Wednesdays are boring. I was really bored. I catalogued 91 books today. By hand. It was very tiring. I am tired.
My mother's grandmother was born today. She has since passed, but she had quite the sense of humor. She would joke with the grandkids that they were all older than she was. When my parents got married, she was only "18" to their 21 years. She died at age 97, but she would have said she was 23. Leap year math: always fun!
I am going to read now, and then go to sleep.
Candle: I am made of librarian awesome.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
No alcohol, day 7
I made it a whole week!
I still went to the local establishment to hang-out with the boys after choir. They think that I am crazy. One of the basses is an aggressive atheist. You know the type--he challenges and questions everything that I do and claims to be logical and rational about his entire world-view, but when I poke holes into his "logic" he flips out. Kind of annoying. And these "holes" are not pin-pricks, my friends, you could fit a full-grown elephant through them. But, in the name of friendship, I avoid these topics when others are around to avoid the awkward.
So, anyway, he asked a loaded question "So, what would happen if you drank? I mean, is God going to smite you? It's this really just self-imposed suffering?"
Ugh. I do not even know where to begin! Apparently, he is not in-on our mutual understanding of remaining civil and **not** picking a fight.
I replied shortly that this is a promise that I personally made to God and that it is an exercise in the discipline of self-control and fasting.
He looked at me like I was crazy.
I ignored him.
Candle: I made it a whole week!
I still went to the local establishment to hang-out with the boys after choir. They think that I am crazy. One of the basses is an aggressive atheist. You know the type--he challenges and questions everything that I do and claims to be logical and rational about his entire world-view, but when I poke holes into his "logic" he flips out. Kind of annoying. And these "holes" are not pin-pricks, my friends, you could fit a full-grown elephant through them. But, in the name of friendship, I avoid these topics when others are around to avoid the awkward.
So, anyway, he asked a loaded question "So, what would happen if you drank? I mean, is God going to smite you? It's this really just self-imposed suffering?"
Ugh. I do not even know where to begin! Apparently, he is not in-on our mutual understanding of remaining civil and **not** picking a fight.
I replied shortly that this is a promise that I personally made to God and that it is an exercise in the discipline of self-control and fasting.
He looked at me like I was crazy.
I ignored him.
Candle: I made it a whole week!
Monday, February 27, 2012
No alcohol, day 6
Mondays are lame. I feel bad for Monday, because everyone hates Monday. Of course, all of the kids were dreading the fact that we had five whole days of school that week. Between mid-winter break and the snow day, the previous week had been 3 days and the week before that 4 days, so 5 seemed like a lot, especially since it all started with Monday.
I was vaguely productive, but I left work late. I asked MMMonoca what days she worked this week, but I completely forgot. Her schedule is weird to say the least. Some of her shifts are only 3 or 4 hours. Odd.
So, little help?
Candle: I am going to do this when I go to London. It is okay to be jealous.
I was vaguely productive, but I left work late. I asked MMMonoca what days she worked this week, but I completely forgot. Her schedule is weird to say the least. Some of her shifts are only 3 or 4 hours. Odd.
So, little help?
Candle: I am going to do this when I go to London. It is okay to be jealous.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
No alcohol, day 5
Today was the Rite of Election at the Cathedral. I was there because I am a catechist for the Cathedral's RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for adults). The Rite of Election, if you've never been, is when those who are planning to become Catholics at the Easter Vigil mass are introduced to the Bishop. This hearkens back to when it was illegal to be Catholic/Christian, so it was a way to make sure that the people entering the Church are not super secret spies...which is why their names are all written down in a book that they then hand over to the Bishop.
Yes. Very lovely ceremony. At one point, this set of 4 year-old twins went up to meet the Bishop. It was adorable. He bent onto one knee and chatted with them at length. When the twins rejoined their parents, they looked so excited. It was great. I wonder if they talked about cars.
Candle: All of the brass playing in the Cathedral. It sounded heavenly
Yes. Very lovely ceremony. At one point, this set of 4 year-old twins went up to meet the Bishop. It was adorable. He bent onto one knee and chatted with them at length. When the twins rejoined their parents, they looked so excited. It was great. I wonder if they talked about cars.
