One giant step for Sassy...

It was a very, very eventful weekend. I believe I am now officially an adult. Okay, well that's debatable but nevertheless, I must argue my point. My 4 wonderful aunts and muscle-laden boyfriend did me the wonderful favor of hauling my new washer and dryer into my humble abode over the weekend. It has been a non-stop laundry fest ever since that fateful Saturday. I think I'm on my 7th load right now. Sure, they're both at least 600 years old and the dryer has a bit of a funk to it, but overall they're perfect and perfectly suited for my simplistic lifestyle with my hairy and smelly animals. Usually I try to run errands, go to the gym, etc. after work but today I actually rushed home after work to do laundry! I know this feeling will fade as I get used to it but I am going to take advantage of it while I can and wash my entire apartment. If I could fit my carpet in there, I would! Thank you to all my wonderful aunts for all your help!!!

On another note, I received quite the honor today. I got an email requesting that I meet with a writer from the school paper to be interviewed. They actually want to do an article about me! Li'l ol' me? I'm not sure what I'll say. Maybe I'll talk about my new washer and dryer. Or maybe I'll replete the interviewer with stories of the wacky times of Levi and Sammy. No, I'm just kidding. All joking aside, I am quite honored to have the opportunity. I really do love being a librarian and I honestly like talking about it so it'll work out well.

Well, Levi's giving me that "look" that says either I let him out or I need to go grab the carpet cleaning spray. Better go...

Librarian Daze

Well I officially entered true librarian geekdom yesterday (not that I wasn't already happily residing within this territory). I actually conducted research about...research. Yes, it's true. Metaresearch. It's a whole new level for me. Of course, I have to add that it was really research about LEGAL research which is virtually nothing like any research I have ever done before. It's not intuitive and not a small feat to learn. I commend those who actually trudged through law school forced to read some of this legal stuff which is not the most thrilling of information (at least to these untrained eyes).

On another note, I think Sammy is officially schizophrenic. He goes into these fits of running around the house at about 45 miles per hour, attempting to squeeze himself into tight spaces, jumping to random spots and generally looking insane. Yesterday while in this bizarre (yet entertaining) mode, he tried to jump up on the kitchen counter where his food bowl sits. He missed. He missed, fell on the dishwasher and hid under my kitchen table probably in embarrassment, confusion, and maybe a little pain (he's fine). He's either over-confident in his athletic abilities, or slightly "off" in the head...maybe a combination of the two. Either way, it's quite a sight to see a 14-pound cat fall. At least he's getting exercise.

Oh yeah, and certiorari? What's the deal with making things more complicated than they need to be? I know basically what it means, it's the idea that the Supreme Court has the discretion to consider many issues, but it's just too similar to Sheri Oteri, the actress on SNL. Then again I'm probably pronouncing it wrong. Gosh life is a challenge.

Another day, another item destroyed

Levi got a hold of another one of my washcloths. By the time I found it, it was actually 3 washcloths. He's such a terd. I suppose it's better that then my favorite shirt or my breakfast.

Things at work are going pretty well. I have new automation software which is AWESOME and has made my life as a librarian 65% easier. I can just download the information directly from the Library of Congress. There's a lot of data entry but it's still so much more efficient than an Excel spreadsheet or an Access database.

I went to the gym today and had forgotten that I put "Pines of Rome" by Respighi (sp?) on my mp3 player. It came on while I was plugging away on the treadmill. It is a phenomenal piece and you should listen to it whenever you need an inspirational boost. There's a quiet lull in the middle but don't get discouraged, it picks right back up. Oh my gosh I'm plugging an orchestral piece. That's weird.

On a final note, I am tre excited to go visit the Indianapolis chapter this weekend! Yay! Three cheers for Peggy Babcock!

hip hip...hooray!!
hip hip...hooray!!
hip hip...hooray!!!

