The kids at Christmas

Thought I'd share a pic of my niece and nephew from Christmas...

And here is a link to a few more pics.

US News & World Report Names Best Careers for 2009

Guess one of the professions that was named as one of the best for 2009? Yep, LIBRARIAN! There is a nice write-up of the librarian profession there. Also, I like the part under "Smart Specialty", where it names Special Librarian. That's what I am!

"Football Yes, Libraries No"

This article from the San Diego Reader isn't all that interesting unless you care about the city of San Diego's financial woes but the opening quote is quite interesting:

"The pride and presence of a professional football team is far more important than 30 libraries."

That comes from Art Modell. Yes, the same Art Modell who stole the Browns out of Cleveland and moved them to Baltimore. Typical that it would come from him. The truth is, though, that a large number of people probably agree with that statement. (via)

Christmas movie review: Our First Christmas

Rating: B

Our First Christmas is a Hallmark Channel original movie that debuted this year and like most of the ones that debuted this year, it's meh. It's about a new family - a blended family of two widowed spouses and three children from the first marriages - who do not want to give up any of their old traditions to truly blend into a new family. There are grandparents involved (John Ratzenberger and Dixie Carter) and they of course are used to their grandkids spending time with them but quickly realize that maybe some sort of compromise should be reached. The kids are having none of it and the parents are total pushovers and agree to go along with what the kids want. For awhile... until - surprise! - the kids soon realize that old traditions are fun but new traditions with their new family can be fun too. It's not a horrible movie but it's not really something I want to watch year in and year out.

Christmas movie review: The Christmas Wish

Rating: A+

Ah, The Christmas Wish. This one is from about ten years ago and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Debbie Reynolds and Naomi Watts - a pretty impressive cast! And yes, I adore Neil Patrick Harris so I might be biased but this one is a very good one. I'm pretty sure I'd seen it before but I didn't remember the ending so it was worth watching again and it's good to have something positive to say about a movie after the disastrous ones that were produced this year.

The gist of The Christmas Wish is that Neil plays a young man brought back to his small hometown to run his grandfather's real estate business after the death of his grandfather. It's nearly Christmastime and he's getting ready to move back to New York City. His grandmother asks for one Christmas wish before he goes - for Neil to find some "Lillian" that the grandfather wrote about in his journals and that no one knew anything about before he died. As Neil embarks on the journey to discover who Lillian is (Was Grandpa having an affair? Is Lillian a love child? Is it a charity case he took care of?), he also discovers a little more about who his grandfather was and of course who he is. It's sweet and touching and the mystery is a nice added element to keep you interested. Plus, Neil is a good actor and you enjoy seeing his journey. Highly recommended.

Christmas movie review: A Christmas Proposal

Rating: B+

Now I'm to the point where I watched like 6 movies in the last couple of days (they are the perfect backdrop to wrapping presents) and they all kind of run together. A Christmas Proposal is a pretty okay romantic comedy. A guy who looks distractedly like Patrick Dempsey brings his new girlfriend to his hometown, where he had planned to propose to her. And, oh yeah, the girlfriend and her father are planning on building a ski resort in the hometown, much to the chagrin of the inhabitants, including his ex-girlfriend and high school sweetheart who basically single-handedly leads the effort against the plans. It pretty much works out as expected.... guy realizes the plans to destroy his hometown are bad and that his feelings for his ex-girlfriend are good and still there and there is a proposal, of course. It's not bad and kinda cute, pretty predictable but in a good way. All the actors were likeable enough. Except I'm not kidding, the main actor looks exactly like Patrick Dempsey, except he maybe weighs 15 pounds more. Way too distracting.

Christmas movie review: Christmas in Wonderland

Rating: C

Had I not just seen Together Again for the First Time, this ABC Family movie might have gotten a lower rating but I think it was just a tad more bearable. Christmas in Wonderland features Patrick Swayze as the struggling dad of three who just moved to Edmonton a few days before Christmas and lost his job. He takes the kids to the mall to get some Christmas shopping done and mayhem occurs. Patrick's character basically disappears then and we follow the kids around. The two youngest kids find a bag of counterfeit money, go on a spending spree and then get chased by the criminals who want their fake money back. Then it evolves into Home Alone. It's slightly cute and, of course, everyone lives happily ever after at the end; I'm sure kids would enjoy it. The best part was the real mall where they filmed the movie. It's gorgeous! The West Edmonton Mall has an amusement park, water park, ice rink, aquarium, miniature golf course and of course tons of stores inside the mall!

This link, by the way, takes you to the full movie online, if you want to watch it after the great write-up I gave it.

Christmas movie review: Together Again for the First Time

Rating: D

Together Again for the First Time was awful. Just awful. It's about a blended family (Mom, a Martha Stewart wannabe, has two sons while Dad has three daughters) where the kids do NOT get along at all. Kids is kind of wrong - these are all young adults. And there's a lot of drama. The oldest guy and girl bicker constantly. The middle girl is engaged to someone that the oldest gal used to date. The oldest guy brings his girlfriend and then proceeds to ignore her the entire time. The oldest guy has arranged for his younger brother to come back to the college town where he lives and enroll in school, even though the younger brother apparently doesn't want to. And, meanwhile, the Mom has a radio show that she apparently is trying to turn into a TV show and decides forcing the kids to participate in a pretend holiday craft session is an ideal pilot for her show. The show (did I mention it is live?) doesn't go particularly well, presumably because it seems like it was sprung on the kids at the last minute. Anyway, on the live show, the movie turns into an Afterschool Special with the reveal that the older son is doing drugs. He is banished immediately but, of course, it only takes about ten minutes for the family to realize that the younger son is really the one on drugs. Then, the family pulls together and tries to save the son, who has taken off without a word and his drugs. It's just so melodramatic and annoying and not well-acted at all. I get the premise of family starting to heal but it's just ridiculous. Ridiculous.

Christmas movie review: The Christmas Choir

Rating: B+

Inspired by a true story, The Christmas Choir airs on the Hallmark Channel this year and features Jason Gedrick and Rhea Perlman. Jason stars as Peter, a workaholic accountant who seems to have nothing going his way... he works too much, his fiance dumps him, he has virtually no relationship with his father. One evening, a couple weeks before Christmas, he meets a homeless man in a bar and they bond over their love of music. The homeless man takes Peter to the shelter where he lives and suddenly, Peter decides to organize a choir for Christmas. This will give him something to do and also will help these men at the shelter raise some money for Christmas. It was a sweet story and it's definitely appealing that it's based on a true story, but I had to drop the rating a bit based on the extreme hokiness of the plot. Pulling together a choir might be one thing but the extent of circumstances that befall this group in supposedly a 2-week period is just way too ridiculous for me to get past. In this two week period in which the movie takes place: 1.) Peter and his fiance break up yet he falls in love with someone he meets who works at the subway; 2.) Peter makes amends with his father; 3.) the homeless shelter burns down; 4.) the choir gets pulled together and is able to perform songs cohesively; 5.) the choir realizes that they are not allowed to just show up at the subway and start singing but instead need to get a permit and coincidentally, find out the permit tryouts are the very next day; 6.) manage to pull off a benefit concert to rebuild the shelter. Like I said, it was just a little too much for me to get past for such a short timespan. But besides that, enjoyable.

Merry Washington DC Christmas

I stopped by the National Christmas Tree madhouse last night before heading home from my day downtown and here are some pictures of the tree all lit up at night. It was prettier than last year. And also way more crowded.

"Breaks on the Bailout"

Last night, WUSA Channel 9 kept advertising a story for its 11pm news about the auto industry bailout plan with the words "Breaks on the Bailout," implying that the bailout plan was delayed. I'm sorry but shouldn't that be "Brakes on the Bailout?" If you are trying to be cute by inserting a word from the auto industry into your headline, you should probably spell that word correctly, no?

