Cleaning up

I spent the day (or part of it anyway) helping my mom clean out one of the closets in a spare bedroom. There are not words to explain all the crap that my mom saves and I feel it is part of my mission in life to help her organize and downsize whenever I'm home. No lying or exaggerating, my mother could open her own stationery store with all the greeting cards, stationery, thank you notes, wrapping paper, ribbon, bows, gift bags, tissue paper, post-it notes and other school supplies. Crazy!

Word of the day: factotum

n 1: a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities 2: a general servant


If I had run across the word 'factotum' on like a standardized test like the SAT or the GRE, I would never have guessed it was a person...

Starting from the beginning

I'm excited to see that ABC will start airing Grey's Anatomy on Thursdays (its new night come this fall) starting from the show's very first two episodes this Thursday, July 6. Although I've seen a couple episodes along the way and my parents have nearly the entire second season on DVD, I am happy to have a chance to watch the show from the beginning.

Oh, never mind that the stupid Web site editors have the dates as Sunday, July 6. The "July 6" part is correct. The "Sunday" part is not.

Ouch

Actually, it doesn't hurt much anymore (except when I try to put ALL my weight on it) but is it bad that I can't bend my injured toe yet? I hurt it Friday morning... The swelling seems to have gone down, although the discoloration is still extreme.

Word of the day: gasconade

GASCONADE

n : bravado or exaggerated boasting

While I was gone...

...I got NO job offers or interview offers at all. Not that I really have sent out any resumes in about a month (approximately - yes I know that's awful) but you never know when someone who got your resume four months ago might call. So when I got home and finally checked the voicemails and the messages and the emails, there was nothing offering me a job! Damn!


...I had a birthday. So, yeah, now I'm a year older and still unemployed.


...I decided I'm going to start doing Pilates. I bought this book on doing Pilates without machines a few years ago and never did anything with it but I came across the book again right before I left for SC and now I think is the time to start it up!


...I continued to get my Word-of-the-Day emails:

VICISSITUDE
n : a change or succession; especially : an often unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance

FULIGINOUS
(pronounced with a hard u and a soft g)
adj 1. a: sooty b: obscure, murky 2: having a dark or dusky color

Vacation over

I'm back from my trip to the beach! Sun, sand, shopping, swimming... how much more fun can there be? Yes, Hilton Head was nice. The weather was mostly nice - it rained early in the week but not enough to ruin the entire day. The sun was hot - but not too hot. I didn't even really get burned at all, for once, and did end up with a little bit of a tan and I do think my hair is just the teensiest blonder, so these things make me very happy. Better still, I didn't come home 20 lbs. heavier after eating pretty much non-stop while I was there!! I'm sure I can attribute that to actual exercise, since I swam and walked - two things I do not do regularly (although I should!).

I also was able to read a handful of books, which was nice. I haven't really read much while I was in grad. school, guiltily thinking that if I was to read something, it should be the actual articles and textbooks assigned to me. The last month or so since graduation, I just wasn't really in the mood to read and get wrapped up in the lives of others. On vacation, I read a few books I'd bought but hadn't yet gotten around to reading. Two of them were books I'd wanted to read for awhile and picked up at the same library sale last fall. One, I was pretty disappointed in while the other was pretty good. What's remarkable is how many similarities the two books had. It's almost like I have a 'type' which I suppose is true but I honestly didn't think these two books were going to be that similar. Besides those, I also read a couple of fluff titles, a standard murder mystery and a light romantic comedy. And magazines, of course.

In the bad news department, I managed to majorly stub/bruise/break one of my toes on one of the last days so I was in a lot of pain and didn't get to walk along the beach as much as I had wanted to but I'm sure it will heal soon enough. I don't know how or why but I manage to majorly hurt one of my toes at least once a year. It gets swollen and disgusting-looking (black, blue, purple and yellowish) and then I limp around for a few days from the pain. I guess it's because I'm a clutz. And because I walk around barefoot as much as possible.

Boost your vocabulary

THAUMATURGY
n : the performance of miracles; specifically : magic


NIDUS
n 1: a nest or breeding place 2: a place where something originates or develops


PULCHRITUDE
n : physical comeliness : beauty


APPOSITE
adj : highly pertinent or appropriate : apt

Dry cleaning doldrums

Today I went to the dry cleaner and that is something I just hate doing! It seems like such a waste of money to me and, to make it worse, I never have any idea how much it will cost until the bill is given to me. Is it too much to ask for a dry cleaner to have a price list hanging near the register so I have some idea what to expect? I picture a price board like one that is found at a fast-food restaurant as ideal for a dry cleaning establishment also. I brought a coupon for 25% off but the order still totaled like $26. This was for five items: 1 skirt, 1 blouse, 1 pant, 1 shirt and 1 sweater. In the past, I have tried to call to gauge the costs but it never seems to be what they tell me over the phone. I guess it all depends on the material of the item? Since I know nothing about the dry cleaning process, I feel like I'm at an extreme disadvantage. I'm not even sure what questions to ask. I'm not even convinced that dry cleaning is all that essential for most of the items that say 'Dry Clean Only' but I'm too chicken to test it on most of my clothing!

Anyway, just a rant...

Ten things I do not miss about Syracuse

In no particular order...

1.) The weather
2.) My apparently hard-of-hearing downstairs neighbor who took to talking on the phone so loudly that I could hear her through the floor and also played music and watched television at similarly loud decibels
3.) Taking online courses with professors/instructors whose classes are approximately 450th on their list of priorities (although technically I have two more classes to take and that might not be over for me)
4.) All the plumbing in my apartment, from the leaky kitchen faucet to the corroded bathtub faucet to the occasionally running toilet
5.) The Library & Information Science program in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University
6.) The Library & Information Science program faculty (save a select couple of professors)
7.) The job market
8.) Bad drivers, as my car was hit three times in two years (in other words, three times more than it had ever been hit before moving to Syracuse)
9.) The stress and tension of having to write papers, read all the assignments and keep up with classes as a full-time student
10.) Paying a deposit on bottles and cans and then ultimately trying to get the deposit back via recycling

It was much easier to come up with things I don't miss, although I still struggled coming up with ten. Plus, I'll admit that some of them are definitely not unique to Syracuse and could happen anywhere. They were, however, reminiscent of my Syracuse experience!

Ten things I miss about Syracuse

1.) Brian
2.) Catherine
3.) Curtis
4.) John
5.) Mark
6.) Hanging out at Taps with my friends (many of the above-mentioned ones)
7.) The fact that you can pretty much drive anywhere in the city in less than twenty minutes
8.) The I-Lab (well, I spent a LOT of time there and I suspect I will never have two monitor screens at once like that ever again)
9.) Carousel Center (even though I rarely went there, it is a NICE mall!)
10.) How you can get $5 pizzas just about everywhere

Yep, that's about it. Not even three weeks removed and these are the things that come to mind. It's not a particularly compelling list, is it? Two years of my life and that's the best I can come up with? I tried to think of something regarding S.U. and the school, but the best I could do was #8, which is on campus. I also had 'My friends' as an item grouped together at first and then realized that I needed to give each of them a number in order to get to ten items. Yikes. And, not to say that I only had five friends there, but I would say that those five were definitely my closest friends. Plus Dan, but since he told me he was only my friend and only hung out with me (just the two of us alone sometimes) due to "social obligation," I would pretty much say that he successfully extracted himself from the list of things I miss as well as put himself at the top of the list of "Ass Holes I Know" during one five-minute conversation.

Besides them, Megan gets an honorable mention because although she was my good friend and I do miss her a lot, she's been gone since December so at this time, I am more used to missing her. If that makes sense.

Words-of-the-day

Yes, I'm still collecting words-of-the-day, despite not posting them on here. I'll post some as I get around to it. Today, here are a few:

BIBELOT
(pronounced like: bee-bi-low)
n : a small household ornament or decorative object : trinket


PASQUINADE
n : 1: a lampoon posted in a public place 2: satirical writing : satire


MEGILLAH
n, slang : a long involved story or account


Perhaps when I am on vacation, I will write a short story or novella, turning one of my many megillahs into a pasquinade?

With my parents, I get lazy

So I've moved back to Cleveland temporarily while I job search, to save money and to see my family and friends, who I haven't really seen much of the last two years. It's been nice staying with my parents, although it's also kind of difficult because I miss having my own space and my doing things the way I want to do them. Not to mention that my Internet access is kind of limited. I am getting fairly laptop-proficient, however, which is a plus, I guess. Although it just makes me want one more and well, that's just one other thing I can't afford right now.

Anyway, my plan for now is to go on vacation to Hilton Head, SC, with my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and nephew next week and when I get back, go full-steam ahead with the plan to move to Washington, DC.

I think.

I REALLY need to send out some more resumes/cover letters because I've pretty much burned the bridge at IPS, where I'd already had a couple of interviews and where they seemed to really want me. Call me crazy but I get really turned off by my future employer constantly calling me 'Cindy,' even when I correct her. But that was just a small problem among the many reasons why I feel less than confident that it is the place for me.

