Avengers Meets Firefly

There are days when I LOVE the Internet:  "The Avengers" Intro: Firefly Style

Avengers

Joss Whedon has proved yet again that he is a genius.  The Avengers had all the right stuff: dialogue, pacing, framing.  UPDATE:  And music - how could I have missed the music?

Those of you who are tempted to leave right as the credits start:  you really shouldn't.  Truly, have some patience for a change.

Henri's Ennui

I can't decide if I prefer watching these with or without sound - the French is mildly distracting, although the clear resignation in his tone is perfect.

Henri
Henri 2, Paw de Deux

Promo Commercial

Only occasionally do I miss television - fortunately I have a good friend who makes sure I don't miss gems like this.  The more I watch it, the more perfect it gets - the way RDJ looks at the camera at 0:16 and NF's look of smug satisfaction at the veeeery end are pure gold in my book.

Tax ReFUNd

Thanks to being able to declare Mom as my dependent last year, I received nice-sized tax refunds from both the feds and the state.  I spent most of the money responsibly - I even bought a new vacuum cleaner! - and was preparing to squirrel the rest into savings when a little voice piped up about how since the new iPad4 had just been released, the older iPad2 was probably on sale. 

"Ridiculous," I told the voice firmly, "I don't need an iPad.  Serenity still goes everywhere* with me and I have my netbook connected to a monitor at home for doing homework."

But the little voice was remarkably persistent, pointing out how my work email doesn't get along with Serenity (although Yahoo! mail works just fine) and how long it takes to power up the netbook and then wait for the desktop and then wait for the browser and enter passwords, and wait.... 

The voice and I argued for several days, but in the end, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try an iPad, would it?  I could always return it...

I did feel guilty for a few days - it was quite a bit more expensive than I had anticipated -  but the guilt is gone now.  Checking work email** now is a push, swipe, tap and no waiting.  And since I still don't have TV, it's nice to have a device that plays Netflix streaming without the pixelation that my netbook thinks is necessary.

Of course, the new tech needed a name.  Since part of my guilt came from the fact that I already have a perfectly wonderful iPod Touch and a netbook so why did I need another device, I named him JACK - Just Another Cool Know-it-all***.  Another Jack in my life - just what I needed!


* Literally - the only time Serenity's farther than arm's length is when I'm in the pool and she's safely secured in the locker.  There are worse things to be severely attached to...

** I'm not compulsive about checking work email - I only scan the subject lines - but with my wonky schedule, it's good to see if an early meeting has been cancelled or if a last-minute meeting has been
scheduled.

*** For those as geeky as me, yes, I stole the idea from Jarvis.  For those not as geeky as me, the name of Tony Stark's A.I. in the Iron Man movies is Jarvis, or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.

New Calendar

Although I'm not sure about their Universal Time concept, I'm intrigued* by the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar that is "simple, religiously unobjectionable, business-friendly and identical year-to-year."

CNN has a more succinct version of the story.

* not just because my birthday will always fall on a Saturday.

Funny Cat Video

Maybe I just really needed a laugh, but this video of various cats cracks me up.  You must be patient - the first 40 seconds are deceptively placid (and several segments are cringe-inducing) but overall it makes me laugh so hard I can't watch it when there are others - people or cats - in the same room.

Climate Change

To anyone who says our climate isn't changing:  April used to be warmer than February.

How Many Moons Does Earth Have?

This short piece from NPR reports some research from one of the astronomers where I used to work:  Earth Has Just One Moon, Right? Think Again

I love this line:  "Mostly these {asteroids} go whizzing by, not even slowing down to wave."

The Long, Twisted Path To Mercury video is interesting, too - what a crazy concept, what a wild ride.

Nerd Alert

You already knew I was a nerd, but did you know this?

Pool Time Update

It's been two months and most weeks I've made it to the pool 3 times a week.  Not every week, but I'm satisfied that this new exercise regimen has taken hold.  The most difficult thing is forcing myself to get out of the pool to take a shower and get to work on time! 

I'm also gradually changing the way I eat - a major hurdle - to accommodate the exercise since I can't jog on an empty stomach - nor on a full one - so I'm experimenting with small, nutritious, safe-to-eat-while-driving snacks.

My first goal is the stamina to stand all day at WDW at the end of the year.  So far, I'm usually able to feel satisfied with my progress as a good start after years of not doing anything, although I sometimes vacillate between "this is a good start" and "I'm not progressing fast enough."  Only time will tell.

Reality

Another quote of the day from my Mutts comic email:

"The moon is one, but on agitated water it produces many reflections.

Similarly ultimate reality is one, yet it appears to be many in a mind agitated by thoughts."

~ ~ Maharamayana

Carbon Map

I didn't need another reason to feel bloated, but here it is.  The Carbon Map seeks to make "sense of climate change responsibility and vulnerability."  The short intro video is worth a watch (and watching the U.S. will explain the bloated reference).

Are You Ready?

This article is from 2011, just about a year ago, but still relevant... and scary.

What If the Biggest Solar Storm on Record Happened Today?