Christmas movie review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Rating: B

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is new this year from Hallmark Channel. It stars Brooke Burns (not to be confused with Dancing with the Stars winner Brooke Burke, although I'm sure you wouldn't be the first one to confuse them and yes they both formerly hosted reality shows. This Brooke hosted Dog Eat Dog and was on Baywatch for awhile.) Anyway, Brooke is a hard-working single mom who doesn't particularly like Christmas but does like making lists. She apparently is very organized, cautious and not a risk taker. Her uncle, played by Henry Winkler, shows up for Christmas and brings with him someone he met at the airport. Of course, random stranger guy turns out to be a pretty great guy and helps Brooke out a lot, with her neighbors, with her house, with her cooking, with her son. The only problem with random stranger guy is that Brooke's boyfriend doesn't like him! Overall, it's kind of a cute story of what happens when someone opens themselves up to a little change and throws caution to the wind just a little. The two main characters have some chemistry and Henry is sweet and adorable. But I won't lie... I dozed off a few times while watching this. Really, it has nothing to do with the movie because I've been really under the weather today and would probably doze off watching anything. But the truth is, I had zero desire to go back and watch the ten minutes here or there that I slept through. So that's why it gets a 'B'.

Christmas movie review: Will You Merry Me?

Rating: B-

I had somewhat high hopes for Will You Merry Me?, which is new this year from Lifetime. It sounded like a cute romantic comedy where a newly engaged couple has to deal with the I'm Jewish/he's Christian issue that I'm sure a number of couples do face this time of year. It's very rare that these holiday movies address any type of Jewish traditions, so I was excited to maybe learn something. Instead, this was the hokiest movie ever. It was completely full of cliches, not just about religions but about dating. This couple has known each other - lived together! - for six months and get engaged but when they end up visiting his parents at Christmas (her parents come too), they realize that they know absolutely nothing about each other. Which I still think is a theme that could have been done better... but nope. Everything from "Wait, you want kids?" to "You want to get married in a church?!" to "You just kissed your ex-girlfriend" is included in this movie. I just did a lot of eye-rolling throughout, which is obviously not a sign of a good movie.

Sell your books online!

Book store Powell's Books has started allowing people to sell their used books to them online. Instead of putting your books up on something like eBay or Half.com and waiting for them to sell to some prospective buyer, you can enter the book's ISBN on the Powell's Web site, they'll tell you how much they'll give you for the book and if you accept, will send you a postage paid envelope in which to mail them your books. Instead of getting cash money, however, you get store credit. So it seems pretty win-win if you have any books you want to get rid of!

Wet

So I've been walking to work for about four months now... well, I walk about ten minutes and then take the train a few stops, although I also regularly walk all the way home. And in all of these four months, I have not had to worry about rain at all. It has not once rained either in the morning on my way to work or the evening on my way home from work. Or, at least it has not rained during the actual time I'm walking.

Until tonight. And it was really coming down. And I got drenched. Yes, I have an umbrella but it's very petite so it fits nicely in my bag. And not only was it raining but it was windy so I struggled to hold onto the umbrella at all and then got wet anyway all over my arm and the bottom of my coat and my legs and shoes. Yuck.

On the plus side, I had quite a record of avoiding rain going and maybe it will now start over and I'll go another four months! Also, it seemed like good arm exercise struggling to hold the umbrella in place.

Christmas movie review: Flirting with Forty

Rating: B

Tonight was the debut of a new Lifetime holiday movie. I personally wouldn't call Flirting with Forty a holiday movie but Lifetime, who produced this one, calls it one so I'll go with them and review it as such. It's basically just a movie that happens to start and finish around the holidays. It's missing the major holiday movie elements of magic or turning over a new leaf or Santa or the spirit of Christmas.... those types of things.

Regardless, this movie has Heather Locklear as someone who is divorced and about to turn forty who ends up taking a vacation to Hawaii by herself, where she then meets a very hunky surf instructor and falls in love with him. The movie then goes on to tell the story of their romance over the course of the year, during which some problems occur since he is significantly younger and lives in Hawaii and she is a busy mom of two who lives in Denver. It's a cute story and the two main characters are very appealing (particularly Robert Buckley, the surfing instructor!!) but I'm rating it a little lower than I normally would just because if you are looking for a sweet Christmas movie to get you in the mood for the holidays, this is not for you. It is, however, a kinda cute chick flick.

Christmas movie review: Four Christmases

Rating: A-

A couple weeks ago, I was able to see a sneak preview of Four Christmases, which is another Christmas movie starring Vince Vaughn and is in theaters now. Alongside Vince, it stars Reese Witherspoon and I quite enjoyed their pairing. The story here is that Vince & Reese are like a perfect couple who don't get along too well with their families and don't want to get married or have children but are very content in their lives. They spend every Christmas holiday on a vacation to the beach. This year, however, massive fog ruins their plans and they end up on television when the news stations are broadcasting live from the airport. Next thing they know, their relatives have called and they must go to four Christmases: his dad's, her mom's, his mom's and her dad's. There's a lot of over-the-top goofiness but also some very funny moments. Vince and Reese both have their moments to shine and the supporting cast is pretty stellar (Jon Favreau, Kristin Chenoweth, Mary Steenburgen, Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek). Pretty much every bizarre type of family member that a person might have is represented here and spending time with all their family makes our two main characters question if their relationship really is ideal and if it has any longevity. So, it's not all light-hearted humor. Overall, I definitely enjoyed it.

Christmas movie review: Fred Claus

Rating: A-

Fred Claus was a theatrical release last year and is new to DVD, which is where I caught it. It also stars Vince Vaughn, who is one of my most favorite actors, so I can't imagine me ever giving a low rating to a movie of his so there's my admitted bias. But, it was kind of enjoyable. The storyline of Fred Claus is that Fred is Santa's older brother who has turned into kind of a scam artist and pretty much derides the whole Christmas holiday but flies to the North Pole to see his brother because he needs money and Santa only agrees to give him some if he comes to work for a week. While Fred's there, he kind of spices things up a bit and messes up some of the processes and procedures and threatens Santa's whole operation. Of course, he's given a second chance to save the day and pulls through with shining colors. But Vince is charming as always and I found myself chuckling a decent amount so I gave it an A-. It does run a little longer than it needed to and, of course, it's extremely predictable but Christmas movies are the one type of movie where I think predictable is okay.

Christmas movie review: Moonlight & Mistletoe

Welcome to my first Christmas movie review of the 2008 season! I've reviewed 33 Christmas movies over the last two years. Here are my wrap-up posts from 2006 and 2007. Maybe I'll get to 50 by the end of the year!

Anyway, as a reminder, a true Christmas movie generally follows a few basic formats. There's the twist on A Christmas Carol, when someone is cranky, grumpy, a workaholic and given up on Christmas but by some sort of magic, they regain their love of the holiday and become a better person. Then there is the person or organization or company that is struggling and has until Christmas to try to turn things around. They always do, of course. There are the ones that personify Santa or reindeers or elves and bring those mystical creatures to present-day US to get help from some lucky kids or single women. Also, there are a lot of romantic comedy Christmas movies where someone desperately wants to find a husband/date/boyfriend by Christmas. They always do, of course. Each year, Lifetime, The Hallmark Channel and ABC Family dedicates most of their December programming to Christmas movies and typically introduce at least a couple new movies each year so there's plenty to go around. Anyway, on to the first of 2008...

Rating: B

Moonlight & Mistletoe is new for Hallmark Channel this year and stars Tom Arnold and Candace Cameron Bure, who I didn't even realize was still acting. So, Tom's character is obsessed with Christmas, fancies himself a Santa stand-in, and runs a tourist attraction called Santaville that - surprise! - is struggling. Candace plays his daughter who left home a long time ago, fed up with Santaville, and only comes home after her dad gets in a sleigh accident. She of course realizes the financial problems of Santaville and through trying to fix those problems and reuniting with a boyfriend from when she was young and just spending time at Santaville again, learns to love Christmas all over again and gives up her workaholic, father-avoiding ways.

