my umpteenth blog

2012-01-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

I just applied for a job posted by a group of museums/historical societies in PA. They're looking for a temporary cataloger for their textile collections. OMGAWESOME. It wasn't until I was describing this job to my Friday lunch group that I realized I may be the only person that gets giddy about a job like that. But seriously, how perfect would it be for me? Me, who can only think about textiles all. day. long. ITWOULDBETHEBESTEVER.

2011-11-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

So...I posted a while ago about a review of the movie "Anonymous" (I would put a picture here if I cared enough about it, but I don't, so DEAL with a pictureless post), and I went to see it as soon as it came out here because, whatever, I love movies, OK!? And even more than movies, I love a good period piece. Y'all know me. Anyways, I just realized that it's been weeks and I've failed to say anything about it (and a million other movies), partly because I was just. So. Disgusted. by it.

So here's the thing. Hopefully you know a little bit about Shakespeare. And hopefully you know a little bit about alternate theories of authorship of his works. One of the most popular (and most perplexing and obnoxious) theories started sometime in the 1920s with someone who said to himself one day "well this Shakespeare fellow was lower class. And poorly educated. And so was his family. So there is NO possible way that he would have been smart enough to pen the most transcendent works of the English language. No effing way, man" (they talked like that in the twenties). So this man set out to figure out who else could have been behind it and came up with Edward de Vere, then Earl of Oxford. He was wealthy, he was smart, he was close to the royal family (well the royal person, Elizabeth didn't exactly have a family...), somebody said one time that he was a poet, blah blah blah, it must have been him!

Fast-forward about 90 years, and, despite the fact that 10 of Shakespeare's plays were not performed or published before Oxford's death (and they could not have been published posthumously because some refer to events that didn't happen until years after his death), the theory only continues to grow in popularity, supported and propogated by celebrities (and why not? they're famous, so that makes them smarter than us, righ?!), despite the best efforts of prominent Shakespearean scholars to debunk this piece of ridonculosity (Shakespeare made up words, so I can too. Werd yo.)

So all this was floating around in my mind before I went to see "Anonymous", but I thought I'd find a pretty good movie despite the absurdity of its premise. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to willfully suspend my disbelief and enjoy the movie for its own sake. Why, you ask? Because, as the film went on, that premise struck me as more and more offensive. What? I was offended by a movie?!?? Yes, apparently I'm not beyond feeling. Or something.

Anyways, what offended me so much is that this whole theory (and the movie that supports it- director Roland Emmerich has become a major proponent, and released with the movie, a documentary by his prodcution company and lesson plans to be sent to high schools so kids could learn about this hogwash) is based on the idea that poor/uneducated/obscure people cannot do extraordinary things. Can you imagine tteaching that to high schoolers? Oh hey kids, do great stuff with your lives, but probably just accept that since you're pretty average you'll never do anything better than average, and if you do, the credit will go to someone else, because who would seriously believe that a kid like you could do anything extraordinary? I don't know why this makes me so mad, but it just does.

Oh and on top of that, the people who made this movie and who support the Oxfordian theory of authorship probably mourned the recent loss of Steve Jobs, designer and entrepeneur extraordinaire, which strikes me as ironic because, like Shakespeare himself, Jobs' early life was rather unextraordinary.

And. AND...should I spoiler this? don't read any further if you don't want spoilers.

According to this movie, Queen Elizabeth was a raging wanton who bore many children who were farmed out to be raised in anonymity by her noble vassals. So she never knew who they were. So we find out as the movie progresses that Oxford had an affair with Elizabeth that resulted in a child. NOT KNOWING THAT HE HIMSELF HAD BEEN ONE OF HER CAST-OFF CHILDREN. WHAT:SODfao;sh;oqw??!~!orh;oh?!?!?!?!??!! Oh yeah and they had a kid together. So Elizabeth had a child with her son. HER SON.

I like to keep an open mind when it comes to history, but this type of historical revisionism, that drags major players down to the gutter without any supporting evidence is just disgusting.

UGH. What a frustrating movie. I actually almost walked out of it. For me to even consider walking out of a movie is...pretty extreme. It is classist, it is disrespectful, and on top of that, probably its worst crime is that it's just not entertaining.

Not. Recommended.

I'm moving to the North Pole.

2011-11-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

So I've been applying for jobs. And sometimes I apply for jobs that are longshots, or in places I wouldn't really want to go, because hey, any job is better than no job, right? Or something. And as much as I say I would be willing to go anywhere, there are still some places that I don't include in my definition of "anywhere". Like China. Or Florida. New Mexico. Arizona. Basically any place that is too foreign, or where the temperature regularly tops 110 in the summer.

Anyways, I'm thinking about applying for a job (that maybe I don't fill all the qualifications for, but I've got most of them, and it's worth a try). But you guys, it's in Yellowknife, CA- that's in the Northern Territories. Still not sure where that is? Visualize with me-

IT'S PRACTICALLY IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

Oh, whew, I just checked, it's a full 512 KM south of the Arctic circle. AND it's nickname is "Diamond Capital of North America". SOLD.

(Also, I'm counting on a disproportionately high man to woman ration. I like the odds of that.)

More NYTimes movie review ratings:

2011-11-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

"'Jack and Jill' is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Poop jokes."

Classic. Needless to say, I won't be seeing this movie.

Sometimes...

2011-11-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when I'm putting my makeup on in the morning, I accidentally powder my eyeball instead of my face and it hurts. HURTS, y'all. And then I have to wait for the tearing and irritation to subside before I can put on my eye makeup. And then I lose time.

ALSO, I have these boots that I love. Just love. Today I wore them with tights. I usually wear socks as well. When I was walking out of the house, I noticed that one boots felt noticeably looser than the other. Then I realized I had only put on one sock. Did I turn around and go back inside to put the other sock on? Obviously not. I'm too lazy for that. I'd rather play loosey-goosey boot day than be normal.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that today is an all-around win. ALREADY.

Anna Bolena

2011-11-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed that I was baking cookies or something totally mundane like that. Not that exciting, right? What if I told you that I was doing it in a modern kitchen, but there were tons of people around, and we were all dressed like it was the 1530s?

This is what happens when I watch opera too late at night. Btw, if you have even the slightest interest in opera, do yourself a favor and find a theater nearby that shows the Metropolitan Opera's performances. They. Are. SPECTACULAR. I've never left one feeling less than amazed. Even if, going into it, I think to myself "well, I don't really know this opera at all or like this composer, or the story just doesn't sound that interesting, but it's the Met so I guess I'll go", I'm always completely won over by the end. Completely.

Last night I watched "Anna Bolena", Donizetti's take on the story of Anne Boleyn. I wish I had something intelligent (ANYTHING intelligent) to say about opera, but I don't, so bear with me. I was mostly bored by the music in the first act, but the set was mind-blowingly clever, and the costumes wonderfully rich AND historically accurate (much more so than the opera itself). I can't help but be completely green with envy for anyone who works in the Met's costume shop. The level of detail they manage to achive (even when very few people will ever see the costumes up close) is really inspiring.

All that was well and good, but what really won me over was Anna Netrebko's performance as the beleaguered Queen Anne. By the end of the second act (when she has some temporary, heart-rending madness and finally bucks up, pulls her hair to one side, and heads out to face the executioner), I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and shout "Amen!" (you know, like the same way you feel whenever Mercedes sings on Glee, only stronger because it's so much better than that, and classier, of course, because it's opera :) ) Not only is she one of the best singers around, she's also an amazing actress (a skill which is sadly lacking in many singers).

Anyways, like I said, I don't really have anything super smart to say about it, except that I have a sneaking feeling that I just watched one of the best performances I'll ever see. Anywhere. In my whole life.

(But, let's be totally honest here, we all know the real reason I love watching these broadcasts is so I can crush on Russian Baritones, like Mr. Ildar Abdrazakov in the photo up there.)

Orcas are not people

2011-10-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Um...well...I don't even know what to say to this article(pause while you read it), except that I'm not *quite* sure training Orcas is the same as enslaving human beings. But it will certainly get PETA some attention.

(And while human slavery is still a problem , I think it's irresponsible to draw so much attention to something that, comparatively, does not matter)

Er...

2011-10-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Um. I don't know how to begin this. But this really happened.

I drove to work today. I KNOW I shouldn't have but it was cold and I was feeling lazy. When I left just now at the end of the day, I got into the Conference Center lobby (the Conference Center is the building across the street from the library. I park under it. On the very rare occasions when I drive. Most other people park under it as well) at the same time as a girl I know who also works at the library, though in a different division. She was in conversation with a tall, slightly attractive man. She saw me and started trying to include me in the conversation because she's nice like that. Problem: it's nearly impossible to come up to speed on a convo that's already been going on for a while when your only involvement comes when someone turns to you and says "Isn't that right? Don't the teams always need us?" WHAT TEAMS?!

Anyways, I did my best to fake my involvement. We got on the elevator and somehow I ended up between these two, still carrying on their conversation. She was getting off on P2, he and I on P4. After she got off, I started making small talk because, as I mentioned, he was not unattractive, OK?!

We arrive at P4. We take a few steps out of the elevator, still chatting. All of a sudden, it hit me. I'M ON THE WRONG FLOOR. I parked three floors up, on P1. So what did I do? Excuse myself and jump back on the elevator like a normal person? Don't make me laugh. I KEPT WALKING.

Not wanting to embarrass myself, I carried on the conversation halfway through the garage. Now. Consider. The Conference Center takes up an ENTIRE city block. I made it halfway through before I came up with a plan and took my leave. Luckily, we arrived at his car just as I made my decision. What was The Plan, you ask? Obviously, I did the only thing I COULD do.

I walked past his car, even further into the garage abyss, and, knowing he would be passing by on his way out of the building soon, and not wanting him to see me turning around, I chose a random car and pretended to unlock it until he was out of sight. I did no more or less than any reasonable person would have done.

Obviously.

2011-10-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

I love the New York Times movie reviewers because...well, for lots of reasons, but because, while being oh so smart, they're not afraid to just lay it all out there. Each review ends with the movie's rating, and the reasons for that rating. Usually the reasons have been tweaked.

The coda to A.O. Scott's delightful review of "Anonymous" (you know, that movie that puts forth the old theory that Shakespeare's plays were written by a well-heeled noble supporter?) reads thusly:

"“Anonymous” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Swordplay, bodice ripping, bawdy speech and the cold-blooded murder of the truth."

Spectacular. With just that last sentence, Scott simultaneously rips the movie apart AND increases my desire to watch it.

2011-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have a really passive aggressive desire to post only about quilting and other..."domestic" hobbies that take up my time from now on, but for now I will resist.

I spent my lunch break today reading Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". It's October (I thought I'd let you know just in case that fact has escaped your notice for the last 26 days), so I wanted something slightly Halloweeny, and what says "Halloween!" more than H.P. Lovecraft? Nothing.

Anyways, I just started and had only gotten through 4 pages over the last few days, but after today I am COMPLETELY HOOKED. It was quite a trial to tear myself away and go back to cataloging. Have you ever read it? Or any Lovecraft? You probably should, he basically invented the horror genre. But he wrote horror as it should be, not trying to substitute gore for horror. I think true horror should focus more on suspense, on the terror of the unknown, than on known, conventional villains (like any slasher story). I. Can't. Take. Slasher films.

I don't really have anything intelligent to say about any of this. Mostly just, if you haven't read any Lovecraft, you probably should (especially if you're looking to read something scary that will still let you sleep at night). Once you do, you'll start seeing references to him all over the place. Christopher Nolan's Batman movies (well, anything from anyone about Batman really- for some reason Lovecraft pops up a lot), Guillermo Del Toro references Lovecraft all the time, I feel like anything involving a protagonist turning to old musty archives for answers to their deepening fear is a reference to Lovecraft (I don't know where that meme started if not with him). If I paid more attention to things, I could go on longer. But I don't, so I won't.

2011-10-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

I know this is really goofy, but one of the quilts I'm working on right now...I really want to back it with this fabric. It's the right color and I love that it's vegetables for some reason. Maybe you saw the picture I posted on Fb? The top is all black and white and grey with some pink and green touches. But none of it has anything to do with vegetables.

I was also thinking about using this as a backing. The grey version of this print is one that I used in the top and I really love this print.

