What should I be for Halloween?

Not that I'm going to be wearing a costume for anything this year (thank God, I hate dressing up), but I thought it appropriate to take the Blogthings quiz and get an answer:

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

Candy Corn

What Should You Be For Halloween?

Happy Halloween!

Battlefield Ohio

As election time gears up, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show are spending the week doing shows from the great state of Ohio! Tonight's guest: Lebron James.

"Most reliable search tool...

... could be your librarian." Here's a nice article reaffirming the importance of librarians.

Lingerie librarian?

While no one seems to want to hire me as a librarian, Victoria's Secret seemed willing to hire me today. I went into the nearby store to get more free panties and while they were trying to sell me additional merchandise, I mentioned that I was unemployed and had no money. Suddenly, they were practically begging me to come work for them. The discount is 30% off of Victoria's Secret merchandise and 20% off of Bath & Body Works and Express merchandise (and The Limited merchandise, I assume?) . Also, I guess they hire people to work in their back room keeping things organized, stocked and steamed. I am considering filling out the application since it would be nice to bring in SOME money, but I'm slightly deterred by a few things. One, I really don't much like Victoria's Secret items - unless they are giving them to me for free and then I can deal. Two, wouldn't it be better to work someplace that the discount would be useful? Three, I've noticed that employees seem to have to wear nice black pants and black blazers which is a kind of expensive investment for a job that will likely not even pay me $7/hr.

Word of the day: sansculotte

n 1: an extreme radical republican in France at the time of the Revolution
2: a radical or violent extremist in politics

My sentence using sansculotte: Election day is approaching and, although I'm undecided about who will get my vote in some races, I will not vote for a sansculotte.

Failed another test

I probably didn't fail it, but I don't think I did too well on it either. This was another mandatory testing for a Librarian I position at the local county library system. The last test I took - for a different branch - was very heavy on the reader's advisory questions, asking to name authors in different fiction genres and to name books I would recommend as well as the title of the latest Harry Potter book. Since I didn't do as well on those topics as I might have liked, that is where I focused my studying before today's test. Oops. Apparently, reader's advisory is not important at this branch. All of the questions were on resources today. Name two print resources for medicine; name two print resources for music; name an online resource for biography and a sample question for which this source might be useful; name three ways one could find out the name of the president of Viacom; name three sources for legal information, particularly Ohio law, etc... Ugh, so I did not do well at all. I was not prepared to have to rattle off the names of dozens of different resources. I really do not understand this kind of testing. The only type of question that makes sense to me is the one about the president of Viacom, which is more about the process of finding the answer than rattling off the titles of a book or a Web site. I could have wonderful, useful, informative Web sites bookmarked on my browser and know how to use them but would not be able to tell you the exact name of them. Likewise, I could know very well how to find an answer to a medical question without knowing the exact title of the book that gives me the information. I find the whole testing process completely frustrating and aggravating and I suppose that it's good that I do not pass to the interview stage or I might be a bitter employee right from the start.

Duke lacrosse scandal

60 Minutes did a piece this week on the alleged rape by the Duke lacrosse players that resulted in their season being cancelled this past spring. It was a really interesting piece and is kind of mystifying that the D.A. seems to think he has a case. I know I'm no legal expert but I cannot imagine a judge not throwing the case out of court - there seems to be no proof that these men are guilty. One of the guys has proof via phone records, a taxi driver and surveillance tape from an ATM that he wasn't even at the party during the time the alleged rape occurred. Certainly this guy could not have attacked her; yet he is one of the three suspects. Also, one of the partygoers was apparently a Jimmy Olsen-in-training and there are many time-stamped photographs from the evening showing what was going on and it doesn't seem to mesh with her story, either. Finally, the alleged victim's co-stripper, who was at the party with her, pretty much says the girl is lying. Mind-boggling. Anyway, the CBS News site has a ton of video from their story.

Word of the day: peregrination

n : an excursion especially on foot or to a foreign country : journey

My sentence using peregrination: On Thursday, I plan a peregrination back to Syracuse, New York, to fetch some of my belongings.

Free in-house cafeteria

Part of job searching is looking at the benefits offered with a position and some places offer a lot sweeter benefit packages than others. I would rather take 24 days paid time off annually than 14, for instance. And who wouldn't? But, this job in Atlanta boasts a 'free in-house cafeteria'! Not having to worry about lunch every day? Awesome.

The Quick & Dirty Career Test

After getting yet another rejection today, I thought this was an appropriate test to take and surprisingly, the results indicate I'm on the right track.

Your Career Personality: Idealistic, Service-Oriented, and Future-Oriented

Your Ideal Careers: Alternative health practitioner Architect Environmental lawyer Librarian Magazine editor Museum curator Novelist Nutritionist Photo journalist Playwright

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

Google products

Some of these are kind of funny - new types of searches that Google should create.

Online TV

My latest addiction (although that's a bit of an overstatement) is online TV viewing. All of the major broadcast networks are streaming some of their shows online, usually available the day after they air on television. What's nice about this is that you can catch episodes that you may have wanted to catch but missed when they aired. It also basically eliminates the need for a Tivo/DVR/VCR recording device. And, it's free, did I mention that? Of course there are services like iTunes where you can pay, usually $1.99 an episode, for the same thing but I doubt anyone would argue that free isn't better. I've watched episodes of (or parts of episodes, anyway) Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, Heroes, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Cribs over the last month.

I've sort of been looking for a good web site that provides links to all the places one can view shows online and haven't found anything exactly to my liking (perhaps I should make one of my own) but: TV Squad offers a list by network or site (AOL & Yahoo! offer some programs thanks to tie-ins with certain networks) and TV Guide Online offers a daily blog listing some of the best online TV viewing of the day.

With that all being said, as far as the major networks go, I think the ABC service is the best by far. Not only can you watch past episodes (most of the other networks only let you watch the most current episode) but I also haven't had any streaming problems at all.

Word of the day: jawboning

n : the use of spoken persuasion

My sentence using jawboning: Hopefully, at the next job interview I have I can persuade them to hire me by some subtle jawboning.

Cover letter machine

I was a MACHINE yesterday and applied for seven jobs! That was definitely my best day ever and perhaps directly related to the fact that I am STILL unemployed. Of course, part of the reason for the high number for the day is because two of the jobs expect you to apply online via their special system and do not accept cover letters, only resumes. I've started to check that before taking the time to write a letter....

Funny... and ew!

Kiss my ass, George Bush Web site. Yes, it's exactly what it says... (courtesy of Freakgirl)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today my mom turns 60! Happy Birthday to her! Not that she'll want her age broadcast over the Internet probably, but it's a pretty big birthday, so I wanted to acknowledge it. If only I were employed and could have thrown a huge birthday party for her or something.

Word of the day: valetudinarian

n : a person of a weak or sickly constitution; especially : one whose chief concern is being or becoming a chronic invalid

My sentence using valetudinarian: Unlike my great aunt, who is out working at age 88 and traveling around the world, I know other elderly people who are valetudinarian and prefer to wallow in their old age and sit around watching television.

Long time no see

Tonight, we saw a distant relative who was in town from the Boston area and who we rarely ever see. I guess she's just my mom's aunt but since we have so little contact with her, I always think she is a much more distant relative. She was in town for a wedding so we got together with her so she could meet my nephew Ben. She is in her late eighties yet still works about 3 days a week as a nurse. It's pretty amazing, although my mom thinks the last thing she wants to be doing at that age is working at all and I'm kind of with her there. The other nice thing was that she gave me her daughter's business card - her daughter is a library director in the Pittsburgh area. So now I need to network...