It's an okay if not somewhat overdone storyline. Candace is enjoyable, very pretty and not a bad actress at all. Tom, who I normally like, is less enjoyable in what really is a minor part. I found Candace's romantic interest to be entirely unappealing, too. Overall, while it wasn't a bad movie, I felt like some of the plot was unexplained and rushed, like they tried to put too much into one movie. I'd recommend it if you are bored but there are many out there that are much better.

Desmond Tutu

The first opportunity I had to use my new camera was at a reception featuring a short "inspirational speech" by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was a reception put on by the American Program Bureau and my coworkers (those who arrange for speakers at our seminars & meetings) were invited. Luckily my boss was out of town so there was room for me to go! The reception was very nice and Desmond Tutu's speech was quite enjoyable. There's actually information about the speech and a link to it here. However, so far I'm a little disappointed in my camera as the pictures of Mr. Tutu (below) did not come out too clearly. Then again, the room was dark and poorly lit and we were near the back so maybe it's not my camera.

Now I REALLY need a new camera

What are the chances that one of the few days I find myself without a camera happens to be the day I see ten celebrities up super f'in close?

My friend Vince & I went to the Kennedy Center today to see a free performance on their Millennium Stage. They let you come in for free and watch a performance every single night of the year at 6pm. Pretty sweet deal. So the band tonight was something called Previously on Lost, which prides itself on solely providing song recaps of episodes of Lost. It was amusing although difficult to understand what they were even singing. Well, about 30 minutes in, we decided to walk around the Kennedy Center a little since neither of us had ever been there before. There was like a little red carpet set up with a bunch of photographers and velvet ropes. On the far side of the carpet were clearly fans, waiting for celebrities. Well, never one to pass on an opportunity to watch for celebrities, I convinced Vince to stand with the fans and wait for celebrities. I had no idea who to expect but we found out there was a Tribute to George Carlin show scheduled for 8pm so I figured there must be famous people attending that. Turns out all the scheduled performers hit the red carpet before the show. So, we saw: Lewis Black, Richard Belzer, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling, Denis Leary, Lily Tomlin, and Jon Stewart! I was SO excited, you have no idea. Some of the celebs walked over and talked to the fans! Bill Maher was ALMOST right next to me! Denis Leary WAS right next to me. Joan Rivers SHOOK my hand!!!!! I think it's good that Jon Stewart didn't get much closer than about ten people away or I would have probably fainted. I've had a crush on him since college. It was all very very exciting but did I have my camera in my bag ready to pull out to show you all the great pictures of the evening? No, because it's broken. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Actually, I did take a couple of pictures on my camera phone but that sucks ass so I doubt they'll be worth posting. And Vince took some pics on his camera phone, but again, not the best quality. I need a new camera pronto.

I need a new camera

I was going to walk over to the Lincoln Memorial and see the Obama message wall today - and take pictures, of course - but when I grabbed my camera, I saw that it wasn't working. I messed around with it for awhile but something's wrong and I can't seem to fix it. It lets me take pictures but they all show up as black (or black with purple streaks when I put it right into the light). It's not the screen that's the problem, though, because pictures already on my CompactFlash card show up just fine on the screen. I just can't take new pictures. Bummer. But I've had that camera for a few years (four, I think) and I have dropped it a few times so I guess it's not shocking that there's something wrong with it. Ironically, I had been thinking that I would like to get a new one that's smaller and maybe more powerful so I guess now I have a good excuse to go ahead and do it. Plus, I have birthday money that was recently given to me (thanks family! and yes, better late than never).

Lost Returns January 21st!

Start the countdown for Season 5... I'm so psyched. Lost will be back on January 21st with a three-hour event and will have a Wednesday at 9pm timeslot. Hmm, I wonder what that means for Private Practice... not that I'll miss it. I'm kind of annoyed that I watch that show regularly anyway.

To prepare for the new season, a friend of mine & I are going on Monday to see Previously on Lost, a band that writes and performs songs that are recaps of Lost episodes. I'm picturing something like the Barenaked Ladies do Lost, which sounds super entertaining.

SitOrSquat.com

SitOrSquat.com seems like a pretty good idea but, so far, information is pretty lacking on its site. It's still fairly new, though, less than two months old, so it's worth keeping on eye on. Anyway, it's a site for bathroom reviews! And beyond that, even without a review, it's just a list of where to find public bathrooms. So you know, if you find yourself in the middle of somewhere desperately needing to go to the bathroom, pull up SitOrSquat and find one near you. Better yet, find one with a good review! It seems ideal for cell phones and, in fact, an iPhone application was just created and approved. (via)

Spell with Flickr

Way cool! So you type a word in the box at the top of this page and then it spells it out from pictures of letters available on Flickr. Above, you can see I typed in my name! If you don't like the letters that are used in your word, you can click on each individual letter over and over again until you find one you like. Here's another:




And obviously, they are embeddable.

Swaptree

I'm intrigued by Swaptree. A swap meet meets the Internet. It's a site where you list items you want to get rid of (books, CDs, DVDs and video games) and if someone wants it, you can swap them for something they have that you want. Swap as in no cost. The only price you pay is the shipping cost. However, for books, they recommend you ship via Media Mail and all else, they recommend you ship First Class. So it's hardly a hefty investment. And it doesn't have to be a one-on-one swap; the site uses some sort of matching technology to help you find items.

I do have a bunch of books I'd like to get rid of and it's not a bad idea to try to swap them for something else, rather than say trying to sell them on ebay or donating them to the library. I'm just not sure if there are too many items that I want. I prefer downsizing to staying the same size. I'll let you know if I try it out.

Library Elf

Library Elf claims to be "Your Personal Email Library Reminder Service." Basically, it's a one-stop spot for you to manage your library accounts. Assuming you frequent multiple library systems, I can see the usefulness of being able to go one place to check due dates, requests, etc... I guess they'll email reminders to you to ensure you never miss a due date. You can pick when & how often the reminders come. And if you have children who have library cards of their own, you can manage theirs under the same account. Interesting for sure, although the two libraries I sometimes go to around here send email reminders a few days before items are due already.

Go Cavs!

I got really excited about the upcoming Cavaliers season after reading this preview on ESPN.com today! Season starts on Tuesday against the World Champion Boston Celtics.

My Neighborhood Profiled

They did a short blurb about my neighborhood in the Washington Examiner this morning, so I thought I'd share it with the world. I do really like my neighborhood; they are right with the "spectacular views" and the "mix of suburb and urban."

I am a idiot, cell phone edition

So last night when I went to bed, I had the feeling that I wasn't entirely sure where my cell phone was, but went to bed without looking for it anyway. Today, I realized on my way to work that I never did get around to looking for it. At work, I checked and it definitely was not in my bag. When I got home, I searched high and low in my room, my apartment and my car. No phone anywhere. My roommate came home and I asked him to call my phone and when he did, it went straight to voicemail. Not a good sign to me.

Well I became convinced I must have left it at Target last night, which was the only place I'd gone and was the last place I knew I'd had it. I drove up to Target (and wouldn't you know that traffic was AWFUL) and checked there and no one had found a phone. So I assumed this meant that it was not only lost but that someone had found it and kept it for themselves.

Great. So I figured I better report it ASAP and do what needed to be done to get a new phone since that is my only phone. We have no landline in my apartment. I went to a nearby AT&T store but it was insanely crowded. There had to be about 20 customers and it was already nearly 8:00. I was guessing the store would be closing before all the customers would be helped so I figured my best bet would be to go home and try to cancel it online. There had to be that option available to me, right?

So, back at home, I went online to deal with AT&T and decided to first check my email. An old habit. But, what do you know? There was an email with the subject line "Cell phone". What? I was so confused as to how someone knew my email address from having come across my cell phone. Then I read the message. Apparently I had somehow returned my book-on-CD to the library with my cell phone inside the case. Phew! Idiot, yes, but at least I don't have to buy a new phone!

