so excuse me forgetting, but these things i do. you see i've forgotten if they're green or they're blue.

Today.

Geez.

Can finally sit still and you know breathe normally.

I was all over the place today.

Worked the desk in the morning and then the afternoon was all about party prep for tomorrow.

I'm taking 17 teens to see Catching Fire. And getting paid to do it.

Best job ever.

Thankfully there will also be 2 other adults there.

Anyway, this afternoon I got to shop for supplies. One of my kids is gluten and soy free so I had to go to a bakery to get special cupcakes which I still have to pick up tomorrow morning. Then I ran to Target which didn't have yarn or popsicle sticks, which meant I had to go to Michaels. And then I forgot about apple juice so I had to go to Walgreens. Somewhere in there I also stopped for lunch - this was all in a 90 minute period. Got back in time to work the youth services desk and spent it cutting yarn for the obstacle course. Then I attempted to make an example bow and arrow our of a popsicle stick and dental floss...4th time was the charm but I did it! Successfully. You know, 4 times later.

I'll post pictures tomorrow, they're pretty cool. I'm sure theirs will turn out better than mine, I'm not crafty at all.

No, seriously, I have no art skills whatsoever. I can write but that's it. Okay, I draw mazes to. And give them to people. But those don't count.

Physical crafts like that paper mache tiger thing are just a disaster. I leave all that artsy stuff to Sketch.

Anyway, so I have my crafts prepped, I have my food bought/ordered.

Came home to watch the Hunger Games - I was gonna read Catching Fire but I decided to watch the movie instead cause I want to be surprised.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a bad librarian cause I haven't read the book.

I read the first one back in college before it was popular and then bought the rest of the series. Then I started work at the library and recommended it to people and then everyone I rec'd to read it and the rest of the series before I even got a chance to start on the 2nd one. And then I started classes so textbooks and articles were enough reading for me.

But, I'm doing an experiment with this one.

The first movie was okay, but I was sad cause it left a bunch of stuff out that was in the book.

Now, if I don't read the book beforehand I don't know the storyline and therefore I don't know what they're leaving out so I can judge the movie as just the movie instead of being disappointed like I am with every other book that's been turned into a movie.

And speaking of books being made into movies, another one is coming out soon - The Book Thief. Totally 10/10 on the Scale of Awesome for that book. I'm stoked. I loved that book. I actually read that one for the same class that I read the Hunger Games for. Oh yeah and the Hunger Games was also a 10/10. Other books we read for that class were: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 8/10, Monster by Walter Dean Myers 7/10, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 4/10 I hated that book and Twilight another 4/10.

Yes, I read Twilight. Let me rephrase that, myself and 30 of my classmates were forced into reading Twilight. Sorry Sketch, just wasn't for me.

I miss those lit classes, those were fun.

But when you're an English major you're also taking like 3 of them at a time so it's a lot of books. Explains why I have so many shelves of them in my apartment.

Okay, so I watched the Hunger Games and submitted my homework. Now I'm off to bed because tomorrow is a huge day with the party and the concert.

Gonna be wicked.


Your Song - Elton John


tomorrow...

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

quit playin' games with my heart.

I'm turning back into horrible blogger lady, I'm sorry.

To be fair I didn't go to bed until like 5AM last night as I was finishing up my homework and then updating the spreadsheet for grad assistant stuff. Pretty sure I emailed it back to her at like 4:30AM which meant she probably read it half an hour later and went, "what's she doing up already?"

Morning people.

I am not one.

But I can be if it gets me coffee and apparently an ipad.

Which I'm loving by the way. Downloaded some cool apps - mostly educational as it is for school stuff and life stuff.

But since I still have my laptop and my ipod and my smartphone I'm trying not to take it everywhere with me and overload it.

Especially since it's not officially mine. Dropping that in one of my many badly timed klutzy moments could lead to epic conclusions.

Speaking of epic today was pretty great. Had our big Hunger Games party for the teens today at the park. I had 5 show up which is actually pretty good for us at events. They all sound stoked about it at the meetings but then they get busy and all that. Which is fine because it wasn't just my kids, there were other library branch's TAB groups as well. I think we ended with 39 kids? Plus 5 leaders - well, 4 leaders and 1 impromptu leader who is fantastic. We needed a guy's perspective and he used to work at the work branch with me so I miss seeing him around.

He is the expert on all things Star Wars, we even had Star Wars themed food for his going away party.

Anyway, Hunger Games, we had a stale bread toss - if you've read the book you'll get that reference, they didn't really explain it in the movie just a few timely clips - shower caps covered in shaving cream and packing peanutes, and they all dressed up in the clothes I had from camp for the makeover your counselor activity.

I'm calling it a victory, it was quite amusing.

After that I headed out to see the boyfriend. He changed my oil cause he's car-savy like that, then we went out to dinner and watched the Husker game at Applebees with his friend. Who's pretty cool. And I'm attempting to play matchmaker. But we'll see how that goes. More on that later.

Yes the Huskers got hosed, but it wasn't all that surprising since we looked so strong last week.

Which probably doesn't make sense to you so here's my explanation: It was too good to be true. Rex as a star but Abdullah as a killer backup, Air Martinez 78% in passing, the only thing that needed work was defense and special teams. a lot of work for special teams.

Tonight Maher was a little better with aim but still not quite perfect. If he doesn't straighten it out Pelini's gonna be auditioning new kickers. Nebraska's always had fantastic kickers. And he was so great last year, who's putting what in his cheerios?

Sometimes I forget that these are just college kids.

Younger than I am.

Just cause I'm so used to watching the games growing up. They seemed so much older way back when. Now they still do even though I'm probably at least 2 years older than anyone on the field. Minus the coaching staff.

But that's Nebraska football, they're heroes in this state. Famous even. Looked up to.

Which means they better turn things around real quick or we're screwed.

Though I did jump for joy when I heard Wisconsin lost. Sucks for them.

Where was I?

Yes, Hunger Games, the boyfriend and his friend, football game....for the life of me I can't remember a single thing from yesterday. Aside from the fact I did homework all night cause I knew I didn't have to be awake 'til 12:15PM.

I think I worked all day.

I think.

