My account is gone. Again.
I think I might actually contact MySpace and see why this is happening. Am I somehow unknowingly violating the Terms of Service? All I want to do is contact a guard to join. Perhaps that is too much to ask.
MySpace update
LoserSpace
In the world of online social networking, I have made facebook my home. In fact, I have ignored most of my friends' pleas for me to join MySpace out of sheer principle - everyone is on it, and I just don't like the way it looks. And even though the library world is all "a-buzz" about social networking and using it to reach customers, I have just never been able to bring myself to join it - even for work! But yesterday, I broke my rule and joined MySpace. But why? Why would I do such a treacherous thing? Well - it's for color guard.
Let me explain. First of all, I was in color guard all through high school, and most of college. I love it, and I really mean love it - so much so that I have been almost depressed about possibly never performing or assisting with another guard ever again. It was my life for about 9 years, and... I miss it. A lot. Anyhow, I was reading a local newspaper yesterday, and on the front page was a picture of some guys spinning flags. My heart jumped a little, and I read the article associated with it - apparently, there are two color guards in Columbus that are designed for adults who want to spin again: Flaggots, which is an all-gay men group, and Spin Columbus, which is for anyone who wants to join. That means me! ME! I went to their website, and it sounds great - but they don't have an email server set up yet, so the only way to get in touch with them is - you guessed it - through MySpace.
Fucking hell!
I actually had to talk to Jared to make sure he wouldn't break up with me if I joined MySpace for the sole purpose of messaging Spin Columbus. Of course he wouldn't (I think), but still - I really, really didn't want to join. But I also really, really want to spin. Such is life, I guess.
So I joined. (Don't hate me?) But please don't try to add me as your friend if you're on there - I'm deleting it as soon as possible.
Let me just say, the website sucks. It's full of large, annoying ads, and it's not very easy to navigate. I signed up and had to verify my email address - but once I did, it still said on my profile that I had to verify my email address. For the verification to register, I had to logout and log back in again. (It sure would have been nice to be prompted to do so.) So then I searched for Spin Columbus, and sent them a message. I also requested to add them as a friend. I felt dirty about the whole thing, but at least I was able to contact them, right?
Well, today I tried to log in to MySpace and found that my password wasn't working. I knew that I was putting in the right one (I even checked my confirmation email to be sure), but I figured I'd go through the "Forgot your password?" thing anyhow just to be thorough. However, I was told that my email did not match any registered email addresses. What?! But I registered yesterday and even sent a message to another member! How can my account just not exist anymore? Shit, I didn't even get to upload a picture! So I had to go through the whole process again today and send another message to Spin Columbus. I don't even know if the first message I sent went through - and if it did, they wouldn't have been able to respond to me anyhow. I even signed up with the same email address, password, and url as yesterday, as if I had never even joined in the first place. Perhaps it was all just a bad dream?
The weird part is, when I went to MySpace today to login (before discovering that my account didn't exist anymore), it said on the main page, "Hello, Erica" - but how could it have known who I was if my account was deleted? For shame, MySpace. I hate you even more than I already did. And apparently, you hate me just as much back.
Hopefully I will hear something from Spin Columbus, and this whole ordeal will be worth the effort. And then, I will truly enjoy deleting my account.
Sqeezing through the tubes
Sometimes, I feel like I'm all over the internets. And then, on nights like tonight, I feel like I'm lost in a Web 1.0 ocean. Thanks to much pressuring, I have finally joined last.fm - and discovered that none of my friends share my musical tastes. Sad, isn't it? A few months ago I joined Del.icio.us, and posted some interesting links... but stopped. I'm also on 43things, but I haven't been active on there for at least a year. And this blog - oh, this blog. I love it and hate it at the same time. I like blogging; I really do. So why can't I ever update? Who knows.
Apparently, I go through Internet Phases. I join a site, start updating like mad, then forget about it a week later. There are precious few sites I actually frequent, and even those change every few months. Right now, I check facebook almost daily, and a site called StartSampling. (By the by, I've been a member of that site since at least 2000 - pretty impressive, eh?) But beyond that, it's a crap shoot. I can't even update Flickr on a regular basis! I'll take pictures at an event, then wait a week or more before putting them up. I guess that's not so bad, but I feel so far behind everyone else.
