Hot Babes Getting Hotter: You'll See Less Of Us Soon

They're bringing book-it back.
All of us readers know just how to act.
Hit the library, pull books from the stacks.
Pass up on those by literary hacks.

None of them abridged!

Go ahead, read more of it.


Why yes that was a spin on a Justin Timberlake "classic."

Sorry, nerd.

But yes they're bringing it back. Apparently even as an adult you can get free pizza. Did anyone else do that in grade school? You read so many pages and then you get free stuff from Pizza Hut. It was awesome. Will have to look into that.

Dangit...now that's gonna be stuck in my head all night. Moving on.


Interesting couple of weeks with lots to post about. Will attempt to cover them in some semblance of order.

First up: Leadership Award

So, remember when that library patron was having a stroke and we had to call 911 and all that? If not, go here.

Superwoman decided that we handled it well so she nominated me for this leadership award. I didn't win - not that I was expecting to - but I got to go to this luncheon and be honored and all that. She wrote up a very nice summary of what happened and other stuff I'm involved in and they read it all outloud.

It was fun - I got free food, woohoo! Plus Mom came up which was nice. It was amusing cause afterwards Superwoman was like "I thought we had it in the bag!" and Girlscout after asking if I won said "well, did anyone else save someone's life?!"

Really not that big of a deal, but entertaining that they were so passionate about it.

Honestly I'm just glad he came to us and we were able to get him help, I can only imagine what would have happened if he went somewhere else.

Anyway, it's nice to feel appreciated every once in a while. Plus it was a good opportunity to meet people who also work for the city/county and hear their stories and all that.


Next up: Motley Crue/Alice Cooper/Raskins

I don't know what it is with us and concerts lately, but there's been a lot of drama. See this.

Last time it was "I will shoulder a 12-year-old for you, that's love."
This time it was "I would punch that girl in the face for you, that's love."

I took off work early so we could get there with plenty of time to check in to our hotel and find our seats. Hotel room was nice, had a hot tub and all that, huzzah.

Then when we got to the concert we found our seats and watched the first band. People starting filling in around us and suddenly we hear this girl say "they're in our seats." We double check our tickets and they're correct so we assume she's talking about someone else. Suddenly the usher shows up wanting to see our tickets. He confirms they're legit and goes back to the girl. Hers also say the same seats. Turns out she had booked that entire row for her family and we were in the middle of it all. The usher made us get up and go to guest services. We went and they claimed they can't do anything without both sets of tickets and that there's no possible way to have duplicate tickets if they're legit. Since the other people with the tickets didn't come with us they wrote down different seat numbers on the tickets and told us to sit there. They were just a few seats down, but still in the middle of the family. When we pointed that out and that they had that whole row booked the lady said that those two seats were unsold so that wasn't possible.

I assume that means the error was on the family's end if the event center has no record of them having all the tickets, but whatever.

We went back to our section and on the way ran into that girl. I asked if she would go to guest services, she said no and walked away. When we got back to our section we told the usher. He confirmed there were people in that entire row and offered to go to guest services with us. After talking it through with the usher there to back us up they moved us to the opposite side of the concert. Meanwhile we're missing Alice Cooper - not that I'm a huge fan, but the boyfriend missed a song he liked. When we got to our new seats there were people in those too! That meant getting yet another usher who kicked them out and we finally got to sit down and watch the concert. We were glad to be way on the opposite side as that family, but our seats were right behind the exit so there were constantly people standing up in front of us going in and out.

But whatever, eventually it calmed down and it was a good show. Lots of pyrotechnics, though my favorite part was when Tommy Lee and his drumset went into the audience.

Look at this:



See that lighted box toward the left attached to the red bars? That's him strapped on to his drums, doing flips and drumming upside down.

Cool right?

Here are some of my other favorite shots.














After the madness that was the concert we got back to the hotel, ordered pizza - so did everyone else getting back from the concert according to the woman on the phone - and relaxed in our hot tub watching Pawn Stars 'til the pizza arrived.

After having a hot tub in that hotel and the Luxor I have decided that once we're married and have a house our first major purchase should be a hot tub.

Sounds reasonable, right?


Third is a visit from one half of P Squared. 

So after a weekend filled with all of our teams losing we have come to the conclusion that we are no longer allowed to watch sports together. Went to the hockey game and we lost against our rivals. Went to the Husker game and we lost to Minnesota. Watched the Bruins play and they lost to the Canadiens. The only team that did win this weekend was the Blackhawks and that was because - you guessed it - we didn't watch it. So no more sports for us when we're together. Otherwise we'll have to start rooting for teams we don't like so they'll lose. Hmm... Was good to see her though. With the exception of a random lunch a few months ago it's been years since we've hung out which is weird cause we used to all the time. She's a friend from back home and by back home I mean when we were little on the farm. Used to ride the bus together every day. Got separated in high school but still did every New Years together. Yes she's one of P Squared who I did all the New Years, Dance Dance Revolution, running around the house with sparkling cider and shooting it all over the place at midnight with. But I've already rambled to you about that. Was good to hang out though especially now that she's got this fancy new job and is moving yet again. Crazy!


Fourth is Mockingjay Part One. 

When putting together our schedule for this year's TAB events the first thing on their wishlist was to do a Mockingjay party like we did for Catching Fire last year. I got it cleared so we went and it was great. Went to the library early, set stuff up then we all met at the theater. We were in the new one with those fancy seats - I don't know if they have these at your theater or not but in this one they're like barcaloungers. You can put your feet up and they've got cupholders and all that. Just ridiculously cool. The movie was great, then we walked back to the library for trivia, games and snacks. For trivia this year I added something special - if you got your question right you had the opportunity to shoot an arrow at a target for more points. The team that won hit the bullseye twice so in the end it wasn't even close. The string obstacle course was Level 2 compared to last year - much harder. I think I posted pictures of that last year - here's the one from this year.



Much more challenging. Not a single kid made it through without knocking down a string. The rule was you can touch them but if you knock one down 10 seconds was added to your time. The one who got through the fastest was one of mine so I was proud. While some were doing that others were eating snacks and discussing book vs. movie. I was proud that most of them had read it, which made the trivia a lot better cause most of it was from the book instead of the movie.


Fifth is a family reunion.

My cousin just retired after 20 years in the airforce and is making the rounds. Was the first time I've seen him in at least a decade. I can't even remember the last time which probably means it was a funeral back in 2003. He missed out on our Vegas trip a few years back cause he was God knows where. Was good to see him and actually amusing because he flies military airplanes and the boyfriend makes parts for them so they had plenty to talk about.


Sixth is a visit from my favorite team - Stars at the library! 

Two players came for storytime and read hockey picture books to the kids. They even danced and signed posters for them. It was super cute and the kids got really into it. I took a bunch of pictures for the website and then of course had to get a picture with them myself. Not a stalker I promise, though I was wearing my signed jersey. It was awesome. Posted that picture to my Twitter, now one of them follows me, the other one favorited it, and it got retweeted by the team. Then this morning I learned that the team's official Twitter starting following me. Take that Bembridge Scholars.

Don't ask.


Seventh is the Code Word. 

I've been doing a bunch of training lately for two of our new employees. I explained to them our code word to get away from the desk and told them some of my horror/amusing stories from the past. Most notable being "likes ass or jazz" and the double emergency when Queen of the Known Universe coded me so I could get away and then the same guy latched on to her and I had to code her out too. Soon after telling them about the code I was talking to the female security guard and a guy came up to her claiming he was a musician and needed a security guard to escort him around the library so he wouldn't be mobbed by crazy fans. I didn't recognize him but Wordie did and said he was full of crap. Soon after she returned and said he did it to get her alone cause he asked if she was single. Cheesy but slick, I can dig it.


Eighth is Thanksgiving/Day After. 