Candle: All of the brass playing in the Cathedral. It sounded heavenly
Saturday, February 25, 2012
No alcohol, day 4
Rather tame day, friends. I ate some stuff, read some stuff, ate some more stuff, sang some stuff, and then I ate some more.
Today is Erik the Swede's birthday and MMMonoca invited me over contingent that I "get out of here in time for me to make out with him". I think it was successful! I brought him Sourdough starter for his birthday. You guys, he was so pumped, he said "Thank You" like 12 times.
Plus! he successfully blew-out his birthday candle! Hurray!
We attempted to enjoy a movie. I say attempted because MMMonoca had The Rum Diary checked-out from ye old public library.
And, much as we tried to discern the plot, it was generally slow and terrible. We kept booing the trashy would-be-mermaid whore character and then the next second, commented on just how attractive Johnny Depp is. Always. There is no such thing as a bad angle or a bad light. And don't get me started on when he puts a cigarette in his mouth.
Well, since I bring it up...the only thing in this world that could get this girl to smoke is Johnny Depp. If all I had to do to meet him is smoke a pack a day for a year, I am game.
But, not even that could keep us engaged.
MMMonoca: We are an hour and 15 minutes into this movie, and let me tell you, I am not that interested.
Aussie: Yeah. Not feeling it plot-wise.
MMMono: **sigh**
Aussie: {scrounging the coffee table for the case} how long is this anyway?
MMMono: I just. I don't feel like it is going anywhere.
Aussie: TWO HOURS!!! I don't know if I can sit through 45 more minutes of this, even with--oh that is a good shirt for him to be in!
MMMono: ...
Aussie: ...
MMMono: I'm done.
Aussie: Agreed. I'll just Google pics of Johnny later.
Not even a bedazzled turtle could save it.
Nor Aaron Eckhart (who was dressed in a white suit, so we knew he was the bad guy).
Nor references to 470 proof alcohol.
Nor Johnny Depp as a human flame-thrower.
Looking back, it was all in the pacing and the execution. It's a shame, really. That could have been movie magic.
Candle: "Try to look normal."
Today is Erik the Swede's birthday and MMMonoca invited me over contingent that I "get out of here in time for me to make out with him". I think it was successful! I brought him Sourdough starter for his birthday. You guys, he was so pumped, he said "Thank You" like 12 times.
Plus! he successfully blew-out his birthday candle! Hurray!
We attempted to enjoy a movie. I say attempted because MMMonoca had The Rum Diary checked-out from ye old public library.
And, much as we tried to discern the plot, it was generally slow and terrible. We kept booing the trashy would-be-mermaid whore character and then the next second, commented on just how attractive Johnny Depp is. Always. There is no such thing as a bad angle or a bad light. And don't get me started on when he puts a cigarette in his mouth.
Well, since I bring it up...the only thing in this world that could get this girl to smoke is Johnny Depp. If all I had to do to meet him is smoke a pack a day for a year, I am game.
But, not even that could keep us engaged.
MMMonoca: We are an hour and 15 minutes into this movie, and let me tell you, I am not that interested.
Aussie: Yeah. Not feeling it plot-wise.
MMMono: **sigh**
Aussie: {scrounging the coffee table for the case} how long is this anyway?
MMMono: I just. I don't feel like it is going anywhere.
Aussie: TWO HOURS!!! I don't know if I can sit through 45 more minutes of this, even with--oh that is a good shirt for him to be in!
MMMono: ...
Aussie: ...
MMMono: I'm done.
Aussie: Agreed. I'll just Google pics of Johnny later.
Not even a bedazzled turtle could save it.
Nor Aaron Eckhart (who was dressed in a white suit, so we knew he was the bad guy).
Nor references to 470 proof alcohol.
Nor Johnny Depp as a human flame-thrower.
Looking back, it was all in the pacing and the execution. It's a shame, really. That could have been movie magic.
