Tournament Gaming

I have already spent my ENTIRE paycheck...and I only got paid this morning. Sigh.

But it was worth it! Way! I got a Wii! We have a few games from xmas, but now I want MORE! Doesn't go too well with me having already spent my whole paycheck.

In other gaming news, I went to a training offered at Sno-Isle Libraries given by Eli Neiburger of Ann Arbor District Libraries. The first half was old hat, but the second half was all about tournaments, which was exactly what I needed to know about. We are having a tournament this summer with qualifiers at several branches, culminating in a final tournament. It will be limited to ages 8-18 and will be split into 2 age groups, with the finalists of each age group competing at the very end. Now that I have a Wii, I can practice... Yay!



And these guys are scored on "perfects" rather than the overall ddr score, to keep things fair. One step...all I can say is "wow."

Eli is a true gaming geek, and I can see why! I played DDR and sang in Rock Band at the training and had soo much fun. Now I want to get Guitar Hero II and the karaoke game for Wii--because they don't have Rock Band on Wii :'( I found out that the folks that developed Guitar Hero lost the rights to it after II, so III is made by someone else and isn't as good, and the original folks went on to make Rock Band--which truly rocks. Can you believe I got 100% on one of the songs I sang? And 96% on the other. I was vibrating with excitement when I got done. Guess I know Creep by Radiohead and In Bloom by Nirvana pretty well. All that singing in the car has finally paid off somewhere.

Ann Arbor District Library has a pretty amazing website, partially because it is mostly blog and partially for its simplicity. The teen tournament gaming area is really cool, and lists all of the gamers scores from the time they started playing. Here is a link to the related blog. Overall, a good use of a day.



And in final technology news, ROBBY is dying. ROBBY has been my friend for the last 4 years, and I am typing on her even now. I am not sure what made me name her ROBBY, seeing as she feels very female to me, and Robby seems like such a boy's name. But maybe it is because she is able to do things for me that require a strong mind and body, which brings a tomboy to mind. Unfortunately, the body is now failing. ROBBY's video chip is coming undone from her motherboard, and there is nothing more that Advanced Laptop Repair can do for her. They gave me a special place on the keyboard to press if she gets stuck, but that will only work for so long, and eventually her screen will go blank for good. I have already cried for her once, and I am sure I will do so again.

What a Sunday

Golden Gardens was beautiful on Sunday. I got off work at 5pm and went for a walk with my friend right when I got back home. I love the walk down the stairs, but it totally wore me out.

On the way back we went up the road to check out the damage. It was pretty amazing, even more so to think that a car ended up down there right after it happened. I didn't take a picture because the light was too far gone for my camera phone.

We went back and had cheese, crackers and salami for dinner, then home made angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. It was super yummy. I need more days like that.

Kids on the Ave

The sun is struggling to come out now, but it was certainly cold this morning when I went running. That's right, running, for the second time in 3 days! Lets hope I can keep it up. A little exercise can go a long way to improving my mood and sometimes it is sooooo hard to get started. I hope the sun wins the battle today, because I would dearly like to have it around for a bit longer.

Yesterday I participated in a class called Homelessness 101, put on by the University District Service Providers Alliance (or UDSP). This class is required for staff and volunteers in the different agencies that provide services to homeless youth in the University District. Their goal is consistency and to not duplicate services (except of course where more of a service is needed--I am sure they would love to have more shelters, for example.) The class covered the different reasons why youth are homeless, what life on the streets is like for them, what is appropriate or not appropriate in program (drop in, shelter, etc). We watched a documentary called Kids on the Ave, which was made by a former Vista volunteer. It was really good, I recommend it if you want to know what those "street rats" are really up to. I look at them in a whole new light. The only bad part of the class is that my butt still hurts from sitting on the folding chair for 4 hours...

The lunar eclipse on Wednesday was beautiful. I wasn't able to take a picture--it probably wouldn't have turned out anyway, but here is a link to a local ballardite's Flickr page who took some amazing photos. (pilfered from the MyBallard site.)

Babies Abound and Other Stuff

I may have mentioned a few posts ago that several of my family members and acquaintances are having babies. First, a cousin I grew up with had a baby girl a month or so ago. She is a real cutie. Now my brother and sis-in-law have adopted a baby girl, who is just adorable. I am very happy for them, because they have been wanting a child for a long time. They were picked by a girl in Florida to be the parents of her child. She was only 17 and wants to go to college. Bro and Sis went to meet her and her parents a month or so ago and everything went well. They prepared the nursery, packed a bag and other baby essentials and waited. Two days ago, they got the call. The girl had gone into the hospital to deliver the baby! They flew to Florida and got there a few hours after the baby was born. 7lbs, 4oz, 19" long beautiful baby girl.