I know at one point I emailed my TAB schedule to my boss for her to look it over. I'm hoping it'll officially get approved, otherwise my kids will be super bummed out. And myself too.

So I guess that's all I got cause I don't remember anything else. Though I'm sure I will the second after I post this.

Big day tomorrow - church, b-day party for brother with softball game at the farm, singing at nursing home for family day then church league softball at night.

Should be warmed up after the game in the afternoon. Concerned about the time-table especially if it makes us late for the night game. Oh crap, I was supposed to make up some t-shirts. I'll look into that tonight. See if there's a way to post the design to Facebook. Would be easier than printing them off.

Alright, off to do that then crash.


Songs you know but forgot you know them:



I Love You - Martina McBride
totally forgot about this one, love prime country on XM.

Quit Playing Games - Backstreet Boys
does howie sing at all? or just dance?

I hate myself for loving you

So apparently, a guard cat Carter is not.

I mean, he can meow tough and stare boldly, but when it comes down to someone breaking into my apartment - someone being my sister and the breaking in was actually her using my spare key - his only defense mechanism was to lift his head, see it was her and go back to sleep.

Like eh, yes, I see you rifling through things, but I'm cute and fluffy and chasing you down would just bring great stress and tiredness and I just don't have the energy right now. I mean, I only slept like 7 hours last night, then went back to bed immediately after she left for work. I need my full 15 hours or I'm just not functional.

I know, his life is so rough.

So yes, I forgot my wallet this morning, which I didn't realize until I pulled up to the parking lot, reached for the key card in my wallet and went, well crap.

Then of course the library is blocked off for this big event so I had to park in the garage - making me late - but I don't have cash so I had to panic call Oldest Sister to see if she could bring my wallet so I could get out of the garage and into my actual lot.

So yes, I was late, by like a minute, think I walked in at 9:06 instead of 9:05 but I stayed late tonight helping this dude check out music books so we're covered.

Talk to Queen of the Known Universe, she's got my back.

As does the New New Guy (not to be mistaken with the Old New Guy)  He is now the damages king - aka Sir Damaged - so I was going over training stuff with him and that's just basically stuff that Fearless Leader and Queen of Awesome have taught me throughout the years.

Plus I got to see some of my favorite people, Oldest Sister came to bring my wallet, Adopted Little Sister stopped by as she does every month or so and I got a glimpse of the great KB this morning but after that she vanished. Will have to get lunch at some point or another when we're actually both there and available at the same time. 

Water polo? Really?

Got a lot of air time, is it worth it?

Maybe it's just cause I haven't actually watched it. I just fast forward to like swimming, beach volleyball or gymnastics. Haven't watched any archery, though it does look interesting. You can thank Katniss for that spike in popularity.

Alright, aside from the forgotten wallet I did fairly well today, and look yet another pre-11:50 post time, but don't get used to it.


Song of the night:


classic

"She shot an arrow at your head." "At an apple." "Near your head."

So we went to see Hunger Games.

Again.

This time it was me, squirt and the squirrelly boy.

It was our makeshift Squirt is Awesome parade.

Cause I told her she deserved a parade of awesomeness.

Complete with fireworks.

Cause she got asked to play with the high school girls this summer for volleyball.

And she's just an awesome person like that.

So she jammed with us tonight for dinner and a movie.

Noodles for supper, pasta is my downfall, then Hunger Games at the theater.

I liked it better this time, I'm improving my Scale of Awesome rating from 7/10 to 8/10.

I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Though I'm still holding off reading the other books, I want to see if watching the movie first will make them better.

Plus it ended all happy, I don't want it to get all depressing which apparently it does.

So I get to grocery shop on the clock tomorrow.

How cool is my job, seriously?

But it's for Summer Reading stuff.

We're making edible campfires and we're pre-assembling them into bags at the next meeting. Which happens to be next week.

So I get to buy pretzels and red hots and licorice and all that, plus 200 juice boxes. No real clue as to the kind or flavor, the only condition is that it's cheap and if it spills - and it will - it won't stain.

And I'm back to fact or crap reference info.

I'm hooked, I find it amusing.

- Every day 7% of the US eats at McDonalds

- On average more people fear spiders than they do death.

- Blood of mammals is red, insects are yellow and lobster is blue.

- An albatross can sleep while it flies.

- Sounds at the right vibration can bore holes through a solid object.

- Although the pony express was one of the most famous chapters in history it only lasted one year, from 1860-1861.

- The word "housekeeping" was invented by Shakespeare.

And that's all I got for the day.

More of the same tomorrow.

I'm attempting to watch some movie with Carla Gugino and David Boreanez. It's a basketball one, The Mighty Macs or something I think. It's alright, I was hoping to feel more uplifted or inspired or something since it's a basketball movie based on a true story. Maybe I haven't gotten that far into it yet.

Though I'll be konked out in a few minutes anyway.

So looking forward to Dark Shadows. And am intrigued that Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman come out basically at the same time.

"Start Wearing Purple" Gogol Bordello
cause i told squirt i would post it. for some weird reason it got deleted from my ipod, will have to go through and re-add it.

i actually got to talked Warped 05 twice today.

I really need to upload those pictures. Or maybe I have already to Facebook. Though I doubt it. But maybe I have. Add that on my to-check-list, similar to a to-do-list but this is double checking things you've done before you forget about them entirely.

You should see them live, they're so fantastic jumping on drums and all that.

"My Favorite Mistake" Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton
interesting matchup, even more interesting haircut. not sure what's going on with that.
this and uncle kracker's "follow me" are the oldest songs i can remember being my favorites.

well, not like classic old songs, but growing up-wise, when i think back these are the first songs i said were my favorite when the concept of having a favorite song was thought out.

if that makes sense.

if not ignore it, i'm falling asleep as we sleep.

OUT!



Alright, off to bed. Have a good one.

Happy Hunger Games and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor

IDK, my BFF Katniss?

Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.

Not that there are massive spoilers, but minor ones.

Okay, so after work myself, Slim Shady, Fearless Leader and BossLady - not to be confused with BossWoman aka SuperWoman - hit up an opening day showing of The Hunger Games.

With all the hype and build-up we're major nerds so we just hoped it wouldn't suck. That was the common thought throughout the week. Along with Oh it's gonna be great, I wonder how they'll do this, or how he'll play this, but the major one was I hope it doesn't suck.

