Today as I was driving to visit Lauren, I happened upon a rather disturbing scene. Just after crossing Santa Monica Blvd., I stopped abruptly behind a line of cars that were stopped for a man who was walking right across the middle of the street. As he walked by, I noticed that his entire right side was covered in blood. From the top of his arm, down to the bottom of his leg. It looked like some people were watching him across the street and just as I was contemplating calling 911, the firetruck and ambulance pulled up. The good Samaritans across the street directed them to the man, who was wandering up an alley behind Cost Plus.
Not only was it troubling to see someone covered in blood, it was also disturbing that he was just wandering around. He was obviously somewhat of a lost soul. I've been thinking a lot about homeless people, especially since 1) Los Angeles has more homeless people than anywhere else in the US (and not because the weather's nice, it's because they are particularly poorly taken care of here) and 2)because homeless people often end up in public libraries, one of the few indoor places open to them during the day.
A couple of times this week I've seen a man in the library where I'm doing my internship. I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure he has schizophrenia because he paces around the library, talking to unseen people. At first this was a little scary to me, especially because he sounded angry (referring to the voices as "you son of a bitch" or "you bitch"). But yesterday I spent quite a bit of time near him and I listened a little longer. I just ended up feeling sad. He kept plaintively declaring that he couldn't take it anymore and asking the unseen people, "why won't you leave with me?"
I don't really know what to say, except that I'm glad that there are some kind souls living in LA and that the public library is a place where people who have nowhere else to go find comfort.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
stormy weather
Not here, where it is quite sunny (well, it was during the day), but in the Northwest. Poor little Tillamook County, home of our beach house, has been particularly inundated with the intense rain and wind of the last few days. In fact, the Oregonian reported "Tillamook County was so cut off that the National Weather Service in Portland had trouble reaching emergency officials there to find out how badly the area had been damaged by floodwaters." Not only is the power out in most, if not all, of the county, but the phone lines are also down. In addition, all of the roads that lead into the county are blocked by floods, landslides, and/or fallen trees (actually, I just read that they reopened one of the roads at 6:30pm). I am worried for all our friends who live full-time at the beach, but know that they are prepared for bad coastal weather and its consequences. Hopefully we will be able to contact them soon and find out how they are doing!
On a more humorous note, apparently OES had some flooding issues of their own from Fanno Creek (which makes sense since the next-door golf course runs the creek through concrete on their property, making it even more flood prone than usual). Their picture on the homepage is priceless: good thing all those people have their SUVs to get them through the flood.
On a more humorous note, apparently OES had some flooding issues of their own from Fanno Creek (which makes sense since the next-door golf course runs the creek through concrete on their property, making it even more flood prone than usual). Their picture on the homepage is priceless: good thing all those people have their SUVs to get them through the flood.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
just jumping right back in
How many of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2007 have I read? One. The Reluctant Fundamentalist . And that one only highly fortuitously. An advanced reader's copy was just sitting on a bookshelf in the common room of my program, waiting to be claimed. I read it in about a day and put it back on the bookshelf. It tells the story of a Pakistani man who comes to the US for his education, begins work at a Wall Street firm that values companies (so they can be bought by other companies), starts to doubt his work and life in general after Sept. 11, and realizes that the country he thought he escaped from has more value than he knew. His whole story is recounted by him to a mysterious Western man he meets at a cafe in Pakistan. As the story moves on, you begin to get an understanding of who this other man is too. Anyway, it is quite short and I would definitely recommend it.
How many of the New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2007 have I read? One again, but the list only has six, so I'm doing better. That would be the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which won the National Book Award. I also highly recommend that book, which is a fictionalized account of Sherman Alexie's own growing up on the Spokane Reservation. The main character has loving but poor, unreliable, and alcoholic parents and a sister who lives in the basement and never leaves. He decides that he wants to lead a different life and that the way to do that is to attend school off the reservation, in a white farming town 30 miles away. He never quite fits in either place, but does come to some resolution with his own community at the end.
I guess I just don't get around to reading books in the year they are published. Just this year I finally read the Poisonwood Bible, several other Barbara Kingsolver novels, and the first three Harry Potters. Silly me.
How many of the New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2007 have I read? One again, but the list only has six, so I'm doing better. That would be the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which won the National Book Award. I also highly recommend that book, which is a fictionalized account of Sherman Alexie's own growing up on the Spokane Reservation. The main character has loving but poor, unreliable, and alcoholic parents and a sister who lives in the basement and never leaves. He decides that he wants to lead a different life and that the way to do that is to attend school off the reservation, in a white farming town 30 miles away. He never quite fits in either place, but does come to some resolution with his own community at the end.
I guess I just don't get around to reading books in the year they are published. Just this year I finally read the Poisonwood Bible, several other Barbara Kingsolver novels, and the first three Harry Potters. Silly me.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
the celebs and me
You know how it is when you're in library school. You're always getting invited to celeb parties. Last night, thanks to the generosity of Beadle, I got to go to the launch party for Ubisoft's new game, Assassin's Creed. When we were standing around waiting to get in to the club (Opera, in case you're up on the hot LA clubs, I know I am), we saw Bai Ling, famous to me from GoFugYourself. She was pretty easy to spot because she was wearing a typically insane outfit. Other celebs we saw and/or brushed up against include Kristen Bell (she "hosted" the party and is actually involved with the game--we watched her playing it at the party), Chuck from "Chuck", Daniel from Ugly Betty, Lloyd from Entourage (I got excited about that one), Hiro from Heroes, Lex Luthor from Smallville, and Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous (and Wristcutters).
Patrick Fugit is actually a big gamer. He spent a good portion of the evening playing Assassin's Creed and looked like he'd rather be doing that than hanging out with the pretty people. Beadle introduced him to us and we shook hands. He was officially my favorite famous person at the party. Evidently Lauren and Audrina from The Hills were there, but we missed them. B. Spears was rumored to be circling the party, and all her dancers were supposedly inside, but I don't know if she showed. As my friend pointed out, she should be home with her children anyway.
It was pretty crazy to see all those people, including the tall tan blonde skinny women whose job in life is to just go to these things. It's obviously not the life for me, as you could guess. It all just seems like such a big pointless waste of time and money. Considering I haven't even bought a People magazine in years, not to mention US Weekly and its ilk, that world is not really that important to me. But it was fun to observe all those people to whom it is!
Edit: My friend pointed out that my head is in this picture. I'm right above the top of the G and Lauren is under the G and E. I'm obviously on my way to becoming a celebrity librarian.
Another edit: We may not have seen Lauren or Audrina, but we did see this guy with Audrina. He was sporting a little ponytail, which we made sure to mock.
Patrick Fugit is actually a big gamer. He spent a good portion of the evening playing Assassin's Creed and looked like he'd rather be doing that than hanging out with the pretty people. Beadle introduced him to us and we shook hands. He was officially my favorite famous person at the party. Evidently Lauren and Audrina from The Hills were there, but we missed them. B. Spears was rumored to be circling the party, and all her dancers were supposedly inside, but I don't know if she showed. As my friend pointed out, she should be home with her children anyway.
It was pretty crazy to see all those people, including the tall tan blonde skinny women whose job in life is to just go to these things. It's obviously not the life for me, as you could guess. It all just seems like such a big pointless waste of time and money. Considering I haven't even bought a People magazine in years, not to mention US Weekly and its ilk, that world is not really that important to me. But it was fun to observe all those people to whom it is!
Edit: My friend pointed out that my head is in this picture. I'm right above the top of the G and Lauren is under the G and E. I'm obviously on my way to becoming a celebrity librarian.
Another edit: We may not have seen Lauren or Audrina, but we did see this guy with Audrina. He was sporting a little ponytail, which we made sure to mock.
Friday, November 02, 2007
alert, alert, christmas is only seven weeks away!
Today I saw that ABC Family, or one of those strange cable channels that I watch, was starting a "countdown to the 25 days of Christmas" movie marathon in a few weeks. So basically, a countdown to a countdown. I know everyone complains about this, but I really do not like being harassed about Christmas five seconds after Halloween.
Even Beverly Hills is harassing me to come to their Christmas events (which start in two weeks). They sent out all these little cards, I guess to people who live in and near the city. Apparently my zipcode is fancy enough to be included. It kind of reminds me of the time when we were all invited to take dance lessons in middle school and by "all" I mean people who went to my independent school, our rival independent school, and the one middle school on the west side of Portland. Needless to say, my sister and I boycotted ballroom dancing.
In other news, I almost died driving home from juvey yesterday. I made a right turn onto a street and the car I turned in front of was going about 75 miles an hour on a surface street. It was dark, so I couldn't really tell how fast he was going before I turned. I'm just assuming it was a him because of the reaction I got, which was some intense honking and tailgating. And I'm not talking "beep beep" more of a sustained I'm going to kill you honk. I'm a wuss, so I just turned on my blinker and pulled over to let him go by, wherein he proceeded to slow down and honk some more at me, before pulling away. I think my no eye contact rule basically saved me from getting shot by this SUV driving jerkface. Of course it was an SUV.
But I love Los Angeles! I mean, I could get burned up in a wildfire, crushed to death in an earthquake or killed on a surface street in the Valley. But! there is a fruit stand in Sylmar (home of juvey) in front of a gas station where we partook of pineapple with chili powder, lime and salt. So at least you can be well-fed.
Another great thing about Sylmar is that people just randomly ride horses around on the city streets. One of my fellow volunteers told me this, and I didn't quite believe her until last night. Yep, there came a man with a cowboy hat on, riding his horse down the street in the dark. Sylmar also backs up against the San Gabriel mountains and is very picturesque. So the moral of story is, if you can stand daily near death experiences, there are some nice things in LA.
Even Beverly Hills is harassing me to come to their Christmas events (which start in two weeks). They sent out all these little cards, I guess to people who live in and near the city. Apparently my zipcode is fancy enough to be included. It kind of reminds me of the time when we were all invited to take dance lessons in middle school and by "all" I mean people who went to my independent school, our rival independent school, and the one middle school on the west side of Portland. Needless to say, my sister and I boycotted ballroom dancing.
In other news, I almost died driving home from juvey yesterday. I made a right turn onto a street and the car I turned in front of was going about 75 miles an hour on a surface street. It was dark, so I couldn't really tell how fast he was going before I turned. I'm just assuming it was a him because of the reaction I got, which was some intense honking and tailgating. And I'm not talking "beep beep" more of a sustained I'm going to kill you honk. I'm a wuss, so I just turned on my blinker and pulled over to let him go by, wherein he proceeded to slow down and honk some more at me, before pulling away. I think my no eye contact rule basically saved me from getting shot by this SUV driving jerkface. Of course it was an SUV.
But I love Los Angeles! I mean, I could get burned up in a wildfire, crushed to death in an earthquake or killed on a surface street in the Valley. But! there is a fruit stand in Sylmar (home of juvey) in front of a gas station where we partook of pineapple with chili powder, lime and salt. So at least you can be well-fed.
