the vermin chronicles, continued
"Jennie, do you have a space he can work for the rest of the period?" asked Mrs. E?

"Wellll... The caterers are on their way, to set up for the staff lunch. How about here, behind my desk?"

"No, that's okay. It's just that we've got a big mouse running around our room. I don't want to stay in there if I don't have to."

"I wonder if it's our giant mouse. Maybe he moved over there."

"Do you have mice over here too?" asked Mrs. E, glancing around nervously.

"Yes," replied Jennie, "but I haven't seen the giant one in a few days, now."

"I think we'll find another room. Thanks, though!"
6/30/2001 01:22:24 PM  



therapy
A few hours with charming independent flick filmed in Detroit, headbutts from my ElliCat, and some serious sin on a bun, courtesy D., make the world at least tolerable again.

:-)
6/28/2001 10:58:16 AM  



oh, this is not, not happening
I, in my technician servitude, am receiving nowhere near a large enough salary to be dealing with parents who arrive on Field Day and start screaming in my face. One of the very many reasons I don't have the stomach or the patience to be a teacher. My first "parent encounter." It put me over the edge, and, I am ashamed to say, cried afterwards in the staff room. I CANNOT HANDLE THIS.

I can't seem to explain how it all happened, because every time I try to type it, I get all upset again.

Do I want to return next year? Should I? Or at least refrain from heading up the yearbook (the reason for the woman's vicious personally reaming tirade). Everyone says, "Don't take it personally. It happens all the time!" But I did take it personally - it was a personal attack! I'm sure tomorrow (or maybe in a couple of weeks) I'll fully realize that I'm strong enough to know better than to let incidents like that make me give up. But today, I'm reeling on very shaky ground.

In any case, three more days. Three. More. Days.
6/27/2001 10:20:08 AM  



alternatively, you could BITE ME
!!!!!

Twice, now, I've had inquisitive [adult] heads poke beneath the lid of my bird box, only to return bellowing quite viciously "WRING THEIR NECKS!"

Introduced European starlings, you see, are the scourge of the ornithologist's world. Having taken several large helpings of ecology in college, I know what they are capable of. They engage in nest parasitism, removing an egg of the host's brood, and laying one of their own in its place. Then their offspring may be raised by the host parent. They're also aggressive bullies who steal nesting sites newly created by other birds. They travel in noisy packs. On the upside, they grow up to have beautiful iridescent black plumage and engage in the most entertaining antics.

Of course, they're not the only species to employ these "evil" tactics. But, since they're not native, and have been extremely successful in North America, and aren't "cute" like robins or bluebirds, they're hated to the extreme.

So, I wasn't entirely thrilled myself at the idea of taking four of them in.

But what kind of a cruel, heartless JERK do you have to be to seriously support wringing the necks of any baby birds, for cripes sake?

"They're not even supposed to be here! They steal other birds nests and take over their territories!"

To which my reply: "Oh, you mean, kind of like humans do."

6/26/2001 05:53:10 PM  



more cross-country adventure
Friends of a friend are raising money for leukemia by embarking on a 10,000-mile "Grizzlies to Gators" bicycle tour, Alaska to Florida. They're keeping a detailed daily journal of their journey - check it out, and support them if you can!
6/26/2001 04:00:56 PM  



ve-gaaaassss
When I typed that, Balki from Perfect Strangers and his obsession with Wayne Newton popped into my head.

Ahh. Memories of bad 80's TV shows in which the characters have really bad hair. Gotta love 'em.

We're going to Las Vegas in September, yes we are, we are! Staying at the Luxor. Yay for fakey, overdone Egyptian motif! All in a pathetic attempt to keep me from thinking about 30. I'll be having far too much fun that weekend to obsess. Because I've never been anywhere remotely glitzy or exciting. Well, there was that two-hour trip to Atlantic City when we went to Delaware a couple of years ago, but that was a complete frenetic mess and doesn't count in the slightest.