This is my new niece! My first one ever. We are going to go see her in mid March. That might seem like a long time, but it might be that long before they are able to bring her home from Florida. They have to wait there while the paperwork gets worked out. It is really expensive to adopt and it takes a long time and there are so many uncertainties. I really admire Bro and Sis's perseverance.

I have another very dear friend that is due in the next couple of weeks. Babies are just flyin' round, round here!

A lot of my weekend was spent working on my computer. There was something wrong with my display driver and for some reason, the newest driver would not install on my computer--the install software could not find the video card...it was a "known error" but they didn't have a fix for it. I decided to go ahead and do a system restart and repartition my hard drive. I forgot how much work that was! It needed to be done though. After finally getting everything the way I wanted it, I deleted the display driver, went to the Sony site and downloaded the original driver. I am hoping this will do it.

I also stayed home sick today. I have a terrible headache with an achy neck and throat. I had to get a filling this morning too--it fell out this weekend. Ever tried gettting a filling when you have a headache? I came home and slept for several hours. I think I could sleep for several more.

SAD Daze

Well, I was happy to see that the graffiti on the back of the Alterations & Reweaving Center is still there. Now I want to stop in and see if they commissioned the painting.

I have been planning Spring and Summer programing for my branches. It seems early, but amazingly it is right around the corner. We have some pretty ambitious programing coming up, both for teens and adults. I already wrote a bit about the writing program (twice actually, oops) and I am sure you will hear about it again after we get the funding approved. I have a series of computer classes this summer, zine open hours every other week, providing materials and resources for people creating zines, and some book making classes towards the end of summer. There will also be a gaming tournament in conjunction with the children's program. This has been a lot of fun to plan, and should be even more fun to execute.

I have been feeling SAD lately. Daily headaches, sort of fuzzy at the edges, tired all the time. The sun today definitely helped my mood, but didn't cure my headache. I shall be seeing the doctor in mid March to see if there is anything else I can do. By then it will probably disappear...

Caucus, Caucus

This is what my last two days should have been like--ok, sans 3 year old. Or perhaps I would have just jumped on my friend's coat tails--or maybe her mink tales. I love that little red eyed crazy guy.

Basically what I am saying is that I wish I could have gone to the caucus and the Obama rally. Oh well. Hopefully my psychic wish for Obama to win the caucus will have some effect.

Instead, I had to work both days. Last night I went to Pies n' Pints in Roosevelt and heard about the rally from a co-worker who was awed speachless (thus it was hard to hear), had yummy meat pies and pints of the frosty stuff with another coworker and her boyfriend, then went home AND...went to bed. How lame is that? And still I am tired. Not fair. Maybe tomorrow will be a more rested day. Since I don't have to work and have no plans :)

Except maybe seeing my dad. I am just realizing the phone call I forgot to make this week. But I am also not quite done reading Persepolis either, and I know he wants to borrow it. Of course, the copy he got me is different from the one I linked to in the catalog--it has all 4 books in one. He and I are going to see the author, Marjane Satrapi, at the Moore Theater in April. From what I have read, I think she will be very interesting and possibly funny.

What'cha Mean, What's a Zine?

Planning for my next big project is underway. Zines 101! I just put in the calendar request, so I will link to that later. The event will be held March 22nd and will be the kick off to our spring teen writing program. Teens and adults are welcome to attend this event, and there will also be an adult writing program extending through April and May. More info to come!

There will also be gaming at the Wallingford Library on March 5th. Here is a link to the calendar. School gets out early that day, so kids getting out of Garfield and Hamilton should be able to walk over after school and play games. I get to play Wii again! My efforts at procuring the gaming system for myself have been thwarted so far.

The Newest Online Dating Scene

All day training today, then reports and furniture moving. It was fun to work with my branches together, it was a real bonding experience.

I spent Super Bowl Sunday with a friend who has a son The Boy's age. So we watched the Super Bowl. I thought the ads were pretty lame this year, and the game was really boring until the 4th quarter. I am glad NY won though. I always root for the underdog. That's just how I roll.

Anyhow, on to the interesting part. My friend told me that her younger son, let's call him Sparky, likes to pick up chicks on Club Penguin. He is only 8 years old, but he tells the girls on there that he is 5. His strategy is to invite them to a party at his igloo, but when the little girl penguin gets to Sparky's pad, she finds no other guests, just a big PARTY! banner. When Sparky gets the girl alone, he tells her he luvs her. Quite the technique, eh?

This just cracked me up. Talk about beginner's online dating! Sparky's mom keeps trying to talk him into taking the girls out on dates before cornering them alone and professing his luv, but Sparky is convinced that he will totally get a girl this way. He really wants a girlfriend on Club Penguin, it is his current life's goal. Is this a parent's worst nightmare or what? "Mom, I met a boy named Sparky online. He took me to his igloo and said he luved me!" If I didn't die laughing, I would certainly die of shock.