I just can't stop

but this is the last one tonight I promise

last but not least, my little baby Binky, Bink for short. She's edging up on 10-11 years now and is as spunky as ever!

On the other hand....

Have a look at my new cousin Gut! My cousin A doesn't have kids (and I don't know if that's "yet" or just doesn't want them) so Gut is my new 2nd cousin and that's short for Gutterball. He looks like a long legged boxer mix of some kind and is sweet as spun sugar. He curled up in my lap and went to sleep, then on to A's lap for the same thing. He didn't even wake up for the pictures and she had to hold his head up, little baby that he was. These were taken a few months ago so I'm positive that he's even cuter now!

Adios!

htw

Beautiful Day

We kicked @$$ at the Alexander McCall Smith event today! He was a great guest and speaker, though he had a disturbingly soft handshake...that may be a Scottish thing??? He was decked out in full kilt with the socks and everything. He stayed alot longer than we'd planned and was SO nice! The last author we had, John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The City of Falling Angels) was a little...standoffish...and that really doesn't go over very well with us. Maybe he was just having an off day but, as my mother says, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

This is my esteemed mother! Her motto: I am your mother and I am a mutha'. You may think I'm kidding. I'm not. She's such a cutie :) When I talk to her on the phone I call her my little mamacita 'cause she's so short. Hopefully that's not something dirty or offensive in Spanish. The little s**t at her feet is Buggerbear a.k.a. Booboo a.k.a. bain of my existence, but he makes her life a joy and keeps her happy so I'll tolerate the little stain. He even knows when I'm on the phone with her because he'll start whining and barking (make that yipping) not five minutes after we start our conversation. He's bitten me on the leg, ankle, foot, toes, hand and nose but that was before I put the fear of God in him with a rolled up newspaper. He such a little stinker, but I don't have to live with him so that's okay. He's really cute from a distance. Look at his face in this picture. Do you see the sneer? I do.

I certainly don't deny that he's cute. I take too many pictures of him to say otherwise. All I'm saying is that we don't get along and never will. He doesn't blink an eye at my arguements that she was my mother before she was his. I wish I had that kind of confidence. :)

Adios!

htw

Burning the midnight oil...

Why am I up at 11:59pm? This is very unlike me. I'm tired, I've got a busy day planned tomorrow, and I'm EXTREMELY grumpy when I'm not rested. Why do that to yourself?

Life seems pretty good to me right now, cancer free and D chewing her squeaky toy in my ear (delighted that I'm not asleep by the way). How can you deny those liquid brown eyes? Excuse me while I throw the squeaky toy...

For any friends interested in using my laptop, I did not wipe the doggy slobber off my hands before I went back to typing!

So I've been exploring the blogosphere again this evening and had a little more luck. I found Kenny's Korner (obviously I was drawn to a fellow alliterator) and have added it to my RSS aggregator. Caustic humor, good drawings...

good god, she's got the hedgehog now!

...sly wit. I was amused and entertained so we'll see if it stays that way.

Little else went on at ol' EOL this afternoon. The HVAC was out so by about 2pm the building was a sauna. The guy didn't get there to repair it until about 20 minutes to closing because no one called him. Communication definitely got fouled up there somewhere. I can just see us having 200 people in the library for the Alexander McCall Smith event on Sunday with no air...it'd be beautiful.

With this event on Sunday, I'll have to change the monthly display on Monday. I can't remember if I've got anything in the wings, but off the top of my head I thought I'd get a list of celebrities' favorite books and put those out. I've done mystery, exotic locales, food fiction, anything with the word "hot" in the title, "look what i found on the bottom shelf", and myriads of others. I remember a book published not too long ago, something like "books that changed lives" or something to that effect. Maybe I could come up with a little slip of some sort that would relate the celebrity choosing the title and why they chose it. I'll have to do a trial run and see how labor intensive it is. I've really had a lot more success with random choices for a display than with themed ones. It seems that once a patron has chosen from a themed display they don't want to come back to it again to get a book on the same topic where as with a random choice display the patron will come back again and again to see what's new.

I think I'll go with that, thanks for the help!

