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?
Saturday, January 20, 2007
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.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
oes news
For my few OES readers, I thought you would all be interested to know that they announced the selection of their new head today, Matthew Hanly. He is leaving his head position at an independent school in Michigan and was apparently beloved by all at that school. Interestingly to me, he is involved in the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education, the organization for which David Streight is the Executive Director. He sounds like a good pick!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
must be winter
I was just sitting here and I thought, hm, it kind of sounds like rain outside, someone must be washing something. Then I began to get more suspicious so I peeked out my window and lo and behold, it's actually raining. Woo hoo, my kind of weather! This basically completes my weekend which began on Thursday evening when I went to a concert at UCLA by the Roches, a folk music group. Then this morning I went to cute independent bookstore in Brentwood. Now it's raining. It's just like being in the Northwest!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
appropriate, given my new job
| I hope whoever left about a million books sitting on random shelves in the Chaucer section in my library finds themselves in the same predicament. | |
Sunday, December 03, 2006
i'm not a true blue football fan, but i'm pretty good
So Lauren and I went to the Big Game on Saturday, the one where unranked UCLA beat No. 2 USC, their rival team, the team they haven't beaten in seven years. Of course I didn't actually see the part where they won because by that time we were speeding away in Lauren's car. You see, I have had a rather unpleasant cold since Thursday night and I didn't much feel like sticking around with a bunch of crazed fans for three hours (especially crazed since we were sitting in the student section).
But we stayed until well into the third quarter, when the score was 10-9 and then we listened to the rest of the game on the radio. The real highlight of the whole experience was getting out of the parking area. They make you park on a golf course outside of the Rose Bowl and the way they had us in there, we couldn't get out unless one car on the end moved. Amazingly, that car left about twenty minutes into us sitting around in Lauren's car, wondering how long we were going to be there. Then the only thing that stood between us and freedom was a very small space between a truck and an SUV. Thanks to Lauren's driving skills and my navigating skills, she manueuvered through that with about four inches on each side of the car. We were so excited we almost drove into a canal. No really, we almost died. But luckily we did not.
But we stayed until well into the third quarter, when the score was 10-9 and then we listened to the rest of the game on the radio. The real highlight of the whole experience was getting out of the parking area. They make you park on a golf course outside of the Rose Bowl and the way they had us in there, we couldn't get out unless one car on the end moved. Amazingly, that car left about twenty minutes into us sitting around in Lauren's car, wondering how long we were going to be there. Then the only thing that stood between us and freedom was a very small space between a truck and an SUV. Thanks to Lauren's driving skills and my navigating skills, she manueuvered through that with about four inches on each side of the car. We were so excited we almost drove into a canal. No really, we almost died. But luckily we did not.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
all the news that's fit to print
I started my new job last week at one of our libraries. I'm just your basic shelver/discharger, but I like it. Last Tuesday we had an exciting event, which was that pipes in the ceiling decided to start spraying water over several shelves of books. We cleared them out, fanned them out on tables and put paper towels in between the pages of the really wet ones. You would think the whole book drying process would be all high tech, but no. In the I am my mother's daughter department, someone told me, rather bitterly, that things had been a lot cheerier since I started working. I just can't help my sunny disposition!
In other news, I got the "Annual Report of Donors" from Wellesley today. Someone in 2005 is already a "President's Circle Partner" which means she gave at least $50,000. In case you were curious, Hillary is only a President's Circle Benefactor, which means she gave at least $25,000. Oh Wellesley.
In other news, I got the "Annual Report of Donors" from Wellesley today. Someone in 2005 is already a "President's Circle Partner" which means she gave at least $50,000. In case you were curious, Hillary is only a President's Circle Benefactor, which means she gave at least $25,000. Oh Wellesley.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
children's book disillusionment
One of the things that library school is teaching me is that several books that I enjoyed as a child are actually terrible. The best example is I Love You Forever. Okay, when I think about it, that book is kind of weird. It starts with a mother rocking her baby, eventually moves on to her rocking her grown son, and then finally he sneaks into her house when she's old and rocks her. Plus the repeated message is "I love you forever, I love you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." A little fatalistic? Maybe. But nevertheless, I liked this book a lot when I was little and remember both my mother reading it to us and reading it to myself. But children's librarians HATE this book. Don't even bring it up to them.
