Coraline Booktrailer

A gorgeous and tantalizing introduction to Neil Gaiman's Coraline.

Well, I drove Kristin up to the airport today and she should be back in California by now. It was great to have her visit, though I'm sure she got tired of accompanying me to work. It was pretty mellow - we went to my favorite bookstore (where the owner has apparently started smoking inside and stinking up the merchandise) and ate out a few times and watched Big Fish, which I liked a lot. A very positive and fun and relaxing time for me; it's nice to talk to someone I KNOW.

I finished Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan today. The Applewhites reminded me of the family in Saffy's Angel, artistic and unpredictible. Last week I read the companion book that is about Saffy's brother Indigo, Indigo's Star.

Keaton's on high alert hunting the ladybugs that have sought refuge in the house.
I bought the Amelie soundtrack the other day. Kristin and I listened to it nonstop and pretended we were enjoying cocktails at Elizabeth's.
Tomorrow I open my Nebrasky bank account at the credit union down the street.
Tomorrow is November - and I am still not teaching.
Time to shift things into high gear.

NE Front Pages Man, those guys are acrobatic!

Parade on Saturday - please go and take photos so I can share in the celebration from a distance. I left Boston a few months too early! Ack. I've got some Sam Adams Octoberfest in the fridge; maybe I'll have my own party.

Was it just me or was Pedro seriously hyper during the game last night? Every time the camera showed the dugout, there was Pedro with a silly smile on his face. I guess he just knew it was going to work out - plus he pitched amazingly yesterday, so he knew he did his job. Everyone did - what a team.

Wow.

I don't know how to feel! All's I know is I want to be where the celebration is! Bostonians, please let me know what's happening!



This is off the Boston Dirt Dogs site.
What are they going to do to the "Reverse the Curse" sign on Storrow? Bruce says to just add a "D" so it's "reversed."
Whee!

Incredible! What an amazing team. And Pedro even got on base!

Boston Dirt Dogs

This is hilarious and always good for a laugh. I love the spoofs of A-Rod's slap (have to scroll way down).

I got a new phone today, so expect calls alerting you to my new number. My Boston phone will work until Thursday, I think.

Marionette Puppets

Tootsie

I've tried two and they are okay. I'm glad they didn't get rid of any old ones!

Kristin flies into Omaha today (!) and I am meeting her for lunch. Why don't the rest of you get jobs that necessitate travel to locales around Nebrasky? Then you can come see the corn!

Tomorrow I'm going up to Verizon and getting a new cell phone. No more Boston phone number (my last connection to Taxachussetts!) and hopefully no more crappy service.

I think I mentioned how I was looking forward to the high school book group at the library. My supervisor and I talked a month ago about it. She told me which books they were reading and gave me the discussion questions the kids were going to work with. I bought the books, one still in hardcover. The group met a couple days ago - I brought my books, some internet research I did (one book was historical fiction) and the YA-class-style writeup I worked on. This is something I've been looking forward to, even one of the reasons I wanted this job so badly. All's I did was work the desk while my supervisor and the high school librarian ran the show in the other room.

Yes, I'm a little bitter about being out $30 and losing all the time I spent prepping, but what really frustrates me is she set me up to participate and then -- nothing. I need to talk to her.

The problems I'm running into with this position are largely due to the fact that I am used to being in charge - of my own classroom. I also assumed that children's library programs would be book-based, not craft-based. I don't agree with finding some Cute project and then picking out some random Cute book to read to them. (And I'm using CUTE in the negative Bloomers sense, here)

I was so looking forward to using some of what I picked up at Simmons.

Prior to watching the Sox clinch Game One, Bruce and I went to a nursery to admire the rocks.

I uploaded them to a Flickr photoset called Texture-y. Take a look!

Bellhorn sure is taking his vitamins.

Note to Susan in Colorado: At work a couple days ago, I noticed the library owns The Big Orange Splot, your favorite book. After flipping through it and chuckling and remembering you, I fronted the book and will let you know when it is checked out. I do this in your name, my friend. Spread the Splot!

The Photoblog Resource

You can kill a lot of time here in a lovely manner, filling your eyes with loverly images.

Time for another cup of hot chocolate.