Candle: "Try to look normal."
Friday, February 24, 2012
No alcohol, day 3
Okay, so maybe not the best snow day EVER!...but still a success. You see, I don't get up and look at the TV closings because, as a staff member, I am on the phone tree. Theoretically, I get a phone call before the stations update their listings. Today this theory was proven false. I was almost at work by the time I got the phone call. It was after 7am.
So, I was clearly quite awake when I returned home and, honestly, my hair was still wet so I didn't want to sleep on it like that...and I was hungry.
I made soup, pita chips, and a pie. I fed my sourdough starter copious amounts so that I can bequeath some on to Erik tomorrow for his birthday....and I put mine back in the fridge so that I can make sourdough pancakes in the morning! yummm!
I got some at-home tasks done. My Evernote "to-do" list is very happy now. Lots of check marks.
Then I shoveled the driveway. Guys, that was some wet, heavy snow. There couldn't have been more than an inch on the driveway, but it took me forever to clean it off. Blech.
Then, I went to hang-out with boy. He passed the TFA exam, scoring in the 97th percentile. Woot! Downside: they have now moved-up his start date, so he will be leaving for Phoenix in March, not Memorial Day Weekend. Ugh.
We ran some errands. He was in search of jeans and I teased him about his store selection. Earth-changing moment of the night? We had dinner at Panera Bread. Yummy, right? **LOVE** their sourdough bread. So, I order a You-Pick-2 (which, we decided, has gone up considerably. It was $6.29 before tax!) and the lady handed me a pager thing. I'm sorry, I thought I was at Panera, where I walk down to the charming counter and yuck it up with the cooks and then they give me my food and I can see just how freshly prepared it was. Clearly I missed the memo about the LIFE ALTERING CHANGE TO THE UNIVERSE!
So we sat down with our beepers at our table and waited, awkwardly, for our food. It took Boy all of 7 seconds to look under the table to find the sensors that sent a signal to the kitchen staff showing which beeper numbers were at which tables so that they can just--OMG, look my food!--magically appear.
I am not sure that I can handle all of this life-altering change devoid of drinks.
Candle: Stephen Colbert gave-up high-fiving conquistadors for Lent. It is almost like when, back in 2008, John Kroondyke gave-up eating Tiger meat.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
No alcohol, day 2
All in all, today was average. I popped-in at the public library and I got my tickets to see awesome:
I am such a huge fan of these books—especially Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I could do with some changes to Mockingjay, but I get why she did what she did…I just would have chosen a different path. If I have yet totalk you into have yet to plead so much that you feel you have to have yet to bully you into have yet to physically force you to have yet to call you each night to read you a chapter as a bedtime story have yet to talk your ear off so much about these books that you wrangle a copy from my hands or access your kindle app or public library or Barnes & Noble right there on the spot, allow me to inspire.
Hunger Games is teen fiction, so it is a fast read, but it is not teen fiction in the sense that it is written for high school students with self-esteem issues {cough} Twilight! {cough}. Hunger Games is post-apocalyptic, making it inherently darker, which gets rid of all of that silly fussing. If you are familiar with the Greek myth of the Minotaur, that is the premise on which the book is built, except in the future, not in the past. If you are unfamiliar with the Minotaur thing, that is cool. If you don’t even know what a Minotaur is, we may need to rethink our friendship.
With our Minotaur base, you can see why this story will be dark. (If you were too lazy to click the link, it’s because there is no Theseus and the children are being sacrificed.) Now mix-in some 1984 government control, some Lord of the Flies level “Why can’t we all get along?”, the technology of Westerfeld’s Uglies series (also, if you haven’t read those…), sprinkle a little The Giver on top and we are ready to roll.
Or, if you are a teenage boy in the high school library, my pitch is “It’s kids killing kids.”
Of course, I could draw more literary comparisons, and if I thought about it, I could probably think of more fitting comparisons, but that is what I can think of at the moment.
In summary, Favorite!Kate and I are going to see it at midnight. Good. Times.
