Starz Free Preview

It’s Starz free preview weekend. And I just can’t seem to focus on my homework for very long.

It all started with Disney’s Ice Princess which wasn’t very good, even by my standards. The characters aren’t ever fully developed, and the ending is just lacking. I’d expect this sort of thing from a DISNEY CHANNEL movie, but for a theatrical release I’d expect more

Then for some reason, I tuned in to the middle of Elf which ended up being much better than I expected. It was warm, Christmasy and all around cute. This embarrasses me, but I’ll have to live with it. It was nothing like the trailers made me think it was. And Will Farrell hardly annoyed me.

Elf amused me, unlike Christmas with the Kranks. I read the book a few years ago and didn’t particularly enjoy it. My mom just likes passing on books that her friends give her. But the movie was even worse. I don’t know exactly what details make me like farce and slapstick, but this movie did not have any of them. And the whole premise is just a slap in the face to sensibility. Really, the WHOLE town decorates for Christmas? Not one single one of them doesn’t have the time, money, inclination, or correct religion? Really? And it’s completely unforgivable to decide to take a cruise on Christmas because your daughter won’t be coming home even though ever other year you’ve been a regular elf with the parties and decorations? Really? Gag.

And most embarrassing of all was White Chicks, even though it turned out to be more entertaining than Christmas with the Kranks. Yes the Wayans brothers dress up like white spoiled little rich girls. But it was better than I expected. Also, I love spoiled little rich girls.

Last but not least was the movie I’ve been dying to see, Hilary Duff’s Raise your voice. Hilary lives in a small town in Arizona, the kind where people get stuck, never leaving city limits etc. Her dad is a hard-ass for no reason, wanting to protect (read: smother) his baby from the evils of Los Angeles. Hilary, however, has other plans, and when she gets into a prestigious summer music program in the heart of downtown LA, she goes, with the help of her mom and aunt. I was expecting it to be a bit more Fame-like. But it didn’t have the same feel. Although the ending scene with the final recital performance was just begging for a rendition of I Sing the Body Electric. And there was a nerd boy who was totally into his electronic noise music. The conflict is mostly internal, and between Hilary and her family. The minor conflicts with the kids in her program were there just to fill space, and were pretty lame. So, of course the dad finds out, he rushes to LA to bring her home, right in the middle of the recital. And of course, she performs a song, dedicated to her dead brother who was her #1 fan, and the dad’s heart grows 3 sizes that day, and he becomes her new #1 fan. I’m glad I didn’t pay money for this movie.

I’m very much looking forward to tonight’s showing of Two Brothers those baby tigers are awfully cute!

Tune Out

It's the devil's week. Yes, TV turn-off week.

Gag! No one comes between me and my TV.

As an incentive to kids at Sacred Heart School in Grand Forks, North Dakota."Those who made it through the week will get to see Roger Voeller hypnotize a chicken next week. And it will be a live chicken, Shirley."

Now, I don't know much about chicken hypnotizing. But I'm pretty sure that it is not more educational than many programs on TV. And I'd be willing to say it's a lot more sensational than what passes for TV news these days. Not that I've ever agreed with PETA in my life, but now seems like the time for them to step in. I'm pretty sure watching TV involves less animal abuse.

Surely, watching the chicken factory on TV is better than some hack with a trained chicken. There may be something to be said about replacing TV with some activities. But, I'm 100% sure that chicken hypnotizing isn't one of them.

Zillow

www.zillow.com

I learned about this invaluable resource in my Information Secrecy class. Spy on your friends, neighbors and enemys.

This info is has always been publicly available. But the internet makes it much more easily accessable, and much more dynamic. The data isn't really 100% accurate, but it's on the internet, there are pictures, it must be trustworthy.

Be afraid. They have pics from microsoft virtual earth. These are much better pictures than Google has. When you zoom into my house you can see my dad's old orange car.

How much is your home worth?

HOW IT'S MADE!!!