Or I could potentially use any of these because I used about half of this fabric collection in the top.

I wish I had a picture of the top to share, but it's really just kind of boring. And it's not done yet.

AND ALL THAT I CAN THINK ABOUT ALL DAY LONG IS QUILTING AND FABRICS THAT I WANT TO BUY. It is like a disease. I really have no idea where this came from because I never used to care.

2011-10-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

So. My brain is weird, but you knew that already. A few weeks ago, I won a free dozen cookies from this amazing Etsy shop in a giveaway on a friend's blog. Seriously gorgeous cookies. I got to pick my choice and I decided on the Halloween Black Lace cookies, but the Autumn Flor ones were the runners-up. Seriously I've never seen such gorgeous cookies. So I've been waiting for them, they're supposed to get here today or tomorrow. Last night, I was thinking about and anticipating receiving my beautiful cookies (yum!) and I ended up having a dream that I received them. When I opened the box, they were sooooo disappointing. I was expecting these gorgoeous, intricately decorated red and black cookies, and what I got was red-frosted cookies with lazily applied black swirls and stripes- kid stuff that I could have done myself. I was *seriously* disappointed.

Yes, I dream about cookie regret.

2011-10-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

I love that I can look at this picture and recognize the landmarks. I've walked through that gate. I stood, completely bewildered, on the street corner in front of that church. It was noisy. It was spectacular.

I can't wait to go back.

(photo taken from National Geographic)

2011-10-12T13:41:00.001-07:00

Overheard at the reference desk (we are not a lending library)...
"Hi, can you check books out from the library?"
"No, but you can sit at one of these tables and read them."
"Oh, they just have numbers on them, so I wondered..."

How silly of us to put numbers on books if we're not going to allow them out of the building. There's no other reason imaginable why we would give them barcodes and/or call numbers. There's not any reason why we would need to keep track of them ourselves.

2011-10-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

So lately I've been kind of (I mean completely) obsessed with quilting. This is A HUGE PROBLEM for many reasons, but mainly because I usually lack the follow-through to actually stick with such a large project from start to finish. The result? A build up of quilt tops and of unused fabric. The actual quilting and binding are always super daunting to me.

I'm feeling better about it now because I'm actually quilting and nearly ready to bind the first of this recent spate of quilts. After that I've got one finished top, one pile of fabric already cut and ready for sewing, and then a pile of uncut fabric ready to be turned into something fabulous. So that's four. BUT (and this is part of the thing that keeps me hopping from project to project) I get distracted by new patterns and fabrics very easily. My latest obsession? I reheheally want to make this pattern:

With these fabrics:

Oooooh preeetttyyyy.

Make me stop please.

2011-09-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today on the Diane Rehm show, they were talking about medical insurance- do you need it, don't you, how companies are different, etc...

This guy called in to say "I don't have any health insurance, I haven't for a long time, I just don't think it's valuable to me- I've always been careful to use lots of preventative care, eat right, and I've been going to a chiropractor since I was like four."

Seriously? First, chiropractic care is not preventative care. Second, who takes a four year old to a chiropractor for heaven's sake?!

Also, no matter how careful you are, how well you eat, there is always the possibility that you could be in an accident or develop something terrible. Who's going to pay for that man's care if he gets in a serious car accident or discovers a malignant growth (or any one of a million things happens)? Because no one has that much cash.

Idiot.

2011-09-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

I wrote a whole post about how I'm awkward but then tried to upload this gif to lighten the mood. And it did. By somehow deleting ALL of the text. He may look cute in a suit, but he is DEADLY.

2011-09-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know this is my second post in a short time about Les Mis, but I can't help it. I have a Pandora station that started as "Wicked" radio and has been morphed by my careful curation until it only plays music from the following: Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, Little Women (the musical!), The Light in the Piazza (a musical that flopped but has an amazing score), and lots and lots and lots of Les Mis. AND I LOVE IT. There is nothing with which I would rather fill my brain while cataloging. NOTHING, DO YOU HEAR ME?!

2011-09-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

You guys. Today I was on the reference desk and someone was trying to make a joke about me being the captain on the bridge- referencing Star Trek. Then he said "oh wait, you're too young for Star Trek". I assured him I wasn't too young to have seen an episode or two. What's weird about this? He is probably the same age as me, AT MOST 3 years older. I'm glad I skew young? I think.

2011-09-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my word, you guys, I don't know what is wrong with me, but I think I just offended someone in the elevator again. WHY?!

So I got on with this really sweet woman who works in library services, and we said hi, and then to fill the silence, I guess, she said "You're wearing red!" Because I am. I'm wearing a really bright red sweater.

And I couldn't think of a response to that, so I looked at her (she's wearing a dark pink skirt and a lighter pink shirt with a khaki blazer) and said "so are you....sort of!" Meaning, of course, that she's wearing pink, which is sort of red. And she said "oh you know, I'm not really into that sort of thing" which puzzled me. And then I thought that she thought I had been referring to her mismatching and was insulting her, which obviously I didn't mean to.

And, you know what? As soon as I finished typing this, I realized that today the employee's association is having a "tailgate" party for lunch, and we're supposed to wear our team shirts. AND SHE THOUGHT I WAS WEARING RED BECAUSE I'M A UTE FAN. Which is even worse than inadvertently offending someone. I mean, I would never want to be mistaken for someone so uncouth as one of *them*.

(but I will let the previous story stand as a monument to my own ineptness in social situations and/or my attempts to interpret them)

haHA!

2011-09-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Success! So remember the last post I wrote about not recognizing the Director of Libraries here?

Well, today I had basically the SAME EXACT encounter with him that I had the other day. He didn't remember me, you guys! Not one whit! And so, it was JUST LIKE "Groundhog Day" where I got to repeat the situation until I got it right (which only took one repetition in this case).

And this time, "getting it right" meant (1) knowing who he is, and (2) not asking inane questions and slinking away like Gollum.

This day is an ALL-AROUND WIN. (because of that and also because of this- http://thebloggess.com/2011/09/dear-portlandia-really/)

2011-09-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Number of fire drills at work so far this week: 2
Percentage of which were legitimately planned exercises or started by actual fires: 0%

Fire alarms echoing in hallway covered in hard, echoing surfaces = DEAFENING.

Strobe light flashing above my desk incessantly for 10 minutes afterwards = seizure inducing.

Why do I do these things?

2011-09-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

ALSO. I am an idiot. It's official.

I was waiting for the elevator and there was a man waiting as well who turned to me and said "I don't believe we've met, I'm [so and so]", and we went through the introduction thing.

He asked me where I work. I told him.

Then I said "and what do you do, [so and so]? I know I've seen your name on emails, but I can't remember off the top of my head."

His response? "I'm the director of the library".

Cue elevator door and my ashamed retreat.

Idiot.

(I really should have known, but in my defense there are so many levels of management and I've just never had reason to interact with him. But still. Idiot.)

UPDATED: Also, I just browsed the org chart (we have this really cool interactive one on the intranet) and realized that he's not over the whole library, he's director of a division that's basically parallel to mine. That alleviates some of my shame.

Adventures in reference

2011-09-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Also. Today I did my shift on the reference desk. A man came looking for an item- he said he just wanted to see if it was in the open stacks. It's not- we only have one copy and it's in the secure stacks. Then he told me he had written the book and wanted to know why it wasn't in the open stacks, because he saw lots of books on the same topic and they were, in his words, "corny".

So I gave him a bunch of reasons, but mainly just said that if we only have one copy, it stays in the secure stacks. He was unsatisfied, so I directed him to the "real" reference librarian sitting at the other computer. She chatted with him and he left looking happy with his answer, so I asked her what she had told him.

And guess what? She told him the exact same thing I did. Do I not seem trustworthy or something?

Things I've loved looking at today.

2011-09-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

This dress.

I just discovered the Synagogue-a-Day tumblr feed. Images shared come from the William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection at the College of Charleston Special Collections. An interesting mix of buildings from all over the world.

Listen to this Storycorps segment.

Like I really need another obsession...

2011-09-08T10:43:00.001-07:00

So, maybe I haven't talked to you about it yet, but I am utterly obsessed with Pinterest. It's weird how something so simple can be so absorbing.

If you haven't ever used it, Pinterest is like a virtual pinboard. You can "pin", categorize, rearrange, and gawk at links and pictures you like. If you'd like an invite, let me know! I love seeing what friends are saving and sharing things that I love. It's like Facebook for the visually oriented. Or something.

Did I mention that I love it? Because I do. You can look at my boards and things that I've pinned, by clicking the red button at the top of the blog that says "follow me on Pinterest".

DO IT.

2011-08-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

OK. I know this is about my hundredth post today.

But I just have to share- I am continually having the most awkward run-ins with our managing director (basically the acting head of the library). He is awesome and I am awkward, that is why our encounters are awkward.

One time I was working on the reference desk and he was down there just chatting with people, and I think trying to get an idea of what the reference desk is like and he was just sitting with each person there and asking them what they do and how they do it and blah blah blah. And I was running back and forth like a chicken with my head cut off because there were a million people with crazy problems that day. And he kept trying to catch me so he could sit and chat with me, but I was trying to help one person for seriously 30 minutes straight. I can't remember what their deal was. Anyways, I ended the shift feeling like I had completely brushed him off...which I didn't. At least I didn't mean to. I hope he didn't feel that way, or they'll never hire me here if a real job does open up.

Anyways, today we were coming back from lunch at the same-ish time, and I was walking towards the building in front of him, and I guess he was trying to catch up with me so he could open the door for me, because he's polite like that. But when there's someone walking quickly behind me, that makes me speed up. Because I'm crazy. Anyways, I got to the door and opened it and we exchanged hellos and as I was opening the inner door, he chastised me for opening my own door! In a nice and joking way, but...dear self, don't be so dense and awkward in the future.

Hopefully our next encounter will be awesome and he'll be all "OMG you're so amazing! Wait, you're just an intern?! We need you here full-time forever!"

A girl can always dream, right?

2011-08-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just remembered something that made me laugh. A couple of weeks ago, someone gave a talk in church about parables (well actually, everyone that day spoke about parables, it was pretty intense).

Anyways, I guess he wanted to define and exmplify the uses of parables by sharing his favorite one. His favorite parable just happens to be Les Miserables. The musical, not the book (because who reads books these days?!).

Can you guess where this is going? He spent his entire talk telling all the ins and outs of the plot of Les Mis. It took FOREVER. And...he even ended up quoting most of Javert and Jean Valjean's vocal duet/fight ("I am warning you JAVERT! I'm a stronger man BY FAR!") where they sing overlapping parts you know?

So obviously, there are some pretty strong moral lessons that can be drawn from Les Mis. But those lessons could be conveyed by a short summary. I don't need you to quote the whole libretto at me- also? It just makes you look like you didn't prepare a talk and so decided to fill time by telling a really long story. I could be learning something valuable and edifying during all that time!

But maybe it's just me...maybe I WOULD be learning something if I weren't so hard-hearted! (*snert*)

(and none of this really tops the ward attended by a friend of mine where every month, people have been heard to quote Miley Cyrus, Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, and others...)

Also, I put a picture of Enjolras because...he's obviously the best Les Mis character. OBVIOUSLY.

2011-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

You guys, ALL the good jobs open up when I'm not looking! I'm ticked. Today I saw the perfect job listing (archivist, working with lots of AV, in ATL at the Carter Presidential Library- I'm an archivist, I've worked with tons of AV, ATL is close to Chattanooga!) but I just can't bring myself to apply because if, on the off chance that I actually got it, I would have to leave my internship about 5 months early, and I know they would understand me leaving, but I just cant bear the thought of leaving so long before it's over! I was so excited when I got this because finally I would have some kind of experience that lasted longer than 4-6 months. I need to get a solid year on my resume.

Job application mental block ftw. ARG.

In other news:

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" was both crazy and stupid, but also confusing (not in a bad way) and entertaining. And oh honey, I never though Ryan Gosling was attractive until I saw this, but (pardon the expression), ROWR. ALSO, the character with whom I share a name is A CREEPER. I don't care if I'm giving you spoilers, but I am just so appalled because she has something unsavory going on inside her brain that drives her to give naked pictures of herself to a THRTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY.

2011-08-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

This morning I spent 30 minutes ironing and trying three different shirts before settling on one.

THAT IS TOO LONG.

