Fair Warning

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I found myself having a little discussion with, well, myself:

"You need to write everyday."

Yeah, I know. I try, but...

"Okay, you need a different kind of goal, so let's say that you have to post to your blog everyday."

I don't have access to the Internet everyday.

"Fine, but every day that you do, agreed?"

What if I can't think of anything to write?

"Then write that."

I agreed, mostly so my brain would shut up and I could go to sleep. So here's fair warning that even tho' I'll be posting more often, I (we) don't guarantee that it will be interesting. But it will be fulfilling a goal, so please bear with me.

At least I don't have to worry about staying on topic, since this blog doesn't really have one :)-

Brokeback Mountain?

So, two colleagues and I were talking about movies and I mentioned Brokeback Mountain. Which, of course, led to the inevitable "The gay cowboy movie?"

But then the conversation took a more unconventional turn...

Colleague 1: "What's Brokeback mean?"
Me: "It's just the name of the mountain."
Colleague 2: "So, it's not a broke back from the mounting?"

It took a few minutes, but I finally got my breath back and picked myself up off the floor before they had to call the ambulance....

Surreal

As I pulled into the driveway last night, the radio was playing Toby Keith's 'Big Blue Note'.

As I pulled out of the driveway today, the radio was playing Toby Keith's 'Big Blue Note'.

Cute but also Sad

This is a very cute idea -- leave it to the Japanese! -- but also a sad commentary on modern humanity that the last sentence needs to be stated. At least they didn't put in a disclaimer that the elderly-care robots "were not capable of doing everything human nurses can do."

Black Holes

I was doing some collection development research and used "black hole" as a keyword search in our catalog and retrieved four* hits:


State-building: governance and world order in the 21st century

Black hole at the center of our galaxy

Simply Einstein: relativity demystified

Black hole tariffs and endogenous policy theory: political economy in general equilibrium


I'm trying to decide if I should read anything into the fact that the titles are evenly divided between scientific theory and political titles concerned with ideas like 'Weak states and the black hole of public administration'....


*For those worried about the state of our collection, "black holes" (plural) as a keyword search retrieves 33 hits.

Finally!

We started writing it in the late summer / early fall of 2003. I don't think we'll ever actually be done writing it -- I see us as two little old ladies in our rocking chairs:

Puanani: "I was re-reading the script and got to thinking..."
Amy: "What? Come closer so I can whack you with my cane!"

Of course, the next day it would be me with an idea and Puanani ready to beat me, because this script is in our genetic code now and just WILL NOT LET GO!

Anyway, the hard work and determination has finally paid off, because someone in LA has read it and deemed it worthy -- we're Semi-Finalists! And thanks to Puanani's last name, we're first on the list!

Keep your fingers crossed that it keeps making the cut -- that hope may be the only thing that will keep us sane... well, as sane as we can be....

Happy New Year

I had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did, too. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2006.

Silence

One of the voices that makes me weak has fallen silent.


"I have never doubted that the dream was real, my love; I will never forget. I hope you will save a dance for me."

Winter

Winter has arrived in Hilo.

How can I tell, you ask?

When I leave the air-conditioned Library at 9 pm, it's colder outside than indoors.

Yes, this just started happening this week -- I love living in Hawaii :}

Stuffing Saga

It was like my life was being orchestrated from behind the scenes by the director of a comedy skit....

Last week, I went to Safeway to get one of those bags of Love's stuffing cubes so Mom could make stuffing for Thanksgiving. I called Mom from the store to say that I thought the price was a bit high (but what did I know? I don't cook!) and she agreed that at over $4 for a single bag, it was pricey, but probably because it's only available during the holidays. We really wanted stuffing, though, so I worked through my sticker shock and bought just one bag.

Mom came over on Wednesday and we needed to do some other shopping. Here's where the comedy starts:

We went to Cost-U-Less (a small, non-member Costco-like place here in Hilo) where the bags of stuffing cubes were only $3 something. So we got another bag, just for good measure.

Then we went to KTA to get cat food. And here, the stuffing cubes were $5... for 2 bags!

Someone must have been following me around with a hidden camera saying, "She's going into this store now. Quick, lower the price on the stuffing cubes!" If we had hit one more store, they probably would have only been $1 a bag...

And then there was the Sara Lee pumpkin pie with the bottom crust that wouldn't cook.

But other than that, the 6 days I spent with Mom were Really Wonderful!! We watched movies and went hiking in Kilauea Iki crater and floated in the hot springs and played Disney Trivia, where my dear Mother proceeded to win all 5 times!

So, how was your Thanksgiving?

Goddess Amy...

...at your service.

A patron just called for help with locating a journal article in an online database. It wasn't really all that difficult for me -- It's what I do, darlin' * -- but he was impressed enough to say 'Wow! You're a goddess!'

Who am I to argue with a patron?


* Any guesses as to the source of this quote?

Happy Thanksgiving

Nothing new, but just to continue the tradition...

I am thankful for:

Mom is coming to visit for almost a week!

Friends -- Distance may have dimmed the edges of some of my relationships, but the bright cores remain...

My cats -- from 'where are you going?' looks every morning to a purr-ful 'welcome home!' each night...

My wonderful home -- I still give thanks each day for my good fortune...

Clear night skies -- yes, they actually do occur in Hilo!

As always:
most things Disney
Books, Music, Movies (Serenity!!)
Laughter
Chocolate

Christmas is coming...