URGENT, URGENT, URGENT

7:00 on the Discovery Channel

I get satellite, so all my cable channels are 3 hrs ahead. This mean you have just under 3 hrs to secure youself in front of a cable TV and watch the Discovery Channel's How It's Made show

Why would you do this? Because it almost made my head explode. Have you ever seen a chicken hatchery factory??? do you know the chicks hatch, then they're put in plastic boxes, and they're dumped on a conveyor that separates the shells from the eggs. Then another conveyor where human factory workers separate the boys from the girls and toss them down a chute. Then they're packed up in boxes of 102 to be sent out. There are THOUSANDS of baby chicks. Thousands!!

I would never believe anyone who told me about this. And there's no way I could grasp this by reading it. This is must see TV!!!

I'm off to order me a box of chicks. Anyone want a few, or like 20?

025.431 D519

Oh my gosh, it’s a miracle! Okay, maybe not quite a miracle, I can definitely explain it. But, I got 94% on my last cataloging assignment, which was 3 whole points higher than the class average.

You see, last week’s assignment was our first one on subject classification—assigning Dewey Decimal numbers. This is what I wanted from the class in the first place. Something to bring order, logic and reason to a chaotic world. I definitely had no interest in the first 10 weeks of making machine readable records. I don’t care if there’s a colon, period, slash or whatever. I don’t care how to capitalize correctly. And mostly I don’t understand why most of the process hasn’t been taken over by computer. Or at least why they don’t have a program that formats it for you after you put in the data. You know how much it sucks to compile a long bibliography, with the punctuation and wondering if something should be input as a straight web page, or some kind of weird hybrid. Multiply your worst experience with that by like a gazillion, and that’s what making machine-readable records is like. The worst part is that it’s so arbitrary. There’s no logic. It’s all decided by a multi-national committee. And for the privilege of their lack of cohesion you have to pay $80 for a 3.5” thick shrink wrapped set of loose-leaf pages ($24 extra if you want the binder and pre-printed chapter tabs). Americans gave up the right to call a period a period, in cataloging it’s called a full stop, so the Brits gave up the spelling cataloging with a U. Compromises = sucky.

But, back to my happiness, and actually following a logical progression to give an abstract concept a number. Yes, it was a little tough, but it felt satisfying, and much less arbitrary than previous assignments. I think it helped that there were fewer rules.

So, I have hope for my next assignment—assigning Library of Congress numbers. It’s looking to be a bit tougher than Dewey, but I have hope for that logic too. Actually, if I don’t believe in LoC, then there’s no way I’ll ever make it as a librarian. They have a black list. Speak out against them and you’ll never work in this country again. So, cross your fingers for me.

Library Roundup

It may not look like I spent a day and a half making a website. But it did, and I’m pretty happy with the results. If this doesn’t bring my grade up, I might as well give up and die. It’s full of informational links, clear, uncluttered, and organized in a slightly more logical way that most, I think. And thanks to Google, its super-quick to load. Compare mine to what current libraries have up, and I’m pretty okay. It's not perfect, but it'll do. I have to say I’m hesitant about posting here because of the URL, but someone needs to see it. And I imagine, when you Google my name in the future, this will come up. And it will have been something I want employers to find.

In other library news, in conjunction with this winter’s much anticipated release of TNT’s made for TV The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines, they will also be releasing a comic book.

The comic will be made by Atlantis Studios who, for the low, low starting price of $600 will make a comic book to your specs. They are the ones responsible for the Liberteens comic book—“courageous team of super-powered teenagers who fight against ignorance of the Constitution and fight to defend out civil rights”

I realize that I know people, or at least know people who know people who would perform this service for under $600. But, until now, it never occurred to me that this was a viable commercial service. So, take that, every elementary school teacher who discouraged comics.

And in more boring news, I’ve said it before, and I’ve said it again. Librarians may be good at a lot of things, but humor has never been one of them. In fact, it's missed the boat so far, that suspect it might be meant to be serious. Geeks and Nerds Battle for the Soul of Librarianship

Don't change you number

This week Unshelved started with a rather unassuming story arc about gathering statistics.
But yesterday and today, they really are after my heart. Let’s see how long they can continue with the Tommy Tutone 24 years after the fact. I’m rooting for them!