I think it's time to start up the lay-out-your-clothes-the-night-before plan, because that is a crappy reason to be "late" to work (although it's hard to be late to something where my schedule is whatever I say it is...it's the principle of the thing).

2011-08-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago, my body had an epic battle with itself.

As a result, I barely slept.

The next day (which was yesterday), I almost passed out in the bathroom at work (or I might have actually passed out, I'm not sure? I don't remember, and I had kind of propped myself against a corner in case I *did*, so I don't really know what happened. All I know for sure is that my body hates me). So as a result I left work early (only an hour early...lame) and went home to watch old tv on my computer. All I wanted to do was sleep, but it was so early still that I knew I would wake up in the middle of the night all chipper and ready to go. So I took one Benadryl (only one) knowing that (1) my allergies have been acting up (though that's unrelated to this incident), and (2) Benadryl does something terrible to my brain that makes it unable to function.

And then.....I slept for 13 hours straight. Go me!

In other news:

Don't laugh at me, but I kind of loved Cowboys and Aliens. It was a classic, formulaic Western...but with ALIENS. What could possibly be better? I'll tell you what, nothing else that's in theaters right now. Big theaters I mean, not independent theaters. It was fun, it had Harrison Ford, and it also had (spoiler) a giant alien ship exploding. Fantastic.

Although, this was what I saw the afternoon before my body exploded. Either it was trying to tell me something about the movie, or I'm not supposed to eat theater popcorn anymore.

You need to watch this movie.

It's hard to watch- I left with a headache from too much crying, but it's good.

I'm starting to really love Kristin Scott Thomas- she's been making some really wonderful movies (in both French and English, or in this case, a mix of the two) over the last few years.

In this, the young Starzynski family (along with tens of thousands of others) who happen to be Jewish are rounded up by the French government and deported to camps in Germany and Poland. Just one month later, another family (not Jewish) moves into the apartment vacated by the Starzynskis. We follow the Starzynski's daughter, Sarah, as she is shuttled from place to place, desperately trying to escape so she can go home and find her little brother who, when the police came to "arrest" the family, she locked in a closet so he would be safe. We also see how Sarah's story becomes tied closely to the other family who took over her apartment- the Tezacs. Is that confusing? Sorry. I don't know how to describe the story without giving away too much. A wonderful, emotionally draining movie.

A small movie- written by the main actress, Brit Marling, and the producer/editor/cinematographer Mike Cahill, while they were still in college.

It's sci-fi, but not. The kind of sci-fi where yes, there is something extraordinary going on in the background of the story, but that is not the focus. The focus is on lives and how they converge (or, as with Rhoda and her family, diverge).

On the night that a planet identical to Earth is discovered, a drunk-driving Rhoda (just graduated from high school and on her way to MIT) runs into a car carrying John and his family, killing all but John. She goes to prison. She is released four years later and goes to John's house to apologize, but he does not recognize her, so she loses her nerve and tells him she works for a cleaning service and is going door-to-door offering free trials. She becomes his regular cleaning woman. They eventually start a relationship. She still can't tell him. She wins a trip to go to "Earth II" as it's now called. Some more stuff happens.

Brit Marling is both pitiful and devastating as Rhoda. She should not be sympathetic, but she is so obsessed with making amends and yet so unable to take the necessary steps. She is paralyzed by her inability to face the devastation she caused in John's life. It was interesting. It was enjoyable.

2011-08-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm halfway through my internship now. Do you know what that means? That means it's time to gear up for another round of job applications! Yippee!

Here is my problem though. Before I got this job, I spent 5 months sending in applications. Five months!! Now I realize there are people who have been trying for much longer to get a job without success, and I'm grateful it only took me that long. And when this one did pop up, it was kind of a whirlwind- barely a month from the "let's set up an interview" phone call to my first day of work (including trying to keep up with a full course load, packing most of my belongings, and making a cross-country move).

But anyways, back to the problem. So. Last time it took forever long to finally snag a position, and I'm having a hard time judging how long it will take me this time. I want to give myself enough time applying so that I'll end up with a position starting round about the beginning of March. How early is too early to begin? How late is too late? I do have more experience now, so maybe it won't take as long?

Also, the other problem. There is almost nothing I hate more than the job-search process. No matter how tough-skinned I think I am, I still die a little bit inside every time I get an email saying "we're sorry, you weren't among our most qualified applicants". Sigh.

2011-07-22T12:42:00.001-07:00

Dear self-

Stop spending so much time on the internet, especially social media sites. You're creeping people out. And yes, I see the irony in writing a blog post about this.

Sincerely,
Your self.

2011-07-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

ALSO, I have this new pair of shoes that I haven't worn yet- I think a pair that my mom bought then decided she didn't want, and so instead of returnin gave them to me...she does that sometimes- anyways, I've had them for like two months and decided to wear them today with my all blue/teal/black ensemble (the shoes are bronze) thinking "metallics go with everything!!!!"

As I was walking into work I looked down and was confused for a second, thinking "why did I wear brown shoes with a black skirt?"

Bronze=brown. Wardrobe fail.

Let's talk about movies.

2011-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a while.

Zookeeper doesn't merit a picture, but I saw it. Don't ask me why. I guess that's one of the consequences of being an anti-social hermit (that's kind of redundant) in a "big" city. Anyways...talking animals, Kevin James. It was pretty blah. The highlight was Rosario Dawson who I actually really like, and I'm not sure why she did this movie. She needed money I guess.

Harry Potter 7.2 was...great, of course. I've heard lots of whining about story changes, but hey, guess what, this is a movie, not a book, and it's not exactly like they're playing around with great literature- I've almost always enjoyed the movies better than the books in this series- Harry in the books was annoying enough, an that was at least slightly toned down in movie-Harry. Anyways, I don't care about the changes, and those of you who were with me at the last movie (or maybe it was the 6th one) know that my mind was completely blank as to what came next (they found all the horcruxes? what?). So ANYWAYS, this last movie was at least tied for me with the 3rd (and still the best) installment. I love Ralph Fiennes, he's vulnerable AND terrifying in his snakey self. Also, maybe I cried a bit. Don't judge.

First, before I talk about this movie, let me say that I do not recommend it. To anyone. Let's talk about why.

But first, some background. This is about a young "beauty queen" moved to Salt Lake in the late 70s. It's unclear why- she wasn't going to school, and she's not a Mormon, and to hear her tell it, all she did was hang out and party. Wholesomely, of course. So she tells this story of how one day she's driving around town in her white corvette and pulls up at a light next to a red corvette driven by what she describes as the most attractive man ever seen. In the whole world. Of course we then see a photo of Kirk, the object of her desire, as he looked at the time, and he is nothing as she described him- kind of this large geeky marshmallow of a man. They went on a few dates. Then, according to her, he just disappeared one day without a trace, and without a word to her. He had been kidnapped by those Mormons!

She moved to California to work and earn money to hire a private investigator to track him down. According to her she was waiting tables and working three jobs. We find out later she was working as an escort (though she claims she was...innocent...until she and Kirk finally consummated their love) and posing for some (and when I say some, I mean A LOT) of unsavory publications.

Anyways, long story short, she finds out through the investigator that he's in England, "forced" on a mission by those Mormons! She takes her "friend" Ken, some pilot she hired, and a hired bodyguard with her to England to track Kirk down and save him.

They find him, and here there are two distinct stories. According to Kirk, he was chloroformed, stuffed in a trunk, kidnapped, taken to a cottage in Devonshire, chained to a bed, and raped repeatedly by Joyce (the beauty queen). I should add here that the pilot she hired corroborates the chloroform story to an extent- when he saw that she had brought chains, handcuffs, and a bottle of chloroform to England with her, and when he was told that these things were all to help them rescue Kirk, the pilot luckily came to his senses, decided he didn't want to be involved, and went home to LA.

According to Joyce, he came willingly and acted as if he had been brainwashed, and she took him to the cottage to nurse him back to health with her love, which "nursing" she says was consensual. She claims that he made up the kidnapping story because he was terrified of what those Mormons would do to him if they found out he had had relations with her (because Mormons are scary like that).

So. That's the meat of the story. It is really a fascinating story, mainly because this Joyce is truly living in a different world of her own creation (she was arrested in the late 80s for stalking him- hanging around his office. She says his "fat Mormon wife" told the police it was stalking because she was jealous)- she still claims that she is completely in love with Kirk, and will be until she dies. She's never had another relationship since that time (according to her). I think she's also agoraphobic so he never leaves her house, and rarely has for years.

Most of the movie is an interview with her- these are the highlights- she cries and rages and just goes on and on about the injustice of it all. She's charming in her delusions, but watching her is also quite sad. She's had a difficult life, most of the difficulties being of her own making, but that makes her no less worthy of pity at the least, and empathy at most.

Herein lies my first problem with the movie. I'm not a filmmaker, but it seems to me that making a documentary, a serious documentary that looks closely at one person/their life/their actions requires a large bit of empathy on the part of the director. It didn't seem like this director, Errol Morris, had any at all for Joyce McKinney. Yes, she displays a lot of attention-seeking behaviors, but she is also kind of a tragic figure. If nothing else, the empty second half of her life, spent mostly alone in a farmhouse in rural North Carolina, should evoke our pity. Morris doesn't seem to have pity, let alone respect for his subject. He pulls together her interview in a way that magnifies the crazy, turning this into a comedy more than anything else.

When in reality it's a sordid story of (probably) unrequited and unreasonably long-lasting "love", kidnapping, rape and, well, that's enough, isn't it? A comment that I read about this made the point that if the genders in this story were reversed, no one would be laughing. But as it is, the idea of a woman raping a man seems laughable and impossible to most people. Guess what? It's neither. It's possible, and it's as deadly serious as any kind of sexual abuse.

Ok. On to problem two. Sorry this has gotten kind of heavy- if you've read this far, you deserve a medal. Leave a comment and I'll think about making you something awesome just for being a trooper. Anyways, my second problem. Wrapped up within the story about Joyce McKinney and her eternal love Kirk is a mini-anti-Mormon movie. The Mormon "expert" they interview is someone who is clearly antagonistic towards the church, and some of the things they talk about are just ridiculous in their untruth. The things that ARE true are treated in such a way that they seem absolutely ludicrous, which would happen if you talked about any religion's doctrine in that way. In the end, if I had known about that aspect of the movie, I would not have gone- I would rather not pay money to support something that tears down not just individuals, but entire belief systems.

So, to summarize, "Tabloid" treats a very interesting subject, but does it with so much disrespect all around that it's created in me a new desire to be more diligent in self-educating myself when selecting what I watch.

One last note about this- Joyce has been showing up at screenings of "Tabloid" all over the country to heckle and rage at the screen and generally cause a ruckus (it seems she's not too happy with the way she was depicted either). I kept expecting her to jump up near the end and yell "I'm Joyce McKinney!!!!!" as she has a few times, but I was disappointed.

Heck yeah, I MADE this, sonnn

2011-07-14T15:44:00.001-07:00

zigzag quilt top II, a photo by maegil on Flickr.

Two more things...

2011-07-14T12:26:00.001-07:00

I should probably just make that the title of my blog because I feel like I keep making posts titled that...

Anyways, first, there's an apricot tree in my backyard and I just noticed today that there were ripe apricots on the ground. What?! Where are mine? So I looked up at the tree to see if there were any pickable ones. To my utter disappointment, all of the beautiful, edible ones are at the very top of the tree. It's a pretty tall tree. Bummer.

Second (and last),

I found out/decided yesterday that I'm going to Hungary in two and a half weeks. WHAT?!

p.s., this is not a joke, this is real life.

Two things

2011-07-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Two things that made me smirk inwardly on the way to my office this morning.

First, as I was getting through the employees only door (I don't know what to call it), there was someone right behind me. I waited and held the door open for him, mumbling as I did so "here you go!" (if mumbled statements can be punctuated with exclamation points). His response? "You're welcome!!" Whatever dude, *I* held the door open for *you*.

Second, as I was getting off the elevator on my floor, there was an older man walking past the elevator alcove- he's a staff member, but I have no idea what he does or who he really is. Anyways, as he was walking past, he looked at me with the most highly raised eyebrow I've ever seen- a look that said "YOU? Again? Really. Wearing that?" And any number of other smarmy statements. It was just so unexpected I had to laugh.

