Sick Day

My apologies for lack of posts--our trip to San Antonio for the holiday was followed by a day of insulating the bathroom in the building, which was followed by two sick days of misery related to my lack of common sense, i.e., not wearing a dust mask during afore-mentioned insulating. I'm only now back at work; I've got notes and some photos to share about the holiday that I hope to get up later this week, but from last weekend until next Tuesday promises to be my busiest, most stressful period all year. Expect my full triumphant return here in early December.

Which reminds me, wasn't there something about putting up some kind of tree...? Perhaps I'd better get around to that before Christmas, eh?

Hungry for Some Art?

BoingBoing reports that Barney's of New York is selling Andy Warhol-inspired Campbell's soup cans.

Unrelated Banter:

My office door made it to YouTube! Check out this student film, featuring the library mall and third floor of Willis (my door is the one near the clock).

Yep, still adding DC photos to flickr (this is a railing near the Capitol building):



And Some Linky-Loos:

• videos of James Bond title sequences
• Cold-War-era fallout shelter guide
• research your next digital camera or cameraphone--on flickr!
• National Geographic has a show on animals in the womb--verrry nifty
  

Geeky Girlz

...So, I'll have to concur with Slashdot on this one: CNET's Top Ten Girl Geeks list is great.... except for what the heck are Daryl Hannah and Paris Hilton doing on this list?! I don't know in what crazy world a socialite tiny-dog-carrying fashion-loving corny-actress heiress qualifies as a geek--but it's a very, very scary one.

Happy Turkey Day!

So, we're off to San Antonio for the rest of the week--have fun, kids. Eat lots, enjoy loved ones, and be sure to avoid repetitive holiday movie broadcasts for the rest of the season.

...And if you can't wait to get your Men of TLA Calendar to see Dr. Totten's page, enjoy this sneak preview.

A Sad Day for Entertainment News

No Peter Jackson's Hobbit--no, no, no!!!!
I read this on Slashdot on Monday and hoped it was a wild rumor. Sigh... Can't New Line and Jackson put aside their squabbles over pay just long enough to make the movie their public is longing for? I'm afraid to watch a Hobbit by another director, I really am.

Robert Altman died Monday night at age 81. This makes me sad; we own The Company and Gosford Park, and I've been looking forward to seeing A Prairie Home Companion for quite awhile now.

Today's Good News

• My utterly-bizarre lemonade-craving this morning was perfectly timed, as a coworker unexpectedly brought some to our office party.
• I just finished Samurai Shortstop, and can now review it for Jessica, the Cool Librarian.
• I had a “Eureka!” moment with my book this morning--I won't be making the 50K mark next week, but at least the problemmatic opening is solved! Woohoo!
• I now have 4 graphic novels on their way to me via BookMooch... Now if I could only learn more patience for media mail.
• My geeky-artist-librarian expertise was put to good use today while looking for novels/comics for an art student who wanted something to read while he waited in line for a Wii. Does that sound totally up my alley, or what?
  

I also finished the Abilene backlog post (only LA left to cover!)

Playing Catch-Up

Yes, I finally translated all those analog blog notes into digital format. Here is the chronicle of our October journey to Washington, DC:

DC (and some LA) photos

post-dated posts:

• DC Backlog: 10.21.06
• DC Backlog: 10.22.06
• DC Backlog: 10.23.06
• DC Backlog: 10.24.06
• DC Backlog: 10.25.06

I'll finish the end of that trip (Homecoming at HSU in Abilene) shortly, and then tackle the LA trip.

TGIF... Hold That Thought

So much for being happy that it was the weekend. The highlights were: being with Alex, and going out for a birthday dinner for one of Alex’s friends. Other than that, Alex worked—yes, beyond working late every single evening, and this is not the first weekend he’s worked—we loaded scrap metal onto my father-in-law’s trailer, and we finished the building. Which is great on the one hand—hooray! Inspections this week, then we can move our project stuff out there!—and frustrating on the other—it took us from 3pm to 8pm yesterday to finish, and after that whole weekend of work, we were absolutely dead. At 8:30pm on a Sunday. Sigh…

