motherhood?
There are few trees at our school, but lots of birds. Lately, lots of baby birds falling out of lots of nests. The kids haven't been exactly merciful. In fact, one was tortured with a piece of glass by two students today until it died. Most of us were sickened and outraged.

The students got nothing but what amounted to a paperwork slap on the wrist.

Later, some more well-meaning students found another baby. I walked into the situation, unaware. Three adults with a solid science education, and we weren't sure what to do. Songbird fledglings will not be rejected by parents because they've been touched by human hands (a common myth), but... after what had happened earlier, was it okay to leave a baby exposed? And to the four hungry feral cats living just yards away?

I said, "Well, I would take it if I didn't have three cats." Still, somehow, five minutes later, I'd been talked into adopting this pink, prickly, ugly/adorable tiny thing.

Its name is Hedwig. It's living in a box in our bedroom, away from curious (jealous?) little cat claws.
5/31/2001 09:25:44 PM  



bliss
Yesterday, I started "Back When We Were Grownups" by my all-time favorite Pulitzer-winning author, Anne Tyler.

Today I'll finish it. I can't say it's been one of my favorites, so far. It seems she's stuck in rather a rut, and all her main characters are becoming almost carbon copies of each other. Middle-aged women, determined but dissatisfied. Still enjoyable, just that nagging sense of deja vu.

Oh, if only there were a way that I could be paid to just read all day. Only stuff that I like, of course. Without going back to college for another degree.

Tomorrow, it's back to the grind for me. This mini-vacation was far too fleeting. Only one month left of this school year. Then I can go over to Charter for a couple of weeks, and work in complete peace on a vacant campus. Ahhhh. The perfect library - all books, no people ;-)
5/30/2001 11:40:37 AM  



transient
So, we are contemplating another move in August. To a shadier, cooler place, with willow trees dangling into the tranquil green waters of a network of canals. Reminiscent of our last place. Making my commute a thousand times more tolerable (especially with triple-digit temps and no AC). Placing us within spitting distance of the city. And interstates (now, we have to drive five miles thru city traffic to even begin to get anywhere).

But. I still feel so weary and pukish thinking about our last fiasco a year ago. I know it won't be that nightmarish this time, of course. But, ugh. Giving up my two precious, healing, non-preteen weeks of vacation to pack, and not go home like I'd originally planned, when I'm so on-and-off homesick?

Or, I could stop being such a whiny baby. Especially considering it's not just my decision.

I've moved a total of twenty-six times in my life. I counted. Into apartments. Out of apartments. Into the dorms. Out of the dorms. Across states. And back again.

I throw away a lot of stuff.
5/29/2001 10:40:46 AM  



empty calories
I can usually avoid this kind of stuff, but, every now and then... well. What would life be like without a little junk food? My all-time super-bad favorites:

* Zingers/Ding Dongs/Cupcakes. Only about once a year, now, since I lost my metabolism and started reading food labels - gack
* Pocky. Pocky, Pocky, Pocky...
* Dinner mints (like D. says, "the grandma kind")
* Chocolate pretzel twists
* Sugar wafers
* Drumsticks
* Salt and vinegar chips
* Root beer

5/27/2001 11:54:24 PM  



reading in sin?
Watched "Fahrenheit 451" on SciFi this morning. Based on the Ray Bradbury book, in the same vein as "1984" and "Brave New World." Set in a world where reading is outlawed. "Firemen" don't put out fires - their job is to char all those nasty, illegal tomes to a crisp (and they'll like it, by Jeeves!). I haven't read the book, but I'm sure it has to be better than this mediocre flick...

Are you a book abuser? Apparently I am. No news there!
5/26/2001 01:28:31 PM  



almost as if
... in answer to yesterday's post, I was given this (see here, too) today.