Another one that I sort of liked when I was little, but didn't actually own, is The Giving Tree. Now I did I realize before I got to library school that this book has somewhat of an overly self-sacrificing message, but now it's been reinforced. Children's librarians hate this one too. I agree, but it's still disillusioning. This book makes me feel like how I felt watching the documentary about Disney movies--oh yeah! Beauty and the Beast does teach girls that they can turn their abusers into princes if they are nice enough to them!
Some librarians don't even like The Runaway Bunny. They think it's too smothering. I absolutely loved this book when I was little and I heartily disagree with its detractors. They will not ruin Runaway Bunny for me!
Feel free to let me know your beloved childhood books--I'll be happy to ruin all your childhood happy book memories with more boo hiss librarian opinions!
Another one that I sort of liked when I was little, but didn't actually own, is The Giving Tree. Now I did I realize before I got to library school that this book has somewhat of an overly self-sacrificing message, but now it's been reinforced. Children's librarians hate this one too. I agree, but it's still disillusioning. This book makes me feel like how I felt watching the documentary about Disney movies--oh yeah! Beauty and the Beast does teach girls that they can turn their abusers into princes if they are nice enough to them!
Some librarians don't even like The Runaway Bunny. They think it's too smothering. I absolutely loved this book when I was little and I heartily disagree with its detractors. They will not ruin Runaway Bunny for me!
Feel free to let me know your beloved childhood books--I'll be happy to ruin all your childhood happy book memories with more boo hiss librarian opinions!
Monday, November 13, 2006
for serious
Last week in my children's lit class this was one of our assigned readings. It's partly a "pourquoi" story about how birds all have some black on them. But that's not really the point of the story. All of the colorful birds want to be like blackbird; at one point they do a dance and sing "Beak to beak, peck, peck peck,/ Spread your wings, stretch your neck./ Black is beautiful, uh-huh!/ Black is beautiful, uh-huh!"
Some reasons why I like this book: attractive cut paper illustrations, fun sing-song text, and, number one, message. Last week when we talked about the book, most of my classmates liked it too. Some people were uncomfortable with the message, however, feeling like it left out non-black people. At the time none of us really stood up for the message, including me, even though I felt rightetously indignant about their reactions. Apparently someone emailed my professor to say that he or she was unhappy with the way the discussion had gone, that no one had stood up for the black is beautiful message.
So we talked about it again today. Several of us pointed out the fact that many children's books have a "white is beautiful, black is bad" message. Snow White is one of the most obvious examples; my professor also mentioned a 1966 Caldecott honor book, Tom Tit Tot, a Rumplestiltskin retelling that refers to the evil presence in the book as the "black thing." How many books are read to African American children that tell them, in essence, that they are bad and evil? Here is one very rare example of a book that does the opposite. I really don't think that white children, whose skin color privileges them in so many aspects of life, will be hurt by hearing the message that black is beautiful.
As my professor says, our goal should be for every child to recognize a positive image of him or herself in a book, as well as for children to learn about others who are different from them. One of the things that reading does is to teach us about ourselves and those around us. Do we want those images to be stereotypical or self-esteem building? The idea is not to insulate children from racism, but to do our best to avoid instilling prejudice or low self-esteem through the books we share with them. Unless adults are willing to have honest discussions with the children in their lives, they might want to avoid reading them books that compare African American girls to dogs.
Some reasons why I like this book: attractive cut paper illustrations, fun sing-song text, and, number one, message. Last week when we talked about the book, most of my classmates liked it too. Some people were uncomfortable with the message, however, feeling like it left out non-black people. At the time none of us really stood up for the message, including me, even though I felt rightetously indignant about their reactions. Apparently someone emailed my professor to say that he or she was unhappy with the way the discussion had gone, that no one had stood up for the black is beautiful message.
So we talked about it again today. Several of us pointed out the fact that many children's books have a "white is beautiful, black is bad" message. Snow White is one of the most obvious examples; my professor also mentioned a 1966 Caldecott honor book, Tom Tit Tot, a Rumplestiltskin retelling that refers to the evil presence in the book as the "black thing." How many books are read to African American children that tell them, in essence, that they are bad and evil? Here is one very rare example of a book that does the opposite. I really don't think that white children, whose skin color privileges them in so many aspects of life, will be hurt by hearing the message that black is beautiful.
