Today I spent hours at work surfing videos of The Daily Show and Colbert Report and the Tyra Banks Show. It was a good time. And I got paid! Also, technically, I was actually doing work.

I’m supposed to be teaching a class about how to offer good customer service to teens in the library when you aren’t all that comfortable around teens. In my mind, this class should just consist of me saying: Suck it up. You don’t have to like teens to interact with them. Sadly, I do not think that is what my supervisor is looking for.

So I’m using research from Frontline and articles about the teen brain and other dry things like that. But I want to have at least one entertaining clip to show the class. Frontline is smart but it is also BORING. It makes me want to sleep.

I was unable to unearth any exciting or relevant clips today. My next plan is to try Oprah. Sigh. But at least she’s a step up from Frontline. Usually.

Man. My job is simultaneously awesome and kind of ridiculous. I approve.

Dear people on MTV Cribs:

Why don't any of you use your bookshelves for books? Put some books in your house so you don't give me an ulcer. No one needs that many framed photos and knick knacks and awards displayed. They're BORING. And if you have more than 4 bedrooms in your house then you probably don't have enough awards to fill all the shelves anyway. In fact, I know you don't have enough stuff to fill them because they're mostly empty. Some of us could actually put those shelves to good use, you know, and everytime I have to watch another wall full of shelves surrounding a tv the size of a small country it makes me SUPER JEALOUS. Of your shelf-space, not the tv. Just thought you should know.

love, me

ps. Seriously, buy some books, so I can stop hating you all. And no, magazines on the coffee table don't count. Jeez.

I tried another new church this past Sunday, because I have yet to find one that has mass at a time convenient to me, in English, with a priest I like, and a nice sized congregation. I am picky. I'll only go to church if I'm enjoying myself, otherwise, why bother?

The church I tried before this last one seemed alright when I visited before mass, but the service... um. It was in November, before election day, and the whole service was about abortion and voting against choice and blahblahblah moralizing cakes. Which is fine, I suppose, if that's your thing, but I don't like my church telling me how to vote. I don't think it's any of their business, and I don't like them implying I am a horrible person if I don't agree with their stance on abortion. I know, I know. It's the Catholic church, what was I expecting? I'm not sure, really. Perhaps if I were comfortable at the church already it wouldn't have irritated me so much. But it did, and I am still looking for a new church where I don't have irksome feelings toward the priest.

So this new church. I really liked the church, it's super close, and the congregation size was nice. Not too big, not too sparse. But, apparently, I suck at choosing a day to visit, because this mass was all about FOCA. They talked about what it was, there was a discussion of anti-abortion principles during the sermon, and they handed out post cards to be signed and mailed to senators and representatives talking about why FOCA shouldn't pass. AHAHAHaaaaa! I suck.

But it was interesting, in that I didn't get the same vibe of irritation I got at the other church. I didn't take a post card when they were passed around, and I wasn't the only one. Also, the sermon wasn't so much about abortion as about the sanctity of new life, which is something that I don't have a problem respecting. I think the focus was less on abortion is evil and more on life is sacred, which feels, to me at any rate, like something a church can preach about without sounding cranky and dictatorial.

More importantly though (and really, why I'm posting at all), there were people who took those cards and mailed them in. I knew about FOCA before Sunday, but it's possible other people haven't really heard much about it. Check it: the actual text. And if that's a bit dense for you, try this: which sums things up a little more simply.

Then, once you've briefied yourself a bit, why don't youcounter some of those postcards? And maybe pass it on to a friend. Or a parent. Mom wrote a letter after mass, in favor of FOCA.

The President just repealed the the Global Gag Rule (which I've written about before, ARGH), so we've got reason to celebrate. Let's see if we can't take a few more steps forward.

Here's an excellent time waster.