I'm off to bed now so I won't be a complete ogre tomorrow...hopefully ;-)

Adios!
htw

Bad News

Everyone arrived at work this morning to the news that our beloved B, the library's administrative guru, has lung cancer. She will undergo radiation and chemo and plans to fight it as hard as she can. She is having complete scans today to see at what stage the disease is right now. I am so hoping it's early...we just lost Dana (but her cancer was rare and incurable) and none of us, B herself most certainly, want B to have to go through that kind of suffering.

K came up with the idea of making her a scrapbook with a "while you were out" theme, like the notepads you use in a business office to take messages for people. We will all have our pictures taken doing something that parodies/spoofs something indicative of each individual that will make B laugh. I thought this was a great idea because it is something she can keep and make notes in if she wants to. Now my quandry is, how do you take capture a smart mouth? What else would be indicative of me? The whole children's department is going to use pillows to look pregnant, except for KG who really is. A will work a crossword puzzle, KH will watch football, C will be on the phone, M will be laying in the staff lounge with measle-like dots and a thermometer, N will be in the floor surrounded by boxes and carts of books....I want our department to come up with some stuff equally as contextually funny.

Everyone keep her in your thoughts and prayers, no matter the denomination. B is a wonderful lady with too much sweetness to leave this world so soon, though it tends to work that way.

I am not ready for her to leave.

htw

Third time's the charm

I worked out at the JCC again after work today! Yeah for me, yeah for me! K and D were finishing up when I got there so I had to workout all by my lonesome too...and I stayed and did it when I really felt like leaving! I did 15 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical (originally planned 20 min but my knee started hurting so I baled), and 15 minutes on a recumbant bike=40 good minutes to think about my day and why I had to let myself get so repulsive, watch "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader", and learn about the transsexual Baldwin sibling.

Of course, I did not have a radio with me so I got all of it through closed captioning and let me tell you...their typists often suck. The other day there was a news segment on Dale Jr. and the CC came up with "little league" every time I KNEW it should be "little E". Amusing but frustrating.

I am so glad the end of the work week is here. I really need a break and S's son's engagement party Sat night will be just the thing :-) Sunday is our big author event with Alexander McCall Smith so I'll be working my butt off all day but it should be a phenomenal time! He's supposed to be a great speaker and we've sold almost 150 tickets! Plus, Western is providing the food and they always do a bang-up job. We're having grilled polenta with shrimp, pork tenderloin with chutney and garlic cheese biscuits, carmelized onion tarts, lemon and key lime squares, sweet tea....need I say more?

Did I, or did I not just start this blog off with a discussion of my workouts this week? I did?.......oh well

;-)
adios!
htw

Blogger...the final frontier

I just spent some time exploring the "next blog" button of Blogger and discovered it's a wonder anyone finds anything at all. I found the blog of a guy who's happy he has a penis, many gaming/comic/manga/graphic novel review sites, some others I'd rather not mention and hope I forget...

I'm going to have to go out and find some good ways of finding other blogs to read. Recommendations work fine but I'd like to do some exploring on my own as well. Is there a search feature for Blogger that I'm not aware of? I know Google and Yahoo have blog search options so I'll try there first. A while back I submitted my url to Google to be crawled so I'm now searcheable there but couldn't find myself at Yahoo so pooh on them.

And I use them to teach my computer class too! Promoting their website and telling the newbies how much better I like it than msn...I believe I should be honorarily crawled by Yahoo for the free advertisement alone!
adios
htw

Swishing Hell

Dental intervention...day 2 of 14.

I discovered that the crap I have to swish with (for the next two weeks) in the morning takes away my sense of taste for about 4 hours. That's just one of the crappy side effects of this wonderful, tidy-blue-bowl-cleaner swishing stuff...that and the staining of course.

I did read the accompanying literature and learned that my smile will not spontaneously turn purple or neon green but the medicine does cause a growth explosion of plaque.

So think of me today...maniacally brushing and flossing in an attempt to combat an invading force of plaque. Trust me, I'm thinking about it real hard and hoping this cup of splenda sweetened, white chocolate macadamia nut creamered coffee will help in the battle :)

Adiós!

htw

p.s. I'm working out at the JCC again tonight so that's two times this week I've made a real effort to do an honest-to-God workout! Yeah me!

