Trial and Error

Other people went to parties, watched TV, or drank champagne--I spent New Year's Eve on two beauty experiments, going to bed in braids and wearing Kate Beckett eye makeup.

The former left me with an overgrown Afro look, and the latter did NOT leave me looking like a hot TV star or even a runway-ready NYPD detective. It did, however, leave me looking like a 40-something librarian with nice eye makeup, so I'm keeping the look. 

ps: In other beauty news, the fringe is definitely history. I've gone all week without even a barrette to keep the hair out of my eyes.

-------
photo: Chicago Daily News. 1928. [Mary Pickford getting her hair cut, sitting in a chair in a barber shop]. Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0085860. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum. Available from American Memory at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cdn:@field(NUMBER+@band(ichicdn+n085860))

For Two of You

Are any of my dear readers willing to weigh in on which two or three Met Opera Live in HD performances I should try to see this season? I've enjoyed the two encores I've seen. 

I know C and L will have opinions. Are there any other opera lovers lurking here?

Perfectly Lovely

I don't have enough time to indulge in all my pastimes all the time, so I have to choose. For a while, I was reading a book or two a week, but now I'm knitting, with a bit of time devoted to crosswords (I can do Thursday NYT puzzles if I put my mind to it and cheat a tiny bit!). Of course, I don't just sit and knit, I sit and knit and watch a DVD, either The X Files (just finished season five), or my current favorite British crime drama, Inspector Lewis.

After bemoaning all the recent evenings I've worked "late" or had to go somewhere after work, I had a perfectly lovely evening last night. I didn't get home until 6pm, but I still had time to watch a DVD, do some knitting, work on a crossword and finish off the evening reading in the Book of Mormon in bed, all before 11:45.

What's your idea of a perfectly lovely evening?

A Poll

Should Auntie K spend $65 on iTunes to completely catch up on Lost?

Unplugged

After yet another look at my finances, I've decided to give up home cable and Internet access, at least for several months.

Yes I know, bad timing, with new episodes of Monk, Psych, Lost, and L&O: CI on the horizon. And having Internet access at home has been marvelous, since it enables me to do things like blog at 1:15 am without leaving the house (or even my bed, for that matter).

However, I can think of a lot I can do with $110.16 a month, not the least of which is start paying down some of the temporary debt I'm going to incur by moving.

I think I'll be OK, as long as no one mentions The Closer.

Bizarro Auntie K

Remember Bizarro Jerry? While I was "running" at the track last week and thinking about what an unnatural act that is for my body, I started to wonder about Bizarro Auntie K. Here's what I think she's like:

Tall and willowy
An early riser
Doesn't own a watch or a calendar
A great volleyball player
A healthfood nut
Tone deaf
She finishes EVERYthing she starts

Here for the Duration, or, Woe is Me

Monday I'm teaching three instruction classes between 9am and 12:45, and then I am on the desk from 6 to 9pm. (We won't discuss that fact that it's 6:40 in the middle of my 3-10pm Sunday night shift and I have nothing planned for tomorrow's seminary lesson, but I thought I'd would mention it in the interest of disclosure.)

I had planned to take a "split-day" Monday and go home between 12:45 and 5:45. After last night's trip to Costco, however, I think I'll try spending my split-day in the office. That way, I save the hour of driving back and forth, save electricity by not running the A/C at home, and if I plan carefully, I will have access to adequate food and drink. Because let's face it, if I go home, what will I do? The plan would be to work on seminary and eat and maybe nap for a bit, but the reality is that I would nap and maybe eat and probably not work on seminary at all.

At the office, however, I can work on my seminary lesson just as well as at home, and thanks to Costco, I can even nap in my office in relative comfort. Hey, if it worked for George, why can't it work for me?

The End of Productivity

Did I tell you I got cable and Internet at home last week? I'll never get anything done now, but I'm enjoying things. I'm already set up to record Heroes and House this week, and am looking forward to seeing many other shows. And I've discovered HGTV, since I don't get DIY.