As my professor says, our goal should be for every child to recognize a positive image of him or herself in a book, as well as for children to learn about others who are different from them. One of the things that reading does is to teach us about ourselves and those around us. Do we want those images to be stereotypical or self-esteem building? The idea is not to insulate children from racism, but to do our best to avoid instilling prejudice or low self-esteem through the books we share with them. Unless adults are willing to have honest discussions with the children in their lives, they might want to avoid reading them books that compare African American girls to dogs.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
what a day
I was so wrapped up in my anxiety about my day that I missed the big Britney Spears divorce news. Good thing I have my friends to keep me abreast of all celebrity gossip! In other news, I am very excited about the way the elections are shaping up today. I was a disenfranchised voter this time. I didn't change my mailing address on my ballot so it was sent home. My mom sent it to me but it never made it for some reason. I did feel bad about not voting for the first time since I registered to vote, but I wasn't too worried that Washington state was going to turn Republican without my ballot!
100 things
I know this is so so cheesy, but didn't we already know that I am cheesy? Yes.
1. I was born in Portland, Oregon.
2. I lived there for two weeks until my parents moved all the way over the river to Vancouver because my dad worked there.
3. My sister and I have a complex about our hometown.
4. I love Portland even though it was recently named the whitest city in the United States.
5. I was a history major.
6. And I usually leave out that I was an economics minor.
7. I think it conjures up an image of a person that I am not.
8. I'm going to school to become a librarian.
9. I can't fall asleep until I've read something.
10. Don't ask me what my favorite book is.
11. I am a psuedo-morning person. I don't like to wake up early, but I'm not grumpy if I have to.
12. On the other hand, I am definitely not a night owl.
13. I like to bake.
14. My signature recipe is probably banana bread, but I can make a good pie crust.
15. Cooking kind of scares me.
16. I'm not really bad at it; it just worries me more.
17. My family has a second home on the Oregon coast.
18. I prefer stormy weather when I am there.
19. I am a dog person.
20. I always say that I don't like cats, but I've liked most cats I've encountered.
21. I don't like to exercise.
22. The most humiliating experiences of my childhood happened every day in P.E.
23. The only thing I was good at in P.E. was the flexibility test.
24. I ran cross country in high school.
25. I love my neighborhood.
26. Some of my best friends are my neighbors.
27. I went to a private school in Portland from second through twelfth grade.
28. I am in touch with more friends from high school than college. I think.
29. I rode overnight on a bus to go to the March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC in 2004.
30. I haven’t really done anything to support pro-choice causes since.
31. Not on purpose. And I feel guilty.
32. I feel guilty about a lot of things.
33. I apologize a lot.
34. If you tease me about something I’ve done wrong it will just make me feel guiltier.
35. I often have dreams that take place at my high school and that somehow feature my English teacher.
36. I almost never have dreams that take place at my college.
37. When I was little I claimed that I only had bad dreams. I’m not sure if it’s true, but I remember feeling like it was.
38. When I am anxious about something, I often dream about something bad happening in an airplane or airport.
39. I don’t really like to fly, but I still do it.
40. I try not to make a big deal out of it.
41. I am not afraid of bugs.
42. I am not really afraid of snakes either; they’re just startling.
43. I like to think that I can remain calm in a crisis.
44. My grandparents have all passed away.
45. I have five cousins, two of whom are named Sara(h).
46. My family has one male yellow lab.
47. We have had two other male yellow labs, a female black lab, two guinea pigs, and an assortment of fish.
48. I am pretty sure we were neglectful guinea pig owners.
49. But they lived a really long time for guinea pigs.
50. The ashes of our first dog currently sit in an urn on my parent’s mantel. Our second dog is in my parent's bedroom. The third is in the den.