Dilemma of the week

My current quandry involves whether or not I should participate in graduation activities this weekend. On the 'no' side: Well, I already have my diploma. It costs like $60 to rent the required cap & gown get-up. Umm, I pretty much hate every faculty & staff member at this school by now and have zero desire to hear any of them speak, let alone have one of them presumably butcher the pronunciation of my name. On the 'yes' side: I have some good friends here that I will never see together in one place ever again probably and this would be a last opportunity for good-byes and pictures and all that. And that's about it, I guess.

You know how graduation ceremonies go... family is there and you really don't have a whole lot of time to spend with friends. It could very well make me feel even lonelier when the crowds part and I'm left there alone. I guess I do wonder if I would regret not participating if I choose not to... There is an in-between option that involves attending the ceremony and seeing my friends but not actually participating.

Whatever I decide, I have to basically do so by tomorrow at 5pm, I think, which is when they stop passing out the caps & gowns.

My weekend

I have done absolutely nothing today except bake some cookies, sleep and watch a few Lost episodes. I'm way behind on that show and decided to start watching all the eps from this season a few days ago. Umm, that's kind of a big mistake considering I still have a huge assignment due and that show is mega addictive. Anyway, today I didn't feel that well and haven't entirely had a day off in weeks so I felt I was due. Plus, it's not really a total day off since I'm finishing up all the assignments for my one class. Each student had to post on the class (677) blog seven times during the semester, picking out and critiquing a digitization project each time. I had one left to go and had put it off, put it off, put it off. But I finally just did it. That blog is kind of interesting and a good time waster if you are interested at all in seeing digitized collections of things from all over the world, although I would say the majority of them are from museums and universities. My recommendation, also, is to just click on the links and not read all the garbage that my classmates write on the blog. As has happened with all my classes this semester, students seem to not know when to shut up. My other online class (631) has had nearly 2,500 posts on its bulletin board. That's a lot.

Now I have to post the bulletin board for the 677 class one final time and then all I will have left to do is this one final project. The presentation part of it is due tomorrow but I really want to get the presentation and the paper parts done by Monday so I can start focusing on other things (like graduation and moving!). I already got the grade for my third class (676), which wrapped up on Monday.

In other news, I now supposedly have that interview this coming Tuesday. We'll see if the phone call comes this time. Also, go Cavs!

But the phone didn't ring...

I got a call last week for a job interview (woo hoo!) at this grad school in the Washington, DC, area and was supposed to have a phone interview today at 2pm. Well, by 4:30pm when the phone still hadn't rung, I decided it definitely wasn't going to happen and hightailed it out of my apartment to try to salvage the day and get some work done on campus. As it turns out, the call didn't come until about 6pm. The woman apologized but basically admitted that she had forgotten about me in the midst of "emergencies." So she wants to reschedule. And I will. BUT, it makes me even less eager to consider this position... and believe me, I already was regrettting sending my resume.

See, some of my fellow students and I have been talking about the 'just send your resume out to anything' tack vs. the 'only send your resume to the jobs you really, really want' tack. Jobs in our field, particularly entry-level ones, are hard to come by so if we really want to get a job, we really can't afford to be too selective. On the other hand, who wants to apply for a job that really doesn't sound the least bit like anything you would want to do, right? Anyway, there's really no solution, but this job that I was supposed to have the interview for, it was borderline the former category.

Enough words for a small dictionary...

I have a whole slew of words to post from April's word-a-day emails... not that I have ever referred back to any of the other ones I've posted. But you never know, one day I might want to use one of them.

USUFRUCT
n. : 1. the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another; 2. the right to use or enjoy something

SACERDOTAL
adj. : of or relating to priests or a priesthood: priestly

DILUVIAL
adj. : of, relating to, or brought about by a flood

PAROXYSM
n. : 1. a fit, attack or sudden increase or recurrence of symptoms: convulsion; 2. a sudden violent emotion or action: outburst

MUFTI
n. : civilian clothes

IMPUISSANT
adj. : weak, powerless

CHOUSE
v. : to cheat, trick

What celebrity do you look like?

My friend Mark pointed out this Web site to me - MyHeritage.com - which is ideally a genealogy Web site but which features face recognition technology. I think the idea behind it is if people upload pictures of themselves, they can find long-lost relatives based on the face recognition technology. What the site also offers, though, is an ability to scan a person's face from a photograph and then tell that person what celebrities they look like. It's pretty cool. So, of course, I went crazy with it one day.

The first picture I uploaded of myself indicated I look like Pierce Brosnan and Anna Kournikova. Another picture of me with a friend indicated I look like Eva Mendes. Now, I'm not going to complain about any of those comparisons as they are all attractive people, but I'm not sure that they are true! I guess it's not so much that you might look like these celebrities but that you have matching facial features. Anyway, it was fun!

A new way to blog

Maybe from now on I will just post my horoscope for the day and talk about how close or how far off it was... ha ha. It's just that the one for today couldn't have been closer to the truth:

Today your creative impulses could seem totally blocked, dear Cancer. You might be trying to reach a deadline, whether it's one of your own or one imposed by someone else. You feel the need to get some work done, but your muse seems to have gone on vacation. If your deadline is official, phone whoever's in charge and ask for an extension. If you force yourself to work today, you won't be happy with the results.

That was so true. I struggled to get some homework done, barely got anything accomplished so my muse was definitely gone. If it's ever around in the first place, that is. Luckily, my deadlines were self-imposed so I have some time to get things done next week. Instead of being productive, I watched the Cavs win (yay!) and also watched Walk the Line. Enjoyable, both of them!

Today's horoscope

So I love reading my horoscope but today's is really awesome. Here is what it says - via Yahoo! Astrology:

Today is a good day to slow down a little. Take a long hard look at what you've accomplished lately. Count everything, not just the big things. Have you made your bed most days? Point for you! Have you brushed twice a day, and flossed at least once? Big points! Have you, in the last week or so, told at least one person you're close to that you appreciate them? Really gargantuan big point! What does your list of accomplishments look like?

Now, how can I not like a horoscope that tells me that making my bed and brushing my teeth twice a day is quite an accomplishment!! Especially since I have many, many days lately where I feel like I get nothing accomplished at all despite every effort, it's nice for the astrological guides to tell me that I am wrong!!

Silent Bob Speaks

I've been reading Kevin Smith's chronicle of the life of his buddy, Jason Mewes. Perhaps they are better known as Jay & Silent Bob from the Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back movies... and the upcoming Clerks II.

Anyway, over the last few weeks, Kevin has been chronicling Jason's long battle with drug addiction on his blog. He's up to eight parts and is still going. This is the link to the first part. It's an interesting read. To get to the subsequent parts of the story, the best way is probably to use the calendar and go by date, since the 'Daily Posts' only total seven. He posted part 1 on March 28, part 2 on March 29, part 3 on March 30 and then the rest have been in April.

Test your '80s Music Lyric Knowledge

This quiz asks you to fill in the blanks from all kinds of songs that were hits in the eighties. It's a good quiz, but long. There are 103 questions total (including a couple bonus ones) and I found it hard to stay focused after about the 40th question. Plus, I suck at remembering lyrics out of context like that. And the scoring is bunk. It seems like half of the ones I got right only earned me a 1/2 point because they were "too easy." Yet, I also earned 4 pts. per question for at least two. Where's the consistency, dude? Also, they are strict about spelling, which wouldn't usually be a problem but, here's a hint: It's Jessie's Girl, not Jesse's Girl.

Oh, I got a 50, which I have to say is better than I thought I would get.

I'm such a sap

I cry so easily at movies. Not intense sobbing or wailing or anything, more just tearing up... but there I was yesterday watching The Iron Giant, an animated movie from 1999 and I frigging started to cry! Not only is it animated, but it's about a gigantic robot made of steel that needs to munch on steel in order to survive and is presumably from outer space - so you really can't get as far away from reality as that - and yet, I still got sucked in... I'm so pathetic :-)

Library news

First of all, I suppose I should comment on the new U.S. News & World Report Graduate School rankings, which lists Syracuse's Library & Information Science program as third best - the same ranking it's been for years. Also, the Digital Librarianship program - which is technically what I am in now - ranks second. Here's the school's press release about it. As if that was all I needed to help me get a job. It is probably good timing, though.

Secondly, I found this Web site that lists the "favorite" books by celebrities. This librarian in Maine compiles a list every year. The celebrities are browseable by name so theoretically, a person could find their favorite famous person and read the books they choose! It's kind of a neat idea.

