saw you leaning against that old record machine, saw the name of your band written on the marquee

Oh the joys of morning staff meetings.

Every year we have this thing called "inservice" where all the libraries in the system close and all the employees of all the different branches all come to the same place and we do seminars and breakout sessions and all that. I don't mind it cause I get to see all my home branch and other "we are, we are the youth of library" friends.

But apparently, this year they said screw it to the whole breakout sessions thing and we are instead going somewhere to learn about poverty. Which will be helpful, to our branch especially, but it won't feel like inservice. Cause instead of breakout sessions it's just one chick talking to us the whole day. So she better be good, or that's really gonna suck.

Anyway, for said "inservice" we have to read this book and answer these discussion questions and in this morning's meeting we went over those questions.

And Superwoman brought us donuts. Yeehaw.

It's gonna be interesting, and that's all I'm gonna say about it.

So that was this morning, after that most of the day I worked on that paperback spreadsheet mentioned in previous posts and finally got that sent off to the supervisor who works with collection management to do the ordering for the processing party that will take place in May.

Spent a lot of time at the desks, sent out reminder emails for the First Friday Art Show tomorrow, some of my teens are playing music whilst others greet guests. Should be fun. And then Saturday is the Read Across America thing at the mall. So it's a big weekend for TAB.

And me in turn, adding to that is the concert on Sunday.

Which means next week you will be overloaded with music by Maroon 5, Neon Trees and Owl City.

Get ready for it.

After work I met up with Slim Shady for supper. It was awesomeness, I pretty much tackled her in the parking lot. We ate pasta, it rocked. I have half of it in my fridge. Along with many other leftovers that I should really clean out before going shopping tomorrow.

Got to hear all about the new job, new place and the serious boyfriend. It's always amusing when it comes to boyfriend talk because we both started dating them at the same time. Funny to see how differently our relationships have progressed in the same amount of time. Granted she is older by like 2 years (used to call her Grandma scroll back a year and you'll find them) and my boyfriend has basically told me we're not getting married for like another 10 years.

I know, it was either Vegas or 10 years, should have stuck with Vegas.

Anyway, it was an excellent vent session. Which I severely needed cause I no longer have her or Fearless Leader around. Queen of the Known Universe and BossLady take the brunt of it nowadays along with the boyfriend but I don't want to scare them off so it was good to be able to talk stuff out with someone who's been there but now has outsider perspective.

If that makes sense.

And that was my day.

Oh and Carter's happy cause I got him his old food.

Cause I attempted to get him to eat different stuff but he just stared at me. So I had to go buy his regular stuff. Plus new treats.

Currently he's konked out next to me on the couch purring, I'm calling it a victory.

Moving on.

Music Rec and then the fiction.

C'mon - Ke$ha

as weird as her lyric video is the regular video version is even weirder. seriously. don't believe me go here.


Downtown - Lady Antebellum

great jam song.

On to the fiction.

In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni - Part Three

“It’s done,” I say into my watch as I exit through the back and walk to our next check point three blocks over. She’s been circling and slows down enough for me to open the door and jump in.

“Problems?” she asks looking over.

“None,” I reply, putting the briefcase down by my feet and my gun in my pocket. She turns left and heads toward our agency headquarters. After turning right five minutes later I notice, in my side mirror, a blue pickup taking a similar route.

“We’ve been compromised,” I say. She looks in her rearview mirror at the only vehicle following us down the rundown residential street. “Turn there,” I say, pointing a block ahead of us. “There’s a ramp to the freeway a block away.” She nods and turns at the corner. So do they. They pick up speed, knowing that we know.

“Why are they following us?” she looks over confused. She speeds up, starting to panic. “You did your job.”

“I’m a loose end,” I reply, opening the glove box, and reloading my gun with the ammo I find there. “Now that Noffke’s dead their person of interest will be free, but I still have all the information and can roll on them if ever caught.”

We enter the freeway and travel at full speed. She’s good, weaving in and out of traffic and losing the tail. For a while at least. They pick us up again as we exit the freeway twelve miles later and rear end us. She swerves off the road, trying to miss the black SUV in front of us. We spin ‘til the front of the mustang hits a tree, the impact setting off the airbags.

I push against the airbag and get out, pulling out my gun and crossing in front to pull her out. She’s hurt, her head hitting against the window as we spun, then slamming into the headrest from the impact of the airbag. I open her door and see four men approach from the pickup, guns out.

“Stay in the car,” I yell, firing off two shots at the two men in front, then ducking behind the open door. The girl pushes the airbag out of the way and crouches down in her seat. Retaliation shots hit the door and window causing shards of glass to land on my head. I look around the side of the door and see two men down. I hit what I shoot. Always. It’s kill or be killed in this business.

I see the German approaching me head on. He shoots twice, both missing but just barely. I step out from behind the door ready to fire but am grabbed from behind. The taller man must have gone around the car. He knocks the gun out of my hand in our struggle and everything goes black.

It's like the spam of chicken.

I'm exhausted.

So instead of doing the homework that's due Saturday I'm going to bed early.

Which I shouldn't but I need to.

Today was good. Periodicals in the morning then off-desk time to work on that paperback buy stuff. Finally sorted through all the titles and series, now just have to come up with the ISBN numbers - thank you Amazon copy and paste - which will take a few more hours I'm sure. Much longer than I remember from last year, but then again last year I think I had like 6 kids go, not 9. And none on a mission to make the longest list like I'm pretty sure 2 did this year.

Though 2 of my oldest have decided that next year they're just going to write down everything as a going away present.

Thanks for that. Feelin' the love.

Anyway, so I did that in the morning and of course carried them around with me all day thinking I could do more whilst on the desk but didn't happen cause we were swamped.

By the way, I'm typing this entire thing in an British accent because Lie to Me is on the background and it's that weird quirk that I have, you know, when I hear an accent and immediately talk back in it.

Makes work really interesting. Always have to pause, literally, so that I can remember my actual dialect and not offend someone.

But it was either British or Minnesotan - which is even worse and lasts longer, ask either member of Amber Squared. After watching New In Town the entire night and it wouldn't stop, they thought it was hilarious - because the boyfriend and I just watched Fargo.


Cult classic, we laughed. Scale of Awesome says 6/10.

Enjoyed all the "ya's" but totally cringed at the wood chipper.

That was gross.

Apparently we're on some sort of Frances McDormand kick.

slash Bruce Willis one.

So it was madness when we watched Moonrise Kingdom as they're both in it.

He gave me the 25th anniversary collection of Die Hard on blu-ray for my birthday. First four movies plus hours of bonus features. Best boyfriend ever.

Anyway, so that was this morning, and then tonight, but in the middle of all that I went to lunch with BossLady. Got some rice bowls and chatted about the joys of high school and relationships and all that.

We give each other a lot of crap, it's highly entertaining.

And tomorrow I'm grabbing supper with Slim Shady after work - totally stoked. I know you're all jealous. She's still wicked awesome, now she's just wicked awesome elsewhere since that she ditched us for greener pastures.

Well, geographically desirable greener pastures that is.

But Superwoman already made me pinky promise that I wouldn't ditch the library for a boy so when we get married I'm commuting.

And that was today.

Here's your music and some extras then the fiction.

Nearly Witches - Panic! at the Disco


nice moves brendon. dude needs a wireless mic.


50 State Stereotypes in 2 Minutes - this is hysterical


i can see seasonal depression from here.

56,000 square miles of dull.

at least we're not north dakota.


aaannd here's more.


don't ask.


Alright, onto In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni - Part Two

She’s pulling up to the red light when I get there. I open the door to the dirty black mustang and get in. I put the briefcase on my lap but keep the gun in my right hand. She smiles at me through her long blonde hair and takes off when the light turns green. We ride in silence. She drops me off three blocks from the station and I walk the rest.

I move my gun to the small of my back, pressed between me and my belt then tuck it under my jacket. I enter through the back of the police station and go up the stairs where I’m approached by two men in uniform. They look at each other confused, obviously not expecting company after midnight. One of them reaches for his glock when a gray-haired officer steps around the corner.

“He’s with me,” Detective Noffke says, and gestures for me to follow him. The uniform puts his gun back in his holster and lets me pass by. Noffke walks through the dark hallways to his office in the back.

I close the door behind me as he sits down behind his desk. I look around at his nonexistent filing system. He’s a dirty cop in more ways than one. There are papers scattered everywhere and no other furniture besides his desk and chair. The white walls are covered in newspaper clippings and judging by the amount of dust covering his blinds they probably haven’t been opened for the fifteen years he’s had this office. To my right are stacks of cardboard boxes with victims’ names written in black marker. His open homicide cases seem to be piling up. But that’s why I’m being paid to be here. Because of one case in particular. Delay its investigation by killing the lead detective. I put the briefcase on his desk and spin it toward him so he can see the money.

“That’s half of what I asked for,” he says, looking up at me.

“They’ll give me the other half after I kill you,” I say, pulling the gun out from my back and shooting him twice in the chest. I close the briefcase and turn to walk out. The uniforms heard the shots and are quickly approaching, guns at the ready. They’re quick but I’m quicker, shooting them both, one shot each, between the eyes. They both drop instantly. I step over them and keep walking without looking back. End of phase three.

and if i open my heart to you, i'm hoping you'll show me what to do

Things overheard at The Venue:
- "You have dibbles, I have dots."
- "The teacher wants me to write in curvis..."

oh tiny children, they are so cute. Especially when they sing lyrics they think are correct but are actually way off.