51. I love my family.
52. My current favorite television show is The Office.
53. I was on an anti-tv kick for a while because I didn’t like feeling obsessed with watching every week.
54. I think it’s pretty good that I’m only obsessed with one.
55. My parents got cable after I left for college.
56. If I’m watching The Office, I’m probably watching some sort of home show or a trashy teen series.
57. I would love to own a house one day.
58. I want a yard for a dog and a place to have a garden.
59. I always kind of assume that I’ll just buy it on my own.
60. I think it’s sad that I envision my future as living by myself with a dog.
61. But at least it’s not living by myself with a cat.
62. That’s too librarian stereotypical and besides, I already told you I don’t like cats.
63. I would like to have a family, but at the rate I’m going I think the dog plan is more realistic.
64. I’m counting on you, Lynne!
65. I usually feel like I don’t deserve things.
66. I don’t think that this makes me very different from a lot of people.
67. I used to be really shy. Then my parents forced me to be more outgoing.
68. I’m glad they did because it makes life easier.
69. But I’m still really shy at heart.
70. It’s been hard to make friends here in Los Angeles. But I did it eventually!
71. Ifeel felt like I had reverted to my younger self.
72. Thismakes made me sad, so I’m moving moved on to another topic.
73. Weather! I don’t like cold weather.
74. This is one of the main reasons that I wanted to come to UCLA.
75. I didn’t know that I didn’t like cold weather until I spent four winters in Boston.
76. It’s just so…cold. And the snow gets all grey and disgusting. And it’s cold.
77. I like to knit.
78. I really want to knit a sweater, but I can never get past the sleeves.
79. But it’s still one of my goals.
80. Another goal is to become a children’s and/or young adult librarian at a public library.
81. And make a positive difference in at least one life.
82. I know that I am idealistic and I always feel kind of silly about it.
83. I’m kind of secretly addicted to the internet. I can sit on it for way too long.
84. But I’m perfectly happy being disconnected from it when I’m on vacation.
85. I really hate it when “c” words are spelled with a “k.”
86. I once prevented Lauren from going into a store because it was called the “Kandy Korner.”
87. I don’t know if she’s forgiven me for that one yet!
88. On that same trip I also insisted on going into a coffee shop that turned out to be owned by a cult.
89. I think I should let her pick our destinations from now on.
90. I always used to feel more comfortable talking to adults than people my own age.
91. Sometimes I still do, even though I guess I’m an adult now.
92. I really don’t making phone calls to people I don’t know personally.
93. For some reason I always think they’re going to be mean to me.
94. I’m pleasantly surprised when they aren’t. Which is most of the time.
95. My favorite candy is Red Vines.
96. I could eat a whole box of them in one sitting. Before the movie even starts.
97. But I almost never buy them.
98. I have a problem getting rid of holey clothes. Particularly socks.
99. I have the manuals for every appliance I own. I even have one for my garage door opener.
100. I can’t believe I could think of 100 things.
1. I was born in Portland, Oregon.
2. I lived there for two weeks until my parents moved all the way over the river to Vancouver because my dad worked there.
3. My sister and I have a complex about our hometown.
4. I love Portland even though it was recently named the whitest city in the United States.
5. I was a history major.
6. And I usually leave out that I was an economics minor.
7. I think it conjures up an image of a person that I am not.
8. I'm going to school to become a librarian.
9. I can't fall asleep until I've read something.
10. Don't ask me what my favorite book is.
11. I am a psuedo-morning person. I don't like to wake up early, but I'm not grumpy if I have to.
12. On the other hand, I am definitely not a night owl.
13. I like to bake.
14. My signature recipe is probably banana bread, but I can make a good pie crust.
15. Cooking kind of scares me.
16. I'm not really bad at it; it just worries me more.
17. My family has a second home on the Oregon coast.
18. I prefer stormy weather when I am there.
19. I am a dog person.
20. I always say that I don't like cats, but I've liked most cats I've encountered.
21. I don't like to exercise.
22. The most humiliating experiences of my childhood happened every day in P.E.
23. The only thing I was good at in P.E. was the flexibility test.
24. I ran cross country in high school.
25. I love my neighborhood.
26. Some of my best friends are my neighbors.
27. I went to a private school in Portland from second through twelfth grade.
28. I am in touch with more friends from high school than college. I think.
29. I rode overnight on a bus to go to the March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC in 2004.
30. I haven’t really done anything to support pro-choice causes since.
31. Not on purpose. And I feel guilty.
32. I feel guilty about a lot of things.
33. I apologize a lot.
34. If you tease me about something I’ve done wrong it will just make me feel guiltier.
35. I often have dreams that take place at my high school and that somehow feature my English teacher.
36. I almost never have dreams that take place at my college.
37. When I was little I claimed that I only had bad dreams. I’m not sure if it’s true, but I remember feeling like it was.
