look at me i'm margaret mead

Fun social experiment:

Teach a class. Notice that the class is not going so well. Try to jolly students into participating. Fail miserably. Ask for feedback ("be honest, be brutally honest") at the end of the class.

Try teaching the class again.

That's where I'm at--I will report results later.

Update
I incorporated what the students from the first class said and the kids in the second class said "Thank you!" at the end. Sorry, first kids!

sun spots

I have been super crabby the past two mornings. I could blame it on hormones, the humidity or any number of environmental factors. The truth is I'm not really sure why. All I can do is try to keep it to myself.

night calls

Last night I woke up shaking and completely freaked by a bad dream*. For some reason I started thinking about a boyfriend I'd had way back in the day. His ex frequently called him in the middle of the night, whenever she had night terrors. Ever since that time I have wondered who I could call in the middle of the night if I really needed to. It's not a good measure of friendship, because people I would call upon in a real emergency I would not call in the middle of the night because I was terrified by a dream. Still, it's one of those things I think about in the wee hours.

*The dream itself was one of my famous psychological thrillers. I was with a man, some kind of boyfriend type, and we were visiting this older woman. She left the house and during that time I was busy scouting out the house for evidence of evil. I found it in a bathroom--she'd laid out a bunch of towels and tools. I was rushed upstairs to tell the guy and we were trying to get out of there when she returned. I made up a fine tale of having forgotten dinner plans (a very detailed description of how the restaurant stopped seating at 10 and we'd gotten the very last reservation, at 9:45). Then I told her that the friends were coming to pick us up and in fact I'd just seen them go around the corner. I ran outside and started running down the street toward my car, but it was very snowy and slippery outside. I was making painfully slow progress, AND I'd left the boy behind, figuring he'd catch up to me. Just as I got close to my car, I heard a car behind me and a honk.

no more blues!

A little more sage advice (hey, I find it where I can):

"You often comply in situations when someone else will benefit - ask yourself what you really need, instead."

I think we all do this to an extent. In the past I've been accused of not bending enough, which has gotten me to places I might not otherwise have been, like grad school.

I just wish my inner voice was a bit louder sometimes, or perhaps I need an internal hearing aid.

may...be

May is an odd month here in H-town. It can be relatively nice, and by nice I mean not deathly hot. Average daily highs generally go from 75 degrees to 85 degrees over the course of the month and then in June comes the Big Hot. This month has been unusually hot and unusually cold and unusually dry. By dry I mean that not much rain has fallen from the high. Conversely, there has been much moisture in the air. This morning, the humidity is 88%. Since there's a breeze and it's about 75 degrees, it feels like walking gently through a tepid bath.

gross!

What Weight Watchers recipe card from 1974 are you?

You are Mackerelly!! You feel obligated to create new words just to define yourself as different... I mean diff-tacular. Just remember... ORIGINAL doesn't necessarily mean GOOD.
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

1st affair

There are two movies I love that have the word "affair" in the title, or two that are coming to mind at the moment. When Cactus was going out of business I bought a few of my favorite old movies and one of them was An Affair to Remember. Since there was nothing on last night but the Lost finale and I don't watch that show, I watched old Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr make magic on that boat. I realized that I'd forgotten much of the plot other than the pivotal and final scene. In a lot of ways it's about people who have accepted something less than they deserve because they don't know there's something better out there, something worth working for (or in this case, someone). All of my favorite lines are Deborah Kerr's character teasing Cary Grant or making fun of him--perhaps she reminds me a little of myself.

silly serials

I just read this snippet of email: "XX Library currently subscribes to the Journal of
Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience"

as "XX Library currently subscribes to the Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nonsense."

