Coffee, News & Rece

I kept coming upon one interesting news article after another this morning. None of them have anything to do with books or libraries, but I wanted to share anyway. Hey, it's my blog. ;)

Yet another reason to love Starbucks...I just can't help myself...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/27sbux.html?th&emc=th

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_bi_ge/stop_the_espresso

The news station I grew up watching could be in a bit of trouble...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/opinion/27wed4.html?th&emc=th

And...if you're in the Alabama area, you can go see my big brother if you're so inclined...
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080224/NEWS/802240340

If you're in the Shoals area...

You can go chat with my big brother...

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080224/NEWS/802240340

For those non-sports fans out there, he's the guy on the left with the cutest girl in the world on his lap. Kiddos, unfortunately, aren't included in the speaking event. Of course, it is also one of life's great mysteries why they have never asked me to speak at one of these things! ;)

(Heather, this might be worth a trip from Memphis?!)

Cranky Librarian

I'm cranky today.

Sprained ankle, behind on my book club books, lost in Greek, crazy weather.

Bah!

Wanted to get out a couple of quick links, though.

Here is a guide for personal digital preservation that was created by the Library of Congress.

Meanwhile...this search engine (powered by Yahoo) apparently donates money to a charity of your choice every time you use it. Some of those charities include library projects. Cool!

Also, one good thing about the whole sprained ankle business is that I was actually forced to sit on the couch for two hours and watch Becoming Jane. Great movie.

But you know what's even better than watching a movie about Jane Austen? Reading Jane Austen. ;)

The only time I feel the pain...is in the sunshine and the rain

I have sprained my ankle...again...again. This makes twice this year. (I can't remember if I blogged about it the first time, and I'm feeling too lazy to look it up.) This also makes six times for this right ankle (five on the left) in the past 15 years.

Ugh.

What makes it worse? I had been dutifully careful with it for these past six weeks, per doctor's orders, and I was just getting to the point where I could work out, wear heels and generally not think about it when I fell...again.

What makes it even worse? It hurts more this time than it did the last. It's angry at me, I believe, and bent on revenge. Vicious ankle.

Want to hear even more fun stuff from the weekend? A blood vessel burst in my eye--completely painless, but it makes it look as if I have the pink eye. I caught my thumb in my skirt zipper (not painless), dripping blood down my skirt, which I didn't realize until I arrived where I was going.

A bright spot? Finally sitting down long enough to finish my Charlie Brown Valentine puzzle.

But then? I realized Fred had eaten a piece. We're still waiting for it to, um, emerge.

OK, complaining over...for now. ;)

Seminary Photo Essay

An impromptu photo session turned out to be better than lunch!

(The last one is the photographer.) :)

Happy Birthday to Fred!

Fred, Jason and I are celebrating Fred's 5th birthday today! He is the sweetest little fellow, and we are so happy to have him!

Presentation Continues...

Here is the latest installment from my December presentation--The "If you Liked...Then You Might Also Enjoy" section. As usual, the ones in red are on my TBR list.

Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw (author of The Greatest Generation)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay)
Finn by Jon Clinch (follow-up to Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (author of many things, including The Innocent Man)
Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen (author of Flush and Hoot)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner)
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson (author of gods in Alabama)
The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs (biography of the author of The Chronicles of Narnia)
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (author of The Devil in the White City)
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (author of One Hundred Years of Solitude)
Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig (follow-up to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell)
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (author of All the Pretty Horses)
Run by Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto)
House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker (authors of This Present Darkness and the Circle Trilogy, respectively)
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (author of My Sister's Keeper)
Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (author of Empire Falls)
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (author of The Lovely Bones)
Mockingbird by Charles Shields (biography of To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee)
The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings), reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace (author of Big Fish)

Meanwhile, a couple of quick links...

A post from a BusinessWeek blog concerning the future of librarians...

And...

25 Beta research tools from libraries all over the place.

Happy Friday!

Our Big Fat Greek Anniversary Celebration

Once upon a time...three years ago, Jason and I made things semi-official by getting engaged.

Here's the full story if you want to read it.

And we do like our traditions, so we always eat at Outback, which is where he proposed...and here are some pictures of us eating there last night...

Jason brings his own drink to restaurants now...




And...after eating supper at 4:00 with the old folks, Jason went to study hermeneutics, and I went to Greek class. Thus the title of this post. Somewhat misleading, but I wanted to use it anyway.



The End.



Oh, and meanwhile, Fred and I both got "groomed" yesterday. I'll spare you the "before" (i.e. Cousin It shots), but here we are after...

Faulkner Friday

Well, the library book club finally finished As I Lay Dying. What can I say? I believe my favorite remarks were:
"It's Pulp Fiction meets the Beverly Hillbillies."
and...
"I'm thinking I might not have wanted to meet Faulkner in person."

Decaying, mutilated body, unwanted pregnancy, slightly incestuous undertones. Fun stuff. It had a few good elements...I'll think of them at some point.

But, even though I remained depressed for most of the novel, I did have a few favorite quotes.