"Some Cities Will Be Safer in a Recession"

According to a report from Businessweek.com and Policymap.com, the best place to live during this recession is... Arlington, VA! How lucky am I? (via)

Let the Internet Decide the Winner of your next Fight

SideTaker lets you air your dirty laundry online and lets outsiders decide who is right. Oh yeah, who doesn't want crazy Internet readers deciding that? Basically, you post your side of an argument. You get the other person to post their side and voila, the Internet plays judge and makes comments. An interesting idea. I wouldn't mind trying it out with a silly issue... but I know that Internet users can get quite passionate about things which they know nothing about, so that's the scary part. (via)

Back in NoVa

I'm back in northern Virginia after a 4-day trip back home to Cleveland. In Cleveland, I did a little shopping with my mom (of course), visited with my brother & his family (including newborn power sleeper Mia), caught up with some old friends, saw the Browns beat the defending Super Bowl champs, finished my book club book, and worked my way around the mess that is my parents' kitchen while they remodel it.

Back in Arlington, I came home to:
1.) a kitchen light that has all of its fluorescent bulbs burned out. Thanks roommate!
2.) a book club that has been postponed for two weeks - to a date that I can't make. Thanks for making me read a book I didn't enjoy for nothing!
3.) the girl I manage back to her old ways of doing absolutely nothing. She was gone for about two weeks dealing with the death of her father and had a really productive first day and a half. Now she's returned to her useless ways.

Book Club: Shattered Dreams

I've been meaning for months to write entries after my book clubs meet but haven't done it. Today is different! On Sunday, my Bethesda Book Club (as I call it) read Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer. I had the opportunity to meet Irene at the ALA conference in Anaheim this June and she had offered me an hour of her time to talk to our book club and we finally made it happen. It was really awesome of her and seeings as how I'm already FASCINATED by polygamy, I was extra excited to try to get some insight into her life.

I'd already read a couple books about someone "trapped" in polygamy as part of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church so the lifestyle was not new to me, but what was new in Irene's story was that she talked a lot about sex! She was craving it constantly and well, when you share your husband with multiple wives and dozens of children, it should be no surprise that it doesn't happen often. Add to that the fact that technically, the religion believes that you only have sex to procreate and it should be no surprise that Irene was often lamenting the lack of love she received from her husband. Besides sex, she talked a lot about jealousy. She seemed constantly jealous and got enraged when her husband took another wife on a trip or spent time with another wife when it was supposed to be her time with him. While this shouldn't come as a surprise, this was the first such memoir I'd read in which this was a real issue. Interesting, for sure.

Overall, it was an interesting book and I was left with a lot of questions. Talking to Irene cleared a few of them up but overall, she spent more time telling us her "message" than she did answering specific questions. She's very, very anti-polygamy and doesn't think it's natural and is trying to get a couple of her daughters who are still living that lifestyle to get out. She realizes education is the key and that most of the people who live that way are kept sheltered from other possibilities. Her desire is to educate them. Of course, she's absolutely right that education is the key. But how?

Woman says rat from sewer climbed up through house toilet

Oh my god. I don't even want to read or watch the news story that goes with that headline because that's like one of my biggest fears. But if you are braver than I, here's the link. (via)

Ah! I wondered why the increase...

I noticed this morning when checking my Netflix queue that there seemed to be quite a few more "Watch it Now" options and this article explains it. Starz & Netflix came up with a deal to stream movies that air on its network. Pretty cool. (via)

Sorority "Sisters"

I find this picture of Carrie Underwood and her sorority sisters, which appears in the October 6 issue of Us Weekly, a bit unsettling. They look like clones of each other.

More pictures of the kids...

My brother has two sites where he posts pictures of his kids... Ben's is here and Mia's is here.

Museum Day

Tomorrow is Museum Day, sponsored by Smithsonian magazine. Museums across the country are taking part and providing free admission. It's always nice to save some money! If I were back home in Cleveland, I might take advantage of the free admission to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What a deal! Unfortunately, most of the museums on the list in the Washington, DC, area are already free. Also, I was going to go to the National Book Festival tomorrow. But I guess if it rains, I might be heading to a museum.

Religulous screening

I was excited to go to a free advanced screening of Bill Maher's documentary Religulous last night. I enjoy Bill Maher and I enjoy seeing people try to explain their beliefs. It was definitely interesting and I enjoyed it, although I have to say if people want to spend their lives blindly devoted to God, why does Bill Maher care? Well, he does bring up some points and explains why he cares a bit but for the most part, I think he should let people do what they want to do just as I'm going to let him date models and porn stars half his age and hang out nonstop at the Playboy Mansion.

However, the truly interesting part of the evening was that the movie theater apparently installed the third reel incorrectly and so when it started, it was upside down and backwards. And instead of just stopping the reel and trying to correct it, apparently it had to play all the way through. So we had to sit there for like 25 minutes with nonsensical noise and upside down images. They talked about trying to fix it but then decided to just finish the movie and give us all coupons for another movie. So I missed about a half hour in the middle. But considering it was a documentary and Bill's point of view is pretty clear from the outset, I'll just wait to watch the rest of it on DVD. And go see another movie for free with my coupon!

Umbrella Today keeps it simple

Umbrella Today is probably the simplest weather site ever. You type in your zip code and it comes up with a big "YES" or "NO", answering the question whether you will need an umbrella today. Huh. Kinda cool, kinda simple. You also can sign up to get text alerts on the days when you will need your umbrella, no Internet required. I'm intrigued, although honestly I carry an umbrella with me every day. I have a small one that I keep in my bag. (via)

Pictures of Mia

Here are the first pictures of my niece Mia! One by herself first and one of her seemingly already trying to get out of the grasp of her big brother:

Man charged with smuggling beetles from Japan

Umm, eww! Here's the article, but nowhere does it say what the police did with the beetles. That guy lives close to me too!

I'm an aunt again!

My brother and sister-in-law now have a bouncing baby girl - two weeks early! She was born today at 6:02 pm and I guess although Melissa had been having contractions a little bit in the afternoon, the baby was almost born in the car and came really quickly. Good for her, couldn't wait to come into the world! Brian said she's 7 lbs, 10 ounces and has a full head of hair. And she snorts like a pig when she's sleeping, as I heard firsthand over the phone. If (when) I get a pic, I'll post it.

NFL Game Map

Kinda cool, this map shows which NFL football games will be carried in your area each weekend. On the left are buttons for CBS & Fox and the game that is shown is color coded. This was how I found out that this Sunday, the Browns vs. Cowboys game will be on TV here in DC, as well as most of the rest of the country. Sweet! (via)

Night Construction

I'm pretty sick of them doing overnight construction work on our street. They warned us on Monday night by telling us that our water would be turned off from 10pm to 6am. Last night, there was no similar warning; they just started hammering and drilling away starting at about 10pm and on through the night. I find it obnoxious that they only feel the need to warn you about it if your water is turned off. Do they think that doesn't affect our sleeping? I sleep with a fan on to drown out noises like that and my fan is not even loud enough to completely wipe it out. I find it really really annoying and I really don't get why they can't do it during the day. I'm guessing nighttime noises are a bigger nuisance to more people than being without water for a few hours during the day.

The Office commercial

Has anyone seen the commercials for The Office that are running during the Olympics? This one really made me laugh:

Beloit College Mindset List

This is an interesting list that comes out every year that shows the mindset of incoming freshman. The world as they know it, basically. It's enlightening and a surefire way to make you feel old. For instance, to these kids "Caller ID has always been available on phones." What? I remember when Caller ID was new!! And when we got it for my parents and they thought it was kind of a waste. Another one: "GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available." Also: "There has always been Pearl Jam." Heh. (via)

The World Conspires Against Me...

So I haven't had Internet at home for about a week now. We were sharing Internet with my neighbor but she moved to the fourth floor and we seem to not get her signal anymore. So it's tough for me, an Internet junkie, but at least I have Internet at work from 8:30 to 5:30, right? Well, not so much. Yesterday, our Internet at work went out at about 11:30am! It was down the rest of the day and actually wasn't fixed until about noon today! 24 hours without the Internet!