I think, perhaps, I just don't let myself get addicted to things like I used to. I can't even remember to watch a TV show every week on the same night; how am I supposed to remember to visit certain sites each day? I even got a Remember The Milk account to help me remember to do things - but I never check it. Sometimes I feel apathetic about it all. Nobody reads my journal anyway, right? The world isn't going to end if I don't go on a road trip with no predetermined destination. Sure, it would be fun, but when would I find the time?
I think, perhaps, I have been spreading myself too thin. I can't join everything and expect to update everyday - I have to pick a few, good sites to be active on and monitor the rest. Yes, that's what I need to do. Budget my internet time. Or maybe I'm just lazy and forgetful. My money's on that.
In case you're wondering, here's a (probably partial) list of sites I'm a member of:
Blogger
Livejournal
Flickr
All things Google (Gmail, Reader, Docs, etc.)
facebook
LibraryThing
GoodReads
43things/places/people
AllConsuming
Del.icio.us
last.fm (newest addition! yeah!)
GrandCentral (oh yeah, that's Google now too)
Upcoming.org
Plaxo
Geni
StartSampling
Remember the Milk
Orkut
Friendster (ugh, I know)
OKCupid
Yahoo!
MSN/Hotmail (might be expired by now)
Doostang
Angelfire (old website)
Flixster
Netflix
Amazon
eBay
Think I forgot anything? Probably. But if it's something I can't remember and it's not in my bookmarks, it's not worth mentioning. I'll probably never go there again anyway.
Wood hazard
Alright. I know that this will sound crazy, but hear me out.
A few weeks ago, on my way to work, traffic on the highway came to a startling halt. Now, this wouldn't seem so odd, considering how terrible the traffic in Columbus can be - but it was around 10:45am, long after the morning rush hour. I tried to see what was causing the pileup, and only saw smoke coming from the side of the road up ahead. I assumed (as I imagine most would) that there had been a nasty accident, and a car was either on fire or had been on fire. And sure enough, as I drove up to it, I saw a pile of something on fire. But it wasn't a car. It was a very large pile of wood, at least 8 feet high. I couldn't take my eyes off of it until I had completely driven by - had I actually just been looking at a large pile of wood, on fire, completely blocking the right lane? And were those firemen putting it out, or tending it?! I swear, I wouldn't have been any more surprised if I had seen them out there making s'mores!
Anyhow, I told Jared about this when I got home that night, and we looked on the local news websites to see if there was any mention of it. Of course, there was nothing, and I sounded like a lunatic.
But, it gets better! Today, on my way to work, driving past the same patch of highway... traffic comes to a halt again. This time, there were two cars that had just gotten into a minor accident - no fire or smoke or anything like that. But as I passed them, and tried to avoid the broken glass on the road, I noticed that one of the cars was - you guessed it - sitting on a small pile of wood. This wouldn't have seemed that weird if a truck were involved in the accident. I could buy the fact that a truck could have been hauling wood and it fell out during the accident. But you can't tell me that two cars would somehow cause wood to be left in the road. That's just crazy!
Apparently, I need to watch out for falling wood on my way to work. I could be next!
Chicken!
Have you even been to a lecture that just sounds like a load of jibberish? Do you like chickens? Then you will love this video.
Here's the paper it's based on - equally hilarious!
Space mania
Check out this trailer for the moon (high res, low res) - I found the link at the Bad Astronomy blog, which, if you like astronomy and don't already read this blog, you really really should. Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer) is awesome. He said (in his post about this trailer) that this is the kind of thing that NASA should keep doing, and I completely agree. Watching stuff like this brings the magic back into space exploration, and I was completely giddy while watching it. This is what I went to Space Camp for!
The devil's playground
Would you believe that I am voluntarily watching a Powerpoint presentation?
Last week I was scheduled to attend two different library presentations, and I was only able to make it to one. Really, I could have made the other, but I was tired, lazy, and wanted to go shopping. Aren't I the motivated one? Anyhow, the presentation I missed was by a librarian at Case Western Reserve University who's blog I read - so when he posted a link to his Powerpoint, I decided to see what I missed. It looked like a good talk - I won't bore you with the specifics, but what I WILL bore you with is the site his presentation was posted on: Slideshare.net.