1. Go to www.photobucket.com (don't sign in).
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box.
3. Use only the first page.
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.
( Whee! )

I don't know. While I was watching it I was all, "This is a good movie. Like, a really good movie. (pause) I'm bored." Then I was scared. There was screaming. Not on my part, but on much of the theatre's part. Sometimes I scream in movies, but not this one. I didn't like it. But it was a good movie. And I'm still thinking about it, so there's that. There were a few very memorable and extremely funny lines, the acting was pretty fabulous, and I enjoyed the special effect creations (there! I avoided being spoilery!). Having acknowledged all these things, I still didn't like it. I really was bored a lot of the time, and part of me thinks that's what makes it such an interesting and good movie. But the rest of me didn't spend $11 to be BORED. GEEZ. Someone else should see this so I can talk with you about it. Rose liked it, so it could just be me having stupid taste in movies or something. I can't really tell.

I left The Amulet of Samarkand somewhere in the GSLIS offices before Thanksgiving, and I don't think I'm going to get it back. I'm very sad about this. Now I have to actually pay for a copy. Speaking of books, if I were rich I'd totally buy a Kindle. At first I was all electronic book in the what now? Because paper is awesome and books are awesome and pencil marks scattered over pages and dogears and that deliciously bookish scent are all awesome, so who needs a computerized book? Except then I realized that it doesn't have to replace my real books, and I'm really curious about this computerized paper with electronic ink or whatever it is. And there's the whole idea of one tiny little package housing an entire library you can haul around with you. Books, while fabulous, are sort of heavy. Well, not individually so much, but try carrying ten or twelve novels around on a daily basis. Which, who does that you ask? ME. Lately at least. What with the ridiculous quantity of reading I've been struggling with for classes lately. And I keep dropping books because I only have two hands. I am intrigued by this thing. I think they should give me one for free. I could totally be their spokesperson. Call me, Amazon!

There is a mosquito hiding somewhere in my apartment, and it keeps biting me. Argh! It's nearly December! I should not have bug bites. Also, why does it keep biting my fingers and forearms? It hurts to scratch the bites because my fingers, like most fingers, are all bone.

I'm working on a paper about possible fandom archives, and I am so out of my depth. Archives are confusing things. Note to self: don't get a job as an archivist.

Sweet fancy sassafrass. I graduate in just about three weeks. YAY!

Why does Keyspan Energy think that I have a $451 credit with them? I haven't written them a check since April, when I paid them twice for the same bill. They keep sending me bills that say I'm all paid up and don't owe anything, which sort of made sense 'cause we really didn't use our stove much this summer and the bill we paid twice was a big one. But there's no way I gave them $451 at any point. Ever. Our bills are usually $60 or so. I was going to call them to find out what's going on, but now I'm afraid they'll straighten it out and I'll owe them $451 or something. Oh, dear.

I gave some money to kids through Donors Choose and lots of other people gave money too and then there was a dancing tomato. And I got to meet Sars. And it was AWESOME. No, really. I've been reading tomatonation.com for six years? Seven? And I have the biggest hero worship thing going on with her writing. I lurrrrve her. From afar, of course. Because I am not a stalker. Um. Mostly. Anyhoo, I was sort of squeeful inside and trying very hard not to come across as a stalker and also trying not to faint and this was the best month ever. Just because. Also she was very nice. When my "camera" (known in some places as a "phone") failed to actually take a picture she totally didn't point and laugh. She just let me take another one.

Why is my life so amazing? (/invader zim)



In other news, Rose bought me the new Boondocks collection and heeeeee! Oh, I just love McGruder. And granddad. Go read some comics. Distract yourself from the ongoing writer's strike. Or don't distract yourself. Watch a little movie all about it. Read a blog entry. Maybe more than one. Or you could sign the petition. Man. I will cry sad, sad, sad (and probably pretend) tears if Supernatural ends up canceled before there's a resolution to the strike.


I really don't want to finish my annotated bibliography for History of Children's Literature. Because: I hate children. And their literature.

*cough*

Have some cheese:

in the form of faux 80s music: pop! goes my heart

and also: way back into love

Please to enjoy.

