The Last Post!

And thanks to velocibadgergirl I get to complete the following meme to fulfill my blogging requirement for the day.

"According to the rules...
Each player of this game starts with the
"6 Weird Things about You".
People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!"

Weird Thing #1: My mother-in-law and I have the same name. It's spelled differently, but it is the same nonetheless.

Weird Thing #2: I hate having the top of my feet touched. It's okay if I'm getting a massage, but if someone runs their fingers across the top of my foot it makes me want to throw up.

Weird Thing #3: I often dream about movie stars and usually end up in weird situations with them. Liam Neeson was a cyclops in one, and Harvey Keitel rear-ended me in another - he told me that "everyone needs a friend in November." Yeah, I don't get it either.

Weird Thing #4: After I've visited a new city, I usually don't care anything about going back. Two exceptions are New Orleans and Vegas. Otherwise, it's been there, done that for me.

Weird Thing #5: I'm studying to become a librarian, but I haven't read a book in almost a year.

Weird Thing #6: I've read "The Little Prince" a half dozen times, and I always cry at the end of it. I know what's coming, and it still gets me every single time.

And I? Will tag no one.

Also:

I should have a 2 gin and tonic lunch every day.

Brought to You By the Number 29

Today is Day 29!

Which obviously means that it's the 29th of November.

Which means that it's my birthday.

And I'm turning 29 on the 29th this year.

I'm thinking that this is a good number for me.

So let's say that today's episode is brought to you by the letter C and the number 29.

C? For CASHMERE.

Also: my initials.

An Open Letter.

Dear Mac Mail,

You? Are shitty. Plain and simple. I have spent all day working on you because of your mailbox limits. Yes, my boss needs to have less and a gig and half of messages, I agree. But really - you change your own settings as you see fit which totally screws us and then? You quit downloading messages altogether. Maybe a warning message before that happens would be GREAT.

But you know what? Your users are pretty smart. They figured out how to save those lost messages with a magical script. And you? Are damn lucky. Because I was about ready to quit and leave it up to a professional.

HA! Mac Mail, you couldn't beat me. I am the QUEEN. I can figure things out like no one's business. So next time? Maybe you should try your voodoo on someone who ISN'T an information professional.

Because I just rocked your socks.

Oh Jeebus - Day 28

Think think think - something to say, something to say.

I got to have lunch with my husband today AND I got free dessert!

Birthday weeks are fun.

School and work are not.

But I am wearing pretty shoes...I think next year I might do NoBloShoeMo instead.

And One More for Good Measure

You know how one tone-deaf person can ruin a whole song?

Because one of my officemates is really good at that.

It's bad for my bruxism.

Also:

I'd like to know how many of us have made it this far in NaBloPoMo.

Three more posts to go!!

Early Onset Dementia

No really. I can't remember anything if I don't write it down. And sometimes I even forget then.

Like right now I just remembered I need peanut butter. In two hours on my way home? I'll forget.

This is really a pain when it comes to working on my final projects. I do half of something and then either forget to do the other half or I can't remember what to refer to in order to finish it. I often sit and stare blankly for minutes on end until I recall what I'm supposed to be doing.

Maybe I have something exotic like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Probably not. Just stress.

10 days left. And you'd better believe I'm counting every one.

The Part Where I'm FREEZING.

Um yeah - it's 59 degrees. I can't feel my digits.

I have a hard time turning on the heat since I live in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. We don't need heat here, right?

I think the dog is hibernating next to me, and I'm pretty sure we might need the electric blanket this afternoon or we'll be popsicles.

No, I will not turn on the heat today. Maybe tomorrow when it rains.

Day 26, and I've resorted to talking about the weather.

Day 25?!?!!

I'm totally out of things to say.

The dog is barking at the tree trimmer and I'd like to poke her in the nose.

This nose.



But it's too cute to do that.

The tree trimmer has been here almost all day. Poor guy.

And Back to It Again.

Thanksgiving was a welcome break from metadata...maybe it could have lasted for the next two weeks and then it would just be all over.

Not so much. So it's back to metadata schemas and XML encoding and trying to define findability.

By Monday.

Suddenly becoming a children's librarian sounds like a much better idea than information organization and description.

Thanksgiving 2006

What we did AFTER Thanksgiving dinner...




First we had this...



Then this to cleanse our paletes??



Then on to the next course...



Then on to the next...



And to calm our stomachs...



Then I decided to mix them all together...



This is what I had to say about it.

Funniest Thing I've Read Today...