Yes, yes you do. I hope you're not paying too much for it.

oh internet not-radio, you know me so well

Yes, it's 2pm and I'm just now getting to work. Really I should be running around collecting water but I've already had enough of the freeways and needed to put in a few hours here. I turn on my police/elvis costello pandora station and guess what started playing. Well, you'll never guess so I'll tell you: Be My Lady by Jefferson Starship. Hahaha!

just a passing band-related thought

One of my friends was describing a band from Atlanta. She said they were like a jam band that played...gosh, I'm forgetting, but I think it was country music. Anyway, the point is that she said they were all really good musicians who played together in a very polished way. Her comments reminded me of a lot of the bands I liked in Athens, and how rare it is to find that sort of professional band here--people who obviously play together a lot, no one is carrying anyone else. Some of my friends were such good musicians that they would all switch off playing the drums/guitar/bass. They could all sing. In fact, I'm just now realizing that this also describes one of my favorite local-ish bands, the Gourds.

comfort books

People talk about comfort food all of the time but I've found that I have comfort-other-things too. For instance, the first several years I flew I had to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull right beforehand. I'd like to know what books other people re-read in trying times.

if you only knew

?? Which Of The Seven Deadly Sins Are You ??

You are Sloth!Lazy huh ?? You're a bit slow in getting going - and tend not to do anything unless it is absolutely necessary. You'd rather sit around, watch TV/Sleep then go out and about with friends, or take part in a sporting event. On the positive side, you tend to be quite smart, as you spend a lot of time watching the News (!!) or on the computer, Also by conserving your energy, it's right there waiting for you when it's vitally important to get going.Consider possibly moving out of the room once in a while - and perhaps once a week trade watching TV for half an hour with a walk - and you'll be back on track. However, Congratulations on being the most intelligent of the 7 deadly sins...
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

how was that?

There's nothing like an awful week and incendiary weekend to make you look forward to a calm Monday. It seems like half of my office is on vacation and I'm sitting here listening to pandora (jeff buckley station!) wondering where to go with my life. It's not an altogether unpleasant place to be. A little sad, but mostly eager to move forward.

statistically significant

A bit more appropriate for yesterday, perhaps, but nonetheless:

"Emotionally you might be feeling a bit down today. It could be that you are experiencing betrayal from people whom you thought were on your side. Suddenly they have turned their heads in a different direction, and you are left standing alone. Remember that regardless of how many people are in support of you at this time, you also have a terrific reserve of inner strength from which to draw."

Luckily I like standing alone, just not all of the time.

byebye onion

I took a big step (for me) today. I deleted my personals account. A little background: I opened that account in 2002 when my friend I were bored at the library. I was getting ready to move from Seattle to H-town so I wasn't exactly looking for a relationship. I forgot about the ad completely until long after I'd moved here and a guy from Seattle responded. He was, he said, the Asian Steve Buschemi. By that time I was seeing someone (albeit in the PNW) but it started me looking at the personals again and I updated my profile to show that I was now in the south east. I met my interim BF through that ad and also one of my best gal pals (she was checking out the "competition").

The problem, I think, with me and online personals is that I am best when in motion. I don't translate well into photos and other two-dimensional forms. My sense of humor is mostly based on making jokes out of what other people have said or seeing the oddness in a situation. You can see how that might not translate.

Also, like my friend, I am not really interested in half-assed relationships or things that look like relationships and smell like them but really are sad hollow facades. As many folks have said to me over the past week (and thank you for repeatedly telling me this--I needed to hear it), I deserve more. So, if I had a motto, it would be to accept no substitutes. I'm willing to wait.

day

I've had a lovely day so far. I went over to the school where I volunteer to begin figuring out how to clean out their pond. Then I got to work and checked email & listened to music. Soon after we left for our team lunch. Now I'm back and working at the desk while I digest.

sweet on my ears

One of my friends turned me on to Pandora.com recently. As soon as I mentioned it one of my colleagues said he was at that moment listening to it as well. It's a music site that lets you set up stations based on songs or artists. I've set up three so far but I have a few more I want to try out. The songs that come up are based on metadata, so it appeals to the librarian in me. It's also nice to be able to listen to music, most of which I haven't heard because I have been living in a cave for the past four years or so.