In 1859 "...geomagnetic disturbances were strong enough that U.S. telegraph operators reported sparks leaping from their equipment—some bad enough to set fires...if something similar happened today, the world's high-tech infrastructure could grind to a halt... The eastern half of the U.S. is particularly vulnerable, because the power infrastructure is highly interconnected, so failures could easily cascade like chains of dominoes. Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year..."

I ask again, "will you be prepared when the digital world dies?"

Pool Time

I've finally started to do something about exercising more.  My campus has a Student Life Center that allows faculty to purchase a membership (students pay as part of their tuition). The SLC has an Olympic-sized swimming pool and although I don't really swim, I do enjoy jogging back and forth in one of the lanes.  Jogging in water is a little easier on the joints, offers nice resistance, and is much cooler.

My half-price "early bird" membership allows me entrance anytime on Saturdays and Sundays and before 1:30pm M-F, which means I can go before work.  Probably the only time I'll ever qualify for anything "early bird"! 

I had to purchase a lock since I will be walking directly from the car with my backpack full of electronic gadgets (iPod, Kindle, netbook), wallet, keys, etc. that will need to be secured.  The one I got came with a bonus: the combination is my grandmother's birthday - in month, day, year order.  If that's not a sign from above that this is what I should be doing and that I have plenty of support, then I don't know what is...

It's one thing to be shaken about in a 1-story house during an earthquake and an entirely different terror to be inside a massive 3-story commercial building as it dances.  Very surprisingly, we didn't lose power.  No damage, no injuries, but definitely an experience I don't want to have again.

I get the Mutts comic each day via email, which comes with a quote of the day - I want to make sure I don't lose this one:

Lose your mind and come to your senses.
~ Fritz Perls

Hmmmmm.........

Clancy's Tavern

Please, please, let Toby's new album be more - much more - in the style of the single Made in America* and less - lots less - in the style of Red Solo Cup**.

* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!pure awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
** wtf?!

UPDATE:  HUGE sigh of relief and BIG smiles!  Clancy’s Tavern, both the song and album, are already on my faves lists.  RSC, on the other hand, shall never be thought of nor mentioned ever again....

Kindle Touch, Part Two

I was talking to a colleague who didn't understand why I wanted a new Kindle if it wasn't going to be the Kindle Fire.  I explained that I spend much of my work time - and then schoolwork time after that - staring at a computer screen, so that's the last thing I want to look at when I finally get a few moments to read something for pleasure.  If you've never seen one, the Kindle E ink screen is different than a computer, iPad, or iPod screen - it's really more like reading a piece of paper. 

As we continued talking about the new versions of Kindles and the pros and cons, he asked why I was hesitating when the new Kindle Touch I want is only a hundred bucks.  On the one hand, $100 is nothing to trifle with in this economy, but in my head I'd been thinking "Kindle=Big Bucks" because the price of my original Kindle, purchased as a birthday gift two and a half years ago, was a hefty $350 (fortunately subsidized by family and friends).  Compared to that, maybe throwing a C-note at a first-generation piece of technology isn't so crazy after all...

Big Screen

A friend who remembered my long-time desire to replace my 19’ TV (pathetic, I know) with a projection system came into possession of an old, heavy, but still functioning projector.  It was GLORIOUS to see the huge images flickering across the wall.  The colors were fantastic and it even has a speaker so I didn’t have to drag my floor models out of storage and tempt the cats with wiring (Pye once chewed a power cord).  I lost count of how many times I paused on images to gaze upon the larger-than-life (almost movie size!) loveliness displayed in my living room. {BIG sigh of contentment}

Kindle Touch

I must show restraint:  I will not buy a first-generation Kindle Touch.  Even tho' it has Wi-Fi, which I have at home, instead of 3G, which I don't.  It's first generation, which means I should wait.  Patience...  Patience...

Update Arrrgh!

I spent an hour last night re-installing and re-arranging the apps on Serenity because Apple applied an update that utterly destroyed all my careful customization. Deep breath...

Another Degree

As some of you know, I have begun working on my second master's degree (for librarians additional degrees are like cats - you can't have just one). The new one is a Master of Education in Educational Technology. One of the assignments is to start a website for posting some of the assignments and the final project, so here's Amy's ETEC Experience.

Sci-Fi Sites

SFE: Science Fiction Encyclopedia

SF Gateway

ENG 215

English class is learning about blogs.

T&P

It's official and I have a certified letter to prove it!

"... very pleased to inform you that ... the Board of Regents approved your application for tenure and promotion to the rank of Librarian III ... Thank you for your continued contributions on behalf of your profession and the University."

Why, no, my feet aren't touching the ground today!

Tenure!

Promotion!

Go me!!

Fridge

Do you take your refrigerator for granted?

The next time you go searching for a snack, take a moment to ask yourself how you would fare (pun intended) if your cold food storage unit suddenly decided it was too tired to keep its cool any longer. Do you have a cooler large enough for the basics? What provisions are you going to lose because a cooler is smaller than a fridge? How long does it take to get a new fridge delivered? In my case: No. A lot. 4 days.