Boomer has it. Boomer has it. (Rumor Has It)
Moves my jacket, moves my jacket. (Moves Like Jagger)
I'll be up the boys (Call Me Maybe)

Went out with the sisters tonight for my birthday - all of them which we haven't done in a while. I enjoy our girls nights. Had some excellent food - I had surf and turf which I'm finishing now and then he brought us cheesecake for my birthday. I ate the middle stuff, Favorite Sister-In-Law ate the crust, Second Sister ate caramel off the top and Oldest Sister loved it all.

It was awesome, and work was good too. I'm currently sorting through all the lists compiled by the teens at Barnes and Noble for what they want added to the collection. But before I type everything up I have to check to see if each individual title is already in our collection. If so I skip it. Came up with an impressive list so far.

And that's basically all I've got from today.

Oh, I did some homework after dinner.

Tomorrow the boyfriend's coming up.

Okay, now that's all I've got.

Here's my music rec and then more fiction.

Way Back Into Love - Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett - Music & Lyrics

man, i used to listen to this soundtrack all the time. like obsessive crazy about it so it's weird that i haven't seen the movie or heard this song for like a year. it's still as good as i remember, and while i enjoy haley bennett i totally like the drew version better. but as they didn't have the video for that and did for this you get this

So as previously mentioned I hate the ending to the last one so until I can fix it you're stuck in an awkward temporary sort of hanging place. But I'll get there. In the meantime here's one that's actually finished.

College Fiction Writing Story #4

In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni - We go into the circle by night, we are consumed by fire - The Devil’s Verse

“Do we have an understanding, Herr Jameson?” the German asks, staring at me through the darkened office.

I nod, looking at the black leather briefcase open in front of me and assessing the amount. Fifty grand in cash. “We do,” I reply, closing the lid and pulling the briefcase toward me.

The German leans forward and puts his hands on the desk, his greasy black hair reflecting the light from the lamp in the corner. “You’ll receive the other half once the task is finished,” he says and gestures with his head toward the door.

No shaking hands. No paper trail. Phase two is complete. I turn and take my leave, passing the taller man standing guard by the door. Clearly the more muscular of the two men, he stands with his arms folded in front of him, his long brown jacket covering but not quite concealing the .48 caliber tucked into his belt.

I quickly descend the stairs to the back entrance and push the door open to the back alley. Aware that I’m probably being followed, my training kicks in. Don’t arise suspicion. Under the cover of darkness I walk in a normal pace with my head straight forward, transferring the briefcase to my left hand and retrieving the .38 Special tucked in the back of my belt to hold in my right hand. Looking up at the building next door I see cameras mounted on the corners. Stupid Americans and their security cameras. Do they really think a camera can stop someone like me? It’s not like anyone will be able to track me, my records have been wiped clean from every database thanks to connections with the higher authority.

With the briefcase in my left hand and a gun in my right, hidden by the long sleeves of my navy blue jacket, I walk two blocks north, counting each step in my head out of habit. Twelve-thirty-five, twelve-thirty-six, twelve-thirty-seven. The gun is a precaution against the gang members hidden in alleyways. I can’t afford to mess this up. “I have the money,” I say into the bug in my watch, slipping my gun in my pocket and raising my arm to hail a cab. It takes me five blocks west - the opposite direction of my actual destination. I’m used to being followed. I pay the driver in cash and get out, never releasing my grip on the briefcase. I notice a man climbing the stairs to an apartment complex and follow him inside then slip out the back door, pulling out my gun again. I pick up the pace through the dark alleyway filled with dumpsters and drug dealers. “Fifth and Westley,” I say into the watch and continue walking, counting each step and checking behind me every thirty seconds.

he's into me for everything i'm not according to you.

Ah Monday.

No, today was actually pretty good for a Monday.

So, remember how I took the teens to Barnes and Noble this weekend?

And how some are sad cause they're about to age out?

So I talked to my bosses today a possible series of programs aimed at young adults ages 18-24.

The problem with that age - I say as if I'm not a part of it, which as of a few days ago I'm not - is that they're too old to want to hang out with the teens at the teen programs and yet too young to want to spend the evening with the retirees at the adult programs.

Because of our proximity to the university it only makes sense that we at least test it out. And it's not like it would only be college kids, there are plenty of non-schooler kids that age.

So at the moment I'm coming up with an action plan including marketing strategies - aka specific demographics we can reach with specific programs. It's been interesting. So far some of my programs include: Game Night - board games, Wii, Movie Night, Poetry Slam, Pop-Culture Trivia Night, Repurposed Books Craft Projects, Guest speakers that are actually their age and can relate to about topics of interest, etc.

Any ideas send them my way. Right now I'm in contact with some kids who may be interested in attending some of these events.

But I'm excited, it's gonna be me and Girlscout and BossLady cause Girlscout is basically the head of adult services program planning and then BossLady who's my immediate supervisor is just very proactive. And they're both fun so it should be awesome.

After work Smo came over to stay the night - our Monday routine as she has class tomorrow morning.

What else? Oh Castle was awesome. I held off on watching last week's until tonight because of the to be continued. This way I could watch them both together. I love DVR. Watched that and 2 Broke Girls. Oh Mer Gerd - Han was hooked on memes.

Okay on to the music, I listened to Superhero by Cher Lloyd on repeat today but since I've already posted that you're getting some of this:

According To You - Orianthi acoustic


nice MJ jacket

According To You - Orianthi live


can't decide which one i like better so i'm posting them both - she rocks.

not sure how i haven't posted it before since it was my go-to song a couple years ago, i listened to it on repeat. it's a good jam song.


okay, you're not going to like me very much cause i'm leaving you hanging. i hate the ending so until i can fix it you get to be left in suspense with this as your last chapter. for now. after i fix it i'll post it.


Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Six

Sarah Chase Cameron’s blonde hair shone gold in the sunlight. Her green shirt contrasted nicely with the shiny red car she was leaning on. Charlie had made him wash it before the book launch party claiming, “Image is everything.” Sarah stood up straight when she saw him coming and adjusted her sunglasses. “Damnit Charlie, you’re so fired,” he mumbled, picking up his keys and looking around for spectators. Seeing none he headed toward his car.

“Hi there, A.J., how was school?” she asked in a tone that, if you hadn’t met her, would have sounded sweet and innocent. The problem was that he had met her, so he knew she was up to something.

“What are you doing here?” he asked flatly.

“Straight to the dirt, I like that,” she smiled. “Here’s the deal. I’ve been doing some research on your parents’ case.” She pulled her notebook out of her purse. “Lily and David Smith were killed at the gas station on the east side of Middlebrook. A man in a black ski mask was holding up the convenience station demanding cash from the owner, Martin Springer. David approached the gunman and tried to grab the gun but missed and was shot along with his wife, Lily.”

A.J. flinched and stared at his shoes. He really didn’t need this subject brought up yet again.

Sarah continued speaking, pretending not to notice A.J.’s reaction but mentally recording every detail so she could write it down later. “David was shot twice in the chest and Lily once in the head. Martin Springer was sent to the hospital with a concussion and the gunman got away with almost two hundred dollars in cash and some cigarettes.”

“What do you want from me?” he asked quietly.

“Just an interview. Your parents’ case is still open. With my help we could get the police to look over things again, bring in some new evidence, and interview some old witnesses. They might even find out who killed them. Don’t you want that?” A.J. continued to stare at his shoes. “Okay, here’s my card,” she said holding it in front of his face. He grabbed it reluctantly. “Give me a call when you’re ready,” she said walking back to her car.

“What if I don’t?” he asked.

She turned around. “Then I guess I’ll have to keep showing up. I hear you’re living with your grandmother now. It’d be great to interview her about her son and daughter-in-law,” Sarah said with a sly smile.

A.J. felt like his stomach exploded. “What do you want to know?” There was no way he was letting her anywhere near Grams.

Sarah looked like a kid at Christmas. She pulled out a pen. “Where were you when it happened? Did the police talk to you directly? Is this why you write crime novels? Have you talked to the police lately about any leads?” Sarah continued rambling in a speed that only other reporters could interpret until A.J. cut her off.

“Here’s what I know and what I don’t know.” Sarah stopped talking and nodded. A.J. took a deep breath. “I was nine, okay, and it sucked.” Sarah started scribbling notes in her notebook. “Grams tried explaining it but I couldn’t understand. How do you tell a kid that their parents are dead?” A.J. rocked back and forth on his heels. “I spent every night for a year sitting in my windowsill, waiting for them to come home before I realized that wasn’t going to happen.” Sarah stopped writing and looked up. “I moved in with Grams, but the stress of it all had some affects on her too. We don’t talk about it, not anymore. It was a long time ago and we’ve moved on.” A.J. left out the fact that he still went to visit them in the cemetery every week. “Please don’t dig up something that’s already six feet under.” He opened his car door and got in.

“Their story deserves to be told,” she tried.

“I tell it in every one of my books. You should try reading one some time.” He put the keys in the ignition and closed the door. He sped home, watching Sarah stare at him through his rearview mirror.

"I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher, and Meryl was Steven's first choice for Lincoln."

Aw, the Oscars.

I'm an awards show junkie. Which I'm sure you've realized. Especially if we're friends on Facebook, then your newsfeed kind of blows up. 

Sorry. 

