Srcsmgrl

Comixtravaganza Time Again

2010-01-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

As a last hurrah to hurry me on my way to my new branch, We will be having the 3rd Annual Comixtravaganza at the University Branch Library. Doors open at 2, with the workshop with Matthew Southworth starting at 2:30. The draw-a-thon starts at 4 sharp, so don't be late!

All Good Things Must End

2009-12-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have been gone for a while. I have been busy with non internet-y things, like family, vacation and holidays. But really, I love the internet and nothing can keep me away for long. The truth is I have been thinking. Thinking about this blog and that someone has been reporting my doings to others. Now, I don't do a lot that is report-worthy, but I would really rather not even worry about it.

So my thought is to start another blog somewhere else in blog land. If you are interested in continuing to follow me, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will give you the new address when I get around to starting it. Probably in the next week or so.

It should be interesting, as we are having a re-org at SPL and I will be moving to a new branch. This new branch is very busy with lots of interesting things going on. A lot of other people will be moving too and things will be hopping for a little while. I will talk about those exciting issues, daily library life and about volunteering/mentoring stuff. Less about family and personal life--which I am sure bored everyone to tears anyway. It is hard to completely leave it out, so I won't try, but less with the life updates and more with the library and teen stuff.

Ok, I am off to cook a duck. TTYS

Stay-cation!

2009-12-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

In the space of a day Mentee has been brought in and run away again. She is a lost child, adrift in a world of drugs and prostitution. Her son is going to be recommended for a permanent home, which sounds like adoption, but I think there might be more hoops to jump through for that. I think my brother and his wife would be the perfect choice for the beautiful boy--they have already adopted one child and I think another would be a blessing for them. He isn't mine to give away though and I am sure that the red tape is boundless.

****

I am officially on vacation! For two weeks! And I am getting paid for the entire thing! Can I use any more exclamation points??? Probably! My plans are to go window shopping downtown, get my hair did up pritty, see friends and relatives and probably do some marathon canning and baking. I got some craigslist skis today for cheapo and will get to use them on Monday, skiing with some of my Dad Family.

Today was my last day at work before vacation. I had a lot of stange experiences with patrons. I had to tell the same person 10 different rules they were breaking, one at a time. Then there were comments from the peanut gallery when I had to ask a man to keep his large frame backpack with him and when I asked another man to respect others when using his cell phone. Other patrons came out and said "yeah" and "you better shut up" when I was talking to these two--I told them I had it under control. Later, a patron I know well came up and told me that someone else at the computers had said I was "mean" after I asked another woman to keep her belongings with her. Well, I tried to be polite. Can't make everyone happy I guess.

On the other hand, I had a pretty darn good yearly review and a teen I know from the Interagency School came in and brought me the CD she made of her own music! Sorry, more exclamation marks. I got excited there for a moment because I hadn't seen her for a while and I was sure she had forgotten who I was. Turns out I lost her to another branch. But she came in today and brought me this CD and when I got home and listened to it I was blown away. It was so good. We had a great conversation and I recommended a book to her that we had just gotten on promoting your band. It was probably the most teen librarian moment I have had in forever--a great way to end the work day and to start vacation.

Busy December

2009-12-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

No new information in libraryland, so I have directed my attention towards getting ready for my two week vacation. I am not going anywhere, besides going to Spokane for a couple of days. Family is coming to visit me though, and I will get to spend some good quality time with the ones that live here already. I am REALLY looking forward to it.

I finally rode my bike again yesterday, after a week off. I didn't feel prepared for the extra cold weather, even though it was mostly sunny. Yesterday was pretty rainy, so it was a good day to get back on the bike ;) I was a little tired during, but it went well. I am impressed that I am still riding in December, although the weather isn't much different right now than it was in September; 47 and raining.

Most presents have been bought. I actually have some wrapping paper that I like. Cards are made and ready to be filled out--ok, those might be a little late getting to people.

Mentee is still MIA, which is sad. She ran off the day before she was supposed to visit her son. We all felt that she sounded sincere when we talked to her, that she was ready to settle in and do better.

I worked at the University District Service Provider Alliance holiday dinner for youth on Monday. I got to see a few of the kids I know from UDYC. This year I helped in the general store, where kids that didn't have a Secret Santa got to spend fake money on stuff like warm coats, sleeping bags, toiletries, gift cards, and a few highly sought after electronics. Last year I was a table captain--someone who made sure that the rules of conduct were followed, but also just hung out and spent time with the youth at the table. This year was definitely less interactive, but I still had a good time. Costumes were required, so I went as an elf--striped sleeves and socks, green knee pants, red circles on my cheeks. I should have taken a picture, but I seem to be photo-deficient lately. No excuse, really.

Chaos in Libraryland

2009-12-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

I hinted at the changes that might be coming for my job and while I still don't know exactly what they will be, they definitely will be.

Right now they are working on a re-organization of managers and what, for the sake of space, I will call assistant managers, although there are several job classes in actuality. After they figure out where all those people will go, they will move the rest of us around. I highly doubt my branches will be my branches any more. It makes me sad to think about. I love my coworkers and my buildings and (most of) my patrons. My schedule will also be different, but I am not terribly worried about that, since we will be open fewer hours and I don't forsee a lot of hardship there.

Since we still don't know any specifics, many of us are anxious, even though we know it will turn out ok in the end. Rumors and speculation are flying all over, which isn't conducive to doing your job. My mental state is all over the place. We likely won't find out our fates until around January 2nd--that is just before the 30 day limit admin has to notify us of changes.

On the upside, Comixtravaganza is happening this year. There will be some things happening at Central and South Park--I will link to them later on, the calendar isn't updated yet. We are having the draw-a-thon at the University Library on January 23rd, starting at 2pm. Matthew Southworth is going to hold a drawing workshop before hand (here is a review of Stumptown by him and Greg Rucka). Zanadu Comics is helping sponsor (Thank You Perry!), so the awesome Sean is coming to hand out door prizes, help judge and hand out the winning prizes. I am excited that I get to have this last hurrah before the changes hit.

Enjoying My Time

2009-12-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful weekend. The only things that set it back were that The Boy had two basketball games this weekend, so staying in BFD and my mentee is still missing. The Boy and I are going shopping next Sunday and hopfully to my Dad's choir concert to make up a little time.

On Saturday I took the bus down to the Urban Craft Uprising at the Seattle Center. I stood in line for 15 minutes with a few hundred other people, then went inside. Everything was very professional looking and very cool--but one of the side effects of not mass producing and getting your supplies in super bulk numbers, it was pretty expensive. I could see buying myself one or two things, or if I saw the perfect gift for someone, I might have spent the money, but I kept my self control and walked back out after seeing all the booths. There were a lot of super cute things in there and maybe someday I will have the extra cash to spend on them.

After that I went to the Metropolitan Market and got some of the very yummy eggnog from Twin Brooks that I have been raving about to anyone who will listen. I think I have converted a few people, too. There were several product reps by the front door giving out samples or coupons and one of them was the Hempler's Ham people. Pause now for some back story:

I had a Hempler's Ham on order for my family dinner Saturday night from Amazon Fresh. It was a preorder--which should mean that they would definitely have one for me, right? Or they would let me know ahead of time they didn't...? Nope, just no ham with the order and when I checked my email--they send out a confirmation some time that morning--it just said "the following items were not included with your delivery, you will not be charged for those items". Awesome! So now I have to go shopping to find something else, which I did, but it wasn't local and natural like the Hempler's would have been. When I emailed my complaint, all Amazon replied with was "we are sorry for the inconvenience". Nothing about trying to not let it happen again or anything. I am going to wait a while before I order again. The physical store doesn't let you down that way. They either have it or they don't.

So I told the Hempler's rep that story and she gave me a free ham! It wasn't big enough to serve to 8 people, but Dr. T, The Boy and I will definitely enjoy it at a later date.

The family dinner was fun. We had snacks, people played Wii, we ate dinner, then played Apples to Apples. The eggnog was loved by all, especially me. Did I mention that I don't usually go in for eggnog? I don't. But this stuff is the bomb! I haven't had homemade yet, but I am guessing this is on par.

Sunday I strategized with Interactive Reader for a webinar we will be on in January. It is for First Tuesdays through the Washington State Library. We will be talking about Reader's Advisory (recommending books) with a few example book talks, resources and tips. We have a dry run coming up this Wednesday Morning. Then we did a little window shopping down Market St.

Two of my friends and coworkers came over later to learn to make bread. I instructed them through the loaves and they seemed to turn out well. I will get full reports on Wednesday when I see them next. We also made some AWESOME ice cream sundays vanilla and chocolate peanutbutter ice cream, crumbled zugats, little peanutbutter cups, bananas, hot fudge sauce and whipped cream. It was wonderful and decadent. We also played some Mario Kart.

It was really nice to have such a fun and relaxing weekend after the Union meeting on Friday. I think it really sapped a lot of our energy. I don't even want to think about it right now, so I might share on a later date, although it would likely be more interesting just to give you an outcome.

Flight, Family and Fuzziness

2009-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

And of course she ran away again on Sunday. At least I got a chance to talk to her though and really tell her that I am here for her, whether or not she is following the rules. We'll see if she comes around.

****

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Spokane. We had a great family dinner on Thursday, then on Friday went to the Rocket Bakery on Cedar and 1st and had an awesome lunch with Dr. T's brothers and sister in law and two nefews. We also went to the Whitestone tasting room and enjoyed tasting Mr. M's own wine blend, Pieces of Earth.

I had been feeling weird since Wednesday though and when I went to work on Saturday I was pretty much a wreck. I was dizzy and couldn't concentrate. By Sunday I was a lump and didn't do more than watch tv all day. The only change I could think of was the antibiotics I have been taking for a tenacious case of acne, but I didn't think that could be the culprit. Finally I looked at the label to check and low and behold it can cause "dizziness, blurred vision". So I stopped taking it Sunday and called the doctor on Monday morning. I picked up some new, less lumpishness causing antibiotics yesterday.

Yay!

2009-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

I have so many things to be thankful for these days. A rewarding job that isn't going anywhere (whew), a wonderful family including my pretty good son and my lovely boyfriend, a bike that gets me where I am going and a car that is running well even though she is 17 years old--and gets good gas mileage.

I just got another thing to be thankful for. My mentee is back in the system and seems to be really interested in doing better and staying off the streets. I just talked to her and even though phone conversations can be awkward, I told her point blank that I care about her and what happens to her, and that if things did go wrong again, she can still call me and talk. You have to take these opportunites while you have them (as I learned while she was missing). It sounds like her baby is doing well and she has already had 2 visits and behaved like a parent, interested in being with her child. I am really proud that she is always so level headed with him. We talked about school; she is doing well in her classes so far and is going to join the basketball team. I was also told that while she was gone, despite being surrounded by crack and meth, the only drugs she did were pot and x. She was tested, it is true. To some that might sound like a lot, but it was recreational use (parties) and being around the other and having a history with them, it is really something.

I invited her for a family dinner at my house next Saturday. My Dad's Family* will all be there and we are planning on playing games and having dinner. It will hinge on whether her social worker can swing the permission.

Tomorrow Dr. T and I are heading for Spokane. We are having dinner at my Step Dad's with my Mom's Family*. It will be a whirl wind trip, since I have to work till 8 tonight and in the morning on Saturday, but it will be so nice to see everyone and to visit with my little niece :)

*Dad's Family=Dad, his wife and my siblings on his side, as opposed to my Mom's Family, which is really comprised of my siblings on her side, my step dad and his wife and not my mom at all. Family gets complicated.

Youthful Ignorance

2009-11-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

Last week I spoke on a panel for the JRA mentor program. One of my mentee's friends was in attendance, so I was able to send her a note. I figure I will give her a week, then try to call her again. The panel went well. I was one of 3 that talked about my experience mentoring with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration. It is hard to believe that I have known my mentee for over a year now.

****

I got a little upset today reading a police officer's blog (might have been Seattle, but could have been further South. Update #3: He is a Seattle Police Officer, based on his own comments). I would link it here, so that you could share in my sadness, but I don't feel like giving him any further hits. I am irritated that I gave him my own. Anyhow, he commented about how homeless youth migrate North and South with the weather, and how awful they are and that most of them are homeless because they want to be. Having volunteered at drop in for homeless youth and working with the interagency school through work, I can tell you that isn't true. There are a lot of factors that go into youth deciding to leave home. Why would anyone choose to sleep on the street, in constant fear for themselves and their few belongings, always battling the weather, when they could be at home with a loving family? Most youth choose the street because home is much worse, or because of mental health issues or drug addiction. Some girls are tricked in to prostitution by men/boys that pretend to love them and then are too afraid to leave. I found out about this blog because the officer in question doesn't seem to understand that copyright is a law and he stole an image from a blogger who chronicles her time with homeless youth through photos. And yes, if you follow that link, you can find the other. Update #1: that blogger pulled down her rant after the cop took off her picture. I have changed my mind about linking to him, as the more people that know about it the better: http://law-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/11/wasted-youth.html

Despite the backlash likely to happen, I commented on his blog. He screens his comments though, so you won't find it, at least not yet. I am sure he thinks I am full of sh** and that his time as a cop and a soldier make him an expert, without ever delving further into that world than he has to to arrest whomever doesn't fit into his definition of polite society (which from reading the rest of the page, is really no one--there isn't much respect for human rights portrayed there). Update #2: He didn't post my comment, maybe because I gave him a hard time about using someone elses work without asking, but maybe because he didn't like my argument against his broad generalizations.

I know there is a division between police and citizen here in Seattle. I don't know any officers personally, although the police men and women who come into the library seem nice enough. While I find the attitude portrayed in the blog exaggerated and ridiculous, I have felt the same way about some people's opinions of police officers (pigs, The Man, etc.). I don't like hasty generalizations about any group and try to keep from making them myself. I guess it is preferable to have these people blathering on in public so that we can be aware that they exist, rather than hiding away until they do something stupid.

Adventures in DIY

2009-11-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

Today I had a 3 hour shift filling in at Capitol Hill. I took it as an excuse for an adventure and I took the bus and got to the Hill about an hour before the shift started. I wandered down Broadway from Olive to Mercer. A lot has changed since I lived in the 'hood about 4 years ago. New buildings have gone up, businesses have moved or been replaced, but the people are the same and so are many other things. I stopped in at Crossroads, Urban Outfitters and QFC, then made my way upstairs in the Broadway Market to check on whether the photo booth is still there. Score! It is and it has color photos. Oddly enough, it only takes credit cards, but that is ok too.

Which comes to my big plan for holiday cards. I wanted to do this last year, but couldn't get the boys to take me seriously and we ran out of time. This year, I am just dragging them to do it--and I already got them both to agree. What they don't know is that I intend to take them to Hana for sushi afterwards. Of course, that is as much a treat for me as it is for them.

Oh yeah, so the holiday cards. I want all three of us to cram into a photo booth and take 3 silly pictures and one "serious" or "normal" one. Then I want to scan these 4 pictures in to the computer in a square. Either I will get them printed at Costco or on my own printer, which doesn't do a bad job if I have the right paper, and put them on some cards I am making. I will be sure to post photo's when I am done.

I have been doing some crafting lately, making notepads for xmas presents. I took a book binding class at the Zine Unconference back in March, and I was pleasantly surprised that I remembered how to do it. I even modified it a bit to work with a wrap around cover.

The blue cover is one that I made in the class. I made the two smaller ones today. My tools are behind them--I never knew how useful an awl was before I bought this one. It has really made my life easy in a lot of ways. And I love this paper cutter. I got it for less than $30 at Costco a while back. It has a blunt edge cutter on the right and a wheel cutter on the left. The blunt cutter is better than the "real" paper cutter we have at work. I hope it lasts.

I have also been experimenting with simple screen printing, using an embroidery hoop, some fine mesh curtain fabric and acrylic paint. It is definitely possible, but I need to find the right kind of paper to use for the stencils. Newsprint get ink on the paper and bleeds, and paper bag is too thick. Maybe magazine paper...

***

The reward for my Broadway adventure? A hecka lot of rain and a bus that just never came on the way home. I was soaked. But it was totally worth it.

Cold and Cluttered with a Chance of Cleaning

2009-11-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday and I haven't even started the coffee pot yet. I got derailed last night when I asked Dr. T what he had to do today and he replied that he had to go to rounds at 6:30. AM. Sigh. I was going to make a big breakfast, but big breakfast for one is just not as exciting.

I came home wanting to go out last night, but ended up getting cold and I just took a bath, bundled up and went to bed fairly early for a Saturday. Proof I am getting old I suppose. I haven't ridden all week because of being sick and various errands that I had to do, so it is probably best that I didn't make that big breakfast. Tuesday I will start again.

Individually, Dr. T and I are both clutter bugs. Together, we are a mess ;) He has newspapers and receipts and junk mail everywhere, and I tend to have yarn and whatever I brought home from work sitting around. After a few days it begins to feel claustrophobic. We both need to change our ways, but that means we have to work on it. The clutter really isn't very charming. I should turn on some lights and start cleaning... and maybe some heat. It is cold in here.

Being Sick and Veteran's Day

2009-11-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

I am home sick today and I feel regret about it. I got a free day off yesterday, which was wonderful, and now I have another because I feel rotten. I really like going to work lately. I love my branches and what I do, even with the rabble. Well, here's to feeling better tomorrow.

Dr. T has been feeling sick all week. I would like to say that I am a good girlfriend and have been taking care of him, but in reality, I have barely acknowledged his sickness. I just keep doing my thing and in my mind he is fine until I ask him something and his nasally tone comes back to me and makes me realize that I should probably offer him some tea or something. He is pretty self reliant and tends to do those things for himself when he wants them. I know it is nice to be taken care of sometimes though. Like right now. But he is away on call tonight, so I am on my own.

Being off yesterday made me think about all the veterans in my life and there are a few. My dad and step-dad, several uncles and two of my cousins have served. Actually, one of my cousins is still serving. He is stationed in Japan and pilots harrier jets. It is what he has wanted to do since we were small. He has a wife and their two children are growing up abroad and from the look and sound of things are adapting quite well. I envy them their travels--and I know they are loving it.

Another cousin who has served in the reserves got called up twice to go to Iraq. He had some really interesting stories there that I would repeat for you if I could remember them well enough. He has had some recent health trouble that ensures that he won't be going back. He is a brave man and I have always admired him.

I found myself wondering why we are in Afghanistan and what our presence in the Middle East even means anymore. The politics of the situations are lost on me these days while I am worrying about mayoral races (yay McGinn!) and city budget cuts (thanks to the city council for giving an additional $863,000 to the library budget today). Now that those two things have settled and the initiatives and referendums are where they should be, I can read a bit more about foreign policy again.