Actually, perhaps my favorite part of the weekend was on the way to Home Depot (for building supplies, of course), Alex and I remembered that it was the debut day for the Nintendo Wii, and Alex called Jared. Because of course, there was no doubt in our minds that Jared had not only purchased said console, but had already played several games with Justin and therefore would have gleeful and valuable information to convey. Short version: he likes the remote controller evern better than he thought he would, and from first glance, Zelda rocks. I am gleeful with anticipation, and suddenly Alex is wanting to drive to Tyler (closest place with a Wii left!) to get one. My hope is that this controller will finally let me become the Uber-Gamer I have always dreamed of being (but lacked the time/training/skilz to be). I wish to play a Zelda game completely through for the first time (okay, not counting Four Swords which rocked the hizzy, but since I had three teammates, it wasn’t achieved fully on my own merit).

Unrelated Banter:

• Here’s a free information number (they play short ads before giving you the number, but free beats 411 charges): 800-373-3411
• Along those lines, I’ve been screening my calls when a caller ID doesn’t show up—reject the call, then look up the number on this website. When it’s obviously a telemarketing call, I save the number under the contact name “Telemarketer”—I’ve got five numbers saved under that name now, and they immediately pop up as “telemarketer” when they call. This website’s also a fast way to report a No-Call-List violation.
• I finally added the “Best Of” shots from our DC trip to my newest flickr account: enjoy!
• Oh no, the movie "Stealth" comes to life! Aiieee!!! (Heh, heh, heh.)
• Even if you already type well, you'll want to play this typing game: Qwerty Warriors. Typing "detonate" when that word appears will obliterate all other enemies/words on the screen, heh heh.
• Very interesting, very controversial article.

esprit d'escalier

Geoff replied to my last post about wanting to sound like a Gilmore Girl with "I watched West Wing and Sports Night non stop to sound like an Aaron Sorkin character, and I did my level best, but alas, not to be.”

That got me to thinking. I think a big part of the blog movement is a reaction to the age-old problem of "esprit d'escalier--" that great French phrase from "wit" and "stairs” that means thinking of a witty remark too late. I guess it’s really just an extension of a writer’s age-old quandary, being able to write sparkling prose when you’ve got the time to think, but coming off as boring in conversations. I know that I’ve written far more witty stuff since I started blogging… but don’t think I’ve become much more interesting in conversation.

Why is it that I can have a great running commentary in my head, but it can only be pushed out by my fingers, not my mouth? It can't just be a fear or inability to speak in public, because I've tried recording my thoughts. Even when alone, speaking to a recorded stems my creative flow; the only thing I've found it useful for is recording plot points or subjects when I'm driving, or my hands are otherwise occupied.

If this isn't making a lot of sense, or seems unusually philosophical for me, it's probably because in the past 2+ weeks, I've been lucky to get 6 hours of sleep a night. Starr = no function well on less than 7 hours of sleep. Which means Starr no function well... most of the time.

Happy Holiday Feasting

I’ve just committed to making cranberry relish for the UNT Libraries’ holiday dinner. This is a Julia Child dish that my family is famous for taking to holiday events (it makes a sumptuous ice cream if you add whipped cream and freeze it). And for some reason, I thought that I needed some other project for December. Ah well, at least cranberries are healthy!

And just for fun: here are some maps showing the location from which food items traditionally served at Thanksgiving originate.

Why yes, yes I am a Huge Library Nerd.

Beta is the New Gamma

When watching The Wizard, I never thought I'd see the day that pro gamers made six figures. Yeesh, sign me up. (Guess I need to get some of those mad skilz first, though...)

Speaking of games... Wii launches tomorrow!!! And we've already got a cast of Mii characters for it (more about Mii). Playstation 3's already out and causing violence. Ah, Penny Arcade, I'm sure you'll be talking about violence again* soon, eh?

Added to Wishlist: attain the vocabulary, wit, and charm of a Gilmore Girl. (Watched 6 episodes last night.)

If ever an archive should be opened, this is it: the International Tracing Service office in Germany holds 16 miles of files pertaining to the Holocaust.

*Warning: PA strips may contain profanity, violence, and extreme sarcasm. ...In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the point.

TGIF... (And We're Home for the Weekend!)

This is evil of me, but... I opened a CRS report that was titled "Intelligence Issues in Congress." And snickered.