Anyway, Sketch and I like to commentate. I had a couple of other guests jump in tonight, it was awesomeness. 

Here are some of the highlights:

Seth MacFarlane as the host. 

While some of you may have found him obnoxious I found him charming. And that's coming from someone who HATES Family Guy. With a passion. I can't stand it. However, tonight he rocked.

Here are some of my favorite one-liners:

-"And the quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now."
-"That's as bad as it gets if it makes you feel better. It's really not as bad as it gets."
-"It's an honor that everyone else said no."
-"Tonight's ceremony is being watched by close to a billion people worldwide. Which is why Jodie Foster will be up here in a bit to ask for her privacy."
-"It'll be 16 years before she's too old for Clooney."
-"I really hope I don't lose to that old lady, Jennifer Lawrence."

-"So you got nominated for an Oscar. Something a 9-year-old can do."
-"Whether she wins or loses, it's just an honor that Meryl Streep wasn't nominated."*about J-Law *
-"150 years and it's still too soon."
-"Daniel Day Lewis, loved the beard but Lincoln's voice was kinda weird."
-"Adele's screaming out her song."
-"You guys have made some beautiful and inspiring movies. I made Ted."
-"Current Star Trek stars and future Priceline spokespeople."
-"Plus the cast of Prometheus explains what the hell was going on there."
-"And also a celebration of every women's innate ability to never ever let anything go."
-"They remember when this town was nothing but cocaine trees as far as the eyes could see. It's late."
-"He's a boy wizard and she's a girl vampire. So together they're pretty much everything the Christian Rights say is wrong with Hollywood."
-"It doesn't matter that his name sounds like a Russian man sneezing."

He had some fun back and forth with fellow stars as well:

Seth: "You'll be at the future Oscars when the rest of us are dead."
Kristin Chenoweth: "You have all Tom Cruise's talen, and you're equally as tall."

Sally Field: "Oh hell, they're gonna give it to Anne."

Captain Kirk: "Oh trust me, in July 2015 you join the chorus..."

and there were some great presenters as well

Most of the cast of the Avengers - minus Scarlett and Chris - presented for Best Cinematographer
Chris Evans: "Convey that Robert is as tall as the rest of us by framing out the apple boxes that he so often is standing on."
...
Samuel L. Jackson: "Superhero can't even get an envelope open."

Jennifer Aniston: "Welcome to the club, Chan. Not so fun is it?" *about waxing*
Gotta love Jennifer Aniston. She's in my top 3 favorite actresses of all time, the other two being Drew Barrymore (happy birthday 2 days late) and Rachel Weisz. But now I love her even more cause she's engaged to Seamus!! aka Justin Theroux. Who is fantastic. "I'm gonna teach you and your friends about pain." look a Drew tie-in. and No, that will never get old.

My two favorite speeches were for Best Picture,
Ben Affleck: "I want to thank my wife. Who I don't normally associate with Iran."

and Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor.

Day Lewis: "It's a strange thing because three years ago, before we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher. And Meryl was Steven's first choice for Lincoln. I'd like to see that version. And Steve didn't have to persuade me to play Lincoln, but I had to persuade him that perhaps if I was going to do it, that Lincoln shouldn't be a musical."

I died.

J-Law rocked it tonight as well winning for best actress and then falling on her way to the stage. "You're only standing because I fell." but really she did deserve it.

And this is gonna sound awful, but my favorite thing of the entire night that I actually went back to watch was her reaction during MacFarlane's Boobs Song. When he said they haven't seen hers and she did this like celebratory fist bump. It's hysterical, and apparently I'm not the only one cause someone's already posted just that part onto YouTube.

Watch this.



I know, I know, it's awful but I died and have rewound it like 8 times.

What else?

I totally freaked out when the cast of Chicago came onstage. And then when Catherine Zeta-Jones performed. And Sketch knows me so well, totally called it. But they're fantastic and that was Renee freakin' Zellweger!

Also, Anne Hathaway was excellent - really come a long way from the Princess Diaries. Which I'm allowed to love cause that was my generation. Yes, I really am that young. I'm sorry.

Weird Factors:
Totally weird that there was a tie. Hasn't been one since 1986, there have now been 5.
-Tonight's
-Barbara Steisand and Katharine Hepburn for best actress in 1968,
-2 more ties in the Best Documenary category in 1949 and 1986
-Plus once for Best Live Action Short Film in 1986.
go here for more info

What was with the first lady on the Oscars? Though I guess it's not completely out there, Bill Clinton did introduce Lincoln at the Emmy's.

Another weird thing, the orchestra was performing live from a totally different location? But I guess it worked.

Anyway, it was a great night of fun for me and my commentators.

Alright, on to the fiction cause I'm counting the above clip as my song of the day. Cause really, what tops that?

another short one, but yesterday's was long enough to make up for it and the one before that.

Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Five

Sunday had flown by pretty quickly. It usually did. Grams said that it was because it was his last day before he was forced to go back to school. On Monday he returned to school and tried remain unnoticed. He wasn’t sure if the rumors of what happened at the book launch had reached the ears of the popular kids. If they hadn’t they would soon. Everyone knew everything about everybody in a small town. Middlebrook was no different from any other small town. Rumors spread like wildfire. After his parents were killed in the shooting it was the only thing people talked about for months. Nothing like that had ever happened like that before in Middlebrook.

Some people were really supportive at first, bringing over casseroles and trying to distract him, but other people preferred just to gossip about the incident and go quiet when he or Grams would walk into the vicinity. That’s when A.J. started watching his feet while he walked instead of looking out at the world. Watching your feet meant seeing less people stare when you walked into a room.

The only thing the town had going for them was their football team. Their quarterback, Chris Parsons, was going to take them to state this year. Everywhere he went people would pat him on the back and tell him how great he had played. He was a star and he knew it. His blonde hair was always perfect and his rich parents had supplied him with all the designer labeled clothes anyone could ever want. So when he didn’t get respect from say, a writer who had dreams of his own, he’d shut him into a locker or have his buddies throw him in the dumpster.

A.J. managed to avoid Chris and make it through the day unscathed. After school he grabbed his homework and walked out of the building. He pulled out his car keys but dropped them when he noticed someone who wasn’t supposed to be there.


and i'm out. 

No one intentionally watches that. Unless you're my dad.

Hmmm, today.

Slept in, that was awesome, did some laundry, then met up with my teens at the bookstore to pick out paperbacks for the library to buy.

Huzzah for Barnes and Noble.

My favorite bookstore, though not my favorite location, but it worked.

Big group today, and I'm always impressed with them so it was a lot of fun.

Basically, gave them sheets for them to write down title, author and ISBN number. We jammed in the YA area for the majority of the time, but stopped by the youth area in the end to see if there were any youth stuff that could pass for YA.

In the end I got a lot of great titles. Two of my teens who are close to aging out brought up the fact that next year may be their last year, though technically it's TEEN Advisory Board so I'm saying 19 counts.

But what happens after 19? We do stuff for youths and teens and adults, but where do college kids fit in the mix? We're close enough to the University, we should have some sort of programming for them as well. Perhaps I'll bring it up to the bosses, see what they have to say.

After they wrote down titles they got snacks - which they said was their favorite part. Cause who doesn't love cheesecake, really? I got an IBC rootbeer - flashbacks to high school - and we jammed out in the cafe area for a while until their parents came to pick them up.

I grabbed the Doctor Who version of Monopoly for Squirt therefore re-confirming my favorite aunt status.

Take that fellow competitors.

Speaking of cool aunts, had jalapeno margaritas and fajitas with the Cool Aunt after the bookstore. Got some fun family facts from her so I can continue on with my family history research for Mom's side now that Dad's is officially posted. Scroll down a few and you'll find it.

Quote of the day: "No one intentionally watches that. Unless you're my dad." 

speaking of course of swamp people, ax men, hee haw and all the rest of the stuff he has playlisted for me to watch when i go home.

She recommends House of Cards so I will now have to find the online.

And that was my day, so on to the music and the fiction and then I'm out.

25 seconds of awesomeness that I blame completely on one of my camp kids.

I Knew You Were a Goat When You Walked In - Taylor Swift parody

It's only 25 seconds, you know you want to.

aaannd then there's this:

The Evolution of Mom Dancing - Jimmy Fallon and Michelle Obama

i love the "Where's Your Father?"

okay, to make up for yesterday's short section

Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Four

“Hi Grams,” he replied, taking off his tennis shoes and putting down his bag. He had changed back into jeans and a t-shirt after everyone had left.

“Riah, is that you?”

“Yeah, I’m home,” he said coming into the living room. Emily, Grams’ nurse, sat in jeans and a white t-shirt on the long white couch, knitting something that looked like a sock. Grams was in her flannel pajamas sitting in her favorite recliner. She smiled as he entered the room.

“Emily, it’s my grandson Riah. He’s a writer,” she said proudly.

“So I’ve heard…” Emily smiled and continued knitting.

“She knows, remember Grams? She’s been helping out for a while now,” A.J. corrected her. Grams didn’t notice as she went back to watching the game.

Emily seemed to be used to it. “How was the party?”

“It wasn’t a party, it was a book launch,” he felt the need to correct her in front of Grams.

Emily laughed. “Was there music, food and frivolity?” she asked.

“If you count lame elevator-esque music playing in the background, stale munchies and crazy people fighting about their places in line, then sure, there was music, food and frivolity.”