Thus far, the funniest thing I've heard is the cover of My Lips Are Sealed (an old fave, by the way) by the Duff sisters. Has anyone else noticed that only one of them can sing? I think it might be the 7th Heaven one, not the Lizzie McGuire one, but I'm not sure.

more evidence

One of my friends already linked to this, but I had to as well. Yes, yes, I am girl!

Hey, who wants to go eat cucumber sandwiches at the beach with me?

picture pages

You know those old jokes about how boring it is to watch other people's slides from their vacations? I've never really understood that. I love seeing people's pictures, hearing their tales, handling their treasures. My friends send me their travelogues and I read them religiously. Maybe it's because I miss traveling and would like to be doing more of it myself, or maybe it's just because I'm interested.

indications

I had a dream last night that a space shuttle dropped out of the sky and landed precariously close to a picnic I was at. Later, all of the recovered items were on tables in a room and I found a cap with photographs of the captain's family inside. The captain was a woman, and there wasn't anything left of her except for that cap.

Then I got to work and found an extremely disturbing email awaiting me.

I also seem to be suffering a recurrence of poison ivy, brought on either by sun or stress (see above).

That's why I asked for jokes, people, so send me an amusing vignette for goodness' sake!

please send laughs

Anyone know a good joke? I need one today...or twelve.

walkies

I raced home yesterday to change my clothes and go for a walk. It was so great to thrash around the park late in the afternoon without keeling over from heat exhaustion, and it made me hungry for dinner.

Unfortunately it didn't have any good effect on my memory: I left this morning without my lunch.

unfortunately apropos

ranger -- [noun]: A deadly strain of projectiile vomit 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

clear

I neglected to mention earlier that it's one of those rare perfect days here in H-town. I woke up and wasn't HOT. I've walked around a bit and it's still cool, the humidity is low and it's clear. For the past few days you've barely been able to see the buildings as you drive through downtown because of the husmogimidity. So I am enjoying every second I can be outside, because the big hot is comin' soon.

jumping into the middle

At a recent conference, I bought a book at the $2 table. It was Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code. After I started it, I realized it was probably not the first in the series, but I didn't know until today that it's actually the third book. I still want to read the first two, but I sort of feel like they're spoiled. Right now I'm reading the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It was all the rage a while back and I'm just now getting to it. Even though it's fictional, I'm finding it an interesting look into what we think an austistic person's mind might be like. We norms like diseases and conditions that we can cure, but autism and a lot of other neurological disorders are simply things that make people very very different. They can learn to be a bit more like the rest of the world but that's it.

dentistry=misery

I went in for my normal 6 month cleaning today and it was time for the dreaded probing. In my hygientist's vocabulary, probing=poking a sharp tool into my gums. And you wonder why I'd rather go to the lady doctor...

7th ring of heaven

For those of you who are fans, you're well aware that last night was the final episode EVER of 7th Heaven. It was a very typical episode, which I liked, and they ended it in a silly and funny way. Okay, I'll recount the ending. After Rose and Simon decided NOT to get married (what, we spent half a season working up to that?), everyone declares that they're having twins. I knew Lucy and Kevin were going to (boys) but Carlos and Mary (girls) were a surprise as were Matt and Sarah (boys). The killer surprise ending was my favorite, where it is hinted at that Martin is not the father of Sandy's baby but rather Simon is. Wait, does that mean that Simon and Sandy did it? Alas, we'll never know.

the film I am

I watched Sunset Boulevard this weekend, because it was the classic movie I'm most like, according to the quiz (see below). Those online quiz things are fun and all but I usually discount their accuracy simply because of their nature. However, after watching SB, I am a little less dismissive.

If you haven't seen it, it's about a writer who's experiencing hard times and a silent film actess who hires him to rewrite the screenplay for her Return to the Big Screen.