Although this site would be fantastic for medieval torture (You must look at Powerpoint presentations until you PUKE! Mwahaha!), there are a lot of practical uses as well. This site makes it incredibly easy to post and share slideshows with colleages and friends (or enemies!), and by poking around on the site, you can view all sorts of neat presentations in subjects that you are interested in. Additionally, if you are curious as to what a "good" or a "very, very bad" slideshow looks like, there are plenty of examples to choose from.
Just another fun product from the makers of Web 2.0.
I will be your shining star
I just got done listening to a speech given by the new president of Kent State University, Lester Lefton, and I am moved to blog about it. President Lefton spoke to the Akron Roundtable on March 15th of this year (and yes, I *just* got around to listening to it...) about how public universities in Ohio can work together to keep graduates in the state and improve Ohio's staggering economy.
Just as some background information, President Lefton was hired as Kent State's president before the start of the 2006-2007 school year. Immediately, he sent out an email to the entire Kent State community to introduce himself and his family. Since that time, he has continued to send out weekly emails to both students and staff, telling us what he has done that week (meetings, events, talks, award ceremonies, sports events he has attended, etc.) and giving us periodic updates about his cat, Leo, who apparently took a while to adjust to their new home in Kent, Ohio.
Maybe I'm just a geek (read: huge geek), but I think that this is fantastic. President Lefton is not only showing Kent State students that he knows his way around a computer and keyboard, but he's letting us know that he's actually doing something each week, and that he wants us to know about it. I feel almost as if I know President Lefton - and I look forward to his email each Friday. Through this small effort, I feel more connected to a university campus that I've only visited a few times (since I take classes in Columbus), and I've learned a heck of a lot more about what a university president actually does. Most importantly, I trust this guy more than I ever trusted the president of Miami University while I was there. Lester Lefton is transparent (in a very good way), real, and even a little funny.
But back to his speech - the main point was to stress that many smart and qualified college graduates are leaving the state to find employment, and Ohio needs to make a greater attempt to retain some of these talented folks to help improve the state's economy. Having lived in Ohio all my life, I wholeheartedly agree - and I share President Lefton's excitement and optimism about what our newly elected governor plans to do to help.
In any case, the point I'm getting to is this: I would like to offer my services as a future Ohio professional employee. I'm graduating in about 2 1/2 weeks, and I'm currently seeking employment. I want more than anything to stay in the state, and it seems that Ohio wants me to stay... so, here I am, Ohio. Hire me. Keep me here. I don't want to look for an out-of-state job, mostly because I'm too lazy to move, but also because all of my family and friends are here. Ohio, you still have a pretty decent public employee retirement system, and I want to take advantage of it. Don't make me leave. Just hire me! I'll be a good librarian, I promise. I even have a Bachelor's degree in Physics! See, I'm smart! You need me!
Sigh. Anyone think that'll work?
If you are interested at all, you can find Lester Lefton's speech at the Akron Roundtable website. If you have time to listen to the whole thing (30-40 minutes, but it's all audio so you can do other things while listening), it's pretty good.
Corn-fed
As my friends are well aware, I am a person of obsessions. I don't just like things, I covet them. Pepsi is one of those things. Don't EVEN get me started about how much better Pepsi is than Coke, because I'll just get all huffy. And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it anyway, because to me, Pepsi is like the God Of Beverages. Sadly for me, I have recently given up all forms of soda.
Let me tell you, it's hard to give up something you love so much. But I know that I need to eat healthy, and let's face it - pop is extremely unhealthy. For me, it had to be the first thing to go. And I have to be diligent about it, because even if I were to try to drink it in moderation, I would soon slip back into drinking it multiple times a day. Instead, I drink mostly water, with the occasional juice or light lemonade. And, surprise, I feel better. I am no longer addicted to caffeine, meaning I no longer get nasty headaches when I don't have it. But most of all, I'm glad that I've eliminated the High Fructose Corn Syrup that pop contains.