This will also be my first time in the air. Gasp. I'm not really afraid. But then, I wasn't afraid of the teeny, innocuous-looking Blue Streak (my first, and probably last, real rollercoaster) before I rode it, either.

Been to Sin City?
6/25/2001 09:32:36 PM  



loooonnnnng overdue
PotW
6/23/2001 06:04:06 PM  



the vermin chronicles
"See the new shoes I got for my trip?" asked Crystal, waving her denim and rubber-clad feet from her perch on the circulation counter.

"They're cute!" replied Jennie. "Where did you get them?"

"Payless."

"I don't know why everyone trashes Payless. They have some really cute stuff there." Jennie didn't add that her mom couldn't afford to get shoes for the family anywhere else when she was a kid.

"Two weeks! I can't believe that New Orleans is only two weeks away!" exclaimed Crystal, not for the first time that day.

"You're making me sick, you - AAAAAH!" shrieked Jennie, pointing at the book cart in the corner. "I just saw a giant mouse, standing up and staring right at me!"

"Okay - I'm leaving!" said Crystal, rather nervously.

"I'm not afraid of mice, but that thing was big, and it was sitting RIGHT THERE. Didn't even run away until I yelled. It went behind the filing cabinet. I doubt it'll come - AAACKKK! There it was again!"

"Now I'm REALLY leaving."

to be continued...



6/22/2001 09:33:32 AM  



not-so-random thought
(all boys stop reading here)

I know we've all pondered this before, but... Why are UPS guys so typically yummy? It's not the dorky scout-ish uniform. And it's not a phenomenon restricted to the Midwest, as I found just now...

};-)>

(carry on, boys)
6/21/2001 01:51:34 PM  



newsbits
What's going on right now:

* The birds are now fluffy and kind of cute, pics this weekend
* I'm taking a Basic Bird Care class all this Sunday, so I can be a real Rehabilitator
* Only 7 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes left of this semester
* Darin's been at his new job (and getting up early!) for over a week
* We are planning a weekend trip to Santa Cruz
* We've decided to rent a house, and have been half-heartedly poking around the classifieds
* I've concocted my gimmick for the Blogathon: I have to expose myself to one brand-new thing I've never ever tried before - every hour. So far on the list are sardines, Nosferatu, fire-engine red lipstick, henna, hominy grits, persimmon, Diana Pico (which I put in D's stocking at Christmas as a gag)

6/20/2001 11:18:16 AM  



won't you please, won't you be, please won't you be my sponsor
Okay, so I can't read. I thought the Blogathon was at the end of this month, but it's at the end of July - when I'll be off for three weeks. And so able to stay up for twenty-four hours without worrying about anything as trivial as work getting in the way. Woohoo! Count me in.

My chosen charity (ironically enough) - Reading Is Fundamental. Sponsor me?
6/19/2001 02:52:58 PM  



the well-placed kudo
We have a daily news broadcast here at school every morning, produced entirely by students. The stories are often chosen, however, by staff.

There are many students who are desperately behind here. Two in particular, often in trouble and held back at least two years, are brilliant young artists. Their work was featured on the broadcast today.

Emphasize the positive. It just might make all the difference.
6/19/2001 09:03:24 AM  



twentysomethings
Twenty people send each other twenty things - sign up for notification of the next go-round here (link by and from Jessamyn)

6/18/2001 06:45:50 PM  



blogging for a cause
I'm supporting a Blogathon-er for a great charity (heaven knows I'm too big a wuss to blog for twenty-four hours straight!). Find your own blogger to sponsor here.
6/18/2001 05:23:24 PM  



fast forward friends
I have amassed, via email, a fairly large collection of friends and family who communicate solely through forwards. I know you know what I'm talking about: jokes, pictures, words of [sometimes questionable] wisdom. Don't get me wrong. I [usually] find most of this stuff pretty amusing/enlightening. Some of it I forward on to others who might appreciate it, though this happens less and less as more and more of the stuff is re-circulated, and virus epidemics have become more frequent.