Did lunch with his family and then afternoon/supper with mine. Lunch was good. The restaurant was packed but I'm glad we went because the other part of the family that was planning to come couldn't make it. After lunch we headed to my sister's place where we watched football, looked through Christmas ads, and then he slept cause he went to work that night afterwards. Voluntarily. Cause he's crazy like that. I stayed over at the farmhouse and the next day set up the trees. I took a break mid-tree to eat lunch with mom and my great aunt at her nursing home. They did a baked potato bar and then had the game going for the residents that wanted to watch. The staff there was quite passionate about the game, chanting the Go Big Red cheer, leading the wave (regular and slow motion with the residents), playing the fight song over the loudspeaker, and then singing Kum-ba-ya when we were doing awful. It was highly entertaining.


Ninth is a list of miscellaneous stuff that I found amusing or interesting:

The Queen of Awesome and I have decided to start eating healthier. We're calling our diet "Hot Babes Getting Hotter: You'll See Less of Us Soon."

While stocking supplies last week I stopped by third floor. I passed our new Supply Queen and told her "I'm here to steal your kleenex's." She paused and then said "All I could think of in response to that was 'blow me' but I didn't think it would be appropriate." I told her I would have given her a thumbs up.

Have done a plethora of exciting displays at work recently. Turned a triangle display into a turkey:



and then a snowman:



And then upstairs we had Movember - I stuck mustaches on books with faces on them -




and Readbox - made up of books that were turned into movies.



Election day came and went. My coworkers and I discussed how many people were running unopposed and my boss said that her daughter is a hardcore democrat so if there were any republicans running unopposed instead of voting for them she was going to write her mother's (aka my boss's) name in the box. I decided that was entertaining so I wrote her in for county sheriff. As that's basically what she does here.

A TAB member told me she learned how to parallel park from a video on Youtube. The problem? It was a British video so she had to learn how to do it backwards.

Got my hair dyed and one of the first people to notice was a security guard. Even before the boyfriend who has yet to say anything about it. It's darker red with blonde highlights. Working away from the fire engine red hair even though I miss it...But it was hilarious, the guard comes up to me, does a double-take and says, "you changed your hair." "yep." "it's red." "yep." "and short." "yep." "looks nice." then walks away.

The boyfriend and I finally watched Jersey Boys.

Was excellent, loved the music, though I fell asleep during part of it. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.

We also watched A Million Ways To Die in The West

It was interesting...had its moments though they were few and far between. People die at the fair. Cameo by Doc Brown. That's about it. Scale of Awesome says 5/10.

And There's Something About Mary

Another one of those movies that my brother and I would have left to get popcorn during the awkward parts. It's amusing that we're similar like that. I just can't sit there and watch when people are in awkward uncomfortable situations, it makes me cringe. If I'm by myself I will fast forward but if I'm with others I'll just leave. Scale of Awesome says 6/10.

And Old School

Interesting to see Ellen Pompeo in this one since I'm so used to her as Meredith. Like a flashback to her college tequila days or something. The boyfriend loved it. It had its moments. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.


Last is: The Voice

Finally we're to the finals. Here's where my top 20 stands.

Damien - Adam - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives - WILDCARD WINNER
James David Carter - Blake - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Kelli Douglas - Adam - eliminated in battles
Anita Antoinette - Gwen - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd lives - eliminated in 3rd lives
Luke Wade - Pharrell - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd lives - eliminated in 4th lives

Toia Jones - Pharrell - stolen by Adam – lost in knockouts
Maiya Sykes - Pharrell - eliminated in battles
Joe Kirk - Adam - eliminated in battles
Jessie Pitts - Gwen - stolen by Blake – won knockout - saved by Blake in 1st lives - eliminated in 2nd lives
Taylor Phelan - Pharrell - won battle – stolen by Adam - eliminated in lives

Chris Jamison - Adam - won battle – won knockout - saved by Adam in 1st lives - survived 2nd/3rd lives - saved in 4th lives
Mia Pfirrman - Adam - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Fernanda Bosch - Blake - eliminated in battles
Beth Spangler - Adam - stolen by Gwen – eliminated in knockouts
Matt McAndrew - Adam - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives

Taylor John Williams - Gwen - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives - eliminated in 5th lives
Katriz Trinidad - Pharrell - won battle – eliminated in knockouts
Jean Kelley - Gwen - stolen by Pharrell – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Troy Ritchie - Gwen - won battle – lost in knockouts
Taylor Brashears - Blake - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives

Damien got eliminated but then brought back as the WILDCARD! Awesomeness! So not bad since I have 3 out of the 4 remaining. I would have all 4 but for some reason I switched out Craig Wayne Boyd from my top 20 even though his was only one of the few blind audition singles I actually bought.

Even though I'm happy for Damien I'm guessing either Craig or Matt will win. Most likely Matt, but maybe Craig. Right now I'm happy with whoever.


On to the music, here are my rec's for the week:

Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars


new theme song for the Queen of the Known Universe...fitting for our Hot Babes Hotter plan. love mark ronson. reminds me a bit of Ladies Night or James Brown.


Lips are Moving - Meghan Trainor



the more i hear from her the more i love her. she's more than all about that bass, honestly, look into her other stuff, it's fantastic. dear future husband, close your eyes, title, and now this. i'm stoked for the new album coming out soon!

in fact i think she has officially reached Current Top 5 Favorites status, bumping out Eminem cause I don't like his new stuff.

that puts us at:

1. Maroon 5
2. She & Him
3. Lily Allen
4. Karmin
5. Meghan Trainor

and guess what, SHE'S TOURING this spring!! so exciting. now if only Lily Allen were to come back to the US sometime soon....this time not as miley cyrus' opening act...honestly i would have gone to see her and then left before miley. she's too much of a wrecking ball for me.


Hanging Tree - Jennifer Lawrence


heard this in mockingjay and haven't stopped singing it since. totally haunting moment but complete momentum shift in the storyline.


God Only Knows - Matt McAndrew


was so excited since it's one of my favorite songs from my youth. he covered it very well.

i grew up on their music, and mr. tom and i listened to it many times while i was doing my practicum internship. lots of beach boys, eagles, and halloween music playing in the background, it was highly entertaining.


Back Home Baller - Saturday Night Live


i just have the "bowls, bowls, all type of bowls" part stuck in my head. driving me nuts but i love it!


Alright that's all I got. More soon. Already planning out my 12 Days of Christmas Music That Doesn't Suck - woohoo!

RRVN - Take Four

Happy blog anniversary!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November.

4 years, 120,000 views later and I'm still here.

Can you believe I’ve had this thing for 4 years?

Granted lately I haven’t been as good keeping up with it as I was before. Honestly I don't know how I did it every day for that long.

But that’s probably good for you cause you don’t have to put up with my random ramblings 7 days a week. Now it’s just like twice a month. There you go, I did it for you.

Though I've slowed down a bit I still post about the important things.

In true blog anniversary fashion here are a few of my favorite posts from the past year.


1. Family Christmas: "It's alphabetical." "What from W to boobs?" "Are you sure you want to purchase Boobalicious for $10.95?"

IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ JUST ONE GO WITH THIS ONE
2. 1000th Post: Post #1000 My Top Library Moments of All Time "You looked all serious." "I am serious, I gotta get rid of this 7Up!"

3. People's Choice Awards: Nope, it's there forever. Like Maggie Smith and her tramp stamp. "Some of me are definitely dudes."

4. Golden Globes: "It's the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age." "Explosion at the wig factory" = alternate title for American Hustle

5. Life Mottos: Walk west 'til your hat floats Because everyone should have someone to scream at in a giant elephant.

6. Grammy Awards: Then I got sober and two robots called me and asked me to make an album. Could anyone understand the words coming out of Beyonce or Jay Z's mouths? It was like Ozzie up there. And then Ozzie was up there...and needed subtitles.

7. Sketch Meets the Parents: It's cold out and I'm not wearing pants, where are you? “What do you think of this dress?” “Stick some candles in it and make a wish?”

8. Trivia Night: I hope I go home with the right dwarfs Heigh ho.

9. Valentine's and Birthday: puck...puck...puck...i should probably move...yep, good plan. The lady in front of me ducked to save her beer. Priorities.