From Heather:

On the drive up yesterday we tried to get Leta to watch a couple of DVDs, but she was more interested in seeing if she could adequately reproduce the sound a goat would make if its tonsils were being scraped out with a slotted spoon. Chuck was sitting next to her in his little dog bed, and usually when she starts making that noise he hops up and immediately flees the room. Since he was sitting in the back seat of the car he had nowhere to go and so pressed his body as flatly as he could get it up against the door, as far from her bleating as he could get, his ears rigid pancakes against the back of his head. That’s his body language for please, tell me again, why is it not a good idea to eat her?

The Countdown...

So I'm down to bread and booze on my shopping list. I even got a new coffee/espresso maker today.

And the turkey has been named Obediah. Long-standing tradition.

Now I just have to cook....beginning tonight and starting again at 5am tomorrow. So yes, the coffee maker will come in handy.

So will mimosas. Because I can drink again!!!

YAY!


Best. Thanksgiving. Ever.

The Turkey Needs a Name

Every year I name the turkey Turkey Lurky. She needs a new name this year, and not a difficult one because I'll be half in the bag by the time it goes into the oven.

Or maybe all in the bag, considering that I'm sure I have NO alcohol tolerance since my unscheduled abstinence from the hooch.

Speaking of hooch, I was having a conversation with a friend last night about how I hadn't had a drink in a week. We thought maybe it would be a good idea to be dry for an entire year. And then we realized how much of our social life together revolves around drinking.

Maybe that's not a good thing. It's not like we're falling down drunk or anything, we just enjoy imbibing together.

I don't know - the idea of being alcohol-free for a year is intriguing. Perhaps it would give a person a different perspective on drinking.

And the party at the end of it would be KILLER.

Ah, That Familiar Feeling

The tightness in the chest that is stress.

How I've missed you, old friend. Perhaps you could let your pal anxiety know that he needn't make a visit this time around. Because really? I don't have time to be curled up in bed and unable to function.

I have to write metadata and XML and mock up a web page and interview an archivist.

AND COOK A TURKEY.

So thanks for passing that along, stress. I wish I could drown you in booze like I enjoy doing so much, but thanks to Cipro you get full attention.

Blah.

Just blah.

I've done enough today that I no longer have the motivation to do any more. I just want to lie down and watch educational television until my eyes glaze over or I fall asleep and have a dream about cold case detectives.

My dog met my brother-in-law's dog today and they like each other okay so everyone can come for Thanksgiving. Eight people and two dogs - I'm excited! Somehow Thanksgiving is better when there's a houseful of people.

So after the dogs met, I had to go get my car washed because ick - pine sap and sprinkler water and dog hair and dog dirt were all making me very sad. Now it's sparkly and pretty - until the guys trimming my tree(!) out front drop a branch onto it.

It reality, the trees in the backyard need it worse than this one does. But we have an absentee landlord who doesn't bother us so I don't complain that they're growing over the back of the house and creeping over the garage onto the neighbors' property. No sense in stirring anything up unecessarily. Perhaps they'll do the backyard one of these days too. I mentioned six months ago that they needed to be trimmed - our gardeners don't do it - of course, they don't even cut the grass, so I'm not sure why I'd expect them to trim the trees.

Wow - that's thrilling reading right there. Trees.

I did have lunch at Pink's today.

So there - now I've bored you with trees AND what I ate for lunch.

I'm going to sleep with the dog now.

The Only Bad Thing About the West Coast.

Sometimes you miss the best of the the Leonid Meteor Shower.

I'll watch Taxi Driver instead, I guess. Meteors have nothing on Travis Bickle.

Grrr.

So I've spent two days this week working on a final project that changed last night.

??

Now it's half as much work and on a wider variety of options.

So maybe that means I'm ahead?

Or just cranky.

Also:

Maybe I could furnish my house with this lamp.

I'm pretty sure my husband would dig it.

FRI to the DAY!

And not a moment too soon. It's been a hell of a week. But at least I know I can't catch anthrax in the next five days.

Yes, Cipro is coursing through my veins.

We will not speak of it.

In other news, the countdown to Thanksgiving has started and my house is a wreck, the dog needs a bath, I have no furniture (when did my living room get so empty?), nor do I even have a turkey.

I'll just dazzle everyone with my pretty hair.

And my lack of anthrax.

I do have plenty of alcohol.

Since This Seems to be a Theme...

Which I had never heard of until yesterday when I was playing with the NaBloPoMo randomizer and ran across Suzanne's site. Then today Mrs. Flinger mentioned it too.