But, hey - how about a short "Hi, how're you doing, we're doing this, blah, blah, blah" every once and awhile? Not that I'm the best at correspondence, but I usually do try to write something personal on at least a semi-annual basis! We're all busy, I know, but even a "form letter" sent out en masse would do.

I'll begin to think you don't like me anymore [sniff]
6/18/2001 02:16:41 PM  



retro viewing
Can you believe I'd never been to a drive-in before we came to Sacramento? So I'm just beginning to realize the benefits over traditional theatres:

* Screen set against midnight starry blue is cool
* You have complete EQ, volume control
* You can wear jammies and slippers (!!!)
* Sneaking in food is a snap. Have, for instance, a whole pizza or a bucket of the Colonel if you want to
* Bargain - $6.00/head for two first-run movies
* You can play GameBoy Scrabble, equipped with your new Worm Light, while waiting for the movie to begin, without looking like a total dork
* Ultra-hip retro fifties artwork everywhere you turn
* Family picnic atmosphere, with kids watching from sleeping bags on car tops and hoods and the ground
* You don't have to put up with the kicking of your seat, the obnoxious running commentary of your row-mates, tall people sitting directly in front of short you after the movie has already started, or crushed toes. The big screen without all the hassle!

We saw "Swordfish." It was entertaining enough. Didn't stay for "Angel Eyes."
6/17/2001 12:31:04 PM  



just between strangers
Okay. Now, really. What is up with women who feel compelled to sit in very inappropriately public places and trash their significant others via cell phone? I have witnessed this twice in the past couple of weeks.

Incident Number One: Tall, yuppie blonde sitting amongst the patio baubles at Pier One Imports. Gossiping explicitly with girlfriend about "wanting to date other people" and how he "didn't understand this" in none-too-hushed, catty tones. Why would I want to hear this dramafest? Nope, I don't know either. But she obviously didn't care about keeping her personal business personal.

Incident Number Two: Short, screechy redhead on one of the balconies overlooking our apartment pool. It had been some time since we'd been able to get a quiet moment at the pool, and, it being over ninety today, we wanted to take advantage. Until The Shrew decided to have a good, ear-shattering yell at someone named "Harry." I heard "f**k" at least a dozen times. Why, why, WHY? should we have to endure this kind of exchange, when there was a PERFECTLY GOOD APARTMENT mere steps away from her chair?

I personally hold the Springer show responsible for these kinds of tawdry episodes. He's made it "okay" to air dirty laundry on TV, so why not everywhere and anywhere else?
6/16/2001 06:43:38 PM  



re-reblogger
Reblogger has been moved to a new host. Apparently the old one, in a word - sucked. Totally unreliable. So my comments work again. Yay!!!
6/16/2001 02:20:25 PM  



$14,000,000 dreams
This morning when I got to the school, an "emergency meeting" was called. I reached the library to find a table of "champagne" (sparkling juice) and "glasses."

The school board decided, last night, to approve the funding for the renovations (4 to 1). Which, specifically for me, means: they break ground on my beautiful, spacious new library this August! Thirty-station computer lab, video production facility, giant storeroom, and (yay! yay! yay!) in-house restrooms.

Goodbye, mouse-eaten, temperature-uncontrollable, puny portable. Hello bright, airy, shiny Temple of Knowledge!!!
6/15/2001 08:48:08 AM  



new pollution
Oh-mah-GAWD. Lead me not into temptation [at work], for I have found...

JigZone.

I used to be a rabid puzzle fanatic. Puzz3D, Pandora's Box, plain old jigsaws. Non-PC puzzle pieces, nowadays, are all too easily nabbed and masticated by bad little kitties.
6/14/2001 05:45:29 PM  



[insert blank stare here]
Lately I've had trouble accessing my vocabulary files. I can be rambling on, entirely semi-intelligently, when all of a sudden *poof!* A word that I've been using my entire life isn't there. So I stand there with duh on my face. Today the word was "specialist." I'm sure it will happen again before the day is through. This happens to everyone, I know, but it's been happening to me with almost frightening regularity. And I'm not on any controlled substances. Or any that are uncontrolled, either. Maybe I should be. What herb is that you take for memory - ginseng?
6/13/2001 11:53:33 AM  



all birds, all the time
Just in case you're not yet entirely sick of me talking about birds...