No aqua

I woke up yesterday with the plan to go to campus and get some reading done in the morning before having to leave for the field trip to the Rochester Public Library at 1:30 but when I got up, our apartment had no water! Ugh. That makes showering a little difficult. So I waited a bit, had some breakfast, waited a bit, checked my email, waited a bit... I kept waiting because I could hear someone (the landlord?) working on the situation so I thought it would possibly be resolved soon. By about 11:30am, I had figured out how to brush my teeth and wash my face with bottled water. I also decided that I should just go without a shower, but I really didn't think I could go without washing my hair. I get horrible bedhead and it really isn't salvagable without water. So I pulled more bottled water out of my refrigerator, grabbed the tub that I wash hand-washables in and set to work drenching my head with freezing cold water. Washing my hair that way was surprisingly successful.

Of course, by the time I left for school, the water was back working.

I've got personality...

In class on Monday night, our professor had us take this personality test. It's an offshoot of the Myers-Briggs test and it was called the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. I guess the idea is that you take this, are given a personality type and then can help choose the best career path for your type. So, I scored as an INFJ. She had small blurbs for us to read about ourselves in class but I was not that impressed that it fit me. So, yesterday I poked around on the Internet a little and found another, very similar test that I took and, what do you know, tested as an INFJ again. Okay, so I'm an INFJ. From there, I found a site that explains that type in much greater detail and I think it is really me! What I liked best is that the INFJ type is apparently quite rare, with less than 2% of the population fitting into this category.

My "True Love" zodiac match

This has been sitting as a 'draft' in here for a few days. I don't know why I didn't post it at the time (probably absent-mindedness) but I'm going to post it now. Elizabeth sent me this link to find out my true love match zodiac sign... so I took the test and scored Taurus. Yeah. Sure. I think the one Taurus in particular that I know now would disagree with that. And I think the part about my "honesty and direct approach" is exactly what scares the hell out of him. But, it's fun to take those tests!

Your True Love Is a Taurus

Why you'll love a Taurus: Romantic and sentimental, a Taurus can provide you with the security you need. And you both share a fondness for the finest things, from great food to luxury vacations. Why a Taurus will love you: You have the honesty and direct approach that down to earth Taurus desires. And enough elegance to show a Taurus a few new decadent delights!

What Sign Is Your True Love?

Words of the Day

I haven't been posting much but I've been collecting some of my 'Words of the Day' to post on here in the hope that I may someday use them...

OBNUBILATE
v: to becloud, obscure

ZEITGEBER
n : an environmental agent or event that provides the stimulus setting or resetting a biological clock of an organism

SUPERBITY
n : haughtiness, arrogance

PERTINACIOUS
adj 1: adhering resolutely to an opinion or purpose 2: stubbornly unyielding or tenacious

TARADIDDLE
n 1: a fib 2: pretentious nonsense

New Gilmore Girls!

I don't know what I've been up to that has prevented me from posting much lately but I'll share that I'm excited about a new episode of Gilmore Girls finally airing tonight! Yay!

Nielsen family

I got this postcard in the mail the other day telling me my household has been selected to be a Nielsen family! They promised a call within the next few days providing more details. I know it sounds a little goofy, but I've always wanted to have my television viewing tracked like that, mostly because I idealized that I would watch the shows that were about to be cancelled and change the network's minds. It's ironic that the time I get the chance is also when I'm a grad student with no money so I don't even have cable and barely get the standard five channels. Not to mention that I watch so little television these days...

Back to school

Last week was spring break and I guess I took advantage of it and did absolutely NOTHING during the whole week. I had an assignment due last Sunday and once I got that done, I decided the best use of my time would be to watch a lot of movies, read, drink alcohol almost every day and basically do nothing. It was actually a really nice break but kind of stupid on my part. I have a lot of homework due this next week or so and should have been trying to get ahead, right? I did manage to apply for a couple jobs over this past weekend, though, including what I really might call my dream job at NBC Universal. I want that job so badly!!

Word of the Day: Poltroon

Poltroon

def: a spiritless coward: craven

Here's a word I've never heard before and is interesting to me. I have to say I've been pretty disappointed with my word-of-the-day calendar lately. Words like gargoyle, arbitrary, jubilate, stoic and shopaholic... these are the words that have come to my email the last week. Are these words new to anyone? I guess my expectations for a word-of-the-day calendar are too high!

It's official...

I got my diploma in the mail yesterday!! I have to say that it was pretty cool to see my name on it and the whole 'Masters of Library and Information Science' on it.

Even if I am pursuing further education and am so bogged down by school...

Yay for me!

Dreaming

I just read this book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, and in it she states that no one ever wants to hear your dreams unless they are in them, and while that might be true, here goes anyway...

I had this bizarre dream last night where I was in a class and apparently I had a group presentation due that day but had no idea until the prof called off the names of the students who were supposed to be presenting that day. I heard my name and was like "What?!" The group itself - which consisted of an unbelieveable 12 people, at least - had all met and organized the entire thing without trying to get in touch with me at all. And to top it off, they were mad at me for blowing them off. There was another gal who was in the group but had done nothing too and we both were just shocked. We had missed the assignment totally. It was very surreal as we stood in the front of the classroom for like 20 minutes while our groupmates pulled out all the posters and index cards and other presentation materials (more than you can imagine) that showed they clearly had done a lot of work while the two of us stood there with nothing to contribute. It was horrible, really scary to be so unprepared.

I woke up convinced that there is some missing assignment that I am forgetting somewhere. But I really don't think there is. So, I wonder what I'm forgetting then. The dream has to mean something, right?

The one really weird thing is that although the prof for the class was one of the IST profs here in my department (although not one I've ever had for a class), the presentation was all about health foods.

Ask.com

Ask Jeeves has abandoned its butler and become Ask.com and now offers some new features. I played around with their mapping feature a little bit and it seems pretty cool. For one thing, you can ask for 'walking' directions rather than just driving directions. I am not sure that this capability is in any other mapping site and is certainly convenient. You can also just pick a point on the map and it calculates the address there. Also, the zooming in/zooming out feature is a sliding scale, rather than the preset 'city,' 'region,' etc... that are on Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps. I guess Google Maps features that too, but I personally hate Google Maps. I find that the directions they give are often horrible. One other thing I liked about Ask.com Maps is that it saves addresses for you along the lefthand side. So, if you want to go from point A to point B to point C but then also want to see how to go from point A to point C directly, this is much easier and viewable all at once.

Ask.com also apparently has a 'search desktop' feature, which apparently is all the rage these days. Google Desktop is a similar feature available. Personally, I don't have the need for this - yet.

The Ask.com toolbox is nice, too, and collapses if so desired. Its quicklink options are useful, in my opinion. Ask.com has, and who would have thought this possible, an even more streamlined and simple interface than Google does.

Wrong number

So I'm here in the computer lab on campus doing homework and job-searching when my phone rings. Okay, it happens. It's a 440 number, which means it's someone from Cleveland. Okay, it happens. I say "Hello" and the guy asks for "Cheri" (or "Sherry" or "Sherrie" or "Shari" possibly) and after some confusion, we realize that he has the wrong gal. I have to say that I've never had the experience of getting a wrong number where the person was actually looking for someone with my name. I imagine that happens more often with someone who is named like Bob or Mike, but, hmm, kinda weird.

Librarian at Subway

There's a job opening for a librarian at Subway. Yes, Subway, the restaurant chain. It's on this page. It's more of a librarian in the sense of organizer, someone to keep order of their records, rather than a librarian in the more scholarly sense of the word. Still, who knew Subway had librarians?

Busy bee

I haven't checked in here in over a week and well, that's because I'm bogged down with homework. And more homework. This is my hell week of the semester, with major assignments due in every class... luckily, it's come early this year and I really don't see any big problems for the rest of the semester. Things are spaced out well from here on out.

I am probably farther along with the assignments than I typically would be (since I am a top-notch procrastinator) but still have a bit to do, particularly for the 1-hour presentation I have Monday night. I hope to get a paper written tonight (it's actually written; it just needs to be reread/edited/improved) and another part of my PowerPoint presentation for my classification class done tonight and then the weekend will be spent finishing up that latter assignment and going crazy on the 1-hour presentation.

I've spent copious amounts of time on campus this week, taking advantage of the high-speed Internet access there, although I did decide on MSN dial-up service here at home. MSN offers 3 months free... and since I'll probably be moving in 3 months, it works out perfectly! Today, there has been major winds. leaving thousands and thousands of people in Syracuse without power - yep, I was one of them. My power went out at about 8:30am and, from my calculations, didn't come back on until about 5pm. I wonder what that means for my refrigerated items - luckily, I haven't been to the grocery store in weeks so there are few items in the refrigerator.

As if that wasn't enough drama, I've been highly distracted by a certain person who I have realized that I have a major crush on. There are self-help books for everything and I wonder if there is one entitled "How to get Over a Crush" or something like that because although I do subscribe to the theory that some crushes can be rather harmless and actually good for a person (say, for instance, my crush on Tom Cavanagh), this particular one that I find myself in the middle of is VERRRRY bad for me. Ugh.

Oh, and on top of that, I got rejected from two jobs this past week, too.

