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I am occasionally… well… silly? And I don’t mind saying so, yes I am sure there are more pertinent words. Sometimes my mind doesn’t make word associations, or I can’t think of the word that I want. Luckily I work and live in places where I can look things up constantly. In fact, that is about 50% of my job.
So, I was out with family last night after my dad’s choir performance and the boys were talking about Starcraft. That is a foreign language to me (I seriously didn’t know most of the nouns and verbs they were using). My sister and I just found other things to talk about, between throwing napkins at them, until I brought up the subject of BFD. I was explaining to her about why I called the place where my son lives that acronym and she said “yeah, or you could mean BFD.” I was lost, and she explained and I was flabbergasted.
You all probably thought of that right away and thought “she sure is going a long way to make this stuff up.” But really, honestly in all the years I’ve been blogging never thought of Big F*ing Deal. Never did. Until now. My reference is ruined. I will have to think of a new moniker. Any ideas? Something that won’t give the actual place away?
What am I reading? Well, my sound recording of the newest Bloody Jack book has let me down. Somehow it ended at the end of chapter 53 (yes, there are a lot of chapters) and it wasn’t over yet. I have to find out what happened to my missing chapters. However, I have heard enough to be cautionary to younger readers. These books get a bit promiscuous. This one has a whole ship of prostitutes and the captain has some interesting views. I still love it, but will be more careful about recommending the series to young readers.
Nothing to Envy is still holding my interest. It takes me longer to read real adult books, but I am 2/3′s of the way through, so will have a report for you soon.
I am rewatching rab ne bana di Jodi. It is the first real bollywood movie I saw after Slumdog Millionaire. I forgot how much I liked it. The dream dance sequence is sublime. Forgive the ad.
I have really loved my free time lately. When I am not at work, I am running at Greenlake with a friend, reading or spending time with friends and family. I know that isn’t mind blowing, but in recent times I have gotten into a rut where too much time is spent in front of the computer, surfing the internet, reading blogs and checking facebook. It is amazing how much time you can spend doing these things and before you know it, you are up an hour past bedtime or it is time to catch the bus.
Don’t get me wrong, I still spend time on the computer but I have definitely changed my priorities. I make plans with friends to make sure I get ready and leave the house. My friends don’t mind that I am using them–they are incentive rather than excuses anyway, and it means I get to see them more. I tried being motivated on my own on Monday, but got caught up in making my own ringtone using Audacity (tutorial here). I barely caught my bus to work.
So less internet at home. And less at work too, actually. I used to do a lot of professional reading (cough) at work on the net in my down time, but now I don’t have any down time–and if I do, then I should really be checking my task list because there is definitely something I should be doing. I like being busy, but I worry about missing or forgetting something (see previous post).
Today is the first day of computer classes. It should be winding down about now, actually. I hope that everything is going smoothly. I had my volunteers help me set up the room and computers yesterday and aside from needing some more power strips and an extension cord, it was perfect. Got my fingers crossed.
Still Reading: The Passage. Have I mentioned it is over 700 pages? Probably a few times. I am about halfway done, still loving it. It is definitely futuristic, rather than alternative universe. The last recorded date I have seen is 2016, but know that is at least 80 years in the past at the point where I am reading. Amy (cute little girl that cannot die) is back and there is a main character named Peter who met her in an abandoned mall. I am looking forward to getting to know them both better.
Home life has been slow and peaceful. The Mister’s dad and step-mom came to town and we tried out Smokin’ Pete’s bbq. It is so much better than Gabriel’s Fire! All of the meats and sides were scrumptious. A common complaint of mine…the cornbread was really dry. I love good cornbread, but don’t make it at home because it is so bad for you. The bbq sauces didn’t rock my world, either, but I often find that I don’t care for bbq places bbq sauce. Probably a product of eating the over sugared version from the store for so many years.
I had a good friend over on Wednesday. I was a bit hyper from it being my last night at my small branch and after a couple of gin/sage/grapefruit martinis I totally lost track of the conversation. I keep thinking back on it and wondering what her response was to that question I asked her. Did I ask her about that? Where the heck was my brain? Ah well, we are catching up again this week and I can just ask her all over again. Stress tends to make me forget things.