There's only one catch - almost everything else I love to eat has high fructose corn syrup in it! I'm finding it in juice, in chocolate milk, and in my beloved sweet & sour sauce at McDonald's. Granted, I need to eliminate fast food from my diet too - that's next - so the sweet & sour sauce won't be a problem. But juice? Damnit. And thinking back, my family always used Karo syrup in their cooking. And Karo is just pure corn syrup. Yuck!
If you pay attention to labels at all, you'll find corn in almost everything. I don't really think that's all bad, and it makes sense - the United States can produce corn very easily. Just drive around Ohio and you'll see corn everywhere. Hell, we're even trying to make gasoline out of it. Perhaps there is a corn conspiracy. Are we being fed all this corn for a reason? Maybe all food is actually just flavored corn. Or, maybe all food WILL be flavored corn, and we're being slowly fed more and more corn so we won't notice. Or maybe, just maybe, the powers that be will soon attempt to harvest the combined power of corn and humans, and we'll all end up in pods with our brains connected to a virtual representation of the world we once knew.
Oh wait, that's the matrix.
The point is, it sucks giving up Pepsi.
The Librarian
Watch this film and tell me if you aren't moved to become a librarian.
A more lengthy and absurd post is in store, so stay tuned.
Library Geek 2.0
Okay, so I just got wind of a new LibraryThing service (thanks Jared!), targeted specifically at libraries and their online public access catalogs (OPACs for the non-library geek readers). LibraryThing for libraries aims to enhance a library's existing OPAC by taking their data and generating a widget with both "Similar Items" and "Related Editions." This is really cool because right now libraries around the US are trying to upgrade their online services, specifically their catalog functionality. Here's the New York Public Library OPAC (with a sample search) - and here's the same OPAC with the LibraryThing widget in place (Look in the sidebar). It's helpful to patrons and non-intrusive, and it doesn't require any major OPAC upgrades on the library's end. I think this is really cool, especially when services like Amazon already have these kinds of functions. Library users expect it and want it! LibraryThing is going to unveil this at the Computers in Libraries conference, so I'm interested in seeing what the library world's reaction will be to it.
Since I'm going to be a librarian in one month and a day (*ahem*), you'll have to excuse me if I get excited about this stuff.
I also heard recently that the Brooklyn Public Library is going to start using Netflix for their customers. How cool is that? Imagine - you get a library card, and with it you can rent ANY MOVIE YOU WANT FROM NETFLIX FOR FREE. I think that's a fantastic service, and I really hope it catches on.
Here's something else that might be of interest to my Central Ohio readers (AKA, like two of you): Library Journal did an article about the Ohio State University Libraries and the remodeling of the Thompson Library. (Mary, remember when we spent an evening exploring that library? There won't be 12 crazy floors anymore when they're done with it.) It sounds like a really cool project, and after doing my practicum at the Science and Engineering Library, I saw how busy that library was now that there isn't a main library to go to.
Yes yes, I know, lots of library links. But now that I'm about to officially join the profession, I need to be keeping up-to-date on these things. I've been reading a few new blogs recently - It's All Good, by some of the staff members of OCLC that work on WebJunction, The Shifted Librarian, a pretty well-known library blog, and Are You 2.0 Yet?, a blog by the Engineering Librarian at Case Western. All very cool and very geeky.
That's all for now. I love being a library geek!
April Fool's Wha?
Today, as most of the world knows, was April Fool's Day. I was sad about it falling on Sunday, because so many of the best jokes are played during the work week, and having it on Sunday makes it harder to be around gullible people. But the Internet didn't take a break from April Fool's; there are plenty of popular websites with fantastic gags, and I'm about to tell you where they are.
First off: Google. Google is known for their April Fool's Day jokes, and this year is no exception. Check out their "crappy" new service - I doubt anyone believed this for a second, but it's pretty hilarious. Be sure to look at the Google Group created for it, and if you want to see previous April Fool's Day jokes, just go to this fake "Not Found" page. Oh, Google, you never disappoint.
Gmail had it's own gag separate from Google proper - their new Gmail Paper service! Can you imagine getting all your emails sent to you in paper form? I bet some people would actually use this service, if it were real. And I'm willing to bet that more people believed this one than the TiSP service.
Livejournal, my other blogging home, really got me this year. Their news announcement about needing to be more competitive in the social networking market was almost believable. In fact, I had to look at the comments to see that this was just a gag and not my beloved Livejournal selling out to the MySpace overlords. Fantastic!