Good-bye AOL

My free AOL access finally came to an end, after seven months. That's not bad, considering it was only supposed to be for 50 days. But now I'm stuck trying to find another cheap option. Dial-up services are ridiculously expensive compared to DSL or cable modem services. I mean, I found a dial-up service for $28.95/month. Who would pay that for dial-up these days? I realize that some people still don't have access to any type of broadband... but still, there are cheaper dial-up options than that!!

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas about cheap dial-up, let me know!

I know what I did last summer

In doing a post for one of my online classes, I found this link to a Library of Congress bulletin from October that has a story about the internship program I was in last summer. So here's the link to it. There is a picture of all of us interns, although I am barely visible in it. Tall people in the back, just like grade school.

Word of the Day: vade mecum

n *1: a book for ready reference : manual 2: something regularly carried about by a person

I thought this word - or phrase, technically - might be appropriate for a librarian so I'm putting it here to potentially remember it!

Librarian- Kuwait!

There is a job opening for a librarian in Kuwait (via Monster.com). Exclamation point theirs.

Great!! Let me send my resume!! I sure can't think of a more ideal place to work than the Middle East!

Here is an added bonus that I don't see on every job posting:

"Work Schedule: 48 hours per week, varied days. Some overtime may be required."

It's a 48-hour workweek and overtime is still required!!?!??

Nightmare

Not that I don't love my mom and all that but I can't imagine anything more unfun or dreadful than doing this when I was a child.

Bird crap

This will be a lovely topic.

Umm, so, in the parking lot for my apartment building, there were some parking spots that I immediately upon moving in marked as 'undesirable' and try my damndest to avoid. These spots are directly under trees where the quietest but apparently most full of shit birds reside. Therefore, when you go to your car after having parked there overnight, your car is marked with bird crap. Unfortunately, lately it seems that everyone in my building has made the same realizations and try hard to not park in those spots and I've been stuck with no other option!

Yesterday, I did not go anywhere and, therefore, my car stayed in the undesirable spot not just overnight but overnight twice!! When I got to my car this afternoon, there was SO MUCH bird crap on it that it looks like a white car, when actually it is dark blue. It's really disgusting. I'm just hoping it rains tomorrow like it says it is supposed to and some of the crap will "wash" off. Yuck.

Crash

I did get a chance to watch Crash today and it was a pretty good movie, I'll admit. It's one of those where everyone's lives intersect in some weird way and the people who are bad guys maybe really aren't all that bad and the people who are good guys are maybe really not all that great. It's realistic. There is also a LOT of racial slurring, which is supposed to make everyone stop and take notice, I guess. That's what the behind-the-scenes vignette told me. I mostly thought, "Wow, nice, the open-mindedness" (dripping with sarcasm, of course). I will say, though, that I am highly surprised that Matt Dillon got nominated for Best Supporting Actor from that film. It's not that he was awful; it's just that his role is really pretty small.

Oscar Time

The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning and, as usual, I have seen pretty much none of the nominated movies or performances. However, I do have a copy of Crash on DVD from the library right now so I hope to find a time to watch that in the next few days.

I did see War of the Worlds, which is nominated for three less prominent awards and which has earned Tom Cruise a Razzie nomination, for worst acting performance!!

Horrible book

I love to read books/short stories/plays that have been made into movies (preferrably before watching the movies), I guess to note the differences and try to figure out why those differences were made - to try to get in the creative mind of the filmmaker. Nine times out of ten, the book is way better than the movie. I mean, there is just a LOT that has to be cut out of a book to get it down to approximately two hours and rarely is one able to get attached to the characters in a movie like one can in a book. Anyway, I read this book the last couple of days that HAS to be one of the few where the movie is way better. And I haven't even seen the movie yet.

I'm talking about Just Like Heaven, which is a little romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It comes out on video/DVD next week and it turns out it was based on a book called If Only It Were True by Marc Levy. I found this out and the book was only 229 pages so I thought it would be a pretty quick read and I requested it from the library. Not only was it a quick read, but it was also an awful read. I don't remember reading a book so bad... since, well, some Christian fiction book one of my friends made me read when I was in a book club a couple years ago. Ugh.

The overall plot of the story is kind of interesting and romantic, I guess, but the writing is so corny and stupid that you just don't care. The auxiliary characters that are introduced are irritating. I swear the same dialogue is used over and over and over again... I could go on. Why didn't I just put the book down and not finish it, you ask? A valid question, to be sure, but it was such a fast read that I figured I might as well get to the end - even though the end was incredibly predictable. I just cannot fathom how this stupid novel became an "international bestseller" as it claims OR how the author got what undoubtedly was a huge sum to have this drivel turned into a movie. Ironically though, I'm sure it will make a decent movie, though. It's one of those books that seems like it was written all along with the intent of being made into a movie, with even the author writing as if he was transcribing a movie.

Busy busy

I have no idea what I have been up to this past week but here I sit on a Sunday, having spent hours and hours in the computer lab to try to catch up on all my homework for the week. While I did manage to get the minimum assignments and postings for my two online courses completed today (the week ends on Sundays for these classes), I did NOT do all the reading that I am supposed to be doing. And I haven't even started the readings for my class that meets tomorrow night. Oy. I can't believe how far behind I already am in my classes and it's only the third week of school. Luckily, one benefit of not having a job is that I have free time.

I did apply for a couple jobs this past week, which I guess is what accounts for me being so behind on homework. Job-searching is more important to me than homework right now. However, I have not heard a thing from any of the jobs I have applied for so that is pretty frustrating. But it takes time, they say.

This week: more job stuff and maybe not only get caught up in my work but get ahead!?! Crazy thought.

Now I have a TV network named after me!

The big television news announced today (via TV Guide Online) is that the WB and UPN will merge in September and be called CW. The CW stands for CBS Warner apparently. Now the big question is which programming from both networks will make it to the new network. They say that my favorite Gilmore Girls is safe. Phew!

Animals running in front of me

I'm not even exaggerating but I counted SIX animals running in front of my car yesterday during the course of the day and it just seems like that would indicate bad luck or something. There were three cats, two squirrels and a skunk (I think, although honestly I don't even know what it was!!). None of the cats were black, although the squirrels were and presumably the skunk was, too, although that happened late at night and it was hard to determine its color. And, also, I didn't hit any of them.

Anyway, it was just weird, even if it isn't an indicator of bad luck....

Daymare

Today's word is 'daymare' which is pretty self-explanatory but not something I knew was really ever a word before.

daymare: n : a nightmarish fantasy experienced while awake

Isn't that just a bad daydream?

Dancing with the Stars spoiler...

I kind of get sucked in to that silly Dancing with the Stars show every Thursday because I really wish I could dance like that. I did force myself to go out last night before it was over, although I recorded it and watched the rest when I got home.

Anyway, so they have the dancing on Thursday nights and the elimination show on Friday nights. I know they advertise the Thursday show as being 'LIVE' and I just assumed this was also true of the Friday show. I honestly didn't really know or care. I haven't even watched the elimination show because it's just filled with fluff until the very last second when they announce who is voted off - just like the American Idol elimination show.

However, when checking some sites this evening, I found out that the name of the next person voted off is already on the Internet. It's this person here apparently going home. Or else it's just a coincidence that that person is going to be a guest on Regis & Kelly Monday morning - the same show that has featured the castoffs on Monday morning for the last two weeks. I'm guessing if ABC was aware that Regis & Kelly were advertising the name of the next castoff on their site before the results show airs, they would probably not be happy.

I know I have no money...

BUT I went to the mall today hoping to buy a calendar marked down to $3 (Waldenbooks drops them to $4 now - it used to be $3, but I guess I understand inflation.) but instead went into stores like The Gap, H&M and American Eagle. I bought this really cute skirt at American Eagle for $4.95. Come on, it was cute, it was a small size (a size I haven't worn in years), it fit and it was $5! I tell myself that once (if) I get a library job, it will be good to have some skirts. Although, miniskirts... not so much. This one isn't that short but it is above the knees.

But it was cute! And it was $5!!

HDTV blog

I found this article via TV Tattle that talks about a man's cat being into HDTV - sitting in front of and sometimes even touching the TV screen when a HD program is on. Seems he's not alone to have pets fond of HDTV. It was a cute article, complete with pictures of the fascinated cat. That site is also one of those ones with articles on which celebrities look good and which look AWFUL when broadcast on HDTV. Potmarks, agelines, blemishes, acne, etc... all show up on faces on HDTV. I find it fascinating to hear who looks bad, but I don't get too much joy out of it knowing full well that my face would look awful too!

Whinge

This is another word of the day that I might try to incorporate into my vocabulary...

whinge

v : to complain fretfully : whine

Here's me using the word in a sentence: At work on Saturday, my two co-workers whinged incessentantly about their depression.

