as if further evidence.....

.....of my generalized nerdiness were needed, I wish they would make a poster of this instead of squabbling about image rights! I would SO hang this up somewhere in my house and I didn't even like chemistry.

you GO John Green!

Alabama's own (okay, he was born in Florida but he lived here for many of those important formative years!) John Green makes a stand against the challenging of his book, Looking For Alaska, by a few parents in some podunk mid-western town. If you are from said town, I was just kidding. Really. What's really weird is I just pulled this book for a patron about 20 minutes ago....I wonder if she just wanted to read it or had heard of the book challenge, hmmmmmmm?

info dump

...not to say that Holley's House is a dump (I'm sure some would/will disagree) but more along the lines of catching everyone up on the past 4 days. I guess it's more a physical dump of my memory onto the blogging platform :)

Thursday was a whirlwind effort of getting ready for Friday's A1abama Pub1ic 1ibrary Association Pub1ic 1ibrary Division winter mini-conference....try saying that 10 times really fast. My friend Leslie (from another library in the county) and I led a table talk session about readers' adv1sory. Of course, that was at 2:45pm. The mini-conference began at 9am with a keynote speaker, then morning sessions, then the ubiquitous box lunch followed by early afternoon sessions and then late afternoon sessions. I did a two-part "skills for first time managers and supervisors" session in the morning and early afternoon. I am neither a manager nor a supervisor, but I might be someday and it never hurts to store up. Hey, I saw the cartoon with the ant and the grasshopper (are those the correct bugs?).

I really felt good after our RA session because Leslie and I RoCkEd the house (except for two people! boy do I wish I could recognize someone by their handwriting) and several people stayed behind and asked tons of questions. It's a good feeling when people are that excited about your program.

The only downside??? My ex (bf) was in EVERY SINGLE SESSION I had. He usually never stays all day at these things. In the library world, it's not enough to not date in your workplace. Don't date in the profession because you will see them at every meeting whether you want to or not. I'll be honest....I don't hate him (much) but it was painful. I admit to wanting to talk to him. I admit it. But it isn't going to happen, I won't let it happen, it's not good for me to even think about it. We only dated for 4 or 5 months, but we'd been friends for 10 years up to that point so I didn't lose a bf, I lost a friendship that had spanned a decade....and it seemed so easy for him. It must just be a guy thing.

Oh well, I was feeling down, DoWn, DOWN when I left so I called KT for a pick-me-up and she delivered right on target with some very uncomfortable but oh-so-true points and that is just what I needed. However, I still was dreading sitting at home all night because I knew I'd just rehash anything I thought I saw....us girls do that alot. Right in the middle of my maudlin thoughts, Mrs. Roomie called looking for company. Her DH is back working nights and she's never been one to amuse herself so we ate an obscenely unhealthy pizza and watched a tv show that will forever be one of my favorites if I never see another episode. Some night, when you are feeling a little blue, see how the other half live by tuning in to CMT's My Big Redneck Wedding!

The first episode we watched involved two 19 year olds getting married on a golf course. Her colors??? Camo, camo everywhere! He got her a pink .22 rifle for a wedding gift, she gave him a skink. It was a weepy moment for all.

The second episode...ah, I don't even know where to start. They met at a karaoke bar, where she saw him singing and was smitten, eventually following him home on her horse (did I mention they'd both rode horses to the bar?). Oh yeah, and they were both married at the time and not to each other. They both got divorces for this blessed event. For wedding gifts, he got her a slinky nightie but it had long sleeves which he lovingly knew she would not like so he whips out a lockblade and cuts the sleeves off. But WAIT! She decided to get some naughty photos taken for him...and I say they are naughty not just because she's naked but also because I don't know a gynecologist in the land who would approve of a woman sitting astride a horse wearing a pair of very small chaps and a smile. It was precious, really. Nothing says romance like tatas and chaps.

Oh well, different strokes for different folks. My one saving grace, the first show was taped in Tennessee and the second in California...go figure. I was just glad Alabama was not mentioned, at least that night :)

I had a quick petsitting job this weekend so I picked up a few dollars of extra cash to get me through til payday. Rudder was his usually delightful self.

I forgot to mention that I had my dr.'s appt last week and he set me up to get a nerve conduction study on both hands on Valentine's Day. I'm also slated to have sleep study done sometime soon too. That I am even less excited about....

Speaking of sleep, I've got to get to bed. KT, VH and I are heading to Montgomery to scout out the bus trip we're doing for The Big Read in April/May. I have to be at VH's house at 7am so I'll need to leave hear ~6. I could leave later but I'm on the last CD of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I MUST learn what happens to Miles and Becky ToMoRroW! It was originally published in the 50's but is surprisingly creepy to have been written that long ago. The audiobook is narrated by the son of the director of one of the film adaptations and he is doing a splendid job. He has a very manly voice...it has been well furred with brandy and cigars. Anyway, we are visiting the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Supreme Court Building before having lunch at the historic Young House. All of the bus trip participants will be visiting the same venues and we want to have a look at the experience to see if we need to tweak anything before April.

Don't be feeling too miffed at me for what may seem like a pretty cushy day....I have to come back to the library and work until 9pm :(

Oh happy day.

