noticing the sunset...

Thoughts on creating functional and useful websites

2011-10-22T13:50:00.003-04:00

This semester I'm doing an independent study that involves Digital Initiatives and how libraries, through their websites and the content and creation thereof, interact with their communities and expand their services towards their patrons.

I used to dabble in website creation and design when I was in high school, and to a lesser extent in college. As a self-taught creator, I mainly relied on what I wanted in the site, since it was (for the most part) for my own use. I think that many self-taught designers also do this. Not that I have any way to back this up, but it seems like a novice thing to do. Websites, though they may be intended for a wider audience (i.e. a library's website), still are arranged around what the designer thinks is most useful. Note that "designer" in that previous sentence can be replaced with any number of things, like the designer's boss, library board or committee, or director.

I think that the novice or self-taught designer finds themselves in a very tricky position. It takes a lot of work to understand the difference between designing a website and designing a useable website. I still don't fully understand the distinction, and I've got more web design experience than many rural (or sometimes urban) librarians who are tasked with maintaining web presence.

I'm writing this without further research on the average library web team, so I'm making a lot of assumptions. Some of these assumptions may be on point, though, given how fast things are changing in the technology realm and how much time and resources it takes just to stay current.

Creating a website is not difficult. It's creating a website for a variety of users that are accessing it on a variety of devices and making it serviceable to all of them that is. Not to mention having to manage the people above you who are even less educated about functional websites that insist on putting all the content on the front page.

Somewhat related but still an incredibly interesting presentation was of the keynotes at the Internet Librarian conference (SO UPSET I COULDN'T BE THERE). Libraries and Learning Communities by Lee Rainie. He discusses five points, the last of which is incredibly poignant for designing and implementing a functional library website.

"What is the future of community anchor institutions? Virtual (facilities and materials) or physical (facilities and materials)? Individual focus or community focus? Collection library or a creation library? Portal or an archive?" Depending on the community, a library may have to be different things. A community may want a library that is more traditionally focused, in that it is primarily an archive. Or the community may want a community-focused library, which requires innovation from its librarians.

These things need to be considered when constructing/completing library websites, but it takes a great amount of effort and skill to keep these things in mind when faced with the actual creation of websites. It's as these sorts of web designers are required to be architects and builders at the same time, and it is difficult to step back and ask yourself if what you are creating is serving your needs as its creator, the needs (or demands) of your higher ups, or the needs of the community that will be using the service.

Ideally you would have something that can sit well with all three, but coming up with something like that is... well... it's damned hard.

I'm going to think more on these things, and perhaps come up with some actual examples. Hopefully these posts will help me to formalize my own thoughts relating to this independent study and also to help me be more aware when working with a local library on a website project. Finding out what the communities want or need is fascinating, and I've got a ton of resources that I want to link to this.

Hopefully I can have some more focused thoughts tomorrow. Till then! :)

NOTE: Also a good resource for recapping the above linked keynote can be found here.

Wow, it's been a while

2011-10-02T18:05:00.002-04:00

Wow, it really has been a long time since I've posted on this blog. Goodness!

Okay, so here's a recap.

Scott's taking two classes this half-semester, and probably another two in the second half of the term.

I'm doing an independent study with my professor and the head of web development at the Prince George's county public library (note: probably not her actual title, but she is still awesome). I'm really looking forward to learning more about actually managing a website for a library, and thanks to HusbandExtraordinare, I've got a CMS playground to work on my web skillz.

That also ties into my next bit, working on expanding what I know of my family tree. My grandmother did a lot on her family's genealogy, but she focused a lot on the families that lived in Texas. Since there were a lot of people who came from Virginia, I want to take the opportunity to use the archive resources up here while we're still in this area.

Scott and I have decided that once we finish with our degrees that we will move to Boston. I've had a few people give me some strange looks at that, saying that it's just so cold up there, and why aren't we moving back to Texas. My answers to those comments are usually: "Yes, it will be cold, but ZOMG TEH HISTORY!!!" and "Can you imagine Scott in Texas? Seriously? The heat would literally kill him!"

Definitely am glad that we are up here in Maryland, though. I would not have really wanted to be there for the hottest summer ever recorded in the US. Yeah, it's been rainy and depressing up here, but at least now it's cool. The leaves are starting to change, and it actually feels like October here. I'm looking forward to the leaves changing. It's always beautiful this time of year up here. I could never go back to not having seasons.

We're headed to California on Thursday for my cousin's wedding out in Monterey. Neither Scott or I have ever been that far west, and we're super excited. Going to fly in to San Francisco super freaking early in the morning and meet up with a friend in San Jose to tour around that town. We're going to check out the Winchester house for sure, and I'm super excited to see that. Then on Friday we'll probably poke around Monterey and Carmel, and then there's the rehearsal dinner. Saturday is the wedding. Sunday we're driving down to Big Sur, and then Monday we're spending the day in San Francisco with another friend. We fly back on Tuesday, and that's our fall vacation. It's going to be so much fun, and we've been looking forward to this for a while.

I'll lay off my commentary on recent events here in DC, but will say that I'm definitely following the goings-on of Occupy Wall Street. I don't know if I'd be willing to take part in anything like that, but I definitely sympathize where the organizers are coming from. Scott and I both are in good situations - we both have jobs and are in school and able to pay our bills. If we weren't, then I can say pretty definitively that I would be at the DC occupy over in McPherson Square. But that's all conjecture, since I just don't do that kind of thing. My support will be philosophical.

Till next time! :D

Linkroll : Crafts/Fabric

2011-02-22T13:51:00.002-05:00

This is mainly so I don't constantly bombard Whitney with tons and tons of links to fabric shops and ideas for things that I want to do.

So here goes. :D

Fabric:

Printed Linen - Flowers - Gorgeous print at JoAnns
Laura Gunn - Magnolia Branch (Aqua)

Etsy Fabric Shops

Most of the fabrics they have at these shops are cotton designs, but who can say no to a fabulous cotton dress? I am especially partial to the Laura Gunn fabrics (my favorite also linked above).

And for notions:

Dancing in the office

2011-02-16T15:24:00.003-05:00

Some songs are just conducive to improving one's work day. Also, one's day in general. Probably health, too, since they're fun, cheery, and make you just want to dance a little in your chair.

Examples include:

Do You Believe In Love? - Huey Lewis and the News
Whip It - Devo
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
All You Ever Do (is bring me down) - The Mavericks
I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine - Asleep at the Wheel
Homo Erectus - Asleep at the Wheel
Hangin' Around - Counting Crows
Tamucun - Rodirgo y Gabriela
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2) - Ray Charles
Tequila - The Champs
All My Exes Live In Texas - George Strait
If You're Wondering If I Want You To - Weezer

Being ambitious...

2011-02-02T15:18:00.005-05:00

I'm currently being ambitious with my knitting. After finishing the scarf for my aunt (see previous post), I made a hat that was too small - it didn't reach my ears. So I remade it, making sure this time that it was long enough. Here's a quick shot of it (I'll have Scott take a better shot of it tonight).

It's really simple colorwork, just slipping the knits on the rows where I'm using the green yarn, and then knitting all the way when I'm working with the white. It makes it look like it's a very complicated trellis pattern, but it's just straight knitting. Fabulous. :D I crocheted the flower and added it after - it's not as easy to tell with this picture, but it sits on the side of my head in a very 20's sort of way. I love it, and I've been getting a lot of compliments on it. People seem surprised when I say that I made it.

But that's not the ambitious part. The ambitious part of my knitting is my current project. I decided to make a sweater based on a pattern I found in Vogue Knitting.

Isn't it adorable? I'm not doing the red color scheme. Instead, I'm doing a white base with a blue yoke pattern. I don't think the pattern on the top will be terribly difficult - just something new that I haven't done before. I think the scarier part of this is adding the arms properly.

Here are some more pictures from Vogue's website.

So far I'm mostly done with the back panel. Here's a shot of what I have so far. I shall post more updates as I get further along. It'll be pretty boring until I start the yoke around the collar (I keep wanting to type yolk...), since the color is just straight ivory until then. It's great fun, though, and I'm proud of how even my stitches are! I've only messed up once, and then I was able to solve the glitch on my own and move on past it!

Yay me!

Fantasy Oscars 2011

2011-01-25T10:18:00.002-05:00

I know you're all doing this in your heads - I'm just going to use my blog to pick and choose the ones I think should win. I'm ignoring the categories in which I haven't seen any of the movies/shorts/etc. My choices are in dark blue. :D

Best Picture

"Black Swan," Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
"The Fighter" David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
"Inception," Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
"The Kids Are All Right," Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
"The King's Speech," Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
"127 Hours," Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
"The Social Network," Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceàn Chaffin, Producers
"Toy Story 3" Darla K. Anderson, Producer
"True Grit" Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role (IT IS A TIE FOR ME!!!)

Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"
James Franco in "127 Hours"

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale in "The Fighter"
John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"

Animated Feature Film

"How to Train Your Dragon" Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
"The Illusionist" Sylvain Chomet
"Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

"Alice in Wonderland"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"True Grit"

Cinematography

"Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
"Inception," Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth
"True Grit," Roger Deakins

Costume Design

"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit" Mary Zophres

Directing

"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter," David O. Russell
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper
"The Social Network," David Fincher
"True Grit," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Film Editing

"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"The King's Speech"
"127 Hours"
"The Social Network"

Music (Original Score)

"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
"The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat
"127 Hours," A.R. Rahman
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Sound Editing

"Inception," Richard King
"Toy Story 3," Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
"Tron: Legacy," Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
"Unstoppable," Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

"Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
"The King's Speech," Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
"Salt," Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
"The Social Network," Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

"Alice in Wonderland," Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
"Hereafter," Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
"Iron Man 2," Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

"127 Hours," Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
"Toy Story 3," Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
"True Grit," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone," Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

"Another Year," Written by Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler

Clearly, I loved the King's Speech, and think it should win for most everything. I'm going with Portman for Best Actor because apparently she did very well, but I haven't seen Black Swan myself. What else... Oh yeah. Visuals. Harry Potter, no doubt. That was fabulously done. Costumes, Alice in Wonderland all the way. And sound editing - totally the King's Speech. The pauses, silences, dead air... zomg. Fabulously paired with the actual film. Totally made you feel for Bertie (if I may call a King "Bertie".)