[ s n i f f ]

:-)
5/25/2001 03:47:54 PM  



breaking point
Almost there, at the end of my rope. But soon - five days off. The long Memorial Day weekend, and then two extra vacation days. To do nothing. Yes, nothing. Aside from sunning poolside and maybe taking a trip to Blockbuster. Realized I needed a little more downtime when I found myself getting snappish with the good kids a couple of weeks ago.

There are days I wonder if I'm where I should be...
5/24/2001 02:10:09 PM  



crap
5/23/2001 10:12:08 PM  



so worth it
I had forgotten that today was a minimum day, because of parent-teacher conferences this afternoon. So keeping the library open was pointless, and, after me exhausting myself nearly unaided for twelve hours last friday, leaving early completely justified. So I did. Leave, that is. And saw "Bridget Jones" at the Regal.

If I can swing it, I should see good chick flicks weekday matinees more often. The service rocks. The theatres are empty (and clean!): just me and a handful of other very quiet people. And I didn't have to fight my way into the restroom afterwards.

Even made it out of town a half-hour earlier than normal. Which, oddly enough, saw me driving in traffic worse than ever.
5/23/2001 04:51:59 PM  



hit list
Here were the top ten most-checked-out books this year in my library:

1. Draw! Medieval Fantasies

2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#3)

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4)

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#2)

5. Draw 50 Animals

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (#1)

7. Draw 50 Cars, Trucks, and Motor-Cycles

8. Stuart Little

9. Little Town on the Prairie

10. Harriet, the Spy

The Harry Potter books were a big surprise... not. Two classics made recently into movies - again, not surprising. A "Little House" book? Yay!

I guess I need to order more art books. We have a wonderfully creative group, but no art classes :-(
5/23/2001 10:33:18 AM  



please stand by
I don't know what's happened to BlogVoices, but it's been down for two days now. I think it's hosted by Pyra, and they've been having some technical difficulties with BlogSpot, so maybe it's the same problem.
5/23/2001 09:35:07 AM  



acceleration?
So I'm implementing this new-ish, ultra-popular program in the library, called Accelerated Reader. You may have heard of it. If not, here's the skinny: each title (the majority fiction) has been assigned "reading levels" and "points." Each student is tested, and the level at which they read is determined (ideally, a sixth grader should be reading above 6.0). To build their reading skills, they should choose materials at or above their own reading level. The student earns the predetermined number of points when they read an appropriate book. Points, as far as I've been able to tell, are based solely on the number of pages in the book.

Theoretically, the whole thing is supposed to be a reading motivator and guide.

I'm not entirely sold on the idea. Sure, it gets them to read. But through a completely artificial, almost monetary system. Won't it erode the magic of finding that perfect book? The point system bothers me. I mean, "Jurassic Park" is bigger than "Where the Red Fern Grows," but, let's face it - one is bound to make a much greater emotional impact on the reader than the other. I envision kids searching for books based only on level and points, and not what grabs them, or what's truly meaningful to them. Creating hordes of drooling zombie readers.

Or will this system, by just exposing more students to books, build more natural readers? Will the end justify the means?

Tune in next year and find out, I guess...
5/22/2001 03:43:59 PM  



x-style and meanwhile
While I think that it's refreshing for a season to end on an upbeat note (it was sweet), I wonder at the wisdom of that particular ending when Duchovny's not going to be around next season, aside from "the occasional cameo." How's that gonna work?

[sigh] At least there's still the solid promise of another movie.

Cripes. I'm starting to sound like one of those delusional fans with no life outside of television. Like that episode of "Friends," when Joey is still "Dr. Drake Ramore" on "Days," and Brooke Shields plays a psycho who thinks he's really the Doctor...
oops. There I go again. Gotta work on getting that life.

Will you see "Evolution?" I like Moore and Duchovny (even though I don't think he's suited well to comedy) well enough to sit through it, I think. But, right now my main project is forcing myself to go see "Bridget Jones."

Solo.

