Jared and I are considering taking a mini-vacation in September/October - we were originally planning on going down to Gatlinburg, but we recently decided that it might be more cost-effective to just visit Hocking Hills for a weekend. It's closer, which would mean less money spent on gas, and even though it's not quite as breathtaking as the Smoky Mountains, it's still a very scenic place to visit. So for the past week or so I've been pricing cabins in the area, hoping to find something relatively inexpensive. This has proved to be a difficult task - most cabins range from $150-$200 a night, even in late October. Yikes! Anyhow, as I was checking the availability of cabins from a particular company, I saw this message at the bottom of their page (emphasis added):
"Please note: There is a 2 night minimum on the weekend at the weekend rates. A weekend is considered Thursday/Friday, Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday. Holiday weekends are a 3 night minimum. Lodges are 3 night minimum - Memorial Day through Labor Day.
We apologize that our rate structure is illogical and the system can not always quote your rates correctly."
Wow. Really? Can't you just... make them logical?
I think maybe we'll be camping instead. At the very least, we won't be renting a cabin from THIS company.
Trying to get away is harder than you might think
Weirdness, insults, and fun with words
If you have facebook, you've likely seen the ads that show up on the left side of the screen. Most of the time, they are pretty standard. But one day, I found this:
Apparently, this is an actual thing. Here's the petition, if you want to look at it. In case you're wondering, I'm not going to sign it. Now, if it were a petition to get the Bad Astronomer on Stargate, that's a whole different story. Sign me up!
Completely different but almost as random are the junk emails I've been getting at work. Here are a few recent ones I've received:
Umm, I didn't think junk mail was supposed to flat out insult you. Usually it just suggests that you might want to "increase ur size!!" or that you could really use some cheap Viagra. But to come out and just tell me that I look stupid?! How do they know how I look? Maybe I look great today, thankyouverymuch. Has anyone else seen junk mail like this?
Oh! Check out my Wordle:
I made it out of all of my tags on Delicious. Obviously, I like me some humor and libraries. But was there really any doubt about that?
I can has decent PowerPoint presentation? KTHX.
I attended the first day of my second official library conference today - the OLC Reference and Adult Services conference. I have to say, even for a smaller affair than the first conference I attended (the big OLC Annual Conference last October), it was really nice. The food they served for lunch was great (bonus!), I was much less scared to talk to people I didn't know, and the programs and speakers were really good.
...except the last program of the day. I hate critizing presenters, because I know hard they must have worked to prepare, and sometimes things just don't go as planned - but let me explain. This particular presentation was a combination of uninteresting antecdotes, bad jokes, and the worst PowerPoint presentation I've seen since library school. His topic was adult programming in the library, and although he did stay on topic and gave some good advice about how to come up with programming ideas, he spent far too much time talking about the individual programs that he had put together, and not enough time talking about the logistics of hosting a program and marketing it to the community. After a while it just felt like he was showing off - he kept raving about all of the programs he'd put together for his library, and then would drift off into a story about the people involved in the program or try to tell a not-so-funny joke. (I'm sure it didn't help that I had a huge headache at that point... but I digress.) And when I say "bad PowerPoint," I'm talking flying/rotating text transitions (SIGH), all white backgrounds, and nothing but Times New Roman font. The slides were set up in a basic outline format, and other than some pictures of posters his marketing department created for his programs, the slideshow really didn't add anything useful to the presentation. The scary part is that he stressed how librarians need to learn to use PowerPoint (O RLY!?!), and that he teaches a technology class for patrons at his branch. To top it off, he muttered several times during the program "I hate technology!" after he'd accidentally jump forward too many slides - meant as a joke, I'm sure, but isn't that a bad sign? Especially if you consider yourself a technology instructor?