What is it?

Dye for your pubes.

You're welcome. Now the curtains can truly match the drapes.

What does that mean anyway?

I Really Need to Do Some WORK.

The worst part? It's true.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

And One More Thing...

THIS!

Also:

Halfway through NaBloPoMo!

Thanks to the lovely M. Kennedy for the reminder.

This also means 15 days of me screaming about final projects. YEAH!

Exhausted.

My back is askew. It kept me up until 1:00 this morning, at which point I was singing the praises of my husband and his trek to get Ben-Gay. We do not have a 24-hour pharmacy in Pasadena.

Ben-Gay.

I've hardly slept since Saturday...I get two or three hours at a time and then I have to get up for one reason or another. Usually to pee.

Ben-Gay AND peeing in the middle of the night.

WTF?

When did I get old?

Yeah, Me Too.

marriedtothesea.com

Ah, Monday

and it's back to the grind. I was up at 5:30 this morning to get to the airport because you never know what Monday will be like...so I ended up pooting around online for 45 minutes because we were very early.

I also made the mistake of downloading my final project description for my metadata class at 7am. Yeah, that was a shock. I read it once and I haven't looked at it again because GAH! I'm not ready for it.

But I have to be. Because my draft is due two weeks from today.

I also have another assignment I completely blanked on that's due around the same time. Ummm...yeah.

Breathe.

Another Lost Weekend

First, a little background. I'm in Vegas about 6 times a year - my hairdresser is here. It costs me half as much to have it done here than it does in L.A., and yes, after a plane ticket it probably comes out to the same but I like her and I love my hair. Also, one of my best friends lives here so I don't have to pay to stay when I'm here.

That said, people always ask what I do when I'm in Vegas. And I'm often embarrassed to say. I usually try to see a show, depending on what's here. I've seen the Stones, Death Cab for Cutie, KA, Le Reve, the B-52s, Tom Jones (twice - that's a story for another day), and Friday I saw David Copperfield. I also like to try a new restaurant while I'm here - this weekend I went to two, one a locals place, which I like to do for the not Vegas strip experience.

So why am I embarrassed? Because that's all I do. One show, a dinner or two. Other than that, I waste the weekend on the sofa with the TV remote or a trashy magazine and a good deal of booze. And I think a lot of people would say that's wasting a trip to Vegas...I'm sure my husband feels that way, but he loves the Strip and he likes to gamble.

I hate people and I'm terrible at gambling. There is nothing I'd rather do than just sit for two days, because it's the only time I get to do that. There's no work, no schoolwork (most of the time), no laundry or housework. And most of the time that's exactly what I need when I'm here.

Especially now - because starting tomorrow it's the downhill slide of the semester and two final projects are due the beginning of December. Throw in Thanksgiving and the high holy days of November (yay Gene!) and I'm already hyperventilating.

So here's to another lost weekend. I'm going to drink my champagne and be glad that my hair isn't three colors anymore.

*Lost Weekend - Stan Ridgway**
**you know Mexican Radio? That guy.

Illusions of Grandeur?

I obviously made my flight to Vegas yesterday, even after leaving work 40 minutes late. But that means I was at work most of the day, so I don't feel too bad about leaving.

So David Copperfield?

Eh. He didn't make it snow, just rain.

He's an amazing storyteller - which makes you pay less attention to the fact he's performing the same illusions he's used for 25 years.

It was a fine show and I need not see him again.

Now I have to get my roots covered up.

I'm Not Even Supposed to be Here Today.

And yet, here I am in the office frantically trying to print a poster that will. not. print.

Bitter, party of one.

I have a flight to catch in 2 hours and I'm going to scream.

And Breathe.

Two more assignments done. You'd think having 3 weeks to complete them would be enough.

Stupid work always gets in the way.

I spent almost all of yesterday at work trying to finish things up, and then tried to keep going when I got home. Ha...that didn't happen. My brain was complete mush. So, I was up before the sun this morning with a brilliant idea for an essay. It would be great if those brilliant ideas came at, say, 6pm. Thank you, brain, for shutting off after 6pm. But please don't turn back on at 3am. I beg you.

And so it's a weekend in Vegas for me before I hit the ground running toward my final projects. I haven't had my hair done in 3 months. Holy roots.

GAH.

I Also Feel Like This

toothpastefordinner.com

Today's Realization

I will never be an indexer. Ever.

Why?