• Comics made from information found on Wikipedia.
• Comic about how the airline instructions given by flight attendants resemble a dance.
• What really happened after Grant Wood, the painter of American Gothic (1930), left the farm. (From this set of photoshop-ed ghosts in famous artworks.)
• And, just in time for winter again, more BoingBoing examples of video-game-inspired scarves.
• An elaborate Rube-Goldberg contraption. Makes me want to go home and play Mousetrap.
• The communication of your youth... now wireless.
• Portraits of gamers' hands: this Star Wars arcade one is my favorite, next to this one.
• Photos of kitchy souvenirs superimposed on their real counterparts. Alex and I did something similar in DC, having not seen these photos, with the back of a penny at the Lincoln Memorial.

Not Creative Enough To Title This Post

Heard on NPR's Morning Edition:

• The Book on Bond... but no gadgets in the books?!
• Murtha was interviewed about running for majority leader of the House--and Pelosi says she's all about reforming politics. Way to support a scandal-involved politician, that's all I have to say. Oh, and also: Murtha's one of the most frustrating people I've heard on NPR in the past year. (Okay, that's really all.) Update: Ha ha, Hoyer won!!!
  
• "Popcorn" (the song) with Latin flavor.
• Teaching kids the science of calories--with pyrotechnics!!

Your Book & Movie News:

• The Fanboys trailer is finally, finally out! Um... and so far, the funniest scenes are the two involving Star Trek. What's up with that, huh?
• There's a second "Librarian" adventure/B-movie coming up in December. Yes, I'm a sucker for cheap Indiana Jones imitations--it's as good as I'm getting unless Lucas and Spielberg ever actually start Indy 4. (I'm not holding my breath, or I'd have turned blue about six years ago.)
• It didn't win, but American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award! Woohoo! Of course, one step forward, one step back... there have been several recent challenges to graphic novels in libraries.
• Added to wishlist: "Ology" books, The Stolen Child

While in line at the post office today, not only did two guys stand extremely close to me--so close that if my best friend stood that close, I'd wonder if she was making a move on me--but they then proceeded to converse animatedly. With their hands. To the point that one of them brushed my hair. My short, short hair that sits close to my head. Um, hellooooo, personal space. Don't you love cultural differences in the concept of personal space?

While I was leaving the post office, I ran into my friend Beau, whom I worked with at UNT's Technical Writing Computer Lab seven ages years ago! We had lunch together and caught up; it was so great to see someone who I'd been wondering about off and on. And now he's back in the Art History dept. at UNT--Hooray for reconnections!

Smallville--it's okay and all, the angst is getting lesser... but huzzah for the Green Arrow! Not only does he have a pretty spiffy costume, but he's a fun character with great lines and--gasp--some character depth that is not all about teen angst. Ah, Lex, how you have fallen. (This dys-Lex-ia quiz sounds too funny, btw.)

Unrelated Banter:

• Temporary Tattoos--for librarians! Put a little sass on your shushin' arm.
• Homestar Runner has a wiki. That is all.

His First Time

So I'm not sure how Brandon's Star Wars virgin experiment worked out (he was showing them to his virgin friend not in original or in chronological order, but an interesting one of his own devising)... But Entertainment Weekly got a SWv to watch all six in one night (!) and then write an article about his thoughts. That definitely takes me back to long conversations in The Line.

(They've also got an interesting feature on the 10 Worst Bond Girls, which I'm sure Jared will enjoy as much as I did. And let me cross my fingers one more time to hope that Casino Royale is at least half as spectacular as its trailer, and prove my grumblings about non-dyed hair to be petty.*)

*I was going to link to the post where I whined and moaned about Daniel Craig and the non-dying of his hair, but I can't find it. Hmph.

Media Consumption

Currently Reading:

• Lone Wolf and Cub: Gateless Barrier (vol. 2)
• Samurai Shortstop
• Trail of Time (DC Universe) (did I mention this is an advance release? for March '07?)
• Thieves and Kings

Currently Watching

• BSG (if you're not watching it, shame on you!)
• Smallville
• Heroes
• Lost (ah well, on hiatus 'til January)
• Gilmore Girls, Season 3
• Lois & Clark, Season 3 (stopped halfway thru, for fear of the amnesia episodes)
  

Currently Hopelessly Caught in an Obsessive Listening Loop:

• Sexyback, Justin Timberlake (oh, the shame, it burns!)
• Call Me When You're Sober, Evanescence
• Ain't No Other Man, Christina Aguilera

Lunch Break Links

• Girl hypnotizes lizards, and her dad takes artsy photos of them. In tiny costumes. With Lego accessories.
• A lot of robot fun.
• Missing some money? Search for it online, courtesy of your state govn't.
  