Inspiration

At the Hawaii Library Association Annual Conference, I co-presented a talk with my Institute for Astronomy boss, Kathleen. The presentation was titled 'Blog, Blogger, Blogging'. We had a large turnout, including some colleagues, and one of them was inspired to start a blog.

Steadfast Sentinel is the blog of my friend and colleague Richard. Welcome to the blogosphere, Baron!

Harry Potter

Holy freakin' WOW!!!


That's all I was able to think when I got out of the theatre last nite.


Holy freakin' WOW!!!


I have some problems with the third movie, Prisoner of Azkaban -- I feel that they 'Hollywood-ized' parts of it while omitting some crucial elements that could have been easily included.

But I have no complaints about Goblet of Fire. From what I remember of the story, the screenplay manages to incorporate most of the important elements and didn't blow anything way out of proportion, although the first task comes close (but not nearly as bad as Aunt Marge or Harry's ride on Buckbeak in the third movie).

I wasn't sure if I would want to go back to see this in the theatre again, but now I can't wait...

Professional Musings

I often curse the compulsion that forced me into a profession that is chilly, quiet, and sedentary. I crave sunlight, fresh air, music!

But weeks like this remind me why I love my job.

In the past two nights, I've helped students find:

books about:

Hawaiian political history

film editing

personal finance

introductory physics

English grammar

ethnography

journal articles about:

pacific octopus

sea turtles

the bison massacre

cultural influence of fast food

a video on tobacco

Time magazine articles on microfiche

Hawaiian language newspaper birth and death notices from the 1870s.

In between patron requests, I'm preparing for two classes I'll be teaching on how to find scholarly journal articles. The instructors have assigned topics like mail order brides, marriage brokers, paternity leave, custody decisions, dating customs in different cultures, and premarital sex.

As has been recently pointed out, I'm a geek -- an assessment I agree with whole-heartedly, by the way. I'll add to my geekiness quotient now and admit that I enjoy helping people find information.

Sure, most of them are just trying to finish the assignment, usually “due tomorrow.” But some of them are genuinely interested in their topics and curious to learn. Knowing that I’ve pointed them in the right direction brings a smile to my face. And the ones who make a point to come back to the desk to say ‘Thanks!’ put a smile in my heart.

For them I’ll suffer the cold, the stale air, and the silence. After all, I can use the ride home to lower the windows and crank the radio.

Serenity on DVD

I already knew that it was going to be a very Merry Christmas, because I'm going to Florida to spend it with my Dad and Grandpa.

But before today, I didn't know what I was going to do for New Year's. Now I know I'm going to have a gorram good time...

Happy Halloween!

And how was your Halloween?

Mine was sweet!

Weather

This is one of the things I don't miss about living on the Mainland:

This week, the daily HIGH temperature where my Dad is (upstate NY) is LOWER than the nightly LOW temperature where I am.

Let me phrase that differently (just for grins and giggles).

The LOW temperature I experience each night is still HIGHER than the daily HIGH temperature my Poor Ole' Poppy gets to experience.

Yes, I love living in Paradise :)

Can't Stop the Signal

It's probably a minor miracle that nobody at work has {yet} throttled me in exasperation over my enthusiasm about Serenity. Everyone knows how much I love this movie as well as Firefly, the TV show that it's based on. Everyone knows I saw the movie three times opening day and twice since then and that it's now at the dollar theatre -- hmm, what nites this week shall I go?....

But instead of a throttling, I got a positive review from a co-worker today! She said that she saw the movie and really liked it -- and didn't feel lost at all, despite never having seen the TV show. Yeah!

Worth the Wait?

Oh, Yes! A thousand times - YES!

Not only have my Muses fled, but I'm finding it difficult to keep two thoughts together in my head long enough to string them into a coherent sentence. So, instead of trying to provide my own review (although I might try it later), I'm going to point you to some other folks' reviews that I agree with whole-heartedly.

I've seen Serenity four times so far, but will probably add on a couple viewings by the end of the week...

Orson Scott Card
"All I heard was, "It's great, you'll love it."
Well, guess what.
It's great.
I'm not going to say it's the best science fiction movie, ever.
Oh, wait. Yes I am.
...
And I'll tell you this right now: If Ender's Game can't be this kind of movie, and this good a movie, then I want it never to be made."

Serenity Cheat Sheet
"The setting, the music, the unique cinematography, the little details (i.e. having no sound in space) and of course, the endlessly quotable dialogue, make the world of Firefly one worth visiting..."

VideoSewer Review
"It’s how sci-fi adventures should be done...Serenity works so well because the archetypical characters and situations are sketched with a loving hand..."

Video Teaser
This shows the first 9 minutes of the film. What happens just after this clip ends is classic Firefly:

MAL
"Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorram ship for no apparent reason?"

WASH
"Looks like...this landing is going to get pretty interesting"

MAL
"Define 'interesting'."

WASH
"'Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die'?"

MAL (over loudspeaker)
"This is the Captain. There's a little problem with our entry sequence. We may experience slight turbulence and then explode."

JAYNE
"We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode"

MAL
"How many weapons you plan on bringing? You only got the two arms."

JAYNE
"I just get excitable as to choice -- like to have my options open."

MAL
"I don't plan on any shooting taking place during this job."

JAYNE
"Well, what you plan and what takes place ain't exactly been similar."

...

ZOE
"Are we crashing again?

MAL
"Talk to your husband."


And we're off on one hell of a wild ride...

Hope you enjoy...