“Then it was a party.” Emily and A.J. laughed. He subtly gestured toward the kitchen. Emily put down her knitting and followed him out of the room.

“How was she today?” he asked quietly, looking over Emily’s shoulder and seeing Grams’ eyes glued to the TV.

“She was a little confused after you left but not more than usual.” Saturdays and Sundays were his only real days with Grams, so she was probably confused as to why he was at some party instead of with her. “We went grocery shopping and had some soup for supper. She took a bath and then turned on some baseball.”

“Royals?” he asked already knowing the answer.

“Yep, she reminded me more than once that they were going to play tonight at seven.”

“Baseball is the one thing she never forgets,” A.J. smiled and shook his head.

“Well, that and you,” Emily smiled genuinely.

“Thanks,” A.J. blushed. “So, how’s what’s-his-name, your fiancé?”

“His name is John,” she replied, smacking him on the shoulder. “That’s not simple enough for you to remember?”

“Alzheimer’s runs in the family,” he joked. Emily glared. “Right, how’s John?”

“He’s fine. Busy working as usual.”

“At the granola factory?”

“It’s not a granola factory; it’s a vegan grocery store.”

“Same thing. Is he ever gonna make his way out here to marry you? You’re getting kind of old. I don’t want you to end up an old maid.”

“Twenty-six is far from being an old maid. I think I can manage to last another summer ‘til he’s out here for good.” Emily smirked and crossed her arms across her chest. “What about Kate? I haven’t seen her around here lately.”

A.J. flushed red. “Kate and I are just friends.”

“So you keep saying,” Emily arched an eyebrow. “But there’s totally something going on there.”

“Is not,” he replied, his voice higher than usual.

Emily smiled and let him off easy, they’d been down that road before. “How’d it go with the reporters tonight?”

He thought about lying but Emily had been around long enough to know when he was telling the truth. “Not so good. Some reporter, Sarah Chase something or other, asked about Mom and Dad.”

“Sarah Chase Cameron? Reporter for The Times?” he nodded. “She doesn’t do literary reviews, she writes for the crime desk. Her stories are almost always above the fold!” A.J. looked at her amused. “What?” she asked. “I’m not a baseball fan and I have to do something while your Grams stares at the TV. I wonder why she was there.”

“I don’t know but I don’t like it. Kate has a bad feeling about her.”

“Oh, you and Kate talk about your feelings, huh?” She tried to turn the conversation back.

“Shut-up!” He turned red again.

“I gotta go anyway,” she smiled. She went to the living room and started packing up her stuff. “Bye Margaret,” Emily smiled. Grams looked over from the TV and waved.

“Goodbye Emily.”

“See ya Monday?” asked A.J.

“Bright and early. Get some sleep kid,” she replied, patting him on his head on her way to the door. A.J. dropped into the blue lounge chair, pulled the lever and put his feet up. The blue chair was his, the green was hers. Between them sat an end table complete with an old fashioned lamp, a pile of mystery novels, and a newspaper folded over to the sports TV listings.

“How are our boys doing tonight? Did I miss anything good?”

“It’s almost over. I think we’re winning.” The commercial break ended and the game picked up at the 8th inning.

“Yep, we have 7, they have 5.”

“Good.”

“Yep, that’s good.” The rest of the night was silent, A.J. too afraid to tell Grams what had happened at the book launch. The last thing he needed was more drama.

After the game ended with the score still 7-5, A.J. put Grams to bed then returned to the living room for his usual routine to prepare for the next day. He erased the dry-erase board leaning against the TV stand and pulled out the marker. “Today is Sunday, September 20th. 10 AM – church 12 PM – lunch 6 PM – supper.” He emptied Grams’ hospital-issued water bottle into the sink, put it in the dishwasher and hit ‘start’. He set out a measured amount of oatmeal next to the microwave and removed the used filter from the coffee pot. Then he checked the pill box to make sure Emily had filled them. After he recycled today’s paper he turned off the light and retired to his own bedroom.



another pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use, i'm on a roll!

I will wait, I will wait for you.

Huzzah for a day off.

Was actually semi-productive.

Remember the plan? Watch movies and do no homework?

Actually did some homework, so the reverse psychology worked.

Which is weird, but I'm not questioning it.

So yes, I did homework and laundry all the while thinking nothing about work work, which is what I needed.

And tomorrow is another break from the norm cause I'm taking my teens shopping for paperbacks.

Basically they pick out what they want the library to buy and put in the teen section and then they get snacks.

I know, right?! Awesomeness.

And then after that is margaritas with the Cool Aunt.

But today was good.

I did watch movies as well, so don't start questioning my sanity yet.

Not that you haven't before.

I have all these movies checked out so I made a pile of what I will actually watch and what sounded good at the time.

Cause you know you get all these titles and you put your name on the list and then they come in and you lack the motivation to watch them cause you didn't really have it to begin with, but you put your name down anyway just cause it was there.

You know those ones?

In my not watching pile is Hell On Wheels, the Odd Life of Timothy Green, ParaNorman, and Flight vs my still plan to watch pile which consists of Looper, Workaholics season one, Fargo, School of Rock and Murder in Suburbia. Two of which are Interlibrary Loan Items. And then of course my already in progress Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The one I did watch today was Trouble With the Curve which is now in my return pile on top of all the not watchings.



Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake. Had an interesting story, reminded me a bit of Moneyball actually. Not too bad, Scale of awesome puts it at about 7/10.

Clink Eastwood as Amy Adams' dad is just funny because they both have such strong personalities.

"You need some money for some new clothes?"
"I just came from yoga."
"You into that voodoo, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking about getting three 6's tattooed across my forehead."

and who knew Justin Timberlake could clog so that was exciting.

So I watched that, three episodes of Bones - finally saw the roller derby episode, loved Angela as the jammer - one episode of NCIS, two episodes of Zero Hour - and am loving it - and then had Storage Wars on in the background while I did my homework. So I burned through some DVR as well which is good cause that fills up fast.

As what I have here didn't sound appetizing and I didn't feel like driving anywhere I ordered pizza for lunch.

Delivery dude always compliments my socks.

Same dude every time.

But for some reason I'm always wearing shorts so he can see my mismatched socks.

However, tomorrow I will need to go shopping cause I'm out of Diet Dr. Pepper and that's always the deal breaker. Been drinking all my bottled water with strawberry Mio in its absence. Now I'm out of that too and all that's left is liquor so I've been refilling them.

So tomorrow is grocery shopping, paperback buying, dinner with the Cool Aunt and then probably more homework before work work on Sunday.

On to the music and fiction.

I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons

I could have swore I've already posted this, but Blogger says I haven't. Shocker. Cause it's awesome. As are they.


Short one tonight cause tomorrow's is longer.

Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Three

The red entryway was filled with piles of A.J.’s book, “Effaced” and its sequel “Nemesis.” There was a table and two chairs set up across from the main entryway. On the table were pictures, posters and pens to sign them. A.J. sat in one of the chairs but Kate stayed back, looking for Sarah Chase Cameron. She’d have a few choice words of the four letter variety for her once she found her.

It seemed that Charlie had found her first. They were talking animatedly about something before Charlie realized his star was at the table. He took the other chair and everyone began to line up. Sarah Cameron instructed her photographer to take a few shots, and then headed toward the front of the table. All eyes were on her and A.J. waiting to see what would happen. She smiled at A.J., who swallowed, signed her book, and looked at the next person in line. Sarah Cameron and her muscle-bound photographer left the scene quickly as Kate started towards them. They were locked in their car before she even made it to the front door.

After hours of signing autographs and taking pictures Charlie finally let him go home. Charlie drove off in his fancy car as Kate got in the passenger side of A.J.’s red Bonneville. There was a lot of silence which was unusual in their relationship. A.J. looked over at Kate and saw her staring out the window at the lights. The hour long drive to Middlebrook was going to seem even longer. He turned on the radio. As Baha Men blasted from the radio Kate remarked how ridiculous the song was and A.J. added that he was amazed that a song about dogs could give anyone a platinum album. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it back to their one stoplight town and pulled into Kate’s driveway. He talked her out of the car, saying he was fine and was just going to go to bed, but he could tell she didn’t believe him. She knew him too well. He drove off anyway and pulled into his driveway two blocks down. A.J. parked the car in the garage and went inside, the door closing behind him.

“Hello?” yelled an unsure voice. The TV volume was turned on loud so A.J. knew exactly where to go.




another pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use.

Yeah, I'm gonna miss her. Oh lookie there, I've got a bite.

It's cause he's in love with his brother's wife!!

Sorry, watching Scandal.

Which I haven't done since first season.

Basically I turned on the TV to see what I had recorded and it was right at the start of Scandal.

And I love Darby Stanchfield (Deep-fried Twinkie, Shannon Gibbs) and Bellamy Young (Special Agent Stone, Ellen Darling, Hotch's girlfriend) she's the one that I guess her hair color when I see her name in the opening credits and she shares my birthday so I stuck around. It's still pretty good.

Haha, caught them kissing outside, called it!

Another call? This whole storm of the century, Q or whatever being total crap, told you it was hype. They called off school this morning with absolutely no snow on the ground. We were supposed to get like 10-12 inches, we got like 4. Barely.

We closed early, 4:30, but I got off at 4 anyway so it didn't really matter to me. We were supposed to have class at the hospital library but because of the weather we did a virtual class instead.