On the plus side, I'm trying to knit while I watch, so maybe I'll be more productive in one tiny area of my life.

In a similar vein, anyone care to weigh in on whether I should even bother to look at The Bionic Woman this week? Maybe one of you will watch for me and tell me what you think? Is it too much to hope for a Lindsay Wagner cameo? Maybe she could sell Jaime a Sleep Number bed or something.

NPR and the Holy Bible, or, Never Say Never

If you look at this site with any regularity, you may have noticed the contents of the "Currently Enjoying" sidebar are pretty static these days. I should just change the contents to read NPR and The Bible, since that's about all I'm listening to and reading these days (discounting Pandora.com, which I'm playing in the office).

How did this come about, you ask? I can't explain the NPR bit. I never thought I would end up an NPR listener (nothing at all wrong with NPR, just wasn't my style), but here I am. The music station I sometimes listen to interviews stand-up comics all morning, so one day I happened upon NPR, and here I am.

As for the Bible, by the time I get through reading for the next Sunday School lesson, I'm too tired to read anything else. Again, nothing at all wrong with the Bible, but I'd like to someday get back to the other books I've put aside.

Forthcoming, Or, One of These Things is Not Like the Others

T is for Trespass - Sue Grafton - Dec 4

World Without End - Ken Follett - Oct 9

Candy Cane Murder - Joanne Fluke et al. - Sept 25

Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs - Aug 28

Monday with a Mad Genius - Mary Pope Osborne - Aug 28

Sweet Revenge - Diane Mott Davidson - Aug 21

Auntie K is Smiling

She's smiling wide. She just placed a pre-order for It's Not Big It's Large, Lyle Lovett's new studio album. To take advantage of free shipping, she threw in The Very Best of the Eagles. Yeah, I know, I only save $4 on free shipping and the second cd is more than $4, but don't rain on my parade, ok?

I just get all tingly and happy thinking about a new Lyle Lovett cd. And by September 4, when it's slated to arrive, I'll probably be needing all the tingly and happy I can get.

Now only if Lyle would play in Nashville soon...

How I Pass the Time

One of my favorite parts of working at the reference desk is perusing the new books, all of which parade past the desk on a bookcart before going to their new home in the stacks. I always feel a thrill when I arrive at the desk and see a new cart has arrived.

Investigating the new book cart is a great way to add to my "books to read" list, even though I don't need help finding titles. Here's one I added last night:



And the best fun of all is rearranging the cart's contents in call number order. It makes me feel so happy and peaceful to impose perfect order on one small part of my world.



Now if only those new books weren't so naked...

Forget the Boombox, Just Bring Back Justin

I love reading the crime briefs in smaller-circulation papers, and always kept up with the Police Beat in the Daily Universe when I was at BYU. Now, I keep up with the Police Reports in the Daily News Journal. Here's one of my recent favorite:

May 23, 2007 Police Reports, Daily News Journal

Incidents/offense: Bombed portable bathroom. When: Noon - 8 a.m., May 18 - 21. Where: Charleston Avenue and Scarlett Drive. Complaint: A Port-A-Potty was blown up behind a house under construction. Residue scattered about 50 feet from the mobile toilet. A fire marshal was called to investigate the stinky situation. Officer: Timothy Meeks, Murfreesboro Police Department

Or, there's this from today's Sidelines:

Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons who unlawfully entered and took a boom-box CD player containing a Justin Timberlake CD from Room 326G of the Keathley University Center. This felony was committed sometime between 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29 and 8 a.m. the next day.