The rest of the day, however, was amazing. Joan Frye Williams gave a wonderful talk in the morning, as she always does, and I enjoyed every minute of it. After lunch, I was inspired by a program I attended on marketing your collection - now I have all sorts of good ideas to take back to work with me on how to display some of our newer titles and get more customers interested in them. And I also attended a very enlightening panel discussion about how the business community sees the public library, and what they would like to see us do to serve them better. So one rotten apple didn't ruin the bunch for me! I can't wait to learn more tomorrow morning.
Summer fun-ness
You may be wondering what I've been up to. Or maybe you haven't been. Either way, you are about to find out. Oh, the magic of blogging!
First of all, I visited Chicago two weeks ago - and it was amazing! There is so much I didn't get to do (I needed to stay there a week longer!), but what I did do was completely awesome. One of the places I had to visit was the Threadless store. If you've never heard of them, check out their website - if you like unique t-shirts or creating your own designs, you'll love it! Anyway, I visited the store and bought myself a shirt. They also have art prints for sale based on the t-shirt designs. The best part is that they release the newest designs in the store before they release them online - so I got my shirt early, and actually wore it on the day it was "officially" released! Very cool.
Another place I made sure to visit was the Chicago Public Library. This is apparently the largest library in the country (and with 79 branches, there's really no doubt in my mind about that), and the main library is called the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago. I visited the library on a Sunday - I expected the place to be packed (my library is a madhouse on Sundays!) but found that it was quite peaceful. There were 9 floors - I didn't visit them all, but I could tell that each was laid out the same way. The exception was the 9th floor, which was a beautiful open room with a few tables and a glass ceiling. Surprisingly, only one person was using the space to study when I went up there. If I lived in Chicago, I would be up there everyday! You could even see the top of the Sears tower through the glass. The library had a very modern feel, but I have to say that I wasn't really impressed with the layout of the floors or the use of the space. The walls and decor were... well, not very exciting either. Not bad, just not as impressive as I had hoped it would be. But overall, it was a very nice building.
Check out all of my Chicago pictures on my Flickr page.
In other news, last weekend I was in the Pride parade with Spin Columbus. We did pretty well and everyone seemed to enjoy our performance - we got a lot of compliments afterwards, which made everyone feel really great. This weekend I will be performing with them again in the Doo Dah parade on July 4th - come out and see us if you can (and if it doesn't get rained out)!
Erica's realization of the month: Sunglasses are AWESOME. I bought a pair for myself on the way to Chicago, and I instantly felt both way cooler than usual and much more vacation-y. Now I wear them all the time, and I'm not quite sure how I have lived almost 26 years without them. In fact, I'm pretty sure people smile at me more when I wear them - this is probably either because of the aforementioned coolness factor, or perhaps because they can't see my eyes (and thus can't see the weird look I would have normally been giving them). I have also started noticing just how bright the world is without them - and when I drag my groggy self into work in the morning, the last thing I want to see while driving there is anything bright and sunny.
What exciting revelations have you had this summer?
Tagged!
I just got tagged by made in a treehouse, so it's question and answer time! Yay!
What was I doing 10 years ago?
Wow, 10 years ago I was just about to turn 16! I remember that I was glad to be out of school for the summer, because I had been feuding with some friends and needed a break. But I was also busy planning my sweet 16 party, which I wanted to be huge... and it was!
What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Well, it's the end of the day - so here are 5 things that were on my to-do list:
1. Build arcade game out of cardboard boxes at work - it's our display for Summer Reading Club, and I started working on it today with a coworker. A little late, I know, but we should have no trouble getting it done for the kickoff Saturday. I hope it turns out good!
2. Put up SRC posters - done and done.
3. Organize old family video tapes so they can be put on DVDs - I'm working on this one all week.
4. Help Jared update his resume - currently working on that.
5. Play Wii Fit - it was on the list, but I probably won't get to it tonight, unfortunately. It's so much fun though!
What are my favorite snacks?