Who would have thought? It figures.

Young man's leap for life ended in death

The 20-year-old jumped off MB pier to celebrate his sobriety. But rip currents kept him from shore.

He had struggled through adolescence with substance abuse and had finally emerged successfully from the thrall of alcohol and drugs. He'd been sober for two years. Then on a recent, chilly Sunday morning, Daniel decided to celebrate this turn in his life. He made a whimsical choice to celebrate two years of alcohol- and drug-free living with a breathtaking plunge off the Manhattan Beach Pier, swim ashore and proclaim his victory over addiction.

When I have some free time I think I'll start a blog of stories about people who have died from exercise or health &c. Until then, this will still be home for stories like that.

See what happens when you give up the sauce? Nothing good, that's for sure. Personally, I'm inspired. I think I'll amp up the drinking and whoring. Because a life of abstinence leads to untimely death. And if I have to die an untimely death, I might as well go out like everyone's favorite whore, Marilyn Monroe.

I do my little turn on the catwalk

I’m conceited, often. And sometimes bitchy. By mostly, I’m supremely confident in my ability to do a large number of things competently. And since my personal standards are higher than most of the standards used to judge me, I usually come out on top. Through years of experience, I’ve gotten to the point this semester where I spend about 1-2 days actually writing out my assignments. This is significantly less than the 1 week I used to need to do good work.

But this conceit is not without it’s price. I spend my days doing things I already know how to do, and just get better. So, when something new comes along, I’m ill prepared for learning. Take cataloging, for example. 1. It turns out I hate it. 2. It’s very much different than writing a paper. 3. The professor likes to not give a straight answer when you ask if something is right…. This all leads up to my failing my last assignment. The last thing I failed was my first driving test. Everyone told me in advance that "everyone" fails their first driving test (I’d actually like to see the statistics on that). But I clearly remember saying, “I don’t fail,” like one of those kids on a Disney Channel show before they learn that no one is perfect, and you shouldn’t try to be. That was awful. But, currently my level of conceit doesn’t allow me to care. Whatever, I failed a cataloging assignment. It’s only 10% of the grade. My grades are really good. I can get a B in the class if I try, and I’d probably be happy with a C+ if I don’t try very much. But I did a significant amount of work on the next assignment last night, and it really freaked me out how much I had to second guess everything.

Is this how the other half lives?? Always questioning their own judgment. Afraid to make a decision, because it might be wrong. Worried about things beyond their control. Trying twice as hard as I do for half the results?

The other thing about my classmates is that they really like to panic. That must be it, because why else would they do it all the time? I had a web page due last week, because everyone panicked so much, the due date got pushed to Friday. Have I started? Barely. This is not a html class. There’s barely more required than a word document with live links. We’re not graded on our tech abilities, we’re graded on the content. I actually really enjoy useful assignments like this, and I’m good at them. But, all this frenzy made me apathetic. Whatever, a webpage, that’s so mid 90s, been there, done that and had time for a nap. Just don’t call me on Friday, I’ll be busy.

Don't shake that thing, please

Nothing should jiggle! Ever! Not even Jell-O Jigglers. In fact, I would like the word jiggle struck from all languages.

Apparently people aren’t nearly as offended as I am by this. But it gives me nightmares. First there was that horrible Carl’s Jr. commercial with the guy molesting the cow.

And then there was the Jell-O Pudding commercial with the “jiggles when you wiggle” with a child and one of those 2 people horse costumes, but it’s a cow.

And I did a technorati search, and everyone loves them! I get freaked out when the Shake that Thing song starts playing on the radio, or in the background somewhere. And I'm off milkshakes and pudding for a good long while

When I’m queen, this nonsense will be banished from the air.

Meanwhile, whatever you do, DO NOT, search for: jello jiggle on you tube. Now, I’ll be having new nightmares.

UPDATE: In my rush to post this before I left work, I seem to have forgotten to mention the whole SF earthquake anniversary thing. Really, don't shake that thing.

