Awww, man....

I'm nowhere near ready to start looking for a job, but damn, this one looks potentially fun:

College Librarian - Culinary Arts
The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC)

Phooey.

Hoo-hah

Finally! Someone (Susie Bright, to be exact) has pointed out that "most librarians are not tight-lipped prudes, they're courageous front-liners on First Amendment issues." Thank you!

In case you haven't been following the story, a librarian at the Sunnyside Elementary School in Durango, Colorado complained that the book "The higher power of Lucky," which contains the word "scrotum" on its first page, wasn't suitable for children and banned it from her library (other school librarians did the same, she's just the one who is foremost in the article). I do wonder if these particular librarians have actual MS degrees in Library Science or are just over-worked teachers who got thrown into running their school's library. It could go both ways; there are plenty of people in my library science program that make me really wonder why they chose to be librarians and whether or not I'd trust them to do a thorough job of collection development. Anyway.

All this, of course, made me try to remember what "pet words" my family came up with for our genitalia. If I remember correctly, a vagina (well, a vulva, actually, but that's a whole 'nother post) was a "boochie" and a penis was a "pee pee." No, I have no idea where that particular vaginal-nomer came from. It sounds like some type of cookie. Not to say that lady parts can't be tasty items.

I'll spare you the interminable list of alternative genitalia names that I've encountered (I worked with kids for many, many years), but I'm wondering; what names did *your* family use? Or were they less shy than mine and actually used the real names?

snow day

It is days like this when it really sucks to live on the other side of town, away from all my friends. I live in on the far side of Urbana and most everyone else is in Champaign. Too far to walk and there's no way I'm driving right now. Sigh. No one visits, no one calls...poor lonely me.

Okay, enough of that. That's just depressing.

My neighbors are currently making a mess by spinning their tires on the snow and packing everything down so that nothing will melt until May. At least they haven't hit my car. Yet. No one here knows how to drive in snow. And now they've ruined the prettiness that was in front of my place by driving on it. The nerve.

But I got my taxes done and I'm getting a nice refund. I hope I filled out everything correctly; being a student is really weird when it comes to taxes. Now on to the FAFSA to see if I can attend school for another year.

whoa, again

Aaand...the University is going to be closed tomorrow. Wow. I don't think that's ever happened before. And yes, it is really nasty out. Even this Nebraskan is impressed. I'll take some pics tomorrow. Oh, and my front door, which faces North, unfortunately, leaks badly and gives a really high whistle when the wind blows right. I am seriously considering nailing a rug to hang down over it to keep out the draft.

I have plenty of OJ, oatmeal, and coffee, and a full pantry of dry goods, plus I made bread and boiled some eggs today, so tomorrow's lunch will be yummy egg salad sandwiches and soup. I think that tonight's dinner is just going to be popcorn, though. I already cooked enough today.

I think the catch-up-on-homework gods are smiling upon me. As long as the wireless Internet gods keep a big grin on their faces, I might actually get on top of things. Speaking of procrastination, you may enjoy the following video.

Ze Frank: Pro-Cra

As someone who didn't complete her Museum Informatics class partly because of the lure of learning new technology rather than using what was already in her brain, I can really relate. Back to watching Nova (it's about our cousin-apes, bonobos, which is hilariously appropriate for just before Valentine's day) and pushing papers around on my desk.

whoa.

The University Library is closed today due to the weather. Actually, the entire University has closed. It's as if the Universe is closed. We never close! At least, we haven't since 1979 or so. All classes are canceled.

Honestly, it doesn't look all that bad out. But that's the Nebraskan in me talking, plus I was planning on staying home today anyway. I guess everyone who was at the grocery store last night had the right idea. Hey, at least it isn't nearly 12 FEET of snow!

Whenever we get a big snow, I am reminded of the Little House on the Prairie books, especially the one where Pa almost gets lost going between the barn and the house, but is saved by the rope tied between the two. Here's hoping everyone has enough rope. Which is a really strange thing to wish anyone.

Librarian heroes

From Overheard in New York:

Thug teen: I wanna take out this fuckin' book.
Librarian: Okay, well, go to the check-out desk.
Thug teen: I got to go to the other fuckin' desk, mothafuckah?
Librarian: Yeah, motherfucker. The other fuckin' desk.

--Brooklyn Library

Gee, sounds like some of my Public Library experiences. And Undergrad, on some evenings.

Weekly Update

In no particular order, this week I:

• Watched an episode of Lost with a group of people. Definitely an experience I want to repeat.
  
• Saw Night at the Museum with Mark. It was cute, but probably would have been more enjoyable if seen when it first came out.
  
• Stitched and bitched at Jen's (I'm making a knitted and felted laptop case).
  
• Wrote my final project proposal for Advanced Cataloging class.
  
• Evaluated a collection of folktales for Storytelling class.
  
• Knocked head against wall over (still) incomplete Collection Development class.
  
• Tripped badly over own words in discussion section of Libraries, Info and Society class.
  
• E-mailed an (ultimately unneeded) explanation of what I was really trying to say. in discussion to a select few friends. Made me feel less tortured over the whole thing, anyway.
  