But it won't be all bad 'cuz I'll be working with Carrie and we always have a great time while we work!

evenin' ya'll!

htw

good googly moogly!

yes, it's time again folks for that most beloved of Holley's House spots (other than "!!!this just in!!!"), good googly moogly!

wherein I check my stat counter for Google phrases that have brought people here for their 1 second visit! Some stay longer and those are the people I care for, really.

• laurell hamilton dirtiest novel - I mean really! In the Anita Blake series, any of the last 10 or 12 will do and just close your eyes and pick a Merry Gentry. Good times, good times. Don't let my sarcasm fool you, LKH is one of my FaVoRiTe authors!
• library journal - this one is pretty straight forward. I was telling Carrie on Tues and KT pretty much all week how I hate ordering out of this journal. They just throw reviews all over the place so you can't just find the section in the T o C and get on with your day!
• heath only the good die young - so true, so true. I still cringe when I see the photos of the workers loading him up in the mortuary transport. It's hard to imagine that Heath Ledger really is in that body bag :(
• viscous streak - um......is this what they really intended or was it "vicious"? So, bad attitudes or slimy insects (I hope, ick!)? what'll it be?
• bawdy - come on now! If that's what you're after, surely you can think up a more specific adjective that that! This is the internet for crying out loud!
• house tesla - I don't know what to say. It could go one of two ways: hair band or brilliant electrician? how weird, I just had a reference question about Nikolas Tesla Tuesday!
• cloverfield background info - who needs it? I love the element of mystery.
• background info on cloverfield spoiler -I'll shut up about this, at least until I see the movie again. I finally badgered Daxx the Magnificent until he agreed to go see it while he was off from work. VERY complimentary today I might add and Daxx is more than a little snobby about his movies. He told me some v.v. interesting things he heard about and would have re-view to look for. I'm sold on it too. KT, her sister Z and I are supposed to go see it Sat so if I do indeed see the hidden material I'll share it with you here, pinky swear!
• guilt trip dogs - perhaps this person needs the services of the oh so talented (and YuMmY) Cesar Milan! It took me a few seconds to work this out but I'm fairly certain I have it. Their dog(s) is/are throwing the guilt trip down on them about something. What is it about those liquid brown (usually) eyes that will make you part with any tablescrap/doggie treat? At least I'm tougher than my mom!

So this is all for today on GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY! Join us next time as we wind our way through the random bits of information that bring people here!

evenin' ya'll!

htw

Book Awards Reading Challenge

my latest entry in the Challenge...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1961 Pulitzer Prize
1999 YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound

I set out to love this book. After all, the author is a native Alabamian like myself and the story is set in Alabama as well. I heard the untold accolades of hundreds of people ringing in my ears as I began. I did like this book, but I didn’t love it. I’ll forever be glad I read it but it will not figure in to the core collection of rereads that buy and hoard in a china cabinet in my living room.

The (fictional) southern town of Maycomb, Alabama could have come standard with an overlying whistled tune and a red haired boy going fishing. Ms. Lee did an outstanding job in conveying what the rural town life of 1930’s Alabama must have been like. I found some people I loved in Scout, Jem, Atticus, Calpurnia, and Dill while the bad guys, the Ewell family, were indeed very bad.

The first part of the book detailing the children’s early life, summer activities and educational difficulties dragged on for me. I just was not able to get into their lives and enjoy the storyline. The book only picked up for me once Tom Robinson physically entered the Finchs’ lives when the mob from Meridian came to make terrible mischief. From that point on, especially the trial scene, I was hooked in and devoured the rest of the book. The other, more slow-moving parts were just such a big part of the book that I cannot, in good conscience, say that I loved it. I also could not get used to treatment of and language concerning the African Americans in the book. I knew what it was about, knew the words were there, and tried to prepare myself for them before I ever picked it up but it was still a shock every time one of the characters (especially the children) spoke so hatefully, unintentionally or not. How could Ms. Lee have ever portrayed the circumstances and people without those mannerisms? I don’t think it could have been done any other way but that doesn’t stop me from being uncomfortable with it.

Isn’t it odd how you perceive of yourself as a mature, sophisticated reader and still something will come along that shocks you? I had the same problem with J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye except I didn’t finish that book. I never found anything to connect with in the story. I guess it is a testimony to these stories that they still have the capacity to shock so long past their original publications.

Happy Reading!
htw

what my interview with Oprah would NOT be like :)

(via The Burrow) Thanks KT!

Were I to be interviewed by Oprah, I'm fairly certain she would not ask me any of the following hard-hitting questions....

What kind of soap is in your shower right now? Ivory bodywash

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? not this time of year....I only like watermelon in the summer

What would you change about your living room? I would have some lace curtains for the windows and gas logs for the fireplace.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? dirty, I just put the clean ones away yesterday

What is in your fridge? soy milk (lactose intolerant), V8 Fusion Peach/Mango, Yellowtail Shiraz, Crystal Light Peach Tea, Hebrew National 97% fat free hotdogs, ground turkey (for meatloaf tonight), cheese (2% shredded and sliced), eggs, butter, lettuce, baby carrots, onions, bay leaves, and assorted baking flours, salad dressings and condiments

White or wheat bread? Honestly, I prefer white bread. I find wheat bread to be a little bitter and less soft but I eat is 98% of the time because it's supposed to be better for you than white bread.