Another great thing about Sylmar is that people just randomly ride horses around on the city streets. One of my fellow volunteers told me this, and I didn't quite believe her until last night. Yep, there came a man with a cowboy hat on, riding his horse down the street in the dark. Sylmar also backs up against the San Gabriel mountains and is very picturesque. So the moral of story is, if you can stand daily near death experiences, there are some nice things in LA.
Monday, October 22, 2007
down here in the raging inferno
Maybe you haven't heard because you live in a cave, but there are some major conflagrations going on down here in my neck of the woods. Also, it is about a million degrees. I'm not myself affected by the fires except for the haze in the air, off to the south, but I am affected by the high temperature. Today I practiced avoidance by driving (ha, that will help the climate become not so off-kilter and dry, right?) to the mall (yes) and admiring the wool coats and sweaters at Nordstrom. I actually went there to get some pants hemmed, but then got caught up in a Fall reverie.
Even though Fall actually lasted for about two weeks during my four year residence on the East Coast (sandwiched in between the September humidity and the late October snow), it was really really great. Those leaves that you see in pictures? It really looks like that. The pumpkins are really in a patch, you can wear your cozy wool sweater, the sun shines.
Of course, then it starts to snow for four or five months. Oh, selective memory.
Even though Fall actually lasted for about two weeks during my four year residence on the East Coast (sandwiched in between the September humidity and the late October snow), it was really really great. Those leaves that you see in pictures? It really looks like that. The pumpkins are really in a patch, you can wear your cozy wool sweater, the sun shines.
Of course, then it starts to snow for four or five months. Oh, selective memory.
Friday, October 19, 2007
remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return
Yesterday, after visiting the Farmer's Market, my new favorite place, I went to my local branch library to return a DVD. Outside my library I saw one of my classmates, an intern there, waiting for teens to show up for a Halloween program, a cemetery tour at this cemetery, which is right behind the library. I've always seen it back there (it's visible from inside the library but not the street) and knew it was relatively famous, but had never visited it. But, as no one was showing up for the tour, I volunteered to go along. Well, wasn't it interesting!
Not only did I see the final resting place of Marilyn Monroe (the most famous resident), Truman Capote, Jack Lemmon, Rodney Dangerfield, Natalie Wood, and others, but, and most interesting to me, learned quite a few things about the cemetery world. This is a very small and, for Los Angeles, old cemetery and it's right in the middle of the city, surrounded by office buildings. It was started in 1905 for Civil War veterans and now contains a wide variety of burial and cremation situations among some nice old trees and lawn. Given that it is now a site for celeb burials, the few "in ground" plots left run in the $100,000 range. If you want to go with the more cost effective option, they have a way for your ashes to be "co-mingled" with other people's in a "vault" and your name placed on a rock (a "pillow rock").
I learned that some people prefer to be interred above ground and some below. I learned that you should choose your tombstone granite carefully, because some types make it hard to read your name and other information. I learned that, if you choose to share your tombstone with another person, it is easy to engrave the second decedent's information on granite, but if it's in bronze, they must add a plate, because they can't recast it. Huh. Also, they only allow two potted plants per tombstone and no glass vases.
I have never really been one to be scared of cemeteries. I mean, we all die. No, really. I hadn't gone back there before because it seemed a little disrespectful to just wander around. But it was good to go on the tour with the woman who manages it (who was a very nice woman, wearing a black skirt suit with black tights and black Crocs--must be the tour shoes). I felt like I was seeing the real side of the cemetery, not the kitschy celebrity side.
It was also interesting to get a little window into the cemetery industry and see how people choose to be remembered. Even in death, money and fame are the most important things to some who wish to be buried there. Hugh Hefner has bragged that he has the space next to Marilyn Monroe in one of the mausoleums. Please, just burn me up and scatter me in a nice place, thank you very much.
Not only did I see the final resting place of Marilyn Monroe (the most famous resident), Truman Capote, Jack Lemmon, Rodney Dangerfield, Natalie Wood, and others, but, and most interesting to me, learned quite a few things about the cemetery world. This is a very small and, for Los Angeles, old cemetery and it's right in the middle of the city, surrounded by office buildings. It was started in 1905 for Civil War veterans and now contains a wide variety of burial and cremation situations among some nice old trees and lawn. Given that it is now a site for celeb burials, the few "in ground" plots left run in the $100,000 range. If you want to go with the more cost effective option, they have a way for your ashes to be "co-mingled" with other people's in a "vault" and your name placed on a rock (a "pillow rock").
I learned that some people prefer to be interred above ground and some below. I learned that you should choose your tombstone granite carefully, because some types make it hard to read your name and other information. I learned that, if you choose to share your tombstone with another person, it is easy to engrave the second decedent's information on granite, but if it's in bronze, they must add a plate, because they can't recast it. Huh. Also, they only allow two potted plants per tombstone and no glass vases.
I have never really been one to be scared of cemeteries. I mean, we all die. No, really. I hadn't gone back there before because it seemed a little disrespectful to just wander around. But it was good to go on the tour with the woman who manages it (who was a very nice woman, wearing a black skirt suit with black tights and black Crocs--must be the tour shoes). I felt like I was seeing the real side of the cemetery, not the kitschy celebrity side.
It was also interesting to get a little window into the cemetery industry and see how people choose to be remembered. Even in death, money and fame are the most important things to some who wish to be buried there. Hugh Hefner has bragged that he has the space next to Marilyn Monroe in one of the mausoleums. Please, just burn me up and scatter me in a nice place, thank you very much.
Monday, October 08, 2007
boo columbus
I'm not sure who celebrates Columbus Day (my postman?), but I don't recall ever getting the day off or even doing anything "Columbus-y." Despite this, it is a federal holiday, providing a good opportunity to talk about why Columbus wasn't really that great. Here are a few findings in honor of Columbus day.
Remember all those scary Indians in Little House on the Prairie? You can find better stuff at American Indians in Children's Literature.
From her blog, I also found Oyate, a non-profit that does various things to promote respectful portrayals of Native Americans in literature and curriculum.
The American Indian Library Association (an ALA affiliate) has the American Indian Youth Services Literature Award. Speaking of ALA, the current president is a Native American woman. Go ALA.
Non-literature related: some of the Nez Perce originally lived in Oregon's Wallowa area (hence the name of the town, Joseph, after Chief Joseph) and they are engaged in an effort to return to their land and build an interpretive center. Info here.
And last but not least, information on the effort to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
Remember all those scary Indians in Little House on the Prairie? You can find better stuff at American Indians in Children's Literature.
From her blog, I also found Oyate, a non-profit that does various things to promote respectful portrayals of Native Americans in literature and curriculum.
The American Indian Library Association (an ALA affiliate) has the American Indian Youth Services Literature Award. Speaking of ALA, the current president is a Native American woman. Go ALA.
Non-literature related: some of the Nez Perce originally lived in Oregon's Wallowa area (hence the name of the town, Joseph, after Chief Joseph) and they are engaged in an effort to return to their land and build an interpretive center. Info here.
And last but not least, information on the effort to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
Monday, September 24, 2007
tata jesus is bangala!
For those not in the know, that is a line from Poisonwood Bible. The father/missionary character shouts it repeatedly to his skeptical congregation in the (former) Belgian Congo, and it either means that Jesus is precious (which is what he thinks it means), or Jesus is the poisonwood tree (not a good thing to be). I have been thinking of this line approximately once every minute in the current incarnation of my job. I am going through some donated materials, most of which come from Nigeria, and most of which were published by mid-20th century missionaries. You want the whole Bible in an indigenous African language? Got it! Just want the Gospel of Mark? Got that too. Or maybe you want a concordance of the New Testament. You're in luck! It's pretty amazing to me that these people went to the trouble of learning all of these languages just so they could publish a Bible. And I don't mean amazing in a good way.
Moving on from that, not only am I depressed about proselytizing in Africa, I am also depressed about the state of the environment. I am reading yet another Barbara Kingsolver book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and it is making me feel like I would never want to bring children into our terrible world. I don't think it is supposed to make me feel this depressed. I think it's supposed to make me want to do more gardening and more shopping at the farmer's market. And I really do like it and agree with it, but I just feel despair. This is why I can't bring myself to watch An Inconvenient Truth. I know I would just want to throw myself in front of a car (in an ironic twist).
And for even more depressing news, undergrads are back at UCLA. I was very much enjoying the peace and quiet of the summer. Now I have someone moving into an apartment across the street with a moving truck. Seriously, is your mom's Explorer in the shop?
Moving on from that, not only am I depressed about proselytizing in Africa, I am also depressed about the state of the environment. I am reading yet another Barbara Kingsolver book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and it is making me feel like I would never want to bring children into our terrible world. I don't think it is supposed to make me feel this depressed. I think it's supposed to make me want to do more gardening and more shopping at the farmer's market. And I really do like it and agree with it, but I just feel despair. This is why I can't bring myself to watch An Inconvenient Truth. I know I would just want to throw myself in front of a car (in an ironic twist).
And for even more depressing news, undergrads are back at UCLA. I was very much enjoying the peace and quiet of the summer. Now I have someone moving into an apartment across the street with a moving truck. Seriously, is your mom's Explorer in the shop?
Friday, September 21, 2007
it's raining, it's pouring...
If you don't know the rest of the words to that song, you must not have grown up in the NW. The promised "storm" has arrived this evening and it is raining beautiful rain outside. I opened the window just so I could listen to the sound. Which reminds me that I wanted to promote a business that we found when we were in Joseph. It is a very cute little bath and body products store...and, get this, the founder/owner/man who was behind the counter making soap is actually from Joseph (pop. 1095). If you have ever visited any rural small town, you can imagine our astonishment that the (male) owner of a cutesy bath and body shop would actually be a native. Anyway, it's called beecrowbee and I am currently enjoying their lavender/geranium soap and their spearmint/fern (whatever "fern" smells like) candle (which does not smell minty, because I would hate that).
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
back in the saddle again
I am pretty sure I only update when either Katie or my sister bug me about it, so good thing I have them. Last time I graced you all with my presence, it was five million degrees outside. Now, we are apparently facing a storm of unprecedented force (for September in LA). That means...rain! I just read the weather alert and it said it will be "more like January than September," which I think means it will be 55 degrees and drizzling.
I had a lovely little time while I was at home en vacances. Spent some time at the beach, witnessed Dad catching a chinook salmon while I read Gourmet. I had to cringe and look away at the whole part where the fish gets sent to a better place. Not to be too graphic, but there was definitely some fish blood in the boat. My main thought was that this never happened at the goofy trout farm my parents used to take us to when we were little. I'm pretty sure the fish just expired the minute you reeled them up out of the water.