38. When I am anxious about something, I often dream about something bad happening in an airplane or airport.
39. I don’t really like to fly, but I still do it.
40. I try not to make a big deal out of it.
41. I am not afraid of bugs.
42. I am not really afraid of snakes either; they’re just startling.
43. I like to think that I can remain calm in a crisis.
44. My grandparents have all passed away.
45. I have five cousins, two of whom are named Sara(h).
46. My family has one male yellow lab.
47. We have had two other male yellow labs, a female black lab, two guinea pigs, and an assortment of fish.
48. I am pretty sure we were neglectful guinea pig owners.
49. But they lived a really long time for guinea pigs.
50. The ashes of our first dog currently sit in an urn on my parent’s mantel. Our second dog is in my parent's bedroom. The third is in the den.
51. I love my family.
52. My current favorite television show is The Office.
53. I was on an anti-tv kick for a while because I didn’t like feeling obsessed with watching every week.
54. I think it’s pretty good that I’m only obsessed with one.
55. My parents got cable after I left for college.
56. If I’m watching The Office, I’m probably watching some sort of home show or a trashy teen series.
57. I would love to own a house one day.
58. I want a yard for a dog and a place to have a garden.
59. I always kind of assume that I’ll just buy it on my own.
60. I think it’s sad that I envision my future as living by myself with a dog.
61. But at least it’s not living by myself with a cat.
62. That’s too librarian stereotypical and besides, I already told you I don’t like cats.
63. I would like to have a family, but at the rate I’m going I think the dog plan is more realistic.
64. I’m counting on you, Lynne!
65. I usually feel like I don’t deserve things.
66. I don’t think that this makes me very different from a lot of people.
67. I used to be really shy. Then my parents forced me to be more outgoing.
68. I’m glad they did because it makes life easier.
69. But I’m still really shy at heart.
70. It’s been hard to make friends here in Los Angeles. But I did it eventually!
71. I
72. This
73. Weather! I don’t like cold weather.
74. This is one of the main reasons that I wanted to come to UCLA.
75. I didn’t know that I didn’t like cold weather until I spent four winters in Boston.
76. It’s just so…cold. And the snow gets all grey and disgusting. And it’s cold.
77. I like to knit.
78. I really want to knit a sweater, but I can never get past the sleeves.
79. But it’s still one of my goals.
80. Another goal is to become a children’s and/or young adult librarian at a public library.
81. And make a positive difference in at least one life.
82. I know that I am idealistic and I always feel kind of silly about it.
83. I’m kind of secretly addicted to the internet. I can sit on it for way too long.
84. But I’m perfectly happy being disconnected from it when I’m on vacation.
85. I really hate it when “c” words are spelled with a “k.”
86. I once prevented Lauren from going into a store because it was called the “Kandy Korner.”
87. I don’t know if she’s forgiven me for that one yet!
88. On that same trip I also insisted on going into a coffee shop that turned out to be owned by a cult.
89. I think I should let her pick our destinations from now on.
90. I always used to feel more comfortable talking to adults than people my own age.
91. Sometimes I still do, even though I guess I’m an adult now.
92. I really don’t making phone calls to people I don’t know personally.
93. For some reason I always think they’re going to be mean to me.
94. I’m pleasantly surprised when they aren’t. Which is most of the time.
95. My favorite candy is Red Vines.
96. I could eat a whole box of them in one sitting. Before the movie even starts.
97. But I almost never buy them.
98. I have a problem getting rid of holey clothes. Particularly socks.
99. I have the manuals for every appliance I own. I even have one for my garage door opener.
100. I can’t believe I could think of 100 things.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Alleluia!
The fridge appears to have made a dramatic comeback! I will keep you all updated on the state of my refrigerator, as I know you are on the edge of your seats at this point.
why oh why?