ALSO. I drove to work today b/c I have errands to run during lunch, and they've been re-painting the lines in the parking garage- section by section, so they'll gate off a section for a couple of days with movable metal barricades while they paint it. Anyways, I tried to turn a corner and didn't quite make it and totally ran into one of the barricades this morning. Luckily it's a very light metal (apparently) and I just kind of shoved it aside. With my boat-car. That was actually the thing that made me laugh the most this morning- there were people around, what can you do but laugh? So that's really three things. Not two. Don't judge me.

2011-07-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a dream. Some background first- I have a cabinet full of things that I can't catalog because I don't have a way to watch/listen to them- things like audiotapes, betacam tapes- obsolete AV formats. So if I have something that's not labeled, I just add it to the pile. The pile is big. It's waiting for someone who works in the basement who can play them to have time to do so- this is a problem because he is busy. Super busy. And some of these things have to be baked before they can be played- I don't even understand really.

Anyways, last night i had a dream that he actually came to take my shelves full of items to actually listen to them. I was really *really* excited. What do you think is the meaning of this dream?

I think it means I need to find more exciting things to occupy my time/thoughts.

ALSO

2011-07-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

We need to talk about something else today. Namely, this movie:

I got tired of waiting for *someone* to decide when she wanted to watch it, so I finally gave up and went on my own this weekend. And hoooo boy. I loved it! Sooo much!

I'm not a Woody Allen fan typically. I find him personally very annoying and since most of his protagonists are just different permutations of, well, himself, I tend not to like his films.

That was certainly true here (that Owen Wilson's character just seemed like a taller, beefier version of Allen), but here it was charming instead of obnoxious. It's obvious that his life just is not working out, and the Universe's solution- to cast him back to 1920s Paris each night (while his fiance spends time with the delightfully unbearable Michael Sheen) is the perfect antidote.

So really all of this just gives an opportunity to meet charicatures of many of the famous residents of Paris during that era- Hemingway, Dali, Bunuel, Stein, Picasso, etc...And it's just. So. Funny.

Also, it made me happy. That's all!

2011-07-11T10:38:00.001-07:00

I waited too long to buy midnight HP7.2 tickets and I am seriously bummed out. I wanted to go!! Boohoo :(

2011-07-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just sat in on my first meeting ever where someone's been fired. Er...sort of fired. Her "job has been eliminated" and the reasoning makes sense and there are other positions that are being made available to her if she wants them. But it's still kind of shocking.

Also it means there's absolutely not a future for me here (at least no in the near future). And that's fine, because it's what I was thinking anyways. It's good to know it for sure though- it makes my soon-to-start job hunt a little easier. I had been hoping that the rumblings I had been hearing meant they would be adding people, but the new initiatives etc... are the reasons this job was deleted- to make room for a diff. FTE to perform different work without adding people. Who they'll be hiring within probably a month or two. And I would apply but I definitely don't have the supervisory or project management experience for the new job.

This frees me up to go to the UK!!!! Woot.

Aaaanyways...

2011-07-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Do you ever do that thing where you run into people you know but haven't seen for a while and say to each other as the conversation winds down "hey we should get together sometime! Call me when you're in town again!" and then realize that you don't have their number and they don't have your number but say nothing about it?

It's happened twice already this week. It's not that I'm rude or anti-social. I guess I just always assume that I'm way more excited to see people than they are to see me so I just leave it up to them to do the realizing and ask for my number if they really want it. I think the other part is that I know it's not really ever going to happen anyways- this happens a lot with friends who are married- I mean when are we going to find time to hang out? I'm not going to hang out with the husband (inappropriate- even if we were friends before), and the wife has kids to take care of, and it's just weird hanging out with most couples (when I'm a single) so...who are we kidding? (If you think I'm talking about you, don't worry, I'm totally not- if you're reading this and you're married with kids and I still hang out with you, it means we are "best friends of ever" (to quote Leslie Knope)).

(Bears love friends)

What do you think? Am I a bad person who should be more pro-active in friend-making and -keeping? Or am I just being realistic? Or am I just the only person who does this?

2011-07-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

This has been such interesting listening- I need to find the original piece that prompted this discussion, but it's a discussion between a book critic who feels that YA lit has become rather dark and, in some cases, unacceptably so for its intended audience and a YA author who strongly disagrees. The book critic originally wrote something somewhere (that's what I need to find) that prompted a sharp reaction from parents/librarians/etc...

After listening to this, I actually agree more with the book critic than the author (who really came across as not the best advocate for the case she was trying to make).

The critic cited studies that have found strong correlations between teens' exposure to high-risk behaviors via books with their actually adopting those behaviors. The author took umbrage with that and harped on the fact that "correllation is not causation". While this is true, correllation is indicative of a relationship- it might be that the books influence the behaviors or it might be that kids who practice the behaviors are attracted to a certain kind of book.

It seems that a lot of the outcry in reaction to the original piece was because readers (I guess) thought the critic was advocating censorship- I don't think that's true, and I don't think that's the solution in any case. What I DO think she's advocating is that more care be taken in selecting books for YA readers. Some readers may be able to handle certain issues or types of books better than others- the biggest issue here is one that I think most YA librarians already practice- trying to match the right book with the right person.

I don't know if I'm making a lot of sense- just listen to the discussion- it makes more sense than I can.

2011-07-05T07:42:00.001-07:00

Nothing says Independence Day like eating take-out alone on your couch while watching fireworks on TV.

My life is awesome.

2011-06-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

So I've been listening to Julia Child's "My Life in France" and all I can think about is moving to Europe. This is really bad for my focus.

Oh wait, I've always had a problem staying on task so this really isn't an issue. Whew.

Also, I spent a while last night looking at library jobs in the UK and I'm totally qualified. If they want to deal with all the junk that comes with bringing someone from outside the country to work.

2011-06-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is why I don't approve of hair-feather-extensions. Also, it's delightful that fly-fishermen take their hobby so seriously- one man quoted in this article calls the trend "sacrilegious".

Oh another reason I don't approve- we are not owls, we are not Steven Tyler, and we are not in the movie "Rock-A-Doodle". Do you want to be mistaken for any of those? I don't.

I tried to upload an image of the..."female" lead from Rock-A-Doodle but Blogger is being crazy right now. Suffice it to say, you do not want to look like a sexy chicken. Or a chicken that someone tried to make look sexy. How can you look sexy with a beak? That entire movie is a travesty. IT'S ABOUT AN ELVIS CHICKEN.

2011-06-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Green Lantern was....so terribly cheesy. I love Peter Saarsgard (sp? I'm too lazy to look it up right now) and he was probably the best part of this movie- the only actor who wasn't trying too hard, and he looked disgusting. But what an awesome characterization- his character pre-mutation (like at the party mid-movie) reminds me most forcefully of someone with whom I recently went on a date. And with whom I will never go on a date again.

Anyways, the movie. Oh yes, Mark Strong as Sinestro was also pretty good. But aside from that...purple aliens, blue aliens, aliens shaped like giant killer bees- it was like a new installment in the Men in Black franchise, but broader and weirder and not nearly as entertaining (as the first MiB, I can't speak to the later ones, not having seen them myself, but that should be a statement in itself- that I didn't see them). Oh yeah, and greener.

Also, I like the oath he speaks to the ring- there are the makings just in that of a spectacularly epic space-crime saga, but everything else about this movie falls SOOOO far short of that potential. Also...the good guys fight using the force of will, and the bad guys have harnessed the power of fear (which, apparently, is yellow)- that premise I know is part of the source material, but it just seems so dated.

Ugh. Watch it. If you're bored.

This movie was...meh. The same story as The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which is better) and Speak (but without the violent central premise- this is also a better story), and Born Confused (but not about second-gen Americans- this is also better)- that story being "American teenager has identity crisis but is saved by love/friends/family/relationships and art". Each of the stories mentioned about is both less-trying on my patience and more sincere than "The Art of Getting By". I am starting to really like Emma Roberts, but not even her spunk could save this bore.

There are also a lot of really awkward moments in this movie.

Skip it.

Super 8 is my favorite blockbuster-type movie so far this year (probably soon to be replaced, or at least tied, by HP7). It's not perfect, but it has all the things I love about Spielberg (heartfelt stories, honest characters, and nostalgia that somehow seems fresh) and all the things I love about Abrams (come to think of it, it's probably more his touch that takes the nostalgia and makes it seem fresh and shiny and new, and his love for explosions and big noisy things, and conspiracy theories, and awesome jokes) and smashes all of these things into a gem of flawed delight. It's hilarious, it made me jump (a lot), and it was better the second time I saw it. Also, it's two movies in one- there's a zombie movie in the credits.

Definitely definitely watch it. (with a wary eye for the surprisingly foul mouths of 13-year-olds)

2011-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last night my cable went out. Not all the way- there's still a sort of picture, but it's covered with static and moves up and down constantly. And the sound is crazy.

ALSO since it was installed there has been an "HD technology" fee on my bill. I don't have anything HD. At all. For a TV, I have a giant boulder-like remnant of the days when television sets were three dimensional. It does not have HD picture. Anyways, you know me, and it took me a while to call them to actually remedy the billing issue. The person I spoke to recognized that that charge is bogus and shouldn't be there and offered to credit it to my account for the past three months. I've had Comcast for four months now. So what about the charge from the first month? "I'm sorry ma'am, it's just our policy not to go back further than that, and plus, you could have told us about it earlier." True, BUT.

I will explain to you why this ticked me off so much. First, don't tell me it's "just policy". Explain to me please the reason for this policy. Tell me your computer system locks out refunds past three months. Anything, give me a good reason. The claim that "it's just policy" is just a way for you to sound official when you really have no idea why things are the way they are. Second, it REALLY chapped my hide (or cooked my grits) that he would place the blame on me. REALLY, it's my fault that you've been over-charging me for four months? It's my fault that, even though I told the woman I spoke to when first setting up the account that I DID NOT WANT HD service, because I don't have anything that can show HD picture, the man who came to install the box etc... installed the *wrong* box, which caused me to be charged the wrong fee?

Yes, I waited a while to call and rectify the issue because I AM BUSY. But it is not my fault that there is a breakdown of communication within your organization, nor that your personnel are somehow simultaneously incompetent AND patronizing.

UGH. I wish there was something I could type (or, like, a font size or something) that could adequately express the depth of my frustration.

Anyways, his solution for the billing issue was that I have the wrong box, so I need to take it to the office and exchange it. Which thing I cannot do ASAP because someone is coming tomorrow night to hopefully solve the reception issues. (at least, I can't take it because then I would have to hook up a new box and if the issue persisted what if it was because of something I did? I want the technician to take a look at it and see it exactly as it was when it went out, and as it has been since then.)

Now that THAT'S over with...

2011-06-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm going to see Super8 for the second time today. DON'T JUDGE ME!

I totally have a good reason too- see there's an extra scene at the end of the credits that I didn't know about when I went to see it the first time, so I totally missed it. There. Good excuse right? It's worth the price of another movie ticket to see that scene...I think.

Anyways I'm ok with giving J.J. Abrams more money.

In other news:

1. The expected high today is somewhere in the 90s and I still haven't turned on my AC. Living in a buggy basement does have it's benefits- if being constantly chilly is a benefit (whatever, in the middle of summer, it's totally a benefit).

2. I learned not to date people who are 13 years older than I. If they are that old and have never been married....there is definitely a reason.

3. This is not news, more a piece of advice- don't ever ever barge onto an elevator before you wait to see if anyone needs to get off first. It happens to me EVERY DAY at work, and the people doing it are always either moms with strollers or more mature (i.e. elderly) folks who should certainly know better. It's rude. SO RUDE. It makes for very awkward situations. And I hate it.

2011-06-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

I went on a date tonight. It ended with this exchange:

Me: "So if I ever decide to become a mass murderer, I'm set"
Him: "Yup, well, good night!"

(We were talking about my trunk- it's huge)

I don't know why I say the things I do.

2011-06-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Oh btdubs, I had my first cranky library patron the other day. It was awesome. I felt like I was back at BYUIS for a second because now, after two years away, the cranky customers are by far my best memories. Oh and Mad Cow Disease.

Anyways I was on my weekly reference desk shift and this elderly woman came up and said "I'm looking for a talk. It was by a general authority. And it's about flirting or something."