What is on top of your refrigerator? various 2 L soft drinks left over from the Christmas party (I don't drink sodas very often), 3 boxes of cereal (Cheerio's, Raisin Bran, and Great Grains), old fashioned oatmeal, and a picnic caddy with paper plates/napkins and plastic forks/spoons/knives.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? I have sliding doors on my shower but the guest bathroom shower curtain is clear vinyl with teeny tiny yellow and white flowers on it.

How many plants are in your home? zero, zip, nada....I couldn't even keep a fish alive for a couple of days, much less a plant. :( I don't have any plants (other than grass) in my yard either.

Is your bed made right now? hell no....what's the point? I'm just gonna get back in it, plus I have better (or at least more interesting) things to do with my time. I tidy it up when expecting company, but it would be stretching the truth to say I "make it up".

Comet or Soft Scrub? Comet!

Is your closet organized? as well as I can manage

Can you describe your flashlight? it is cylindrical in shape and has this little button that causes a light to come on when pressed ;)

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? plastic, glass glasses make me nervous

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? alas, no garage. If I had my druthers, I add a garage onto the house right after a back deck. Neither is likely to happen before I can pay off the mortgage...which should be about 2032.

Curtains or blinds? both, although I have only blinds in the livingroom at the moment. I'm saving up for those lace curtains I mention earlier....

How many pillows do you sleep with? four standard pillows and two body pillows

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? nope, I like it to be as dark as a tomb

How often do you vacuum? once a month, 2-3 times if I'm feeling froggy. after all, it's just me in the house :)

Standard toothbrush or electric? standard toothbrush: the Reach One Ultimate Clean Toothbrush is what I've been buying for almost two years now. It is an excellent toothbrush! I'm pretty picky about my toothbrushes and am always on the lookout for the latest new one.

What color is your toothbrush? I think I bought a purple one last time around, but I have bought a green one and a blue one in the past.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? It has no words on it, but I like to think that it implies a very hearty welcome.

What is in your oven right now? burnt cheese

Is there anything under your bed? cat fur....occasionally the cat herself

Chore you hate doing the most? cleaning bathrooms :( KT said cleaning the catbox, but I use Feline Pine so it's no problemo

What retro items are in your home? My great grand aunt's chifforobe (Aunt Bessie, she was called) I guess that would more likely be identified as an antique but who cares? I also found in the barn, many years ago, a lamp. It is round and is hung with a chain rather than being a lamp with a stand. I cleaned it up and my Dad rewired it and it is SMOKIN'! I haven't hung it yet (despite at least 8 years of ownership) but I will soon. I haven't the slightest idea how old it is but I think it's retro.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? I do now :)

How many mirrors are in your home? 2 in the master bath, 1 in the guest bath and 1 in Aunt Bessie's chifforobe. I'm not a big fan of the mirror as decorative accent.

What color are your walls? the living room walls are white, the kitchen has striped wallpaper in a sort of tuscan palette, the guest bath and 2 extra bedrooms have white walls, and the master bedroom and bath have a sort of paisley print wall paper in teal and mauve (not nearly as ugly as it sounds).

What does your home smell like right now? Clean Linen scented oil fans

Favorite candle scent? cinnamon

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? none, but I really like Clausen Dill Pickles

What color is your favorite Bible? I got one when I was a child and it was white with my name embossed in gold leaf

Ever been on your roof? hell no

Do you own a stereo? couldn't live without it. the radio still remains important when there is no tv :)

How many TVs do you have? two, now that I have my big girl tv

How many house phones? one

Do you have a housekeeper? I wish

What style do you decorate in? shabby chic, although sometimes it's simply shabby :)

Do you like solid colors or prints in furniture? solid colors

Is there a smoke detector in your home? several, thank goodness

In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? purse and kitty...I would think about taking my new big girl tv, but I hope my common sense would prevail

your turn!

htw

MLK Day humor

Sorry, no jokes if that was what you were expecting. This is the real deal.

I love my mother, despite any past squabbles or her wish to move in with me since my roommate got married. She was a moving, evolving FORCE behind my education. It's no secret here at Holley's House that I absolutely abhor schooling of any flavor. If I knew how, I'd get Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall to play whenever anyone read my blog. I hated the first day of kindergarten just as badly as I hated the last day of grad school. Despite that, my mother's wishes and dreams for me got me through 18 years of school. She helped me study, she got me tutors when I needed them, she made me speak correctly when my friends were inundating me with slang and their own shoddy grammar. I wish I had some audio of her helping me with my Spanish homework. I took to Spanish like a duck to water but my mother DID NOT! That never stopped her from trying, and still doesn't.

My mom has a problem with sayings, cliches, idioms, etc. I was telling KT the other day that one day while I was trying to make a decision about something, wavering 2 or 3 times from side to side she said, "Now Holley, you can't ride a different pony across the river." I laughed until I thought parental retribution was imminent. For those not familiar with this, the saying is "don't change horses in the middle of the stream" or something really, really similar. No ponies or rivers though. There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of others over the course of my lifetime but I didn't know I'd one day want to blog them so they are lost to posterity. Yesterday, my friends, my mother came up with one of, what I thought was, epic proportions.

