Granted I lied a little. My internship doesn't end until this Friday, but my other classes are done, and I'm already signed up for a class in the spring. The least favorite classes are yet to come. Speech has never been a favorite, but that's one I will have to take, and a bunch of English courses if I decide to do a BA in English. Although I'm not entirely sure I want to do that. I'm also looking at a BA in Liberal Arts, which is generally taken for teachers and librarians. Who knows. This will take some looking into I suspect, and there is still time as I need to take pre-reqs for any college I want to get into ... assuming that is that they'll have me. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't miss out in waiting this long before going after a BA and a Masters.
Somewhere I missed out on the college experience. Being able to just concentrate on the classes and not worry about anything else would've been nice. Looking back on that area of time when that could've happened though, I wasn't ready for that. Now though, I think I would be. At the root of this is the fact that I'm slow to do anything. Everyone else went racing through this period in their life already and I'm just now thinking about it. Heh. ;) Typical me. I like to think all these things through before I do something. Maybe its too late to do it now. I'm already buried in a job and other responsibilities. Not that I couldn't just walk away from it all. I could, but I don't want to.
Here it is 6 days before Christmas... and I'm starting to get tired of the entire season already. Heh. Christmas carols were dropping from my mouth at work while I wasn't paying much attention. So, maybe I'm not totally out of the loop yet. Its been a totally crappy year so far, but what I'm hoping for is a better new year. Just two more weeks or so and then things will get better. Please.... get better. I wonder if that's a possible new years resolution... Anyway, I'm just babbling at this point. If I don't get around to posting before Christmas, *crosses fingers*Merry Christmas to everyone who bothers looking at this. Night. :)
When I was little I used to love the feel of Christmas. Everything was warm, and bright and everything smelled so good. As I got older I guess I got more jaded and some of the magic left the holiday. No longer do I wonder what I'm getting for Christmas, because a list is extracted from me every year which basically ensures that I know what I'm getting. That's good and bad at the same time in that there are generally no mad rushes to a certain store so I can exchange or return things, but there's also no ... How do I put this without sounding like one the poutey children who isn't happy unless they're the one opening the presents, and throwing a fit when what they open isn't what they wanted. That's not it at all. When someone gets you something for Christmas that you didn't ask for, but absolutely love it sort of shows that there is at least one person out there who goes through the trouble to know what you like and dislike. What you'll love and what you'll hate. I miss that. It doesn't really happen anymore and that makes it sad.
And then of course there's the other side of it. I love getting to know someone well enough to walk through a mall and see something that I know they'll like. There's not wondering what to get, no stress about that at all. Biggest reward is seeing them light up when they open the box and I know I guessed right. However, I've become one of those people who hates going out around the most wonderful time of the year. Why? Take the parking lot outside Gottschalks where two drivers got into a screaming, shrieking, hate filled altercation over a parking space. Inside I got elbowed by little old ladies with the gleam of greed in their eyes and glared at by people who nearly mowed me down because I was in their way. Shopping really sucks to begin with, but when its compounded by frustrated, angry, hell-bent, irrational individuals, it's difficult to tell the difference between an anchor store and the 7th ring of a fiery pit we all know and love. Where exactly did this become about grab the best gift or they won't love you anymore?
So, I guess I still like the holiday, but I certainly don't appreciate the reception I get when out and about. Therefore I make good use of the internet and shop a lot more online that I used to. Its quieter and more peaceful and sometimes I can feel what it used to be like when I was little. Sure, I still have to venture into the thick of the shopping mosh pit, but tend to retreat straight back to my humble abode. Its nice here.
This concludes my thoughts on Christmas and its ability to bring forth everyone's inner green-eyed creature. So, I'm not all that fond of the human species during certain times of the year. Yes, there are generous individuals out there, unless you're in a shopping mall... Just be prepared to do battle. I'm off to watch tv, and enjoy the fact that I have no more homework to do for a while. YAY!! Night. :)
And so it was that we came to the last class assigned blog posting in which I am to give "Words of Wisdom" as well as to whether or not this class would be beneficial to someone in the Library Certificate program. With all I've learned in this class I have to give it a thumbs up. While the class may not deal directly with working a library, librarians themselves deal with information 24-7. In short his class had us not only learning to find, examine, and dissect vessels of information, but it taught us the vehicles for that information. In a day and age when there are so many ways to gain information be it true or not, it gives you a leg up on where and how to look online. We were introduced to blogs (an online journals of sorts), Wiki Space (in which you can have a chat), and many other forms of communication. Ah, you say, but what do those have to do with getting a Library Certificate? Almost every day I get a question that I can't answer with the books I have in my branch, therefore I turn to the net with all its twists and turns and hop to extract an answer. It greatly helps to understand how these sites work, what information is probably going to be there, and whether or not you can expect it to be skewed to support an add. Understanding how information is presented and why is also a key element of searching through information. This class basically tells you how to do all of it, and has you work and explore those areas or at the least gives you the basics.This is the class I wish I had taken before I ever took an online course, because I know so much more now about what to expect of an online course teacher as well as the class itself. As for the Words of Wisdom aspect, I'm honestly not sure what to say, except to relax and have fun with all the new things you'll do! :) And keep in mind that if you ARE going for the Library Tech Certificate really pay attention, but the knowledge you gain in here is going to help you in information searches. Its also going to teach you how to present knowledge you have gained in whatever specialty you have to the public. Everything I learned had practical uses which is a huge plus in my book. Okay, I think I've gone on and on enough. ;) I'll stop.Hah! You thought I'd gone! Well, you're half right. Dinner is ready, and I'm hungry, so while I'd like to stay and blab more at everyone I'm going to get food and try and watch a movie with Dad. I managed to get myself a copy of Wild Hogs from the library, and I figured Dad would like it. So, I'll talk later. Hopefully I wasn't too annoying with the post. Night. :)
Several days ago, I found myself lamenting my days in Sydney, and figured I'd never be around anything from there again. Well, I was wrong. Yesterday evening about 15 minutes to closing I had a woman with a little boy come in and along with them came a little taste of Australia. Apparently the little boy was visiting from down under, so I got a little smidge of the politeness I remember so well. Trust me when I say that boys from the states don't tend to say thank you unless prompted, or ask if you need help putting something away, or offering to carry a stack of books for you. They also don't tend to be as quick witted. So, I feel safe in saying that I got a rather nice unexpected Christmas present. It made me a little homesick. ;)
Then there was the road home. What a joy that was. Anyone who's tried going across a very high bridge in the dark with visibility ranging from 2 to 4 feet in front of the car raise their hand. Yes, I'm raising my hand too. Let me tell you now that its not fun doing that, especially on a windy road surrounded by two types of idiots. The first is the type that likes speeding no matter what, and will try and kill themselves and you trying to around you do they can speed up to 75 mph in the wrong lane. Idiot number two, are the ones that are freaked out by not being able to see, and cling to your bumper like a limpet with a tube of super glue. Thereby totally blinding the lead driver with their high beams making that lead driver (in this case myself) slow down to a dangerous crawl. Then idiot type two honks at you for going too slow. Personally, I'd rather not go that slow because idiot type one could come roaring out of the fog behind my Bunny Hop line and cause quite the pile-up. I've never been fond of pile ups. I'm also not fond of tail gaiters, so I pulled over.... and they pulled over with me. *sighs* Eventually they figured out that I wasn't going to be the leader. Yes, I refused to play a Peter Pan game. Obviously I got home safe and sound.