...

2009-11-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

And that is what I get for ranting on the internet. A phone call from my ex telling me that he knows that I think that The Boy isn't getting the care he needs because he isn't living in Seattle. Where the hell did I say that? I know my name is sarcasmgirl, but that name is from history, not my current style of writing. The good thing about it is that he called and we talked about The Boy. I was impressed at how fast he let the initial statement drop once I told him that isn't what I said. He even said once in the conversation "I am not trying to downplay your feelings about [The Boy]'s situation." A totally different man than I knew. We did argue back and forth a bit, and I didn't win the argument, but I wasn't totally unhappy with the outcome either.

And now that I know he could be reading this (but probably won't), I will stop talking about him.

Just so that you know, in case you read my earlier post wrong as well, I wish that The Boy had other type 1 diabetics his age to be around. He goes to camp once a year and the benefits are very noticeable in him. I wish he could have that all the time.

And yes, I often wish that The Boy were closer to me, or lived with me, but I can't spend all my time thinking about that. I work with what I have and try my best.

The Darkness Under the Silver Lining

2009-11-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Had a wonderful weekend with family this weekend. Cousin S got married to a wonderful woman and the ceremony and reception were beautiful and fun. Sister M and Husband stayed at my house and we had a lovely time, attending wedding festivities and shopping with Brother M, Wife and baby and Brother C. It was really nice to see everyone.

This weekend with The Boy was very frustrating, though. Very. I love him so much and the worst thing he can do is harm himself. He skipped checking his blood sugar for both Thursday and Friday and he also skipped a day or two last weekend. The only time he checked it over this weekend was when I asked him to show his meter to me. One of the ones he did check was a 518 (normal range is between 80 and 120). I really found all this out when I sat down to put in his blood sugar levels for the week on a spreadsheet that the hospital sent me on Sunday evening. We just had a talk with the doctor last week about how important it is to test at least 3 times a day.

I feel like there are two major factors to his avoidance: 1, he just wants to avoid thinking about it and maybe it will go away, and 2, he is still embarrassed to be seen as different than other people. There was a brief time when he decided it was "cool" and was even giving himself injections at the table in restaurants, but that time is over. Can't say I liked the "cool" factor, but it was better than whatever is going through his head now.

I wish he could join a support group with other teens with type 1. I just don't see it happening, between his dad's resistance and his sports schedule and living so far out. Sorry, I have to rant a and get this out of my system and make a plan. I know his-step mom will see this, but I already sent the information to their email. I hate being a jailer, but I don't want my kid to die or lose a limb or his eyesight. I am going to check his meter every time from now on, even if he hates it and yells at me. Even if we are out somewhere and he is embarrassed. Even if I am tired and don't want to deal with the flack he gives me. I am going to start filling out the other parts of the form too, where it asks for carbs and units of insulin taken. No more cutting corners and being lenient.

Blue Skies

2009-11-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

This morning I went down the the Seattle Municipal Building and went up to the 17th floor. I spent 2 hours stuffing envelopes and chatting with the staff of Department of Neighborhoods, P-Patch. This was the last of my 8 hours (actually puts me at 10) of volunteer time for the P-Patch that we have to put in each year. While I was there, I was able to get them to change the picture on the Ballard P-Patch website so that it was no longer the wrong location--something I had been talking about with the site coordinator for months, but we just couldn't seem to get done. Now I have the right contact so I can also update the blurb. So much can get done when you are in the right room!

Another thing struck me while I was there. Working at Seattle Public Library, I am also a city employee, although it is somewhat different. We have a different bargaining unit, since we have a different union, but many things are the same. I mentioned the library several times in my conversations with the p-patch folks, but never came right out and said that I work there. They all asked which p-patch I belong to, though. It felt weird to be there for 2 hours without telling them that I also work for the city, but it never felt right to come out and say so either.

I met my dad for lunch down at the Pike Place Market after volunteering. We met at the pig and ended up at Cafe Campagne. Dad got the pre fix and I chose the cassoulett. Everything was really good. The cassoulett was a stew of white beans, sausage, pork, duck confit, and lamb; perfect for a cold day. We left there and went in search of a cookie. After only half a block we smelled something delicious and went into Le Panier (I know, a french kick...) and got 2 slices of fruit tart. We took them over to the benches overlooking the waterfront. Starlings begged for crust and we sat chatting about life, love, work and politics. It was a nice day. The sky was blue in the morning and it just started to spit rain as I headed home.

Wearing different hats

2009-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am feeling more alive today, although I am trading the being tired and grumpy for stomach upset. I won't beleaguer you today with my whining, just know why I am still not quite myself.

I need a costume for Saturday. There is a costume party a bunch of friends are giving and they are REALLY into the dressing up thing. I have dressed up in the past and had some fun with it, but lost my momentum over the years. Last year I didn't even bother.

I looked through my costume box (doesn't everyone have one of these?) and found that I really have 2 choices, both of which will require the aquisition of some accessories. I can be a pirate BORING! or a steam punk. The second one is cool, but I am not sure that it is recognizable. I hate it when people ask: So what are you, anyway? Are there any recognizable steam punk characters besides Agatha Heterodyne from Girl Genius? Maybe Nausicaa or Sheeta from Castle in the Sky. But none of those lend to good costumes. Maybe I will just make a sign to wear that says "What? You don't know?" and leave it at that.

****

Lots going on in Libraryland. I am taking on more responsibilities while trying to be more organized and lessen others so that I don't get overwhelmed. It is working so far. I am redesigning and taking over updates on my Instruction Committee intranet site. That will only be a lot of work at the beginning. I have done two branch sites already, but the editing interface is pretty different for the committee site. I have been playing with that and learning about the difference between publishing pages and team pages. I have made a few small changes to start with and plan to make more sweeping ones when I have hang of things.

I am also "weeding" our Flickr account. Our paid subscription is up and we aren't going to renew. The free option only shows the most recent 200 pictures, so I will be choosing the "best" and deleting the rest so that the good ones show up on the blog.

Grumpy Weekend

2009-10-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

The weekend was a little stressful for me. The boys don't seem to be talking. They talk in my general direction instead and seem to hope that the other boy will hear.

For example: The Boy asked if there was any soda. I told him he should ask Dr. T (because he had bought some and said it was for that purpose). The boy went back in his room without saying anything.

Me: huh, I don't think he understood was I was saying.

I heard a grunt from Dr. T.

I called to The Boy: There is soda, you just have to ask Dr. T where it is and if you can have some, because he bought it.

The Boy came back out, looked at me and said: Can I have some soda?

Me: Ask Dr. T.

The Boy: Dr. T, can I have some soda? (sort of looking at him, but then looking back at me)

Me: Please.

The Boy: Please?

Dr. T: I think there's some in the cupboard...

Dr. T didn't look at either of us as he said it. He went to get it, but this whole exchange left me feeling like I am in the middle of some silent treatment that is going on. The problem is, everyone forgot to tell me. Or maybe it includes me and that's why they didn't tell me.

Both boys were total bumps this weekend. Except that Dr. T had football and I dragged them both to Bed Bath and Beyond (which still solicits "watch out for the beyond section" from The Boy) and Costco. The crowds do not put me in a good mood and going to Costco sort of did me in. We were supposed to go to a pumpkin carving/autumn party after that, but both bailed on me and when I got home, they were both in the same place as when I left. Total bumps.

So I was grumpy all weekend. On Sunday I didn't even take off my pj's or step further out of the house than to take out some recycling. I did make some amazing bread and The Boy and I made dinner together on Sunday--breaded halibut. Yum.

Loose End Roundup

2009-10-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

My flickr account occasionally gives me little gratifying (or not) gifts. A few weeks ago someone from Schmap!! asked if they could use one of my pictures from a recent hiking trip to Sol Duc Falls in their online travel brochure/app. Why not? So I said yes and it is one of the many featured here under Olympic Peninsula. I feel like it would have been more useful if they had at least tagged the location where the shot was taken. If you know me, and want to look for the photo, it is under my maiden name.

Speaking of Maiden Names, I have been considering going back to mine for years. Every 6 months or so I look up the how, why and when, then look at the cost and put it off a bit further. $150 isn't that much to pay to change your name, but then you have to send a certified copy of the name change to every creditor and institution that you do business with as well, and each of those suckers costs $5. Then there is the passport. Mine doesn't expire until 2012. To change your name on it is the same as getting a new one. And what about my certificates and degrees? I guess I could just file them away instead of having them on the wall. So I keep putting it off. Maybe it can be my alter ego, my superhero name. I can have it embroidered on my undies. >:-P

I had a whirlwind of news on my mentee last week, that put me emotionally through the ringer--mostly today when I sat down to put my contact log together. She called her social worker and said she was going to turn herself in and wanted a foster care placement. The social worker found one but in Covington, so when the time came, Mentee refused to come in because Covington is so far away. I am on a fence about this--the reason she ran away last time was because she was stuck out in Shelton. Maybe she is just being realistic about her ability to live out in the middle of nowhere? But understandably, the social worker threw her hands in the air and said "whatever! Figure your own sh** out" (my interpretation). That basically means she will have to turn herself into the authorities and go to detention, then get another placement. This is another black mark on her record of abandoning her baby. She won't answer the phone when I call, or she sometimes does, but hangs up on me. We never got to make the bond I was hoping for and for a while she thought it was my job to spend time with her. I am sure that colored things. Or maybe she worries that I would turn her in. It hurts that I can't help her or her son. I can't see him unless she gives permission, so I don't know how he is either. Anyhow, I will keep her in my thoughts, but I am going to stop feeling guilty (or try to) for not being closer to her. For now, it is out of my hands.

I am still riding to work once or twice a week, despite being sick or tired or just grumpy. I am starting to feel fit, rather than just staying the same, which is helping motivate me through this ugly fall weather. Random thoughts I have had while riding: REALLY glad I bought the rain pants from REI and coat from Second Ascent, I love how the leaves look on the library lawn after it has been mowed, I really don't mind the rain--it feels like home.

Fall Gratification

2009-10-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

The rain is here. It isn't phasing me one bit. Not that I like getting drenched, but for some reason I don't mind it this year. Plus we have been having some bad ass unpredictable storms that make the season feel exciting.

***

I do a lot of reader's advisory at my branches. Many of the queries are subjects that I can speak to well, like Juvenile fiction for boys and girls. I can totally help a kid or their parent find that kid their next book. YA fiction? Yup, got that one. Occasionally someone wants adult fiction though and often I am not helpful (enough). I don't have a lot of time for reading outside of YA and J and I rely heavily on the recommendations of friends and colleagues when I do. I seem to read more non-fiction than fiction in the adult arena as well, which is terribly unhelpful in adult reader's advisory.

A woman came in yesterday asking for a non-violent, "well written" mystery. Everyone's definition of "well written" is different and I was trying to tease some more info out of her, but she kept saying "I don't usually read mysteries," and I am thinking "but what doooo you read?" Finally I got her to tell me of a mystery author that she had read everything by (I know, right?) and found her some read alike authors using our LibraryThing app on the catalog. I felt lame at that point, but she seemed happy--but one can never tell. We don't have a survey that shows up at your home after an encounter and gauges your satisfaction with our service. We just have to hope the person comes back at the right moment and tells us.

And right after that, a woman came up and thanked me for helping her the week before. She was looking for some books by Virginia Woolf and I had found her one book and one book on CD. She told me that she found VW's "stream of consciousness" style to be cumbersome and asked me what I thought of her writing. I hadn't read VW since college and a lot of what we dealt with in her writing were snippets in class. In small doses Woolf is inspiring (or depressing) and beautiful, but when you read the whole, it could become a chore. I related it to certain musical artists, where you didn't enjoy their music, per say, but you did enjoy the works that came later by other artists who were influenced by the earlier one. Yup, I was feeling pretty intelligent. Probably one of the most stimulating conversations I have had with a patron since I started at SPL (outside of Intellectual Freedom).

I think my head is back to its normal size now.

***

Not a lot going on at home right now. Dr. T and I are settling in to domestic bliss. The Boy's football games have moved days so I only have one more I can go to later in the month. This makes our weekends much more laid back, as much as I would like to be there to see him play. It is dark and rainy out so I am not doing much gardening, although I think I will have a second crop of potatoes in my planter. It is so easy to grow potatoes that I think I will continue doing it throughout the year to supplement our potato addiction.

I will be in another wedding. Sister U is getting married next September and it is fun to watch her and her beau plan. They have a blog where they throw up all of their ideas, both serious and silly. I kind of hope they get the comic book hero cake though.

Onigiri and Bento

2009-10-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have been fascinated with certain aspects of Japanese culture for many years. (It must run in the dad's family). They just make everything so cute! I saw this blog post about making a suck up bento box and I just wanted a bento lunch box so bad. Then my cousin posted this video.

The combination of the two sent me over. I spent one afternoon out looking for bento boxes on the North end of Seattle. Everything was either really expensive, or really cheap looking.

My cousin saw my struggle on Facebook and since her husband is stationed in Japan and she and their children are there, she offered to send me a bento lunch box! Shipping from the base is the same as US postage. I got a whole box of fun goodies a couple of weeks later. Two bento, fishie sauce holders, fun paper cups to put food in and onigiri molds.

Today we tried out the onigiri molds. I read a lot about it before hand,(this was the best site) which was probably overkill because this is one of the easiest Japanese foods ever to make. I wasn't sure I would like the molds, because it sounded so easy to make without them--occasionally something that seems revolutionary just adds its own problems to processes. Not here. The molds made it super easy and we didn't have to burn our hands. We wore gloves anyway and it helped keep the mess down.

These are our finished product. You can check out our set on Flickr to see all the pictures. Basically, you dip your onigiri molds (or your hands) in water, then sprinkle them with salt. Press in warm (or hot, if you are feeling masochistic) japanese style rice, filling about half way. Add your filling--we used salted salmon and pickled veggies--then add more rice over the top. Press down with your dipped and salted top mold, then press it out of the mold. You can wrap the finished onigiri it in seaweed, fukikake, sesame seeds, or whatever suits your fancy. If you are making them for later, you might want to pack that part separate, as the seaweed tends to get a strange texture after sitting. Here is The Boy enjoying one of our first onigiri:

What's Going on with Your Sick Self?

2009-10-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

I am home sick today, bored with Facebook (gasp!) and just put away my grocery delivery. I always wondered what would happen if Amazon Fresh went to the wrong door and didn't get an answer--evidently they just put it in bins and leave it in the usual non-attended spot. Thank goodness, I didn't want to think about having to go pick them up somewhere. Amazing! All I know is that no-one knocked between 8 and 9am and there were the bins, all stacked up. You know what else is amazing? They have never once forgotten something in my order. The one time there was a mistake, it was my fault. Somehow I ordered 3 bunches of 5 bananas. It was right there on my list. If only I had noticed sooner.

Enough about my grocery bliss. I am home with a cold, and I think it is the first time ever that I have been home sick and wish I was at work. This is definitely a head cold. Mentally I feel fine. Raring to go, really, and here I am, stuck at home so I don't pass this on to my co-workers or patrons.

There has been a lot going on lately. Talks of cutting hours in the library, professional development opportunities (a webinar spot in early January and a panel spot later in January), a blog post controversy--not here, obviously, but over there and over there. Can't figure it out? That's good. You shouldn't be able to. We are actually working things out to every one's satisfaction, it seems.

I have been holding off on picking the last of the tomatoes--there are a lot of them, really--but I can feel how cold it is getting at night, and if I don't pick them today, there might not be a tomorrow. I wonder if anyone would notice if I wandered over there in my jammies?

What else will I do today? Probably sip tea and read The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. This book is worth staying home. It is YA, but adults will love it, too.

And I guess that according to the new FTC rules, I should mention that I got this book from the library...

Take the Survey, Do Something Proactive

2009-10-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Seattle friends, please take this neighborhood survey on library value. It has been crafted by the Friends of the Seattle Public Library.

Also, look here for ways that you can do something about the proposed reduction in branch operating hours at the Seattle Public Libraries for 2010. For more information on the proposed cuts, click here.

rant/ People who post uneducated slander as comments on the Stranger's Slog really annoy me. They obviously have no idea what they are talking about. Thank goodness there are plenty of people out there who do, so they can educate the others. The problem is, those making the stupid comments often don't listen. /rant

Thank you!

On a lighter note, I have really been enjoying the discussions that our Banned Books display are provoking. One gentleman was very upset that we had wrapped the Koran in string. We explained that it was a symbol for censorship and that the book was damaged or wouldn't have been used for the display. He seemed happy with that explanation. Another woman asked why anyone would want to ban The Color Purple. We had a lively discussion about people (in the "they" sense) wanting to protect others against racism and how if you take away all the books that talk about something "bad" it leaves the future open to repeating the past.

Looking for the Pot of Gold

2009-09-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Many library employees applied for unemployment during the furlough week. We did so in case there was another furlough, which there will be. It has to be within the year, in my case by August 28, 2010, to be able to get help. Here's hoping.

This has made me start thinking about my resume. I did a couple of job contacts for the unemployment week--they said I should, just in case, although it turned out that I didn't need to after all. Makes me feel a little stupid to apply for jobs I don't want, then find out I didn't have to because I qualified for stand by--point? This; I should really update my resume in case there really is a time I have to start applying for jobs.

I have been looking around the web for examples and I will tell you that they all look very similar to what everyone sees for a resume. Librarian resumes do not look any different from everyone else's according to the internet gods. Two choices, chronological or functional. Contact info, goal, where you've worked, what you did there, degrees awards and affiliations. Personally, I think that is crap. I want more. I want a magical piece of paper that says "hire me! I rock!"

I am going to try out the Resume Builder that the library offers to patrons for free. It resembles one of those annoying job applications where you move from one step to another, inputting everything from your waist size to your first born's ailments, and end up with something that should be monstrous, but somehow isn't. Here's hoping the process doesn't kill me. I am sure it isn't as bad as I am imagining.

On a Lighter Note

2009-09-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

THE 99 THINGS MEME (or as many as I feel like before I peter out, which will probably be only half) Stolen from Pop Culture Librarian (some answers will remain the same, 'cause I am lazy like that). How many of these have you done?

1. Started your own blog. Duh.

2. Slept under the stars. Yes, many camping trips, many times

3. Played in a band. Oddly, after my brother's wedding 7 years ago we went out to a bar for the after party and the band invited 3 of us on stage to play an instrument. So yes, I played the trumpet very badly with a band.

4. Visited Hawaii. I was 5 and went with my mom and grandparents. I remember little crabs running in and out of holes as the waves rolled in and out.

