Will you choose the Red Pill?

I had no idea today was the 10th anniversary of The Matrix until I logged in to FriendFeed this morning and discovered this:



So cool.

I've been playing around on FriendFeed for awhile. I can see it becoming a great tool for me, though at the moment I only have one real-life friend on there. The rest of the people I interact with or just "follow" are very techie people like Robert Scoble (as my friend said, "Well, he's everywhere") or innovative librarians like David Lee King. It'd be great to see how FriendFeed would work with more of my real-life friends on there.

I've tried explaining FriendFeed to people before, and I always end up saying it's like Facebook, but without all the pokes and pirates and ninjas, which I know a lot of people like, but I'm just not into those things. I stay on Facebook because people I know are there, but FriendFeed seems to do a better job of encouraging conversation (Isn't that what social media is about?) over throwing a drink at your friend. If we're going to have drinks, let's get together in real life and have drinks. Those virtual ones just don't do it for me.

If you decide to choose the red pill, er, I mean give FriendFeed a try, come on over and subscribe to me once you've signed up.

And now I think I'll go watch The Matrix...again.

How does Star Wars end?

Think carefully about how you would answer that, then go read this. Your answer may have a lot to do with how old you are. (via Official Star Wars Blog)

Photo by lamont_cranston

My Segway ride

Hubby is so jealous :-)

How tweet it was #illad09

I spent part of the past week in Virginia Beach, VA at the 2009 ILLiad International Conference. Rather than dump a huge, general blog post on all of you, I'm splitting it into some smaller posts on certain aspects of my experience there. Today, Twitter! I couldn't not start with Twitter...

ILLiad is software I use in my job in Interlibrary Loan. It is developed by Atlas Systems, who works in partnership with OCLC. Since we've been using ILLiad for not quite a year, my boss Heather, and I went to the ILLiad International Conference for the first time.

Though I brought my laptop with me, I wasn't counting on being able to use it consistently during sessions, and it turns out I was able to use it in a little more than half of the sessions and other events I attended, but I still turned to pen and paper for the others. I had turned on my laptop just before the Introduction to ILLiad 8 to check e-mail and decided just to stay in my spot on the floor (where I managed to snag the last available power outlet) during the presentation (it looks like ILLiad 8 is going to be sweet, but I'm sure nobody outside libraryland cares, so I won't go on too much about it).

Sitting where I was, I had full view of two of the laptop screens between me and the speaker. I likely never would have looked, but a familiar page drew my eye and I realized they were using Twitter. Too bad I had no idea who they were, and I was way too "Ooooh!" and "Ahhhh" about ILLiad 8 features to want to stop listening and introduce myself to find out who these "tweeple" were right then. Instead, I went to search.twitter.com and typed in illiad, half thinking I'd get a bunch of stuff about the epic and maybe just a tweet or two about the conference.

Amazinginly, of the six or so tweets on my screen, all but one were about the conference. As I scrolled down, I found a few more. They were from about three different tweeple, so I started following them. Before the ILLiad 8 update was over, two of them were following me back. I started keeping Twitter Search open in a tab on my browser and keeping an eye on it while type-type-typing away at my notes during certain sessions (conferences are a place where it definitely pays to be a multitasker and a fast typist).

Almost immediately after I started using Twitter about a year and a half ago, I discovered that it was a great way to follow conferences. People who tweet their notes (or at least highlights) are wonderful when I can't go to a conference I'm interested in (and conferences attended by the people I'm following are likely to be conferences I'm interested in, because I'm following people who are interested in the things I'm interested in - isnt it great that Twitter works that way?)

I discovered something even better at ILLiad 09. People who were in the same sessions as I was would tweet things I had missed because I was still typing something about the thing before it, or an insight that I didn't make, and it elevated my own experience of the session to a level that would not have been there otherwise. And it's impossible get to every session, so being able to see tweets from other sessions was a bonus. It's like getting someone's notes from a class you missed.

Something that became more clear to me at this conference is the importance of having a profile picture that actually looks like you. It would have been nice to be able to spot more tweeple than I did. The people sitting near me in ILLiad 8 update may have been people I started following, but I can't be sure, and I didn't get a chance to talk to them after the session. I did meet @cyriloberlander at the Wine and Cheese Poster Session, but he had the added advantage of having been on the panel for the keynote, so I had put face to name before I ever followed him. So many people's pictures are cartoon characters or something else. Yes, mine is a Kindergarten picture, but I think that's a step up from the Simpsonized picture it used to be. Obviously, I need to bump up the search for a current picture (I'm working on it, I swear, but I'm just so picky when it comes to pictures of me.)