We are in a steakhouse in Leeds, Alabama (home of Charles Barkley!) and Cops is on the TV and I was laughing at it.

MOM: "What's on tv to make you laugh so hard."
ME: "Oh, it's just Cops. I love this show!"
MOM: "I've seen that too many times. I just can't watch it anymore."
ME: "I love it and never get tired of it! I watch it constantly when I petsit."
MOM: "Well, I'd venture to say I watch a bit more tv that you do" Mom remembers that I don't watch tv at home since I don't have cable. "You know I can't really stick with any tv shows too awful long. I think I've got that deficit...that DVC."

All right. I'm not proud. I broke out in a bark of laughter that drew the attention of patrons and staff. I continued to laugh long past the point at which I'd begun to wheeze. My mother had retreated behind her menu but I KNEW I needed to get it together soon or I'd seriously hurt her feelings.

Finally, through intermittent bursts of wheezing giggles I said, "Mom, that's attention deficit disorder, ADD, or attention deficit hyperactive disorder, ADHD." I got tickled again past the point of being able to speak but when I'd gotten my breath back I asked, "But I must ask, were you to have DVC, what would those letters stand for?"

Mom gave the matter serious attention, then replied, "Deliberate.....vindictive........" Her face screwed up in concentration, then smoothed out in triumph, "SYNDROME!"

All right. I'm not proud of this either. I was gone again. As the wheezing giggles subsided, I explained that syndrome started with an "s" but the fun was kind of over as I had managed to piss her off just enough to take the humor out of it. I did tell her the story would end up here and she was definitely unamused, but I was still well amused and stayed that way all afternoon.

Here's hoping you don't end up suffering from DVC today!
htw

if only the good die young, why???

I saw on Yahoo! that Heath Ledger was found dead in NYC earlier today and immediately headed over to Cinematical to see what was the what. They had breaking news here and some speedy retrospective stuff here. What a waste. There is lots of talk of an overdose being bandied about. I say again, what a waste.

This makes me think of Chris Farley, another entertainer I truly enjoyed watching who also (if Ledger's is indeed an overdose death) had a substance abuse problem. What is it about drugs that is so alluring? Why have we come to such a place with addictive personalities prevailing over common sense? I by no means claim to be a health nut but I remember in school when the first pressure to smoke swept my age group. I tried it, it tasted like smoky, ashy @$$ and I didn't pickup the habit. It stinks up a person's car, their clothes, the books they read (occupational revelation), and their breath (makes kissing a hit or miss depending on whether or not they've brushed their teeth recently)...oh yeah, and it's expensive! Sure my friends made fun of me but I thought they were morons (now stinky ones) and I took my allowance and spent it on movies, books, candy, etc. (while they tried to weasel more money out of their parents for such things since they blew their allowances buying cigarettes from the older kids).

Now comes alcohol. Exhibit A: I have a dead sibling (he was 19 when he died) as a direct result of alcohol thus I had no real interest in it when it too swept through my age group. I did partake when I was of legal age but not as often nor as hard as my friends did. I had no youthful illusions about immortality. I knew it didn't matter what plans you made for your life or how young you were, death doesn't care over much. Drinking in bars is also expensive and I am not a lush, very prone to be ill...and hey, what's more attractive that a girl puking on your shoes??? It's also hard to find a hair holder on short notice so then she's puking on your shoes AND her own hair. greaaaaat.

All the other stuff is prohibitively expensive (illegal), comes with more side effects that you can shake a stick at (illegal), and oh yeah, they're illegal. You become an episode of Cops, Intervention and World's Most Dangerous Prisons all rolled into one and just waiting to happen.

All this just to say that I'm am very saddened to hear about Heath Ledger.

htw

I had to. I simply had to.

(Via @ the Library by way of The Lipstick Librarian)

;)

htw

! ! ! CLOVERFIELD SPOILERS AHEAD ! ! !

Okay. I could stand the suspense no longer and went to see Cloverfield Friday afternoon. I had hoped to see it again before the weekend was out but could not carve out the time. I noticed that my post of a few days ago, my call for fellow viewers, drew an anonymous comment mentioning that People Magazine had given it 2 1/2 stars out of a possible 4 stars. I would like to say that I appreciate every visit and a comment and SiNcErElY hope that you'll visit again, BUT....please consult additional sources when investigating the validity of your entertainment choices. If it is a film/documentary, try Cinematical or Rotten Tomatoes. A book? Try Library Journal, Book List, or other assorted blogs. Sign up for one of the free aggregators, it's easy peasy! I have consistently disagreed with most critics and think they are more than a little snobby. I'm sure they'd say I am more than a little redneck but, the relative vertical placement of our brows aside, I am disagreeing with everyone who says this is in any way a shoddily made film. I urge everyone to go out soon and often to see it. Here's Fandango, find your theater and make a date!

As it is currently my favorite pet, please refer to favorable Cloverfield reviews here, here, here, here (both good and bad), and here. It has been nitpicked for not giving background info on the monster, how the camera was found, the fact that Lily runs an inordinate distance through subway tunnels in heels, and a few other things I can't remember the details about right now. I don't need background info on the monster, it would be just as tedious to put that material in this movie as it is when Jean Claude Van Damm does the same in his films to try and explain his accent. You don't see Arnold doing any of that sh!t. I don't care how the camera was found! I can't walk 1 foot in heels much less several blocks, but that didn't matter either. Movies are all about suspension of disbelief people and your movie dollar would be much better spent if you exercised a little of it. Why would you go see a monster movie if you don't suspend your disbelief? Why would you go see any movie not firmly in the drama category if such nitpicking is for you other than you are sure the fodder will be plentiful.