5. Watched a meteor shower. Many as a young'un. Mostly with my little red aunt.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity. I have, usually to KEXP.

7. Been to Disneyland/world. Yes! Once as a teen and once with my son last year. The first time was ok, the second time was a blast!

8. Climbed a mountain. Yes, a little one that didn't require much effort.

9. Held a praying mantis. Yes. When I used to wrangle carts for the grocery in Wenatchee. One year a bunch of them flew in, and for some reason liked to land on the carts. I removed one so it wouldn't get squished and it sat on my shoulder for several hours.

10. Sang a solo. Yes, not well. Choir from 7-10th grade.

11. Bungee jumped. Nope

12. Visited Paris. No, never been to France. There are quite a few similar questions below, so I am going to not bother answering them.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. I watched a storm that was over the sea while I was safe in my grandma's house.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.Yeps.

15. Adopted a child. Nope

16. Had food poisoning. More than likely.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Never been to the East Coast

18. Grown your own vegetables. Yes, currently as you all know.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. See above

20. Slept on an overnight train. Yes, on a trip to Chicago when I was a child.

21. Had a pillow fight. Duh.

22. Hitch hiked. I would say no, but there were a couple of times when we ended up stranded where we had to hitch a ride. I was always with a parent though, when I was a child. One was a disasterous canoe trip, once our van hood flipped up and broke the windshield on I-5 when we were on our way skiing, and another time our van broke down (different van) on the highway and we got a ride to a gas station.

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill. Mental health days are necessary from time to time to keep you healthy. Not often though.

24. Built a snow fort. Yes, both as a child with my sister and brother, and with my son when he was little.

25. Held a lamb. Don't think I have held one.

26. Gone skinny dipping. Yes.

27. Run a marathon. Nope, closest I have gotten is a sprint triathlon.

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice. See above (I know, it isn't France, but I don't care)

29. Seen a total eclipse. A couple.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. Duh.

31. Hit a home run. Both kinds.

32. Been on a cruise. Only one of those ones around the Sound.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. I don't think so. Maybe when I was younger with my Dad. But that might have been somewhere else.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. Nope

35. Seen an Amish community. Nope

36. Taught yourself a new language. Any languages I've learned have been taught to me. I can't imagine learning a language by myself.

37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Getting pretty close. I was feeling better before this furlough. Talk to me in a month.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. Nope.

39. Gone rock climbing.Nope. Nope

40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person. Nope

41. Sung Karaoke.Yes--best times have been in the private karaoke rooms at Seattle's Best Karaoke or the similar place in the ID.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. Yes, when I was married and drove to Oklahoma after the wedding, we stopped in Yellowstone and saw the geyser.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. No, but I have given a meal to a stranger on the street (person asking for money)

44. Visited Africa.Nope. And meme writer, it bugs me when people just say Africa like it's one monolithic place instead of a continent with a jillion different countries. In case you were wanting my feedback. (agreeing with PCL here)

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Yes, I don't remember when though. Probably a trip to Ocean Shores. Definitely down at Richmond Beach.

46. Been transported in an ambulance. No, thank goodness. I did have to take The Boy to the emergency room when crazy aunt let him take the rap for missing medication. That was fun.

47. Had your portrait painted. Nope

48. Gone deep sea fishing. No deeper than the Sound. Probably not deep enough.

49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person. Nope.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Oh my god, no, ok?

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. Nope

52. Kissed in the rain. Yes, and in the snow and in the sunshine...I could go on and on

53. Played in the mud. Ok, now the meme is just getting stupid.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater.Yes, lots of times. The first one I ever went to was Carrie (my parents were a little sadistic, my sister saw Aliens when she was 4 or something).

55. Been in a movie. Probably not.

56. Started a business. No, unless you count the freelance wordprocessing etc. that I did after I graduated from undergrad. That was pretty sporatic. I also did some house sitting. Neither was premeditated though. It usually just fell into my lap when I needed some money.

57. Taken a martial arts class. Nope unless you count play fighting with my cousin who was a black belt in tai kwon do.

58. Sold Girl Scout cookies. I buy them occasionally. Walk alongs I think--the carmelly ones.

59. Gone whale watching. Not on purpose, but I have seen whales in the water just like, on accident.

60. Gotten flowers for no reason. I have bought them myself for no reason other than I wanted them.

61. Gone sky diving. Nope, be looking for the suicide note if I ever do.

62. Toured the Everglades. Nope

63. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. Nope

64. Broken a bone. Nope, just my front tooth.

65. Been on a speeding motorcycle. Yes. Boyfriend 10 years older when I was 16-18. Also, last steady before Dr. T, but he didn't speed. Never driven one myself.

66. Published a book. Had a poem published in a scam contest. Trying to get my money--it worked.

67. Bought a brand new car. Not myself, but my ex-husband did when we were married.

68. Had your picture in the newspaper. Yes, for sports stuff and playing with a goat at the fair when I was a kid.

69. Visited the White House. Nope, see above

70. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Nope, well, fish.

71. Met someone famous.Yes, Paula Abdule when she was in Oklahoma for bulemia rehab--she came into the coffee shop I worked at. One of my co-workers husbands found out she was coming in and freaked her out by waiting for her to come in, then pouncing. He was weird.

72. Joined a book club. Yes, but they never lasted long

73. Lost a loved one. Yes.

74. Had a baby. Yup, but just The Boy. I think that is all I have in me.

Surprised I made it as far as PCLibrarian. But there you go.

Running with the Ball

2009-09-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should update after my anxious post the other day. Nothing good has happened. Mentee ran away from the group home almost right after she was dropped off, essentially abandoning her baby a second time. She was supposed to go to court about whether she could get custody back on Friday, but since she didn't show up she will have to fight a lot harder later if she wants to try. Right now, her baby is in foster care and unless Mentee gives up her parental rights and allows him to be adopted, that is where he will stay until she gets her act together. Many of the homeless youth I see at the drop in center were from foster care situations. Mentee herself didn't have a family to take care of her. I want to bang my head on the wall right now. The child does at least have a chance to have a normal life and babies have an easier time in foster care, usually.

****

I saw my old friend today, and it was just like we had seen each other last week, instead of 7 years ago. We had a god time chatting and shopping and we plan to hang out again next week. I really thought I was going to have some abandonment issues with her, since she really just dropped out of my life one day--although I allowed it to happen. I deleted her phone number from my phone and decided I wasn't going to call her unless she called me first (it had been a one sided communication line for a while). She didn't call and the rest is history. No issues though, just talking and laughing and remembering.

****

The Boy is playing football, which wreaks havoc on the weekend schedule. I get him on Friday, take him back on Saturday for his game then take him back to school on Monday. For those of you that don't know, it takes 1.5 hours one way to BFD. Good think I have books on CD to listen to. I almost want to go out and drive somewhere just so I can find out what happens to Jenna Fox. I have been meaning to read this book for over a year, and I can see what the hype was about.

Anyhow, he hasn't gotten to play a JV game yet and only played a few minutes in the first varsity game that I saw. His first JV game was canceled because the opposing team got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it. They will have a rematch in October some time. The teams seems really well organized this year and the coach has things well in hand. They play like a real team and they have won all their games but one so far.

****

I am baking bread again. Today was a semolina rosemary bread. It turned out a bit flat, but the texture and taste are amazing. No pictures until I get the rise right.

Babies Having Babies

2009-09-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

My mentee was picked up on her warrant yesterday morning. She didn't have her child with her, but he was tracked down later in the day and is now in custody. My mentee is likely out of detention by now, but I don't know where she is or where she will end up. I have been playing phone tag and email tag with her social worker for the last day or so. The social worker's emails have been cryptic and uninformative, even though that used to be her preferred mode of communication. Now she seems to want to talk on the phone, but hasn't been available at the same times I have.

So I am frustrated and feeling ineffectual. My mentee's cell phone just rings and rings. I know that her family, what little she has, does not show support for her. She has messed up and I don't know how badly. She is only 17 and has never had a good support network. The foster family she lived with, that she lost her placement with, was the closest thing she had. She wasn't ready to be a parent, but she was doing pretty well, and now she may have lost custody.

Just biding my time until I can do something.

Odds and Ends

2009-09-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

A while back I mentioned an old friend that I hadn't talk to for a long time. As I said there, I do a little online stalking now and then, and while I hadn't found much on her, I did find her daughter on MySpace. I didn't contact her because that would be creepy. Evidently the daughter also likes to find people online and she helped her mom find me. We have been emailing on Facebook this week and finally got to talk tonight. It amazes me how even though we haven't talked for 6 or 7 years, we were able to talk to each other no problem. I am not even good at phone talking with other people I know really well and see all the time. We are going to try to get together next week some time. I am pretty excited about it.

I have been to two of the DHS varsity football games now. They won both games and I was pretty impressed with the playing for a small town team. Dr. T was impressed too, which is hard to do with all the playing he does and has done. The Boy only played for a few minutes in the first game and not at all in the second, but he is definitely part of the team and he is proud of it. His first game for JV is on Tuesday, but I have to work late. I will likely make the game two weeks from tomorrow.

I finished up my last day of detox today. I feel accomplished even though I didn't go for as long as I initially planned. I think I was being a little silly with that. But there are aspects of this that I will continue. And I will cut back on the caffeine and not take my coffee for granted for a while. I didn't miss the alcohol at all, which was a surprise, but then I didn't go out either.

The garden is almost done. There are still some tomatoes growing and I have a few things at the house. I planted more potatoes in the planter, have some fennel growing, and some p-plants I started a bit later. I need to think about some winter plants that will return nutrients to the soil. The soil is so much better than when I got the plot--more like regular dirt and less clayey and rocky.

Missing My Coffee

2009-09-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Day 4 back at work and day 5 on a detox diet. The hardest thing has been no wheat products. If you know me, you know that I love to make scones and bread. Not really worth it without good flour--no offense to you that can't have it, I am sure I would make do with some gluten free substitute if I had to. But it is only a short while--and getting shorter as we speak.

Not just because time keeps movin' on, but also because I don't feel like going for a month, or two weeks even. I am thinking that a week is good enough. My digestive track reset itself right away, and actually wasn't too bad the week before. I think I just have to remember to eat at the right times, eat better portions, eat more whole foods. Baking at home is a good way to do that. Gotta stop grabbing the odd pastry with my coffee when I treat myself. Cut back on the rushing around and stay home more. I am not sure I will ever get the hang of that last one.

****

Work has been great. Wallingford is beautiful! I will take some pictures next week and add them to flickr. Everything is streamlined and new. We have 2 self check out computers that actually work and a staff only computer at the desk, which is streamlining delivery. The librarian's desk is way across the room, but it is good that I can see half the room and the circ staff can see the other half, so no shenanigans! We wave at each other every now and then, or dial the I/C and tell each other when we want our breaks. As the day goes on, I find more reasons to go hang out by the circ desk.

In the more general sense of my job, I feel change coming. Not sure what yet, but something.

****

Dr. T and I found some cabinets that work very well. They are behemoth in size and are challenging for putting things in that you might want to find again, like food, or dvds, which is what we are using them for. I am sure we will figure it out though. Hopefully Dr. T will be able to get The Boy's bed uncovered by the time we get home tonight.

Eh? Whats that you say?

2009-09-08T21:49:00.001-07:00

Rereading my last post, I realized that I never mentioned that Dr. T has moved into my humble abode. The basement seems a little smaller, but much more lovely. Also, no more of that pesky packing a bag to stay over, not being sure where my shoes are and getting woken in the morning by delivery trucks at the Lake City Library. I know, he lived right behind a library. Meant to be, no?

He has been a real trooper wedging himself into my place. He got rid of a lot of his furniture and we have bought a lot of new things to try to get his stuff in here. Right now we are looking for "the perfect storage cabinet." We have found a couple on Craigslist, but either they are taken or they aren't quite right. We found our new kitchen table right away though. I closed my eyes, clicked on a link and there it was.

Ooh, funny somewhat related story. It was rent time, and we had never nailed down a price for having Dr. T here. My landlords are awesome and good neighbors too (here they shall be called LL M and LL A, because I am librarian and we like acronyms). They have been very kind in keeping my rent affordable through the last 3 years. LLM came through to bring in the mail and say hi around rent time and I asked him how much he wanted. I will preface this by saying that I just got in from a 9 mile hike and was sweaty and dehydrated. I swear to you I thought he said a bajillion dollars. My brain went foggy and I mumbled something about having to talk to Dr. T about it and how I didn't think it would be that much. We exchanged a couple of pleasantries and he went back upstairs.

I was in a total funk. I had thought I had paying my student loans and getting a lesser paycheck because of the furlough licked and backed into a corner, but here were a few simple words that made me feel like it was 6 years ago and I was unemployed again with now way in hell to pay the bills. That monster was rearing its ugly head. I pouted around and when Dr. T came home I told him the news. He looked at me a bit funny and we decided to talk to LL M after dinner. I kept putting it off, thinking it was going to be the worst, but finally we went up and talked to him. I asked how much the bills were every month (because the increase was only supposed to include half the utilities) and he showed me. I asked him a couple more questions, then finally burst out with "but how does that add up to a bajillion dollars?" He started cracking up and said "no, I said $125 more a month." I almost died of embarassment. Dr. T made a joke about how I get my hearing tested every 6 months (which happens to be true recently). How silly.

A Furlough is NOT a Vacation

2009-09-03T11:25:00.001-07:00

That is what our sign read on Monday as employees gathered in front of the Central Library to inform the citizens of Seattle of the impact of budget cuts on services. Mayor Nickels was there along with our City Librarian, Susan Hildreth and a camera crew. I was a little disappointed with the number of us that turned out--only 30-40 people came. There were speeches, I shook Mayor Nickels hand twice. I for one am sad he is leaving office. I feel he has done a good job getting things done in this city and put priority on services that need it. He has always been an advocate for the library.

I had several people come to the volunteer day I organized after and Dr. T and Sister R came along to help as well. We washed down and scraped old paint off the outside of UDYC, then painted part of the building and the hand rails. It was sunny in the afternoon so it got a little hot out there towards the end. We did a lot of talking about work as we painted. If only we were in charge, everything would be perfect ;)

On Tuesday, Dr. T, my Dad and I went out to the Olympic Peninsula to go hiking. First we stopped at SolDuc hot springs to pick up my bathing suit that I left there two weeks before. I had called ahead and they were saving it for me. I told them I would be coming to pick it up. But of course they didn't have it when I got there and digging through their bins of loaner suits, I found my bottoms. No top. Sigh. I was a little disgruntled and it was anti climatic because I had been sure after I left it there they would never find it. Their organization seems a little lacking. The only thing they said was "who did you talk to?" I don't remember but I am not sure I would say if I did. They seemed more interested in getting someone in trouble than helping me find my bathing suit.

Luckily the hike was about as perfect as it could get. We saw a lot of colorful fungi, the day was just sunny enough to bring out the green in the rain forest and the falls were beautiful. On the way back we picked huckleberries, which we ate in pancakes this morning, yum. We stopped in Port Townsend on the way back and had dinner at Silverwater Cafe. The food was wonderful and a great ending to the day. We took the ferry back to Edmonds and got home at around 10pm. It was a really full day.

Yesterday was spent putting more things away. We got a nice table off Craigslist on Sunday and we had to make room for it. The result is that you can actually get into the kitchen now.

Family that Plays Together...

2009-08-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I started a post last week and realized it was all whiney, so I deleted it. And that's all I have for excuses.

We start our work furlough on Monday. The entire library system is closed from Aug 31-Sept 6, then also closed Monday Sept 7th for labor day. No pay, so I have been working on saving some money up and I think everything will be ok. Except for the speeding ticket I got on my way back from Spokane. And the doctors bills I have from my wellness and hearing check up (it costs a ton to go to the doctor these days, even with insurance!) Oops, there I am whining again.

Last night I went to see Tacocat with my dad's family. We went to the Funhouse which was a weird kind of treat. There is a basketball court in the back, so we played Horse and two on two with the monorail going by in the background and music pumping (do you say pumping in punk speak? Shows I am not a punk...) out the door. I played a lame game of horse, but made it up a bit during the two on two. I am a bit sore today from all that jumping around.

Tacocat was pretty good, but Used Kids did a longer set and weren't as much fun to listen to. The music was mostly a wash, but at least it was only a $5 cover and we had a great time otherwise.

Still Crazy

2009-08-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have been promising a wedding recap for a week now, but things are still so busy, it will have to be a short one.

The bride was absolutely gorgeous. She was definitely not a bridezilla and everything was so laid back. I can't imagine how stressed I would have been if Sister M had been a task master. This wedding was proof that you don't have to control every little aspect of your wedding and everything will still turn out ok. I actually think that trying to do so will make something go wrong.

We had a great time. The ceremony was short, beautiful, two of my brothers did readings. Kissyfur read "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss and Manny read an Irish wedding blessing. Little Bear was a flower girl and she was so cute walking down the aisle with a 4 year old boy from the grooms family, her flowers falling out of her basket on accident. The two girls, Bear and little J, did an impromptu tumbling act on the steps until their mothers took them in hand. After food and the traditional cake cutting, toast and bouquet/garter toss, the dancing began. More tradition, the bride and groom danced, then the bride and her father and the groom and his mother. After that, our side of the family went all in. We danced to the corniest and the funniest and the fastest music. We kept the dance floor alive up till the last minute when the caterers were kicking us out. My feet hurt soooo bad after! It was so much fun!

When I came back to Seattle, it felt really good to be here after a week gone. It was even cool that it was raining, because it made it feel even more like home. I am still super busy until Monday. Dr. T is moving into my apartment and The Boy and I are camping with Dad's Family this weekend. That is getting cut short now because The Boy starts football practice at 8 am on Monday morning.

And now my mentee is AWOL. She went to visit friends in Kent on Monday and never went home. They are putting a run notice on her now. I hope the baby is ok.

Dinner? I hope so!

2009-08-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Home today from Spokane. I will have more wedding goodies to share, but first on my mind is my p-patch (only because I was just there). Thanks to my friend and Dr. T, it is still alive. Behold, CORN:

And very green pumpkins!

My harvest for today:

The carrots are tiny, but really yummy, and I plan to make some mashers from the potatoes I dug up last week and add the chives and green onions. The tomato isn't quite ripe, but it started raining out there and it is supposed to get worse, so I wanted to make sure I got to eat at least one of them. I harvested a couple of the young pumpkins to eat like zucchini. The plums are from a neighbor's yard (I got permission, promise) and the funny white thing in the front actually came off of my potato plant. According to this q and a, they are how the potatoes produce seeds. They are poisonous, so I won't be eating them. Here is a pic of them on the plant:

Toasting the Bride

2009-08-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, am I tired. What a week. I drove over to Spokane last Sunday and I am still here. The Boy and I will head back to Seattle tomorrow.

