Walk west 'til your hat floats.

It's kind of like saying "take a long walk off a short pier" but better.

And apparently it's a song by The Henry's.

Though not available through YouTube or that would be the song of the day.

Pretty much sums up my day.

Received my first major assignment after getting my Master's.

They're writing a new Strategic Plan and have enlisted my help, along with a few other coworkers throughout the system.

Basically we're researching innovative libraries and then everyone is sending myself and Katie images and stories to put into a powerpoint to impress the stakeholders.

Powerpoints I can handle, I'm actually pretty good at making them.

It's the presentation part that scares the crap out of me.

Keyword: Stakeholders.

No pressure.

I hate public speaking.

I'm terrified about my upcoming booktalk in front of 20 old ladies, so you can only imagine how I feel about this one.

Thankfully I'll have people with me.

Oh well, plenty of time to freak about that. Let's think about something different.

Queen of the Known Universe and I talked life motto's today.

What is one simple phrase that sums up your life?

Like, if you were to write a memoir what would the title be?

I joked with the Reference Queen a while ago because every day she wears Birkenstocks so hers could be called "And I did it all in Birkenstocks."

One of my classmates, and now coworkers and I joked during class once about her working at a counseling center and she named hers "I Chase Naked People."

Through the years I've come up with quite a few and am still debating my best option.

Here are my choices so far:
-Black in the Crevices
-I'm just coloring in the chicken feathers
-Well, that's something to scrapbook
-Just wave
-Social life in progress...
-At least the baby stopped crying
-I’m just not hooked on your phonics
-That's a second Friends reference for those of you counting.
-Because everyone should have someone to scream at in a giant elephant.
-The Sideways Hat Theory
-I live my life behind the tab
and of course
-My Life in Closed Captions

Each has a story of its own.

Black in the Crevices is one of my favorites because it came purely by accident. Second Sister was getting me ready for my job interview, because apparently I couldn't be trusted to dress myself, and she said that my black nail polish was unprofessional or inappropriate or something so she attacked it with polish removal. Then she got mad because she couldn't get it all off. "There's still black in the crevices!" So I covered it with some silver. Because that's who I am. Still there, like the black, but hidden by the air of confident silver that enables me to do my job. How's that for psychology crap? Blame it on the Sociology minor. Took too many Behavioral Sciences classes in college. And, she may have been right, I did get that job. Well, jobs.

I'm just coloring in the chicken feathers was a Slim Shady reference. She was avoiding reacting to something by sitting and coloring a chicken and it made for a good life motto. Cause we do we do in life really that isn't just coloring in the chicken feathers?

That's something to scrapbook is another one of my favorites cause it makes me laugh. And that's its purpose. I say it when something horrible happens in an effort to get past it.

Just Wave was an Oldest Sister's invention. When she got caught riding on the back of some guy's motorcycle in high school after being told not to ride with him she decided that instead of hiding from Mom and Dad she would just wave instead.

Social life in progress... was a school theme. I attempted to be social while still being overloaded with homework and work work.

At least the baby stopped crying was a Homey-G-Wigger original. We went to see a movie - I think it was the last Harry Potter - and there was this baby there and it crying the entire time. And then we were sitting in the back toward the stairs to the balcony and there was a constant stampede of super loud people going up and down. So mid-stampede she leaned over and goes "at least the baby stopped crying."

I'm just not hooked on your phonics is a line from one of Ke$ha's lessen known songs, but I love it and say it repeatedly when surrounded by idiots.

That's a second (or third) Friends reference for those of you counting. When you're as big of a Friends nerd as I am you quote it constantly and catch on when other people quote it. But every once in a while you have to keep count because when you're on a roll you're on a roll.

Because everyone should have someone to scream at in a giant elephant is a Moulin Rouge reference. I was obsessed with that movie in high school and always wished I would one day have someone of my own to scream at in a giant elephant.

The Sideways Hat Theory and Living Life Behind the Tab are both Camp J references. The first is my tradition during registration. I wear my hat sideways and the parents with concerns walk straight past me cause I look like a junior counselor. It's all fun and dandy until they run into an adult who then redirects them back to me in the first place.

I Live My Life Behind the Tab is because we have these song books in binders and there is a tab between the sacred songs and the silly songs. And every once in a while in life it's better to be silly than serious.

My Life in Closed Captions is the title of this blog because it was fitting at the time, and it still seems to fit.