And last but not least, I was sent a link in an email to a YouTube clip. Its called the 12 Days of Christmas. Except its not what we all remember with fond memories. I'll see if I can't put it up on my blog somewhere. If you're easily offended by things don't watch it. Personally I thought it was cute and funny. Anyway, its been a quiet week, except for trying to get my final project emailed into my teacher. Its a little big, so I'll have to figure out how to turn it in. Maybe load it on a thumb drive and take it down there so she can view it. That's all for now! Night. :)
This time last year I was in Australia contemplating a plane ride home, and the fact that I was going to miss my new home more than I thought. Being able to run down to the market for anything I wanted, or stopping in at the local corner restaurants was something I really enjoyed being able to do on foot. You could get anywhere on foot without ever having to own a car. If I needed a book, I could just jump on the train or ferry if the local bookstore didn't have what I was looking for. Libraries, doctors, shopping and anything else right at your fingertips, but you could also get away from it. Nothing was cluttered. No one was standing all over each other. Everyone for the most part was polite, kind and I never felt out of place.
And then I was home where driving is a means to an end. I suppose I could move nearer to a city, but here, things are different. Everything seems a little tainted here. Even if you find a peaceful spot to rest your weary head, others also see it as a peaceful spot and suddenly that peace is gone. Instead you're surrounded with people who are loud, unpleasant and don't really care about you or what you were looking for. I guess I miss the respect for peace and quiet that everyone seemed to have in Australia. Perhaps I was misreading it, but I never felt pushed, or disapproved of.... then again everyone thought I was from Canada. Conversations were generally interspersed with, "So, what part of Canada are you from?" and I had to tell them that I was from the States. A brief surprised look would cross their face, and then they'd apologize immediately, but even then they wouldn't try verbally scraping me off like some sort of mold. Its a courtesy I don't often run across here. I guess as another December stares me in the face I find myself missing that time I had in Sydney. Perhaps it was because for the first time in a long time I didn't have so much weight on me. It was nice to be able to have not a care in the world for a while and from time to time I wish I where back there. I guess December makes me melancholy. But don't worry. I'll be on the rebound pretty quick. Hope everyone has a good time this month. Night.
There have been some years when I get up at the crack of morning the day after Thanksgiving to go see if I could find anything down at the stores worth damaging my credit over. Looking back on that foolhardy activity there was nothing worth losing precious sleep to acquire. This Thanksgiving, I ventured from my hovel but once to visit family and to help them eat a lot of food, since half the people who said they were coming canceled because they'd gotten the flu, or colds, or whatever the latest rhinovirus out there is. So, I basically stuffed myself until I was nearly sick, and even three days later I still think I've got stuffing in the nooks and crannies of my head. Too much food is bad. Even if it is turkey with cranberry sauce. I have a weakness for cranberries. I like the juice too. Anyway, I managed to scarf up most of the left overs on my own, while the dog looked on in hopeful anticipation. Sorry dog. None for you. Where is my sharing nature? I don't feed my dog human food. There's too many things that can hurt her. Onions, grapes and other innocuous seeming food substances can hurt of kill a dog. Yes, I'm justifying my selfishness.For the rest of the weekend, I pretty much spent my time hiding, doing homework and watching my newly coveted Smallville seasons. Once again my obsession with superheroes is shining through. Hopefully no one forgot to wear their sunglasses. Its nice to have some down time, although not enough downtime to get to read anything from the pile of books next to my bed. Maybe during winter break? I guess time shall tell. Or, its just going to hoard its information and keep me guessing. What else have I been doing? Well, eating way too many See's Molasses Chips, which I love. I don't get a chance to have them very often. Aside from that I've been remarkably lazy. There was the fight with the laptop, and the realization that's probably about time to reformat the hard drive again... Ugh. Never a fun project. I'll have to do that over winter break. Periodically I do that to keep things from getting too cluttered. Its just really... involved. At least for me.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! At the moment, I'm off to sit in front of the TV and watch Smallville. Yes, its on DVD, but I'm on a roll. Plus there's also the fact that there's ice cream and bananas with my name on it. Yum. Banana split, here I come. Possibly. Unless it... splits. *sighs* Apologies. Bad joke on my part. Night! :)
Yet another class assigned post (not that I'm complaining) in which we are to tell what we are thankful for on this day before Thanksgiving. Actually I could've posted this later or earlier, it just happened to be the day before Turkey Day. Generally I am given to slightly sarcastic witty remarks, at least that's what I'd like to think. However I find myself giving this question some heavy duty thought, because this past year has been uncharacteristically harsh in terms of family and friends. Last spring semester I had an 8am class twice a week, and was starting a new job and that was a long haul down the hill. To help me out my great aunt and second cousin offered me a room since they live on 10 minutes away from school. Being there twice a week needless to say I got a chance to know them. More so than I had in the past. My cousin passed away before the end of the semester. So although its bittersweet I am glad that I got to get to know her and that she got to know me. I will miss her kindness, her gentleness, and most of all her laugh.
My guess is this post is going to be fairly short, given that I'm having trouble coming up with something to babble about. There's always the boring.. such as, I've got a sinus infection. How's that? Boring, I know. However there have been some amusing side affects to the sinus infection. Such as, my left eye has been leaking tears for several weeks now and the doctor couldn't figure out why. Now we know. In between all that though I was sitting at the internship or at work with a constantly tearing eye, and people were always asking if I was alright. Today, both eyes were tearing to the point it looked like I was crying. A patron would walk in, and say,"Hi! Listen, I was wond... Oh my god! Are you alright? What's wrong?" thinking I was crying about something. At the internship, everyone was asking what was wrong as well. By now they all know I just had a faulty eyeball, but it was sort of funny as well. I guess I'm also thankful that I work with such nice people, and have such instantly concerned patrons. ;)
Since its the day before Thanksgiving, I wish you all a wonderful holiday with friends and/or family. Even if you're not fond of the holiday, its still a chance to hang out with those you care about. Don't toss that for anything. So, Happy Thanksgiving! Night. :)
The week has been a blur filled with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Last week is when it really started on Friday. We had a managers meeting, and then a blessed day off Saturday on which I caught up on a lot of sleep. Sunday was movie day and I think I posted then about the movies I watched. At least that's what it says on my blog. ;) Its sad when you have to read your own blog because you can't remember what you did the weekend before. However that was the case. In fact, I hadn't realized I'd left my blog all by its lonesome for almost a week until I wandered over here to see if anything was in the comments. I am soooo bad. Anyway, after the meeting, it was a weekend spent sleeping, resting and trying to avoid the cold I've been fighting off for a while now. It just waits until I'm low on sleep and then sneaks back.Tuesday I ended up having to leave work early because I was over in hours for the last pay period. So my help came and I didn't get everything done that I normally would have. No chance for catch up the next day because of a Library Advisory Board meeting. The last few weeks I've been working myself into the ground to get my library looking up to snuff in case they wanted to do a walk through. They didn't do the walk through per say, but a few of them came in to take a look and I guess they liked what they saw. Okay. I hope they liked what they saw. I ended up just going in and talking to the tail end of them because I had to lock up the meeting room. I guess I'll never really know.Thursday and Friday brought the internship days in which I get up before the sky has decided what color its going to be, and the forest is painted in nothing by shades of grey and hints of outlines. Eventually I make my way to the car, and down to the internship, which I actually enjoy even though I'm half asleep and in a constant state of,"Oh No! Did I just screw that up?!" My minders assure me I'm doing fine and you know? I'm really going to miss working there when the internship time is up. Its sort of like Christmas everyday. Hmm... de ja vu. I'm guessing I said that somewhere else at some point. After the internship I have an hour to grab lunch and run to my branch to open. Its hectic, but I like it. Down side is when I get home I'm thoroughly worn out and all I really want to do is lay down for about a week. I'd take a vacation, but I don't get that yet. Too new to the system is what I'm told. ;) I shall wait my turn. All in all the entire week has been nothing but that smear of color that landscapes become while you're looking at it through the window on a speeding train. Next week isn't going to be much better. Joy.My personal vote is for sleeping, and since I'm a party of one, I will do as I dictate. Sleeping it is. Maybe some tea first and then ... lovely lovely sleep. Night. :)
Since I have nothing better to batter my loyal readers with (I'm making assumptions on the loyal reader aspect) I'm going to talk about the movies I watched over the weekend. Unless you all want to hear about the sleeping aspect of this weekend which was quite enjoyable if I do say so myself. But since thats basically a blank spot, I'll move on to movies. I won't give spoilers if I can help it and I'll tell you about them out of the order I watched them. Before we begin, I will warn you that I watch a rather eclectic group of movies.
