I have the best mom

Somehow, I got something in my eye at work this morning. It itched, so I'm guessing it was a particle of dust, which would not be surprising in the environment in which I work (oh, libraries). It was causing me to rub my eye, which made it itch even more. Finally, I text messaged my mom, "Are you out running errands?" because Tuesdays are her days off and she usually is out and about town doing random mom duties.

She texted back, "Yes, I am downtown right now."

I texted, "Do you have any allergy medication with you?"

She wrote, "Yes, I have eye drops and tablets."

As I was texting back to ask if she could stop by the library, she walked into my work area. She looked at my eye and offered to put the drops in for me, and gave me an Allegra pill. We chatted for a couple minutes, and when she left, she said my eye was already looking better.

Reasons my mom is the best: 1) She knows how to text message. 2) She has everything you'd ever need in her purse. 3) She is willing to administer medical assistance. 4) She is often in the exact right place at the perfect time.

Thanks, mom!

Not there yet

Last night at dinner at S's house, we were drinking some wine from a vineyard that shares S's family's last name. I had just a taste of the syrah, which was okay, but super cool to see his last name on a wine bottle. His mom was just talking casually, and said, "When you two get married, you could go visit the vineyard for your honeymoon."

There was enough other conversation happening at the table so I didn't have to say anything in response, thankfully. But I thought about it, and I've decided it's definitely kind of weird to hear your boyfriend's mom use the phrase, "when you two get married" in reference to her son and you. Or rather, me. Kind of nice, I guess, in that I don't think she would be shocked or surprised if we got married, but strange nonetheless.

We hung out as friends for a couple years before dating, having known each other in high school, lo these many years ago (a phrase I love to use when talking about S). S mentioned a while ago how it might be weird for his college friends, when they meet me, to think that I've known him longer than any of them. Like, they think they're old friends, but really, we saw "Star Wars: Episode I" in the theatre together, our "first date" in 1999. Now we spend so much time together, we joke that we live together nomadically, in the time/space between my parents' house and his grandma's house.

S and I aren't engaged, though we have been dating a little more than a year. S and I both have a number of friends who are engaged or married, and honestly, we're not at that point yet. For one, we don't fight nearly enough (hah, hah). We are both figuring out the whole career/school/life stuff, and while it's nice to think S could be part of my future, it's not as though we are in the specific planning stages of how to get from point A (dating) to point B or C (engagement and marriage).

The exciting times of me

Yesterday in the snow and bluster, I went and got a haircut and bought a couple pairs of jeans on sale at the Gap. I know, exciting life I lead. I also did some homework and had dinner of delicious vegetarian lasagna with S's family (his aunt Jen cooked, which was fabulous) and ended up watching the episode of "Wife Swap" with the pirate family. Pirat-titude forever!

Today I'm working and then S and I will go to mass, and then I hope we can do something fun, like watch "The Castle of Cagliostro" which is super overdue, or possibly go cross-country skiing at Quarry Park. We shall see. I'm up for anything that doesn't involve more reading about Boolean searches.

Validation

I finally got my paper back from the professor from the project me and my partner worked on at the end of January. I got an A, which is sweet, because I actually worked hard on that thing, collecting opinions of reference librarians and comparing and contrasting two seemingly opposing ideas.

Last night in class, we got to use Dialog for the first time. It's kind of hard to describe, but essentially it's a command-line way of accessing many databases simultaneously. It's also expensive. The library where I work used to have a command-line system (Dynix blue screen DOS-style) so it made sense to me, but learning all the one-letter commands was kind of annoying. I just have one assignment using it, so I'll have to practice and do that sometime soon before I forget everything I learned last night.

Wanting to hide

I think the stress of life is really getting to me lately. What with job, school, and a boyfriend, I have a lot on my hands on a regular basis, and it's kind of a juggling act. I'm back to some of my old sleeping problems. Mostly, I love my life as it currently looks, but I still worry and wonder and needlessly fret (about things I can't control) and purposely, needfully fret (about homework, mostly).

I wish I could take a two week vacation from reality. Someplace quiet and peaceful, no internet, just a stack of good books and the ability to sleep in.

In memoriam

This weekend has been quite draining. In addition to working on this major reference class assignment, getting over the flu, I've been feeling sad because one of S's cousins, really more like an aunt, died on Friday, probably of a heart attack. I mentioned her before here, his 'Aunt Bonnie'. She was always so cool and fun and nice to me, it's almost unbelievable that she's gone. She was 46, and her children are 20 years old and five years old. I don't feel sad for Bonnie, but I do feel really sad for little Mitchell and her husband Don and older daughter who's just in college.

The last time I saw her was at Mardi Gras, and she told me I looked so beautiful. She wanted me and S to dance more than we were, which was a lot. She always made me feel like part of the family, like one of the gang, would talk to me and ask S about me. I'm going to try to switch my work schedule a little so I can attend the funeral on Wednesday.

It's so weird that she's gone.

Round two with the flu

A bad thing happened on Tuesday evening in class. I came down with the flu. I though I had lived through it already, back in December, when I was in so much pain, even my toes hurt. Remember? Well, my sister got a really bad case, and her fever was near 103, and she got this weird fever rash on her back that looked like aliens had abducted her and poked her about 1,000 times with small needles, and she was nearly coughing up her own lungs, which led to throwing up.

So, I was not excited to come down with the same cough that she had. Thankfully, she'd visited our doctor that day and got us two perscriptions for TamiFlu, which probably saved me from getting the worst of it. Andrea felt so bad about getting me sick, and she insisted I take the medication. I am glad I did, because Wednesday was a bad day, but Thursday was better, and Friday was about the same, but my fever was about 100 (don't know exactly since I took Tylenol and ibuprofen alternately every few hours to help with the horrible achey body feeling) and I was coughing, but not as bad as she was. I also kept down everything I ate on Thursday, unlike Wednesday, where pretty much everything came back up. Gross, to be sure.

S took great care of both of us and managed not to get sick himself. He got us Gatorade and watched "The Prestige" with us. He also bought vitamins and Airborne and rubbed my achy muscles and was generally wonderfully sympathetic. I'm so grateful to have such a good caretaker.

Reference burnout happening a little too soon

I am hating my homework tonight. I found answers for everything, but dang, it was hard-won. And I'm still going to have to go to campus early tomorrow to look for print sources for all of these, too. Ugh. So many of the sources mentioned in the textbook (damn you Bopp and Smith!) are out of date or there are no online versions available. The text is from 2000, and flash forward seven whole years, and look where we are. We practically live online. I know I shouldn't, but I think I'm going to have to refuse to use anything on microfilm or fiche. I am 25 and I can do that kind of thing.

So I found out that a lot of these questions could be easily answered using Google, but much less easily answered using the approved sources. If I could, I would throw Ulrich's Web out the window. That thing is so slo-o-o-o-w and it's probably because I'm remotely using a remote server based in Illinois, via Dominican University, via St. Kate's, and so on, but wowsers, was that annoying. All to find out that the Nation (magazine) is indexed in about 20 places. Great.

Also, to answer the burning question, have any novels been written aobut librarians, the Literature Resource Center came to the rescue. At least 173 novels (for adults) have been written featuring librarians, according to that search. I wouldn't be suprised if at least half of them are disgruntled.

True fact

"You know what I love? Your hands are usually cold, and so I get to warm them up, and then somehow, when my hands are cold, yours are perfectly warm, and you can warm mine."

Procrastinating?

Hello there! I should really be doing some preliminary reading in order to do my reference homework later at the St. Cloud State library, but instead I'm here. I'm also going into work today (I know, a Sunday!) when the library where I work in normally closed, in order to help clear off our loading dock. In a nutshell, bags upon bags of books are routed through our central hub, and we unpack and repack them. We've gotten behind, as we've lost a few employees lately (due to promotions). I don't know how long I'll be there today, but I'm willing to help out since the library is closed on Monday and I won't have to work then.

I don't know why I keep putting off my reference homework. I guess one answer is that it took me about three hours of time at the library to find what I needed for the first assignment, about two hours the second time, and so I'm hoping magically it will only take one hour this time. I know this can't be true, but I'm holding onto the dream. I have to read two chapters of the textbook (Bopp and Smith, you kill me) and that's it. It's like, really? That's it? This professor could totally be throwing way more shit at us to do on a weekly basis, especially considering how much of my life was taken up by homework for my first grad class. I'm grateful, actually, that it isn't more work, but it could be, and I wouldn't complain.

Reflections on the coming Hallmark holiday

I really like Valentine's day. I can't help it, I'm a girl and I like romantic and sweet things. Lucky for me I have a great boyfriend who fulfills this need on a daily basis. I don't ask for much... just hugs and kisses and his attentions, which he gives me in abundance.

Last year, I was super stressed out about what to get S for Valentine's day, because we'd only been dating a few months, and I didn't want to overdo it if he didn't do much, but he ended up getting me a bunch of little things which made me feel incredibly special and very cared for. We also went on a nice date, which I still rank as one of our best dates. I gave him white chocolate chip cookies, some of his favorites.

