Oh Schist!

DOG.

2012-02-07T00:25:00.000-08:00

Woof! Woof woof!

Yesterday the neighbor brought this lovely doggie over to spend the night in our garage - she found him outside of town and he just jumped right into her car! They have dogs and cats next door, so no place to put a temporary lodger - thus coming over to ask us.

Well....... let's just say that he didn't spend more than the five seconds it took him to pass through the garage in the garage. The rest of the night he spent here inside, and this morning we bought a collar, leash, bowls, food, etc... looks like he's here to stay! I checked Craigslist, and there were no postings for a big lost black dog like this. I also posted a vague "found" ad. If he has owners that care about him, they'll need to identify him clearly to get him back.

We're tending toward thinking he may have been abandoned - so many military families have to leave the area and can't take their dogs with them, or these days it could be a foreclosure. He had no collar, and is very emaciated. It will take a bit of generous feeding to plump him up - but he'll get there! After spending a day with him, Michael reports that he has never been walked on a leash, and doesn't really get the concept of play. We gave him a bath tonight and he still smells a bit, poor fellow! It's going to take two or three more baths to get rid of his funk.

He's been trained some - he knows sit, and stay. Still a lot of work to do, but he'll get there eventually, even if he is a bit dim.

We've named him Syd, after Syd Barrett. He gets a bit confused thinking Syd is "sit." I posted a "found" listing on Craigslist, and noticed that nobody had reported a lost black dog since Christmas Eve. I suspect nobody will claim him.

The cat is feeling a bit insulted by it all. But getting used to Syd's presence.

I'm on holiday for the next six days. Life is good!

HAHA

2012-02-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

It looks as if my photo links make the photos too big. Oh well. Can't be bothered to change them, life will just have to go on skew-whiff for a bit.

Day off tomorrow - much looking forward to it! We finally have some decent weather, and will probably get out to hike on the bluff. A much needed long walk.

Sunrise, sunset...

2012-02-02T22:31:00.000-08:00

Where I live, we have water. We also have massive oak trees, and colorful skies in the morning and evening. See for yourself - pictures taken at the beginning and end of today.

Things like this remind me why I love where I live, and love my life. Today wasn't the best of days (though not the worst either). Crappy enough to be of note, however.

This morning, it seemed like nearly every library patron was cranky. Not all of them - the homeless guy greeted me right away and told me he saw something he hadn't seen in eight years - a pheasant! I saw one not long ago near the library, so it was probably the same cantankerous fellow. Bird sightings are always good! After that it all went south for a while. Nothing was quite right for some of the patrons, and for one of our regulars it was yet another day of bitch bitch bitch. This would be the patron who's mission in life seems to be pointing out every possible flaw the library has, milking every possible free tidbit from the library (WHY AM I BEING CHARGED FOR MY PRINTING?!!! THERE IS AN INCONSISTENCY THAT ME AND ONLY I HAVE NOTICED ON YOUR WEBSITE AND YOU'RE CHARGING ME FOR PRINTING!!! WHY CAN'T I CONNECT TO WIFI WITH MY KINDLE?!!"

{insert horrific emphysema cough noise here}

Welcome to just one aspect of my morning today.

Did I mention this is the same woman who proudly announced that she had voted no on the library levy? Yes. Charming. My drive to help her is bordering on non-existent. But I will anyhow.

Things did get better though. The meeting room snafu will work out fine. And an 8th grader that sat through my database presentations recently called today for follow-up help.That was the one big thing that really made my day!

And the sky. And the hummingbird visiting our feeder that we put up a couple of days ago. The good far outweighs the bad, always.

Not to mention donuts "comin" to town!

Good stuff!

2012-01-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

One great thing about being married to a Brit is my introduction to some very tasty food. Why people believe British food is bland is beyond me. We recently began ordering food from the British Food Depot - a great source and not horribly expensive, either. We could probably find some of these things in shops off the island, but since we rarely leave these days it makes more sense to buy online. We've made two orders so far...

This all came about because the store we were buying malt vinegar from didn't have any. They had every other type of vinegar you could imagine. But no malt vinegar.

It turned out to be a good thing, because now we're getting all of the other tasty foods too! Why we didn't do this sooner, I don't know. As you can see, our first order was a bit timid - but the second time we ordered we meant business! Ha. I can only imagine what our next order will look like. It will have many more boxes of marrowfat peas, that's for sure!

Michael made pea and ham soup for dinner this weekend, and it was scrumptious. Nothing like split pea and ham soup, I'm told. I'm not a fan of sp&h, and haven't tasted it since I was a kid - or maybe never! It could be that I was disgusted by the look of it as a child that I've never let it pass my lips. I'd probably like it now, especially if Michael made it. But he won't, because he'll be making mushy peas and ham soup instead!

Yum!

Goodbye 2011...

2012-01-01T11:22:00.001-08:00

Well then. That wasn't really too bad - in fact, 2011 was a pretty good year. A few highlights:

Another successful garden!

Good health (mostly)

Two fun trips to the Olympic Peninsula

Work at the library is very fulfilling and challenging too

WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE!!!

We ate a lot of good food, both at home and out

Nolan took up mycology, which means everyone else in the family did too, with mixed results

Clowns

So there you have it. A nice little review of the year, in pictures. Let's hope 2012 is even better!

Saturday Morning at the Library

2011-08-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

The movie you requested, and in fact several of your movie requests have been REJECTED. That's the way it goes, toots.

Printer error message - turn off, turn on. And yes, your print job will come out.

Coworker found some blank "Diplomas" in the donations, and wondered if we'd like them to give to people who take our Book-a-Librarian classes.

Helped patron make reservation for a 2-hour computer, required some rigamaroling.

Helped regular patron look for speech pathologist programs - Eastern Washington University offers an undergraduate program. It was not pleasant when she emphyzema coughed in my ear.

Checked hold queue position for a man who wanted to know if he'd have time to take two other books to read before they came in. Yes (unless he reads REALLY slow).

Speech pathology patron came back - needed help setting up to write reviews through our catalog (new feature with the new system). The book she was going to review: Whites, blacks and racist Democrats : the untold history of race & politics within the Democratic Party from 1792-2009 by Wayne Perryman. Can't wait to read what she's written! (I should also mention that this woman uses the Answers in Genesis website).

Two little boys came to get their "free italian soda" cards stamped. The younger asked if only one person would win the cookie as big as your head. I told him yes, one kid from each library. He made a very strange face, than told me he knew somebody that got their italian soda already. "It was a girl." Then he ran off.

Headphones checkout

Another check for hold queue positions.

"Can you tell if this DVD is in Korean or another language?"

Nook eReaders - showed where to access ebooks on our website

Passive aggressive lady needs help getting photos onto Craigslist. Other staff member accidentally called me Jane when he pointed her in my direction. She actually said, "my heart fell, because Jane is the only one I don't like." WOW. Thanks for sharing that bit of information...

