LaughAloud

From the Vaults

I was going through a box of old papers this evening, and came across something I wrote on the plane while on my way to San Diego for my interview in 2005. Apparently I intended to post it here, and simply never did...until now! 

 

"To be posted later:

12:05pm Central, Tuesday, June 7, 2005

 

On the plane, preparing for my interview...

Reading and re-reading information about UCSD Libraries & people. From the UCSD Libraries Strategic Plan 2002-2005:

Strategy 1: Organizational Effectiveness

Cultivate a healthy, diverse and dynamic environment that attracts and retains competent and creative employees. Structure our organization to motivate and enable Library employees to provide the highest-quality services. (emphasis added)

As Smitty would say - Must be Nice!"

 

It sounded good reading it then, and in six years working at UCSD, I'd say this grand sounding strategy was actually part of the institutional culture of the library. Like most goals, not every aspect always 100% realized, but more than just words that look good on paper.

The Wave

A shining wave
Fills all the skies.
Bright shadows float
Across the land.
See, crystal clear,
Its helmet rise!
And now the motion
Of a hand,
A tiny quickening
Of the heart,
And it will fall
And nothing more
Can keep the sea and land apart.
How still, how blinding is the light!
Spellbound and golden shines the foam.
Without a gesture
Or a word
It cannot break;
The wing must turn,
And nest again
The radiant bird,
The wave, the wonder, go back home.
We do not move,
We do not flee.
We see it shudder, lightning bright,
And dully double
On the sea.
We are too innocent and wise,
We laugh into each other's eyes.

     -- Elizabeth Bishop, 1929

 

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving again this year full of lots of friends a delicious food and good times! It was our largest group yet for dinner, with a total of 12 people at the table for dinner. We had some new friends join us, some repeat guests plus our two long time guests, Adele & Victoria who joined us for the start of our "orphan" Thanksgiving tradition 3 years ago.

This year's menu:

• Grilled Rib Roast (18lbs!)
• Mashed Potatos with Mushroom Gravy
• Buttermilk Buscuits with Cranberry Butter
• Mamaw Oakerson's Spinach Casserole with Yorkshire Pudding Top
• Corn Pudding with Goat Cheese & Basil
• Grilled Mushroom Mix
• Cranberry Sauce
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Fresh Whipped Cream
• Vanilla Ice Cream

Our Guests brought some delicious homemade additions to the menu: Adele's Chocolate Pizza, Dorthea's Sweet Potato Pie, Victoria's Pumpkin Mochi, Cristela's Roasted Squash & cranberry chutney with bacon.

At the end of the night I always wish I had taken more pictures, but this year I at least took a good number while preparing the meal in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Click through to the photo album for more details of the fun and delicious evening.

Spring

We went to Maryland last weekend for Lisa & Mike's wedding.  Lisa & I went to UVa together and I hadn't seen her for several years so it was great to be able to be there for her wedding.  The wedding was Saturday and on Sunday, there was a picnic at Seneca Creek State Park, where the above picture was taken.

If you live in San Diego, or a similar, rather deserty environment, May is the perfect time to go east and/or north.  Everything has that fresh, fresh green of new spring.  Rolling hills and forests of bright green are the most amazing thing you've ever seen. 

Everyone always says things along the lines of "oh how lucky you live in San Diego, the weather is always PERFECT there!"  And yes, it pretty much is, and when it's nice, its still nothing to complain about, but it's also no tropical paradise.  It's not like Miami, where the humidity is stifling but leads to lush green all year...It's dry and there are lots of desert plants.  Trees and ground covering are overwhelmingly grey-green and never have I seen a rolling hill of bright green, even in the rainy season.

Don't get me wrong, we just had an amazing wildflower season, and now the Jacaranda's are just starting to bloom...there is lots of beautiful and amazing vegetation here.  But there is nothing like driving through rolling green hills, along roads overhung with huge green trees, and walking through a deciduous forest in the Spring surrounded by new green growth.

After All

Last year, from January to June, I participated in an ALA leadership initiative for "newer librarians" called Emerging Leaders.  We met for a day in January at the Midwinter conference, and for a day in June at the Annual conference.  In between the conferences, we had small groups in which we worked on a variety of library related projects. When I applied for this program, it seemed like a good idea, even though the program was new and no one really knew what to expect.