First up, we have "A Taste For Tea" which is a Japanese film about a family at different points in their life. Its a snapshot really of life in a small town in Japan, in the same vein as certain Hayao Miyazaki films, namely "Whisper of the Heart" or "Only Yesterday" which is another similar snapshot. Its quiet, funny, thought provoking, and can be compared with "Little Miss Sunshine" without all the screaming, serious disfunction, and heartsick feeling at the end. By the end of this film, you are left feeling calm and somehow comforted. I will be suggesting this to people who like stories a little out of the ordinary, and don't want a lot of violence. There is a little, but I swear the guy deserves it.
Next up is the "The Thief Lord" which is an adaptation from the book by Cornelia Funke by the same title. I have no read the book which is probably why I enjoyed the movie. Obviously it targets kids, but it was well done as far as I could tell. Aside from a rather surprising look-alike that had me wonder how Corey Feldman has managed to un-age himself, the acting was good, the story help together and overall the film was a fun romp. If you like kids movies, this one will do.
Anime is something I really enjoy, so the next one I watched was "Mushi-Shi vol 2". The first was sort of a unique experience because of its calming effect it had on me, which was odd because of some unsettling images. I'm one of those people who can sit through I don't know how many horror films and doesn't freak, or have nightmares, so images like the ones shown didn't bother me. Its just interesting that it didn't affect the overall feel of the show. Its shown in half hour segments like it was for Japanese television, so you can just watch one every day. Personally, I tend to gorge on anime, so I watched them all in one sitting.
The rest of the evening was basically just watching horror flicks. "Wrong Turn" and "Ghost Ship". Fairly easy to follow, run of the mill horror films. I guess you could say that the predictability is comforting, and then there's always the usual triumph over evil. If you like horror flicks these are pretty good, otherwise don't bother watching them. Especially if you don't have a totally hardened skin towards blood, guts, shrieking and torture. You'll end up with nightmares and you'll be pointing the blame finger at me. Quite frankly I'm not fond of that, so I will be avoiding recommending horror flicks.
Since I'm still watching films I guess that brings this movie review episode to a close. Please tune in next time when I might give reviews on Manga, Anime or something else that the general public scoffs at out of sheer ignorance. With those gentle words, I'm off to watch SWAT so I can enjoy large explosions, excessive violence and a general disregard for subtly and language restrictions. Talk to you all later! Night. :)
This is one of the posts in which the teacher asks us to answer a question. In this episode I will endeavor to answer this question. "With having completed over half of this course so far, have your expectations for the course been met up to this point?" The answer would be a definite yes, in every aspect I could've hoped for. Everything from the Discussion Board to the reading and homework is an eye opener in some way. Or has helped me look at information in different ways. Generally speaking I don't go into a class with expectations, because I never know how things will go. Expectations tend to make people set walls at which they decide to stop. For me its much better to stand in a field that goes on forever in possibilities, than to stand in a self imposed box with set limits to what I want to learn. So far I've learned way more than what was listed in the course description, so indeed I think all the basic expectations have been met and more.
Today was catch up day at my little branch, which means I did a lot. Boxes of books were moved out, certain items were moved around to make more room. Since I don't have a lot of room to begin with I try and use absolutely everything I can get my hands on to make a little more space for books, BCDs and other items. So, when I left, the branch looked great, my car was full of books, and my feet and back were killing me. My feet are still a little problematic. Why work myself into the ground? Well, there's a library advisory board meeting next week, and I'm trying to make the branch look fairly good, so if they decide to look at it, it won't look... awful. It still needs some work, but I think I can handle it. I don't have any employees, so I end up doing a lot of stuff myself. Hopefully I will get to all the trouble spots before the meeting. Here's crossing my fingers. ;)
For the rest of the evening, I guess I'll putter off to the TV set, where I will probably fall asleep. Perhaps not. Its cold in here, and I generally have to be warm to become totally unconscious. But for now, I need something hot, and somewhere warm, because I think I'm getting sick. I'm hoping I'm wrong. Getting a sinus infection now would be very bad. So, I'm going to wander off for the night. Shall talk later. ;) Night.
Friday morning at 8:15, I had just finished up several adds to the system in the cataloging department. The books had been handed over to a volunteer for covering, and I was headed back to the desk to see what other trouble I could get into, when "bink". The lights went out. Everyone paused and then sighed. Our IT guy husseled around the library checking to see that back up system were on battery and functional, while other systems would be out of commission until the power was back up. Staff wandered around in the dark with flashlights attempting to shelve, while managers attempted paperwork. In the tech department, my supervisors and I went about doing the tedious stuff you do to items being added to the system. None of that involves a computer, but it does require light, so we were all crammed over by the windows putting barcodes on books, CDs and DVDs. Also did some receiving while we waited. Listened to a big of music on the radio and was told by the Director that we'd be staying closed until the power came back on since you can't see a thing in the stacks with the power out. We would've had to issue everyone flashlights, or have a flashlight armed page walk around with every patron to help them see. For almost three hours we worked in the dark like ants. Except most of us are paid ants. I'm not because its an internship, but what the heck, it was fun.