:)

this is exactly how i'm feeling today. i got no sleep last night, my day was crazy busy. i swear to all of you who read this, i will be calling everyone soon. i feel so disconnected but i'm getting a schedule, slowly but surely. thanks to everyone who sent emails, cards, or gave me a ring on friday! that was sweet! I will be calling you all soon. But look at this face, do you really think she can hold a civil conversation? yeah, i don't think so either. :)

time

i don't really understand how we're supposed to do it. what i mean is, if you work 40 hours a week, how does anyone have time to themselves? let alone, family and friends. it's such a scary thought. i spend 8-9 hours at work a day. i love my job, i really do. after my day is over, i go to the gym. by that time, it's anywhere between 7pm and 9pm. then there's bills, taking care of my boys, keeping track of my money (which believe me, is no small task for me), and cleaning my house. oh yeah, and eating. my time to myself is important so i try to do some quality stuff that i enjoy, but at the same time, my family means the universe to me. i'm getting adjusted more or less but i keep finding things i want to do. i want to be involved in music. i want to take a tap dance class. i want to ride my bike around. i want to take levi to every park in town. i want to do this, i want to do that. but i keep coming back to the same question...when?

i have to send out my profound respect to people who know just how to do this and are able to raise children at the same time. my own parents, my sister and brother-in-law, my grandparents, and all my aunts and uncles who no matter what found a way for all of us to be together. even if a lot of us are in different cities or different states, i feel like we have a connection that crosses all borders. no matter where i am, i know my family is standing beside me, helping me, guiding me, supporting me and loving me. and i am standing next to each and every one of them doing the very same thing.

whoa...deep breaths...hold the violins...

okay, i guess i should explain this. i just watched "hotel rwanda" for the first time today. i guess it made me count my lucky stars to be where i am and who i am. i guess it just kinda made me homesick. ha! not only am i the crazy cat lady but i'm also a 25-year-old librarian who still gets homesick! oh well. i guess there are worse things i could be. i mean, i could be a chihuahua...or a sweet potato... or joan rivers! oh man i could even be a stegosaurus, which means i would be extinct. but then maybe i would be worth a lot of money because i am clearly not extinct because i am typing on a computer. i'd be the last living stegosaurus and the first literate stegosaurus. so i'd be the rarest form of all, the last first literate stegosaurus. but then i'd probably get into a situation like E.T. was in. no, i better just stick to who i am. i'm pretty good at that.

What a hard life... 

absquatulation (noun)

Definition: The action of going away suddenly and squatting somewhere; making off, decamping.
Example: "If the actress does not make an appearance soon, her fans will imagine a total absquatulation."
(that's for you Aunt KJ) :)


Isn't it the greatest word ever?

Nothing really remarkable happened today. It was a good day, it's a short week, and life is good! What more can I ask for?

Best word ever

absquatulation

Chew on that for a while. :) Well it's July 4th, and as usual, there is a barrage of fireworks displays all around the town. I walked outside to see if there was a view from my apartment complex and I could see so many fireworks! I was joined by a nieghbor of mine and we struck up some small talk. She's a nice lady and she's always thought Levi was super-cute (always a bonus). We chatted on, mostly about dogs and she told me she's thinking about getting another dog but that it needs to be small and have small...ahem...stools. Yes, she said it. Apparantely she wants the dog to be litter trained. Personally I've never heard of such a thing but I say more power to her!

Because of the fireworks, Levi has spent most of the weekend hiding. I've tried to entice him with his favorite yellow squeaky ball but to no avail. It will distract him until another *boom!* sends him cowering into my closet. He doesn't just hide, he shakes. He's been quaking in his...well, he's just been quaking I guess. The phrase "shiver me timbers" keeps popping into my head for some unknown reason. But alas I have yet to hear those words (or any, for that matter) uttered from Levi's mouth.

However, Sammy is another story. I swear to you, this actually happened. He's a very vocal cat. He has at least 650 different meows...a day. It's really quite remarkable. However, he sometimes does things like lick his chops while he is meowing. This very thing happened and out came the phrase, I kid you not, "Go away." Yes that's right folks, my cat has now learned to speak. This is a frightening concept for I believe that he will now attempt to take over the world. ...or Kentucky at least ...okay, probably just the kitchen but still it's kinda weird right?

Alright fine I'm the crazy librarian lady with the crazy talking cat and the crazy scardey dog. I admit it. But hey, at least I can read.

A piece of advice...