Same patron couldn't log into the computer - somebody else had it booked but fortunately they didn't show up and she was able to log in. She said she booked it by phone this morning, for 11:40 (but my records showed somebody totally different had it booked...). I'm glad it worked out because she can get REALLY pissy.

"Can I use this computer over here to check email?"

Time to help upload photos. This woman is maddening! Wrote down steps for her to save to flashdrive from email, then upload to craigslist. Her friend (the speech pathology woman) had printed out information for her that suggested uploading photos to flickr or picassa first, then using the html. WAY TOO COMPLICATED for this woman! She says "that's a cute skirt" [DON'T TOUCH ME!!! Gah!]

"I can't get this map to print, it's too big." (I had to do it from my computer, where I can be more tricksy with jpg images)

[Why am I still on the routing list for Billboard magazine? I thought I changed that months ago - it's not about music, it's about the industry sucking the musicians dry. I hate it! And man, that sub sure has a cackle laugh]

My favorite genealogy patron needed help with the new Yahoo email interface.

Time to actually upload the photos to Craigslist- I ended up doing it for her. Typical.

Afternoon librarian is stuck in construction traffic and will be late.

Favorite genealogy patron tells me about the "badger game" which is somethng criminals did to extort money from people

Phone call - need email for the KOMO 4 consumer reporter.

Summer Reading finisher

Afternoon librarian made it on time!

Lunchtime!!!

Hello and a handbasket!

2011-08-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't that the saying - we're all going to hell in a handbasket?

Nice one, eh?

People's taste in yard decor never ceases to amaze me.

But that's not what I was planning to talk about. I'm not sure where I'm going here tonight. So I'll just RUN with it!

Today was my third anniversary with the most wonderful Michael Dustdevil - creative genius, both musically and epicuriously - he takes much better care of me than I deserve. I grow the food, and he cooks it! It's a perfect partnership in every way.

I love him so very much.

Of course, being madly in love with your spouse doesn't really fall into the category of "going to hell in a handbasket."

I think that has more to do with the world in general. I've been too busy to pay close attention to the debt "deal" and that's probably a good thing - I'd be so pissed off I was really paying close attention. If I was paying attention, I wouldn't say "paying attention" so many times in two sentences! Sheesh!

Have another margarita, why don't you, silly girl?!! Only I don't drink margaritas every day. Probably a good thing.

Ignorance is bliss. I love my husband so much. I love my job. I have wonderful friends, both new and old, near and far, in person and online. You're all wonderful.

Thank you.

And now... something completely disturbing, because what else would you expect from me?

Polish Cauliflower and Sausage Soup

2011-07-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Now that we have all that cauliflower, we need to do something with it! Fortunately Michael has several great recipes tucked away in his genius mind - here's one of our favorites.

Ingredients

One head cauliflower
Two carrots
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (homemade is best)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound kielbasa, roughly chopped
3 Tbs butter
1/3 cup flour
Salt & pepper to taste
Cheese - as much as you see fit (Tillamook medium cheddar is our choice)

The recipe, as dictated by Michael:

Head of cauliflower, cut into florets
Two carrots, thinly sliced

In a saucepan, with 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock (preferably homemade); cover and simmer until tender.

Lightly blend and set aside.

In same saucepan, brown one chopped onion, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and about a pound of kielbasa (roughly chopped)

When browned, add 3 Tbs butter, 1/3 cup flour, salt & pepper to taste - mix well and cook for about a minute, remove from heat and slowly stir in 2 1/2 cups of milk

Heat until it thickens and is bubbly, on medium high - stirring continuously - simmer for two minutes

Add as much cheese as you see fit (we use Tillamook medium cheddar)

Over medium heat, add cauliflower carrot mixture and heat for ~5 minutes

Serve with buttered and salted baguette slices for mopping up the soup!

ENJOY!

Google+, giant veggies, and an amazing kid...

2011-07-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

So. Google+ is live and it seems that everyone is stampeding over there to give it a try. That includes me. The jury hasn't rested yet, but I am leaning in a pretty positive direction. With a few more improvements, I can see moving most of my social network operations in that direction. If only they'd allow html in posts and comments! PLEASE!!!!!!! I'm begging you, great Google gurus!

A couple of things I've noticed already:

You can edit your posts! (hey now, there's a concept!)
There doesn't seem to be a limit on how long your post is (hey now, there's a concept!)

That's a couple, right? What's missing - the ability to use html in posts and comments. That's the biggest thing missing from most of the social sites. What if I want to embed a video or photo as part of my comment? Oh sorry, you can only post a link... the visual impact is lost because people have to visit another page to see it. There is definitely potential...

And on to giant veggies... and giant teen boys. I look at this picture, and Nolan looks even more grown up than ever - is that possible?!!! Look at that face - he's not a little kid anymore! When did this happen? He'll be 17 in a couple of weeks, and a senior next year in school. It's been a damn fine ride with this kid - I couldn't have asked for a better parenting experience with him. I'm so proud of the young man he's become, despite the constant motherly worry when he's out there in the wilds (like tonight... camping at Mount Baker and split boarding tomorrow). It's good that he has healthy interests!

What a cute little guy he was!

Oh yeah - back to the veggies. They're growing like mad this year! I took a few risks and put starts out when the weather seemed a bit dodgy - cold and rainy. It seems to have really worked out! We're getting tonnes of broccoli, and the first head of cauliflower was perfect. PERFECT.

That's no keychain swiss army knife, nosiree! This first lovely head of cauliflower was turned into the most scrumptious cauli-cheese-sausage soup ever.

Time to go digest.

All that is lost...

2011-07-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

Can eventually be found - or so they say.

Today, I lost 68GB of my music collection when my external hard drive died during transfer to a new drive. Only 11GB was saved. I could be depressed, heartbroken, or despondent! But no. I'm am just annoyed. Annoyed that it happened in the summer, and not the winter when I have more time to futz around with it. Annoyed that I have to go through everything and figure out what made it and what didn't. Annoyed that it will take time away from other things that are more important!

But really, it's not that bad. I'll be able to clear out the crap I don't really want, and add plenty more new music. It's one of those freeing moments...

It's a pain, but life will go on.

Any suggestions for music I should try?

Yay!

2011-06-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Yay! Yay! Yay!

I'm not sure why I'm shouting "yay" at the moment - it must have been for a good reason.

Perhaps I'm sugarly gleeful for summer reading at the library! YES!!!! That's it!

Okay. I'll be honest - it isn't all bad, but sometimes the crowds drive me a bit batty. Today wasn't too bad, and I had a pretty good experience. A large group of kids came down from the Navy Youth Center, and about 8 boys (age 9-11) decided they needed stamps for as many as possible optional activities as they could muster. They told me jokes.

"Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?" HE DIDN'T HAVE ANY GUTS! hahahahahahaaaa

They also said hello in a variety of foreign languages, told me what countries they'd like to visit, and what recipes they've tried - lots of SHUSHI. And they drew maps.