I have stayed with my brother and sister in law all week and they have been really nice to put up with both me and The Boy that long. My sister was here too and we had a nice time hanging out, running errands for the wedding, going to Cordelain to play at the beach and going to the various pre-wedding festivities. I have really missed her since she has been in Nevada.

Being the maid of honor, I had to come up with a toast. This was harder than you might think, and I kept going back and forth until someone suggested that I tell a story about her. I came up with a pretty good one and about 30 minutes before the ceremony, decided that I should write some words down and I started crying although I managed to avoid major tears. I was misty all through the ceremony, but luckily the kids distracted me and I made it through. Finally time came to the toast and I said:

"I have known Meagan since she was born. She is my sister, but also my best friend. It hasn't always been that way. When we were younger, she was always sneaking into my room and wondered how I knew. She always left a toy behind. Since then, we have become best friends. We have traveled together and even though she lives far away now, we find time to visit. Since she has been gone, I am always looking around for signs of her. The one saving grace of having her so far away is knowing that she has Troy. Please join me in a toast to Meagan and Troy!"

This worked really well, or would have if I hadn't started crying right after I said "she always left a toy behind." I barely made it through the rest, but I did manage to choke it out and was able to pass on the mic to her dad. It was a really beautiful day. More soon.

An Experiment

2009-08-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

After reading Amy's comment on my last post, I decided to sacrifice just one of my little darlings to the WTF surgery god. So I brought home a medium sized specimin (remember that the ones I grew last year were smaller when they were totally orange than this one is now).

(The potatoes are ones that I grew from a sprouting yukon gold. Mostly just here to show off my potatoey thumb.)

So then the poor guy got his head chopped off and his guts exposed:

As you can see, he has the makings of a great pumpkin in him. That is a pretty much full sized pumpkin seed down there near the bottom. Unfortunately, now he will never make it that far. I wonder how young pumpkin (otherwise known as green or not yet ripe) tastes?

Looking Up Old Friends

2009-07-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

When I get bored or curious, I do a little online investigation of old friends. Some of these turn up some interesting stories, others don't go anywhere at all. My friend from high school, whom I feel I have talked about before (but maybe not, I can't find her anywhere) has almost no online presence. Just an address and phone number in the online white pages--the same one she had when I last saw her 8 years or so ago.

I just did a search on another friend, actually an old flame, just to see what he was up to. He was a really good guy, although I don't think we were right for each other. I didn't get to find that out for sure, due to some weird circumstances--I will tell this story at a later date, look for the Persian. I looked him up today and was happy to find that he has opened a rug shop in Bellingham. It sounds like a really nice place, sort of a social hang out as well as a business place. Of course, the problem with the internet is things could have happened since the place was mentioned, but there is a blog entry with pictures of him (how else could I have known for sure it was him???) in May 2009. It makes me happy to know he is doing well. I think he might be married as well. Don't ask me how I do my voodoo. I just do.

*****

Remember that I planted a pumpkin in my garden? I have been really confused, because my pumpkins just keep getting bigger and greener. I ate a few of them like zucchini when they were small, because there were so many. Well, it turns out that because of cross-pollination, they are zucchini. No wondrous orange globes for me this year. Time for zucchini bread.

The 11ish O'Clock Ride

2009-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

This was the mantra I kept saying to myself so I wouldn't forget to post about my ride home from sandpoint at 11pm the other night:

Sepia tones

detour

boom!

around the corner and across the bridge

Don't I know you?

Fremont, a blue light

lots of bikers without lights...

into ballard

boom at FM

seafood fest, no buses!

Abby rentals setting up tables

rode up 24th :(

Home!

Can't you just see the moving pictures in your head? No?

I stayed at my friend's house for about 3 hours longer than I had planned. It was obviously full on dark when I left and the section of the Burke Gilman Trail near their house is unlit. I took another route, down Sandpoint way (the street lights gave everything a sepia tone wash) and planned to cut accross the UW parking lot to meet up with the trail further down. There was some sort of construction going on at the entrance to the parking lot, so I detoured down a sandy road, which came out in yet another parking lot. There were some people gathered around a muscle car at the far end of the lot letting off fireworks (boom!). I kept going and eventually crossed the pedestrian bridge near Hec Ed Pavilion. I rode down the trail from there and saw a patron I know from the library who was carrying multiple shopping bags. I nodded, but I don't think he noticed. I passed through Fremont, thoroughly enjoying the canal way, as usual, and noted the blue light on the bridge, which I would suppose warns boats not to run into it. I also noticed in the relatively unlit portion after Fremont, that there were quite a few bikers that had no lights--I did and was glad for it. As I rode into Ballard past Fred Meyer's, there were more booms from a car parked near the docking bay. I am not sure what the cause of the noises, since they didn't quite sound like fireworks. As I rode up Leary to avoid Shilshole, I considered taking a bus the rest of the way and stopped to peruse a schedule. There was a sign taped over it saying that service had been detoured due to the Seafood Festival happening the next day. Darn it! As I rode past Market and 22nd, there were people from Abby Rentals setting up tables for the next day's revelries. It was odd to see them out so late. I rode all the way up 24th (a long slow hill, although not terribly steep) and was very happy when I made it home.

I worked all weekend and now I have today off. So far I have accomplished...putting on my pj's, watering my outside plants, spending too much time on Facebook and writing this blog post. My goal is to clean up the rest of the camping stuff and do the dishes. Wish me luck...laziness is worming its way in.

Keeping me entertained

2009-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

I have been a bad post-er and it is starting to show. Facebook has taken over my life. My addictions on the internet don't usually last too long because I end up getting bored or the medium doesn't live up to my standards, but Facebook is ever changing; sometimes for the better and occasionally for the worse. The downside is that I post here less often because my attention span has shrunk to the size of a status update.

I have made notes twice for a blog post, which I don't usually do. It must be my guilt over neglecting my blog. So here I am, getting to it.

The Boy and I went camping after his diabetes camp last week. We went to Sun Lakes and baked in the sun, played cards and explored a bit. It was beautiful, but hot and The Boy was being a teenager part of the time--just wanting to sit around, complain of being bored and listen to music. It was too hot to make him go hiking and he didn't want to swim, even when we found this great place called Steamboat Rock. The water was so beautiful!

We had a raccoon that would visit us at night. I didn't leave any food out, having had the experience of wildlife taking off with it in my early days of camping, but the raccoon seemed very intent on seeing what was in my green tub of supplies. I probably wouldn't have cared, since it was the middle of the night and there was nothing he could hurt, but my neighbor kept flashing his light into my tent and telling me about the bugger, so finally I got up and put the tub in the car. Maybe the noise was bothering my neighbor, but I think it was more concern that Mr. Raccoon was going to get something good out of his rummaging. Anywho...

The next night I had two new neighbors; a small family and a bunch of young kids, probably in college. I warned them both about the raccoon. The Boy and I were still up watching the fire when another group of girls joined the college bunch. They unpacked, then left somewhere. Soon The Boy and I could hear some rustling from their camping area--they had left several food items on their table. The raccoon made off with a bag of hotdog buns and was sitting fairly close to the camp, taking out each one with its little hands and munching on them. We trained the light on him and he didn't care, he just sat there and ate his dinner, then he went off. The girls came back and exclaimed over their loss and put the rest of their food away.

The next morning, the same girls came back from driving somewhere and when they got out of their car, one of them had a hookah. I did a double take and the girl said "oh, it's not a bong!" and laughed. I told her I knew it was a hookah, but in my mind it seemed really weird for an 18 year old girl to bee carrying one around. She and her friends spent the morning taking hits off of it and I could tell it was tobacco from the smell, not maryjane. They got some looks from other neighbors and I could tell they were curious as hell. The Boy and I left fairly early that day, so we didn't get to see any more of their antics. I think they could have had their own reality show ;)

Good Weekend, Ready for the Next One

2009-07-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

The bachelorette party was a blast. Neighbors was the perfect cap to our night. The pictures are up on Facebook and that is where they will stay. No reason to draw attention to the incriminating evidence. I was good! Mostly...

The shower also went off very well. We made Sister M fill her mouth with bubble gum and wrapped up Grandma in toilet paper and they both smiled about it. Sister M was inundated with sexy lingerie and kitchen appliances, only the happy couple will know if they use them together. The families got to meet each other and everyone had a grand time.

I got back on the bike yesterday after a week off. I actually don't remember which day I rode last, so it might have been longer. I had so many errands to run last week, I just couldn't swing it. The first ride back was not hard. In fact I felt stronger on the hills than I have in the past. I made it up my goliath without stopping, which I couldn't do for the first couple of weeks I rode.

I am leaving on Friday to pick up The Boy from diabetes camp. I am staying the night in Spokane and picking him up in the morning. Then we will stay in Spokane for the night and go camping for a few days on the way back. I am looking forward to a few days away from work. And a few days with The Boy. This is only the second time I have seen him this summer--busy teenagers...

Plant a Seed

2009-07-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the bachelorette party and tomorrow is the shower. I thought I was done with everything, but ended up running a last minute errand on my break today. God I hope this goes well--I feel like I am putting on a program, instead of hoping that people come, I hope they have a good time. That is one nice thing about RSVP's.

I went to see Robin at the University District Farmer's Market today, where she was the chef at the "Ask a Chef" booth. She is on season 6 of Top Chef, so make sure you watch (Bravo)! I am so proud of her. Some of you know that I was a waitress in another life and she was the owner/chef at Crave on Capitol Hill. That was during my unemployment days and she gave me a job when I had never waitressed before. I was going to barista for her--that I have a lot of experience at--but when the restaurant went to open she was down a server and there I was. I was there for about 2 years, waiting tables and adding up payroll. So I stopped in to see her and heard her give great advice on how to cook squash flowers, which makes me want to go home and try the same with my pumpkin flowers since I have so many starts on there. The garden is really chalk full right now--the corn is past my waist, the snap peas are almost over--I think I will replace them with beans that were offered by a neighboring p-patcher--I just planted a few more lettuce seeds for the next harvest and the potatoes and pumpkin plant (grown from a seed from last year's plant) look wonderful! I will post pictures later--I have been a bad picture taker this year.

Ask and you shall receive!

2009-07-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

It works out sometimes. My boss called today and offered me a 2-6 on Friday. Sold! And during the conversation I fit in that there is a family dinner on Wednesday night and since I am an extra body couldn't I work the early shift? Yes?! Score!

To celebrate I went to VV to drop off some undesirables in the fight to get the house more livable (isn't this how you celebrate? No? Well aren't you weird) and I got a cool jar to make brandy in. I still need several more, but this one will be pretty and multi-functional.

In the picture, you can see my pretty new jar, my new sunglasses and the darned sun tea jar I decided to use for the peach brandy. It is leaking like a mother. My sis is saving me a big jar from her work, which will work much better. My latest attempt to stop the leak was to put plastic wrap around the nozzle and try to push it into the seal with dental floss. We shall see. The new jar will house cherry brandy. I hope it all works or what a waste of good fruit!

But then, since I have 20 lbs of cherries, a pound or so won't be missed. I spent a couple of hours last night watching a movie and pitting cherries, and now the creases around my fingernails are black. It is fading already, but since I have a ton more to go you might catch me purple handed yet.

Almost Crazy, Almost There...

2009-07-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, too long between posts.

Planning wedding showers and bachelorette parties is time consuming! I am done with everything (crossing my fingers) except food. Usually I go all out with cooking and yumminess, but I have to work. My 4 hour shift this Friday miraculously turned into an 8 hour and I get to work on Saturday too, and suddenly I have little time for shopping, let alone cooking. Amazon Fresh, take me away! Maybe the miracle will reverse itself. Wish me luck.

The 4th was fun, although we saw few fireworks. We went down to some of Dr. T's friends' for a bbq. The food was amazing--some had been on the bbq for 2 days! Yum, so good. We stopped at the dollar store on the way home and had fun scouring the aisles for useless and useful times, the first to poke fun at the second to make use of. That place looked like a mob had hit though; there was stuff all over the floor in all the aisles. What amazed me was the freezer section. Red Baron Pizza....

Today was wonderful! I met up with a friend and walked down to Fremont. We perused the Sunday Market, I got some new sunglasses--let me tell you about this in a moment--and had thai for lunch. We also stopped in a couple of really cute boutiques and I think I got someone a very sweet something. That's all I can say...

Sunglasses...I have been holding onto a pair for YEARS that were non-prescription for gods knows why, until I could finally use them now that I have contacts. YEARS. I have been using them for several months and aside from a scratch, they have been great. I wear them biking even. Well, not anymore. I accidentally set off the alarm at work the other day, partially due to my bike gloved fingers refusing to press the right buttons and my bike being unmanageable in the scuffle to turn the alarm off. Somehow (or just my usual me-ness) I set the sunglasses down in the water fountain and left them there. I didn't notice until it was time to leave. And of course they were gone. I wouldn't even have known where I left them except that a co-worker mentioned having seen them there. I hope some &*^%$ person is enjoying the hell out of them.

The Boy's basketball camp was successful--if successful means "kicked his ass everyday and made him want to go back for more." He came home and his ass was in bed except for dinner--but then he got up every morning, got himself ready and caught the bus to SPU on time. It is the most responsible I have seen him in...well...ever. He had good stories about his games and his teams got a couple of awards: 3 on 3 champions and Shooting league champions. This one might be a keeper.

Dreams of Ice Cream

2009-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

I think I tired myself out a bit last week. It seemed like each night got a little later and each morning stayed the same--I didn't let myself sleep past 8 even though I could have. On Thursday I stayed home with a stomach ache and slept until 11. That should have helped, right? I went to work the next day and rode my bike, then went and got my hair cut. I rode home and felt fine. I was voraciously hungry, so ate some cheese and crackers until the burgers were ready. We ate around 7 and I crashed. Literally. I was asleep by 8 and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning. Exciting? These are the things you get to learn about on my amazing blog.

My hair is multicolored now. No one has even mentioned it though, so it must not be too exciting. I warmed it up a bit with reddish and blond highlights and got my hair trimmed. Only a little bit shorter... I will post a picture when there is time.

There is a new ice cream place in the U-district! Yummy organic ice cream from a mysterious source--not even the woman behind the counter knew where they make it. It is on par with Molly Moon and they have coffee! Pretty Kitty has my approval. I went there for my co-worker's birthday celebration and got two pints, one Mexican chocolate and one birthday cake (of course) and both were delicious. I also tried the horchata and the salted carmel. The don't have lines out the door, like Molly Moon, so get there before they get discovered!

And life goes on

2009-06-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

3 day weekend...thank the gods. I really needed it, with few obligations and lots of down time. The short end of that is that my house has not been cleaned and the garden was not attended to until this morning. As soon as I get my butt out of this chair, I will begin the clean. This is where the 3rd day comes in, you get two to relax and one day to get fed up with your own stink enough to start cleaning!

Two of my sibs in my dad family have birthdays today (yup, twins). We had a bbq at Volunteer Park for my sis yesterday. The weather was actually pretty perfect; the sun kept peaking out and it didn't rain the whole time we were there. I made a peach, strawberry, rhubarb cobbler that was just soooo yummy. Dr. T suggested that I share the left overs with my housemates today and I said "no way! I am eating all that myself!" Then I gave them some rhubarb so they can make their own, 'cause that's how I roll.

I was really on a baking jag this weekend (as you can still see by the state of my kitchen). I made sourdough bread, strawberry scones, scratch waffles from my dad's recipe and the sourdough starter, and the cobbler. I had to make the waffle batter twice because the first time I left it out all night. Dairy and sourdough starter don't like that, although it was an interesting science experiment.

I don't think I mentioned, a friend gave me an italian sourdough starter a few weeks ago. It is really fun to work with and I have made several breads. I have also found that my oven is a little too hot and I keep getting a bit harder crust than I want. When will I learn? Even though I know this, every time I make a new recipe I forget to take that into consideration.

The last few weeks circumstances have made me a little pessimistic about library work. I really love my job and I just needed a reminder. Today has been a good day of reading about what other systems are doing and it gives me hope that we will recover from the changes that are going on. My friend has some interesting info on the NY Library's anti-prom. I love to hear about teens doing such great things. Especially when there is a library involved.

Next...

2009-06-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

The restructuring downtown is definitely not the only thing that we at the branches "don't get" the same way as those at central. There is quite the comment war going on over at the stranger and they are all well worded, even is some are more emotional and studded with swears than others. This is one of those debates where I keep turning my head to hear what the new person has to say, being swayed by both sides. It both makes me want to take up arms and go bury my head in the sand. I don't really feel like I am intellectually up to this conversation. On paper, both sides are right.

Had a wonderful day though. Got up early for no apparent reason, but got a bit done before the day really started. Finished a book that seems to capture the life of a street kid, Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard, got some storage stored, moved my desk into the extra room, general clean-ey type stuff. Not perfect, but it makes me feel better. Then I went with a couple of friends to a newish place on 32nd, called Picolino's. They have beautiful outside seating and the food was good. We sat on the front sidewalk and kept having to feel bad for those trying to pass between the table and the tree well in the sidewalk, but otherwise had a lovely time. They have good coffee too--Umbria :) what Crave used to serve. I have been meaning to try this place for a while, even though there was some controversey over their take over of the building they reside in. I can't find the documentation for that right now, since the archives for MyBallard seem to be down.

Now we are off to hit the junk/thrift stores and Fred Meyer to help along my attempt to make my own peach brandy.

The Stranger Said Boo

2009-06-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

There is a ton of controversy going around the library right now, for several reasons. Our central branch had a re-structure of employees. They moved people around, changed managers, moved managers out to branches, combined or split apart departments, etc. None of this really affects us out in the Branches, so we are bystanders in this and can't really understand what they are going through down there. Some people seem fine with it, while others hate it vehemently.

We also have some system wide changes coming up, as you may have seen in the news. The Seattle Times, The PI Book Blog and KUOW all covered our proposed changes to the Code of Conduct. These are basically rules which patrons should observe while using the library to ensure privacy, safety and well being for all present and the changes will make these rules clear as well as the consequences for breaking them. There has been a lot of support for the changes, both by staff and the public, although there are those who feel that the rules affect certain populations more than others.