• Reminded myself that I need to get through the class in order to graduate and that I am perfectly capable of doing so without my head exploding from anger and frustration. It isn't *that* bad.
  
• Attended my very first Metadata Roundtable. It was very interesting. I think I am a classification geek. I'm on my way, in any case.
  
• Amused myself in Metadata Roundtable by observing the gender ratio and physical positioning of the attendees. Yep, definitely still an anthro geek.
  
• Followed up on Grad Assistant possibilities for this Fall.
  
• Deleted over 200 blogs from my Bloglines account. Breathing a bit more easily now.
  
• Created giant pile of unread magazines and catalogs for the cats to play on. Then recycled the pile, which was the ultimate goal.
  
• Heavily weeded the pile of (mostly ALA free crap) books I've been hoarding since Summer 2005.
  
• Vacuumed the air-intake duct (it was covered in cat hair) that was behind the pile of crap books.
  
• Made a decision to work through what is already on my "to read" list, which is in the higher hundreds, instead of grabbing books by browsing. We'll see how long this lasts.
  
• Read a couple hundred pages of stuff for school.
  
• Investigated alternative classification schemes for the Family Resiliency Center's library.
  
• Was fed a lovely Sunday dinner by Richard (thank you). He saved me from eating my default whatever-is-still-in-the-fridge-with-the-possible-addition-of-crackers meal. I need to start cooking healthy food again. Stupid Winter slumps.

...and other stuff that isn't going to make it in this entry. I have too much to write as it is. And now that I've got my fingers warmed up, it's back to that non-blog writing thing.

Here's hoping...

I'm crossing my fingers.

From Indexed

ooo, shiny!

This is sooo much better than a plastic putty-colored case. If I only had more time...and knew how to do this type of metal and glass work.

Steampunk PC case

Mustn't...take..on...new...project! The PC needs a memory upgrade much more than it needs a prettiness upgrade.

Damn it. Now I want to watch Firefly episodes. Back to homework.

Via Brassgoggles.

Telling Tales

I told my first story to my Storytelling class last night. I kicked ass.

I actually got gasps and satisfied "aha" sounds at the ending, which still makes me do a little pleased wiggle when I think about it. The instructor said that I really "owned the story."

Okay, mustn't let head get too swelled. One bit of constructive criticism that I got (from a former theater student) was that I might want to stand a bit more solidly, especially considering my body type. Apparently, I was standing in third position (or first position, which seems unlikely) the entire time. Makes sense. As a bigger person, I tend to be very aware that I'm taking up "extra space" and I tend to hold myself more closed, in order to feel smaller. Something to consider for next time.

Oh, and I really overestimated what the appropriate age group for the story is. It isn't a scary story, but there is a sudden ending and the plot revolves around a horse and death. I've forgotten my little girl past and didn't remember that bad things happening to furry creatures can be a bit much when one is young. And older, but we tend to be able to handle it better.

So, now I need to choose the next story to tell. I think I might sing the next one. I even have two song-stories to choose between; one is funny and one is creepy. I'm going to practice both and decide later since I have a few weeks.

Oh, what story did I tell last night? If you like, I'll tell it to you....

The Groundhog spoke truthfully

Wow! Tonight is going to be a toasty -5 degrees. That's a whole degree warmer than last night. Spring must be on the way. I'll have to switch out my seasonal wardrobe...

Stupid weather. Why have I lived in the Midwest all my life? Still, it's better than the one Nebraska winter I endured where, with the wind chill, it reached -60 degrees one day. I remember it well because I had to duck into the Goodwill to buy a better scarf. I still have that scarf somewhere.

And the forecast for tomorrow calls for an 80% chance of snow. Hey, as long as it isn't ice, I can handle it.

Off to slide the warmer across the sheets to prepare for bed. I wish.

Curled up on the couch clutching my gut

From laughing too much, I mean. I know certain people have had enough of pirates for the time being, so they didn't get an email about this find, but I thought other people would appreciate it. From the Metal and Magic gallery, from which I have been snagging desktop images from for the past half-hour:

Arrgh! It be non-girly protection ye be wantin'?

Mwah hah hah!

Okay. I went back and changed one answer. But I knew which one I had gotten wrong, so that proves something, right? Other than the fact that I'm bored and at home alone on a Saturday night, I mean.

Talking to tabbies

Well, neither of my cats is a tabby, but I always try for some alliteration.

On Monday I will tell my first of three stories in front of my Storytelling class. I love this class. It's giving me a nice break from my other two classes while feeding my little anthropologist heart. Naturally, I've chosen a Russian folktale. I've been practicing telling it out loud for the past two weeks; in the car, while doing dishes, in the shower. And to my cats. Who are the absolutely worst audience ever.

Misha just looks up for a moment, and then falls back asleep. Is he bored? Or just exhausted from sleeping all day? And Missy talks back constantly. I think she thinks I'm going to feed her. Or she's just very critical of my style. Maybe both.

I think I'm going to have to accost my human friends and make them listen to me. Hopefully they won't be meowing the entire time I'm trying to practice my stories.