iPod - the next generation

Wow, after the breathtaking step backwards that was the iPod Shuffle, what will they think of next?

How about the iPod Flea?

The secret life of librarians

Harry Potter, ad infinitum

Well, the new Harry Potter book was released this weekend. I haven't read it yet (my copy is on hold at the library) but supposedly someone dies in it.

In honour of this, Guardian Unlimited randomly picked Dumbledore as the victim du jour and ran a contest to write Dumbledore's death scene in the style of various authors.

The contest is closed now, but the winner and a selection of the best entries are available online. Check them out and get your Harry Potter fix!

In sickness and in health...

According to the doctor, I do not have T.B.!

The joys of Philly - crazy evangelicals, people spitting on the sidewalk, and exposure to tuberculosis.

Remind me again why I live here?

Oh yeah, because of people like this:

Meet my fruit girls - Tracy and Cindy - who run my local fruit salad truck. They are my saving grace from spring to fall, pretty much my sole means of getting my daily fruit intake. If you haven't seen what they serve, take a look at my earlier post here

I love my Tivo...

...and so does Opus.

How much of a Hamlet are you?

Check out this quiz and find out how much of a Hamlet you are (or are you a Fortinbras?)

After that, if you haven't already discovered the joys of Jasper Fforde's books, head off to a library and pick up "The Eyre Affair" and get hooked on a great series for the summer!

Contagious

You know how seeing someone else yawn will make you yawn as well?

Let's see if it works via the internet!

Check out Emilie's Don't Yawn Game

Brief Encounters

Dialogue on the way to work this morning on the bus between me and a guy in a white suit, candycane striped red and white shirt, and a polkadot bowtie, who was sitting behind me:

Him: What time is it?
Me: 9:35
Him: Is it too late?
Me: Too late for what?
Him: Too late to depend on god?
Me: ... [crickets chirping]

And then I slowly turned away and wished I had a book to read or music to listen to. Thankfully he got off soon afterwards.

Sigh.

Happy Canada Day

It's that time of year again, when I bring my mini Canadian flag to work and wave it about the office. Thanks to Liz who called me at 7:49 this morning to remind me of the holiday!

I've been away for the past little while, attending the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. What a nice city (and I discovered Marshall's)

Highlights:

- being bumped off the flight to Chicago and getting a free roundtrip ticket for anywhere in the US and Canada - which somewhat alleviates the torture of being trapped on a plane sitting on the tarmac with no air-conditioning for two and a half hours on the trip back

- speaking to a very full, very big room about Generation X management styles, in the process freaking myself out because I do fit pretty much every stereotype of the group

- Seeing an omnimax film at the Museum of Science and Industry that was, I think, supposed to be about the human body and how it works and ended up being a very long pro-life commercial. I really don't need to see a Stepford wife lying on a couch caressing here barely-there bulge with a wistful smile on her face in full IMAX glory. The images of the inside of a person's stomach were cool, though.

- getting a Jane Austen bobblehead doll, an unabridged Laurell Hamilton novel on mp3 (and chatting with her husband), various other exhibit freebies, and so many free books that I had to ship them back to myself

- Wandering through the Field Museum and sneaking into exhibits that were closed (in our defense, we were not the only ones doing it), then topping the evening off with make-your-own ice cream sundaes

-watching Karen go crazy over the pressed penny machines - it's good she has a cheap obsession

- Riding the ferris wheel at Navy Pier and taking the river cruise architectural tour

Last but not least: 4 girls, 1 tiny hotel room, 1 even tinier bathroom, NO BLOODSHED!!