10. Vegas: Vegas Take Two "Take all the dam pictures you want."

11. Hockey/Attachments: "What do you call people who mouth the words when they read?" "Nerds?" We want milk!

12. Library Inservice: My librarian's spicy under-layer. "Think about how much time you spend managing your boobs."

13. Zombie Apocalypse: "The deaf guy's right, you are a nice lady." Yes, these are the thoughts that we have at work.

14. Zombie Apocalypse Part Two/LifeSize Game Day: Keep Calm and Flame On She watches a lot of Survivor and she's good at assembling Ikea furniture.

15. Motorcarring Take Two: We ain't got no room for boring. I'm wondering if they're actually decorative or if it's more like a giant rock monster died in their front lawn and they were too lazy to move them.

16. Librarian Problems: Do I wanna know why there's a bra in the lost and found? Merry unMother's Day.

17. Cher Concert: I hope you took your heart pills cause I'm coming out. I’ve been drinking this forever…Eisenhower was president.

18. Homey G Wigger/Sketch and Edit's Excellent Adventure: Hyvenese = Chinese for Hyvee Plus I had to save Bertha. Don’t ask.

19. Motorcarring Take Three/Paul McCartney Concert: Some people bring spare parts, Popper Boy brings spare cars. It had a picture of a ring with the subtitle: Your Girlfriend Wants Me.

IF YOU'RE GONNA READ TWO GO WITH THIS ONE
20. Camp J Highlights 2014: Hard to be a boy in a cabin named Sioux. Sounds like a car driving through a halftime show.

21. Camp J 2014 Skits: Eat a donut, write a ticket, hands in the air Soap Opera: …Me? You want to marry me? Oh Biff, I, I.... Game Show: ...am so sorry, that's the wrong answer.

22. Bats at the library: Balls to you sir, balls to you sir, up and down the court. Blow me east, blow me west, I like lots of wind.

23. Learn the symptoms of a stroke/Karmin concert: I would shoulder a twelve-year-old for you. That's love.

24. Fun times at the zoo/Staff Association/Hockey Signings and Tour: "Do you work here?" "No." "Oh, well there's a reindeer stuck in the tree." In the meantime I'm on the cheeseball committee.

25. Disney Overload: No one saying do this, no one saying be there, no one saying stop that, no one saying see here. "it starts with an S and the rest is fluff."

26. Sports Harder: "A field goal's like kissing your sister." They looked like something your grandmother would have bought you (like a bird sweater) and then he actually wore them.

27. Mentor: And I'm dying inside and nobody knows it but me. Living in a dream world is great, but sometimes you have to face reality and write letters to the important people in your life before it's too late.

28. Women's Murder Club: That's not coffee that's diabetes on ice. "That's how I ended up with a Rotato."


You can find 2013's highlights here, here and here
And 2011's here, here, here, here, here and here

No idea what happened in 2012.


Continuing on, here are a few of my favorite things lately:

What's green and sings?

Elvis Parsley. That was a Library Judge addition.


Hey Ya - Troy Ritchie


Flashback to high school. I love his quirky style, especially at 0:42. Need to learn that move. It's stylin'.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Bob and Doug McKelvie


Don't look at me like that, it's November, I'm allowed to listen to Christmas music. Aren't you so proud I waited 'til after October to start?

Guess I'll have to add that one to my list to post for 12 Days of Christmas Music coming up in December. A whole 12 days of posting in a row. Perhaps I should go back to posting every day to prepare. I've got plenty of stuff to talk about.


Here's what you've missed since my last post in no order whatsoever.


Today at work was so bizarre. I climbed through a hole in the wall, turned a display into a giant turkey, and stuck mustaches on books. Let me explain.

The hole in the wall was to the garage which I knew we had but didn't know where it was or how to get to it. Turns out it got walled off cause we don't use it but there's still a hole you can go through to get to it. This was where the supervisor watched safely from the sideline as I got covered in spiderwebs and tripped over broken glass. We've been doing a lot of rearranging lately and we're looking for random odds and ends or more places to stash extra odds and ends.

The turkey thing is going in youth services. We have this giant triangle building block display and Superwoman wants us to turn it into a giant turkey so I recruited two of my TAB kids to help. It's a work in progress, but the head is done!



As for the mustaches it is Movember - a month dedicated to men's health - so I took all the YA books with faces on them and stuck mustaches of different colors and sizes on them, then put them all on display. It's got a lot of attention because it's located right between the stairs and the computer lab. I'm proud.



I know I'm highly entertaining.

What else?

October was filled with ups and downs, specifically one weekend in particular. On Friday we celebrated a wedding, on Monday we mourned at a funeral. Unfortunately it was for the same family as the wedding.

The wedding was fun. The boyfriend went with me - he used to be housemates with the groom. I know the groom from school, camp, and apparently we're related somewhere down the line. And he actually met his bride at camp so I knew her too! She is our nurse. They donated a dollar to camp for everyone at the wedding which I thought was amusing. The reception was lego themed and awesome. Each of the tables had a bowl full of legos for us to build stuff. The boyfriend built a spaceship, I built a house. I even got him to dance with me so it was great.

The funeral was not so amusing. Actually it was rather stressful, even before it started. The night before Mom had this idea of releasing balloons at the cemetery so she texted the new bride to see if it would be okay. The next morning she responded saying that the family loved the idea. Immediately after Mom woke me up - you know how much of an early morning person I am - I got dressed and we went to the pharmacy for balloons. We asked for 40 and they were like "only 40?" until we told them we needed them in like 10 minutes. It took 4 of them to get it done. Meanwhile mom and I went across the street to get breakfast. After the balloons were ready she took most of them in her car and I took the rest. We lost about 4 or 5 on the way over. Scared the crap out of me every time one popped cause they were right next to my head.

Note to self, next time whilst transporting balloons turn the heat/air conditioner vents in a different direction otherwise your balloons will pop. Figured that out halfway there.

Once we were there everything was fine. Well, as fine as it could be. The church was packed, as was the basement, so I was proud. He request was that we sing Someday - which has become a camp tradition since 2008. Since I'm the one who usually leads it at camp I led it there. Plus as she was my mentor I felt it was important for me to do something. It wasn't our best, granted everyone was looking at their feet. It became almost an unspoken rule not to look each other in the eye because we knew we'd lose it. As I had lost it twice during the service - we sang at the end - I only looked up when I had to cue people in and out. After the service we went to the cemetery. The Pastor said a few words and then we released our balloons. It was interesting because there was a treeline and I was scared they would hit the trees but almost a second before they shot straight up and over the trees like they were helped or something. I was glad I could help out as she meant a lot to me. Camp won't be the same without her.

Okay, as thinking about that gets me into over-analyzing my life mode let's move on to something more joyful.

Let's go with TAB, that's always fun. This month for our activity the teens recorded a podcast about their favorite books and their favorite TAB memories. I was quite proud they were able to expand more than just "it was cool" or "i liked the cover." They went into writing style, plot twists, and all that, plus they were very passionate while talking about TAB so that was good. Then of course Info-Man made me talk about how to join and our upcoming events. For your info our upcoming events include a books to movie marathon and a Mockingjay party. Similar to our Catching Fire party last year we're going to see it in theaters and then coming back for games and snacks. I have a crapton of trivia so we're going to divide them into teams through a "reaping" of sorts and then they have the opportunity for extra points if they get the question right by hitting a target with a nerf bow and arrow set.

Very exciting, I know you're all jealous.

What else? Halloween was last week. Myself and a bunch of my coworkers dressed up for work. I was a hockey player. Queen of the Known Universe was a Royals baseball player. The New Guy was a fireman - suspenders and hat included. Info-Man was a Ghostbusting vampire in that he wore a Ghostbusters t-shirt and vampire teeth. We took a picture - it's up on Facebook. As for after work, the boyfriend was off in Iowa riding motorcars with his dad so I went to my sister's. We drank wine and watched Rocky Horror and Young Frankenstein. Squirt was throwing a Halloween/birthday party so there were lots of teens around. I thought it was cool because instead of just watching movies they did a scavenger hunt. They went around taking pictures of themselves with certain things like spiders, pumpkin seeds, gravestones and all that and they got points for each thing. The last thing on the list was to turn themselves into a Mummy so she had tons of toilet paper at the house. Bubby was my favorite. Their toilet paper kept ripping so it took them a couple of tries. His partner was his girlfriend. I know, I feel so old. But I'm the cool aunt so I didn't tell any embarrassing stories. She seems nice.