I love the movie experience and am rooting for the directors to take my mind OFF of reality for the duration of the movie. I'm sure as hell not comparing things I see on the screen to it. If I leave the theater and can't remember what time of day it is, much less the day of the week, I consider that a damn good movie whatever the genre. But, of course, I feel the same way about my books so go figure.

To be honest about it, I watched this movie. I love this movie. I was TeRrIfIeD! Not in a creepy, supernatural or grossed out kind of way but in an oh-my-god-what-would-I-do sort of way. I wanted to go out and buy flashlights and crowbars for every room in the house despite the fact that a parasite-ridden, vaguely reptilian giant thingie is highly unlikely to burst out of the Bibb County wilderness. In fact, if there is a parasite-ridden, vaguely reptilian giant thingie is running around, I would advise it that the average gun per household numbers here would make it a bad idea. Not that ammo did the movie military much good.

The shaky camera keeps you off balance, literally and mentally. I don't remember one bit of soundtrack if there was one, just the eardrum rattling roars, explosions and screams (and the noises those little baby bastards were making gave me goosebumbs). People are dying just as fast as you can develop emotional attachments to them, and never in good, clean, peaceful ways. It was stressful, loud, frantic, and NoNsToP!!!! I will go see it in the theater as often as I can because it will not make a good transition to a TV screen unless I had a movie theater-sized screen and sound system in my home and I SO do not.

Okay, the soapbox is collapsing now so I'll abandon my lofty perch and give ya'll an opportunity to leave an opinion if you wish!

evenin' ya'll!

htw

the dirtiest mind in business

That is the headline staring out from Fast Company Magazine and the lead article is about Mike Rowe *purrrrrrrr* I haven't read it yet, but rest assured that it will happen today. The subtitle is "How Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe Turned a Disgusting Idea Into Fame and Fortune-and Why Ford, HP & Others All Want a Piece of Him, Plus His 7 Rules For Job Satisfaction"

There is also a quote from him, "The celebration of work, and the mixing of pain and fun-that's what it's all about."

This is a 4:24 minute clip from one of my FaVoRiTe episodes. I thought the part before this, when he's actually out farming for the geoducks, was funnier but I couldn't find it so here you go!

yes, this concerns a snail

but it's a previously unknown snail! Plus, Zoologix is a great blog...you're lying if you say you didn't laugh when you got to the end of the post!

this looks like a Japanese horror film remake. I'd run if it came dragging up to me across the driveway.

how did I miss.....

......hearing about the Naked Chef killing a chicken on TV? He is apparently on a mission to raise awareness of the treatment of food animals on factory farms. And we should also be going above and beyond "free range" chicken to "pastured" chicken....I'm going to have to read the labels more closely the next time I shop because I've never heard of pastured chicken before...
htw

who's with me?!?!?!?

Dude.

check this out!

come on, KT! you know you and z and Lady are DYING for a good movie! We haven't been on a movie night since Halloween (the movie, not the over-commercialized American holiday)!!!!!!!

Erica?

Elizabeth?

ExTrEmE eMbArRaSsMeNt

I admit it! I was going to lie, but KP (excellent art today, BTW!) left a comment welcoming The Doorman to the fold on a previous post and I started feeling guilty on top of embarrassed and here we are.

So I bought The Doorman on Sunday and he had gone to the big fishbowl in the sky by the time I got home last night. I described his symptoms to a coworker and she diagnosed him as having "ick" and that I should get some "ick medicine". I will get the ick medicine before I get another fish because it was so pitiful to have to dip his little body out of the bowl and dispose of it. I didn't even have time to get to know him so I could be sad instead of embarrassed. We've determined that it was probably a water issue despite the conditioning tablets I used that were supposed to take care of that. I think I'll have to find somewhere to place the bowl that keeps it warmer too. Maybe I'll try a fish at work instead of at home and see if I have more success. I have a petsitting job coming up, so I'll wait until after that to try fish husbandry again.

htw

small world syndrome

So, I put up this post a couple of days ago...or maybe yesterday. It's hard for me to keep track of things sometimes. Anyway, I didn't even have a link in there and the company found me and commented. Excellent customer service bow-up from them if I may be so bold....and I'm still sorry about the "cheap @$$ products" comment :)
htw

adventures in cooking

As I searched my barren cabinets for something to supplement my tasty Gorton fish fillets and seasoned turnip greens, I happened upon a lone package of Uncle Ben's Spanish Rice. Since it only required water and butter and 10 minutes of my time, I threw it in the pot and ended up having a nice meal. I was cleaning up my dishes and wiping off the stove when I noticed that the package of spanish rice had an expiration date of July 2004. Here's hoping I don't keel over in the night! I did think The Doorman was definitely trying to tell me something, but I paid him no heed. What's that? Who's The Doorman? Why, my new fish!

You can see my teapot to the right there and bare tip of a stove eye on the left.

