I love birthdays. I love them so much I spend about a month celebrating mine. We started back on the 12th with a birthday picnic and things really kicked into high gear today. Yes, today is my actual birthday. Yippee!
I spent the day doing fun things like going to Klondike Days (now called the Capital Ex) with my sister and wandering the midway, zoning out with a good book and a slurpee, and doing Taste of Edmonton with the family and stuffing my face (4 different ice creams!).
One of the reasons I love my birthday so much is that this is the time of year I fly out to Edmonton and visit the old stomping grounds and touch base with all my friends back home. I got here yesterday and I'm spending the next week hanging out, eating my face off, shopping, and generally having a great time.
Life is good.
.
.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Saturday, July 05, 2008
New comic obsession
I was at ALA this past weekend in sunny Anaheim. Aside from getting my grubby little hands on the new Terry Pratchett book (and 70 more pounds of books), I stumbled across a web comic called Sheldon. The guy was right next to my standby Unshelved booth, and I picked up a page with sample comics on it and thought they were adorable. I don't think it's really a library cartoon per se, but it is in the middle of an adorable summer reading storyline. Go to the site, the strips start on June 25, 2008. Here's some of my favourites so far:
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The president's daughter
Last year at ALA I picked up an advance copy of Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White from the magnificent folks at Feiwel and Friends. It's taken me a year to get around to it in my quest to finally read all the books I actually own, but I've been saving the best for last. Long May She Reign is the long awaited (so long that I thought there were only three and maybe the author had died or stopped writing back in the 80's or something) fourth book in a series about a teen girl who's mom runs for and wins the presidency of the United States.
I remember reading the first book back when I was about ten or eleven and then devouring the series as it came out. It's not a fluffy girl book either - Meg, the president's daughter, deals with a whole bunch of shit, especially in the later books - including her mom's attempted assassination and her own kidnapping and torture. But she's a believable girl dealing with extreme (yet believable) situations and I'd love to have her for a friend.
This fourth book picks up right where the third left off, which Meg and her family dealing with the physical and psychological effects of her kidnapping. I'm only about 150 pages in so far, but I've been sucked right back into her world.
If you've never read the series before (and you don't have to be a teenager to love them), Fiewel and Friends is re-releasing them with nifty new covers on July 22.
I remember reading the first book back when I was about ten or eleven and then devouring the series as it came out. It's not a fluffy girl book either - Meg, the president's daughter, deals with a whole bunch of shit, especially in the later books - including her mom's attempted assassination and her own kidnapping and torture. But she's a believable girl dealing with extreme (yet believable) situations and I'd love to have her for a friend.
This fourth book picks up right where the third left off, which Meg and her family dealing with the physical and psychological effects of her kidnapping. I'm only about 150 pages in so far, but I've been sucked right back into her world.
If you've never read the series before (and you don't have to be a teenager to love them), Fiewel and Friends is re-releasing them with nifty new covers on July 22.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Grrr
Well, I woke up chipper and disgustingly perky this morning, and then I went to Lowe's. I wanted to get the Bug Off Instant Screen Door for the back door so we can keep it open in the spring without the mosquitos swarming in and attacking my roommate en masse.
I checked online to see if they had it and then headed down. I ended up waiting 15 minutes in the door section for someone to come help me, and when someone finally did show up he was not even from that department, he was from the garden department. He had absolutely no clue what I was talking about and kept pointing at random doors and asking if that's what I wanted. I kept explaining what I need by name and description and offering to show it to him on their website.
He finally called a manager who goes through the whole process again, and then looked in their catalogue (finally) and saw that they should have 3 in stock. Of course, neither of them has heard of what I'm looking for, and they don't know what the packaging looks like, and they spend another 15 minutes wandering down aisles looking for it. Garden guy also called another store which had the screen to have them describe the packaging to him.
Some other guy showed up and knew exactly what I was looking for and led us right to it (right on the end of an aisle in the door section) but it was the wrong size. At this point (at least 45 minutes from when I started looking for someone to help me) the guy who actually works in the department showed up and told me that they don't have it in, the computer inventory is wrong. Argh!
I left the store in a really pissy mood, came home, and bought a brand new Bug Off screen door on eBay for half the price.
This day had better get better.
