Only ten minutes to write before I have to leave the apartment; today is the start of our trip to San Francisco!! Somehow, after reviewing my to-do/to-pack checklist for the tenth time, I've confirmed that I actually have an extra ten minutes to spare.

I've even managed to do some things ahead of schedule, like buy our Alcatraz tickets. And made lists of every zine-carrying, notably odd bookstore I could find in the three guidebooks I'm packing.

And so-- off to Kennedy Airport!!

Wishing everyone else a happy Memorial Day weekend!

I'm at home tonight, as my parents called off Sunday dinner this week in favor of seeing Mickey Dolenz sing at the Hoboken Arts Festival. I was kinda glad they decided to go out, since I was secretly longing to stay home tonight and catch up on Internet things.

In fact, I ended up spending most of the night reading. The book- Scott Douglas' "Quiet Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian"- is laugh out loud funny... at least, I think other librarians would think so. Another coworker and I were giggling over it last week when it was still in the cataloging room, so I had to take it home when I saw that after three days it was still on the new book shelf, un-checked-out.

Anyway, it's been a pretty good week in LibraryLand. ( Read more... )

Tags: conference library
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Brooklyn Girl Gonna Be My Bride" by Barton Carroll

The Thai Basil Chicken was surprisingly good-- and easy to make. Once again Bittman's How to Cook Everything has proved a very good cookbook.

Today was basically a lounge-around day for me. I did a little shopping on Etsy, a little reading, a little Sunday morning politico watching, and a lot of bumming around, complaining about our vile upstairs neighbors.

Actually, I have no problem with the girl who lives upstairs. It's her boyfriend (her "baby-daddy") who I loathe. As far as l can tell, he's around about 50% of the time, and about 50% of that time he's drunk off his rocker. Yells obscenities, screams at her and the babies, slams the door, locks himself out (and then rings our doorbell to get back in!) and basically makes a nuisance of himself. Last night he smashed a bunch of glass beer bottles on our front steps, and left them there for us to clean up this morning. The last time he left beer cans on our steps, he refused to pick them up, swearing that someone else, possibly me, left them there! Alex and I are both a little too old for the "drinking on the stoop" thing. Nevertheless, Alex cleaned up the glass, knowing that it would sit on the steps forever if he didn't.

Not to mention, he is using my washing machine on the sly. Despite the note that says "Please talk to me before using this machine." I wouldn't care, but the machine is old and doesn't do well with a few of its settings. Doesn't do well with hot water, either, or full loads. And I just know, if they break my machine, I'm never going to see a cent from their towards repair or replacement! Oh, how I wish I had my former upstairs neighbor back!!!!

I've finally done it-- reached the ultimate goal of coupon-clippers everywhere-- a totally free product! It happened last night, in Stop and Shop. I looked at my receipt and realized that I had paid nothing for my Rice-a-Roni. The usual price of 1.34 was marked down to one-dollar. With my fifty-cent coupon (doubled) the price came to $0.00. It was a very good night, indeed!

Unfortunately, I can only buy one box per visit at that rate.

I'm in full penny-pincher mode these days. Last night, Alex and I raided a local supermarket that's going out of business in hopes of getting a few good deals. Such are our Friday-night dates of late. Tonight, I'm going to attempt to stir-fry Thai Basil Chicken for us, in lieu of eating out or ordering in. All done in the name of saving for our upcoming vacation, which is just under a month away.

Looks like spring is finally here, and has arrived in full bloom! I took this photo on Saturday in Central Park, where Alex and I were doing a little easy walking alternating with bench-sitting, people-watching and busker-listening. An altogether pleasant afternoon!

To cap it off, I finished the night off with a really good book: Winter Rose, by Jennifer Donnelly. The book is actually a sort-of sequel to The Tea Rose, but I'm reading this one first and not having any trouble following along. The book was recommended to me by one of the ladies who participate in our library's afternoon book group. I don't always read books that library users recommend (if I did, I'd never get to the books that I've chosen for myself!) Even so, it's one of the great perks of working in a library; I've been introduced to so many books, authors, genres...even music and films because of recommendations from people who stop at my desk to chat for a moment or two.

One of the things that I really love about MPOW is that while it's serving an increasingly large community, it's still small enough that I have the ability to really get to know and talk to our users, particularly the "regulars." Whenever I'm having a rough day, I think of all the cool people, young and not-so-young, that I've met through my job. The one that brings in photos from the 1930s and 40s of him and his wife (both still together!) The one that told me yesterday which ice cream companies send coupons to anyone who calls their hotline. The amateur genealogists who tell me what methods work and don't work-- so that I can pass their findings onto other people who come to my desk searching for family members. Patrons who give me cooking tips- or recipes- or, sometimes, food itself! (I have one patron who leaves two Hershey kisses on my desk every time he stops in... and it always makes my day.) The ones who take their visiting relatives to the library for a tour-- and introduce them to me. The ones who just stop in and say hello, or talk for a few minutes about whatever happens to be on their mind that day, giving me something new to think about.