I also did my taxes. TurboTax lets me do federal eFile for free, which is great! And you get the refund in 5 to 7 days, which is even better! Of course, it took me super long because I had to do federal, state, and GR and Muskegon. I am so glad that Wyoming is only running on property taxes.
All things considered, just your average Thursday. Now, where did I put that book...
Candle: We had staff birthday lunch today (each department is in charge of a different month’s birthday lunch where the department buys the faculty lunch). The social studies department chose pizza. They ordered a special small pizza for me with no cheese and “all of the vegetables that you have”. It was delicious.
I am such a huge fan of these books—especially Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I could do with some changes to Mockingjay, but I get why she did what she did…I just would have chosen a different path. If I have yet to
Hunger Games is teen fiction, so it is a fast read, but it is not teen fiction in the sense that it is written for high school students with self-esteem issues {cough} Twilight! {cough}. Hunger Games is post-apocalyptic, making it inherently darker, which gets rid of all of that silly fussing. If you are familiar with the Greek myth of the Minotaur, that is the premise on which the book is built, except in the future, not in the past. If you are unfamiliar with the Minotaur thing, that is cool. If you don’t even know what a Minotaur is, we may need to rethink our friendship.
With our Minotaur base, you can see why this story will be dark. (If you were too lazy to click the link, it’s because there is no Theseus and the children are being sacrificed.) Now mix-in some 1984 government control, some Lord of the Flies level “Why can’t we all get along?”, the technology of Westerfeld’s Uglies series (also, if you haven’t read those…), sprinkle a little The Giver on top and we are ready to roll.
Or, if you are a teenage boy in the high school library, my pitch is “It’s kids killing kids.”
Of course, I could draw more literary comparisons, and if I thought about it, I could probably think of more fitting comparisons, but that is what I can think of at the moment.
In summary, Favorite!Kate and I are going to see it at midnight. Good. Times.
I also did my taxes. TurboTax lets me do federal eFile for free, which is great! And you get the refund in 5 to 7 days, which is even better! Of course, it took me super long because I had to do federal, state, and GR and Muskegon. I am so glad that Wyoming is only running on property taxes.
All things considered, just your average Thursday. Now, where did I put that book...
Candle: We had staff birthday lunch today (each department is in charge of a different month’s birthday lunch where the department buys the faculty lunch). The social studies department chose pizza. They ordered a special small pizza for me with no cheese and “all of the vegetables that you have”. It was delicious.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
No alcohol, day 1
It got away from me. I don't know how it happened. Okay, I know how it happened, but I can't believe that I allowed it to happen. And now, here I am.
Sad.
Alone.
Coherent.
Sober.
I have done the unthinkable--I gave-up alcohol for Lent.
Here's the thing, BigRed guilted me. She guilted me like a Catholic mother raised by Jewish parents during the great depression.
So, here we are on Friday night, enjoying a lovely potluck-style Shakespeare night. I am among Catholics, so I strike-up the oh-so-common-for-this-time-of-year "Guys! What should I give-up for Lent? And don't say alcohol." I chuckle innocently, "Someone always says 'You should give-up alcohol.'"
BigRed: You should give-up alcohol.
Aussie: Haha! So funny. {fills glass with more sangria}
BR: No, really. You should give-up alcohol.
Aussie: ... {looking around the table} Other ideas?
BR: You're supposed to give-up something that you truly love. I'm giving-up Diet Coke. We can be miserable together.
Aussie: But--St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year. And I am going to a wedding that day. Open bar! Everybody loves open bar!
BR: You know what else everybody loves? Going to Heaven.
Aussie: {Not liking where this is headed} True. You know, every year someone suggests that I give-up alcohol. I just don't think that it would accomplish anything for me. It is how I socialize with so many different groups of friends.
BR: Well, if it's inconvenient, then I suppose that it's not worth it. Although, I'm not entirely certain that it was convenient for Jesus to die on the cross for your sins.
Aussie: ...
BR: {shrugging} It's your choice.
Damn her trickery! Also, Diet Coke--not the same thing. Not even close.