Susie will appreciate this more than anyone else I know -

Long long ago, like 23 years, U2 had a briefcase stolen while they were in Portland, Oregon. It has come to light, in Tacoma, Washington.

Bono's stolen briefcase returned after 23 years

Bruce took me to that Team America movie. It sucked. I don't think I was in the demographic. I wanted to leave after the puppet sex scene and I should have, to avoid the projectile vomit passage and the implied male-on-male oral sex action but I kept thinking it couldn't get any worse. Not impressed, very disgusted. Don't take movie recs from guys Bruce works with.

Crap - I posted yesterday, a long one, and it didn't take.

The past three days have been overcast and foggy. It's odd, because I can almost imagine myself to be at the coast - when I am further from an ocean than I've ever been.

How'd you like it if you came home from a lovely vacation in Greece and found a strange woman living in your house, even to the point of wearing your clothes?

Hoping to go to a movie tonight -

Beautiful Sox!

I am so impressed. These guys played their hearts out to the end and won as a team. Amazing.

And how endearing to see my first and true love, Johnny Damon, come through when it really counted. Sigh. I wish I was back in Boston so I could join the celebration! My car does get rather excellent mileage...hm.

Great shot of Sox spirit from the Globe.

Dana sent me this link - great use of the Pru! Awesome.

Foulke, you are wicked awesome. I'm in awe. Awe-full, you might say.

Now it's up to Lowe! (probably) Go Lowe! (sorry - I had to do something that rhymed)

Another good thing - Kristin is coming to visit! She's got some work-related business in Sioux City, Iowa and will be flying in and out of Omaha. I'm extremely excited. She will get to see all the corn.

I was in charge of keeping the kindergarteners occupied for a little while today so we sat and discussed Halloween costumes. This quickly and for some unknown reason turned into a "Let's See How Many Kindergarteners Can Sit on the Librarian at Once!" So I feel accepted by the raging mob.

This cracks me up. Those Nebraskans!

Dana sent me this and it's hilarious:

Headline: Lighter Side vs. the Dark Side
Date: September 23, 2004

"Check out the Lighter Side vs. the Dark Side Photo Gallery on Boston.com."

He still sets my pulse racing.
Even though he has a very dirty mouth.

Time for Schill to shine.

Stalker
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

You might have to click on the photo to see it large enough, but there's a dangerous creature in the back. We're both pretending not to see the other to maximize the stalking, leaping and pouncing experience. He even flattens his ears to lower his profile.

Predator
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

Up close and dangerous! Keaton is actually very good at play-fighting. When he launches himself off the couch to attack he keeps his claws in (unlike some black cats, notably one in Jamaica Plain whose name starts with an S). He great fun to stalk.

See above.


Let's go Pedro!

Please look at my brother's photo of his dog on his blog.

Duke at the Beach

It will cheer you.
Eddie, I wish you had a Flickr account.

Rebel Shoe
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

This is just to show you all that I am NOT a goody two shoes...you can see by this picture I'm a goody one shoe.

That was bad, I know.

Looking back, I had a pretty good day. Felt good. Did a lot of emails. Started on my Human Relations essay. Read a chunk of Jonathan Strange.... Had Annie's for lunch. Played fetch with Keaton - he's very good! The best is when I backhand the mouse over the couch and down the basement stairwell. He leaps, charges, stumbles and returns triumphant.

I've been dreaming of my Boston students. Odd.

Oh dear. They've gone and made a Fat Albert movie. He does have the "Hey hey hey!" down.

Exit 3
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

The Dam photos have been posted and placed in the NEBRASKA photoset. It was a creepy place.

I spent part of the afternoon downtown (YAY!), taking pictures of Old Market. They've been uploaded to my Flickr account and placed in the NEBRASKA photoset. It is time to figure out the other doohickeys on my digital camera so I can get it to do what it should. I need more control! The flash gets the better of me.

Afterwards I got a chai and finished reading The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume II in my favorite coffeeshop. I liked it better than the first volume, which was fabulous. Still searching for a decent place to buy graphic novels here. I want Neil Gaiman's 1602 collection and no one here carries it. The guy at the comix store didn't even say Neil's name correctly and he couldn't find the book in the catalog. Gah. But then again, I saw maybe three graphic novels in the whole shop (even the Gretna Public Library has a whole shelf of them!) so maybe that's not his specialty. The place was full of sweaty gaming boys.

