GET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE!

I’m sure that all of you have seen both of these videos, but I just had to profess my love for one of the world’s greatest bands… and what better way to do that than through two ginormous pop culture ‘figures.’

Yet Another Reason Why John Green is My Hero

I know I’m getting redundant in my Twilight hatery, but I couldn’t pass this up!  Also, I almost agree with everything this awesomely awesome dude says:

*Groan*

How did I start my week?  I saw New Moon.  Now, no one has stoned me for my hypocrisy (or saying Jehovah), but at least you’ll be happy that I didn’t enjoy it.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely time with the people I went with.  It was the movie.  I think at some point I took out my keys and tried to jab them into my eyes, but my glasses kept getting in the way.  So let the roasting begin:

It all started out when I saw the ‘trailer’ for the new Jackson Four reality show.  Dear God in Heaven, are you serious?!?!?!  So of course, I said something to the effect that do they really need to ride more on the coat tails of their white woman brother?  And the woman next to me looks at me and says they need the money, they’re poor.  I couldn’t say anything for fear of a beat down, but I remember rolling my eyes.  And then the movie started.  I think the commentary in my head was about the same for Twilight:

 

Twilight commentary:

Edward: Say it.

Bella: 100 year old stoned, glittery, obsessed creeper?

Edward: Erm, true, but I think what you were going for was ‘vampire.’

New Moon commentary:

Jacob: We can’t hang out anymore

Bella: Why not?

Jacob: Because you’re small, pale, ugly, pathetic, weak.  Oh yeah, you will never be as wonderfully ripped as me.  I’m off to play with my new friends… byeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

I think by the time Bella went to Italy, I turned to my friend and said: is this movie over yet?  I got so bored, the commentary in my head died, and my brain turned to goo.  I could actually review this movie, but I’ll let you read this instead.  (I apologize in advance for the foul language and any other stuff that might offend).  I’ll admit that while writing this section on New Moon, I think my brain exploded and blood shot out of my nose.

Onto happier things!

Wednesday was a whirlwind because, well, all the little childrens were out of school.  My story time crowd was pretty ginormous (practically all new people), no one came to watch the movie (so I watched Meet the Robinsons by myself), and the adult community care center turned me away.  The only bad part of the day was when two children decided to drop their backpacks down from the balcony to the bottom floor (one almost hit me in the head).  I think steam came out of my ears and I distinctly remember yelling at them.  And then I got ‘yes ma’amed,’ which totally alleviated the entire situation because I went back into my office and had a short gigglefest.

Both of my Thanksgiving feasts were amazing.  Truly amazing.  So amazing that I am NEVER going to eat again (or wait until Christmas).  I would say more about how much fun I had (which I did BTW), but then I start thinking about the food that I ate.  And my stomach starts to hurt.

I think I might go lay on the couch, keep digesting my food, and watch endless episodes of Get Smart.  That sounds like a fantastic idea.

Countdown to Cleveland: 23 days

 

Need to Add Another Notch to the Belt

It’s that time of year again…

Happy Thanksgiving…

That’s the Way it Crumbles… Cookie Wise

*Sigh* I really need to stop watching old movies…

So, I thought it was going to be a crazy, crazy week, but it was only crazy for two days and then tapered off.  Like it should.  Monday was the Mystery night program and I thought it went only ok.  I’m sure other people will tell you different since I had over 30 people show up.  While a lot of the kids enjoyed the program and worked as a team, I had a few who either didn’t understand the concept fully, didn’t care, and goofed off.  I got pretty livid, which surprised the hell out of me when I kind of snapped at two youngsters in my group.  I also had someone complain that they felt that because the mystery night involved MURDER, it was not appropriate for his/her children.  *headdesk*  I politely told this person that I had advertised the program as a murder mystery.  Later, I talked to my supervisor and she agreed with me, plus she reminded me that we had talked about the appropriateness of the program (because I was nervous), and decided that since the murder had taken place five years into the past, and there was no body, it would be ok.  In no way was the murder mystery inappropriate to 7-12 year olds.  But then again, I’m not a mother.  I have to remind myself that I can’t make everyone happy.

The puppet play went over pretty well, my favorite being the play that our young adult librarian wrote, The VERY, VERY First Thanksgiving.  When I say first Thanksgiving, I mean it involved dinosaurs.  Hilarious.  The kids came up with some good ideas for our Christmas puppet plays (Funny Night Before Christmas, Goldilocks and the Three Elves, and Reindeer Tryouts).  I already wrote an amusing take on the Night Before Christmas.  It involves a very frustrated narrator who keeps getting interrupted by different characters.  Here’s a snippet:

Narrator: With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick…

Santa: I WANT MILK AND COOKIES!!!