As in, by myself. You wouldn't think it would be that difficult for someone so independent, but... there it is. Why? Dunno. Maybe it's just getting past the initial stigma-induced terror. I'm just going to have to get over it, because I really want to see this movie on the big screen. Friday, when I get off early. No more excuses. Seriously.
5/21/2001 02:34:55 PM  



PpG whiz
When I was at Michael's this morning, picking up last-minute items for the dance, I spotted Powerpuff baking cups I just had to have. In my defense, it wasn't an entirely frivolous purchase, because I did run out of regular ones last night when I made big cupcakes with the leftover mini-cupcake batter.

My compleat list of Powerpuff stuff (in no particular order):

* Blue, green, pink pencils
* Set of bean dolls from Avon
* Rubber keychain, from D.
* Talking Mojo Jojo, with removable brain cap and cape, and magical Anubis head
* Tiny window clings for my car
* Mousepad with changeable Colorforms-type scenes
* The #1 comic book
* Baby tee, too small because combination evil dryer shrinkage/unfortunate torso expansion :-(
* Stickers
* mp3!
* Tiny hardcover notebook for my purse

Not that I'm a fan, or anything...

Bubbles is my favorite - who's yours?

5/18/2001 09:53:40 PM  



after midnight
The person who keeps calling us at 3:30 am every day without leaving a message should really stop. Because you don't want me to get fed up enough to pick up the phone. I'm not nice when jerked out of a dead sleep...
5/18/2001 09:31:47 AM  



sugar low
Ugh... I never want to see another cupcake again. I just spent the last four hours baking a gross of mini cupcakes for my dance tomorrow evening. D. helped me frost (thank you, thank you). They're cute - tiny chocolate cakes in gold foil with red/yellow/green (our theme is "Spring Fiesta," hence the previously-mentioned piñatas) icing and an M&M in the middle. Very festive. But I'm beat. No... more... sugar. E-ever.
5/17/2001 10:11:04 PM  



compatibility
Some things D. and I have in common:

* The same sick (sometimes, admittedly, even verging on unmerciful) sense of humor
* Easily overwhelmed/frustrated by people
* Kitty love (most of the time)
* Do not, not, not want a wedding
* Both tend to be a bit physically lazy, but not so much that we are willing to compete for the closest parking spot
* Still a little homesick, at times
* Can identify with Dilbert
* Completely incapable of being away from the computer for more than a few hours at a time (albeit to varying degrees, me being the less dependent)
* Bad childhood experiences
* Despise smokers
* Tendency to shy away from organized religion
* Same outlook on housekeeping - generally clean (especially the "public" rooms), but not anal
* Were geeks in school
* Dog love (even though our living situations haven't allowed us to realize it yet)
* Miss Hal Sparks on Talk Soup, think Aisha Tyler is passable
* Love Oreo McFlurries
* Need for affection - if you secretly watched us at home, you'd probably want to puke half the time
* Not necessarily brilliant conversationalists

Not in common:

* He doesn't read fiction, and I'm a whore for it. I can't stand reading techie stuff, but he eats it like candy
* Foods - I love to discover new things, while he'd rather stick to the standards (we eat a lot of dinners dichotomously)
* He loves roller coasters, and me... they literally make me want to cry and puke and scream and pass out all at the same time
* I'm a coffee/tea addict, but he doesn't touch the stuff
* Anger at work - I internalize (badly), he externalizes
* I have about 200 mp3s, him about, what? 800 now
* Me: pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, mustard. Him: cheese, lettuce, ketchup
* Me: mushrooms, tomatoes, olives. Him: pepperoni, sausage, olives
* He has twin brothers and two half-sisters, I have one sister
* He has strong eastern European roots, mine are a hodgepodge of watered-down western European/Native American
* Me, Yooper, him - native Troll :-)

5/17/2001 11:58:47 AM  



fan-dumb
Last night, in the parking lot at Raley's, we spotted a "FX MLDR" vanity plate with a silver "Truth is Out There" frame.