Dude, Webmeeting is awesome. All like 50 of us went to this Webmeeting site where they gave us a phone number. We called it and it was like a massive conference call with all of us students plus our 2 instructors plus our host. So all the audio was on the phone, none from the computer. There was a powerpoint and a chat window, it was sweet. I wish we had these in my other online classes.

I already did all my homework for that class until March, I've done the majority of Diversity homework - did the interview, wrote up the transcript and overview, now all that's left is discussion of others overviews to tie together themes and analysis. And the next Internet Reference assignment isn't due 'til the 2nd.

And see, I have tomorrow off, and I always have the best of intentions, I'm gonna clean my apartment, I'm going to write, I'm going to finish my homework, etc. But it never happens.

So here's my plan.

I plan to sleep in and watch movies all day - I have like 10 checked out so I need to fly through them. Cause I ain't driving on the crappy roads and I have sustenance so I don't need to go anywhere.

But it's a strategic plan.

Cause I always break my plans - I plan to clean, write, do homework all the time and never do it so if I plan to do none of those things maybe one of them will happen.

Does that make sense in some twisted sort of way?

I'll keep you posted.

What I am doing tonight and tomorrow no matter what is laundry, cause otherwise I'm screwed for work this weekend. That's easy enough and I can sleep through it so it's gold.

What else from today? Work was good. Super short 9-4 day but it was pretty busy even through there was snow.

Thank God for my Trainee. She always saves me from the creepers. One in particular. Wordie was there when he came in today, I told him he wasn't allowed to leave me alone until Trainee came back to the desk.

Apparently I'm too nice.

Whoa, Jimmy Kimmel on in the background, check out this kid.

Mad skills.

Here's his challenge to Jimmy. 

He totally dominated that competition, I bet that'll be posted tomorrow on Kimmel's website, you should check it out. 

And that's all I got for today. Just glad I don't have to go in tomorrow cause getting out of my parking lot after any snow at all is awful.

So, now I'm going to turn on Storage Wars - which was my original intention - and crash and burn, but first here's some music and part two from last night's fiction.

I'm Gonna Miss Her - Brad Paisley

classic, one of my favorites growing up. his actual wife in the video. love 0:30-0:32

On to the fiction

Life of a Teenage Writer: Part Two

The flashbulbs were blinding, he could barely see passed the first row of reporters but there had to be at least fifty of them staring at him with cameras, microphones, and handheld recorders in hand. Charlie pushed him toward the podium. His throat was suddenly very dry.

“Hey everybody,” his voice was shaky. “Thanks for coming out to see me; it’s great to be here.” He forgot the rest of his speech and froze. He looked back at Charlie in a panic.

Charlie stepped forward, “If you have any questions we will take them now.”

About thirty hands shot up. A.J. pointed toward a blonde man with a microphone.

“Mr. Smith, it’s great to see you. I’m Mark Brown from The Journal,” he said in a rush. “I was wondering if you could tell us a little about your writing process.”

“My writing process?” A.J.’s voice cracked. He scanned the crowd looking for Kate. She was in the back… and she was doing the Macarena. A.J. tried to keep a straight face and turned red. “I usually lock myself in my room after school for a few hours and try to get at least 500 words on the page. Sometimes they fit together and sometimes they don’t. If I get stuck I go for a run or do my homework. I usually come back to it before I go to bed.”

Next, he pointed to a blonde woman who was slowly edging her way toward the stage. “A.J., can I call you A.J.?” she asked, smiling sweetly. A.J. nodded. “I’m Sarah Chase Cameron from The Times; it’s great to finally meet you. Our readers want to know where you get your inspiration. How do you come up with those gruesome details?” Sarah thrust her handheld recorder in his direction.

A.J. smiled and thought called it, okay a quarter for sincerity.

“I’ve been really interested in crime and its prevention from an early age. I’ve done a lot of reading about it and some of the images have just stuck with me I guess.” He pointed to another reporter, but Sarah spoke up again.

“Do you think that your interest in crime came about after the murder of your parents?” A.J. froze. He looked at Kate but she had stopped dancing and was staring open-mouthed at the reporter, as was the rest of the crowd. They began to murmur to each other.

“I… Um…” Sarah’s eyebrows raised and she smiled victoriously.

Charlie stepped forward and cleared his throat. The audience went silent, anxiously waiting for an explanation. “It was horrible what happened to A.J.’s parents. I’m sure that it has an effect on everything he does.” A.J. slowly stepped backward, trying to imagine he was anywhere else. Even with his imagination it wasn’t working. Sarah’s smile only grew. “That’ll be all for the question and answer segment,” Charlie announced as an effort for damage control. “We’ll meet you at the entrance for some pictures and autographs in a few minutes.” A.J. sprinted offstage. Charlie watched as Kate made her way toward the backstage area, then he zoomed in on Sarah Chase Cameron. She smiled at him slyly and winked.

“What the hell just happened?” asked Kate. “How did they find out about your parents?” A.J. just paced and shook his head. Charlie approached him and put his hands on his shoulders.

“You did great kid! Let’s get you some water and go take some pictures.”

“What? No? How do they know about Mom and Dad?” he yelled.

“You know reporters,” he tried to blow it off. “It’s their job to dig up the dirty details of anyone worth interest. She probably has a source somewhere in the police department. Your parents’ case is still open.”

Kate handed A.J. a bottle of water and guided him to a chair. He sat and downed the whole bottle in one big gulp.

“I’m going to go see what they have set up for us in the entrance,” said Charlie making his way toward the stairs. “You’ve got three minutes buddy.”

A.J. sat in silence. Kate stood there staring where Charlie had exited. “You don’t think it was him do you?”

“Huh?” asked A.J. looking up at Kate.

“Charlie? You think it was him who let the story about your parents slip to the reporter?”

“Charlie wouldn’t do that. He’s a good guy.” A.J. felt the need to defend him even though he knew it was probably true. Charlie would do anything for a quick buck and more personal interest meant more book sales.

“I have a bad feeling about all this,” Kate said.

A.J. stood up and threw the bottle away in the trash, a mix of courage and exhaustion taking over. “Let’s go get this over with.”



legitimate pre-midnight post. holy crap tag in use.

And if you get lost come on home to Green River.

Today flew by really quickly, but that's probably because I was only scheduled 9-2.

We had class this afternoon. In Special Libraries we're visiting all these special libraries but we have to go when they're open so I'm burning quite a bit of vacation time in the process.

But it's fine cause otherwise I never use it.

Though I may be forced to tomorrow.

I'm making a deal, if it's super bad weather and my car is drifted in I'm not going.

It's not about the fact that I can drive on the snow, it's about the fact that the idiots I'm surrounded by can't. And the last time I had to drive to work in the snow it took an hour just to drive 10 miles AND I about got smoked three times by three different cars, so I'm hesitant to go anywhere with these crazy drivers.

Where was I?

Oh right, today.

Today's tour was awesome. We got to see Tom's inner sanctum. He comes in all the time but I knew nothing about his library so it was super cool. Might do a practicum there if he's up for it, cause I found it super interesting. He works at the Regional Center meaning it's in the mental health care facility but their library has both fiction and nonfiction. What he doesn't have he gets through us or the Commission.

I just liked his attitude and what he had to say, and I already knew he was a nice guy so if he's up for it and the Library Goddess okay's it I would totally be in for that in the fall.

Otherwise I have no idea where else to do it. College town maybe, learn the BISAC system.

But pretty sure I'd go nuts jumping from that to Dewey on a daily basis.

Anyway, so the tour was awesome. Afterwards I did nothing but homework for like hours, finally quitting around 10 cause I'm just exhausted. I need to start getting more sleep which is why this post is going to be short - well, this part at least - cause it's already passed midnight.

Tomorrow was going to be the other tour, but as mentioned yesterday, the Library Goddess is in physical pain cause we can't meet and has put me in charge of arranging some sort of group meetup for a virtual session cause there's a limited amount of logins that can happen at once to this specific website we have to go to - but that's also tomorrow afternoon so even if I couldn't make it to work in the morning I'd still have to dig out my car in the afternoon, which would be fine as there would hopefully be ice on the roads by then.

For those of you not local, it's supposed to be the storm of the century for us here, expecting like 10-12 inches. I'm hoping it's all hype.

Even if it isn't you know we're still gonna be open. Our bosses are stubborn like that and much like the Library Goddess, pull out the post office motto on occasion as well.

So, I should sleep, cause I'm in for a long day tomorrow.

Here's the music, afterwards you get the fiction and then I'm gonna crash.

Song that was stuck in my head all day for absolutely no reason whatsoever:

Green River - CCR


i have no explanation as for why i was singing this all day. it might be due to the fact i heard Fortunate Son last night, but that's all i can think of.


Okay, so yesterday I finished Family History, well my Dad's side anyway, so Part One, perhaps I can talk the Cool Aunt into giving me some info on Mom's side this weekend.

So now I'm gonna break it up and give you some fiction.

Story behind this one: Basically I took Fiction Writing in college and this was one of the stories I submitted to be reviewed by the class. You may get multiple of these, depending on how I'm feeling at the time.

See, I think they're crap, but I've been told otherwise, so I'll let you be the judge.

And I never like ever share this stuff, seriously ever unless I'm forced to in a class, so this is huge for me. Even Sketch would tell you it's like pulling teeth, so enjoy them while they last.