Two more baby birds at the library today. Only one made it out. They were too young, had fallen too far. The ants had already begun to have their way with them (I know, ugh). The teacher who brought them to me found a wildlife rescue center, and I brought the remaining bird there after work. He didn't make it past the examining room table. We hadn't thought either bird would, but had to give it our best shot.

But I have a new "job." I ended up feeding babies for three hours this evening. These wonderful women run the center on donations alone, hundreds of birds every spring. Mundane as sparrows to elegant as pheasants. Not to mention the rescued ex-racer horse, chickens, bunnies, ducks, geese, and goats in the back field. And never enough volunteers. So I've got something to do for a couple hours on Saturdays.

The specialist told me that Hedwig was far past the need to be fed by hand, and needed some "tough love" to be taught to eat on his own. He's also a "flocking" bird and shouldn't be alone. So he stayed with them (I miss him already!), in exchange for four ug-leeee baby starlings. But they're so much easier to feed, with their giant gaping maws.

As I was loading up my car, the horse (whose name escapes me) cantered up and gave me a friendly nudge.

I just got home at nine. It was kind of fun.

6/12/2001 09:51:08 PM  



to go
Three more weeks until the end of this semester, and five more until my 2.5 week vacation. I'm on the verge of posting one of those countdown calendars here, just to remind myself that the time is finite.

I always make such lofty plans for myself before holidays. Learn more web tricks. Cook something new. Finish up the scrapbook/photo album I've been "working on" for three years. Walk a lot. But inevitably, I always end up in pajamas each day until at least early p.m., sprawled on the couch with a pile of books, coffee/tea, a pillow, "General Hospital", and "Little House on the Prairie." At least in the beginning. After a few days I get bored, but not enough to tackle the tasks I've set for myself. At this point, the apartment becomes miraculously clean, and the laundry no longer has even the chance to form a mini-pile.


6/12/2001 08:30:04 AM  



on wisconsin
Since I've been on this Milwaukee nostalgia kick lately, I guess I should mention one of my all-time favorite places in the whole world. The pioneer in three-dimensional diorama (and much interactive) museum design. The whole place seriously rocks. It does. As a kid (hell, who am I kidding - even later), I daydreamed of research expeditions with the MPM team. Even the time-worn exhibits still have their charm intact.
6/10/2001 10:08:04 PM  



back
Haven't been around much the past few days. D. has spent the week switching the webserver over to Linux. Much trial and error going on...

I am not glad that tomorrow is Monday. Part of my job is dealing with the new textbooks. Fine. But they've been arriving all week by the pallet. The Holts came in a Roadway semi: "I've got ninety-seven cartons at 3,200 pounds - where do you want 'em?"

So my arms are peppered with bruises and cardboard slices (a couple make it look like I've been trying to slit my wrists). I get home every night sore and exhausted. I have no upper arm strength, and I'm a wuss. This makes moving look like nothing...
6/10/2001 07:59:09 AM  



:-(
Pigwidgeon didn't make it.

I finally got him to eat this morning, and he was looking much perkier. My volunteer aide and I went to lunch, and I returned to find him stiff and grotesque at the bottom of his little nest box. I nearly cried.

I wish the kids that decided to play bird soccer with him felt a shred as badly as I do...
6/8/2001 07:36:24 PM  



for the birds
Our little Hedwig.

I've become the designated animal caretaker, apparently. Got a friend for Hedwig today, which one of the teachers found students kicking around the bus circle. And immediately brought to me. He seems fine so far, amazingly. He's tinier than Hedwig, so his name is - what else? - Pigwidgeon. I'm not sure if they're the same breed or not. They look similar. Plenty of cage space, so I suppose having two is okay. Maybe they'll even turn out to be good company for each other.