And.

Well.

It didn't suck.

It wasn't uber-fantastic.

But I think at moments it was worth the hype.

I don't know, I'm going back and forth.

I did a poll after the movie, cause I'm the biggest nerd apparently, Fearless Leader gave it a 5-6 on the Scale of Awesome, BossLady said 6, and Slim Shady and myself said 7/10.

So overall we'll call it a strong 6.5

Which is mildly depressing.

I don't know, like I said I'm going and forth.

It definitely had its moments where I was on edge, and I jumped a few times, but it wasn't spectacular the whole was through. The beginning was slow but that's okay cause you need to know why they're fighting and all the background stuff. It picked up during the prep and actual games.

I'm wondering if maybe I hadn't read the book that they would have made it better?

Since I knew everything beforehand, yes I understood things more clearly than people who hadn't, but still I already knew what was going to happen next.

With the last Harry Potter it was the only one I didn't read and it was nice that way cause I didn't know what was happening. I had read the others beforehand and was frustrated they include certain elements from the book so for the last one it was like all I need are the highlights.

Besides it's a lot of pages to cover in 2.5 hours.

I'd explain the missing stuff but I'm guessing half of you ignored the spoiler warning at the top and plan on seeing this in the near-distant future so I'll shutup.

The cast was perfect in their roles, Lenny Kravitz included. and Jennifer Lawrence played Katniss so well that I actually belived it. I really loved that Laser from The Kids Are Alright played Peeta. Since I haven't read the last two I'm interested to see how that turns out.

Yes, I know I'm a horrible librarian. I recommend the series all the time but still haven't read the last two.

What else?

Costumes were great. The Capitol looking about like Lady Gaga's home planet.

It was action-packed, I'm actually surprised it was only rated PG:13 as it was so violent.

But well-deserved. I hope people get intersted in the rest of the stories. Right not there are about 100 holds on the first one.

I was glad we got our tickets in advance. Not that it was too crazy, but it was easier this way. And we got lucky finding four seats in a row.

We did have to laugh because I'm pretty sure the girl behind us hadn't read the books. There's a super serious part where someone dies and the chick started crying. Slim Shady and I looked at each other and just laughed. Inappropriate for the moment, but still.

Alright, I'm out for the night. Tomorrow is the wedding and I have to wear a dress. Sunday is work and homework and then Monday I'm half off, woohoo!

OUT!

"I added some garlic for pizazz!"

Okay, have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up to someone pounding on your door, look at the clock and freak out, check your phone and see missed calls, and think oh crap I'm late for work and Superwoman sent the landlord to make sure I'm not dead?

Anyone?

Anyone?

I think I watch too many crime shows.

Fortunately, when I frantically ran to the door to assure the landlord that I'm not dead I opened the door and found my mother and Oldest Sister who had come to measure my curtains.

Then realized I didn't set an alarm cause I didn't have to go in until 4.

So I'm allowed to sleep until 12:30!! No judgments!! I was up until 4:30 the night before!!

Anyway, people are starting to think I'm dead on here as well. I'm not dead, but Sketch was here so here are some highlights from that past three? four? days:

-Ralph Nader is coming to Nebraska on Monday. I find this highly amusing, but not for political reasons. Basically in high school we took a government course and it was an election year. While everyone was making George Bush campaign posters and slogans we chose Ralph Nader and would shout "Go Green Party!" up and down the halls.

We were nerds.

Not much has changed.

But no I won't be going and shouting that up and down the halls there. I'm working cause I work and then I work some more. And some more.

-Fairly Legal Season One on DVD. I'm intrigued. It's not what I'm used to actually. She was a lawyer at her father's firm then he died and she rethought her life and became a mediator instead. Good cast of characters (including cousin Bobby from Sweet Home Alabama but I still see him as Preston from Can't Hardly Wait "Prestooooon! Yeah I like that guy!") that are semi-3 dimensional so it could turn out okay. I'll give it a 7/10 on the Scale of Awesome for now.

-Sketch coming means rest and relaxation. We're semi-lame. or I am at least. So we watch lots of movies and jam out and all that. Though it probably wasn't the best timing as I had to work all week. Totally forgot to give her the copies of the new Sketch and Edit's and if I post them on here first she will kill me.

-TAB kids fix all. I was freaked out about stuff all day, then we had our repurposing project where we took withdrawn books and turn them into crafts and I was completely relaxed. We talked about many things. One of the crafts was to make an apple out of a book like cut the edges so when you stood it up it would be an 3D apple. So I said we could make some other fruit and turn it into a hat like the Chiquita Banana Lady. And we don't joked about the Chiquita Banana Lady, she means serious business.

So then we said we should put together a vegetable one, but it would smell. I said I'd throw in some "garlic for pizazz!" to add some flair. Maybe scare some creepers off.

-When Oldest Sister is determined to take you dress shopping she will take you dress shopping. No excuses allowed. I got more than one. She did some victory dancing and cheering. Said she'd text mom.

Speaking of, dresses weren't the only thing I got tonight. Opened my mail and got a Choot 'em Lizbet!! Swamp People shirt from Mom I'm stoked!! I'd wear it tomorrow but I can't, wearing my District 12 shirt instead Hunger Games!!

-Going to Hunger Games tomorrow night. Hopefully it won't be totally packed, though I might be disappointed if it isn't. I hope it does well. And I really hope it doesn't suck.

Remember how we're nerds?

Yeah, we're all totally stoked.

-Finished my Booklist and got it published, check this: If You Like the Hunger Games

-Apparently, the requirements for becoming a Tennessee Titans Cheerleader are you must be over 18 and a high school graduate, dance experience is recommended, must be available during all games and my personal favorite you must be available to travel to Florida for annual swimsuit calendar shoot in May, June or July 2012. I love reference.

-They've started the shift at work. Basically they shelved the oversize books from the regular ones because they wouldn't fit on the shelf, so now they're changing the shelves and integrating them in with the regular size books. Which is fantastic because we don't have to lead people to two different places.

and that's that. completely random i'm aware. there are more but at the moment i'm totally blanking.

tune in tomorrow for some hunger games thoughts.

