April

Well, I haven't posted here in forever. I wonder if the people who had been reading this (whoever you are!) have given up on me. Sorry. I kept meaning to and then being distracted by other things. Like my crazy History of Publishing class that meets every other week instead of every week which I am still not used to and we only meet one and a half more times. And we are reading some really great books in my realistic fiction class. I finally read a Markus Zusak book (I am the Messenger) which I enjoyed, though I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. I am actually supposed to be deciding what I will write about for our final two papers in that class right now. Well, today anyway.
It is warm enough today that I opened my windows. Someone is finally going to fix my sink today or tomorrow. (Or they better!) It has been broken for a while. It still works, but it is an annoyance. My computer is cracking, but they're going to replace the part as soon as it comes in (because of course they didn't have any in the store, that would have been too easy!) And Cinnamon is still having allergy issues. Forever. Blah. Every time I think it's getting better it gets worse again. The mailman is here! I should be getting a movie today . . . Anyway, I think those are the highlights of the last few months . . . A few clutzy accidents, a few fun things, my brother's wedding is all of a sudden really soon . . . speaking of which, I should buy my bus ticket . . . Anyway. Hope all is well with the Ashburn Library and its employees!
<3

<3

Well well, what is new in life. Classes: so far so good . . . first assignments (written assignments, I mean) due next week. Lots of reading, so far all of it very interesting. I just read The Gospel According to Larry this morning, which I found entertaining. I'm having a hard time getting a hold of Dear Genius, though supposedly it has been in transit to the Brookline library for a couple of days now. I'm thinking about calling over there to see what is up. Although, my other hold at the same library is now in and it has been (or seems to have been) in transit as long, so maybe it will be ready later today or tomorrow. I have enough other reading that I can wait until tomorrow. I find myself missing LCPL, but then I wonder if some of the libraries here aren't just as good, merely more mysterious as I have not seen them from the inside here. In non-school related news, I'm going to California in a week and a half. My crazy friends decided over the weekend that we should get together over the 3 day weekend and go wine tasting. I live the farthest away, sadly, so this is trickiest for me. But I decided, it's a good week to go since I won't have class that next week at all . . . of course the flight was pretty expensive what with the short notice and my ineptness at travel planning, but such is life. I haven't seen them in too long. That is my excitement for the day! Now I need to wake up my foot which is asleep and read The Elements of Style. Have a great day!

Tomorrow . . .

my classes start. I am ready and not ready. Definitely not ready for more papers and presentations! Ah well. The professor for my Monday class sent us a list of 21 books to be 'conversant' on before class starts at the beginning of January. I haven't quite made it all the way through, but I came really close. I finished Forever... this morning. There is only one more that I haven't read before, but it's a long one, so I probably won't finish. From what I hear I've read more than at least some of the people in my class, which is something. My other class has gone kind of wonky . . . the person they got to teach the class is coming from New York, so instead of meeting on Tuesday afternoons for 3 hours, we'll be meeting a little later and for 4 hours and then 2 hours Wednesday mornings, but every other week. That will be interesting. She wanted us to read 6 books before class started, but somewhere the message was lost until Friday so now we're just supposed to bring them with us. I found four at libraries and I plan to check the bookstore for the other two. I am looking forward to seeing my classmates and finding out who will be in my classes.

We're still doing rounds of shots and steroids for Cinnamon, but I'm hoping things will improve . . . Oh, and I replaced my T pass. I still haven't found anything I like yet to keep it in though. Guess that's the scoop for now. Hope everyone is well!

Sad

Today I dropped my Teen Summer Read card holder . . . along with my monthly T pass . . . on a train . . . sadness . . . . .

Winter Break!

Woo! My first semester is over! I turned in my last paper at midnight last night. Fortunately, I didn't have to work today, so I could stay in bed all morning and read a novel. That was very happy. I bought The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen with my gift card (thank you again!) a while ago while buying Christmas presents and it has been patiently waiting for me to finish. Now I have to spend some time cleaning, since I've been ignoring everything and the place is a complete disaster. But that's what this afternoon is for! Music and cleaning. And then some movies. :) I come home Sunday night and I'll be home for a week. I'm definitely going to come by the library at least once. Too bad I come home late Sunday and you're closed Monday or I might stop by for some books. Hehe. My winter reading list is quite long! I'll never get through it all, but that's ok. Top of the list is Golden Compass. Oh yes, I also bought myself a paper Christmas tree, which I will set up as soon as I've cleaned a space for it. How could I resist a Christmas tree in-a-box?? With origami ornaments no less. Oh! And And And. I'm so excited I cannot say. I'm going to be my brother's witness in his wedding in April. That made my day Monday when I was writing papers, let me tell you. *sigh* :) Now I'm off to do something else. It's fun trying to do three things at once. :)

Finals

Final papers due one week from today. Will try to remember to give a real update after that. Hope everyone's having a nice holiday season so far!