This year, since S is job-hunting and soul searching for careers, I think it's going to be a little more low-key. S said something about making me dinner, but even if that doesn't happen, I have a gift certificate for him which I hope we end up sharing (for chocolates, okay? Nobody should eat more than a pound of chocolates alone, not even my dear S) and I can afford to treat him to a nice dinner out (I can write that here because he doesn't read my blog).

So, anyway, here's hoping next year S has a job and can take me out, or is in school and I can cook for him! Hah.

Well, that was dumb

On my way home from work, I tried to stop and get part of S's Valentine's day present, and traffic was horrendous, like it took me 25 minutes to get from the library to my suburb, and just as I drove up, the store closed. Crap.

So I came home and watched a two-week old episode of "Gilmore Girls" and then realized my DVR missed the latest episode, wherein the main character Lorelai possibly admits to her husband that she's in love with Luke! Oops. My mom saved me on this count, though, as she also captured the newest episode with the DVR my parents have upstairs. Phew.

Then I ate a bunch of those dark chocolate covered almonds. Man, those are good, but I think I ate about a half a cup of them, and then felt a little... odd. Not bad, just... squinky.

Andrea got home from work and I talked to her for a while, and it turned out that, while I thought I was being a nice, sweet sister by giving her my stupid Facebook "gift" (a fundraiser Facebook is doing for breast cancer research—$1 per gift, which are these little icons designed by the woman who designed the latest Apple logo, but you get to give one gift for free). Turns out Andrea already gave her "gift" to someone else. And I gave her a freaking puppy (icon)! Boo-urns.

Then, I read more of "O is for Outlaw" and because I've been up since 7am and didn't sleep well last night, I fell asleep on the couch, and my phone rang around 9pm. I couldn't move. I was paralyzed by sleep. Moments after my phone stopped ringing, I grabbed it and saw that it was S, and called him back. Except he didn't answer. He didn't answer the next five times I called. I figure he must be in some basement (it's Trivia Weekend and he was going to rustle up a team to help) and not getting service, what with his falling-apart-soon-to-die-completely phone.

So I decided to get up and do something, and ended up cleaning off my desk and eating a bunch of Nerds that were sitting there. They've been sitting there since sometime in December, so I figure I better finish eating them soon, or something bad may happen. Like... I'll spill them.

To make a long story short...

Last night we wound up at the Green Mill after all, since Jazz Night at the Tavern was cancelled due to weather. S and I had good conversation over a margarita and a bloody mary and some coconut chicken fingers and nachos. And, I learned that Leinenkugel's is not an entirely gross beer, but it's still beer, and still, therefore, gross.

The weather decided to become winter today, complete with snow, so I'm hoping that kind of wraps up by the time we leave for St. Paul. S is going with me, which greatly reduces my winter driving anxiety, but I still don't like driving when it hasn't been plowed sufficiently.

I'm excited to discuss our assignment tonight in class, since my experience in doing the homework was both interesting and fun. S and I went to the St. Cloud State library and I used the Great Soviet Encyclopedia with great success. Additionally, I read about Margaret Mead in a bunch of anthropological encyclopedias and used the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations to gather more information on some quotes. Thanks to S, I also had a caffeine charge and didn't get a parking ticket due to him plugging the meter. What a guy.

Monday's almost over

S stopped by to visit me at work and is going to hang out until I'm off at 9, and then I think we're going to hit the pubs. Not really, but I think we may go out to jazz night at the Tavern downtown, though I think I'd rather go to Green Mill and have an appetizer or two. We'll see. Maybe we could do both.

Saturday evening was a good time with S and some of his family. We got dressed up and Andrea helped with my hair and I promise I will add some photos to this post when I download them from my camera. I am told I looked pretty darn good, and S looked wonderful, of course. We ate and had tiramisu for dessert and danced until midnight. My shoes were actually quite comfortable (no blisters) but my feet did get sore anyway.

Just the way you look tonight...

Tonight, S and I are going to the Catholic Charities Mardi Gras party, for which I had to buy fancy shoes and borrow a dress from my sister. Photos to come, for sure.

S sees this as our chance to go to "the prom" together, since we didn't do that in high school. He still hasn't decided between his dapper blue pinstripe suit or his dashing black tux, but he's going to check with his aunt who's been to this before to find out what people wear.

I am not psyched about the -20 temperature for this event, and me with bare legs! But it should be fun, nonetheless.

She's just a duck

Only a handful of people I know have read this "Pearls Before Swine" strip and thought it was funny. I have it cut out and on my desk, and didn't even read the previous strips leading up to that one, which put it into context and make it even better. But, man, that's my kind of humor.

RE: S's interview

Well, they called S back about his interview last week, and while they said they really liked him, he didn't get the job. Someone else had more experience with some aspect of the job, so they offerred it to him instead. The job is an interim position, though, with a renewable contract, and that goes until June, so who knows what might happen with the person they hired.

I feel bad for S, because he really, really wanted that job and liked the idea of it very much, but I guess we don't know God's plans. I just know that S feels at his wit's end sometimes about being back from AmeriCorps since October and still not having a job or being in school. It's tough.

I find myself reminding him that he's a great guy with lots of valuable skills and abilities, and that I love him, and the job doesn't make the man.

Like regular chickens

Well, I think I'm done with the rough draft of my paper, which I am tentatively titling, "The Reference Interview: Perspectives, or, How do we know the patron really wants?" I, of course, think this is brilliant. I drew out a thought-map today at work to gather my ideas into one cohesive piece of...something. It worked. Or anyway, I think it worked. Only my actual grade on it will tell.

When I got home this evening, I just sat down (after eating some Lays Sour Cream and Onion potato chips) and gathered my quotes and wrote the thing up. I messed with it a little, reordering some paragraphs, adding some more perspectives of reference librarians I asked at work about the issue, and generally retooling the whole thing, putting in a new introduction and writing a kind of blah conclusion that works for the time being. I then ate a burrito from Chipotlé since Andrea called on her way home from work and asked if I wanted one. What a silly question. So, I'm feeling strong, like I can do this, you know? I was having some paper esteem issues and didn't know what I was doing or why I ever thought I was good at it, and now I remember. Booyah!

This means that I get to go out tonight and have some fun with my former coworkers from American Corporate Bookstore Not-So-Anonymous, a.k.a. my BN Buddies. My sis and guy are coming along, and I think the evening may involve a little vodka, a little kahlua, and a little cream, in equal parts over ice. I'm waiting for S to show up as I type this, and Andrea is getting all snazzed up in her room, accessorizing to beat the band. My hands are cold, so I am now done typing.

Maybe you will always be just a little out of reach

Well, S had his interview this morning and came to my house afterward to I could see him in his suit and tie. The guys who interviewed him said they'd be in contact by the end of today, since they had two other interviews after him. I don't know if that means they'll call either way, but I'm hoping they do, just so he can know one way or another. P.S. Does my boyfriend ever look handsome in a suit. Wowsers.

We went out for some Vietnamese food for lunch and got stuffed and then I picked up Andrea from campus. I vacuumed out my car, which was looking pretty awful, and then started reading through articles for my paper. I'm not exactly sure how to go about starting this paper, but I'm going to at least finish reading the articles I have and then try to bang out something by this evening.

Hang on, there's a twilight, a night-time and a dawn

In important news: S has a job interview tomorrow, and I'm just praying that it goes well and that God's will be done. I'm not worried about it at all, since S is good on paper but way better in person, in all his charming, intelligent glory, but I just hope that the right thing happens. If he's supposed to have the job, he will.

I've got this really annoying cold that mainly just involves a lot of sneezing. At embarrassing moments, like at work while I'm helping patrons and in class last night. At least I don't feel miserable, just sound so.

I think I'm either going to go home after work or go to S's and take a nap, either place I end up. S went with me to St. Paul for class last night, and he drove home, which was very helpful and nice to have someone else with me and to drive at night. I still didn't get to bed until close to midnight, but it was great nonetheless, but now I'm feeling somewhat ready to hit the pillow again.

This weekend is going to be fun! My dad's birthday is Saturday, Simon and Eve are going to come up for games, and I'm off work and our Secret Sister reveal party is happening on Sunday at the Book & Bean. I also need to work on my paper/presentation, but I have tomorrow for that, too.

They love to tell you, stay inside the lines

The weekend was kind of a mish-mash of work on Saturday, rushing to mass after work, Sunday studying and hanging out with S. Yesterday, we watched "The Two Towers" with his cousin and I very nearly dozed off multiple times. I willingly watch the Lord of the Rings with them, but I always know I'm in for a long, long sit-session, keeping track of characters and plot points which all lead back to one thing: it's a series of movies about a piece of jewelry.

I've gotten some very helpful information for my reference project from the reference librarians where I work. They've given me some wonderful first-hand experiences and I'm even more excited to compile my paper and present to the class. I'm really hoping it goes well.