She's got the moon in her eyes.

We were musically serenaded at work today. A quartet turned sextet, or were there seven of them?

Anyway they played on first floor this afternoon so we got to jam to classical music for an hour.

It was pretty much me and John Boy paired up all day. We had a lot of fun, we always talk comics and music and movies and all that.

But I felt bad today cause with all the music and stuff on the first floor I couldn't like distract from the performance so I stayed behind the desk the whole time. Felt semi-lazy. And then of course Boss's Boss's Boss is there in the audience. But it's not like I can walk in front of them to put out new books and fix the displays.

So I stayed at the desk and helped people there. Trying not to go stir-crazy as it's slow on Sundays. But I learned a lot. Cause they played something from Beauty and the Beast I guess - Wordie explained it - which led me to Charles Perrault (even though it wasn't one of his) - which led me to other random history stuff.

Things I learned about today at work:
-The Labyrinth of Versailles - apparently before Perrault became Perrault the awful and gruesome fairytale author he was some sort of advisor to the king. Anyway, he once advised the king who had recently built this giant labyrinth - the whole maze deal with giant hedges and everything - that instead of having it just shrubs that he should include fountains. He said they should dedicate a fountain to each of Aesop's Fables and then put an inscription on each and they could use it as a way to teach the king's son aka the dauphin to read. So they had 39 statues plus two in the entry. And it sounds super cool! And I'd go visit it but then like a few years later they destroyed the whole thing!! and replaced it with some sort of exotic forest thing instead. Now only pieces of those fountains are left and they put them in the museum.

But isn't that cool?

Or am I just giving you another example of how big of a nerd I am?

If so here's another.

Anyway, so Beauty and the Beast led me to Charles Perrault which led me to the Labyrinth of Versailles which led me to the Affair of the Diamond Necklace - sounds like a cheesy romance novel right? No, but you're close - because the incident happened in the labyrinth.

Keep in mind that history isn't really my strongpoint so if you know this already just roll with it.

The story behind this one is that there's this necklace that was made for one of the king's mistresses and by the time it's finished the king is dead and his mistress is banished and now there's a new king. The jeweler is going broke cause the necklace was so expensive to make so he wants the new king aka Louis XVI to buy it from him and give it to his queen aka Marie Antoinette, but he refuses. So in comes a con-artist named Jeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois and she basically had it out for Marie Antoinette. She decided that she was going to get the necklace for herself and use it to make lots of money and hopefully tarnish the queen's name in the process.

She became the mistress of a Cardinal named Rohan - I know right?! - who was not so high on the queen's favorite people in the world list. So, Jeanne, knowing this, convinced him she was friends with the queen and he could use her to his advantage to get back in the queen's good graces. Jeanne, who was obviously not friends with the queen, convinced him to write the queen letters, and then Jeanne intercepted them and sent them to a forger named Rétaux de Villette who responded to the letters in what Jeanne convinced him was the queen's handwriting. Eventually he began to believe the queen was in love with him - cause Rétaux was very persuasive in his letters - and he told Jeanne he wanted to meet the queen privately.

Jeanne, who has vast amounts of resources apparently but hey she's a con artist, hires a prostitute (Nicole Lequay d'Oliva) who looks like the queen and has her pretend to be Marie Antoinette and meet up with the Cardinal IN THE LABYRINTH OF VERSAILLES - see how it ties together?

He fell for it and so Jeanne kicked it up a notch. She started borrowing large amounts of money from the Cardinal claiming it was for one of the queen's charities and became very rich very quickly. She then convinced the jewelers that she could help convince Marie Antoinette to buy the necklace and save them from going completely broke.

In the meantime Rétaux is still writing letters back to the Cardinal as the queen so in one of them Jeanne makes him ask Rohan to get the necklace for her, claiming it would look bad in this time of poverty if Marie Antoinette was to buy lavish jewelry herself. He then goes and shows the jewelers the letters convincing them that the queen will pay for it, takes the necklace and gives it to who he thinks is one of the queen's lackeys but is actually Jeanne's real husband - who was secretly in on this whole thing. The husband took it to London and hawked it getting the money for himself and Jeanne.

When the jewelers came looking for payment they showed him the letters again but they said it wouldn't do so they talked to the real queen aka Marie Antoinette who obviously had no idea what the hell they were talking about. The king and queen summoned Rohan the Cardinal and he showed them the letters, which again Marie Antoinette didn't know about, so they arrested Rohan and sent him to the Bastille. On his way to prison he got word to Jeanne to destroy the rest of the letters which she did.

Soonafter Jeanne is arrested, as is Nicole and the forger Rétaux and then there's this giant trial. The Cardinal is eventually aquitted along with Nicole, Rétaux is banished, Jeanne's husband is sent to sail off on some ship for life, and Jeanne is sentenced to be beaten and sent to the prostitute's prison.

BUT! She's a con artist, so she escapes FROM PRISON!! dressed as a boy of all things. Again, this chick has some serious resources man. I really want to hate her, I do, but I'm just in awe. She hides out in London and writes her memoirs.

This whole trial thing was supposed to fix the royal's image but it just made it worse. For some reason people accused Marie Antoinette of being behind the whole plot because she hated Rohan. They thought she hired Jeanne and her husband to take down the Cardinal. And, since Jeanne is a con artist and very convincing, many people believed it!

Which I think is crap, but hey the queen wasn't exactly a gentle and innocent person.

This whole extravanganza inspired multiple novels including one by Alexandre Dumas aka "The Three Musketeers" author (amongst other works) and a movie starring Hillary Swank as Jeanne.

Which flopped, sad day.

And that's your history lesson for the day.

If you knew it already congratulations! But you still read the whole thing cause you're reading this.

So there!

I still had to laugh though, for my birthday I got the funniest card ever from the Cool Aunt. It has a picture of Marie Antoinette on the cover and says "All I said was Let's have cake! or Let's eat cake! or something like that and suddenly everyone got all pissy!" then you open it and it says, "Don't party with peasants. They ruin everything."

It's true, you know? Us simple folk? We're just lame.

Anyway, I found the whole thing fascinating as I have become interested - as of late - in the French Revolution. I blame this fact entirely on the Library Goddess. And I'm sure she'd own up to it. Cause she made us read this book by Jennifer Donnelly called "Revolution" for her young adult literature class.