And then one boy said, "You're a REALLY NICE librarian! You're the nicest librarian I've ever known!"

Made my day. And I'm going to keep working on being that nice librarian every day of my life. It's not a competition, but damn. If a handful of kids can come to the library and feel like somebody is paying attention to them, then let me do this day after day, after day after day.

Today...

2011-06-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

Nolan is in Yellowstone right now. Right NOW. I'm jealous.

That's him, standing next to the sign and sending me a text to let me know he's there, so I can catch him on the webcam. I'd been speaking to him on the phone just a minute before that, but was on my way home for dinner break and had to fire up the computer to get the webcam shots. I'm glad he's there, and enjoying a relaxed trip there with his dad. They're going to do some back country hiking

Did I mention I'm currently reading a book called "Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park" by Lee Whittlesley? It just happened to arrive on one-week interlibrary loan a couple of days ago. Seeing as the library system went to the expense of bringing it to me, I HAVE to read it, right?

RIGHT?

It's really interesting, actually, and I am enjoying it despite the paranoia it causes me to feel, knowing that Nolan is out there in the mad wilderness. He's pretty savvy, and not a fool when it comes to the reality of *being* in the wild. Unlike most of the idiots that visit the park. He was telling me about getting stuck for 2.5 hours due to bison along the roadway - some people thought it would be clever to "herd" the bison with their cars. They finally managed to squeeze through an opening and get out of the traffic jam - he reported the bison seemed angry, and were snorting a lot. If only they had rammed the offending cars!

Here's a lovely little vid from our last visit to Yellowstone, in 2008. YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE BISON!

And on that note... it's time for bed!

This thing working?

2011-06-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Tap tap.

Knock.

Seems to be in one piece. Probably still able to take whatever I have to dish out. Seems it's been over a year since I've posted here.

Oh my, oh dear.

I haven't been much in a writing mood at all for a while, my other, long running blog has also suffered a drought of verbiage. My three followers have probably grown bored and gone elsewhere for entertainment. Oh well. I hope they've found something interesting. I know my mom is busy with their new Subaru, so she probably hasn't missed it much. And the knock-off shoe spammers are probably annoyed I haven't provided them any new posts to spam, but hey. Such is life.

Trying to decide what to focus on here - my garden? books I've read? witty social commentary? Stories about the library? Anthropormorphising traffic cones?

Suggestions welcome.

Fluff

2010-05-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hello... if you've found your way here then you might want to head on over HERE instead. It's much more likely that I've written something new on that blog - I've had it much longer that this one! Not to mention, the amount of time I've spent tinkering with the details - I'm not about to give it up!

Cheers!

Hmmmm...

2009-10-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Seems that video is a bit wide for our purposes here - or maybe it's just my computer. Whatever. I'll post some lovely photos to move it down a bit...

Enjoy!

We dont' need no stinkin' Obamacare!

2009-10-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

Do we?

2009-10-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Life has been good... busy, and good.

The garden doesn't keep me quite as busy these days, but it's still growing strong. I took down all of the sunflowers, and hung them from the lilac trees so the birds can feast on their seeds for a while. They look sort of Blair Witch Project-ish dangling in the wind... but the birds don't mind. They're eating up the seeds like crazy.

The last few days have been sunny, so we've been getting out to enjoy it while it lasts. Nolan and I hiked around Pass Island yesterday, and today the three of us took a brisk jaunt through the nearby corn maze. I don't know that it was quite worth the $12 we paid for the privilege, and they charged extra for the "hay" ride (dust ride) into the zombieland section of the corn maze. Boo!

Oh dear... looks like it's bedtime for me. G'nite!

Exposure...

2009-09-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today there was a march, somewhere, of people opposed to our current president and his efforts to make this country a better place than it is for all Americans.

I would like to share some photos from the march, because I think they speak volumes about a segment of our population that seems to have COMPLETELY LOST THEIR MINDS!

Either that, or they are gullible, or racists, or unthinking, or some combination of these things and many others.

Please note this young lad's t-shirt. The sign is ridiculous enough, but the t-shirt is absolutely appalling. We need a new era of McCarthyism? WTF?

Well, at least as far as Z and R are concerned - talk about calling the kettle black! If I'm not mistaken, the term "CZAR" has been used for quite a while now to describe the people heading various departments of the government. The previous administration used the term as well. Your hypocrisy is showing.

As for C, A, and S - Oh puleeeze. Not even close.

That's nice. He'd rather be torturing people.

Lovely - this guy just wants to torture the President. I suspect the President has a far better education than this guy. I don't know that for sure, but I'm pretty confident.

I'm noticing a trend here... the vast majority of these people are WHITE. Which leads us to the next photo.

I find this very ironic. Generally, it's pretty well known that there's a subsegment of WHITE people that think there is racial superiority, and of course - it's white people. Maybe there's people of other skin tones that think the same way, and if so that's wrong. But this sign is appalling, in so many ways.

That's right ma'am. You're headed straight for a death panel. Even worse, that panel will be made up exclusively of Hispanics. They will decide your fate. All of those illegal aliens, who pick your vegetables and fruit and ensure that the prices are low for you, are going to be totally covered in this plan. But you will be sent to die.

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Death panels? The insurance companies are the death panels. Everybody remember Norma Rae? That's a nice feel good movie, eh? The underdog wins? Well, the real Norma Rae - Crystal Lee Sutton - just died of cancer after treatment was delayed by her insurance company. Who was the bean counting droog that made that decision? Who's pocket is lined just a little bit more by her death?

Because despair and the status quo = freedom, apparently. Despair is nice.

Undesirables, huh? And who is so special that they have the right to decide who qualifies as "undesirable"?

All of this makes me want to vomit.

And the biggest irony of all - these people call themselves Christians.

.
.
.

There is nothing so pure as the kindness of an Atheist...

Holiday

2009-08-17T22:03:00.001-07:00

Everybody wanted to know where we were going on vacation, when I mentioned I was excited to have two weeks off.

"NOWHERE!"

I'm not going to call it that word that rhymes with vacation and starts with stay - ick. But I am so very glad we aren't taking a long trip somewhere. Sure it would be fun, but there's something to be said for staying home and relaxing for a while.

I have tonnes of things to do here, anyhow!

There is the garden to be worked in, of course. And bike rides to go on, and books to read. I have various crafty projects to work on as well - the first up being a bathroom rug crocheted from old t-shirts. I should have that done tomorrow, so I'll post a picture then. It's looking pretty cool!

Best of all, I get to spend all of my time with Michael. It's always such a bummer to go to work every day. I love my job, but I love my life better...

Mopar

2009-08-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

Yum.

Roadrunner...

Peek-a-boo

2009-08-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

I see you - or maybe it's you see me. Haven't been around much, haven't been in the mood to blog. It seems like I'm starting to get the bug again though.

This is a good thing.

On the bright side, I've been very busy in the garden, and working. Summer has been a crazy time at the library - summer reading is always a bit insane. I'm very pleased to say that I have only one more work day until VACATION!