Because I can't even index one chapter without wanting to pull my hair out. And? My index is teh suck. And almost done.

And probably nonsensical.

I don't care.

Also:

Dear Officemate,

FINISH YOUR OWN FUCKING WORK. Fill out the order form yourself if you know what has to be done. And then call the repro company.

Because really? That's just laziness, and your need to get back to your gay vampire fiction is certainly not my problem.

ASS.

FOR REALS?!?!?!?!

Did she really?

Because this totally tops the Phillipe/Witherspoon split.

Misc.

So the windshield did get replaced.

The end.

In other news, I'm so far behind on my homework that it's ridiculous. But work keeps getting in the way. Pesky paying job. I could care less about skate parks and it's not getting me any closer to explaining Shatford's subject analysis and how it supports findability. This means I have to *gasp* - do homework AT HOME.

GAH.

Also: prescription drama. How can a doctor you've been going to for years write you the wrong prescription? How can the pharmacy, when told which one you REALLY take, the one that is listed in its computer, proceed to fill the wrong prescription again?
You tell me, because I'm clueless. Fortunately after 3 days it's all figured out and I'm happily medicated once again. Next time I'll be sure to check the prescription BEFORE I leave the doctor's office.

And that is all.

A Comedy of Errors

My windshield is being replaced even as I type. Well, it was. Then the repair guys realized they're missing a tool and they can't call the boss because they'll get in trouble. So they went to the hardware store to get another. My windshield is supposed to be done in 10 minutes.

Since I'm at work and I usually park in the city garage across the street, they're working on it in the back "parking lot" which is no more than a partial alley with five cars in it. I've already had to move the car twice, and I finally just left the keys downstairs with them. If they take off with it I'll just accept that my car and I weren't meant to be.

At least when it's done it'll be the cleanest thing on my car. Or I'll buy a pair of aviator goggles and let the wind blow my hair.

To be continued...

How Do They Do It?

I hate to snark about my fellow students, but there is one thing that completely mystifies me sometimes...

How some people get a Masters degree. I have seen the questions that they ask on the discussion boards, and it frightens me. A lot. There's a minimum level of competency that one expects from the students in a Masters program. Like knowing that LIBR 200-12 is section 12 of that class, and you don't have to take all of the 200 classes just because they all have a different number after the 200.

Yes, a lot of students are returning to school after many years. But they got Bachelor's degrees once. The process isn't much different today, besides the fact that it's all computerized, and if you're going to be a librarian in the 21st century you'd better be comfortable with that fact.

I'm taking my snobbery and going home now.

Six Years

Today is my sixth wedding anniversary, and the end of our 11th year together.

11 years.

I wasn't even old enough to vote when we started dating. But I knew from the second time I saw him that I was going to marry him. How did I know that at 17? How did I know it at 22 when we did get married?

We were two different people then. Those people aren't gone, just different. And I don't think it's a bad thing at all. Everyone changes over time. We have been fortunate enough to grow and change and still stay together when so many others haven't.

I don't know what makes us different from any other couple, and I don't think we have some magic formula that would work for anyone else.

But it works for us. And I hope it does for another 60 years.

The Dangers of Pine Cones.

I should never get a new vehicle. Ever.

This morning I walked out to get into the car and lo and behold...the windshield is cracked.

It was parked in the driveway. Under the pine tree. Thank you, Nature, for costing me almost $400.

This is the third car I've owned, and the third glass I've had to replace. The first was a rear window after some jackoff threw a piece of concrete through it. The second was a windshield when a truck kicked up a stone and broke it, and now this one.

Plastic windshields. That's what I need.

*Sigh* - happy Friday to me.

Words that Don't Exist

I guess if anyone can make up words, its an information professional. Or a linguist.

But really - ofness? Aboutness? Come on.

I could accept it if I didn't have to think too much about it, but when I have to write a paper and repeatedly use those words? It really bothers me.

Bah.

Back to it, then.

It's National Blog Posting Month!

So if you've wandered over here for the first time, welcome! As my blog title indicates I am on my way to becoming a real live librarian. Or maybe a sexy, yet evil one. I'm a Masters student at SJSU, and am working my way through a mostly online program. It's very abstract, but it works for me.

I actually have a pretty boring blog - some days it's about school, others it's about whatever catches my eye in my travels through the intarweb. Pretty fluffy stuff, mostly - unless I get crabby about something and decide to vent.

I only do this for my own entertainment - my audience consists of about three people, and I like it that way. But if I were to make a friend or two along the way, that would be an okay thing.