Soon after Halloween was election day. Most of my people won. Except for governor. I don't like Pete Ricketts or his commercials so that's kind of a bummer. I listened to Mitt Romney Style while voting again. It's becoming a tradition.


On to Scale of Awesome's

Gone Girl


This movie was messed up. In the end they deserved each other, seriously, but we literally just sat in the theater and went what? Like what? It's a super long movie so you're waiting and waiting and waiting for stuff to happen and then it finally does and then it's suddenly done with a huge cliffhanger. I picked up the book at work and read the last couple pages and it's the same thing! Ugh. Scale of Awesome says 5/10.

**Spoiler alert** I thought for sure one of them would kill the other at the end. I was rooting for him to kill her, she's a sociopath, oh my god.


Fury


The boyfriend loves WW2 movies, but since he's a history buff he debunks them as we watch them. This one was apparently fine up until the ending, but I didn't care cause I thought it was great. I know everyone keeps saying all this crap about Shia being nuts, but he stole every scene. He was so good. Total method actor, though I guess he is a bit crazy since he pulled out his own tooth for the role. Whatever, Scale of Awesome says 9/10, I'll definitely watch it again.


Taking Chance


I'm not quite sure how I missed this one until now since it's recent and has Kevin Bacon in it. It must not have gotten a lot of advertising. I thought it was great, very emotional and cool to know what is all involved in the process and how respectful they are. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.



Last but not least here's my Voice Top 20. Well, what's left of it.

Damien - Adam - won battle – won knockout
James David Carter - Blake - won battle – won knockout
Kelli Douglas - Adam - eliminated in battles
Anita Antoinette - Gwen - won battle – won knockout
Luke Wade - Pharrell - won battle – won knockout

Toia Jones - Pharrell - stolen by Adam – lost in knockouts
Maiya Sykes - Pharrell - eliminated in battles
Joe Kirk - Adam - eliminated in battles
Jessie Pitts - Gwen - stolen by Blake – won knockout
Taylor Phelan - Pharrell - won battle – stolen by Adam 

Chris Jamison - Adam - won battle – won knockout
Mia Pfirrman - Adam - won battle – won knockout
Fernanda Bosch - Blake - eliminated in battles
Beth Spangler - Adam - stolen by Gwen – eliminated in knockouts
Matt McAndrew - Adam - won battle – won knockout

Taylor John Williams - Gwen - won battle – won knockout
Katriz Trinidad - Pharrell - won battle – eliminated in knockouts
Jean Kelley - Gwen - stolen by Pharrell – won knockout
Troy Ritchie - Gwen - won battle – lost in knockouts
Taylor Brashears - Blake - won battle – won knockout

My number 1 took out numbers 2 and 6, but the rest of my top few have been dominant. Adam has the strongest team going into the live shows by far since they're all 3 or 4 chair turns. Pharrell has Luke, enough said. James has dominated for Blake and I'm liking Taylor's chances as well. Number 21 on my list would have been Craig Wayne Boyd. He got stolen by Gwen then stolen back by Blake which was cool. I'm rooting for him as well. As usual the female coach has the weakest team. I don't know what it is but every year Christina, Shakira and now Gwen just get hosed by the male coaches.


And that's all I got. Here's to another year. Catch you on the B Side.

"A field goal's like kissing your sister"

Look, I'm posting again. And it's only been like a week. Instead of like a month. Woohoo!

Okay, so last time I did stuff in order, this time I'm doing them in reverse order.

Sunday Night: Sushi

Went out for sushi tonight for the Cool Aunt's birthday. Lots of food, lots of fun. Conversations ranging from Halloween parties, to dead people, to Christmas, to sports stuff. Never a shortage of stuff to talk about in our family.

Quote of the night: "How is she doing?"
Second Sister and myself simultaneously: "She's dead..."

Saturday Night: Huskers Game

The Cool Aunt took me to the Huskers game this week. I was super stoked 1, because it was homecoming, and 2, because the last game I went to was the Kansas game in Kansas back when we were still in the Big 12. Also with the Cool Aunt. So it's been a while.

We rocked it. Final score 45-14.

Ameer was unstoppable, Kenny had some awesome catches, and Tommy has really improved since last season. We have a really young team (with the exception of Bell and Abdullah) so we may have a pretty decent team these next few years.

Here were a few of our favorite things:

Ganz's Pants: I don't know if you watched the game but if you did there was no way you missed Joe Ganz's pants. (for those of you who don't know he used to be a QB, now he works with the QB's). Anyway, he was wearing these bright red plaid pants and they were just fantastic. They looked like something your grandmother would have bought you (like a bird sweater) and then he actually wore them. The Cool Aunt has labeled them as "The Gantz." Though we also liked "Gantzers." I'm wondering if they'll show up in the Huskers section at Scheels like those red and white striped overalls.



Joe is the one in the exact middle of this picture. The only non-player on the sideline not in khakis.

Westy's Crop Top: I love Westerkamp, you've gotta know that by now, but did anyone else notice how short his jersey was last night? It was like they ordered the wrong size for him or something. The Cool Aunt started calling him "Crop Top" as did the lady next to us. "Crop Top's back in..."



You can see it here in this photo, he's #1 running on the goal line.

"Sports Harder!": First off you should know that not all of my siblings are die-hard Husker fans like myself. Or sports fans at all. My brother and I are hardcore fans, but Second Sister knows nothing about sports. I taught her the strike zone this summer. Her motto for her children playing sports is "I don't care if he's running around with his shoes untied, he's having fun!" Anyway, halfway through the game I get a text from her and instead of "Go Big Red" or "Go Huskers" or even "Go Team" she texts me "Sports Harder!" We liked it so much it became our battle cry. Actually it reminded me a lot of that scene in the Big Bang Theory where Leonard paints "Go Sports" on his stomach.



Yep, just like that.

Difference between a touchdown and a field goal: You meet some interesting people at Husker games. The lady sitting next to me was very nice, a teacher, knew my boss, etc. But then we had some interesting characters sitting behind us. When we got stopped on 3rd down and were forced to kick a field goal one of them goes, "A field goal's like kissing your sister." I died.

"Just like I said": The Cool Aunt really wanted us to run a reverse and I really wanted Westerkamp to catch one in the endzone so we would periodically call them out. (you know like when a baseball player points his bat to the outfield like he's gonna hit a homerun) we were convinced on certain plays that that's what they were gonna do because of body language or whatever so she would say "they're gonna run a reverse" and then they wouldn't so she would respond "just like I said." Then I would say "Westy's gonna catch it in the endzone" and it would be a run play instead and she would go "just like you said." So we were totally right the whole time. Not.

Fear Ameer: Even the band had Heisman Fever. Check out what they spelled during their halftime show.





Epic. He does deserve the Heisman. I know he has some stiff competition but I think that run against McNeese State should determine it all.



Enough said.

Selfies Galore: Mr. Johnny Rogers made another appearance last night since it was homecoming. Everyone was getting selfies with him, including the cheerleaders. And guess who my cousin got a selfie with! Mr. Abdullah himself. Super coolness. While the Cool Aunt and I are not big on selfies we did snap one in front of Memorial Stadium. But it was backwards so we had a dude take another one for us.


Saturday Afternoon: TAB Game Day

On Saturday TAB hosted its first event - Game Day. With help from the guard I got the wii set up (which took forever) for MarioKart, plus I had all my board games from camp still in my trunk so I pulled those out. And see, the boyfriend says they're wasting trunk space and that I should unload them...but I've pulled them out on multiple occasions so they stay in the trunk. Also because I have nowhere else to put them really. We played some MarioKart - I dominated - "somebody's actually good at this game?" was one boy's remark, apparently he had never played video games against me before - and then we played some Apples to Apples - I also dominated. Now they want to do it again next year. It's on.