Mom and I also took a trip out to Joseph, OR, which is in the northeast part of the state. Practically Idaho! There are some beautiful mountains, a lake, and lots of varying scenery. We overheard one woman say "this is just like Lake Tahoe," which is true in that there were trees and a lake and not true in that there is not one casino. Sadly, we just had to settle for taking walks, reading, driving to scenic locations, putting our feet in the river, watching trout swim upriver to spawn, learning about the Nez Perce's effort to return to their land, and checking out the very small public library.
For the final portion of my vacation, Dad took us to his new favorite Portland taco truck, Mom and I went to a plant show, and we all went out to a yummy dinner.
Back in the real world, the world of impending stormy doom, I'm on a kick of making dinner. My mother has successfully nagged me enough to get me to do this. I mean, I always ate dinner but it was not necessarily anything I slaved over for very long. So far this week I've made rosemary chicken drumsticks and a broccoli mushroom casserole with wild rice on the side. Anyone want to come help me eat all this food?
I had a lovely little time while I was at home en vacances. Spent some time at the beach, witnessed Dad catching a chinook salmon while I read Gourmet. I had to cringe and look away at the whole part where the fish gets sent to a better place. Not to be too graphic, but there was definitely some fish blood in the boat. My main thought was that this never happened at the goofy trout farm my parents used to take us to when we were little. I'm pretty sure the fish just expired the minute you reeled them up out of the water.
Mom and I also took a trip out to Joseph, OR, which is in the northeast part of the state. Practically Idaho! There are some beautiful mountains, a lake, and lots of varying scenery. We overheard one woman say "this is just like Lake Tahoe," which is true in that there were trees and a lake and not true in that there is not one casino. Sadly, we just had to settle for taking walks, reading, driving to scenic locations, putting our feet in the river, watching trout swim upriver to spawn, learning about the Nez Perce's effort to return to their land, and checking out the very small public library.
For the final portion of my vacation, Dad took us to his new favorite Portland taco truck, Mom and I went to a plant show, and we all went out to a yummy dinner.
Back in the real world, the world of impending stormy doom, I'm on a kick of making dinner. My mother has successfully nagged me enough to get me to do this. I mean, I always ate dinner but it was not necessarily anything I slaved over for very long. So far this week I've made rosemary chicken drumsticks and a broccoli mushroom casserole with wild rice on the side. Anyone want to come help me eat all this food?
Monday, September 03, 2007
baby, it's hot outside
That's a cute little Christmas song joke there. Since I last posted, I have read at least five books, I think. I also had my last day of summer school and had an interview for an internship that I will be doing next quarter at a nearby public library. It's a small city system, so I'll get to involve myself with lots of the workings of the library.
Lauren, Beadle, and I went to a "white party" on Saturday night. I discovered I basically didn't own anything white. It was amusing to be with lots of LA film industry people--the people who did Wordplay were there!
Given the fact that it has been incredibly hot around here, I had the good luck to be invited to hang out at the beach this weekend. I lay around on the sand in Newport Beach all day Sunday and today. Life is hard. Actually it is, because when I got back to my apartment today, my thermostat said it was 90+ degrees in here. Now we are at 86, so that is more bearable. Apparently it's supposed to cool off later this week, but I will be home where it will probably be raining or something!
Lauren, Beadle, and I went to a "white party" on Saturday night. I discovered I basically didn't own anything white. It was amusing to be with lots of LA film industry people--the people who did Wordplay were there!
Given the fact that it has been incredibly hot around here, I had the good luck to be invited to hang out at the beach this weekend. I lay around on the sand in Newport Beach all day Sunday and today. Life is hard. Actually it is, because when I got back to my apartment today, my thermostat said it was 90+ degrees in here. Now we are at 86, so that is more bearable. Apparently it's supposed to cool off later this week, but I will be home where it will probably be raining or something!
Friday, August 17, 2007
shaking off the dust
Whew! Basically what just happened is that I finally hung some prints in my living room (I've only had them framed and sitting on my floor since October), decided I needed a new table to go under them, felt dissatisfied about life, changed up the blog a bit, felt much better!
I also got an email back from a librarian about doing an internship in the Fall. I was feeling like I had waited too long to do this, but she doesn't seem to have an intern lined up yet. Classes don't start until the end of September, so I'm not that S.O.L.
Now I just need to buy that table!
I also got an email back from a librarian about doing an internship in the Fall. I was feeling like I had waited too long to do this, but she doesn't seem to have an intern lined up yet. Classes don't start until the end of September, so I'm not that S.O.L.
Now I just need to buy that table!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
membership has its benefits
My number one favorite benefit to being a member of the American Library Association is American Libraries Direct, their e-newsletter. Normally I hate e-newsletters because they are incredibly boring. ALA, however, has the world's best e-newsletter. This is based on the scientific fact that I actually read it. It's not just me either: my library school friends have confirmed that they read it as well. Here is something that I learned from today's: Iraq National Library Director Resists Military Intrusions. How would you like to have that job? I also learned that a man in a Fort Worth prison was just sentenced for smuggling meth inside. His girlfriend placed it into the spines of books the prison received via inter-library loan from public libraries. Lastly, I learned about a book written by an archivist, based on a document from 1830 that he discovered in the Burlington, VT town archives. It was an inquest into the "untimely death" of an unmarried 23-year-old woman, caused by a botched abortion. The most interesting part was the attitude of the townspeople, who were apparently mostly just disturbed that this "private" matter was being made public. Thank you American Libraries Direct!
In other library membership news, I just signed up for my first library conference. I will be attending the California Library Association conference in Long Beach. I am so excited--I am really hoping for some advance reader copies, some tote bags, some pens and pins, and hopefully some librarian cocktail hours. Woo hoo!
In other library membership news, I just signed up for my first library conference. I will be attending the California Library Association conference in Long Beach. I am so excited--I am really hoping for some advance reader copies, some tote bags, some pens and pins, and hopefully some librarian cocktail hours. Woo hoo!
Friday, August 10, 2007
books
I just added a little "books i am reading" list to the side of my blog. Now you can see how unintellectual I really am! At the moment, some of the books are for my reader's advisory class (we're doing horror right now), some are for the fact that I feel like there are certain books I need to have read to be a public librarian (ie, Harry Potter), some are just for me! You can probably tell which is which on that list right now.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Well, I haven't posted for a little while, but that's ok, you haven't missed anything. The lovely newlywed Gibbs-Beadle family has moved back down to my neck of the woods, so that was exciting. I have gotten to spend some time at Crate and Barrel and other such places. I'm pretty sure Beadle hates me, because I convinced Lauren to buy an expensive vacuum cleaner and also did not unconvince her to buy a really cute antique cabinet. Oh well, he has to pretend to like me at least.
My biggest news is that I was awakened at 1:00am last night by an earthquake. Yes, my worst fear re: living in Los Angeles has come true. Not that I haven't experienced a few earthquakes in my day, but this was an LA earthquake. It was a 4.5! I actually convinced myself that I just dreamed it, so I did not get out of bed to stand under a door frame, which is what a sensible person would do. I just lay there in bed. Good thing there was no horrific aftershock. I obviously did not convince my subconscious, however, because I had a dream right after that Lauren and I were in some giant apartment building and were caught in a big earthquake.
And that's about all the news that is fit to print around here. School, work, juvey, reading lots of books, pretty much just a day in the life of me. And now it's off to bed, since I'm an old lady and tire easily.
My biggest news is that I was awakened at 1:00am last night by an earthquake. Yes, my worst fear re: living in Los Angeles has come true. Not that I haven't experienced a few earthquakes in my day, but this was an LA earthquake. It was a 4.5! I actually convinced myself that I just dreamed it, so I did not get out of bed to stand under a door frame, which is what a sensible person would do. I just lay there in bed. Good thing there was no horrific aftershock. I obviously did not convince my subconscious, however, because I had a dream right after that Lauren and I were in some giant apartment building and were caught in a big earthquake.
And that's about all the news that is fit to print around here. School, work, juvey, reading lots of books, pretty much just a day in the life of me. And now it's off to bed, since I'm an old lady and tire easily.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
nice people live in la too
Sometimes I get grumpy about speeding cars that almost mow down children walking in a crosswalk, or loud-voiced television people bragging about their careers while on a peaceful hike, or, you know, the fact that the sky isn't really blue. But yesterday I did experience a brief moment of niceness at the grocery store. This was not my usual grocery store and I did not, therefore, have the little membership card that allowed me myriad discounts. I said as such to the check-out lady because usually they have a little card up there that they'll swipe for you. This one seemed to be a stickler for rules, because she nervously informed me that they didn't like for the cashiers to do that. Oh well, I thought. But! Then the nice lady behind me put her phone number into my little machine, thus entitling me to my whole $4.00 worth of grocery store discounts. I attribute most of this niceness to the fact that I was not in my own neighborhood, where the person behind me would have impatiently sighed and tapped her foot during this encounter.
Monday, July 16, 2007
wedding time!
This weekend was the Big Event of my summer, aka Lauren's wedding. We arrived on Thursday night and had a yummy dinner in Berkeley. Friday was cupcake baking day. With a few trusty assistants, I made cupcakes for the reception. I made approximately 150 chocolate cupcakes and frosting--yes, from scratch. They turned out just fine, despite the fact that I was concerned afterwards that I had forgotten to add sugar to a few batches. No one complained, so hopefully I didn't actually do that.
The wedding itself was on Saturday. In the morning my family and I headed over to the Oakland Museum of California where we saw some California art and history. Then we headed off to San Leandro for the wedding! The ceremony was perfect. Touching but not cheesy readings, poignant sermon, funny and sweet officiant--what more can you ask for? Some of the UCLA people and I were laughing afterwards because their dates were Catholic and were shocked when the ceremony was over in under an hour--and they didn't even have to go up for Communion! Meanwhile, we were thinking it was longer than the 20 minutes of most non-religious weddings we were used to. Reception was wonderful too with fabulously yummy Filipino food, a tasty cake, and, of course, cupcakes! Beadle broke it down for us on the dance floor and a good time was had by all.
Sunday, the Wellesley peeps and I went to her family's house for a brunch and present-opening. I got to be the official gift recorder, a job that I am not really that good at, because I have bad handwriting. I think Lauren is up to the job of reading it, though. After the happy couple departed, we headed off for some brief San Francisco tourism and then to the airport!
Now I am back to the real world, suffering from a cold I acquired from Lynne, and trying to get back into the swing of things. Oh yes, and wishing I could be on a Hawaiian vacation like Lauren and Beadle!
The wedding itself was on Saturday. In the morning my family and I headed over to the Oakland Museum of California where we saw some California art and history. Then we headed off to San Leandro for the wedding! The ceremony was perfect. Touching but not cheesy readings, poignant sermon, funny and sweet officiant--what more can you ask for? Some of the UCLA people and I were laughing afterwards because their dates were Catholic and were shocked when the ceremony was over in under an hour--and they didn't even have to go up for Communion! Meanwhile, we were thinking it was longer than the 20 minutes of most non-religious weddings we were used to. Reception was wonderful too with fabulously yummy Filipino food, a tasty cake, and, of course, cupcakes! Beadle broke it down for us on the dance floor and a good time was had by all.