We don't need no education

No Child Left Behind Loophole

Once again the No Child Left Behind deal is causing trouble, stirring controversy, and generally being a pain. But this time it doesn’t have to do with the retardedness of a central government dictating on a local level, or the lack of funding to back up a retarded sweeping proposal.

In fact, I think this is a controversy made up by the Associated Press because they were tired of writing about bunnies and eggs. Oh no, look at the institutional discrimination. Schools are failing to report the test scores of minorities.---Minority is the key word here. We’re not talking traditionally underrepresented groups, we’re talking actual minorities. When there is a tiny percentage of a certain group within a certain school.

Now, they hit it on the nose somewhere buried in the middle of the article. But why let facts get in the way of a good story?

Suppose, for example, that a school has 2,000 white students and nine Hispanics. In nearly every state, the Hispanic scores wouldn't be counted because there aren't enough to provide meaningful information and because officials want to protect students' privacy.

I’d be pissed if my test scores were reported as part of a tiny group. This is why those Palos Verdes schools never get their scores in the paper, they’re just too small. How many minorities do you think are going to those schools?? Just about zero, I’d say.

And to push their point, without giving them the facts, the AP elicits a response from the poor underrepresented minorities:

"It's terrible," said Michael Oshinaya, a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in New York City who was among a group of black students whose scores weren't broken out as a racial category. "We're part of America. We make up America, too. We should be counted as part of America."

Who is dying to have their scores published?? Maybe a few of those valedictorians want recognition. But, come on! If you’re desperate for your score to be published, do something about it. This IS America. Money talks. So take some of it, buy and ad in your local paper, slap your name an picture and score on it, and get yourself seen. As far as I’m concerned, the less info the government publishes about me, the better.

Happy (belated) Easter

Bad News for Ninjas, Good News for Pirates

Feds Pounce on Student Dressed As a Ninja

No pirates were detained.

Disney Cuties

Disney Cuties and Cute still have me a bit confused. I was shopping at Joann's today and found a whole rack of cuteness. These are labeled as disney cuties. All of them.

I didn't buy any of this fabric today (although I did go in to buy $1 worth of elastic, and came out $60 poorer). But I have a feeling that I'll have PJs made of the bottom left some day soon.

I did notice that Joann's seems to be lacking in the Eeyore.

$1000 Mint Julep

This $1,000 Mint Julep sounds even better than the $10,000 Diamond Martini. And it's a bargain at 1/10 of the price!

The sweet cocktail will be made with one of the state's finest bourbons and served in a gold-plated cup with a silver straw to the first 50 people willing to put down the cash at the May 6 race.

Mint from Morocco, ice from the Arctic Circle and sugar from the South Pacific will put this mint julep in a class of its own, the distillery selling the drink said.

It sounds about as fantastic as cocktails with a gimmick can! And I love a gimmick! It's a good thing I'm not planning a trip to Kentucky any time soon, or I'd be very tempted.

I've still never tried a Mint Julep. I thought I should when I was in New Orleans, but there never seemed an appropriate time. It's really a drink for lounging a hot summer day, not wandering Bourbon Street with the crowds. Also, I'm a bit afraid that adding sugar to bourbon will make it grossly sweet. Those southerners like their sugar even more than I do.

Nothing's Better than Friends

The start of the month came so quickly, I didn’t realize what was happening until I was tipsy and taking pictures of Lydia wearing my dress.

But most importantly, the date I’ve been waiting for, for months, passed without me realizing it. April 1, the day the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel was released. Thanks to Tom for picking me up a copy of the book, because Amazon’s actions cannot be condoned. They need a proof reader. It is not, has never been and never will be Baby-Sitter’s Club (possessive) it’s Baby-Sitters Club (plural). I think occasionally Claudia will get it wrong, but you can’t trust her for anything but snacks and art. Clearly the cover of the book does not have an apostrophe. And clearly in the original book they go through the apostrophe/no apostrophe thing.

