Giant TV

My parents bought a 42-inch HDTV plasma screen television today. It's awesome and they haven't even taken it out of the box yet! They have to figure out where to put it.

Avid readers of mine might remember that they also bought one around Thanksgiving. Well, that didn't work out. My dad ordered one even though they were out of stock and it was supposed to be shipped to the store. A couple days later, my dad got an email from the store telling him that the order was cancelled. No explanation or anything. Oh yeah, and he'd already paid! But he got his money back, just no TV then. Now, they've tried again.

Psychogenic Fugue

I read this fascinating albeit brief article about a man stricken with psychogenic fugue, which is a rare form of amnesia and apparently akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. He basically went out to walk his dog and then suddenly entered this fugue state where he no longer knew who he was or where he was going and basically became homeless for the next 25 days and wandered around aimlessly, until he happened to be walking by a construction site where he was having a new home built and one of the construction guys recognized him. After the construction guy started to talk to him, the man started to slowly remember things and now he's back home safe with his memory intact EXCEPT for the time where he was missing. He only remembers bits and pieces of that time. So very very interesting. It would make an interesting idea for a novel, wouldn't it? But I also would be interested to read a biography of someone stricken with this disease, I wonder if there are any.

Interview recap

My two interviews today went okay but I really don't expect to get to the next round for either of them.

The insurance company guy was kind of a jerk, to be honest, and I felt like I had to constantly defend myself, even though there must have been something they liked about me or they wouldn't have called, right? I don't know. I do think I did okay, though. He said such things as "Librarians are kind of a dying breed, right?" and "Can't all that stuff just be automated?" and "I pretty much find everything I need from Google." Yet, they have this database that they use to evaluate risk and apparently they are in desperate need to have someone on staff who understands it and what kind of information can be retrieved from it and, most importantly, someone who can conduct proper searches for it. Yes, well, that person would be called a librarian!

The trade association guy (seriously, I think these were my first two male interviewers from all these interviews I've had) was okay and again, I think I did fairly well, but then at the end he said something like "Well, we got a lot of response from our ad and there are a number of people here in the Washington, DC, area so I'm not sure we need to be looking from outside the area." Umm, thanks. Obviously, the main question is, "Then why did you even bother calling me?"

Mystery job

And, speaking of jobs, I applied for this position today that was advertised on the Washington Post online job board. It's for a "Research Specialist" at a national trade association. The job description sounded good, like really what I want, but the odd thing is that there was no mention of the organization's name or the name of a contact person or even where it was located. There was simply a vague Gmail address as the place to apply and it said "Other VA" for the location. That could mean anything. I wasn't sure if I should apply for it - why all the secrecy? - but I did, so we'll see. I did a little investigation in the Encyclopedia of Associations and limited it to national organizations in Virginia with an economic focus (as it said in the ad) and came up with about ten possibilities. Assuming the info in the ad is accurate, any of these organizations that fit that description seem like they would be fine to work for. Still, it's odd.

Tomorrow: Two interviews

On Monday, I have two phone interviews scheduled, so that is kind of exciting. And nerve-wracking. One, which I mentioned the other day, is with an insurance company outside Boston. That's at 1pm. Then, at 3pm, I have an interview with, ironically, an insurance trade association outside Washington, DC. Two interviews on the same day, both involving the insurance industry!

It's been about a month or so since I've had an interview and I'm out of practice! I was trying to study somewhat today but I don't think I accomplished much so I'll have to try to get up early tomorrow to make sure I find time to do it then because I don't want to sound like an idiot, especially for the second one, which I'm more excited about because the job comes with a lot more duties that appeal to me. Wish me luck!

Cool site? Radio-Locator

Radio-Locator seems like a useful site, especially for a traveler. You can search in various ways, like type of music or geographical region, for both Internet-streaming and terrestrial radio stations. Also, it tells you good options for frequencies where there is no signal, which can be useful if you have one of those Mp3 or iPod adapters for your car that lets you stream your music through your car speakers. (via)

Which Desperate Housewife are You?

And on that topic...

Which Desperate Housewife are you?

Congratulations! You are Susan Mayer, the divorcee and single mom who will go to extraordinary lengths for love. Take this quiz!

Interesting Desperate Housewives article

Here is Part 1 and here is Part 2 of a pretty interesting interview with Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry. There are small spoilers of upcoming episodes but there is also some discussion about how, for instance, he didn't want Marcia Cross for the role of Bree.

I've been a pretty regular watcher of Desperate Housewives this season after watching it somewhat sporadically the last two seasons. I thank ABC.com for that, for its airing of episodes online.

Crowded House reuniting

I used to be the BIGGEST Crowded House fan and now they are reuniting for a world tour! I had the tape of their self-titled release and I used to listen to that thing over and over and over and over and over and over again on my Walkman (non-Sony, I'm sure) on the bus to and from school when I was in junior high.

A rare accolade for a Cleveland athlete...

Apparently, LeBron James has earned the second-highest number of votes to be an All-Star ever in the history of fan voting. Good for him, but, umm, maybe he could start helping his team win some games again. The Cavs are 2-6 over the last eight games.