First Day of School

Yes, today is the first day of classes for the Spring Semester. I successfully registered for three classes on Sunday morning, although I probably only will take two and will end up dropping one soon. After looking at who else is in my classes (just about the first thing I always do once the classes are loaded into my WebCT account), I am about 99.99% certain that I will in fact drop the class I'd been planning to drop. Way too many annoying people in there. However, there still raises the question about whether or not I should stay in the on-campus 'Digital Libraries' course. It's required for this certificiate program and it's better to get it out of the way as soon as possible but by taking it this semester, it means I must basically remain in Syracuse until May (or if I were to get a job elsewhere, I would have to figure something out with the professor to finish the course elsewhere... or just drop the course without a refund... yes, there are some options).

So Much to Watch, All on One Night

Tonight is a big TV night for me! Gilmore Girls is on as usual and that is already definitely one of my favorite shows, not to mention it's a high-drama episode tonight. Also, Love Monkey debuts tonight and I'm excited to watch that as I've had a major crush on Tom Cavanagh since the promos of Ed started airing back in like 1999 or 2000 or whenever it was. Also, American Idol is back tonight. Although that is definitely not one of my favorites (especially after recapping it last year for Inside Pulse), I do tend to watch it when nothing else is on and the episodes in the beginning of the season are always the best to watch anyway.

So, anyway, I'll be glued in front of the television tonight. Although perhaps I should be starting my homework...

Syracuse 80, Connecticut 88

The basketball game last night was kind of fun and all but boy, did the team suck. If you look just at the score, you will be sorely misled and think it was kind of a close game but it wasn't at all. Connecticut came out to a 12-0 lead and then pretty much led the entire game by at least that much, usually twice as much. It wasn't until about three minutes to go at the end that Syracuse pulled within ten points. But oh well, it was my first SU basketball game, my first time in the Carrier Dome and only my second major Division I college basketball game ever (that I remember...)!

Basketball game

Tonight, my friends & I are going to the SU basketball game vs. UConn. It'll be on ESPN tonight so look for me! Honestly, though, while our seats are not that great and the Carrier Dome is a pretty large arena, we do plan on going all out with painted faces and all the orange we can wear so maybe the cameras will find us!!

Dateless

Hmm, I wonder if there is any correlation between me always being dateless and me enjoying sitting home alone on a Saturday night watching the US National Figure Skating Championships?

Certificate of Advanced Studies

I've been considering pursuing this Certificate of Advanced Studies in Digital Libraries now that I'm finished with my Master's Degree and there are a few reasons for this:

1.) I had no idea that there really was such a program when I entered the Master's program and to pursue it simultaneously with the Master's Degree, every single elective must be Digital Libraries-related.

2.) The classes in this certificate program actually sound interesting and helpful and I've heard - from people in the classes - that this is true.

3.) Many, many job postings that I've seen ask for some element taught in this program.

4.) Pursuing further education lets me get more federal financial aid, which can help me pay my rent as I job search.

5.) The program can be entirely completed online and is only 15 extra credits for me, so I could fit this in with a job anywhere in the world.

So, all things considered, I haven't totally decided what to do, although I am leaning in that direction. Registration is not until Sunday. However, I was invited to and attended the new student orientation yesterday for all new students. I am considered a new student since I officially graduated. Anyway, I went out of curiosity, to see what they told the newbies, to see a few friends I knew would be working, to get free food and to hopefully kiss ass of the professor of the one class I want to take. Check, check, check, check. Everything was accomplished. But, what also was accomplished was that I got so pissed off at the ass-backwards way the school conducts things. They throw all this random information at the students in the most ridiculous order and format and then usher them off into advising sessions. They are told how to register and what they should register for... then they have to wait three days before they can do it. Then, because there is a holiday on Monday, if there are any problems, these can't be addressed until Tuesday. It's just ridiculous. What would be so awful about allowing registration to start earlier? What would be so awful about leading the groups to a computer lab and letting them register immediately after the orientation? There are just so many things about the way the program was organized that it made me so mad! So, yes, this really does make me rethink giving more money to this school!!

Abulia

n : abnormal lack of ability to act or to make decisions

I signed up to get one of those 'learn a new word each day' calendar kind of things delivered by email every day and never have I come across a new word that seemed so fitting for me!!

Close call... but I'm still not paying for Internet access!!

I've had AOL since early June now and haven't had to pay a dime for it. I got it free for whatever it was, 50 days or something with one of those 'try it free' disks that are everywhere. After the fifty days were up, I was able to con them into giving it to me free for another month... and another... and another... and another. Tonight, I thought I was in trouble and that my lucky streak had ended because I got someone new on the line. She said she had only been there about a month. Oy. She didn't really seem to know what she was doing yet and didn't even know all of the price plans to suggest to me (which I would then turn down, saying they were all too expensive...). She put me on hold for a significant length of time twice, all the while I kept thinking, 'She better offer me free service for another month after all this waiting.' I was worried, though, that she wouldn't be able to offer me free service. I mean, I wouldn't think a newbie would be able to just give it to me for free without checking with her boss. And, in fact, after talking to her boss, she came back to tell me that I should sign up for the Verizon Broadband package because even if I move, I can just take it with me. Umm, sure, if that place offers Verizon. I'm not convinced that the entire country has Verizon phone service available to it. Anyway, finally, she realized that the best thing to do would to just give it to me free for another month and went ahead and did that. Phew. I was really worried there for a few minutes.

Report card

I got my grades in the mail today and for the four courses I technically took in the fall, I got four grades. Well, duh, of course, you might say... except that one of those courses is the internship I'm finishing up at the med school library. Finishing up - in other words, not completed yet.

If I already have a grade, should I continue showing up?

Oops, wrong number

So, when I got back into town, I had an answering machine message and I thought perhaps it would be about the job I'd interviewed for mid-December but nope, the message went a little something like this:

"Hi Jessica, it's me Kevin, so now you can't say I didn't call you. I'm kind of sorry we're not matching up here so I'll try to call you later in the week. If not, send me an email, okay?"

Umm, guess what Kevin? Jessica can totally say that you didn't call because you didn't get her number right! Or maybe Jessica fudged her number on purpose... Hmm. This message made me curious on so many levels, starting with the fact that Kevin's voice sounded SO much like this guy I dated here. In fact, I thought it was him at first and was really confused. But I soon realized that it wasn't him but just another dopey guy.

Back in Syracuse

My ten days home went pretty quickly and now I'm back for my second full day in Syracuse. While I was home, I managed to see a few friends, hang out with my parents, see my brother, sister-in-law and nephew and celebrate Christmas, New Year's and an Ohio State Bowl game victory. All in all, a pretty good vacation. The one thing I did not do that I had planned on doing was apply for jobs, since my parents only have Microsoft Works on their computer. (Not that I find anything wrong with any of the Microsoft products at all, Mr. Gates.) But really that was just an excuse because I could have easily used that or gone elsewhere (like a library). I doubt that most companies do a whole lot of resume-viewing and interview-conducting during the last two weeks of the year, anyway.

When I got home Tuesday evening at about 7pm (after making AWESOME time), I went into ultra housekeeping mode and scrubbed floors, cleaned the bathroom, reorganized my closet, reorganized my kitchen cabinets and did some furniture re-arranging. I have NO idea what got into me, but it's nice to have a productive time like that once in a while. Yesterday, I had to work. I want to finish up those damn internship hours ASAP, I'm not even kidding.

I'm home but where are my parents?

I guess I should be used to the fact that my parents are never home, particularly right before Christmas, but it's a little weird for me to travel all this way home - to sit alone at the house! I could do that just fine back in Syracuse.

During the day, I ran some errands for my mom; namely, I bought Christmas presents for my dad. Pretty uneventful but I admit that I forgot what it's like to take about 20 minutes to go 6 miles because there is a lot of traffic. In Syracuse, that doesn't usually happen.

When I got home, I decorated our Christmas tree. I remember a time when my parents talked about getting two trees to decorate and now we barely decorate one. The tree is, as usual, gigantic and is kind of a pain in the ass to decorate, but it is pretty. They should be happy to see it decorated, I'm guessing. I'm trying to be nice and helpful in whatever ways I can while I'm home. While I decorated, I of course listened to some of my parents' Christmas tunes. That's a prerequisite for tree decorating, as far as I'm concerned. Luckily, they have some Christmas CDs because I did such a bad job of providing traveling music for myself. I spent time yesterday morning burning a CD of various music and then when I got in the car, it didn't even work. Also, I somehow forgot to bring home my Gavin DeGraw CD, which I about have memorized because I listen to it and love it so much. However, as I was going through my parents' Christmas music, I came across a CD with 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' sung by Gavin!! So that will have to make do this next week. And maybe my brother will let me burn a CD while I'm over at their house this week. Or not.

While I was driving around this afternoon, I remembered some of the restaurants that I take for granted here that aren't in Syracuse. Some, like Steak 'n Shake, do not make me too sad. I barely like Steak 'n Shake. However, I do like Donatos, Dairy Queen and Chipotle, none of which have made it to the 'Cuse. It's a travesty, it really is.

Home!!