Saturday Morning: Adventures in the Parking Lot

Queen of the Known Universe and I need duo name. Like how Girlscout and I are Team Awesome, you know? We're thinking it should have something to do with our initials since they are the same. We did some excellent teamwork Saturday morning when the gate to our parking lot wouldn't let us in. I can't say exactly what it was, but it was brilliance and I'm proud. Thankfully, after multiple emails and phone calls it is now up and running again. Wildly entertaining.


Friday Night: Hockey Game

Friday was the hockey home opener. I was so excited and had been waiting for this night since like April so I was super pumped. Since the boyfriend was out of town I took Queen of the Known Universe. In true date fashion I had to pick her up, then we had to get her a t-shirt, plus she had to take a picture with the zamboni. Only thing missing was blood on the ice. I was surprised there were no major fights this time. I'm sure that will change as the season goes on. Jitters got to us and we started playing sloppy blowing the lead and losing the game in the 3rd period. Tempers were flaring at the end and they wouldn't even let them do their salute to the crowd just in case there were fights as they left. I've never seen that before. The Queen suggested they have one guy with the puck and then make a big circle around him 'til he gets to the other team's net. Would make for an interesting strategy. Like the Flying V from Mighty Ducks.


And that's all I've got for my timeline. Except it's TV season again, so here are my highlights so far:

Blacklist: Red and Liz are back and I'm stoked. With Berlin still out there the team is in hiding, so he sent Lord Baltimore to find Red's wife to draw him out. And guess who plays Red's ex wife. Mary Louise-Parker. I totally screamed. You have no idea, I'm sure my neighbors thought I saw another spider or something. For those of you that did watch it, the mystery figure in black has to be Tom, right? I mean, he can't be dead. And my "Run Lizzy Run" count continues. Scale of Awesome 10/10.

The Voice: Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani have joined Blake and Adam as coaches this year and they have been surprisingly persuasive. Gwen keeps playing the fashion and woman cards, and Pharrell writes poetry and calls people silk. I love them both, but that came long before the Voice. I did love when one contestant told Gwen she taught him how to spell Bananas. I remember buying that CD and then making Mom listen to that song on repeat the entire way home. Some pretty good singers this year, should be interesting. I'm working on my top 20 list. Scale of Awesome 9/10.

Scorpion: Based on a true story, this show tells the tales of Walter O'Brien and his group of geniuses. The first episode introduces the characters and then they get hired by the FBI to stop a terrorist plot at an airport. Was pretty good, I'll keep watching it if it keeps that up. And it's got Katherine McPhee which should be interesting. Scale of Awesome 8/10.

How to Get Away with Murder: Another Shonda series - I think Thursday night has become a Shonda-fest on ABC cause you've got Grey's then Scandal and now H2GAWM. It's a legal drama about a bunch of law students and their teacher - loving Viola Davis in that role - in which she basically is defending criminals in court while teaching them how to do it. And apparently in the flash forward her four main students killed someone. Should be interesting. Scale of Awesome 8/10.

Red Band Society: Octavia Spencer plays a nurse in a pediatric ward - yay for The Help stars getting major TV roles - her charges range from boys with cancer to a girl with an eating disorder to a boy in a coma to a snobby cheerleader with a tumor. The show is more about them living in the hospital, but she holds it all together. Scale of Awesome 7/10.

Mysteries of Laura: Debra Messing returns to TV, this time as a detective. It actually aired on the anniversary of Will and Grace which was cool. This series is awesome, mostly because it reminds me a bit of Women's Murder Club. Female detective. Ex-husband becomes her boss. Etc. But the crazy kids are new. Love her assistant - or whatever his official title is - the one who helps find the pre-school and all that. But Messing pulls off the detective which is surprising because it's so different from Grace Adler. I didn't watch Smash but I'm sure she was great in that too. Scale of Awesome 8/10.


Yet to come: Castle, Mom, 2 Broke Girls, Elementary, Grimm, Person of Interest, Bad Judge, Mulaney, Cristela, State of Affairs and Gotham (which I have taped but haven't watched yet).

Those of the shows I still tape. I gave up on Bones, Grey's, NCIS, and Criminal Minds. Bones lost Sweets, Grey's lost Cristina and half its cast, NCIS lost Ziva, and Criminal Minds lost Prentiss so yeah....I'll wait for the DVDs.

Songs of the Week:

Fireball - Pitbull


weird video, but good song. which is weird cause usually i don't like his stuff.

Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj


i love this song but the only singer i like is jessie j - i love jessie j - but ariana's a bitch and nicki is weird. however they're all huge now so it's huge.

Boss - Fifth Harmony


Next. Love it.

alright, that's all i got. hopefully you will hear more out of me soon.

"What do you call people who mouth the words when they read?" "Nerds?"

These are the conversations I have with Queen of the Known Universe at work... What else would you call them? Is there an official term that I'm not aware of?



Today rocked.

I feel so clean.

Even after a hockey game.

Woke up semi-early, which to me is 9, and spent the whole day cleaning.

Well, most of it.

I swept, I vacuumed, and I CLEANED OUT MY CLOSET.

For serious.

4 bags full of clothes for Goodwill.

That's how long it's been since I cleaned it out.

Plus I organized the shelves and got rid of a bunch of boxes so now it's not only clean, but also organized and I have room for more stuff.

Which apparently is a girl thing, we can never have too much stuff in our closets.

After all that fun the boyfriend and I hit up the hockey game where we dominated Des Moines 7-4. It was awesome, if we score 5 points everyone gets free milk from one of the grocery stores here in town, you just have to show them your ticket. Anyway, we had 4 points and all the sudden the crowd starts yelling "We want milk!" and I swear, mid chant we stole the puck and scored.

The crowd went nuts.

Oh and they fired our head coach. We have a new general manager and that was the first thing he did. Granted we aren't doing so well this season so I'm kind of glad. Our Assistant Coach rocked it tonight.



And as awesome as tonight's game was, it still wasn't as awesome as last week's game. We played Team USA Juniors. They were up 1-4 at the end of the first period. I scored first and then they got 4 straight so we were like crap, this is gonna suck. Then we came back and scored 6 straight.

6 straight.

And also won it 7-4.

It was awesome.

Tomorrow is another game - my last of the season cause the next one I have Bubby's play instead.

It's sad that it's over already.

I'm thinking about getting them again next year. Just have to email the guy and ask about parking passes, cause that got expensive.

Anyway, what else have you missed.

Work is good. Tomorrow for TAB we're having a Murder Mystery party. Which was awesome cause I found a good one and I had it all cast and then a bunch of other teens RSVP'd so I had to write in new characters.

Which I hope don't totally suck.

The only problem with this one is that it doesn't have a master script, just like accusations and rebuttals so I don't know when I should be prompting people or who I should be prompting or if I should be prompting...

I just hope they don't think it's lame.

Remember the web series we were working on? Did I ramble about that yet? Some idiot (me) decided it would be fun for our TAB to film a web series to promote the library and its events. Which SOUNDS like a good idea, until you have to actually film it with a bunch of teens.

I thought we'd be done after one meeting, we're going on three and still have seven scenes left to film.

We may do a bit more tomorrow if the Murder Mystery thing finishes early.

What else?

The boyfriend and I are good, I already rambled about Vegas...I did say he wants to go ring shopping right?

Which he told me at a hockey game and I attempted not to like jump for joy or pass out or ask him to repeat himself cause I clearly didn't hear him correctly...anyway, I'm excited.

Apparently everyone and their dog thought he was going to ask in Vegas.

Not me.

But everyone else.

He says he'd rather do something local instead. Fine with me. As long as it happens. Sooner rather than later.

What else?

OH so remember when I was reading Silver Linings Playbook and I turned into a total nerd and read like a paragraph a day so it would never be over?

Found another one of those books, but said screw it and had to finish it early.

It's called Attachments and it's by Rainbow Rowell.

Yes, that is her real name, her parents were hippies.

And she's Nebraskan - from Omaha - so it's set in Omaha.

It's basically this guy works IT at a newspaper and his job is to flag people for inappropriate computer use - gambling, personal emails, all that - and he runs across this series of personal emails between these two women and he gets caught up so he doesn't flag them. Then one of them mentions this cute guy at work and it turns out to be him so he hits up the gym, etc. etc. Anyway, it's fantastic. 9/10 on the Scale of Awesome, I loved loved loved it.