And thanks to Debbie, I may just have to join live journal. Certainly this is proof that Wikipedia is better than any encyclopedia, ever. Where else will you find such information? And the BSC LJ community, full of girls my age trying to live in the past. Magical. I’m very afraid of what this community will do to me. I can see myself slowly becoming obsessed. None of my friends in elementary school loved the BSC as much as I did. But I can see that these girls are way up there in the ranks. Clearly, this post is only the start of something much larger. (It's a good thing I have 2 full albums of BSC music to use as post titles.)

lovely locks

Oh dear, it seems that Kevin Federline has donated his hair to Locks of Love too. It rather disturbs me that I inadvertently participated in a trend that involves him. But I’m going to play innocent. While I know who he is, I didn’t at all know what he looks like, nor did I know that he had at least 10 inches of hair to lop off.

In the meantime, I’m still getting used to my short hair. I haven’t figured it out yet, and is almost more work than the long hair, so far. I have my hopes that things will settle down in the next few weeks. Failing that, I guess I’ll just get a new hat.

Under the Sea

Lydia immediately started calling my great new dress a mermaid dress. But the reason I love it so much is that it reminds me of this vintage Barbie dress that my mom has. I'm a happy girl when I get life sized Barbie clothes.

UPDATE: so they're gonna be bitches about it! then i'll just steal!

Rock

It's National Library Week once again. I'm much too busy to care, and even if I wasn't, I still probably wouldn't.

The thing about making up arbitrary celebrations, is that they're arbitrary. If a library can do something great during library week, then it shows they're capable of doing something great. And if they're not great year round, that's a problem. Whatever.

Anyway, there' s a reason that there are librarians, and there's a reason that there are filmmakers. And, they usually aren't the same person. But these kids gave it their all and it might be worth 5 minutes out of your day to watch Rock 'n' Roll Library. Mostly, it just makes me jealous that I don't get to hang out with my classmates in the grad student lounge. I'd totally make out with that boy though.

Darlin' don't you go...

...and cut your hair

I'm just a girl with a new haircut

Let the sunshine in!

For more pics, go see Lydia's cupcakes.

Harmony and Understanding... This is the Dawning...

People say I don't post enough pictures. So, I hope you enjoyed my little photo essay of events that took place last week. (For a lovely photo essay I saw yesterday, check out how to make an OMG Ponies! sign.)

A shout out to Locks of Love and the lovely people at Elijio in Santa Monica for my free haircut.

I was definitely overdue for a change. And finally just did it. I should start seriously with the job hunting in a few months, by then I should know what to do with my short hair, and it'll definitely help me look more capable and authoritative. Also, maybe the crazies who talk to people with long hair will stop talking to me.

I've been told that technically, since my hair is still longer than my shoulders, it's considered to be long. But, description is relative. And I'm having a hard time getting over how short, and easy to take care of it is. And I think I like it, especially parted on the side. I'm a bit worried that parted in the middle, and stuck behind my ears is a bit too much like those 13yr old boys.

This is the dawning of a new age. Not quite Aquarius though, I don't think.

Dear Cupcakes

I *heart* you. Honestly, I do. But really, who knew my tolerance for your deliciousness was so low.

I went to the Love at First Bite bakery and bought 4 cupcakes and a chocolate gingerbread cake slice. Granted, I like sweets more than Lydia and Zack combined, but between the 3 of us, we still have some left. I'm sure it's making the cupcakes very sad.

It's possible that the cupcake blog is making me think of, and like cupcakes more than I really do. I think I still like cookies more than cupcakes. But cupcakes are so darn cute! And I really want to have an unlimited tolerance for them. Like cookie monster, but with cupcakes.

Too bad Lydia's mom's car broke down and we couldn't go to Icing on the Cake. But we might make it to the Teacake Bake Shop. Or maybe the Gingerbread House will have cupcakes.

Also, It's about time I found myself a husband. And today, while I was admiring all the Thomas Pink shirts, I figured it out. I'm a bit to career oriented. If I was a shop girl, at a men's store, I'd totally have my pick of well dressed men. They'd be well dressed, because I'd pick out their clothes. Even with all the wedding planning stress, Lydia and Zack totally have it made.

***This post fueled by Mr. Jameson, and Lydia's demands that even though I've spend the last few days with her, I must also blog to keep her happy.