I won't tell you which character I most resemble, but I'm sure you can figure it out for yourselves.

greens

This is the second time this week I've brought a salad made up mostly of my own vegetables. While I was out doing a little spot weeding this morning I noticed a huge radish (a bit past its time--most of them came up weeks ago) so I added to lettuce, tomatoes and a cucumber that I'd grown. It's still amazing to me that I was able to grow anything because I am the queen of killing plants.

confessions of a luddite blogger

While I do own a television with a built-in vhs player and an add-on dvd player, I don't have cable, dvr or tivo. Come 200whatever, I'm screwed!

I own a computer (an old imac), I don't have internet access, a cd burner or a working printer. What goes onto that hard drive tends to stay on that hard drive.

I happily use basic technology in my work--a computer, internet, various media that can play through the computer and appears via a great projector in the classroom. I don't take advantage of things like skyping, tagging or podcasting.

I read books. In print. In the bathtub.

I buy throw-away film cameras. I don't own a digital camera in any format. If I could afford the film, I'd still be using a polaroid or my childhood brownie or pinhole.

My car doors have manual locks. I don't have cruise control. I had to trade my old car in when I moved to H-town in order to get air conditioning.

can it be?

My team, my loverly work team, won an award today. Go us! It was one of the staff awards our li-berry gives out annually, always hotly contested and kept hush-hush until the day of the ceremony. Unfortunately, one of us is still on her honeymoon and another home with a sick child, but the three of us who were there graciously accepted on their behalfs (behalves?).

Even more hotly contested, apparently, was what name to put on my award. In my personal and professional life I go by one name, but legally I have the usual two (three if you count the middle). Luckily, my colleagues decided to make me happy and put just the one on the award. Really, I don't understand why that's so contentious, anyway. Hasn't anyone heard of Cher?

house-bound

Did anyone else watch last night's House? I have to tape the second one tonight since I'm working late but believe me I will be watching as soon as possible. Could Foreman be any more of an ass to Cameron?

And is anyone else getting tired of Cuddy's empty threats and exasperated sighs? Perhaps she's just there to wear the hot outfits...

eh

It has become one of those days. You know, the kind where you walk out of the house without any lunch or money to buy lunch and then realize that it's summer and all of the good places on campus are closed anyway. One of those days when you realize you really should've done some laundry last night because all you have left to wear are the clownish pants and right before you leave you realize that stain right there on your boob is not going anywhere and you'd better change your shirt.

What made this day that way? Oh, my usual retardedness is to blame. I thought I was working late tonight but it's actually tomorrow night and the plans I made to watch America's Next Top Model were all for naught. I know, I know, a miniscule blip on the tragedy meter, but still.

what to do?

So, when a friend you pretty much only interact with online suddenly disappears, do you just write him or her off? Do you send another email? Do you call?

Do you treat the situation any differently than you would an in-person friendship?

no good

As in, "that tire is no good, miss!"

I took my flat in to see if it could be patched, but when they put some air in it, it was all bubbly. Bad! I dragged out the warranty they gave me when I bought it less than a year ago and I think I might be able to get it replaced. Fingers crossed. Of course this means more time waiting in a smelly tire place rather than just a few minutes waiting in the flat repair place. We shall see.

So that's been my day so far. Whee!

do they allow saddles?

Okay, I'm back at the computer. It might be stretching it a bit to say that I am back at work just yet. The conference was good. I got elected to the position of chair-elect of TLA's library instruction round table. That means I'll be chair next year.

Over the weekend I attended Jane's wedding and drove over to Big Thicket with my sis. On the way, I blew a tire (thank you, Houston roadways) and managed to change the tire before the safeclear tow trucks appeared to haul me away. Amazing, I must say. We got back in the car and continued with our day of driving and walking and investigating nature. There are a lot of frogs that sound just like sheep in that part of the world. I also got to see two species of insect-eating plants, which made my day. Eating a lot of peanut butter brownies when we got home also made me very happy.