Whew.

I need it. Everybody asks, "where are you going?"

"NOWHERE!!!!!!"

And so glad for it. So glad. Not that it wouldn't be nice to take a trip somewhere, but traveling can be very stressful and tiring. This vacation is for relaxing - working in the gardening, doing some crafty projects, reading... things like that. My family will be visiting for a few days, but that's something to look forward to!

The garden will take up a lot of my time - it has been hugely successful so far. We've been eating veggies for weeks now! Zucchini, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes... such good stuff!

Michael has done an amazing job of keeping up with whatever is harvested. And the dishes he has cooked have been absolutely scrumptious! There will be more interesting things to come well into the fall and winter. Our parsley (with edible roots), parsnips, and turnips are just coming up now. And brussel sprouts. So much good stuff!

Well, bye now!

Pomegranates

Mark E. gardens too...

Bowling Ball

Light

2009-05-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for the sun behind a leaf - can't but help to try and get a photograph!

The sun has made an appearance a few times not this spring, but still isn't confident enough to stick around for any length of time.

To wit - the rain pours down again.

Now, that isn't all bad, as my garden will be happy for the water (and I will be happy I don't have to water).

But when the sun shines, things really grow like mad!

And I don't feel like I'm growing mold around my edges...

Ivor knows...

Unfortunate markings...

2009-05-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, life just gives you a bad rap...

Free Kitten

Remember...

2009-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Okay. I'm going to try this again. I got so excited over words and pictures, that I forgot the actual theme for the week...

Silly me!

So... what to remember? So many things to choose from. I took a gander through my photos, and this one in particular popped out at me.

1977 Ford Gran Torino station wagon - my car of choice through high school (well, maybe not choice, but it was available to me for free). I am to this day a big fan of station wagons, and I'm sure I'll drive more before I'm through.

The canoe was pretty new - I think we were taking it out on a test spin. I have no clue what lake we were at - suffice it to say it was full of water.

My mom knit the hat I was wearing, I'm pretty sure of that. I don't know what I was eating, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Tang and space food sticks. Yum! And see where it got me - certainly not the moon!

Look at my brother rifling through things in the car. I bet he was looking for something better than space food sticks...

This picture got me thinking about station wagons, which led to El Caminos (it's a CAR! it's a TRUCK!), another vehicle I drove later in life. So I started looking through Google images, and found this great shot ~

Oh yeah, shootin' fish!

Pow.

Poor things never had a chance...

Guns and drinking don't mix

Words. Pictures.

2009-05-12T23:28:00.001-07:00

Kitty learns some new words, originally uploaded by Librarianguish.

Pictures and words...

Words and pictures...

This is now the home of a combination of those two things - with a bit of music tossed in for good measure.

GOOD MEASURE

Sometimes pictures prompt many words, sometimes no words are necessary, and in fact take away from the beauty of the image.

Sometimes words are necessary, but must be in a language we do not understand.

Words are music to the ears...

Music soothes the soul.

Words can be dangerous - but we should never shy away from them!

The garden

2009-05-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have been a gardening fiend lately. Planting. Digging. Planting. Watering. Planting.

Watching. Waiting.

Will the seeds sprout?

YES!!!!

Things have been really successful so far. We've even eaten a bit of lettuce on a sandwich already! Yum.

I'm ready to make the garden twice the size!

Oh yeah...

Ooops! I almost forgot the GREAT MUSIC for you listening pleasure! Just getting used to this new blog...

Rejuvenated!

2009-05-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hello... haven't posted here in a while. But I've been inspired to turn this into something of a photography blog. A photo or two per day - and a bit of music tossed in for good measure!

Sooo... where shall we start?

Ahhhh. The lavender I've planted in my garden. So lovely and fragrant.

For your listening pleasure

Bunny Boy returns...

2008-10-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

I took a little break - but Bunny Boy hasn't!!!

Number 9, number 9, number 9...

2008-10-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

No rest on Sunday...

2008-10-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

Bunny Boy, episode 8!

Bunny Boy, episode 7

2008-10-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

Bunny Boy returns!!!

2008-10-17T21:13:00.001-07:00

Just as he will for quite a few nights into the future...

wearedoomed666@gmail.com

Still Friday!

2008-10-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

The only difference is, I'm now off work for two days! Woohoo! I'm really looking forward to some relaxation time. Funny thing is, I spend an awful lot of time still thinking about work, even when I'm not there. It didn't used to be that way, when I worked in circulation. But not that I do reference and programming, I am constantly thinking about it! Especially now, since we have a Halloween party coming up.

I promised photos of the display, here it is. I have to say though, it is really tough to take photos through the glass glare. Oh well. I'm wanting to upload my photos to Flickr, but they are having some major problems today. Going though a big update, and the servers are sketchy. Or something. Anyhow, here are two pics of the display. Very hard to really capture it well!!!

I'm tired.

The kid is sick today - stayed home at his dad's house. He's here now, but just laying in bed reading. Some sort of feverish thing. I always feel so badly when he's sick, I just want to wave a wand and make him better! But I think only lots of rest will do that this time around. Phooey.

Now that he's not feeling well, I'm not sure now the weekend will turn out. We will be visiting with my parents for a while on Sunday. That should be interesting. My mother seems to be having some major memory issues - I'm going to have to talk to my dad about it. We are not exactly a family of good communicators, but the signs are just too big to ignore now.

But if we're lucky, she'll forget she planned to cook her new dish --> a can of apple pie mix on the bottom, pork chops next, the stove top stuffing on top. Hmmmm....

Whatever. I can't type too well. I'm going now.

Bye!

Friday - ahhhhhhhhhhhh...

2008-10-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm glad it's almost the weekend. Should be an interesting one, to say the least. I do love my job, so going to work isn't a drag. But I am always happy to have time off, too.

Yesterday at work I spent over two hours putting together a display in the lobby display case. It turned out very good! I'll be taking some pictures today. The display is for Teen Read Month, the theme of which is Books With Bite. That could mean a lot of things, but of course I had to go with a spooky vampire/zombie/werewolf kind of thing. It was a lot of fun putting it together. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but of course I really had no idea how it would all turn out. Pictures soon!

Well shoot. Time to get ready for work. Oh well...

Ooops! Forgot Bunny Boy last night...

2008-10-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

That means you'll get two tonight.

Episode 4 ~

Episode 5 ~

Bunny Boy - Episode 3

2008-10-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Working with teens and the full moon...

2008-10-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today was another of my regular Monday afternoon programs with the teens. This week, the plan was to make Gocks - goth sock puppets.

But when you get a group of mostly teen boys together, you never know what the outcome might be. For whatever reason, my usual group on Monday afternoon is boys. At this point some of them just show up, no matter what we're doing. Today it was a crafty theme that might have been more appealing to girls. But since there weren't any there (aside from myself, and the one that wandered through for about five minutes), I believe the boys felt more comfortable being creative and just jumping in to the activity.