Oh man - I love eating Doritos dipped in cream cheese. That is my comfort snack. I also love pudding - right now I'm obsessed with rice pudding. Really, I would much rather just snack throughout the day than eat full-sized meals. I have heard that it is more healthy to eat this way, but it hasn't worked out well for me thus far.
Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
Pay off my students loans - and probably Jared's too, just because I'm that nice. I would buy a house and pay off any other debt I have, then give money to my mom because she deserves it. I would probably also buy cool gifts for my friends and throw some big ridiculous party in the new house. It's too bad I'm not a billionaire, because that all sounds so awesome.
Places I have lived:
Born in Akron, Ohio
Portage Lakes, Ohio for a few months after I was born
Canal Fulton, Ohio
Atlanta, Georgia for about a year when I was 2
Canal Fulton again for a few years
Sugarcreek, Ohio from 2nd-5th grade
New Philadelphia, Ohio from 6th-12th grade
Oxford, Ohio for college (Miami U!)
New Philadelphia, Ohio for the summer after graduation
Columbus, Ohio for grad school - present :)
Hmm, who to tag? Well, let's go with The Chaser Nation and Two-Headed Blog, just because I can. I look forward to seeing embarrassing pictures of you from 10 years ago! (Kidding... kinda!)
Time? What time?
Is it the end of May already? Lately it seems that I have been too busy to even think. Between work and being the Company Mangaer for Spin Columbus, I haven't been home or online nearly as much as usual. In fact, last night I watched 18 WebbAlerts - that's how far behind I had gotten! But I was determined to watch them all, because Morgan Webb is my hero.
By the way, I love my DVR - since I'm gone all of the time, I miss most of the shows I really enjoy watching. But no more. Like the new American Gladiators - I can watch it anytime if I'm gone on Monday night. Oh and if you don't watch that show yet, you really should. After watching this week's show (and being introduced to the new, "silent" gladiator named Steel), I thought it would be funny to come up with some rejected gladiator names. I can't remember what I came up with right now, but they were probably funny. Unfortunately, Carson Daly did that exact gag on his show that night! I don't know what makes me more upset - that someone beat me to the punch, or the fact that it was Carson Daly that beat me to the punch. Sadness.
Now that I'm caught up with TV and the internet, I need to start reading - I have an ever-growing pile of books that I just haven't had time to sit down and dive into yet. Maybe soon?
Discoveries
I made a very interesting find today - on my library's teen website, in the "Express It" section, there is a place for teens to submit poetry they have written. Some are silly, some are kinda depressing, but all of them are just amazing! I don't really know that much about poetry, but I am really enjoying reading through what the teens have submitted. And some of the regular posters comment on each other's poems, which is really cool.
A random list of things I have learned over the past month that may or may not be interesting:
1. No matter what flavor of milkshake you order from McDonald's, they will give you a mix of all of the flavors. A few weeks ago I swear I got a Chocolate-Strawberry-Mint milkshake. Yikes.
2. I LOVE meetings. Of any kind. Even unproductive ones. Most people hate them, but I just love them. Knowing that I have a meeting makes my day go better. Someday, perhaps, I'll be sick of them, but not anytime soon.
3. I really like the clicking sound that high heels make on hard floors.
4. If you want to light a gas grill, you should turn the gas on first. You should not just turn knobs and hit the ignition button over and over, wondering why the damn thing won't light. Just a suggestion.
5. Green is the new black.
6. If you have a bumper sticker on the back of your old crappy car that talks about how much we all pollute the air, you are a hypocrite. You're polluting the air just as much as the rest of us.
7. I enjoy going to the grocery store by myself. It's strangely relaxing and makes me feel like a grown-up. And yes, I know that I'm already a grown-up, but that doesn't mean I always feel like one.
8. I like to sew because the sound of my sewing machine will always remind me of my mother.
9. I am obsessed with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and I want the sequel to come out RIGHT NOW.
10. I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie! Eeeeee! :D
Misery loves the BMV
I'm just going to say it: going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can be a nightmare.
