Comixtravaganza Time Again

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

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!

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.

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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

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

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

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.

Wearing different hats

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.

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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.

Fall Gratification

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.

What's Going on with Your Sick Self?

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

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

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.

Missing My Coffee

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.

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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.

And life goes on

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...

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

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

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

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

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.

Dancing Around (The Subject)

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.

Economy and Green Things

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.