Yesterday, The Stranger decided to take that stance in an article that was actually about something else. I suppose it helps make their case that we are a homeless and immigrant hating organization. This article exposes (through leaked material by one of my coworkers) that administration is planning to change some of our circulation policies, such as reducing check outs and holds to 50 and 25 respectively, from 100 items, and adding a fee for interlibrary loans. This is not expected to make the library a ton of money, and one goal is to make people think more about the actions they take. A lot of interlibrary loans are not even picked up from the library to be checked out, as are many holds. Interlibrary loans cost an average of $15 (some cost nothing more than their transportation and staff time, others I have heard of cost $150 just to borrow from another system) and holds that sit of the shelf and are not checked out also cost money and time.

The article is inflammatory and at times incorrect. The quotes from Nancy Pearl and King County Library System are good and constructive, but anything that came from Seattle Public tends to be overly emotional and finger pointing. I don't propose that these are the best choices for SPL to make for our system and our patrons and I hope more thought will go into them before they are finalized. So far, I haven't been able to find any other news agency (giving The Stranger the benefit of the doubt about being one) covering this story, but I hope one comes out soon. We need more balance in our lives right now.

Update: The library has posted this explanation of the changes as a news release.

All the Little Pieces

2009-06-14T10:23:00.001-07:00

Less exciting goings ons this week. Lots of work, going to schools and booktalking/talking up the summer reading program--I love getting teens to talk to me. And let me just say that 6/7th grades are THE BEST because they aren't old enough to be too cool yet. But they are old enough to read the books I love. There you go.

My manager has returned to us, which is most awesome. The interim manager was great, but it meant that I had two of them for almost a year, which made some things challenging. It could have been much worse, but is already better. Sunshine!

Today I am having buffet sushi with my friend then a little mall excursion. My Crave boss has invited me to a bbq where I know only her, but it has been long enough since I have seen her that it sounds like a go too. Dr. T and I are supposed to fit making beer in there as well. This time will be an amber.

Yesterday was the weirdest. We just had about every personality type you could imagine in the library. I was glad to go home. We had secret identity man, Man beading in the children's area--got mad when I told him he had to move and threw pastries, Grumpy old guy that has to be waited on and to top the cake, Entitled woman who comes in right at closing, takes some time to pick out a dvd, then informs us she needs some special help. I WILL GIVE YOU SOME SPECIAL HELP! Ok, better now.

I unwound at Circus Contraption's The Show to End All Shows. It was wonderful and dark, funny and very very entertaining. I would recommend it, except that their last show EVER is today. CC is breaking up. It was grand and they will be missed.

Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday

2009-06-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

So much keeps happening, I just can't keep up!

Dr. T graduated from Medical School over the weekend. There was much celebrating. His mother and brother came, as did his dad and some friends of the family. We all met up at the convocation, then everyone came to my place for a bbq. It definitely had a different feel from when I have a party, but that is probably because I don't know these folks as well, although they are all really nice. We did some sight seeing with Dr. T's mom and brother--hit the Seattle Center, the Ballard Locks and stopped in at the Fremont Sunday Market. It was a good time and I am so proud of my baby. Good job Dr. T!

On Sunday we also said farewell to our interim manager, who was with us for almost a year. We had a little picnic at the local park and talked around the circle. It was a nice evening, even if it was a little cool. The Boy had to miss all of the outings besides the graduation ceremony due to homework avoidance.

On Monday I had a driving marathon. It was a real test for Lady Gray, but she ran like a champ. I guess if she can get me to Nevada and back, she can get me all over the Puget Sound. I took The Boy to school in BFD in the morning, had about a half hour at home before I drove to Shelton to take my mentee to a bbq in Auburn. I dropped her and Little D off at the bbq, then ran some errands. She reminded me that she was a teenager when it was time to go home. She tried to talk me into leaving her there. To her credit, when I showed up at 6, she was ready to go and didn't argue at all. We had some good talking on the way back.

Rode to work this morning. Actually, to Roosevelt HS where I met 4 other librarians in an attempt to woo high schoolers into coming to Summer Reading programs--FREE BOOKS! You know you want one!

Too much time has passed

2009-06-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Facebook has taken over my online life--or more accurately a game called Mafia Wars. I am just getting over the hump of this addiction, where you can admit you have a problem and start pulling away. Plus the game just isn't as fun as it was a few days ago. Still fun, but not quite as fun. So I am here, making an effort to be away from the other tab open on my browser--I didn't say I was cured. I won't tell you about the game itself, because then you will either think that I am weak for being addicted to such a silly game or you will go play it yourself, get addicted and blame me....

So much has happened in non-online life the last couple of weeks. I rode my bike about 90 miles last month, and hope to continue that. The Boy, Dr. T and I went to Spokane over labor day, spent time with family and did wedding errands--I am sure you saw my shoes. The weather was gorgeous and the only thing I can complain about is not having enough time with my niece. She is so darling, but she doesn't really remember me and gets shy. I was hoping to get reaquainted with her over that weekend, but it turned out to be a little too busy. Sister M and her fiance were there, though and it was wonderful to see them and Papa P, my step dad for most of my childhood.

This weekend, well, I worked Saturday. But it was a good day. I like being at my small branch in the summer. It is really sunny in there, my co-workers rock and there are lots of goodies close by. Molly Moon's Ice Cream, Bella Cosa Foods and now Archie McPhee as of yesterday. I went to Bella Cosa and bought yummy cheese and salumi salami for my bbq/game night the next day. On Sunday I got the whole house sparkley then had family and friends over for a bbq, then later had more friends over for games. It turned out to be another beautiful day and all of my best friends made it--except Sister M, who living in Nevada is given a pass ;) Oh yeah, and it was my birthday.

In libraryland I have been setting up school visits for summer reading and book talks: my older teen list and my tween list; and scheduling Danger: Books! presentations for the fall. Soon, the Summer Reading Program will take over my life. This is the fan badge for the teen program, although they all look pretty much the same:

Get yours here.

Venting about Road Rage

2009-05-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you all about my wonderful weekend with family in Spokane, but first I have to vent.

I was riding my bike to work today. It is beautiful out and I was enjoying the ride around Greenlake. When I got just past the Greenlake Library, there was a guy parked in the bike lane so I had to pull out into traffic to go around him. As I passed the SUV I said "Thank you" in a slightly sarcastic tone (who me?). There were plenty of parking spots open across the road. I don't know if he thought I said something different, or if he just had a total anger management problem, but he pulled up at the stop sign in the left hand turn lane--I was going straight--and yelled "Why don't you go f*** y0urself?" I replied "Glad you have your own lane all to yourself" and rode on, thinking that was the end of it. However, about a half mile further he passed me then pulled into the bike lane and stopped. I passed him and said "I don't know what your problem is, but you need to get over it." I didn't hear anything back from him, but I had a feeling he was going to do it again. Luckily a cop was parked just ahead and I yelled to him that he should "watch this guy." Then I pulled off the main road and walked my bike for a bit to get my heart back to the correct speed.

I made a few mistakes here; not getting the guys license plate number, not stopping to talk to the cop, not calling 911. Not being sarcastic in the first place would have made the whole thing not even happen. I don't feel like there was anything wrong with me being irritated with the guy parking in "Bike Only" lane, or that I should have "shut up and taken it" though. But I have to admit that it would have made my morning commute much less nerve wracking.

The fact that he was willing to go out of his way to follow me when he was going to turn left. His over reaction with language--I never once swore at him, but I heard many choice words coming from his automobile, beside the sample I gave you above. This was an angry man and it really affected me--my heart was beating much harder and faster than usual and I felt flustered for about an hour. Taking the walk also made me late for work.

I know it is over reacting, but all morning I feel like I am going to see the guy around a corner, or that he is going to be on the phone when I answer it. That feeling is already fading, but it is frightening to me to have felt that way at all.

I talked to the police after I calmed down to find out what I should have done. She asked me why I didn't call 911. I told her because I wasn't sure if it was a crime, or if I was over reacting. She said I should have called and gotten his license place number. In the future, I will know what to do, and as GI Joe says "knowing is half the battle."

Bling!

2009-05-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

Shoes to go with the dress:
I bought these today--they are really comfortable, in addition to being cute.

We are in Spokane this weekend visiting family and wedding shopping. We looked at the florist, the new venue and got the bride's makeup done at the MAC counter at Nordstroms. I have my fitting appointment next Friday morning, so hopefully everything will be checked off the to do list soon.

Chocolate and Roller Skates

2009-05-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to The Theo Chocolate Factory for a tour and had a wonderful time--I recommend it for all of my friends and family that like chocolate, whether you live in Seattle or just come for a visit. Actually, even if you don't like chocolate--just abstain from the many lovely samples given out--it is still an amazing tour.

I went with the University District Youth Center, where I volunteer. Usually my day is Monday, but I start work at noon every other Friday so thought I would tag along on this. I had wandered by the Theo store during my ramble in April and thought that I should take their tour at some point and there was my opportunity! And I got to hang out with some lovely, down on their luck, teens. It is deeply satisfying to help this group, so if you have some time between Monday and Thursday 12:45-4, to help out, call Brynn at 206.526.2992. /plug.

Tonight Dr. T and I are going to a Jet City Rollergirls bout to see DiBrarian roll. It will be my first time and I really have no idea what to expect beyond tough girls on roller skates. Should be fun!

cutest bike riding librarian

2009-05-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

This could be any of 4 of us at work. Exciting, eh? Lately life has just been work, biking, and dvd's at home. I did go see a friend's band last week at The Comet Tavern. On a Wednesday. And I couldn't sleep after so I was sleep deprived and got sick for a day or two.

Oh yeah! And The Boy had his birthday! He is 15, can you believe it? I am having a hard time with it myself. I took him and a couple of friends to Gameworks on Saturday, then they went to the movie theater next door and I picked them up after. They saw Wolverine: Origins. I want to see that too, but I didn't want to cramp their style. It was the first time the 3 of them hung out together and really seemed to enjoy it.

And, even though I haven't been writing here, I have been writing over there.

It's Raining It's Pouring

2009-05-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Not sure why this rain is so tenacious. It must have been raining all night. I woke up early this morning, fumbling to the bathroom with all intents to go back to bed (I still might), when I step off the carpet into water. Splash, tepid wetness on my feet, between my toes, waking me up... It wasn't so bad, easily cleaned with a mop and I unclogged the drain outside the door to let the backed up water swirl down. Then I went to the computer to check the weather forecast (rain) and thought I heard water pouring in the storage room, where there should be no water to be poured. By the time I got in there with the flashlight, the sound was gone. There was a lonely puddle of water on the floor, again, not too bad. So I moved a couple boxes out of the way and called the landlords. I think it is coming in some vent pipes and leaking out of the furnace somewhere. I could hear gurgling (much like pouring) when the furnace turned on. That's a lot of rain.

This weekend was both lame and great. Lame because I had to work all weekend with The Boy here. Great because we had my Dad family over for dinner, minus Dad--Sorry! It was a beer tasting party. Dr. T and I made beer from the set up that two of my sibs gave me for xmas. The Dunkel Weissen was pretty tasty. Now we have to decide what to make next. Dinner turned out yummy too, even if it was an hour later than I thought it would be. We split into various entertainments and whiled the time away. Wii was played, others chopped things in the kitchen. I showed my sister's my p-patch and they were soon drawn away to the more interesting things growing in the more established plots. We packed the visit up fairly early as The Boy had school in the morning and Sister U still had studying that night.

Yesterday I went to see my mentee. I brought her some baby clothes and we chatted for a little over an hour. I keep wanting to take her out to do things, but her baby is still pretty young. She looked a lot healthier and happier this time around. The baby was darling. He is starting to fill out a little and he has the straightest, shiniest black hair you have ever seen on anyone.

I think that now I am going back to bed.

Making Friends

2009-04-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

I could not get to sleep last night, so please forgive me if I am out of sorts.

I talked to my mentee last night. She had her first interaction with life as a single parent yesterday and she was totally upset. She is really still a kid, and it is hard work taking care of a baby when all you want to do is hang out with your friends. It is obvious that she loves the child, but I think she is seeing the other side of having a child attached to you with all it's needs and wants for the next 18 years. I reminded her that she still has choices, but that she should get some sleep and think on it all a bit.

***
I have an awesome friend that I haven't seen much in the last 4 years. She has been in medical school and sometimes she has a tough time dealing with the stress of school, kids and life, so she withdraws from anything she doesn't have to do. That includes me most of the time. You might think that is harsh, but we've talked about it--talked about it before hand, actually. I miss my friend and there have been a few rough patches when it would have been nice to have someone to talk to and she wasn't available. I got used to it though, and I think it made me a stronger person, to learn another's boundaries and how to work through things on my own (that took a bit of work too, and I ran at the mouth to a couple of people that I shouldn't have at one point or another). We do still spend time together, but it is only about 4-6 times a year. Enough back story, to the point.

Last week, when I was sitting at Canal Street Coffee after my long bike ride, I looked around and found her in everything. I saw several women who looked like her, lithe and athletic, with long golden brown hair and big sunglasses. I felt her in the sunshine and the coolness of the shade. I heard her laughter as I watched other friends chatting over their lattes. The whole thing reminded me of when we were undergrads together, sitting in her front lawn watching the kids play ball or just sitting and talking. Of our bike rides to Magnuson and our swim practices at Meadowbrook. Our easy coexistance. That was before we were roommates, before our boyfriends, before our kids turned into teenagers.

I sent her a text that day, telling her that I miss her. I didn't hear back that day, but about a week later I got the sweetest voice mail that told me she is feeling the same. She is almost done with medical school and is working for a year before she starts her residency. I am looking forward to sitting on the lawn again, watching our teens have water fights and become friends like us, chatting about nothing and everything.

No Apologies, Sorry

2009-04-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have been quite slow on here lately. I would apologize, but I don't really feel that bad about it. I just have less of that "Internet addiction" than I used to--there are many more intriguing things to do than sit in front of the computer lately.

For instance, P-Patch! I prepared and planted last week. This year I am doing all seeds, since I am starting sooner and am really nervous that nothing will come up. My indoor starts are doing fine though and I shouldn't worry so much. I went to an auction recently for a private school and won a neat little wagon with off-road tires that was filled with fun gardening tools, plants, gloves and watering apparatuses that help immensely with the p-patch. And having gone to that auction, I can tell you that some people are not hurting from this recession. It was a little disturbing, really, to watch the amounts of money thrown at frivolous things. I would think it would be cheaper to raise tuition.

Another instance, Wedding! Sister M's wedding is in a few months and we went dress shopping again yesterday. I thought I already knew which dress I was going to get, but I changed my mind yesterday. It is similar to this:

Ignore the underfed model. In fact, I just ordered this one because it was on sale on the website and will get here by May 1st, which is still plenty of time to call and order the other one if it fits badly. It was fun hanging out with the girls yesterday, trying on dress after dress and eating conveyor belt sushi. I also spent money at IKEA and The Rack. Bad me.

It is nice having Sister M visit. Tonight we will have dinner with the Mom Family and Dr. T will get a dose of the drama that invariably happens over there. I will make sure to bring my crocheting so that when things get tense, I can escape a little... or go for a walk. That is good too.

Rambling all over town

2009-04-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was down with a sore throat and sinus troubles, which I now think were allergies. I have tried various remedies for allergies over the years, but the side effects of the drugs is often worse than the allergies themselves. To me, anyway. So we stayed home the whole weekend, although The Boy and I did make it out for a walk on Sunday afternoon in the pretty pretty sun. We walked to the Bluff park in the Sunset Hill area of Ballard. We wandered and did one of my favorite things: look at the prices of local houses on the market. WhoooWee! $800,000 if you're lucky! One had the price reduced, but it had been over a million, so there you go.

Today I took The Boy back to BFD, then worked in the garden a bit. I had a cappucino made at home and drank it out in the yard--which is one of the nice things about living in a basement apartment; there is a yard. Around noon, I tootled on my bike around Greenlake to the U-District and went to volunteer. I was really sad to hear that one of our kids had been in a shooting over the weekend and was in the hospital. Everyone was pretty shook up and drop in was almost empty most of the time. I like the kid quite a bit--he always has something interesting to say and he seems like a good guy.

After drop in, I rode to Fremont along the Burke-Gilman Trail. That ride is so much more pleasant than being on the road. I got there about 4:30 and had some time to kill, so I sat at Canal Street Coffee and read. It was absolutely beautiful out and there were a lot of people sitting out at the porch tables in the sun or shade. Since I was still a little hot from my ride, I chose the shade. It was bliss, even when some strange guy came up and dissed my book of short stories by Stephen King (he hadn't read them) and told me that SK steals all his stuff from some guy named Theodore Sturgeon. I just looked at him straight on and said "Thanks for the tip." and went back to my book. I haven't read any SK for years, and when I did, it was mostly in middle and high school. I don't pretend that he is the end all/be all of writing, but these stories were good, if a little horror movie-esk, and I wasn't going to let some ...guy... tell me what to like. If he was trying to wow me with his mental powress, he really struck out.

For the next stage of my all day odessy, I locked my bike up and walked around Fremont, stopping at the library and checking my email, wandering up to the Troll then back around the streets until I made it to Blue C Sushi just in time to meet a friend for dinner. We spent more time than we had intended gabbing and eating happy hour food--happy hour was over at 7, and we had finished eating by then, but we sat in the bar for another hour and 45 minutes.

I left there, feeling giddy from all that socializing and was happy to find that my bike was still where I left it. I fumbled around, trying to remember how the bike light worked--glad that I brought it, since by 9pm it was dark out--and finally got back on the trail to Ballard. I thought I would catch a bus once I reached there, but I just kept on truckin' all the way home. And then I took advantage of another cool thing about my house--the hot tub. I have only used it twice, but it is nice to know it is there.

There you go, I don't write anything much for a week, and then I give you a narration of my day. Maybe next time I will have a nice story for you. Maybe...

Hope on the Financial Horizon

2009-04-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Mayor's press release about the budget cuts is up on the Seattle Channel website. We didn't get to have to much information about what the proposals were for cuts at the library ahead of time, although the administration was welcoming ideas. Whatever they proposed, the Mayor gave some of it back and we are only having a furlough and some cuts to our capitol funds (building renovations, etc). Look for a week closure of all Seattle Public Libraries for a week this summer. We don't know when yet, but the last time we had a furlough, it was the 3rd week of August--historical low usage.

I could use an extra week off this summer, for sure. It will suck not to be able to take vacation pay, but at least I know now, so I can start socking away $50 here and $20 there.

I also heard on the radio yesterday that Washington State is thinking about providing a bridge loan to qualifying home buyers that would give them an advance on the home loan tax credit. This would give new home buyers money for a down payment. I would like to see this go through. I have just started saving towards a down payment recently, and it would be a few years before I have the 10% down. This would allow me buy a house (probably a condo) a lot sooner.

A Little Later...