But after it started, I thought it was a mistake...the first session wasn't that great and it didn't help that I had taken on way too much during that time and was overwhelmed and stressed. Although Emerging Leaders was just an additional stress and not the BIG stress, it still didn't seem that worthwhile.  Come June, I was so relieved that everything was over. I figured I had at least made a couple good friends in the process, even if I didn't get much more out of it.

But then, in October, two of my group members, Wendy & Rachel, who had been sponsored by Ohio Library Council, gave a presentation on the project at the OLC Conference.  It was so impressive, OhioNet approached them to do a workshop on the topic.  Unfortunately, Wendy was going to be opening a new branch around the time they wanted to workshop done, and so Rachel asked if I would do the workshop with her.

And so it happened, that last week, I found myself in Columbus, teaching a workshop on library marketing & community demographics with my good friend Rachel, a public librarian in Ohio, who I probably would have never even met if not for Emerging Leaders.  And now, after the successful workshop, we're thinking of turning the content into a pre-conference, though we're still deciding where to submit it. On top of that, I had a wonderful time in Columbus, and I hope to go back soon.

So maybe Emerging Leaders wasn't such a waste of time after all.

Playing Catch Up

What have I been doing!? Certainly not posting on my blog. 

Actually, I've been working like crazy getting ready for the conference I just got back from in D.C.  Thank goodness its all over! Now my goal (or two of them at least) is to do less work at home, and post more on my blog. In the mean time, here's a quick run down of the fun things that did happen in the last couple months.

My friend Martinique from Chicago stayed with us while she attended a library conference.  During her non-conference time, we gave her a whirlwind tour of San Diego. Here's a picture Chip took of the two of us playing in the waves on Coronado Island, with the San Diego skyline in the background. The only unpleasant part of her visit was our Sunday brunch at Lips.  It might sound fun, but DON'T DO IT!  Seek out better drag elsewhere.

We flew to St. Louis in May for Alicia's graduation and party.  The party was in a small bowling alley that was rented out just for the party.  We also got to go to a cool beer festival and a local brewpub while we were there.  It was all part of the celebration of Alicia.  Go Alicia!

At the end of May, my favorite Chicago musician, Bobby Conn performed in San Diego!   The show was not as amazing as some of the shows I've seen in Chicago with the whole band and in larger venues, but it was still very cool to get to see him play live again.  It had been over a year since I'd seen him perform, and even though we were in a teeny tiny bar without even a real stage he still put on a sparkly outfit and crazy make-up.  Yay!

I turned 28 and got a fancy gadget from Chip, which really deserves its own post at some future time.

 Our friend Kristen came to visit from D.C. and we got to go to a fancy private company "picnic" at the San Diego Zoo. We paid only $7 instead of the usual $33 plus there was free food, airbrush tattoos, rides on the "Skyfari" & more. Fun! This picture was taken from the "Skyfari."

Here's to a relaxing fun filled summer, with more blog posts.

Our Endless Numbered Days

Ok, so I'm not actually listening to THIS Iron & Wine album, I'm listening to the custom made Iron & Wine CD made for me by Lester.  When he first told me about Iron & Wine he said: "Iron & Wine is awesome.  Sam Beam is the best thing to come out of South Florida since. . . well, you." How sweet is that? And the music is great too :)

Catching Up

Why haven't I posted for a month?  Really, I have no good excuse.  Blog worthy things have happened, as well as unworthy events I would normally have blogged about it.  But I still haven't written.  Maybe it was laziness or Civ addiction or just falling out of the habit, I don't know.  But here's trying to change the pattern with a few updates.

Chip update
Chip has a job!  He started working three weeks ago, and is really enjoying it.  He's doing scientific programming using Fortran, and it has something to do with fluid dynamics.  Its very similar to the kind of programming he did in grad school, but in a very different environment with different sorts of results.  So its familiar yet challenging and fun.  We went out last night for a sushi dinner to celebrate our first month with 2 pay checks since we moved to San Diego.  It was oh, so yummy.