Classic.

She eventually gave the name of the speaker (or who she thought the speaker might have been) along with two other talk requests. I worked with her for maybe 5 minutes max, but every passing second made her more antsy and more angry.

She even started doing that huffy thing some folks do when they're upset- fidgeting, sighing loudly, tsk-ing, giving unhelpful suggestions.

I was eventually able to find two of the talks she was looking for, she gave up on the third- apparently she was in a hurry (except she wasn't, after she was done, she just wandered around the library aimlessly).

As we were finishing up, she told me "I would have found them myself, but our basement flooded and destroyed all our church magazines. As well as my demeanor."

Obviously.

2011-06-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Even though I have a job till February, I still look at job postings...like every day. So many of the interesting ones want an advanced degree in a field other than Library Science (in addition to the MLS). This has got me thinking already about the future date when I'll have to break down and get to work on something like that. I'll definitely wait until I have a job that will pay for it this time, but I have no idea what it should be. Guess the job will determine that.

Maybe I'll just go the Noah Wyle route and study everything forever. He's not just a librarian, he's THE Librarian.

Two things:

2011-06-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

Two very important things.

First, on Sunday, Emmy and I went to see Les Mis for her birthday (nearly a month early) (but it's a birthday month so it's ok). And it was spectacular, of course. It has been forEVER since I've seen a fully staged version of Les Mis. Actually, come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever actually have- I've only ever seen either the super bare-bones rotating stage version that toured for a long time or the concert version so this was kind of a treat. Yeah I loved it. Yeah, maybe I cried a little. I DO THAT, OK?! We went on Sunday bc it was the only day I could get tickets, but they were awesome tickets. I ended up buying them from a couple who has had season tickets for nearly three decades and consequently have seen most of the shows that come through our fair city, and so just sell the ones they don't want. Orchestra section tickets far to the front at less than half the normal price. Go bargain-hunter me!

On the walk home from the theater (because it's only about three blocks from my house), we were...propositioned? by a group of young men. Well really just one. We were walking past the Salt Palace (SLC convention center for you out of towners) and stopped at an intersection to wait for the light to turn. There was a group of three young men just hanging out in front of the Salt Palace- if you're not familiar with the area, let me say that this is a completely bizarre place to be hanging out. Kind of off the beaten path, it takes up an entire block, and there's just not too much around. Anyways, they saw us and caught up and while two hung back, one (who, as I've said before, looked like an escapee from the Jersey Shore) ran up to us and asked us "why the f[***] [we were] walking away from [him]" (because he had tried to flag us down). He was clearly not...ahem...possessed of his full faculties (at mid-day on a Sunday- where do you even find alcohol at that time in Salt Lake?) so we attempted to ignore him and just kept walking. He asked us if we were Mormon (yes) and apologized for "the eff word" and proceeded to tell us that we can't live our lives in fear and being scared of everything, we need to learn to have fun. Because our religion has everything to do with why we were ignoring him...except actually it was because we weren't interested (who would be?). Anyways, he asked us in the middle of his rant if we were seeing anyone, which gave Emmy the opportunity to tell him she was married. He asked me if I was married (no) and then, literally leering and leaning over me, said "what about you? are YOU seeing anyone?" He basically ran me off the sidewalk- I had to jump away to avoid him falling on me.

THEN he proceeded to tell us that he only wanted to know because if we WERE married or seeing anyone, he just wanted us to know that they (husbands and boyfriends) aren't sincere. They're "just doing it because people tell them to". Oh and followed that up with "Because I am SERIOUSLY attracted to both of you". So flattering. Anyways there was more and blah blah blah that's all I feel like typing.

The second thing. Last night I was at FHE (church activity) because I thought to myself "well it's probably not super healthy for you just to spend every night of the week crocheting and watching TV alone in your apartment, you should probably get out and actually meet some people". So I went, saw that only the teenagers were there (did I mention that my ward now is composed almost entirely of LDS Business College students? It's a two-year school. For the vast majority of them, this is their first ever experience away from home. They are still in their TEENS for heavens sake. I am old. I have two degrees. I have a job. We don't have a lot in common. I like to whine. I'm trying not to) so I went outside once they started migrating for the "activity" (whiffle ball or something ridiculous) and grabbed my bike so I could make a quick escape around the corner to my apartment to be alone with my old lady habits.

Right when I was about to ride off, this girl ran up to the group (she had been outside with some guy doing acrobatics in the grass (I mean that literally, they were doing flips and cartwheels, I'm not trying to be coy), and he, not realizing the grass was wet, tried to do a flip, slipped, and landed on his shoulder. Now it was pointing out all weird-like.

They were both worried it might be a broken collar bone. Anyways, she came running up to the group asking if anyone had a car to drive him to the hospital because he broke something. He, however, was still walking around and not looking too bad, so I think everyone just assumed she was over-reacting and just kind of ignored her plea. I told her I lived just around the corner and would be right back with my car to take them. So I did- two minutes later (I'm really fast on a bike :) ) when I got back he was looking much worse for the wear. By the time we got him, his sister, and his acrobatics-partner into the car, and got on the way to the hospital, he was basically weeping in pain. We had to take a detour to his sister's house to pick up his insurance card first though- I'm not sure he appreciated the wait. Anyways, we got him there, they gave him some drugs, and found out he tore some ligament in his shoulder- no broken bones. And I got some blissfully quiet reading time in the waiting room (which is good- I got a start on my book club book (which should make Kari happy because we've started about three different book clubs and they always fail because I never read the books- I just have this mental block against reading books when I have to. It's a problem) which I am *loving* so far.

Anyways, the whole thing made me feel like an old mom. I just feel very far removed from that first trauma of seriously injuring yourself, and that helpless feeling of not knowing what to do when someone you care about injures themself. Not that I'm magically a nursing genius with age, I just feel so much calmer about things like that now. My first serious injury- I had someone with me in the ER, but when I had to go back and have surgery, I had no one, I took the bus to the hospital by myself. I went to surgery prep alone, and I went into recovery alone. I dealt with it, it passed, and the world didn't end.

I hope that this kid and his acrobatics partner get together though- he was talking to his mom on the phone as I drove them home, and going on and on about this girl and how much they have in common and how "cool" she is- he was still on the drugs, but it made me laugh (and it made her giggly). Cute.

2011-06-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

I saw X-Men: First Class this weekend. I was not dissatisfied at having spent money on this, but that may only be because my expectations were kept so low by the last few movies. Mostly I was happy to have an excuse to stare at James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender for a couple of hours.

All that said, it was a fairly goofy movie with a disproportionate number of go-go boots and very mini miniskirts (but I'm pretty sure that's an accurate representation of the time period).

I don't really have much else to say about it.

2011-06-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

All of my biggest crushes right now are opera stars (I'm looking at you (figuratively) Rene Pape and Bryn Terfel).

I really need to get a life...

2011-05-30T19:18:00.001-07:00

My greatest sorrow in life (for today at least) is that I cannot eat and crochet at the same time.

The church is not so much concerned with whether the thoughts of its members are orthodox or heterodox as it is that they shall have thoughts.

2011-05-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I heard yet another NPR piece about "Book of Mormon: the musical" (they love it, of course) which featured some rather misplaced humor from the show's producer, Scott Rudin, in discussing an experience he had with a former member while watching the show (the man became very emotional and Rudin laughed about the silliness of it on the air). Anyways, they played a clip from one of the songs right after the interview, in which the end of the chorus goes a little like this: "I am a Mormoooooon/and Mormons just believe!"

This, more than anything else I've heard about this show, riles me up and tells me that as many times as Trey Parker and Matt Stone claim they've read the actual Book of Mormon and as much as they claim to have studied Mormon culture, they still understand nothing about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I consider myself a fairly intelligent type of person, and I have never, not since I left the mists of childhood and became a sentient adult, been the sort to "just believe". I know dozens of highly educated, reasonable individuals, who nevertheless believe strongly in the Church and especially in the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Have we all fallen victim to blind belief? Does the Church itself encourage that kind of following?

To answer that, I'll quote Hugh B. Brown, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve during most of the middle of the last century-

"There are altogether too many people in the world who are willing to accept as true whatever is printed in a book or delivered from a pulpit. Their faith never goes below the surface soil of authority. I plead with everyone I meet that they may drive their faith down through that soil and get hold of the solid truth, that they may be able to withstand the winds and storms of indecision and of doubt, of opposition and persecution...

"I have been very grateful that the freedom, dignity, and integrity of the individual are basic in church doctrine. We are free to think and express our opinions in the church. Fear will not stifle thought. God himself refuses to trammel free agency even though its exercise somtimes teaches painful lessons. Both creative science and revealed religion find their fullest and truest expression in the climate of freedom.

"I admire men and women who have developed the questing spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas as stepping stones to progress. We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent - if we are informed. Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression.

"We should be dauntless in our pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity. No one would have us become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts. We should be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and faith...We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it. The church is not so much concerned with whether the thoughts of its members are orthodox or heterodox as it is that they shall have thoughts."

And that's all I have to say about that.

2011-05-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

I finally got to see the "Cave of Forgotten Dreams". I love going to the downtown theater by myself (even though it seems hopelessly pathetic). It's close enough that I can go on my bike and breeze past all the diners and trade-conference-attendees that generally clog the streets in that part of town.

(quick summary for those who have never heard of it, this is a documentary about Chauvet cave in Southern France where, in the early 90s, three hikers discovered a pristine cave containing by far the oldest (32,000 yrs old) cave paintings known. Since its discovery, the cave has been sealed- only a few researchers have been allowed access- to preserve the environment within the cave that has kept the paintings in such good condition for so long)

Anyways, I enjoyed it. I think I had maybe glanced at some photos before of the cave before, but never really paid attention. That's probably a good thing though because I, in my state of ignorance, felt like I was discovering it for the first time with Werner Herzog and his supporting cast of anthropologists and paleontologists as my guides. This is worth seeing just for the footage of the paintings. They are spectacularly beautiful, painted with an understanding of their subjects as well as an artistic interpretation that we tend to think can only be displayed by our modern artists. I think that a lot of our shock and awe at the beauty of the images themselves comes because we forget or can't possibly understand that the people who painted them were probably very similar to us. Sure, different lifestyle, they still had Neanderthals to contend with, etc...but fundamentally I'm positive that they were motivated by the same things that we are. No amount of technology can change the nature of our basic concerns as human beings- survival, relationships, etc...

Herzog manages, even with this epically fascinating (and at times rather dry) subject, to find little flashes of humor. What I love though is that he presents to us the absurdities of some of the guest stars without derision- it seems he's rather fond of the old perfumer with the crazy eyes and the anthropologist who dresses like a mountain cave man in furs and leather (for no apparent reason). There's an interesting parallel between the interest in the lives of the creators of the paintings and the lives of these modern characters- it's the same interest, and we (I) feel the same drive to know more about/understand more about both groups.

At one point, Herzog is interviewing an anthropologist who used to be a circus performer (which is kind of fabulous) who is surprisingly eloquent. He makes what for me was the most poignant point in the film. He says that "past is lost". That, to me, is the greatest tragedy of any profession dealing with the past (like I do, though the more recent past)- the loss of those lives and their lessons. It is painful and it is hard to accept.

Though that was the lesson that stuck with me the most, I think the point Herzog tries to make is exactly the opposite- that the past is not truly lost, not in this case at least, because those ancient artists left behind something of themselves in their paintings. They left evidence that they lived, and they left evidence that they interacted with the world in which they lived, and they left evidence that they understood the world as it is- full of wonder.

(All of the pictures I've added to this post come from the French Ministry of Culture's website dedicated to the cave. Go there to explore a map and images of the cave, as well as to find out more about its history)

Yes, my world revolves around food.

2011-05-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling really excited about tonight. "Why?", you ask? Well mainly all of the excitement revolves around my own pitifulness, but I will attempt to explain.

The other night, I went to Settebello (awesome authentic Neopolitan pizza place downtown- if you haven't been, you need to go, and make sure you order something covered in pancetta and arugula, they just make everything better) with my fall-back friend. It was amazing. That is not the point of this story. It's attached to a gelato shop where they serve gelato that is good but not amazing (although if you go, have the ricotta w/balsamic glaze- sweet and tangy and, ok, kind of spectacular)- after having been to Pitango gelateria in DC's Chinatown, I don't think anything else will ever compare (so I add here, if you're ever in DC, please do yourself a favor and go- hopefully it will be the end of summer and they'll have their seasonal pear sorbet which tastes like fresh pears fallen from heaven and carried to your mouth on a soft summer breeze...and I don't even like pears).