December

The months are just flying by here. I am reading Octavian Nothing, which is good so far. Impressively long compared to our other class novels though. Go and Come Back is our other book this week, which looks good too. I'm not very interesting this morning. Three more classes this semester. Bunch of reading, three more papers varying in length from very short to reasonably long. Then Christmas! Magpie still hasn't gotten back to me about the week after Christmas, but I'm going to talk to my parents about flight plans tomorrow anyway. I can only wait so long to get tickets after all. If you're interested though, go here: http://community.livejournal.com/magpie_store/
to see some of the neat stuff they sell. It's really quite a range from the 'I could make that myself' to 'Someone made that by hand?!' Yup. Anyway, fun as this is, it isn't getting me into my productive day mode. Later!

Hi everyone

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was really nice to see some people while I was home, I'm sorry I missed everybody who wasn't working on Wednesday. And I still forgot to get my books from Janice, though I guess she wasn't there so we can pretend that's my excuse for forgetting about them again. I guess I'll just have to try again at Christmas time.

You know what I find annoying? When you e-mail someone and they don't answer what you asked about. I find that has happened several times lately. Answering some of the questions is good, but all would be better. Oh well. The end of the semester is coming. I feel the pressure. After Thursday will be better. (I have to present about what I'm writing my paper on, which means I really need to figure out exactly what my thesis actually is.) :( I have information, I just don't know if it's the right information or if I have enough (probably not) or what I'm going to do with said information. Well, back to trying to figure all that out.

Yay!

Denise! I miss you! I am going to try to come by the library next Wednesday, since you'll be closed Friday . . . I'm thinking around 4, but I'll update if anything changes. I can't wait to see everyone!

In other news, I have a job, though I probably won't really start until after Thanksgiving. I have had some training though. Yay retail. At least it's fun stuff! magpie-store.com Plus, my brother and his fiancée are friends with one of the owners (there are five of them). I think they know some of the others too. Oh! And last 'weekend' I went to a friend from college's wedding and that was super fun. I had never been to a Jewish wedding, it was very cool. And I got to see a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a long time and then hang out with my brother. Pearl River, American Museum of Natural History, Kinokuniya, Central Park, Nintendo tetris, and wandering around NYC (for the first time by myself) fun! Now I should probably do some homework, since I'm guessing I won't get a lot done while I'm home! Hope to see everyone Wednesday!

PS -

It is so not 7:36AM! What are you thinking Blogger?

Happy Halloween!!!

So, I haven't been on Blogger in a while now, sorry, if there's anyone out there reading and checking anxiously for news of me. (Hahahahahahaaha) Ahem. I did get Skype and it is super fun. Makes it easier to continue talking to someone as I cook dinner (or whatever) as I frequently do. Umm, there were other things I was going to say . . . things are crazy as usual in the schoolwork department. Trying to read zillions of things. We read Carver: A life in poems last week, which I was surprised to find myself enjoying. This week it's Avi's Nothing but the Truth which I'm also so far enjoying. Reading Freud again (but of course different things) for my other class, which I am still not enjoying. What else. I'm listening to Endymion Spring which I'm on the fence about. The pace is sort of strange, really slow a lot. Maybe it's one I would have liked more actually reading. I'm trying to plan a trip to New York/New Jersey, which I'm not really good at. I really like traveling, I've done a fair amount, but mostly planned by other people. Oh, and I finally joined Facebook, which I like better than Myspace so far. So, library people, (if any of you read this) if you have it, come find me!

Skype

So, a friend of mine told me about Skype last night and it sounds really cool. This seemed like an appropriate place to talk about it, since this whole blog started with learning 2.0. Skype is apparently a free (with other members of Skype) chat/call/videocall service. So you can talk to someone over your computer for free, as long as they have a microphone and have downloaded Skype. Sounds really neat, I may have to try it. Also, they actually have it for macs, which I find quite a few web applications (like Google Chat) do not. Which seems odd, to me, since mac is a big thing right now. Anyway, anyone else heard of Skype? Good things, bad things, tried it your self? Anyone?

I'm delighted to present the award to . . .

So last night was the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. Very cool. The honor book award winners get a silver plate, and the award winners get a silver bowl. And they give little speeches - some of them couldn't be there, so editors or publishers or whoever gave the speeches for them. Those were some of the best speeches, but I guess that makes sense, since these are authors, not orators. :) Though M.T. Anderson is very articulate and Tim Wynne-Jones is very funny. To be honest, I haven't had time to read either of those two, but I will! I have to read Octavian Nothing for class later this semester, but I think Rex Zero will have to wait for break. I checked them out, just didn't get to them. Although I highly recommend Sarah Pennypacker's Clementine. I also liked The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr. Not normally something I would pick up, but its very interesting, a biography that is in graphic novel format. And the pictures are good. Nicolas Debon was all cute and French. The author and illustrator, Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet, of 365 Penguins are also French, but they couldn't be there - though they did send along a note for us all. Penguins unite! After the presentations and speeches, they were selling books and the authors were signing. I really wanted to get some things, but I resisted. It's a slippery slope. Once you buy one, you want more . . . Presumably there will be other opportunities to have people sign things, perhaps when I have some disposable income. What an odd phrase. Anyway, I meant to go to bed early, so that will have to be all for now.