Read it.

It will change your outlook on life!

Or maybe not, but it certainly shook up my life for two days, I couldn't put it down!! but had to cause you know I had to work and all that.

It was like the Hunger Games - though there were no similarities in the storyline other than a strong female protagonist - in that my life revolved around that book when I was reading it. Nothing else mattered, I just wanted to finish the damn book cause I had to know what happened.

At the moment I'm pretty sure it's at Smo's apartment, perhaps I can steal it back from her this weekend.

And I want to re-read the Hunger Games this week but I don't know if that will happen or not.

This week is pretty busy. For starters, Sketch is coming tomorrow, woohoo! and staying for a few days, then Friday is the Hunger Games with Slim Shady, Fearless Leader and our yet-to-be-nicknamed newest awesome Supervisor, who happens to be our age.

And Saturday! is an old friend's wedding and it will be party central. She was one of the bridesmaids in my college roommate's cowboy boot wedding - we all went to high school together. I'm dragging the boyfriend along, he seems thrilled let me tell you, though I did give him an out on multiple occasions and he took none of them.

I told him he didn't have to wear a tie, though I'm sure I will have to wear something of extravagance more than jeans because my sisters would kill me.

That has yet to be decided. The wardrobe choice I mean, not that they'd kill me we already know that for sure.

Anyway, I don't have to be awake until like 3 tomorrow cause I don't start until 4 so I'm gonna go back to editing cause I'm sure no more work will get done this week. Sketch is good with the whole distraction thing, I don't get a lot accomplished if she's here or we're on the phone.

Song of the night:

I felt "Witchy Woman" was appropriate for Jeanne's story and found this version...



I'm still debating on what I think about that.

Thoughts?

Jaywalking, Coworkers, Margaritas, Hunger Games, Dentists, and Sketch & Edit

Things I've learned over the past couple of days:

-When you decide to jaywalk, make sure no one you know is approaching in a large vehicle.
Slim Shady and I walked to work from the parking lot this morning and walked across the road as no one was coming. Suddenly there's a big silver vehicle headed in our direction and the second we make it to the other side there's this big HOOONK! Yep. Superwoman.

Crap.

So I guess I should change that to, if you're going to jaywalk make sure not to do it in front of your supervisor. She will give you crap.

-It's good to work with a group of people who get your references. My coworkers rock, I can pull out lines like "You changed it to Latrine?" and reference the "Hug and roll" technique and they know exactly what I'm talking about. They're fantastic. I'm loving this new supervisor even more. She knows Men in Tights and Holy Grail. Impressive. Plus she's gonna hit up The Hunger Games with us.

-The jalapeno resides in the foam. Or so it seems when that's the first thing of the margarita you taste and it kicks you in the ass. Jalapeno margaritas rock. Though Slim Shady does not agree. I told her we were going there tonight to which she replied,
"Are you going to order a disgusting margarita?"
"Maybe I should ask for one and see what they bring me."
"A jalapeno margarita."
Thanks Slim Shady, you rock...no faith in the jalapeno margaritas man, ouch.

-Making a Hunger Games booklist is fun, until it comes to describing them and you haven't read the majority of them. But that's what reviews are for. And granted you don't need to describe them, but I think it's more useful cause then they know why it's similar. I got to do a read-a-like display on it today at work - got to make a sign and everything - and they'll officially advertise the list closer to the movie. I'll give you the link. Stoked for the movie, already bought the tickets.

The boyfriend is currently giving me advice about the dentist. Everyone I've talked to today is just making it worse, I'm freakin' out! I don't do well at dentists okay. I have qualified professionals to back me up when I say that! I'm freakin' famous at the old office! Even based a freakin' Sketch and Edit on the thing.

Maybe I'll repost it. It's been so long since I've finished one of those that it's getting ridiculous. Perhaps if I bring them back it will give me motivation.

I do have a bunch of unfinished ones, but they're missing something. You know? Like this one. I'm not happy with it, and want to go back and change things, which I will in the future. But here's what it is for now.

Sketch and Edit Sit in the Waiting Room originally posted here

E – “I hate waiting rooms. They always make me feel so nervous.”
S – “Remind me why I’m here again.”
E – “Every time I go to the dentist something always goes wrong.”
S – “And I’m here because…”
E – “I need the moral support. You should know I’m famous here for bad things happening. Didn’t you notice the hygienists laughing and giving me funny looks when I checked in?”
S – “I just figured that was a normal reaction for people around you. Why are you famous at your dentist’s office?”
E – “Just traumatic events… I kicked him once.”
S – “The dentist?”
E – “No, Janet Reno, yes the dentist!”
S – “What happened?”
E – “He told me all he needed to do was pull out one of my baby teeth and it wouldn’t take long but ended up cutting it into four pieces.”
S – “Ouch, but that’s not that bad.”
E – “And I passed out, it was embarrassing.”
S – “Lots of people pass out at their dentist’s.”
E – “Do they also freak out over having too much Novacaine, run to the lobby, smack their heads on the main desk, conk out cold and then wake up in their dentist’s arms?”
S – “All that here?”
E – “Yeah, last time I was here they asked if they should put a big red x in front of the desk. Apparently I made number three on their list of top five highlights in this office. I bet it’s down to number four now though since he got arrested this summer.”
S – “What?”
E – “Thought you might like that one. He was giving illegal prescriptions over the phone of something like that.”
S – “Your dentist is a felon?!”
E – “Say it again but louder, I don’t think the mailman heard you. And my orthodontist committed suicide a while ago too.”
S – “Are your teeth really that bad?” *Edit glares* “So, basically I’m here to…?”
E – “Keep me from getting violent and/or passing out in the lobby…or just generally embarrassing myself.”
S – “Sounds like a full-time job.”
Dentist – “We’re ready for you now.” *leaves*
S – “Was that the felon?”
E – “Yes.”
S – “Aw, no felons have the right to be that good looking…”
E – “Slow down there cowgirl. I’ll be back soon…hopefully.”
S – “Okay, I’ll just be here, building up my tolerance for heedless celebrity gossip. Look, it’s Brad and Jennifer!”
E – “I always was Team Aniston. I bet if you dig deep enough in those piles you’ll find some about Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley…” *leaves, comes back twenty minutes later to find a red-marker-colored taped ‘x’ in front of the desk* “Oh, You’re dead.” *Sketch smiles and makes a run for it*


Oh my god, so sad it's been so long that when I went to find it I realized I had like 5 sitting at the bottom that I've completely forgotten about altogether. And they actually don't suck! Like this one.