Libraryland: I spent half the day yesterday at iYouth, a small conference put on by a student group at the iSchool at the University of Washington. I shared my panel with a school librarian turned PhD student, who will be a regular at the branch I am transferring to next week. She started an after school gaming club at the boys school she was head librarian at in New Orleans. It sounds like an amazing success–sometimes getting kids into the library is what it is all about. My part was about having a teen blog at your library.
My part went well and everyone asked really good questions. I didn’t get nervous, even with several of my colleagues in the audience. One of my coworkers was there and I called on her to help me with some of the questions, for a different perspective. I attended her panel on zines and I was able to lend her a hand as well. I have a small donation based zine collection at my bigger branch, which I will be leaving behind. There are so many things I will be sad to leave. In some ways, my new collection will be a challenge because of its size, but there really isn’t anything unique about it, and the need really isn’t there to make it so.
What am I watching/reading? I just finished up Torchwood season 2 and I have already seen the last season/mini series so I am done until Doctor Who shows up. We watched Princess Mononoke last night and I was surprised by the stars in the cast–Mini Driver, Gillian Anderson, Claire Danes and Billy Bob Thornton? I hadn’t seen it in years. We also watched I Love You, Man which was ok, but in great need of a final edit. I am finishing up Columbine (due in 3 days!) and have two audio books that I am looking forward to: Marcelo in the Real World (up for all kinds of awards) and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (by the same publisher as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). The first is on CD and the second is an audio download from the library that I put on my iPod shuffle that has been pretty much been taken over for that purpose. I love that service.
This week has been great, but it was seriously killing me.
My internet class went well, even if there were only 3 people there. They loved that I stopped and asked if they were following ok and that I answered their questions. Too much time with the grandkids whipping through the tutorial? Maybe.
The comics program was also a hit. 85 people showed up! Too many, actually. And it was a little too long. Everyone loved the workshop and the contest but 3.5 hours was pushing it and many of the attendee’s didn’t stay for the contest. We still had a good time and I had a wonderful volunteer show up from Central. I had no idea she was coming, so it was like a gift from the gods. She helped steer people to seats, talked to the kids and took pictures. If she hadn’t been there, my feet would have hurt even worse than they did. And they did, let me tell you.
Later that night we went to a librarian meet up where the choices were rollerskating and bowling. I had to go with the bowling after the marathon on my feet earlier. Even that was pushing it and I only bowled one round. My Mister had dislocated a finger a while back, so he just watched, but the Offspring got 2 rounds in before we lost the lane to disco bowling, or whatever they call it these days. They turned down the lights, turned on the strobe and started pumping the beats. It was wild. Offspring would have loved to stay (there were lots of cute girls there), but I needed to get to bed. Old lady, that’s me.
I have been very happy to have a couple of days off, to sleep late and rejuvenate. I think I am ready to go back and face the mound of work I have to do before I move branches. I had a crash and burn in communication before I left. It gave me a bad taste and made me feel like my fellow librarians might not be helping out as much as we hoped in our new regional plan. It isn’t the bad communicating (on my part) that led to this, just that no one else is commenting on the stuff that is really important. Ohm….I will let my frustration slide by…ohm….I will not let this bother me….it will go away if I give it a few days…. … ..
What am I reading? Well, still Columbine, which is super interesting. I find myself feeling guilty reading about other’s pain and enjoying finding out what happened. I keep expecting some huge surprise, but I don’t suppose there can be one. I’ll let you know.
To tide you over, I will tell you what I’ve been watching. American Son was better than I expected–the story of a marine on leave for 96 hours just before he ships out to Iraq. Really good. (500) Days of Summer, also very good. Tom falls in love with Summer instantly, and she really likes him… as a friend… Trona was weird, but totally worth watching. It reminded me of Never Cry Wolf, but without the wolves. Man figures out he is unhappy and decides to f*** off instead of continuing in his doomed path. Remember, this movie is “less about plot than it is about feeling.”
Another mega post, so if you don’t want to hear about my vacation, skip down to Libraryland.
