because i know you care

we're in portland, househunting.

my last day of work was wednesday. it was a long week of goodbyes, and it hasn't really sunk in that i'm not working at the library anymore.

we're here for a week. it is such a relief to not have housework to do. we might catch up on sleep. once you start getting your house ready for market, the tiny items fling themselves onto the to-do list until it's unbearable. and you don't do things that you need to do, like... get your kid's hair cut, get your car inspected.

had a hottt dream last night involving husband and chocolate sauce. yeaaaaah.

this is how tired i am

i turned down the wrong road on the way to work today. i have worked at the same location for 2 1/2 years.

i bought a large size stouffers mac and cheese for dinner. i thought i was buying weight watchers.

i do not even care that my kitchen sink is still disconnected.

fun with patrons

tell 'em the encyclopedia of censorship is full of marked-out pages.

yeah, i cried at work today.

a patron i had helped with her 11th grade research paper (major requirement for VA schools) came in with a thank you note for me. she did her project on assistance animals, and i got her in touch with a friend/patron who is blind and has a guide dog.

she wrote on her note that she's thinking of being a librarian.

she only stopped in to give me the card. she exited the building, i opened the card, and i ran out the door after her so i could hug her.

vintage rawk

i'm wearing a 'new order concert north american tour 1989' tshirt today. the design always struck me as kind of obnoxious - the word 'concert' is in dayglo orange, pink and green on a black background. rest of the wording is much smaller and in white.

walking my kid to the sitter's, i realized that i saw that concert when i was 17. i'm now 34. ("and it still fits you!" said the sitter.)

there were a bunch of great shows that summer - mostly in 3-band lineups. i remember seeing sugarcubes/PiL/new order, and another one that summer was mojo nixon/pogues/violent femmes. the following summer i saw depeche mode in the same big outdoor venue. (ps. john, if you're reading, who opened?)

i still like to get out to shows, but i like smaller venues. yep, 34-yr-old hipster.

things i should have said

comcast telemarketer: good morning, can i speak with s... je-ze-sondon?
me: that's me.
comcast telemarketer: sorry about your last name.
i should have said: fuck you, i love my last name.

because 15 years is not too late to write a song parody

Army with multivolume
Dewey drop a load on 'em

OED how can I explain it
I'll take you page by page on it
To have y'all jumpin' shall we be checkin' it
O is for Oxford E is for English that people speakin'
The last D...well...that's the info that they're seeking
It's sorta like a Cheney mixed with a 'shunary
Got those lost words like yellow verbal canaries
You get words on occasion stuck in the coal mine
Your brain needs words so I gotta ease your mind

Bust it

You ever had a word and it's got you puzzlin'
You worried that you don't use the right pronuciation
You toss and turn thinkin' about the original derivation
You think your cousin's way of using it is deviation
Then you call up and it's the reference desk you gotta speak with
It's the library, D to the E to the W to the E to the Y
You don't need some Random House (Boy, that book is wack un-fly)
It's OED, hang with librarians is how you get it
There's no room for thesaurus or some cheap abridged shit
How many of you out there know just what I'm gettin' at
Who thinks it's frustrating to look up info and just get jack
Well if you do, OED is what you're looking for
A full page of tiny type to get your eyeballs sore

Chorus:
You down with OED (Yeah you know me) 3X
Who's down with OED (Every last homie)
You down with OED (Yeah you know me) 3X
Who's down with OED (All the homies)

anagram subway maps - spam ways granma bun?

yet another post about these today on boingboing.

okay, i get it - it's a sense of playfulness with something that is in the public domain and is a part of daily life. but i'd assume that in most cities, the locals have nicknames for various stops, and that different groups of people within the same city will have different nicknames for stops.

but over and over again, using the same anagram method? no. not a reflection of local culture. it's an imposition, in some ways, of one person's (or group's) way of playing with something and trying to make it *the* way to play.

transit systems getting pissed and asking the maps to be taken off websites? dumb.
anagram map makers getting pissed about transit systems asking the maps to be taken off websites? also dumb.

When the EPW listserv gets loquacious....

RICHMOND, VA
Virginia State Delegate Introduces Language Bill H.B.973


State Delegate Robert G. Marshall (R, District 13 ) introduced the No Fussy And Gratuitously Savvy Or Hubristically Adroit Gibberish Speech Bill, H.B. 973, to a stunned General Assembly in a late meeting this afternoon. "There are elements of our society who wish to use, shall we say, fancy words to get their point across. And we know where that leads to - the demoralization of our youth," explained the Delegate. Marshall contended that his bill, quickly dubbed NO FAGS OR HAGS, is designed to promote clear communication and not to target any particular segment of the population. It is not believed that the bill will pass.

iGuilt

i finally have an iPod. a 4g nano, in fact.

i'm sitting here in my office, far away from the reference desk, and i'm feeling guilty about using it, because i'm listening to music instead of literary podcasts. i tried briefly, but can't concentrate on bob abernathy while doing work.

a list of some podcasts i subscribe to:
dailysonic - home of 'fuck you, robot'
cory doctorow - stories and copyfighting
yogamazing - 20 minute video yoga sessions
audio dharma - talks from Insight Meditation Society
zencast - more Buddhist talks
43 folders - lifehacking!
npr's all songs considered
NOW (PBS)
religion and ethics newsweekly (PBS)
saint kermit - green politics from BAWstin, sports included
nextbook - jewish literature and suprising culture

down as fuck

yep.

i'm leaving a job that i love, and can't even catch the interviewer's eye at the next place i'm moving to.

seem to be awfully crap at maintaining friendships, or (more critically) discerning what a real one is.

have far too much to do to my house.

other stuff i don't want to mention online.

i'm going to blame this on paint fumes and just shuffle along for now.