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