shhh!!!
What a noisy day.

When I walked into the room this morning, I was greeted by a sound not unlike "CHHTTHHCHHHTHHHHHHHCCHHTTHHH." Say it fast, one hundred times loud. Turns out the motor in my clock is dying an excruciating death. And it's wired directly into the wall (for the sake of synchronization with the rest of the school - to which I yell "HA!"). Even better, it doesn't sport an "off" button. After about two hours, I considered turning it off with my shoe. The custodian finally came to take a look at it, and pulled a couple of wires out to shut it up. Much better.

Of course now, I've got kids asking "What time is it???" every three minutes.

Through my door window, I can watch a giant hole in progress via bulldozer. They're constructing a little covered cafeteria extension/amphitheater in the quad. And lucky me - only a few yards away from my desk! More lovely grind-y sounds! And every now and then, my chair goes for a tiny ride across the floor when the shovel comes down hard. Whee!
1/31/2002 02:22:50 PM  



about pegged
I'm "vaguely dotty."

;-)
1/30/2002 11:30:02 PM  



real cutup artist
Calvin Nicholls, a Canadian paper artist, impresses me every time I pick up one of my Follett catalogs. I'm also lucky enough to have a nice rep who brings me nice posters regularly. Smashing.
1/30/2002 03:23:03 PM  



hands shaking! must keep them busy!!!
Don't want to do another scarf, not ready for a sweater, need to pick up a new skill, want to make something I'll use (even if just around the house). I present: my next project! Something in blue, I think. Blue cotton.
1/30/2002 02:57:13 PM  



resolve... quickly... melting
They've gone and put Mrs. Fields milk chocolate chip cookies in our vending machine.

My only solace is that they probably won't last long.

I didn't realize the company was that young.
1/30/2002 11:29:40 AM  



whole shebang
The rest of the knitting project in the visiblog.
1/29/2002 09:30:31 PM  



fresh
Have you seen Nigella Bites yet? I saw it the first time this weekend. Fresh, smart, kind of sexy food fun. She's mesmerizing, almost. And not in the typical cooking show put-you-to-sleep way. All without saying "BAM!" once. Me likey.
1/29/2002 10:22:42 AM  



the sky is falling
It snowed this morning for about fifteen minutes, in little slushy pellets. The kids ran outside, half of them shouting "oooh! Snow Day tomorrow!" Pathetically, if it had kept up for another hour, they may well have sent everyone home.

"Miss P., don't you want to see the snow?"

"Um... no, thanks. You go ahead."

No. I still don't miss snow.

It was just cold enough to justify wearing my scarf (the only silver lining to sub-freezing temperatures). Which, yes, does have crusty ends after the Fray-Check application. But at least it's wearable, and not losing chunks of red fluff every time I move.

1/28/2002 12:26:39 PM  



that'll learn ya
"The woman inserts the penis-mutilating tampon just as she would any other. If vaginal penetration happens while the tampon is in place, the point of the penis presses against the section of the tampon containing a spring blade, and a portion of the top of the penis is summarily sliced off."

Ouch.

More shocking than the device itself is the impetus for it - the fact that rape is so becoming so common, "many South African women already habitually carry antiretroviral medication with them to prevent HIV-transfer in case of a rape."

via FeistyCat.
1/28/2002 06:38:32 AM  



war of the words
Remembering that Merriam-Webster Online has audio pronunciations, I went straight there to confirm my pronunciation of a word when it was disputed. Of course, being the immature brats we really are, this only served to launch our inner fourth-graders. And so ensued Audio Dictionary Bad Word War. All the words that you snickered over with your friends as ten-year-olds - they're in there.

You know you're dying to go try it now.

Then Darin pulled out the big guns. Another compelling reason to upgrade myself to XP. Oooh.
1/27/2002 06:01:48 PM  



what the...
Creeeepy.
1/26/2002 12:22:21 PM  



dahhrr!
Exactly what flavor of stupid are you when you've lived in the same apartment for nearly two years, and it takes you that long to realize that the shelves in your kitchen cupboards are adjustable? Fully, easily, wonderfully adjustable? To accommodate things like your new Martha Stewart stockpot?
1/26/2002 10:10:31 AM  



teevee clones don't always work out
Did anyone else think "oh, cool, an 80's show!"

And then you watched it. And couldn't understand how you made it through to the end?

Unfunny drivel. Lackluster casting. I'd had high hopes, since I'm kind of a 70's Show fan.
1/25/2002 11:52:11 AM  



olfactoids
for the friday five

1. What cologne or perfume do you wear? Well, I'm allergic to ... everything. But I do like mild body sprays, especially ocean-y ones.

