Tooling around the internet looking for ideas for wedding ring engravings, I found this site which offers really cheap wedding rings. I thought I'd glance through the gold options, just to see different styles, and discovered that now you can have the Precious as a standard wedding band option.

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Because nothing says love like the root of all evil, the attempted conquering of mankind, and eternal darkness and misery. And enslaving hobbits. It's good to know what marriage means to you.

Alert! On Star Trek, librarians used laser guns to shoot unsavory patrons. Thank you, Unshelved.

knit1, at 3823 N. Lincoln, has apparently opened. The owner's name is Karen. I haven't been there yet, so if you have news to report of its yarn goodness, please e-mail me!

Also, Rachel of The Needle Shop e-mailed me, and mentioned that she teaches all kinds of classes in needlework at her place in Bucktown. Sounds like fun!

Librarians Rule the World (Song #0133). 'Nuff said. [via LISNews]

I know not everyone likes the new Rex Libris, Head Librarian comic, but the parts I read online were actually pretty funny. I like the spare art and the ridiculous, long-winded exposition, too. Some complained it's too stereotypical, but I like to think it's intentional irony. [via LISNews]

It's hard not to enjoy an essay that favorably compares browsing the library stacks to using the Force.

Obviously there are multiple ways of searching for information.
Computers are helpful, but the stacks cultivate intuitive bookish
instincts. Those instincts may not be quantifiable, but they produce
discoveries that the rational structure of electronic databases almost
inevitably preclude. It's like in Star Wars when the ghost of Obi-Wan
Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker to turn off his computerized targeting
system and "use the Force" instead.

From Stacks' Appeal, by Thomas H. Benton, in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Subscription required, unfortunately.

An homage to Google, set to the tune of My Girl; not very work-safe, but hilarious. [via LISNews]

Ok, I admit it, I cried at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Yea, though she tugs on my heartstrings, I still resent J.K. Rowling for her assorted imperfections as a writer. Ah well. If you have finished the novel, and need a giggle to cheer you up, check out the Guardian's Alternative Potter contest.

Read the--no spoilers here--VERY SIGNIFICANT ENDING rewritten in the style of famous authors from Chaucer to the depression-inducing Dan Brown. I shudder to even speak his name. Rowling is Shakespeare compared to that clown. [via LISNews]

Need a reference fix? Pop over to the Reference Book of the Day, with informative blurbs on highlights of your reference collection, from Rory Litwin of Library Juice fame.