I don't know why, but every person that works at the BMV seems to hate their life. And because of that hate, they make your visit miserable. Nobody smiles in the BMV. You take your number, wait for your turn, and pray that you brought the 5 forms of ID that they require. Oh, you wanted to pay by credit card? Sorry. No license for you. Did you spend time this morning trying to look nice for the photo? Forget it. You're going to look like a deer caught in headlights no matter how you do your makeup. The best thing you can hope for is to leave in a mildly bad mood. At least then there might be a chance of your day improving. It helps if you have something fun to do after you leave.
I can't completely blame the workers. But it would be nice if they had some customer service skills. Is a smile too much to ask for?
Anyhow, this morning I went to the BMV with Jared so he could renew his tags. We went early, in hopes that the workers there might not be quite as jaded first thing in the morning. We made sure he had his checkbook (they do take personal checks as payment) and 2 forms of ID. Luckily, we didn't have to wait, and he had everything he needed with him. Sure, the lady that helped us had a scowl on her face the whole time, but it was a quick and painless process.
We walked out into the parking lot, and turned to look at each other. "That was the least miserable BMV experience I've ever had," I said. Jared agreed. We finished the morning by going to First Watch for breakfast, which was deliciously awesome.
Until next time, BMV...
Mediocrity, maybe
I decided to do a little facebook stalking tonight, and I ended up kinda... bummed out. There are a lot of people I'm friends with on facebook because we went to high school or college together, and since I don't talk to most of them anymore it's nice to see what they are doing now. The problem is that many of them are doing things that are so cool or exciting that it makes me feel extremely boring in comparison. For instance, I know a guy who studies endangered birds - how cool is that? There's also a girl I know that went to school to be a governess. A governess! Then there's the people who have moved to California or Florida or are studying abroad or other things that I just wouldn't have thought of. It's so exciting, and I'm happy for all of them.
And then there's me. What do I do with my life? I become a librarian in the same state that I grew up in and have lived all my life. Does anyone look at my facebook profile and think, "Wow, look at Erica! I'm totally jealous of her awesome life!" Probably not. Most people think, "Wow, you're a librarian... wait, you need a degree for that?"
But the thing is, I really love my job. And I'm very happy here in Ohio, even if it's the same state where I was born and raised. (At least I'm in a different city, right?) So be jealous of me, facebook friends. I (enthusiastically) deal with the general public on a daily basis and live to tell the tale - that's pretty damn impressive.
Concert Mania
I absolutely love going to concerts in the summer. LOVE IT. I'm not sure that a summer has gone by since my senior year of high school that I haven't gone to a concert. And since I save all of my ticket stubs in a special concert scrapbook, I could probably confirm that fact. Anyhow, here's the lineup so far:
THIS SUNDAY - Kids in the Hall will be at the Wexner Center at 8pm (OMG OMG OMG) and I just bought tickets for Jared and I to go. *squeal*
July 13th - Poison!!!! Hell yes. They were so awesome last summer, and I can't wait to see them again!
August 9th - Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams! Yes, I know what you are thinking. And yes, I am totally going. My mom is obsessed with Rod Stewart - always has been - and I've wanted to see Bryan Adams in concert since I was 12. I'M SO THERE. I'm surprising mom with tickets for Mother's Day, so don't frickin' tell her or I'll kill you, m'kay?
I hope there are more. I'm missing out on seeing Third Eye Blind this Tuesday night, but I'll live. I've seen them before. I will also get to see a band at the Ebay convention, but they haven't announced who will be there yet, so I don't know how excited to be. But hey, I'll be in Chicago, so it's all good. I'm going to be having a blast regardless!
Clean Slate
I decided that I was sick and tired of the "normal" blogger templates, so I found myself a new one. What do you all think? I am enjoying how clean and refreshing it feels. Like a nice, hot shower. Which I need to go do, since I have to get to work!
