Morning is broken, blackbird is squawking

It is an absolutely gorgeous May morning! A delicious breeze accompanied by golden sun chases away the memories of those cold depressing winter days...of April. I decided to unplug my laptop from its power source and go native, make a fresh pot of Swedish dark roast, and enjoy the smell of the earth and the lovely flowers in my yard.

The ground is soaking wet, I just ruined my Bjorns, I spilled my goddamn coffee all over the lawn chair,and there are fucking mosquitoes everywhere! It's 8:24 a.m. and I am miserable! But I will stick it out and "enjoy" this beautiful morning or get West Nile trying. The lyric poetry has left my soul, however. Now it's a test of perseverance, woman against the wild.

French silk pie

Oh my god...a slice of French silk pie from Baker's Square has 850 calories...that's like eleventy-one WW points...what have I done to myself?

Social nyetworking

I just signed up for a Facebook account as part of Gail Borden Learns. I did the bare minimum--I made up an imaginary friend, Ginger Schnapp. I didn't create a full profile, not even for this imaginary person, and I don't feel comfortable trolling around for friends. I really don't care for social networking--nyet to that! It creeps me out. I see 13 yr. olds masquerading as 21 yr. olds on myspace and that isn't appropriate. Those 13 yr. olds aren't being forced, either; they like to pretend they're 21 yrs. old and sexually active. Whatever!

I have plenty of friends in the real world, and would rather cultivate those friendships. It's bad enough that I feel forced to do online dating, which is emotionally debilitating, so I'm not keen on the idea of socializing in cyberspace.

I suppose a library could set up a myspace or Facebook account that would act as a portal and draw people to its website. Maybe it would attract teens who are on myspace and Facebook, although frankly, if I were 13 yrs. old and on myspace, I wouldn't be visiting the library--I'd be pretending I was 21 yrs. old and talking to bikers. I wonder how many teens would come to the library through social networking sites. Heck, they come to the library already to use the computers so they can pretend to be 21 yrs old talking to bikers! We've already got 'em! ;-)

Needless to say, I probably won't be remembering my Facebook user name and password...I don't really care either! :-)

flickring

As you can see, I have managed to blog some flickr photos to this blog. I had a bit of a mishap when the photos when to another blog, the library's Good Reads blog--they weren't supposed to do that! I found out signing in to a Google account is not the same thing as signing in with your gmail address, and the web got tangled as a result.

Photo-sharing on flickr has a myriad of uses. We can post tons of photos of our fabulous library exhibits, events, and departments. The library has already posted photos on flickr and I'm sure we'll continue to do so. I don't know if I'll continue posting photos personally; for one thing, I'm never going to remember how to log in and I'll always be afraid of uploading to the wrong blog... ;-)

Ribbons of Mass Destruction

Ribbons of Mass Destruction
Originally uploaded by Tishoopaper

The ribbon must die!

MVC-011S
Originally uploaded by Tishoopaper

Perhaps the war on string is unwinnable.

Happy Memorial Day!

Seems a bit inappropriate to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day--aren't we all supposed to be mourning the nation's war dead? ;-) But hey, it's a long weekend, so fire up the grill and ice the beer and wish your friends and neighbors a Happy Memorial Day! I'm right there with you!

That reminds me of the time I went to Walmart, the Evil Empire, last Labor Day weekend. The cashier wished me "Happy Holidays" as I was leaving. Um...Labor Day is a federal holiday, with no religious connotations--you don't need to rephrase "Happy Labor Day" into more politically-correct terms! Labor Day is just Labor Day. Or is Labor Day offensive to the unemployed and we need to be sensitive about that?

Happy Memorial Day!

Garter stitch is very soothing

There's nothing more soothing than knitting in the garter stitch...k, k, k, k, k, k, k, over and over. You watch the loops turn into stitches turn into rows, and you don't even have to look at your hands, all you have to do is feel the wool slipping in between your fingers. I'm k, k, k, k, k-ing with a lovely fuzzy pink yarn. It'll just keep growing until I run out of yarn. It'll turn into a scarf for someone. I don't need to keep it.