Life of a Teenage Writer - Part One

“I want to be a writer,” A.J. said to the guidance counselor. Silence ensued. He hated these kind of meetings. The awkward silence was always the worst. “All freshmen must meet with the guidance counselor to talk about their bright futures” said the flyer taped to his locker. He tapped his foot on the white tiled floors. Say something, he thought. When she didn’t he started playing with the bottom of his red cotton t-shirt, then wiped some imaginary dirt off his worn out jeans.

“That’s nice,” Mrs. Bailey finally replied, exhaling as she took off her glasses and wiped them on her shirt. Mrs. Bailey was a wide woman, horizontally and vertically. She hid her physical insecurities behind a large wooden desk which was organized to the max. Nothing was out of place. Even the pencils were evenly sharpened. A.J. looked around the room, the silence getting to him. Pamphlets and flyers covered the yellow walls of the counselor’s office in an organized pattern. “I can’t stop crying” said one; “My mother had a sex change” said another.

“Do you have any backup plans?” the older woman asked politely, putting her glasses back on and pushing her loose strands of white hair behind her ears.

A.J. wasn’t surprised at her lack of faith. He discovered a while ago that “I want to be a writer” roughly translates to “I want to live in my parents’ basement ordering chocolate by the case and drowning myself in booze.”

“No,” he replied simply.

“How would you get started?” she asked simply.

“That’s a good question.”

**Three Years Later**

“Smile kid, it’s your first book launch party!” said Charlie, A.J.’s tall, dark and frustrating agent. Charlie was dressed in a black suit, his dark hair parted to the side and his smile showed off his perfect white teeth.

A.J. flinched at Charlie’s tone. He could hear the reporters setting up equipment in the auditorium and talking amongst themselves. He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and attempted to tie his tie.

“Stop it Charlie, you’re only making things worse,” said Kate, the ever-faithful best friend, stepping between the two of them and grabbing A.J.’s tie to re-do it. A.J. started fidgeting with his pants instead. She smacked his hands, “They look fine. You’re sweating through your shirt. Here, put on the jacket.” She picked up the black jacket from the chair and thrust it in his direction.

“I look like a penguin!” he replied, sliding in his arms in anyway. “Why do we have to do this? We didn’t do a big party for the first book and it sold fine.”

Charlie turned and looked A.J. in the eyes. “That’s because you were a no-named kid. Now there are hundreds of reporters out there waiting to get the scoop on your new sequel. You’re only sixteen and you’re already a best-selling author! Everyone wants to know what happens next to Detective Matt Harper and the rest of his geek squad. People came hundreds of miles just to see you tonight.” Charlie went out to the podium to make sure everything was set up.

“You’re not helping,” yelled Kate, pulling a comb out of her purse and running it through A.J.’s hair. She returned the comb to her purse and pulled out breath spray, chapstick, and a mirror.

“Have anything stronger in there?” he asked hopefully. Kate glared. “I’m joking… I’m so nervous.” He put on the chapstick, sprayed the breath spray and stared at himself in the mirror, his hands shaking.

“You’re going to do great,” Kate smiled and took the mirror. “Just… imagine them all naked.”

“Ew,” A.J. gagged, “the person in charge is a 40-year-old overweight bald man.”

“Okay, then imagine them all… doing the Macarena,” she amended. A.J. laughed.

“Thanks Kate. What would I do without you?” he asked looking in her eyes. Kate blushed.

“Probably end up stranded in a desert somewhere. Alright, spin. I gotta give you the once-over.” A.J. spun around quickly. “You look very handsome Azariah James.”

“Hey, don’t be full-naming me, Kath-.”

“No!” she cut him off, “There will be none of that! Truce?” Kate stuck out her hand.

“Truce,” A.J. replied shaking it. “You look very nice, by the way,” he added, still holding her hand and trying to be smooth. Kate could feel the heat radiating off her face. She looked down at her short black dress and tall high heels. They stayed hand-in-hand for a while until Charlie returned.

“Okay, so here’s what is going to happen.”

They dropped hands immediately. A.J. stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair while Kate suddenly found something in her purse fascinating.

“You go out to the podium and give the speech that we practiced. You smile for pictures, answer some questions, shake some hands, sign some autographs, and then you’re done,” Charlie said, adjusting his bow tie. “They’ll ask you about your writing routines and your inspiration. The mundane life of a writer is apparently fascinating to reporters.”

“I’m so tired of everyone asking me where I get my inspiration. Can’t they think of anything more original?” said A.J. running his hands through his hair again. Kate grabbed them and straightened it again.

“I will make you a deal,” said Charlie. “Every time you have to answer that question I will give you a quarter.”

“Score! I’ll be a billionaire by the time I’m thirty.”

“If you answer it without contempt.”

“Ah, well, millionaire then maybe.”

Charlie was the kind of man who would bribe his way into heaven if it was possible. He was always out for a quick buck but he was smart about it. If A.J. put on a smiling face for the cameras tonight and came off as charming then all the other editors would fall at his feet. If that meant getting rid of some of his spare change then so be it.

“Deal?” Charlie asked, sticking out his hand.

“Deal,” A.J. responded, stepping forward as he shook Charlie’s hand.

“You ready?”

A.J. took a deep breath. “Let the madness begin.” He gave Kate a high five and followed Charlie toward the stage. He could still faintly hear Kate sing, “Heeyyy Macarena!” and smiled.

"cause Total Recall just screams birthday..."

What a day, for a birthday, seriously.

No actually it was great.

I debated taking off work but now I'm glad I went in.

Had multiple compliments about my work from patrons and kicked ass in the stats category so I'm good for the day.

Worked 9-6, but imagine my surprise when at about 12:50 who shows up but the Library Goddess?

Bringing me a gift certificate to my favorite coffee joint.

I was stoked.

Was good to get to talk with her, especially about class stuff for this week.

See, she's all about us being the post office. We have class no matter the weather. There could be balls of fire raining down on us, Armegeddon in the wings and we'd still have class so she's like in physical pain that on Thursday the special library that we're supposed to go visit is closing early due to future storm warnings.

Apparently we're in for the storm of the century though I don't know if I believe the hype.

Now watch I'll get snowed in again.

100 percent chance of snow. I don't think I've every seen 100 percent chance of any weather before this.

Technically we've been in a winter storm warning since this afternoon but it's not supposed to start snowing until tomorrow night.

But basically, everything in my life will revolve around the storm and its extent - work, class, the boyfriend, so really all I can do is wait.

Anyway, so the Library Goddess stopped by gave me a coffee card, got a card in the mail from the Cool Aunt with more coffee bucks, letter from the parentals with some cash - Second Sister sang twice once by herself and once with the kids.

Quote of the day:
"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birth-you still there?"
"Yeah."
"-day dear..."

After work the boyfriend stopped by. We watched Total Recall - second sister made fun of me "cause Total Recall just screams birthday" but hey it sounded good at the time.


Collin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and a bunch of robots. Scale of Awesome says about 6/10. I mean, it wasn't awesome but it wasn't awful. Bit weird at moments, but I enjoyed their hand phones.

Alright, music, family history part four and then I'm out.

Other Side - Sloan


yes, you heard it on Castle cause it's awesome.

Family History: Part Four

Francis James was born on April 25, 1911, to parents, Claude and Lillian. He was the oldest of five children. Grandpa went to high school in Geneva and then in O’Neill for his last two years where he graduated in 1929. During that time he lived in the boarding house run by Amolia’s parents. He and grandma courted for four years and were married.

Grandpa was a hard worker, always out early in the mornings to “beat the heat.” He was a big fan of playing baseball and cards. While grandma was more of a homebody, grandpa continued to play cards with the same group of friends until he moved to the nursing home. Then he would play with his friends there and with me and some of the kids from my school on our usual Heritage visits. We’d go over there and play games with the residents. I had a lot of fun playing pitch with grandpa.

He also used to go hunting. Grandpa was big on outdoor anything. He rode horses and even had his own boat for when they went fishing. He used to love to take us all out on the boat. My cousins would water-ski and I would help grandpa drive the boat. Grandma however, seemed to hate the water. It is said that grandpa went for all the camping, boating and fishing but grandma went for the conversation.

Grandpa had his own pond that he filled with fish. Every afternoon he’d ride his mower out to the pond with fish food. I went with him a lot and sat on his lap. Grandpa said the fish knew the sound of the mower because it meant food and he was right. The fish came right up to the edge every time we showed up. We stood on the side and threw pellets out into the water. My dad now takes care of the pond. He built a dock and tries every summer to get rid of the foliage surrounding and filling it.

Grandpa was a great man with no enemies. He and grandma were well respected throughout the area. He died my sophomore year of high school and it’s still weird to me to go to their house and see it all changed. My brother lives there now and only the outside remains the same.


It is uplifting for me to write about the lives of my grandparents. They were remarkable people. They survived the depression, the dust bowl, the death of two infant children, and celebrated 71 years together. A parcel of land was given to me and my siblings from them which has and is paying for all of our college educations. Most of all, their home was a center of activity and love for my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings and me. A lot of memories were made there.

They lived more than ninety-years and yet again somehow it’s been reduced to only a few pages. It’s hard to summarize someone’s life, especially when it’s someone so close to you. They were a major part of my life and writing this brings it all back. I’ll never forget the card-playing, being grandpa’s little helper, sitting and talking with grandma, the chicken-noodle soup, the yellow tea pot, sitting on grandpa’s lap and watching television, and just generally being in their presence. They always made me feel at home, even when I wasn’t.