With a glass of Chianti on my desk

Feeling a little like a lush since I'm finishing off the rest of the Chianti I didn't use in tonight's recipe, Drunken Tuscan Pasta from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals. I modify the recipe a bit to suit our household tastes, and will post the modified recipe shortly, but right now I've got a full stomach and need to be out the door soon for a birthday party tonight at the Book & Bean Café (Calvary Chapel's coffee shop outreach here in this fair city).

Got to hang out with my cousin Simon a bit today, as he had business to conduct with the vehicle inspection site in Royalton (where I worked one Saturday a month at the library for a year!) and tabs to acquire at the local DMV. Ah, small towns. Simon lives in the cities but they weren't able to get him in promptly, and the man needs to be able to drive his car, so he drove up here and called me for coffee this afternoon once he was free. It's been a while since I've seen him, so it was excellent to catch up and know that he needs some prayers and that S and I are informally invited for a non-specific dinner party with Simon and Eve sometime in February. Sweet!

In library school news, I am currently now very excited about my reference class, since Tuesday's assignment of partners for our project(25% of my grade—yeesh!). Me and another girl got our hands in the air to volunteer to present first, so we'll have that out of the way by the end of class on January 30th. This means I've started research on reference interviews and will need to gather some information from some current reference librarians and creatively, intelligently, coherently synthesize my ideas into a 3-4 page paper and collaboration with my classmate. It should be pretty great, actually. I am thankful for this blessing, since for a portion of my trip to St. Paul on Tuesday night for class, I just prayed for discernment about which topic to sign up for, and I prayed for some enthusiasm for this class, since I haven't been "feelin' it" this semester. Praise the Lord, because I'm now pretty jazzed about my topic and my ability to cover it.

Staying warm on a chilly day

Our dear Cata has been home for the weekend, celebrating her birthday and Christmas with us. Last night, us girls went to Chipotlé, where we got free burritos because Cata has connections. It's like the Spanish-Speaking-Network, and I'm told Andrea also gets free food there because she is recognized as "Cata's sister." Hah. Then we went to Old Navy and World Market so Cata could use the gift cards Andrea and I got her, and of course I spent money I didn't need to, but I found a sweater that reminded me of the white cable knit one Cameron Diaz wore in "The Holiday," and found a pretty Indian print scarf which is delectably soft. Cata will head back to Iowa tomorrow, but I'm glad we've gotten to spend some quality time with her.

The global warming trend has kind of stopped and it's been really quite cold outside the past few days. It's all of six degrees right now, which means I'm going to have to dry my hair before going out to pick up something for our hostess tonight—S and I were invited to dinner at a friend's, and I want to get a bottle of sparkling grape juice or something (no idea if she drinks).

Right now, I'm going to try to finish sewing together some sweater pieces and see how that goes.

My cousin, Erik Ringsmuth, is awesome!!

If you go to Echo Mountain's website, you can see my cousin Erik in his brown winter gear in the main photo. He moved back to Colorado this winter (last winter he worked as a lift operator there) to try his hand at some competitive skiing. He was in a skiing competition at Echo Mountain last weekend and got 2nd place!! We are about one step closer to full Ringsmuth family name recognition the world over.

My sweet Reference textbook

IMG_9629.JPG,
originally uploaded by rubybeth.

So, this book may not look like much (hey, making awesome graphic art is tough!!), but I'll be pretty much depending on it until the end of April. I got home from class on Tuesday night and pulled the textbook out to show my little sister Andrea, and hilarity ensued. See the Flickr photos for the full story.

So this is the new year, and I have no resolutions

I've decided that, since last years resolutions went pretty well, I'm not going to do any for this year.

Yes, that's right. My resolutions were so good, I don't need them this year. I am going to keep my poster of resolutions and, instead of adding resolutions, I am going to add some necessary goals.

Last years resolutions:

1. Enjoy the small things
2. Don't take anyone for granted
3. Pay down credit card bill to zero
4. Laugh danger in the face (try new things)
5. Jeans jeans jeans
(that's just never not going to be funny, let's fave it and not move on)
6. play hard, study harder (truly
7. Don't fall into bad habits
8. Listen to more new music
9. Use Netflix less; spend more time with friends
10. Cultivate wisdom
11. This one goes to eleven
12. Pray, then pray some more
13. This number is not unlucky; be less superstitious; God knows all; Have faith and trust in Him alone

I accomplished #9 very easily when S was here, but less so when he was gone in Alaska. I don't think I really did #7, in that I did try to stop biting my nails again, but I'm not doing very well at it lately. Numbers 10 and 12 kind of go hand in hand in my mind, and I'm constantly working on that. And #3 is done and done, to the point that I opened a sweet ING savings account in November and have stashed quite a bit of cashola already before the new year. I also kind of did #8, but mainly focused on the few artists I discovered and really, truly loved, like José Gonzales and the Wailin' Jennys. I definitely did #4, as I had a total of three job interviews and, with S, had a long-distance relationship that was fully functional and healthy and survived more than six months of being apart.

So the goals for 2007 are as follows:
1. Add as much money as possible to my savings account
2. Do as well as possible in my grad classes
3. Keep my mind and heart open
4. Love S the best I can
5. Love God the best I can

Or, you can just hold on really tight

Last Thursday, S and I headed to the cities to meet up with a few of his Alaska trail crew cohorts and some old college friends. It was a good time spent at the Happy Gnome and Mickey's Diner and the Seward Cafe and Tony Roma's at the Mall of America. Let's just say it was a lot of sitting around in restaurants hearing the stories of how S was nearly killed twice (once by moose, once by dead trees) and how he's now looking for a job he might actually like. I'm glad I got to meet and re-meet some of S's friends and spend time with them, eat lots of yummy food, and the game of Trivial Pursuit we played was an excellent match-up.

Today I head back to St. Paul for the start of my next graduate class. This time, it's reference, and I'm expecting a lot of homework and time dedicated to reading and studying. S and I have been working on getting to bed at more decent hours, or at least having me in bed at a somewhat more reasonable time each night, so that has helped my sense of sanity/reality. I hope that I can dedicate at least one of my days off to homework and not procrastinate. I know I can do it, and I know S will help me and support me however he can.

What's cooler than being cool?

New Years Eve consisted of collaborating with S in doing pretty much nothing. It was quite wonderful, really, going to Burger King (twice, confusing the drive-thru guy, I'm sure) and watching "Return of the Jedi" after our original plans for a family bonfire and going to Old Chicago fell through. I think S felt bad that it didn't go as planned, but hey, we aren't responsible for the kitchens at the bars closing at 10 and being hungry at 10:45 and not knowing the fire happened earlier, and I had a great time. A truly brilliant evening with that guy.

I nabbed a bunch of new music from my sister, who is gone to Chicago for a few days with friends, and am enjoying Guster and Telefon Tel Aviv and Amon Tobin and more Groove Armada and Bebel Gilberto and Broken Social Scene and Prefuse 73 and this nifty cover of "Hey Ya!" by Matt Weddle, whoever that is.

It's kind of cold outside, which is great, and it snowed yesterday, like actually enough to cover the grass, well mostly. I'm waiting to hear from S and I watched "Shopgirl" and ate leftover pasta from our date the other night.

Here's to a good 2007.

Happy holidays!?!?!!!?!

IMG_7249.JPG,
originally uploaded by rubybeth.

I posted Christmas photos on Flickr, apologies that it's been so long since an update. My excuse? I post most of my photos on Facebook where friends can see them and be tagged. Uh, so, trying to make some New Years plans, and we shall see what that leads to...

Little joys

Mostly, I am a cheeseburger, t-shirt, rented movie and coffee date kind of girl, but every once in a while, it's nice to put on something a little nicer and pay more than $5 for a meal, which is what S and I did last night. It was an actual date! I dressed and picked him up and we headed downtown to Ciatti's for some Italian food, pasta for the both of us, stuffed mushroom caps as an appetizer (gotta learn to make those things), wine (white zin for me of course) and a martini (S will now resume with the gin and tonics). S was such a gentleman and so sweet. Our candlelit table near the window, the tiramisu, S pulling my chair out for me—all of it, so very much appreciated.

Now I'm going to pick all the keys off my keyboard to clean it. I'm psyched!!

P.S. I think I discovered why I like white zinfandel as much as I do. Mostly, it gets described as a sweet wine with "strawberry notes" or whatever. Since I'm allergic to strawberries and can't have them, I must enjoy that aspect of the wine.

A snapshot

An excerpt from something depressing I wrote in the summer of 2003, after my relationship with someone ended:

I want somebody who can spend the night and whose hours will work with mine and who wants what I want, ultimately, and can make that happen in a reasonable amount of time. And by all of that, I mean I want an adult male who would conceivably marry me. It’s asking a hell of a lot, but I want somebody who is at least in a place in his life where he knows what he wants.

A little dose of Christmas

Yesterday, S and I volunteered with Toys for Tots, and holy cow, were there a lot of toys. It's essentially like a mini toy store with somewhat limited options, but it's not as though any kid is going to have to go without. It was good to forget about myself for a while, and I was really tired last night after six hours of being on my feet. Plus, they fed us dinner. I think it was good for S to do something instead of writing yet another cover letter or searching for more jobs.