For many reasons, but yesterday, specifically, it's because she took me away from our thesis and whisked me off to Carnegie Hall and J.K. Rowling. It was totally like a Cinderella story but COOLER. Because J.K. is 9 bazillion times more awesome than any prince in the history of ever. I've never been to Carnegie (it's very pretty. and steep.), so there was that. And then, you know, Rowling read her favourite bit of book 7 (when Ron came back and the whole angry Hermione and splinched fingernails and oh!deluminator and could she have picked a better part? Eeeee!) and answered questions and was generally charming and snarky and other good things. I want to carry her around in my pocket. Also, the interwebs are alight with Dumbledore is gay excitement. But. That totally wasn't my favorite question (although, the girl who asked about Dumbledore and love was from Colorado, so yay!), because there was a little girl who came up to ask about Aberforth's inappropriate charms used on goats. Namely, what types of charms might those be? And then Jody and I almost laughed ourselves out of the very steep balcony to our deaths. And Rowling was all "um. gee. how old are you?" and she was 8 and so "my answer to you is that they were general spells for goat care. To keep their horns extra curly and keep them clean. Which really works on two levels, I suppose" or something like that. And then Jody and I did fall out of the balcony with laughing and we died and my ghost is writing this. That last part might be a lie. But her answer is not! Hee!

Read Jody's entry about last night too. And now I must away to work and then thesis group to make up for missing yesterday but it is ALL WORTH IT. Because I am still all squeeful and joyous inside and this is going to keep me sane for a very long time.





Not very seekrit note to Jody: thank you! and please to be seeing the subject line.

You guys, Target is sold out of their librarian costume! Now what am I going to wear for Halloween?

In related news, people disturb me. Deeply. I mean, sold out? Of that? It makes me die a little bit inside.

Also, didn't Target see the Incredibles? Just say no to capes!

And while we're on the subject of librarians, who wants to buy me this shirt? No takers? Fair enough. How about this magnet instead? Oh, books. Is there anything you can't do?





Don't answer that.

but. Dude. They just had Claire say that libraries are becoming "increasingly obsolete" in the digital age. To which I say: You go to hell, Heroes! You go to hell and you die!

Also. Tivo totally was evil and spazzed and the cable cut out and I missed the first twenty minutes of tonight's episode. NOT COOL. I have no idea what's going on. Geez.

In more exciting news, Star Trek: http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/10/12/scotty-sulu-casted-for-star-trek-movie/ Eeeeee! I am so thrilled with their casting. Quinto, Pegg, and Cho in the same movie? I don't really know much about Star Trek, but I think this might be my favourite cast ever. Whee!

I just saw a commercial advertising 40 acre ranches for sale in Wyoming at just $1795 an acre. They seemed very excited about it all. There was much video with horses and people in cowboy hats. I just... hee! It's sort of like when I see those commercials for the vet school in Denver on tv out here. Commercials are fun. The end.

to Columbia Teacher's College to look at old children's books. I know! Field trips = good times for all. Columbia's library is fabulous, by the by. In that high tech, comfy ergonomic chairs, flattering lighting, and cushy flooring sort of way. Not that I've ever had the slightest issue with my college education, but hanging around this library sort of emphasized the bargain nature of my schooling. Because Columbia? Is chock full of Aeron chairs, people. AERONS. I mean. Geez. The cheapest listed price for those things is $913. A chair. Yeah. And they're totally worth it. I have coveted an Aeron for ages, even though I really have no use for an officey chair. Then I met my class in the library and got to spend a whole day sitting in one. Oh, life. Plus I got to spend a couple hours futzing around with books published in the 18th and 19th centuries. Yesterday was just made of awesomeness.

Then! We went bowling. Cosmic bowling, at that. I am such a weakling. My wrist gave up the ghost halfway through the first game. Leading to a string of gutterballs and one memorable moment when I let the ball slip off my hand and sent it backwards. Yeah. And they just don't have anything lighter than 8 lbs at bowling alleys. The 7 year old moppets next to us probably had more musculature than I do. But it was fun. Bowling shoes are fun. Mine had neon yellow laces.

