SpinsterLibrarian.net

Friday, May 31, 2002

  So, Matt and I were going to make spaghetti tonight. He invited his parents. Okay, fine. But his mom talked like they wouldn't come. So, after work, I go home and start things cooking. Matt doesn't show up. Pretty soon, the food is ready, and he's still not there...so I sit down to eat. The phone rings, it's his mom, she wants directions, because they are coming after all. Schiznit! I only made enough for two! I jump up from the table, and for the second time this evening, fix dinner. Matt finally shows up, and does manage to help a little bit...lucky for him, because I was ready to kill him if he didn't.


  We got a call today from the local paper asking about filtering on our internet terminals. (Yes, we do. No, I'm not happy about it.) I wondered why the sudden interest, then heard on NPR that CIPA had been struck down. (Go ALA!) The Justice Department can still appeal to the Supreme Court, so it's not over yet...


  An interesting proposal for a 9/11 memorial.


  Quote of the day:

"This is the sexiest event of the summer. There are so many hot girls here, it makes me wish I was straight."

No, he's not talking about Blind Date Blog (though he could be). Stephen Gaines says that in the new documentary from two time Oscar winning documentary director Barbara Koppel, The Hamptons. See part one Sunday, June 2nd on ABC at 9:00 ET and part two at the same time, Monday, June 3rd.


Thursday, May 30, 2002

  You must see this short. You have to register with ifilm to see it, but it's so worth it.


Proof that prayer works... I just muttered, "Please God, let Blind Date Blog be back up!" And lo and behold, it's working again! Hallelujah!


From David at Rovidica: The Top 15 Redneck Porno Movies


So, I got an email from Chris saying that he is again gainfully employed. He quit his last job, but the last few jobs before that, he became unemployed because each place went out of business. He was sort of akin to the Grim Reaper -- if you hired him, Chapter 11 was soon to follow. Anyway, the new job is with Walmart, which I think will break the streak. If Walmart goes under, well, we'll know why...

BTW, which do you think will happen sooner, Todd returning home or Chris going back on the dole?

Update: Todd thinks that my blog portrays him as indecisive. On the contrary, he is very decisive. When he decided that the Miami situation wasn't working out, he packed up and took off the next morning. Todd has lived in Florida, Calilfornia, and Brazil -- circumstances just seem to bring him back home a lot. Similarly, Chris being unemployed has been most often due to circumstances beyond his control.


Jesse called me a nerd on Blind Date Blog. He posted on the Yahoo group a link to an article about Abercrombie and Fitch's thong underwear for little girls, thinking that he was the first to know about it, and I told him that it was old news. I thought that I did it in a nice way, but he got annoyed. Oh well, it's not like I was ever gonna vote for him anyway.


Wednesday, May 29, 2002

  When I arrived at my sister's house Monday, for a cookout, my niece ran up to me and asked, "Aunt Kay, where's your baby?" I said, "Chloe, I don't have a baby." She seemed okay with that, and ran off to play.

I swear my mother put her up to it... I don't have any kids, I'm not really interested in having kids, and my mom, of course, wants more grandchildren.



Monday, May 27, 2002


Sunday, May 26, 2002

  Part of the reason that I haven't posted is that I'm housesitting for some friends, and it took nearly 24 hours to defrag their hard drive. They told me that they had been having trouble with the computer, now I know why.

Also, Mom told me that she has filed for a divorce. She thought that I would be mad at her -- I don't know why. It's her life, I don't try to tell her what to do.

My sister, Mom and I were at Applebee's the other night when some kid's balloon popped really loudly, startling everyone. Mom said, "Shit!" kind of loud, and was really embarassed about it. I told her that half the people there had said it, and the other half just had their mouths full. The guy at the table across from us was kind of laughing, and Mom thought that he was laughing at her, a la Beavis & Butthead ("Heh, heh...She said 'shit.' Heh, heh.") Christine said that really he was laughing nervously because he had also said it, and was embarrassed. I then told them this joke: How do you make a room full of Catholic women* say "Shit!"? Say "Bingo!"

* Catholic women can be replaced with any group know for playing bingo, Indians, Girl Scouts, senior citizens, etc.


Thursday, May 23, 2002

  During our workshop, we also discussed the librarian stereotype, and people's reaction when they find out you work at the library:

"But you're so animated!"
"I've never seen you there."
"There are male librarians?!"
"Would you return my books for me?"
"Oh...if I need a book, I go to (insert name of bookstore here.)"
Sometimes it provokes guilt, "I have overdue books."
Sometimes they feel compelled to confess, "I don't have a library card."
Often, people assume that you are a librarian, and are shocked to discover that most library employees are not.
Some people assume that you have read all the books in the library ('cause that's what we do all day, right?) and you should know everything.
Children often think that the library staff never leave the library, i.e. "Mommy, Mommy, look! The librarians go grocery shopping too!"



  Our library is having a workshop today about diversity. During a discussion of how we can improve relations with your co-workers, the girl from my May 20th post contributed, "Encouragement. If somebody's having a bad day, say something nice to cheer them up." And, I guess conversly, if you see someone's having a good day, remind them that they are going to burn in Hell for all eternity...




Wednesday, May 22, 2002

  I love Cash Peters' Bad Taste Tour segments on The Savvy Traveller -- here's an example: Precious Moments


Monday, May 20, 2002

  Fake British Guy came to the public library today. A friend of mine at the front desk called me when he came in...

"Fake British Guy is coming up there right now! He was just here talking to me, telling me about his planned trip to Europe this summer, and he was laying on the accent really thick."

FBG walked by my door on his way to the audio visual department where another friend (and fellow FBG spotter) works. After FBG left, I checked in with him.