While we were handing out toys, it actually snowed. Like, the kind of icky icy snow that nobody really loves, but it did make everything white, especially roofs and cars. The green lawns can still be seen through the powder, but it's better than a brown Christmas. Exhibits A (our block) and B (house and front yard):



I've spent the morning gathering my gifts and wrapping them. I feel like I went a little overboard, and I have no good reason for this. I really only purchased for immediate family and very close friends, because I don't want to make anyone feel guilty by getting them something when they don't have anything for me. It's all good. Anyone who feels like they should get me a gift should just invite me out to dinner sometime, especially in the cities (my Tuesday night class starts January 9, and no doubt I will want to hang out either before or after class when I'm down there).

Blue skies?

So after a pretty weird, bad, stressful Wednesday, I'm hoping today gets better. It could hardly get worse. I called my doctor's office about the large medical bill for tests I didn't need in the first place, but they were unsympathetic. I'm sure they hear it all. I didn't become irrational, but now I know that it is their policy NOT to inform patients how much medical care costs before it is done. Well! Looks like I'll be skipping the formal medicine for a while...

Bible study last night was good. Even though I'll be poor-ish for a while paying off this bill, I don't have chronic pain or cancer and S is by my side and I have family and friends I love, and etc. Perspective. I think helping out at Toys for Tots today will also make me feel less crappy.

I've also given up on the literary reading for a while. I've gone back to Sue Grafton's series, and I think I'm just going to stick with it, at least until I get sick of Kinsey Millhone. Doubtful.

One of the worst days ever!!!

So, since the last time I blogged, a few hours ago, everything has gone to crap. First, S came over, which was very nice, even though we aren't going to be able to volunteer with Toys for Tots today, as mentioned in my previous entry, it was good to see him. Moments later, I opened my mail. Bad idea. Apparently, when I had my annual physical a few months back, and I thought it would be nice to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases (you never know! you hear things about toilet seats!), that's gonna cost me $475! Nearly five hundred dollars for an STD test I didn't need. That's right, folks, I'm a member of the V Squad! They shouldn't even allow virgins to ask for STD tests.

P.S. I have evaded HIV yet another day.

Then, I decided to bake Christmas cookies for people at work. I started mixing up the batter for my now-famous Chocolate Espresso Balls. Then I realized we only had one egg, and I needed two. Rather, I needed two egg yolks. So S and I went to the grocery store and the liquor store to get eggs and wine for Christmas presents, and while S paid for the eggs and I went to get the wine, on the way from the grocery store to the liquor store, S was nearly run over by a car in the parking lot. Don't kill my boyfriend, please, I'm quite fond of him, really!

We got home, finished making the cookies, had a nice conversation about this book S is reading and about sexuality and Christianity and other interesting things. We got a tray of the cookies baked, and then I loaded up a plate with them and was in the middle of eating a sandwich for lunch as we went out to the car. Which wouldn't start. I added oil, thinking maybe it was low, but the battery is probably dead. So I called my coworker who was expecting to see me today, and maybe S and I can just stop in tomorrow with the cookies and then go to Toys for Tots.

To recap: STD test I didn't need which cost me an arm and a leg, no eggs, car wouldn't start. I don't know if the day can get worse. Check back for an update!!

Reason #342 why S is the best

One of the things I've really appreciated about S is his willingness to call me. This is extremely helpful for the J aspect of my ENFJ personality, and he, as an ENFP, know this. He calls frequently, mostly to plan our time together, like today. I took the day off work, and we had vague plans to help with Toys for Tots, since one of his aunts works for the local non-profit organization that heads up the toy drive.

He called at 10 to wake me up and give me the scoop. I hopped in the shower, put on makeup, started getting dressed, and my phone rang again.

"Change of plans," came S's voice.

"Oh, yeah?" I said, interested.

"They passed out toys today from nine to noon. Tomorrow it's one to eight."

"So we'll go tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sound good?"

"Yeah!"

According to my made-up dialogue, S and I say "yeah" a lot. This is probably true. Anyway, I'm going to finish getting ready and start making some cookies for my library coworkers. S should be here any minute to help...

A good recipe for the holidays and beyond

I made this mashed potato recipe for two pot luck suppers this week--Calvary Chapel's Fellowship Dinner on Wednesday and then the library's holiday staff meal yesterday. They vanished in 20 minutes yesterday, so I almost didn't even get a bite! We had some leftovers on Wednesday, though, and so I left them for S's mom and grandmother. Apparently, I scored some huge brownie points for them, according to S, as I've said many times that I "don't cook." It's not that I don't know how, it's that I choose not to. When I do, though, watch out...

A bunch of people at work asked for the recipe here, so I typed it up and thought I'd share it on the good old blog for anyone who wants to try. Good as a side dish or all on its own, and they don't need gravy. I think the original was printed in a magazine. The recipe could be halved fairly easily, but it holds up quite well as leftovers, so it's not really necessary.

Mashed Potatoes with Chives (a.k.a. "Magical Potatoes" or some other such fantastic name)

5 pounds potatoes
1 large onion (can be omitted, but adds more flavor)
1 cup half and half
1 cup butter (two sticks) softened or melted
1 8 oz. tub of whipped cream cheese (w/chives or without, your choice, should be near the regular cream cheese in the grocery store)
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
4 tbsp. chives (dried or fresh) (optional if already using cream cheese with chives for more chive flavor)
1 bag sliced almonds for top

Preheat oven to 350F. Peel potatoes and onion. Boil until cooked (if potatoes are cut up, about 20 minutes). Mash using electric mixer in large bowl (so much easier than a masher). Mix in butter, cream cheese, half and half, and all spices. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan or two small pans (potatoes will puff up slightly). Bake for 30 minutes. Garnish top of potatoes with enough almonds to cover, or to taste--we like more for more crunch). Bake another 15 minutes (almonds will brown). Let stand 5 minutes or so. Enjoy!

Walking the city's streets

This morning, my parents hollered to me before I left the house for work.

"Don't let Andrea walk from campus to work!!"

I was like, "Huh?"

Apparently, there is some whacko who picked up a girl somewhere downtown and drove her to the cities and back. I haven't read an actual news story on this, so I'm going on what I've heard from others, guessing maybe he took her at gunpoint or somesuch. I thought to myself, if it's no longer safe to walk the city's streets, I am so out of here.

"Don't let her walk!" my parents repeated. "She has a four o'clock final and she might just walk to work."

Why my parents think this is my responsibility, I have no idea. I work until 4:30. I told them they can make sure she doesn't walk... but I didn't mention the fact that sometimes she carries a very large steak knife in her purse.

Surprise!!

It's Cata, our Colombian exchange student, all the way from Iowa for a little visit! It's so good to see my little hermanita and know she's doing well in school and working hard. I'm going to take it easy tonight after working today and maybe watch a movie (by myself! how exciting! actually, kind of...).

How I spent my day off...

Today after spending the morning and lunchtime at S's, hanging out and making egg rolls with his mom, I came home and blocked the sweater I've been knitting since March. Yes, March. As you can tell, my fascination with knitting has dwindled somewhat, considering that I used to crank out scarves, hats, and other objects with a passion almost unknown. Then, something happened. I think it's called "summertime" and also "graduate school" and then something known as "time spent with a boyfriend who was gone for six months." So, this is the sweater, drying, waiting for it to be pieced together, a collar to be knitted, crocheting to do around the edges, and a clasp to be sewn on. I am pretty excited about that last part:

I love this clasp! I kind of wish it were silver, and I will probably check another craft store before finalizing it, but I love how it hooks and will close the sweater in a casual way, vs. a row of buttons or a zipper. Edit: I just found a silver version of the same JHB clasp online and ordered it up. So pleased about this!!

S will be gone until Sunday evening-ish (not exactly sure when) on the Calvary Chapel mens' retreat at a cabin north of Onamia, near Mille Lacs Lake. I will miss him, because hey, look at that cute guy! But two days (really only one—Saturday) without seeing S is not really the end of the world. He didn't bring his cell phone with him, which made me kind of sad and also really proud. He will be okay, and I'm sure the guys will have a great, blessed weekend. Pray for them, please, if that's your bag!

I'm actually feeling much better and very happy because a little birdie told me that someone very special is coming for a visit this weekend, someone I haven't seen since August, someone I have missed very much. We don't know when to expect this person, but I'm hoping it's sometime when I'm home, since I work tomorrow...

So it didn't kill me, but I'm not exactly stronger...

I'm still not feeling 100% after being so very sick the last four days with what I believe was the flu (based on the horrendous severity), but I was so bored of sitting at home and watching television, that I'm back at work today. I'm only spending one hour at the circulation desk today, which isn't bad at all, though I am getting tired of being on my feet. I am slightly concerned about infecting others, but I'm not really having severe respiratory symptoms, no sneezing, very little coughing, mainly just sore muscles and throat today. My stomach is a little tentative, so I'm debating what to do about lunch...