Sunday, the Wellesley peeps and I went to her family's house for a brunch and present-opening. I got to be the official gift recorder, a job that I am not really that good at, because I have bad handwriting. I think Lauren is up to the job of reading it, though. After the happy couple departed, we headed off for some brief San Francisco tourism and then to the airport!
Now I am back to the real world, suffering from a cold I acquired from Lynne, and trying to get back into the swing of things. Oh yes, and wishing I could be on a Hawaiian vacation like Lauren and Beadle!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
saturday morning in la
That title has nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that it is a Saturday morning in LA. I am running a bunch of errands this morning and decided it would be a good idea to get to the mall right when it opens. I am pretty sure I inherited this tendency from my mother. Anyway, here is an article about how librarians are cool. It is the number one most emailed article from the NY Times right now. At first I was like, wow, how exciting, people really care that librarians are cool. And then I realized it was just that all the librarians in the country were emailing it to each other.
Friday, July 06, 2007
here i am!
According to my loyal fans (ie, my sister), I have not been updating enough recently. I'll start with an important news story. In case you don't want to follow that link, a UCLA professor received a "suspicious envelope" causing the bomb squad to shut down part of Sunset Blvd. this afternoon. Let's turn to how this affected me, since that's obviously the most important thing. I had decided to be lazy and drive to school to investigate the Dictionary of American History for my Advanced Reference class (yay librarians). This road shut-down totally ruined my laziness and it probably took me longer to get there and back than if I had walked. But oh well, at least I didn't have to use my legs. Also, I pretty much thought that Paris Hilton had crashed her car again before I read the news, and was kind of disappointed it was just animal rights activists causing trouble.
I have been a world traveler in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago Mom and I visited Lynne in NYC. We saw Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends at the New York Public Library, walked through Central Park, watched a ballerina fall at the New York City Ballet, and became fans of flamenco in the East Village. We also helped Lynne get a new air conditioner, which is considerably more difficult in New York than in a normal place where you can drive your giant car into the giant parking lot of a giant big box store and just get a new AC. Instead our trek involved lots of carrying and a taxi. Geez! I don't know how people survive out there.
Last weekend I went up to Lauren's spa day/lunch in San Francisco. I got to stay with Kate in her new and beautiful apartment and the weather was delightful! Spa-ing was great, lunch was delish and Kate and I visited Green Apple Books, so I was a happy camper. I may or may not have acquired a new book, which is just what I need since I already have a nightstand pile of at least six.
This weekend I'm sticking around home base and then next weekend is Lauren's wedding! Other than my travels, I am working at my library job and taking two classes. Don't want to get bored, you know!
Oh also, last week (I think?) I got my hair highlighted in Beverly Hills. I am fancy. I read good reviews of this place online, all of which mentioned their "coffeehouse" music. Indeed, they played a satellite radio station called "Coffeehouse." A Tracy Chapman song came on and my hair lady commented on the fact that everyone likes Tracy Chapman, but no one you know actually has one of her CDs. I informed her that I, in fact, own a Tracy Chapman CD. Of course.
I have been a world traveler in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago Mom and I visited Lynne in NYC. We saw Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends at the New York Public Library, walked through Central Park, watched a ballerina fall at the New York City Ballet, and became fans of flamenco in the East Village. We also helped Lynne get a new air conditioner, which is considerably more difficult in New York than in a normal place where you can drive your giant car into the giant parking lot of a giant big box store and just get a new AC. Instead our trek involved lots of carrying and a taxi. Geez! I don't know how people survive out there.
Last weekend I went up to Lauren's spa day/lunch in San Francisco. I got to stay with Kate in her new and beautiful apartment and the weather was delightful! Spa-ing was great, lunch was delish and Kate and I visited Green Apple Books, so I was a happy camper. I may or may not have acquired a new book, which is just what I need since I already have a nightstand pile of at least six.
This weekend I'm sticking around home base and then next weekend is Lauren's wedding! Other than my travels, I am working at my library job and taking two classes. Don't want to get bored, you know!
Oh also, last week (I think?) I got my hair highlighted in Beverly Hills. I am fancy. I read good reviews of this place online, all of which mentioned their "coffeehouse" music. Indeed, they played a satellite radio station called "Coffeehouse." A Tracy Chapman song came on and my hair lady commented on the fact that everyone likes Tracy Chapman, but no one you know actually has one of her CDs. I informed her that I, in fact, own a Tracy Chapman CD. Of course.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
not the best week, so far
I did have a fabulous weekend at Lauren's sister's home, where I attended her wedding shower. I got to meet her lovely niece, Beadle's family, and catch up with my college friend Kate.
Unfortunately her baby niece had a little stomach bug that I managed to catch. I haven't been as sick as I was yesterday in many years and I hope to not be that sick again in a long time! I'm feeling a bit better today--well enough to blog, at least!
In addition to the unpleasant tummy situation, my parents put our dearly beloved Piper to sleep yesterday morning. He was over fourteen years old, had increasingly weakening back legs and a case of doggy dementia that caused him to spend a large amount of time barking for no reason. He wasn't getting any better and it was just time. I did get to see him over Memorial Day weekend, so that was good. He is the one looking intently at the microwave in that picture--it was his fourteenth birthday and he was eagerly awaiting his birthday treat of toast and cheese. We hope he is getting to eat lots of cheese toast in doggy heaven.
Today I am resting up and working on a take home final--thought I would be able to get started on it yesterday, but that obviously did not happen. Hopefully the week will get better!
Unfortunately her baby niece had a little stomach bug that I managed to catch. I haven't been as sick as I was yesterday in many years and I hope to not be that sick again in a long time! I'm feeling a bit better today--well enough to blog, at least!
In addition to the unpleasant tummy situation, my parents put our dearly beloved Piper to sleep yesterday morning. He was over fourteen years old, had increasingly weakening back legs and a case of doggy dementia that caused him to spend a large amount of time barking for no reason. He wasn't getting any better and it was just time. I did get to see him over Memorial Day weekend, so that was good. He is the one looking intently at the microwave in that picture--it was his fourteenth birthday and he was eagerly awaiting his birthday treat of toast and cheese. We hope he is getting to eat lots of cheese toast in doggy heaven.
Today I am resting up and working on a take home final--thought I would be able to get started on it yesterday, but that obviously did not happen. Hopefully the week will get better!
Saturday, June 02, 2007
wellesley, wellesley, only to be there!
I'm feeling a bit nostalgic currently, as it was one year ago this week (June 1, 2006!) that I graduated from old WC. I think I have started to annoy my library school friends because I keep bringing up Wellesley, and I don't want to turn into one of those, "Well at MY college..." people. Oh well.
Anyway, I've been thinking about it for that reason and also because of this Management class I'm taking--it's an MLIS core class, don't worry, I haven't decided to get my MBA or anything. We have talked a bit about mission statements and I always want to mention Wellesley's (I don't, because, again, I don't want to be one of those annoying people) which is "Wellesley College provides an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world." That's it! Succinct and to the point. We've also been talking about the symbolic management style, which has a lot to do with the culture of an organization. Again, I was thinking about how the mission statement and the motto (Non ministrari, sed ministrare--not to be served, but to serve) affects the culture so much.
Since I'm being all nostalgic and rose-colored-glasses about it, I think that the culture really centers around creating people who do want to go out and do something good in the world. Numerous recent grads have "I'm not being a good Wellesley woman because I'm not doing anything great in the world" crises. Might not be such a great thing to inspire guilt in your alumnae, but at least it's guilt that pushes you to try to create positive change! Anyway, here are some words from our departing president in her charge to the class--it's very Wellesley:
"I hope that life of learning for you – so that you will be doing your part to transform the world from the inside out, seeing your first and most sacred task as the work of transforming yourselves — not once and for all, but over and over, greeting with an open mind and a courageous heart the hard questions that life will continue asking of you."
Anyway, I've been thinking about it for that reason and also because of this Management class I'm taking--it's an MLIS core class, don't worry, I haven't decided to get my MBA or anything. We have talked a bit about mission statements and I always want to mention Wellesley's (I don't, because, again, I don't want to be one of those annoying people) which is "Wellesley College provides an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world." That's it! Succinct and to the point. We've also been talking about the symbolic management style, which has a lot to do with the culture of an organization. Again, I was thinking about how the mission statement and the motto (Non ministrari, sed ministrare--not to be served, but to serve) affects the culture so much.
Since I'm being all nostalgic and rose-colored-glasses about it, I think that the culture really centers around creating people who do want to go out and do something good in the world. Numerous recent grads have "I'm not being a good Wellesley woman because I'm not doing anything great in the world" crises. Might not be such a great thing to inspire guilt in your alumnae, but at least it's guilt that pushes you to try to create positive change! Anyway, here are some words from our departing president in her charge to the class--it's very Wellesley:
"I hope that life of learning for you – so that you will be doing your part to transform the world from the inside out, seeing your first and most sacred task as the work of transforming yourselves — not once and for all, but over and over, greeting with an open mind and a courageous heart the hard questions that life will continue asking of you."
Thursday, May 31, 2007
with my hand held out
I've been remiss in not posting this earlier, but life has been a bit busy recently. Our volunteer group, along with UCLA's Graduate Student Association, are doing a book drive for juvenile detention facility where I volunteer and if any of my devoted fans would like to donate a book or two, the kids and I would be ever so grateful. Tonight we had a taker on the Malcolm X autobiography, a Stephen King, a Walter Mosley and oh so many more. One kid booktalked this book, which I was a little surprised about. We often have a difficult time getting kids to read fiction that purports to tell a story about a kid with a hard life, but our reader enjoyed this one. I noticed that the Amazon review thinks that the book's hard luck story is implausible, but our reader mentioned no such thing--sadly, it probably seems completely plausible to him. Anyway, here is the little book drive spiel--sorry that it is kind of long. Thank you in advance!
BEYOND 4 WALLS BOOK DRIVE
Greetings, UCLA Community,
Reading changes lives. We ask you to partner with us to impact and improve
the lives of incarcerated children and teenagers, by purchasing books for
the BEYOND 4 WALLS BOOK DRIVE.
The Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Sylmar houses 600+
children and teens. The members of the Nidorf Collective, a group of
students from the UCLA Information Studies graduate program, have been
volunteering at the facility for the past year, bringing books to this
underserved population. The Beyond 4 Walls Book Drive, sponsored by the
GSA Community Service Commission, will further the work to give the gift
of reading to these kids.
