Public Libraries: fighting cynicism

Better Than Ezra @ HOB Anaheim 09/27/09

2009-10-25T23:11:15Z

Finally getting around to posting the set list. We arrived in the middle of the second opening act and Better Than Ezra came on late but ti was still awesome. I'm really happy with the new drummer.

Set List:
Turn on the bright lights
Good
Misunderstood
Black Light
Lifetime
Absolutely Still
Extraordinary (with cover of What I Got- sublime)
All In
King of New Orleans (with cymbal solo & ahnold solo)
Sincerely Me
I Just Knew
Rosealia
Night Clubbing
cover of Laid- James
cover of Miss You- Rolling Stones into Juicy
Desperately Wanting

Encore:
Kevin Griffin solo cover of Jolene- Ray LaMontagne
Kevin Griffin solo Porcelain
The Loveless
In The Blood (with Courtney on cow bell in Don't Fear the Reaper)

was able to fill in my setlist holes thanks to Jody Jay on the BTE forums

Writer's Block: Happiest birthday gift

2009-09-22T06:22:00Z

What was the best birthday gift you ever received? What made it so special?

View 671 Answers

It would have to be the surprise party my friends threw for me freshman year of college. I always wanted a surprise party and I was totally oblivious. I should have known when my roommate was outside of the suite. That was a sure sign something was up :-)

Movies I Want to See

2009-04-21T04:42:39Z

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek
Rudo y Cursi
Angels & Demons
My Sisters Keeper
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(500) Days of Summer
The Post Grad Survival Guide
Taking Woodstock
The Time Traveler's Wife

Movie Review: Sugar

2009-04-08T04:21:57Z

Miguel "Sugar" Santos is a young Dominican baseball player who gets his big break in the US minor leagues. His story of struggle, culture clash and baseball is optimistic without being "Hollywood" and realistic without being super-gritty.

I highly recommend that anyone who has the chance to see this movie, go see it. Hopefully it will get a wider release soon.

Vanity Plate of the Day

2009-03-27T04:43:11Z

QUIXOTE

Intriguing Billboard

2009-02-13T06:16:05Z

For the last week or so I have been passing a mysterious billboard on the southwest corner of Figueroa and Rosecrans. It has a white background with a photograph of a kitten. Next to the kitten in letters almost as tall as the kitten is SEX in all caps. There is a line of text above and below the word SEX but they are too small to read from the car.

Has anyone else seen this billboard? Does anyone know what it means?

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

2009-01-11T04:37:46Z

2008 had a lot going for it:

1. Beatty committee appointment
2. 1st of many anniversaries with my wonderful boyfriend
3. A new reference librarian at work
4. Another year on the Summer Reading Program committee at work
5. My first California Library Association conference

but then I wrecked my car. Fortunately there were no serious injuries besides the cars. It was pretty low speed.

2009 is starting off with a beautiful, new, silver Corolla and a wonderful boyfriend, friends, family and colleagues.

My resolutions this year are simple:

1. Don't check any more books out of the Library until I have read all the books I've purchased and received as gifts over the last couple of years:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/619379?shelf=2009-resolution-reads (still needs more additions)

and

2. Get rid of old magazines. Go through them, cut out pertinent articles and recycle.

Happy New Year everyone!

Eartha Kitt

2008-12-27T05:21:38Z

I had the pleasure of hearing her in concert. Rest in peace:

Eartha Kitt from Reuters

Eartha Kitt Official Website

Halloween, 1979

2008-10-25T03:30:49Z

Halloween, 1979
Originally uploaded by pixxiefish.

Google "Halloween (your birth year)" and post the best picture.

Two Things That Recently Made Me Laugh Hysterically

2008-09-24T05:32:22Z

This American Life #293

A Little Bit of Knowledge

And Dan Savage's Column with Sherman Alexie guesting (NSFW)

Savage Love 9/3/2008

Highlights From Paris

2008-09-16T02:51:16Z

I had a whirlwind 7 days in Paris, France. Here are some illustrated highlights:

1. Tour Eiffel
The gold stars are for France's EU presidency.

2. Au Pied de Cochon
We finally ate at the original, years after the DC location closed because of tax issues.

3. Versailles
Where we see why the peasants revolted. Funniest line from the audio commentary: After the king is awakened by his nurse (who kissed him), doctor and surgeon, "sometimes they changed his shirt because sometimes he sweated."

4. Bercy
Where we learned about Melies and attended a wine festival. They also have wifi in the park.

5. Notre Dame

6. Lots of art
I even did the Da Vinci Code tour from the Louvre website.

7. Colonialism
Chicken Pho at the Vietnamese place down the block from the apartment.

8. Moulin Rouge

9. Michou
We sat next to him at a restaurant in Montmartre. He blew my mom and I a kiss when we left.

10. Art Deco Metro Stations

Free Man in Paris

2008-08-20T04:41:33Z

I have had a very busy Summer Reading Program and now that it is almost over, I am getting ready for a trip to Paris, France.

If anyone wants a postcard from Paris, just send me your address.

Random Reference Question of the Week

2008-05-14T01:45:27Z

Two young women approached me at the Reference desk last night and asked the following question: "What is the difference between sorry and apology?" My first reaction was to direct them to the dictionary and I did. They dismissed that suggestion and started saying something else that wasn't helping me understand their question better and ended with "Well, I guess we'll just have to ask an English professor." Without letting me give the question another try, they turned and hurried out, giggling, leaving me and another patron with our mouths open in disbelief.