To make matters worse, last night after work I went to the library thinking that I might use their computers. When I got there, they were evacuating the building! Apparently the fire alarm had been going off and so everyone was asked to leave and the fire trucks came to check out the problem. I stuck around for about 15 minutes but nothing seemed to be happening so I just decided that someone did NOT want me to have access to the Internet that day and went home. Argh!

Smartbike DC

So I guess Smartbike DC launched today, although I saw the bikes downtown yesterday so maybe that start date is a bit off. But, the idea behind it is similar to the Zipcar/Flexcar concept, where instead of buying a car, you can sort of rent one whenever you need it. Smartbike looks like it charges $40 a year and then you can borrow a bike whenever you need one in three-hour increments. There are initially 100 bikes at 10 locations.

Forty bucks a year isn't bad at all, especially compared with buying a brand new bike, but I kind of don't like that you can only ride the bikes in the District - there are plenty of great bike spots in Virginia. (via)

Library of Congress Junior Fellows

It looks like the Junior Fellows Summer Intern program at the Library of Congress has come quite far in three years, since I was part of the first group. Here's a blog post about their findings this year. It looks like there are now 50 of them. We had about 20. It's amazing they are still finding some pretty cool treasures. And they get their names posted on the Library's Web site! I never was so lucky. Our press coverage was pretty non-existent. I guess I can always say I was in the first group, though.

Brickskeller

I went to The Brickskeller today, which I've wanted to do for three years since I heard about it but just had never made it before. It's a little off the beaten path actually. And they have hundreds of beers to choose from. We had a work happy hour for one of our employees who is leaving and she is a big beer lover so it was a good opportunity to go there. I ended up getting the Firestone Double Barrel Amber Ale and really liked it! But, one complaint is that with a beer list this long, why do they not have more from Ohio?

What a race

Last night I was sleepy but decided to stay up at least until the 4X100 relay to see if Michael Phelps won his second gold. And boy did I not regret it! What an awesome, exciting race. I highly recommend watching it, even if you know what happened.

Sales Tax Holiday!

This weekend is Virginia's annual Sales Tax Holiday weekend, good on school supplies under $20 and clothing under $100. It seems like it might be a good weekend to go shopping!

Web site with potential

I read about TripIt today and it sounds interesting. When you travel, you send all your confirmation emails, itineraries, etc... to it and it organizes them and creates one big itinerary for you, which you can then access from anywhere in whichever format you prefer. You can then share itineraries with friends to see where your schedules overlap. Web 2.0 for travel, I guess. It might be worth checking out next time you travel! (via)

No wonder I'm so spoiled

As I've left Cleveland and moved to Syracuse and now Washington, DC, it's annoyed me how awful the public libraries are. I guess I grew up just taking library services for granted and I won't lie that it's probably one of the reasons I became a librarian. Here's another article that proves my point that the libraries that I grew up with are the cream of the crop. On a list of the Top 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World (the WORLD, not just the US), the two libraries I always went to as a kid are both on the list under the technology and innovation category. (via)

Cake Pans! At a Library

This week's AL Direct has a story about how a library has Wilton cake pans available for checkout and even has them in their online catalog. Turns out the library is the Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna, OH, part of the Portgage County system. Although the library apparently won't offer them for InterLibrary Loan, they do allow outsiders to get library cards to check out the cake pans. It's not that convenient for my friends/relatives back in Cleveland, but it's not that inconvenient either! So if you want to bake a cake in the shape of an object or famous character but don't want to spend the money to buy a cake pan you'll only use once, this is a great alternative! I bet a lot of the pans are discontinued too.

In other TV-viewing news...

I just got a Slingbox! I'm very very excited, as I've been interested in them for at least two years. At my current apartment, we decided to not get cable, and while it's been fine for the most part, I also do really miss it at times. But now I can watch the cable from my parents' house via my computer! The picture is pretty awesome. You can control it via a remote control image that shows up on your monitor and is identical to the actual remote control. Plus, it only costs the amount of the set-top box. It was pretty easy to set it up, too. Last night, I was excited to be able to watch the Project Runway Season 5 premiere. And next week, I'll be able to watch the second season of General Hospital: Night Shift. And also cool is that I can now watch Indians & Browns games that air on Cleveland television!

Just when I get near the end...

I've been semi-addicted to The Hills, the MTV reality show about a few girls living in the Hollywood Hills, and watched Season 1, Season 2 and part of Season 3 online in the last month to six weeks. Luckily for me, MTV.com offers every episode for free. Or, I should say offered. As of today, they took down almost all of Season 3 and left only the last four episodes! The Season 3 DVD comes out on July 29 so obviously they felt that no one would buy the DVDs if the episodes were all available for free online. Which, perhaps not, but I also know A LOT of people who do not watch TV online at all. And they've had them up this long. It just annoys me as I was so close to finishing Season 3.

So, anyway, I cannot end my obsession and get caught up on episodes until July 29th. I've already added the last two discs to my Netflix queue.

Oh really? I didn't get the job?

Here is the email I got Friday from Old Dominion University:

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in the Health Sciences Reference Librarian Position, #FA598A, with the 1LB10-Library Public Services Department, at Old Dominion University.

After reviewing your application, the hiring manager did not select you for an interview and the position has now been filled. We hope you will continue to seek employment opportunities with Old Dominion University.

Sincerely,
Department of Human Resources

Well, I don't remember when I applied for this job but I can guarantee it was sometime before April 2007 so it's been at least 15 months. So thanks so much for telling me I didn't get the position. I really thought I was still in the running.

Web site Recommendations

Time has come out with a list of the Top 50 Web sites so I went through the list and, although I've actually heard of and checked out most of them previously, there were a few new ones that sparked my interest.

Mobaganda is a no-frills invitation service without requiring registration or logging in... which is kinda nice. It's like Evite for people who don't want to spend an hour creating the invitation. Looking at it, it almost appears to be too no-frills for my liking.

Lookybook features children's books, letting you read them from the comfort of your home before buying them. It's an interesting idea, I guess. Also, it's kind of what libraries are for...

Picnik claims to be very very simple photo-editing software, letting you easily crop photos or remove red eye, those kinds of things.

Zeer provides reviews of food products and label information before you buy. I think everyone has read restaurant reviews, so it's a neat idea to have packaged food reviews too.

Book review: Whacked

I finished Whacked yesterday and it was awful. Awful! It is the first book by Jules Asner, who used to be on E! as an entertainment reporter. I actually used to really like her on there and then she left to marry Steven Soderbergh, who is adorable and talented, so I was looking forward to the book. But the main character is INSANE. She has dating problems, can't find a guy, and every guy she does go out with, she turns crazy either breaking into their email to get stock tips or to see what other girls are emailing them, changing phone numbers in their address books, stalking them, breaking into their house. It doesn't stop. Oh wait, then she murders someone... AND she doesn't even get punished or anything. In fact, she gets rewarded and lives happily ever after. I guess it's supposed to be a satire or something but it just drove me mad.

The Daily Show on Hulu

This week, Hulu.com started featuring episodes from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I find this exciting news because since I don't have cable, I often catch episodes of The Daily Show online. However, the video clips available on its official site always stutter and need buffering over and over again. Overall, it's not a great viewing experience. Hulu, on the other hand, is a platform that's given me very little problems in the past. And I've watched quite a bunch of programming through Hulu. The only problem is that it's only a test apparently and might not last and also, only the last few weeks episodes are up. Oh and The Colbert Report is on there too!