• Girls and guns aren't a new thing: check it out. (I'm just following in Annie Oakley's footsteps. With a better gun.)
• Portraits of videogamers.
• Ballpark of the future: cool or scary? Hello, Minority Report-like advertising.

It's a Nice Day for a... Pink Wedding!

Here are some preliminary shots of our LA trip... Both our afternoon at the Santa Monica Pier, and a few shots of the wedding of Amy "Pink 5" Earhart & Terry Matalas (who, for you fellow geeks, works for Brandon Braga). Unfortunately, I have yet to find non-blurry photos of the bride & groom... but I'll keep hunting.









For commentary on these photos, you can just hop on over to my Flickr account (my trip photos are going in this new account for now, not the old one--hoping to set up my own image gallery soon-ish).

Ta-Ta to La-La-Land

Alex and I became slightly worried last night, as we listed off major changes in our likes/dislikes lists. Things that haven't changed since before we were married, that are coming fast and steady now. Monumental changes, like... Alex getting on the dance floor. Not once, not twice, but for hours, no wife-dragging/begging involved. Granted, once he realized that it only took a single glass of champagne to make me like being flipped, lifted, thrown, etc. (instead of my usual shrieking "eeeeeeek, PUTMEDOWN!"), I'm sure the whole dancing thing became a lot more attractive to him. After all, what's the good of having a tiny wife if you can't use that tiny-ness to toss her about? I mean, really.

As I still haven't translated my hard-copy blog posts from DC into this digital format, it seems kind of jumping the gun to go into the LA trip. But dude.... dude. You know those weddings in magazines and movies? The ones with sit-down dinners and gorgeous lighting and a talented DJ and more than twenty people on the dance floor at any given time shakin' their groove thang? The ones where you see the photos of the bride and a made-to-order flower girl that can't possibly be real, because of the high beauty/cuteness factors involved? The ones where you could have a polaroid instamatic and still not manage to take a less-than-perfect photo because the entire event is so gorgeously choreographed?

Yeah, it was that.

It was that, plus both sides of the family were gracious and awesome and fun and so, so nice, and all the wedding party and pals were great fun, and the entire weekend involved copious amounts of incredible food. With all this travel/food, coming home to a sinkful of dishes makes me just want to hop on another plane. (C'mon, we've done both coasts; isn't it time for Europe now?)

So, the blow-by-blow will come later, but for now let me say that yesterday, on the twelfth day of November, I spent the afternoon at the beach. In the sunshine. And called my California-born mother to let her hear the beautiful sound of the ocean.

Happiness.

In Other News...

• Ursula Vernon's Black Dogs is reviewed by Library Journal!! That's like a librarian fangirl's dream.
• A great list of Movie Librarians.
• NaNoWriMo: I am trying, actually. I'd like to say I'm still shooting for 50k, that I have hope and belief... but I'm struggling to put out much and I was just out of town for another weekend, leaving me with two weeks left and one of them will be hijacked by Thanksgiving in San Antonio (along with finishing my online archive final class project). Be that what it is, I'm writing anyway. I've neglected this particular novel long enough, and couldn't justify trying on a new one just for NaNoWriMo, so I'm trying to fill in gaps (which is the dirty part of all my creative work: gap-filling). Sorry: no plot details forthcoming until the thing's a done deal. Keep your fingers crossed for a 2007 finish date.

Mental Playlist*:

• Sexyback
• Schnappi
• Right Round
• Ain't No Other Man

*(heavily influenced by wedding DJ--with the exception of Schnappi)

It's Election Day...

Did you vote?
I did, and I have the sticker on my cheek to say so. I'll not delve into the wild world of politics here, but let me say: I proudly voted for some R's and some D's, and I fervently hope that Texans never again have to choose between the lesser of six evils.