Their reaction at first was a little cool, but I started making one. As you might imagine, they like to visit, so before they knew it they were sifting through the various things I had available and putting together sock puppets too. A couple of the boys just hung out and talked with each other (major topic - video games), but several got into the creative groove.

They didn't stop at the sock puppets - once the creative dam broke they just sort of went with the flow and made whatever they felt like. I had quite a lot of donated/miscellaneous fabric, yarn, pipe cleaners, etc. for the kids to make use of. They came up with all sorts of interesting things. The funniest by far though, had to be the two boys who made capes. At one point I felt like a dressmaker, as I helped them staple things on to the fabric to make clasps for the capes.

I love the combination of "little kid" and teenager that surfaces in 6th graders. They still haven't quite given up all the things they did when they were little, but they like to act more grown up as well.

Two of the older boys are in the process of making a skeleton out of neon pipe cleaners. It isn't quite finished, but it is more than amazing! I'll have photos for sure when it is finished...

-------------------------------------------------

Working with teens is incredibly rewarding. When I started library school, I thought I wanted to be a children's librarian. It didn't take long for me to decide that was the LAST thing I wanted to do - I can't imagine having to think like a toddler or preschooler for the next however many years. And frankly, there are plenty of people that want to work with the little kids - but teens? You have to really WANT to be doing what you're doing. They are such a vibrant part of society - yet most people think of them only as troublemakers or worse, don't think of them at all. And really, all they need is validation - somebody to listen to them, and provide a safe place where they can be themselves without judgement.

Well - some of them are a little weird, or maybe a lot weird - but that's okay. They can come to my programs any time.

Of course, the full moon is brining out the, um... different people this week.

Working at the library is NEVER dull!

Looking forward to Halloween as well! I have a group of girls that are helping plan an after hours party - it's going to be fun! I think we'll have a pretty good group showing up. Lots of fun!

More Bunny Boy - One per day...

2008-10-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Episode 2...

The trials and travails of Bunny Boy...

2008-10-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Episode 1.

JOY! MORE JOY!!!

2008-10-12T20:12:00.001-07:00

Strange things...

2008-10-11T18:10:00.001-07:00

Could you pass by a place called the Lucky Dumpster? Me either. Yesterday Michael and I headed out for a lovely drive to the north to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. Hmmmm, lovely and beautiful. Well, yes - it was! Anyhow, as we drove through this little town of Edison I spied the sign for the shop, and decided it was time to stop and take a look. I had never, in all these years of driving through Edison, stopped to poke around. The Lucky Dumpster was a funky little shop, with an interesting mix of old oddities and new artistic bits. I just tried to find a good website for them, but their Flickr site and blogspot haven't been updated in a while. Too bad - they had a lot of really cool stuff!

And then there was this guy...

After a short look-around in town (it's small), we hopped back in the car and continued on to the next stop - another antique/junk shop. I'm not even sure what it's called! Anyhow, it's always a good stop, jam-packed with interesting things. Outside there are shelves and bins and bins and shelves of various metal implements and electrical cords and wires and dirt covered coffee mugs. Really fantastic if you're into metal. Inside is much the same, at least as far as the general feeling of chaos is concerned. There is barely an open spot on any of the shelves, and as you wander down the aisles you never know what you will find. Lots of little tiny things to look at. I'm particularly fond of little figurines - such expressive faces!

I thought that this jar was rather interesting. I've been spending a bit of time over at the Sociological Images blog, and it really helps tune my eyes to some interesting things out there. Take this little spice jar for instance - what is up with this businessman in a stereotypical Mexican sombero putting oregano on his taco...? Huh?

I also loved this old Halloween costume - reminds me of the costumes people bought when we were kids. So garish!!! And more strange packaging - flame retarded?

If you've stuck with me this far and want to see the rest of the photos from this outing, click HERE. Definitely some good stuff!

Nortec Collective - Tijuana Bass

Fall...

2008-10-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well folks, there's no going back. Summer is winding down and autumn is here to stay for a bit. Today was really lovely though. The sun came out for a while this afternoon, and I took some time to just sit in the yard and enjoy a book. I figured it could be a while before I can do that again. Maybe we'll get another nice day when I'm not working, but the chances grow smaller and smaller every day.

The sky was full of crows and starlings flying here and there, calling and twittering. Twice a large flock of starlings flew over, the only sound the swish of their wings. Very cool.

I'm reading several books right now. Some for work, and some just for pleasure.

First up, Ratner's Star by Don DeLillo, recommended to me by Michael (who so far has hit the nail on the head with his suggestions). It's the story of a 14 year old math genius, who is brought to a surreal scientific compound to help figure out what is certainly a message from a distant planet orbiting Ratner's star. The characters are strange, and though they talk to each other it seems as if nobody really listens to what each other is saying. As I'm getting into the book, the people and conversations just seem to get stranger, and stranger...

Next up, Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. Yet another in a long, endless line of vampire books for teens. I've read the entire Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan, and those were good. I liked his take on vampirism - there are two types (those that feast on humans, and those that don't) - and the battles between them, between good and evil. I was really pleased at how the series ended, and yes, I even cried a bit at the end of it all. More recently I read Twilight, and not even half of the second book, New Moon, by Stephanie Meyer. I realize not everyone will know that these books are huge - right up there with the Harry Potter books. The hype and excitement over the series is massive. Teenage girls just looooooove Bella and Edward (though some of us prefer Jacob, the werewolf - I am team Jacob all the way, if I must pick a team). I should read the whole series, but I just don't know if I'll be able to stomach them. Bella goes on and on about how beautiful Edward is, and I want to slap her on just about every page. It is more than this girl can take! I've never been one for the mush. Anyhow. On to Sunshine - which I picked up because some of my fellow librarians liked it. Not to mention I figured I should be at least somewhere versed in vampire literature for teens! Ha. Just a mere 75 pages in, I can say I like it MUCH BETTER than Twilight. Did I say I like it MUCH BETTER?!! Just wanted you to understand that point. It is better written, the main character isn't a twit, and it's a little tough to tell where the story is going. I'm so glad I'll have something good to recommend to the teens!

Sticking with our seasonal theme of vampires, we have Sundays With Vlad, by Paul Bibeau. After a near marriage ruining honeymoon in which he takes his wife to visit the real castle of Vlad Tepish (which turns out to be nothing more than a pile of rubble up a very steep trail outside of a very dicey Romanian town), he decides to investigate the myth that has become the Dracula we know and love today. Bibeau's writing is hysterical, and I find myself laughing on every page. Oh yeah - this is definitely non-fiction. Though the stories Bibeau uncovers, and the people he encounters along the way are probably stranger than anything your imagination might come up with.

Right then - just a glimpse at my current reading list. Honestly, I wish I had an extra head and pair of arms, just for reading. There are so many books to read, and so many I should be reading for work. How on earth am I supposed to keep up?!!!