2009-04-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am happy to see that Amazon is working to get the issue with ranking fixed, although it seems like they are doing so on a book by book basis. I find this whole thing mildly amusing, more than seditious and scandalous. I like shopping at Amazon, and while that might not be popular with others, I plan to continue. This article from the New York Times mirrors my thoughts pretty well. I hope this never happens again, but I know that history has a way of repeating itself. I have always thought of Amazon as a fairly progressive and open minded company, and I am sure that what happened here was the result of one person's bigotry, or some coding gone wrong. Their biggest mistake, in my mind, was not answering concerns of authors and the internet community fast enough. I am also still looking for some real statement from Amazon about this "glitch."

Ok, I found one.

You'd think we were an evolved species

2009-04-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

And then Amazon contributes to the censorship of literature:

I decided to take out the link, as such things don't need to be left up undefinitely, but you can still find it at Smart Bitches below.

Thanks to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and SB Sarah for the movement.

Did you know that restricting access, ie. moving a book out of regular circulation or its usual collection, is a form of censorship? You deny access by making a book harder to find.

Update:

Upon getting El JoPe's first comment below, I decided to further look into this, and Amazon can't seem to decide what to say about it themselves. Earlier articles have an Amazon rep saying that it was done purposefully, while a newer article by the LA times claims it is a "glitch". Interesting. However, I don't feel it is a bad thing that so many are letting Amazon know how they feel about this issue. I shop there--even for my groceries lately--and I want to be able to feel good about it.

And that said, I guess I should include a link to the petition.

And here is an explanation by author Heather Corinna about why this hurts authors listing on Amazon:

It's not that the books are no longer listed. If you search for a book by title or author, you will still be able to find it.

Rather, it's that those of us with books that have been deranked no longer have our books in the bestselling book ranks, where they appeared before (and would still appear, as that is based on our sales) nor listing under the subject headings in lists for our subjects/genres.

So, unless someone is coming unto Amazon and looking for our book by title or author, they are unlikely to find it. That's a huge issue for authors -- especially those of us who are marginal in some way to begin with -- as often consumers browse those lists to find our books.

Dancing Around (The Subject)

2009-04-10T19:26:00.001-07:00

So I am back, and I made it through 4 full days of work without going insane. It was difficult, but I did it. This was the first vacation I have had where I wasn't even tempted to check work email. I barely even thought about work. It was awesome. And nothing exploded while I was gone. I had the Google Maps class last night and it went swimmingly. People even showed up! The only bad thing was that I forgot to do a survey. Again. You would think those would be first on my brain, but somehow I always think "I should have had a survey" hours later when I contemplate the various ways that people could have found out about the program. You know what would have fixed this wondering???? A SURVEY!

And I am done with Twitter. I tried it, it bored me. It was nice to be able to update from the road without a computer, but in reality, I just don't have time for that horsepucky.

When I got back from vacation I had one day left to do with as I pleased--after I took The Boy up to school in BFD way early in the morning. What did I do with that day? Well, after my 4 hour nap, I read in the sun for an hour, sipping an iced coffee I made with my own spresso maker, the spent a couple of hours getting the p-patch ready. Weeded and fertilized and watered. Tomorrow I will go back and plant some corn, green onions, collards (we'll see which plantings win, inside or outside), then maybe I will get some volunteer time in--we have to do 8 hrs a year, which isn't very much unless you start in June and have to be done in October.

Before I left for vacation, I took pictures of a certain business of ill repute that was closed around a year ago and recently sprouted amazing amounts of graffiti. Please excuse me for feeling pride in something that I only took a picture of:

I told Dr. T that I was going to clean tonight, but now I just feel like curling up with my book. I don't even feel like eating dinner.

Twitter gone bad

2009-04-01T12:14:00.001-07:00

So I had this great idea that I would sign up for Twitter and update along the road during our trip. So I did, and then I set it so that I could text in updates from my phone. I felt very smart, until I got to Portland and realized that I didn't have my phone. Then I felt very dumb.

We had lunch with friend Joanna in Portland. It was great, except that The Boy had forgotten his pen needles for his insulin pen at home, so we spent part of our lunch time trying to get Safeway to tell me what we needed to do to get them. He had already eaten some by that time and his blood sugar was going up. The pharmacy tech was very unhelpful until the end, when she finally told me they didn't even have them and we had to go to another store. I decided to let her off because she had a cold and seemed pretty miserable, but that interaction could have been so much easier.

We drove from there down to Coos Bay and stayed the night, managing not to do any more sight seeing than we could do from our car. We did go to a local restaurant for dinner and it was decent. They have a cute little strip there, but it was totally deserted at 8pm on a Monday. The Boy and I went swimming at the hotel pool--which we picked just for the pool. Nothing fancy, but it was clean and comfortable. It felt strange to just pull up at a hotel and pay full price for a room. It did cross my mind to pull out the computer, go on priceline and see if we could get a cheap rate before going in. But nah, live dangerously, I thought.

The next morning, we packed up and drove on to Nevada. The day was mostly clear and sunny. I wore my sunglasses! There was a sort of border crossing into California where they check you out for illegal fruit. He took one look at my store bought (amazon fresh) oranges and waived us through. It gave me some flashbacks to when I used to go into Canada to visit an ex-boyfriend (not ex then). This was much easier though.

We got to Carson City at 8pm. It is good to see Sister M and her fiance. We got a good nights sleep, slept in til after 10am, and am now taking advantage of the internets and the sunshine pouring in the window. It is so bright here it hurts my Seattle blighted eyes. I thought google was doing an April Fools joke when it said it was snowing in Seattle today, but friends' updates on facebook say otherwise.

So now that I found my phone (or more accurately, Dr. T found my phone) under the car seat, there will be twitter updates.

Road Trip

2009-03-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Boy, Dr. T and I are running away in my little gray car to Nevada to see Sister M. The trip will start on Monday and include a stop in Portland to have lunch with a friend, then maybe an over night stop somewhere in Southern Oregon or Northern California. It really depends on how we are feeling though. We might push straight through and save our money for other fun things. Then staying in Carson City for the rest of the week. I imagine there will be some wedding shopping going on, since Sister M is getting married this summer. I am also hoping to plan a hike while she and her fiance are working, if the weather holds. Heading back this way on Saturday, but that might really be when we need a hotel room, so we may not return until Sunday night.

I am bringing my computer, but may not be in the blogging mood. If you don't hear from me in that time, just know that I will be back on Monday with lots of pics. Toodles!

Economy and Green Things

2009-03-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Article and video with Susan Hildreth, the new City Librarian talking about the upcoming budget cuts and the increase in usage of the library in the last year. Also, today she sent an email to staff saying that she and the library board and directors will be giving back the 4.5% cost of living raise they received. You will remember that the Mayor and other city executives will be doing the same.

It brings a tear to my eye to think of the higher ups being selfless this way. Too bad AIG contractors couldn't do the same. We still haven't heard what the proposed budget cuts are, but I am sure these proclaimations of self sacrifice by administration is somewhat to soften the blow. Better a 4.5% pay cut than losing one's job, for sure.

I started planting indoors for my garden. With the weather so unpredictable, I want to make sure the last frost is done before I move planting outdoors. So far I am starting tomatoes, green beans, collard greens and pumpkins with plans for corn, lettuce and herbs. We are doing an herb garden at the house this year and I will plant the veggies at the p-patch. The strawberries over there are still doing well and the irises are coming back nicely. They were so beautiful last year.

Bella Vs. Harry

2009-03-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

The Great Debate took place on Saturday at the Central Library in Seattle. The two teams faced off over a very heated topic, which book series is better, Harry Potter or Twilight? I knew the answer before the whole thing went off, but it looks like it was a lively debate. Check out the wonderfully put together video that The Seattle Times did:

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

2009-03-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to see on the front of the Seattle Times this morning that The Crocodile has reopened. Looking at their website, I see I am a bit behind because they have a pretty full line up, and the Ting Ting's show on April 12th is already sold out.

I was so disappointed when the Crocodile closed a little over a year ago. I have fond memories of shows. Over the years I saw Mudhoney, Murder City Devils, Peter Buck of REM, the Divorce, Vendetta Red and many others at the Croc, as well as occasionally attended the monthly diy sale. I like the mix of diner, music venue and bar. I loved that they often had all ages shows that I could take my son to, but that they were still good shows with true fans.

It looks like from the article that the place has gone from shabby to "swank" but I am willing to let that go ;)

Zach Davidson of Siren Sister and Vendetta Red

Good times...

It's a Hairy Situation

2009-03-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Zine Librarian (un)conference was awesome. I met a lot of people and learned a lot. The zine reading that accompanied was wonderful. I was blown away by the writing, especially a guy from Tumwater, who writes Funwater Awesome. I recommend it to everyone ;) Even got Dr. T to read one of the zines I bought that night. I also got a bunch of free zines for my collection at the library and a few special zines from my new friends for myself. One friend gave me a rad zine that talks about having a partner with diabetes and blindness and the challenges of having a child, called Worry Stone. It is really well written with lots of facts and heart wringing tales.

Things have been "meh" the last few days. So I cut my hair. Yes, my own hair. By myself. It didn't turn out too bad--I actually like it quite a bit, although it could probably use some cleaning up by someone who knows what they are doing.

Not the best picture in the world, and it has been a long day, but there you go.

I just put 50 million books on cd on hold for our ROAD TRIP next week. We leave a week from Monday to see my sis in Nevada and plan to make a couple of stops along the way to see friends. Reminds me that I need to call Yoga Mary back, but I don't think she would appreciate a call at 12:15am, even if it is a Friday night...

Now That's Impressive

2009-03-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a little bit of pressure here at work lately since the mayor mandated a 3% budget reduction for all city departments receiving money from the general fund (including the library). We have all been wondering where the cuts will ultimately come from and the speculations have run wild.

Today the mayor announced salary freezes for senior city executives and a 7 day furlow in the few city departments where salary freezes will not be put into affect. This includes the mayor, and gives back a 4.5% cost of living increase that went into effect in January. He's got my vote. ;)

In other news, I got an e-mail today from KCLS that I could re-apply to their hiring pool and increase my "score." I am almost thinking about doing it for the interviewing experience.

Sigh...

2009-03-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

...no one came to my program today. And it was going to be sooooo cool. I guess no one else thought so. The Seattle Times even ran a cute little blurb on it in their entertainment section. And there I was, stewing in the heat of 9 laptops, all alone...

One person did turn up, but he isn't a teen and I think he knows I am on to him, so he never came down. Well, you can't have one person doing a scavenger hunt anyway. That just doesn't work.

Tonight is an iSchool get together. Should be fun times, although I always feel a little awkward at these things. I am fairly certain there will be a person or two I would rather not see, and that there is a person or two who would rather not see me. But there are at least two peeps that I will adore seeing, even though I already see them on a regularish basis, so not all is lost. I am bringing my book as armor though.

Zine Librarian unConference this weekend is going to rock. I know people are coming to that. Not only is it going to be a ton of fun, I will have a bit more event planning on my resume. Always a good thing. And I get to learn more about zines. I am also looking forward to it being over so I can spend more time w/ Dr. T and The Boy. Time suckage! (in the best possible way...)

I haven't done my EMP post yet, mostly because I haven't found the time to upload the photos and video I took. It was a fun show, but would have been more fun if I hadn't felt chained to my table. More on that later.

Acronyms and Spinning the System

2009-03-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Finally got caught up on sleep today. It should have been yesterday, but I went to WASHYARG (Washington Young Adult Readers Advisory Group) in the wee hours yesterday morning. I was a little disappointed at the pickings this time. Many of the reviews were on books that hit our library shelves 6 months ago and the new book options were unknowns. Where was Wintergirls, or Highway to Hell or any other new ones. The only good books I saw were ones I read months ago; Kisses and Lies and Wild Magic (both of which I enjoyed immensely). I am reading the ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Wintergirls by LH Anderson now. It is disturbing--I will say why later on my goodreads).

Tonight I am representing the library at Sound Off at the EMP. I am tabling (another piece of library jargon that means standing behind a table, talking to people and showing off flyers for our programs and services) and am going to totally enjoy the teen bands playing. I am really glad I am not tired going into this. I am taking my camera and will hopefully get some good shots, and also will take notes to create a blog post for Push To Talk. I tried to dress casually cool for this, but I think I got a FAIL on that. I always wait too long to get dressed and end up having to live with what I throw on. Teens don't like it when you try to be like them; that makes you a poser, to use an 80's term. Hopefully it will be dark.

Starfish.... Here Starfish!

2009-02-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

Busy week getting caught up on stuff and adding new programs. I was offered the chance to have a class on how to make personalized Google Maps. I think that would be tons of fun, but I am not sure who to market it to. There are only 8 spots in the class, unless folks want to bring their own laptop, which I am going to offer as an option. It is probably better for people to learn on their own computer, rather than on the lab laptop. I am going to bring my laptop that day. Here is an example of a cool map that was made for the West Seattle Blog during the snow in December.

View Larger Map

If you view the larger map, you can see what the points are for.

___

Riding metro seems like a great way to introduce yourself to street culture. For example, Dr. T and I were taking the bus home from watching Coraline (yay!) we saw two very interesting events in people watching land. One was a guy talking very loudly on his cell phone. He called his roommate to tell him that he was on his way home--sounds sunny and domestic, no? Then he proceeded to tell the roommate that a "friend" of his was coming into some mad money and that they needed to get it from him. He insinuated that something would change hands for that money and that they had to do it now or the money would be gone. He left the bus saying "I feel bad, but we have to take it." Gives a whole new meaning to the sign that says "Too loud, Too much" on the bus. Where are the undercover cops when things like that happen?

The second was this kid (as in 20 something kid) gets on the bus with a huge rottweiler. He lets the dog go as soon as he gets on, so the dog runs all the way down the aisle to the back. There are some other "kids" back there and they heckle the dog, some moaning that they are scared, others baiting it to come sit with them. The guy that owns the dog finally catches up and he sits fairly close to the other kids, but they continue to heckle and he moves to the bench seats in the middle of the bus, calling the dog after him. Poor guy looked miserable, like he had just been dissed by his best friends, but the dog was pretty happy and well behaved for being able to run around free. He got off a few stops later, still looking dejected. Oh, and the dog's name was Starfish. Hmmm.

Well with those shockingly well written and driving stories, I am out!

No woman cann't help to getting laid with you

2009-02-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Now there's some good english. It appears that I am an object used to lay women with. Yikes. And this email came from "me". Love these email scams, they just keep getting better. I didn't open this one for fear that my computer would self destruct, that is just the subject line.

I am home sick again today and I feel like my head weighs 100 lbs. Mostly right behind my nose. You can imagine my mouth open so I can breath and my head keeps bobbing forward with the imagined? weight in the front of my face. Drugs make me weird, so I have been trying to only use them at night aside from the usual ibuprofen.

I have a lot to do at work. My valentine's display is still up in the teen area and I need to finalize my summer reading programs. I have to change one date because of my sister's wedding. Which leads me to a somewhat amusing/embarrassing tale--to me anyway.

When I was looking at the vacation calendar to see if I could get the week off leading up to and including the weekend of the wedding, there was a note above the date that said "closed." I blame my cold addled brain that I thought that meant the library was closed, although I couldn't see any rational reason why. So I emailed the person that takes care of the calendar and ultimately approves vacation requests to find out. He, of course, emails me back to say that it meant "Maxed Out" and that he would change it to say so. I almost left it at that, but for some reason decided to email him back, joking about weddings planned at the last minute. He replied that a concession could be made for one day. I jumped on it, included my managers in the email requesting the week off sans Sunday, which I might get off anyway. He approved it right away.

Opps. Backwards. I am supposed to email my managers first and they send it to the vacation manager. I totally jumped them and did I feel dumb. Caught up in the moment with my excitement to get the day off and I was just starting this darn cold, I just wasn't thinking straight.

I hope that is the last dumb thing I do for a while. I also hope I am back at work tomorrow. I still feel like I have potential to do idiotic things in a situation where I need to use my brain, so it is probably good that I am at home.

Speaking of idiotic things to do while sick--how about ording things online? Amazon Fresh has come to my neighborhood! I totally want to order my groceries online!

Blame it on the Fever

2009-02-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, 8 days without a post. That is a long time for me, and a lot has happened.

I had a program where we basically had a party in the meeting room. There were video games, board games, crafts and snacks. Everything was really popular and I had almost 30 people come. It was a lot of fun.

Went to Chop Suey to see the Bird and the Bee and they were great. One of the band members has another band, who opened, called Obi the Best, and I got their cd. Sister R and I went and met a few library friends.

I also went to Spokane for my niece's first birthday. She is such a sweetie. There were almost 40 people there, which attests to how well loved my brother, his wife and daughter are by their community.

Sister M got engaged last week, which is really exciting. We spent most of the rest of the weekend looking at wedding venues and dresses. It was fun to see her transformed into such a beautiful creature--not that she isn't anyway, but there is something different about putting on a wedding dress. Especially when you find the "right one."

Now I am sick. I went to work the last couple of days, but today really kicked my butt. I feel like there is a mass pressing into my head in the right side. Pressure is building... I just finished Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica and I don't know how I am going to wait for season 5.

Productivity? I try, but it's against my nature...

2009-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ah, [stretch], first day of "productivity vacation." What is that, you ask? That is were I take two days off to get things done. Like spring cleaning, going through closets, taking things to the Goodwill or selling CD's and books at Half-Price.

So, what did I do first? I slept till 10. I am no good to anyone if I am tired, and I have been seriously tired this last week. I have filled my mornings with meetings and PT and volunteering so there has been no extra time for sleeping. Sad, I know.

What did I do next...well, that is harder to spin in a "productive" direction. I went on FaceBook and my iGoogle; a combination that brings time suckage to a heightened frenzy. On iGoogle, I found many local articles that I wanted to share with folks, so I sent some emails to selected people that I thought would be interested--I will share them with you at the end of this. Then on FB I found that the Library has posted a link to their blog, Shelf Talk that highlights books on odd occupations, which reminded me that the Library just launched its job hunting page. So I shared both on my profile. I seem to know more and more folks getting laid off these days.

So that brought me here, wanting to share the above information with more people. So that is productive--see, I knew I could do it!

But not really productive in the way I need to be these next two days...so, I am out!

(After I link the articles I was talking about:)

Solid Ground gets a Grant from the Seattle Foundation
Former Gang Member Credits Mentor Program for His Success and Survival

Romance! Get some here!

2009-02-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

Last week was a bit of a setback, as I had to take two days off sick. The thing that has gotten neglected most is my work plan, which I was mostly done with, but now I have to update with my smaller branch's plan. Shouldn't take too long, but I am always worried I will leave something out, and I can't REALLY be sure that my managers would catch it if I did. They both have a crazy lot on their plates lately.