Narrator: I said ‘lively and quick,’ not fat and lazy!

Santa: I can’t help that every girl and boy leaves me cookies and milk, they’re my weakness.

Narrator: Oy vey, where was I?  Oh yes, More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name…

Santa: Now, Oreo!  Now, Tollhouse!  Now, Nabisco and Nestle!

Narrator: No!  No!  No!

Well, I thought it was vaguely amusing.

My family got their webcam, so we were all able to talk face to face!!!  That’s pretty exciting, except for the fact that I always get this feeling that I need to look somewhat presentable when we talk…

I went out to dinner and shopping with a friend on Friday, that was very nice.  I had sushi… well fake sushi.  You know, not raw fish, but crab and shrimp.  What can I say?  I’m not that adventurous.  We both had a nice time.

This week should be nice and short, but Wednesday will be fun.  I have story time at 10:30 (I got a little *warmandfuzzy* after a bunch of moms were adamant that I would be doing story time), showing a movie for all the kids that are out of school at 11:30 (Meet the Robinsons), and then going to an adult ‘daycare’ center to tell them my Anansi story and do a craft.

I have to get it out of the way.  I.  Am.  A.  Hypocrite.  I blatantly mock the Twilight franchise and tell everyone how much I detest the books… but I’m going to see the New Moon tomorrow with fellow librarians.  Don’t worry, I will bring something sharp to jab at my eyes.  Yes, please throw rocks me.

Also, happy news!  I get to do Thanksgiving twice this year (once on Thursday and once on Friday).  Before I go any further, I have to thank the tons and tons of people who keep inviting me to their house or their family’s house.  Very sweet.  I have this sinking feeling that someone will have to roll me to work because I will have blown up like a balloon ala Violet Beauregard.  Tons of wonderful food, and I get to contribute with Pumpkin Cheesecake and Chocolate Chunk Toffee cookies!

God, I do go on.  One more thing, I promise.  I’m excited for Secret Santa and our Christmas party.  I need to do a quick poll.  So if you could either do the poll thingy or leave comments below, I’d appreciate!

Countdown to Cleveland: 30 days

And That’s the Week That Was…

*Whew* what a week.  KAB and Puppet Players met on Tuesday afternoon.  Like always, we had a good time.  I let them listen to my Glee CD (total guilty pleasure) and it was kinda hilarious to watch seven kids between the ages of 7-13 jam out to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.’”  I told them that I have many friends who would be so very proud of them knowing all the words (seeing that most of my memories of that song involves friends, a bar, and some sort of girly beverage).

Thursday, my supervisor, another coworker, and myself got to go to Barnes and Noble.  All day.  It was FANTASTIC!  We were given dollys to put books on (I must have filled two of those bad boys) and got to buy pretty much whatever we wanted.  When I say ‘whatever,’ I mean within  the parameters of our collection development policy.  But omigod, I was in a state of shock/euphoria that I could purchase as much as I wanted.  They also let me let loose in the movie/TV department as well.  Our library will be the proud owner of three volumes of Animaniacs, one volume of Pinky and the Brain, one volume of Sesame Street, two volumes of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and other various movies.  I can’t wait until the like eight boxes of stuff we brought back to the library gets processed.  Brilliant!

I think I’m pretty much done getting stuff ready for Mystery Night.  I’m nervous (like I normally am) because I do have thirty kids signed up.  I’m glad that I have two other people helping me.  They know their way around these programs better than I do (and I’m sure they’ll have some good input).

Speaking of programs, the library is also gearing up for Christmas (yes, yes, more than a month away, I am aware).  We let kindergarten and first grade classes visit both libraries to visit Santa and make crafts.  Last time I talked to my supervisor, we had over five hundred kids signed up.  We also have two nights that the public can take pictures with Santa.  Boy, I can’t wait (!)

Today, I went out to buy all of the ingredients that I’ll be needing for baking for the next month.  This weekend I’m making  vegan banana muffins for a birthday.  Since, I’m celebrating Thanksgiving twice this year, I’ll be making Pumpkin Cheesecake and Chocolate Chunk Toffee cookies.  Hopefully, I won’t make any baking fails.  *knocks on wood*  For dinner, I thought that I would treat myself to POM Cider Glazed Pork Chops, baked potato, and peas.  Yum.  The only drawback was that my smoke detector kept going off and I checked a bazillion times to see if anything was heavily smoking/on fire, but no.  Maybe maintenance will know what’s going on.  Regardless, it was a delicious meal.