School is killing me this semester. Dude. I haven't updated in so long. It's sad. *tear* And, clearly, I haven't got anything exciting to update with, but whatever. Have a picture ( of a police car crashing through a helicopter. )
Few things are quite as enjoyable as exploding stuff.

I tried to watch Sucker Free Countdown today, and I recognized exactly one artist. Out of, you know, a lot. So I gave up and watched Decorating Cents. I am old. And geezerly. But occasionally I find songs that I really love, and they can be relatively current, like this Fall Out Boy song. I know, I know. Fall Out Boy. Oi. But it's so good! I have no idea what it's supposed to be about, and I don't want to know because as far as I'm concerned it's all about language and socialization. Which, I'm sure, it's not. But I like my little delusion, and it makes the song very entertaining. And vaguely educational! In my head.

Also! Very exciting. I just found my old Eve 6 cd, which reminds me of freshman year of college. With the prison beds and brick walls and lack of a car. Yeah, Superhero Girl is still one of my favorite songs ever. Oh college.

And because I'm putting off my homework, still, some more, have some of my favourite old music too. Like the always fabulous Leslie Gore. Also, this is clearly my song. Clearly.

Hey! Another episode of Decorating Cents is on. Score!

It's no longer refusing to function for me. And it only took... well. Let's not dwell on the negative. So I can post the Alice picture! ( Yay! )

I saw Transformers again, and it only increased in awesomeness. I just... it looks so exactly perfect when they change from vehicle to robot. With the driving and the speeding and then the Zip!Snap!Fwing! izRobot! Like Transformers actually exist, and Hollywood has always known about them, and someone managed to coax them to participate in this movie by telling them everyone would just think they were really great special effects. I think that's completely feasible. It is! Shut up. Then I saw the Simpsons, which was fun. Plus we smuggled in strawberry frosted donuts with sprinkles, which made the whole experience so much better. Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does... I've had that stuck in my head for too long. It needs to move on to someone else's head.

Now I should really work on my homework some more. If you were a library patron, would you find instant messaging reference services (like where you can im a librarian to ask them questions or for help with homework or whatever) more useful/helpful/enjoyable than a cafe located within the library? These are the questions I should be dealing with. Sigh.

So the Hanes commercial with Cuba Gooding and Michael Jordan is the most adorable thing I've seen in weeks. Hugging! And snuggling! Hee! Good times.

So who else has finished Deathly Hallows? I will not be spoilery, but I must say I was quite pleased with it. And I may have cried. Twice. In public. Maybe. *shifty eyes*

Geez. Summer makes me stupid. I have nothing exciting to post. I can't even manage to dredge up a rant about Hillary Clinton's creepy eye bags and too matchy lipstick from the debate the other night.

My new phone is made of awesome. But I am too technologically inept to have a firm grasp on how to use it properly. I blame the aforementioned summer slothiness. Slothliness. Slothyness? No. Slothiness looks best.

I went to the Society of Illustrators museum place today. There was a fantastic watercolor of Alice and the Cheshire cat, and I snuck (yes, should be sneaked, but no) a photo. Which I would post, but photobucket is being a brat. Man. Tomorrow then.

I know! Who would have guessed it would be hot in July? You're shocked, right?

Whatever, the real point of this post? Cat macros. Because when you haven't posted for a long time the first thing you should update with is someone else's picture of a cat ( like so. )


I saw Transformers and it was full on awesomesauce in movie form. I practically fell apart in spasms of fangirly joy when we first saw their car forms. I loves me some Bumblebee as a Camaro. He's just so wee and adorable and yellow. I think I have a crush on an imaginary robot. Perhaps it's the summer weather. Or perhaps Bumblebee is just hot. Yes. I choose option two.

Wow. This post is so exciting. Clearly I should post such riveting entries more often. *cough*







seekrit note to shreya: I really could have used a deluxe bubble today. Make me one. Now.