My job update
I really love my job! It can be a little overwhelming at times, especially since its really up to full speed, but I still feel like I have a lot of learn. It recently became official that I am in charge of the Urban Studies and Environmental Studies collections in addition to my Government Documents duties. A few weeks ago, I taught my first library instruction sessions for a couple Urban Studies classes which was very stressful, but I think they turned out well, and were kind of fun! I've already had one of the professors ask me to do an instruction session for his other class, which made me feel like the first one couldn't have been too bad!  In other job related news, Alanna has an interview at the end of March for a job in my department.  How fun would that be if one of my super good friends came to live in San Diego and work in the library with me!

Other random tidbits
We recently played Clue. I love Clue. We went to a really fun Mardi Gras party. It was the first Mardi Gras party either of us had been to. This is a bigger deal for Chip, being from St. Louis, which usually has the 2nd largest Mardi Gras parade in the country (the largest this year.) No paczki though. Today a couple friends took us to Ramos House Cafe.  It was an hour drive away, but boy was it worth it!  Yummy, yummy.

I'm sure I'm leaving out key features of the past month, but I think this is long enough for now.  Anyone who has missed my posting, can thank L (who likes to remain mysterious & anonymous) for prompting me into action.

A Perfect Weekend

This past weekend Alanna flew in from Chicago to visit, and everything was just perfect!  Here's a run down of our super fun weekend exploration of Hillcrest, the San Diego neighborhood where Chip and I live.

Alanna's flight arrived around 8:30 Friday night, which really meant 10:30 for her.  But we went out for a late dinner at the tapas restaurant a few blocks away.  It was super yummy, and super garlicky.  Just the way we like it! 

We got a late start on Saturday, and didn't leave the house till almost noon.  The three of us had sandwiches at a great little sandwich place down the street, and then Chip went back home while Alanna and I explored the neighborhood.  We tried out all kinds of little fun local shops.  Who knew there were so many thrift stores in a four block radius from my house?   When we got tired we hung out in David's Coffee house and talked, and drank our coffee. Then Alanna beat me at Ms. Pac Man. Twice. 

That evening, before going out for a yummy tummy sushi dinner (that's right, also only a few blocks form our house) Chip and Alanna and I started a great game of Star Trek: TNG Monopoly. (Yum, yes, this is the only version of Monopoly we own.)  After dinner it came out that Chip's strategy was to slowly give all his property to Alanna so she could beat me really bad. But I showed him. I won, with like 11,000 bars of gold pressed latinum.

Sunday morning we woke up early, (which was only possible because of that extra Fall back hour.)  Alanna and I drank our coffee out on the porch, and then we all walked down to the giant (most wonderful!) farmers market where we had breakfast and got lots of great produce.  The day just seemed to go on forever.  Its amazing all the things you can do when you get up at 8am and leave the house before 9!  We played Scrabble, did some more shopping,  and had lunch at the L&L Hawaiian  Barbecue.  Our last stop of the day was at the Corvette Diner where I had heard there was a photo booth.  Not as good as the old fashioned kind but still fun:)

 

It may not sound so perfect from my description, but it was exactly the kind of weekend I needed.  I had been feeling so homesick for Chicago, and hadn't really had time to relax and get to know my new home.  But this weekend I not only had the chance to explore my new neighborhood and find out some of the great things about it, but I got to do it with Alanna who is one of the people I miss most from Chicago.

So thanks Alanna, for helping me see all the things I've gained by moving to San Diego, instead of letting me just focus on what I gave up by leaving Chicago.  This weekend I realized that I will learn to love living here, which made me feel better, and made me feel more like me.  I'll still miss Chicago, and it still feels like home.  But San Diego really is a great place.

My Last Day in Chicago

My last day in Chicago was wonderful, and full of so many of the things I'll miss about the city.

Saturday morning I had brunch at Angels with Alanna and Martinique.  Angels is delicious and cheap, and has a beautiful back patio with grape vines, and an apple and pear tree, all bearing fruit at this time of year.  The perfect place to have brunch on a late summer day.  We sat around and talked like it was any other day, not like it was goodbye...about things going on in our libraries, possible jobs, politics, being roomies at Midwinter, all kinds of things.  It didn't feel like I was leaving, just like we were having brunch.