The next two days I'm off work, and I hope I feel well enough to make a stop or two to finish my Christmas shopping, send out my cards, and maybe even wrap up my Christmas knitting. I think I may even need to knit myself a hat to wear this winter, since I have this habit of going outside with wet hair (I know, shocking! S's grandmother would die if she knew how often I do this!).

So, thankfully, I'm not dead and am feeling much better. Thanks for all the comments and concern!

Even my toes hurt...

But I am feeling a little better today than yesterday, with what S and I think is the flu. Good old influenza. I've been so achy and nauseated and my throat hurts so very much, and S came down with it before I did, so he's been consoling me, saying, in response to my moaning and whining, "I know, honey, I know. It will get better." He came over yesterday in the evening and brought movies and tea and rubbed my sore legs and generally made the miserable slightly less so.

I don't even know how I made it to class and back on Saturday without dying or causing some sort of accident, I was so out of it in the car and class was kind of a blur to me, though it was shorter than usual and we just had to turn in our take-home exams and give mini oral reports on what we wrote our papers about. I just hope I didn't infect anyone.

My glands are swollen more than I've ever experienced before in my life, and I keep trying to sip fluid (tea, sparkling grape juice, warm orange juice) but it hurts so dang much to swallow.

Now for a good time of laying on the couch watching a movie until S comes over and I can rouse enough energy to maybe even leave the house! Oh, the excitement!

Bleh

I feel so crummy right now—stomach hurts, muscle aches, headache, sore throat—that I wish I could call in sick to class. Unfortunately, there's an exam to be turned in, and a paper to be reported on, and so I'm here, sipping mint tea to try to calm my stomach, wishing I could eat something and keep it down. I'm hoping I can just turn in my stuff and then leave, or that the drive down will somehow soothe me.

Blah blah blah

I know it's been a few days since I've written, and that's because I've been working on my paper for my cataloging class, and writing Dewey Decimal numbers for the take-home exam, and working, and hanging out with S, and feeling kind of under the weather. But now the paper is done (mostly just needs revising and a bibliography) and the exam is nearly complete (need to go over my answers again) and I'm starting to think more seriously about Christmas. I'm going to have a few days off around the holidays, which will be great, like a real Christmas break like back in elementary school when I had nothing to do for a week and a half except play with my new toys and watch television and sleep in. I'm looking forward to that.

So thankful

To recap, Thanksgiving was spent with S's family in Hastings, Minnesota, and it was a really good time. The day consisted of eating all the traditional items, watching some football, and then playing the 1960s version of Careers, which S's mom won. We took Zipper the dog on a walk near the river and took a drive around the town and over the bridge into Wisconsin. In the evening, we made it back to my house in time to stop in to my family's gathering as well, and it was nice to see my cousins.

This was my first major holiday spent without any of my own family members. That was a little weird for me, but my mom saved me some of the potatoes and turkey they made and getting to see my godparents for a little while was good, too.

Meeting more of S's family was cool. His cousins John and Wyatt were fun to talk to, and his great aunt was sweet and his aunt Jean was a superb hostess, what with her cherry pie and brandy alexander and coffee with Bailey's. Good times.

Now I need to hunker down and finish my final exam for cataloging and begin writing my paper. Eek!

Frickin' chicken

I have often vowed never to buy my children toys that make noise of any kind, and never to buy my friends children toys that make noise. But at the library where I work, the circulation desk is very near the children's room, in which there are many toys that make noise or play music.

The absolute worst is the chicken that plays the chicken dance.

I have no words to express how annoying it is to hear the chicken dance song an average of 20 times per hour when I am working the circ desk. For the love of pete, no more chicken dance! I have threatened to throw the thing off the roof many times, and while throwing things off the roof may be a common threat of mine, I am rather serious about the chicken dancing chicken.

She will have her way

So I guess the answer to the question of St. Kate's was answered vaguely by a classmate whose husband talked to the office manager of the MLIS deparment. Apparently, and this is coming like fifth-hand or something, we can transfer into the St. Kate's program and not take any Dominican University classes whatsoever. I guess this can be done at any point along the way, but I'll wait and see what my classmates do and ask about the process from someone who has done it.

On one hand, this is a great relief, but I also didn't mind the idea of dropping out for a semester. There are course offerings, however, for Summer 2007 which interest me greatly. For example, Professor Cathcart is teaching the Management of Library and Information Centers course, and she was head of the Legislative Library for a long time, and I already know I like her as she taught my intro section. I know I said I really wanted a vacation, but taking one summer class doesn't preclude me from doing any number of things in July and August, namely going to the famed Winnepeg Folk Festival with my sister Andrea and friends.

I guess it remains to be seen exactly what I will do about Winter semester, but at least I know I don't have to drop out in order to just be a St. Kate's student, independent of Dominican.

A blurb of an entry

Two things I'm loving lately:

1) Web usability expert Steve Krug's book, "Don't Make Me Think." Brilliant. I read it for a library work-related team meeting today in a few hours. It's really about how people think, use the web, and process that information. Excellent, succinct, laugh-out-loud funny, great for anyone who deals with information (library workers!!).

2) I ruined the catalog by getting food on it, so I ordered another from the website, because the Garnet Hill stuff looks great. I'm thinking CASHMERE! I'm thinking KNITS! I'm thinking I would never leave the house if I had that cashmere robe. Why bother when you can be wrapped in cashmere?

Getting up kind of early tomorrow to bring S's great aunt to the local airport (snowbird flying south) and then get some reasearch done for the ol' grad class. I'm hoping to harness the perceptive powers of my boyfriend's brain to aide in coming up with a paper topic on the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Oh, LCSH, we'll have you in our clutches yet.

And here's when having some cataloging knowledge is nice

So this morning, one of the library aides was checking in music CDs and found one that looked kind of weird.

During check-in, all media items (books on tape, DVDs, CDs) get opened to make sure what's inside the case matches the case/booklet/any additional material. The aide noticed that the booklet said the call number and "Mussorgsky" and "Pictures at an exhibition," but the disc inside said "Emerson, Lake & Palmer."

She brought it to the attention of a fellow Library Assistant, who also wasn't sure about the discrepancy. I wanted to see what was up, so I had a peek, too. Instantly, I knew what was going on.

Classical music is a special thing in the cataloging world, since in order to be able to find things, it's best to have composers (and time periods) near each other on the shelf, vs. grouping them by the artists who actually play the music. Emerson, Lake & Palmer are not responsible (in terms of cataloging) for the intellectual or artistic content of the work in hand.

In other words, it's more useful to have all the Mussorgsky together than have all the albums by Emerson, Lake & Palmer together, hence the bibliographic record being as such:

Author: Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich, 1839-1881
Title: Pictures at an exhibition [sound recording] / Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Aw yeah, look at me, a beginner cataloging geek.

Library school is a big question mark right now

I got a letter from Dominican University last week reminding me that those of us who started at St. Kate's with the summer courses need to be done by Fall 2008.

Wait, what?!

I am trying to sort out all of this information and so are some of my classmates. Since St. Kate's is currently treated as a very western campus of Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, that's where my degree was supposed to come from, but now St. Kate's is undergoing the American Library Association's process for getting accredited themselves. So I am just befuddled about what to do about next semester. I really wasn't planning being done by Fall 2008, unless I wanted to:

a) die
b) die a horrible death of too much school/homework/commuting to St. Paul
c) postpone a vacation for two more years (special note: haven't had a vacation in a year and a half)

So maybe I'm being a whiny nuisance for nothing, but we shall see. I shot an e-mail to the department today, illustrating my points (I live an hour and a half from school! I really can't rush this!) and asking what can be done. I am hopeful that it will work out, and I know that either way, it will be fine. If there's a way to grandfather me in, great. If it means I have to drop out and reapply to the St. Kate's program separate from Dominican, fine. Keep your fingers crossed!

Jane Austen to tha maxx!!

Saturday was class, and then "Pride & Prejudice" put on by my cousin Simon's school in the cities. I headed to Simon and Eve's apartment to pick up Eve after class, and we booked it to dinner (Burger King) and then the school where the play was. We met up with my parents and S there, and man, it was intense. That's a really difficult, long, complex play for a high school to put on, especially a small school like it was. Amazing, really, although I was quite tired of sitting for as long as I did.

S did really well, understood everything that was going on, as I'd prepped him by having him watch the new movie version (with Keira Knightley! What guy would say no to watching her for two hours?). He said I was right to make him watch the movie, because his appreciation for the play was that much greater. I now owe him about four sci-fi/action movies to atone for the last few incredibly girly movie selections and five hours spent on Jane Austen in one single week.

Best boyfriend quote of the last week

Keeping in mind we first met when I was 17 and he was 16:

"I think you get more beautiful every year. By the time you're forty, I won't be able to look directly at you, you'll be so stunning."

November 7: recap

The results from yesterday are in, in more ways than one. The elections are over (thank God) and the candidates I elected mostly won (sorry Patty Wetterling and Mike Hatch) but our anniversary date yesterday also went really well. S sent me flowers! At work! Red roses! With a sweet card! Great guy, my boyfriend.