Facebook also had a few tricks up its sleeve in the form of news feed items. Since all of the other crap your friends do will ultimately cause these to get pushed out of your news feed, here's what they were:
"You are on Facebook, reading your News Feed."
"Harry and Voldemort have set their relationship status to 'Mortal Enemies.'"
"Two of your oxen drowned when you tried to ford the river."
"Bracket Buster: Ohio State and Florida have mutually agreed on a tie and will not play the Championship game."
"Meredith and McDreamy have changed their relationship status to "It's Complicated" ... oh wait ... "In a Relationship" ... oh wait ... "It's Complicated" again."
and finally:
"Introducing LivePoke(tm)! Facebook will dispatch a real live person today to poke a friend of your choice.*
*offer good for only the first 100 pokers in each network."
Also, if you looked at the bottom of your News Feed page, you would see:
"A (insert your name here) Production." (With name inserted, of course.)
And when you reloaded the page, other random names would appear as well.
LibraryThing didn't do much, but they did change their logo to say "LibraryStuff," which is still pretty funny.
And finally, the most ridiculous and hilarious gag of the day (in my opinion) was from Ask.com - apparently, they are going to team up with Kevin Federline. Oh, how I loves a good K-Fed joke!
What did you see today? Did anyone play any good jokes on you? Or did you get someone else really good? Whether you were the butt of the joke or the tormentor, I hope you all enjoyed your April ze first.
Procrastination cat is not amused
For any of you that don't already use Gmail, or even for all of you that do, here's a video you should watch:
Gmail Theatre
I love it! Puppets make me smile.
I believe my levels of procrastination recently reached an all-time high. Last spring, I attended a library-related weekend workshop, worth one credit hour. I didn't really need that one credit hour, but the workshop sounded interesting. I really enjoyed it, but once I came back I put off starting the post-assignment. The assignment was just a 5-7 page paper - nothing fancy, nothing that difficult, nothing I shouldn't have been able to churn out in an hour or two. But, being the ridiculous master of procrastination that I am, and given that the deadline for the paper was arbitrary (the instructor gave a date for the deadline, but later said it didn't matter when she got it), I put the paper off until after finals. Surely, I would have plenty of time afterwards to write it up and send it off - at least that's what I told myself.
Note that this was last March. Almost an entire year ago.
"So," you're probably wondering, "when did you write the paper?" Well let's see... I took three classes over the summer, so I didn't make time to write it then. Fall started up almost immediately, and that led into all kinds of family issues by year's end, so I didn't write it then. During these months, I had started the paper and added to it several times, so it wasn't as if I ignored it completely. However, it wasn't until last week - Thursday night - that I finally just forced myself to go to a computer lab and write the damn paper. I sent it to the instructor, tail between my legs, hoping that she would accept it. She did (thank you thank you thank you), and I would have screamed in pure joy if it hadn't been 8am when I got her email response.
The moral of this whole story is this: Procrastination only works when you actually finish the thing you're putting off. And in no way was this a successful procrastination attempt. This paper plagued my mind for months, and each time I thought about doing it, I was overwhelmed with the realization that it was so severely overdue that I couldn't possibly think of any logical reason why I hadn't finished it. As time went on, working on it became an increasingly harder and daunting task. Surprisingly enough, I was actually pretty happy with the end result, so I guess that's a good thing? Eh.
Never again, my friends. Never again.
It's a good thing I'm not like this at work. When I'm there, I'm so focused and driven. And organized! God, I wish I could be that organized at home. I'm not sure why that is - aren't organized people supposed to be organized in ALL aspects of their life? I'm creative, I problem-solve, I get things done quickly - too bad that doesn't translate very well into my personal life. I guess that's a goal to strive for. At least, for now, my mind is free to focus on other things. And I promise I'm going back to my normal, "healthy" levels of procrastination.
It's more like Milkshake Day for me anyhow.
Thanks for the web comic suggestions - I found a few that I enjoy looking at and subscribed to them in Google Reader. As if I didn't have enough to look at with Boing Boing posts alone.. sheesh. (I love you, Boing Boing, but it's hard to keep up!)