I was way spoiled in Boston - kickass comix shops, like Million Year Picnic in Cambridge; they had lots of stuff, mainstream and alternative alike, including the FOUND Magazine I was in!!! Even the Harvard Book Shop had a nice collection of graphic novels. Sigh. Barnes and Noble just doesn't cut it.

There's an odd dam that I pass every day on the way to work and keep wanting to photograph. Today I did and those photos will be posted tomorrow.

This was supposed to be short.

Incidentally, anyone who is in the Harvard area tomorrow, Maria Tatar is doing a spiel on her new book - The Annotated Brothers Grimm there at 3pm. It's great stuff. Jo?

The Loveliest Librarian
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

As I recently took an assistant position, I expect the following to happen to me, just like it happened to Katie. After I get a stylish beret, of course.

Since she had decided to take the job as library assistant at the college's huge old main library, Katie had met and made many lifetime girl friends, had acquired an apartment with color TV and a tiny balcony, bought and paid for a used red Porsche, and had been in and out of love--all within the brief space of seven months.
The light changed, and Katie walked briskly across the main street.

Decidedly beautiful, Katie carried with her that continued air that lovely girls often do. Katherine Anne Dugan had long ago realized that being pretty helped her to be a better librarian, actually stimulating interest in learning and reading. [p. 8]

What do you think? Only six months to go!

Dark day. I just can't seem to get going. Work was okay; I wiped glue outta some kids head. The perils of preschool.

Sox make me sad. Johnny's playing for crap.

Tomorrow I'm going to get out before work and head downtown to take some photos of Old Market. I've been making envelopes out of old maps also, and they are turning out nicely.

DSCN2327.JPG
Originally uploaded by jenlight.

Still coughing! Gak. But this makes me laugh.

Omaha is severely lacking in quality comic book shops. Just an FYI.

I finished reading The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty. It was fun stuff without being too fluffy. I'm thoroughly enjoying Jonathan Strange... still (hard not to when it is 700+ pages long). Delicious writing.

To bed.

Are there books a person could own that would make/break a relationship? I'd be really creeped out if all someone owned were the sort of books where the author's name is larger than the title. Like all DANIELLE STEELE or JOHN GRISHAM. Erg.

This is a very interesting discussion - and if you don't know of Chicklit, it's a good taster. Great site.

Gak gak. I've got that same damn cough I had last year - only this time there isn't any codeine cough syrup to let me sleep at night and talk without depositing my lungs on the table during the day.

Ooh, how I long for that little brown bottle. Tea with honey isn't cutting it for me.

I swear I saw one of those Canadian pharmacies here - but I think you still need a prescription.

Big Balls
Originally uploaded by arahsae.

I know many of you have seen this photo, but it always makes me smile. I could use a smile right now!

Hope all is well - I'm working on catching up on emails and phone calls.

and I'm making pizza for dinner.

Today's my dad's birthday. My gift arrived in time. Is good. Card's late though, which sucks, as it was sposed to get there first in case the package didn't.

I finshed both GTO books and found another manga series at the library, megatokyo which I liked lots more. Not nearly as many - none, in fact - pictures of the view incurred when looking up a girl's skirt. Though I've never seen such a sight before, it was not very intriguing. I finished the books nonetheless and it seems the character does grow, in a good way. But I don't think I'll be doing any follow-up. megatokyo started as a webcomic but they've printed up two books. I'm definitely going to follow it online now. Great stuff.

Also nice to see that megatokyo's publisher is Dark Horse, a company of my beloved Portland, Oregon. They do lovely things, including a whole lotta Tim Burton.

It sucks to be sick and still go to work. Especially when you are minding your own shelving business and ew, what's that smell? Oh, look. One of the mommies is changing her infantile creature's diaper on the floor in the middle of the library! UGH. And there's even a changing table thing in the bathroom. T'will never happen again while I'm on watch. Nasty business, that. Especially since, while she's doing her origami act on the baby's butt, her preschooler is running around yanking books off the shelf and frisbee-ing them across the room.

