Checking out for a bit

Just wanted to note that posts will be sporadic for a bit while I trot off to a couple of conferences. Tomorrow morning, at some ridiculous hour, I'll fly to Reno for the Treasure Mountain Research Retreat, followed by the American Association of School Librarians national conference. [*skips the predictable jokes about school librarians in casino-land...*] Then next week I'll drive down the road to Springfield for the Illinois School Library Media Association conference.

Still prepping for the seminar I'm giving at that last one. I've spent more time than I really planned exploring tween-ish virtual worlds and found this pretty searing critique of Zwinktopia. Lots of dress-up, but in a hyper-consumerish, semi-sexualized way. Makes me nostalgic for paper dolls, even big-eyed ones.