And that's all I got for that one which means tomorrow it's time for some fiction.

I'm thinking AJ.

Yep.

Going with AJ.

Legitimate pre-midnight post. Holy crap tag in use.

Cause baby I can love you, baby I can love you better.

It's not official yet.

I've still got like 12 hours of 24-dom yet.

So don't even say it.

I've got until 3:09 PM.

Which means I'll get a text from Sketch at like 3:10 like every year.

Last day at the farmhouse cause I have to work tomorrow. Mom and I watched a Castle marathon then I headed to see the boyfriend. We hit up Walmart - woohoo - where I got Star Wars the complete saga on Blu-Ray (birthday present for myself) and he got PB Blaster for his motorcar stuff.

And some sort of three-pack movie thing that had Se7en, Taking Lives and I can't remember the third, but we watched Taking Lives.



Scale of Awesome says about 8/10, I was really intrigued, totally jumped more than once. But nothing I'm gonna watch again, nightmare central. I told him to turn on a comedy and instead he turned on The Brave One. Another badass chick movie, but we only got through part of that. That one I'd say about 6/10, but it could have gotten better.

Alright, it's way late and I gotta work tomorrow so music, more family history and then I'm out.

I Can Love You Better - Dixie Chicks

missing the farm life.

they will forever be my favorite country singers.

My grandma, Amolia, was born to parents Fredereka and Azariah on July 8, 1911. They lived on a farm. She was the youngest of three children. Because of complications at birth the doctor believed she would not live for more than a few days. Her father became blind so they sold the dairy farm and bought a boarding house in O’Neill. This is where she met Francis. She graduated high school in 1929 and was involved in many school activities. Not only was she a great piano player but apparently she was the go-to singer in O’Neill. She had the best voice and sang for anything including weddings, funerals, cantatas and plays.

Soon after graduating she married my grandpa in 1931. They became the parents of six children, two of them dying shortly after their births. Most of their 71 years of marriage was spent living on a farm outside Geneva. They raised chickens, horses and cattle.

As lovely and nice as grandma was, she also had a stubborn streak than ran a mile wide. One that I might add was passed on down through our family – fortunately for us but not so fortunate for others. Grandma hated cleaning chickens. Her mother lived not too far away and would come over and say, “We’re doing chickens tomorrow!” Which would be followed quickly by a “But I don’t want to do chickens tomorrow!” Her mother would leave and lock the chickens in the pen. Grandma would wait until her mother was gone and then go let the chickens out thinking if they couldn’t catch them then they couldn’t clean them. When her mother would come over the next day and see them out she would stomp off. This occurred multiple times. Grandma says Grandma Merrell would stomp back home, cool off and then come back a few days later when she got lonely, not even acknowledging what had happened.

Grandma loved to cook. Mom says that it was impossible to diet around her. A line frequently heard after dinner was “Who didn’t eat their pie?!” There was one time when my mother and various other family members were headed to Iowa with grandma in the front seat. Someone decided that pop was necessary so they opened some. Unbeknownst to them, the pop had frozen and one that was opened started leaking all over. Grandma was holding it and everyone yelled “Drink it!” to which grandma replied, “But it’s diet! I don’t like diet!” and continued to let it spill all over the car.

I remember eating a lot of hot dogs, lima beans, Mac-n-cheese, rice and pineapple, peanut butter sandwiches with actual butter – grandma loved her butter – and homemade chicken noodle soup which required the entire kitchen for space. There would be noodles hanging off the backs of chairs and all over the counters. When they got older Kentucky Fried Chicken became quite popular. Every time we went through York or Hastings we would pick some up and bring it home. I still haven’t been able to eat fried chicken since they’ve died. Grandpa liked his water with no ice and grandma liked extra ice in hers. They had these green plastic glasses and an abundance of salt and pepper shakers. When we had pancakes grandpa ate them with white syrup. I did too since he was my favorite. All the coffee and hot tea was made in a yellow pot. It was brought out daily during meals and when company was over.

To keep me out of the kitchen while they were busy cooking, grandma would take the rack out of the oven and lean it against the door. It acted as a make-shift gate that I continued to climb over anyway but once I was over it and had knocked it over I would put it back up and climb over it the other way. I was entertained for hours and they didn’t worry about me getting in the way.

Grandma loved to take naps in the afternoon. When it was time for me to take a nap she would volunteer to put me to sleep. I have pictures proving that she did more sleeping than I ever did. Other than sleeping she also did a lot of visiting. Grandma was known for her “gift of gab.” When grandpa would lose focus she would smack him with her cane. She once talked for twenty minutes to someone who had dialed the wrong number, learning all about their life story.

At her funeral they played her favorite hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” My sister Sarah had it played at her wedding and I’m sure the section of the congregation that was looking up would have noticed Cindy, Sarah and I breaking out into tears in front of the alter. Amolia, the child who was only supposed to live for a few days lived happily for 91 years surrounded by her family and friends.

Head First, Fearless.

Well that was fun.

Today I mean.

Very relaxing.

Church in the morning, buffet lunch with Homey G and the parentals after - only in a small town does an entire restaurant sing Happy Birthday to their waitress.

I swear, my father knows everyone in this town.

Though technically he does go there like every morning for coffee, anyway, he got us a table and I walk in to see the waitress wearing this Happy Birthday hat and she wishes me happy birthday as well.

Thank god she didn't make me wear a hat, I would have gotten so much crap from G-Wigger.

Anyway, some lady - that my dad also knew - went around saying we should sing the next time said waitress came through so we broke into song during her next pass.

She seemed happy.

Said she'd trade me ages.

Apparently 25 is more appealing than 44.

Tuesday I'll get to be in her shoes working on mine.

BossLady said I should have taken it off.

After lunch we came home and watched Swamp People - cause really, what's a weekend at the farm if there's no Swamp People? I'd cheer and say I avoided Hee Haw but I'm still here tomorrow so who knows what he'll have lined up for me to watch then?

Swamp People's premiere ended so then it was switched to Ax Men, well, a scene from Ax Men of this dude loading a crane onto a barge whilst his wife freaks out aboard said barge.

But it didn't sink so I can't make fun of him for it.

Well, I can, but it won't be as fun.

I turned on Charlie's Angels again after Dad left to go work on a project and Mom went to some party thing in town. Burned through a disc pretty quickly whilst playing Mahjongg Titans.

I know, my life at the farm is so rough.

That's only cause it's my birthday weekend.

Think I've officially watched all the discs from season two, but it's okay cause I brought season one with me as well. Mom has been watching quite a few of them as well. She makes fun of them and me for them and yet she continues watching.

More fun one-liners.

"If we were still married, I'd poison your coffee!"
"If we were still married I'd drink it!"

Ten bucks if you can name who they're quoting.

If you guessed Winston Churchill or David Lloyd George I owe you.

After Charlie's Angels was dinner with his parents and mine plus my brother and his family. It was supposed to be my whole immediate family and his parents however sickness and sports took over for the 2 missing siblings.

But it's cool, I'll see them later this week.

Dinner was fun.

Got a hot beef sandwich.

The boyfriend made fun of me.

"You have anything to choose from and you choose a hot beef sandwich?"

Then 2 minutes later says that sounds good but goes with chicken.

I rarely eat fried chicken anymore. Makes me nauseous. Stay tuned with the family history and you'll figure out why.

I got some cooking stuff from mom and even stuff from his family, they didn't have to do that but they're awesome like that.

Porcelain cat that looks just like Carter. He's gonna love it.

And some movie gift certificates, stoked, will most likely use them on Tuesday, he's coming up. Thinking about seeing Identity Thief.

Speaking of, have you seen the preview for McCarthy's new movie with Sandra Bullock?



Oh my god, I died.

Pretty sure the boyfriend was not as enthused so I have a feeling I'll be watching that one with Sketch.

After dinner I went to his place and we watched Mystic River.


Scale of Awesome rates it at about 7/10. I was intrigued but not obsessive enough to watch it over and over.

Sean Penn was great, as was Shawshank - don't remember his name but he'll forever be Shawshank - and then Kevin Bacon as the cop.

The ending was a little confusing, may have to pick up the book and read it.

I saw it all the time whilst shelving at the home branch, right next to Shutter Island and every time I'd think, "movies I haven't seen". Lehane was the author I believe. Could tell you exactly where on the shelf to find it but they've since shifted and I would be off.

And that's all I got for today. Tomorrow is another lazy day before heading back to the real world, but first stay tuned for some music and more family history.

Fearless - Taylor Swift


Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash

in the mud and the blood and the beer.


Family History, Dad's Sid Part Two:


When I was little I used to be the favorite. There was a big age gap between me and the other eleven so I was the baby. Grandpa and Grandma only lived half a mile away from our house. Sometimes grandpa would pick me up from school and we’d get groceries. They both helped out my parents a lot with babysitting when mom and dad were busy. I spent a lot of my afternoons watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

There’s a picture of me on mom’s fridge from when I was grandpa’s little helper. I used to dry the dishes after he washed them. Well, I attempted to dry them, I think he went over them again when I was done and preoccupied with something else, but I stood on a stool next to him and smiled pretty for the camera. It was a regular routine. When I cleaned house for grandma I did more sitting and drinking tea with her than actual cleaning which was true for literally everyone that tried to clean. We would all try but were never successful. Grandma always made everyone feel welcome and special.