How can you contribute? Here are several ways:
1) The best and simplest way is to use this link to select books for the
kids from the “Beyond 4 Walls Wish List” on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3
The books on this list have been requested by the teens at Nidorf and/or
recommended by the library students in the UCLA MLIS program, who have
seen what a difference books and reading make to this population. After
you use the link, please forward this email to others who might also like
to make a fundamental difference in this ongoing literacy program. The
email campaign will run from Friday, May 18th to Friday, June 8th. (Please
note and make use of all the tools Amazon gives you to view the books by
highest priority, by price, in detail, or in summary.)
2) Bring new or used books to our BOOK DRIVE PARTY on Wednesday, June 6th
from 5-9 p.m. at Kerckhoff Art Gallery (Kerckhoff 214). We will serve
food, beer and wine, and celebrate the success of the Beyond 4 Walls Book
Drive. (Paperbacks are preferred.)
3) Finally, if you cannot attend the event but want to make a book
donation, please deliver your new or used books to the GSA office in
Kerckhoff 316.
The GSA Community Service Commission, the members of the Nidorf
Collective, and the kids at Nidorf thank you for giving your time and
energy to community service. Your donation makes a big difference.
========================================
The Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Sylmar (north San
Fernando Valley) houses children and teens ages 12 to 17, who are awaiting
adjudication. About 70 percent of the kids rotate in and out quickly
(within 28 days)—either sent home or placed in other facilities—but the
rest are at Nidorf long-term, a more stationary population of about 200
minors who may remain at the facility for up to several years.
The only library at Nidorf is in the on-premises LACOE school. The library
is only accessible to the kids during school hours, and then only if their
teachers bring them in for a class visit. They are not allowed to check
the books out and take them back to their rooms, with the result that they
have nothing to read during the hours they need it the most.
For that reason, the UCLA students of the Nidorf Collective have made it
their priority to collect books from wherever they can—mostly libraries
and schools who donate their discards—and deliver boxes of books to the
living units. Additionally, they have started five bi-weekly book
groups—one each in the Boys’ and Girls’ Special Handling Units (SHUs), two
in the lockdown units, and one in the girls’ school—for which they
constantly need more books, since they take books in, book-talk them and
give them away, also taking requests from the kids for specific titles and
then trying to track those down and acquire them cheap or free.
One restriction is that only paperback books are allowed in the living
units. Hardcover books can go into the school library for more limited use
there. The Nidorf Collective’s hope is to eventually provide a stocked
rolling book cart to each of the 15 living units, and a part- or full-time
librarian to visit all the units and also continue the book groups. But
for now, book drives such as Beyond 4 Walls are their best hope of
bringing books to eager readers in this marginalized population. We hope
you will help.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3
======================================
BEYOND 4 WALLS BOOK DRIVE
Greetings, UCLA Community,
Reading changes lives. We ask you to partner with us to impact and improve
the lives of incarcerated children and teenagers, by purchasing books for
the BEYOND 4 WALLS BOOK DRIVE.
The Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Sylmar houses 600+
children and teens. The members of the Nidorf Collective, a group of
students from the UCLA Information Studies graduate program, have been
volunteering at the facility for the past year, bringing books to this
underserved population. The Beyond 4 Walls Book Drive, sponsored by the
GSA Community Service Commission, will further the work to give the gift
of reading to these kids.
How can you contribute? Here are several ways:
1) The best and simplest way is to use this link to select books for the
kids from the “Beyond 4 Walls Wish List” on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3
The books on this list have been requested by the teens at Nidorf and/or
recommended by the library students in the UCLA MLIS program, who have
seen what a difference books and reading make to this population. After
you use the link, please forward this email to others who might also like
to make a fundamental difference in this ongoing literacy program. The
email campaign will run from Friday, May 18th to Friday, June 8th. (Please
note and make use of all the tools Amazon gives you to view the books by
highest priority, by price, in detail, or in summary.)
2) Bring new or used books to our BOOK DRIVE PARTY on Wednesday, June 6th
from 5-9 p.m. at Kerckhoff Art Gallery (Kerckhoff 214). We will serve
food, beer and wine, and celebrate the success of the Beyond 4 Walls Book
Drive. (Paperbacks are preferred.)
3) Finally, if you cannot attend the event but want to make a book
donation, please deliver your new or used books to the GSA office in
Kerckhoff 316.
The GSA Community Service Commission, the members of the Nidorf
Collective, and the kids at Nidorf thank you for giving your time and
energy to community service. Your donation makes a big difference.
========================================
The Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Sylmar (north San
Fernando Valley) houses children and teens ages 12 to 17, who are awaiting
adjudication. About 70 percent of the kids rotate in and out quickly
(within 28 days)—either sent home or placed in other facilities—but the
rest are at Nidorf long-term, a more stationary population of about 200
minors who may remain at the facility for up to several years.
The only library at Nidorf is in the on-premises LACOE school. The library
is only accessible to the kids during school hours, and then only if their
teachers bring them in for a class visit. They are not allowed to check
the books out and take them back to their rooms, with the result that they
have nothing to read during the hours they need it the most.
For that reason, the UCLA students of the Nidorf Collective have made it
their priority to collect books from wherever they can—mostly libraries
and schools who donate their discards—and deliver boxes of books to the
living units. Additionally, they have started five bi-weekly book
groups—one each in the Boys’ and Girls’ Special Handling Units (SHUs), two
in the lockdown units, and one in the girls’ school—for which they
constantly need more books, since they take books in, book-talk them and
give them away, also taking requests from the kids for specific titles and
then trying to track those down and acquire them cheap or free.
One restriction is that only paperback books are allowed in the living
units. Hardcover books can go into the school library for more limited use
there. The Nidorf Collective’s hope is to eventually provide a stocked
rolling book cart to each of the 15 living units, and a part- or full-time
librarian to visit all the units and also continue the book groups. But
for now, book drives such as Beyond 4 Walls are their best hope of
bringing books to eager readers in this marginalized population. We hope
you will help.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3
======================================
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
sometimes i don't think about libraries and books
Here is a list of fifteen million jobs you can get with an MLIS, just in case you thought all we did was shush people in the public library (in which case I probably couldn't be your friend).
Today was the LA Times Festival of Books, which takes place at UCLA. It is a gigantic event with a ton of author panels, events on stage (sadly, I missed Julie Andrews), and a huge number of exhibit booths. I went to an author panel on young adult literature where I saw some of the big names and got a book signed (An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. When I went to get it signed he said he always feels nervous signing for Katherines, because apparently they don't come across very well in the book. I told him I hadn't read it yet, which is why I wasn't grumpy at that moment. He chuckled.) (Sidenote: John Green is very cute, writes award-winning YA lit, is only 27, used to be on NPR, is funny. Is also married--all my librarian peeps and I were understandably disappointed). I checked out a bunch of exhibitor booths, got a free copy of The Nation and an LA youth-written newspaper, bought a book about woman fighters in the Mexican Revolution and saw the dad from Providence. And I'm going back tomorrow to see Nancy Pearl, famous librarian (who has an action figure and everything) and maybe another panel on "Writing for Teens and Tweens." Fun fun!
Today was the LA Times Festival of Books, which takes place at UCLA. It is a gigantic event with a ton of author panels, events on stage (sadly, I missed Julie Andrews), and a huge number of exhibit booths. I went to an author panel on young adult literature where I saw some of the big names and got a book signed (An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. When I went to get it signed he said he always feels nervous signing for Katherines, because apparently they don't come across very well in the book. I told him I hadn't read it yet, which is why I wasn't grumpy at that moment. He chuckled.) (Sidenote: John Green is very cute, writes award-winning YA lit, is only 27, used to be on NPR, is funny. Is also married--all my librarian peeps and I were understandably disappointed). I checked out a bunch of exhibitor booths, got a free copy of The Nation and an LA youth-written newspaper, bought a book about woman fighters in the Mexican Revolution and saw the dad from Providence. And I'm going back tomorrow to see Nancy Pearl, famous librarian (who has an action figure and everything) and maybe another panel on "Writing for Teens and Tweens." Fun fun!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
don't make me laugh
Normally I refrain from commenting on censorship attempts in libraries. They happen somewhat regularly and I try not to get my panties in a twist because I basically just stick to a fairly strict pro-intellectual freedom stance. This little story caught my eye, however, because of its purely humorous nature. And I quote:
"Two teens, 14- and 16-year-old Kyle Adams and Ryan Adams, went to the Bentonville PL, AR, in February so the younger brother could look up material on military academies. However, they wound up looking at The Whole Lesbian Sex Book, by Felice Newman, a book their father said left his sons "greatly disturbed… and this matter has caused many sleepless nights in our house." Earl Adams, according to The Morning News, has asked the city to pay $10,000 in damages per child, which is the maximum under the state obscenity law."
From Library Journal.
P.S. I wonder how they just accidentally found that book while searching for military academies. It was probably misshelved, right? And don't get me started on the sleepless nights.
"Two teens, 14- and 16-year-old Kyle Adams and Ryan Adams, went to the Bentonville PL, AR, in February so the younger brother could look up material on military academies. However, they wound up looking at The Whole Lesbian Sex Book, by Felice Newman, a book their father said left his sons "greatly disturbed… and this matter has caused many sleepless nights in our house." Earl Adams, according to The Morning News, has asked the city to pay $10,000 in damages per child, which is the maximum under the state obscenity law."
From Library Journal.
P.S. I wonder how they just accidentally found that book while searching for military academies. It was probably misshelved, right? And don't get me started on the sleepless nights.
juvey update
One of my fellow volunteers wrote a "This I Believe" essay about our volunteer experience. For the non-NPR listeners (do I know any non-NPR listeners?), people write essays about what they believe (not necessarily religious) and then some people are selected to be recorded reading their essays. They play them during Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Anyway, hers wasn't picked to be recorded, but it's on the website. It gives you a little peek into what we do, plus if enough people read it, it will apparently be placed in the "top 25" essays on the site.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
I'm a little late with this, but hey, I've been busy this past week.
I've never actually read any of Kurt Vonnegut's books, but this is enough to make me love him:
"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.
So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."
It's from here.
I've never actually read any of Kurt Vonnegut's books, but this is enough to make me love him:
"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.
So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."
It's from here.
Friday, April 13, 2007
a few updates
1. Seems as if those years of French finally paid off. I applied for a job at the reference desk at the UCLA library where I work, had my little interview, etc. Then someone else in the same department saw my application and decided that I should apply for his open position in collection development in support of African Studies. I thought it was all sewn up when I went to my interview, since he was the one who approached me, and then he finished the interview by telling me about the four other people he was interviewing. But happy ending, I did in fact get the job, which I think mostly consists of checking databases to see what titles we already have. So anyway, African Studies is about the only area in which my French skills come in handy.
2. I have been having an issue getting into a section of a required class. The other section, which was open, conflicted with an elective class that I really wanted/needed to take (Young Adult Literature). I held out on the waitlist for a long time and then talked to the professor about my reasons for wanting to take both of the courses. Lo and behold, she took pity on me and raised the enrollment of the class so I got in! I was trying to be all calm about not getting into the class, but I am very relieved. Moral of that story is that it never hurts to ask!