Excitement for this week - my department gets to meet with Helene Blowers today, of whom I am a huge fangirl. (As a side note, I'm hoping she doesn't think I'm a complete idiot - she came up to me the other week and said, "Hi Erica! I know you from facebook!" and I just stared at her for a minute because I didn't recognize her right away. Talk about embarrassing!) Also, tomorrow is a kick-off meeting for a project I got invited to be involved with, so I'm pretty psyched for that too.
Did anyone else notice that the Internet April Fool's Jokes were just not up to par this year? My favorite though is in Google Docs - if you open up a new document, then go to the file tab, you will have the option to create a paper airplane. I like AF jokes better when they are fun and somewhat hidden - especially when we all know that Google puts out a million jokes today.
Did anyone get you good today? Online or in person?
Who needs money?
Not long ago, I ordered a t-shirt from a website called T-Shirt Hell - this shirt, to be precise (in pink!). When I got to the payment options screen, one of the options was "Sexual Favors". Of course I clicked on it, and this is the message I got:
Hilarious!
Vote Librarian in 08!
I just read on Ohio Library News that Jennifer Sechler, a children's librarian from the Westerville Public Library, is one of 10 finalists to be the CMO - Chief Magic Official - for Disney! If chosen, she'll get to entertain and bring magic to families visiting Disney parts around the world. AKA, the best job ever. You can read a statement from Jennifer in the post from Ohio Library News. I don't know Jennifer, but librarians stick together - especially librarians from Central Ohio! Please vote for her at:
http://www.dreamcmo.com/jennifer
You can vote as many times as you want until voting ends tomorrow. So get to it! Help a librarian out, would ya?
Muppet Time
A quick post because it's been far too long:
Happy St. Patrick's Day, whatever that means to you, and enjoy this video of the Muppets' rendition of "Danny Boy," one of my favorite stetches from The Muppet Show.
Thanks to BoingBoing for posting this earlier today.
I'm actually kinda sad today, because I usually make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day. I typically wear green (I still might do that...), I've hosted parties, I've gone out drinking with friends, I try to get everyone else excited about it - I've even been featured in a news article because I blogged about a party I was hosting in 2006. But this year, I'm just not feeling it. I have no plans to go out, nor did I have or attend any parties this weekend. Not that there were any parties I could go to anyway - everyone else I know has seemed to forget about St. Patrick's Day, too.
But you know what? 2008 has been a great year. So what if St. Patrick's Day is a bust? I'm going to kick back tonight, maybe with a drink (Baileys feels appropriate), and celebrate by enjoying a nice evening with Jared and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (cause, well, that's just inevitable). Cheers!
Can't you just get on that Google thing and find out?
One of the fun parts about my new job is that I get to go around to each division at the main library and go through a brief orientation. Yesterday was my day to learn about the children's division (known here as the Center for Discovery). I got a tour, talked with one of the managers about children's programming, and observed a baby laptime program. Now, as far as I can tell, "baby laptime" might as well be called "bounce your baby on your lap..time," because that's mainly what it consisted of. It's a great program - the babies seemed to love it, and it gave the parents/caregivers a chance to mingle. I sat in the back, and occasionally some of the babies either crawled over to me, or just stared at me. One in particular stared at me for quite some time, so I started to make funny faces, hoping he would laugh. Instead, he started to cry. Whoops! I guess that's why I'm not a children's librarian.
One of the not-so-fun parts about my job is dealing with people who insist that you can find what they need "in the computer." As if a computer is a magical encyclopedia that contains all of the world's knowledge, and "that Internet thing" surely will tell them exactly what they need to know, if only I would look in the right place. Sure, there's a lot you can find on the Internet... but not everything. If it's not there, it's not there. That's a difficult concept for some people to grasp, especially for those who are not familiar with computers or have never used the Internet. I have had angry people tap furiously on my monitor screen, exclaiming, "Just look in there! It will tell you!" I can do my best, folks, but I can't do magic.