I took the bus home, then walked the last block or so.  As I walked, I stopped at one of the little food carts, and bought some fresh, hot, homemade tamales to take home for later.  Chip and I spent the afternoon cleaning our apartment, getting it all ready to move out of. 

We went to the Heartland Cafe for a late dinner, and while we were there I bought some Chicago magnets in their little shop (because we're leaving :) as well as the latest issue of Sun (check out the readers write section) to read on our drive.  It's one of my favorite magazines, but I let my subscription lapse a few months ago and haven't renewed it.  Afterwards, we walked around the corner (literally) to the Red Line Tap for an Olupus show. It was the last one we'll get to see for a while at least, and was really wonderful, not to mention all the friends who were there and we got to hang out with one last time.  Chris even dedicated my favorite song of theirs to me...Evil Pirate.  I really hope they record it one day soon so the rest of the world can hear it!

Chip and I left around midnight, and had to walk a ways down Clark before finding a unoccupied cab.  I saw it on the opposite side of the street, and flagged it down, and it turned around and picked us up. 

When we got home, Chip said: "It was so cool the way you jumped out in the street and flagged down that cab!  I didn't think it would turn around!  You were like a New York lady!"

And I said: "No, not New York, Chicago!"

"Yes," he said. "Chicago."

Dance! Dance!

Last night I went to see Le Tigre with three fun librarian friends.   It was a fantastic show and with the combination of projected movies and visuals, dancing band in cool matching outfits and such danceable music, I could have sat (well, no, not sat, but danced!) through the show three times and still  not gotten to see & hear everything! 

Before I went to the show, Chris asked me to describe their music, but I'm super bad at that and came up with some lame answer, but I found this description in a review and I really like it: "Electropunk dance queens." Yes!  Most definitely! I don't know how Cheryl sat through the whole show!  Although she claimed she was so overstimulated she couldn't move :)  

I found this picture online of the first set of matching outfits (There was one costume change 1/2 way through to another set of matching outfits.  Fun!)
 
So imagine these ladies in their outfits being super energetic with super cool fun music.  Spontaneous dancing, coordinated dance moves, cool visual effects designed by them, yell through a megaphone girl power, you can't stop dancing, on the last night of their world tour, and the last song is the best.  So sad its over, but it was so much fun!  The music is  still reverberating in my head!

The only thing missing was Chip, but he got a full account of the show when I got home.  And they didn't even play his favorite song!  He would have had fun though.  Next time, Chip, you're coming, too!

His Mother's Influence

I was talking to a friend on the phone this evening about another friend and in the midst of  our conversation he blurted out:

"You love her more than me, don't you!?"

Then immediately he said:

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from.  I think I've been talking to my Mother too much lately."   

The Wrath of Kahn

Last night I went to the midnight movie at the Music Box, The Wrath of Kahn. 

It was so much fun seeing it on the big screen...the special effects seemed more cheesy, but still so much fun, and still so good!  (Even though you can totally tell that critter is crawling into a fake ear and not Chekhov's, it is still super creepy!) And of course, I still cried when Spock died and when Kirk speaks at his funeral. You know, it really doesn't matter you know he's going to come back in the next movie its still so sad and touching.

I'm so glad I met my friend Alanna who loves Star Trek AND loves to stay out late!

Rebecca & Alanna

Schubas has a great photo booth.

P.S.O.S.

Most likely, no one else will think this is funny, but I think its hilarious. 

Lester and I discovered this evening that somehow, we both use P.S.S. instead of P.P.S. We do not think that we got it from each other (Or I should say, he doesn't think he got it from me, I know I didn't get it from him.)  We both persist in using P.S.S. to this day, even though we know it is not technically correct, precisely because people tell us it is wrong.  This may explain a lot about why we are friends.

Anyway, in having this discussion, we suddenly hit upon the idea of P.S.O.S. This is an ingenious way of adding a post-script that is also a cry for help.  Get it?  PS and SOS mushed together!  Nothing additional needed!  Its all right there!  I laughed so hard I cried!  It was just so funny!

Its ok.  I'm used to laughing alone.