On the positive side, I got a 10% discount on an Energy Star unit, can apply for a $125 rebate for replacing the old one, and should start having a lower electric bill each month. And I never really liked the fridge that came with the house anyway...

Space Pages

Some links I want to keep handy...

Powers of Ten

Star Size Comparisons

Student Balloon Mission

Logic Problem

I don't think one needs to be a Vulcan to see the logical inconsistency here:

"I'm Not Willing to Give Up on Any Child In America:" The President's Trip to Miami Central High School

President Obama Cuts RIF's Funding

WTF?!

Have You Ever Noticed?...

...the invitation to the class reunion in Grosse Pointe Blank says "Dress to Kill."

iPod Touch, Part Two

Well, that was easy...

My very wonderful Dad* has a membership at Sam's Club, which was having a "no interest for a year" special - I had to get the 64 GB to qualify, but the payment terms make the higher price worth it.

I spent hours - literally - yesterday getting acquainted and I think this is going to work just as well as I had hoped: I already have a to-do list with several items on it, a shopping list, and a notes program to jot down all the things I want to remember - books to read, movie recommendations, which brand of cheese not to buy. Might sound silly, but I forget if I don't write things down and it's getting worse as I get older. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Next step: transferring my contacts and calendar from myYahoo - no more forgetting the address/phone book or not knowing what my schedule is when somebody asks if we can meet, because this organizer is going everywhere with me.

I also had some fun in the Apps Store - all for free! Pandora, NASA, BBC News. There was even a free book - title predetermined - with the iBooks download: Winnie-the-Pooh!! The title choice somehow seems like a stamp of approval from the universe, that this was a good choice and not the extravagance it still feels like.

The naming process was especially difficult this time, but in the end I decided to re-use the name from the computer I don't have anymore because I am hoping that this new companion will bring much Serenity into my life.

* He also reads my blog...

Off The Map

Although set "Somewhere in South America" Off the Map is actually filmed in Hawai‘i*.

I know some people who have been working as extras on the show - have you ever watched a TV show trying to find people in the background? It's not easy, for several reasons - extras are usually:

• out of focus

and/or

• in crowd shots

and/or

• only on camera for a few seconds

and/or

• on the edge of the screen

Oh, and it really, really doesn't help that the lead actor is so incredibly distracting.


* Yes, the scenery actually looks like that. Yes, the greens are actually that green and the blues that blue. Yes, I live in the most beautiful place on earth.

iPod Touch

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and getting an iPod Touch. Does anyone have one? Like it? Problems?*

What I really need is a PDA - calendar, address/phone book, to do list, voice memo recorder- but the thief who broke into the house** stole mine and you can't buy PDAs anymore 'cause everything's smartphones now and I most definitely do NOT need a smartphone - I don't need to hike up the cost of my cell phone bill for more minutes that I won't use (my current plan is only 6o minutes/month and I don't even use all of them) and I certainly don't need to then add more $$ for a data plan that I'm not going to use since both work and home have wireless - which the 4th generation Touch can use - and I'm rarely anywhere else.

Make sense? Anyone have a better idea to get me organized? I think the iPod Touch is the way to go, but $275*** is a bit steep, hence my waffling and plea for information....


* My iPod classic - which I love - has recently started giving me static - literally - when I adjust the volume - very annoying. I'd be grateful for any pointers with that, too.
** Thankfully the cats were not harmed and didn't escape out the open window, nothing of great monetary value was taken, and there was no vandalism - it could have been much, much worse.
** * My tech guy, whom I trust, insists that the 8GB isn't worth it, that I need to go with at least the 32GB.

So You Think...

...libraries are irrelevant, unnecessary, and unwanted?

Think Again!

Big Human Chain Helps Small Town Library (video)

Two Videos

Cat vs Printer - The Translation
Of course I laughed at the original video but this version - OMG!

Language by Stephen Fry
This one is longer, but well worth it if you have any love of language.
(Discovered through Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog - his post title is "Grammar nazis get Fryed" which is also quite brilliant.)

Dear CBS

PLEASE, PLEASE, I am literally on my knees as I type this, BEGGING you - give Hawaii 5-0 a real chance. Don't cancel it after only a few episodes.

Hawaii is my home and I love it (my dad would say irrationally so). I was skeptical when I first heard about the re-make, but I just watched the pilot and was hooked before the credits started and was a devoted convert soon after. Great actors, great action, great use of scenery and local color (although, really, we make that last part kinda easy, don't we?).

The show is off to a great start. Hawaii and her culture and her people have so much to offer - give us a chance to show you.

Mahalo.

Size 6

Since when is size 6 not considered skinny?

Time Flies Fast Enough

Well said, sister! It's always made me crazy that the dates on the magazines are so far ahead and how we had to make room at Borders for the next year's calendars in August.

Sci-Fi Letdown

I do love me some sci-fi, but it does have its problems.

Too Many Years

This is SO depressing...

Firefly in the 80s

I envy creative people.

House Anniversary

One year ago some very good friends gave up part of their weekend to heave everything I own (a considerable amount that's still difficult to believe) out of the rental house, into a U-Haul, and then into my new digs. It was extremely generous of them and I am still grateful as I sit here, one circle around the sun later, enjoying my first anniversary in my home.