However, a picture isn't total assurance of recognizing people, either. I realized after I got home and had a moment to look more closely at @traubie's picture, that I had seen him several times during the conference and just didn't make the connection. I think if I attend any other conferences, I'll bring a red marker with me and add my Twitter username to my name tag. Maybe if we all do that we'll be able to find each other in the real world and not just on Twitter, or vice versa.

I even found a couple more people today while going back through the search. I can only guess that Twitter was updating super-slowly (possible, but I don't think so) or I just wasn't paying enough attention with all the other stuff going on (highly likely). I wish I would have found some of them (on twitter or in person, or both) while at the conference, especially @geniealisa, who was the speaker for so many things I attended and whom I didn't realize was on Twitter until today.

Overall, Twitter turns out to be a great conference tool, even with the unfortunate tweet I sent which was supposed to be a personal text message to my hubby (no more texting before coffee for me)

P.S. How bad is it that I'm putting a hashtag in the title of this post so it'll be searchable on Twitter after TwitterFeed picks it up?

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

It seems to be the week for "Hey, I loved that book as a kid" type of things. First, yesterday's Google logo of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Now, this:



I loved this book, and the movie looks cute.

The leprechauns are here!

The leprechauns are here!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

They don't like their picture taken, but that's true of most of the Wee Folk, isn't it?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

One of the best things about Easter

(I always wondered where those eggs came from.)

Billy Mays does Shakespeare

This was on The Tonight Show last night. It cracked me up and made me roll my eyes all at the same time.



(And just as I was thinking I haven't had any Shakespeare stuff on my blog lately. Well, thanks, Jay & Billy)

Review: My Little Red Book

I think My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff was the first LibraryThing Early Reviewers book I've gotten that I was really excited to get. Others have been nice to get, no doubt, but I love that this book even exists. As soon as I pulled it out of the envelope, I sat down and started reading, randomly jumping from essay to essay. I read a few aloud to my 8-year-old daughter, who already had an idea what menstruation is, although in a vague way. Her initial response to the essays was "Gross!" but she soon added "Will you read me some more of those?"

I love that we've come from a time when a girl's first period came as a complete shock without any previous mention of it to the poor girl, to a time when books like this are published. But I know the dialogue still isn't open for some. So many of the stories reflected the heartbreaking impression that "I am the only one this is happening to." Even girls who have been educated can have that feeling. As the editor says in the video below, "That's when no one talks about it, and that's when it matters most." I think this book could be a lifesaver for some girls.

The stories range from 1916 to 2008, from Nazi Germany to text messages. The updated version of Gloria Steinem's essay "If Men Could Menstruate" made me laugh out loud. "Men would brag about how long and how much," she writes. (The original essay is included at the book's site here.) I think it's great that several YA authors, Meg Cabot included, submitted their stories. The one thing missing is an essay by Judy Blume. As her books were an important part of so many of the stories, I would have loved to read Blume's own story. 

I was struck by the contrast in "The Simple Vase, Part I" by Laura Wexler and "The Simple Vase, Part II" by her daughter, Rebecca. The differing memories and emotions about a single First Period were fascinating, and something I will try to keep in mind when the time comes for my own daughter's First. I also had to make a note when reading "Let Down" by Tatum Travers, to not react the way her mother did.

In her essay "Going to X-tremes," Michelle Jaffe says "I discovered that how you react to Your First Period lets you see the beginnings of personality traits that are magnified as an adult." 

Like Jaffe, I don't remember my first period. By the time I got it, I had probably researched it to death and it was a "nonevent," like hers. I'd have to look to see if I even wrote about it in my diary (if I was keeping a diary at that time). I do remember that years before it came, I had discovered "The Box" in my mother's closet. It must have been the same sort of box mentioned in "My Support System was a Box" by Bonnie Garmisa, although her experience was not like mine. I do remember "The Talk" my mom gave me later. She told me horror stories of older women in the family having the "I'm dying" reaction because they'd never been told this would happen to them. I understood I was lucky to live in a time when I got "The Talk." I think my daughter is even luckier. She gets an ongoing dialogue, and this book. 

