renfield's eatin' the spiders again...

this time, she was desperately in search of a local Tax Day Tea Party venue phone number.  when I could not find a phone number listed for the Birmingham venue (only an email):

"Well, as I do not have a computer, what do I do now?  Can you radio them for me?  I have a short hand radio."

I acted like I didn't hear that and just recited the AL venues that did list phone numbers.  Then she wanted north Georgia.  Yay for them.  While we were doing this, she forgot her other question (very common) and said she would call back when she remembered (unfortunately, also very common). 

Oh happy day.  I admit freely that I gave her those numbers with glee.  If anyone deserves a call from Renfield, it's them.

too funny

I deal with this scenario in some form or fashion every. single. day.

Most memorable of the recent comments was "this library is going to hell in a handbasket with a concert (spit out like cobra venom) going on down stairs!"  ML was having the monthly Game On tournament in the meeting room and the teens were playing Rock Band 2 on Wii.  

To call it a concert was stretching the truth to the breaking point really...some kid was mangling death metal, I don't remember what the song was now.  The patron went on to say that stuff like that didn't go on when he was that age in the library.  I hope I remember correctly that KT told him we didn't have a Wii then either.  I might just be remembering that in my own head.  He snarked at me too and I just smiled and said, "Yes, Game On is one of our most popular and well attended programs"  or something to that effect anyway.  

Sheesh, go to an academic library if you want silence cuz' ya ain't gettin' here mister!  Tune in people, I don't have a bun on my head, no tweed in my closet, my sensible shoes more often than not come with a Nike swoosh, and the public library is not quiet anymore (not many of them anyway).  Deal.

For more Unshelved funniness, visit their website!

up, up, and away!

if you celebrate Easter and have family coming in for the holiday, don't forget that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Make sure your home is ready for the Spring festivities AND for the guests!  Try this:

and the description of course:

Windowless corner of living room is ingeniously (emphasis is mine) transformed into a gracious setting for dining.  This has been accomplished both by the installation of fretwork frame which defines the area and creates illusion of intimacy, as well as the charming view - a hand-painted mural.  While the furniture, for the most part, is formal French reproductions and antiques, a change of pace is provided by the country-style armoire, unmistakeably modern area carpet, and contemporary color scheme.

hell yeah!  sign me up for a hot air balloon mural at my house!  ...and that contemporary color scheme!  who knew that was synonymous with the word "blue"?  

In all seriousness, I actually do like the rug.  Anyway, in a tremendous waste of a daydream, this room looked to me like what the inside of an Easter egg would look like if genies were trapped in them.  Sorry folks, that's the kind of crap I think of when I'm bored :-)  

Happy Easter to those observing and Happy Weekend to the rest!

blast from the past

welcome to 1992!

I was 15 that year and there wasn't much I liked better than going to demolition derbies with my dad (that's him in the pic with me and I've just noticed that he is sporting a very distinct mullet with that Terminator t-shirt...I shouldn't say anything since there's a monster truck on mine). 

Daddy did all the hard work like knocking the windows out, taking out the seats (except the driver's), putting the radiator and battery in the back, welding all the doors shut, securing the hood and trunk with powerpole wire, wiring a starter button to the gearshift lever so he didn't need a key, and *whispering* filling the tires with water so they wouldn't bust.  Shhhh, keep that under your hat. 

My job was to decorate so the numbering and stickers you see here are all my 15 yr old handiwork.  I also painted a wide red mouth on the front of the car and "Eat my shorts!" on the back (I loved The Simpsons at the time).  I don't remember what else I spraypainted on the car.  It was no doubt lovely whatever it may have been.  

This particular time, we won!  It was at Birmingham Internation Raceway (much like Bham Internation Airport...international in name only) and Daddy mentioned just last month to me that they tore it down not too long ago.  Sad to think about as I was there quite a bit as a youngster.  

Anyway, Daddy won a good bit of money and he gave me $100 of it as his only official pitcrew member.  I did help change one tire...sort of.  I helped as best I could anyway.  The car still ran fine after this and he sold it right there on the track after the derby...double win!  We always got in the top 3 or 4 but this is the only time I remember winning.  

Good times, good times.  I still have the trophy I'm holding up in the photo.  It is on top of a bookshelf in my living room.

I was quite happy then.  My brother was still dead but my parents were still married, they were making more than a decent living, and I didn't have a care in the world really.  That is why I particularly love this photo.  It represents that last few years of what little childish happiness I had left.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy now but that happiness you have as a child seems more golden from a distance.  At least to me it does.   Anyway, you can tell it is getting late since I'm getting maudlin.  

evenin' ya'll!

Auburn adventures

D and I left at about 6:30 Wed morning and arrived at the hotel/conference center by 9am.  It was a lovely drive if unseasonable cool.  

I went to a session on basic legal research for the public librarian which was a bit over my head but I did jot down some free websites and the names of a couple of interesting resources I'm going to check on for my library's collection.  We went to a southern author luncheon but had to leave before hearing from them to get to a session on conflict managment.  It turned out to be really nothing I haven't heard before but it did me no harm to be reminded of a few things.  

D and I roamed around the exhibit hall, made nice with a few vendors, scarfed up some pens and notepads (like you do), then headed out for a session on respect and how to give it to and get it from teens in the library.  I don't know how successful the session was at that, but I liked the instructor's point of how librarians (and others in public service) are given to being solicitous of (most) children and respectful of (most) adults and elderly patrons but tend to shut down in the face of a teenager.  