Next weekend is the evil day of love. Dr. T, The Boy and I will be in Spokane for Niecy's first birthday. It is hard to believe it has been that long. Sister M and her man will be there. They just got engaged over the weekend, their one year anniversary. I am really happy for them. They are good people, to the core. The Boy was really happy to hear it too. The mad texting was pretty fun for a bit. Sister M asked me to be her maid of honor and I am totally honored. She has other friends, but we have become really tight these last...11 years. Ever since she nannied The Boy through his 3rd summer. BFF's! I am really excited for them both.

Oh yeah, so Dr. T, Sister M and her man, Brother M and his wife and I are having a triple date on V-day. I don't think I have even gone on a double date since I was 18. I am not 100% on that. There might have been a double date somewhere. My memory is as faulty as my hearing--ask anyone close to me. We are going out to dinner. Dr. T and I have a hotel, and I think I am going to bring the champagne I bought for New Years that we never drank. A romantic night in Spokane. Who would have thought?

Physical Therapy (feels like it should be a proper noun) is somewhat kicking my butt. Remembering to do the exercises twice a day shouldn't be that hard, but is proving to be anyway (See comment about memory above). I have managed to get most of them in, but they are making me achy, which makes me a bit cranky. I actually went to turn the hot tub up to use it today and found...no water :( I did notice that Landlord A had left on her climbing across the country odyssey. I guess she took the water with her. Sigh.

Prunes Anyone?

2009-02-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

Sleep has been evading me lately. If I am not having crazy anxiety dreams, I am having numb hands or achy joints. I am in denial about getting older. I just don't want to deal with it.

Tomorrow I have physical therapy. It seems like that should be for old people, which I am NOT. Evidently a nerve is being pinched and it is causing things to go numb and I need it to stop so I quit having dreams where there are seams down the middle of my arms, and when people touch them they ZING like a jolt of electricity. How my stress manifests. Fun yes?

On the other hand, people assume I am young. As in they ask where the librarian is when I am on desk. RIGht Here! Memememe! My sisters think it is terrible that I get carded all the time, which I admit is nice, but it is not as nice when folks assume I was 12 when my son was born. Not cool at all.

I am feeling old this week, and no amount of Emily the Strange merchandise is going to change that.

Oh, but it makes me very happy that The Graveyard Book got a shiny new sticker.

And I spent all last night watching Brotherhood 2.0 on YouTube with Dr. T. We were cracking up! Nerdfighters!

Nightmares in a Struggling Economy

2009-02-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

I had the weirdest dream last night.

I was at my small branch, but it wasn't, all the colors were wrong. The people were right, but there was no manager; or rather, the wrong person was manager. We were having a unit meeting, where most of the staff gets in one room and we go over the things we need to be on the same page about.

The dream starts with the pseudo-manager turning to me, in an explanation about something else and says "and that is why I am going to have to let you and S (co-worker) go." I am in shock, I look at S and she just points her face to the floor in defeat--which is not like her at all.

"But why?"

"Because you didn't shelve the picture books."

My mind doesn't register that I don't shelve picture books usually. It just says "OMG, your right! I haven't been shelving the picture books!" S and I gather our things and leave the room, but then I go back and tell her "But I passed my year's probation time. You can't just fire me."

"You're not fired, you still work at the other branch." Shoot, that's true. So I hang my head and leave the meeting room. In the main part of the library, I get waylaid by a patron asking me a computer question, which I answer thinking that I am going to get in trouble for working off the clock. HA!

That is about where the dream ends. The last thing I noticed was that the library I was in was the Sprague Public Library in SLC. I am not sure how that got in there, except that the picture popped up the other day because someone made it a favorite.

Brief Encounters with Teens

2009-01-31T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Boy asked to have a friend over, and not at the last minute, so we have his Friend E over. Last night, on our way back from BFD I was enjoying the chatter of boys, understanding about 1/3 of what comes out of their mouths. Occasionally I would cut in with some wisdom, or more likely some snarky remark to keep them on their toes. At some point, I told them we were going to the Central Library in the mornning to go to the comics program.

"Cool," one said "We can run around and play hide and seek!"

"Yeah, last time we almost got kicked out."

Me-"What, almost kicked out?" (I hadn't heard this part)

"Yeah, we were running around on the 5th floor and this lady said she was going to call security"

Me-"Oh, yeah, no running. She was going to call security?"

"Yeah, it was so cool!"

Hmmmmm, yeah. "Trying to get me fired? You can't do that tomorrow, I am working and you can't get kicked out."

The Boy-"We can just wait in the car."

Me-"We're not taking the car, we're taking the bus."

The Boy-"Oh no."

Friend E-"Cool!" He seemed genuinely excited about the prospect of taking metro.

I have to remember to tell him not to bring his butterfly knife. But that's a different story.

Mentoring, Researching and Programming

2009-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

Today my mentee is getting out of juvy. I don't know if she wants me there, but I am going to her release meeting at the Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, where she meets with her parole officer and members of the community who support her. A woman from the Orion Center will be there, and a drug and alcohol counselor. These are two parts of her life that she hasn't told me about, I don't know if it is because she thinks I won't respect her, or if she just doesn't feel that comfortable with me yet. I am both excited for her and scared, because so much can go wrong at this point. But she is out, and ready to start her life. She has to be an adult now, for her child. She has the right attitude for sure, and hopefully she will be able to follow through. I hope I can help.

I had a nice lazy day at Casa de la Dr. T, yesterday. I spent most of the day researching the Virgin Islands. It snowed here, and today it is sunny, but only 28 degrees. Something has soured the research process for me today, so I need to give it a day off before I make the plane reservations tomorrow. Edit: We gave the gift back. There was more information to be found about the situation, and we decided that it was more important for the grandparents to be there than us. We will likely take a trip this summer to Las Vegas that all of us can enjoy.

The Reading Marathon went great. We had between 70 and 100 middle schoolers all in one room, bundled up in sleeping bags and blankets, reading. There were many periods of complete silence, where everyone, including me, the teachers and the parents that came, were reading. We took breaks for snacks and pizza. I had an embarrassing moment when the first round of pizza came and it just wasn't enough. There wasn't a piece for every kid! The teachers banded together some literacy funds and ordered more, and I had a few more come later, so everyone got fed. I have half a page of notes on how to change it for next year, and number one is "order more pizza". The other branches doing this also had good turnout; 50 at one and 40 at the other, so the schools were pretty evenly represented. I feel like I got a lot of good face time with the kids that come into the library after school. They will feel more comfortable coming up to me now. I wonder how many new ones we will see.

Feeling Blessed

2009-01-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Life is pretty exciting these days. My cousin is getting married in the Virgin Islands in May, and I have been given a once in a lifetime chance to go. On top of that, all of my siblings on my mom's side have also been given this chance. This will allow us to spend 4 unstressful, amazing days on St. John, sharing a villa and just enjoying ourselves together. We have been growing closer over the last few years and this is a great opportunity for us to become closer as a family.

And to see my cousin married! Of course I am excited about that. She and I grew up together until her family moved to the East Coast when she was around 10. Before that we were like twins when we were together, having only 9 months between our ages (she still likes to tease me that she is younger than I am). Our grandparents got us the same gifts, we played tea party and had tickle fights. We loved it. We stay in touch, although we talk less than we should. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding back in '94.

She deserves unconditional love in her life, which she gets from her beautiful daughter, Brianne. I think that her fiance will also be a good fit for that position. She seems very happy with the match and I am looking forward to being at the wedding.

I am all a-flutter over planning this trip. I just can't stop thinking about it. My Grandfather and Step-Grandmother are making the whole thing possible. It gives me feelings of gratefulness and unworthiness at the same time. It definitely makes me feel loved. Not that I need a gift like that to know that they love me, they show me all the time in many ways, but I never expected such a selfless gift and it really turned my world upside down.

The Boy doesn't know about this yet. I am sure he will feel let down that he can't go, but it is in the last two weeks of school and we are hopefully taking a road trip during his Spring Break in April. I know he would love a chance to take a trip like this, but maybe in a couple of years we can do it again. I keep thinking that it wouldn't matter if he missed a few days, but it is a pretty crucial time for him and he hasn't been good this year at keeping up in his classes. Dr. T can't go because of school either, so the two of them will have something to bond over ;)

TMI: or my brain on ipecac

2009-01-22T00:21:00.000-08:00

I have an onslaught of self reflection in others around me right now. It is making me look into how I have changed since I was a teen, or even a 20-something.

I am reading Red: Teenage girls in America write on what fires up their lives today. There are many amazing stories in this book, some related to body issues, some to family, school, life, etc. I am only about halfway through, but what really strikes me is that none of these stories say "poor me." Some are happy and some are sad, others are about outright amazing situations, but they all look at a time in a girl's life when she had a transition, or overcame a trial, or had an issue that she is still struggling with. It is inspirational to read these stories, even though you don't necessarily know how they turned out.

Someone close to me has a private journal about her struggle with an eating disorder. I find myself recognizing many of her feelings, even those of restricting food and ideas of worthiness. When I was younger, I used to lament my inability to follow the regimine I would try to set myself for food and exercise. I judged myself for eating "too much," for not being "thin." I judged myself for a lot of other things as well, but I always had this idea that if only I could fix that one thing about myself, everything else would fall into place. I am not trying to belittle my friends current experience by relating it to mine. She has her own situation, her own demons to fight. It is a serious struggle for her. I was lucky I was unable to follow the same path. I just didn't know it then. And yes, I know I am not fat (although part of my brain wants to qualify that statement. Down fido!)

I also recognize some of her feelings about family members. Not being sure who loved me, or what my relationship was with my Father, my Mother, my Grandparents. I would decide I didn't care and lock certain people out of my life--probably unknown to them. Some off hand comment would hurt me and I would retreat, withdraw my affection, my attention, my admiration. I have grown up now, and one of the most important thing my therapist taught me was to forgive, even if there wasn't anything to really forgive, you had to let bad feelings go because they cloud up your present and prevent you from being happy. I feel confident in my relationships with my family these days and there is only one person that I haven't been able to forgive. I hope to someday, it is a thorn in my side and a blight on holidays.

As a teen, I struggled with being left out. When I wasn't left out, I was teased. I had some good friends, but I also had some friends who were not good. The second ones fueled my low self esteem, made their friendship contingent on what I could give them, or how I made them look. If I was suddenly noticed by the popular crowd for a dose of meanness, these friends would desert me until the coast was clear. I was awkward, and I am not sure if I started out that way, or became that way after moving to my new school and becoming an outcast. Pictures of me from that time prove that I had a cute face, unruly hair, clothes that didn't fit and a bad fashion sense.

I just saw 3 runners, looking healthy and hale, come in on their run to all the library branches today. You can follow their trail here: http://www.twitter.com/seesamrun. I wonder, what is the difference between an eating disorder and being a ultramarathon runner? They must have rules for eating and exercising, and to many of the rest of us, it must seem like a strange set of rules, a strange way of life. Is it more acceptable because they accomplish something? Just questions running through my mind. I think these athletes are amazing and doing great things.

Lunch is about over, and I have to get to my Instruction Committee Meeting. Ciao!

More random text to make your eyes bleed

2009-01-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

During the day, I think up all these great ideas for blog posts. Then I forget them and all I do is give a commentary on my life. Boring! I guess I need to start carrying around a notebook.

The Comixtravaganza on Thursday night was great. We had a really good turnout with people of all ages (but no crying babies, as Sean put it). The contest was a lot of fun and Jope and EJ came, as well as Unshelved guy and his daughter. I had a great time chatting with them and parents and kids and Matthew Southworth and Sean from Zanadu. Usually I sort of freeze up in social situations but this was smooth city. Guess I finally have a handle on things.

Saturday was a lazy day--I was in pj's until 4pm. Then Dr. T and I took the bus downtown to meet Shoez and his girlfriend for her birthday at the Pike Place Brewery. We only stayed a little while because The Boy was at home hanging out without us. The bus was the right way to go though, since it picked us up w/in a block from my house and dropped us off right in front of the entrance, and after we only had to walk across the street to pick one up to go home. Why can't metro always work that way? Last week I waited through 2 times when the bus was supposed to show up and was late to work. The bus I take to Dr. T's after work is always late and last week it was FREEZING! Totally not fair.

Sunday was a blur. I worked, my car made funny rumbly noises, I got home, made dinner, stayed up way to late doing nothing.

Today, I rode my bike to the dr. office for an appt. It was so beautiful that when I got home I made Dr. T and the Boy go on a walk with me, during which the sun went behind the buildings and it was very cold--I complained the most. See me? The wimp? So sad.

So yeah, boring update post. I promise to try to do better next time. The most interesting thing about this post is the title.

Sutra and a short recap

2009-01-15T09:33:00.001-08:00

Last night a few friends from work and I went to a neighborhood restaurant. We had been talking about it ever since the owner's house was burglarized in November last year and they had come in to print off their menus in the library. The woman is our neighbor and she and her partner run both Sutra and Rain City Yoga.

None of us that went are vegetarian, but the food at Sutra is, and is actually vegan as far as I can tell. At Sutra everything is created and crafted with a lot of care given to how the foods look, taste, and go together. Each dish was beautiful and tasty with a nice blend of flavors. Nothing tried to pretend to be meat, which is where some vegetarian places go wrong. Also, everything was fresh, much if not all of the food was locally grown and it was filling. (The full menu of what we ate is on their website right now, but will change next Wednesday). I didn't get hungry after I got home. The chef/owner was very welcoming as was the server. He seemed delighted that we were from the library and so had ties to his community. There was a moment of thankfulness at the beginning for, well, everything good including sustainable farming that was not awkward at all. The whole experience was wonderful. I would eat there more often if only I could afford it. My co-workers felt the same. Since I can't eat there often, I will recommend Sutra to everyone I know ;)

Since my last post, I have cut my hair off above the shoulder. Also a local endevor--I went to Dandelion in Wallingford. Lindsey is wonderful. I also went to Silent Movie Monday with Sister U and saw The Magician. I have only gone to one of these about a year or so ago, again with Sister U, but I really like them. They have a live organist and other musical back up to fill in for the silent movies, and while their datedness is comical in many ways, I like the feeling of watching history. The Magician originally came out in the 20's, so I suppose my grandmother might have seen it then.

And finally, Comixtravaganza at my branch is tonight. I am both excited and scared. My headliner for the night almost had to cancel due to illness, but now assures me he will be there with helpers. Everything is purchased and now I just have to get there, remember my camera and be a good hostess. Wish me luck!

Comixtravaganza Coming to a Library Near You!

2009-01-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

You might have already seen the article in the Times, but it is that time again. Comixtravaganza time! We have a lot of cool programs in this series, including the Toon-In at the Queen Anne Branch tomorrow night. There will be several drawing workshops at various branches and it will all culminate at the Central Library on January 31st, where there will be a workshop with Davey Oil and Linda Medley (of Castle Waiting) will be discussing her work. Also, Seattle-based Slide Rule Comic Strip Slideshow Players will mix digital video and hand-drawn cartoons, live music and electronic sound, and animation and live performance to create a theatrical experience. For more information go here and put comixtravaganza into the search box.

It seems that University Branch will be the only library in the system that will have a Draw-a-thon contest. That is happening next Thursday, January 15th. Doors open at 5pm, short drawing workshop at 5:30, contest starts at 6 and judging happens at 7. Winners will be able to choose among prizes such as comic books, a comic artists art set and action figures. Door prizes will be drawn throughout the event and everyone will leave with a little something to make their inner comic lover swoon. Oh, and snacks. There will be snacks.

So yeah, you should totally come and check it out.

I like these!

2009-01-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

So what, you say?

Am I just digging for more gifts? Don't I know that Christmas is over and who would spend that kind of money on plastic toys anyhow?

I am just excited for the Coraline movie coming out in February and when I saw those cute li'l buggers posted on Neil Gaiman's blog I just had to shout out. Couldn't help it.

No, I don't want to own them. Even though you can't tell from my actual living space, I hate clutter. Nick-nacks and other crap just don't float my boat. If I could, I would live in one of those pristine, sterile, ultra modern homes. But I can't. Know why? I have the hoarding crap bug from my mom. It is genetic, although some of us have overcome it pretty well. It is either out of protest for our upbringing or because his wife brings sanity to the household. Not sure which.

Mom used to take us out shopping a lot when we were kids. When I say she took us, that is the only part where we came in. She would go out, buy a bunch of useless stuff for the house, take us to lunch to bribe us to be quiet, then go hide the stuff at home to bring out a little at a time so my step dad wouldn't notice where his paychecks were going. I think it is a disease.

I don't really buy stuff, but I have a hard time letting it go. So when I get tissue paper with my clothing purchase, I save it because I might make it into something useful later. And cords to things I don't have any more? I may wish I saved it someday, so I do. Then when I do find a need for it, I can't find it. I go out and buy another one finally and the thing turns up the next day. Doesn't that figure...

So yeah, too much stuff.

And negativity. Another thing I inherited. I need to drop that too. Someone recently recommended How to Make Friends and Influence People as a good book to deal with that. Dr. T is amazingly good at avoiding negativity (except when driving ;) and I hope some of that will rub off on me.

Those are as close to resolutions as I am getting this year. Less stuff and less negativity. I doubt I can get rid of any of this crap. ;-)

I like these!

2009-01-03T00:31:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

It has been longer than I meant to let go by without a post--I just put up those family pics I promised. Many of my friends are doing a survey for the new year, but I get a little exhausted after about the 10th question and there are close to 40 on the one going around now. I think I will just pick and choose a couple then move on to other things.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?

I trusted someone completely. That might sound trite, but it is true. Dr. T and I seem to have a certain connection that allows me to let go of any reservations I might have, any fears that usually crop up when I date someone for more than a month. It is an exciting place to be. Quite lovely as well.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? (see, jumping around, but still in the first 10)

Yes! My good friend Miranda* had a beautiful baby girl and my brother and his wife adopted a baby girl. I suppose adopting is not "giving birth" but this little one will never feel the sting of that difference. She is a gorgeous little one and obviously dotted on by her parents (and her aunties, uncles, cousin and grandparents as well). We are so happy to have her in our family :)

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? (and now I am a liar, because I jumped to 22 from 3--but the other ones were too convoluted to answer)

Still in love :)

24. What was your favorite TV program?

Currently I am between favorites, but in the past I have loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Weeds, Wonderfalls--so the colorful and weird, I guess.