I hope it doesn't make me a bad documents librarian (or a bad person) that today as I was cataloging CRS Reports, I came across "food as a weapon" -- and my first thought was cafeteria food fights.

Awesome news: I'm going to be writing reviews for FantasyBookSpot! And "They" said that blogging and reading boingboing would get me nowhere... whoever "They" is... Anyway, there are two advance copy (say it with me: ADVAAAANCE COPY) graphic novels and a fantasy novel winging their way to me right now, courtesy of the USPS and FantasyBookSpot. (Thanks, Damon! And yes, Tihleigh, you hate me more than monkeys, I know.)

NPR reported last week that UK citizens are caught on closed-circuit camera on average 300 times a day--and the plan is to extend the cameras to be all-pervasive. I had no idea it was getting that way in England--reeeeeally makes V for Vendetta look timely (again), doesn't it?

I really need to download Firefox 2, and so should you. Speaking of which... Firefox for scholars in the humanities: Zotero.

We leave for Los Angeles in two days!!! Eeek!

Linky-Loos For Your Reading Pleasure:

• In case I haven't mentioned it before, Dooce is a comic genius. That, and a big fan of Star Wars costumes.
• PacMan pie chart. Genius.
• Painting of kid riding an AT-AT.
• Motion-capture sketches used to instantly create furniture in liquid plastic. I quote Gareth, "It's something like this which reminds me I'm actually living in the 21st century."
• BSG-themed Halloween comic. Oh, gosh.
• These are the cutest--er, SCARIEST--cupcakes. Ever. (Tihleigh, I want a report back that you already made these.)
• Great costume: going as the Patriot Act.
• Blockbuster's online rental system is now fully integrated with in-store rentals. That way, if you want a new movie that night, just return a movie (either rented online or in-store) to the store, and immediately exchange it for another in-store movie!
• I [heart] the DCAU.

Update: Comic Book Education

I can't find the exact post where it started (darned Blogger and their late-to-the-party-ness with tags), but it seems it's been at least a year and a half since I started my comic book education. I thought I'd give you a little update as to what I've got, what I've read, and what's on my list.*

own:
Digger, vol. 1
Understanding Comics
Reinventing Comics
Making Comics
Fables vol. 1
Stardust
Death: The High Cost of Living
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Batman: Year One
Batgirl: Year One
Star Wars: Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand
Star Wars: Union
Amazing Spiderman, vol. 2
Ultimate Spiderman, vol. 1

have read:
Maus
Persepolis
Ghost World
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 1
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 2
Watchmen
Sandman: Nocturnes and Preludes
The Dark Knight Returns
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Fray
How to Read Superhero Comics & Why

to read:
Finder by Carla Lightspeed McNeil

on its way to me:
Book of Martyrs (yep, it's a graphic novel--how cool is that? How nerdy am I?)
Thieves & Kings, vol. 1

just borrowed (friends & library):
Lone Wolf & Cub, vols. 1-4 (thanks, Vale!)
Batman alt. story
Comics as culture
Comics & culture : analytical and theoretical approaches to comics
The making of a graphic novel

sooooo on my list to own:
Digger, vol. 2
Fables... all the rest of what's published!!!
Flight (all three volumes)

also on the list to own:
Daisy Kutter
Castle Waiting
Infinite Crisis
Trigun, vol.1
How to Read Superhero Comics & Why
Batman Adventures: The Lost Years
Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run
Serenity: Those Left Behind (no, I don't care that everyone says it sucks)
Marvel 1602

*I'm going to be a little unusual in this post and not link every single title. I figure, if you like comics, you already know what I'm talking about, and if you don't, you either won't care--or you'll just type the titles into Amazon like I would. And, y'know, if you can't find it and want to know--you know how to reach me.

Clint Would Feel At Home

The Good:
--gave my metadata report and presentation of 20 records for class last night
--a friend's pregnancy is progressing beautifully
--a friend's spring wedding plans are nearly complete
--have three graphic novels winging their way to me for free (Trigun!!!)
The Bad:
--a friend may be re-diagnosed with lymphoma ...her third go-round with this disease
--a friend's second maid of honor backed out ...ten days before the wedding
The Ugly:
--life imitates art parody: NPR reported that Kerry actually said "right-wing nutjobs" yesterday. Now I'll have that darned song in my head all day.