Kauder Nalebuff explains a little about the book in this video from the book's site:

Mary needs to post on her blog

My friend Cheryl St. John tagged me, so here goes...

The rules: You google your name plus the word needs inside quotes like this: "Mary needs" - Enter that in the Google search bar and then list the first fifteen hits that come up.

These are mine:

1. Mary needs to do this meme. Well, obviously.
2. Mary needs a little lamb. Groaning, rolling my eyes, etc.
   
3. Mary needs sleep. Always, always, always.
4. Mary needs shadows. If you've seen me, you know the sun and I aren't close friends.
   
5. Mary needs numbers. No, no I don't. I run far, far away from numbers.
   
6. Mary needs to do this meme, again. This time, Mary Connealy, a fellow member of the writers group Cheryl & I belong to, did the meme.
   
7. Mary needs to win. It would be nice to do that once in a while.
   
8. Mary needs stuff. Looking around my house, I don't think this is true. Mary needs less stuff!
   
9. "Queen" Mary needs saving. From time to time, yes, but you can just call me "Your Majesty." ;-)
10. "Sexy" Mary needs attention. Who, me?
11. "Saint" Mary needs overtime. Mixed feelings about overtime, and I'm sure I will NEVER be a saint. I'll settle for queen. Hey, why aren't any of you bowing yet?
12. Mary needs a booking agent. Don't I need a band first?
13. Mary needs to be slapped. Wha?!?!?
14. Mary needs to focus. This probably should have been #1. Oh, and it referred to Saint Mary again. See #11, and how come you're still not bowing?
15. Mary needs a bit of independence. Who doesn't?

Mad scientist on Google Maps

A mad scientist zaps his neighbors with a love laser!


View Larger Map

You can also see a parade, a marathon, and a garage band. Supposedly there is also a sword fight and a heroic rescue, but I can't find them. (If you spot them, let me know.)

This neighborhood certainly has a sense of humor. Here's how they did it:

The search engine we've all been waiting for ;)

My personalized TV dinner

My personalized TV dinner, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I'm at my writers group's annual retreat, which has a TV theme. Here's my homemade "TV" dinner. Yummy!

Stickin' my geek on

So far, it's been a week of fun surprises in the mail (I hope it continues!). Today's surprise came in an envelope addressed in my own handwriting. I actually wondered for a minute how the heck I'd sent myself something without knowing what it was, then I remembered I'd sent a SASE for Gmail stickers a few weeks ago. They're so cool! Of course I had to immediately put the shortcut stickers on my keyboard (there are actually several shortcuts I'd forgotten about and a couple I never knew). My 10-year-old self would have lurved the unicorn sticker, and obviously the people at Google know how much I love shiny things, since they sent me a shiny shiny Gmail logo sticker.

You know, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to get stickers. Thanks, Gmail team, for brightening my day.

This is me lately

Thus my New Year's Goal.

I soooo want to see this movie

The other day, I lamented that it's been at least six months since a movie has come out which I've deemed "theater-worthy" (meaning I have to see it in the theater, rather than waiting for the DVD). At least now I know the drought will end by May 1.

From dress to (Christmas tree) skirt

I sent a couple tweets about this awhile ago, but didn't get around to posting the pictures until now (Sorry!)

I couldn't find my usual Christmas tree skirt this year, and it was one I've been wanting to replace anyway (so I didn't look too hard), so I decided to make a new one.






Lil Girl had this dress which she wore for Christmas a couple years ago, and I hated to get rid of it because it's such a pretty dress. The thing I really liked about it was the way the tulle underskirt peeked out from under the overskirt.
















I decided one way to keep it out in the open & enjoy it would be to turn it into the tree skirt. I removed the bodice and hemmed waist back up.
















Then I slid it under the tree.

Voila!

A wonderful time was had by all

We had a great holiday party for my writers group today. It's such fun to get together with these gals (and if you know me and my hermit-y ways, you know that's something, coming from me.) We had a lot of good laughs, ate wonderful food and drank some great tea. Our gift exchange was a lot of fun, too. Here are a few pictures I took at the party.

If Mozart Were a Kid Today

Sad but true...

