated by Thomas Gilbert, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #HistoricalFiction

The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute. #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture

Still reading:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (52%) #ContemporaryFiction

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (45%) #HistoricalFiction #western

Up next is:

The Rhesus Chart (Laundry Files #5) by Charles Stross #SciFi #horror

Once Upon a Time in Africa (African Trilogy #1), written by Zidrou and illustrated by Raphaël Beuchot, published by Europe Comics #GraphicNovel #ComicBook #folklore #mythology

[indielinguist]

Current Reads

I guess this is as good a place as any to share book updates.

Here's my progress on my #CurrentReads:

Charles Stross, The Apocalypse Codex (326 pp.) - 56% Book #4 in Stross's Laundry Files series. Full of #SciFi, #LovecraftianHorror and #BureaucraticHumor.

Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove (337 pp.) - 41% A heartwarming #ContemporaryFiction story about this fella called Ove and his life.

Jon Ippolito & Richard Rinehart, Re-collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory (312 pp.) - 68% I'm taking this class on #DigitalPreservation and this is our textbook. We're actually just about done with the assigned reading from it, but I may hang onto it and finish it out.

The Arbinger Institute, The Outward Mindset (208 pp.) - 53% I'm in a "purple collar" job right now, and this is required reading. Discusses a lot about team dynamics and fostering healthier workplaces.

[indielinguist]

Further progress with some of these reads:

Charles Stross, The Apocalypse Codex (326 pp.) - 83%

Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove (337 pp.) - 47%

Also added another book to my current reads pile:

Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose (569 pp.) - 26% I had started reading this book, but found myself drawn to other books instead. Picking it up again to try and finish it.

[indielinguist]

Finished Charles Stross's The Apocalypse Codex! Next read in The Laundry Files series: A Conventional Boy. I've put in an ILL request at my local library for it. Should arrive in the next week or so.

Been chipping away slowly at A Man Called Ove (50%) and Angle of Repose (29%), but they're much slower-paced...

[indielinguist]

Starting reading A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross! #ScienceFiction #EldritchHorror #BureaucraticHumor

Also started reading the comic memoir The Joy of Snacking by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell on Comics Plus. I've read 32% of it so far. #Humor #Food #ComicBook

I've read 52% of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and 36% of Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.

I've dropped Re-collection: Art, New Media & Social Memory by Jon Ippolito & Richard Rinehart. Finished the reading that was assigned for class, and I don't think I'm gonna finish reading the rest.

[indielinguist]

Finished Charles Stross's A Conventional Boy! Next read in The Laundry Files series: The Rhesus Chart. Gotta email my local library to request it.

Been chipping away at Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (41%) and The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute (65%).

I returned Re-collection: Art, New Media & Social Memory by Jon Ippolito & Richard Rinehart back to the university library. If I end up needing to get it again, I know where to find it.

I dropped The Joy of Snacking by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell. Just wasn't what I was looking for or what I thought it was gonna be. So now I've switched to the historical fiction graphic novel Anno Domini 1000 by Thomas Gilbert.