So here it is. Valentine's Day. Usually I either love or hate this day - depending entirely on whether or not I'm single. But this year, I'm apathetic. I don't think I'm really getting any "traditional" Valentine's gifts.. Jared and I would rather celebrate our anniversary (the 13th) than v-day. But I do enjoy my romantic stuff, and I think we're going out to dinner and a movie sometime soon to celebrate. Right now there's so much snow out that we really can't do anything except hang out in the apartment anyhow.
There used to be a time when I was hell-bent on hating this holiday, regardless of my relationship status. However, I would like to tell all of those wishing to hate this day a few reasons NOT to:
Hate reason #1: It's a Hallmark holiday! It's just a ploy by the card companies to make more money.
Me: Of course it is! Just like St. Patrick's day is a ploy by the beer companies to get us to drink more beer, and Independence day is a ploy by the fireworks' companies to get us to blow our limbs off, so is Valentine's day a reason for us to buy cards out of necessity. But we enjoy getting drunk and blowing ourselves up, don't we? And let's be honest - if you weren't required to send cards for holidays, would you? I enjoy getting cards and gifts, and I also like giving them to people who appreciate them. So, if I'm okay with other commericialized holidays, I'm okay with Valentine's day.
Hate reason #2: You don't need a day set aside to be romantic - you should be romantic and remind your partner you love them every day.
Me: Oh sure, in a perfect world maybe. But seriously - does that happen? If it does, then great! Good for you! But for the rest of the world, it's kinda nice to have a day to remember how much you really love the person you are with - or how much you appreciate the friends you have in your life. I'm okay with that.
Hate reason #3: But it reminds me of how single and lonely I am!
Me: I've been there, so I know how it feels. All these happy couples around you, kissing and exchanging gifts... it makes you sick. Honestly, even though I'm in a happy relationship with someone, it STILL makes me sick to see these couples. What I would suggest is to take the day as a chance to do things for yourself. Enjoy your favorite hobby or go out with your friends. There's more love in the world than just romantic love, and enjoying the activities and people you love should put you in better spirits. Just avoid expensive restaurants with gross couples having dinner - unless one of your favorite activities is mocking them. In that case, go for it!
As for me, I'm going to spend the day doing the one thing I love most of all - nothing!
Web comic rush
I'm reading two books right now, but I haven't finished either of them - so no book review today. Sadness, I know. But at least I'm updating.. so that's a start.
I've never been a big web comic person - I usually hear about them, or see them once or twice, but never remember to keep up with it. Plus, a whole bunch of them aren't that funny. Well... they aren't that funny to me, and that's all I care about. But lately I've been reading Unshelved, a fantastic comic that pretty much sums up life in a public library. Even if you don't work in a library, it would still be funny.
I've also become aware of another comic - Questionable Content - which seems promising so far. I had heard about this one some time ago, but it keeps popping up in people's blogs, and now I'm curious about it. So curious, in fact, that I decided to find out which character I'm most like. I wasn't expecting to be the robot, but whatever. Me likey robots.
Which Questionable Content Character Are You?
You are Pintsize! You are a destructive little monster who only manages to get away with things because he's cute. You have a fondness for cake mix and a weakness for duct tape. I pray to God that no one ever builds a laser into your stomach.
Take this quiz!
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Questionable Content also has both a rockin' library t-shirt and Harrison Ford t-shirt for sale, both of which I absolutely. must. have.
I think QC might be a little too indy for my taste, but whatevs. I just started reading it today anyhow. Their stuff is cool, so the comic must also be cool. It's a rule. (Rhyme!)
All of this reminds me of the aspirations I had to start my very own web comic. Hmm, that's worked out well so far, hasn't it? Perhaps I am not Web Comic Creator Material. Or perhaps I am just lazy. Actually, I told someone about my ideas and found out that it had already been done - and done much better than I could have, I might add. Go figure.
Jim Rummy Punch
As some of you already know, I've been on jury duty for the past two weeks. Today was my last day, however, and that makes me sad. I've met some really fun people that I'll probably never see again. It's always strange to me how awkward goodbyes are between people that have only known each other for a short time. Even if you don't admit it, you know that you will probably never see each other again. It's hard to know what to say in that situation. Do you try to exchange phone numbers or email addresses? If so, do you honestly think you'll attempt to stay in touch? Or do you just say, "Well, it's been fun - have a nice life!"