What I'm Reading

More Appropriate Post Title: What I Would Be Reading if I Had the Time


The Rap Sheet - a blog about crime fiction. Yum! One brief comment: I noticed in a June 7 post that the Crime Writers of Canada recently named their picks for the best Canadian crime writing of 2006. Kathy Reichs' Break No Bones was a candidate for best novel. Now, I like Reichs just fine, but her writing is fairly formulaic, and I wouldn't put her in any of my "best" lists. The Christian Science Monitor's list of best mysteries and thrillers of 2006 is more to my liking. It includes Summer Snow by Rebecca Pawel, a young historical crime writer, and The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. Both unique, thoughtful mysteries with sound plotting and great writing.

barbara fister's place - a blog by an instruction librarian who reads and writes crime fiction. I frequently see Fister's comments on the listervs I read, and I agree with her student-centered, practical opinions about many issues. Her blog is a nice mix of library-related stories, fun Web finds, and of course, crime fiction. It's perhaps what my professional blog might be like if I were more dedicated and creative. Alas...

(yes the lack of a link to my professional blog is a deliberate omission)

photo credit: Eisters, Gerhard. (ca. 1910-1016). Photograph of Clara Louise Thompson. In Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from American Memory.

Rendered Speechless

I have now watched the season finale of Lost. I have nothing to say about it. I may never have anything to say about it, or anything else, again.

No one told me that if I watched that episode at the end of a long, information-packed day when I was already on overload, it might send me into a catatonic state zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Lost and Found

I knew you'd come back to me someday!

Found:

My National Parks Passport

A book that I borrowed from my mother about 3.5 years ago

10 packs of Orbit Cinnamint gum--about 3.5 years old

More books than I know what to do with

A box of books that doesn't even belong to me

Lost:

No, I still haven't watched the season ender yet

Wait a minute - these aren't mine!

Baby Steps

So, I have finally posted two items on my professional blog. Admittedly, I'm not too happy with the posts, because they are more regurgitation than original thought, but it's a start, right? This isn't necessarily a plug for you to all become subscribers, but it's out there if you're interested.

Even if you don't want to read my professional blog, if you have 10 minutes to spare, click on over to YouTube and take a look at the copyright and fair use video I linked to in my post. The video's not necessarily a great example of film making, but it's clever and educational.

Ode to a (Brief) Era

Free High Speed Wireless Internet, I will miss you when I'm gone. All those minutes we spent together--surfing the Internet, watching episodes of Heroes and Lost, shopping, blogging--it's hard to believe that in an hour, it will all be over. My heart aches when I imagine myself sitting all alone in my new apartment, staring at a computer that can't take me anywhere, while you callously take up with the next person who gives you an access code.

I will never forget you. Will you forget me?

Maybe It's Just as Well

I just read on Dallas Morning News that KZPS-FM (FM 92.5 in Dallas) is changing its format from classic rock to "Texas-inflected rock-country hybrid." They're also dumping traditional 30 or 60 second commercials in favor of advertiser-sponsored programming, where the DJ shills an advertiser's product in between songs for any given hour.

Glad I'm not there to have to listen to all that. Sorry, but trading Foreigner and Pink Floyd for Lynyrd Skynyrd is not my idea of trading up. Besides, if I did have a hankering for Lynyrd Skynyrd, that's what 93.3 the Bone is for.

I Spy

See a familiar name here?

Truth be told, I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed right now. Look at what some of my contemporaries are doing. Of course, I don't want to be anyone but myself, but when I look at what everyone else is doing, it can seem a bit intimidating.

Tomorrow will be my fifth day at work, and I have yet to meet with anyone (team leader, coordinator, etc.) about instruction, which comprises the majority of my job duties. Maybe that's just as well. I think I need to sit down and come up with some plan of attack, and maybe that will make me feel better.

On a different note, I watched last night's Lost episode online tonight, since I was too tired to wake up from my "nap" to watch live last night. Not quite as smooth as the NBC player (where I'm catching up on Heroes), but it works pretty well. I'm going to be sad to move out of the hotel-house and give up the free wireless connection.

OTH, maybe I won't have to get TV service when I move. Do Fox and TNT offer House, MD and The Closer episodes online?