Mostly because the main female character is me.

No, you have no idea. I'm convinced that the woman followed me around and took notes because she says stuff that I've said and she acts like I do in situations and then the guy is so similar to the boyfriend, it just seriously freaked me out.

Queen of the Known Universe said it must be the Twilight Zone.

So, what do I do? I tweet the author about on Twitter and she favorites it.

Take that world.

#NebraskaPride

Although not so much #Nebrasketball pride, that game was brutal, we got hosed.

For those of you who aren't aware our men's basketball team made it to March Madness for the first time since like 1998.

If we would have won today we could have played Creighton next.

That would have been awesome as they are kind of the in-state rivalry.

Oh well, I think our women have a fighting chance, but they're always good.

Hmmm...I'm thinking.

I don't usually have to think when I post it just comes out.

It's been a while so I don't know what I'm missing...

Oh, The Voice is back on. Scroll down and you'll see my Top 20. So far so good in the battles. I think all of mine are still alive. No, wait, my number 5 - Brothers Walker - is out. And Paula Deanda. She was good but Blake put her against Sisaundra and anyone against her is doomed.

Alright, on to the music. A new one and an old one.

Love Me Again- John Newman


his hair style is weird but his voice is solid. love this one. why is the chick wearing gloves? wait a minute, what just happened?! did he actually end it that way?! that's just  mean.

Tomorrow Never Comes - Teddy Geiger


yes i'm aware it was a horrible movie, but the soundtrack is excellent, look into it.


you spin in circles around the sun, but tomorrow never comes.

"What are you doing?" "Being nice." "You're not nice. And you're on duty." "Well, give me the afternoon off."

Today...

More supplies fun.

Made up a spreadsheet so everyone knows where to find stuff.

Yes, that has become my life.

Isn't it exciting?

I feel stuck.

There's so many changes being made and I don't know what to think about them.

Am I actually happy there?

Do I want to stay?

I have the degree, should I be looking around for other jobs?

Everyone keeps telling me to.

I don't know. Maybe it's just been one of those weeks.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

I like the people, I like the patrons - well most of them - I like the location, I don't mind the hours so I guess I'm happy.

I have TAB.

They make me happy.

It just sucks that all the girls my own age bailed on me. But that's okay, I still have friends there.

In fact, the New Guy and I talked about library staff hitting up Vegas sometime for a conference.

That'd be awesome. I can see us all walking the strip, playing craps, seeing shows.

It's making me look forward to the boyfriend and I's upcoming vacation.

Going to see Pentatonix and that's about all we have planned so far.

We'll probably do some gambling, but not a lot. Last time we went there the majority of our time was spent walking the strip, and it was a lot of fun.

Though this year I'll attempt to keep everything in my pockets.

Or get one of those cheesy fanny packs.

Apparently Drew loves them, who knew?

I'm back on the Closer. Up to season two.



Remember how I'm a nerd?

Anyway, I've got that and hockey to entertain me for the next 24 hours.

Bubby's singing the national anthem at tomorrow's game. Well, his school is. It always amuses me cause the boys always look like they're in pain whenever they're forced to do anything like this in front of people.

Reminds me of my directing musicals days.

Did I mention that? Used to help out at my old grade school. We did plays every year and they were awesome. Drug my college friends out to watch them and they would always laugh because my boys always looked like they were the worst thing in the world.

But the girls and all the younger kids loved them.

And the boys had fun too, it's just day of they had to be cool.

I miss those days.

Part of the reason I'm excited that TAB's gonna start filming a web series to promote library services. Get to write and direct every month. Huzzah.

Maybe that will bring the fun back.

Let's hope so.

Alright, music and I'm out.

Who I Am - Danielle Bradbery


you cried, don't even lie.

ironic song choice for the post, i'm aware. but it was stuck in my head all day.

legit pre-midnight, holy crap tag in use.

"Nope, it's there forever. Like Maggie Smith and her tramp stamp."

Post #1001

Took last night off. Figured you'd heard enough from me the night before.

Yes, it was epic.

But I promise it won't happen again for another 500 posts at least.

A few things you missed:

1. Watched Trance with the boyfriend.



Weird. Weird. Weird. It started out really good and then everything circled back so it was okay, but in the middle it got really really weird. Scale of Awesome says 6/10.

2. Killer Women finally premiered. So excited for the return of Beth Riesgraf. It was weird seeing Carla play the cop instead of the bad guy. Or girl, sorry. I miss Burn Notice already.

3. Jordis Unga now follows me on Twitter.

I know, I freaked. The only problem is that I found out at lunch when I was surrounded by people. I could feel my eyes pop out of my head, it was ridiculous.

For those of you know who don't know, Jordis Unga is wicked awesome. She was on the Voice season two and she was my pick for the winner but she got beat out mid-season.

Here she is on INRX cause my Voice clips aren't working.



Epic.

And her new single is officially out.

So take that world.

4. It snowed like crazy today. Like all day. It was supposed to stop in the morning, then at noon, but it went on until like 3. I like snow, I do, but driving on it sucks.

5. TAB meeting this afternoon. We picked out the teen Summer Reading events for this year and planned out our first web series episode. Maybe I'll post a link when it's published.

6. The People's Choice Awards were on tonight. Sketch and I did some commentating as always. Lots of fun.

Here are some things I learned:

-Not all of those waitresses were female. "Some of me are definitely dudes."

-Ellen Degeneres bakes a hell of a cookie.

-Justin Timberlake thinks putting the dishes in the dishwasher is healthy for your marriage.

-People still watch The Good Wife.

-They're bringing Chuck back but they're calling it Intelligence.

-Beth Behrs can sing. And rap.

-Adam's speech was still my favorite. 3 guesses why.



If you know me you got it in 1.

-Drew loves fanny packs. That is one thing I didn't know about her.

-Sarah Michelle Gellar and Britney Spears somehow majestically have never won a People's Choice Award until tonight. What happened when they were popular the last time?

-Le man, Le myth, LeBlanc has still got it. Unfortunately he couldn't perform his honky-tonk LeBlanc-a-donk cause they were in a rush.

-2 Broke Girls still rock, even when live.

and that's all I got.

on to the music.

Who Needs Sleep - Barenaked Ladies


miss these guys too.

I Almost Do - Taylor Swift


love this one. yeah i know, she's juvenile, whatever, it's a good song.


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

"Camera adds 10 pounds." "What's your excuse for the other 20?"

Post #998

Ridiculous, I'm aware.

So Bruce Lee was in Nebraska today.

Sorry, Lee Brice.

Whoever that is.

I keep calling him Bruce Lee cause it's easier to remember.

Plus it makes Sketch mad cause she's a fan.

There was this big secret concert in Milligan cause it's halfway between LA and NY. It's part of Pepsi's halftime series. Anyway it was a big secret as to who was gonna perform, there were rumors of Bruno Mars, Keith Urban, and then someone thought they saw Faith Hill in G-Town so everyone thought it was her or Tim McGraw and then it's Bruce Lee.

Sorry, Lee Brice.

Who the crap is Lee Brice?

Anyway, it helped us decide whether we were going or not.

Country twang, that we don't know, in 15 degree whether...yeah no.

Sorry if you're a fan.

And yes I am a country girl and grew up on country music, but the country music that I grew up on was so much different than what plays nowadays.

I'm a fan of 80's-90's country, but not so much of today's.

But that's okay, the people that did go seemed pretty excited about it.

And I was just happy to be inside in the warm.

Today actually was pretty good.

Slept in - 'til like 10 - made waffles with my new wafflemaker - they were awesome - watched NCIS marathon - well, like 2 episodes, I didn't realize Grimm's royal captain was part of Paula Cassidy's team, yay Sasha Roiz - did movie night with the teens - we watched the Hobbit part 1, well half of us did - then date night with the boyfriend - Grudge Match.

The Hobbit was interesting. They're teens so of course they don't actually watch the movie at a movie night, actually half of them did while the other half sat in the corner and screamed every time someone came up accidentally in the elevator.

Though it was usually just the security guard.