Enjoying the Back Porch

This is another of Dad's big projects that we are all enjoying (although I still need to seal the boards with Thompson's). The old porch was built out of two different types of boards, one of which became the front deck; the other, the cross beams for the new room.

Email Subject Line

One of the best email subject lines I've ever seen:

There Is a Kitten in This Newsletter. You're Welcome.

And there was, and it was adorable, and I was thankful.

Here's hoping your email today will offer you at least something interesting - even if you aren't lucky enough to get a kitten.

Home Improvements

Here are some of the results of Dad's visit. There will be a part two with more photos eventually...

We lifted the composite boards from the covered back porch and moved them out here. Although I helped a little with the framing, Dad laid this all on his own.

Note the new security screen door. We also installed one of these on the back door to increase the air flow in the house with the added bonus that the cats love sitting in front of them and watching the world outside fly, creep, and crawl by.

This new room encloses the washer & dryer, water heater, water pump. Once I get it finished and painted it will be the screen for the projector. Unbelievably, none of the cats has climbed on top. Yet.


Obviously I have some painting to do here, too, around the new, smaller vanity and mirror in the master bath.


The new vanity and mirror in the guest bath are an even bigger improvement: the old vanity stuck way out (see below).


Old vanity:


A HUGE mahalo to Dad for these and all the other projects he completed. More photos soon...

Links

Future of Publishing (YouTube)

Mauna Kea Web Cam

Stars Over Mauna Kea

ISS Growth

Tsunami

Mahalo to all those who called to urge me to flee the oncoming waters. No worries, though - I am more than a mile outside the evac zone.



That is, until California stops just dancing around and finally collapses into the Pacific - on that day, I promise that I will head for the top of one of our very tall mountains.

Got Snow?

I try very hard to resist the urge to be obnoxious about how wonderful the weather is here in Paradise. Suffice it to note that one of the local sayings is "Lucky you live Hawaii." I'm sorry, though, this I cannot resist...

From the Associated Press: There's snow in every state except Hawaii.

Really, after that title, there's no more to say. Except, of course, "Lucky I live Hawaii." Where this afternoon, when it cools down a little, I will don shorts, short-sleeved shirt, and sunglasses and go take a walk by the ocean. Okay, so there was a little more to say :-}

Feelin' Good

I'm feeling rather good about myself today. My professional self, at least - the personal me needs some a lot of work.

My second contract renewal application was approved (!) so I now have a job through June 30, 2011 (although with a pay cut, but that's another story). I will have to apply for tenure this October to see if I stay employed after that (and I'll be applying for promotion at the same time). But for now, I not only have someplace that wants my professional efforts but I also have some extremely gratifying and validating comments from both my director and the committee that reviewed my dossier. Hmmm... how shall I celebrate?

Closing Tabs

Scalzi discusses a relic:
"The real irony of this {floppy} disc is that the amount of memory you can write to it (1.44 MB, if memory — heh – serves) isn’t enough to store the jpeg of the picture of it which came out of my camera (1.49 MB)."

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I can really get behind this sentiment from Cherie, which although technically isn't a New Year's resolution was posted around New Year's: "I resolve to keep on keepin’ on. It’ll either be enough, or it won’t."

Map Wish

I wish there was a program or website that had the outlines of countries and a list from which you could select cities and areas to be plotted on the map which you could then print. For example, an outline of Britain and then I could click the boxes for London, Oxford, Cambridge, Sussex, York, etc. and I would get a map with only those places I'm interested in instead of a map with so much stuff that it all ends up being kinda meaningless.

Of course it would also have to be able to show areas from different historical periods.

I'm no computer programmer, but surely in today's marvelous digital world that's not too difficult a task, is it?

New House Pix Postponed

I know that I promised some of you that I would post new pix of the home after the winter break, but I'm going to postpone for two reasons. First, typically, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped - a perpetual problem that I encounter every weekend. Sigh.

The other reason is that my dad is coming (!) in March to help with some minor repairs and improvements and I know the place will look a gajillion times better :-) after his visit, so I really will post new pix after he leaves (2nd week of April). Really.

Audible.com

I joined Audible.com this year and am enjoying it immensely. Many years ago I tried listening to audiobooks on cassette (yes, that long ago) but either performances have greatly improved or my earlier choices were poorly done (or both) because I could never get past the terrible attempts by the narrators to differentiate the voices of characters. Fortunately a few years ago someone forced me to listen to Jim Dale’s narration of the Harry Potter books and I realized that audiobooks could be done well, although I doubted anyone would ever come close to comparing with his superb performance.

What sucked me in was that Audible was having two specials and I took advantage of both and now I’m well and truly hooked. There are several levels of membership – the special I got was the most basic level for ½ price for 3 months. Each month I receive one credit and while some companies might swindle you by “pricing” items at more than one credit, I have yet to find a book that is more than one credit, so each month I get a book – not bad for $7.95. Naturally my first credit was for Liam’s narration of How the Irish Saved Civilization. Although I have greatly enjoyed the cassette version of this, it’s so nice to hear that amazing voice on the unbelievable clarity of my iPod.