It's October, when did that happen?

Interesting. I made a title and then went to type in the box and it said 'Congratulations, you posted!' Or whatever it says. So I had to come back to add the actual post. Silly blogger. Yay for Columus Day! My mom was here for the weekend and we found some great stores. A yarn store, a bead store, a quilt shop, a toy store, and a children's book store. And we made chicken soup. Because it actually got somewhat chilly here, unlike the 90 degree weather I hear VA had this weekend. No class today was fun, I'm trying to get extra stuff done with the extra time, though that extra is sort of theoretical since mom was here and I have a lot of time to begin with. But we'll see. I need to pick a paper topic for my folk and fairy tale class. It has to have something to do with folk and fairy tales. Specific, no? I want to do something with Japanese folktales because I've interested in them for a while, but I don't know what. Any thoughts? Stupid that being the only grade for that class . . . Anyway, I need to go to sleep so I can be awake to read tomorrow morning!

Saturday

I hear it's one book, one community time again. Anything exciting planned for that? I've been reading some interesting books - good ones, although I'd probably never have picked them up on my own. This week was M.C Higgins, the Great and The Circuit; last week was The Goats (good, but very strange). For class on Monday, I have to psychoanalyze one of the two books, I chose M.C. It's bizarre, when you think about it, how much influence a strange, strange man like Freud has had. Fairy tales continues to be an interesting class. I like finding out about how the Grimms altered the stories as the went along. Interestingly, the upped the violence and downplayed the sex as they started to make them more for children. Well, to be fair they were pretty squeamish about the sex from the get go. Anyway, that's what I'm learning so far. I have also been watching Heroes when I'm not reading (or writing) and I love it. Yay Masi Oka! Also, it is soo entertaining to understand a thing or two when they're talking. Plus, George Takei. Oh, and Jenn, I don't know if you've ever picked up 365 Penguins, but if you haven't, do. It's very cute. I know it's annoyingly large, but still cute. Also, it's being honored at the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. (Which my class gets to go to! How cool is that?!) Anyway, time to have lunch. Hope you all are well!

Note to Self

Janice has some of my picture books. Remember to get them back. Would like to say more, but must at least get through Freud first.

Ode to Ashburn

My library is ugly. It's a terrible thing to say, I know, but it's true. Think cinder blocks. Intimidating black door. I asked if there was a form to fill out for a card and she said I needed I.D. and proof of address. I said, I know, I don't have proof of address today, but is there a form? (I know, I know, unbelievable that I forgot it, I was so ashamed). And she asks if I want to use the computer. Now I'm confused. What does that have to do with anything? I said no, I don't think so, I was just wondering if there was a form. And she says something about the form being for parents with minor children or something and it was weird. But she gave me a form that I am now unsure whether I'm supposed to fill out or not. Oh, how I miss Ashburn. At least it's close - 20 minute walk. There is a bus too, if I don't feel like walking but do feel like waiting. I also made it to the post office (which is about five or so minutes further than the library. That is, if you don't stay on the bus many many stops further because you don't know where you are and don't realize you've long since passed where you want to be . . . and you didn't listen to the voice telling you to just get off and go back. On the other hand this did teach me that that is probably the way to go to the apartment of the one person in Boston that I know. (Aside from my cousins, but I already know how to get to them. Although, granted, it may not be the most efficient way, but then I don't know the most efficient way to get anywhere!) That's the latest in my adventures in Boston.

PS

I've already used my "Not For Tourists Guide" and it's super useful!

PPS - I can still log into my Loudoun e-mail, is that bad?

The stars of the sea are the same for the land

After some login confusion, I have returned to blogger-land! Ironically enough, I remembered my password perfectly, but was confused by the login. Who can understand the mysterious depths of my mind? Now that I'm back, I wanted to thank all my Ashburn friends for your generosity and thoughtfulness in my send-off. I love all of my gifts. And . . .

I officially live in Boston! I have a bed and everything. Cinnamon is settling in ok - she's not yet used to the loud noises, but we did play fetch this morning. And at night she'll sleep on the windowsill, which is pretty cute. Am I ever tired. Maybe it's the heat. Even though it's not ridiculously hot, it has been a while since I've been without air conditioning where I live. I have to say, it is truly bizarre to actually be living in a city. I'll keep it short, since I'm currently on 'borrowed' internet until I can get that set up. Tomorrow is a day for phone calls and trips to library/post office/etc. (The libraries aren't open on Sunday . . . and only the main branch is open on Saturday . . . ) Hope you all are well! Miss you already!

THE END

I've been waiting and waiting for thing 23. It's been a whole week since thing 22! So I decided to do thing 23 from Learning 2.0 and assume it will be the same for us. I rather enjoyed most of this Learning 2.0 stuff. I liked the way I could sort of expand on things I already knew how to do. I'm not sure I'll use a lot of it (like bloglines and technorati) but then I am excited and do use flickr and I must admit Youtube is really cool. I think Librarything is my favorite . . . along with flickr and technorati was my least favorite. If something like this was offered again I would probably participate.