3. In case you hadn't heard, Hillary went to Wellesley.
2. I have been having an issue getting into a section of a required class. The other section, which was open, conflicted with an elective class that I really wanted/needed to take (Young Adult Literature). I held out on the waitlist for a long time and then talked to the professor about my reasons for wanting to take both of the courses. Lo and behold, she took pity on me and raised the enrollment of the class so I got in! I was trying to be all calm about not getting into the class, but I am very relieved. Moral of that story is that it never hurts to ask!
3. In case you hadn't heard, Hillary went to Wellesley.
Friday, March 23, 2007
isn't that sweet
From an article about a Vancouver, WA real estate developer who recently passed away (Royce Pollard is the mayor of Vancouver): "Pollard said he got to know Al Angelo Sr. about five years ago, when he (Pollard) joined a group of longtime Vancouver businessmen who meet on Wednesdays, calling themselves 'The Good Old Boys.' Angelo was a key member, known among the group as 'the Mayor,' Pollard said."
Um, what year is this? Oh yes, 2007. And how many people live in Vancouver? Over 150,000. And where is it located? Right across from Portland. So why is it still run by a bunch of good old boys?
This is one of the reasons I don't care that much about Vancouver. That and the fact that I used to spend most of my waking hours in Portland.
Um, what year is this? Oh yes, 2007. And how many people live in Vancouver? Over 150,000. And where is it located? Right across from Portland. So why is it still run by a bunch of good old boys?
This is one of the reasons I don't care that much about Vancouver. That and the fact that I used to spend most of my waking hours in Portland.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
thanks for the reminder, really
It did occur to me, just before I moved down here, that I was entering "major quake" territory. After some wide eyed terror, I decided not to think about the fact that I could be buried under a pile of rubble at any moment. Once I moved here, I decided not to be a complete idiot and followed Lauren's suggestions to create an earthquake kit. I have extra water at home and in the car, and some extra food in both places too. I should do more, but whatever. Also, I didn't hang anything above my bed. Every time I have to do one of these earthquake things, I kind of have a heart attack. I mean, we had earthquake drills at OES and I remember a few earthquakes occurring at home (one this past summer at 1 in the morning). We have them every once in a while, but it's not like we have an official earthquake month (April in CA, now you know). This is just all to say that when I received this in the mail from UCLA today, I was not very happy.
Monday, March 19, 2007
yes, we know you had to go to school in 8 feet of snow
Some of you (Katie, in particular) probably recall my Dar Williams phase. This was back in the day when we could see a lot of other people's iTunes on the Wellesley network, so I didn't even have to actually own any Dar music to listen to it. And believe me, plenty of other Wellesley students had Dar on their iTunes. I liked Dar so much that one of only two concerts I ever paid to attend while in college was hers (the other, revealing the extend of my hippiness, was Girlyman, who opened for DW at her concert and who describe themselves as "delicious acoustic harmony-driven gender pop").
Anyway, I just rediscovered some of my Dar music on iTunes and was particularly amused to remember the song "Southern California Wants To Be Western New York." If there is anything I do not want to be, it is anywhere that could remotely be considered upstate New York. This is primarily because most people that I have met from upstate New York are annoying about it. Lauren has a theory that it is due to an inferiority complex about not being from NYC. Really, they constantly bring up the fact that they are from upstate New York, in upstate New York this is how they do xyz, you think this weather is bad, it's so much worse in upstate New York, blah blah. You think I am exaggerating, but I really am not. It just gets a little old after a while.
Next up: making vast generalizations about people from other Mid-Atlantic states! You'd better watch out Pennsylvania.
Anyway, I just rediscovered some of my Dar music on iTunes and was particularly amused to remember the song "Southern California Wants To Be Western New York." If there is anything I do not want to be, it is anywhere that could remotely be considered upstate New York. This is primarily because most people that I have met from upstate New York are annoying about it. Lauren has a theory that it is due to an inferiority complex about not being from NYC. Really, they constantly bring up the fact that they are from upstate New York, in upstate New York this is how they do xyz, you think this weather is bad, it's so much worse in upstate New York, blah blah. You think I am exaggerating, but I really am not. It just gets a little old after a while.
Next up: making vast generalizations about people from other Mid-Atlantic states! You'd better watch out Pennsylvania.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
from the new yorker
"The in-house counsel was a Wellesley graduate, she wasn't Jewish, she wasn't from New York and Harley figured that if she saw him in his natural environment he would be, he said to his partner, in just a shit pile of trouble."
This article by Larissa MacFarquahar is not online, but it is an interesting profile of a lawyer who goes after counterfeiters. Hey, you can always go read it at the library!
This article by Larissa MacFarquahar is not online, but it is an interesting profile of a lawyer who goes after counterfeiters. Hey, you can always go read it at the library!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
better watch your back
When you're at the plant nursery, that is. Today Lauren and I took a study break to a nearby nursery because we wanted to buy some house plants. While making our purchases we witnessed a large and loud argument ensue when one woman thought another woman had cut her in line. The offended party loudly accused her of said crime, and the other woman denied that she had done so, leading to some yelling on both sides. The accused cutter asked the offended line stander if she wanted to go in front of her, but she refused, saying that she just wanted the cutter to KNOW that she was being a jerk. After some more back and forth, the offended party yelled out, "Actually, I WILL go in front of you!!!!!!" and proceeded to push her plant cart up to the poor cashier.
Only in L.A.
Only in L.A.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
March 1 was a good day
First of all, it was the 20th birthday of my baby sister, so happy birthday to her! Secondly, Katie became the Nelson-Atkins Museum's newest employee! Yay Katie! Thirdly? Um, Lauren and I watched a depressing movie. Ryan Gosling was a pretty cute teacher in Half Nelson. If only he hadn't had that little coke addiction he would have been perfect. Obviously he has never watched Maria Full of Grace and seen how non-fair trade the cocaine industry is. Geez, Ryan.
Monday, February 26, 2007
in which i realize that los angeles is big
Sometimes I really cannot believe how gigantic Los Angeles is. I had assumed that Sylmar, where the juvenile hall I visit is located, was its own city. Why might I assume this? Oh, only because it's 22 miles north of me. I realized that it was, in fact, just a NEIGHBORHOOD of Los Angeles when I saw that they have a Los Angeles Public Library branch, the city library. It makes me feel slightly better to find out (via Wikipedia) that it is Los Angeles's northernmost neighborhood. But still! 22 miles north! And I only live in the middle of the western side of Los Angeles!
Friday, February 23, 2007
those were the days
This comic is mostly just funny to me because the "culture jamming" reference takes me back to my mildly torturous days in my "Information in Society" class last quarter. I'm just warning those with fragile constitutions that there is a non-scientifically correct term for a part of male anatomy in that cartoon, unlike the word used in Susan Patron's book.
it's kind of all libraries all the time around here
I just read the number one most e-mailed article on nytimes.com, which is about how the history department at Middlebury is banning the citation of Wikipedia, both in papers and tests. My librarian brain reacts to this by thinking, hello, information literacy! The department is missing a huge opportunity to teach kids about authority, reliability, etc., etc.--all the good things a reference librarian could come in and talk about.
I went to a talk yesterday by one of the candidates for the ALA presidency, the university librarian at the University of Richmond. He said that someone had described Wikipedia as "good when it's good and bad when it's bad." He noted that the page for hurricanes was something any other encyclopedia would be glad to have, but the page for the author Ian McEwan was shamefully tabloidesque. I personally use Wikipedia if I just want to get an idea about a topic; then I move on to other sources that I know have gone through a reasonably stringent review process to get information that I personally consider more reliable. I also love Wikipedia for finding general information when I just want a quick summary for my own edification. I know that there is a lot of good info on Wikipedia, but I am not comfortable enough with it to see it as a really reliable source of information.
I think a lot of people really do not know what Wikipedia even is. I can recall hearing people who were surprised to find out it was user-contributed information--they thought it was a traditional encyclopedia. As for students who are using it as a source in their papers and tests, I think a lot of that is just not knowing about other online resources that their libraries probably subscribe to and that they can access right in their very rooms. The rest of them are just being lazy, frankly. We are used to quickly finding information online, but a lot of people are missing the information literacy to determine if the information they are using is really what they want to be citing. Librarians to the rescue!
I went to a talk yesterday by one of the candidates for the ALA presidency, the university librarian at the University of Richmond. He said that someone had described Wikipedia as "good when it's good and bad when it's bad." He noted that the page for hurricanes was something any other encyclopedia would be glad to have, but the page for the author Ian McEwan was shamefully tabloidesque. I personally use Wikipedia if I just want to get an idea about a topic; then I move on to other sources that I know have gone through a reasonably stringent review process to get information that I personally consider more reliable. I also love Wikipedia for finding general information when I just want a quick summary for my own edification. I know that there is a lot of good info on Wikipedia, but I am not comfortable enough with it to see it as a really reliable source of information.
I think a lot of people really do not know what Wikipedia even is. I can recall hearing people who were surprised to find out it was user-contributed information--they thought it was a traditional encyclopedia. As for students who are using it as a source in their papers and tests, I think a lot of that is just not knowing about other online resources that their libraries probably subscribe to and that they can access right in their very rooms. The rest of them are just being lazy, frankly. We are used to quickly finding information online, but a lot of people are missing the information literacy to determine if the information they are using is really what they want to be citing. Librarians to the rescue!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
proof!
Susan Patron came and spoke to my class today and here's my proof! I got her card because I told her about the site that listed the other books with the word scrotum in them and she wanted me to email her the link. She seemed pretty tired of all the negative media attention and more than a little heartsick that her wonderful book was only being noticed for one word contained in it.
Now that I know more about the book's plot I am even more unhappy at the negativity surrounding it. Apparently the scrotum story is integral to the growing up of the little girl and the development of her relationship with her guardian. It sounds very appropriate to the story to me.
The other part of the debacle that was so upsetting to my professor was the fact that it wasn't parents or children or teachers or anyone else who was making a stink about the books--it was librarians, who are supposed to be intellectual freedom defenders.
We discussed the actual critical question: what do children think about the book? No one actually seemed to have any first hand experience with children and the book, but there was some anecdotal evidence that they didn't care one bit about the word scrotum as long as the teacher/librarian/parent acted like it was no big deal.
I just ordered it from Powells after deciding I didn't want to sit on the holds list at LAPL for five hundred years. I can't wait to read it!
Now that I know more about the book's plot I am even more unhappy at the negativity surrounding it. Apparently the scrotum story is integral to the growing up of the little girl and the development of her relationship with her guardian. It sounds very appropriate to the story to me.