The three little kitties all went to very good homes today. My library cat idea was shot down. I guess that's for the best, what with the bird duo and all. Maple is at the vet overnight, where she'll be spayed in the morning.

Oy, again, I say.
6/6/2001 06:49:42 PM  



menagerie
Oy.

There are now four feral cats in my library storeroom. D. and I rented a cat trap from a local feed store, and set out to catch 'em all. A little tuna, a couple of hours... it was pure cake. Maple, the mother, to be spayed tomorrow, for free! at a local vet that spays ferals to help reduce the population (1,500 cats and dogs euthanized last year alone in Sacramento). Then returned to her sub-classroom home. Three adorable, filthy, feisty little dagger-clawed and needle-toothed kittens - an orange tabby, a grey tabby, and a calico - to be placed in good homes. Want one?

I'm shoring up my courage to ask to keep one in the library. Hundreds of others have done it...

Just call me the Crazy Library Animal Lady. All I need are a bun, brown oversensible loafers, and some specs-on-a-rope.
6/5/2001 11:25:09 PM  



that spells relief
Did you ever narrowly escape a much-worried-over, potentially nasty situation at work, and suddenly, the sun seems brighter, the sky bluer, and a massive weight was lifted from your chest?

And did your horoscope ever predict that, exactly, the day previous? Not that I believe in that sort of thing...
6/4/2001 09:32:01 AM  



some days
A quote:

"Rebecca?" he asked. "Is something the matter?"
"No," she said. "I'm just tired, I guess."
It occured to her that she led an absolutely motionless existence. There was nothing to look forward to in it. Nothing whatsoever.

I wish these lines hadn't struck me so hard, and that I didn't feel almost exactly this way, some days.
6/3/2001 09:46:13 PM  



eighties flashbacks (third in a series)

I attended sixth grade at Manitoba Elementary in Milwaukee. Back then, the school motto was "A rainbow of children." It was, truly. Students were bussed from all over the city, just to attend the special programs. I was sent there for the then-newish "gifted" program. There was even a whole wing dedicated to the training/education of severely disabled kids (and I mean severely). Many of us, through their daily struggles, learned a lot of compassion that year.

I had the best friends in sixth grade. Terri - the sharp-mouthed one. Lisa was the anachronistic "hippie," probably a lot like Phoebe today. I was the artsy geek. And Anita was the wiry, red-headed tomboy, often abandoning us for kickball with the boys. Denise taught us how to swear like sailors. I never had as much fun in school again after. We were inseparable - throughout the class camping trip, the endless group reports, recess, the trip by train to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. We all rallied together in the Principal's office (along with half the sixth grade) against the "mean lunch lady", who yelled at us when we didn't move quickly enough (she made me cry, once, even) and the kids with MS when they didn't eat enough for her. When they found out I was moving to Michigan at the end of the school year, they threw me a party.

The class had a pet guinea pig named Crackers. We took turns taking him home over long weekends. I was voted class VP to Lisa's President for a semester (but held the seat for only one term, because I didn't "say enough" during meetings). We often snuck into the neighboring Jackson Park when the recess supervisors weren't looking.

On our last day of school, a strange thing happened. Everyone realized that we were, for the most part, going our separate ways. And began to bawl uncontrollably. The teachers said they'd never seen anything like it. We promised a reunion someday, but... Sometimes I think about those people, and wonder where they are today. Still in Milwaukee, that beautiful little old lakeside European city of gracious old boulevards and blocks of row houses and massive parks and lush trees, of the Brewers and Johnsonville sausages and the yeasty brewery smell under the viaducts?. Or are they right around the corner?
6/2/2001 09:30:31 AM  



bringing up baby
Hedwig is a glutton. Which is better than I expected. I'm sure we won't be able to leave the house for more than an hour at a time for at least a couple of months. I've been feeling quite maternal towards the little guy (or girl - who can tell?).

This is much better parenting practice than those eggs they made us carry around in junior high.
6/1/2001 01:13:31 PM