2. What cologne or perfume do you like best on the opposite sex? I guess Cool Water. But if anything is strong enough to make me sneeze, I'd rather have none, of course.

3. What one smell can you not stomach? Cooking liver [shudder]. It makes me gag.

4. What smell do you like that others might consider weird? Gasoline, cigars/pipes (which remind me of this little shop around the corner we used to go to in Cudahy when I was a kid, the nice old man always gave me a lollipop)

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Shrug!
1/24/2002 10:54:18 PM  



drag it to the turkey, then let go
So I got bored and Googled myself. I'm currently Jennie Number Six.

In the company of Jennie Garth and Jennie-O Turkey. Ooh. So faymous.

Dress Tina and Spike (they're turkeys). Because it's fun to anthropomorphize your protein.

I'm sure if you searched long enough, you could find a site that'd let you undress Ms. Garth, you pervert. Because it's fun to objectify celebrities.
1/23/2002 10:37:56 PM  



woo!
Thank you, Kristin, for blogging my library wish list, and Dinah, for gifting from it! Totally made an otherwise questionable day.
1/23/2002 03:48:58 PM  



bandswagon
Caught sight of LaunchCast over at jish.nu, and thought I'd give it a whirl. You can listen to my new station here. I've been massaging the kinks out the past couple days, but the work's far from over, so don't be surprised if you hear the occasional Linkin Park or Ludacris or Britney. The sound quality is amazingly good, and I've had very few problems with the stream crapping out. So much unlike the olden days, when NetRadio lived on my PC for about a week before I became completely fed up with the whole concept.
1/22/2002 07:54:12 PM  



resorting
Well, I'm biting the bullet: my school library wish list. Likely to be updated often. Used hardcovers in good condition work just as well. Paperbacks will be ripped to shreds in a matter of weeks.

Not included on the list, but still much-needed: Pencils, black stick pens, Scotch tape dispensers, double-sided tape, mounted/chained ("bank") pens, color and b/w cartridges for HP840C printers. Not necessities, but nice: cardboard chess/checker sets, educational window clings, feather dusters, any YA literature-themed posters, small can of white semi-gloss paint.

Of course this is non-profit, so if you donate (and I get your name/address), we're talking tax deductions. Yeah.

Ick. I feel such the dirty whore now :-)


1/22/2002 01:48:06 PM  



is it just me, or is it crazy in here?
I wasn't going to get in the middle of this. Technically, I guess, I'm not - I'm sure, if you've been reading for awhile, you've noticed many times over by now that this tends to become my personal soapbox if I've got something to get off my chest. So I should be able to spew it here. 'Cause it's all about me.

And this is starting to affect me. Boy howdy.

Someone. Please. Stop the madness.

When I find myself waking up to tales of morals-bashing email, full of all the glorious shame and sanctimony that a good fearful Christian* can muster, from the wife of the perpetrator of wrongs against D.'s baby, clearly I've entered a parallel universe. That just ain't right. Frankly, I'm still incredulous.

Morbidly fascinated, maybe, but incredulous.

And not just a little ticked off. I have absolutely nothing to do with any of this, but, yet. As any of you that co-habitate understand, I'm deputized by proximity. And I find myself slowly caught up in the little tides of anger and vengeance and all the trappings.

It's most un-zen-like.

But I do feel a little lighter now.

* I've nothing at all against religious philosophy, so please, don't stone me. It's when I find the catchphrases of faith used as a hypocritical weapon against those of other creeds or non-believers that I burn red. Hiding behind dogma doesn't make you a good person. Living like a good person does.
1/21/2002 09:24:52 AM  



cat/catsup
Elmo: he just doesn't give a damn.
1/20/2002 09:48:56 AM  



web stats
for the friday five

1. What do you have your browser start page set to? A personalized start page, because I like to have my news/weather/horrorscope/etc. in one convenient place when I log on.

2. What are your favorite news sites? Mostly, I've been avoiding news lately. But I'll occassionally visit SacBee, CNN, Moscow Times.

3. Favorite search engine? Google. Awww, yeah.

4. When did you first get online? Since before the internet as we now know it existed.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Three day weekend! Woo! I don't know how I'll spend it, though. Reading a lot, I suppose.

1/18/2002 06:28:19 AM  



finally
Scarf. I like it. Not the best pic in the world. But, hey - you expect that by now, I'd expect ;-)
1/17/2002 09:40:09 PM  



'versary
Four years ago today, Darin and I met. Proof positive that meeting people online works.