Workout Woes

K and I worked out at the JCC last night and I suffered/am suffering severly for it now. My good buddy, plantar faciitis, has reared its ugly head once more and is on a serious rampage. I'm taking Aleve but nothing really helps except cortisone shots in my heels and I've had so many already..... If you don't know what plantar faciitis 1) you are lucky and 2) here's a diagram:




I personally have flat feet. I get new shoes every 2 - 3 months and try to stretch several times a day, most especially in the morning. The cortisone shots never worked for more than 6 - 8 weeks at a time and the doctor I was seeing at the time said he was not giving me anymore, surgery was my next option (for the weak of heart, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK!)

Was that TMI? Maybe, but you guys deserve the truth :-)

Adiós!
htw

Dental Woes

So this is how my morning started out at 9am this morning. Due to suffering from the early stages of periodontal disease, I had to have an ultrasonic, below-the-gumline cleaning.

Right-side today, left-side next week.

A rinse for a.m., a different rinse for p.m.: both of which will stain my teeth.

A separate visit to clean the stain off my teeth.

Checkups every 3 - 4 months to make sure I'm getting the job done at home.

Now, I appreciate Dr. Schambeau's concern for my dental health...I want that up front...but it just hurts my feelings SOOOOOOOO bad. I'd almost (everyone, take note of the "almost") rather have a broken limb or severe lesion than something wrong with my teeth! They are my only good point!

So, I'll floss, brush, swish the unearthly goop, endure the harsh pressure washing of the roots of my teeth (and without numbing! *insert muscleman pose here*), and try not to gouge my wrists with spoon while I endure teeth staining for the next 2-3 weeks.

For any friends or coworkers reading, I am taking my antidepressant and will attempt to conduct myself with professionalism and courtesy at all times...otherwise, get me a doughnut and a jamocha milkshake with a few dairyease caplets on the side, STAT...

Adiós!

htw

THIS JUST IN..............! ! !

...and using the keyboards that staff and other patrons have to use each and every day.
Need I say more?

What is the fascination with this part of the anatomy?

Wagons Ho! (not to be confused with a lady of ill repute)

Those 49ers had it easy....if they thought the gold rush was tough they should try the after school rush! The kiddies are keeping me hoppin' (though obviously not hoppin' enough to keep me from blogging about it) with in depth topics like "do you have restrooms here," "my mouse won't right click," "my headphones/jump drive/floppy/CD/assorted letters on the keyboard/the printer...won't work," and last but not least, "do you work here?"

...no I don't, but the chair behind this desk looked comfortable and I've always had a burning desire to wear a nametag...

Adiós!
htw

Past Times Remembered - the Leonids

Mom and I had a great time yesterday! We got pedicure's (hers pink, mine purple), I got new tennis shoes, packed some clothes into my spiffy new giant suitcase, and walked a dog. I helped her get some dresses down from her closet and put up a new shower curtain for her too. We were busy, busy, busy from about 11:30am 'til 6pm and I really felt like I'd had a day off for the first time in a long time. We talked and laughed and giggled, remembering this and that. I don't remember how this conversation came up but one of the best things I remembered was a meteor shower about 12 or 13 years ago.

I dug around a little bit and I think this is it. There was an unusually active Leonid meteor shower in mid-November 1994. That sounds about right but for the purposes of this anecdote it is going to be exactly right since I couldn't find anything else any closer to what I remember.

Mom had brought out snacks and she and I were laying on the deck covered up with blankets and watching the sky. Where we lived at the time (Dad's still there) was, and still is, quite rural so no streetlights were hampering our view. Just as I got comfortable, a HUGE swath of light rocketed across the portion of the open sky we could see between the trees. It looked like it was skimming the treetops and mom and I grabbed each other and screamed! I though it was going to be the end of us...it seemed that close! For the next hour or so, there were so many of these, some bigger and brighter than the first, that I couldn't begin to count them. We screamed and huddled every time one went over.

My dad finally wandered outside to see what all the fuss was about but apparently the show was over. There may have been two or three that next hour and Dad lost interest and wandered back into the house. I still think about that night, every time I look up and see all those twinkling stars (or actually see a falling star) and wish that shower would come back around again. I would make sure S and C got to see it so they could have this great memory too.