The entire weekend was taken up with watching movies that I haven't had a chance to watch. Some were alright and others I felt I'd managed to waste time on. But at least it was a relaxing experience for the most part. Tonight, I will probably be watching Chuck. Has anyone watched Chuck? It cracks me up. Mostly because the main character is someone I can identify with. At the heart of it, it appears that I am a geek. Geek as in I'm into everything intellectual to some degree, as opposed to the more disturbing original meaning, which was the person at the carnival that bit the heads off live chickens. Perhaps a more apt title would be nerd for me. Who knows. All I know is that I get all the references to Dune and Star Wars and other such Science Fiction that gets mentioned no matter how obscure. I suppose I shouldn't be admitting to that, but its true. I also like Moonlight even if it is doomed, and probably won't last until next season. The acting is good, but the writing isn't up to par. That usually doesn't happen, but this is one of those cases. National Treasure was a good example of exponential acting talent, not fully utilized by the director, which was a shame, because the movie could've been excellent instead of mediocre. Okay, off to watch stuff on TV, in which I will quickly lose interest, and end up reading a book, periodically surfacing to look at the tube when I hear something interesting. Until I type again. Night. :)
Welcome to the very first day of the holiday seasons, in which we all say wow, it'll be nice to see family, and have that old warm feeling while its cold outside. What this really means is the light gets shorter, people start freaking out about Christmas shopping, stressing about seeing family members, planning trips that cost an arm and a leg and my favorite of all, catching whatever bug is out there and sharing it with everyone else. Tis the sharing season after all. Personally I'm looking forward to the warm house, the Christmas tree, spending time with friends and hopefully catching up on some much needed rest. Translation, I need will be loving the downtime so I can rest my left eye which is ... having some sort of meltdown. Lately its favorite pass time has been to stream tears for no good reason other than it can. My eyeball and I will be having some deep heavy conversations about behaving itself. Its already getting drops to help it out.
Only seven weeks left in the semester. Hows that for a shocker? I hadn't been keeping track, but my internship instructor mentioned it when she did the mid semester check up. I think I'm taking a semester off this spring for two reasons. The first is that I need some recoup time. The second is that the next couple of classes I need for a Liberal Arts degree are the ones I will be hating every minute of. Past attempts at these classes ended in total confusion or complete panic. Neither experience is something I'm going to enjoy reliving. Oh goody.
I'm going to go watch the idiot box for a while, have a little bit of ice cream and crawl into bed at a reasonable hour. That way I can be up bright and early when one of the two roosters starts crowing. Both were sneaky chicks that I got way back in June. One is Brutus, and the other is a tailless black Australorpe. Haven't figured out which one is crowing, but whichever one it is sounds like its got a cold. So, off to the tube I go... and later? The bed. Night. :)
Yes, its my favorite day of the year, and I had a great time spending it with friends at my original library job site with my former boss. We had a great time talking and laughing and handing out candy to the kids who came through. There were some very inventive costumes this year, including the likes of Count Burger, The Thing From the Back of the Fridge, and a Tin Foil Plated Robot! Lots of Fairies, Spider-men and Batmans. I guess they really can be everywhere at once. Evil doers beware for the might of superheroes is everywhere! With Fairies in tow! Sometimes little sisters can be much more dangerous than their older brothers as was witnessed by myself as a Fairy, no more than 4, mercilessly clubbed a bully with her wand when he went to steal her brothers candy. Much to my shame I must admit to some small enjoyment in that. That little girl had a wicked swing. This morning I had a fairly good group for Story Time. I sort of wish that the one parent has told me that their little boy was scared of dogs, because while I was reading them a book called The Halloweiner he kept standing up in front of the book shouting "NO!". If I'd known ahead of time, I would've switched to another book. As is was things were rather exciting with him jumping up every time he saw a dog in the story. But he's still a good kid most of the time. So here I sit on Halloween in the living room watching spooky shows, and updating my blog. Tomorrow it will be November. Lots of things going on next month and I will be glad when its all out of the way, so I can just come home not worry about upcoming things I have to get ready for. The rather prominent dark circles under my eyes are demanding down time. I would taking some now, but I have to keep going for a little longer, after which I assure you I will be collapsing for some odd amount of time. Its 9 pm or so as I finish writing this, and that's basically the last hour I'm up, so I bid you all a Happy Halloween and a safe fun evening, because that's what its there for!! Night all!
On the way home on a windy two way road on which the top speed is supposedly 55 mph, I encounter drivers on a regular basis who want to go much much faster. They take my life as well as their own and put it in danger, by speeding into the oncoming lane, going around me, and then flooring it as if their tail is on fire. I feel I am owed an explanation as to why they feel that I'm going too slow at ... 55mph. Apparently they absolutely need that extra 6 seconds they will gain by doing such a dangerous manuever. Do they feel that they can push me down the road by following so closely that I can no longer see their headlights? This is a false assumption on their part. Especially if this takes place at night when they're blinding me, since that causes me to slow down. While they contemplate their answer, maybe they could go one further and tell me why driving in herds like a nascar race is a well thought out intelligent thing to do? Personally I'm into dominoes and would love to see what happens when you stack up the cars like those little wooden blocks.. and then have a deer trot out in front of the lead car. Its not a race. Leave early if you are always speeding to get to work on time. Stop putting my life on the line along with yours. No one who races up and down my 20 minute drive home is going to read this, so I'm not sure why I'm bothering, except that I had to rant somewhere. I've had one too many scares lately I guess.
Last night as I was curled up in bed, I heard a beep. Now at first I thought it was my dog, because she was sleeping on her little bed on the floor at the foot of my bed, but... normally she doesn't make little beeps. Alright, she does beep, but not like a mini squeezy toy. My mind raced through possibilities. A mouse with a tiny squeeze toy? A spider sneezed? A creaky tree outside? Slinking from my bed, I prowled the room like a clumsy ape, stubbing my toes twice. My dog watched in an amused silence. This was fine with me, because earlier in the evening, she stuck her front legs unwittingly under an open door, and attempted to stand up. Basic physics lesson without the ability to understand the concept. Lots of yelping ensued. She's fine, just has some bruises, but it was nice to see her doing her little perked ears and slight smirk routine over my stubbed toes. I suppose it was only fair. Distracted by the stubbed toes I returned to my humble abode, aka the bed, and decided the ghostly squeaking would have to wait until it squeaked again. Even then, I will have to think about slipping from beneath the blankies.
Once again its night time and I'm getting sleepy why before I normally would. Part of this is that there's no heat in the house (we don't start up the wood stove until it starts raining) and I get sleepy when I'm cold, and the other is because I'm worn out again. The bed is calling me, and I think I'm going to heed its beckoning hail. So, I'm signing off. Night. :)
So, its another Wednesday and I've got absolutely nothing to post really. Just a few updates would be in order. Mission Manga is at a stand still for right now, because under more scrutiny, the online rental place was going to be a tad more expensive than first anticipated. Therefore I'm going to have to go down to one of the bookstores and just go through everything Manga. There seems to be some sort of slowdown on really good series and I'm wondering if the Manga companies in Japan have suddenly realized just how popular their books have become here and are holding out. Technically good business strategy, but irritating. My fellow branch managers will have to wait a bit before I can put together a working list.
Once again returning to my small herd of feathered dinosaurs, we've discovered that two of the so called hens are actually roosters. One is Brutus the Brahma. He's a big chicken, so I should've guessed that it wasn't a hen. But he's so docile. I can still pick him up and hold him and he doesn't care, and he follows me around like a puppy when I'm outside. The other has no name, and is one of the Australorpes. He's an idiot. I've been speculating that his idiocy is do to his unusually small head. Snapshots of him are difficult to get as he's ... well he's a chicken. In both senses of the word. The hens are all doing fine, and they keep the Lorp rooster in check. Thus his total lack of tail feathers. Apparently the hens learn early to keep the males battered and under control from an early age. Lorp has no tail and probably never will. Sad but true.