I doubt I'll watch the awards, though. :) I can hit the recaps for the best bits, anyway.

Another relgious rant...

2011-01-21T14:47:00.005-05:00

[The following is a joint production between me and my cousin, Rosie, of Life's Busy Nothings. Her comments are in green.]

Nothing pisses me off more than receiving inaccurate forwards. Mostly when people send me these, they’re of a political nature, and those I have no problem deleting and pretending that I never gave them more than a perfunctory scan. Politics can be seen in a lot of different lights, and what is considered accurate or “right” is largely up to the person doing the talking. Or something. I don’t know, something about those are easier to delete.

But when I get forwards that are so blatantly inaccurate, full of hatred, bigotry, and straight up fear, that’s where I draw the line. My aunt is a notorious forwarder of these things. The most recent was something written by a “Nonie Darwish” talking about the “‘Joys’ of Muslim Women”. I saw the subject line, who it was from, and two things happened to me. The first was annoyance with having to deal with another round of this bullshit. The other was anger, pure and burning. I could see that in the first two lines, this was something that was going to take extremely obscure and rare technicalities and turn it into something that made it sound like the atrocities mentioned below were common place. I mean, honestly - can you imagine any parent allowing their baby to be sold into sex slavery because their religion allows it? Call me crazy, but isn’t pedophilia pretty much universally abhorred across different cultures? Rosie, what are your thoughts?

I completely agree! Lucky for me I don’t have any crazy conservative aunts...well I guess if you count your mom I do, but she doesn’t email me, so I’m safe.

However, I hear more than my fair share when you angrily forward these hideous emails to me where we then gnash our teeth together for the insanity of it all. I just DON’T understand how educated people who are currently living in the 21st century can believe in this shit. Not to mention the fact that most of the time the people who forward all of this hatred, and force it onto other people, claim to be “Christians.”

Well call me crazy but I thought Christians were supposed to be all about loving thy neighbor and helping and caring for one another. Most of the garbage that I read that comes from “Christians” is full of hate, prejudice, intolerance and stupidity (though I guess being stupid doesn’t mean you can’t also be a Christian). I just don’t understand, really I don’t, and it makes me really really frustrated. I am certainly not perfect nor do I consider myself a devout Catholic, which is why I am left speechless when someone like me, who barely went to church as a child (sorry Mom, I’m outing you to the grandparents), feel as if I embody the teachings of Jesus better than these lunatic fanatics who clearly didn’t learn anything in Sunday school and aren’t, dare I say, good, compassionate people in general. Clearly, they only care for those who look, act and believe exactly like them.

I understand that you love America, I do too. But this constant harsh, radical rhetoric against those who are different than us doesn’t help anything. All it does is make the gap between our understandings of each others cultures that much wider and impossible to gap. It is this misunderstanding and intolerance that breeds radicalism on both sides. They fear the radical Muslims - well, it is emails such as the one below, full of assumptions and generalizations that help feed and boost any radical cause. They are creating the very thing they fear.

Not to mention that all of this hate talk does nothing but divide a nation.

I have a hard time calling a person “un-Christian” because of their actions, because that just kinda seems to put me on a slippery slope, because I know that I’m not really in a place to make accusations like that. But then, ignorance doesn’t have to be tied to a religion. That’s the whole reason behind e-mails like this in the first place. I mean, judgments are being made because a person is Muslim. It’s like expecting all native African women to have gone through female circumcision, or all rural Americans to be barefoot bumpkins with no teeth and dirt floors in their houses.

Or everyone who lives in a city to be “city idiots.”

It’s ridiculous.

Maybe it’s just a fundamental fear that they have and because they don’t know much about a certain population, people like the originators of forwards like this, have room to jump to conclusions. They allow fear to come in and take over instead of choosing to understand what Muslims truly are like. Consider the demographic surrounding my aunt: rural south Texas where the only population diversity is Hispanic and white. The only black, Asian or (God forbid...) Arab people are in the cities, which are at least a hundred miles away in either direction.

Most of the “laws” that they mention below are things that are more than likely historic Koranic laws, much in the same way Mosaic law was. We don’t adhere to those restrictions any more than the average Muslim adheres to the things cited below. If it happens, I am sure it’s a rarity that would give the rest of the Muslim community reason to call the subscriber to such extremes a nut! I mean, bacon is strictly forbidden in the Bible, but try taking it out of any American man’s diet! Hoo boy, that’s asking for trouble. Most Muslims would be alarmed to hear of any of the happenings going on below, such as a man being able to have sexual relations with a 9 year old, and would duly condemn anyone who tried to pull shit like that. Read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni if you want to understand more about what it’s really like for Muslim women. When things like the atrocities mentioned below happen, it’s because of an upheaval in the government establishment, giving radical nuts the ability to come in, take away previously respected freedoms, and to completely piss over half of their population.

It. Is. Not. The. Norm.

It is as alien to them as it would be to us. Read A Thousand Splendid Suns, and then read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (which is set in an alternate-universe America). It’s a tragedy, not a religion.

Agreed. I don’t have much more to add to this besides wanting to take a look at this statement from the forwarded email:

(In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President by themselves! Rest assured they will do so... You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA .. Dearborn Mich. is one... and there are others...)

…WTF!?! Who actually believes this!!??? There are actually people out there who believe that the US will be “over run” by Muslims to the point that they will be the ONLY people voting and will single handidly elect someone President? The sole purpose of a statement like that one is to engender fear and bigotry. I hate it.

For those people who honestly think that, I plan on directing them to this video:
Dearborn, Arab Capital of America.

My last point (even though I’ll probably be revisiting some of the nastier things in the e-mail below) is just general disdain for the paragraphs immediately after the one you copied above.

I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!

It is too bad that so many are disillusioned with life and Christianity to accept Muslims as peaceful.. some may be but they have an army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam.. the peaceful support the warriors with their finances and own kind of patriotism to their religion. While America is getting rid of Christianity from all public sites and erasing God from the lives of children the Muslims are planning a great jihad on America ..

First off, I love how the author of that bit of the e-mail associates a lack of freedom of speech and dissemination of opinions with the ACLU, which is in existence to promote people’s ability to say what they want, even if it’s crap like this.

Secondly, I don’t consider myself disillusioned with life. Just with people who are afraid of what’s different. But then, I did break out of my comfort zone, move across the country, and embrace difference in other people with pleasure. Their “patriotism” to their religion is no different than mine to Christianity. After all, we worship the same God. You will find Biblical staples like Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Jacob and Issac all in the Quran. And why? Because it comes from the same place.

American Muslims are no more planning a “great jihad” on their home country than the average Christian American is. Their love for this country is the same as ours, because (surprise surprise) they are Americans too. And it’s time we start treating them as such.

Some additional links, for our readers who might be interested:
http://www.alislam.org/library/women.html
http://www.muslimsforpeace.org/resources.html
http://www.alislam.org/egazette/updates/demystifying-shariah/

And here is a link to the original e-mail forward I received, as well as a link to the Wikipedia page of the “author”:

"Joys" of Muslim Women by Nonie Darwish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonie_Darwish

Crafty Crafts

2011-01-13T11:07:00.003-05:00

So the reason I haven't really posted much lately is because I've been working on my yarn crafts. Over Christmas, sister in law Kristin showed me the basics of knitting. Once we got back, I went and picked up "Stitch 'n Bitch" by Debbie Stoller and took off. My first project was to make a really pretty scarf for a swap with Aunt Chris (she is making me some jewelry). I finished said scarf last night once I added the fringe on the ends.

It was a nice little scarf, too. I used 3 skeins of Lion Brand's Organic Cotton in a really pretty light lime color. The pattern was a basic 2x2 ripple (2k 2p) but staggered, so that they formed diagonals instead of straight lines. The pattern can be found here: http://www.itsastitchup.co.uk/index.php/patterns/staggered-rib-scarf/

Here's a picture of the scarf halfway done. I meant to take a picture for my mom before I packed it off, but I (predictably) forgot, and it's already on its way.

It needs to be rotated 90degrees to the right, but you still get the gist. :)

So halfway through this scarf I got bored. Also in the Stitch 'n Bitch book is an idea for a knitting needle holder, so I decided to go even further and make my own craft bag. I've been needing a new purse anyway, so 2 weeks ago I stopped at Joann's Fabrics and picked up way too much material (hey, I needed to be sure I had extra in case I made mistakes!). It took about a week, but I came up with a very nice bag that I am very proud of. There's a big pocket on one side, and five smaller pockets on the other side that hold knitting needles, crochet hooks, and pens very nicely.

Full shot of the bag (Facebook)

Isn't that fabric utterly adorable? I love the birds.

Interior picture with the needle pockets (Facebook)

I really think that I'm going to start making more of these to sell on Etsy. I have extra fabric that I picked up on the cheap in Lancaster when Scott and I went up last weekend for gifts, but after those, I'll start making them to sell.

Anyone want to place an advance order? ;) There are tons of patterns online that I have found to choose from! It's so much fun making stuff. I'm practicing on increasing/decreasing stitches right now by making a bunch of washcloths. Those will likely get sent off as gifts, too. Family and friends - beware! You are about to be showered by my knitcrafts. :D

Scott's Worst... and Best.

2010-12-15T10:28:00.003-05:00

So Scott and I were folding laundry last night (read: I was folding, he was digging socks out of the pile and messing with the cat, but as he had run the laundry to the machines, it was more than okay) and watching the Daily Show. After the show, we start talking about political processes, and I forget what lead to his comment, but he came out and said "the electoral college is the worst."