For our date, first we stopped at the polls so I could cast my ballot (holy incumbent judges, Batman) and then went to dinner, which was delicious. He ordered my favorite appetizer, and I had a margarita (I'm a fan of tequila) while he had a Bloody Mary, and we talked for quite a while even after finishing our meals (Walleye for him, massive burger for me).

We then headed over to campus for the astronomy night at the planetarium. Yes, the planetarium! We wandered around my old haunt (Riverview, the English building) and played a game of Fluxx (I carry it with me always) which was decidedly the worst game of Fluxx ever played. Then it was back to my house for some more quality time. I'm tired today, but very, very happy.

I did ask him in the car if it seemed like we'd been together for a year. He thinks not, more like seven months, but I feel like we missed some of that in-between stuff since he was gone for a while, and all those little anniversaries (months six through eleven, if you're keeping track). Now it's all kind of daunting, because that year marker seems significant and possibly scary, but we're doing really well, as S always reminds me in my anxious states.

Thanks, S, for a great anniversary. I love you.

Celebrating

Not only is tomorrow a big day (Election day! Get out the vote!) for the nation, it's a big day for me and S. It's our one year anniversary of doing this thing called "our relationship." Yay for us, huh?

I am pretty proud of us, actually, since I believe this is the longest, healthiest, functional and loving and spiritually based relationship either of us has ever had. We have worked hard on this, especially recently and while he was gone in Alaska. It has most definitely been worth it. I think we are going to vote together and then go on a date (?). I don't really know, as I am leaving the plans entirely up to him, but I do have something to give him, and he said something about giving something to me, too..

A little overwhelming, really

I don't know what to do about classes next semester. I've been looking at the course offerings, and there are a few that I should take (Reference & Online Sources, Management of Libraries and Information Centers) as they are required of me, but I don't really want to take two potentially homework-heavy courses at once (from what I've heard anyway, these two are involved). History of the Printed Book also interests me, and it's an early morning Saturday class (8-1) but the weekend course schedule for winter 2007 semester doesn't mess with my work schedule nearly as much as it did this time around.

I guess I just forge ahead with the whole graduate studies thing, even with my fears and anxieties.

Getting lost and found again

Last night after work, I headed for the cities to pick up S at a rendezvous point (Dubliner's Bar in St. Paul) and then to my friend Mike's (near the U of M campus) where S could clean up after working with fiberglass all day, and then to the Loft (downtown Minneapolis) for my former professor's reading from his new book ("The Road to Cosmos" by Bill Meissner, link to be added later).

On the way to Dubliner's, I got lost due to taking Google Map directions rather literally (silly me), and called S in a bit of a frazzled state. I knew where I was (Larpenteur Avenue) but also knew I had gone way too far past where I needed to be (Corner of Vandalia and University). S calmed me down as I looked at my handy Professor Pathfinder map of the area, and within fifteen minutes I had my trusty boyfriend in the car with me. I got slightly confused in getting to the Loft as well, and S helpfully asked a parking garage attendant for directions. Good guy, that S. I am so thankful for him.

He's been helping his uncles move stuff from St. Paul up to central Minnesota, and working these 12-hour days lifting and using those muscles he built in Alaska. He's been busy, but I think it's great that he can help and do something other than hang out with me all the time.

The reading was quite good, interesting little bits of short stories about different characters, and some audience participation as well, and it was fun to see my college friends Kelly and Sara and Sara's boyfriend Tori. I think we're going to try for a game night at Kelly's place sometime in December, which would be super cool.

On being a Jane Austen "expert"

As one who gets to know me will discover, I am a devotee of Jane Austen and pretty much anything to do with her writing and world. I love the books, I love the movie versions, I'm a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. My cousin Simon's wife Eve and I can talk about Jane for hours, comparing and contrasting, and discussing everything from Darcy to Emma Thompson's version of "Sense & Sensibility."

Last winter, I served as Jane Austen/Pride & Prejudice expert for my cousin Simon's ninth grade English classes at the school where he teaches in the cities. I really had to read up and study in order to give good lectures to each class section, and for the most part, I was well prepared for all the questions the students had. Now one of his students is writing a paper on Jane and wants to interview me as a source. I actually remember the girl who wants to interview me, since she reminded me somewhat of myself in high school. She liked Jane Austen, for one.

Note to self

I'm not totally sure, but I think I'm going to go with "France--History--Louis XIV, 1643-1715" for the answer to the cataloging question mentioned in my last entry. I found a few books in the Great River Regional Library catalog with this exact subject heading, and I think since the item is more about France than Louis XIV, it makes more sense. We'll see.

And of course it's another beautiful day

Yesterday, S went with me to the cities, and hung out while I was in class (hours and hours and hours spent on Library of Congress Subject Headings—ai yi yi) and then we went out for pizza at Carbone's and then to IKEA. Anytime we saw something that was red, S said, "This is Beth's" fill-in-the-blank. This is a picture of S in "my" kitchen.

We headed back to St. Cloud and hung out with his best friend James for a while, which was great. I knew James in high school, and while I never really knew him that well, I thought he was interesting in the same way I thought S was interesting. Last night, James was explaining a bunch of different things, like how he wants to create a 'zine which he wants to call "The Winking Loon," and it would be "a collection of essays and poetry and political pieces by Minnesota, um, poeple." He always paused for the easiest word in the sentence, as though he was going to choose a more refined word, but "thing" would do just as well.

Right now, I'm working on my subject heading homework, and I can't figure out what to put for "France during the reign of Louis XIV"—would it be "Louis XIV, King of France, 1693-1715--France" or "France—-Reign of Louis XIV, King of France, 1693-1715" or something entirely different? I'm at a loss, so I'm dorking around in the Library of Congress subject headings and will probably go to another source at some point here, or possibly take the professor's advice, if exhausting all other options doesn't work, "Cry, then call a friend."

"This is not rocket science"

I'm reading the next chapter in the students' guide for LIS 703 for Saturday's class, and it's on Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). There are other lists of subject headings, but LCSH is the one we're working with as it's the biggest and there are lots of examples at the Library of Congress Authorities. Fun stuff. I love that in cataloging, "authority" means who authored the work. It sounds so technical.

I love that I just read the section in the text on "How to Do Subject Cataloging" and the professor wants us to see an example of subject headings, so we're going to look at a book we know quite well—AACR2. Direct quote: "What is Anglo-American Catloging Rules (hint, hint) about? You got it! Cataloging rules. This is not rocket science."

I totally could have taken another class this semester.

Anyway, I've also got my homework assignment to do, which is a MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) record for one book, so it's 15 pages of reading to go and then the homework. I'm listening to the Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" while I do this, which I think is wildly appropriate. Next up: "aboutness"!

Go confidently in the direction of your... math?

Since my math is not all that great, I use a little trick when I'm at the circulation desk and need to take a payment for a fine or lost book and am without a calculator. I fake it.

I don't mean that I shortchange people, and I don't mean that I miscalculate the fine. I just take a few seconds longer to do the math in my head and then write down the amount I've taken from the patron, and double check myself as I hand the patron their change.

This is something I've honed after years of working in libraries and in retail at a bookstore. If you act confident about the amount you're giving back, the patron usually won't check your math, and if they do and it's wrong, you can feign ignorance (or blame it on being an English major, which is what I usually do) but this type of error is rare, very rare, with my method. I should patent it.

Sawat Dee means hello

Yesterday, my cousin Angie called while S and I were hanging out, talking to my sister Andrea. Angie is essentially living S's old life—she's studying Japanese, wants to go to Japan, and two weeks ago got a job where he used to work. I really wanted them to re-meet and talk. We decided to all hang out and go out for dinner. Andrea's and my typical Sunday craving involves Sawat Dee (Thai food) and S and Angie agreed.

Andrea and I ordered our cheese puffs, which I know how to make, but it's so labor intensive, I'd almost rather just order six like this and inhale them. Angie and S talked about Japan, the language and S gifted Angie with a couple of his souvenirs that he was trying to pare down. He figured his old bank book might be interesting or useful practice for Angie's Japanese class.


I think we all had a good time. After figuring out our weird check, we came back to the house and, while Andrea got ready to go hang out at St. John's, Angie, S and I played Fluxx. S loves playing games, and my extended family is all into games, so this is an added bonus of us dating. I hope we can hang out with Angie again soon, since I really did miss seeing her and I want people to get to know S and how great he is.

Well this is an exciting blog

Since I really haven't done anything this past week that could constitute a blog entry of any substance, I have nothing to write about other than dear S. My apologies to anyone who is sick of this. Can I just say how great it is to hang out again? Of course I can, it's my blog. It's great to hang out with him again. We went to Bible study on Wednesday and have seen many of his family members. I love their reactions to his hair and beard.

"Don't get rid of it!" and then they look at me. "Don't let her tell you to shave!"

Frankly, I love the beard and the hair, but given a choice, I'd keep the beard and cut the hair. It's all good, though, and I'm not going to complain about anything, since I am still somewhat dazzled by being able to look at him again.