Tomorrow, I get up early and head in for my internship, so I will be hitting the sack soon. Its fun working in the cataloging department. Every day you get in boxes full of new stuff, so its basically Christmas every day! :) Its a nice place to work, and you learn something new every time. Well, its getting late, so I'd better hit the sack. Night to all. :)
After picking up the Transformers movie, I found a little advertisement for entering a sweepstakes for the 2009 Camero that was featured as Bumblebee in the movie, and I have to admit that I really love that car. However, I will probably still be too much in the whole by then to get one. I can always wait a few years until the car starts being resold at a lower amount of money. I'd enter the sweepstakes but apparently if you win the car, Chevy ends up with the rights to your privacy, and I am not one to be giving those away for a car. Even if its a really nice car that brings trumpet fanfare to mind whenever I see a picture of it. Ah well. We shall see what ends up happening in a few years. Its a plan, not a hope. It was pointed out to me that "only being able to deal with the public for so long" might be taken wrong. And I have to admit that this rings true. In truth I meant that I just need me time, and in no way was I slamming my job. I love my job. Please keep that in mind. The territorial comment was another statement that could've been taken the wrong way. Its nothing bad, just its an odd feeling to come back to work and feel like things have been moved. For me its a little disorienting, and I'm not fond of it. If anyone was taken aback, I apologize. If anyone thinks I'm over reacting, you can say let me know that as well. Back to the normal routine of every day life, I was back in front of the TV all day. In point of fact, I am still in front of the TV catching up on Smallville. Dinner is also a part of this little couch potato escapade. Perhaps later I will dive into the pages of a book. Or better yet I can go through my comic books... and reread some of them. Or in the more childish of activities I can rearrange the action figures. So, this basically means I will go back to doing absolutely nothing for the next couple of days.. or rather day, as I've already used up my Sunday. Until I post again. ;)
Its Saturday night, and what am I doing? The art of the hermit has once again impressed itself upon me, as I can only take so much of the public before my brain starts frying. On certain days when the wind is just right, you may be able to smell it. I've been told the aroma is akin to bacon and eggs. Whatever the smell, I tend to hold up in my room for a while where its warm, and comfortable and the only thing playing on my DVD player is Smallville Season 6. Some would consider this absolute trash, but I like it. Its a nice program to watch when becoming one with the inner potato. Couch potato that is. Surprise, surprise, the show has remained fairly stable and engaging. Not to mention the Easter egg cameos of other heroes in their infancy. It reads like the Justice League of America roster. Tonight, I reacquaint myself with Oliver Queen. Ollie follows the stereo-type much loved by the likes of Bruce Wayne; rich playboy by day, crime fighting dynamo by night. Except Ollie was/is a ladies man to a T. Absolutely loves the ladies. Alter ego? Green Arrow. No cape and cowl though. First incarnation was basically Robin Hood Errol Flynn style. The next; he wore a hood. In this one... he's a little off-track. Okay, so he's young, and has an enormous chip on his shoulder, but good grief. Ollie was fun loving, and always cared about the little guy. In this, he's being a tad self absorbed. Ah well. At least they got Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman right. For the most part. I'm going to leave off my diatribe now, concerning the wonderful world of super heroes. Mainly because I'm probably boring the heck out of you. Its been a quiet week. All I had for class was a Mid-Term this week, and I ended up spending the rest of the time running all over the place. I've been sleeping a lot and just resting since I've been attempting to get sick and I detest getting sick. It causes problems with my job. Not exactly problems, but more along the lines of .. I'm territorial. Pathetic, but true. All in all, I am enjoying a quiet evening at home doing stuff I haven't had a chance to do in a while. And later when its all quiet, I'll be enjoying the silence. I hope. So, I'm signing off for now. Night all. :)
Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to find new Manga titles to suggest for the library. Thankfully no one said the phone would explode in 5 seconds. However I was asked to find new titles that would be attractive to Juniors and Teens as Manga has become an extremely hot item. Saturday I began my mission by stalking the Manga section at Barnes and Noble, and picking out a few promising titles... put I did not get out unscathed. Sheered of $45, I stumbled to my car and got in. There has to be a better way to do this, because I'm going to end up spending my entire paycheck on this stuff. The sarcastic little voice in the back of my head with typical cynicism notified me that I do this anyway, so why change now? I squinted my eyes and ignored his mocking laughter, but had to admit that he was right. So now I find myself contemplating signing up at a website that is not unlike Netflicks, Blockbuster or Gamefly. For a lot less than I pay for the Manga I can just rent it for a while and send it back. Unless I actually want a copy and then I can buy it for a discounted price apparently. This will take some mulling over, but it sure would be nice if I had that option. And they allow you to rent Anime DVD
s as well. That would be extremely nice since I get asked about those as well. We shall see. To sign up or not to sign up. That is the question. ;)
In an attempt to be ready for the yearly request from my grandmother, I have begun to put together my Christmas list. Most people have no problem with this. I on the other hand usually can't think of a darned thing to ask for. So I ask for DVDs, ones I know they will be able to find. Everything else I tend to get for myself. Its a problem of mine and it apparently annoys family members, so I just wait on certain things so they can get them for me. Weird, but true. Okay, I think its weird, but others may not. See, if I ask for an action figure from the Justice Line released by DC, called Solomon Grundy, I'm not sure they take that seriously, so I get it myself. Some things are just not acceptable for Christmas presents I guess, or perhaps I was supposed to have grown out of my love of comics and cartoons long ago. They said I'd eventually like dresses too, and my how wrong they were on that front as well. I still consider those things unacceptable attire for work and at home and I don't think I should have to wear them for special occasions either. A nice pair of slacks, and a dress shirt is fine. ;)
Apparently I've fallen into the dreaded pit of rambling, which means I'm sleepy. Too the bed I shall retire and I'll post again at some point. Probably soon. Who knows. Hope you all sleep well. Night.
Imagine its early in the morning, when its still partially dark and the animal world is caught between those going to sleep, and those just groggily waking up. Enter one of the groggy ones, namely me, as they stagger from a nice warm house, complete with bag and what could pass for a lunch ... if you have a lot of imagination. Which I hope you have given how this started out. The fact that Dad's car had a flat tire when it didn't the night before should've been my first clue, actually my second. The true first would've been my regular vehicle had its water pump go out after we'd replaced all the tubes for the coolant system.
Back to the flat tire, which I noted as I went past, and approached one of the back up cars. Car problems have been plaguing me lately, so I'm glad I have online courses. Even if I can't get to work, I can still get to my classroom! The curse of the car problems struck again as I started the back-up car. Those sleepy animals I mentioned before? The ones just waking up and the ones just going to sleep? Well, lets just say when the horn in the car went off... and refused to return to quiesent slumber until needed, all those little critters were very awake. Probably including the neighbors who are probably going to hang me if they find out it was me with the defective car. Several minutes later, I had the horn off, but was a little shakey because of the sudden shattering blast of sound. Dad, running on 4 hours of sleep, and I managed to remove the wires to the horn until we could figure out what has set it off. So, now hornless I traveled to work in a car I kept expecting to ... well do something. Its a distinctly odd feeling not trusting an inanimate object. Especially when you're working with it.