Here's a short clip from Hulu with Jon offering some advice:

Closet drama

Ever since I moved in to my apartment, the shelving unit in my closet has been crooked. It's not bad enough that the clothes slide down the bar or anything but it is noticeably crooked. I thought it was just installed without a level by some total idiots. But now I think it wasn't in securely from the start. On Sunday, I heard this cracking sound, went to look and saw that of the three brackets that hold up the shelf and the hanging rod, two of them are hanging by a thread. In other words, each one has more than half of their screws out of the wall. Lovely. I'm guessing this didn't happen all at once. And all I need is to have that come crashing down! So I was kind of worried about it Sunday night and called maintenance first thing Monday morning. No one came. So I was worried about it again Monday night, especially because I heard more slipping sounds. On Tuesday, they came apparently. Well, they left a note on the door saying the requested maintenance was performed. But absolutely nothing had been done! REALLY frustrated by this point, I called our management company yet again Wednesday and explained that nothing had been done. She promised to talk to the maintenance people again. Last night, I get home and there's another note on the door that they came. This time it says that they'll be back on Thursday but that I need to remove everything from my closet. Aggravating. I had removed all the stuff on the shelf and all the hanging stuff... if they really needed all of the stuff that sits on the floor removed too, couldn't they just slide it all out themselves? Also, it's worth pointing out that our apartment only has three closets - one in each of the bedrooms and one small coat closet right when you walk in the door. So it's not like I have anywhere to put all this stuff that I've now had out of the closet for four days. Also, I have a LOT of stuff crammed into that closet. Luckily my roommate is out of town so I'm using his room a little. But it really aggravates me that something as simple as coming in to re-install a closet shelf has now taken four days. And I will be livid if it is not fixed when I get home tonight.

"Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address"

What a cute story this is. Apparently, the parrot had been learning how to recite his name and address and so, when he got lost, he recited it to a vet and was reunited with his family. The cutest part is that he was captured by the police but wouldn't tell them anything.

On to Game 7 and more

So I haven't been giving game-by-game updates for the second round of the Cavs series but we are down to one more, winner-take-all game after the Cavs got their third victory of the series tonight against Boston. That will be on Sunday at 3:30pm! Exciting!! However, I already have plans for Sunday so I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to incorporate game-watching into those plans. I will either have to be crafty or I will have to tape the game and watch it later as if it were live.

I've been a little busy in the last week. I met with one of my book clubs (we read Water for Elephants) and we are deciding on our next book. I went to a reception for the local chapter of the Special Libraries Association and hobnobbed with other area librarians. I hung out with some coworkers after work and had some drinks. I watched the basketball games. I got free VIP passes to see Serj Tankian because my friend's brother-in-law is in his band. I didn't think I would enjoy that as much as I did but it was really fun! I kept up on most of my television shows as the season winds down. And work has been pretty busy with a huge assignment suddenly thrown at me this last week. But I'm surviving it all.

My first YouTube embedded link

This is perhaps the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. What if people acted in real life like they do in Facebook? (via)

Weekend in a Nutshell

I had a pretty quiet weekend. My roommate is gone, which is quite enjoyable. I love having the place to myself!

I went to the basketball game on Friday night and was so amped from that for a good 24 hours afterwards. Other than that, though, I had a really quiet weekend. I'm still getting over my cold so I wanted to rest up and have an uneventful weekend. I'm a lot better but I still have this cough that I can't seem to shake. I met some friends for dinner at Ceiba on Saturday night. I also watched some movies, did a little shopping and did some things I hadn't gotten around to doing for awhile, like cleaning my room and getting my bike put together. The weather was pretty enjoyable this weekend, too. I turned on my air conditioning for the first time; seems to work great!

On to Round 2

The Cavs won on Friday night: Cavaliers 105, Wizards 88. It was a good game and I was there in person! I got a great seat in the second row of the Verizon Center, almost directly behind the Cavaliers bench and right next to the walkway that led to the Cavaliers locker room. You can check out my pictures from the game below. Click to view them larger.

Should Have Won

Yeah, the Cavs lost again last night, 88 to 87. They should have won; it was close; balls just weren't dropping in the basket at the end. But at least they still have two more games to close it out. Now, Game Six comes back to DC and I think I'll go to the game.

"The new library fad: borrow a person"

Interesting article from the UK about a "Living Library" where patrons can come in and "check out" a person to learn about a subject, i.e. Gay Man, Immigrant, Muslim, Social Worker. You choose your person of interest and get 30 minutes to talk to them and learn about them. Kinda cool! It's like skipping through a book to only the parts that interest you... (via)

A weekend of sickness

My weekend in a nutshell:

• Came home from work early on Friday because I was sick and not feeling well with a cold
  
• Got progressively sicker as the weekend wore on... and now am doing better thankfully
• Participated in some low-key activities - naps, movie-watching, book-reading, laundry
• Watched the Cavs win on Sunday - yay! Only one win away from the next round
• Traveled to Woodbridge to return items to Ikea on Saturday - had to go since their return policy allows for returns up to 90 days and Saturday was Day 90
• Had dinner with Charlie while I was in Woodbridge
• Unable to participate in shopping, which I normally like to do in Woodbridge, because I felt very dizzy and sick while walking around the mall, although I did run into the shoe store on my way out of the mall and ended up buying two really cute pairs of shoes. I guess the good thing about being sick is I had no time for my usual deliberation, I just purchased
  
• Talked to my mom for a few hours Saturday night.... about my brother potentially moving down the street from them (good news?!) and about my uncle who passed away last week (bad news)
  

Bethesda Book Club

I'm in so many book clubs now and none of them really have any names so I guess I'll call this the Bethesda one, only because we met last night for the first time in Bethesda. Our organizer would like to call it the Oprah/NYT Book Club because she prefers to read books from those lists but I think there are plenty of enjoyable, undiscovered books out there so I'm resistant to that name. Anyway, we read an Oprah-recommended novel, The Corrections, and while as recently as Tuesday it didn't seem like I would finish the book, I actually did. I had about 260 pages to go on Tuesday but I actually managed to fly through the rest of the book in the following two days so that I was done before the meeting. I feel pretty meh about the book, parts of it were enjoyable but all of the characters were so unlikeable and annoying that it was hard to sympathize with any of them. Anyway, we really did discuss the book and the women were all pretty nice and we're trying to decide on a place and a book for next time.

Afterwards, a couple of us went to a bar/restaurant to eat and watch the game. It was a good time! The only down side was that I missed the latest episode of Lost. But I did tape it so I'll be watching it tonight.

Can't Win Them All

I expected the Wizards to win game three after being dominated in game two and heading home but Wizards 108, Cavaliers 72 was way more than just losing. The Cavs sucked. It was embarrassing.

What's odd is that people seem to not even care around here. Watching the game on Monday night at a bar, there were more people in the bar rooting for the Cavs than for the hometown team. Last night, I went to a bar to watch it and they said no one had asked to have it on so they were going to keep the Nationals game on instead since people had asked for that. How crazy is that? The Nationals are in last place in their division in game 23 of a season that lasts 162 games. The Wizards are in the playoffs! And on my way home, I saw a lot more people wearing Cavs apparel than I saw wearing Wizards apparel. Generalizing, I guess Washington isn't a basketball town.

24 Picture

I was pretty excited when I saw this picture of the cast of the new season of 24. And it's not because of the show. I've never seen an episode of the show before. I was excited because the spot where they are all standing is about a 7 minute walk from my apartment so it's kinda cool to think I've been there before. Of course, the picture was probably green-screened or whatever... I'm guessing the cast isn't really standing on the Memorial Bridge.

StopForwarding

This Web site will anonymously send an email to any forward-happy friend asking them to stop forwarding you. Here is some of the content of the letter:

Please do not forward chain letters, urban myths presented as truth, potentially offensive jokes, videos or photos without being asked or first receiving permission. If you find something that is funny and it is clean and you genuinely think the recipient will enjoy it then foward it to that person only (not in an email blast to all your friends and family) and include a personal note about why you enjoyed it and why you think they will too. Avoid sending forwards to friends or relatives that you've grown distant with. It can be frustrating for the recpient when the only correspondance you have with someone is via impersonal, unwanted email.

It's kinda funny and slightly passive aggressive, but luckily I don't really have any need to use it since none of my friends are constantly forwarding me emails. I also notice that the letter has some typos in it, ha! (via)

Earth Day, Plant a Tree

Happy Earth Day! I saw this apple tree-to-be you can buy and plant for $19.13 and I would so do it if only I had somewhere to plant it. Maybe someone else can do it for me! (via)

Two in a Row!