That person will be very, VERY upset by some of the news here...

No more "Lone Gunmen," either? And I was getting kind of attached, in a weird, Friday-nite kind of way. What will happen to Yves and the boys? Now we'll never know.
5/16/2001 07:42:47 PM  



and on a related note...
Not-so-fun-fact: the janitors in our district make much more than us lowly library techs. Which just goes to show how much libraries are valued here...
5/15/2001 07:04:18 PM  



coincidentally...
My horoscope for today:

Health issues could cause stress today. Don't let nervous tension create problems or sap your energy. You may need to travel or promote your projects at a distance. If you're not up to the demands of the moment, take some time to be alone. Restore your vitality and perspective by laughing at the situation. Change is inevitable. Don't stand still while the old forms tumble down around you. Make room for the new.
5/15/2001 01:55:02 PM  



a mood
I have things I want to say today, but few of them are nice, and I just don't have the patience to write anything meaningful, anyhow. The day started poorly as soon as I got up, and spiralled downwards from there. Kids are being impossibly rude, sugar-highed, and just plain horrid. I feel like a dead, bloated cow, and I'm on the verge of strangling one of them. My patience is nearly sapped, and, for once, I'm truly glad I have a library committee meeting at the end of the day so I can spend it in the company of rational, relatively kind adults instead of playing Library Police Officer Bitch after school here.

It's just one of those days.
5/15/2001 12:20:47 PM  



ayyyyyyyy!
Just for the record. "Happy Days" offered a mostly inaccurate portrayal of Milwaukee/Wisconsin. The characters never went deer hunting. Or stepped foot in an Oktoberfest. In fact, I'm pretty sure they never touched a bratwurst. Though there was a lot of bowling.

Oh, and people there sure don't have Laverne's New Yawk accent!

"That 70's Show," while heaps funnier, could also be located pretty much anywhere in the US. The characters do have a healthy appreciation of beer (even though they end up driving all the way to Canada to get it, instead of getting someone to buy them some good old hometown Miller or Pabst or Schlitz).

Should I even stoop to mention that horrible Patrick Duffy/Suzanne Somers early nineties fluff, "Step by Step?" Looked like they were living in Malibu to me.

5/14/2001 06:10:22 PM  



testing
We're back to good - woo-hoo!
5/14/2001 06:12:33 AM  



won't you be my neigh-bor?
If there is anyone out there who lives in the Sacto area and has always wanted to learn to ride a horse, but needs someone to look stupid with, let me know. That is, if you can forgive the horrible pun. Every day I see horses, horses, horses, and lately, the idea of riding the dusty trails has become more appealing.
5/12/2001 08:05:38 AM  



in a world of bad ideas...
...mine had to be one of the worst. I sent ten kids home to their poor mothers covered in flour paste. The art room is officially trashed. I can still hear the shrill screams of the girls when the boys threatened to flick paste balls at them. One bright child decided it would be so much easier to pour the paste over the balloon than carefully cover each newspaper strip, leaving pasty pools on the table and floor. Mr. SmartMouth, as always, engaged in running commentary the entire hour.

Oh, if none of the piñatas turn out, someone just be merciful and kill me.
5/10/2001 06:01:57 PM  



more fine 'tooning
Oh, will I never tire of these fun, funky little cartoon image builders? Not anytime soon. Especially not when I read someone who knows where new ones live.
5/9/2001 06:10:18 PM  



atlas shorn
Another three inches gone this weekend. Which, if you've been keeping up, makes half a foot cut in the last few weeks. My hair now falls to just below my shoulders when dry. Because with all that weight gone, it actually curls like it's supposed to. And looks ten times healthier. I feel so much lighter! I don't know why I let it get so long in the first place. Laziness, I guess. It was really starting to get straight and hag-ish, and such a pain to maintain. And dry, even in the Sacramento Desert.