In the past couple of days, he's mentioned several things that are "the worst," including but not limited to: pants, jeans, pants, Jimmy's toys, and jeans. So I made him make out a list of the things that are THE WORST, so I know where things stand. If he says, "that's worse than pants," I'll know it's pretty bad.

So here is his list of THE WORST:

The electoral college
Kraft Singles (he refuses to acknowledge these as cheese...)
'Faple Syrup' - aka syrup made from High Fructose Corn Syrup. Log Cabin, Aunt Jemima... yeah.
Jeans (because they never fit him right).
Misuse of Apostrophe's (muahahaha)
Cleaning the bathroom.
Accounting. He likes finance, though.
Canned vegetables. (Soggy green beans... yummy!)
Sarah Palin.
Horrendous heat (specifically anything over 90 degrees F.)
Five Guys (because they won't admit that they're really a fast food place after all.)
Cleaning the cat box. (This is my job until he gets me preggers. Hmph.)
Dell Laptops.
Jimmy's Binky (aka her toy on a string. She is obsessed with this thing, and will yowl at you until you swing it around for her.)
Folding clothes. (Fine by me, as long as he is the one to carry the stuff to the machines and back.)

So those are his worst, ranked in order of awfulness. He actually gave me 19, but I figure that 15 is a good enough scale to go on. So now if he mentions something that is worse than hot weather, it's likely he's talking about items 9 and above. I do think it's funny that he can stand Sarah Palin more than canned vegetables, though. I sense some prime teasing with that bit! :D

He also gave me a list of THE BEST, just for counters. It was a fun time coming up with these things, because it was like a game of "How well do I know my Husband?" at times.

THE BEST:

My Woof. (Good answer. :P)
Reddy, his 2001 Ford Focus with 200,000+ miles - still running great!
Addressing women as "Dude." (I do this too - it's awesome.)
Waffles (or having breakfast for dinner).
Maine.
Parmiagiano-Reggiano. (I think I spelled this right. His handwriting is in all caps.)
Stephen Colbert. (I'm actually surprised that he isn't higher on the list.)
The Prestige (movie).
Top Gear. (Some say that he always faces magnetically north... all we know is he's called The Stig...)
Richard Feynman.
Firefly.

In all honesty - I think THE WORST list is a little funnier. :D I wonder what mine would be?

More Internet Fun

2010-11-12T14:33:00.003-05:00

Couple of things. People who are friends with me on Facebook have likely already seen this link. But I'm going to pick out the parts that just turn me red with anger, and give a few thoughts.

The link: Islamizing the Public Library (ITPL)

"This is not only a gross violation of free speech, but it involves using the library for dawah, proselytizing for Islam. If Islamic supremacists are going to use taxpayer-funded secular institutions to proselytize for Islam, Muslims must reciprocate in the spirit of "inter-faith dialogue," "mutual respect," and "mutual understanding." Mosques must open their doors to missionaries from other religions and allow their congregants the opportunity to explore Christianity and other religions and convert out of Islam without fear of death."

Okay, so let me get this straight. So this woman, Pamela Geller, is complaining that the library is displaying copies of the Koran? This is a public library in a part of Maryland with a diverse population. They have a full range of materials in their collection. I did a search in the Howard County catalog, and I recieved hits for at LEAST 27 copies of the Koran within the library on the first page alone. They also have digital recordings and hard copy versions of the Bible, 13 various copies of the Bhagavad Gita, and God knows how many other philosophical and religious texts. There are also books on witchcraft, for those so inclined. It's a PUBLIC library, and such things are part of the knowledge of the world, whether you agree with it or not. This library system also has at least three copies of "And Tango Makes Three", which I'm sure this lady would LOVE to know. I digress. The end call is that, yes, this is a secular institution, but religious texts are there. At least they're equally represented, instead of one being allowed over another. Libraries are places for knowledge. Thomas Jefferson, a Christian, who's book collection was the basis for the holdings of the Library of Congress, owned a copy of the Koran. It does not mean that the library supports one religion over another.

But then this Pamela woman goes to say that if Muslims are going to use "taxpayer-funded secular institutions to proselytize for Islam, Muslims must reciprocate in the spirit of "inter-faith dialogue," "mutual respect," and "mutual understanding."" Oh yeah, because she is operating in a spirit of inter-faith dialog. She wants the Mosques to be opened up so that Christians can go in and actively convert the members. How is that open? How is that mutually respectful? If a Muslim chooses to convert to Christianity, I agree, it should be done without fear of retribution from anyone, and a personal choice of the person itself. But that is also the case going the other direction, too. I believe that God and Allah are the same, just as Yahweh and God is the same. But then, that's just me. I find it deplorable that this woman's take on mutual respect and understand is to say, "You have to let us in so that we can get you Muslims to the RIGHT religion." What a crass and narrow point of view.

The bulk of the story is about how another woman, "Cate", held a protest at the Columbia branch of the Howard County Public Library against a program for "Islamic Arts and Sciences." I would have attending such a program, because I believe that the more Americans understand about this historically and culturally rich group, the more understanding and peace can have a chance to come about. One of the sponsoring groups was an Islamic Council with goals to educate the county about Islamic culture, needs of Muslim children in schools, etc. How is this a bad thing? I don't see people hemming and hawing when there is a need for understanding of Jewish community needs. Serving of kosher food at school cafeterias, and all. How is being aware of these things a bad thing? Seriously!

So Cate prints out a link for a website and other information for Christians and Jews living under Muslim rule in Spain. I'm willing to bet that this is historical information from, oh, let me guess... THE TWELFTH CENTURY when Spain was under Moorish control. Pre-Crusades, of course. This is when Europe was in the Dark Ages and the Islamic Renaissance was in full swing. That was the location of art, culture, science, and literature for that time in world history. And at that time, yes, other religious groups were not the strong majority. I don't have any good facts on me at the moment, but at this time, Islam and the Middle East from Turkey to Spain was what Florence and Rome would be several hundred years later. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Spain turn around in the 16th century or so and essentially have a government-condoned genocide with their Inquisition? For as long as religion has been around, there have been those exploiting it for their own goals, often to the severe detriment of those who are not members of the ruling religion. Sad, but true. Christianity is no exception - it has definitely been used to come down on those non-Christians in whatever society in question.

"I was alarmed when I noted that there were a couple of tables displaying proselytizing material on Islam with copies of the Quran." Cate says next. I bet this was honestly material pulled from the library shelves for people to check out. All could have been found in the library under normal circumstances, but were just laid out because of their relation to the program at hand. So next time any one of the Howard County libraries hosts a program for, oh, I don't know, a gardening group, and they showcase their materials on gardening, it can be assumed that they are proselytizing for nature religions. I see no difference from one thing to the other for the library's actions.

This particular story ends with Cate going up to the people attending this program, handing off her anti-Muslim flyers, and in the end is banned from the library. She was warned, after all.

I give mad props to the library director for saying, "that [Cate] had a good point regarding the display of Islamic proselytizing material..." and will likely think more deeply into the potential consequences of having religion in a public place. I have mixed emotions about this, but end the end, it's about knowledge, and expanding patron's understanding of a certain area.

I know that this is not the first post I've made about this topic, but it's one that sure stirs me up. Uninformed hatred is something that can be dispelled, and I fully intend to do all that I can to help reduce it as much as possible. I don't have many readers of this blog, but I still feel it's important to make known that opinions like the above are fundamentally mistaken. After all, it's love thy neighbor. Just because someone thinks a different way or follows a different religion does not make them any less a neighbor. That's something that needs to be remembered more.

Fun with Forwards

2010-10-26T15:11:00.004-04:00

So in the interest of preserving my conservative buddies, I was going to put this under a cut. But I can't figure it out. Maybe I'll find out how later.

Anyway, I received this forward from my aunt last night. My reply was that it's not my cup of tea, and a thanks anyway. But it's just too good to let go, so I'm going to pick it apart. Blame Scott. He encourages me. :P My comments are in bold italicized orange.

A letter from a Procter and Gamble Executive to the President*

The last sentence is the most chilling.

Lou Pritchett (Can I call him Prizzle?) is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. (Clearly, because we hear about him ALL the time. You don't know who he is? Wow, that's surprising. Oh, totally, I know EXACTLY who he is...) Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." (Um... seriously?) Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history. (What, did he make a record for most number of days without using said soap? While his rise is commendable, it's not exactly the most unheard of thing in the world, especially over the course of a career. Big whoop.)

AN OPEN LETTER TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama: (Hi there!)

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. (Clearly, he's never spent the night in the Lincoln Bedroom.)

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. (...because you live under a rock? A soap rock?)

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. (Hard work and scholarships? Student loans? No, that's too easy...)

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. (Because Hawaii is not in America...)

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. (Well, in his defense, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, W. H. Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, A. Johnson, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, B. Harrison, McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, F. D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, L. Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, and G. Bush were only ever lawyers, senators, congressmen, or otherwise employed in the government prior to becoming President either... http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0768854.html)

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core. (If that's the case, then Clinton, Reagan, F.D. Roosevelt, Hoover, Coolidge, Harding, Wilson, Taft, Cleveland, Polk, Quincy Adams, Madison, Jefferson, or Adams all failed at this point, too!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_military_service)

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. (See also Beck, Glenn, or Limbaugh, Rush.)

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.. ("I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. " - Obama. Oh, yeah, I forgot... Islam only has extremists for followers... Shame on me.)

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad. (<>How dare you hold America accountable, Obama? Accountability is NOT an option!!!< /sarcasm > "I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions." - Obama.)

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. (Surely - because our political system is NOT derived from a European system!)

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. (Because reckless over-spending by insurance companies is okay. Again, accountability is not an option! Oh, and it's okay for the banks to do, too. "In the absence of sound oversight, responsible businesses are forced to compete against unscrupulous and underhanded businesses, who are unencumbered by any restrictions on activities that might harm the environment, or take advantage of middle-class families, or threaten to bring down the entire financial system. " - Obama)

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. (Because the American people are too good to have to change our ways. And we don't use THAT much energy, really...)