The Cavs won again tonight! Cleveland 116, Washington 86. Two more victories and they're on to the next round.

Cavs 93, Wizards 86

I'm stoked that the Cavs won the first game in their playoff series today! Although it kind of sucks that I can't watch the games at home since most of them are on cable and I no longer have cable.

National Library Week

In honor of National Library Week, Entertainment Weekly came up with "18 Sexy Trips to the Library Stacks". In other words, they showcase scenes that take place in libraries from 18 movies.

In Bloom

We have these trees in front of our building that our landlord said were cherry blossom trees. I'm not sure if they truly are because they look different to me than other trees that I've been told are cherry blossom trees. Nonetheless, they finally bloomed a couple of days ago and are really pretty. Here's a pic:

Shopping, Taxes and my life

This weekend was a pretty quiet weekend for me, which is good because I was really busy for about two weeks straight, including lots of dinner plans (including here, here & here), a book club meeting, friends in town, trip to Philadelphia for work, and a day at a library conference. While I really enjoy seeing my friends, I also really like quiet time too!

Yesterday, I started my taxes and even though I'm not quite finished yet (hey, I still have one day!) it looks like I'm getting a good chunk of change back for a refund. Which will be nice, but also probably indicates I should change what's getting taken out of my paycheck.

Today, instead of finishing my taxes like I should have done (hey, I still have one day!), I went shopping. I haven't been shopping in awhile and it's really soothing to me sometimes to just walk around a mall and try to find some bargains. I went to Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, then Kohl's, and finally Wegman's. I got some great deals at the mall. H&M gave you $10 off if you spent $50 so I bought some jewelry (2 rings and a necklace), 2 lightweight sweaters and a hoodie for $46. I think that's an awesome deal! And I also got a cute little change purse at The Limited for $3! At Kohl's, I bought some more jewelry (again, 2 rings and a necklace), another little purse and 2 pairs of shoes. I spent like $85 on all that but that's not bad considering that half of that total was one pair of running shoes, which I really think I needed. Hmm, and I bought a lot of groceries at Wegman's but hey, who can help themselves there?

Free version of Photoshop

Adobe recently launched a free online version of Photoshop, which might be useful. I haven't had a chance to check into it too much but I have used a previous version that you had to purchase so it's nice to have some basic photo-editing options available for free from a name you can recognize.

Mistaken Identity Story

I taped and then watched today the "Mistaken Identity" story that was on Dateline on Friday. And boy did I cry! From the poor families not knowing if their daughters were alive, to the one family finding out that their daughter was NOT alive and having to bury her, to the other family finding out their daughter did make it but was in a coma with major brain damage, to the ultimate realization that this girl that they were caring for constantly and watching slowly heal was in fact not the girl they thought it was, to the family who thought they were getting messed with all over again by some jerks telling them that their daughter was maybe alive after all, to the girl who survived dealing with survivor's guilt.... I was kind of a mess. Unbelievable, moving story.

That site has video but I'm not sure if it's complete. Also, the families are going to be on Oprah on Weds.

Author Name Pronunciation Site

I thought this was pretty cool, especially for the librarian/teacher/parent who might be faced with trying to pronounce author's names. It lists a bunch of author's names and when you click on one, you go to a link where the author is pronouncing his/her own name. Usually, they also explain the name's origins.

Some of them seem a little silly (did anyone ever have trouble with "Judy Blume"?) but others are pretty useful (I always did stumble over Jon Scieszka) (via)

BoltBus

I've heard you can ride buses from Washington DC to New York City pretty cheaply, but how about $1? BoltBus offers some tickets for only $1! And even their most expensive trips seem to be about $20. It all depends on when you want to go and how early you book. Pretty sweet! (via)

"Talkshow split gives gabbers new life"

An article in Variety explains how the Daytime Emmy awards will be splitting Best Talk Show into two different categories, one for information and one for entertainment. It mentions that Ellen Degeneres has cleaned up in that category the last few years while shows like The View were overlooked. Here's an opportunity for another show to win.

Huh? They imply that the new winner might be The View. HA! The View sucks. Have you ever heard their interviews? They are a complete waste of time with four people trying to get their questions in before the 5 minutes alloted for interviews ends. There rarely is any sort of cohesion or segue from one topic to another, either. And, during the Hot Topics section, which has the potential to be interesting, the women usually just offer ill-informed opinions on the goings-on of the day while talking over each other. Meanwhile, Ellen has to fill one entire hour of time every single day with interviews that she conducts by herself, with comedic bits, with a monologue and well, with dancing segments that kill time. But that was a clever way to kill time, you have to admit. People love it! She doesn't just show up five minutes before the show and express her opinion. I couldn't agree more with the critics interviewed in that article.

Fortune Cookie

I had a fortune cookie today and my fortune read: "An interesting sports opportunity is in your near future."

Hmm! What could it be? I immediately assumed I will win one of the March Madness Bracket Buster games and become a millionaire. What else could it mean?

It also gave me numbers: 8 15 17 20 35 42
Those are suspiciously close to the Lost numbers. But too bad I didn't have those numbers when I was creating my brackets!

SI.com Archive

Starting on Thursday, Sports Illustrated's Web site will debut "The Vault," which will feature all the content, including photographs, from all of its back issues. It will be searchable and also will let you literally "turn the page" from old issues. Sounds pretty cool. (via)

Guys suck

That guys suck is not really news, especially not to any single women out there. However....

I went out with a bunch of ladies Sat. night and got into the old discussion of why do guys take your number and then not call you? I think this has probably happened to everyone at some point or another, definitely has happened to me. But on Saturday, one of the gals in our group started talking to this guy who she had met before and had given her number to when he asked. And he never called. So the other gals were trying to encourage her to talk to him again but she felt like there must have been a good reason he hadn't called and was a little hesitant to even put herself out there.

So we discussed among ourselves possible reasons why guys do this. Theories included they were too drunk to remember afterwards that they did in fact take your number... they meant to call but time passed and they just felt like it was too late then... they took it with the intention to call but changed their mind later... they just like to collect numbers.

When we actually consulted a male, one of this guy's friends in fact, he added a new one to the list: guys take numbers as a way to end a conversation. Which shocked me in its obnoxiousness; I mean, there are a million ways to end a conversation without implying that you are going to call someone and talk to them again. Is this a common thought among men?

The next day I posed the same question to my male roommate. He gave me some of the reasons we females had also come up with and added, "Sometimes you ask for a number just to end a conversation." So, yes, indeed this apparently is a common thought among men. I can't get over how rude that is!

Therefore, here are some suggestions to men on other ways to end a conversation:
1.) "Bye."
2.) "It was nice talking to you."
3.) "Well, I really need to get going."
4.) "I need to use the restroom."
5.) "I need to make a call."
6.) "I need to get a drink."
7.) "Oh, I see someone else I want to talk to!"
8.) "Well, good luck with [that thing we were talking about]."
9.) "Wow, look at the time."
10.) "I really should get back to my friend."

Overextended?

So now I'm officially in three book clubs, actually four. Well, I guess I'm only officially in one since I've yet to attend a meeting of the others but I've "committed" myself to two others meeting in the next month. Am I crazy or can I do it?

My work book club has decided that the next book will be Water for Elephants, which is apparently about the circus? It was like #1 on a list of "Top Books for Book Clubs" or something too so I guess there is stuff to talk about. I'll definitely give it a try because it's better than the last book: A Tale of Two Cities. Our due date is mid-April.

The Librarians & Friends Book Club is reading books by Valerie Martin this month. I've got two of her books checked out from the library and have had a little difficulty getting into them. But I think that's more because a book club seems like homework and therefore I want to procrastinate and the book club doesn't meet for another couple of weeks so why get too involved yet? These books do sound semi-interesting, though. Our due date is March 26.

