I think I'm in love

So did you hear? Jimmy Fallon is taking over late night for Conan, and Conan is taking over the tonight show for Jay Leno (June 1st). So I've watched Jimmy for the last couple of nights. He starts the show like usual, with a little stand-up routine. And it's pretty... awkward. The jokes fall short, the audience is pretty quiet, and there are long pauses where I'm not sure if the teleprompter isn't keeping up or if Jimmy just can't remember the next joke..... Wait. What was that? Jimmy Fallon just smiled. Are those dimples?
...I can't remember what I was talking about. Uh, like I was saying, great show!

Ok, so the opening stand up falls short. But the celebrity interviews are fun, and Jimmy seems much better at them, good at improvising off the top of his head rather than pre-written jokes. He's good at the friendly banter, and pretty dang charming at the same time, too. And yeah, a little awkward. But I think that's more his personality than jitters. Maybe it's an acquired taste. But I think I'm in love...

Here's my favorite part from last night's episode:

You just blew my mind

I saw this posted at Cafe Rock, and had to pass it along.

St. Patrick's day

I wasn't going to say anything. I was just going to let it slide by, because this year I don't particularly like this holiday. I didn't even wear green. But what happened when I was closing the library merits a post.

Three patrons were left on my floor, and I headed over to encourage them to get a move on. As I approached, one of them saw me and started a friendly banter:

Guy #1: "Well, you guys must not like massage studies very much!"

Me, thinking this was an odd thing to say: "What?"

Guy #1: "You know, massage studies!" He then pointed to his shirt bearing the logo for a local college of massage therapy.

Me: "Oh! Because you go to ***** College of Massage Therapy. I get it."

Guy #2: "Yeah! You know, so you guys must not like therapeutic massage studies very much if you're kicking us out."

Me, understanding that while this is very weird, they are still being friendly which I can appreciate: "Haha... well, I don't discriminate... them's the rules."

Guy #2, suddenly eyeing my body in a strange way and taking a few steps towards me, "Heyyyyyy! You're not wearing any green, are you? Am I gonna have to?..."

Me, backing away and stuttering out, "OH, well, you know, actually, there's this rule about.... " (here I am thinking frantically for something that sounds official) "librarian-patron... confidentiality."

All three laugh, thankfully. Guy #1 comes to my rescue by recounting how he used to be a government employee, and that any aggressive act or threat towards a government employee is an arrestable offense. I have NO IDEA if this is true or not, but am nodding and smiling in an apologetic way at Guy #2.

Guy #2, to my intense relief: "Okay, then. I'm sending you a mental pinch. And sometime, somehow, you're gonna feel it."


All in all, a St. Patrick's Day fiasco nearly averted. Though I will probably have to undergo counseling for unblocked memories of Patty's Day pinchings in grade school. (P.S. Probably the most wonderful thing a mother could ever do for her child is to make sure they are wearing something green when they head to school on this holiday. Possibly more important than feeding your children)

Charmant

As an art history major I have to re-post this (you can click on the image to go to the site where I got it from). I think it's fantastic. Who says you can't "enjoy" art?

"Sorry about that"

I often say this at the library when somehow we fall short for our patrons. As in, the book they want is checked out, the book they want we don't own, we can't find the book they want that should be checked in, the computer isn't doing what they want it to and I can't make it better, etc.

A lot of people don't apologize for these menial kinds of inconveniences, because it's usually not really our fault. And I totally understand. But I choose to apologize, just because I think it shows a bit of sympathy and understanding for their frustration. Some people also say you shouldn't ever apologize for anything that isn't your fault because it shows weakness - but I think... I'm a librarian. What do I need to show strength for? I'm here to help them, not draw them into little power plays.

So I've been feeling very pleased with myself for this little show of sympathy, but I've been wondering lately: what if these apologies are really for me? Because, usually, when I do apologize, the people give me the frown/smile and say, "It's okay." Maybe I'm just in it for their small reassurances that these inconveniences aren't ruining their day, maybe they give me a sense that I'm not totally inadequate, that they understand that it wasn't my fault. Maybe this is all a play of my defensive system and sense of insecurity.

And then I think about what my five-year-old nephew said recently,
"I think women should just relax."

Good advice.

Conversations I had last week

With my library patrons...

Young boy: I'm looking for a book. The author is Nuff.
Me: Okay, do you know the title?
Young boy: No.
Me: Do you know what it is about?
Young boy: No. It has, like, a brownish cover.



Woman: Hi, I'm having trouble finding a book.
Me: Okay, which book is it?
Woman: Dante's Inferno.
(I know about The Inferno by Dante, but that there is also a Mystery novel called "Dante's Inferno")
Me : Is it a mystery novel? Or is it the classic book?
Woman: It's the classic book.
Me: Right, where he goes down into hell?
Woman: Yes. It's by someone called Lovett, I think.
Me: Actually... Dante's Inferno is by... Dante.


*note: We did find that Nuff book. It has a purple cover.
*note2: The woman had typed in "Dante's Inferno" into the Title Search field. That is a mystery novel by Lovett. But you'd hope that people who know about the classic book also know that it was written BY Dante. But I'm no expert on some things, either. As a good co-worker said, "When library patrons do things like try to locate materials by ISBN number instead of call number, I try to remind myself that I'm equally ignorant when working with services from institutions I don't understand."