So that's exciting and depressing at the same time. Exciting because they don't suck, but depressing because I've changed so much that I don't even have time to write anymore.

I'm supposed to be editing two stories for a friend, granted I'm almost done with one of them, but I've had them for like 2 months. Worst editor ever.

Where was I before all this?

Dentist.

Right.

Fantastic.

Appointment to get cavaties filled tomorrow. Mom is taking me cause they're getting me all drugged up. Am taking my headphones, I'll try to remember not to sing. Or do anything embarrassing. But if you're drugged up you really don't care about that anyway.

Alright, out for the night. Not gonna be fun tomorrow cause after all that - I'll sleep it off hopefully - I get to do all my homework and get it posted as it's due at some point this weekend, I should probably figure out what date exactly. But it's just reading articles and posting my opinion. But first sleep will be required to think properly. Both now and after the appointment.

"Every Other Time" LFO

flashbacks.

OUT!

This is a week of my favorite things Day Four: Books

PREPARE FOR A MASSIVE POST and sadly I went through and cut a bunch of stuff...and it's still massive.
Birthday cake at a staff meeting, hooray my day is made!
Was going to head home tonight but the weather has changed my plans.
Looks like you're stuck with me for yet another favorites post.
Quote of the day comes from Sketch - "I want a bagel damn it can't you tell i'm hungry and yes it's lame but that's how you are when you're all whoooo." yeah, not gonna explain that one, other than to say it's not the bagel that she's talking about me being all whoooo over.

This time we'll go with books. Writing's in my blood, my grandpa's a published author (posthumous), my aunts have published books on teaching, and I just love to write. If I could it's what I would do all day...if I wasn't blocked, which I have been a lot lately. that's why you're stuck with me on here and not on physical pages.

So, since I'm a librarian and I'm around books all day I'm expanding my list from 5 favorites to 7 instead. The irony about being a librarian is that I haven't read a single one of these books since I started working there. It's like I'm around them all day the last thing I want to do when I go home is read a book. Which is kind of funny in a weird way.

Anyway, on with the list.
All-time favorites:
7. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
Gotta say I started these before she was big time with the movies and everything and I was hooked. I read each of them in like a day, maybe hours. Mass hysteria but they were just soooo good. And so different from other books at the time which I think is why they became so popular. Aside from her writing style and her characters which are also fantastic. I was hooked.

6. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
This might be the funniest book I've ever read. I read the entire thing at a craft show and there were many points at which I was physically laughing so loud that I needed to like step back and contain myself so the people around me didn't think I was some psycho just randomly laughing. Highly recommended if you like nonfiction.
"Itch in da scrubs, go giddit!"

5. The Book Thief - Marcus Zuzak
Read this one for an adolescent lit class in college and fell in love with it. It's narrated by Death which totally stuck out to me so you know everyone is going to die. Which is fine, until you meet the characters and want them to somehow just triumph and live forever. It's basically a German take on the whole nazi killing jews thing. And it follows the story of this little girl who's adopted into a German family. I think it was also cool to be reading it for a class and having that debate aspect where you could get others opinions on it too. Our class consensus was a thumbs up.

4. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Another favorite from my childhood, we read this in 8th grade for an English class. I love it because it was the first murder mystery I ever read. So it all took off from there. I was hooked from page one and wanted to read it all the way through but we were supposed to read it in section so we could talk in class. I soooo wanted to know who did it!! And I've recommended it to many people over the years. Gotta love it.

3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Yet another from that adolescent lit class and I think this was the class's favorite. I don't remember anybody not liking it (not like Twilight or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, sorry ZH not so much for me) and I think it was the most fun I had in that class just because everyone loved it and wanted to talk about it. Although the Twilight love it or hate it debate was fun as well.
I've recommended this book to literally everyone who's asked for a recommendation. Which is a lot because I work in a library...two actually. And I'm stoked for the movie. But the problem with recommending it is that those that I recommend it to also read the next two which they love as well but I haven't yet since I started working soon after college. I know, I know. They're on my list.

2. Runaway Jury - John Grisham
I loved this book! I read this one summer during high school and couldn't put it down. So many twists and turns and the movie was great as well but it was totally different than the book since it was on guns instead of cigarettes. Soooo good! Totally recommend this one who likes fiction on like the court system or lawyers or just good vs. evil. It's fantastic.

1. Women's Murder Club series - James Patterson
"In margaritas veritas. I'm in." Big surprise here. Not really. Look at the tattoo to the right. Lindsay Boxer the detective, Cindy Thomas the reporter, Claire Washburn the ME and Jill Bernhardt the lawyer. All different crime aspects covered so when you put them all together and drown them in margaritas you get what we call the Women's Murder Club.
"So, this outfit have a name?"
..."We're sort of a murder club."
"Lindsay's deputized us."
"The margarita posse."
...."Homicide chicks. That's who we are. That's what we do."
The books that lead to the show...that got cut off too early but the books are still going so it's okay. Actually 10th Reunion comes out soon. If you look at my bookshelves one of the first thing you'll notice (aside from that they're organized yes i'm a librarian get over it) is that these are the only books with tabs in them. Cause I'm a nerd. And I can't really explain the tab system just that it's there and it helps me keep track because sometimes I'll just pick one up and start from a random tab and know exactly what's going on. I love them. I love them. And I love them. And yes, I always recommend James Patterson to anyone looking for a good mystery writer as well.