Damn, I sound like I'm in a librarian-recruitment ad! But it's all true, really.

Tags: library

What's on my nightstand this week?

1. Passionate Minds by David Bodanis. Subtitle says it all: "The great love affair of the Enlightenment, featuring the scientist Emilie du Chatelet, the poet Voltaire, sword fights, book burnings, assorted kings, seditious verse and the birth of the modern world." Awesomely fun to read biographical history, with a love story to boot!

2. The Joy of Beading by Anna Borrelli. Nicely illustrated paperback with over 50 projects. The projects are simple enough for casual beaders like myself and don't require much background knowledge. Most of the projects feature seed beads, with some larger beads as accents. So far, I've made a cross pendant and two bracelets using this book, and all came out fairly well. The book also has a section on French beaded flowers that I found much easier to understand than flower-making instructions in other books.

3. Life as a Daymaker by David Wagner. Wagner is the owner of Juut Salons, a Minnesota-based hair salon with a reputation for going the extra mile. Wagner's book is a slim, quick read about the importance of kindness- to ourselves, to our friends and family, to our coworkers and to strangers. Wagner bills Juut as a company of Daymakers, people who are actively trying to make your day. I liked this book because it provided a little nudging reminder that my job is about Daymaking, as well. It also gave a few nice ideas about making the day for people in your life outside of work. Wish I could get more library staff and other service-oriented workers to read this book.

4. Laughing without an Accent by Firoozeh Dumas. Got this as an ARC at PLA, and read most of it on the flight home. Dumas tells really really funny stories about growing up in pre-revolutionary Iran and moving to the US as a child with her family. I laughed out loud a lot while reading this book, but there were also parts that got me misty-eyed. My favorite part is her account of her first time visiting a public library in the US. Best line (paraphrased, as I brought the book to work to pass around): "Magic carpets do exist, and they are called library cards." I think the book will be released at the end of April. Absolutely recommend buying it!

I'm having a low-key weekend, after last week's Twin Cities spendfest. It's funny how easy it is to get me to buy anything with a silly-looking moose on it. Moose stuffed animals, moose socks, moose magnets-- I came home with all three, courtesy of the airport gift shop. I also bought such Minnesota delicacies as wild plum syrup, chokeberry syrup and key lime marmalade. I'll bet they don't even grow key limes in Minnesota.

Actually, most of my spending happened on Grand Avenue in St Paul and at the Nordstrom's Off the Rack store in Mall of America.

Over my four days of conferencing and intermittent free time, the Twin Cities taught me one very important lesson: Looking walkable on a map and actually being walkable are two very very different things. It took almost 45 minutes every day just to walk from my hotel to the conference center (which had looked to be about a mile apart when I booked it.) Turns out that the walk was almost three miles, due to blocked off streets, "sketchy, must-avoid streets" and impassable over and underpasses. Minneapolis is definitely a city for bike-riders (particularly since many bus routes don't run on Saturdays and Sundays.)

Even so, I kinda liked it. It had a very green, very progressive feel to it. I loved the light rail-- if only it went further up into the warehouse district! And the bus fares were very easy to figure out- one flat fare (raised slightly during rush hour) for all metro buses and rails, even those going between the cities. A buck-fifty for two and a half hours of travel anywhere in the city is damn cheap. All the transportation workers that I encountered were pretty pleasant and helpful, as well. One bus driver in St Paul even let me ride without paying after I handed him an expired card (I did find my valid card by the end of the ride, but he didn't even want to see it.)

Actually, almost everyone in the Twin Cities was uncommonly pleasant to strangers. Cab drivers, hotel staff, the owner of the small convenience store across from my hotel, the airport security, the woman working at Bead Monkey on Grand Avenue, who didn't so much as frown when I came to the check-out counter with a mish-mosh of beads not in their proper little ziplocks. The guys I talked to on Lake Street while waiting for the bus. The counter-servers at Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream shop, where every Minneapolis visitor should go-- it's right on the #6 bus route at Hennepin and Franklin. The girls at the Barnes and Noble's Starbucks on Nicollet Mall who were putting the finishing touches on the "latte of dreams" that they were giving the the customer in front of me. The dressing room attendant at the Nordstrom's clearance store talked to every customer about their picks, and followed it up with a sincere "Have an awesome day now!"

How can you dislike a city full of people like that?

