Action Librarian

I got to pal around with Geoff Johns on Saturday and it was PRETTY great. He is extremely nice and thoughtful. He takes a lot of pride in his work and it really shows. AND he is the hardest working man in all of the world. He’s constantly writing while also being the Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics, which is an INSANE amount of work. All while also attending cons and promoting things.

I’m so happy that his work is now a part of the Arab American National Museum because he really deserves the recognition for all of his hard work and talent. Also, like I said before, he’s a really nice and thoughtful dude! He brought his parents and 94 year old grandmother to do a tour of the museum and attend his public event. And he gave out comics to all of the kids in his work shop and developed new characters with them. Needless to say, they were over the moon. He’s doing a lot for the Arab American community through his character Simon Baz and he really cares about busting stereotypes while making the character as true to life as possible.

Even though I don’t work at the AANM anymore, I really wanted to attend this event. Connecting Geoff with the museum was something I really felt passionate about and I was getting the ball rolling with Dan from Green Brain before I left. so I really wanted to show my support. Everybody did a great job and it went off without a hitch. It made me kind of sad that I was no longer working there because I missed doing events like that and getting different people involved in the museum.

I think what bummed me out the most was seeing everybody there who didn’t work at the museum but I knew from other projects in conjunction with the AANM library. I got to know a lot of great and interesting people over the years and now I’m far away. While I’ll still support and promote everybody in Dearborn and all of the talented Arab Americans I have gotten to know, I still feel disconnected because I’m no longer fulfilling that AANM Library mission. And if I want the same relationships in my new community, it will take a long time and a lot of work to get there. It’s kind of a daunting feeling though ultimately it’s a pretty exciting prospect.

Even though I was kind of bummed because I felt disconnected, I also feel very happy that I know a lot of awesome people who do cool and amazing things. Even though I’m no longer the AANM Librarian, I still have those great memories and wonderful connections with cool people that I will continue to support even though I’m far away. And I know that I will continue to meet awesome and nice folks who do awesome things!