The American Idol MySpace Hunt

This dude has been going through the contestants we've seen during the American Idol auditions so far and finding their MySpace pages and posting them to his blog. And then critiquing them... because they haven't gone through enough critiques already. Seriously, though, if you love wasting time by looking at other people's MySpace pages, here's a golden opportunity!

Finally, another interview!

I finally touched base with the woman I mentioned yesterday and have an interview scheduled for Monday. Phew. Even though it was the holidays and whatnot, I was starting to think I might not get an interview again after the month or so lapse.

Also, a friend of mine thinks he can probably get me hired at the public library where he just started working. They are hiring an Adult Services Librarian now, but the pay is kinda low. He's not that happy with his pay and assumes this position has equally low pay. It's in the Research Triangle part of North Carolina.

Phone tag (aka job news)

I've been playing phone tag the last two days with someone from "talent management" at an insurance company outside Boston. It's one of the places I applied over the weekend. It makes me laugh that they have a department called "talent management." Instead of "human resources"?

Make your own Peeps

Umm, this is pretty cool, a Peeps press. (via)

All praise OhioLink

Now OhioLink is well-known in the field as one of the best Library Consortia around. See, they are even mentioned in that dictionary entry I linked to... But, I had never tried it for myself. Until today. I was debating about whether I should spend the money to buy the books required for this course or not... when it hit me that I have OhioLink at my disposal and could probably get them from any library in the entire state in just a couple of days. And so I ordered them online! By myself! Without having to talk to someone at the library! And they should be delivered to my local branch in 3-5 days! And, the best part is that I'll be able to renew them up to four times so I'll have them throughout the semester. And then, I looked for a couple movies that I want to see that none of the libraries around here have in their collections. And requested them too!

I have no idea why I didn't think of any of this earlier. Duh.

Where did the weekend go?

All of a sudden, I realized that it's like 1am on Sunday night and I have no idea what I did this weekend! Let's break it down...

Friday, I spent most of the day and evening doing homework. I had a ton of things to read, plus I had to create a Web page and well, umm, I never had to do that before. It wasn't too difficult at all, actually. I know a little HTML thanks to this blog and I also was able to follow the really excellent tutorials that my friend Dan created as part of his GA-ship the last two years and it all worked out okay. It was only a simple page.

During some of Saturday, I went shopping with my mom. I love shopping and I was actually in the mood to shop, too! I got a fantastic, unbelieveably comfortable pair of dress pants for $17. They are by Dorothee Bis (although they are not on that site, as far as I can see.) So psyched to someday have a job where I can wear them...

Saturday night, I had the opportunity to go out for dinner and went to Smokey Bones Barbeque, which I think is fairly new around here, but I could be wrong. I am not that easily enticed by food but when I saw their menu, I was salivating at about sixteen different things! Yum! I couldn't decide what to get. As I wasn't that hungry, I ended up getting the Portabello Chicken Wrap and it was pretty good. I want to go back and get more. Even their alcoholic drinks were unique and sounded delicious. (I didn't imbibe.) Apparently this is a chain restaurant with a number of locations in the eastern US. There is even one in Syracuse; who knew?! Oh wait, now that I look it up on the map, I do think I knew it was there. Anyway, I recommend it.

Today, Sunday, I spent the entire day finishing up my homework for the week (SO much reading) and also applying for jobs. I applied for this cool-sounding job in Lower Manhattan, as well as two in Boston and two in Washington, DC. I am a perfect match for one of the jobs in the DC area, but will they call me? Probably not... Oh yeah, I also caught some of the AFC Championship Game. Go Colts! I LOVE that Bill Belichik lost. That was a great game.

Make your own "For Dummies" Book

Myspace Layouts
(via)

Online TV: The CW (and more)

Since I'm always updating my blog about online TV viewing opportunities, here's another. The CW is finally joining the other major networks in offering some episodes of certain series online. Episodes of such CW hits as Beauty & the Geek, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us and Girlfriends will be available here, after installation of a special (and reportedly innovative) viewer. That's great news as I've constantly reported how much I love to watch TV online and the more options, the better. Right now, each show offers a few of the latest episodes. Of course, the one show that I do watch regularly on the CW is Gilmore Girls and that is not included. Boo! But, who knows, maybe I'll start watching Beauty & the Geek or Everybody Hates Chris or something.

Also, recently, ABC added Men in Trees to its online line-up, which I'm happy about because I feel like I might enjoy it yet have not had the opportunity to watch it and this could have been a chance to catch up with it. However, unlike other new shows that ABC recently added (Brothers & Sisters, What About Brian and Ugly Betty, for example, although Ugly Betty doesn't really count I guess since it's been there all season) where the entire season to date is available, only the pilot and the newest two episodes of Men in Trees are available. I have no real desire to watch the last two episodes if I'm missing all of those in between the pilot and them... Kinda stupid.

I Want One: Petal Rings

I think most who know me know I love a cool, unique ring and these definitely fit the bill. I love them! Only two problems, though: 1.) They are $69 and that is a bit much for me to pay for a ring and 2.) There are over 100 different colors to choose from! How would I ever decide? (via)

"Gates Foundation expands U.S. libraries initiatives"

This article is good news.