I'm back at the library today, working hard on little sleep. I stayed up too late last night hanging out with S's cousin and talking to S after that. Maybe I'll catch a nap later before seeing S again today.

Oh, who am I kidding.

My boyfriend's back

Eating breakfast, getting ready to go over to S's house again. It's back to work tomorrow for me after four days off. I really needed those four days. I haven't had a vacation in forever, and this has been like a mini-break from my real life. Except S is part of my real life and will continue to be part of my daily routine even when I'm back to work and thinking clearly about school once again.

Last night we were cuddling, and I almost said, "I miss you" to him. It was a transitory moment. No, Beth, S is here now, holding you and telling you things in person. My brain needs to catch up to the reality, I guess.

Sinking in

It's taking some time to really sink in that S is finally, after six and a half months, back from Alaska. But he's here, and our airport hellos were sweet and wonderful, being grabbed for a hug and not quite knowing how with him wearing his backpack and not wanting to let go, really, ever, no seriously, can you just hold me all day?

So my worries were worthless, of course. He's here, he came back to me, and I have another two days to just hang out without bothering to think about those other things in my life. What other things? I have S again.

Eeeeeeeeee(k?)

All right, well, I think I'm officially, 100% nervous/antsy/excited that S is coming back to Minnesota tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect, other than that I need to be at the airport by 11:30pm, and to look for a very bearded, long-haired 6-foot-tall guy I get to call "my boyfriend."

I've been cleaning up my room today and doing things I barely ever do, like dusting (!?) and doing things I love to do (throw away crap I don't need! clear off my desks!). S called to talk a little before his going-away dinner in Canada at his dad's and my sister asked, in a really loud, annoying voice, "Are you excited to see your boyfriend?!?!" and I said, "Uhhh, not really." But four hours and two episodes of "Northern Exposure" later, and it's setting in.

In advance, apologies to anyone I know in real life if I act completely weird on Monday, October 16th.

Probably no reason to be afraid

I'm about to head to Calvary Chapel for this morning's service. I've really slacked off the last couple months and had wonderful excuses (I'm sure) for each Sunday I didn't attend, but I set my alarm and I woke up and got ready. Preparing myself for the barrage of questions about S, and since he flies back tomorrow, it's inevitable that people will ask, "Are you excited?" or other such things. I can't exactly use my honest response in this situation. "Excited? Well, yes, and also... scared shitless."

All things must pass

I'm listening to my playlist of anthems this morning. Half of them are so goddamn depressing, but I trudge through, because they are songs that are supposed to remind me of something important. George Harrison is now telling me that "All things must pass, all things must pass away" and before, Judy Garland was telling me, "They're writing songs of love, but not for me, the lucky stars above, but not for me." The best, though, is probably Jamie Cullum singing, "If I expected love when first we kissed, blame it on my youth."

It's actually blowing snow flurries around outside right now. October 12th.

Possibilities for S's return

S told me last night that he's apprehensive about returning, about seeing me again. I feel kind of bad about this, because I feel like it's my fault for creating expectations of what it will be like when he gets back. I want to see him and hold hands again, nothing big and scary, but it's different, something to deal with. I fully realize that it's totally possible than any number of things can happen when he returns to Minnesota after being gone for 6 1/2 months, and not all of them are positive for me.

He could get bored of being unemployed and look for a job somewhere else, like teaching English in Taiwan or Beirut. He could apply to graduate school in Washington D.C. or College Station, Texas. Or he could appreciate me even more and be incredibly happy to be where he is, which could quench his wanderlust for at least a few months. He could find me completely unattractive or annoying and not want to date me anymore. He could meet someone else who is more beautiful and interesting and who doesn't talk about libraries all the time and fall in love with her.

Really, honestly, as long as he is the happiest possible and feels like he's making the right decisions for himself in his life, I will be glad for him and his future. Even if it doesn't include me.

Communicating can be a challenge

I can think of nothing more frustrating at work than having to explain library policy to non-native English speakers, or those who don't really speak English at all. Our area has a lot of Somalians, which I think is great in a general way, but it makes for tense situations.

I just got off the phone a little while ago with someone who returned the incorrect VHS in a case. When this happens, we're not supposed to check the item in. We notify the patron and then hope they return the missing piece, but it's not always easy to do this. I tried very hard to explain the situation calmly and simply to this particular patron, using limited vocabulary and in multiple ways, but I'm not sure I got through. It makes me sad.

Normally, I am a competent employee, usually exceeding expectations of my job description, being helpful and friendly with everyone I see. I'm excellent at communication, so it's very frustrating for me at a personal level when I can't really talk to someone. Normally, I embrace a challenge on the job, except this isn't really something I can overcome, it's just something I have to learn from.

Not stressed, just perplexed

It's kind of horrible that I've forgotten how to study for an exam. Professor Humeston told us what to review, and I'm sitting here on the floor in my room looking at the Learning Objectives for each chapter and then the corresponding "The Least You Should Know" bullet points, and I know this stuff, and I'm going, "Yeah... uh, now what?" Maybe I should make flash cards like my sister does, or maybe I should do an outline or something?

I think I'll just make my own notes, since we get to use them on the test anyway, so anything that's in my handwriting could be useful, if not essential to my success on this thing.

In other news, S flies to Canada today to visit his dad, saying goodbye to Alaska after six months. April to October, leaving all the rain and the midnight sun and the bear spray behind, along with his ruined wardrobe and now-useless water bottles. I'm sure that it's exciting and sad for him. He really loved it there, and he saw so much of the place and felt, I think, comfortable even in his discomfort. I hope that he can ease back into the realities of life, but I won't blame him if he wants to seclude himself from modernity for a while, like the Voyageurs who spend a month in Canada, portaging and canoeing all the while, some of whom must sleep in their own backyards for weeks to adjust to conveniences again. At least S can blog about it all and reflect on his experiences.

I've seen this going around

Complete the Thought:

Never again in my life: will I go to a rock concert without ear plugs.

When I was five: I really loved playing with the smooth sand in the kindergarten room. And my family got our first Apple computer. And I was still an only child.

High School was: crappy and clique-filled, until I switched schools, and then it was something I didn't want to miss—so many friends and fun times, making the tape-shape, talking, obsessing, etc.

I will never forget: when S brought me chocolates and flowers for Valentine's day... a day early! (He was working nights, so his sense of time was bad but in a very good way.) And then how he brought me more chocolates on the actual day.

I once met: Christopher O'Riley, the pianist who does the Radiohead transcriptions. I talked his ear off for about 20 minutes about classical music.

There’s this girl I know who: works at the library AND for campus public safety, and had to get sprayed with pepper-spray during her training, and then saved a girl's life during her first week on the job by knowing that she was having an appendicitis!

By noon I’m usually: working at the library, or reading or doing something online, or in St. Paul in my grad class. Unfortunately, there aren't many days when I sleep past noon. I need to work on this.

Last night I: went to Taco John's with my sister and then pigged out and had girl talk.

Next time I go to church: will be on Sunday, 6pm most likely.

What worries me most is: how to review for my cataloging mid-term in one week when I am being a know-it-all and feel like I can't possibly learn anything new by studying.

When I turn my head right, I see: the Hall of Weird, my sister's full-length mirror, my Radiohead poster on my door, a pile of clean clothes ready to be put away, dirty dishes to be brought to the kitchen, a stack of CDs ready to be alphabetized.

When I turn my head left, I see: the sunset through my window, the trees in silhouette, my desk with piles of papers on it, my Curious George, my passport.

You know I’m lying when: I refuse to comment, like a politician.

If I was a character written by Shakespeare I'd: be Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream, wanting the guy who doesn't want her forever and a day—until, by magic! he falls for her, too.

By this time, next year: who knows. Isn't that exciting?

A better name for me would be: actually, I think my name suits me quite well. Good choice, mom.

I have a hard time understanding: physics. And people who find "debate" the highest form of fun.

If I ever go back to school I’ll: get a second masters in something useless, like art history.

You know I like you if: I tell you so.

Three people who bore me are: three boring people? I guess I don't know any.

Take my advice, NEVER: tell me what to think.

My ideal breakfast is: bagel and coffee, or breakfast burritos, or toast with cinnamon sugar and milk.

A song I love, but do not have is: "L is for the way you look at me..."—"Love" by Nat King Cole.

If you visit my hometown, I suggest: going to Quarry Park for a walk. It's our version of Central Park, a big ol' protected area in the city limits, ten minutes from the mall and the Caribou Coffee.

Why won’t anyone: buy me real jewelry?

If you spend the night at my house, DO: feel completely at home, plopping down on the leather furniture, kicking back with a Smirnoff or Mountain Dew, listening to music from our extensive collections, watching a DVD from the library, or just enjoying the insanity.

The world could do without: bigots. And homophobes. And scary fundamentalists.

I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: give my phone number to my library stalker.

My favorite blonde is: my cousin Christy. She's 16 and super sweet!

Paperclips are more useful than: library cards. (That's a lie.)

San Diego means: Saint Diego, I think. And probably fun times, if you know where to hang out (I don't).