26. What was the best book you read?

I can't answer this one truly but I can tell you that the author that I discovered this year was Kelly Link. And yes, I know I am a bit behind on this. I keep trying to find more stuff to read by her, but come up short (short story that is). I randomly picked up her newest collection of short stories Pretty Monsters: Stories at the ALA conference last summer and fell instantly and deeply in love.

16. What will always remind you of 2008? (Yes, now I am out of order...and it was supposed to be what "song" but oh well)

Obama winning the election and The Boy texting me then calling me right after to celebrate. That is one good kid we made.

Ok, done with that for now. Maybe I will make up some more questions of my own later.

The snow is already gone here in Seattle. All that is left are piles of sand and holes in the pavement. Mayor Nickels is having to defend himself over his handling of keeping the roads clear, and all I can say is that he did the best he knew. Maybe he did not know best in this situation, but I don't have many complaints against him and I can let this go as a learning experience. I laughed at the news the other night when they interviewed a guy who complained that Dravus wasn't open to drive on. I actually saw a girl flip her car in the rain on that hill once. You can't tell me you expect to be able to drive on it in freezing conditions?!? Fool.

The disabling aspect of the snow had me thinking back to other times when the snow was deep and school was canceled. I would say this happens here in varying degrees every 5-7 years. I remember sledding on a snow day when I was in 7th grade with my friend Jill. There was a big hill right next to her house and we would take our sleds out and just about kill ourselves on the hairpin turn half way down. One kid slid right into a car that was parked there, but he was ok. The car...seems like there was a dent. I also remember building a rather large snow fort with my son in either 2000 or 2001 out in front of our apartment building. It was a great place to hide when having a snowball fight.

More recent events in Srcsmgrl-land: went to Leavenworth with my dad family** and had a fairly good time despite being a bit sick. I had to miss work when I got back due to the sickies so I wouldn't pass it on to the work peeps. Went back to work on Wednesday, got all my reports done and helped a lady that had her purse stolen. After work, Dr. T and I went to see the Presidents at the Paramount. As a New Year's Eve party, it was lacking--only one bar and a beer garden, lines out the door for any kind of refreshment. We went to the Six Arms to bide our time and got back in time to see Monotonix who were quite interesting--think performance art meets rock and roll + short shorts, long unkempt hair and foreign accents. They were quite entertaining and actually pretty good musically. The Presidents were fun,but I think that somebody integral to the event fell asleep somewhere because they almost forgot to put up the clock to midnight--only got it up with 2 minutes to go--then they forgot to loose the balloons, despite the outcries from the crowd. We left at about 12:20 to meet Sister U and her beau for a nightcap, then headed home. I think I was out the latest I had been in the entire year before. Good way to start a new year.

*Miranda is my red headed friend that resembles Miranda from Sex in the City
**Dad family as opposed to Mom family--I have 7 brothers and sisters, 3 on my mom's side and 4 on my dad's. You could say that he won the race, if there was one to win.

More Snow Pictures

2008-12-27T15:55:00.001-08:00

Snowy Tree
Originally uploaded by Srcsmgrl

There will be family pictures posted soon, but here are some more snow pictures to tide you over. There is one pretty good one of The Boy in the snow. It was a pretty day.

Right now it is ugly out--sand over melting snow covering the sidewalks and along the sides and middle of the street. It is really hard to walk in.

On another note, I think I am getting sick. Either that, or it was too much singing with Rock Band last night. We played with my sis and her boyfriend. Dr. T got me the game for xmas and it is the BEST PRESENT EVER! And he replaced my windshield wipers. Second best present ever. He is so wonderful :D I have never been with anyone this thoughtful.

Ok, break's ov-er.

Day 6

2008-12-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

Going back to work today after 3 days off. Picked up The Boy on Saturday and did some shopping to stock up on food items. Had a nice impromptu holiday dinner with the landlords on Sunday. By Monday we were all stir-crazy, so we went out shopping. Let me just say here that there are a lot of idiots driving around out there. Almost none of the roads around our place were sanded or plowed yet, but people were out there in their light weight economy cars with no chains, sliding all over. And people do the stupidest things driving and walking in this weather. Dr. T has 4wd and his truck does pretty well in the snow. Some guy decided to walk across the street when against a red light right in front of us. Dr. T attempted to slow and the guy got the hint when we started fishtailing--but of course he ran across anyway. :P

Update: The Boy is sledding with his cousin today. I only have to work 11:30-5, which gives him just enough time to hang out for a while. Dr. T dropped him off and I drove little car to work. I hardly slipped at all--the most dangerous bit of my journey was behind a light weight car where the driver kept stepping on the brakes. It is ok to go slow, but brakes are for stopping at lights, not slowing down in the snow. I will pick up the boy after work and hang out with my brothers and step dad tonight.

Best get back to work. There are a lot of people in here today!

More pictures of the winter wonderland on their way.

Snow! Again!

2008-12-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is little car. I call her that a lot. She gets me around and I have been loving her the last couple of days with the way she has gotten me around in the snow. She may be old, but she is a pretty gal, has lots of room and gets great gas mileage. I hope to keep her for(ever) a long time.

This is our street all covered in snow. I can barely tell in this pic that it is snowing, but there are tiny ice particles falling out of the sky. They are covering everything and making the compact snow and ice very slippery. I am glad we got home right after this started.

Looks like a great place to have a garden party. Oops, forgot to bring in the cushions... It was really cold, so seeing the light through the window reminded me that I don't really need to take pictures right now.

Earlier today, I made the trek out to Lake Stevens to pick up The Boy from his dad. The Boy's dad does deliveries of stock to stores, luckily of a rather recession-proof commodity, and The Boy helps sometimes on the weekends for a bit of spending cash. I hope he does better than he does on his chores around here... Then we drove to Snoqualmie Falls area to visit my mentee with the Juvenile Court system. The Boy had to wait in the office while I went, so I didn't stay long. I did get to deliver some cookies and books that I hope she will like and we talked for a little while about her options after she leaves Juvie. This is my third month knowing her and I think she is a good kid. She has a bad temper and hasn't had the best upbringing, but she is trying to right the first one and making plans to overcome the latter. I hope my visits and influence help.

New and Old

2008-12-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

In this building, on the very left in the picture, there is a new comic book store coming. When I walked by, there were shelves and shelves full of manga and comics and a sign on the door just said "Soon!". Located on 11th and 47th, I hope they get enough traffic, but then, we have so many great comic stores in the U-district already, what will make this one different?

I saw this lovely bus when I was out in Wallingford the other day. It was just so srcsmgrl-like that I had to take a picture. Looking up Mean Recess on the internet, I found that it is a band but their player wasn't working, so I have no idea what the music is like.

There will be snow tonight, I can feel it.

Tonight I volunteered at the UDYC holiday dinner. I mostly sat around, ate some really good food and chatted with the youth that come into drop in. Most of them headed over to ROOTS shelter afterward to stay out of the cold. Talk was mostly of how cold they have been and several said they hadn't slept in a couple of days. They were in really high spirits though and the atmosphere was a positive one. I hope everyone gets out of the cold tonight. It is always at times like this that I wish I could do more.

Brrrrrr!

2008-12-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

Snow! and wow it's cold! It snowed Saturday night, while I was at the Winter Warmth concert put on by the Mountain. The main attraction was the Pretenders. I grew up hearing the sultry voice of Chrissie Hynde with my dad, so this concert with him and my two sisters was pretty amazing. They really rocked the stage. They did "Back on the Chain Gang" and quite a few others I could sing along to. They also played enough from their newest album that I want to buy it.

The openers were ok and Augustana was actually pretty good. I had never heard of them before but they did a great rendition of "In the Pines" which has been done by countless others (Kurt Cobain included). I like their song "Sweet and Low" but I didn't realize it was by them...

So back to the cold cold cold. 26 degrees right now, and sure to get colder. This morning we broke a record for the day at 19 degrees. Probably won't hit the record low of tomorrow of 10--I hope not! Transplants are crying! And why doesn't my keyboard have a degrees symbol???

Before the cold started, I helped with this colossal event. It was a really amazing push to get all of Ballard High School's students a Seattle Public Library card. A few students held out, stating they didn't want to join just because we told them to. Heh ;) Privacy? Libraries? What?

Fantasy Land

2008-12-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

Last night, Dr. T, Miranda and her nanny and I went to see the Nutcracker performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. I was pretty excited, as I haven't been to see it before, and a little nervous that we were going to be late. I got off work at 6 and the show started at 7:30. We had to stop for some food first--I am pretty sure that my grumbly tummy had something to do with my mood. We made it just fine, of course. I have had the experience where you have to sit out the first act because you are late to the theater. I didn't want to do that again. I always seem to get antsy when things turn out fine, and am more nonchalant when things turn out badly.

The ballet itself was beautiful, I liked the Maurice Sendak staging quite a bit--I wished I could take a picture during a couple of the scenes, but that was a no no. The first act was as I was expecting and lived up to the praise that I'd heard for this year's performance. The second act was hard to follow though and the medly of dances put on by the "pasha's" servants felt more like a cry for attention. The dancing was beautiful, as I said, but after each bit, they would stop and bow to the audience and everyone would clap. These were not that long and the clapping would sometimes run through an entire piece. I stopped clapping after the first one and felt a little annoyed as it went on and on. Then, the ending. It was really disappointing. I understand that the Nutcracker has been interpreted in many different ways, but I haven't heard of any others where the Nutcracker prince abandons Clara to the foreign ruler in a strange land. He just rides off in a boat, waving to her cheerily as she looks after him in sadness and disbelief. She then wakes up to find that it is all a dream, but I still had a hard time swallowing the ending. The moral of the story seemed to be that a woman should never hesitate in her path or her man will abandon her. Weird.

Libraryland has been a little busy lately. I feel like I don't stop from when I get there till I leave. I have a to-do list the length of my arm and I know there are things that aren't on it that should be. I know that it will be more laid back in a week or two and I am certainly looking forward to the slower pace.

Pictures didn't happen on Wednesday, but everything went well. I had a large group of teens at the beginning and then a whole bunch of toddler/preschoolers came. It said "school aged children"... and teens of course. Recurring theme.

Programs and Quality Time

2008-12-10T10:56:00.001-08:00

Today is the Winter Celebration at one of my branches. We are playing games and making crafts. I am bringing Apples to Apples, Banana Split (imagine racing at scrabble), and Connect 4 and we will also have the Wii and PS2. Should be fun.

We are also having our employee appreciation lunch today at a local Thai place. It was sooooo hard to pick the restaurant. One person at least will not be happy with Thai food, but most of us refused to eat at Julia's--the service there is terrible and the food only mediocre. I probably would have had to call in sick (jk).

The lunch is right before the program, so I will be racing around like a chicken with its head cut off in preparation. Although I did utilize my volunteers to good end yesterday cutting out felt for crafts. That was fun too because it allowed me to spend an hour with them, chatting about their futures and what holidays they celebrate this time of year. I have a pretty diverse bunch and I like it that way. All three of the boys are really smart too, and interesting to talk to. I have to do more one on one with The Boy like when we cooked together--gad, was it over a month ago? I will lay my trap for the holiday break. Hee hee, he won't know what hit him.

I'm off to libraryland. I will take pictures!

Visiting Relatives

2008-12-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you're having fun...

I had vacation time over Thanksgiving. Guess what I did?

Absolutely nothing.

Aside from cooking of course. I made Dr. T and I a very normal Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us. A couple friends came by after for some refreshments and we did a little window/stocking shopping at some local stores over the weekend.

And that's it!

But today we had a TSL meeting and part of the deal was that we toured both Magazines and Newspapers and the Seattle Room.

Seattle Public Library: magazine racks
Originally uploaded by katie appleton day

Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library
Originally uploaded by humain

I was blown away by the services that we offer through those collections. We have something like 72 different newspapers and 1300 magazines. We have historical maps and histories of Seattle. We are digitizing collections as we can (when grants are available). Currently The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition collection is available digitally and soon there will be a digitalized collection of local artwork. If local history is your thing, you should check out this page on our databases and websites offerings. You can find a list of resources for finding the history of your house published by 4culture, a local non-profit. One thing emphasised by both departments was cooperating with local businesses and other agencies. Obituaries can be requested using the State Library if Magazines and Newspapers can't help, and many local museums and the University of Washington work together to bring together local history and art.

I could just blather on and on about the wonderful resources these two departments provide, but I have to go work on some xmas gifts now.

To the Rooftop!

2008-11-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

My favorite picture from the trip. Butterflies made out of pages of books, coming out of little books. When you see the whole picture, the butterflies make up a face, Psyche. It would be more striking on a solid background, but unfortunately, the piece gets lost in the levels of the library.

I spent a lot of time walking on this leg of my vacation. Dr. T was back at work on Monday and I walked to the library, which was very cool. The City Library is beautiful, smaller than The Seattle Central Library with only 5 floors. If you take a look at my pictures, you can see they have a rooftop garden with seating and many interesting details. The crescent wraps around a large open area and serves as a stairway up to the rooftop. The view was magnificent and I loved this bit of tagging:

I went up to the teen area, called the Canteena, and was surprised they were playing music. Everything is open there, so you could hear it outside of the Canteena, but it wasn't outrageous. I asked the librarian how they chose the music and she told me that they put up a poster asking for music requests, then those CD's were pulled from the main collection and played. Teens can also make a request to change what is playing. There were several teens hanging out in the booth style tables and several more browsing the shelves. I tried to observe our own rules about picture taking, but the librarian at the City Library didn't tell me that I had to get permission of the patrons to get them in the pictures.

After an hour or two at the library, I wandered a couple of miles over to Temple Square. I walked in, got bombarded by overly nice people and left post haste. The architecture was interesting, but I decided I didn't need to see the inside without any friends to bolster my mental stamina. I went across the street and caught the Traxx out to the University. Then I walked all over the hillside near the Medical School until I finally found Red Butte Garden. I can imagine that these gardens would be really interesting in the spring and summer, when everything is green and in bloom. As it was, they were still beautiful, especially down by the koi pond.

On Tuesday I just went shopping then had dinner with Dr. T in the hotel rooftop restaurant. The food was rich, but very good and the company was lovely. We had the whole place to ourselves and a view of half of the city.

And now I am home with a kitty who is very happy to see me. In just a few more days, Dr. T will be back too.

More Vacation

2008-11-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

I didn't make it to the nice Washoe County library like I had hoped. We tried but couldn't find it. The address is in one of those black holes that neither Google Maps or Yahoo maps could find--disjointed directions, ending in the middle of a highway. Sure.

We had a nice family dinner with Sbf's parents and sister, along with her boyfriend and daughter. The little one was so cute, if a bit tired. She only had short moments of crankiness though and was well entertained by Grandpa. They were very nice people and the Mom, whose birthday it was, is a school librarian in the area, so we had a little in common. I fear that the bad economy stained my side of it, making (hopefully false) predictions and the conversation quickly steered away, because who wants to think about the downsizing of one's job?

After dinner, Sis, Sbf and I went out to see Reno. It was glitzy and glamoury, but the kind that sort of ices over the run down and sad. The bar we went to was nice--owned by Sbf's friends from his fraternity years. Sis forgot her id though, so we didn't go much further. I did put a quarter in a slot machine and got my picture taken under the Reno sign.

I am in SLC now. The weather is still beautiful--slightly colder in the 50's, but sunny and amazing blue sky. I got in around 12:30 pm yesterday and Dr. T picked me up. We drove all over town. My favorite neighborhood was Sugarhouse and I stopped by the library there, called Sprague. The libraries here seem to be very accessible, in very logical places. Tomorrow I am heading to the main library. It has some fascinating architecture and I am looking forward to seeing the inside.

Today we went to a place called Park City (renovated Leavenworth, but scarier) and to the Hogle Zoo. Many of the pictures I took were from there, so now it is harder to get through the set. I wish you could make a sub-folder on flickr. Repetition: if you click on the title of this entry, it will take you to the flickr page.

Carson City, NV

2008-11-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

I knew I wasn't going to update as much while I was on vacation, which is why I didn't join NaNoBloMo.

So here I am, day 4 in Nevada. It is beautiful and sunny here, which is just what I was hoping. I have been lazy in the mornings (although I only slept late today), meeting either my sister or her boyfriend for lunch around noon, then doing more in the afternoons. On Wednesday I visited the Nevada State Museum, which was more interesting than I thought it would be although their website is archaic. The building on the right is the Nevada Supreme Court building where my sister works. See how nice the weather is?

Tonight we are going to dinner in Reno, then out to celebrate sis's boyfriend's new job. Tomorrow I am heading to Salt Lake City to see Dr. T. We plan to visit the zoo together, then probably do a tour of the University where he has been working.

I will post more pictures as I take them. If you click the link in the title it takes you to the flickr page that has a few more photos of Carson City, including one interior picture of the Carson City Public Library. The library is an old one--it reminds me of the Lynnwood Library when I went there as a teen a REALLY long time ago. All fake wood and metal cabinets, bunker style architecture, but they definitely make the best of what they have. It is a stand alone--no branches to serve outlying areas, although there is a county library system nearby. They have everything I would expect a progressive library to have, DVD's, CD's, computers, gaming for teens and a nice teen area, large children's area and a lot of fiction and non-fiction. Magazines covered a huge wall and had a good variety of topics. They don't get CIPA funds--no filtering on the computers. They expect parents to supervise their children...

On the way to dinner this evening, we are going to stop at South Valleys Library, one of the Washoe County Libraries. It looks to be new and beautiful and professes to have a teen zone. On a side note, it is nice to see that SPL's website is one of the better looking ones...

Yay, Vacation!

2008-11-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

Gotta get away...

In just 3 days I am leaving for sunny (maybe? I hope!) Nevada to see my sis. I am really excited. I haven't seen her since early September for the family camping trip. She lives in Carson City, right outside of Reno, with her cute little cat and her boyfriend. We are going to celebrate her boyfriend's new job--he was still living in Elko until this weekend. (You might remember that I visited her there and took many pretty pictures.) We don't have any specific plans beyond that and going to a bbq place she was telling me about. Since we are so close to Reno, we will probably have a night out there.

Then I head to see Dr. T in Salt Lake City. I have been there once before. It is a pretty city, known for it's large population of people of the Mormon faith and the salt flats that provide much of the table salt in the US. Last time I was there, we drove right by the Morton processing facility. You can kind of see a mountain of salt out the window of this moving car -->

That was the best I could do at the time. I won't be (I don't think) seeing the salt this trip. My plans are to stay in the city, visit the library, see the other sites recommended, and spend as much time as physically possible with Dr. T. Because I have missed him. A lot.

So yeah, 3 days till lift off. I hope I don't forget anything.

OMG

2008-11-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

It's true!