Not to worry - you won't catch me looking like this again. My mom never let me grow out my hair when I was a kid - not until junior high. She always took me to those old-lady neighborhood salons, where the women exclaimed from beneath their old-fashioned dryers "What I wouldn't give to have that curly hair!!!" Of course, I hated it then. I was teased incessantly on the playground. "Look - it's a boy in a dress!" Kids are cruel, but parents can be unwittingly more so. One of my poor students has a mullet down to his butt, which earns him no end of teasing. He laughs it off every time, but you can see the small hurt in his eyes. "I want to get it cut, but my mom won't let me!" I can truly identify with this child.

I'm eternally grateful now. Just wash, condition like mad, 'n go. I'll never have to get a perm. Not that I'd probably be bothered with it if my hair were straight, anyhow. How do people sit through those things? Just being in the same mall with a salon during a perm makes me ill.
5/9/2001 09:24:19 AM  



can't go home again
I miss my grandparent's house in Escanaba. We spent our vacations there when I was little. My mother and sister and I lived there when I was in junior high and high school.

It doesn't belong to my grandma anymore. She sold it a couple of years ago. Now she lives here, and is ten times happier, surrounded, for the first time in her life, by friends and trips and activity. The move has added at least ten years to her life.

It was by no means a perfect house. A hodgepodge of rooms, put together piece by piece since the late 1800's. The wiring was dangerous. The plumbing was unreliable. The second story scorched in the summer, and froze in the winter. There was an ever-deepening sinkhole in the back yard, the site of an ancient, rotting septic tank.

At one time, there was a giant oak growing in the front yard. We would sit in its shade, playing among the roots, collecting the acorns. The neighbor's cat frequently lodged her stubborn self in the upper branches, refusing to come down for hours.

The big upstairs bedroom, which was mine for a little while, had ancient pink wallpaper embossed with tiny gold and white flowers. The furniture was solid mahogany - all antique. The roof sloped downward on either side of the room, halfway to the floor. Three giant windows spanned the south wall, the sheer curtains blowing in a Lake Michigan breeze.

The basement was scary at night. If you removed one of the wall panels, you could see a giant chunk of petrified wood. The foundation was solid, and never once leaked. It was a cool retreat in the summer, and the place to hang wet bathing suits after a dip in the Lake, which was only a few blocks away and a second home. It held antique Christmas tree ornaments, the big old picnic basket with melmac dishes from the fifties, the ancient refrigerator which held extra potatoes and holiday feast leftovers that wouldn't fit in the kitchen fridge. There was a low-ceilinged, creepy room which served as storage for canned food and mason jars of peaches, beans, corn from the farm in Bark River.

The garage was filled with my grandpa. His old records, woodworking projects, toolbench. It smelled oily and rusty and woody. Old metal signs, bushel baskets, and furniture populated the rafters. The thought of how sterile it must be now pains me the most.

For many years, our neighbors across the alley kept a tiny store. Before we hit the road back to Milwaukee (such a torturously long five hours!), they would equip us with small bags of Tootsie Rolls and Smarties and Pixy Stix. The new owners closed the store in the mid-eighties. There were still four other neighborhood stores within a six-block radius, but they just weren't the same.

I didn't get to say goodbye to the house, which is probably for the best. I never had to see it empty, stripped of the things that had been there since I was born. I'll always be able to remember it intact.
5/8/2001 01:00:31 PM  



weekend
What we did:

* I slept for thirteen hours on Friday night. I knew I was tired, but not downright exhausted. Even just a few weeks ago, it was rare that I could sleep over six hours at a time.
* Saw The Mummy Returns. Save your eight bucks, avoid the stupidly long lines, and wait for the DVD. Seriously. A pale, pale copy of the original, which I loved.
* Gave the cats a fleabath. Apparently they picked up the nasty parasites on their little post-alarm forays last weekend. We were angry and disgusted. Luckily D. caught it early. They're wearing stripes of pesticide drops on their backsides now. I pray, pray that it's working... Must vacuum every day.
* Yesterday, we drove to Auburn, played tourist (pics soon), and had a late Cinco de Mayo celebration. I had the best Del Mar Chimis, with shrimp and lobster and mushrooms. Mmmm. Still don't feel like eating much today.