What do you think is best? I'm leaning towards Black in the Crevices, Life in Closed Captions, or That's Something to Scrapbook.

Hm....Maybe a combination of the three.

Perhaps this blog is just a big lead-in to me writing my memoirs. Though that would mean my life would need to be much more exciting so I would have stuff to include.

Though knowing me the format of my memoirs would be something close to Sketch and Edit's format where it's just dialogue. I'll have to work on that.

Song of the Day:

Say Something - A Great Big World & Xtina


i'm not sure how i haven't posted this yet, i love it. another life motto for you.

Alright, that's all I got for today. Off tomorrow - huzzah!! Gonna sleep in, clean, do some laundry, and hopefully see the boyfriend at some point.

Hope you all have rockstar weekends.

Can't Touch This

"Nice boat."
"I think you would call it a yacht. And if it leaves the dock I'll be a stowaway."
"Yeah well, if it leaves the dock I'm gonna jump ship. Or yacht. Can you jump yacht?"

More Charlie's Angels. I'm hooked all over again. But still in second and third season. The longer I stick with these two the less likely I'll get to season four when I'll be horribly depressed by the lack of Sabrina. "I love you, I'll prove it, you won't like it, I don't care." My new motto for life. That and "Well that's something to scrapbook."

Today was something to scrapbook. I realized how out of shape I am - after last night's softball game I'm just in pain. My leg was throbbing all day, I had to keep it wrapped because it's disgusting - granted not as bad as last year's - and when you're shelving it's always up and down, dude, that hurt. Plus I'm still exhausted. But I love the double-header. Totally worth it, pumped for Saturday. Prince of Peace is going down. They're the team we never beat. And of course we play them when Pastor and his wife are out of town. But Homey-G-Wigger and me got the jump on them cause we played them yesterday with the E-Free. Their pitcher always kicks my butt, there's like a spin on it. Makes everything pop up so they can catch it. So I try to tomahock it and chop it down but that shoots it straight to the shortstop with the killer arm. I'm toast. But we'll see. So far we are the team to beat, I think. Cause we plowed the Methodists. And we as E-Free almost beat Prince of Peace - we were up by two until they decided to have a major comeback and scored like 8 in two innings. It was still a closer game than ours. Maybe this time G and I'll actually make it for real ice cream as tradition instead of the gas station kind that we got last night and last year after we played on their team as well. It's hard to find a place that's open past 8PM in G-Town. But the ice cream Snickers bar was fantastic.

After desking in the morning - can that be a verb? I'm making it one - and shelving in the afternoon I started working on my homework, blah! Reading and posting the highlights of an article on Leadership and Management and Libraries and surveys and Emotional Intelligence and blah. It's my article, I found it, so it's my fault, but still. blah. It'll be worth it in the end.

Clips of the night: You make me feel like dancing.
c'mon, everybody's doing it!


a bad guy with style. shades flew off in the blooper reel during that last turn.
i love sam rockwell. he and drew have paired up like 3 times now. maybe more. you got this, you got confessions of a dangerous mind, then everybody's fine, what's next?

although i like this one better

this is what happens whenever i have to move or clean, get distracted by the jam and dance, though i have yet to knock over a couch in the process. took them a day to come up with and film the dance.
yes i'm on an angels binge. it'll be over with soon enough i'm sure. it goes in spurts. i'm sure i'll get distracted by warehouse or chuck or something i get from the library soon enough.

oh no! some dude shot his mom while there was a burglar in the other room! can't really go to the cops for that..."so i was robbing this place, and this gun, it went off in the other room! and i went to check and she was dead! just dead!" "you were robbing the place?" "yeah, so? he shot her dead!"

ohhh, wait, that wasn't his mom? eww! generation gap ahoy!

Alright, off to read and watch more before I crash. OUT!

Just wave.

Oldest sister has this story that's kind of turned out to be a great life analogy. Basically, back when she was in high school, she was told not to ride on this guy's motorcycle and then of course she did it anyway. And, while riding in town, she passes our parents. Knowing she's already in trouble she just waves. It's a good life motto - along with "that's something to scrapbook". Life is crap. Or so I was told today. So the least you can do, when times are bad and you know you're in trouble, is wave. I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of waving this week.