If you're feeling a little blue, do not, I repeat, DO NOT watch the movie "Sybill." While it's a good movie, it is not a pick-me-up.

Just chillin'... 

I seem to be having a hard time deciding on a true theme for this blog. Sure, my job is a big part of my life so I have a lot of stuff about library science, but that's not all I have interest in writing about. So I guess it's going to be a mishmash of subjects.

I just found out that a good friend of mine is going to be a daddy! It's hard to believe really. He'll be a wonderful father, I have no doubt, it's just weird to think of myself as the age where some people get married, have kids, and do that whole sort of thing. I may do the same someday, it just still feels like a whole different universe.

Speaking of dependents, Sammy (the cat) decided to wake me up this morning at 5am. He didn't do this by meowing or yowling. No. In the true spirit of the Sammy-way, he came at me, butt-first, sat on my head, leaned over and proceeded to both bite and lick my ear. Gross! Once I swatted him off the bed, he ran at top speed over to my dresser, on top of the TV and straddled it (which, let me tell you, is quite a sight to see a 14-lb cat with his weigh equally distributed on two sides of a TV). He is quite the hellion in the morning. Levi, on the other hand, would prefer to sleep as late as possible (I can't say as though I blame him). Sure...they're my "kids", but I can lock either of them out of my room at 5am and not have any doubts.

A good reference question:
"What day is Good Friday on?"

a little geeky librarian humor...

Announcing the New Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge Device, Otherwise Known as the BOOK!

It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just life its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere--even sitting in an armchair by the fire--yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM.


Here's how it works: each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The book may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward and backward as you wish. Most come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session--even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers.

Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is the entertainment wave of the future, an many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus...

from http://www.ifla.org/I/humour/humour.htm#book

My first experience with preservation

Yeah, it didn't go so well. A faculty member donated a young adult book to the library. To put it nicely, it was not in the greatest condition. Pages falling out, the cover was extremely worn on the corners. Personally, I love old books, even ones that are falling apart. There's just something special about them to me. However, for a library that hopes to move toward circulating part of its collection, it's not such a good thing.

So first I tried to glue the pages back into the binding using a special book binding glue. Apparantely the book's pages were not acid free (something I should've known right away since the pages were yellowish-brown and very brittle) so the glue seeped into each page individually making them extra dry and crackly. Okay, bad choice. Next I tried using book binding tape to put the pages back into their seams. Because of my spectacular skills as a seamstress, NONE of the pages were aligned and most were at least half an inch away from the cover of the book. As you know, they're either supposed to be flesh with the cover or shorter. Finally, to top it all off, after I taped and glued these suckers back in, I reviewed my work and noticed the pages were...yes...out of order. I HATE BOOKS!! Okay, no, I don't hate books. But I was so frustrated I had to set the book somewhere far from my reach and work on something else. Otherwise the book was destined to be destroyed. Oh well.

Other than the preservation disaster, I have to say I really like my job (knock on wood). I feel like my skills are being used, people respect and appreciate me and value my professional opinion...it's so bizarre. Plus they're paying for my way into the American Library Association's annual conference this weekend in Chicago! I'll be able to geek out with other library geeks all weekend! Yes!

A fun new search engine

Today at work, I ran across a search engine that exclusively searches for acronyms. How awesome is that?!

http://www.acronyma.com

Oh, and, coincidentally, I did NOT get paid today. I got the dates wrong. Stupid pay check. I didn't want one anyway so there. Okay, that's a big fat lie.

My project today at work was creating short bibliographies of credible online resources for various subject areas. I worked mostly on law and business websites today but I'm going to continue in the other areas as well. For those of you who might read this and know of a site that would be beneficial in any of these areas, please let me know! Here are the areas I'm researching:

law/paralegal
business
economics
human resources
management
computer applications
medicine/nursing
general sciences
general humanities

I'm getting to the point at work where I'm ready for more responsibility. I've got a giant folder filled with resources I think the library should collect. However, I also have to research space savers because the library is...well...tiny, and we're rapidly running out of room. They're starting to train me to help out with the bookstore (textbooks) as well. I'm beginning to realize that they want me to do a LOT. It's good because that means I'll never be bored and that's 10 times worse than being too busy. I just hope it's a manageable workload. But I know I'm getting ahead of myself.