Feeling cherished

Since cell service in buildings in Indian, Alaska is kind of sketchy, S and I used Gmail chat last night for a few hours of conversation. It's the first time I've ever used a communication form with S that was non-organic and real-time (for us, it's been e-mails since high school, phone calls, and in-person all the way) and it was kind of weird and fun. I tend to have to multi-task while I'm online (reading blogs, checking my accounts, listening to music, on Facebook or MySpace, etc.) so it was strange not giving S my complete attention, as he usually gets and deserves.

Something was agreed upon about a rice cooker, this much I remember. And that he cares about my sanity, which I think I already knew. After a while, we both slacked off with the chatting and then I decided to go to bed. After I had crawled under the covers and was coughing from my cold and trying to get comfy, my phone rang.

"It's so cold out here!" he informed me.

"So go back inside!" I replied. "You don't have to talk to me more."

"Yeah, I do. I love you."

The switch

I switched to the new Blogger Beta and changed my template and uploaded my fall leaves photos.

Even my ears hurt

Today is a day of random errands and feeling icky. I have a sore throat and feel achy and tired and headachy even with medication. So I've been "resting" (whatever that means) and I also went to the post office, the gas station, got my glasses adjusted, cleaned out my car, took photos of the autumn leaves in our yard, got Chinese food for lunch, and picked up my allergy medication prescription. I think I'm going to try to take a little nap here in a few minutes.

S called as he was packing up his gear—he's getting picked up and taken back to Indian, which is near Anchorage. He flies out on Sunday (I think?) to see his dad in British Columbia, so by the time he's back to me, he'll be vaguely more used to regular showers and sleeping inside and not being rained on constantly. We pretty much have to go camping together, now that he's done this whole Alaska thing and I've never even been camping.

I'm just glad I got sick this week instead of next week. I hope I'm over it by then.

I think this is cute

藍帽子的秘密.

A little place to call my own

Every time I see Sarah Susanka's books ("The Not So Big House"), or books on log cabins, I get kind of dreamy and wish that I had my own house, just a tiny little one to decorate and paint and put window boxes on for daffodils. I imagine the bedroom would be red like mine is now, and the living room would be a soothing chestnut brown. Then I remember how much I hate cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, and the like) and the dream dies.

But then I think about a small apartment where they would let me paint. A brownstone, something near Grand Avenue in St. Paul, a walk-up on the third floor. More than likely, I'd have to go to the laundromat each week, but I would love it.

I think either of these scenarios is some time off in the future, but I can dream, can't I?

The way of the world

Today at work is just flying by. I hope the next four hours go the same way. I'm working a lot the next two weeks, or so it seems. I also need to find some time to review for my midterm exam. Tonight, I might try to make something sweet for a coworker's birthday tomorrow since we have our first Virtual Services team meeting. I hope we can get a library blog going, at the very least.

My temporary boyfriend

While S has been gone, my temporary fill-in has been the one, the only, Cary Grant.

No, I haven't raised him from the dead in order to date him, I've just watched his movies and felt very involved with him. Lucky for me, Turner Classics did a full day of Cary Grant's movies (or should I say, Achie Leach's movies?) and I grabbed a bunch of them with the DVR.

I've seen so many of his movies, and loved all of them (especially "An Affair to Remember," "To Catch a Thief, and "The Grass is Greener"), and especially loved him (particularly as Mortimer in "Arsenic and Old Lace" and as whoever in "Charade"), that it might be kind of difficult to break up once S is here. I told S last night when he called that I was watching "Father Goose" and that I may have him watch something silly like "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" when he gets back.

"I guess I have to know what I'm up against," S said.

I'm guess willing to trade one tall, dark and handsome man for another.

A perfect day

Things I love:

Autumn
Warm days
Sunshine dappled through tree leaves
Reading while sitting outside
Billy Collins poetry
Listening to music on my iPod
Warm sweaters
The smell of citrus

I've been sitting reading the Best American Poetry of 2006 edited by Billy Collins, enjoying this 80 degree weather. Feeling kind of guilty that it is most assuredly half that temperature in Seward, Alaska today, and probably raining there. But this is S's last week on the job, and then it's onto something new. I am putting off studying for my cataloging midterm, because I want to do that closer to the actual exam, which is two weeks away. So, it's lazing around for me. Excellent.

Made it to the wedding reception for my cousin Matt and his new wife Shannon. I did a quick change into my dress in my car after I got out of class and then hightailed it to the Millenium Hotel on Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis. Lots of dancing, hanging out with cousins, dancing some more, and then getting home quite late. It was a really great time, though, definitely fun.

Judy Garland writing from beyond the grave

Example of a "spirit" work, as mentioned in yesterday's cataloging class related entry.

Look at me, live blogging from my grad class. Naughty, naughty.

Update: if you go to the Library of Congress and search "garland judy (spirit)" in the basic search for author/creator, you will find the bib record I linked to. Silly LOC and their timeouts. Thanks for the heads-up, Amanda!

Catalogers are a weird lot, I think

So I'm sitting here reading Chapter 4 of the Students Guide for LIS 703, and Helen Humeston, the professor and co-author of the guidebook knows how very dry the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules are, so she livens it up a bit in her own writing. Usually this means she just writes cleverly about boring things. But suddenly, I read the sentence:

"Now we come to the only faintly humorous part of AACR2. Rule 21.26A governs the way to enter a work dictated from beyond the grace. Princess Diana has been busy since she died. She is credited for two spirit books."

And then there's a bibliographic record where the MARC field looks like this:

600 00 |a Diana, |c Princess of Wales, |d 1961-1997 |c (Spirit)

And, sure enough, the actual cataloging rule says this, "Enter a communication presented as having been received from a spirit under the heading for a spirit. Make an added entry under the heading for the medium of other person recording the information."

The medium? Um, can I just say—WHAT were they thinking?!!?

Earlier tonight

On my oncoming winter pallor:

"Too bad there's no cure for paleness."
"A boyfriend who loves you."
"Aww... You are horribly cute, you know? Ridiculously cute."
"You should write that down."
"What, so I don't forget?"
"So you can remember I'm ridiculously cute."

New heights of nerdiness (MLA report)

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I attended sessions of the Minnesota Library Association conference. Tuesday, I took an ill co-worker's place at a pre-conference training workshop on cataloging sound recordings. Yesterday, I attended the Millenials/Net Gen presentation by some university librarians, and the "Are You the Librarian?" paraprofessional session presented by Valeria Fike from College of DuPage, who was named the Library Journal paraprofessional of the year.

The pre-conference training on audio cataloging was very technical and the two presenters (Kathy Blough from St. Olaf and Mary Huisman from the U of M) gave many specific, practical tips and cited the corresponding cataloging rules for everything. Learning about how to catalog new formats was actually quite interesting, since I wasn't aware of the kinds of notes that need to be made in a MARC record.

Example from Hennepin County's library catalog:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sound recording.

The MARC record (MARC=Machine Readable Cataloging record, a format that library computer systems can read with searchable fields and lots of strange-looking punctuation.)

In the session, we learned what types of notes to make on records for different types of audio, like super audio discs, DVD audio, and other crazy things like those books on tape that come pre-loaded on a player, which is done by Playaway. Everyone in the room seemed pretty excited about the Playaway books.

Yesterday's sessions were less hands-on practical, but I did learn that I am a millenial, part of the net-gen (or generation y) and the panel of students from Bethel was, I'm sure, enlightening for everyone in the room who isn't part of our generation. We watched a "60 Minutes" clip on this generation of kids, and it kind of grossly overgeneralized what we are like, but it was still apropos. The students on the panel were asked to talk about their typical days, and they described being very plugged in, with iPods, palm pilots, laptops, cell phones. A coworker at my table was like, "What's Facebook?" when all of the panel members admitted logging into e-mail and Facebook upon waking up. I had to raise my hand and ask them to describe it and I promised to show my coworker what it's like.

Since I am a library paraprofessional, that session was kind of affirming, except I tend to disagree with Valeria Fike on the matter of library paraprofessionals as real professionals. In that room, I didn't want to admit that I'm in school for a MLIS degree. The tips on resumes and keeping a portfolio were good, though, and I will probably do many of them to help my chances of getting a job at some later point.

After the sessions, I walked the convention floor and got some chocolate and some goodies (a tote bag from Spotlight that's pink and says, "Read!" and a few buttons). Overall, a good day, but I went home and took a long nap. I was exhausted and didn't feel all that well, but now I'm up and at 'em today with not much to do. Cataloging homework, here I come.

How the models look that good

Wow, with the retouching. And this is why sometimes I just don't even try.

Noooooo (MyFaceSpaceBook?)

Okay, well, Facebook has gone and done it. Opened the gates to the masses. And guess what? It took minutes for me to log in just now, and it's taking a loooong time to load my profile/home links. Freakin' A! If you're not someone I know in real life, don't expect me to add you.

And here I wanted a t-shirt that said, "I went to grad school and all I got was this stupid Facebook account."

Just kidding. Sort of.