Yep, I made it back safe and sound to Cleveland in the typical 5-5 1/2 hours. Thank God there were no traffic or weather problems. I was originally going to leave at like 11 am but as we all knew, that wasn't really going to happen, so I sort of figured 1pm was a better plan and I would therefore avoid rush hour traffic when I hit Cleveland. As it turned out, I left at about 1:30pm. And got to my parents' house at about 7pm. On the way, I made my obligatory stop at the last rest stop before Buffalo where they have a Pizza Hut so I could buy a personal pan pizza. I love love love personal pan pizzas, you have no idea. However, this one was lacking a little something. I don't know what, but perhaps it is good if my love for the personal pan pizza diminishes.

I was super psyched to pay $1.99 for gas. Less than two dollars for a gallon of gas?!? How I love Ashtabula, Ohio. Syracuse is pretty much $2.35 all over and while Ohio is typically cheaper, that is a huge difference! More importantly, I was able to fill up my tank for less than $30, something I haven't done in a long, long time. Ah, the small joys.

Cleveland seems to be the same. Except not. It's weird to see Gund Arena now referred to as "The Q" Arena. I'm sorry but that's just stupid. Call it Quicken Loans Arena; don't call it "The Q." Also, it seems that all the stores at Crocker Park are now open, which was not the case the last time I was here, or at least not the last time I was here for more than two days. Umm, I'm sure there are many more small differences but overall, I love being back here and knowing where I'm going at all times!!

Blown off

Yesterday, the internship supervisor was supposed to come visit me at the med school library but he bailed and decided to just do the interview over the phone, which I guess is okay. However, imagine the uncomfortableness that can be an in-person conversation with someone you don't especially like and then triple it by having to converse with that man over the phone. Ugh. It sucked. But the best part was that it was only about five minutes long. At least he remembered me from the first time we met (oh, two weeks ago)...

Also, because it was the last day of the semester for Upstate, it was supposed to be "slow" at the library and they made reference on-call all day - meaning that no one was assigned time at the reference desk and librarian aid would only be sought if someone showed up with a question and specifically demanded help, yet because I was there, they figured I could sit at the desk anyway. So I did and it was by far the busiest of any days I've ever been there. I must have had eight phone calls over the five hours I was there and while that may not seem like much, typically I am lucky to get one phone call! I am happy to be gone from there for two weeks, I have to tell you, although being away for two weeks just prolongs the whole experience.

Before heading home, I got to see some of my friends last night. My friend Brian & I went to get something to eat at Friendly's, which was his idea but enabled me to try to play matchmaker with him and this friend of mine (Khris) who works there. Brian agreed that Khris is a nice guy but wasn't interested. That's fine; I wasn't that convinced there would be a love match. After Brian left, I called some friends to see if they were at the bar and they were so I headed there to hang out with them. That was nice!

More movies

I watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith yesterday, as I again pretty much did nothing all day. It was an okay movie, improved by the fact that Vince Vaughn was in it. How I love Vince! But then I started to think about how creepy and incestuous the whole Hollywood community is... with Vince now supposedly dating Jennifer Aniston and Brad & Angelina dating after making that movie together.

Today, I'm feeling a little better but I don't know, I still don't feel like doing anything. I'm currently finishing up my hours at my internship, where I had to work from 1-6. It's been a little busier than what I'm used to and I am happy to actually help some patrons. I almost called off sick but it just would have meant that I would have had to make up the time, so I'm glad I didn't do that. I am breathing a little easier, just coughing a bit.

I have two more movies from the library to watch - Batman Begins and War of the Worlds (yes, that would be Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise, respectively, another gaggy Hollywood couple). So maybe I will just stay in and do that instead of heading to the bar to hang out with a couple friends.

Stuffed up and sniffling

Ugh, I have a cold and the worst part is the stuffed nose and the sneezing and sniffling. I despise that. So far, it's not that bad of a cold but anything that prevents me from breathing easily is not good by any stretch of the imagination.

As a result of me being sick, I've basically done nothing this weekend. I did manage to sit at work (my internship) for five hours yesterday, although I kind of don't even remember how the time passed since I was kind of out of it. After getting home last night and then all day today, all I did was sit on the couch and watch movies. I've got a bunch of movies taped from cable and a couple on DVD that I've never seen so I'm trying to go through those. I finally watched Road to Perdition, which was one I wanted to see since it came out and just had never gotten around to it. It was really good. I also watched My Life Without Me, Gigli (yeah, I know, it wasn't really THAT bad), Alfie (now that one was bad), and I don't remember what else. Nothing too fantastic. I'm sure I'll watch more tomorrow, although I do want to get some resumes sent out, too.

Bye-bye Megan

My roommate moved out today and I've been so sad about it. Don't get me wrong, part of me is thrilled to have the place to myself and to not have to pick up after her (not that I really picked up after her but she is definitely more messy than I am, particularly when it comes to doing dishes) but it was so nice to have the companionship and as soon as I had my first afternoon without her, it made me realize that I really have nothing else here. I only really have one other good friend here and he works a lot so we don't see each other much. The only other person I feel any sort of close kinship with is the guy I used to date, and I honestly think that is completely one-sided, that he really can barely tolerate me and is just too nice of a guy to say that to my face. There are a couple other people who I really, really like but we are really different and sometimes it's hard not to notice that.

Anyway, I don't mean to feel sorry for myself or anything, it's just that with Megan leaving and the semester ending and me officially graduating (although I still have 30 hours of my internship to finish up), it's like the end of an era and it's an era I'm not entirely sure I want to end yet. Maybe if I had even the slightest idea where I was headed next then it would be more exciting than sad but right now I only feel sad. I hate getting close to people only to have them walk out of your life to possibly never see them again.

Interview!!

I had my first official librarian interview today at a local, suburban public library. I was SO nervous about it all, but luckily one of my best friends here works at the circulation desk and was on duty when I came in so he calmed my nerves a little and then I talked to another sort of friend who works there so that helped too. She gave me some tips. Overall, I thought the interview went well and I think the director really liked me, but I have no idea who else she has talked to or how those interviews have gone. She is very chatty and so I felt like I didn't get much time to talk. But I think I said a lot of the right things.

Anyway, would I even want this job? I don't know. It's only part-time, but I guess that means at least 30 hours a week so that isn't bad and she's in the process of seeing about getting health care benefits for all employees who work over 15 hours so that would be pretty sweet, too. It involves sitting at the reference desk all day, though, so I don't know, that kind of sucks. Like, doing nothing but sitting at the reference desk. Which is something that I really don't like doing at my internship - just sitting there waiting for customers to come. And if they don't, then you just sit there. But, the director seems really open to ideas and if I can get some good ideas about how to improve things, which I think I might be able to do, then it might actually be a really awesome opportunity. At least for a year or so, where I can get some experience and then maybe be ready for another move somewhere. I don't know. We'll see. Second interviews will start after the first of the year.

The new internship I hate

I don't 'hate' it quite yet but it's losing its shine a bit. Everyone there is apparently divided into one of two factions and the one side feels like they are being edged out and forced to leave and all this drama. Hearing the other side makes me think that they really aren't paranoid and that this is truly happening. However, I just want to go in, put in my time and leave and not get mixed up in all the melodrama.

There is this older librarian there who I was warned about - warned that she was bossy and pushy and that I shouldn't listen to her, that she has no authority over me and all that - and she's been nothing but nice to me! She thinks I'm being taken advantage of, though, and I have to say that I kind of agree. Today I was only scheduled to work the reference desk from 5-6pm and ended up working it from 2-6pm because the one librarian suddenly had to run to the bank and the other librarian had to go to a meeting. What would they have done if I hadn't been here to sub for them? But then again, why else am I here as an intern if it isn't to sort of be taken advantage of. I mean, it's not like they are asking me to murder people or work myself to the bone. It's just sitting at the reference desk, waiting for questions. All day I probably had like four questions. And at least if I get to sit at the reference desk, I have a computer in front of me and therefore can surf the Web if I need to.

I am a little worried about Saturday when I'll be all alone without any other reference person here. Hopefully it will be really, really dead.

Last big assignment

I've been in the computer lab on campus for approximately 8 hours today working on this big usability test paper. I have more than enough pages but it's just not the right pages, if that makes sense. I am looking at a couple more hours here, at least, probably. Although I should get dinner at some point. Anyway, once this is done, I'm basically finished with all of my assignments and - quite possibly - my academic career!

Usability testing

I got two of my friends to do usability tests on my library Web site - well, not my library Web site but the one that I'm testing. That was kind of fun! It's fascinating to see how other people approach things. Although Mark said I made him nervous by watching him...

Other than that, Mark made me sign up for MySpace so I now have an account there. We'll see how that works out.

Oh yeah, and I listed some things on eBay. More to come on that front...