Play practice today was interesting. The performance is Thursday but there were no jitters. Actually, there was no interest at all. They wouldn't stand still, they were talking when other people were saying their lines, they didn't speak out - I was in the third row and I couldn't even hear them. I'm beginning to be glad this is only going to last 25 minutes instead of the usual 45. So, we're not doing commercials anymore and the kids gave up on their rap-off at the end. It's a whole mess. But, with all the bad timing - got the script late, during sports seasons, almost end of year and they just want to be done with school - what else should I expect? But whatever. I'll wave for that too.
And I guess there was good with the bad. They're all out of their books - except one and that's allowed because she's the reporter and can read from the script - and the songs are better than the weird versions in the script now that Nic has fixed them. I applaud her patience with kids. I only come in like once a week - well, now like once every two - but she has them every day. Yikes. See, this is why I dropped out of the Ed program. Kids...not my strong point. Good thing I direct a camp, huh?
Anyway, my camp director partner and I - because he's involved in like everything - hooked up some mics and stuck them around the stage so we should be able to hear the kids through at least the third row.

And, we got to talk about the joy that is camp, and the preparation process that goes along with and hasn't started yet even though it should have. I have people asking about information already, usually we wait to send forms out until school is out for the summer but that is coming a lot more quickly than I'd like it. So, I get the joy of coming up with new forms, sending them out, sending everything new to our website guy and hoping he has time to update it, plus do grad school stuff and work both jobs. This is going to be a fun couple of months.
After original application forms are out we work up a mock schedule and I start a spreadsheet of the campers as their applications come back. Then we have our meeting where we decide the specifics about the schedule. Then my director partner and me - and my high school friend if she still wants to help out, not sure as I haven't talked to her in a while - assign kids to counselors and counselors to cabins, finalize the schedule on an official form we give the kids, plan a packing list and send it out to all the campers along with information for the parents. After all that joy is printing out nametags for all the lanyards - and cleaning all the lanyards before we put the new ones in which is just gross - and then we're about halfway done. Haha.
Then it's songbooks with Liz - my mentor for all things music and camp - and I get the pleasure of writing and assigning skits for grades 3-8th. Oh, and assigning teen helpers to cabins and other stations. The teen helpers are always an interesting bunch. Either they're super excited to be there so we put them in cabins or they just want to get away from their parents in which case we put them at a station we think they'll be good at. I cheat because I get first pick for skits and worship with me and Liz. We get the best ones - aka play guitar and put up with our antics.
So, all that, while worrying about budgeting, volunteers, oh and this year we're going to have to find new lifeguards as ours might not make it. They're lifers like me, but all good things must come to an end.
Like I said, fun couple of months. There will be a multitude of waving.

Songs for the day:

White and Nerdy - Weird Al

So yes, I am a fan. And yes, I do sing this at work.
...
Sorry...Victoria....I can't pimp this video enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkrbXvo5fVQ
Mike and Molly - Victoria steals every scene!

"Misery Business" Paramore

No she's not the brunette, hold out til the end. I was super confused. Think I'm still super confused.

But other than sleeping in - huzzah! - watching NCIS and Body of Proof, going to play practice, hanging with my family, then driving back here to my big fat cat there wasn't a lot going on today. Oh, I finished my book. Eh. I mean, it was good. But when I was done all I could think of was, "Well, that was super depressing." and "Why would you leave her journal there?" Tomorrow I have to find Book #2 and fast as I'm not sure how many pages it has. Gotta read it and write some sort of analysis question about the both of them.

Alright, out for the night. Hope you have a good week!

This Magnet Moment...