ANYways, after dinner we got gelato (because we are gluttons) and walked around the block while we ate it. It was a beautiful night. Unfortunately, this is not the most awesome block in town- the other three sides are empty lots and apartments that seem to belong more in the slums of Rio than downtown Salt Lake. When we got to the North side of the block (200 N. between 200 and 300 East) we noticed a narrow Victorian brick house stranded in the middle of this wasteland of a block. On the front was a sign that read "Bread Paradise". Yes please. I want to go to there. It's a tiny German bakery that (according to the internet and its wealth of reviews) is amazing. So ever since that day I've been wanting and trying to go but it's always been closed.

Finally I got it right- I went today during lunch and got a pretzel roll/stick/thing with cheese, a chocolate pastry, and a french baguette. Needless to say, it lived up to all the internet had been telling me, and I think that I've found my new addiction with the pretzel stick.

Anyways, having that baguette, and spending more time on the interwebz than anyone should, I got to thinking. A friend posted a recipe she had made from a blog called "Smitten Kitchen" the other day, and as I was browsing around, I found a recipe for onion soup that (despite the fact that I had just eaten) had me drooling. See it (and the fabulous pictures of cheese covered soup) here.

Oh, brief interlude here to say that a girl with whom I work loaned me seasons three and four of the BBC period-dramedy series "Lark Rise to Candlefor". Think Cranford meets...well Cranford. Kind of an ongoing and slightly sillier version, but I love it. Since I got it I have been super-excited to just coze-up on the watch and gorge myself on it.

I think you can see where this is going by now, and if you can't, then you obviously need to spend more time around me because I am very predictable.

Anyways...onion soup (super cheap to make)...awesome baguette (for croutons for mah soup)...period television show (because I don't have ENOUGH escapist tendencies)...It's going to be an awesome night.

All I'm missing is the cheese. Good thing Whole Foods is nearby...

2011-05-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Anthropologie,

THANK YOU! For being the home of a thousand amazing dresses that I want to buy. (Also though, it's kind of torturing me because I want to buy them all. And I can't.)

Sincerely,

Me.

2011-05-19T08:07:00.001-07:00

Should I cut bangs again? Or no? Discuss.

2011-05-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

Note to self: never donate blood at work again! I had an appointment for 2:15 and didn't get out until 4- that is WAY too long to spend waiting to bleed for 6 minutes. That's right- only 6 of the 120 minutes I took away from my desk were spent at the purpose for which I went. Useless, chatty phlebotomists. On top of that, I'll probably end up passing out later this evening- I realized that it's probably been almost 10 years since I donated...that just doesn't seem right because I've always been so pro-donation, but that was the last time they had me in the system- 2002, when my address was still Whispering Pines, NC. That seems like a thousand years ago now. High school...

ANYways, Cave of Forgotten Dreams is playing now at the theater here downtown- I'm super excited to see it- look it up! It's about a cave in France where, in the early 90s, some...I don't know what they were...random cave explorers- oh I just remembered- it was something crazy where they were hiking or chilling in another cave and felt a breeze coming through what they thought was a solid wall- they went searching and found this huge cavern that contains what are thought to be not only the oldest, but the best preserved and most beautiful cave paintings in the world. Soon after, the French government restricted access to only a lucky few, basically locking up the cave (and probably with good reason- to prevent damage to the paintings). Rumor is they're getting ready to create a sort of park centered around the cave and opening it to public access and (one would think this was related) so opened up the cave to Werner Herzog and a small film crew so he could make a documentary (in 3d no less!) of the cave. Something about this cave seems fabulous and mysterious and i want to go to there, so I'm excited to go see that here in the next week or so.

2011-05-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

My student loans aren't small, but listening to stories about kids graduating with 60,000-100,000 dollars of college debt, it makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER about myself and the choice I made to go to UT. I'll already be paying this off for years to come, but i can't imagine the burden I would be feeling right now if I had to pay back four times what I have to. Go me.

Now as long as I can resist getting a credit card, I'll be pretty good to go. As long as I can get another job when this one is over.

Coffee...erm I mean...Hot Chocolate Talk

2011-05-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Have you ever become friends with someone out of the goodness of your heart and had it turn against you? Discuss.

(I feel like this has happened a disproportionate number of times in the last year and it ticks me off)

So...

2011-05-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

When I was in D.C. last summer, I was as bad as keeping up with my blog as I always am, partly because I was *way* too busy being a self-important city-dweller.

So instead of blogging, I kept memos on my phone of things to blog about when I had the time. I just remembered this as I went through and deleted old memos that have built up and found this:

"Title: Fff [side note, you have to give it a title or it won't save.]
Rude fitting room attendant
Cry me a river [this is presumably about some time I heard someone blasting this song and it reminded me of one of my first college roomates who, after breaking up with her boyfriend from home, locked herself in our room for three days and listened to this song constantly.]
Man steals gfs socks
Communist chic bag says "let us build, not destroy" [apparently I saw this and thought it was ironic, considering the end result of most Communist governments]
Tortilla cafe in Eastern Market [an area of D.C. maybe I wanted to go there]"

So there you go, a glimpse into my life last summer.

2011-03-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

you guys, today was a supremely frustrating day. BOO.

First, for the last few days, my power has been wonky. I notice it the night before last when the furnace, the stove, and the fridge were not working. Someone came to fix it yesterday and when he left everything was working. Two hours later, I'm pretty sure the furnace stopped again (because last night was the coldest i've been since i got here), and by the time I woke up, everything that was not working the day before was working, but everything else was down. This includes most of the lights and ALL BUT ONE of the outlets. I had to get ready in the dark and walk to work with wet hair. When I got home today, NOTHING was working. The same man came back and realized the problem was in the meter box behind the house- a problem for a power-company employee. One came (very quickly, actually, I was kind of impressed) and confirmed that one of the two main breakers into the house was broken. He then proceeded to tell me that he could not fix it, we would have to call an electrician to fix it, THEN the power company again to come reconnect the power after the electrician worked on it. So who knows when that's going to happen. He rigged it so right now everything but the stove/oven is working which is good enough but I'm still stressed about it. All my food that's been chilled and defrosted multiple times!

Second, I came home in a hurry today because I knew the maintenance man would be coming by at 4:30. I undressed in a hurry, but in the process of taking off my awesomely beautiful new J. Crew boots, the zipper snagged on my tights. My $20 spanx tights that I just bought. Try as I might I could not dislodge it, or even move the zipper at all in either direction. The only solution was to tear the tights off the zipper. My expensive tights. They now have a huge hole in the right shin area. Bummed. Out.

Third, my computer is broken. Mostly it's fine, but the hole where the plug goes- the little jack in there is loose. The computer will only charge if I hold the cord in very weird positions. This is especially a problem as it takes a lot of my time to stand there holding the cord so it will charge, and this is even harder to do WITH NO POWER. I've had to send frantic "I can't turn in this assignment on time" or "I'll be missing class bc my comp is dead" emails to my professors. Not the best impression. I AM A MESS.

Fix my life please.

2011-02-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

Is it normal for adult siblings to still hurt each other (emotionally, not physically...though I'm not sure the poking and play-wrestling will ever stop)? I feel like I should be past that stage- the stage of giving or receiving hurt, but every once in a while something happens that makes me question entire relationships. It just doesn't seem reasonable to me that two adults should be able to be so petty, defensive, judgmental, or quick to anger. I am as guilty of all of these things as either of my brothers, and I wish that weren't true. Of any of us. Of course, those aren't the only causes, there's also the fact that, even coming from the same background, we can all see the world so fundamentally differently. If the pain given or taken arose from a difference in principles or values, that would be more understandable. But when it is the result of assumptions, accusations, and a basic failure to listen, it seems so much worse.

I guess the basic question here is really this- why does life hurt so much sometimes?

But really, tell me- doyou still have situations like this with your siblings? Or am I abnormal? Maybe I just take things too seriously.

How to prepare for a job interview

2011-01-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

How do you prepare for a telephone interview? I don't know about you, but I:

1. Washed my hair. Because they can see what it looks like.

2. Took a useless trip out to "run errands" but in reality only ended up dropping one letter at the post office. It felt more productive to get out of the house than just to sit around biting my nails all morning, ok?

3. Did some stress baking. I made a batch of pizzelles (waffle-like italian cookies). Like the picture, but mine were flavored with orange oil and zest. I'm planning on making some chocolate-almond ones tomorrow before my other interview.

4. Put on makeup. Because they can see what it looks like.

5. Brushed my teeth. THREE TIMES. Because they can smell my breath.

6. Got a comfortable chair that allowed me to sit upright, rather than my regular lounge chair or exercise ball. It felt more professional.

7. Placed said chair in front of my french doors that look out on the forest and opened the blinds. I figured that would be more peaceful to look at than my messy bedroom.

8. Printed off the job announcement and wrote some questions to ask.

9. Also wrote my strengths and weaknesses. Not because I'm obsessed with myself, but because I've been asked in every interview I've had in the last few years to talk about them. I'm always stumped by that one, so I figured I would go into this one prepared. (Guess what they didn't ask me about this time?)

10. Sat in my chair, looking out my windows, phone and papers in lap and pen in hand...waiting.

2011-01-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Trying to find a job is STRESSING ME OUT.

I haven't left the house in three days because of the snow.

Glee hasn't been on tv for A WHOLE MONTH.

I thought classes started tomorrow, and if it weren't for my department's student affairs coordinator, I would have no idea that they actually start today. THAT was almost a disaster. Once, at BYU, I actually did miss the first day of a class because I couldn't find the HRCB on the map (stupid, right?). I was mad.

Did I ever write about Black Swan? Because all of the above things are not good, but they're not exactly ruining my life. Do you know what did ruin my life? BLACK SWAN. If you are even thinking about watching it, DO NOT. Don't get more curious because I said that and go see it anyways. I am telling you, if you want your life to continue happy and carefree as it has hopefully been to this point, by all that is holy, DO NOT watch that movie. I thought to myself "Ooh, psychological thriller...ballet...what could possibly go wrong? This sounds basically amazing." Little did I know what awaited me was basically a few explicitly, agressively, and violently sexual encounters woven together by things like...oh, Winona Ryder stabbing herself repeatedly in the face with a metal nail file...and...a daughter beating up her mother and breaking her hand by slamming her fingers in a door- over and over and over again...and....lots of terrible bloody self-mutilation. Toned down, this could have been a great movie about one girl's descent into madness (although she really started the movie in madness so maybe descent isn't the correct word...). As it is, it's a two-hour shock-fest, where the shocks are indeed shocking, but have tenuous relevance to the story itself. Blurg.

2011-01-06T18:47:00.001-08:00

A couple of months ago, in going through theshelves of the Hunter Museum's library, I found a copy of selections from "Alice in Wonderland" with original illustrations by Salvador Dali. I knew it was something special and valuable because of the way it was packaged- or not packaged because the original box was missing, but basically a series of folios in book cloth folders. I was curious about it so I asked Frances (the 80-some-odd year old librarian) about it and she said "oh yeah, that's not even all of it- during the construction part of it got moldy in storage, so I just got rid of the box and some of the sections". That shocked me because limited edition books of that type are worth a pretty penny new, and this is at least 40 years old. Anyways, I was just sitting here watching Antiques Roadshow and got curious, did some searching, and found out that a complete version of that same book is worth at least $8000. And part of ours was tossed. Because of mold. GAH FRANCES!!! The best I can do is strongly urge them to get a new box for it. Oh it just makes me sick to my stomach. It did at the time and it still does now.

Mold can be treated. Blurg.

2011-01-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I'm getting really tired of finding new job announcements, getting excited about them, and then never hearing anything. Ever. I just really want to get a job at the Yellowstone archives, ok?! Why don't they realize that.

All of this is making me really, really anxious. That and other anxiety-producing aspects of my life are NOT GOOD FOR MY BLOOD PRESSURE. Or my cortisol levels :)

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, etc...

This is my year of blog supremacy.