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. (Mmm... Capitalist Goose... "Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition." - Obama)

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations. (See bank comment above...)

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. (It's because they're scared of him, right? Not because they agree with him?)

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. (Pot calling the kettle black, much?)

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. (Wait - what? Seriously? This is just getting silly.)

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. (Hey, he got that free passes from the Capitalist Goose... Or do you mean that Fox News isn't considered the media? I can't imagine they would give him a free pass. OOOH SNAP.)

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view. (I don't think it's Obama that's doing the demonizing of these guys. They're doing a good job of that on their own.)

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. ("Why can't I just eat my waffle?" - Obama - because this quote is awesome.)

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years. (2018?! But you won't have to worry about that - the Mayans say we'll all be dead by then.)

Lou Pritchett (a.k.a. Prizzle.)

Note to self...

2010-10-25T11:16:00.005-04:00

Things that need doing:

~~Take care of UM balance before registering.~~
~~Register for Spring classes.~~
~~Start on research paper #2.~~
~~Literature review for paper #2.~~
~~E-mail contacts from uncle for paper #2.~~
~~Refill meds.~~
~~Laundry.~~
~~Get concealer for Scott for costumes this weekend.~~ Also need hair ties.
Clean apt. for guests.
Kitty gets a bath.
~~Assignment for Thursday cataloging class.~~
~~Finish readings for Wednesday diversity class.~~
~~Update work doc's with stuff done on Friday.~~
Get hair cut.
~~Breathe.~~ SLEEP!

Conservative vs. Liberal

2010-10-07T17:44:00.003-04:00

Something of note that's been bugging me for quite a while now is the difference between a liberal girl living in the country versus a conservative girl living in the city. I grew up watching Fox News, and in general have nothing really against it. It's not my choice of news now, but I do recognize and accept that a lot of people do.

I married a Democrat, and I voted for Obama (gladly) in this last election. Ever since I declared my undergraduate degree to be in political science, I considered myself a moderate. But I guess that because I lived in Texas, voted for Bush, etc. that made people think me an entrenched conservative. Which is fine by me, I didn't care much then. But now, it's the assumption that I still hold the political ideas that I held when I lived back in Texas.

DC isn't Texas - things are done differently here. It's a largely urban area, and because there are more people, more government is needed, and also because more people are here, more accomodations have to be made for differences. After growing up in a town where there were no black people, I am now living in a building where all of my immediate neighbors are black. It's pretty different, and I love it.

It also goes with my library science degree, which is a traditionally liberal field. My concentration for this is Diversity in Library Services. Basically, I'm training myself to reach out to additional user groups that are beyond the majority. But diversity itself is a word that I approach with caution, at least in the way I explain it to those back home. To them, I get the sense that diversity means catering to those who are a drain on society. Well, maybe not so harsh, but diverse populations aren't likely to extend very deeply into middle class society. So when I mentioned this concentration to my mom, I felt an undercurrent there, and I realized that I wasn't speaking to someone who was used to diversity past Mexicans and whites. This isn't to bash my mom, it was just something that I was aware of. Maybe because I was looking for it.

A position that I find myself in frequently is trying to explain the conservative mindset to Scott. Often I'll hear him make a comment about, "I just don't understand how a person can believe/feel/think [insert something controversial here, usually dealing with the economy]." I'm not financially savvy myself, at least in the way that I like my money to be simple. Savings, checking, credit card, that's me. I don't really do much more beyond that. He does. He also has some strong opinions on the insurance industry. I know (or I like to think that I know) why so many of the people back home are against insurance reform well enough that I can try to explain it to him. I like to think that I have enough of a skill of empathy that I can decipher a mindset that I spent 22 years of my life living around, sharing, and hearing about.

I had a good conversation with my mom last night, as well. To her, I have a feeling that she sees me as a liberal now. I kinda cringe at that, because I don't really want to have that label on me, but I guess it's true. She had asked how my class was last night, and I told her how I had played the ambassador to explain why people watch Fox news (NO ONE in my class really does - they see it in the same way people who watch Fox News view MSNBC - something to be mistrusted and inherently mistaken). I thought I did a very good job with staying neutral, and not letting myself take a side on the view as I explained it. I simply explained it, and I felt good for not becoming personally involved.

This is definitely something I'll have to work on doing more of.

Another thing that I'll have to work on is not letting things get to me too much. I was talking with a friend yesterday, who mentioned that he enjoyed the onset of cooler weather. Since it's been in the 50's up here for the past few days, I told him that he needed to come up to DC and visit. If there's anyone that I know their political stance, it's this guy. And that's fine, it's just not one that I agreed with then, or agree with now. So I said DC, but then I went immediately into the surrounding areas up here that are beautiful at this time of year. Shenandoah valley, in particular. His reply was essentially, "I'm not going up there till 2012." Honestly, that's a shame. It's not like people are, like he said, "are running around in Kevlar vests." I mean, really. It's our nation's capital, despite who is living in the White House. Thinking about that more, it annoys me more that someone would deny themselves the opportunity to visit a beautiful city because the head of our country (liberal) lives here... that's just a little close-minded, in my honest opinion. But whatever. I told him something similar at the time, but I did try to make it light hearted, and such. It's easy to get out to the country around DC, that stuff. It's actually pretty country when you get out that way, too. And it's not like you're going to go out and interview people for their political views when you're out sight seeing or driving Skyline Drive in Shenandoah valley. Who are you going to ask? A bear? Well, to help assuage the idea of coming to DC, I told him, "Come on, I wouldn't drop you into a hotpot of liberals." And I wouldn't, either, for the sake of his views as well as those "liberals."

The thing that annoyed me was that he came out and said, "Well, that's good. I just want to make sure that place hasn't changed you like that." If someone is going to come right out and ask me my politics, I'll tell them. I'll offer it up for viewing, like I am now. But for people that I respect, and who I know won't agree with it or find it uncomfortable, I will employ a degree of tact. It's not like I define myself by the politics I believe. So I tell him, "Of course it did, but I'm still the same person."

I haven't heard back from him. Imagine what you will of that - I'm thinking the exact same thing. I want to have the benefit of the doubt that he's busy, etc., but then, the larger part of me knows that's not the case.

Le sigh.

So yeah, my struggle with this continues. So many of the people I know are conservatives, and then again, so many are liberal. And I feel like I'm still sitting on a fence, not willing to give up or commit to one or another. Usually it's fine, but in times like that, when people who have known me for years decide to judge me on what I perceive as personal growth, being able to think outside my previous worldview, and to accept a new opinion... sometimes it sucks.

But for as many people who don't get it, there are an equal number who don't care, and who know that, despite what I may believe politically, that I'm still me, and they'll still love me the same.

So I'm very grateful for that. And I've typed enough.

What's this? A blog?

2010-10-04T13:52:00.002-04:00

Gadzooks, I've been busy!!! Summer was crazy, and now it's gone, with what feels like half of fall. It's 55 degrees out here, and rainy, and I'm just left asking, "WTF? Shouldn't there be a transition time between summer and fall? Like, a few weeks of 70 degree weather? Please?"

Ugh.

Oh well, in other news, I killed my Facebook page.

Well, as much as information that was given to Facebook can be deleted. They maintain everything on their servers, so even though I've left, they have everything there, nice and tidy, for when I decide to return.

Um... yeah. I'll pass.

Case in point: http://is.gd/fpASd
Also see: http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/29/five-months-in-2-million-websites-using-facebooks-new-social-plugins/
Or even: http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/17/facebook-expands-instant-personalization-program-adds-rotten-tomatoes-as-partner/

I know I'm getting these from just one site, and I'm more than biased against Facebook, but still. There's only so much that I want to give away on the internet. Sure, I use Google like crazy, but I figure I have to make my stand somewhere. I didn't use Facebook for class, and sure, it'll suck not being able to check up easily on friends and what they're doing, but that's the price I'm paying to retain a small semblance of privacy on the net.

As a friend tweeted earlier today: The Social Network: proof that your Facebook privacy preferences are actually set to "cash"

Yup. That about sums it up for me.

True Texas Women

2010-06-23T15:25:00.004-04:00

Pardon me while I toot my own horn and slather some praise on some other fabulously strong women I know.

After thinking over some recent advice that I gave Whitney (of Whit's Wilderness), I honestly think that what makes true Texas Women strong and significant is our ability to face the trials and hard things in our lives and succeed over them, emerging better and stronger than we were. Not only do we face the trials, in a way sometimes we can go out of our way to put ourselves in trying situations.

Here's where I'm going to pat myself on the back, and continue to give Whitney a big thumbs up. We both moved to a place where we didn't have family, a job, a place of our own to live, or any clue why we were doing it but that we KNEW that's where we were supposed to be. I can't say too much about Whit's journey, but mine had a few bumps. I broke up with the guy who had helped me move up here, but by then I had moved from a temp job to an actual salaried position. I moved from the crummy apartment I was in to a nice studio with a great view that I could afford all on my own. It was small, yes, but it was all mine. And my job would pay for my schooling. I knew that was one of the reasons I was supposed to be here - to find my purpose in life.

Not only did I find purpose for my life in what I want to do with my career, but I found a husband as well. While we'll never go back to Texas in the foreseeable future, I use that as a defining part of who I am. I am a strong Texas woman, and I know that I have the strength and forbearance to tackle any issue that's in front of me.

If I can have the gumption and guts to move someplace where I might fail, yet find success, it makes me wonder what other things I can succeed at.

Whitney, when you ask yourself what you are doing here, why you came, and if it's a mistake, remember this. We are True Texas Women. We are pioneers. Other women in our family have come and conquered, digging a life out of the Texas heat. They had just as few resources as we did when we set out, and they made it. We're from that same cloth, and have it in our blood to stand up, kick some ass, and gain the respect of those around us.

Not everyone can do that. Not everyone can make themselves successful from scratch. Friends are needed, yes, but more often than not, most women won't even try to do what we've done. Most will venture out a little ways, then go scurrying back to their comfort zone. But the few who push out and make it, that's where it matters. Pushing out doesn't always mean geographically leaving their comfort zone, but instead looking out for the hurdles that may come our way and showing them who's boss.