Internship winding down

The faculty advisor, who I haven't heard a lot of great things about, had to come visit my internship today so that was interesting. I wore a short skirt because I hear he only hires pretty gals. In other words, he's kind of a pig. Anyhow, it all ended up being fine and my site supervisor, Fred, apparently talked me up and all that. In fact, he didn't stop talking. He went on and on and on and it was kind of crazy because he's not very talkative when we are alone. I can't tell you how many times he doesn't answer my questions.

I only have one more day there and I am so excited, you just don't know!

I do have a TON of homework over the next few days, though, so ugh.

Cranky

Today was not that good of a day. First of all, my left leg is so sore from those huge bruises I mentioned yesterday. Then, on my way to work, I totally fell on the ice and now my left butt cheek hurts like hell, too. I don't even want to see the bruise for that one.

At work, we finally figured out the rest of my schedule. I need 60 more hours to finish up my internship and although I was told I could finish in ten weeks, it's going to end up being twelve... although even finagling that was a bit of trouble. I said I would work some Saturdays; however, during the holidays and around this time of year, many Saturdays do not have reference service. Instead of letting me make up time on other days, my supervisor wanted me to keep working until I can do Saturdays. Umm, I don't want to be at this internship until March just so I can get a few Saturdays in. Luckily, I talked her into letting me work some Tuesdays and now my last day is scheduled for January 21st. It's just really frustrating to me. I was really hoping to be finished by January 14th... I guess one week doesn't make a big difference.

Finally, immediately after work and before class, I had to meet with a group for a presentation for class tonight. The meeting went all right - as good as can be expected for the hell that is group work - and our presentation went off fine, too, but this presentation was only the first step in a major final project that is due Dec. 16th. Now, with people leaving for winter break and whatnot, we basically decided we need to get it done by Dec. 11th. So we had to set up a meeting time when everyone could show up. Catherine suggested Saturday. I said I had to work until 5pm. Everyone seemed to agree that meeting at 5pm would work well. Well, maybe a half hour later, group member Michelle suddenly remembered she had to work from 4:45 to 8pm on Saturday. So, Catherine decided that it would make more sense to accommodate Michelle (yes, she would be the group member who does nothing in the group because there is always a coattail-rider) than to accommodate me and the meeting was moved to 3pm, with me being able to join them like at 5:30ish or whenever I could. Provided everything was not finished by then, of course. Which it very well might be. This had me slightly miffed at first, but then, the more I thought about it, I remembered how we all agreed to meet at 9:30pm on Monday night to accommodate Catherine. We all were willing to meet up at a totally inconvenient time just so she could join us. Why do I not get the same treatment? It's just really frustrating for me. ESPECIALLY because I volunteered to do the 'executive summary' - something that would be a whole lot easier to write if I actually get to hear what everyone has to say about their parts. And ESPECIALLY because the only reason Catherine wants to meet earlier is so that it doesn't cut into her drinking time. I am not sure how to say all this stuff without coming across as a bitch.

The good, the bad, the ugly...

The good - Today I got a call from a nearby public library that I had sent my resume today and I am going to meet with the director next Thursday. Yay! My first official library interview. It's only a part-time opening and I'm not sure if I should even consider taking something like that if I am only going to continue to look for something full-time but everyone I talk to seems to agree that it's not horrible to do that. We'll see. The best part of that job is that I have friends who work there.

The bad - Actually, nothing really is bad, but I did have a LONG day on Monday, starting with my third-to-last day at the engineering firm, where I actually kind of enjoyed my time for once. I had to try to find a bunch of articles and that involved searching WorldCat, Google, various government Web sites and more. I was impressed with my ability to think of ways to find things. After that, I stopped home briefly to grab a change of clothes for later and headed to campus to attend the IST holiday party with my roommate and her GA friends. It was fun! There was ample free wine that I took advantage of... I stayed at the party to the bitter end, where I then persuaded Dan that we should hang out at his house between the end of the party and when we needed to meet with our group. That evolved into actually conducting the group meeting at Dan's house... until midnight. It was just a long day. I was definitely ready to go to bed by the end of it.

The ugly - I had difficulty sleeping last night (which I often do after consuming alcohol) partly because every time I tried to sleep on my left side, my leg was in a lot of pain. I could tell I had a bruise there but only this evening did I realize the extent of the bruises. Yes, there is more than one. They are nasty, quite colorful ones that I have NO idea how I got. Am I the only one who is constantly finding bruises on her body and having NO clue where they came from? You would think I would remember something causing such damage, but nope.

Start of hell week

I realized today that I kind of have a LOT to do and going on this week and it will pretty much suck but I guess after it's done, I will be totally free of schoolwork for possibly forever.

I went to campus to use their high-speed Internet and ran into friends in the computer lab so I don't think I necessarily got as much done as I could have. I did find some articles that relate to my reference class final project, though, and I pretty much decided on a subject, too. So yay!

Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day.

I helped a patron!

So, yeah, what do you know, at my internship today, I actually helped a patron. I kind of helped more than one, but there was one guy who I solely helped all by myself. Yay! I can do it! Of course, do I have any idea if I actually did help him after he walked away from the desk? Nope. But he didn't come back so I'm thinking positively!

After work, I washed dishes, made dinner, watched Serendipity and worked on ranking bed & breakfast Web sites for my Information Architecture class. My friend Dan helped me with that, which was so incredibly nice of him because it probably doubled his time commitment to that project, but at least he helped me to kind of understand what I was doing.

Snow snow snow

Today we had a pretty good snowfall. I only went out for a brief time and the roads were getting a little bad - so I went back home! Ha! Winter is not my favorite season.

I applied for a job at a local public library, though. The more I think about it, the more I actually think I might like working for a public library. But it probably depends on the situation. While I sent my info out to be rejected, I also talked to the manager(?) at Borders, who told me I was too late for a job, that he already filled up all the interview slots. He sounded like kind of a dick, to be honest. I've never heard of the job interviewing tactic that consists of giving out interviews to the people who call back first. I mean, usually isn't there some sort of preliminary ranking order of people you want to interview or, at least, the number of phone calls match the number of interview slots or something? He only called me on Thursday; I tried to call him back unsuccessfully Thursday afternoon and evening and then Friday morning, when I did get ahold of him, it was too late. Although, he might call me Monday if one of the interviews didn't work out apparently. Oh joy! Lucky me! I can't wait!

I got this DVD from the library on the Amish rite of rumspringa. It was kind of interesting. I'm determined to find a blog by an Amish person tomorrow while I'm at work, sitting at the reference desk. There has to be one, right?

Thursday

My internship at the engineering firm is down to only about 14 hours or so. Three more days of work, as I see it. Next week, the internship faculty advisor from school is coming to interview us, so I'm so dreading that. Today, Fred had me work on a Dialog search, although I couldn't for the life of me tell you what exactly I was doing since he simply had me type in the commands and hit enter.

Other than that, I turned in some paperwork to allow me to continue my education next semester (and therefore get more government financial aid) and also tried to write the perfect cover letter for a local job. I don't even know if I want the job, but I figured I should at least apply for it, right?

Also, Borders finally called me about a job there, after I turned in the application about ten days ago. I couldn't get ahold of them, though, as it seems to be Borders policy that phone answering is the lowest priority. When the phone did finally get answered, I was told that "Mark" was not available and that I could not leave a message. Nice. So I have to just keep trying back?

Interior Decorating Librarian

Today at my internship, I was asked to help the one librarian move to her new office. Mind you, as asinine as this might seem, it really did not bother me much because I would rather do something useless like that than sit at the reference desk shadowing a reference librarian who gets no questions. I spent a good hour or more helping Rebecca decide where she wanted to put her desk and helping her move everything into her new office. I also had to fill out my learning agreement, which is due after 30 hours of work. I feel like I should be way past the 30-hour mark there but I guess that makes sense. I want to start adding extra hours sometime soon so I can be at like the 70-hour mark by the end of December.

The funniest thing about the move, though, is that the Head Librarian made it sound like it was all Rebecca's choice to move and that it was such a better office. Rebecca, on the other hand, whined to me about having to move and told me how much she really liked her old office and didn't want to move to the new one at all, where she felt the view was crappier (she had a point). So hmm, whose idea was it for the move?

Back to the grind

Well, "grind" is probably not accurate to describe a 20-hour workweek and 2 courses but I did have to get up somewhat early after four days of sleeping in.

I'm down to only 18 hours left at my engineering library internship and I'm psyched!! Today I spent most of the day cataloging. The list of journals actually held by the library is significantly greater than the list of journals the library catalog says are there so I had to add and correct entries of missing journals. While having a catalog that actually matches your holdings might not be that important for a small library like this one, I can't for the life of me understand why this hasn't been done. I'm still really trying to figure out what the heck Fred does all day.

Thanksgiving weekend

After Thursday, I had a really nice, tame weekend where I pretty much did nothing. I refrained from doing any Black Friday shopping, despite tempting sales offered by many stores. I have no money to spare and cannot go crazy buying stuff I can't afford. See how good and responsible I am? On Saturday, my friend Brian came over for a few hours so it was nice to catch up with him. He keeps himself way too busy!! Sunday I dedicated to job searching and found a few jobs to apply for. Did I actually apply for any? No, but they are all ready to go! Overall, I really kind of forgot it was a holiday weekend, let alone my first Thanksgiving away from family.