Oh, this one is from January but I forgot to post it:
Lady: do you have the winceawards?
Me: sorry, what was that called?
Lady: the wince awards.
Me: wince?
Lady: Yes.
Helpful man next to her: The Winds of War

It's been two days...

Conversation with my brother today:

Adam: hey, did you happen to fix the clock in my car the last time you were in it?
Me: I don't think so. I thought i left it cuz the time change was so close. Is it wrong now?
Adam: no, it's right now
Me: oh well that's why
Me: you went with it wrong for 6 months
Adam: yeah, and it's confusing the heck out of me
Me: you do know we just had the time change two days ago, right?
Adam: NO!

*Update - 10:30pm*
At almost the same time that Adam and I were having this conversation today, his car was in the shop getting the battery changed. The battery! Do you know what that means? That means that his car clock was wrong for 6 months, then it was RIGHT for two days, but it just confused him, and at almost the same moment that he found out that it WAS right... it got changed.

Weekly music crush

I heard this just last night and knew instantly that it was this week's music crush.

It's a remake of Careless Whisper, George Michael's 80's song that laments, "I'm never gonna dance again, these guilty feet have got no rythm..."
The song is so outdated and sappy, and it just cracks me up that Seether did a cover of it... Seether. It totally breathes new life into the song. Too bad it can't do anything for the sappy lyrics.
Honestly, I'm pretty partial to the original song. Love, love, love this remake, though. This is just a 30 second clip, but you can listen to the whole clip here. I'd encourage you to listen to the whole thing, if only so that you can bear witness to the fact that Seether redid a George Michael song.

(RSS feeders, you'll have to visit):

Reasons why people think Utah sucks

Friday, March 6, 2009:

Sunday, March 8, 2009:

Monday, March 9, 2009:

Plain English

This week I'm going to start teaching a class on blogging at the library. For our first class, we have to start with the basics: i.e. what is a blog? My co-workers told me that there was a video online that I could use that it is simple and easy-to-understand.

So I watched it, and not only was it simple and well-done, it was just... fun. Very visual ... more visual than just showing a video of someone's computer screen, because this is more mobile. Check it out:



So I did a little digging and found out that the people producing these videos are a little husband-and-wife team working out of Seattle. And they produce a lot of these simple, basic educational videos for businesses and schools. Brilliant!

I wanted to do a plug for them because I think what they're doing is pretty cool. Some of my other favorite videos from them are:

(I think everyone should watch this first one)
RSS In Plain English
Investing Money in Plain English

To brighten your day

Also as a note:
I'm feeling well enough to re-resolve on my goals. I'm going to start tomorrow morning, 8:00am. Remember, these are my goals: in bed by 12, up by 8, and I'm going to do at least 15 minutes of working out everyday at first, just to build the habit back up. 21 days!

Weekly Music Crush

Driving home tonight, a song came on my radio that I really liked.

I have a theory that alternative rock songs (my most preferred genre), don't always have the best/most understandable/easily deciphered lyrics. And my theory further postulates that country music (probably my least preferred genre, with a few notable exceptions) has really great/easily understood/very meaningful lyrics.

So I heard this song and I thought, "Holy Cow. It's an alternative song with great meaningful lyrics that I can understand." The perfect fusion. A shining example...

I got home and googled it, and it's by... Miley Cyrus! Gah! I wasn't expecting that. And listening to it again... it's not quite completely alternative... okay it's kinda country. But I've thought about it a lot and - I still like it.

I guess it's like brand-spankin'-new. I can't even buy it on iTunes yet; the album is coming out on March 24th. And it was dang hard to find a bootlegged version to share with you guys. The best I could do is this ripped-off version with advertisements (creepy voice man says "1075 the river" scattered throughout) But it's this week's music crush.

(Rss Feeders, you'll have to visit to view this:)

Sixty-Five degrees

It is such a miracle that the world can become warm after it's felt like a freezer for so long. I have to hand it to winter: if you weren't so depressing, spring wouldn't be so invigorating, amazing, joyous.

I stood outside of my apartment today, and from my yard (and even from my windows), I have a pretty view of Utah lake. Today the sun was warm and neighbors were outside being happy (because, after all, it's warm). On days like this the lake reflects the sky, and it becomes this unearthly band of color within the landscape.


The sun went away when I tried to take a picture, but still the warm air makes everything so enjoyable, even murky landscapes. It made me think of another Denise Levertov poem called, "What One Receives from Living Close to a Lake." It's a little corny but I still like it.

That it is wide,
and still - yet subtly
stirring; wide and
level, reflecting the intangible sky's
vaster breadth in its own
fresh, cold, serene
surface we can
touch, enter, taste.
That it is wide
and uninterrupted save by
here a sail, there
a constellation of waterfowl -
a meadow of water
you could say,
a clearing amid the entangled
forest of forms and voices,
anxious intentions, urgent
memories: a deep, clear
breath to fill
the soul, an internal
gesture, arms
flung wide to echo
that mute
generous outstretching
we call lake.