Books I've read for class and loved:
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie this was another adolescent lit class special and we all really liked it. It was really funny and the artwork was a nice touch along with the humor.
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen which is basically a rite of passage for an English major. Classic, I did a project on it for my final portfolio because I find her fascinating, yes I'm a nerd. But I loved doing it because I got to come up with musical playlists for each character and I even made a board game for the thing and what else, oh wrote updated versions of the scenes and all that stuff. So much fun. Also a good story, Pride Prejudice and Zombies...or the first half which is all I got finished before I started working.
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens another one for an English major this was for British Lit 2 or 3 I can't remember, I think I took them out of order, but I love this one just because of the crazy old lady who wears the wedding dress every day and acts like she's not crazy. Which she is. And I said that repeatedly in a presentation and everyone loved me. hahaha...another fun English presentation was on Mary Robinson.
Me: "She got paid to be a mistress, I love it!"
Dr. Ashby: "You know, there's a word for that..."
Class: "Ohhhhh!!!"
The Illiad and the Odessey - Homer Thurber class and really, reading anything with Thurber was great because even if you didn't like the book he made you see it in a different perspective so you didn't hate it. did that make sense? not really. But there are really classics that deserve to be classics. A classmate and I did a presentation on the Illiad with sock puppets. Oh yeah. Sock puppets. It was awesome.
Bridge to Teribithia - Katherine Paterson More grade school fun, I cried. and that's all I got.
Anything Shakespeare but especially As You Like It and Twelfth Night
we read As You Like It in high school for English 9 I think and I fell in love with his style and his language and just everything. And Twelfth Night I love just because of all the drama and the back and forth and the mistaken identity and mostly because of yet another presentation for yet another Thurber class (Shakespeare, it was my favorite class of his) where he put us into groups and we had to present each play in a unique way. Our group got Twelfth Night so we divided up the scenes and presented them in like a Whose Line is it Anyway kind of thing with a censored scene (I was the Censored Seductress with the name tag to prove it) an E-True Shakespearian story, a soap opera called 'Days of our Night', silent acting, one segment with the crocodile hunter that we called 'Malvolio Hunter', a scene where I got interrogated in a prison cell while Anna sang in rhyme it was hilarious and I had to keep a straight face, and then the final scene was Mystery Date where all the identities were revealed.

Books I loved growing up and for fun throughout school:
You Belong to Me - Mary Higgins ClarkRead this one I think the same summer I read Runaway Jury. I loved it because I loved the song and I thought it was cool to murder people and tie it to something like that. Not that I'm going to go out and do that but it was still a clever way to tell a story.
All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten - Robert Fulghum
Yet another from a summer in high school. I remember reading this one outside on a swing, he's hilarious and this is probably his best work. So if you're looking for good and short nonfiction go for Robert Fulghum.
Princess Bride - William Goldman senior year of high school, class trip to chicago I read it on the plane. I loved the movie so I read the book and there are so many more things in it with the zoo of death and all that, definitely worth reading if you liked the movie.
Carrie - Stephen King yeah, yeah name sake and all that. I read it in grade school and I think it was my first actual adult novel. scared the crap out of me but I was hooked.
Little Girl Lost - Drew Barrymore more high school fun. discovered this book and wrote a report on it. I love Drew, which I'm sure you've picked up since post one, so reading this book was like the best thing ever. Cause she wrote it. It tells all of her life story - up til checking herself into rehab (not for the first time) and doesn't leave out any of the gory details.
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - James Finn Garner ask the BFF and she'll tell you she only keeps me around for reading her fairy tales in voices.
Julie and Julia - Julie Powell read it during down town of camping with the family, loved it. totally different from the movie which was also good. i attempted her second one "Cleaving" but again, that was after I started working for the library.
The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown read this one and wrote a paper on it for a college class, also totally different from the movie but it's still fantastic. i couldn't put it down.
Heat Wave/Naked Heat - Richard CastleI'm a Castle junkie so when these actually came out to go along with the show I was all over them. Oh crap. That breaks my streak of not finishing anything since I started working, damn. I liked saying that. Oh well, it was worth it. Heat Wave is definitely the best of the two but there are so many more jokes you get if you watch the show.


Holy toast this post is getting long. Well, if you're still around I'll give you the highlights to my favorite plays...which I'm aware aren't books but they're still literature so whatever. I'll make it short.

Favorite Plays:
Arsenic and Old Lace - Joseph Kesselring We had the joy of putting this on my senior year of high school. I played Elaine the minister's daughter who's the fiance to the main character. Soooo much fun!
"There's something about calling for a girl at a parsonage that discourages any man who doesn't embroider."

"For a minister's daughter you sure you a lot about life. Where'd you learn it?"
"In the choir loft."
"I'll explain that to you some time, darling-the close connection between eroticism and religion."
"Religion never gets as high as the choir loft."

The Playboy of the Western World - J.M. Synge oh the joy of Modern and Post-Modern Drama, I loved that class. This was a highlight because this dude comes into town claiming to have murdered his father and everyone loves him. They celebrate him as a hero. Then, when his father shows up not dead they turn their backs on him. Hilarious.

Arcadia - Tom Stoppard such clever writing, two storylines happening at once even though they're decades apart. everything weaves together in the end, stick with it.

On the Verge or The Georgraphy of Yearning - Eric Overmyer my favorite play I read throughout college. These three women take a trip through a jungle and are simultaneously traveling through time as they travel farther and farther through the jungle. "Terra Incognita!" Each character is different and it's just sooo funny.

"Yes, Mary, there are two sorts of people in the world. There are cannibals-and there are lunch."

"Little sasquatch has gone for more snowballs, no doubt!" *hit by snowball* "Ahhh!"
"Baby yeti may have yeti croonies, I think prudence dictates we move on."

"Why is there evil in the world, Alexandra?"
"To thicken the plot." Alex is my hero.

"Alex I believe verse is your province."

"Hang ten. Shoot the pipeline. Curl the Big Kahuna!" Again, Alex is my hero.

"So, when's the shindig?"
"Shindig?"
"I think she means the the authentic suburban charred meat festival you promised us."
"Ah, yes. The bar-be-cue."
and yes, I did write a report on this one as well but it was more focused on the language and how it changes throughout the novel.