The second special deal was a selection of titles for only $4.95 – incredible when you consider that sometimes audio versions are more expensive than the print. I was able to get one of my favorite books, O Jerusalem, in one of my favorite series, Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes stories. I wasn’t sure at first that I would like Jenny Sterlin’s narration, but for less than a Lincoln, I was willing to give it a try – and am I ever glad that I did! I quickly grew to appreciate her reading and she has an ability only slightly below Dale’s to distinguish one character from another. I now also have the first in the series (Beekeeper’s Apprentice) and with my next credit I will get my other favorite to complete my own personal trilogy, Justice Hall, which features characters from O Jerusalem. I probably won’t get any others in the series unless they go on sale, although I think I’ll try Laurie’s Touchstone eventually.

I’m grateful to Audible for providing decently long samples of the recordings so I can really judge the possibilities of the narration as either “I think this might turn out to be okay” or “Ewww! No way!!” Unfortunately one of my other favorite series, the Honor Harrington books by David Weber, falls into the second category. To me, Allyson Johnson’s narration brings to mind those terrible narrations that were so off-putting when I was younger. Even worse, while I’ve always thought it was the Royal Manti-coran Navy, her pronunciation is Man-tic-oran which makes me wince and is very distracting. Oh, well, there are plenty of other choices for my credits – after all, I haven’t even started on Neil Gaiman’s works yet and by every account I’ve ever seen anywhere, his narrations of his works are fantastic.

Even when my 3-month membership deal is up and the price doubles to $14.95/month, my credit will allow me to get audiobooks that are cheaper than the regular Audible or iTunes prices. My drive home seems shorter now, so it’s worth it for that, if nothing else. If you are at all inclined toward audiobooks I strongly urge you to try Audible.com.

Closing Tabs

Some of these stories are from a few weeks ago, but I still wanted to post about them:

From the incomparable Scalzi:
"Some jackass HOA tells a 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner he can’t have a flagpole in his front yard...Dear homeowners association: When a Medal of Honor recipient wants to have a flagpole in his front yard, you say “Yes, sir. By all means. Thank you, sir.”" At least they finally came to their senses.

I was fortunate enough many years ago to experience a shuttle launch and this piece captures the excitement and awe of getting ready to watch this memorable event: "When you actually see a rocket about to head into space, it’s a completely overwhelming experience."

I love attempts to show the scale of the Solar System and this is one of the more successful ones - on my big work monitor it took me something like 27 clicks just to get to Mercury. Of course you'll want to click and hold, but don't blink or you'll even miss the big guys.

Murphy's Second Law for Christmas Shopping

As a follow up:

As soon as you and a friend agree not to buy anything for each other, you will stumble upon the perfect gift.

Cat Lover's Daily Companion

It's here! And it's incredibly awesome! I'm so happy for Miss Lori* and her co-authors - great job!

I have to try page 67 - I think my babies will like that.

The answer to the question on page 21 - definitely good!

Love the lists on pages 40 and 220 - on that second one you can find out where my youngest got his name.

No, I'm not going to tell you what's on those pages - you really should buy the book for yourself. And for Christmas gifts. And birthday gifts. While you go do that, I'm going to open my book and learn some more and have some fun and admire some great photos and....

*Yes, she's a friend, but just like when I promoted her jewelry last year, I wouldn't urge you to spend your hard-earned moula if her products weren't worth it.

Truth and Fiction

I love it when truth is stranger than fiction: National Geographic reports that Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Shelters.

Murphy's Law for Christmas Shopping

The less inclined you are to shop for Christmas presents, the more likely you are to:

a. find absolutely nothing at all for the people you most want / need to get something for
b. find the perfect gift for someone you have no intention of buying anything for.

Anyone care to disagree?

Quiet Thanksgiving

Even though work has been quite draining lately, I am thankful that I not only have a job, but one that I do enjoy most of the time, with a schedule that fits my body clock, and interesting colleagues to share in the journey.

I'm thankful for my wonderful new house, despite the occasional twinge of panic when I realize that I'm actually a homeowner.

I'm thankful for my fantastic car which acts up in mild ways every now and then just to remind me of all the grief I don't have to deal with because she is so fantastic.

I'm thankful for friends who put up with me and put me up.

I'm thankful for the way that things which could go terribly wrong and be incredibly inconvenient somehow always work out rather well.

I truly am blessed and although I certainly don't know why and don't think I deserve it, I am thankful to be so - today and always. I hope you and yours have much to be thankful for as well.

Semester from Hell

Although it seems like I say this  every  semester, this one is particularly gruesome. We still have three librarian vacancies (share the workloads!) and our director has been on sick leave and limited duty since July (more workload!) and we had to let a staff member go, so the librarians are now doing interlibrary loans for our subject liaison areas - and because of the librarian vacancies I now cover 10 subjects* and since most are big subjects (astronomy, biology, history, marine science, physics) with lots of loan requests, I say yet again - added workload!