Wall-E Waffle

Wall-E Waffle, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Lil Girl got creative with her breakfast this morning. After I shot a few pictures with the phone and the nice camera, she said ';I'd like to *eat* my creation now." :)

My past life

I clicked through from The Write Life of Andrea & Corrina to this quiz, and this is what it told me:

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Mexico around the year 1050. Your profession was that of a medic, surgeon or herbalist.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life: You had the mind of a scientist, always seeking new explanations. Your environment often misunderstood you, but respected your knowledge.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation: Magic is everywhere around you, even in the most usual, most ordinary situations. Your lesson is to understand this magic and to help other people to see it, too. You are a magician!

This is very weird. Take out "Mexico" and replace "Scotland" but other than that, you've got Morgan, the heroine of my work in progress. I do think magic is everywhere around us, but the profile doesn't apply to me nearly as much as it does to Morgan. I'm a little freaked out, frankly.

R.I.P Mars Phoenix

I've been following the Mars Phoenix Lander on Twitter for a couple months. It was cool to find out what was going on on Mars, but winter is setting in, and the Phoenix tweeted its last today (the binary means "triumph," according to Wired). Feeling loss over a far distant robot seems odd, but at least there are still other missions to follow.

I voted today...

I voted today..., originally uploaded by mdesive.

...how about you?

Did you vote yet?

Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet?

Well???? Did ya? What are you waiting for???

Make your vote count!

Darn, I never saw a ghost there!

But then, I was usually there when it was full of people...and I was usually more focused on vampires (there were a pair of velvet curtains there that I wanted to steal and make into something like Armand's robe in Interview with a Vampire. Oh, how I used to drool over those curtains. I wonder if they're still there...)



"At great personal risk to himself, brave local photographer John Thompson of T.J.’s Photo and Camera, entered the Eagle Theatre and snapped random shots hoping to catch one of the wandering spirits that haunt the historic Chadron landmark. Who is this specter that wanders the aisles and spooks the help?" - Chadrad.com

Is the Eagle Theatre Haunted?

Someday, I really should do a Haunted Theatre Tour. Anybody want to come with me?

In case you're attacked by zombies today

This is very important information for Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

It's almost Halloween!

Here's The Shining dressed up in a "feel-good movie" costume.

You can't say that, it's gibberish!

A friend of mine sent me this video today. Somehow, I've never seen this one, but I love love love it - it's got Shakespeare, Rowan Atkinson AND Hugh Laurie all at the same time.

If All Movies Had Cell Phones

Found via Electrolicious

Today's pirate

see more puppies

Some library humor

Some library hunor, originally uploaded by mdesive.

This is a sign that was used over the summer to showcase certain topical books the library owns. It now graces an office, with a new humorous twist.

Rowan Atkinson does Shakespeare

I haven't seen this in years, but was showing Little Girl some Mr. Bean videos on YouTube and remembered it. Lucky me, somebody has posted it!



I've never been a huge fan of Mr. Bean, mostly because I like just about everything else Rowan Atkinson has done better. I find Mr. Bean kind of sad. It always bums me out when something awful happens to his car or his bear. I find it much easier to laugh at Lord Blackadder (bonus Shakespeare reference in this clip)



or Inspector Fowler.



But tonight I realized that Little Girl had no idea who Mr. Bean is, so I had to acquaint her with him. Rest assured, I haven't been depriving her of Rowan Atkinson all these years. She recognized him: "Oh, that's the guy from Rat Race and Scooby Doo!" she says. But of course I had to avoid any clips featuring mishaps with the car or bear - we don't need any uneccessary tears shed (hers or mine).

(P.S. There's another bonus on the Blackadder link: You'll get to see that Hugh Laurie is actually a) British and 2) a comedian. All you House fans need to experience that.)

lolpirate of the day

more lol celebs!

WooHoo!

WooHoo!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

You might be shopping in Nebraska if...

You might be shopping in Nebraska if..., originally uploaded by mdesive.

Gah! I forgot!

Banned Books Week is almost over and I didn't post anything. Bad me! Slap on the hand!

Anyway, go out there and live dangerously - READ A BANNED BOOK!

Check out the list of the 10 Most Challenged Books of 2007

Don't Vote...

...unless you care.

What day IS it???

What day IS it???, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I just noticed my calendar says today is Sept. 30th. It also says tomorrow is Sept. 30th.

One more pirate thing...

Google Pirate, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I wish I'd seen this on Friday. Oh well, my Google page has been rectified now. Arrrr!!!

Pirate-y sunglasses

Pirate-y sunglasses, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Who needs an eye patch when you've got these? Arrrrr!!!