Magnet Magnet Magnet...terrible. I am a freaking magnet. And I didn't even do anything this time! I was sitting at my desk and he comes up and starts hitting on me. I wasn't even in public service! I was at the lab! Answering the phone every two minutes!
Okay, so Grandma (25-yr-old-coworker, I really need to think of another nickname that doesn't take quite that explanation) calls me a magnet. Because I attract all types of weirdos and they like latch on or something. Apparently I'm "too nice to the weird boys." That's what she says every time I tell her about a new magnet moment. Which is what I call them. Unfortunately, it's a conversation I've been having a lot lately. Anyway, these "magnet moments" range all the way from being hit on and/or stalked by teenage boys to old women. Although my favorite was this guy around my age - I was helping him find sheet music cause the music goddess was already gone and he slipped me this piece of paper with his name (illegible btw) and a note at the bottom saying "likes ass or jazz". Yeah, that was something to scrapbook. It cracked myself, Grandma (25...), and my favorite college professor up majorly. Actually that was my second choice for the name of this blog, haha. But then people would have thought that it was me saying that, therefore My Life in Closed Captions won.
Today's Magnet Moment was interesting. He asked me out, I said I don't date patrons - learned that the hard way, then he tried to find a loophole saying something about how he would ask me out at the other branch or something. But he would still be a patron there so I'm confused. Whatever. But that's going to be awkward, since he goes to both branches. I'm toast. And I'm tired of being toast.
Think I'm just going to start being mean to anyone that looks at me twice. No, couldn't do that. I'd get in trouble. I'll just run instead. That works. And it helps when your "big brother" is around to save you. Haha, another fun coworker who has had unfortunate experiences with patrons as well.
It was funny, I described the guy to him earlier, then someone looking like the guy came to the desk to ask a question about parking meters and big brother comes from out of nowhere saying, "it's time to the count the money, let's go." Wrong guy, but still appreciated. Good to know I've got people who have my back. And Grandma (25... yeah that's getting old it's time for a new nickname)...where was I... oh yeah Grandma (...) says she'll play girlfriend, but I won't see her again 'til like Thursday or something since I'm at the other branch until then. And I'm sure he'll show up at that branch. Hooray...Not. Toast. Freaking magnetic qualities.

What else...oh yeah, tonight I'm going bowling...yes, bowling. I suck, but it's still fun. Usually I only go once a year when we take the kids at teen camp. We have our usual group with our usual nicknames - Boomer, Obi-Wan, Chickenfro, Maynard, this year Scuba Steve joined us as well. I'll let you guess which one of those is mine. Anyway, tonight I'm going with Boomer (there, eliminated an option for you) and Nic, plus I think Tyler will be there as well. We grew up together, same grade school and both went away to same high school so it's always fun to see him. His two little brothers have to put up with me still since I direct the play. Speaking of, I'll get to talk to Nic about that tonight, I gotta remember to ask about the rap and commercial.

Anyway, songs for tonight:
"Something's Got a Hold on Me" Christina Aguilera from Burlesque

Figured the title fit the whole magnet theme. Love the whole 50s/60s style.


"You Drive Me Crazy" Shakin' Stevens

This is at least the third time I've posted this, yes I'm aware. But it's one of my favorites. And it also fits the theme. Well, the title does. Pretty sure these people weren't sent down to give me a thrill. Someone else a thrill perhaps.

Alright, food then bowling. Have a good one.

Well, that's something to scrapbook.

That's become kind of my motto lately. Well, that and "Black in the crevices" go here: My Life in Closed Captions: "I'm just coloring in the chicken feathers."
Anyway, it works in any circumstance, good or bad.
Like, if you win the lottery!
Well, that's something to scrapbook.
Or if some jackass guy totally rips you off and then doesn't talk to you anymore.
Well, that's something to scrapbook.
Fortunately today's was pretty good. Inservice at the library - it was actually kind of funny because I was at one presentation on the main floor and like every two minutes you could hear the door rattle because someone had ignored the signs and was trying to get in. The whole thing kind of flew by actually, cause I had some kickass presenters! Got to learn about some cool Young Adult books - which will hopefully help me out for my next grad school class that's about young adult materials - and talk about family literacy, see how media can affect libraries for the better and...what else...oh listen to a hysterical zookeeper dude do the final wrapup presentation, that was amusing. Plus I had a fun lunch with some of my coworker friends.
Quotes of the day: (well, some of them...)
-"Correlation isn't Causation, find out why at the library." theme slogans, long story
-"There is no crying in Koha." which is going to be a major theme in the upcoming weeks as we transition from our old system to a new one
-"I just need to carry an ottoman around with me." Grandma (25-yr-old-coworker) about the lack of a good footrest

"Give In To Me" - Country Strong Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester

They're actually not too bad. It's one of the few I bought on itunes so I figured I'd promote it.

and another fun movie duet
"Here's to Love" - Down with Love starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger

Another excellently cheesy movie. Not that Country Strong was cheesy. Depressing, yes. Cheesy, No.

I have the weekend shift so tonight will probably conclude with me konking out watching one of the many DVDs I have out that are due next week. Black Swan seems a bit creepy to watch at night, and Inception seems like something I should be completely awake for so that leaves me with either Eat Pray Love or 127 Hours. Maybe I can sleep through the whole cuts-off-his-arm thing. No, I totally wouldn't sleep through that, nightmare central. Guess I'll stick to Frasier season eight. Nerd, yeah I know. Or...30 Rock season one...hmm...the choices.