He said, "You know what was weird? Today he didn't have any trace of an accent."


  This actually happened to a gay friend of mine at work today:

Female co-worker: "Do you have kids?"
Gay friend: "No."
Later...
FC: "Are you married?"
GF: "No."
Later, after being seen talking to a female friend...
FC: "Is that your girlfriend?"
GF: "No...actually, I'm gay."
FC: "Did you know that's an abomination before God and you're going to burn in Hell? I can show you where it says that in the Bible."
Later...
FC: "I hope I didn't offend you...I just felt obligated to tell you that."
GF: "It's nothing that I haven't heard before."

She also asked him if he had had a bad experience with a woman. When he told her that that's not what makes guys gay, that they are born gay, she didn't believe him.


  My mom is going to see a lawyer about a divorce today...


Sunday, May 19, 2002

  Well, Todd has left for Florida yet again... (see 4/24 post) For how long this time? Who knows...maybe you do! Let's create a pool, and speculate on how soon he will return. Five bucks each, you choose a date, and the person that gets closest takes the whole kit and kaboodle!

Just kidding Todd!

Everybody, but Todd, highlight the next line:
No, really, email me with your guesses.




Wednesday, May 15, 2002

  And a companion game...Lesbian or German Lady? I scored very badly on this one.


  Try this game Gay or Eurotrash? I was laughing so hard I had to wipe away the tears! And BTW, I got a perfect score.


  (This will not really be appreciated by those of you who are not interlibrary loan practitioners. It will just sound really geeky...which it is.)

Today, Mary Hollerich of Northwestern University, webmistress of ILL Web, and listowner of ILL-L, the worldwide interlibrary loan listserv, signed up for my dinky little statewide ILL listserv. I'm not sure why, but I'm excited nonetheless. It's like a celebrity has come to visit...


Tuesday, May 14, 2002

  Sunday night, Matt and I went to see Spiderman. While I was waiting for Matt to show, who walked in? Fake British Guy! And bonus -- his parents! Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to hear if he was using the accent or not, but he was back in uniform -- all black. His dad is around six foot tall like him, and his mom is about 5' 4". Did they cross the pond for a visit? ; ) They all went to see Y Tu Mama Tambien.


  From Aaron over at TheBiz:

Anywho, I feel like I have to relate this story: Today I took in a bag of books from a man, perhaps 80 years of age. Among these donations were books on Jack the Ripper, the Masons, the Kama Sutra, and HTML. Wow. That's a reminder to never stereotype the elderly.


Sunday, May 12, 2002

  I saw Fake British Guy again yesterday. I almost didn't recognize him, because he was not wearing his usual all-black or Eurotrash garb. He was wearing a grey t-shirt, navy shorts, white tube socks, and white sneakers. If not for his distinctive hair (I have to get a picture...) I wouldn't have even recognized him. I didn't get to hear him speak, so I don't know if he is still doing the fake accent...

Sorry that I haven't posted more, but I'm addicted to Blind Date Blog. I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see who will make it into the next week...


Thursday, May 09, 2002

  Matt, Todd, and I went to see The Royal Tenenbaums last night. (They were both late, and for a minute I thought that I was being simultaneously stood up by two guys!)

This morning I stopped by my gym to see Todd, who works there. The gym rents space from a hotel, and as part of the deal provides free use of the facilities to hotel guests. On my way up to the gym, a guy got in the elevator with me wearing a t-shirt with the name of a local high school on it. When we got up to the gym, he signed in as a guest. Todd told me that he suspected that the guy was not a hotel guest, and I told him that the guy had not walked over from the hotel, but had ridden up in the elevator with me from the parking garage, thus confirming his suspicions. After I left, he busted the guy. He tried to claim that he was a bricklayer from Indy. Todd told him that the people actually staying in the room he claimed to be staying in didn't know who he was. He then claimed that he had stayed at the hotel on past jobs, but was not actually staying there now. Todd titled him, Fake Bricklayer Guy.


Wednesday, May 08, 2002

  I took a vacation day and just took it easy. The highlight of my day (thus far) was laying on a blanket in my back yard reading (A Grave Talent, by Laurie R. King).


Tuesday, May 07, 2002

  We saw Fake British Guy last night, apparently he is staying in town this summer. We were going up the escalator at the megabookstore, and I was talking to Todd on my cell phone when we spotted him:

Me: Fake British Guy is here! He has a sunburn.
Todd: Maybe he went home this weekend and worked in the fields! (Someone who knew him last year described him as being an "all-American Midwestern farmboy" before his mysterious transformation into "Fake British Guy.")



  From a conference announcement on a library listserv:

-- Part of the equipment that you will be issued at this year's conference is a rather attractive envelope containing your
registration materials. In an effort to reduce costs, there will NOT be a conference tote bag this year. So, if you want something
to lug your stuff around in, bring a tote from a past conference, and if you are inclined to share, bring one for a friend.

What?! No totebag?! Cancel my reservations! ;)



  NPR did a story this morning about this site, which collects corporate anthems of IT companies: IT Anthems

I especially like the YottaYotta ones.



Monday, May 06, 2002

  Have you ever had a conversation with a supervisor at work where your supervisor didn't know what they were talking about, but of course you can't tell them that? I had that experience today... It wasn't quite Dilbert trying to explain something to his pointy-haired boss -- this person is actually quite technologically savvy most of the time -- but at a certain point I just gave up and stopped talking.



Friday, May 03, 2002

  I just got a request for a book called, How the Irish Speak English... Are we going to have a "Fake Irish Guy" soon?

(For those of you not familiar with "Fake British Guy," see 4/11, 4/18, and 4/24.)