That's what true Texas Women do. We test the limits, and we kick the limit's asses.

Wow - It's been a month!

2010-06-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been a month since I've updated! Sorry folks! It's just been super busy here. I'm stewing over some posts, and will update more often. But for now - back to work. :(

10 odd things...

2010-05-13T13:50:00.006-04:00

While listening to my iPod and having several ... interesting songs come up, I got to thinking about the most unique/interesting things that I feel define me or things that I did as a child that helped make me who I am today. Or make me laugh out loud. Or are generally my favorites. So here's a quick list. I'm going to try to limit them to 10, so I can choose the most random ones. :) This should be fun!

Mahna Mahna by the Muppets is one of my favorite songs that's on my iPod. Also anything by Riders in the Sky. Yes, I do yodel along. And White and Nerdy. That's my husband's song. We rapped it at our wedding reception.
I don't drink coffee or beer, cause they are just yuck. Iced Jasmine Green Tea with Milk, Honey, and Tapioca is heaven in a cup.
When all the cousins on my dad's side would all get together, we would always stay late at my grandmother's house and play Border Patrol in hers and the neighbors' yards. Not Cops and Robbers, not Cowboys and Indians. Border Patrol. It was awesome.
Throwing a snowball at someone and missing by feet.
The best harmonizing I have ever heard (apart from the Eagles in Seven Bridges Road and any accompaniment that Dolly Parton sings) has been my dad and my uncle around the fireplace on Christmas Eve.
You can't beat a waltz in the hallway with your husband with only the cat for an audience. Also, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz.
Funnest songs to dance to: Cotton Eyed Joe and Istanbul (Not Constantinople).
If I had to, I could skin an animal and prep it for cooking. The actual cooking, though, I'd leave to Scott, my dad, or my brother.
I think it's a crime that most people who live in cities have never truly seen the stars.
42 is perhaps the best game ever (played with dominoes). Or Hangman. I can't decide.
(I know I said only 10, but this one is my personal philosophy and as such it warrants posting.) Happily ever after doesn't happen on its own. It's a commitment that must be made each and everyday. Some days will probably be hard, others automatic, but each day must contain an effort to love a person with all you can.

Well, that's it for now. Book club tonight. We're supposed to be reading either Ophelia (Lisa Klein) or The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) but I've only just started Ophelia. It should be fun, though, and it's our first meeting, so it's okay.

<3

Book Review and an Aside...

2010-05-05T13:23:00.004-04:00

So I just finished reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. My boss had recommended this one to me, and from reading the synopsis on the back of the audiobook case told me that this is exactly the kind of book that I like.The story follows a woman who restores antique books, and who is commissioned to examine a Haggadah that surfaces in Sarajevo. She collects clues from the book - an insect's wing, a red stain on one of the pages, some salt, a white hair - and sets about trying to learn more about what put them there. The story itself jumps between 2002 and to the lives around the book, each leading up to one of the items that was discovered in the ancient book. It's fascinating, and the characters just come alive from the page.

I bought this on e-book so I could read it on my phone (Kindle for iPhone is awesome), but I seriously want to go back and purchase the actual text. It's that good - I want to have the book to feel under my fingers and to flip to my favorite parts.

I highly recommend this as a good read. It really brings the different time frames to life, as well as the social struggles that were happening at the time. Because the Haggadah was a Jewish text, the characters involved within the history that the author reveals also face lots of social problems. From the Spanish Inquisition to Nazi sentiments in Europe - not all the people followed in the book are noble, but all feel very, very real.
I want to read it again. :)

And the aside - Scott and I were talking about art last night. He told me how the record for the most paid for a piece of art was broken when a Picasso recently sold for what, 106 million? More or less what he said after that was, "I've seen several Picasso's, and I'm not impressed by them. Why should I be, when I can do the same thing? It looks like a kid's drawing."
To which I tell him that Picasso was actually trained in art, and was very accomplished and had a natural talent, but when he saw some drawings done by children, he was inspired by their style, and he began to seek to draw like that - perhaps with more innocence, if you will, with the eyes of a child. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I do remember hearing/reading that from somewhere. Scott still was skeptical, so I had him look up some cubist artists on his phone. I told him to look up Juan Gris. This was the one we zoomed in on:

I asked him what he saw, and he said "A house, an alien tree, and some blue sheep."

Goof. :)

So I think then I found another Picasso to show him, because not all of his work was abstract.

This happens to be my favorite Picasso, and he admitted that it was pretty cool. I think I surprised him with this piece. We started talking about abstract art in general, and how I think that wanting artists to paint more... intellectually? traditionally? would be the same as asking one of his favorite bands, Muse, to produce more music like Mozart. It's the interpretation and intent of the artist that's conveyed with things like this, not the reality of what they're seeing. It's all about perception and what they want to convey.

I pulled up a few Jackson Pollocks, which he DEFINITELY could recreate himself, and asked him if he were walking through a room, and he saw a work like this on the wall, if it would make him stop and give it a second look. He said yes. (Mental Me: SCORE!)

It was neat talking about this with him, cause as much as I respect his opinion and his views on more modern art, it's still fun to show him the other side of things. He does the same thing for me with current events and such. Sometimes it's not worth trying to find meaning in the work of art, but seeing the skill and intention of the artist. To bring together a load of splattered paint and make it something cohesive like Pollock does above, or put the music in a work the way Picasso does with The Old Guitarist, it's nice.

I think the difference in our opinions comes down to skill versus intention. Scott values skill more than anything (you should put him in front of a Seurat and see his reaction) where as mine is more... visionary, if you will. I respect skill as much as the next person, but I know from experience that skill isn't all that you need to produce good art. You have to have intention behind it. It can be as simple as being bored and doing a few nice doodles during a meeting or class, or it can be wanting to give a friend something special. All I know is that the drawings I've tried to do without a vision or intention have kinda sucked.

Which is why my next piece that I'm going to do is to cover up the painting that was over our couch and replicate a picture that I took while on our honeymoon. Recreating Key West a bit, and all that jazz. Good solid work.

Once classes are done, that is. :)

Things I want to read... (revised!)

2010-05-03T16:24:00.006-04:00

Just a list of books that look interesting to me and I might pick up to read. :)

Good lord - it's a long one. Should keep me satisfied if I run to the library for some of them. Also, if I head to Borders, I'll know some titles to head for instead of randomly browsing Fiction (which never seems to work). Green = GET THIS NOW. Italic = It can wait.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Beach Trip by Cathy Holton
Blankets by Craig Thompson (graphic novel)
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
If on a winters night by Italo Calvino
Slam by Nick Hornby
Headlong by Michael Frayn
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Interred with their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell
The Reduced Shakespeare Co. presents the Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr by Daniel Singer, Jess Borgeson, William Shakespeare, Adam Long
Coffee with Shakespeare by Stanley Wells
The Turquoise Ring by Grace Tiffany
Ophelia by Lisa Klein
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig
Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel

Okay - I think 27 is enough. :D

America

2010-04-27T10:07:00.005-04:00

So Scott and I watched America: The Story of Us on Sunday. It was brilliant! It was so cool seeing some of the places that we've been recently. I was very happy to see that when they talked about Jamestown that they portrayed the settlement accurately! I wish they had talked more about the Indians, especially with the Pilgrims, because that was a huge bit of cool history. King Phillip of the Wampanoag tribe and the war associated with his name... that would have made a cool bit to include. Actually, I am very disappointed in how little of the Indians they showed. After all, they had established permanent nations here LONG before the settlers ever arrived. Yet American history only seems to start with the ships from England, or Christopher Columbus landing around Florida. Meh.

I really want to see Boston now, too. The reenactments in the show looked so real and were so well done. The characters that they portrayed jumped at you out of the screen, and were presented with passion. It did what all good history programs should do - get you excited to learn more. And they included Yorktown! I'm so happy that they did Yorktown right (if skipped out on some of my favorite bits of that battle - I have to admit, it's my favorite of the whole Revolutionary war) instead of feeding into Mel Gibson's butchering of the event in The Patriot.

The coolest part was definitely being able to tie things in to places that Scott and I have been. Fort William Henry, where there were some key French and Indian War battles fought, and nearby Fort Necessity, where George Washington (as an officer in the British Army) had his first major defeat, Federal Hall in NYC, where he took his oath of Office for the Presidency, Independence Hall, where Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and so many other met to hammer out the details of the Constitutional Congress, Jamestown, where the first British settlers first came to shore (I stood on the actual spot that historians have approximated that they actually came to shore first) and saw a bald eagle on Jamestown Island, and then a few days later stood on the field where the American Revolution was won. Yorktown was definitely my favorite, and I got such a thrill from seeing exactly where the American line was, where the British were dug in, and the field where Cornwallis' junior surrendered to Washington's junior. Oh, it was so cool.

That's why I love this area - there's just so much history and so many places to see and be history dorks at.

It was interesting, though, because Scott and I both had the same thought - how do the British teach the American revolution? What is it like from a non-American standpoint? While I do like the positive spin on the show about "Americans" and the fight to "free themselves from tyranny" - it makes me proud to hear that - I do wonder what people who aren't American view it as. It can't have been as rosy and golden of an ideal then. Not at all. I highly doubt that the people who joined up in militias, or that dumped the tea from the ship in Boston Harbor did those things with that type of noble intentions. I can see them easier as very pissed off, threatened people who were out to cause as much trouble for the Crown as possible. Yes, some may have been philosophical like that, but I highly doubt that it started that way at all. "The difference between a civil war or an insurrection and a revolution depends on who wins."

Case in point - Shot heard 'round the world. Battle of Bunker Hill. The American standpoint is that we don't know who fired the first shot. British POV - Americans fired the first shot. Which is true? I'd love to get my hands on some American history books not written by Americans and see what some outside views can turn up historically. I'm not saying that the way we tell our revolutionary story is inaccurate - I love that view, and I love how inspiring it is for being American. I'm just curious to see how the other side saw what we did.