One of my fellow jurors told me of plans to build a Sonic here in Columbus. I am absolutely thrilled, because the closest one right now is near Athens, and I need more reasons to avoid my diet.
Random fact about me #173: I kick ass at Rummy.
Random fact about me #174: I really, really like the number 173. And 137.
For any of you book-lovers out there (and I know you're there), there's a new service coming out that will probably blow your mind. It's called BookSwim, and it has been called the "Netflix for books." Basically, you rent the books like you would DVDs from Netflix, and you send them back in a pre-paid envelope to get the next one from your queue. If you like the book, you can purchase it and keep it. You might be surprised that someone as gung-ho about libraries as I am would be interested in a service like this - and rightfully so. But, they are different services catering to different consumers. Books, DVDs, and CDs from the library are all free, with the catch that you have to bring them back on time. (If that frustrates you, think about it: no library fines = no motivation to bring items back = libraries lose materials and money. Not happy.) You also have to get off your lazy ass and go to the library to get them. Of course BookSwim doesn't have late fees, because you are paying those fees upfront with your subscription cost. (No word yet on what that cost will be - I'm guessing it will be comparable to Netflix.) The benefit is that you can be as lazy as you want, and read as slow as your feeble brain is able with no penalty. Needless to say, I can't wait to try it out.
Book review time! Yes, I managed to read a new book, and mostly because while on jury duty this week, I had to keep myself from being bored out of my mind. The book is Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values, and it was fabulous. (Yes, I know he has a newer book out. But I'm slow.) The values that he is referring to in the title are the historical values our nation was built upon and that have been developed throughout its existence: separation of church and state; human rights; peaceful diplomacy; war only as a last resort to solving international disputes; protecting our environment; and providing humanitarian aid to other countries. Carter, after outlining his own very deep and spiritual religious beliefs, outlines how fundamentalism in our government is ruining our country and our country's reputation throughout the world. Carter does not beat around the bush when it comes to his opinions; instead, he delivers factual evidence along with an eloquent and convincing argument towards his way of thinking. If you're looking for a book to make you angry about the current state of affairs in Washington, look no further. However, if you are happy with our current administration, then you probably wouldn't enjoy the book - there are plenty of instances when Carter makes direct attacks on the very government he once led. Although the beginning, for me, was too religious-y, the discussion of Carter's personal beliefs and convictions help the reader to understand where his viewpoints come from. If you can tolerate the religious discussion, the rest of the book will inspire you to learn more about what's really going on with our government today. It will also make you want to punch a wall, so get ready for some anger. Gooood anger.
A long post today - but damn, it's about time. Hope you read this far and enjoyed yourself. Cheers!
The first of many...
As promised, I'm going to start reviewing things of interest to me. So if they aren't of interest to you... too damn bad. Read another blog.
Considering that I work in a library and am currently in school to become a librarian, I think it goes without saying that I check out a lot of books. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my library card, and what better way to celebrate than to talk about a great new author I discovered at my library. Her name is Sonya Sones and she writes teen fiction. I heard about her book, What My Mother Doesn't Know, during one of my classes - it's on the American Library Association's list of the top 10 most frequently challenged and banned books in 2005. I made a mental note to read that book, but I ended up reading another book of hers first, called One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies. Both were excellent! Totally predictable, yes, but really fun books to read. The first is about a high school freshman that falls in love, and the second is about a girl that goes to live with her movie star father after her mother dies.
What makes them special is that they are written in poems. It's almost like reading the diary of the main character, and the poems flow so well that you end up reading the book faster than you might normally have. I also read her first book, Stop Pretending, but didn't like it as much. It dealt with a much more serious topic (the main character is a young girl that must deal with her older sister having a mental breakdown), but it was obvious from the style of writing that it was a first book. The poems were choppy at times and the whole thing seemed to skip around too much. But it was still a good book, and a must-read if you become a fan of her other books. One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies really hit home with me - not because of the mother-dying part, but because the girl was raised by a single mom, was an only child, and because I always secretly wished that my father actually cared about me, or thought about me, or that if something *shudder* happened to my mom, he would be right there to step in and be the father he never was. Fat chance of course, but it was always a nice thought. I actually cried a little at the end of this one, if that tells you anything. (Stop laughing!)