That's right, all you people who worry about me, I took on the responsibility of a new pet!

Allow me to translate, "Oh sh1t! What is she doing now? What is that bright flash of light? AHHHH, my fish corneas!"

Is it morbid of me to keep The Doorman on the stove? It just gets so cold at night due to my own cheap @$$ habit of keeping the thermostat turned down; I thought he could use the heat of nearby cooking a couple of times a day. So, The Doorman watched me cook my old, busted rice and said nothing but he looked nervous. I guess he just thought he was next :)

Just look at that power and grace! Never you mind about this giant, looming figure with a shiny flashing camera.

After dinner, I came in here to talk to you people and have my lovely new favorite nightcap (thanks KT!):

So, now I'm just the teensiest bit warm and fuzzy and a lot sleepy :) Plus, Binky is calling to remind of the hour. And tomorrow is, YAY!!!, my doctor's appt to talk about what to do with my numb hand! I'll wish myself luck and assume I have ya'll's (is it possible to have two apostrophies in one word?)!

evenin' ya'll!

htw

statement of the day

PATRON: Hi there. I was wondering if you would look something up on that computer of yours. I don't have an internet at home.
ME: Certainly, what are you looking for?
PATRON: I just need a number for Reader's Digest.
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I did go on to find this information for the nice patron who doesn't have an internet at home. In the process I learned of a vast network of complaints against Reader's Digest because people were randomly getting invoices from RD saying they owed $10 here and $15 there when they hadn't ordered anything. I didn't ask the patron what department they needed help from but I wonder if there will soon be a world-wide beef with RD and their cheap @$$ products.......mysterious!

if you do nothing else today.....

go here.

googly moogly

I had some good phrases this week as well as visits from New Zealand and Croatia!

• the genetics of being color blind - I don't remember blogging about color blindness but it is not outside the realms of possibility. My maternal grandfather and my brother were both color blind. It has been my understanding that it skips generations and tends to affect males so I guess if I were to have a grandson (with the prerequisite child for myself of course) he could face the possibility of being color blind?
• the barbar of fleet street - great movie (I thought)! However, I feel compelled to point out that it is the demon barbar of fleet street. Hey, maybe they live somewhere where there actually is a Fleet Street and they are in need of the services of a barbar! How creepy would that be? I wouldn't be able to make myself visit such an establishment after watching the movie.
• if all plags are plogs and all plogs are tregs, then all plags are definitely tregs - Okay. I admit it. When I blogged about narrative nonfiction and used this little phrase, it was lifted (for educational purposes only, obviously) from an academic test prep book. I assume this person is studying for said test. Good luck, compadre!
• del torro frankenstein - obviously a very savvy individual with good cinematical taste
• locks of love - I've actually gotten a lot of hits from this little phrase. There are alot of individuals out there looking to get philanthropic haircuts! :)

Thanks for visiting, everybody! Hope to see you again!

htw

those crazy zooligists and their enrichments....

I always KNEW this was a fun toy! I hope Mr. Potato Head can swim. :)

trumpets and fanfare!!!!!!

guess where I am....give up? huh? huh? huh?

I'm at home, in my pjs (it is midnight), Binky meowing in my ear to remind me that it is midnight and she needs her beauty sleep, and the internet is slogging away at the speed of light through my brand spankin new DSL modem and my brand spankin new DSL service. Yay! for all the hard work those AT&T people did last month getting all that DSL line put in so we can give them even more of our money! But who am I to criticize 'cause I was right there in the front of the line going "oooh pick me, pick me!"

I had dinner with Mrs Roomie and her new DH tonight then we watched a couple of episodes of Cops and made fun of a couple of mullets (thank god they were in FL!). AT 9:38 Mrs (preggers) Roomie wants a doughnut so we all pile in the car for the 20 minute drive to Krispy Kreme. I was tired but am now hopped up on sugar so what goes together better than a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut and DSL modem installation in the middle of the night? I can actually think of several things but I either don't have access to the necessary parties or it's illegal, so there you go!

Gosh, this feels like when I logged on to the internet for the first time in college. I've never sat where I'm sitting now (read: the county I live in) and been able to look at anything on the internet unless I went to the library. Oh, I had dial up once upon a time and could have had it all the time till now, but I work off of a T1 line at work. Coming home to dial up just wasn't going to happen. It's too bad they didn't have this while I was slaving away in grad school, I could have taken some online classes. Maybe I'll take some online classes for something else instead, something fun like Spanish or Zumba aerobics or the theory of pottery....anything as long as it isn't important to my job :)

I guess if I'm going to hang out with mom on the morrow I should get some sleep so I can be cheerful and in a good mood. I'd really rather go out on my brand spankin new service and see what kind of trouble I can get into but then I would be bitchy and cantankerous tomorrow and it wouldn't be worth it. Maybe I'll go see a movie tomorrow and I can sit here and look up showtimes without the mess of a giant $2.00 newspaper! The world is mine at home at last and you people are in for it now....bwahahahahahahaha!

htw

I hate to repeat myself....

....ok, that's not entirely true but certainly I don't like to repeat myself often. I posted this book review on my library's website too but I am just so excited about this book that I'll (mostly) shamelessly post the review here as well. This book has gotten some less than complimentary professional reviews which I'll not even link to here because I don't want to give them extra traffic. They are obviously snobs with no sense of common readership *raspberry*

So, without further ado, if you'd like to discover what umami and neuroscience have in common, READ ON!