Whew. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
1/17/2002 09:21:12 AM  



attack of the clowns
This SNL clip, complete with "George Lucas," "N'Sync," and - yes - "Jar Jar Binks" has me rolling...
1/17/2002 06:26:01 AM  



geek wars
Urgh... on second thought. Don't ask.
1/16/2002 07:09:04 PM  



oooooo, xls
Excerpt from my horrorscope today:
You need to be ready, willing and able to do something wild, spontaneous and crazy in the name of a fun time.

Hrrmmm.

Well, let's see... Today I got excited by the idea of extracting the fiction titles in my library from the catalog, and marked off the ones I've read, and calculated my percentage (I suppose 15.6% isn't too bad). It does, at least, help to illustrate the gaping holes in my juvenile reading (no Outsiders? or Harriet the Spy? sheesh!).

Somebody stop all this crazy, wild spontanaiety!
1/16/2002 04:19:02 PM  



wee bit nippy
Yeah. I scraped ice off my car windows yesterday.

And I hear it's even colder this morning.

I don't want to go outside. Sure is a far cry from the days when they didn't cancel school in Marquette for -20F wind chill. I've turned into such the baby.
1/16/2002 05:37:53 AM  



more from the junior high dialogue files

Cute Little Shy Kid: What are you looking for, dead fish?
Me: No, for babies. There haven't been any in a few months.
CLSK: That's the male there, with the long tail thing.
Me: Yup. It's called a gonopodium.

[few beats pass...]

CLSK: Maybe you should give him some Viagra.
1/15/2002 02:48:12 PM  



more scans, eh?
A few of a 1997 trip to Toronto up in the visiblog...
1/14/2002 09:58:34 PM  



sunshine day
It's bright and blue outside. Albeit in a hazed-over way, but, hey, I'll take whatever I can get at this point. Even my drive to school this morning was uncharacteristically painless - no fog!

I want to go out and play.

I'm feeling motivated to get the scarf done before winter is over, so I worked on it at lunch today. I've found I can whip quite a few rows out in half an hour. After I make the matching headband, I'll be at a loss. I don't want another scarf, but I don't know if I'm up to a sweater or throw. Maybe some cotton socks.

I'm having a difficult time keeping my fingers away from eBay today. I started on a search for vintage tablecloths yesterday, and now it's become like a quest to find the perfect pattern. I don't want big splashy florals or 70's browns. Something muted and/or geometric, kind of like this.
1/14/2002 03:02:28 PM  



weekend update
Ate naughty pizza with Darien and co. Slept in. Recuperated from dance. Got rejected. Watched old sci fi. Played pool, managed not to suck too badly (won one game!), visited at some length with Cap'n Morgan, had fun, had unfortunate argument. Slept in. Made soup. Ate soup. Made first real coffee with new machine. Added seven inches to scarf. Did piles of laundry. Pet kitties. Removed Christmas. Surfed. Ordered brand-new book. Finished another book; strange. Thought often about organizing office. Worried often about incessant cough. Resigned self to fact that tomorrow is, indeed, Monday.
1/13/2002 10:37:09 PM  



pucked up
Short of paying a kidney on eBay, I guess we're just not going to the Sharks/Wings game on March 6th in San Jose as planned. Can't find tickets. Dammit. I haven't been to a game in two years.

Anyone know a semi-reasonable scalper?
1/13/2002 06:15:03 PM  



new soup for you!
I made soup. Tastes pretty good (far, far better than it looks), if I do say so myself. I cobbled the recipe together from more complicated ones in my cookbooks (too many ingredients that I didn't like, too much mess - pureeing???). It's easy, you can do it, too.
1/13/2002 02:00:28 PM  



l'eau de folie
Old pictures I finally got around to scanning in the visiblog.

No tour of the ruins of Ancient Detroit would be complete without a trip to Belle Isle. There's a small zoo, an aquarium, conservatory, Great Lakes museum, wonderful carillon tower, the US Coast Guard, views of both the Detroit skyline and the tamer Windsor, and the Scott Fountain. It's also home to the Detroit Grand Prix (whee). You can still hold a nice reception in the Casino, or sail from the Yacht Club. But the rotting stables and other small architectures make me sad. Luckily, there are organizations aimed at saving it all.
1/13/2002 12:50:50 PM  



very bad news
My boss' contract for next year hasn't been renewed. Our greatest resource and defender, and one of the best people I know. She's worked her way up here for over a decade, finally earning an MLIS and creating her own much-needed position. I'm at a loss and completely heartsick. I simply can't envision our system running without her leadership. Most of us are so new at this. I can wing it if I have to, I suppose. But why should I have to? Why should our libraries, and ultimately our students, suffer our well-meaning ignorance because of a collection of dumb mistakes of others? Why are libraries unfailingly the "fat" that gets cut?