Tartuffe - Moliere another presentation where a friend and myself acted out a scene, well two scenes that we combined, for a grade. We got an A it was fantastic. I still remember some of my lines.
"What of Tartuffe then, what of your father's plan?"
"I'll kill myself, if I'm forced to marry that man."
or
"Not Tartuffe! You know I think him-"
"Tartuffe's your cup of tea, and you shall drink him."
"I've always told you everything, and relied-"
"No, you deserve to be tartuffifed."
basically her father wants her to marry this awful man Tartuffe when she's in love with someone else.

here's a bonus if you're still reading.
Books I've read for class that I will never read again aka classics that are overrated:
Moby Dick - Herman Melville no normal person cares how many dimensions a boat has or a whale has. i mean maybe some people but we don't need to read about it in detail in a novel. just no.
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley sorry SuperHumann, loved the discussion with you but the novel was a little like, um...whoa. gross.
Books I've started since working at the library and love so far but still haven't finished them:
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger Yes this may be the most well-loved novel by serial killers everywhere but screw statistics, it's excellent.
Novel Destinations - Shannon McKenna Schmidt this is cool because it's nonfiction about all the different locations in famous novels
Slaugherhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Kilgore Trout. Need I say more? Even Prentiss is a fan.
You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You: The Believer Book of Advice a gift from my sister, ha! But it's fantastic, people write to celebrities for advice and it publishes their answers.



Okay, more add-ins.
TV - Wipeout, I love the commentary and the big red balls. Hilarious.
And then World's Dumbest, I've already posted a clip from this. I love it, it's where celebrities careers go to die but seriously, it's fantastic. Celebrities do commentary on these stupid clips that people send in and they make lists like the top 20 world's dumbest criminals or 20 world's dumbest brawlers or 20 world's dumbest commercials just that kind of stuff. It's fantastic.
Music - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (remake classics), Johnny Cash growing up I listened to him all the time my dad is a big fan, Theory of a Deadman I've already posted a song of there's a while ago but everything they do is just epic and awesome. And Saving Abel is also another good band you can jam out to. Plus Stop Making Friends aka Pauley Perrette is freaking awesome. Listen to their song "Fear" and tell me what you think. And um, hello, Glee cast soundtracks? They're all I listen to lately, that show has the best remakes. My most recent favorite is "Don't you want me baby" or "She's not there" but all time it's probably the "Time Warp" (already posted) or "Forget You" (also already posted) with Gwyneth Paltrow (okay I remember typing that name lately so maybe that one's in there) she's got a voice man, I'm stoked she's making a reappearance. I'm a total soundtracks junkie, Glee, Moulin Rouge, Calamity Jane, Oklahoma, Music and Lyrics, Rent, NCIS, Hairspray, Avenue Q, Grease 1&2 (oh, another for the movies post), Coyote Ugly (this is the role for maria bello, i can't even listen to her british accent in mummy 3), Chicago, Mamma Mia (minus pierce brosnan), Rocky Horror, Sister Act, Wedding Singer, Walk the Line even Whip It had a kickass soundtrack, which was Drew's mix tape for the world. Oh crap Whip It! It's derby and it's Drew how did I forget that one? There's a poster on the wall in front of me for crying in the sun. Good thing I'm taking the time to edit these things, otherwise the remainder of the week would be These are a few of my favorite things...that I failed to mention earlier in the week. Which, actually...wouldn't be so bad. I'm still debating what I'm going to do for the rest of the week. Besides hobbies. Or like...yeah no just hobbies. Wow. gonna have to be creative.

IDK My BFF Katniss?

So, my first question is that if you break one of your resolutions during the first week do you have to keep it for the rest of the year? Or does it just fade away like all the other resolutions from past years? And should I feel guilty? Cause I don't.

Yesterday was interesting - add Dave Matthews Band to the list my cat hates to hear. Now he's whining. I think he's mad at me. He likes the farmhouse and I drug him back to the apartment where he just gets to lay around. No outdoor cats to tease through the window bragging that he's in the warm indoors and they're outside in the snow. No big house to roam and knock things off the counters - well, okay he still does that. Speaking of, he's on the counter now, staring at me. Great.

Work was fun today. It's interesting because whenever anybody asks for book recommendations I automatically start talking about the Hunger Games and everyone I've rec'd it to reads the whole series through to the end. I love the series, I couldn't put the first book down, and even though I own the last two I still haven't read a single word. I know I should and that I'd enjoy it but ever since I started at the library I have yet to finish a book. Which is funny. But it's like I'm surrounded by books all day so the last thing I want to do when I get home is read. So I told this to my sister the pharmacist and she said, "well, yeah, I don't go home and do drugs." So she gets it. Still a funny line though.

I got to call over to one of the other branches today so they could pull something for me and I got to talk to someone I didn't even know existed until today - which isn't a foreign concept as I'm new and have only been to 3 branches out of the how many are in our system. But I called and was like Hi, this is ____ from _____ and she was like "hi ____ from _____. I'm ____ from ______." Immediately I'm thinking, okay she's bored or weird. I asked her if she was free and could grab a book and she was like "well, right now I'm chained to a post surrounded by angry natives but I'll try to get away." So strange, but it totally made my day. I look forward to meeting her one day. Everyone else that I mentioned it to say she's very witty and clever.

Random I know. But that's pretty much my day. Aside from coming home to watch The Closer season finale and Castle. Woohoo for Lauren Prepon as Nikki Heat. Very cool. and funny. I love Beckett's change throughout the episode. But I won't give too much away. I just think it's funny. The Closer I wasn't too impressed with for a season finale. I thought there would be more of a cliff hanger. And the episode wasn't all that great writing-wise. But Riley Smith is always intriguing. Even though I originally saw him in Motocrossed he'll always be Jamie Galvin to me. "Worst. Liar. Ever." Aka one of my favorite episodes. Yes I'm referencing Women's Murder Club. Get over it. "That's not coffee, that's diabetes on ice..." Claire's words of wisdom. Still, all work and no coffee makes CK a..something, something something...

Therefore, I am out for the night. Tomorrow means a split shift, grocery shopping and possible dinner with mother. When she will see my fridge has nothing but alcohol in it. Which is what happened last time. I'm sensing a pattern. It was funny though, she immediately turns around and says, "let's go grocery shopping!" I don't actually drink very often. Which is why it remains in the fridge. The food I buy I actually eat. And since I haven't been here because of the holiday I didn't have anything stocked. Aka Runza for dinner - they have the best southwest chicken salads. Mmm, k, can't break another resolution. I'm out. Happy trails to you.