So, after choir last night a group of us went out and we toasted to my last night of drinking for the next stretch of foreseeable future. And then I got into a rather heated debate about abortion and evolution and crime rates and taking "nigger" out of Mark Twain's corpus. Good times.
And fear not, faithful friends! I stopped drinking before the clock struck midnight! Huzzah!
Of course, I can't be a normal person in any situation involving alcohol when it really matters, so shenanigans jovially ensued. Navigating through today was shockingly tricky. I woke-up still drunk and then I quickly realized that it is Ash Wednesday, which means, among other things, virtually no food. So, rocky start to the Lent thing.
Don't worry MMMonoca, I was responsible and took the bus to work this morning.
I am going to blog every day this Lent. I considered a hokey Jesus twist circa 1999 by being sure to include a "today I am thankful for..." bit, but that is just not me. I know that sometimes I am a Debbie-Downer/Negative Nancy and I--with your help--hope to change this into being more of a bright ray of positive sunshine and joy and good stuff. To that end, at the end of every post, I will include a "candle," as per the title of my blog: "All of the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of a single candle." This gives me a bit more wiggle room and, I hope, will be less annoying.
Candle: I resisted the urge to employ the standard college cure and drank water to sober-up instead of filling my RHA nalgene with Burnett's and juice.
Sad.
Alone.
Coherent.
Sober.
I have done the unthinkable--I gave-up alcohol for Lent.
Here's the thing, BigRed guilted me. She guilted me like a Catholic mother raised by Jewish parents during the great depression.
So, here we are on Friday night, enjoying a lovely potluck-style Shakespeare night. I am among Catholics, so I strike-up the oh-so-common-for-this-time-of-year "Guys! What should I give-up for Lent? And don't say alcohol." I chuckle innocently, "Someone always says 'You should give-up alcohol.'"
BigRed: You should give-up alcohol.
Aussie: Haha! So funny. {fills glass with more sangria}
BR: No, really. You should give-up alcohol.
Aussie: ... {looking around the table} Other ideas?
BR: You're supposed to give-up something that you truly love. I'm giving-up Diet Coke. We can be miserable together.
Aussie: But--St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year. And I am going to a wedding that day. Open bar! Everybody loves open bar!
BR: You know what else everybody loves? Going to Heaven.
Aussie: {Not liking where this is headed} True. You know, every year someone suggests that I give-up alcohol. I just don't think that it would accomplish anything for me. It is how I socialize with so many different groups of friends.
BR: Well, if it's inconvenient, then I suppose that it's not worth it. Although, I'm not entirely certain that it was convenient for Jesus to die on the cross for your sins.
Aussie: ...
BR: {shrugging} It's your choice.
Damn her trickery! Also, Diet Coke--not the same thing. Not even close.
So, after choir last night a group of us went out and we toasted to my last night of drinking for the next stretch of foreseeable future. And then I got into a rather heated debate about abortion and evolution and crime rates and taking "nigger" out of Mark Twain's corpus. Good times.
And fear not, faithful friends! I stopped drinking before the clock struck midnight! Huzzah!
Of course, I can't be a normal person in any situation involving alcohol when it really matters, so shenanigans jovially ensued. Navigating through today was shockingly tricky. I woke-up still drunk and then I quickly realized that it is Ash Wednesday, which means, among other things, virtually no food. So, rocky start to the Lent thing.
Don't worry MMMonoca, I was responsible and took the bus to work this morning.
I am going to blog every day this Lent. I considered a hokey Jesus twist circa 1999 by being sure to include a "today I am thankful for..." bit, but that is just not me. I know that sometimes I am a Debbie-Downer/Negative Nancy and I--with your help--hope to change this into being more of a bright ray of positive sunshine and joy and good stuff. To that end, at the end of every post, I will include a "candle," as per the title of my blog: "All of the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of a single candle." This gives me a bit more wiggle room and, I hope, will be less annoying.
Candle: I resisted the urge to employ the standard college cure and drank water to sober-up instead of filling my RHA nalgene with Burnett's and juice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)