Love is Blind

What a wretched lot of old shrivelled creatures we shall be by-and-by. Never mind—the uglier we get in the eyes of others, the lovelier we shall be to each other; that has always been my firm faith about friendship.

-George Eliot, 1852

The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. www.bartleby.com/66/. 30 April 2006.

It Just Might Happen

Look at what I received in the mail today!

FYI, graduation is August 12.

I'm a Sucker

Well, the manager at the UNT Bookstore is certainly earning her keep through effective marketing. I stopped in there after class today to check out some software, and came out with $25 dollars worth of merchandise, comprising a Spanish grammer handbook (would be useful if I spoke Spanish), a very cool set of Nancy Drew Fold and Mail Stationery , and a cute Mood Swings chart, drawn by Jim Borgman and published by Price Stern Sloan (of Mad Libs fame). Of course, I only had one of those items in my hand when I approached the register. Can you guess which one?

Here's what I added to the blank face in the Mood Swings book. None of the pre-printed pages fit for today's mood.

Writer's Block Already?

Nothing stood out to me today as particularly blog-worthy, so I'll have to wing it here.

I did hear Marlee Matlin this afternoon at the closing session, and I thought she was great. I didn't know much about her, other than that she's gorgeous, she's won an Academy Award, she's deaf, and she's married to a handsome police officer. She spoke with an interpreter, read an excerpt from her new children's novel, and answered questions at the end. I also heard she has good recipes on her Web site. Both of her novels are about a deaf girl named Megan, and are loosely based on Matlin's own childhood.

My one triumph for today was figuring out, on my last day of coming back to the hotel, how to get onto the correct freeway heading the right direction without having to get off an pull a U-turn. That's me--I usually get with the program eventually, but not always on the first try!

Any of my librarian readership (if there are any) may be interested to know that tomorrow I'm planning to hear Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens' session on Whoopie for Wikis! I feel woefully uninformed about all the new social tools on the Internet, so maybe I'll learn something.

101 Uses for the Plastic Cable Tie

Greetings from Houston. Overall, I feel much better about today than I felt about yesterday, now that I've gotten over the sting of everything I left at home, not having Internet access in my hotel room, etc.

Bet you could have guessed I wouldn't make it in time this morning to hear Julie Andrews. Never fear, however. I will be there for the closing session on Thursday afternoon to hear Marlee Matlin.

The most interesting thing I saw today was actually not at the conference, but in the parking garage on my way out. Somebody had tied the hubcap to the wheel of their car with plastic cable ties. I myself think cable ties are quite useful, so I was impressed. If I had a digital camera (hint, hint) I would have posted a picture here. Maybe I should write a book about 101 uses...

At the conference, I listed to three contributed papers, worked at the exhibit booth for my school for 4 hours, and had two very helpful librarians from Harris County critique my resume at the Placement Center. They were very nice about it, but confirmed my suspicions--it needs work. Ugh!

And, I picked up a few librarian freebees in the exhibit hall to take back to my friend Starr at work. I really wish I had a camera to take a picture of the absolute suitcases full of stuff that many people pick up in the exhibit hall. I'm sure it's not all free, but still, it's quite a sight. I myself hopped right over to The Horn Book booth and got my complimentary copy of The Horn Book Magazine, so I have the one thing I really wanted.

Now, after driving 8 miles past my hotel to find a Wendy's, I'm back at the hotel, fed and watered, and ready to work on homework. At least until something good comes on tv!