This leaves me with near-nil energy for anything else - I haven't even figured out the subject of my 10-page paper due Dec. 8 - so I finally gave up on painting and started positioning bookcases and emptying boxes of books onto shelves, but even this pleasant task doesn't claim my attention that often. I did completely re-think the bedroom and if I can ever figure out what's wrong with my camera, I'll post pictures - I really like the new arrangement.

So if you've sent me an email and I haven't answered, I'm sorry. I'm just very blah right now - nothing major and this too shall pass, but for now: blah...

* I don't imagine anybody actually counted, but if you did and came up one short, it's because I'm co-liaison for English.

Haiku

Contract Renewal
Due tomorrow, oh goodness!
A timely finish?

Pulling out hair
So tired of praising self
I am my own slave

cross-posted from Haikubes

New Mailing Address

I was finally able to get a PO box. I sent an email, but if I inadvertently missed you in the mass of addresses, drop me a comment or an email and I'll get it out to you.

Congratulations, Lori!

My friend Miss Lori is smart, talented, fun... Ya know, all-around fantastic. She makes ceramics and jewelry and takes excellent photographs (whew!) and now she has co-authored a book! And her book is about cats! Does it get any better? I don't think so, friends.

I've already put it on my Amazon.com wishlist and I think you should, too. I wonder what my chances are of getting my copy autographed?

Shifting Boxes

Quiz Time:

When searching for one specific box in ~8 rows of ~70+ boxes, the desired box will be found:
a. in the first or second row.
b. smack-dab in the middle.
c. in the very last row, which ironically would have been the first row had the search begun at the other end of the room.

If you chose a: I want to live in your world.
If you chose b: nice sense of humor.
If you chose c: welcome to my heavy, sweaty world.

Toward the end I began to fear that I had shifted a box I had forgotten to open and would have to shift them all back again. But the time was well spent - I was able to organize the boxes more and I did actually find the box I wanted.

Believe it or not, they don't all contain books. Just most of them.

Now if I could get some painting done, I could start unpacking the books. But I can't bring myself to load up the bookshelves just to turn around and take the books off to get at the walls to paint.

{sigh}

Internet at Home

I won't promise additional communication, but now it's possible...

New Home Photos

As requested, pictures of the New Home are now available. Thanks to everyone for being so excited for me!

Obviously, I'm still unpacking - I'll post updates as I get things in place. Believe it or not, I haven't figured out where all the bookcases are going...

Moved!

Well, mostly...

I'm excited, frazzled, nervous, and tired.

I've taken vacation to finish moving the odds 'n' ends and start settling in at the new place. I will take pictures (promise!) and post them when I return to Internet access on July 27.

It's Official!

As of today I am officially a homeowner!

HAPPY DANCE!! HAPPY DANCE!!!

Time Flies

I know that time seems to pass more quickly the older you get, but I still find an interval of only 11 weeks between my 40th birthday and today's "Senior Citizen Offer" from Sunset Publishing a bit rushed...

Letter of the Day: C

When I was an undergraduate, I worked for a private investigation firm doing filing, data entry, document delivery, etc. One of my tasks - fortunately not too often - was to take a box of manila file folders and write

OPENED:
CLOSED:

on the tab so all the investigators had to do was write the date. After 30 or 40 folders, the words started to look wrong; they stopped looking like words and I would have to take a break. I knew I was still spelling them correctly, but only because I could compare them to the first one I had written.

Okay, maybe it's just me...

Anyway, I don't have that problem today. Today the word CLOSED looks just fine. Because I just CLOSED the deal on my house. Coincidentally, by signing my name so many times that it failed to look like my name.

But the bank guy seemed fine with my scribbles, so maybe it's just me...

It's not officially official and finalized until it gets filed or some such, but it's really happening.

I'm a homeowner! Go me!


Added later: I do promise pictures as soon as I can officially get in to the house - the only pix I have now show the previous owner's furniture. I'll post when it's empty and then when I get all my stuff settled in.

Music Notes, Part Two

Toby Keith just keeps getting better and better. Every album since Shock'n Y'All (2003) I've said "This is my favorite. This is his best album." Until the next one is released. Each album has a greater number of songs that go on my I-could-listen-to-this-song-every-single-day list. Now I know that artists are supposed to improve their craft but for every album to surpass the last is extraordinary. It seems more likely that there would be at least one album that I would say "whatever" about - which has happened with both Kenny Chesney and Dierks Bentley.

Contrasting all that TK fantastic-ness are two of the worst albums I've ever heard, Zac Brown Band's Foundation and Darius Rucker's Learn to Live. I liked both first singles, Chicken Fried and Don't Think I Don't Think About It (respectively); however, neither album is worth listening to even once. A friend loaned these to me, and she's even more disappointed in them than I am, 'cause she paid money for them!

"News" Dumbness

Remember, I don't have access to network or cable, so everything I know about Jon and Kate comes from the teeny snippets I see on news websites and blogs:

• they have eight children
  
• they have a reality TV show
  
• they are talking about getting a divorce
  

Here's a thought: Try living without the cameras before contemplating life-altering decisions. Or maybe that's just me.

Updated June 23: Why, yes, I do fairly well predicting fiction. I often know what the next line is going to be - it comes from watching, reading, and writing too much...