Finally, I got my webcam today!  So for any of you lovely people that have gmail, skype, or something else that will work, let me know.  I won’t be so lonely down here!  I was playing around with it and figured out how to make a video and post it to Youtube.  For some reason, I thought it was going to be harder than it actually was.  Here’s what I got:

PS- Mother dearest is visiting me for my birfday!!!

Countdown to Cleveland: 38 days

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape

Nothing interesting has happened last week, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been productive.  Things are slowly gearing up: big program next week, Thanksgiving, Christmas at the library, and then home.  It’s weird how these last four months are flown by.

Story time has seen to got better too.  I had about 31 people at my morning story time of Wednesday and what’s even nicer is that kids have started to sit on the carpet in front of me instead of sitting in the back with their parents.  Saturday’s story time was pretty cute.  I chose to focus on rain, and I borrowed a paper folding story that my professor, Kathy Maron-Wood taught me at Pitt.  I mostly see moms on the weekdays, but on the weekends dads come out in full force, and it was so incredibly cute to watch all the dads help their daughters make homemade rain sticks.

I was also invited to a murder mystery dinner theater on Saturday night at Bauxite High School.  That was fun, but I was a little apprehensive about going alone.  But not to worry, a family adopted me while I ate some good chili.  The play, Murder in the Wings was pretty hilarious.  I enjoyed myself.

Haven’t written anything else on the NaNoWriMo front.  Fail.

Moment of zen:

 

Countdown to Cleveland: 43 days

Space…the Final Frontier

So I think Alien Space Camp went pretty well.  For anyone who doesn’t know, it was our Halloween program this year.  The only drawback was that it was like a monsoon outside, so that deterred some kids from coming and we couldn’t go outside to look at the stars for obvious reasons.

I put together a power point of different pictures taken from space and the kids went absolutely nuts!  I thought it would be something to add to the atmosphere, but they were entranced.  All of them came in, sat down, and watched this powerpoint.  Quietly too.  And of course, I found out that Jupiter and a few of its moons are visible now.  Dern.  Other than that, the autopsy was pretty funny.  The best part was my supervisor throwing a light up koosh ball into the audience.  Screams and laughs abounded.  I guess the script that I wrote for that didn’t suck after all.  The kids LOVED the face painting.  Now my artistic ability is few and far between, but they didn’t care because their star/galaxy/alien would light up in the black light.  I think they liked making the slime and the antenna, but I didn’t oversee any of those craft stations because I was painting faces.

Oh wait, there was a downside.  Trying to teach 22 kids how to play Mafia.  I think I suck at giving instructions/some of the kids weren’t interested.  Oh well, it’s over and no use worrying about it.

Halloween was nice and quiet.  I watched Ghostbusters and passed out candy.  Not too many kids showed up, so I have leftovers.  I talked to Grandma today, and she had 68 kids.  Lucky her.

For no apparent reason, I just got done making chocolate chip cookies…

Finally, happy NaNoWriMo!  I know it’s late in the evening, but I’m totally going to write 500 words before I go to bed.  For those of you wondering what the heck I’m talking about, clicky!

Randomness Ensues

Two quick things because I’ll forget by this weekend:

1. Coolest phone reference question ever:  An elderly woman called needing help with a crossword puzzle.  “CRAP,” thinks I.  I suck at those things.  Then she asks me if I’ve read The Hobbit and I tell her yes.  I guess 14 down was where do the hobbits live.  So I told her and then we had a brief discussion of Tolkien, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings series.  And now she’s going to read the four books because I made it sound interesting.

2. No one except my best friend and family will get this one.  So, I’m parked in front of the mailboxes to grab my mail and what kind of car pulls up behind me but a Toyota Echo (the exact model) and it’s a powder greenish blue (just like my dearly departed Toyota Corolla).  I almost cried.

On another note, I searched for 15 minutes to see if I could find a photo.  Alas.

Hunker Down and Wait for the Librarian Storm to Pass

Went to Hot Springs this weekend with fellow co-workers for a meeting.  Needless to say I was uber excited… because I have no life.  The meeting was for the Arkansas Young Adult Book Award, which is fantastic,  not only are we doing something awesome, I’m ‘forced’ to read more YA lit.

The one thing I learned from this meeting?  Librarians are scary.  We had a ‘wildcard’ section where the whole group had to vote for their favorite that did not make it into the top three.  Needless to say there were a lot of opinions… and yelling… and anger… and passion.  I think being passionate about a book is fantastic, but I literally slid down in my chair so I wouldn’t be caught up in the cross fire.  So while librarians are awesome, they can also go to a scary place.  And no one wants to see that scary place… it’s like looking into the eyes of Medusa.

Other than that?  My big program is on Thursday so I will update this weekend about how bad it failed.