Sadness and movies

2010-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

1. The Provo Tabernacle burned down this morning. I can't stop thinking about it! It was such a beautiful building, and (I believe) the first permanent structure in Provo (maybe even the whole valley), so obviously very historic. Just to think that so many people sacrificed to help build it, and it stood for so long, only to be destroyed by fire this morning- it just hurts my heart. I've been to so many concerts and church functions there- it really has been, as one article called it, Provo's cutural heart. I hope that somehow it can be salvaged.

2. The Tourist- bland, but kind of entertaining. I knew the twist before it even started, but it was still fun to see Angelina's fabulous wardrobe on the way there. What I REALLY don't understand about this movie is that it was nominated for a Golden Globe for best comedy. What the WHAT? While there are a few funny moments, I wouldn't really classify this as a comedy. Three out of five...I should come up with a ratings system...birdies. I like birds. 3/5 birds.

3. Tron: Legacy- CGI Jeff Bridges is inordinately creepy. This is a fabulously shiny movie that's exciting and very fun to watch but doesn't have much to say for itself. I guess if I had to pick out a main message, it would be "God=good, totalitarian dictator=bad". Anyways, it's super enjoyable.

4. Right now I may or may not be watching E! and they keep playing commercials for their horrible show "Married to Rock". These commercials feature the lead singer for Jane's Addictionand his wife freakingout over a supposed stalker who left a vase of red roses on their doorstep. I'm sorry, I don't really believe that these barely famous people have stalkers. Also, I do not feel sorry for them. Gah. Maybe I should turn the TV off? Nah...

ALSO-

2010-11-29T14:08:00.001-08:00

To all you haters (who aren't really haters, I just needed an excuse to say that)- I haven't had any caffeinated soda since October 20. BWAHA! I did take a soda break on our fake Thanksgiving a week or two ago- we had slush! And sparkling cider! So I HAVE had some soda, but no caffeine. And no headaches!

Woo!

2010-11-29T14:07:00.001-08:00

Guess what? In June 2009 I had 14 posts in one month. What was I thinking? Why am I such a slacker now? Discuss.

Parting is such...a horribly unsatisfying moment

2010-11-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

You know what I really suck at? Ok, don't go off listing all my faults (though that might be interesting to hear sometime). I really suck at the professional goodbye. You know, when you're leaving a job and you go to say goodbye for the last time to your superior with whom you are friendly, but do not have a loosey-goosey super-casual relationship that would allow you to give them a hug and weep on their shoulder (not that I've ever done that)? Yeah, I suck at that. All I'll allow myself is a handshake, a smile, a few half-mumbled words about how grateful I am for everything, and then...just walk away. But that hardly seems like enough. Ever. So instead of walking away feeling happy that I'm done and grateful that I had the opportunity, I walking away having an anxiety attack thinking about what I should have said that would have felt more complete to me. I eventually have to force myself to do something meaningless to distract my mind, and that usually ends up with me (picture it if you will), walking down the street, focusing very hard on counting every step until I get to the car and can drown myself in mindless public radio.

Oh my life.

But really, thinking about this, I've realized that I just suck at saying goodbye to people period. Nothing I can do in those few minutes seems able to express everything I want to say, even if what I want to say is just "it's been great, k bye!", or "hey you were a bizarre roomate, thanks for messing up my laundry!" Don't worry, if you're reading this and we were roomates, that is not directed at you.

Unfortunately, I've had occasion to say quite a few (probably permanent) goodbyes in the last year or so, what with ending internships and practicums and volunteer work, etc...Maybe I just need to get a more stable, permanent job, and then I can just avoid goodbyes altogether. Awesome plan, me.

P.s. As I was adding tags to this post, I had to create a whole new one for "awkward". It wasn't already in my list of tags- can you believe it, with all the awkward things that happen to me? Well, I should probably say all the awkward things that I do, but anyways...

2010-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Steven is on his way home for mid-tour leave. He's leaving "theater today" which means he is leaving his tiny tiny base in the middle of nowhere to go to a slightly larger base to catch a ride to Kandahar where he will grab a flight to Kuwait, then Germany, then Des Moines to pick up his kids, then here. So he was supposed to hit the states around 11/4 so that should give you an idea of how long that whole trip will take. I'm excited he's coming back- I've somehow always been pretty zen about family members going overseas- it doesn't worry me. Maybe I'm cold-hearted. I don't think so, I've always seen it as a blessing, maybe a sign that they'll be ok. I'm grateful for that.

On the soda front- Day seven, WHAT?! My head still hurts. I wonder if that will go away eventually or if I am bound to be dependent on caffeine for the rest of my liiife.

2010-10-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

Day two of my soda fast. HA! (Take that Emmy). Unfortunately, this is pretty much how I felt all day long:

Yes I'm addicted to caffeine, and yes it's ridiculous. But now, my life is going to be so. Much. Better.

Also, while I was looking for that grotesque picture above, I found this, which just makes my head hurt even more:

2010-10-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Day one soda free. This is real folks. And it's serious. And it's totally going to happen.

2010-10-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Facebook is...(duh duh duh) down? I was just trying to get on and kept getting the message that it's unavailable and maybe I entered the wrong address. I don't know if you've seen the recent 100% accurate movie ABOUT Facebook, "The Social Network" (I did, and it was fabulous...more on that later), but Facebook DOESN'T GO DOWN. I guess I have no other choice but to go to sleep now.

2010-09-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

OMG CUTEEEEEE!!!!!!

Yes, I realize I'm to old to say things like that.

Don't laugh at me.

2010-09-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

I don't watch scary movies very often. Until I watched "Devil" the other night, I think the last real horror movie I saw was "The Grudge". This is because, after an epidemic of boldness and stupidity my first year or two of college, I realized that after I watch horror movies, I CAN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT. I don't know what it is, haunted houses and things that are real like, oh say, people with guns, don't bother me too much, but show me a freaky movie and I will crawl up under five blankets on my bed (which I have probably moved to the center of the room by this point) with all the lights on, the tv on, and probably a book to read (the more distractions, the better). Don't tell me they're not real. I KNOW they're not real. I'm not an idiot. But maybe it's a symptom of my all too willing suspension of disbelief (which makes me generally a rather easy to please movie-goer), that once I watch something horrifying, I'm reminded of it in the most ridiculous places. So because of this...ahem...problem that I have, I have been studiously avoiding watching television commercials for the upcoming movie "Case 39"- some hooey about a foster child and the curse that plagues her- anyone who helps her DIES. Oh dear. Silly though it be, I can tell that it's scary and I don't want none of it. ANYWAYS, the point of this unnecessarily long explanation is that, with the tv on, but muted, in the background while trying to register for classes just now, I happened to look up right at a moment of scary-face-showing during that commercial. I deeply regret it. Guess how I'll be sleeping tonight?

2010-09-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

If you ever wonder why I'm so obsessed with Law & Order (I can't help it!!), the New York Times captured it PERFECTLY (it's like they're living inside my brain) in their recent review of the new Law & Order: LA:

"'Law & Order' episodes hold attention, year after year and rerun after rerun, because the story arcs are both suspenseful and predictable; the plots are luridly fascinating, but their resolution is comfortingly familiar."

I don't have anything to add. It's like neon comfort food. Mmmmmmmm.

2010-09-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

This is the first 9/11 since 2001 that I haven't gotten up in the morning and just felt like sitting on the floor and sobbing all day long. That's a step in the right direction, right?

2010-08-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

I still want ALL of these. Time has not diminished my love for an Amy Butler rug. First purchase for my future new apartment? Yes. When will this happen? I have absolutely no idea.

2010-08-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Back in...June? It seems like it's been forever, but really (apparently) it's only been a few months...I started reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. I'm not quite sure what to say about it.

Plot first, I guess. A fairly famous (and fictional) American artist is arrested at the National Gallery of Art for attempting to attack a painting (depicting the myth of Leda and the Zeus-swan). With a knife. I know, right? He is admitted to a psychiatric institution under the care of Dr. Marlow, psychiatrist and main character extraordinaire, who is also an artist of sorts and, taking an intense interest in his patient's case and only confession that "I did it for her", goes to extreme lengths to follow the artist's obsession with a possibly fictional woman whom he paints and sketches over and over and over again. Eventually Dr. Marlow finds this woman (a faint memory of her anyway) and the reason for his patient's obsessive focus on her. This case becomes something of an obsession for Dr. Marlow himself as he tracks down former amours, associates, and paintings of his patient. It is interesting to see a number of lives unfold and the way they reflect and re-reflect one another. The contemporary story-line is frequently interrupted by first letters and then narrative snippets from the life of the mysterious woman at the heart of all this arty intrigue.

The main problem with The Swan Thieves- its length. It was, like I said, an interesting story, but there simply was not enough material to fill all of those pages (and, it seems, nearly half of my suitcase). I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as The Historian, but all in all, this was pretty wonderful. It's not the kind of book that I could gobble and gobble and finish quickly. Her writing is quite dense, and the book was very slow going for me. That being said, Kostova's writing has moments of quiet brilliance and unexpected insight. I really loved the imagined paintings that make up the core of Marlow's search. Each one seemed absolutely real and vivid. I wanted to see all of these paintings in real life, though the descriptions were so skillful that somehow I'm not sure I'd need to.

It was a nice book to span my time in D.C. D.C. is the main setting for the story, and it complemented my frequent museum visits well. Also provided great Metro reading as I could only focus for bits anyways.

Great if you're in the mood for something to nibble at. If you haven't read The Historian yet, read that instead.

2010-08-06T21:59:00.001-07:00

I literally died when I saw this video.

Ooh!

2010-07-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

I wish that I had a computer geek in my life to whom I could gift these. Alas, all I've got around here are fantasy/sci-fi/music geeks. Woe is me!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

I include this picture because this is the way I would MUCH have preferred that Nicolas Cage look in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Since when do a (to quote the movie) "300 year old rawhide coat" and hair made out of straw translate into an ultra powerful sorcerer? I'm sorry, Nic, but no matter how much you spin, that hair will NOT turn into gold. I DON'T CARE WHAT THE MICE TOLD YOU.

So unfunny fairy tale tangent aside, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was average. It had some sweet romantic moments, some really delightful Alfred Molina scenes (all of his scenes, actually- his acting is really quite delicious- he did the best he could with a ridiculous script), some scenes of trademark Cageian insanity (which are also guiltily delightful), and lost of unnecessarily silly action sequences and occultism. Magic is awesome, but when the final spell of ultimate evil requires the wicked witch to writhe around on the ground like a...well you don't want to know like what...then it's just too much. I could definitely have gone without the hair swinging.

Final verdict- silly effects+gaudy jewelery+randomly kind of hot Jay Baruchel= C+

Well Played, AF.

2010-07-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

So apparently no one likes the current DC mayor, Adrian Fenty. Whatever, I don't know anything about him. This I WILL say for him though, he has got to be the hottest mayor DC has ever had. And for that I say: good job good sir.

Predators

2010-07-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe thats not the real poster, but you get the point. On Saturday I went to see "Predators" with Nicole, fellow librarian. It was...pretty much exactly what I expected, which wasn't much. Imagine, for a second, that the same team that made the original movie set out to do...everything they had already done, in exactly the same style, with a new cast (except for the monsters, of course) and better special effects, and you'll have quite a good idea of what this was like. Bright spots: Adrien Brody and...I hesitate to add him to this list, because he only makes it by sheer force of insanity, but Laurence Fishburne. Also the Yakuza gangster whose name I do not know, but whose scenes were wonderfully referential to older Tokyo gangster films like...well, "Tokyo Gangster" (Kristin, please tell me you remember that). Laurence did the best he could with the material he had, which amounted to not very well with not very much, but it turned out to be one of the more entertaining sections of the entire film. All of that being said, the writing was astonishingly bad, and the violence was over-wrought. It had some really great "ARE THEY SERIOUS?!?!?!?!" moments, but not much else worth going for. Maybe I should start grading movies. I give this one a solid C-.

This definitely had some entertaining previews though. Look up "Machete". I promise you will not be sorry you did.

Fail

2010-07-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm confused by this. I was looking for a definition of ectomorph, and the Merriam-Webster site came up as one of the results. "Well, that's a well-known name in the field of dictionaries" I thought to myself, and clicked. But there is a problem. Could someone PLEASE tell me where the definition is on this page (and no, it wasn't in the scrolldown, i promise)?