I also joined a Miscellaneous Female Book Club (my name, not theirs) with some gals I went out with on Saturday night. Our book is The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I had never heard of the book but I do know the author and thoroughly enjoyed his first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, so hopefully this one is just as good. Instead of being about Savannah, this new book is about Venice so I'm expecting a similar type of book. Our due date is April 1.

Finally, the last book club is actually the one I've read the most books for. My friend Catherine & I are reading all the advanced copies of teen fiction books we've been given for free at the American Library Association conferences. We have a collection of maybe ten titles and I find myself most interested in reading those. Probably because they are simple, easy-to-read and there is no pressure of a due date.

New Umbrella

I'm pretty sure I would never use this as I don't like umbrellas (regardless of how fancy they are) and normally do not mind just getting wet but regardless, check out the Nubrella. Basically it's like a tent for your head. It goes all the way around your head, is clear in front so you can see where you are going, and rests on your shoulders so you can be hands-free also. Revolutionary I suppose but yes, it does look like a bubble.

Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry

This Web site provides a forum for women to sell the jewelry they got from their exes, complete with pictures and the stories behind the jewelry. For example: if he really knew me, he would have known that I don't like heart-shaped jewelry.

It's kind of amusing. I think I have something I could sell on there too!

What Should I Read Next?

I found this very simple Web site that asks you to input the last book you just read and the author and it gives you a list of books to read next. They really want people to register and keep updating it with their favorite books to make it more accurate. I didn't do that yet, just tested it out. But I do find it interesting!

Long time coming

It's been a REALLY long time coming but the Cavaliers finally made some big trades and got rid of some of its unbelievably high salaried players for some players that actually back up that salary with some skill in some big blockbuster trades! I'm very excited about it, although I'm still not sure who is going to play point guard. Also, I'm bummed that I don't have cable and cannot watch it get analyzed every hour on SportsCenter.

I'm a winner!

Thanks to the Washington City Paper, I won a free pass to see the new Imax concert movie U2 3D at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History! It's just one pass so I guess they expect me to go alone but it sounds pretty cool. And I love winning things!

National Portrait Gallery

I spent a couple hours today at the National Portrait Gallery. I'd never been there before since it was closed for renovations during my DC internship in 2005 and I just haven't done much museum stuff since I moved here permanently. But with the recent talk about Stephen Colbert's portrait hanging there temporarily, I figured it would be a good time to check it out. I enjoy portraits and really read a lot of the descriptions of the people who were depicted. I only wish that there was more discussion as to why or when the portraits were made.

It's shocking how much attention the Stephen Colbert portrait is getting. As soon as I entered, I heard people talking about it and heading upstairs solely to check it out. And there was a large assembly of people hovering around it, all snapping photographs. I debated about taking a picture of it as well as taking a picture of all the people taking pictures of it but decided not to bother. I think there are enough pictures of it. In fact, there are hundreds of pictures on Flickr from visitors. But I did take a drink out of the drinking fountain below the picture. Also interesting is that after looking at hundreds of portraits in the museum, you can tell how crappy the Stephen Colbert one is.

Boring book club

A few people at work started a book club and chose the first book as A Tale of Two Cities. Now, I like the idea of being in a book club but I CANNOT force myself to read A Tale of Two Cities. At all. The book was chosen about six weeks ago and I've tried, really tried, to read it. But I hate it. And I end up falling asleep nearly every time I try to read it. It's so frigging boring. I feel bad - as the only librarian at work - not getting through it but geez, it's so dull!! I've been trying - unsuccessfully - to get somewhere with it during most of today but ugh, I ended up just taking a bunch of naps. We're supposed to talk about it on Monday and I guess I'm going to have to not participate because I have absolutely nothing to share. However, I'd like to participate so I can have some input into the next book!

What would Sawyer call me?

Awesome! Sawyer from Lost loves nicknames. Whether it's Freckles or Doc or Mr. Miyagi, he never calls his fellow castaways by their first names. And here is your chance to find out what he would call you if you were stranded on the island with the Sawyer Nickname Generator. I got "Sweet Cheeks" and then "Wilbur" for marking the exact same characteristics. But I'd let Sawyer call me whatever he wants! (via)

"Estevez goes 'Public'"

This article announces that Emilio Estevez's next movie will be about a Los Angeles librarian staging an act of civil disobedience and allowing homeless people to stay in the library after the library is inundated with people on the coldest days of the year. Interesting. Always nice to have a movie showing a librarian doing something good, rather than a librarian just angrily shushing people!

Celebrity Sighting

I saw Hillary Clinton today! Her campaign headquarters are next to our office at work so there have been sightings by some of my co-workers... more often there are just secret service sightings. But today one of my co-workers who actually has a window view called me at about 5:15 to tell me that there was a lot of secret service and gawker activity and that she was bound to come out soon so I went to his office and watched and waited. We saw her at about 5:30!! Another one of my coworkers had gone down there to wait and brought her camera so she snapped some pictures! She got really close but unfortunately the pictures were kind of dark. Anyway, it was a pretty exciting way to end the workday! Also kind of ironic since it was the day I decided to send away for an absentee ballot from Ohio, since I'm still registered to vote there. Will I be tempted to vote for Hillary now that I've seen her in person? I'm not sure. I'm still undecided on my vote. Although seeing her is nothing new. I actually saw her in person in 1992 and not out a window when she came to Cleveland to give a speech during Bill's presidential run. I have a picture of her to prove it - maybe I should get it scanned and upload it.

My weekend

I had a pretty decent weekend, all things considered. I spent a lot of it trying to catch up on sleep and just relax, lay low. Did some laundry, watched some movies... I pretty much finished up straightening up the last of the moving crap still in my room, which was driving me crazy with the mess. And socially, I had a couple of fun plans. I went to a Happy Hour at a wine bar I'd always wanted to check out on Thursday night and went crazy at a Mardi Gras party Sat. night. While at the party, I upped my bead count from 3 strands to 11 and I didn't even have to do anything to get them! Except look cute, I guess. I enjoyed the band, That Guy, who only do cover songs, and would totally go see them again. Now the Super Bowl is about ready to start and I swear I have ZERO interest in watching it. Zero. As an avid sports fan, I fear that something is wrong with me. But maybe it's the rebel in me acting out, detesting how everyone and their brother watches the Super Bowl, even if it's the only football game they watch all year.

Completely moved out!

Tonight, with one last carload of stuff, I completely moved out of my old place!! Aww, it's a little sad since I spent about 9 months there but I'm pretty psyched about my new place so I'll get over it. It was kind of a quick decision to move and then get moved - it all happened in less than a month - but I'm so thrilled to stop looking. I'd always known the place I was living was only temporary so I spent a good part of the last nine months scouring apartment listings and roommate situations trying to find a good place. It's such a relief to be done with that, I can't even explain. My new place is bigger, cheaper and feels more like home already. Plus, it only takes me about 8 minutes to get to work in the morning, compared to what often was nearly 40 minutes but was a minimum of about 25 minutes. It's such a huge huge difference already. I'm still getting settled in but I'm well on my way. Anyway, excuse my absence the last couple of weeks. You might start hearing more from me now.

Hilton Head Kite Flying

I took some pictures of my family flying kites at the beach last week when we were in Hilton Head. Here is the link to the pictures in the album.

Hilton Head Kite Flying

Ow!

So I sprained my wrist the other day. I was out of town for a few days on a family vacation to Hilton Head, SC, and transportation back involved car, plane, layover, delay, plane, train, another train, walk to car, drive home... On the walk to the car, I tripped over my suitcase and went sprawling to the floor. I scraped up the right side of my body and apparently landed my left side solely on my wrist. I went to the doctor yesterday and they diagnosed it as a sprain with deep contusions. It really hurts, mostly when I try to use my fingers. The splint they gave me has helped stabilize it but it will probably be at least a week before it starts to feel much better. Could be worse, of course. I don't imagine I'll be writing on here much though because it hurts to type two-handed and I'm pretty impatient about typing one-handed.