I think if I needed a last straw to leave, this was it.

Blogger keeps throwing me an "Error 210: Key check failed blah blah blah." I'm about ready to cry. But tonight is our yearbook dance, and the show must go on. It looks as if we may actually pull in a profit this year. Which we need to fill in the hole we dug ourselves last year.
1/11/2002 08:50:50 AM  



fab firsts
for friday five:

1. What was your first job? I was fourteen - babysitting every weekday, all summer, all day - for $1/hr! A girl, five, and more of a manipulative, spoiled little brat never walked the earth. It was a bizarre situation. Her mom was some kind of ultra-hippie dietician, and made the kid choke down a handful of prunes every morning (my job to get her to do it, of course). At least she didn't act surprised when the poor kid had, um, "accidents" every other day (my job to clean that up, too).

2. How old were you when you had your first kiss? Seventeen. He had one blue eye and one green! And for the life of me, I can't remember his name. Whoops.

3. What was your first car? What happened to it? In college I bought a pumpkin-orange 1981 Dodge Omni from my ex-boyfriend for $450. It lasted through two Michigan winters. Then I sold the tires (they were practically new) to my boyfriend's niece for $50, and the rest of it for parts, for $75.

4. What was your first concert? Don't laugh. Okay? Promise???? ...Richard Marx..

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? I got a stockpot last week, and I'm making bean soup with our Christmas ham bone tomorrow. I'm excited, I've never made my own soup from scratch before.

1/11/2002 06:25:01 AM  



accessorize, dahling
When I'm done with my scarf, I'll have nearly a whole skein left over. I don't wear hats , and rarely need mittens. So I think I'll make a matching double-layered headband, to keep my ears toasty.

What other small-ish thing can I make? Maybe something like this?
1/10/2002 10:20:17 AM  



carrying on, then
Newest to my foreign cuisine list: crumpets. Mmmm. I don't know how to describe them. Kind of like a cross between the airiness of an English muffin, and the outer appearance and weight of a pancake.

And mine were fat free, and only 80 calories apiece.

Mmmmmmm. Toasty-buttery-boysenberry-jammery crumpets.
1/9/2002 05:25:06 PM  



so tired, tired of waiting
...tired of waiting to publish.

Guess, really, I didn't have anything particularly earth-shattering to say today, anyhow.

Sigh.
1/9/2002 02:23:59 PM  



gottagogottagogottago
The thing about drinking fluid all day is that at some point most of it has to come out. Since there's no easily accessible restroom near me, I'm spending a lot of time running in and out of my room.

Hmm.

1/9/2002 11:23:55 AM  



rules
Things I've learned while working in a public school library:

1. Screaming/screeching/yelling/thumping will increase exponentially with the magnitude of your headache, as will the need to yell with your lack of ability to do so. Consider a police whistle.
2. "The Fellowship of the Ring" will be the only book in The Trilogy that Your Vendor has consistently been unable to provide you with.
3. Educational videos are an expensive investment. Teachers will "borrow" them when you're not around, and fail to return them. Invest in locks.
4. If you have problems with ants, personally inspect each piece of student artwork before it is brought in for display. Sometimes kids use sugar cubes.
5. When hosting a book fair for fundraising purposes, be aware that you will never earn enough to make a cash profit unless you're willing to buy half the books yourself and/or sell your soul to the devil. If not, you will make enough in book profit to purchase one complete set of Harry Potter, which, being of questionable construction, will decompose within four months.
6. Be prepared to go it alone. You are not faculty, but neither are you truly considered classified staff. You are in the no-man's land of "technician." If you have a nice boss, you will look forward to her visits.
7. Do not, under any circumstances, look at your district pay scale. It will only upset you when you see just how much more well-compensated the custodial staff is than yourself.
8. No, that stain will never come out of your carpet.
9. No, the air conditioning will not be turned down simply because the thermostat reads 55.
10. Students will only volunteer to help when you have nothing for them to do.
11. Five teachers will randomly and at the last possible moment want to sign their class up for the same time slot. The laws of time and physics will not deter them from becoming upset at your denial.
12. Find any way possible - glue, nails, staple gun, duct tape - to attach tape dispensers, staplers, and pencil sharpeners to the permanent structure of your room. Trust me.
13. Board games with small pieces will live a short, brutish life. The Dollar Store is your friend.
14. Do not, no never, let the office know how much money you have in your petty cash box (slowly accumulated from copy fees and replacement ID charges). They will, in the name of The Auditors, try to pry it from your clenched fists and place it into a General Account. Then what will you do when you need a printer cartridge?
15. The district technology folks will not concede any amount of computer knowledge to anyone else. It will be less painful for you in the long run if you curb your protests, and just smile and nod. This tactic may, as a bonus, sometimes provide a bit of amusement for you ;-)

1/8/2002 09:39:05 AM  



picture of evil
... in the visiblog.
1/7/2002 09:57:47 PM  



knitclique
My friend Raghda has recently started knitting again after a lapse of several years. She brought her new bit of scarf in for me to see today - I have something to aspire to now. Her teeny little stitches were so perfect, while I'm having a difficult time keeping things consistent.