Aside from my haunted automobile, its been raining. Its nice when it rains. The woods smell good and the danger of fire isn't so extremely high. Things are going good at work and at the internship. Not much else to say really. I have one homework assignment left to do, and then I can sleep all weekend. I hope. I really do need some down time, but what will end up happening is me working on a Manga list for my fellow branch managers so they have suggestions/requests to make to the selector. I did something similar with Sci-Fi movies earlier, and I guess the list was popular. ;) Anyway, I'm off to veg out in front of a TV. Rare for me, but I take every chance I get. Night.
Four days! I'm slipping! I went four days without posting anything, but I have excuses. Let me know if you want to hear them, because I haven't come up with any just yet. Strikes of creativity hit me better when I'm answering on the fly.
First off, I have another DB assignment, so I will go ahead and answer the question. "What keeps you motivated in your online course?" For me I have to say that feedback from the instructor and my fellow students plays a large role in keeping me coming back for more. Hearing from others on the same topic is generally fascinating, and I love the discussions that can spring from the depths of everyone's experiences. I will say though that I do fall down sometimes on my motivation. Usually when I tire myself out, or when stressful situations are sapping my ability to stay interested in things, however I have been very good about prodding myself to stay aware of whats going on on the DB. Even when I'm in a slump. ;) Overall, I really enjoy online classes. I never get the interaction from classmates and instructor in a f2f class, that I do online, and that's the part that I enjoy the most. Okay, as well as learning new things, or having my views turned in new and interesting directions.
Take two. You may have noticed that I mention copyright as the post title. That is there because I had some unexpected insight on the readings for my Lib Sci course. And of all placed to find it, I happen across it at the Sci Fi convention I was at. My assigned reading was all about copyright laws, infringements and so on. I wish I had gone to the costume exhibit before I'd turned in my paper, because I got to meet one of the curators for Universal Studios archives. When I say archives, I mean the place is literally a museum of items used in Movies and TV shows, all of which are copyrighted or trademarked. Everything from the hand held computer from Quantum Leap to the clothes that were worn by the characters in the movie Serenity. I was allowed to take pictures, but what I could do with these pictures after that fell into very grey waters. She said that you can probably get away with posting these pictures on a personal blog that is password protected, and can only be seen by a few people, but that you'd have to be careful on how you used them otherwise. Universal can come down on you for posting these pictures without their permission, however it was a vague set of rules, and they don't always come down on everyone. There was also some talk of how they actually have people who sit at computers and do image searches to find people abusing their materials. The conversation went one to discuss images copyrighted by families of famous people, such as Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luthor King Jr. Their image, anything they said, anything at all having do with them cannot be used without the permission of their family. If you draw a picture of them, they technically have the rights on it. The more we talked, the more I came to understand just how much copyrights are in our lives, and I have to say its somewhat frightening. So, I have some wonderful pictures of the costumes, and other things used in movies, but I won't be posting them. I supposed paranoi
a has set in. ;) It was just so odd, that we just did all this reading and discussion for my class on copyright, and I get to talk to someone who absolutely has to be aware of it, and knows it so well. Really brought it to life.
I do get to post a picture of a fellow who was dressed as a Storm Trooper from Star Wars. He said it was fine. What makes this sort of funny, is that his costume was so good that I didn't realize he was real until he moved away from the other displays. Gave everyone a good jolt when he stepped away from the rest of the dummies! ;) Up until then, he'd just walked into the room, found a place that made him look like part of the exhibit, and stood perfectly motionless until people passed by. Then he'd move out behind them and follow along until someone turned around and freaked out. Evil sense of humor, but I loved it. ;) Its not late, but I have other homework to get a start on at least, so hopefully I will be back before too long to post yet again. Heh. I sound like some phantom poster... Okay, that came out wrong. So, I'll run with it and come back again to post another day. Night.
Its the weekend, and I find myself at a hotel that will remain unnamed in San Jose, at a convention in which you can find everything from Munchkins and The Tin Man waltzing down the stairs, to Klingo
ns and Jedi sitting in a bar attempting to figure out the age old question of who can drink more beer without embaressing themselves. Personally I would bet on the Klingons. Yes, it is once again time for a Sci-Fi convention, which is actually an umbrella title for everything imaginary, fantastic, futuristic and fun. Have no worries! I did my homework before I came to have fun, and am STILL checking in on Discussion Boards to be sure I keep up on everything. No fun is without a price! Basically this is my vacation of sorts and I only really do this once a year. There are lots of authors here to talk to, artists to meet, costume balls to attend, and of course seeing friends you haven't seen in a year. ;)
So here I sit in the free internet lobby having just finished off my homework, and watching the Sci-fi world walk by. For instance, I was just passed by two Storm Troopers , The Doctor and a Dalek, Daredevil and Elektra wearing a dark costume instead of her typical red, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a full entourage of characters from Chrono Trigger. I'm not sure anyone is going to recognize any of those references, so just ask if you want to know what any of those are. Things are going well so far, except that I keep falling asleep. I guess the off duty nurse from work was right and I'm borderline exhausted. And here I thought I might be able to sit down and r
ead a book without too much trouble. Ah well. Perhaps later one this weekend I can finish off the book I'm in the middle of. This is one of those rare posts taking place in the middle of the day and I'm not running on fumes. ... okay, so maybe I am running on fumes. I will catch up on sleep, I promise. For now though I am off to enjoy the convention to the best of my feeble ability. This will probably equate to me wandering from panel to panel, or sitting down somewhere and watch the entirety of several genres walk past me. In any case, its a good time out for me. Talk to you all later. ;)
PS. Later was sooner than I thought! Thought I'd mention that this picture of Boba Fett on a Segway was taken in Australia as a Sci-Fi Convention I went to there. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I asked if I could take his picture and he said sure. So here is Boba Fett on a very archaic vehicle by his standards. ;)
Nobody panic! The title does not mean that I ran afoul of uncoordinated legs and the harsh reality of pavement, but in fact refers to me decorating my library for Halloween. Ghosties in the windows, ragged, torn unpleasant looking cloth hanging in the kids section, and of course some well placed spider webs, both silver and black. Complete with their eight legged creators, they make for a real scene in the kids section! Still to go up are the ghost costumes for the regular fair that hangs from the ceiling (a trio of plush jellyfish) in the kids section and to keep them company will be some little blow-up pumpkins and ghosts. Now all I have to do is figure out how to hang them up there when I have a lack of means to do so. High ceiling.. no ladder. However, I am nothing if not resourceful, so it shouldn't take me long to figure something out to get them up there. The wall also requires a little Happy Halloween sign. The themed books are already pulled and set on display. Perhaps I have been over zealous in my anticipation of Halloween. We'll see. ;)On
ce again, I am up late past my bedtime. So much work to do and not enough time to do it in. I was supposed to be taking this weekend off so I could catch up on sleep, but alas, it appears I will be catching up on homework! ;) Its fine. I need the extra time this week to really do some digging for the assignments. Anyway, I do have the internship tomorrow, so I must away to my sleepy spot for the night. Retire would've been a much more optimum word, but sleepy spot is a lot more fun imagery wise. Night night! ;)
Welcome to October! I love October! I hope I haven't just shot myself in the proverb
ial foot with saying that, but it is my favorite time of year. The woods smell great after the first rains, and its getting quiet out there too. Darkness settles early, and most of the critters are settling down to sleep for the winter. At least those that haven't flown the coop already. Its also time for Halloween!! This is always a good thing in my book. Everyone gets to go out and be someone else for a day, and everyone really needs that I think. In honor of Halloween I have been playing with my blog to add fun little elements for the occasion. The font will also switch from blue to orange for a while, unless it looks really bad. In which case it'll go to blue again, or another color. Hopefully I am not alienating anyone by doing that, but... I've always loved this particular semi holiday, in which we don't actually get a day off from work, but get a day off from ourselves. And it lets the creativity spill out in many many ways, which I love to see. I was going to try and go as a Brown Coat from Firefly this year, so we'll see if I can get my costum