This is the one and only time in my life I've bought sunglasses because I wanted them, instead of when I was desperate because I'd lost or broken my other pair. :-)

more animals

Arrrrrr, Matey! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!

(Thanks to Rebecca Ryan for the link to the video)

Come on over!

Today I'm guest blogging at my friend Cheryl St. John's blog, From the Heart, about one of my guilty pleasures.

Hi, my name is Mary and...

I'm posting this video mostly to remind myself that I really need to try an "unplugged" night of my own. I know I've posted about it before...but I'm still such a techno-addict that the idea of a whole EVENING without it makes me break out in a cold sweat.

Library car commercial

Little Girl says "Actually, beauty is something without brains: STU-PID!" :-D

"...wearing your pageant sash and your Tina Fey glasses!"

Wednesday morning when ABC ran the promo for Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin, I told my husband "Tina Fey totally needs to play her on Saturday Night Live." He pointed out Fey isn't on SNL anymore, but I told him that didn't matter. Thankfully, the SNL gods heard me. :)

Just in case you live under a rock (and if you do, how did you get to THIS blog?) and missed it, here is last night's SNL opening sketch:




Love it! Tina Fey is my hero! :)

Um.....okay... :-)

Your 80s Theme Song Is:

Little Red Corvette by Prince

What's Your 80s Theme Song?

Men in kilts

Pretty hot, but some of these make me ask, at what point does it stop being a kilt and become a skirt?

"Some creepy guy"

Which president is this (2), originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian.

Last Wednesday I stepped out of Murphy's Irish Pub in Rapid City, after a few drinks, to wait for my dad to pick me up from my sis-in-law-to-be's bachelorette party. Eight hours of driving followed by three beers and a shot of something yummy but inebriating had taken its toll and I was more than ready for bed.

I was about to head for the corner to wait, but noticed a creepy guy in a long coat standing there, so I decided to stick close to the door I'd come out of. I stood there several minutes, watching people go by, checking my e-mail on my phone ("Addict!" I hear hubby saying), and wishing I was already in bed. I glanced at the creepy guy. He hadn't moved. People came and went. I checked my e-mail again. I checked what time I had called Dad. It had only been about five minutes. I wished again that I was in bed. I glanced at the creepy guy. And finally, I remembered...

Rapid City has statues of presidents on the street corners downtown. The "creepy guy" was Millard Fillmore (I think...I'm not totally sure WHO it is). So, I smacked myself on the head and twittered it. ("Addict!" hubby mutters)

I think I'm lost

I think I'm lost, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I was browsing the maps at a gas station in Mitchell SD and found the usual South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska selection, but also one for the Greater Middle East. Now that'd be a loooooong drive.

Little streams

Little streams, originally uploaded by mdesive.

One bonus (if there is one) of being drenched at Mt. Rushmore is seeing the little streams and waterfalls I've never seen before. You could stand still and just listen to all the water gurgling and bubbling its way down the mountain.

The hardest part of the drive

The hardest part of the drive, originally uploaded by mdesive.

We're so close, yet there's so much nothing yet to cross

Beemer

Beemer, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I have nothing interesting to say about Beemer...

Our first "stop"

Our first "stop", originally uploaded by mdesive.

Goodbye, West Point. Hello, road construction.

It's Hooper-dooper!

It's Hooper-dooper!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Heading out!

Heading out!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Road trip!

RWA Conference on The Today Show

Why does the media always sound so surprised that romance sells well? This looks a lot like the segment they do EVERY year. They always take the tack of "Wow! Romance actually sells? Why?" rather than "Hey, look a romance conference. How cool!" or at least something other than bemused surprise.

Follow me!

I'm loving Twitter (when it works...sometimes it gets overwhelmed and then I'm sad)

Here's an explanation of Twitter. Once you've watched it, check out my "tweets" and I hope you'll follow me. :-)

Turning on the lamp

I love this scene from The Big Bang Theory. This episode was on tonight.

LOLCandidate

see Obama pictures

Romance Q&A: Victoria Alexander

Here's a great interview with my friend Victoria Alexander in a recent Library Journal. Wish I could be at RWA in San Francisco to hear her speech this summer, but alas, it's not to be.