The trip was wonderful, refreshing and way too quick. Wine tasting was so much fun. We started out at Borra Vineyards and had a tour of the winery before anyone else got there. We all asked a lot of questions and kept Marcus, the vintner, on his toes. We got two bottles there–one of the Field Blend and a 2006 syrah that was very yummy.
We had lunch at Michael David–I finally tried Pazole, which I keep hearing about–and bought 2 bottles of 2007 Sin Zin and a nice sparkling wine that was on special and is no longer available.
Our third stop got derailed by a party that didn’t allow us to get to the front of the tasting line, so we moved on to a strange winery called Saint Jorge. They barely seemed open when we came up, but rushed to meet us at the tasting room. They served some nice breads and cheeses with the wine and they had spanish varietals, which I tend to like. It was overall a good experience and their next verdelho is going to be really good. The one we tasted first and bought was decent, but the raw wine he brought us from the casks was beautiful, crisp and flavorful. That one won’t be bottled until later this year, though. We also got the tempranillo (I was feeling nostalgia for Crave), but when our friends tried to buy some too, suddenly they were out. That is what made the experience so strange.
Later that night we went to a crab feed for Project Ride. We had a great time, ate a lot of crab and shrimp and bid on the silent auction which was more of a raffle. I didn’t care if I won anything, I was just happy to donate to such a fun organization that does so much good. And the company was good too :) The next day we drove to Nevada but we had to hurry home after one night because of some huge winter storms in California the last few days. We still ran into two snow storms, one of which set us back several hours. At least we got to see M&T’s new house, eat dinner with family and meet their cute doggy, which made me glad we made it to Nevada.
Libraryland: Today was back at the grind and all 89 new emails were checked and either dealt with, deleted or added to my task list. I got about half way through weeding the manga at my smaller branch. I hate weeding manga and comics because they are so prolific and popular that weeding for circulation and condition aren’t enough. I practically have to make up reasons to get rid of something. I also started my “what’s up” for that branch for their new librarian. Mostly just deciphered our shelving practices for her so far. One of the emails I dealt with today was setting up meetings with my counterparts, past and future.
The PLA conference is coming up quick. I added my pre-conference registration on last night so now I have to be there by Tuesday. The question is whether to stay until Saturday so that I can hit Portland’s awesome Saturday Market. The conflict is that it is my weekend with my offspring and I hate to put it off. Maybe I can get my Mister to grab him and bring him to Portland? Hmm. Somehow I doubt the transportation would work out. I have to be in Portland on Friday until around 6pm though and all that driving… sigh.
This week I have a beginning internet class to teach and a comics program. Both should be fun and I refuse to think about being nervous in front of all those people. They will be good practice for being a presenter at the iYouth conference at the end of the month. *gulp*
What am I reading? Still Columbine. I am just being slow. I did listen to Bright Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich on audio in the car during our trip and really enjoyed hearing about how we should be more pessimistic in America. I quite liked it and was able to relate it to several things in my life recently as well as events going on around me.
Lots of stuff coming up for life and for work. The Mister and I are taking another vacation next week and this time we are actually going somewhere. We are driving to California to do some wine tasting and visit friends around San Francisco. Other fun things will be done like visiting breweries, going skiing (which I also got to do today!) and seeing my sister’s new house.
But before we do that, I have to host 4 school visits with catalog and database instruction with 7th and 8th grade language arts classes. I am actually looking forward to this–kids are on their best behavior when they come with their teacher, and I know a lot of the students this year since they have been coming into the library to use the computers and play Magic, the Gathering. I had no idea anyone played that anymore! I have been slowly cultivating a relationship with these students since September, whenever I actually work at the branch. I am really sad there won’t be a teen librarian there to continue it, but I am glad that the staff I leave behind will be on the right page.
Well, I don’t want to blather on like I did last time, so I won’t tell you about the Union meeting I went to. Maybe later, maybe not. (and I am tired and listing to one side from skiing)
What am I reading? Hold Still by Nina La Cour. I finished Leviathan on Friday night and stayed up a bit too late doing so. Look here for a cool book trailer and let’s just say that I loved it. Hold Still is quite good so far and does a great job of capturing how a teen might deal with the suicide death of someone close to her.