Oh my gosh it's past my bedtime...TGIF everyone!!

One point for the good guys!

A couple of days ago, I posted a website that was a petition to try to amend Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Well guess what! It happened!

From the American Library Association webpage June 17th, 2005

Sanders Amendment passes: library users again free to read

(WASHINGTON) Today, in a stunning 238-187 victory, Rep. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) amendment to the House Science-State-Justice Subcommittee (SSJC) appropriations bill passed. The appropriations bill funds the Justice Department and Sanders’ amendment bars the Department from using any of the appropriated money to search library and bookstore records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Like the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) also sponsored by Congressman Sanders, the Sanders Freedom to Read Amendment restores legal standards and warrant procedures for investigations of library and bookstore records that were in place before passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. The text of the amendment reads, “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to make an application under section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861) for an order requiring the production of library circulation records, library patron lists, book sales records, or book customer lists.”

Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act dramatically expanded the scope of materials the FBI can access with a warrant from the government's secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or "FISA" court. This section gives the FBI the power to search for any "tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items)" in any location without having to name the subject of the search, permitting “fishing expeditions” in library records. Millions of people across the country, including librarians and booksellers, are concerned about the chilling effect of this legislation, which encourages users to self-censor their reading choices. Seven state legislatures, 44 state library associations, and 381 cities and towns representing nearly 62 million people have passed resolutions expressing their concerns with Section 215 and other specific provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

“Library patrons should be thrilled that their champion, Congressman Sanders, has finally prevailed,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “People from every political persuasion supported this amendment, and we are grateful that members of the House listened to librarians’ concerns.”

"Sanders Amendment Passes: Library Users Again Free to Read." American Library Association. 2005.

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2005/june2004abc/sandersamendment.htm

(Accessed 17 Jun, 2005)

Dog geek in heaven

That's right, I've finally found at least one crowd where my geekiness is wholeheartedly welcome here in northern KY. After work, I came home, put Levi in the car and off we went to the Pioneer Dog Park in Covington, KY. It was wonderful! Levi got a chance to act like the puppy he is without me yelling at him. There were all sorts of dogs there from schnauzers to rottweilers and everywhere in between. There was even an Italian Greyhound which I have to say is the wimpiest looking dog ever. It looks like it would break in half if you looked at it crooked.

Other than that, there's nothing but a whole lot of suckiness around here. Work was long and frustrating, I have a million loads of laundry to do, I really need to do some straightening up, and I still haven't had dinner. But on the bright side of things, I'm pretty sure I get paid tomorrow.

When you're feeling bad about something, just imagine yourself as either one of these animals. You'll either feel empowered or glad that you're not that dog... 

the immortal questions of life

why are clear plastic utensils so incredibly small?
shoe horns. what's the deal? who uses those anyway? and why is it a horn?
and speaking of utensils, how come they don't make a stronger version of a spork? those are awesome and i would use them all the time.
who thought it was a good idea to allow the work week to be 40 hours and 5 days? it's just absurd! and i've only been doing it for a few weeks!

well, i had a bunch more questions but i seemed to have forgotten them all. something odd happens to me when i leave work. my smart switch is turned to the "off" position and i have a hard time creating sounds that are anything other than monosyllabic. food. more. sleep. now. i'm usually okay at work but that's debatable of course. it appears that i also have a hard time capitalizing. very strange...

okay, i'm boring myself now. hopefully no one will read this unless they are about to go to bed. actually, that sounds pretty good. but first i should go find something i should do and then not do it. yeah, that sounds about right for a wednesday night.

Protect reader privacy!

Sign this online petition to protect reader's privacy from the USA Patriot Act Section 215. The protection against Section 215 is set to expire in December of 2005. Let our representatives know how we feel!

http://www.readerprivacy.org/index.jsp

For more information, check out the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom,

http://www.ala.org/oif

Woe is me

This weekend, I regret to inform you, Kevin and I found out that Pizza Hut does NOT deliver to my apartment complex. You can imagine the despair we experienced upon receipt of this knowledge. I'm seriously considering moving back to Bloomington. This just goes against all laws of human nature.