I checked online to see if they had it and then headed down. I ended up waiting 15 minutes in the door section for someone to come help me, and when someone finally did show up he was not even from that department, he was from the garden department. He had absolutely no clue what I was talking about and kept pointing at random doors and asking if that's what I wanted. I kept explaining what I need by name and description and offering to show it to him on their website.
He finally called a manager who goes through the whole process again, and then looked in their catalogue (finally) and saw that they should have 3 in stock. Of course, neither of them has heard of what I'm looking for, and they don't know what the packaging looks like, and they spend another 15 minutes wandering down aisles looking for it. Garden guy also called another store which had the screen to have them describe the packaging to him.
Some other guy showed up and knew exactly what I was looking for and led us right to it (right on the end of an aisle in the door section) but it was the wrong size. At this point (at least 45 minutes from when I started looking for someone to help me) the guy who actually works in the department showed up and told me that they don't have it in, the computer inventory is wrong. Argh!
I left the store in a really pissy mood, came home, and bought a brand new Bug Off screen door on eBay for half the price.
This day had better get better.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Happy Spring!
The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and I've been wandering around outside in short sleeves. Of course, that's because I'm in the sunny south - here's what it looked like in Edmonton yesterday:
Hee hee!
Hee hee!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Book of the Week
I'm going through our paperback order list to decide what to buy for the library, and this title just jumped out at me
Where DO they come up with these?
(and no, I'm not buying a copy, although it is tempting...)
Where DO they come up with these?
(and no, I'm not buying a copy, although it is tempting...)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Statistic I would like to see evidence for
Philadelphia has some interesting ads in it's public buses. On the one I ride to work I often see this one:
Now that's a statistic I find hard to believe - almost 50% of black children in Philadelphia are aborted? Really? Considering the source is the Family Life Educational Foundation, which is a affiliation of some hard-line pro-life groups (according to the City Paper), I highly doubt this is what it seems.
Now that's a statistic I find hard to believe - almost 50% of black children in Philadelphia are aborted? Really? Considering the source is the Family Life Educational Foundation, which is a affiliation of some hard-line pro-life groups (according to the City Paper), I highly doubt this is what it seems.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Citizenship
Today a friend of mine became a US Citizen and I went to the ceremony to cheer her on. I have never been to one before and thus have never heard the Oath of American Citizenship before. Here it is:
Oath of American Citizenship
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.
Wow. That's pretty heavy and something that I don't know that I can say and mean at this point in my life. In contrast, here's the Canadian oath:
Oath of Citizenship - Canada
I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.
Short and much less specific than the American one - follow the law and live up to your responsibilities. Nothing about enemies (foreign or domestic) or abjuring anything or serving in the army. You don't have to give up anything to be a Canadian whereas you have to renounce all previous fealties to be an American. And you don't have to swear under god - bringing religions into politics always kind of creeps me out. Even if I wasn't a Canadian to begin with, I think I could easily say that oath. The American one I'd have to seriously think about.
Oath of American Citizenship
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.
Wow. That's pretty heavy and something that I don't know that I can say and mean at this point in my life. In contrast, here's the Canadian oath:
Oath of Citizenship - Canada
I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.
Short and much less specific than the American one - follow the law and live up to your responsibilities. Nothing about enemies (foreign or domestic) or abjuring anything or serving in the army. You don't have to give up anything to be a Canadian whereas you have to renounce all previous fealties to be an American. And you don't have to swear under god - bringing religions into politics always kind of creeps me out. Even if I wasn't a Canadian to begin with, I think I could easily say that oath. The American one I'd have to seriously think about.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Things I love today
One of the shows I really got into this season was Journeyman. It starred Kevin McKidd (from Rome) as Dan Vassar, a reporter who suddenly begins traveling backwards in time. It was a well-plotted, fabulously acted, thoughtful show, so of course it was canceled. At least with the writer's strike the network actually showed all 13 episodes produced, which was great because it actually works as a self-contained miniseries in some ways. Anyways, I just found out that you can watch all 13 episodes online at hulu. It starts fairly slowly, but by about two or three episodes in it becomes riveting. The way the backlog built up on my Tivo I ended up watching them all in about a week, and it was just beautiful.
Here's the first episode, and then head over to Hulu to watch all 13 if you want to.