On top of the fact that I have two rather unpleasant activities to undertake tomorrow, I'm pretty sure my refrigerator just died. I heard a very loud noise coming from my kitchen and upon further investigation, I think it was the fridge's fault. My fridge is now making rather pathetic sighing noises and when I opened it up to see if it would turn on, it just made more sighing noises, plus some creaky noises. I think the plan is going to be to not open it again and then call my manager in the morning. He just came by yesterday to fix the pilot light on my heater which blew out, thus causing the scent of natural gas to fill my apartment when I woke up yesterday. Fun!
why am i having a panic attack about this?
I have a midterm and a presentation tomorrow in one of my classes (the one that I posted a rant about earlier). For some reason this has sent me into a state of absolute terror. I even had one of those bad dreams where I took the test and there was a question on it about a topic I had forgotten to study. I never have those dreams! Usually I am a very calm person about such matters.
I think it has to do with a couple of factors. First of all, the fact that I also signed up to give a presentation tomorrow is scary. I basically got over worrying about presentations at Wellesley, but that is because I always felt like I had a friendly audience. My professor is nice, but he likes to ask probing questions that potentially reveal your utter stupidity and lack of deep thought.
Second of all, I had to buy my own blue books (I was so dismayed). Please note that Wellesley College never made us do such a thing and thoughtfully provided us with as many blue books as we needed during the course of a test. So I'm kind of worried because I've never taken a test at UCLA--I don't really know what to expect.
Third of all, I don't know if this is a universal grad school thing or just my department, but I have to maintain a 3.0 GPA or they can kick me out. If I think about it logically, this is not a big deal. I'm not really expecting to do that badly in any of my classes. They also have an incentive to keep me in school, I guess, so basically that requirement just means that our grades are kind of inflated (well, that's what some other people have said). And it's not like I'm taking super advanced math classes here or something--it's just library school! But illogically, this requirement really scares me. It makes me feel like I am in a precarious position and any moment I might be sent away, never to become a librarian.
I think it's that last one that is making me so worried. At Wellesley I knew that I could do badly on a few and oh well. But I don't have that comfortable little feeling to fall back on here, so I'm having nightmares about Freud (yep, I distinctly remember that the question I couldn't answer in my dream had to do with Freud). The only good thing I have to say is at least it will all be over tomorrow at 5pm!
I think it has to do with a couple of factors. First of all, the fact that I also signed up to give a presentation tomorrow is scary. I basically got over worrying about presentations at Wellesley, but that is because I always felt like I had a friendly audience. My professor is nice, but he likes to ask probing questions that potentially reveal your utter stupidity and lack of deep thought.
Second of all, I had to buy my own blue books (I was so dismayed). Please note that Wellesley College never made us do such a thing and thoughtfully provided us with as many blue books as we needed during the course of a test. So I'm kind of worried because I've never taken a test at UCLA--I don't really know what to expect.
Third of all, I don't know if this is a universal grad school thing or just my department, but I have to maintain a 3.0 GPA or they can kick me out. If I think about it logically, this is not a big deal. I'm not really expecting to do that badly in any of my classes. They also have an incentive to keep me in school, I guess, so basically that requirement just means that our grades are kind of inflated (well, that's what some other people have said). And it's not like I'm taking super advanced math classes here or something--it's just library school! But illogically, this requirement really scares me. It makes me feel like I am in a precarious position and any moment I might be sent away, never to become a librarian.
I think it's that last one that is making me so worried. At Wellesley I knew that I could do badly on a few and oh well. But I don't have that comfortable little feeling to fall back on here, so I'm having nightmares about Freud (yep, I distinctly remember that the question I couldn't answer in my dream had to do with Freud). The only good thing I have to say is at least it will all be over tomorrow at 5pm!
Saturday, November 04, 2006
thank you internet!
I found this info on stirring natural peanut butter from notmartha. Let me tell you, it is so enlightening. No really. I'm so excited about my new-found peanut butter knowledge. It had never occurred to me before to just put my cold jar of peanut butter in the microwave to make it more spreadable. I just wanted to share this with you in case you were encountering the same problems. And in case you were wondering what the point of natural peanut butter was, most of the non-natural kinds have egregious levels of trans fat in them and we can't have that!
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