Got back from Saratoga last night, and since I had originally planned to stay there until this afternoon, I decided to take today off anyway. Glad I did. It was sunny, if a bit cool, so Alex and I walked down to the mall, shopped and went out to lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon just lazing about at home. In a little while, I plan to make one nice chicken marsala dinner to compensate for all the dinners we won't be having together over the rest of the week. After doing an evening shift at work tomorrow, I'm going to be flying out to Minneapolis on Wednesday morning for the Public Library Association conference.

I just looked at the weather for the area, and while it looks like I'm lucky enough to be flying in on a clear day, things go rapidly downhill from there. Wednesday night- snow; Thursday- snow; Friday- snow; Saturday...actually, no snow on Saturday. Sunday- rain and snow. I wouldn't mind seeing a little dusting while I'm out there, but I'm really hoping that it doesn't complicated my traveling. I hate flying in bad weather. Doesn't everyone?

On the good side, I've found lots of Scandinavian bakeries and other shopping delights to check out while I'm not in meetings. Trying to figure out whether I'll have a big enough window of time at any point to get out to Mall of America. Taking the new light rail out there looks really cool.

Spending Easter weekend in Saratoga Springs, with Alex, my mother, my grandmother, my aunt and uncle. We drove up here on Friday afternoon, and have had a nice, relaxing couple of days. Yesterday, we drove out to Albany. It was the first time Alex or I had ever been there, and we had a pleasant afternoon walking around the old streets near the state buildings. Last night we had a huge dinner at the Stadium Cafe in town; I stuffed myself on buffalo chicken wings and prime rib. Afterwards, we dyed our eggs.

They didn't come out very good.

That's an understatement. They are the ugliest batch of eggs I ever saw. My aunt's hairdresser had advised her to use brown eggs. Sounded crazy, but we figured that someone who dyed for a living might have some insight, so we tried it. He said the eggs would be "very richly colored." Very very dark is what they are! They look like the kind of Easter eggs the Addams Family would do-- midnight blues, seaweed greens and blood orange.

Oh, well. At least there weren't any children around to be disappointed. Just six grown-ups with egg dippers.

Easter dinner promises to be better: Smoked Ham, roasted lamb, carrots, asparagus, roasted potatoes, salami, pepperoni, german teawurst, pie, cookies and chocolate mouse cake. I just checked on the meats, and all seems to be going according to plan. YUM!

Today was a good day for one reason-- I paid off my Discover card! I got the card in 2002, made one GIGANTIC purchase, and have been paying it off ever since. I don't regret the purchase-- it was the American Express travelers checks that funded my first trip to Europe-- but I am very very glad to say goodbye to that debt. I've been watching the balance go down over the last couple years (since I escaped minimum payment limbo,) but it was such a thrill to look at the balance this afternoon, knowing I could pay the whole darn thing. Pay it and never send another penny's interest in that direction.

The rest of the day was just a mellow, average, pleasant day. Spent the morning dawdling at home, reading Four Queens by Nancy Gladstone. Fascinating as the four sisters of Provence are, I am really enjoying the cameo appearances from other famous and infamous characters of their era. Simon and Eleanor de Montfort, in particular. I loved reading the fictionalized version of de Montfort's life in Sharon Kay Penman's novels, but the real Simon is just as entertaining. He is absolutely the brother-in-law from hell for poor King Henry III. The classic moment in Gladstone's book is when Henry takes Simon to task at a state event for seducing his sister (who had taken a vow of chastity,) anticipating the wedding, forcing Henry to allow them to have a very very rushed ceremony, and then sticking Henry with the exorbitant fees the pope demanded to release the now-pregnant Eleanor de Montfort from her chastity vows. To say nothing of the little civil war de Montfort is going to stir up. And yet, he's so darned likeable- faithful to his wife, close to his children, honorable, ambitious, daring and heroic.

One of the things I really love about reading history (and historical fiction) is that you run across the same people over and over, but view them through different lenses. Gladstone paints King John of Magna Carta fame (and Isabella of Angouleme) as truly vile people-- other modern accounts are far more sympathetic. I find myself wanting to call up the author and defend John Lackland ("You know, Ms. Gladstone, he had a really rotten childhood. His parents took turns hating him. And he was misunderstood. And he lived in the shadow of the insufferable Richard, who hardly even bothered to stop in England between Crusades, got himself locked up for years, cost a king's ransom to free, completely neglected his wife, died without issue, and still managed to be his mother's favorite.") I happen to like John, even if he did lose half the kingdom and hang small children. Such were the times.

Anyway, Gladstone's book is a fun read, with lots of accurate history behind it. It gets my book of the week recommendation.