It's nice to have someone here to obsess with.
1/7/2002 03:01:13 PM  



lunchy munchy
I've tricked at least part of my brain into thinking that a soy protein bar and a can of V8 is an oh-so-delectable meal.

Well. At least it's nutritious and quick.

There were two whole cakes (one chocolate!) in the break room, and I didn't even take a teeny bite. I'm so proud of me!
1/7/2002 01:58:38 PM  



monday mundane
I've got the webcam back on 24-7. I was only offering static shots for a couple of weeks, because I've been sick, and looked like hell, mostly, and didn't want you gawping at me. So now you can resume spying live.

Just like Jennicam, without the tall redhead. Or all that sex.

We've also got a beta version of a KittyCam running out in the living room, which will hopefully be out soon. I don't know why, really. We might make streaming available for that one, just for our own amusement, if nothing else.

D. just sent me this. Yay! for giant potentially devasating space rocks.

If you live in the Sacramento area, and you're not a child molester or crack addict, and you want to relive painful pre-teen memories, you can volunteer to chaperone at the dance I'm organizing on Friday. If nothing else, you'll get free nachos and my undying gratitude.
1/7/2002 11:04:26 AM  



first
Friday Five of the year (starring my favorite topic)

1. You've just won a complete collection of movies starring one actor - what actor would you pick? John Cusack - smart, funny, and a true talent. Not to mention that whole adorability thing.

2. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? The Royal Tenenbaums - if you don't see this movie, you're just plain silly.

3. What was the last video or DVD that you bought? I got High Fidelity for Christmas, does that count? Otherwise, the last DVD I bought for myself was Nosferatu

4. What movie could you watch over and over again and not get sick of? Well, all movies have their limit for me, but I think the record is so far held by The Shawshank Redemption.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Knitting in front of old movies on cable, drinking nothing but water, rearranging our home library (we now have five bookshelves)
1/4/2002 06:01:37 AM  



new year fuzzies
New barely-discernible pics in the visiblog.
1/3/2002 07:54:08 PM  



creature comforts
Now that I have the Melitta at home, my little 4-cup Mr. Coffee is keeping me well hopped-up at work. There's a pot in the staff lounge, but I have to go outside into the torrential wind and rain to get the brew. This is much more convenient. Not to mention I can make it twice as opaque. I hide it in my storage room, where it smells awfully nice.

I can't say for certain that the aroma hasn't attracted my newest visitor. This morning I caught a zippy black glimpse from the corner of my eye. A split second later, I've got a crazy little mouse staring up at me from the cordhole in my desk. He's been zigzagging across the carpet ever since.

I wonder if he somehow managed to drink some of my mud? :-)
1/3/2002 10:12:58 AM  



nuptial lunacy
You hit thirty. And you think that you have some semblance of a grip on your own marbles.

Vehement denunciations of the excess of the trappings of the modern wedding? That's me. Or, erm... that was me. Until a few short weeks ago.

Oh, I'm still not having a traditional wedding. But I guess I'm going to spend hours online, obsessing over the perfect dress and accessories . I'm even going to attempt making my own garter, just for the heck of it (and because I don't want anything as tacky as I've been finding).

And... I can't believe this is coming from my own fingers... I want a...

tiara. A sparkly one. Or maybe one with pearls. Of course, these are nice.

I'm so a girl. Who knew? :-)

Guess I'm just full of surprises for myself all over the place this week.
1/2/2002 10:56:14 PM  



headway
My first scarf is officially half finished. Funny, the sleeve on the skein of chenille said a scarf could easily be worked up in two hours, I suppose because of the "poofiness" of the yarn. Well. While my fingers have gotten fairly quick, I've been working on it for at least eight hours already. Granted, I've been ambitious with the width (about eight inches?), but. Sheesh.

I've found that knitting has, apparently overnight, made me a fidgety couch potato. I can't simply plop down in front of the tube and stare and drool. Now I feel uneasy if I'm not working on something else at the same time.

Drat.
1/2/2002 11:26:20 AM  




1/1/2002 02:00:33 AM