In other news, I am completely reloading the music into my iTunes. It had become a dreadful mess, and somewhere along the way it lost the pathway to a bunch of songs. I suppose it didn't help that I had my music spread between umpteen folders on two hard drives... Anyhow, I bit the bullet this morning and cleared iTunes. Now I'm loading everything back in, slowly but surely. It will be a chore, yes - but I will be able to decide what I really want in there and what I want to delete. And once it is done it won't be so messy. Much better.

Have a good one!

We Call Upon the Author - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Oh lovely, lovely velvet...

2008-10-05T00:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, my cat was named Velvet. Very clever, eh? Of course, we ended up just calling her Kitty. Does anybody every realistically call their cat anything but Kitty?

That's her, over there. Well, her tail anyhow. And that's me, and my brother Chris. Enjoying Halloween festivities...

I like Halloween. Can't help it - there's just something about the combination of autumn and a holiday that features skeletons and gravestones. Sure, things are starting to get more and more commercial, just like all the other holidays. Go to any store, and it's full of the same tacky costumes and decorations. But they still hold that appeal. I suppose it has something to do with memories of childhood. Carving pumpkins, going door to door trick-or-treating (begging for sweets, really), dressing up in silly costumes...

Well, it's getting late and I'm just sort of blathering along here. Time to go to bed. The wind was blustery all day, and there's nothing better than getting cozy in bed with the one you love. So go get in bed! I'm getting in bed with the one I love very soon!!!

Observation through the lens of a camera

2008-10-04T00:55:00.000-07:00

Perhaps if you visit my blog often (and my other blog as well), you might notice I like to take a lot of photos.

I like to observe the world around me. At first, I was a little timid about taking photos of strangers. But after I attended a talk by Alice Wheeler (close friend of Kurt Cobain and EXCELLENT phtotographer), I tossed aside my misgivings and went for it. Now, I think that some of my best photos are those that I take of people in public places - just out there, doing their thing. I like the candid nature of it. When people don't know I'm taking a photo of them, they don't pose and I'm able to catch them in a perfect moment.

Some people would say it isn't fair to take photos of people when they don't give permission - I disagree. We are constantly photographed as we go about our daily lives. Don't get me wrong - I am not in favor of general surveillance for the purpose of keeping tabs on what the population does.

How can I justify what I do then? I like to think of it as social commentary - just an observation of what I see on any given day. Sometimes I take pictures of people, sometimes just of things I see. This world we live in can be such a crazy place, and it has to be documented!

How can you argue with this?!!!!!

The last one especially is one of my favorites. I wasn't even looking when I took the photo - I just pointed my camera behind me and clicked. I'm amazed when things like that turn out well.

Anyhow, just a bit of my photography philosophy. I'll stage a photo now and then, but really, the best photos are those taken on the fly. I can't tell you how many photos I delete (lots!), but the ones that turn out are so worth the effort.

Interestingly, the other side of taking photos of people is that I've gained a greater appreciation for the diversity of humanity. I grew up in a very white bread community, with not a lot of variation in population. Now I look at people a little bit differently - I'm still judgmental as all get out, but at the same time I think I've really grown more compassionate towards humanity as a whole.

I know, I'm contradicting myself with every other breath here. I don't care. I just hope you like my photos. I take them for myself, but don't want them to live in a vacuum, either...

Goooood yaaaah...

2008-10-02T02:13:00.000-07:00

Mission of Burma = good noise...

Ears are ringing, but it's a happy sound.

Long day, long drive, but so worth it!! It's 180 miles roundtrip to Seattle from home. Plus, I've driven a total of 800+ miles since last Thursday, and by the time Friday is over I'll push past 1,000. My goodness! Too many hours in the car, but it must be done.

The good news - I get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow!

What is the world coming to?!!!

2008-09-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

This morning when I drove the kid to school, this guy was standing at the main intersection in town.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?!!!

WHY IS HE NOT USING HIS BRAIN?!!!

He looks to be in his thirties, or maybe early forties. There is absolutely no excuse for a person in that age range to be acting in this manner. NONE! He was gone by the time I came back, maybe somebody ran him off.

And seriously, his sign looks store bought. Couldn't he be bothered to make his own sign?

Put some effort into it, dude.

This guy did.

Turn or burn, baby, turn or burn...

Portland bound!

2008-09-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

Tired... going to bed.

Somehow, I'll get through the next two days - well, two and a half.

Than it's down to Portland!!!

I cannot wait - I'll have plenty of time to wander the downtown area and get some good pictures. I'm especially looking forward to Saturday Market, and Powell's Books, and Voodoo Donut! I'll also be hanging about while Michael plays some music with his friend, and I'm sure that will result in much good photography as well.

I love my job, but sometimes I can barely stand to go to work. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing. I'm glad for the days off, but I have to come home Sunday. Michael is staying in Portland for a couple more days to keep playing music. It will be the first time we've been apart overnight since he got here. Could be up to three nights.

That sucks.

I need to make an art car.

Dive bomb

2008-09-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

I sit here, and am dive bombed by insects. Jenny spinners, or crane flies as some might call them.

I call them useless gangly legged creatures!

Maybe not completely useless - the spiderweb outside is full of them. But they don't look like they'd have much in the way of nourishment for a spider!

Our lawn has been full of them for days. They fly up, disturbed any time somebody walks through the grass. They perch on the outside wall of the house, everywhere we look. High, low - everywhere. And they find their way into the house...

Inevitably landing in the sink, where they breathe their last breath and eventually get washed down the drain.

Apparently, they eat mosquitoes. So the aren't completely useless.

December 11, 1981

2008-09-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Another character sketch. I think the good thing is when I go back and read these, they don't make me cringe. In fact, I can imagine them within the pages of a novel written for teens... sort of. I do sort of wonder what my mindset was at the time though. Hmmm...

Grade: 20-20

Vanessa held out her hand.

"Give me the money now, Daddy. You owe me $100 for this month's allowance."

"Vanessa dear, I'm not going to give all of it to you right now. I think you should put some of it into the bank."

"But Daddy," she whined, "I need it to buy a new outfit. I haven't been shopping for a whole week. Please..."

"You know I don't like doing this, but this is the last time I'll do this. And this time I mean it!"

Vanessa's icy blue eyes gleamed in the light. "Thank you Daddy."

She flipped her long black hair and laughed as she walked out of the room. "He falls for it every time," she thought to herself.

Vanessa stopped and looked herself in the full-length mirror. She began practicing modeling poses.

"Oh, you're so wonderful!" she said to her reflection, as she watched her tall slender body strut back and forth in front of the mirror. She held the money over her face.

"You look so well in green, dahling," she cackled at the mirror.

"Vanessa! Are you talking to me?"

"No Daddy, you must be imagining things," she replied sweetly.

Vanessa ran upstairs to her bedroom.

"Gretchen!" she called, "where are you? I'm going shopping and I want you to get some clothes out for me while I take a bath."