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I have claimed loud and often that I am not a reader of nonfiction and it has been brought to my attention that this is not completely true. Apparently, I like narrative nonfiction (a.k.a. “creative nonfiction”; a.k.a. “literary nonfiction”) which Wikipedia defines as:

Creative nonfiction (sometimes known as literary nonfiction) is a type of writing which uses literary skills in the writing of nonfiction. A work of creative nonfiction, if well-written, is factually true and artistically elegant. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which should also contain accurate information, but is not primarily written in service to its craft.

I don’t like every narrative nonfiction work I come across but all of the ones I’ve enjoyed were/are narrative nonfiction. In other words, if all plags are plogs and all plogs are tregs, are all plags definitely tregs?

But I digress. The last few nonfiction books I’ve been really excited about were Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (2006 National Book Award winner for nonfiction) and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search For Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (This book is so SMOKIN’ HOT right now that the 31 books in our library system have 72 holds waiting and the 5 audiobooks in the system have 12 holds. I field at least 4-5 questions per day about this title.) This is only a teensy bit of tooting my own horn for my good-book-sniffing-out talent and a whole lot of go-out-and-get-a-copy-for-yourself-and-see suggestion. On with the show!

I discovered this book by way of the library’s subscription to Seed, a science & culture magazine. I looked up their website, liked what I saw, and subscribed to their RSS feed. The blog site for Seed Magazine is called ScienceBlogs and has dozens of different topic sections. Among those, I stumbled across Jonah Lehrer’s blog, The Frontal Cortex, and enjoyed it thoroughly. That is also where I discovered he was about to publish his first book and there this tale ends but the book, Proust Was a Neuroscientist, is just beginning its rise in popularity. In just over 200 pages, Lehrer shares A LOT of neuroscience that is surprisingly easy to follow due to the arrangement of the book as a series of eight vignettes. The eight people included in the book are Walt Whitman, George Eliot, Auguste Escoffier, Marcel Proust, Paul Cézanne, Igor Stravinsky, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf. Lehrer looks at each person’s work and shows how they anticipated modern neuroscience. My favorite chapters: Whitman and his intuitive use of self and feeling; Escoffier’s understanding of the human palate and the then-unknown umami; and Marcel Proust’s grasp of ephemeral memory.

I wavered over reading this book because I liked the author and had enjoyed his blog posts but could not imagine neuroscience being an interesting topic. His easy writing style and use of analogies and anecdotes kept all but the most lofty talk of brain anatomy and neural pathways both palatable and accessible (a.k.a. I felt REALLY smart when I finished the book and could sort of converse about it). I told the library’s book group members about it at their meeting yesterday (that would be Tuesday now) and many of them were pretty excited about it! So, long story still long, learn about neuroscience this year by reading Jonah Lehrer’s Proust Was a Neuroscientist!

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So that was my review for the library's website, but since then I've typed up (for my own nerdy benefit) some of the passages from the book that I found most interesting. At some point I'll have a cohesive essay-type document from those notes but it is still a work in progress. I hope some of you will go out and get a copy for yourself!

htw

various and sundry

So, I still have not mustered up the cajones to attempt to hook up the DSL modem. I'm am sure it will be simple and straightforward (which, according to the accompanying reading material, it is) and I'll be devastatingly ashamed that it took me this long to get it hooked up. Oh well, I've lived through worse :)

I had my last PT session for the dastardly carpal tunnel syndrome today. The PT therapist finally came out and said that if I had not had any changes in the condition by now, I should go back to seem my GP and be referred to a carpal tunnel syndrome specialist. I'm hoping that means some surgery so I can get the feeling back in my fingers. It is über annoying when typing, trying to do something with the mop of hair on my head (I did get it cut off, did I mention that here? There is a macabre ponytail of hair riding around in a plastic bag in the back seat of my car because I've been too lazy to send it off to Locks of Love.), cooking, just about anything but I have an appointment to see my GP on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be able to put this whole sad episode behind me with a few weeks recovery. Am I too optimistic?

On the work front, we're gearing up for The Big Read in April! All the Jefferson County Public Libraries will be reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and I'll be co-leading 4 bus trips coinciding with TBR. We'll be stopping at civil rights-oriented venues in Montgomery and Selma as well as seeing the 2-act play in Monroeville which is based on TKAM. One of the events here at my library will be an evening book discussion of TKAM which we will be using to (hopefully) start a regular evening book group that would be MINE, bwahahahahaha! You know, since KT leads the morning book group :)

I started the senior's computer classes again Jan 3rd with our new 6-week format. I just didn't feel like I was able to teach them anything lasting in the 4-week class. So far it seems to be going well but I have one lady who clicks the mouse indiscriminately, doesn't know she's doing it and converses loudly with the gentleman beside her (who's trying to help) to the point where the other people can't hear me. I went over to them and tried to get their attention and they IgNoReD me! I'm saying, "Hey guys, the other students...," "Excuse me," "Could I have your attention for a moment?!" Finally, I put my hand in front of their monitors and yelled, "Hold up just a minute. The other students cannot hear me and ya'll have skipped ahead a couple of screens. If you can wait just a minute, we'll catch up to you and we can discuss what the problem is!" They both apologized, but the lady got up, said she had a lunch appointment and left...30 minutes early. I don't know if she had a lunch appointment or not, we'll see if she comes back next week. That's always the problem when there are 6 of them and only 1 of me and everyone is at a different skill level. Hopefully everyone will come back next week and we can get on the same page.