The corner group was fine, except they're the ones that wanted to watch the Hobbit, while the rest of us were for Princess Bride and got out-voted.

We should have switched it out and see if they noticed.

After movie night I went out to see the boyfriend. We saw Grudge Match.



It was...alright. Scale of Awesome says 6/10.

My problem is that I love De Niro but hate Stallone and in the movie De Niro is a jerk and Stallone is the nice guy you're supposed to root for so I couldn't get into it.

After that we went out for supper, watched part of Star Wars 5, then he went to work and I came back to my big fat cat.

En route I talked to Sketch, hence the Bruce Lee frustration.

And that was my day.

I'm hoping tomorrow is good as well, though apparently this whole week is gonna be freezing cold. Ugh.

On to the music: More of my favorites from 2013.

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons


mostly love Will Champlin's version of this, but the original is good too.

Just Give Me a Reason - Pink ft. Nate Ruess


love them.

out.

Eyes bright, chins up, smiles on. I'm talking to you Katniss.

Took library teens to see Catching Fire.



17 of them to be exact.

And got paid for it.

Best job ever.

With 2 other adult who "sacrificed" their Saturday afternoon to see it with us. Then we went back to the library after for food and games. We made homemade bows and arrows out of popsicle sticks, dental floss and q-tips - go here - played Catching Fire trivia for bragging rights - Gere won, then ate our fancy cupcakes. Half of which were gluten and soy free. And were actually pretty good.

As for the movie it was an experiment for me.

Remember how I'm a nerd?

I read Hunger Games back in college before it was popular and loved it so I was so excited about the movie but because they cut so much out - I mean, they had to it would have been hours and hours and hours long - I was sad. Anyway I was curious if I would like the movie more if I hadn't read the book and didn't notice that stuff was being cut out so I decided to test it and not read Catching Fire before seeing the movie. And it worked, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time not knowing what to expect.

Though now with that cliffhanger I'm going to read Catching Fire and Mockingjay ASAP.

I'm glad Mockingjay is being made into 2, even though that means we'll have to wait even longer. But they can include more stuff if there are 2 of them.

I'm a nerd. I'm sorry.

Anyway, the movie was great.

Scale of Awesome says 8/10.

I loved Effie in this one, she felt like a real person now instead of just a sideshow.

There were bits of humor to break up all the darkness which was good.



I really do think they have the perfect cast. Did anyone else watch Josh host SNL?

He was pretty good. The show wasn't great, but he wasn't bad.

After the movie and the afterparty I went out to eat with Second Sister and her husband. The boyfriend met us - ate half my meal but I was stuffed from the snacks that afternoon - and then we went to see Elton John perform at the new arena.

It was EPIC.

We parked like 8 blocks away to avoid mass hysteria so the walking in the freezing cold part wasn't fun but the rest of the night was awesome. He played like 27 songs - most of which were greatest hits but he also included a lot of his new stuff and a lot of his not-so-mainstream stuff.

Which was good, to mix it up.

The boyfriend predicted he'd sing Crocodile Rock last and was right.

I hate it when he's right like that, I don't know how he does it. Process of elimination I guess, it had to be something upbeat and something that everyone knew. Still, ugh.

We weren't the only ones that went, it seemed like half my workplace was there. And a bunch of family - both sides present. I was texting back and forth with everyone and waiving and then someone else would text and I'd be like, crap, who am I supposed to be waiving at?

It rocked, he played all my favorites so I was happy. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night.







The rest are on Facebook if you're interested.

We did have to laugh though because there was this woman in the front row that was slightly inebriated...okay, more than slightly, she was having a really good time...anyway, she kept like pointing on every major beat. And not just like pointing with her finger, she put her whole body into it. And then she was dancing and all that.

And she was right in his sight line so you know that's what he took away from the show.

Anyway, we were laughing and pointing along with her.

So woman in the turquoise shirt, whoever you are, thanks for that.

Best part was after the show when talking with Second Sister we were like, "there was this woman in the front-" "in the turquoise shirt?!" "yes!" and then today at work I brought it up to the New Guy who also noticed her dancing and was laughing about it as well. I'll have to ask Superwoman, Library Judge, and the Cool Aunt if they noticed her as they were there as well.

She should go on tour with him.



So that was yesterday. Today was work - slow but alright. And tomorrow I'm off so I'm in celebration mode. Gonna sleep in and attempt some homework. Only 2 more assignments and 1 more day of the internship left before I get my Master's.

Pure madness.

Songs of the weekend: My favorites from last night

Tiny Dancer



Sad Songs Say So Much



I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues



Bennie and the Jets



Rocket Man



Crocodile Rock


our section was so offkey - not me! - but it was so much fun...


He threw in so much improv before and after, it was awesome. He's crazy talented.

Looking forward to seeing Cher in May. Huzzah.


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

"Any last advice?" "Stay alive."

and i think it's gonna be a long long time.

'til you died, 'til you died, but you're still alive!

Today was a big day of sorts.

Not like mega, but in comparison to this week it was big.

Went in early for scheduling purposes, had my TAB meeting this afternoon and then finished the day with class.

I love my teens, they're wicked awesome. Whenever I'm feeling like maybe I need a break from libraries I have a meeting with them and then I'm completely re-motivated.

Today's meeting was all about the Catching Fire party next week and our upcoming web series.

We came up with possible activities for the afterparty - thinking obstacle courses, crafty stuff, and food.

The web series was the really fun discussion. My teens have decided that they want to do a web series about our library publicizing aspects of its collection, upcoming events, and fun behind-the-scenes stuff.

We have a host - Mr. Sparkles, don't ask - so our December meeting is going to be spent coming up with a theme song and taping it, along with developing scripts and brainstorming ideas for the series.

One of my teens is really good with digital media so the videos might actually turn out pretty cool. I may even post one on here, we'll see.

I think the behind-the-scenes @ your library will be a fun place to start, but I'll have to clear it with my bosses - and coworkers - first. Then go from there to introducing areas of the collection and then talking to staff about upcoming programming.

It'll be a monthly thing and I think there should be regular segments like book reviews, guest panelists, etc. to go along with our other stuff.

A coworker thought it might be cool to have our host interview our 93-year-old volunteer about why she loves the library.

Just fun stuff like that.

I'm interested to see what they come up with for a theme song.

Especially if it has anything to do with Mr. Sparkles.

Don't ask.

You asked.

There was a craft thing and a bottle of glitter was thrown. He was covered and became Mr. Sparkles.

Actually it was Cod Sparkles but I had to nix the Cod part so his first name is currently up for debate.


Speaking of debates - the boyfriend and I talked more about our music debate this morning - the one in which we came up with no current top 40 artists we'd really like to see live - minus Karmin.

Cause something's up with radio.

But then we thought of Bruno Mars.

He wouldn't be bad. I like some of his stuff, and the clips that I've seen of him live are actually decent, which is a testament in itself cause some people are just not good live.


There's another debate going on at the moment. I want to get him something big for Xmas. Last year he got me the Maroon 5 tickets and a blu-ray player so I was thinking maybe a PS4.

He mentioned wanting one in the past, plus if other people were looking for presents for him they could get him games. But he maintains that it's too expensive.

But the thing is, I'd rather spend more money on something that he actually wants than less money on something he would lose interest in a day later.

You know?

Now, I may regret that statement later if he decides he wants to play it all the time and that's all we do.

But we'll see.

I don't know, what are you buying for Xmas this year?

And what's the best way to buy it? Online? In-store?


Anyway, so there was a lot of Xmas talk today at work. After work came my last graduate school class.

I still have homework, but tonight was my last class for my Master's program.

All that's left is an outreach project due Sunday, a collection development project due next Sunday, and then a program summary due the Sunday after that.

Plus my practicum and its reports. Right now I'm at 77/90 so I should hit 90 right at the deadline.

Oh, that reminds me, I should send him my evaluation form.

Will do that right after I post.

Class was good, we talked about intellectual freedom, and review journals.

Kind of review stuff, but it's nice to have class with your adviser cause you're able to ask her graduation questions about things like caps and gowns and all that.

I ordered mine.