Romance Q&A: Victoria Alexander - 6/15/2008 - Library Journal: "With The Perfect Wife (LJ 2/15/08), a reprint of a 1996 title, hitting No. 1 on the New York Times's best sellers list and Seduction of a Proper Gentleman, the eagerly awaited finale to her 'Last Man Standing' series, due in September (see review, p. 50), Victoria Alexander is quickly becoming a favorite among romance fans. See what this 2008 Romance Writers of America® conference keynote speaker has to say about the romance market and her plans for the future."

A tease

I pasted the entire text of my WIP into Wordle, and this is the result. It's Morgan's story, so I think this came out soooo well!

Romance Trash Talk

This is hilarious!


Thanks to Cheryl St. John for the link!

Harry Potter "prequel" online

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter "prequel" written on a note card is online at Waterstone's. Click on "Authors" then "J.K.Rowling" to get to the card (and don't forget it has two sides!).

Cool little story about James and Sirius...the bad thing is, it made me want MORE! Oooh, Rowling is e-vil.

BANGHEADDESKBANGHEADDESKBANGHEADDESK!

(Click on the picture for a larger, readable version)

Gee, if only there was someplace you could get books you wouldn't have to keep, that you could take back so other people could read them, and it'd be cool if they were free, too...hmmm...somebody should invent such a place...and they could call it....A LIBRARY!!!!

Oh, this makes my head hurt.

Book Rental Fail

You know it's a slow news day in Chadron when...

...they're reporting that I'm sleep-deprived and in the closet, eight hours away in Omaha.

Oh well, now the world will know why I'm crabby this week. And I will learn not to say clever things to Genell that make her say "Hey, can I interview you?" ;-)

I really am thankful that I'm nothing worse than sleep-deprived. Other people have suffered damage to their homes or even lost their children in the last few days. I'm sure they're losing more sleep than I am.

Memorial Day in the 21st Century

The hubby was downstairs on the patio barbecuing some meat and texted me "Will u toss down the foil?" So, I stepped out on the deck and sent him the text "Heads up" just before I dropped it.

No, he didn't catch it.

Don't forget your towel today!

Because "any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with." - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Empty Orange Case

You have new Picture Mail!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Oh...kay....

Homemade dogga treats

Homemade dogga treats, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I made these using Rachael Ray's Peanut-Carob Isabooscotti recipe (with some little tweaks - no carob sauce, smooth instead of chunky pb and I cut them up much smaller than the recipe called for)

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

This was waiting for us when we got home today. I'm glad somebody still keeps this tradition (and I know who you are!) ;)

It's RSS Awareness Day!

And yes, I'm an RSS feed addict...I crammed so much stuff in my reader, I made it useless. Now that I've basically cleaned it out and started over, I'm trying to employ better habits so that it remains a tool and not just another time-sink. Still, I don't think nearly enough sites employ RSS - for instance, I have yet to find a single news source in my old college town that provides a feed, and they should. Oh, they should! I've had to create my own feeds for them from a Google search, and it's still not what I think it should be. Oh, well, off my soap box now to let you learn just what RSS is. Here's some info with a nifty video which explains it all!

Choices, choices

Choices, choices, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I ended up eating both eventually, but I ate the chocolate first.

This post is mostly just a test of blogging from my phone via Flickr - if you're reading this on my blog, it worked!

Recently Read

Last night I finally finished Black Ships by Jo Graham. I enjoyed this one, though it took me about three months to finish it. It was like a nice ramble, without any deeply compelling reason to reach the end. I'm not sure why. When I finished, I felt like I'd been on a long journey, just as the characters in the book had. Overall, reading this book was pleasant, but lacking something.

This was an Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing.

Hey, that's my job title!

Okay, so only a couple of the words in this title are in mine, but if you get rid of "temporary part-time libraries North-West" and "business unit administration".... :P

The Plain English Campaign claims this is the World's Longest Job Title: temporary part-time libraries North-West inter-library loan business unit administration assistant.

Football!

(4/13/08 Update - The "official" picture of Dan) ;-)

Every once in awhile, it does seem like I have a life! :) Friday, Dan won tickets to Saturday's Omaha Beef football game. The Beef are Omaha's indoor arena football team, and I've never been to a game even though it's something we've talked about doing (talked about as in one of us says "We should go to a Beef game some time" and the other one says "Yes, we should!" and the conversation ends there). So, Saturday night Dan, Ashley, our friend Sam, and I headed downtown. I think Ashley had the most fun. Before we ever got through the front door of the civic center, she'd been through two bounce houses, gotten a crown made of balloons and had her face painted. Once we got inside, we eventually made it to the Party Box, which is behind one end zone.