I also remember seeing Halley's Comet from our backyard in Hueytown in 1986. I remember being excited about seeing that comet since our names were so similar. At nine years old, that signified a special connection to me...Halley and Holley. Halley's Comet will be back around to us around 2062 and it's entirely within the realm of possibility that I'll get to see it again, albeit with 85 year old eyes instead of 9 but I figure that's a pretty cool goal so I'm keeping it.

Adiós!
htw

Great Audiobook

I am listening to I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak and must admit that I haven't been this entranced since Year of Wonders and The Taking! Zusak is an Australian author and Random House/Listening Library produced this audio with an Australian narrator (or some one capable of faking it?). This book was originally published Down Under and as an adult title.

It was published in the U.S. as a YA title. Now, Ed Kennedy is nineteen, drives a cab for living, and mentions high school or anything else of that nature little to none, but it feels like young adult literature and that is not defamation of character on my part. Ed is restless, bored, and wondering what to do with the rest of his life. (what teen doesn't) A self-confessed sexual midget, he is shy and awkward around his crush, fellow cab driver Audrey. (teen angst at its peak) His friends Marv and Ritchie don't do anything to help by getting drunk several nights a week, playing amatuer rugby, and having regular poker sessions. (ahh, the night out with the boys...the next day is always pleasant)

He's too young for me but I admit that I am not a little in love with poor Ed Kennedy...he's a great person that no one notices and I can empathize with that. He supports himself (barely), loves his 17 year-old stinky dog (The Doorman), and is loyal to his friends despite their bickering. What more could you ask for? Why do all the good ones have to be works of fiction?

Adiós!
htw

the GALL of some people ! ! !

Another one bites the dust!

Mom is recovering well from having her gall bladder removed Monday! We are going to hang out together tomorrow and get pedicures...I love it when she isn't at work. I can call her whenever I want and we can go places all the time. I hated her to have to be in so much pain when she had her hip replacement but I sure did like having her around all the time instead of a few times a month. I am looking forward to some good times after I get out of school....some vacations, short trips, maybe even to the beach as soon as I research pet-friendly places to stay. Yes, buggerbear will have to go too :) and I'll live through it :)

Gotta go teach my computer class!

Adiós!
htw

Still a Sale, not quite as fancy

Upon closer inspection, my spiffy new suitcase is closer to this. That's still $280 retail that I got for $75!

The moral of this story:

Visit your local library!

Adiós!

htw

THIS JUST IN..............! ! !

*curtain goes up*

As A and I are sitting here "working", a gaggle of children are quietly (they think) creeping up the stairs....let's listen in:

"Hey, you can't go up there! Those are grown-up book!"

"I don't care! Let's go up!"

"You can't go up there! There are books with A-S-S on them up there!"

thank you for your attention!

*curtain goes down*

Sale Away!

I stopped by the Greenpond Public Library on my way into work this morning to do a little homework. They have DSL, it's quiet and the people are nice and I managed to get quite a bit done despite my penchant for goofing off. On my way out I noticed this HUGE suitcase with a sign on it that said "$75, originally $200". What woman could pass that up?

It is the biggest suitcase (I think this is it) I have ever seen! Samsonite, never used, rolls, and it's now MINE! It's in the backseat of my Kia right now and I almost can't see over it. I won't have to borrow luggage for the trip to D.C. now!

Adiós!
htw, world travel-ready

Who Moved My Toilet?

So we're at the Gadsden Inn & Suites, it's the middle of the night, our neighbors aren't noisy for a change, J and I both gave our presentations Friday, it should have been a good night's rest but nnnnoooooooooooooooo! I was antsy. So I get up (I had been dozing so I was groggy AND didn't have my glasses on) to visit the ladies room and trip all over the clothes in the floor. In my semi-concious mind I'm thinking, "Why didn't J pick up her clothes when she took a shower?!" So I kick the clothes out of the way and start feeling around for the toilet (too lazy to bother with a light) and it is nowhere to be found!!! I raise up quickly and encounter clothes hangers....yes dear readers, I was in the closet.