Any suggestions on texts that might fit this bill?

I can't wait for the next installment. :D I had no idea that Dolley Madison did the things she did when the British invaded DC.

If I had my dream home right now...

2010-03-30T15:28:00.000-04:00

... here are a few of the things I would put in there.

Bedroom:
I like our quilt and bedding pattern that we have, as well as our dark brown missionary bed. But I'd totally go for one of these instead of the dresser we have.

This is what I would want my living room to be like:

and then for the bathroom:

I love this.

All pictures are from Pottery Barn. I got one of their catalogs last night. Shame on me, but I can't help wishing. :D

When we can afford it, I'm totally doing something similar. I love it. I love the light colors, and can't wait till we get a house so that we can work towards this.

Feel Good of the Day

2010-03-29T16:16:00.002-04:00

This song just came on my iPod. I love it so much. It can be relevant in so many ways, from a toy, to a friend, to a spouse, to anyone that's a friend!

It makes me smile. :)

Um... ew???

2010-03-24T14:00:00.002-04:00

I found this blog post via my Google Reader page. I didn't write this, but it deserves a post here too. This is one brave person to do this.

Happy Meal turns One

"I purchased a Happy Meal, not to eat, but to observe and blog about. Yes, I bought a Happy Meal and then placed it on my office shelf, right behind me and my computer. It sat on my shelf for a year as a silent witness to our fast food industry."

"My Happy Meal is one year old today and it looks pretty good. It NEVER smelled bad. The food did NOT decompose. It did NOT get moldy, at all."

Note to self: The only thing I am now allowed to get from McDonalds is a bottle of Dasani water.

Bleh.

2010-03-23T14:31:00.002-04:00

Ever had one of those days when you feel like all you do is put your foot in your mouth?

Yeah...

Southern Cross

2010-03-19T13:07:00.000-04:00

"When you see the Southern Cross
For the first time
You understand now
Why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from
Is so small.
But it's as big as the promise
The promise of a comin' day.
So I'm sailing for tomorrow
My dreams are a dyin'.
And my love is an anchor tied to you
Tied with a silver chain.."

Just a song that's on my iPod right now, and it's getting me thinking about how much I want to go to the beach, or out of town, or just outside, and why. I really just want to be where there's blue water, a dock, and a sunny day so that I can dive right in and feel the coolness surround me, with the smell of salt, seaweed, sun, and wind all combined into one.

But it's Friday. :) I can go lay in the cold grass in a park somewhere along my drive home.

City meets Country

2010-03-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

Scott and I are planning on going camping Memorial Day Weekend in Pennsylvania, so we've started getting things together for that. We're both really excited to go, and so we went to Bass Pro Shop to get fishing gear and stuff we might need while hiking.

It was funny because I've been fishing before (quite often, actually) and I know what we need in terms of poles, line, lures, hooks, weights, etc. Scott and our friend AJ poked around and laughed at various types of stuff (crappie, etc.) while I pulled stuff together. The funny stuff really happened, though, when we got to the cooking gear.

The cabin that we're staying at has a fridge and a stove, but we're wanting to do some outdoor cooking. I refused to let them get hot dog cookers- coat hangers are good enough to serve that purpose. Heck - you might as well get this and wear one of these while you're hiking!It's so funny what that store has, and what they can get away with selling to people. I mean, really - at some point it stops being camping and ends up a nifty-gadget fest out in the woods.

The things we did get, though, were pretty cool. We got one of these so we can set our cast iron on it and cook eggs and sausage in the morning. It folds up pretty flat so we can store it in our apartment when we get back. We also got a nice cooler from Target that's also small enough to store reasonably well when we're done with it. The only thing that I'm going to seriously stock up on before we go is bug spray. Last time we went hiking was in Shenandoah, and we pulled about 10 ticks off the both of us combined. We weren't bitten, but it was still freaky.

I'm excited now!

So I won't hesitate no more...

2010-03-12T12:08:00.001-05:00

I've got the biggest grin on my face right now cause of the last three songs that came on my iPod. The first was Cotton Eyed Joe/Schottishe. I can't help but kick my feet at my desk to this, and wish I could get everyone together and actually do the dance. When it got to the Schottishe, I remembered doing this at my wedding and Mike (my dad) picking up the quick kicks that I was doing. Scott and I had our dance, then Mike and I danced, and then straight away the DJ busted this one out.

It was a very pleasant surprise that the next song was I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. This is the song that Scott and I danced to, and I just have the biggest grin on my face listening to it. Something about it just fits us so well, and every time I hear it I stop, get all reminiscent, and want to give him the biggest hug. My brother's girlfriend Whitney told me that he can play this on the guitar now, and it makes me really want to hear him play it. Pictures from the wedding go through my head, like the one where Ben is seating Karen (my mom) and both have the best smiles on their faces - Ben with his grin and Karen looking like the best Mother of the Bride ever. My aunt Holly telling me how much fun everyone had at the wedding, and all the dancing and fun we all had to the songs that Bob, Ben and Chloe all provided. I remember how nice that day was, with the air blowing in off the Chesapeake bay, and the birds singing at the Vandiver, and how everything was green and the hydrangeas were blooming and everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I want to do it all over again, just to have everyone around for the fun we had at the reception. And dancing with Scott, and how he doesn't dance, but he'll dance with me in the mornings when a good song comes on.

And then River of Love by George Strait played after I'm Yours, which is one of the songs we dance to in our apartment. It's going to take all day to wipe this grin off my face.

I'm going to order some photos of the event this weekend so I can finally work on the wedding scrapbook that I have been wanting to do. I know that I'm going to include song lyrics from I'm Yours, River of Love, It Just Comes Natural, and Living on Love in the design.

I hope that this feeling will always bubble up inside me when I hear the songs that were played at the wedding. They're all so vivid in my mind, and I am sent back every time I hear one. It just makes me remember how wonderfully blessed I am with Scott and my family, and how I love them all so very much. No wonder I'm grinning so widely. :D

The past year...

2010-03-09T15:22:00.001-05:00

A lot of things have happened in the past year for me. Around this time in 2009, I had just come back from a several trips to various places: one to New York for my birthday, another to Texas, and then another from Philly with Scott. I was excited about my friend's wedding and helping her plan for that, since I was the Maid of Honor. I had no idea that Scott had a ring for me, and had wanted to propose to me on the top of the Empire State Building on Valentines day. (This didn't pan out, he moved it back to time with the Cherry Blossoms, but the ring burned a hole in his pocket and he asked me in our apartment. It makes me smile still.)

I've learned a lot of things in the past year, the biggest of which are who I can trust to truly stand by me. Two years ago, I didn't even know Scott. I guess you could consider it a whirlwind romance, then, but I know as surely as I know anything that he was what I was supposed to find in DC, along with my career path (Librarian). I know that whatever I do, it's going to be with him. I can't think of anything that we wouldn't do together.

He's been a big help especially in dealing with things that happened before and after the wedding. The friend that I was MoH for served as MoH for me, and I think having the overlapping weddings was what drove us apart. Hah - it's still "the friend." I guess I still don't like naming her, but whatever. But that's an old frustration, and I'll not drag it up in my mind again.

I do miss having a best girlfriend though. I have a bunch of great friends up here, who are all amazing and are each sweet and awesome in their own ways. And I have two sisters now who are totally freaking hilarious, and in-laws that many wives would love to have. Not to mention the awesome husband. :D But it still does kind of suck having my best friend show her true colors. It also sucks that someone I have always seen as a little sister stop talking to me.

I've thought about that, and it's probably a combination of something that may have been said at the wedding, differences in political views, and (on her end) a little bit of immaturity. I mean, the silent treatment? Who does that anymore. It reminds me a LOT of what the MoH did to me after my wedding, and it honestly makes me shake my head. Maybe this is more from being around Scott, who is a pretty direct person, and also from my mom, who would say, "She just needs to get over that." I know I can't do much more than I have in the way of reaching out to her, trying to see what she's up to, how her classes are going, how she did at the stock shows, etc. but still have not received a response in months. The only communication I've had with her is an incredulous "What?!" in response to a facebook group that I joined (pro-gay marriage) and a happy birthday message. I've tried calling, texting, and IM'ing. Never any response.

I'm more than a little hurt by it, mainly because it seems like deja vu for what happened with the MoH. She got pissed off at me for some stupid reason, or several stupid reasons, and let things snowball until it became a bitter falling out. I don't want that to happen again, but communication does have to work both ways. I know that we disagree politically, but that doesn't mean she's not my family anymore. And for the record, taking government handouts is NOT the same as receiving free tuition because I work at a state university.

Overall, if I would have known last year what things would be now, I wouldn't change much. I'd definitely change the way I react to some things, and some small behaviors or comments, but any more than that would have ceased to be me. I'm so gloriously happy with where I am now, and I think that it's been worth what costs have arisen. I'm married to a great man who is an amazing cook and a mutual history nerd, and I'm well on my way to getting my library science degree. It's been a good year, overall.

Today's Playlist

2010-03-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

It's going to be in the 60s today, which is totally awesome. But because of what I'm wearing (khaki skirt and a light pink shirt with beige heels) I'm going to go with a softer playlist for today.

Do You Want To Dance - John Lennon
Wunderkind - Alanis Morisette
Sittin' on the Top of the World - Asleep at the Wheel
Heart of Mine - Norah Jones (note: i want to learn to play guitar just so i can play this song)
How Bizarre - OMC
White Flag - Dido
Does Your Mother Know - Eoghan Quigg
Feeling Good Again - Robert Earl Keen
The Nearness of You - Norah Jones
Ruby Sees All - Cake
Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper

April Fools

2010-03-04T16:09:00.002-05:00

April Fools is on its way! I'll expand on this post later, but please note the new poll to the right!!!

Muahahahaha.

Oh, and whichever prank "wins" does not necessarily mean that it will be the one I will use.