5/7/2001 02:00:36 PM  



bad girl
Playing hooky today. I'm sooooo bad. Just couldn't will my body out of bed this morning, no matter how I pleaded/commanded.

I think I need a small vacation. Badly.
5/7/2001 10:54:06 AM  



pushing the limits...
...of your tolerance for photos of the California Capitol, I'm sure. I promise, these were the last of them.
5/6/2001 08:08:39 PM  



nineteen seventy what? (second in a series)



I've become obsessed with retro lately. I've been re-visiting Beverly Cleary and eyeing old pyrex kitschy kitchenware on eBay. These things were comforting. They were already aged and comfortable by the time I came around and got to them. I remember the wonderful, solid refrigerator containers that held all sorts of yummies at my grandma's house.
5/6/2001 12:34:24 PM  



breather
Finally, the weekend. It's been some week. Book Fair Monday thru Thursday, ending with Open House Thursday evening. The Open House was, for once, unquestionably a success. Huge turnout. But tiring: Thursday was a 13-hour day. And today I spent packing the Fair up. Fridays are my only remaining six-hour days, but after work today, tired and grungy, I still had to meet with the director of the Charter School to discuss plans for July. Almost as soon as I got home, I was out cold.

My favorite quote from the Open House (student to Dad): "And this is the Library, where we get on the Internet."

:-/

No end to the excitement in sight, however. In two weeks, the yearbook will be hosting a Fiesta Dance. I have to contact potential donors and parents. Fill out all the bureaucratic permit paperwork. We're making our own piñatas (twelve sixth-graders and flour paste. What was I thinking???).
5/4/2001 11:21:30 PM  



run in fear!
I got a free book for the library today. Apparently propaganda for the California Prune Growers Association. Or something along those fibrous lines. After seeing page 23, I'm sure as hell never going to eat a prune in my lifetime. Check it out. And dig that groovy tune.
5/3/2001 09:50:42 PM  



simplicity
I found myself in a rare lull at my spring Scholastic Book Fair today, so I was finally able to browse at leisure. I sat down with The Children's Step-by-Step Cookbook, and was entranced. Beautiful full-color photos of the entire process for each recipe. I [more or less] know how to cook, but the fresh, simple recipes and sheer clarity inspired me in enough to buy the book, run to the grocery after work, and whip up the Potato Bake. It's still in the oven. We'll see how it turns out.

I've often found that if you want to pick up the bare bones of a skill in the minimum amount of time and with the least fuss, you should find a good children's book.

Do you remember school book fairs? We used to get so excited about them. Nowadays, they sell more PC games and fad toys (mini scooters) than anything else. Books, it seems, are rapidly becoming passé.

In sixth grade, I picked up a copy of 1984. My teacher commented "Isn't that a little advanced for you?" I was old enough to be insulted. Especially since my teacher should have known that I'd tested at the twelfth-grade level in reading. I bought it anyways. Still have it, actually.
5/2/2001 07:21:59 PM  



well run dry
In the tarmac of the west parking lot at our school, there was a tiny hole, from which a tiny bit of water continuously gurgled. For months, anyone that parked there had to carefully pick their way around the resulting shallow, slimy pools.

There were, however, those who found this standing water not the least inconvenient. Every day after school, I'd find a handful of sandpipers enjoying the pools. They'd titter and speed away on their skinny grey legs at the least hint of human approach. Last week, I was fortunate enough to see two baby chicks - fluffy balls of brown and grey and white fur on tiny stilts.

Men have finally appeared to fix the incongruous spring. Today I spotted one bewildered sandpiper, anxiously darting around the last of the rapidly retreating damp spot.
5/1/2001 05:39:17 PM