In other "news": Scalzi reports that people are dissing President Obama because he isn't having to deal with the same staggering issues as Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Truman. Seriously, people? You may want to live in interesting times, but I'll settle for peace and tranquility, thanks.

My Profession

Do you support your local library? It's there for you...

Today Show: Libraries Lend a Hand in Tough Times (4-minute video clip)

Summer Session

I am showing an English class how to blog.

Curiosity

Out of the mouths of babes...

The next Mars rover has been named Curiosity.

In hindsight, it's blindingly obvious. Way to go, Clara!

Beliefs

The Babylon 5 episode, "Parliament of Dreams" is about showcasing different alien culture's belief systems and ends with a display of "Earth's dominant belief system." Unlike all the other ceremonies which feature stories, chants, drums, and bells, the Earth celebration introduces, one by one, a loooooong line of at least 40 people, each representing a different belief system:

Atheist (I love that this is first!)
Roman Catholic
Zen Buddhist
Moslem / Muslim
Orthodox Jew
Sioux Indian
Greek Orthodox
Yupik Eskimo
Jivaro
Bantu
Taoist
Aborgini
Shinto
Maori
Hindu
Quaker

Not all are named, and of the ones that were only shown I, sadly, recognized only a few.

I leave it to the reader to take away the appropriate lesson.

Grow, Grow, Grow!

The "Less Hair" experiment is over. My shorter 'do was wonderful for ease of care, but every now and then I would catch sight of myself in the mirror and wonder, "How long has that piece been sticking up like that?" I tried a couple different lengths of short, but none of them really worked. I don't know if it's vanity or a need to be in control - or both - but I've changed my mind (love that prerogative!) and decided to grow it out just long enough to pull back into a ponytail. For now I'm keeping the bangs, although they've been their own problem in the past - we'll see...

Unfortunately, growing out short hair is a long process. Right now it's long enough to be in the way, but too short to keep out of the way. Argh!

Welcome Alexa!

Alexa (short for Alexandria) arrived on Tuesday. This delayed announcement is courtesy of Will and Henry and the paper due today that, despite weeks of work, refused to properly coalesce until around 3 a.m. {sigh}

Anyway, I have stolen a few moments to become acquainted with my new companion and she's just as wonderful as I anticipated. I already have 17 titles downloaded - 9 of which cost me absolutely nothing - and have begun reading this month's first new release. This weekend I plan on finishing it and moving on to the second. And then maybe to a third title.... Basically, I'm going to read a lot, but not anything from or about the 14th, 15th, or 16th centuries.

Letter of the Day: E

Today is Earth Day. And I'm doing better with recycling, reusing, reducing.

But for me, today is more about another "E": Escrow. As in I made an offer to buy a house and they made a counter-offer which I accepted and now I'm in escrow.

Here's another "E" word: Excited. And a non-E word that's just as applicable: Nervous.

Cleaning Up Bloglines Feeds

I love Bloglines, but sometimes the Keep New box is just too easy to check. So here are a bunch of things I want to keep track of:

Once again, Scalzi speaks, er writes, for me - this time about space exploration.

This post from Neil contains other info, but the part that spoke to me is his take on the New Scientist article that's right at the top. Human arrogance isn't surprising, but is still depressing.

I've been trying to convince people for years that it could, and will eventually, happen - will you be prepared when the digital world dies?

Kindle

I ordered my Kindle2 - it's a present from myself, my Dad & M, and J & P who gave me Amazon gift cards. It hasn't even shipped yet, let alone arrived, but I have already picked out her name and a "stack" of books...

Birthday Dinner

Normally I take my birthday off from work, but yesterday was a busy day: my Shakespeare and history class which overlapped with the first of two meetings which overlapped, a class I was teaching which overlapped with my dinner time, and Reference Desk - 7 hours of events scheduled to take place in 6 hours.

Anyway, I decided that after all this jumble, I was going to have pancakes and I happened to mention it to J and P, who said they would like to join me. K and K overheard and showed up to "crash" our dinner. What this meant for me is that instead of having a lonely dinner with only a book, I had a mini-party with four good friends. Lucky me!

Happy Birthday to Me!

A pretty from a good friend:

Despicable

A colleague told me today that some credit card companies are lowering the limit on credit cards without notification, then slamming the customer when the new, lower limit is exceeded. I've had my limit raised and only known by looking at my statement, but I think this new trick is the icing on top all their unreasonable business practices.

My Neighbor

I haven't seen Kilauea: Mountain of Fire yet, but several people have said it's very good. Kudos to PBS for putting it online.

No Regrets?

Yet another depressing example of the depths to which some of the human race can sink (see also last year's rainbow condundrum). I didn't spend the $$ for this new book, although the public library did...

Spring Break 2009

Just in case I forget tomorrow, I'd better post this now...

I will be out of the office, and therefore without Internet access, beginning Friday, March 20 and won't be back until Sunday March 29 (at which point it will take me at least three days to get caught up). But I'm getting a 9-day break and only using 4 days of vacation time, so it's worth it!

I have a to-do list that's a mile long, so send energy vibes my way, else I'll probably blow all this valuable time just reading and sleeping...