The Theater

2010-03-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

Things we have seen:

Le Miserables
The Lion King
Much Ado about Nothing

Things we are going to see:

Wicked
Hamlet

Things we want to see:

Fiddler on the Roof
Phantom of the Opera

Any suggestions on other performances in the DC area?

Good kitty. :)

2010-03-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

So Jimmy got a bath yesterday. It was rather cruel. I get home, and I didn't even stop to pet her and say hello. Just hopped out of my coat, into my bathing suit and off to the tub with her!

She was BEYOND indignant afterwards, but that's usually because she hates the blow dryer. She's actually very well behaved when I give her a bath. She lets me get her belly, and get up by her ears, too. She tolerates the bath. I'll just be glad when she finishes shedding her winter coat so I can vacuum it all up. Next time I bathe her, I need to take a picture of her in her fluffy state with the "Die, bitch, die" look in her eyes.

She barely let Scotty hug her yesterday, too! Straight to yowling and tail flicking. It was kind of funny, because she usually lets him get about 2 hugs in before she decides enough is enough.

I really am surprised, though, how easily she lets me do things like bathing and claw clipping. I guess it really is like Scott says - she lets me get away with WAY more than he does.

Maybe it's cause I know where her favorite scratch spot is (right in front of her ears, and on the top of her nose). I still maintain that she picked me when she was at the shelter. She climbed straight in my lap and made herself comfortable. She's only done that once or twice since.

Very good kitty. :)

Yay!!! It's March!!!!!

2010-03-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished that website WAY sooner than I thought I would! I had an original design to it, but I decided to scrap it when some of the coding wasn't working out the way I had wanted. The design I went with instead is a lot more modern, simple, and can be viewed without much trouble no matter what resolution a browser is. I'm pretty proud, honestly!

El Progreso Dummy Site

The link to the Contact Us does not work, but that's the only one. I'm still trying to figure out how to make that image at the top be a link - it's not as simple as putting <*a href =""> tags. I shall figure it out! :D

I'm just glad that it's March now, and spring is on its way. I bought some new shirts for spring yesterday, and I can't wait till warmer weather comes so I can break out with my skirts! They've been in my closet, feeling sad and neglected all winter. I can't wait to bust them out, lotion up the legs, and go without wearing hose or leggings to keep warm!!!!!

Spring is my favorite, anyway. I'm so excited for this one, because there's going to be a lot of fun stuff going on. Scott and I are going camping on Memorial Day weekend at Blue Knob State Park in PA. I think we'll be able to bring more people with us, too! That will be so fun. Sit around the campfire with marshmallows, be goofy, and forget that we're adults for a weekend.

I found out yesterday that a friend of mine has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. I am so impressed, and I think that I'm going to commit to hiking on it for about 3 weeks once I get my degree (or once Scott gets his, and we can both take off without worrying about missing work). We can quit our jobs, hike for a while, and then we can pack up our stuff and move to either across the pond or San Francisco.

Spring always makes me want to go on an adventure, and I can definitely feel spring coming on. So why not, especially when (by the end of the summer) I'll be halfway done with my Library Science degree! I still can't believe I'm getting through that this fast.

Next week the weather is supposed to be in the 50s.

I can't wait. :D

A possible temporary immediate hiatus in posting...

2010-02-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

... because we have an assignment in one of my classes to create a website using CSS. I've challenged myself to remake the El Progreso's website, which is turning out to be pretty intense. I want it to be perfect, and I've never done CSS programming before. So this shall be interesting.

Thank goodness for having Dreamweaver at work. I wish I had it at home - that would make things easier.

I wish I could upload what I've done from work, though. Stupid firewall. I guess.

:P

Today's playlist

2010-02-16T17:18:00.000-05:00

Humble Me - Norah Jones
River of Love - George Strait
Heart and Soul - Huey Lewis and the News
Sunrise - Norah Jones
La Vie Desante - Jimmy Buffett
Threadbare Gypsy Soul - Pat Green
Mendocino County Line - Willie Nelson
Island in the Sun - Weezer
Dear Prudence - The Beatles

Thin Mints - FTW!

2010-02-16T16:11:00.001-05:00

Nice surprise just now! I ordered four boxes of Thin Mints (Girl Scout Cookies for those who are not aware of these cookies goodness for all mankind) and they came today!

I was having a rough day up till now - it is fantastic from here on out though!

Oh, and because it's funny, here is my reaction when I told Scott in chat what I had just been given.

me: THIN MINTS!

I HAVE THIN MINTS!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

scott: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

me: I KNOW

Yes - that is why I married him. He totally gets it.

Funny of the Day

2010-02-10T13:01:00.002-05:00

Multimedia message

2010-02-08T23:37:00.001-05:00

I am rather scared. She is staring at me, and has been for 15 minutes now.

Blizzard 2010!!!!!

2010-02-06T12:55:00.001-05:00

More snow.

2010-02-05T14:10:00.000-05:00

So it's spitting flurries right now. I'm glad work was canceled, as it gives me time to study and/or clean. Though more Harry Potter reading is going on right now. What - I'm at the end of book five!

Just waiting for the snow, though from what they're saying, it'll come down later tonight once I'm asleep.

Tomorrow will be fun, though. I still want to go sledding.

I'll post pictures tomorrow - right now it's nothing of note.

Snow Day!

2010-02-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

Granted, I still had to come to work today, but at 10 instead of 9. I got to sleep in a little bit! And the drive was gorgeous, even on the Beltway.

Pictures!

We've created a monster...

2010-02-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

I repeat - Scott and I have created a monster in Jimmy.

She's gotten so vocal in the last month or so. It's been coming on since we brought her back from the boarder's after Christmas. I go from having a cat (Robin, who still is in Uvalde) who NEVER meows to one who talks to us when we're not paying attention to her.

And this is exactly what she does! She'll lay on her back, cross her front paws and start telling us how her day was. It's the most adorable thing ever, but she was totally killing my concentration during a chess game last night.

I'll ask her if she's being cute, to which she'll say "Mrow!" (translation - "you know it, momma!") and Scott will say, "No, she's being disgusting!" And then she will bite his ankle for not acknowledging her cuteness.

She's also adept at giving kitty back rubs. I sleep on my stomach, and in the morning when she thinks it's time for us to get up (which is always between 5:30 and 6:30), she'll jump on the bed and run on my back. It actually is kind of nice, cause she's just got enough weight to feel the steps.

I let Jimmy get away with WAY too much. We tried to keep her from sleeping on the bed at first, but that lasted for all of two weeks. It was her apartment by then, anyway.

I'm going to try to get the video I have of her cuteness up later.

Funny of the Day

2010-01-29T10:25:00.000-05:00

SOTU

2010-01-28T13:31:00.003-05:00

I didn't mean for this to be so much of a political blog on my part, but that seems to be the common thread in many of my recent posts. But as last night was the State of the Union, I think it's kind of appropriate. :)

I've included the last part of Mr. Obama's speech last night because it was so entirely profound and inspiring that I wanted to hear it again. It reminded me again exactly why I voted for him in the first place. He is a leader - that is undeniable - and I am happy to follow his lead. Or at least give him the benefit of the doubt that his plans have a strong base and have the good potential to work if people are willing to come together and give them a shot.

Compromise needs to be made, and it'd be stupid to accept his plans without review and revisions, because one person (armed with his policy makers and advisers) can't think of everything. A lot of good has been done already (I'm a huge fan of the regulations on the banks concerning their credit cards, interest rates, etc.) and hopefully a lot more good is yet to come. I think that it's important to look past democrat or republican agendas and focus on what is good for the country. Because like he said at the end, it's America. And a democracy of 300 million IS hard to work with. There are so many opposing views that can cripple whatever progress, but there are equal number of ways to come up with a strategy that helps most.

Call me overly hopeful, but I think we're in a very good direction, and I am glad to give my support for what is in the works.

Will post more on this matter after my class tonight.

The quote of his speech is underneath this cut.

In the end, it's our ideals, our values that built America -- values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe; values that drive our citizens still. Every day, Americans meet their responsibilities to their families and their employers. Time and again, they lend a hand to their neighbors and give back to their country. They take pride in their labor, and are generous in spirit. These aren't Republican values or Democratic values that they're living by; business values or labor values. They're American values.

Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions -- our corporations, our media, and, yes, our government -- still reflect these same values. Each of these institutions are full of honorable men and women doing important work that helps our country prosper. But each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, or a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people's doubts grow. Each time lobbyists game the system or politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.

No wonder there's so much cynicism out there. No wonder there's so much disappointment.

I campaigned on the promise of change -- change we can believe in, the slogan went. And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren't sure if they still believe we can change -- or that I can deliver it.

But remember this -- I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I could do it alone. Democracy in a nation of 300 million people can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That's just how it is.

Those of us in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths and pointing fingers. We can do what's necessary to keep our poll numbers high, and get through the next election instead of doing what's best for the next generation.

But I also know this: If people had made that decision 50 years ago, or 100 years ago, or 200 years ago, we wouldn't be here tonight. The only reason we are here is because generations of Americans were unafraid to do what was hard; to do what was needed even when success was uncertain; to do what it took to keep the dream of this nation alive for their children and their grandchildren.

Our administration has had some political setbacks this year, and some of them were deserved. But I wake up every day knowing that they are nothing compared to the setbacks that families all across this country have faced this year. And what keeps me going -- what keeps me fighting -- is that despite all these setbacks, that spirit of determination and optimism, that fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people, that lives on.

It lives on in the struggling small business owner who wrote to me of his company, "None of us," he said, "...are willing to consider, even slightly, that we might fail."

It lives on in the woman who said that even though she and her neighbors have felt the pain of recession, "We are strong. We are resilient. We are American."

It lives on in the 8-year-old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti.

And it lives on in all the Americans who've dropped everything to go someplace they've never been and pull people they've never known from the rubble, prompting chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A!" when another life was saved.

The spirit that has sustained this nation for more than two centuries lives on in you, its people. We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don't quit. I don't quit. (Applause.) Let's seize this moment -- to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more. (Applause.)