Vanity Plate of the Day

2008-04-25T02:25:44Z

I<3UTERI

It is probably I <3 U Teri but I like to think that some OB/GYN owns this car and it is I <3 Uteri. Especially since that's what I initially thought it was.

Taxing Days

2008-04-16T06:03:01Z

Things have been going well lately except for a couple snags:

On Friday night, after dropping my boyfriend off, I almost got hit by a train. As I approached the red light before the train crossing, I watched the two cars already at the light make left turns on red and wondered about it. As I got closer, I saw that the train crossing railings were down. Okay, I was ready to wait. After a minute or so, the red light starts blinking and the railings are raised. I wait until the light turns green, then I proceed. As I move into the rail zone, the bells start ringing, the lights start flashing and the railings start lowering. I see a train coming towards my passenger door. The car behind me was able to stop outside the rail zone but I, and the car next to me, had to keep moving. I have no idea what the deal was except that I'm glad that I made it.

This morning I had to meet someone early in the morning but I couldn't find my keys. I searched for 45 minutes until I found them under my dining table in between a drink tub and a keg. Very odd place for them to be. When I got off work, I went to Lowes and got copies of my keys made but I was unable to find one of those things to put on my keychain that beep when you clap.

In happier news, I received my first review copy for the Beatty committee!

Attention Librarians, Educators and other book people

2008-04-02T17:58:02Z

I am on the 2009 John and Patricia Beatty Award Committee and we are currently looking for books to read that qualify for the award.

A qualifying title is one that is:

-published in 2008

-a children's or young adult book set in California and published in the United States

-a work of fiction OR non-fiction

If you have read or heard about a book that fits the criteria, let me know!

Whoa!

2008-02-10T07:39:07Z

High speed chase ends in crash, in front of my apartment building. As far as I know he only hit parked cars and then made a run for it but was caught down the street as he tried to run jump high walls and such. The first thing I thought was it was an explosion or someone dropping a dumpster but the sirens were immediate.

Meme from aklibrarian

2008-01-29T06:23:23Z

Bolded items are true for me.

* Father went to college
* Father finished college
* Mother went to college
* Mother finished college
* Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
* Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
* Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
* Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
* Were read children's books by a parent
* Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
* The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
* Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
* Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
* Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
* Went to a private high school
* Went to summer camp
* Family vacations involved staying at hotels - We didn't take family vacations for as long as I remember.
* Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
* There was original art in your house when you were a child
* You and your family lived in a single family house
* Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home
* You had your own room as a child
* You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
* Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
* Had your own TV in your room in High School
* Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
* Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
* Went on a cruise with your family
* Went on more than one cruise with your family
* Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
* You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Oh really?

2008-01-16T04:08:01Z

Since the only phone calls I receive on my land-line are solicitations from companies that I do business with and charities (since they are exempt from the Do Not Call list), I have gotten into the habit of not actually answering the phone but just picking up the receiver slightly and hanging back up.

Th other night I decided to actually answer the phone. The first call was from B0fA about insurance. I told the man that I already had some and he said he would take me off the list.

The second call was the best (or worst.) I answer the phone and of course they greet me by my first name as if we are old friends, which I hate. The woman starts into her spiel about thanking me for my previous support. When I get a chance, I politely say that I don't have money to give right now, have a good night. As I'm hanging up I hear her say something along the lines of: how do you know you don't have any money to give, you don't know that. The last part was said kind of sarcastically disbelieving. I just ignored her and finished hanging up the phone but I really wanted to say: of course I know, it's my money.

Christmas Cards

2007-12-08T03:07:23Z

It's time again for Christmas cards. If you would like to be added to the list, have an address change, or whatever, let me know.

August Rush

2007-12-03T02:36:19Z

Do not go see this movie!

It was like they took a plot outline and the two sentence description of each character and filmed it. The whole movie required suspended disbelief. There was no character development. There was no reason to believe that the couple would be so deeply in love after a one night stand!

This review is pretty close to how I felt about the movie:
http://mark-reviews-movies.tripod.com/reviews/A/augustrush.htm

I should have seen Enchanted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T20:23:36Z

I'm grateful for my wonderful friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Tire Blowout

2007-11-19T03:32:37Z

Tire Blowout
Originally uploaded by Sarah Mae.

I had my tire blow out on the 101 this evening. Fortunately it was the rear tire. We were able to make it to the next exit and then pull into a parking lot.

Strike Season

2007-11-11T23:30:04Z

For more information on the Broadway Stagehands strike:

http://humblenailbanger.com/WordPress/

http://onenycstagehand.blogspot.com/

Also, I feel bad for the families who traveled from far and wide to see Broadway shows only to find them canceled because of the strike but let's have some perspective. If not seeing "The Grinch" on Broadway in November is enough to "ruin [your] Christmas," then maybe you need some perspective on the what the holiday season is all about. The stagehands and the writers are putting their livelihoods on the line, not just for themselves but for their fellow workers.

People do not go out on strike because it is fun, they go out because they have tried all other options. The stagehands have been working without a contract for 4 months.

People do not get paid when they are on strike. Think about the Christmas that the families of the striking workers will have and then maybe missing out on The Grinch or your favorite TV show won't seem like such a sacrifice.

WGA Strike

2007-11-06T08:12:12Z

Blogs to watch for info:

http://www.unitedhollywood.com/

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/