It's true, I have seen it happen and I'm pretty proud to say that we have great relationships with most of the teens who use our library.   Not all, but most...and I'll take that.  I lose my patience occasionally, but I'm only human.  

The instructor mentioned a librarian joke she'd heard (and I don't recall the source or the exact wording) that, like dog breeds, there is a "Working Group" among librarians.  They are pointers, retrievers, or setters.  I didn't really understand the setter reference but the other two I did get and I do sometimes find myself pointing more than I should instead of taking the patron where they need to go.  I'm going to do better about that after shaming my own self with the realization.

We were done by five and decided to see what Auburn had to offer.  While driving around I was telling D about last weekend's casino adventure and she casually mentioned that there was one not 30 miles away.  So yes, dear reader, D and I spent the evening at the nearby casino.  I made a bit of money for this summer's beach trip and we had a fabulous time!

Yesterday was another whirlwind of sessions with an RFID discussion, gearing up for next year's statewide read program, and an author award luncheon where we heard from: 

Janice Harrington, author of The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County

S. A. Harazin, author of Blood Brothers

Gin Phillips, author of The Well and the Mine

and John Sledge, author of An Ornament to the City: Old Mobile Ironwork

These authors were recepients of 2009 Alabama Library Association Awards for Best Children's Book, Best Young Adult Book, Best Adult Fiction, and Best Adult Nonfiction.

D and I headed home after that, with one stop at Miller's Cheese House.  I am now in love with this store!  I bought some horseradish cheddar, butter cheese, and some pepperjack that will curl your toes.  Jams, jellies, pickled things, soup, chow chow, relish, candy, cheese, milk, buttermilk, butter...the choices are nearly endless.

280 traffic was horrible but we made it back to D's house unscathed and positively laden with lactose.  I hopped in my car, went to book group (we discussed One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus), proceeded to get a teensy bit tipsy, then headed home.

I'm am so tired right now that it is pathetic.  On the brightside, I'm having lunch with good friends today and Sunday I'm seeing Wicked with my niece (HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!), her cousin and my sister-in-law!

heading off to Auburn

for the Alabama Library Association conference tomorrow and I'll be back on Thursday.  I'm going to learn about all sorts of fascinating information like RFID, automated book return, library services for teens, and basic legal research for the public librarian...don't you wish you could go to?  I'll be up at 5am so I can make the 9am session on legal research.  That is one of my least favorite questions to get from people so hopefully they will have some relevant information for me.  

later.

The Master Harper of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

I’ve blogged about Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall trilogy before so I won’t go into that here, but let me tell you about McCaffrey’s The Master Harper of Pern.

The Harper Hall trilogy follows Menolly’s life in and among the Harpers, the most important of them being Master Harper Robinton.  The Master Harper of Pern chronicles Robinton’s life from birth up until maybe 20 years or so before Dragonsong picks up.  I learned about some relationships that were only vaguely alluded to in the other books I’ve read as well as some family connections I wasn’t aware of.  

I don’t feel comfortable going into anymore detail since that would give away some of the major parts of this book that I particularly enjoyed.  I have to be honest and say I liked it better when I didn’t know so much about Master Robinton’s personal history and he was only the benevolent mentor of Menolly of Half Circle Sea Hold.  That’s pretty silly since everyone is inclined to have human weaknesses (never mind the fact that these are fictional characters!) and I shouldn’t be worried about it but these are characters I have come to love very much.  I can’t help it!

So, The Master Harper of Pern filled in some back story to the Harper Hall trilogy that I didn’t even realize was there to be learned and now I’m seriously considering another challenge of my very own…to read the entire Dragonriders of Pern series!  The Pern books are so convoluted anyway that it is easily possible to get lost in all the different story lines and there are over 20 books in the series as far as I can tell.  I want to know all of the stories!

I like to think I would have been a Harper if I was on Pern and, obviously, ahem...if it was a real place one could go.

Any other Pern fans out there?

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

I had read about Little Bee on most of the book blogs I subscribe to and can remember no ill comments, plus I had to hand it to a book that had little on the inside flap other than a brief description which amounted to “we don’t want to tell you what happens in this book, just read it and you won’t be disappointed.”

So basically, a woman and a young girl meet on a beach in Nigeria and what happens there forges a relationship more solid than any I can remember reading about.  It will send the young girl on a long and perilous journey to England while the woman travels an equally arduous path through a disintegrating marriage.  And poor Batman!  I felt sorriest for him at the end…

There.  Now it’s your turn.  Go read Little Bee!  Now I’m interested in Chris Cleave’s other books! 

as if I can really afford to

but anyway, I'm leaving shortly for a trip with a big group of friends to Atmore, Alabama and the Wind Creek Casino (I think this is our destination anyway)!  No worries, I don't have any kind of gambling addiction, to which T can attest.  Give me a nickel machine and a margarita and I'm content until the amount of money I alotted myself to spend has run out then it's time to head home.  I've never won anything so I don't have any visions of grandeur or anything.  It's just a fun trip with friends!  I'll have details on the morrow since we are returning tomorrow afternoon.

! ! ! this just in ! ! !

a patron just asked me if I knew where South America was

that is all.