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Continuing my last post...

2010-01-27T08:10:00.003-05:00

Enough said.

A little aside...

2010-01-26T22:23:00.001-05:00

One of the things I love most about my husband is that he doesn't let me just believe or feel the way I do about something. He's the kind of person that wants to know why it is I feel a certain way, and if that thing seems to be without reason, he forces me to think deeper into my viewpoints.

We had a debate about global warming last night. I was reading an editorial in the Post in which the author censures the UN Council who came up with the prediction that in 2035 the Himalayan glaciers would be gone. I read a specific quote aloud, in which the editorialist said that that prediction was based on a paper, which was based on a paper, which was based on another paper, which did not mention 2035 at all. I was clearly in the same mind as the editorialist - a lot of the mainstream proponents of climate change are nuts and sensationalists.

Scott sensed immediately that it was a hot button of mine, and proceeded to poke at it. Thanks, baby. :) But it got me to clarify my position on global warming to him, and allow him to understand and accept where I was coming from.

My big problem with global warming as a political/social issue are the people that are frontlining it. I can't stand Al Gore - I think he's a total hypocrite and is out trying to scare people and hold onto his fame for as long as he can. And because I have such a negative taste in my mouth from him, I perceive a large number of the other non-scientist supporters of instilling climate change just as negatively. But I can accept that I am a bit prejudiced against the people you see on TV. I also don't like the whole "carbon footprint" and other buzzwords that have come out of the climate change movement. It doesn't make sense to me, and I think that it's just another scare tactic and/or useless measurement to make people feel good about themselves for doing something that sounds snazzy. Like the people who drive hybrids, yet throw their cigarette butts out of the car on the roadways.

Climate change as a scientific idea, however, is something that I can agree with. Scott brought up that he's seen pictures of Alaska 50 years ago versus now, and how there is so much less ice. Same thing with Greenland and it's native population finding it more difficult to do their traditional ice hunts. That I can see and I can agree with. I love the environment - my family taught me to respect, appreciate, enjoy and love it as much as I can. It's not something to be wasted or ruined. If Congress, the House, Obama, whoever, enacted some more strict measures or passed incentives for citizens to willingly shift towards more efficient things, I'd say good for them. I doubt highly that it would happen, because there are some pretty big lobbys (oil, auto, etc.) to get past. For example, if there was a tax incentive to drive vehicles that polluted less or to carpool (they do something similar in England, I believe, where they charge a tax for normal cars, but hybrids are exempt), that'd be something that I'd be in favor of.

What I'm not in favor of are the people who are out there to take advantage of the need for more people's need to be more contentious about the environment. I think that the hype is bullshit, and I don't want to hear it. Besides, the knee-jerk reaction I have is to label them as hippies and tune them the hell out.

But I can admit that, as one good thing to come out of the climate sensationalists and their scare tactics, that people are being more aware that their actions do affect the Earth. I'd hate to see some of the amazing places that we have been entrusted with to be ruined by refusing to admit that there's a problem.

I'm not going to go out and buy a hybrid (there's no immediate benefit for me beyond the "look at me I am being environmentally responsible!), buy strictly organic or go join a commune. But some of the things that I can look at in favor are the push for more recycling, increase in importance of farmer's markets, and people making their homes and lives more energy efficient. There are additional benefits to those things other than the self-important pat on the back.

Guess that's my soapbox for the evening. So here's me - approving of changing our habits, yet disapproving of the global warming hype. Talk about conflicting viewpoints, huh? :P

Finally reading the paper...

2010-01-25T09:50:00.001-05:00

We finally got a Sunday subscription to the Washington Post. I can finally read up on what's going on in the news now, seeing as the only things we watch on TV are FoodNetwork, Stephen Colbert, and ... that's about it. :)

It's good to know more about what exactly is going on with current debates and political happenings. I've only had a vague idea of what's going on, but now it feels good knowing that we'll be more informed. Anywho, onto more fun stuff.

Did something this weekend that I can't reveal until Valentines day. It's a total surprise for Scotty, and he is totally going to freak when he gets the surprise. All I'm going to say is it is so much fun, and I can't wait till the 14th. I was at the Annapolis mall for a while, though, and that is one swanky mall. I got a cute dress from H&M on sale. I would have worn it today, but Scott said it looked like a date outfit. Fair enough, so I put on my "librarian look" but with a black vest. I'm such a shopping nerd, but at least I got some good prices out of these two pieces.

But now I suppose I should actually get to work again. Classes start later this week, so most of my posts will probably be library science related once those start up. :) Either that or commenting on the Post articles that I read. I'll probably do one of those tonight over the ever volatile health care debate.

Later!

Quote of Day - You can spend your time, waste your time, or invest your time. It's your choice.

Art Talking

2010-01-20T15:43:00.001-05:00

A couple of weekends ago Scott and I went to the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum. We were walking on the American Art side, and had just come through the Folk Art display they had currently when I turned a corner and saw a painting that spoke so much to me. I stood and stared at it for about 10 minutes before going back and dragging him to see it with me. I really can't say why it hit me so hard, but between it and the title of the piece, "Looking for a Mountain," I was blown away. The artist is Pat Steir. I looked up some of her other works, and they are very abstract and beautiful. I would love to see more of her work someday.

But for now, this remains perhaps one of my favorite paintings ever.

More info on the piece here: Looking for the Mountain by Pat Steir.

It's just absolutely fantastic. When I look at it, I see her interpretation on the mistake most people make when trying to view nature. The hatchmarks around the perimeter of the piece looks like engineering or artist scale markers, and the schematic lines underneath the large pink/red section signifies the things people are trying to measure. Different ways to describe, typify, identify, and research about the mountain. What information can be gained from it. The blue to me represents water above it (rain) and below (aquifers, etc) that can be used and measured. The silhouette of the mountain that is repeated through the main body of the work simplifies it too much, as do the ones at the top and the bottom. To me, this painting is a representation of the ways people try to analyze the mountain (nature), instead of seeing the mountain.

How often do people try to look for something, and miss the beauty of the thing in front of them? Far too often, especially within the city. I am always noticing the sunset or moonrise, or the way the clouds move across the sky or the wind through the trees. I love it, and can see God easiest in things like that. Simple beauties are usually overlooked too easily, which is a shame. I hope that more people do look past the buildings or traffic or work in front of them to notice the mountain or sunset more. It's always good to have little reminders that there are things of beauty and worth past the immediate. It's a 'Stop and smell the roses' philosophy, if you will.

The last two nights had spectacular sunsets. I hope tonight will be just as lovely.

Mass purchases from iTunes

2010-01-19T15:57:00.001-05:00

The other day I went on a rampage within iTunes. I listen to a Michael Buble themed radio station at work, and have found quite a few good artists and songs that I've just had to get. Great for being on a budget, though. Well, I'm normally really good. The last purchase I made were 2 Norah Jones albums (whom I adore), The Fall, and Feels Like Home, Well, 3 if you count the one a few weeks ago of The Little Willies. I made my mom a copy of that one, but she hasn't listened to it.

So the new songs that I added were:

Dean Martin - Mambo Italiano, Sway
Eva Cassidy - Autumn Leaves, Fields of Gold
Jimmy Buffett - Elvis Presley Blues (I think this one was downloaded along with Norah Jones' albums), Hula Girl at Heart
Glenn Miller - In The Mood
Sara Barellies - Many The Miles
KT Tunstall - Other Side of the World
Madeleine Peyroux - Instead, I'm All Right, Don't Wait Too Long
Nat King Cole - L-O-V-E
Peter Malick Group - Heart of Mine (omg - another Norah...)
Jane Monheit - Moon River, I Won't Dance
Anna Vandas - What Is
Amos Lee - Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight, Arms of a Woman, Sweet Pea

Of these, Madeleine Peyroux is my favorite. Yes, even over Jimmy - although I've been playing the hell out of Elvis Presley Blues. There's something so classic and stunning about her voice. I'm going to wait till I get paid on Friday then download as much of her stuff as I can find. But if you like the soundtracks from movies like Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, you'd love her stuff. Any of these songs, actually. :)

Oh, and on an aside - the past six months have been amazing. I wouldn't trade my goofy hubby for anything. :) Now if work would just end, we could get on with the evening and amazing date night we have planned! What to wear, though?

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this fangirl squee...

2010-01-18T16:34:00.004-05:00

First off - I'm a huge comic book fan. Well, maybe not HUGE, but the people at the store I go to know me by name (they're awesome like that) and always make good recommendations to me. I'm a DC girl, and particularly like the women they have there. Yeah, there's Wonder Woman, whom everyone knows, but ever since I started reading, I've been a follower of Birds of Prey.

I mean, you've got a kick-ass group of crime fighting gals led by Oracle (formerly known as Batgirl), Barbara Gordon, who is my favorite character in the DCU. She's smart, she's a nerd, AND she was a librarian. Black Canary is awesome too, representing the blonde bombshells.

I was so mad when BoP was canceled with the Batman RIP line, cause it felt like DC was dropping my favorite characters. But now Gail Simone (the best writer these girls have ever seen, and who elevated the BoP to awesome status) is now back on the project!

I am happy. :D I can't wait until April for the series to start up again. I'm really excited to have her back on it, and am glad that Babs will get her book and operatives back.

DC Universe: The Source

On another note, Scott and I just got back from a walk. It's a gorgeous day, and we had to get out. Jimmy has been exceptionally vocal lately, so I get the idea that we should take her with us. We took her carrier, harness, leash and collar just in case. She walked all of five feet before stopping and making us pick her up. We stopped over by the park and let her out again, just to see what she'd do (hop back into her carrier...). The last place we took her out was by a playground. She seemed shocked with the slide, but did look around before getting back in her carrier again.

Oh, Jimmers, how you make me laugh. :D

First Post!

2010-01-18T11:49:00.001-05:00

Yet it's a short one. We've got to go to Target to get cat food. Ms. Jimmy is being WAY too vocal.