The other part of the debacle that was so upsetting to my professor was the fact that it wasn't parents or children or teachers or anyone else who was making a stink about the books--it was librarians, who are supposed to be intellectual freedom defenders.
We discussed the actual critical question: what do children think about the book? No one actually seemed to have any first hand experience with children and the book, but there was some anecdotal evidence that they didn't care one bit about the word scrotum as long as the teacher/librarian/parent acted like it was no big deal.
I just ordered it from Powells after deciding I didn't want to sit on the holds list at LAPL for five hundred years. I can't wait to read it!
amusing sidenote
Bookslut just clued me into this list of other kid's books with the word "scrotum" in them.
since you asked
Lori brought up this kerfuffle, which is over the recent Newbery award winner. The Newbery is the top award for children's literature (the Caldecott is the other top award, but it goes to illustrations, not text). Books like The Giver, Number the Stars, Dear Mr. Henshaw, and A Wrinkle in Time have all won Newbery awards. Anyway, the winner this year apparently contains the word "scrotum" in relation to a snake biting a dog. Some school librarians thought that this word was too offensive to their communities and decided they wouldn't buy the book for their collections.
School librarians operate on a bit of a different track than public librarians because they can't take the "we have books for all kinds of people" defense. Their schools or school boards can very easily force them to remove books from their collections. One of their main jobs is really to support teachers and curriculum, so they don't even necessarily have to buy a book just because it's a Newbery (which pretty much all public librarians would do, at least with recent Newbery winners).
I do, however, think it's pretty ridiculous to self-censor (that would be when you decide to not buy it in the first place, as opposed to removing it from a collection) just because a book contains a word that is just part of male anatomy (and a dog's at that!). I've read some comments from elementary school librarians saying that they thought the book was a little "old" for most of their kids (ie, most of the kids just wouldn't want to read it because it's a little advanced in terms of reading level), which is slightly more justifiable, but I wonder about the kids who do want to read it. They could always get it from the public library, but considering the fact that they spend most of their time in school and may be more likely to go to their school library, I think it's pretty wrong for the school librarians to not buy it for their collections. A whole big group of librarians (the Newbery committee) concluded that this work was the best of the year and that counts for something.
My least favorite part of the whole thing is the defense of some of the school librarians that basically goes, "I don't want to have to explain to a child what a scrotum is." Aren't we supposed to be librarians? If we really didn't want to embarrass ourselves so much as to explain such a thing, couldn't we say, "Let's go look it up in the dictionary."? Isn't it our job to help people (even children, who some apparently think of as not-people) get information?
Lastly I would just like to point out that I'm sure a good portion of most kids in elementary school know what a scrotum is, and if the target audience for the book (probably 4th grade and up) doesn't already know, I think there needs to be some discussion at school/home.
Susan Patron, the author of the offending book, just happens to be speaking to my children's services class today on the topic of collection development. She's a good friend of my professor's, and a librarian at LAPL, and was on the docket long before she even won the Newbery. It will be interesting to hear her talk about the very subject of choosing books for a collection!
School librarians operate on a bit of a different track than public librarians because they can't take the "we have books for all kinds of people" defense. Their schools or school boards can very easily force them to remove books from their collections. One of their main jobs is really to support teachers and curriculum, so they don't even necessarily have to buy a book just because it's a Newbery (which pretty much all public librarians would do, at least with recent Newbery winners).
I do, however, think it's pretty ridiculous to self-censor (that would be when you decide to not buy it in the first place, as opposed to removing it from a collection) just because a book contains a word that is just part of male anatomy (and a dog's at that!). I've read some comments from elementary school librarians saying that they thought the book was a little "old" for most of their kids (ie, most of the kids just wouldn't want to read it because it's a little advanced in terms of reading level), which is slightly more justifiable, but I wonder about the kids who do want to read it. They could always get it from the public library, but considering the fact that they spend most of their time in school and may be more likely to go to their school library, I think it's pretty wrong for the school librarians to not buy it for their collections. A whole big group of librarians (the Newbery committee) concluded that this work was the best of the year and that counts for something.
My least favorite part of the whole thing is the defense of some of the school librarians that basically goes, "I don't want to have to explain to a child what a scrotum is." Aren't we supposed to be librarians? If we really didn't want to embarrass ourselves so much as to explain such a thing, couldn't we say, "Let's go look it up in the dictionary."? Isn't it our job to help people (even children, who some apparently think of as not-people) get information?
Lastly I would just like to point out that I'm sure a good portion of most kids in elementary school know what a scrotum is, and if the target audience for the book (probably 4th grade and up) doesn't already know, I think there needs to be some discussion at school/home.
Susan Patron, the author of the offending book, just happens to be speaking to my children's services class today on the topic of collection development. She's a good friend of my professor's, and a librarian at LAPL, and was on the docket long before she even won the Newbery. It will be interesting to hear her talk about the very subject of choosing books for a collection!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
break from my usual blather about libraries
I was just rewarding myself for being about halfway done with my midterm paper (due on Friday) by doing some important internet searching (what else?) and I remembered that my extremely talented neighbor Sally has a beautiful website. She started out making quilts and now she classifies her work as "textiles" because it doesn't always fit into the quilt category. Anyway, I don't really know why I'm posting about this except to tell you that I love going through the pictures of her work and trying to decide which my favorite one is. I'm currently leaning towards "When We Think About Spring" in the "House" section, with second favorite going to "I'm Not Sorry" or "Approximating Pi." I'm also just kind of partial to her and her family in general--they're pretty cool people.
ha HA
That's a little extra emphasis on the last ha. From librarian.net: what librarians wish they could (and, apparently, do) say to some library users.
Friday, February 09, 2007
being lazy, posting a video from youtube
In case you a) usually get bored with YouTube and don't really spend much time watching anything on it, like me, or b) somehow managed to miss this even though you do spend copious amounts of time on YouTube, AND were c) lying awake at night wondering what kinds of things we talk about in library school, besides the best kind of fabric to use for flannel story board stories, here is a video for you:
About the last part ("we have to rethink xyz") my professor sarcastically exclaimed, wow, someone should tell the Information Studies people about this! He also thought that the whole idea that the Internet was connecting people was not exactly a new one. But anyway, some of the things in there are things that they try to get us to read/think about.
About the last part ("we have to rethink xyz") my professor sarcastically exclaimed, wow, someone should tell the Information Studies people about this! He also thought that the whole idea that the Internet was connecting people was not exactly a new one. But anyway, some of the things in there are things that they try to get us to read/think about.
Monday, February 05, 2007
public radio in la
It's pledge drive time at my favorite public radio station, KCRW, and they just announced a few people who gave them money this morning: among them, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, renewing from NYC.
Friday, February 02, 2007
i'm back!
I know you were all missing me greatly. Well, since I last posted, my sister visited me for eleven days, my mean graduate program made me do work, and I got my computer back.
Lynne and I had a fun time together. Since I was so danged busy the entire week, we mainly spent our time together sitting around in my living room watching tv and chatting. We did manage to make it out to the Getty one day, went to two movies, took a little trip to the grocery store (woo hoo!), and toured around UCLA for an hour. Then she left me and I no longer had anyone around to wash my dishes. Wahhh.
I've been busy busy with school and work since the quarter started up. Last semester I was in all these classes where we did somewhat minimal (or no) reading, and occasionally had a little writing to do. This quarter they actually expect me to do work and write things! Geez. In one of my classes (Intro to Information Technology) we do 700-800 word write-ups pretty much every week. Each of them is a small part of our major paper, so it will be nice at the end of the quarter not to be frantically researching and writing everything up at the last minute. But still. I'm also taking a class that is basically about classification and cataloging and such; we are also expected to read and do work in that class. Do these people think I'm in school or something?
My children's class is a little more laid back so far, although we do have a major paper for that one. The best part of that class is our mini-storytime we have to present to the class. We have to read a story, do a finger play (the Itsy Bitsy Spider is an example of a finger play, get your minds out of the gutter), and do a flannel board story (remember? the things where the librarian/teacher sticks felt cut-outs on a board and tells a story with them?). Anyway, I'm thinking of going with a bird theme. I already have a story and a finger play, which could end up turning into a flannel board story. I just need to find a new finger play then. So exciting! In addition, I'm thinking of doing my major paper on using the library to increase children's awareness of multiculturalism/social justice/diversity/people who aren't just like them. I'm looking to move beyond the usual "festivals around the world" or "here's a folktale from India!" things. You can bet Beautiful Blackbird will be included. I admit I might have been inspired to do this anyway, but I'm particularly fired up thanks to Lauren and her social justice teaching program.
Last, but not least, I got my computer back. The Apple people fixed it all up and I went in and picked it up on Wednesday morning. It has been very exhilarating to just turn on the computer and check my email. I don't have to beg Lauren for the use of her computer, or walk twenty minutes to school or anything. Now you can look forward to many more of my brilliant insights, lucky you!
Lynne and I had a fun time together. Since I was so danged busy the entire week, we mainly spent our time together sitting around in my living room watching tv and chatting. We did manage to make it out to the Getty one day, went to two movies, took a little trip to the grocery store (woo hoo!), and toured around UCLA for an hour. Then she left me and I no longer had anyone around to wash my dishes. Wahhh.
I've been busy busy with school and work since the quarter started up. Last semester I was in all these classes where we did somewhat minimal (or no) reading, and occasionally had a little writing to do. This quarter they actually expect me to do work and write things! Geez. In one of my classes (Intro to Information Technology) we do 700-800 word write-ups pretty much every week. Each of them is a small part of our major paper, so it will be nice at the end of the quarter not to be frantically researching and writing everything up at the last minute. But still. I'm also taking a class that is basically about classification and cataloging and such; we are also expected to read and do work in that class. Do these people think I'm in school or something?
My children's class is a little more laid back so far, although we do have a major paper for that one. The best part of that class is our mini-storytime we have to present to the class. We have to read a story, do a finger play (the Itsy Bitsy Spider is an example of a finger play, get your minds out of the gutter), and do a flannel board story (remember? the things where the librarian/teacher sticks felt cut-outs on a board and tells a story with them?). Anyway, I'm thinking of going with a bird theme. I already have a story and a finger play, which could end up turning into a flannel board story. I just need to find a new finger play then. So exciting! In addition, I'm thinking of doing my major paper on using the library to increase children's awareness of multiculturalism/social justice/diversity/people who aren't just like them. I'm looking to move beyond the usual "festivals around the world" or "here's a folktale from India!" things. You can bet Beautiful Blackbird will be included. I admit I might have been inspired to do this anyway, but I'm particularly fired up thanks to Lauren and her social justice teaching program.