I am slightly ashamed but in my defense, every room I have stayed in there (this was about the 12th time) had a closet on the left and a bathroom on the right. This was the only one that was different so how could I possibly be expected to remember that in one short evening?!? So I don't feel THAT stupid about it, just a little :)

Since we gave our presentations Fri night we had absolutely NOTHING to do on Sat other than look attentive so we got up early on Sat and had a celebratory breakfast at Cracker Barrel before our last class and that was the best part! We drank too much coffee so that next six hours of class was nearly unbearable. The pitcher of margaritas at lunch improved the afternoon somewhat :)

Adiós!
htw

Locked Out

I was given permission by my friend J to recount this story for you here.

This weekend was the last class for one of the two I was taking this semester (I still have 3 weeks left in YA lit) and as usual, J and I split the expense of a room at the lovely Gadsden Inn & Suites. I highly recommend it to anyone passing through and to other library school students. As I understand it, J had taken the dog , C, out for a walk and distinctly remembers the door to the house being UNLOCKED when she left. Unfortunately that was not how she found it when she and C got back. Did I mention the housecoat and slippers??? So now J and C are locked out of the house, J in her pajamas, her husband D at work. Diligent homeowner that she is, not one window had been left open to shimmy through.

I was rivated at this point in the story when J said, "So I called D on the mailman's cellphone."

Now I don't know about you people, but that's funny! It just came out of left field from no where. How did the mailman get in the picture? D didn't answer his phone and J was again set adrift. Not long after though, the little white USPS truck drove back up to the house, "Your husband is on the phone." Gotta love caller ID! D came back home and let J back in the house.

J got the approval letter for her Assitantship (sp?) from SLIS in the mail our letter carrying hero dropped off while J was using his cellphone so it was a grand adventure all around!

Congratulations J!

Adiós!
htw

More B'day Madness...Not Mine :-)

I can hardly believe my favorite niece is so old...I mean, 11, wow!!!! Just kidding S, I'm much older than you :-) I'm a weensie bit late with the well-wishes but I've had a gift now for a week and a half. I hope the festivities have been funtastic the whole week and hey, drop me an email or give a quick phone call to let me know if you had your party last weekend or this weekend.

I hate missing b'days but this end of the semester crap is killing me. I've been petsitting T & C this week, S last weekend and will have D & B (and S again for a bit) coming up in about a week. The summer traveling season is heating up and everybody needs Aunt Holley. Why send your beloved to the mean old kennel when I can come over, get the mail, water some plants, and watch your cable :)

ahem....and use your internet connection too I guess, Thanks J!

I still have not gotten around to asking about posting people's pets on here. I just can't come up with a good way to intro the subject. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I don't have any ulterior motives, I just like to show people all the cute animals I get to take care of....maybe I'll get up the nerve soon.

ah well, it's what? 8:55pm? It's so late! :)

Seriously, I have to get some decent sleep or some sort of episode whether homicidal, suicidal, etc-cidal, whatever, will most likely occur

For the curious---- I FINISHED THE 10 PAGE PAPER YESTERDAY!!!!!! Now I'll get up in the morning and put together a quick powerpoint (maybe) and I'll be good to go for class tomorrow night. I'm currently trying to pull together the term project for YA lit and get something started for the author study due May 7. Shoehorned in there is reading, reviewing, and annotating three books. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, choo, choo!!! THE PSYCHO TRAIN HAS LEFT THE STATION!

don't think I can't hear you laughing T..... :-)

Adios!

htw

! ! ! Victory Dance ! ! !

I got in the class! I got in the class! I got in the class!

I personally thought this Hawaiian gentleman did a MUCH better victory dance than I ever could :) This means, to my great joy, that I will be outta here (here being, of course, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa) the end of June and it won't be a moment too soon! I'm not walking either, just paying the $80 for my diploma and getting the H#@! out of Dodge. I don't know if I'll even come back to eat at a restaraunt in this town for a while. I did promise to not be so nasty about it so this is my last nasty post about U of A since I did make a promise.

Adiós!

htw

The Time Draws Nigh

So I’m slowly but surely doing my research for the 10 page, 3,000 word paper I’m supposed to have polished and ready by Friday….procrastination is one of my best skills.