What's been going on with ya'll?
htw

don't give up!

I'm still here, we've just been busy, busy, busy at la biblioteca!

On the home front, my brand spankin' new DSL modem for the brand, spankin' new DSL service came in, but I have not had the courage to try and hook it up yet. I will attempt this tonight maybe after I get home from dinner at KT's house. After that, LOOK OUT! you guys will be so sick of me it will not even be funny!

evenin' ya'll
htw

googles for today

"holley house furniture"--I was pleased to see that my blog accounted for the first several entries here before you get to the real Holley House Furniture in Albany, Georgia.

"i am homeless airport"--I don't know what to make of this and it made me kinda sad...

oooooo, I'm in for sure!

....My fav, Guillermo del Toro, has expressed interest in directing Deathly Hallows if he's approached :)

That would be AWESOME!

WTF....reloaded

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about a story out of Canada concerning a man who killed his daughter because she did not want to wear a hijab. Lo and behold, a possibly similar story appeared yesterday in the Dallas Morning News. The details are sketchy in the article but the evidence seems to point towards an honor killing over the two girls' dating practices. The two girls were shot multiple times and left in a taxi at the service entrance to a hotel. Unfortunately, the father remains at large so the police are continuing to investigate.

*sigh*

Book Award Reading Challenge

I just posted my 6th review in this reading challenge, check it out if you're interested!

1776 by David McCullough

htw

TSO, delicioso!

Well folks, I’m still in awe of my experience seeing the Trans Siberian Orchestra for the first time! To start off the night, I met my brother and his fam for dinner. We were going for P.F. Chang’s. I got there first and was charged with throwing our names in the hat for a table. They looked to be at full capacity, but I requested the table for 6, took the beeper with me and picked a portion of the wall to hold up. About 20 minutes later the beeper went off. I thought to myself, “that was quick” and walked back in. They had paged the beeper for me to come in so they could tell me that the wait would be 120-130 minutes for a table for 6. How pretentious! Just say it’s a 2 hour wait, you big DA! So I called Dave to tell him and we went somewhere else. We did take the beeper with us, but Dave was struck with some guilt so we took it back after we ate and gave it to some people out front of the restaurant waiting for a table. We had no way of knowing if they had summoned us or not, but the group didn’t seem to care and were excited about the chance to possibly cut the line ;-) I thought it was pretty funny myself. On to the concert!

The DJ’s on the radio station which hosted the concert described TSO as “the Phantom of the Opera meets The Who, with Pink Floyd’s laser show” and I must say that was pretty accurate. There were various kinds of lights, lasers and strobes with pyrotechnics also (things exploded, things spun, gouts of flamed rent the air and changed colors!!!) and THE BAND WAS ROCKIN’! At midnight, they had the ever-present balloon drop and these cannon-like things pumped millions of gallons of confetti into the air. Let’s just put it this way, the last concert I saw was Metallica at Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta. This was SO comparable, except the TSO played some Christmas music, none of the roadies flashed their boobs (or any other comparable body parts) to crowd, and I never once got a whiff of pot during the entire concert ;-)

At the end of the concert, after the balloon drop, I thought we were getting ready for encores and stuff. Some people had already left and more were making their way down the aisles when the lead TSO guitarist starts telling a story about his early years somewhere in New England. All of a sudden Tommy Shaw, the lead singer for Styx, is running out on stage, the band kicks in and we’re off for another 30 minutes or so with an impromptu Styx concert. The crowd went NUTS! This guy in front of us, who had sat placidly through the preceding 2.5 hours of concert, surges to his feet, nearly braining his girlfriend/spouse with a flailing elbow, screaming mindlessly and making the universal sign for “rock concert”: both hands raised high with pinkie, index finger and thumb pointed to the ceiling and ring finger and middle finger folded to the palm. I think a good bit of beer may have been involved as well. As we were 6 rows from the rafters, the surge to his feet slightly overbalanced the young man and he would have faced a terrifying fall to his grisly death had not the girlfriend/spouse grabbed his belt as he continued to show his appreciation for Styx ;-) It was fantabulous!!!!!!! We left the BJCC at about 1am and I headed back to the petsitting gig to let the pups out. No partying for me this year, too tired. Maybe next New Years ;-)

Was your New Year’s celebration memorable? Let’s hear it, then!
htw

! ! ! this just in ! ! !

PATRON: excuse me, is your fiction sorted alphabetically?

ME (in my head): no sir, they're sorted by the number of chapters...good luck!
ME (in real life): yes sir.

PATRON: the "w"'s?
ME (in my head): they're were they've been for hundreds of years. If you don't know the alphabet, why'd you ask?

ME: the shelves are labeled sir, but the W's are right there after the V's.

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I mean, REALLY! I did not attend the best schools in all the land, but they did manage to teach me the alphabet on the way through. What is the problem?