Here's the first episode, and then head over to Hulu to watch all 13 if you want to.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Run, Fatboy, Run
Last night I took my free movie pass and borrowed my friend's boyfriend and went to a preview showing of Run, Fatboy, Run. I was very excited for the movie because of Simon Pegg (and once I realized he was in it, Dylan Moran). Once I found out the director was David Schwimmer I became a bit less excited, although I shouldn't let the fact that I hated his character on Friends colour how I view him as a director.
This was a basic paint-by-numbers Hollywood underdog romantic comedy. Basically - boy leaves pregnant fiancee at alter, spends next five years regretting it, girl meets new man who is perfect and runs marathons, boy decides to run marathon to prove his love to girl and win her back. I'll let you figure out what happens in the end - it's not a surprise. Not as sharp or witty as Shaun of the Dead (admittedly hard to top) or even Hot Fuzz. We were talking about it after the show and the best we could come up with was "cute". A pleasant way to spend a few hours but ultimately forgettable. The best lines came from Dylan Moran (not a surprise) and Thandie Newton spent the movie looking pretty and concerned. Simon Pegg was Simon Pegg - I'd watch him read a phone book, so I enjoyed him in this, even though his character was pretty two dimensional.
In a weird sponsorship deal, the promo people from Wired 96.5 were there before the show giving out Run, Fatboy, Run water bottles and sweatbands and tons of radio station freebies. Not quite sure why a "Hits and Hip-Hop station" was sponsoring this movie, but I did get lots of free swag (which I will promptly try to unload on other people).
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
RIP Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke died last night.
I remember that my dad gave me Childhood's End to read when I was a kid - it was one of the first science fiction novels I read. Dad and I would have discussions about Clarke's outlook on what the future was like as opposed to other writers such as Asimov. Clarke was one of the authors who made me fall in love with golden age science fiction. His The Nine Billion Names of God is my all time favourite short story.
Clarke's Three Laws, published in Profiles of the Future (1962):
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
I remember that my dad gave me Childhood's End to read when I was a kid - it was one of the first science fiction novels I read. Dad and I would have discussions about Clarke's outlook on what the future was like as opposed to other writers such as Asimov. Clarke was one of the authors who made me fall in love with golden age science fiction. His The Nine Billion Names of God is my all time favourite short story.
Clarke's Three Laws, published in Profiles of the Future (1962):
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Librarian returns
All that is cheesy good fun that you can find about librarian action heroes on the small screen is returning with The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice. Noah Wylie stars as a mild-mannered librarian (although I don't think he actually has a library degree) who works at the New York Metropolitan Library as guardian of mythical treasures. Of course, every so often he has to go out and retrieve said treasures from that hands of assorted bad guys , always with the help of a feisty female sidekick. The first one, Quest for the Spear, was adorable and silly and cheesy enough to supply a whole chain of Domino's.
The second, which had super-stick figure Gabrielle Anwar (who's way better on Burn Notice) replacing kick-ass Sonya Walger as the femme du jour, was just stupid cheesy.
Hopefully the third will get back some of the sheer irreverence and fun and goofball cheesiness of the first. Either way, you know I'll be with a group of fellow librarians throwing popcorn at the screen and snickering about inaccurately portrayed library stereotypes. It'll be a great time.
The second, which had super-stick figure Gabrielle Anwar (who's way better on Burn Notice) replacing kick-ass Sonya Walger as the femme du jour, was just stupid cheesy.
Hopefully the third will get back some of the sheer irreverence and fun and goofball cheesiness of the first. Either way, you know I'll be with a group of fellow librarians throwing popcorn at the screen and snickering about inaccurately portrayed library stereotypes. It'll be a great time.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Match it for Pratchett update
There's now a website and a facebook group for the Match it for Pratchett drive to donate to Alzheimer's research. Thanks to Neil Gaiman's blog for the info!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Match it for Pratchett
One of my favourite authours, Terry Pratchett, was diagnosed a few months back with early onset Alzheimer's disease. He's just donated 500,000 pounds ($1 million) to Alzheimer's research and it would be cool if 500,000 fans each donated 1 pound in his name to match the donation. I'm going to donate right now - if you want to make a contribution head over to the Boing Boing post to read more about the drive and link to the donation site for the Alzheimer's Research Trust.
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