Inception

2010-07-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Why does A.O. Scott always end up reviewing the movies that I am most anticipating? Where are you Manohla?!?!?

Whatever. It's still a well-written review, though a bit disappointing:

"Admirers of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” will find themselves in good company, though “Inception” does not come close to matching the impact of those durable cult objects. It trades in crafty puzzles rather than profound mysteries, and gestures in the direction of mighty philosophical questions that Mr. Nolan is finally too tactful, too timid or perhaps just too busy to engage."

Ouch. Not what I wes expecting.

Read the rest here.

Movies!

2010-07-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about movies in a long time and Andrea blogged a rant today about chick flicks and it got me all fired up, so I guess I'm in the mood now.

First up is a real gem- a French movie called "Barbe Bleue" or, in English, "Blue Beard". It's based on a classic fairy tale by Charles Perrault (ever heard of...oh, Cinderella? That's because of him), a 17th century writer and collector of folk stories. If you've read a lot of the Grimm Brothers o Hans Christian Andersen, you know that some fairy tales can get a little out of control, and Blue Beard is no different (seriously- what in the world is this about?). So anyways, in this movie (one of a large number of versions), two young girls in the 50s are narrating. The younger sister forcefully reads the older the story because the younger is fascinated by it. The elder is terrified. The story itself is about two sisters whose father dies, for which happening they are kicked out of their convent/school. Back home, they talk about their neighbor, old Blubeard, who has been married several times, though his wives have all mysteriously disappeared. The younger is obsessed with his wealth and the idea of escaping to his world of wealth and luxury, and accepts his proposal of marriage. Long story short, he leaves one day, giving her all the keys to the palace, telling her to visit every room and explore the whole property, but not to use the small golden key. So what does she do? Of course she figures out which door it opens and goes inside. There, she finds the bodies of his dead wives (though some versions of the story have them alive still, but tortured and imprisoned and nearly dead). She freaks out, leaves the room, and relocks the door. HOWEVER, instead of staying away for months as he promised, he comes back the next day. Of course she is still out of her mind, he notices, and $#!% happens.

So. Morbid, right? Aside from the one terrifying scene, the dead wives, the film is pretty sedate. It's very interesting because while the little gil narrators are spectacular little actresses (it feels so natural!), the acting in the fairy tale is rather wooden, almost emotionless. I've read a number of reviews that really criticize this, but I think it's a deliberate statement by the director, not the sad result of a woeful lack of talent as some have implied. It leaves them as generic representatives of men and women, their relationships a rather bitter commentary on the sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet relationship between the two. It also preserves the feeling that this is a story we're watching, not a reality or any kind of direct representation of it.

That being said, it is wonderfully watchable and definitely worth the time. It's on watch anytime on Netflix right now if you've got some free time (and, of course, a subscription)

THE LAST AIRBENDER: Well, if you're free for a matinee and really don't care how you spend your time, go see it. Otherwise, avoid like the plague. The performances here are painfully wooden, and not on purpose like the previous film. Just painful, especially remembering Mr. Shyamalan's former talent. Sorry M. Night, you've been replaced and overwhelmed for me by the giant of J.J. Abrams.

Well, all that I really have to say about this movie is "Oh HEEEEEEY Bradley Cooper!!!". The plot and writing were completely absurd. That doesn't, however, negate the fact that this is a good movie to escape the heat on a weekend afternoon. Worth a matinee (maybe not in D.C. though, where matinees are NINE DOLLARS). Lots of explosions, one really entertaining bad guy (hey Raul!), and some really silly portrayals of military types.

I think I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year" is the second best Bollywood movie I've ever seen (after "Lagaan", which is no longer available on DVD or Netflix or anywhere really). It's kind of "The Office" meets India without the sarcasm or the great writing. Harpreet Singh reports a client at his first ever job for requesting a bribe, is told by his boss "that's how we roll", and decides to start his own competing company while still at his job and using their resources (but keeping a strict accounting of everything he uses so he can repay it someday). His boss is horrible to him, more and more coworkers join him, then the whole situation blows up and his boss forces him out of business. Heartwarming self-examination and happy resolution ensues. It's a good, simple, solid movie. AND it's under three hours! (My main complaint about the Indian film industry is that it cannot, for the life of it, produce a movie that is less than three hours long- this one actually is, but only by about twenty minutes). Anyways, if your in the mood for something a little different, give it a try. This one's also on watch anytime on Netflix right now.

I feel like four is a good place to stop for tonight. K bye!!!

Recent events

2010-07-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm continually making note in my phone of crazy things that happen each day that I can put on here, and I inevitably forget and the humor passes. Here are a few that I can remember:

1. On Monday I waited for an incredibly long time for the train because of an "incident" two stops away, and when it finally came, I got on, sat down, and saw...a woman wearing a halloween candy sack shaped like a pumpkin/cat (yes, both at the same time). It was sitting upright, well really she was holding it up with her left hand, which was also holding a tall plastic mug. She started yelling at everyone who had just gotten on the train, ranting on and on about how she couldn't get any sleep, no one would let her get 8 hours of sleep, especially not since she got out of prison. This continued (I'm sure)after I got off the train.

2. Right when I was getting in the checkout line at Tarzhaaaaay the other day, "Cry Me a River" came on. I have so many wonderful and ridiculous memories about that song. It made me so happy, that I didn't even care waiting for ten minutes while the woman in front of me rang up and entire cart-load of items and then couldn't find her credit card. I even felt sorry for her.I've totally been there. Hope she found it.

3. One of my roomates is writing a paper about Washington scandals and started asking all of us which we thought were the worst and why/why they were so interesting to us. Her friend cited the Watergate debacle, and as for why it so gripped her? "It's just, like, really fascinating to me, like, the level of technology they used. Like, we still use wire-tapping today in the government" (and then she went on about how advanced wire-tapping was back then and how crazy it was that they were using it) What? Pretty sure telephone tapping was not the main issue there. It was burglary, manipulation, and Nixon's recordings of people without their consent. Not by tapping into phone lines, but just using a tape recorder. Wire-tapping has been around almost as long as telephones themselves. And that's all I'm going to say. I really do like her.

All for now.

What's new

2010-06-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bored of my design and wishing I hadn't changed from the old one now. It was perfect.

I've been really really falling behind on my movie posts. When I have time I will. Maybe. Here's a sneak preview: Killers was terrible, Letters to Juliet had bad costume design (the Adidas!), and The A-Team was (if such a term can be applied to this type of film) fluffy. But Liam Neeson made that more than worth the $11 ticket price.

I had tapas for the first time this week, and it was a good experience. This was (I'm guessing) a rather low quality tapas restaurant, but I have since gotten some leads on a few very good restaurants that I will definitely be trying.

This last week and a half has been almost a total loss for me work-wise. Monday we didn't work because TWC had programming for us, Tuesday one of the librarians set up visits to the Archives of American Art (inspiring) and the library that serves the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of American Art (peaceful), Wednesday she also set up visits to the American History Archives (spectacular) and the Library of American History at the National Museum of American History (small but good swag). It was really wonderful of her to go to so much trouble to arrange all of those visits for my fellow library interns and I. Also, it was just effing awesome. I had my own private geek fest. Then Thursday through today (Tuesday again) I was off work to attend the American Library Association's annual conference. It was a huge messy geeky greedy get-together of like minded folk. Lectures, discussions, vendor exhibits, and best of all, soooo many free books. Granted, they might be books I would never read if left to myself (Brian Sanderson? SERIOUSLY? Even I have my limits of geekiness), but I got them for free so now I am clearly obligated to dedicate the time.

As a closing note (I'm getting sleepy) if you have Netflix, watch the 2009 French version of "Blue Beard" (Barbe Bleue). It is spectacular, restrained, grotesque, and just very very enjoyable.

State slogans, con't.

2010-06-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

On the OTHER hand, Maryland's used to be "Oooh, the state I'm in!"

Now that makes me want to go to Maryland. It sounds like "Oh man, you will not believe what happened while I was in Maryland!" Story of crazy vacation bender to follow. THAT's what I want my vacation to be like. Something that will fuel the gossip for weeks.

Some of the worst state mottoes:

2010-06-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Kentucky had two, one promoting it's mediocrity: "Oh Kentucky, You'll come to love it!" That sounds like they're just trying to set you up for disappointment, or get you to have really low expectations so you'll be pleasantly surprised. The other one: "The uncommon wealth of Kentucky" (get it, because they're the Commonwealth of Kentucky?" just gives me the heebie-jeebies for some reason. Like uncommon wealth in what, NECROMANCY?

There was a really bad Tennessee one too...thinking...

I had to go back and look it up in the boxes of maps. "Tennessee...Sounds good to me!" Like we're driving down the highway not knowing where to go, our options are Alabama, Missippi, Kentucky, etc...Meh, we'll take what's left over. Tennessee sounds good enough. I guess. Fail.

Grrrrr...

2010-06-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Washington Center is the organization that is running my internship program. It is a DOT/government funded program, but TWC handles all of the logistics. So they are in charge of our paychecks. I submitted everything for direct deposit weeks ago, but all the interns had to pick up their first check in person. At the TWC office. Which is oh so very far from the closest metro station. At least it's a nice neighborhood. So at the orientation, one of the program advisors told all of us that they would be able to stay open a little late for a couple of days so interns could come pick up their checks. He also said that for the interns living in the TWC residential facility (where I'm living), somone wuld be able to drop off their checks with the concierge. Awesome.

So here we are yesterday on check day. I work every day all the hours the TWC office is open, so I'm counting on being able to get the check at my bldg or go late one day to the office. I hadn't heard anything about that though, so I emailed both my advisor and the advisor who had made the above statements to ask about it. They both reply and so "Nope, sorry, you have to come between 9:00 and 5:30. NO LATER. WE WILL NOT BE HERE. And we can't take them to the building you stay at. All of this is for SECURITY REASONS!!!" Me: "But you said...!" Them: "WE LIED!!!". Ok, that's fine, I worked over on Monday, and I took a short lunch today (which, remember, in the story is really Tuesday, not Wednesday like today really is), so I'm fine to leave a little early. I figure I'll leave at 5, metro up to Dupont, and walk over, figuring I would make it right on time. Wrong. I got to Dupont right at 5:25, and then still had a walk of about 6-7 blocks, which for some reason took forever. I did pass the founding church of Scientology on the way though, so now I know where it is when I make my visit. So I got to the door (dripping sweat, I'm sure, because I was attempting to book it, but the air was so thick and disgusting that I could barely manage a brisk walk), but the door was closed, and there was another girl just standing in front of it looking forlorn, so I assumed I was too late, they were closed. BUT THEN! The door opened, and she walked in, so I rushed to grab the door before it closed. Inside the very nice newly redone foyer (so this is what all the undergrads' $10,000 for a summer term is going to!) (seriously, $10,000!), I stood and waited for someone to come. Finally, someone did, and I told her I was there to pick up my check. "Ok, but if you come again, remember we close at 5:30, I'm only here now because we have an event tonight." Smarmy lady. Seriously. Do you not see my sweaty face? Is it not clear that I was doing all I could to make it by 5:30? AND, for all their talk about security, when I started pulling out my wallet and asked "Do you need to see ID?", she replied "Oh, I probably should have been asking for ID from all the other people who came to pick up their checks. How about this, just to check that you're you, what's your first name? Hahahahahaha just kidding" In that moment I wanted to just smack her smug little face. I'm so mean. So I got my check, had a nice leisurely walk back to the station, and went home. End of frustration? NO. The TWC had one final jab for m this morning when I got to work and received this email from my advisor:

"Hi All –
I will be at DOT today for office hours from 11-noon in room E63-124. If you have not already picked up your pay check I can bring it to you. But you MUST respond to this email and let me know that you want me to sign it out and bring it to you. I will only be there from 11-noon so please make sure you come during that time.
Nicole"

You have GOT. TO BE KIDDING ME. After all the back and forth I had with her about how hard it was going to be to get my check, she waits until the last minute to announce that this was an option? All my frustration. FOR NOTHING.

The Weepies

2010-05-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Not the best performance, but this has been (and will continue to be) one of my favorite songs for a very long time. It just...feels right. Like everything is ok in the world.