I've been curious about arena football, but never really understood the draw until last night. I mean, I know we don't have an NFL team, but we do have the Huskers nearby. How much football do you need, even in Nebraska? (No, I didn't just get struck by lightning). And in the cities where they do have NFL teams, why would you want to watch arena football?

I get it now. This is football in a pro-wrestling atmosphere, and it's FUN!. I think it was the most fun football game I've ever been to. There is practically nothing dividing the fans from the players - just a half wall with padding on top. Even in high school, there was usually a good yard or two between the stands and the field. Even "good" seats at a Husker game made me wish I had a telephoto lens. When we got to the Beef game and sat down, I was a little worried when I realized it was end zone/wall/me. The goalposts were IN the Party Box - we were sitting under them! It was a crazy party atmosphere - every time-out seemed to bring some new goofy event onto the field - boxing with giant gloves, grown men doing the Chicken Dance, the "Rump Roasters" doing some other goofy dances. At the end of the game, fans are allowed out on the field and get to talk to the players and get autographs.

Part of Dan's prize was to be the honorary coach for the mascot game at halftime. Basically, he just had to go out on the field and be interviewed about his contest entry for the Unofficial Mascot of 1620 The Zone (Hopefully, I can get him to blog about what exactly the contest was and what he said - his entry had something to do with The Stain). Then the mascots played a quick game of football, which was hilarious. We also each got t-shirts, and how cool is it that they say "More Cowbell!" I LOVE IT! (Ironically, when we got home Christopher Walken was hosting Saturday Night Live, but there was no mention of cowbell that I saw. Oh well.) I've posted a few pictures at Flickr, but I'll post more as I go through them. I took well over 1000 pictures last night (no, that's not a typo).

Recently Read...

I no longer have to live in fear of people discussing Harry Potter! I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last week, and I think it was the best of the series.

I had meant to hold out for the paperback, as I did for the other six (they don't hurt you when you doze off and let go of the book - Hey, I'm a mom, I'm tired and I'm usually reading at the end of the evening when I'm even more tired). But spoilers kept creeping up on me and I was getting way too good at changing the channel on the TV or radio whenever I even heard the name Harry Potter uttered. So, I finally asked to borrow my mom-in-law's copy. Even that came at the price of an unintentional spoiler (I didn't take it well. I think I screamed "Shut Up!" at her - whoops, sorry!).

It took me about three weeks to get through the first half, reading at my normal rate of a couple chapters every few nights. Then I hit the half-way point and my reading pace picked up. I read the second half in a week, the last third in an evening (I would have finished it the night before, but even a dragon on a rampage through Gringott's couldn't keep my eyes open - see above). My house certainly showed the effects of that week of reading.

The final evening, I did almost nothing but read, stopping only to reluctantly eat dinner (good thing the hubby is the cook). My daughter complained, and I'm surprised she doesn't resent Harry Potter now, but she doesn't seem to. In fact, I caught her picking up the book a couple of the few times I actually put it down. It was odd to see a seven-year-old reading a book that thick. Unfortunately, she had usually chosen a spot ahead of where I was reading, which resulted in a panicked "Don't tell me ANYTHING you just read!"

The only problem with finishing Deathly Hallows is that now I have a big urge to go back and re-read the whole series from my new perspective. What clues were there, who do I see differently knowing how things turn out for them? And there's one character I'm intensely curious about - he was mentioned several times, but was he ever actually DESCRIBED until the last book when we found out who he really was? Were there clues to who he might be that flew right over my head? Hmmm....I scratched one book off my reading list, but put six back on. Oh, well...

Currently reading: Black Ships by Jo Graham - an Early Reviewers copy from LibraryThing.

Sigh....but could I do it???

I pop into Ariel Meadow Stallings' Electrolicious blog from time to time and she's got a great idea in today's post. She says "one night a week, I am going to completely unplug from anything with a screen. This means no internet, no sidekick, no watching dvds."

It's a great idea. I think I'm going to try it. I just have to figure out which night works best for me, and my family. It will probably have to be a family thing, or what's the point? Someone else will have the TV or whatever on & my effort will be lost. So maybe the title above should be "But could WE do it?"

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

What Mary Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Scary!

I shudder to think of it...

Imagine a World Without Apple, Bloggers, Google or Dell - New York Times

;-)