e together in time. :)This weekend I should've been working on the project for the Lib Sci 20 class, but I managed to feel no too great the last couple of days. I basically just slept a lot and felt generally bad. This particular set of circumstances seems to be righting itself, so I decided to play with my blog some more. You may have noticed that I added a real of clips to the side. These are from Cartoon Network's Boomerang channel. All are musical clips having to do with Hannah Barbarra cartoons, or older. Once you watch one, be sure to check out the little clips that are related at the bottom. One of my favorites is the one with El Kabong by Calexico. Great short, and well done. Yes, I am a cartoon-o-holic. I freely admit it. The one for JabberJaw is good too, as well as Josie and the Pussycats!Its late, and I need to hit the sack so I can get up at the crack of dawn to get to my internship on time. So I bid you all a good night, and enjoy the clips, and the Halloween gifs I put in here. Night night. :)
Some weeks back when I set this blog up, I had left certain settings in place until I could look at them later. About a week and a half ago I set the blog to allow anyone to post mainly because I have friends and family who don't have google accounts and its not fair to tell them,"Well? Just sign up!" when they say,"But I don't wanna have a google account." In reality, this conversation never took place. Never fear, I'm not actually that much of a jerk. ;) My reasons behind having left the blog locked up tight is due to me never having ever been a very open person. In fact when this assignment first showed up as homework, I had to squelch a fast rising tidal wave of panic. Since then I've gotten to the point where I can babble on about things like I've never live with my best friend Phobia. Phobia, meet the public, Public meet Phobia. Oh good, we're all still grinning. ;) Keep in mind that this is a test run to see how this goes, and I will yank that priviledge the moment I start feeling uncomfortable, so bear with me.In another comment by another unnamed individual, thank you for posting, they had asked if I ever get bugs inside the library. This question was probably spurred by the picture of my wonderful little green Praying Mantis who keeps my little planter box free of pests. The answer is, no I haven't seen any bugs like that inside the library. 
However, we did have one very angsty lizard run in and hide in the children's section. Once caught, the stowaway took up residence in one corner of its prison, and glared at me in consternation until I closed the branch and released the golden goofball into the nearby field. Was it at all thankful? No. It hustled into the tall grass, then came back out and glared at me for a while. More than willing to have a stare down with my reptilian antagonist I stayed for about 10 minutes, before deciding I should leave the little tyrant to his own devices and head home. I saw him lick his lips in satisfaction as I turned toward my car. Ingrate.Notice that I said I had not seen any bugs like my Mantid friends inside my library. This does NOT mean I have not seen my fair share of bugs in libraries though. While working another branch some time back I ran across what I first took to be a wayward caterpillar. The fuzzy creature was undulating along the floor at a slow pace, its little head nosing to the left and right in search of munchies. In an attempt to rescue my little fuzzy friend I went and got a clear glass to I could contain him for the duration of the ride outside to a much more inhabitable place for his needs. He hadn't gotten very far by the time I got back, so I closed ground quickly and went to put the glass over him. This all was going wonderfully until I got close... and then the caterpillar stopped dead, lifted and swung it cute fuzzy little face towards me and looked at me. You ever been in a situation that could've been ripped from a First Contact Sci-Fi movie where you realize that you've wandered in the foggy unknown areas of reality? My first thought was, that is one aware caterpillar. My second though, much more accurate, was,"That ... is not... a caterpillar..." I watched it, and it watched me. I noted that what I had taken to be fuzz were actually legs scrunched up against the body to hide the fact that.. they were in fact legs. The long hairs I had taken for hairs were actually feelers. And the plump little head.. looked a heck of a lot more predatory now that I could make out a nasty set of mandibles and multi faceted eyes. My mind fired rapid stills of a certain episode of Star Trek TNG in which most of Starfleet is taken over by a hive like group of insects, the little intruders riding the brain stem to get what they wanted. Gee... this certainly looked similar. However that wild idea was quickly shot down when I moved the glass a little closer and the critter went from hover mode to hydrofoil mode, hitting MACH 1 as it literally became a blur of movement, disappearing beneath a wall mounted book case. My brain lamely informed me,"The bugs in Star Trek the Next Generation couldn't move that fast." as my eyes adjusted to the still lingering white line the bug had created when it moved. I have never in my life seen anything move so fast, and be that small and I spent most of my childhood catching Fence Swifts (a type of lizard).If you aren't a bug fan, please be advised that there is a picture of a creepy crawly coming up in the near future. As in... now. ;)What was it you ask? It took me about 4 days to track down a book that actually had a picture of what I saw.
Sounds like I'm describing an alien encounter, and it was sort of like that. Anyway, before I tell you what it is, let me say that you actually want these in a library, because they eat the bugs that may damage a book. They aren't poisonous, they can't hurt you, and they are extremely fragile, needing a somewhat humid cool environment. If you catch them, and leave them captured they will die... and then fall apart. Delicate to the extreme! To most gardeners they're known as the House Centipede. They are also known as a Hairy Mary. I prefer the second identifier myself, because they do indeed look hairy. Dubbing them as a Mary however is beyond me. The picture on the left is not of the one that I came across, but I did nab this because it gives you an idea of just how small they are. With its long legs up against its body it really does look like a caterpillar.Although its not late, I am going to fold shop for the night. I ran it very close to the wire last night, and as a result I'm straggling along at the speed of an arthritic turtle. So, I big you an early night. ;)
One of the assignments for my Library Science 25 class was to post a second blog message. Um. Ooops! I guess I got a little carried away with the blog thing. My second post to this thing was at least a week back, so hopefully whatever number this one is will do. ;) For those of you who read this blog (and I really have no idea how many that might be) the assignment which I already blew half of, is to make a second post to this blog, reflecting on how distance learning has either enhanced or complicated my life. In honest answer that can go two ways because I've got two different classes. Library Science 25 while sometimes tough, because I have a hard time reading non-fiction (I get distracted very easily when reading it) it is by far my favorite of the two. This class is easy to follow, and I understand the assignments given and while it does take up a lot of time, I don't consider it a complication, but something fun to look forward to. Yes yes, I will probably be grumbling when I have to do the midterm, but I grumble whenever I have to take a test. :)The other online class... I'm not sure what to say that won't get me keel-hauled. I will leave it with its a big complication and I'm somewhat irritated with it. Irritated squared. On that note, the answer to the main question is that distance learning has both enhanced and complicated my life. Good and Bad. I guess everything needs to be balanced somehow. Online classes are great. I have time to do the work, get to my job on time, and also do my internship! In between all that I have managed to carve out a few hours to sit down and practice the gentle art of becoming a relaxed individual. Difficult to achieve in this day and age! The downside is that not all online classes work. Again, I will stop there. Counterpoints are interesting though. In the two days that I wasn't able to post, for those of you who actually want to know, nothing spectacular happened to me. Tuesday was extremely busy foot traffic wise at work, but not so many checkouts as I had expected. Ultimately it was just a large amount of people who needed help with the computer. Others needed library cards, and when I hand out library cards I always try to do a short tutorial on how to use the online services. Time consuming, but a lot of people are totally blown away, and enthusiastic about using the branch, so I do it anyway. This morning, I had 4 kids for storytime! That's pretty good for me! :) We had fun with a couple of interactive books and then traditional stories. Hopefully everyone will be back next week. Other than that I've lead a very boring 2 days, which speaking from experience is a very very good thing. May you live in interesting times is definitely the worst curse ever to pass the lips of a human being. I speak from experience mind you. Too many natural disasters have landed on my plate already as well as the more mundane. I will take boring any day, thank you. ;)Once again I find myself teetering on the brink of unconsciousness since its past my bedtime, so I hope and trust that my fingers which have been on autopilot since 9:30pm have done me justice and there are no glaring errors. If there are glaring errors please have no qualms about pointing a finger and laughing hysterically. I live to lighten other people's moods. ;) I shall now retire to my humble pile of blankets and pillow perched a top my rolling fortress. Aka, the metal bed frame on wheels. Every time the dog lays down at the end of my bed, it rolls to the window. I never wake up where I fell asleep. Disconcerting. I bid you goodnight. ;)
Finally, the long awaited pictures of chickens. Apologies for the wait, but I was battling with a class assignment (not for this class) and Mom had absconded with my camera to detail her work on the house. So, without further interruptions here are some of the chicks as adults, and a dog... and a couple of other things that I put in here just because a
I felt like it. ;) First off we have one of the Brahmas, who we named Pastey for reasons I will not go into unless you really REALLY want to know. Its something of an unpleasant story, but as you can see she came through just fine to be a happy healthy... sort of blurry bird. She's got a sweet personality. I can still pick her up and walk around with her and she just sits there contentedly.