More ranting:

Has anyone else noticed that all parents have purchased small tanks to stroll around in with their pre-perambulating offspring? If more than one is in the library at once we have major traffic issues. Blockage, people, BLOCKAGE! A stroller that big better have a minifridge in it so they can placate the librarians with beer.

Garg!

Tomorrow is Bruce's birthday. I think I will make a cake. It would have been nice to have one on my birthday [chock-full-of-guilt nudge] but we can't have everything. Can't have our cake, nor eat it, too.

And I MUST MUST go drop off my Holga film. If Sister Susie is feeling benevolent, perhaps she'll allow me to send her stuff and then scan them? Hmm.

Feeling sickish with the sore throat and headaches. Had a dark morning, just not moving.

Keaton doesn't have those basic Laws of Nature down. Last night he stuck his paw in a candle flame, extinguishing it and toasting himself in the process. The worst bit is that I don't think he learned his lesson.

I feel so worn out.

After rearranging the graphic novel and manga collection at the library today I've decided to go ahead and give it a shot. The GN collection there is rather sad, though they do have both Maus books. Tons of manga books, though, so perused and chose two about this bad-ass who wants to be a high school teacher so he can meet hottie girls, GTO. I think there are at least 20 issues, but I am starting with #1 and 2, as that's all the library has.

The book description:

Meet Eikichi Onizuka, a 22-year-old virgin and ex-biker. He’s crude, foul-mouthed, and has a split second temper. His goal: to be the Greatest High School Teacher in the World! Of course the only reason he wants to be a teacher is so he can try and score with the hot students Before he can become a teacher, he’s got to work as a student teacher to earn his credentials. Onizuka may think he’s the toughest guy on campus, but when he meets his class full of bullies, blackmailers, and scheming sadists, he’ll have to prove it.

We'll see. At least there is crude humour, right?

Okay - question:

I was poking around on Bruce's blog and I see that his Profile has been viewed 52 times. Very interesting, I think. Now, I know I have been on Blogger LONGER and have even had random people drop by and make comments - I wonder how many I have.

32.

How is this possible?

Is Bruce checking himself out multiple times a day to get that counter up? Does my Ramona image deter people from wanting to know more about me? Do my friends, the sweet people, already know me so well that they know no Profile explanation could possibly bring us closer?

Veddy veddy interesting. Hm.

Thanks to all of you who sent me kind birthday wishes yesterday. No comment for the rest of you. I watered my plants with the tears you made me cry.

Been busy with work and trying to get some other October birthdays in order. I had a crew of 21 kindergarteners today at work. We read the very cool The Three Pigs by David Wiesner and made paper planes piloted by pigs who rescued fairy tale characters. Lots of fun. Especially the big countdown with TAKEOFF! yelled by all.

But overall, nothing really exciting, which is why I've not blogged.

An FYI:
No More AOL CDs

I hate those things.

Comma - closed
Originally uploaded by webmink.

This technically is in Susie's domain, but wow - too gorgeous.

That's my full name is an anagram.

Not too exciting, though it is somewhat better if I add "Ms." at the beginning: Heat rash immoralism. Not nearly as exciting as Bruce's:

Wrinkled, able musician.

Want your own fun? www.anagramgenius.com

I'm listening to Paul Fleischman's book Whirligig in the car. The main reader sucks, mispronouncing words now and then, but the supporting ones are excellent.

Tomorrow I'm spending a couple hours at the booth the library is running at the Health Fair. And...reading, I spose. There are three trillium bulbs to be planted in the backyard before the cold comes on. They remind me of Oregon.

PS: I have to add that Dana's full name anagram made me laugh out loud. Hee. Dana, will you share with the rest of the class?

Students at a Catholic school complained about new Haribo sweet wrappers which they claim portray fruit having sex.

Ah! A website where you subscribe to socks - www.blacksocks.com/ - they ship you a new pack every few months (you choose how often) so you never have to go buy them. Bruce's birthday is coming up. He's really lazy. That might be a good gift idea.

Today was spacey. It ended well because I bought Maria Tatar's new The Annotated Brothers Grimm and treated Bruce and myself to coffee as celebration for my first paycheck. Yay!

But I ate too many crackers and now I feel ill.