When I was really little, around 4 years old, I was watching Jungle Book with the lights off and it was really loud so I got scared. No one seemed to be in the house at that time because they were cleaning the bins. I was so scared I ran all the way to their house barefoot on gravel roads in the dark. Grandpa took me back home and my parents didn’t even know I was missing.

The only movies they owned were “The Best of Victor Borge” and “Riverdance.” God bless Michael Flatly for my lack of tap dancing skills. We used to watch them all the time. Grandma loved to watch the dancing and listening to Mr. Borge play piano. I always wanted to fast forward through the actual music and just listen to the jokes. I now own them both but can’t watch either of them.

I used to play the hymn “Glorious in Majesty” over and over on their piano. Grandma always encouraged my playing because she was once a piano player herself. I was never any good despite years of lessons. My aunt Elaine taught me how to play “Strawberry Roan” a song about a horse who bucked people off its’ back. I’d play that after I grew tired of “Glorious in Majesty.”

You move it Turkey, we were here first!

Kelly, the jive-talking angel. My second favorite line in the entire series.

The first of course comes from the first season episode Angels at Sea. They all get notes from the killer, Sabrina's says: "I love you, I'll prove it, you won't like it, I don't care."

I don't want to be 25.

Thanks to my new library friends I now feel like that's old.

One said she had a bigger problem with 25 than she did with 30.

That's comforting, thanks.

Doesn't help that I don't have Slim Shady around anymore to call me a young'en. Even though she's only like 3 years older.

If you go back far enough you'll find posts on here with her nicknamed "grandma" it was only after inservice 2011 that she became Slim Shady.

Cause they kept making her stand up for things she got volunteered for.

If you don't get that reference it'll make me cry inside.

Women wave your pantyhose, sing the chorus and it goes...

Now it's just me and the New Guy.

We are, we are the youth of the library.

I'd post the inspiration for that phrase but it's a depressing song and I'm aiming away from that.

At least for this weekend.

But if you get the above-mentioned reference you probably get this one as well as they were played on the same stations only a couple years apart.

If not, Google it.

I used plenty of Google tonight working on homework. Had to interview three people and have them search for certain stuff then document the search engine - all three chose Google - the search terms - which were all different - where they were on the result list - spread throughout - and then give a piece of advice.

All I could think of was branch out from Google.

Give metasearch engines a try.

Aside from that it was all Charlie's Angels all day. Like 3 discs worth.

Mom watched a few, even Dad watched half of one before he left for the car show.

Though there's a 70 percent chance that's only cause it's my birthday week.

The other 30 being it was his TV.

Dad will of course make me watch Swamp People tomorrow as the season premiere was on the 14th.

Yes, I'm sure that was every girl's dream, to stay in and watch Swamp People on Valentine's Day.

Though it was also opening day for A Good Day To Die Hard which really isn't that far off with all the violence and action. But it's okay I like them both. Not the average girlfriend I guess.

Alright, that's all I got. Cause that's all I did. So it's on to the music rec's and some family history as mentioned in yesterday's post and then I'm off. As mentioned previously you're gonna get a lot of my writing this week, family history and more so stick around. While I think it's crap some people claim it to be otherwise.

The Man Who Never Lied - Maroon 5

there goes my no sad songs plan, but tell me you're not in love with this song and that band after hearing it.

i dare ye.

Family History Dad's Side Part One:

My grandparents died about a year apart but I seemed to have blurred their funerals together. It was the same family, same funeral home, same church, same section of the cemetery, same people that showed up, same people to deal with when you I home.

My grandma died in 2002. I was a freshman away at a dorm high school so I wasn’t around when it happened. I got a call mid-school day telling me. My parents were a lot less brutal than my brother was with my sisters. “Hi Cindy, well, grandma’s dead.”

I remember wanting to do the eulogy at her funeral. I thought I would be strong enough to handle it. Two of my older cousins ended up giving it which was wise since I only lasted about halfway through. In it they talked about how Francis and Amolia had 11 grandchildren, 6 boys and 5 girls until I was born and made it a dozen. I also evened out the boy/girl ratio. When they said my name I broke down and my aunt put her arm around me. I remember walking out and not being able to look anyone in the eye. Grandpa didn’t cry, or at least he didn’t when I looked over at him. He sat in the front row in his wheel chair, with his tinted glasses and his Masonic Lodge ring.

When my grandpa died it was completely different. I was coming back from a volleyball game when I was told. On the way back to the dorms with my friend Katie I noticed our suburban parked outside. My parents were standing out there leaning against it. It was dark but I could still make out their faces. I saw them and just knew. It was just a weird feeling. My legs stopped moving and my mind refused to come up with any other conclusions as to why they were standing there waiting for me to get back. I grabbed Katie’s hand and remember saying something like “I can’t go over there. I don’t want to go over there.” I thought if I could just stand there everything would stay the same, everything would be normal and happy.

Before the service I stood in front of the coffin with my brother. I touched grandpa’s hand and it was cold. He was wearing a gray suit, Masonic ring still on his finger just like any other day.

more tomorrow.


but i just couldn't break your heart like you did mine yesterday.

You asked for a large bag of hair, on the way to Taganskaya Courthouse.

Bruce Willis trying to speak Russian and the cabbie saying what he actually said.

I'm paraphrasing, I'll fix it later.

Yes, this is late but at least it's posted.

So it's been a whirlwind of a day.

Woke up feeling like crap, headache, runny nose, sore throat but it's all mental so I figured I could power through 8 hours to get to the 3 day weekend. Though it occurred to me that if I called in sick and then took vacation on my birthday I could have like 5 days off in a row.

But I would go insane with boredom.

Anyway, another slow day for stats, think I increased to like 30ish, which isn't bad I guess though like 15 of those were electronic assistance cause it seemed like everyone was having problems in the lab today.

Watched an episode of UK Winter Wipeout at lunch.

I'm working my way through the other countries cause I finished the USA version, all that's online anyway. Then it was Canada, then Australia now UK.

I can always tell who's in charge of schedules for the day by checking the time I'm scheduled for lunch. If it's Bosslady I go at 1, if it's my other supervisor I go at 12. But that's cause BossLady knows I prefer 1 cause it breaks up the day, hour-wise. 4 stations in the morning then lunch then 4 stations in the afternoon.

Not important, anyway, I can't really remember anything spectacular about this afternoon, after awhile they blend together.

After work I picked up the Queen of Awesome as she is car-less and dropped her off at her place then like a crazy person decided to drive to the farmhouse stopping to see the boyfriend on the way there.

Which was stupid cause the roads are awful.

Was literally sliding all over the place, at one point I had my foot on the break for like half a mile and the car wouldn't stop. Glad the car ahead of me was far enough away for the car to just coast out. Otherwise I'd have to drive on the grass to avoid them.

It made for an interesting ride. I kept switching songs thinking, "do I really want to die to this song?"

Really weeds out the favorites in your playlist.

I know, morbid, sorry.

Here are a few surprises:

Be My Escape - Relient K

love these guys.

The Beat Goes On - Sonny & Cher

wow they look young. and happy.

guess history really has turned the page...

Anyway, these 2 are catchy but with the Beat Goes On it was like background noise cause I wasn't paying attention to it - I was actually focused on the road - but you know when you get like halfway through a song and then realize that you've been singing it from the beginning but didn't even realize it?

Or is that just me?

Delayed...Reaction used to karaoke that song all the time, but I haven't been there in years.

So I stopped by the boyfriend's place then went over to see a few of his friends. After that we hit up Die Hard 5 aka A Good Day To Die Hard.


It was pretty good. The boyfriend jokes that in the next one he'll have a walker. But he is in his 60's I believe so it is feasible.

Still fits the character perfectly.


"Need a hug?"
"We're not a hugging family."
"Damn straight."

Basically storyline is his kid gets in trouble - he hasn't seen him in years - so he goes over to talk to him and ends up getting caught in the middle of his son's mess.


"The 007 of Plainfield, New Jersey."

Keeps claiming he's on vacation like pretty much every other Die Hard movie.

Scale of Awesome puts it in the 7/10 range so not bad. Not great like the 1st and 4th but still better than 2 and 3.

It didn't help that the girl in front of us wouldn't sit still, she was driving the boyfriend nuts. And the rest of her group talked and texted through the whole thing.

We couldn't decide if they were high school band geeks - were conducting the opening orchestra - or just really annoying college freshmen.

In the end we decided freshmen.

Afterward I made it to the farmhouse unscathed.

Probably not so smart to drive home in that weather, but it was worth it. And I'm pretty sure the parentals wanted me to come home as I haven't been often lately.

What's interesting though is I think the last time I lived a full year at the farmhouse was in the 8th grade because I went to a dorm high school and college, then right after college I got the 2 jobs and moved out completely.

And the last time I lived here longer than a month was 2008 cause summer of 2009 I was taking care of Grams.

Weird.

Speaking of Grams, been working on some family history lately so you may be getting chunks of that throughout the week.

Interesting fact is I have so much more information on my dad's side than I do on my mom's. But that's cause I grew up half a mile away from them and went over there every day after school.

The irony being that the matriarch who could tell me all the stories I'm seeking on the other side of the family doesn't remember them.

Or me.

So I'm screwed there.

Sorry, morbid again, I know.

But I gave you the music rec's and the Scale of Awesome rating so I'm out. Have a good weekend.