Next up is a collection of the goofy birds and only one of them has a name. The biggest white bird to the right is called Brutus, because.. well, she was and still is, enormous. However looks are deceiving because if you pick her up, she is the ipitomy of a skinny chicken. 
She's also not a bully although it might appear that way. Believe it or not, the top chicken in the group is a little bitty thing with all the charm of a malicious sledge hammer. She doesn't have a name either, at least not a consistent one, although we rename her at random with colorful metaphores every time she walks up to one of the other birds and does a reenactment of a harvesting potatoes or carrots. Charming little raptor.Anyway, Brutus hangs out with Pastey, and the other three tend to tag along. The brown hen is a Buff Orpington, and the Black hens are Australorpes. All of them are fairly friendly. They'll eat out of your hands and everything. I was asking if I live on a farm, and the ans
wer is no, but the area is zoned for livestock, so I have chickens. Other critters include two cats, one is 18 and skittish to the point of insanity, and the other is 24+ years old and somewhat senile. As in she forgets what she was doing, which sometimes causes problems. There are also two dogs, one is mine (here's a picture). She's mostly Border Collie and 1/4 Australian Shepard. Not a drop of Dalmation. Sorry. The other is also an extraordinarily distracted Siberian Husky. Yes, I'll get a picture... eventually. ;) Its hard to get him to hold still!I guess I shall add one last picture before I crawl into bed and do an unnerving imitation of a the seriously unconscious. For some reason there seems to be a serious attraction for insects to the little planter box outside my library. Odd insects in some cases. I have pictures of a very large moth, but that thing looks like a reject from a 1950s Horror Classic, so I may or may not post the picture. For those of you who hate insects I suggest not passing this point because I'm going to put a picture of a Praying Mantis down here for people to enjoy. They come in all different colors. In this case it happens to be a wonderful green. Here you go.
So, there you have it. From the Planter Box outside the library, a little Green Mantis. Later there will be shots of an Angst Ridden Skink and possibly the MegaMoth which had adhered itself to the bulletin board outside the library. Big bug. Anyway, on that cheery note, I will say that things are going alright in my classes at least for the moment, and I am retiring to my bed... which has been looking at me as if I should be asleep already. Soooo, Night! :)
So, it was late Saturday (late for me) and I was leaning back in my Captain Kirk chair (So named due to the fact that you feel like you're in Kirk's command chair when you sit in it) when my DTV box suddenly cuts out. As soon as I'm halfway out of the command chair, it blinks back on, and reboots itself, its little green light glowing innocently at me like a cyclopian child caught with its hand in the cookie jar. We proceeded to glare at each other suspiciously for several minutes, then I retreated to the minimal comfort of my chair. Thus far it appears to be behaving, but this is not the first time the traitorous box has pulled this, always when I least expect it, and generally when I'm trying to record something. I am sure that one day there will be a reckoning and it won't be pretty, due to the fact that I'm bigger, and stronger, and know the mysteries of wiring. Oh, just you wait little box of innocent charm. Just you wait.No doubt some of you are chalking this up to anthropomorphism, the applying of human emotions to an animal. But this is not so, because this is a little box of hexed wires and boards, and not an animal. I'm not sure what the proper term would be for this particular circumstance, so we'll just go with "The Cursed Black Box" which works for now. One of these is bad enough, but it has a twin downstairs that remains unnamed. The box in the living room is almost worse, because when you turn it on, it reboots every single time and loses channels, which requires unhooking its nourishing (ugh i hate that word) wires and electricity every time. It retaliates by losing yet more channels. Dad says its because its little computer is the equivalent of a 286, and its being jammed with more information than it can handle. This is possibly true, however the CBB doesn't have the problem... it just shuts itself off at random intervals. Generally going months before giving in to its sense of humor. Come to think of it, this hasn't happened for over a year. I shall let sleeping jinxed DTV boxes lie.In other arenas, the classes going okay, but I am still frustrated with my Circulation class. I managed to get the Role Playing assignment done, but the newest assignment that was posted was 8 pages long and sort of confusing. Eh, I'll figure it out, or hey I can ask. The class I made this Blog for is a lot of fun. I'm still playing with the Blog, trying things out to see if they work and taking out that which ... doesn't. I added a few more books to my favorite books list, and I was attempting go find a header I like. Also working on a music list to add. And yes, there will be some pictures at some point. Not of me. Sorry, I'm not all that excited about putting a picture of me on the net. ;) Apologies. Duck Dodgers is on, so that means its getting close to 11pm. Thus I must away to my humble lump of bedding. Not to mention the joy of watching my the inside of my eyelids for the next several hours. Nothing like studying tiny blood vessels. The can't possibly be good for the psyche. Yes, I am aware that eyes roll up when closed, so technically you're looking at your frontal lobe. So picky. Good night. ;)
Granted I lied a little. My internship doesn't end until this Friday, but my other classes are done, and I'm already signed up for a class in the spring. The least favorite classes are yet to come. Speech has never been a favorite, but that's one I will have to take, and a bunch of English courses if I decide to do a BA in English. Although I'm not entirely sure I want to do that. I'm also looking at a BA in Liberal Arts, which is generally taken for teachers and librarians. Who knows. This will take some looking into I suspect, and there is still time as I need to take pre-reqs for any college I want to get into ... assuming that is that they'll have me. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't miss out in waiting this long before going after a BA and a Masters.