A Good Month

This year April - always a good month for me - brings the latest releases in two(!) of my favorite book series. I always buy the hardcover of Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series, and although in the past I've waited for the paperback of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, I think with this, book #11, I'll switch to the hardcovers.

Or maybe I'll use part of my tax refund and buy myself a Kindle 2. After all, I'll be turning 40 (gasp!) this year and won't be doing anything else to celebrate. To think that I could carry in my hand more books than are currently in the 12 bookcases in my house is a mind-boggling thought, along the scale of how many other galaxies, stars, and planets are in the night sky.

Life and Death

My step-mother's mother passed away yesterday. Grandma Ginny was 90+ and lived a rich, full life for almost all of those years. After retirement, she and Grandpa Don were able to travel the world and spend time with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I hope that family who live closer than I do will remember that Grandpa Don is alone now for the first time since before I was born.

What I'm Missing

One week later, I've accepted that I'm not missing anything huge, but I am apparently letting many small things slip through. This must stop.

Shakespeare and History

I'm taking "English History and Shakespeare" this semester. We're reading Shakespeare's royal history plays and comparing them with actual events and people. It's quite confusing at times with all the constantly changing names, titles, and allegiances.

On Tuesdays, rather than a lecture, our instructor lets us raise items we are confused about to discuss - this is very useful! Then we have a multiple-choice quiz (with fill-in-the-blank bonus questions). You can do quite well on the quizzes if you've read the assigned reading at least once and pay attention to the discussion (as evidenced by the fact that I'm averaging 104).

On Thursdays, we watch a production of whichever play we're reading (half one week, half the next). We didn't read King John, but so far we've covered Richard II, Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2), and Henry V; we'll also cover Henry VI (Parts 1, 2, and 3) and Richard III. We have to write a 3,000 word paper on Henry VIII (which we won't be discussing or watching in class).

Our textbooks are the Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed. (a shame, as I still have my 1st ed.), Shakespeare's Kings by Norwich, and two books by Antonia Fraser: The Middle Ages and The Wars of the Roses.

As an undergraduate, I studied only some of the comedies and tragedies, so the history plays are completely new to me and my history coverage, especially non-American, has always be sparse. I am enjoying this class and hope to be able to take other history courses in the future.

Look-alike

One of the student assistants at the Circulation Desk looks a little bit like Miss Lori. Not a lot, but enough so that when I catch sight of her out of the corner of my eye, I feel a little anticipatory jolt of happiness. Followed by "oh, bummer"...

Don't Do This

I had a mole removed from my left leg on Feb. 20 and it required stitches, so I wasn't allowed to walk around a lot. I've been walking at least 20 minutes a day this year (and sometimes as much as 90), so I needed a distraction that would keep me seated as much as possible and since I did a Lord of the Rings movie marathon late last year, I decided to do a Star Wars marathon of all 6 movies.

I do NOT recommend this.

The inconsistencies had me yelling at the TV, wondering if George Lucas bothered to re-watch Episodes IV, V, and VI before he filmed I, II, and III. At some point, I'll probably end up watching them again, but I'll be careful to do it as two separate trilogies, not one continuous storyline.

Catching Up?

I'm going to try to get back into the habit of posting once a day. Wish me luck.

I appear to be almost caught up at work, which means I must be missing a huge 'to do' pile somewhere. If not, I'll get to try all those cool projects I keep reading about that I never have time to do. I sure hope I don't find that pile any time soon...

Kittens on Vacuum

Swallow* any food and / or drink before clicking. My three run if I even touch the evil device - I wonder what they would think of this model...

* I'm going to be finding walnut bits on my desk for weeks. Thank heavens I didn't have a mouth full of soda!

Patience, Please

As usual, Scalzi sums up the situation quite nicely...

Happy Holidays 2008

I will not be at work (hooray!) and therefore not checking email, blogs, news, etc. from Friday, December 19 through Monday, January 5.

I will be available by phone until noon-ish on Monday, Dec. 29, but not after that because I'll be getting some much-deserved rest and relaxation at Mom's.

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a new year. So long 2008 - and good riddance!

Cassini Goes to Saturn

A tour of the Saturn system courtesy of the Cassini mission, narrated by Carolyn Porco. Thanks to Phil Plait for the link.

There is lots of CGI, but also note how much actual imagery is used. I'll be the first to acknowledge that I'm an astronomy geek, but I'm guessing that this will be entrancing and exciting even for those who are less obsessed with astronomical exploration.

On Being Sick

One's nose should be allowed to be stuffy or runny. Not both at the same time.

Holiday Shopping

If you are fortunate enough to have some $$ to spend on gifts and have anyone who likes jewelry, I would like to recommend virtuallori's Etsy store. When I attended her* wedding last year, I bought a necklace for my cat-sitter, who still thanks me every time she wears it (yeah, it's that good).

Note that some of the pieces can be customized. Whimsical designs, quality craftsmanship, great value - what more can you ask for? What are you waiting for?


*Have no fear - she may be a friend, but I wouldn't hawk her stuff if it wasn't any good.