If nothing else, my job will never, ever be boring. I'm in a great field. :)
Even the Saudis want overpriced coffee
I just read this story, courtesy of Pharyngula, a science blog I now read on a regular basis.
My question here is this: if the family area in Starbucks is the only place women can sit with men, why was she arrested? Wasn't she abiding the law? Putting aside the fact that I think religious laws (especially ones like this) are completely bogus and unfair, and forgetting that she is American and probably an easy target, I still don't understand why she was arrested for sitting with a man when she was sitting in the only place in the restaurant that women are allowed to sit with men. I read some of the comments on this story, and while most were pretty retarded, a few made a good point - if you are going to accept a job in a country with laws like these, you should know what you are getting yourself into. But I don't know this woman's situation, and I (of course) completely disagree with how she was/is being treated.
Even with all our problems, I'm very glad to be living in a country where I have the freedom to be a woman, and not be ashamed of it.
The good life
The holidays are over - well, they've been over for quite a while, but for some reason it feels like I just got mentally caught up. Does that make any sense? Probably not. In any case, even though I announced this on my other blog (and even though most of the people reading this have known for weeks), I have a new job! I am now officially a librarian - how about that? I've been claiming to be a librarian since I got my degree in May, but now I'm getting paid like one. That's very important.
Now that I am a librarian by job title, it is amazing just how many random and obscure questions I get asked on a daily basis. I love it.
So yeah, life is good. :)
To any new readers or commenters: Sorry this blog has been so lame recently. I'll try to remedy that, but I'm not making any promises.
To any old readers: See above.
Hmm. Not much else to say today. I'm looking forward to the weekend, and to a lot of fun things that should happen this year. I'm also really enjoying my new job and all of the challenges I've encountered so far.
What are you excited about this year?
About Who?
I have found that I'm pretty awful when it comes to describing myself. Some people just have a talent for it, and I am not one of those people. For instance, anytime I sign up for a new service and have to fill in an "About Me" section, I usually just groan and put it off. However, there are a few times when I think I've really nailed it.
My last.fm one is my favorite - I was up late and in a weird mood, so I just started listing things. This is what I came up with:
Things I love:
Music (obviously)
B movies
Daisies
Driving with the window down
Bodies of water
Chinese buffets
Road trips
Occasional blogging
Being crafty
Librarian-ing
Rollercoasters
French fries with salt and vinegar
Dancing (badly)
Singing (even worse)
Stickers
My Garfield pillow
I like that. A nice list of my interests, and nothing too deep or personal. I also hate when people ramble, so I kept it to one topic. Another one I like is my facebook one:
I am an uber-geek, a librarian, a procrastinator, and a wanna-be crafter. I love books and libraries and science and computers - and any combination of those things.
Short and to the point - you don't get much better than that. I don't like the one I wrote for Blogger, but since I refuse to write the same thing twice, I won't be changing it anytime soon.
With any luck, you've learned a great deal about me from this post.
Turkeygiving
Today marks my two year anniversary at my library, and I started thinking this morning about how excited I was two years ago when I found out I got the job. I was working at Target at the time, and I was so happy to be out of there before Thanksgiving! The past two years have really flown by - in some ways, I feel like I've been working here forever, but I also feel like I just started. Does that make sense? In any case, I love my job and the people I work with, and I hope that when I move up in the ranks (fingers crossed) I will enjoy my job just as much or perhaps even more.
What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Going home, visiting family, eating lots of turkey? Jared and I aren't having a very big Thanksgiving celebration, but we are cooking at the new house and I think it's going to be really nice.
PS - WTF Kindle? You were supposed to be so awesome, but you're full of DRM and hidden costs? I thought I knew you.
Lady in waiting
Here's another video about the writer's strike, this time from the writers of the Colbert Report:
I'm very interested to see how long this goes on.
In other news, I had an interview for a job I really, really want today, and I think it went pretty well. Now I just have to wait and see if they thought it went well. Patience is a virtue!
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