When I was a boy I first learned how much better water tastes when it has set a while in a cedar bucket. Warmish-cool, with a faint taste like the hot July wind in cedar trees smells. It has to set at least six hours, and be drunk from a gourd. Water should never be drunk from metal.

I be durn if it didn't give me the creeps. Now and then a fellow gets to thinking. About all the sorrow and afflictions in this world; how it's liable to strike anywhere, like lightning. I reckon it does take a powerful trust in the Lord to guard a fellow.

When something is new and hard and bright, there ought to be something a little better for it than just being safe, since the safe things are just the things that folks have been doing so long they have worn the edges off and there's nothing to the doing of them that leaves a man to say, That was not done before and it cannot be done again.

I am a luckless man. I have ever been.

My mother is a fish.

Meanwhile, some Quick Links for your Friday...

A cool survey from Library Journal about librarians' job satisfaction...
http://www.libraryjournal.com/info/CA6527611.html?nid=2673

And, via Maggie, a funny, funny article...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/area_eccentric_reads_entire_book

Happy Weekend!

Love Your Library!

I am borrowing this meme from Bookgirl to celebrate Library Lovers Month...which I didn't even know existed. Shame on this librarian!

How do you plan on celebrating Library Lovers month? Well, since I'm just now learning about it, I guess I'm celebrating it by publicizing it on this blog. ;) Also, I'll probably make a trek over to my local branch soon.

How often do you accidentally spell library as ‘libary’ when you’re in a hurry? Never! (But sometimes I do say it that way if I'm tired--that's when my Elly Mae accent comes out.)

What is the most amount of books you’ve ever had checked out at one time? I think, during grad school, I had 15 or 20 checked out from various places.

What is the longest you’ve ever gone without visiting the library? When we moved here, it took us awhile to get settled, and I had a giant stack of TBR books. So...my feet were dragging about visiting my new library. All in all, probably a couple of months.

What is the biggest fine you’ve ever had? Um...$75 when I was in LIBRARY SCHOOL. Ouch.

When you go to the library, do you plan ahead and make a list? Or do you browse? I make a list almost everywhere I go--and especially when I'm going to the library! (But I'm not opposed to a little browsing now and then.)

Have you ever been shushed or hushed by a librarian? Maybe in elementary school...I was a little more talkative then. ;)

What is the worst (against-the-rules) thing you’ve ever done in the library? Hmm...I guess hiding that dead body in the stacks at McClure...nah...I'm a pretty play-by-the-rules kinda girl. Except...see next question...

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to a library book? Before the days of Amazon, I checked out an older book from my local library that I wanted to own but couldn't find anywhere. So I told the librarian that I lost it and just paid to replace it. So...lying, pseudo-stealing, and mongo-fines. How did I get to be a librarian?

Have you ever had a “favorite” librarian? Well, I really loved some of my library school professors, and I definitely would count them as librarians (shout-outs to Drs. Atkinson, Coleman and Dalton). I was also a library assistant to Mrs. Mixon in middle school, so she would be another favorite. And, of course, the wonderful Rebekah Wanstall, who mentored me through my first job after library school.

If you could change one thing about your library it would be...to increase funding! ;) Also, for both the public library that I frequent and the library where I work, I would install a coffee shop/cart/whatever and make it a little more cafe-ish.

Happy Library Lovers Month! Now, go love on a library somewhere!

More Norris Madness

This morning at our house...

"Wow. We finished off a whole pot of coffee this morning." (me)

"Um...I haven't had a drop." (Jason)

Meanwhile...

Last night, in the 30-degree weather, the campus sprinklers were on full-blast. I dodged the first five or so...got a little cocky...and then one hit me smack in the face--sprayed water all over me--I just about got re-baptized! ;) (This is me after the fact...being sad and warming up in my giant puffy coat. I think I look a little like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers...)

Random Thoughts

Life has been busy...but uneventful...in the Norris household this week. January was kind of a blur. Weird weather, weird schedules, lots of general grumpiness. So, here's to February being better...and here are my five random thoughts for today. Happy Friday!

1.) Check out Jason's blog. He put together a pretty awesome story on linguistics that features my big brother (shout-out).

2.) I'm planning my 10-year high school reunion. (Wow. I can't believe I've been out of high school that long.) Anyway, it's going OK so far, but I would LOVE any advice you have to offer. Fun stuff your class did, likes/dislikes, anything.

3.) I always give up something for Lent, and it's usually a pretty easy decision. But I just realized that Lent starts Wednesday, and I don't have a clue what to do this year. Any suggestions? (And...there's no way I am giving up coffee again--maybe one day. But life is too stressful right now. I need my caffeinated friend.) :)

4.) Loving Lemony Snicket quotes right now...this one in particular...
One of the remarkable things about love is that, despite very irritating people writing poems and songs about how pleasant it is, it really is quite pleasant.

5.) This is Fred's pig. We either call her Pudgie Piggie or Spiderpig, depending on the mood. She's fond of showing up in strange places around the house. This seems to freak Fred out a little bit, which is always funny, and it's become a bit of a contest to find clever, surprising places.

Ah...life with the Norrises.