In any case, if you care at all about teen fiction, and if you're cool with reading a book written entirely in poems, give Sonya Sones a try. Her characters are realistic and fun, and the books are well-written and a quick read.
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Speaking of library fun, I'm starting a photo set on Flickr where I post pictures of things I find at the library. I don't have much on there yet, but I find weird things all the time - I just need to remember to get pictures of them. I personally love the damaged book.
Vacation over
Yes, I know it's been a while since my last post. I've become one of those people that posts so infrequently that I have to apologize before I write anything. How depressing! In any case, my time off has been busy. But everytime I think about posting, I wonder what would be good enough to warrant a "comeback" post. And the longer I go, the less likely anything I can think of will be exciting or groundbreaking enough, so I just don't write anything.
Well, my friends, in the spirit of NaNoWriMo (of which I will be a participant this year), I'm going to continue writing meaningless posts just for the sake of writing them. And you will continue to read them! With vigor even! I also would like to write some reviews here, if anyone is interested in reading them. They would be reviews of books, CDs, movies, or anything else I have recently enjoyed (or hated!) that I'd want to share. Look for that soon - I've read some great books and listened to some really weird CDs lately that I'm dying to write about.
*This update brought to you by Ryan Garwood, the coolest engineer at Purdue that I've only met once (I think?)*
Fun linkage
I ran across some good links tonight, so I thought I'd share.
Apparently, Paramount has dropped Tom Cruise. What's even more humorous is that they don't even try to cover up why they did - they simply state that it was because of the way he's been acting lately. I used to like Tom Cruise a lot, and I have to admit that I really liked Mission Impossible 3, but anymore he just creeps me out. I'm glad they gave him the boot.
Then we find out that Paramount grabs up Trey and Matt - and that's where Erica gets really excited. Two live action films in the works? That's some great news!
Also, it looks like Brendan Fraser is going to be in a new movie called Inkheart, based off of a children's book series. Since I haven't read the books, I don't know much about the story or whether or not it'll be any good. And even though I love Brendan Fraser almost as much as Harrison Ford, he needs to get his act together and get in some better movies. I'm sick of watching movies that make me hurt on the inside just to see him on screen.
And lastly, before I hit the sack - Scientists claim they have now found direct proof of dark matter. Take that, Dr. Scholten! Actually, I need to read more about this. Could it be true? Sure seems to have a lot of people in an uproar.
Alright, enough for now. Thoughts? Comment 'em.
I thought I had to triple-click the red ones...
Some fun things to blog about today!
As a geeky librarian-to-be, I thought this was pretty cool.
OCLC, an organization near and dear to my heart, made it into the Onion. Whee! Now, if they would just hire me...
I've been reading a few blogs fairly consistently lately, mostly because Google Reader is the shit. Anyhow, I came across this T-shirt design, and a website called Threadless:
You can rate T-shirt designs here, which are submitted by other users. If enough people like them, then they will be printed and available for purchase on the site. I'm really hoping this one is sold soon - I love it!
Also - was anyone else aware of the fact that Amazon sells engagement rings and bridal sets? They also sell sex toys, which are pretty damn funny to look through if you're bored. Be careful though, or else Amazon might start recommending them to you. Unless you're into that kind of thing, in which case you are a sick freak. Just kidding. ;)
Oh! I just remembered something from work today. Everyone got an email about this Management workshop that's being offered at OSU, and how those people new to management should attend. I hadn't even read the email when one of my coworkers ran up to me to show me her print-out of the email. It said: "Weather or not you are in a management position... " That's right, weather. And just last week I got an email from HR telling me to double-click on a hyperlink to take a stupid survey. Maybe I just take it for granted that you have to be smart to get a job in upper management. I guess I just expect people to know basic words like "whether" and that you don't have to double-click a hyperlink. Perhaps this is just too much to expect out of people.
(Disclaimer: I know that my grammar isn't perfect. But at least I have common sense. That counts for something.)
In any case, enjoy my links and please don't double-click them. Or I'll kill you. With a spoon.
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