It's boring black and white - or classic black and white depending on how you see the world.

I'll go with classic.

Libraries are classic.

No, they're not boring.

Take that back.

It's so strange to be at this point. When I first started the program it seemed huge, now it's almost over and I'm still like, wait, already?


Alright, on to the music:

You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette


Okay, I'm slightly obsessed with this song. Again.

Kat brought it back full force.



Did you hear they're turning Jagged Little Pill into a musical?! Gonna be awesome.

If she were touring I would go see her.

Oo, is she touring?

i'm out. legitimate pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use.

I'm not staying here for dramatic effect I really don't know how to get down.

First TAB Meeting of the year and feeling good.

Got 7 new applications since last summer, 4 of which made it to today's meeting.

Most of which was spent joking around, try to keep it as laid back as possible.

Cause you know, they're teens. And they're here voluntarily. So I don't want to scare them off.

Did some introductions - Cod Sparkles and all that - then voted on some activity ideas for this year.

Thinking game night - but like life-sized games so candyland with color spaces on the floor, and angry birds with the pigs as balloons stacked up on cardboard boxes while we throw darts at them, jenga with real boards, etc. etc. - movie night - whatever is new and exciting at the time - and then a murder mystery night.

Those are just the spring, the fall stuff is more crafty - they're making sculptures to celebrate Day of the Dead in a collaborative event with the art museum, and painting faces in yet another collaborative event this time with local schools.

And our Catching Fire party of course. Though they think that we should actually go see the movie and then come back and do all that other stuff.

Which means I have to talk to my boss.

Bosses.

I keep getting more and more bosses to report to. I wish there was just one, but that would be too easy.

Other than that my work day was pretty boring.

Except debating one of my bosses on why a whole section got missed when the aides scanned the collection.

She kept poking holes at my theories - maybe they were checked out, maybe they were mis-shelved, maybe they got pulled, maybe the scanner was broken - she had answers for them all but then I went with maybe the library gremlins took them and she had no rebuttal.

Cause there are library gremlins and they do meddle with things.

They enjoy messing with our heads, it brings them great amounts of joy and entertainment.

Itza monsta!

After work I went out to see the boyfriend. Drove around for a while in the rain, went to Walmart, watched some TV. We're getting old and boring, but Friday will be more active.

Dad's 70th birthday party at the cabin.

His cabin. That he built. And painted. And then moved half a mile before putting concrete under it and filling it with endless amounts of what I've dubbed "redneck rustic" items.

I'll take pictures and upload them so you'll know what I'm talking about.

Ducks, retro golf clubs, electric horses, minks, and movie theater seats.

Yeah, that last one didn't fit to me either but they are quite comfortable.

And that's all I got.

Early morning tomorrow working with volunteers before I head over to the practicum.

Clip of the Day:



and that's all I've got to say.

Three armed cops and a writer makes four. You're under arrest so get on the floor.

You would have been proud of my reference skills today.

Chick came into the library asking about a book she read as a kid.

Here is the description that I got: "this guy moves to town and paints it red and then everyone gets mad so he paints it something else."

Um.

Okay.

NoveList was a bust so I tried Google.

20 minutes later I found it on Amazon.

The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments by Arnold Lobel.

Boom, reference training.


After that it was all about Homemade Book Board Games.

My teens rocked it.

A bunch of TAB kids along with a potential new member who seemed to fit right in.

I worked more on my Harry Potter themed Monopoly style board.

One of my kids made a Harry Potter Apples to Apples which she called "Broomsticks to Broomsticks".

Other books covered included: The Secret Garden, Warm Bodies and Game of Thrones, along with Twilight and a couple others that I can't remember.

My adult volunteer who came to help made one based on Russian folk tales.


After work I came out to the farmhouse. Stopping by the Dorm-mom's fireworks stand for more strobes and  flying fish.

Second-to-youngest niece was here. Playing with the outdoor cats. Mom found a dead bird.

And a not-so-dead-one.

"Are you sure that's not another cat?"
"It has tail feathers and a beak."

We moved inside and decided Candyland was safer.



Aside from that the day sucked.

When you start wearing sunglasses to hide the fact that you just broke down or that you're about to again that's when you know there's something definitely wrong.

But that seems to be the theme lately.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.

It is the 4th after all.

My favorite of all the holidays.

Got the fireworks stash to prove it.

Parade in the morning - driving the T-Bird - after that it's all fireworks all day.

Huzzah.


And that's all I got.

Song of the day cause I'm watching the episode:



actually found the full version online:



those guys combined are actually pretty good.

though my favorite part was Beckett playing it on guitar in the end.



by all means. please come in.


and i'm out. happy fourth.

Life size Angry Birds anyone?

You know it's gonna be a weird day when you wake up to this conversation:

*talking about giving iPads to grandkids for Xmas*
Oldest Sister: "I just hope [CK] doesn't decide to pop one out so she gets an iPad."
Second Sister: "I hope she does."
Oldest Sister: "Me too, let's talk to [the boyfriend]."
Mom: "I'll get her one.....An iPad, not a kid."
Second Sister: "Tessa needs a cousin playmate. Whoever steps up to the plate will be my fave."
Mom: "Ain't gonna be me."
Oldest Sister: "I would love to be your fave but I'm too old to puke for 9 months."
Mom: "You are not too old though, I can tell you that for sure!"

she says cause she had me when she was older than Oldest Sister is now.

This is what you wake up to when you teach your mother how to text.

Ah, the joys of family.


I think I helped like 25 people today.

Tops.

Sundays are slow, except for the computer lab. That was hopping.

It was mostly quiet, a screaming kid every couple hours or so but that was it.

Which makes it a good day for scheduling.

Drafting a schedule for next school year's TAB.

Any ideas throw them my way.

I'm thinking...life size angry birds.



Thoughts?

Okay, maybe for Camp J.

We have the space and resources.

No, I came up with a lot of ideas, whether the teens like them or not I guess I'll find out in the fall.

I'm very democratic when it comes to the schedule - the first meeting I present them with my ideas, they give me theirs and we debate as to what we want to do for that year. If there's a tie they make a case and then we vote again.

Last year we did:
the artwork project - decorating the young adult area, made our own bookmarks, etc.
world kindness day - apple juice and crafts hosted at the home branch
the holiday party - apples to apples, pizza, ice cream
scavenger hunt - my design, trivia about the library mixed in with physical scavenger hunt
read across america - dr. seuss celebration at the mall, local celebrities reading, tv crews all over

along with the regular paperback processing party, volunteer recognition, and the kickoff.

plus the hunger games and cosplay parties that the other branches hosted. think it's our turn to host, gonna have to come up with something good.

Upcoming year I'm thinking:
Game Day - board and video
Movie Night - something teen related
Poetry Slam - theirs or something published
Open Mic Night - karaoke, stand up
Holiday Party - they liked this and want it continued
Cupcake Decorating - book themed or otherwise
Pop Culture Trivia Night - just cause it sounds fun

amongst other things.

Tomorrow I go in 4-6.

But hopefully that will change to 2-4.

And then in future weeks I'll just take a half hour lunch.

We only work 6 hours on Sundays so we have to make up the 2 hours during the week.

Originally I set it up so I would be there for the 2 hours that Squirt volunteered but since she's busy and can't come in anymore now it's just obnoxious timing.

Cause you can't really do anything or go anywhere.

Half hour lunches will be easier.

Though less Wipeout will be watched.

But it's either that or going in early.

And you know me and mornings.

Anyway, 2 hours of work tomorrow afternoon.

Hoping to do something with the boyfriend tomorrow night.

Get dinner, see a movie, whatever.

Right now I'm exhausted so I'm gonna crash.


Songs of the day:

cause it was stuck in my head after hearing it on the way to work....

I Saw Her Again - the Mamas and the Papas


grew up listening to these guys and still love them.

i've always been curious about 2:43. was that intentional or did they just not have the time to re-record it?


cause i can't believe it's been almost 3 years and I haven't already posted it...

Black Velvet - Alannah Myles


i don't know how i have not already posted this as it is one of my favorite classic songs.

love the original music video.

think the guys in her band have longer hair than she does.