Tofurky Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with my friends in Syracuse was a good time. We had a LOT of food - way more than three girls need - plus wine and a Johnny Depp movie so really, we had quite a bit to be thankful for!! Here are a couple pictures of the food, one of the entire spread, plus one of the tofurky. I have had more requests for information about tofurky than I ever thought possible. "Tell me how that tofurky is" was the statement of the week! Honestly, it didn't taste too bad, although I would probably prefer turkey in the future.

The way of the pilgrims

Well, it's a holiday and I'm staying in Syracuse and celebrating with a couple friends. It should be a good time and we plan on having quite a bit of food, regardless of whether we are with family or not! The only thing missing will be turkey. Instead we are having tofurky.

Anyway, as a holiday greeting, here's a link to a e-card that my friend Nancy sent me. It's cute and made me laugh. Happy Thanksgiving!

Halfway done

I thought I'd already reached the halfway point of my loathed internship at the engineering firm but I was wrong. After today's time there, I have now logged 27 hours, so I have only 23 more to go. Therefore, only after today did I reach the halfway point. Phew. Today was particularly unbearable, for some reason, although Fred did share a bit of information about how things are done at Liverpool Public Library, where he is a substitute. It's interesting that he seems to be more forthcoming about his work at the public library than he is about his day-to-day work at BBL. Not sure if that is because there is more to say or due to some sort of confidentiality he feels for BBL or what. Regardless, it was a little interesting.

No matter what, though, my skin crawls when he tells me to "dilete" something. I thought the word was "delete?"

Where have I been?

So, I had this big 10ish-page paper due Saturday morning so I spent quite some time working on it Thursday and then literally ALL day Friday, too. It was not a fun way to spend a couple of days, but I do actually think it was a pretty good paper. We'll see when the grades come in...

Then, yesterday and today was class from 9-5. Well, more like 9-4:30 but still, it's a long day sitting in class covering topics that we've discussed in detail in other classes. Everyone in my class has whined and complained about the waste of time that is this class and while I agree to some extent, it's hardly the first class I've taken here that has repeated content from another class. In fact, most of the issues overlap in every class.

After class, I spent some time applying at Borders, where I was given over 100 psychological test questions. It was such a pain in the ass. I just want a mall job for the holidays! Who knew it would be so difficult to do that? Ugh. But, I also updated my resume so I can apply for some "real" jobs.

So, yeah, that was my life for the last few days.

Madonna CD

Relying on AOL for free Internet is good in some ways. For instance, I'm currently listening free to the latest Madonna CD, "Confessions on a Dance Floor." Umm, the title is pretty appropriate so far. It's like the music you would hear at a dance club, where they play the extended supercool remix versions of songs and therefore, repeat the same lyrics over and over. I would bet none of these songs have more than 20 total different words in the lyrics. The song I'm currently listening to (which I think is 'Forbidden Love') says something like this over and over "Just one kiss. Just one love." It's got an okay beat to it, although I haven't been moved to get up off my ass to dance. Next is "Jump," which is so far the best of the bunch.

I am so out of the loop that I have no idea which song(s) has been released as a single. Anyway, I'll let you know if anything fantastic comes up on the remaining four songs.

Webcast

I attended my first Webcast today as part of my medical library internship. It was on patient safety. Basically, it started off reminding us how many deaths occur due to errors, either in misinformation or misdiagnosis or incorrect drugs or whatever... So, we are supposed to, as medical librarians, try to improve this situation by making sure there are good information flows. Well, that's the gist of it anyway.

Other than that, I had an okay day at the reference desk. Again, no reference questions. I shadowed and then talked to the consumer health librarian in depth today and that was pretty fascinating. They have some amazing content on their site. Seriously, I'm impressed and think I will be referring people to it for some time to come. Jim (the librarian) even might have a project for me that involves editing some of their Web sites, which would be sweet!

Gastric Emptying

So I was at my internship (the one I loathe) and inputting all these articles into their catalog and the majority of them are about 'gastric emptying.' Uh, yeah, that's pretty much what you would think it would be. A lot of the articles involved timing the gastric emptying (i.e. how long does gastric emptying take?) and featured titles along the lines of "What are the differences in gastric emptying between men and women" and "How different meal choices affect Gastric Emptying." Lovely, it was.

Kathy Griffin

Last night, comedienne Kathy Griffin came to campus and performed. For students, it was a mere $4 to see her and, despite some effort in getting people to actually go with me, it was a good time and those of us who went were happy with the price-to-entertainment value ratio. Two things I liked about Kathy's act:

1.) She is queen of the tangent. She'll go off on this tangent in the middle of a story and then off on another tangent and so on and so on... yet she ALWAYS gets back to the previous story and finishes it off. It's quite amazing actually.

2.) Rather than telling jokes, Kathy is more of an observer of the oddities of people... celebrities in particular. That's what I enjoy, though. It's like hanging at the bar with one of your friends listening to her stories about hanging out with ass hole celebrities.

Anyway, I definitely enjoyed it!

Library of Congress internship...

Before the engineering firm and the medical school internships, there was the Library of Congress, remember? Well, when my roommate got the latest issue of American Libraries in the mail today, there was an article about our treasure-hunting activities over the summer! Yay! No pictures of me, though.

And the second internship is under way as well...

My second internship - at SUNY Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library - began today and it went so much better than the first one. There was official training put in place, where the head of reference showed me how to search for E-Journals and use the primary medical database, Medline. Apparently the most popular questions are along these lines. I did a tutorial on how to use Medline as well and pretty much read everything there is to read on the library's Web page. We set my schedule at 12-5 on Wednesdays and Saturdays so that's not bad. Because they are understaffed currently, she wants me to do Saturdays by myself soon. Scary!

One internship started...

So I finally started one of my internships. After MUCH frustration and a LOT of red tape, I started at the environmental engineering firm this morning. It was awkward and unpleasant and I thank God that I did not sign up for 150 hours there like I would have done had there not been 6 weeks of paperwork hassle.

The librarian is not so much a librarian as he is a 'resource-getter.' Requests for articles or books come to him and he simply has to find the best way to obtain these articles. He might trek to one of the local university libraries and photocopy the article or retrieve it from one of the databases they have access to... He might interlibrary loan it... He might buy an article on a per-article basis... I'm sure there are other options.

I did expect the library to be smaller, though. It has six or seven compact shelving units as well as a couple metal regular units, too. And there seems to be little free space for new acquisitions.

We spent the three hours I was there walking back and forth to his supervisor's office, where the supervisor never was, as well as trying (unsuccessfully) to get in touch with someone from Human Resources. He also had me search Worldcat and submit an ILL request to obtain articles that were requested that day. On Monday, I apparently am going to help organize things, which sounds more exciting at least. He promised I'll get dusty. Good times, no?

You don't know what you've got til it's gone

A friend and I were talking about the HAPRL ratings... ratings about public libraries around the country that are published annually in American Libraries, which is the journal of the Americal Library Association. The compiler uses data including circulation, funding, staffing, hours, etc... to determine the "best" libraries in the nation. I have said this to anyone who will listen in the last year since I've been in library school, but it's shocking to me how lacking the public libraries are in Syracuse. Even those in Virginia, where I was this summer, were less than stellar compared to what I'm used to. Little did I realize that I'm used to the best. Ohio ranks first as a state and a great number of Ohio libraries that I've been to throughout my life rank highly in their specific categories. They divide the libraries by population served and in their respective categories, the Cuyahoga County Public Library ranks 4th and the Porter Public Library in my hometown of Westlake ranks 1st. Hooray for them!

Halloween reading

I've been reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire for weeks but it is pretty appropriate for today. 'The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West' is the subtitle. Unfortunately, although I've been wanting to read this for years and just never got around to it, I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I LOVE the idea behind it but eh, not so much the reality of it. I really don't want to give it up, though, because I've tossed aside so many books I've wanted to read in the last month. Nothing suits my mood. But hey, at least I'm reading for pleasure, which is something I did not do the last two semesters.

I'm back and that calls for some total randomness

So I vow to do a better job of posting on my blog again. I don't know why, I just vow to do so.

And now the random news of my life:

- I am never home on Thursday nights at 10pm because I'm almost always at the bar but I have had a splitting headache all day so I decided to stay in tonight. There is NOTHING on TV right now, so I'm watching some ABC news mag that is detailing a constantly fighting married couple from Rochester. Do I care? No. Yet I watch... Why did the World Series have to end so fast?

- When I get a chance, I am going to try to make a few changes on this site, changes that I've learned from my Information Architecture class.

- I applied for my first library job today. I STILL don't really have an internship but I applied for a job anyway! It's a little backwards, but that's me.

See you soon!