"But Miss-"

"Don't 'but Miss' me! I want you to do it now!" Vanessa yelled.

"Yes Miss."

Vanessa took her bath, and then proceeded to get dressed. Once she was all bundled up and ready to go, she went downstairs to get the keys from her father.

"Oh Daddy dear," she cooed, "could I p-leeese have the keys to the Caddy?"

"Is it absolutely necessary? I was thinking about using the car today."

Vanessa held her hands behind her back and looked at the floor. She kicked a piece of lint that floated by.

"Well, I was gonna get your Christmas present for you today," she sniffled.

Her father gave in, as usual.

"I guess it is o.k. But this is the last time."

"Gee Daddy, if we had another car we wouldn't have this problem. Maybe we should get a car for me!" exclaimed Vanessa.

"No, I don't think we need one. We can get along fine with what we have."

"But just think Daddy! If we had another car, you could use the car whenever you wanted to, and so could I!"

"You do have a point there. I suppose tomorrow we can go look for cars."

"Oh thank you Daddy! I want a Corvette!"

"Whatever dear."

Vanessa grabbed the keys and skipped towards the door. She stopped at the mirror and looked at the smirk on her face.

"You're so great!" she said to her reflection, "you burn him every time, you little con artist. But hey - life's tough."

Vanessa walked out the door with huge grin of satisfaction on her face. She thought to herself, "today Vanessa conquers her father - tomorrow she takes over the world!"

Well then. I don't recall having any particular issues with my father when I was younger. I always got pretty much everything I wanted, within reason. There was that one sweater though, that I REALLY wanted and didn't get. It was white, with a wide turquoise stripe across the chest... When my parents decided they would buy it for me, we went back to the store and it was gone. Harumph! I really wanted THAT sweater!

December 8, 1981

2008-09-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

This is the first of my writing entries from... 11th grade. Had to calculate on my fingers there for a minute. Funny thing is, I don't even remember taking a creative writing class, but it seems that I did. I got some pretty good grades on most of the stuff, but in my opinion the poetry is pretty bad. I've never read much poetry, and I didn't craft very good poetry either. I may post a couple. But most of the stuff will be other assignments. This one appears to be a character sketch...

Grade: 16-15 (cool, an extra point!)

Glancing over her shoulder, Patsy Paranoia spotted a man rounding the corner from which she had just come. He was following her, and he had been for the last three blocks. She just knew it. She pulled on the hood of her grey wool coat and quickened her pace. As she got to the corner and waited for the light to change, her grey eyes darted quickly in every direction. All those people - every single one was looking at her. Patsy looked down to see if something was wrong with her clothing. Her grey loafers looked fine, and she couldn't find a wrinkle in her grey cotton dress. She pulled her pocket-mirror out of her grey leather purse. She looked, only to find that her face was slightly paler than usual, and a few strands of her mousy brown hair were sticking out from under her hood. It seemed like forever before the light turned green. She hurriedly crossed the street. Only one block left, but she still had that dreadful alley to pass. She looked behind her once again and the man was gone. Good. But yards away - a gun! There was somebody in the alley with a gun. She began to run. Patsy was sure she could hear footsteps running after her as she reached the steps leading to the door of her apartment building. She prayed nobody would reach up through the steps and grab her feet - please, not today. Finally, she was inside the building, and running towards the stairs to her second story flat. She was too scared to look behind her, so she just kept running up, up the steps and down the hall towards her flat. She fumbled through her purse, trying to find her key. She just knew her pursuer was almost to the top of the steps. At last she found her key, opened the door, and slammed it behind her. She bolted the lock quickly and breathed a sigh of relief. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her heart pumping in her chest. Patsy had made it home safely once again, and nobody had gotten her this time.

Well then...

2008-09-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I sort of ditched this blog in March.

Many stories to tell, and do not worry, they will come.

However, you will have to put up with some of my old writing first. Today I was cleaning out another box of things after our move (I had A LOT of boxes, but only a few left) and found a collection of things I must have written for a creative writing unit in english class in high school - 1981. Heh. Before I chuck it all into the recycle bin, I'm going to post a few selections here - for posterity's sake.

Ha. My first inclination was to write for "posterior's" sake...

That may be more appropriate. We'll see.

Also - when I post a medium size photo here from my flickr account, it slops over the side of the alloted blog post area. Too bad. They don't look as good small, and I can't be bothered to track them all down in whatever long lost folder they might be hidden in on my hard drive... or external hard drive. I have "a few" photos.

Ahem.

Oh hello!

2008-09-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'd sort of forgotten about this blog...

Maybe I should write here more. You see - certain people don't know about it, and I can write about all the totally crazy things I do.

Like have margaritas from time to time, and pretend that I'm falling down drunk when in all actuality I'm just laying on the ground taking a photo of the pretty little flowers.

And I can curse if I want to! Bwa ha ha hahahahahaaaaaa.

Though most of the time, I don't want to.

Shit.

Hee hee.

I'm glad to have the day off today. I love my job, but I can't stand going to work! Hmmmm, that could be a problem. Oh well - I'll just enjoy the time I am off. Speaking of, I've got things to do today, dammit!

Crazy

2008-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Feeling a bit unhinged these days...

I sure like it.

Grrrrrooooaaaaannnnnn

2008-02-29T06:18:00.000-08:00

Up too early. Boo. It wouldn't be so bad, but I stayed up REALLY late the night before, and had trouble getting to sleep last night.

That's all.

Looking ahead

2008-02-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

The idea of the month of March is already making me feel a little tired, and slightly apprehensive. I have A LOT going on at work, and my schedule is pretty much crazy from beginning to end.

It starts off with a bang on the 1st, with my Teen Advisory Group meeting. Yikes - that's NEXT SATURDAY!!! It will be fine, I have no doubt about that, but it's suddenly not very far off.

The week of the 10th I have two evening programs to oversee. No worries there, but it will be a busy week.

And the last week its off to Minneapolis for the PLA conference. Me and thousands of other Librarians will descend on the city for a few days of workshops and networking. I'm really looking forward to it, but the traveling part makes me a little nervous.

The truth of it is, I haven't flown on an airplane for over ten years. I used to travel kind of regularly for work before Nolan was born, and it's really no big deal. But now I have a much lower tolerance for stress. I've allowed myself an entire day to get there, so I won't be all rushed and stressed trying to find may way around. I've never been to Minneapolis either, so that will all be new.

Wish I had a laptop to take with me, but I don't. I may just buy a couple more memory cards for my camera, so I don't have to worry about limiting my photography. 6 gigs ought to be enough for six days, right?

Haha, it's me we're talking about here. Minimize photography, ahahahaaaaahaaaa...

Oh yeah, somehow I have to fit my birthday into that month. Celebrate! Or some such nonsense.

Magic Mittens

2008-02-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

As promised here are a couple of pictures of the mittens I made. I finished them up today, sewed the buttons on for decoration. I may still add a little more embroidery on them, we'll see.