My nanny child and I watched 8 hours of the first season of Gilmore Girls today. That's a lot of tv just to sit and watch and not move. Furthermore, sometimes this show is so sweet my teeth tingle like they're growing cavities. Plus, sitting on a couch for 8 hours made me feel like my brain was dripping out my ears. Summertime is awesome, yo.

And so. I really like this show, and I wondered why I didn't watch it while it was airing in the first place. But then I remembered. There was this girl in college, sophomore year. I had French class with her. She was nice enough, and we studied together and stuff. She talked about god an awful lot, and at first I didn't even really notice. I mean, I've got an aunt an uncle who are seventh day adventists, they talk about god all the time. I'm sort of used to it. But eventually it got... odd. I don't know. Conversations with her were suddenly all Christian all the time and there was praying and she kept asking me to go to church with her, despite my protestations that I'm, you know, Catholic and had my own church thanks. Not that I went to church regularly in Wyoming, but whatever. If I was going to get my butt out of bed early on a Sunday I'd do it for my own reasons. And my crafty lies about going to the Newman Center regularly totally weren't a good defense either. Eventually I got sick of her asking and agreed to go with her and her boyfriend one day. There are many reasons I will never be a born again Christian, and the worship service itself is up near the top of the list. Oi. Anyway. Point. She loved Gilmore Girls. Loved it with a passion. Her entire life was Jesus and Lorelai. This, from a girl who refused to listen to secular music because it was vulgar. And she included Enya in secular music. Enya! Vulgar! Enya is many things. Vulgar? Not so much. She actually told me once that she couldn't listen to Enya sing in Latin because maybe she was chanting inappropriate stuff. Dude. It's Latin. It can't be inappropriate. So. Ever since sophomore year of college I have had an extreme aversion to even the idea of the Gilmore Girls. Because that chick seriously made my skin crawl. And thus anything she enjoyed just had to be tainted. But it's not. And now I have one more reason to dislike her. Stupid girl making me miss out on witty banter and cute Lauren Graham.

Tomorrow I'm taking nanny kid and her friend to Six Flags. I hate roller coasters. They love them. I'm totally going to be the lamest chaperone ever. Should I bring a book? What did my mom do when we went to amusement parks when I was younger? I honestly can't remember. I hate tomorrow.

I saw a small segment of Unwrapped tonight where they discussed the manufacture of Sterno. The factory guy said that the FDA mandates the inclusion of some chemical that is the bitterest taste known to man so people won't eat the Sterno. As soon as he said that I had an uncontrollable urge to go buy some Sterno and stick my finger in to taste it. That's sick and wrong, right? Will I die if I try something like that? Because I'm really curious now. Not that I like bitter things, but. Um. I don't know. It looks so shiny and bright. I want to taste the bitter.

I still hate tomorrow.






ps. hey new york people, I am missing you. I am not missing the humidity. My hair is remarkably non-frizzy. It's a good time.

when did that happen? I'm babysitting or nannying or whatever you call it when you're responsible for four kids between the ages of 11 and 14. And there was a purple person on the tv and I said that he looked like a purple smurf. And then? They all asked me what a smurf was. So I googled some smurfy images, and they still had no idea what I was talking about. Although I did find this picture which is extremely disturbing. Like, skin crawlingly so.

In better news? I totally got three A+ grades on my transcript this semester. And an incomplete, but yes. I win at life! Mostly.

Disney channel makes me feel old. And we just "watched" some show called Ned's High School Tips. Or something. And they had this abhorrent segment where the main female character was teaching a bunch of girls how to find a boyfriend. Her advice was all, guys like sports so learn how to play them, and guys like cars so study cars, and if you want to get with guys don't act too smart. Oh dear god. And it wasn't even trying to be ironic. What decade is this again?

But then we watched the Even Stevens movie. Oh, killer squirrel of doom, how I love thee! Also, the chick who plays Ren or Wren or whatever her name was is funny. Hey! Boy Meets World is on now! Yay!