That reminds me...I need to get my hands on Sally Melville's book about the knit stitch. She has designed really interesting, gorgeous garments with garter stitch, nothing else. That's elegance and simplicity. My life should be the garter stitch. Instead, it's a pattern involving some sort of twisted stitch that keeps repeating itself...and then it gets all loopy...

IM as I am

I just completed the IM Thing of Gail Borden Learns. (I almost typed "Leans" but I corrected myself.) I already use IM personally and enjoy it. Our virtual reference service through OCLC, Ask Away Illinois, is IM/chat-based, and I man that "desk" once a week. (It's nothing but 7th graders wanting you to cut-and-paste their homework for them! :-) )

We could certainly establish our own local IM reference service outside of Ask Away Illinois, for just our patrons. IM could also be used for more instantaneous communication in the building. It's easy and quick.

It's not right

You can't be a Sox fan and a Cubs fan both. That's biSoxual. You know you secretly lean one way or the other. I don't believe in biSoxuality.

Funny Times

Just got my new issue of the Funny Times! It's funny if you're a Democrat, not funny if you're a Republican. But since when is anything funny to a Republican? They've never really been on the Humor Train. The Funny Times has lots of great cartoons and features Dave Barry. You know, he's actually pretty trenchant in his commentary--I know, I know, you're thinking he's the guy who writes pages and pages of unfunny stuff about golf shirts or sandpaper. But he's different in the Funny Times--he's witty! The Funny Times is bimonthly, which means it likes both guys and girls. To subscribe, call 1-888-FUNNYTIMES (1-888-386-6984, lest you think the first number given is a text message...)

Fed me a line

Hmmm...I can't say I'm fond of RSS feeds. I signed up for the Gail Borden Learns blog and "Books&Authors" info from Hennepin County PL. I don't really need to consolidate my search for news in this way...I fear an onslaught of Updates that I'll wind up ignoring. I don't need to click on cnn.com every time there's an Update--I just click on it when I feel like it. I haven't missed a major or minor news story yet. But I'll try and give it a chance. I'm not sold, however. I think I've been fed a line... ;-)

The one convenient thing I discovered was, I could choose My Yahoo as my reader! It'll be nice to import the RSS feed into my personal e-mail. I have AT&T Yahoo as my at-home internet service provider. So that much was fine and dandy. I can't wait to unsubscribe at the end of the 15 weeks, though... ;-)

The Efficacy of Blogging

Ooops, I guess I don't read directions. I'm supposed to let you know how went my blogging experience. It was very easy to set up this blog. It's not going to be easy to get me to shut up, though...

The only thing that's confusing is where to click once you've created your blog, and you're signing back in. I tried it a couple of times and I think I have it down now...

I hope the rest of Gail Borden Learns is this easy! If it isn't, I'll emit anguished howls from my cube.

Books I've Read Which Made Me Feel Stupid

I really tried to understand these books, but I just couldn't. Professionally-speaking, I should've comprehended them and then gone on to recommend them. But I missed something. Anyway, here's the list of books I hate because they made me feel Stupid:

1. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison (Beloved's a ghost? Crap, I didn't see that coming!)
3. Ulysses by James Joyce (I think I have a problem with stream-of-consciousness...)
4. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (I don't remember the plot, but I remember the buzzing headache between my eyes.)
   

Who am I?

I could ramble on and on in an annoying existential sort of way, but it would be better just to list a few salient points about myself:

• I am a librarian in a medium-sized public library.
• I love to read, knit, and cook (so those things will take up this here blog, I bet!)
• I just turned 40, but I prefer to think of myself as $39.99 plus shipping/handling.
• I drive a Saturn. It's practical and reliable, just like me. It's cheap and plastic, just like me. It doesn't impress anyone, just like me.
  
• Yes, I have a cat!!!! You already bet your friends $20 that I have a cat!!!! Time to collect!!!