You know I had to have artsy shots of them. Neato.

Today was a pretty lazy Sunday - I've felt downright sleepy all day. Not sure why. We just sort of hung around here at home. I did a few chore-ish things, but otherwise relaxed. Got some reading done, and of course finished the mittens.

I also figured out how the theremin will get put together. I had to email the guy I bought it from with a couple of questions, but he responded quickly and it makes sense now. Won't take long to put it together. When I'm not so freakin' sleepy though!

So what am I going to do? Have a glass of wine - that's sure to wake me up...ha. Whatever, it just sounds good right now. Think I'll go start cooking some hot and sour soup soon, too...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Long Day...

2008-02-23T23:54:00.000-08:00

I should really be in bed now. But not quite ready to go there...just a few more photos to upload to Flickr, then I'll be ready.

What a gorgeous day it was today. The sun was shining so beautifully. I spent the majority of my day at the 4-H Super Saturday event - five workshops over the course of the day. It turned out to be a decent use of my time. I learned a few logistical things that will help me help Nolan with his activities, and also got to do some creative things.

The best thing I did was learn to make mittens from old wool sweaters. Essentially all you do is shrink them in hot water, then use the sleaves to make the mittens with some very simple sewing. They can then be decorated with buttons and colored yarn. Easy, and very cool! I spent the evening finishing off all the seams, and now just need to decorate. I'll post a picture once I get the decorations finished.

I happen to have a box full of sweaters that I've already felted/shrunk. Now I know what to do with them! The body can be used to make very nice handbags, and the sleeves can be used for mittens, iPod covers, water bottle holders...you name it. I'm no longer intimidated by my box of sweaters.

Weakened by wool!

Haha.

Met some nice people, too.

After the workshops, I took a little side trip to the cemetery to take pictures. I haven't been there in quite a while, so it was nice to visit and walk around for a bit. One of my favorite things is to lurk in cemeteries - but not an a creepy way. I just really enjoy looking at the graves, and taking photos, and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Now that I think about it, I'm really excited the weather is improving. There are quite a number of cemeteries I'd like to visit and photograph. I have even considered writing a book about the cemeteries here in Washington state - what a great excuse to get out and photograph them!

But tomorrow is "build a theremin day." Should be fun...

Cheers, hugs, and well wishes to all.

Wow.

2008-02-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

Kind of tired tonight. Surely my fault for staying up too late last night! Ha. None of that tonight, as I have to get up early to get Nolan to the snowbus at about 5:30 am. ARGH. I usually come home and go back to sleep for a bit, but I have to be somewhere at about 8:45 myself so there just won't be any sleeping in...

I didn't even have a glass of wine when I got home. The margarita at dinner was plenty enough to whup my fanny and send me to the couch to "read." Ha. I didn't even bother to pretend with a book tonight.

Oh well. Off I go to sleepy land.

The madness...

2008-02-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

I love working at the library, I really do. But tonight was a little bit challenging - because of dealing with a particular patron.

I knew when I called her that it could turn into a very long drawn out conversation if she answered the phone.

She answered.

It did.

I really do feel for her, because she suffers from some sort of disability and her life cannot be easy. She calls us frequently for health related information - our branch is the health reference center. But we suspect that she is a full-blown, real-deal hypochondriac. She has a ton of information already, but is always looking for strange connections to link to her health issues. Anyways, tonight I had to call her to relay some information, and it turned into a 30 minute phone call explaining her current situation. She finds it necessary to give scads of background information before getting around to her actual question (if there is one). It is almost impossible to get a word in edgewise to direct the conversation towards a question.

Later, I was talking with one of my coworkers, and he shared with me an observation he had made about people like her that talk endlessly. Most people, when speaking at length, take a breath at the end of a sentence. It is relatively easy to get a word in when they take a breath. But some people breathe in the middle of a sentence, and when they come to the end of a sentence they just bore ahead - and it is almost impossible to stop them.

AHA.

Makes a lot of sense to me.

And now, for a somewhat related picture that still has absolutely nothing to do with what I've already written...

I'm just in the mood to share this. This book has been floating around the library system for a couple of years, at least. I haven't seen it for a few months, but I crack up every time I do. I cannot believe that nobody has removed it for "maintenance" or that nobody had complained! I think whoever put the barcode on it was feeling a little rebellious that day. Ha. Understatement.

I mean really - this is just so wrong in so many ways...

But all it gets from me is a big guffaw - and I just let it go...

Librarians are much more snarky than you might imagine.

With that my friends, have a lovely day, or evening, or afternoon - whatever it may be when you read this.

Life is good - make sure to enjoy it today!

Testing...

2008-02-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Just enjoying my Thursday morning off - don't have to go to work until noon. Of course, that means I work until 9 pm, so there's always a trade off...

Oh well.

It's a beautiful sunny day out there today! This morning when I drove the boy to school there was fog across some of the fields, and a heavy frost, and the sun was just starting to creep over the hills. It was really lovely - perfect for photography, but alas! No camera along with me. That's all right. Sometimes those moments are good to just store away in my memory. And the fog is no stranger here, so there will always be another day.

Always the optimist, I am!

Just sitting and thinking...

2008-02-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

Today I decided I need a new blog. I like my old blog very much, and will keep it going. Mom and Dad like to read that one. But I don't really say too much there.

But today, I was sitting in the library weeding the biography section, and thinking. Probably a dangerous thing to do, but I did in anyways. I sat and looked through all those books about people's lives, and started to ponder over mine. Just a bit - I don't really go for dredging too deeply into things, especially while at work. I was however, reminded that I haven't been writing very much of substance lately. Since subter.com went away, I haven't had any major things to write (though that was sort of forced writing, and working on a deadline wasn't always very fun). I did get to thinking that even though my life doesn't seem to be particularly extraordinary, I do have stories to tell and things to say. So here I am, with a new blog that only a few of you will know about.

I feel safe writing to you, my friends scattered around the world. Even though we've not met in person (yet), I've come to feel a connection and know that no matter what I spout off about here, you'll all read with open minds and open hearts. Hard to find that closer to home sometimes...not to mention having to go look people in the eye every day and wonder if they think you're a whackjob or not.

You already know that I am, so all is well.

I suppose it has to do also with giving up bits of myself, and choosing NOT to give certain bits up to most of the people I see every day. There are just some things I don't want to share with the people I work with. They could probably track this down if they were so inclined, but I think most of them aren't.

Whew.

I also noticed that the pair of pants I was wearing has a stain on one leg - probably dripped butter on them or something. I'm bummed...of the three pairs of corduroy pants I have, one is wearing out at the knees, and one has a stain. I haven't seen them in the store this year, so will probably have to find some new pants elsewhere. That irritates me.

Well, it's getting late so off to bed for me. G'nite!

Schistosity

2008-02-20T22:47:00.000-08:00

The parallel arrangement of platy or prismatic minerals in a rock that is caused by metamorphism in which directed pressure plays a significant role.

Welcome.