Last, but not least, I got my computer back. The Apple people fixed it all up and I went in and picked it up on Wednesday morning. It has been very exhilarating to just turn on the computer and check my email. I don't have to beg Lauren for the use of her computer, or walk twenty minutes to school or anything. Now you can look forward to many more of my brilliant insights, lucky you!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
sad story
My dear sweet PowerBook has been doing this little quirky thing since, oh, last summer, where it likes to randomly go to sleep. Sometimes I can only wake it up by completely powering it down (ie, unplugging it and taking the battery out). Kind of not good. I finally took it into the good old Apple store today and found out that it has been overheating and going into emergency sleep mode. They're sending it somewhere to get fixed, so I will be sans computer probably until next Monday. Luckily my lovely sister is visiting me with her PowerBook, so I can still get all my work done without having to trudge over to school. This is all just to say that if you are someone who relies on me signing into AIM every day, don't worry, I haven't died but my computer has (sort of).
This all makes me a little annoyed because I never actually had any real problems with my big old Dell laptop. All the bad talk about PCs and my PC was more reliable than my Mac. But the Mac is cuter, so that's pretty much the most important thing, right?
This all makes me a little annoyed because I never actually had any real problems with my big old Dell laptop. All the bad talk about PCs and my PC was more reliable than my Mac. But the Mac is cuter, so that's pretty much the most important thing, right?
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
ick
Apparently the Yorkie is now the second most popular pure-bred dog in the United States. The deserving Labrador is still first, by a fairly large margin, but really, the Yorkie? I have honestly never met a Yorkshire terrier that didn't bark piercingly and interminably. It's basically one of my very least favorite dogs. I'm disgusted!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
adventures!
Lauren and I decided to get out and do something other than the normal this weekend, so yesterday we got ourselves up to Santa Barbara. It was quite beautiful and had an actual clear blue sky. We saw the mission ("Queen of the Missions" apparently), ate Julia Child-approved Mexican food, froze our butts off, had coffee and Kahlua on the wharf, got ignored in fancy stores, and had a yummy seafood dinner. It was delightful!
Today I decided to head to Will Rogers State Historic Park. Will Rogers was an actor, writer, and general huge celebrity of the 20s and 30s. He was born on a cattle ranch and saw himself as somewhat of a cowboy. His home is off Sunset and at one time he had 500 acres of land that went down to and included the beach. 168 acres of it is now a state park and you can visit it and his home. My little connection to Will Rogers is that my great-grandparents knew him--my great-grandfather played polo with him and they lived near him. Anyway, it was fun to be up there and hear a little about California history.
Tomorrow is my day of work--no classes or work at the library, so it's time to buckle down and do some homework!
Today I decided to head to Will Rogers State Historic Park. Will Rogers was an actor, writer, and general huge celebrity of the 20s and 30s. He was born on a cattle ranch and saw himself as somewhat of a cowboy. His home is off Sunset and at one time he had 500 acres of land that went down to and included the beach. 168 acres of it is now a state park and you can visit it and his home. My little connection to Will Rogers is that my great-grandparents knew him--my great-grandfather played polo with him and they lived near him. Anyway, it was fun to be up there and hear a little about California history.
Tomorrow is my day of work--no classes or work at the library, so it's time to buckle down and do some homework!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
5 things people don't know about me
Lauren blog tagged me on this one a long long time ago. Here goes, although some people probably already DO know these things.
1. I won a class wide spelling bee in the 6th grade and then proceeded to sort of misspell a word on purpose at the county-wide bee (this was all written, not an out loud onstage type of thing). The word was "jodphur" and I was not entirely sure if it had the h or not, but I sure as heck did not want to move on from the county-wide bee and have to spell out loud on a stage at the Oregon State Fair, so I went without an h, which I was somewhat more sure was wrong. Jordan has never quite forgiven me for this.
2. There is one board in the hardwood floor in our living room that I won't walk on. It's a little darker than the other boards and when I was little I got into an OCD thing where I wouldn't step on it. I'm pretty sure that makes me a racist.
3. In addition to the OCD thing with the floor, I also used to be unable to enter or exit my bed at home from the right side. This sort of had to do with the fact that the left side was the natural side to get on or off, as it faced the door and the right side bumped up next to my desk. It soon devolved from a natural behavior, however, into an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. I've kind of gotten over this, but I have to admit to still being a little disturbed if I get on or off on the right.
4. Continuing on the odd string of behaviors, I have a mental block about the addition of 7+5 and 8+5. You would think that this would not be hard: obviously 7+5=12 and 8+5=13. But I seriously have to think about it every time I need to add those in my head. I had to think about it just then when I wrote it out.
5. Last but not least, I cannot keep my right and left straight. I know several other people who have this problem, so I know I am not alone. Giving directions is not my favorite thing because I always have to make a conscious effort to say the correct direction. Luckily I am somewhat saved by the fact that if you hold your left hand in front of you and hold out your index finger and thumb, it makes an "L," thus reminding me that that is my left side. Nevertheless, I tend to prefer pointing in the correct direction rather than saying it out loud.
And now ends the string of odd and neurotic behaviors that you may not have known about before! Ignorance may be bliss, but don't you feel better now that you really got to know me?
1. I won a class wide spelling bee in the 6th grade and then proceeded to sort of misspell a word on purpose at the county-wide bee (this was all written, not an out loud onstage type of thing). The word was "jodphur" and I was not entirely sure if it had the h or not, but I sure as heck did not want to move on from the county-wide bee and have to spell out loud on a stage at the Oregon State Fair, so I went without an h, which I was somewhat more sure was wrong. Jordan has never quite forgiven me for this.
2. There is one board in the hardwood floor in our living room that I won't walk on. It's a little darker than the other boards and when I was little I got into an OCD thing where I wouldn't step on it. I'm pretty sure that makes me a racist.
3. In addition to the OCD thing with the floor, I also used to be unable to enter or exit my bed at home from the right side. This sort of had to do with the fact that the left side was the natural side to get on or off, as it faced the door and the right side bumped up next to my desk. It soon devolved from a natural behavior, however, into an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. I've kind of gotten over this, but I have to admit to still being a little disturbed if I get on or off on the right.
4. Continuing on the odd string of behaviors, I have a mental block about the addition of 7+5 and 8+5. You would think that this would not be hard: obviously 7+5=12 and 8+5=13. But I seriously have to think about it every time I need to add those in my head. I had to think about it just then when I wrote it out.
5. Last but not least, I cannot keep my right and left straight. I know several other people who have this problem, so I know I am not alone. Giving directions is not my favorite thing because I always have to make a conscious effort to say the correct direction. Luckily I am somewhat saved by the fact that if you hold your left hand in front of you and hold out your index finger and thumb, it makes an "L," thus reminding me that that is my left side. Nevertheless, I tend to prefer pointing in the correct direction rather than saying it out loud.
And now ends the string of odd and neurotic behaviors that you may not have known about before! Ignorance may be bliss, but don't you feel better now that you really got to know me?
the triumphant return
Here I am, back in Los Angeles and ready to blog! Well let's see, I went home for three weeks for winter break. I'm going to be very sorry when I enter the non-academic world and no longer receive nice things such as three week long winter breaks. I was rather looking forward to a nice relaxing vacation, but it didn't quite work out that way. The first Monday that I was home we found out that my 90-year-old grandmother had pneumonia and wasn't going to be around for very long. I went and visited her that Monday and she passed away on Thursday night. Needless to say, it was neither a nice nor relaxing week. While she was 90, she was not in ill health at all--she had survived three hip surgeries, two of them back to back, in the last year. She had no heart problems, no other illnesses of any sort (good genes, thank you Grandma!). It was, therefore, a rather sudden turn of events.
Despite this, we did manage to do all of our normal Christmas activities--presents, food, etc. It wasn't even that depressing of a Christmas, although not quite as cheery as usual. We then went to the beach for New Year's and did have a nice relaxing time, sitting in front of a cozy fire and reading our books (or hiding in our room and watching DVDs if you're my sweet sister). After that was a whirlwind of a few days of catching up on some things at home, getting in a brief visit with the newly-engaged Lori (yay!), and having a pseudo-anniversary for my parents on Friday night (their anniversary was this Monday).
My parents had a very simple wedding. They took a Friday afternoon off work, my mom wore her best black suit, and they got married in the Multnomah County Courthouse with two friends as witnesses. They had a nice dinner out with those friends afterwards. I used to be shocked over this wedding, but am beginning to realize its advantages as I get older and wiser. One disadvantage, however, is that they have almost no pictures of it. In fact, they have exactly one photo, taken afterwards in front of their fireplace. My dad looks supremely pleased and my mom is looking down at their dog, petting his ear. Typical--the dog is the most important thing! This is a little 3 1/2 x 5 photo, so I got it blown up and put it in a frame for their 25th anniversary. This went over quite well, as you may imagine.
I got back here at 2:00am on Monday morning and had work that afternoon. Today was my first day of classes--I have one on Information Technology, which is more about the big picture rather than the nitty gritty of how to make a website (should be useful and not too bad), and one on Library Services to Children, which will be fun of course. I actually look forward to all my assignments in that class, so I know it's the right career for me. My professor for the IT class did inform us that we should be very concerned about actually having jobs in 5 years due to the changing nature of the field due to IT. Thanks a lot! I'm not too concerned, though, because something tells me that in 5 years 3-year-olds will still be coming into the library for storytime as opposed to conducting internet searches.
Despite this, we did manage to do all of our normal Christmas activities--presents, food, etc. It wasn't even that depressing of a Christmas, although not quite as cheery as usual. We then went to the beach for New Year's and did have a nice relaxing time, sitting in front of a cozy fire and reading our books (or hiding in our room and watching DVDs if you're my sweet sister). After that was a whirlwind of a few days of catching up on some things at home, getting in a brief visit with the newly-engaged Lori (yay!), and having a pseudo-anniversary for my parents on Friday night (their anniversary was this Monday).
My parents had a very simple wedding. They took a Friday afternoon off work, my mom wore her best black suit, and they got married in the Multnomah County Courthouse with two friends as witnesses. They had a nice dinner out with those friends afterwards. I used to be shocked over this wedding, but am beginning to realize its advantages as I get older and wiser. One disadvantage, however, is that they have almost no pictures of it. In fact, they have exactly one photo, taken afterwards in front of their fireplace. My dad looks supremely pleased and my mom is looking down at their dog, petting his ear. Typical--the dog is the most important thing! This is a little 3 1/2 x 5 photo, so I got it blown up and put it in a frame for their 25th anniversary. This went over quite well, as you may imagine.
I got back here at 2:00am on Monday morning and had work that afternoon. Today was my first day of classes--I have one on Information Technology, which is more about the big picture rather than the nitty gritty of how to make a website (should be useful and not too bad), and one on Library Services to Children, which will be fun of course. I actually look forward to all my assignments in that class, so I know it's the right career for me. My professor for the IT class did inform us that we should be very concerned about actually having jobs in 5 years due to the changing nature of the field due to IT. Thanks a lot! I'm not too concerned, though, because something tells me that in 5 years 3-year-olds will still be coming into the library for storytime as opposed to conducting internet searches.
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