Since I have an extremely hard time writing about things in which I am not interested, I have tried to pick a topic that a) I am interested in or, barring that, b) I know nothing about. Might as well make the s*$t useful, you know? So, as I’ve mentioned before, the issue I chose to do the literature review on is LGBTQQ collection development…and again, for those hiding under a rock that’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning. It is something I know nothing about but feel a professional responsibility that I should know. Librarians are some of the most political/societal change-type people I know and I'm just not one of them at this point. I also don't know if I'll ever develop a political platform, but I will read about them as I have this particular issue.

I have encountered the term lesbigay time and time again in my reading. I’ve never heard it before and don’t know if I like it or not. It reminds me of those fake breeds of dogs like the labradoodle (that’s a mutt folks, capital M capital U capital T T mutt…learn to love it…..).

Anyway…all this reading has made me feel like a lumbering, no forehead Neanderthal. I like to think of myself as an educated, well-read, progressive person, not always an early adapter (just in case it’s a fad) but right there as close to the cutting edge as I can manage. Now I’m starting to think I’m not as far along in my progressive life as I had imagined, especially in my book selecting. I'm one to really err on the side of caution. I haven't had to deal with a book challenge yet and want to avoid it for as long as possible; consequently my purchase selection reflects that. So, according to all the research I'm doing, I have been practicing "inside censorship". Eeeeek! I don't agree with censorship! Eeeeek!(again!) Those good intentions pave a road I have no intention of traveling if I can help it....

Facing these hard truths will hopefully make me a better librarian, to think more often about what I’m saying before I talk and such. I love being a librarian and would hate to consider the possibility that by some word or gesture, I have alienated someone. I have spent most of my life being alienated and ridiculed because of my weight so I certainly don’t want to be guilty of doing that to someone else. I know I will be guilty of it at some point, but I would rather it be unintentional than common practice.

Alright people, go out there and be part of humanity, not Neanderthals!

Adiós!
htw

Like Finding $20 In Your Pocket

I was rummaging through some galleys I had at home and found a real gem, Toothpaste for Dinner: Hipsters, Hamsters, and Other Pressing Issues by Drew. Here is the cover, just for those who might be wondering:

The picture on the front looks a lot like a zombie that might theoretically ride the short bus, but this pocket-sized wad of angst doesn't shamble about and eat human brains (well...maybe so).

Some highlights from the dedication and preamble:

"This book is dedicated to all the chickens who was down from day one."

"Drew lives with his wife in Columbus, Ohio. He is the back-page
columnist for the British magazine .net and posts a new drawing
every day at http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/. In his spare time, he records music, operates the tiny indie-rock label Sharing Machine, and paints. He holds a patent in organic chemistry, but that and four bucks will buy you a fancy cup of flavored milky coffee."

"Welcome to my book, whose hidden sub-sub-title is 'Drawings I made while I was supposed to be working.' Yes, it's true, I was supposed to be putting together spreadsheets, or typing some sort of report, or stirring chemicals together in a little dish, but I was drawing pictures instead."

Don't you just love that?! I haven't even made it halfway through the book yet and am really enjoying it. At first I thought it was sort of stupid, but the more I read the more I think this guy has the right idea. This is a subtle, pessimistic humor that I totally enjoy. When I finish I'm going to recommend it to MA down in circ...he's gonna love it! I've gotten some birthday cards from him that bear an eerie similarity. For your viewing pleasure here is one example of the hundreds of HE LAR E US stuff to be found:

I give you, THE CAN FACTORY

Adiós!

htw

A Lowering Moment, Mathematically Speaking

So my young friend WV came in to the library tonight and worked on his math homework. He goes to the local smart-kid's school so he's doing 10th grade math, which is 12th grade math in public school, with a college textbook...........


yes, me too.


So, in a startling moment of supreme confidence, he asked if I could help him........................


no, me neither.


This is what it looked like.......................










yes, me too.

I was very flattered, but at the same time......OMG! I will be the first to admit that I am not very comfortable with my intellectual shortcomings in the mathmatical area, but we have come to an understanding my stupidness and I. I just don't ask anything of it and it refrains from embarrassing me :-)

Adiós!
htw