Paper or Plastic or Moving Van?

At the grocery store on my lunch break:

Hi, I'm just wondering if I can have the refrigerated items bagged separately?

No problem.

Thank you.

I'm one of the people here who are conscientious about that....they're going to miss me when I leave.

Oh.

[Moment later...]

Are you leaving soon? [Don't know why I asked!]

Well, yeah, the cost of living is just too high here.

Yeah. [thinking...the cost of living is too high everywhere when you work at the grocery store, trust me, been there done that]

Well, thanks, have a really good last day.

Reward: The highest decibel smile I've ever seen.

Again, I believe working on a reference desk causes me to cross those stranger boundaries, and interact with people I don't know in a slightly more authentic way. Sometimes it's weird because I'm not really that sort of person, but mostly I think it's nice because that is what community is, talking to people where we live. Where we live is where we live, but it's also where we shop, where we work, and where we go.

Speaking of where we live... yes I know, it's my favorite complaint lately and has nothing to do with librarianship....

On Easter Sunday, I awoke to the sound of hammering at 8:30 am. With my earplugs in.

It was loud.

It was early.

Okay, not that early, but still a holiday Sunday!

It sounded like it was coming from the balcony above.

I lay in bed imagining myself shouting, "It's a holiday, couldn't you wait until 9:00!"

I was very close to shouting. I lept out of bed, ripped open my curtains and cast my bleary eyes upwards.

It immediately stopped. I heard my neighbour above pacing around.

You bloody coward, I thought to myself. (In the summer he would sweep debris through the slats onto my patio furniture and into my drink, even onto me, and scuttle away as soon as I cleared my throat)...I waited my the door for a return of the hammering.

It didn't start up again and returned to the quiet sanctity of my bed and blissfully drifted off.

Later that day, on several occasions the hammering started up again.

Oh for goodness sake! Are you trying to be as annoying as possible? I griped...to myself mind you, roomie had headed home. I've noticed that by the end of a long weekend alone, I am spending more time "talking aloud" than what one might consider normal.

Well, to my horror, I discovered that yes the hammering would stop every time I open the curtains because the culprit was so scared of me that he would fly away.

Mr. Big Fat Crow was trying to build a nest in peace.

Do I feel foolish or what?!

Five Inches of Danger

Is wearing a batman mask every day detrimental to your child's development?

A small boy comes into the library several mornings a week, wearing a hard molded plastic batman mask. His mother wears a permanently sour expression, that discourages comment or even a tender smile from staff. They march in and march out, rarely perusing the shelves.

I have begun to wonder, if there is something wrong. They don't speak, he doesn't play with other children, and his peripheral vision is non-existant in this headgear. In the beginning, perhaps it was a simple indulgence, but now I am beginning to wonder if it has taken on a Phantom of the Opera quality. What are they masking?

Spring Has Arrived

Spring is hear, alas, the bagpipes have begun.

Literally.

The park across the street has become a haven for bagpipe practice, yet again. The strains of a weak winded child rushing through a series of notes erupts again. This very moment, but endearly the child is now visiting with a wheelchair bound elderly person with a guide dog. Aaah, community at work.

Several other ridiculous things happened today. I wish they happened at work, but unfortunately I am congested beyond belief and only lasted a half-hour in the confines of the library but deducing that my feverish state demanded bed rest. So this morning, when I headed to work, there was a dead bird on my car. It had been picked clean except for it's head, but the skeleton was fully intact, laying on my trunk. What was I to do but drive off, anxiously checking the rearview mirror, wondering if anyone could make an ICBC claim for damage done by a dead bird flying off my car and hitting their car? I don't know where I lost it, but when I arrived at the destination, it was gone.

The last bizarre thing that happened, was that this morning I hid in my apartment before leaving for work. I cowered in the hall, peeking through the eyehole, avoiding my new neighbours, two laughing, snickering yoga instructor types from former hometown and highschool days. Out of all the places to move in this city, highschool comes back to bite me in the ass, and they move across the hall from me. Neither were ever nice, in fact, both could be a little mean back in the day. One of them responsible for many unkind comments in the school year book's "Most Likely Too..." page- and I am not sharing what my entry was. La dee dah, and here I am, I am a librarian (I can just hear them snickering!)...Ugh...mayhaps I can plot revenge? Or, more in keeping with my character, simply continue with the avoidance strategy. Only one more month.

Current Reading:
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (more to come on this later)
Book I put down, and don't have time to go back to:
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Audiobook in my Car Stereo:
A Room with a View
Unfinished Book Review Title:
undisclosed but dull, can I review it without finishing it?

In the musty old building this week...

A highly successful library program was pulled off, with high stakes, and high anxiety. Over one hundred people crammed into the children's area, and many of them were first time visitors to our humble and crumbling abode. Reactions all around- self congratulations and...

• This is why we haven't done this in a decade...
• God, I need a drink.
• How did it go...Did you have any complaints?
• Click (a member of the public hung up on me enraged that our registration was full)
• Could you write a summary of the work involved and how long each task took, so when anyone asks, we can justify not doing this sort of program?

That last one really got me - please explain how much work it is, so that in future, we do not try to do this sort of HIGHLY SUCESSFUL program that brings hoardes of people into the library and promotes our services better than almost anything else.

Snip, snap, snout, this tale's told out!

In other news, I helped an elderly man with kidney disease determine how much phosporous is in his food. It took several hours, and some emailing to accomplish this, but to show his appreciation he returned to the library twice to hunt me down and tearfully marvel at my searching skills. This was very rewarding. It made up for a lot of other stuff.

Listening through your nose?

When I can't sleep, I listen to a radio program on my small little radio, the sound of conversation just puts me right out. Once upon a time my grandfather used to leave cassette tapes with his favorite evangelical talk shows and sermons lying about for me with post-it notes saying, "Listen to this!" - they had the same effect. The act of listening to someone else speak, lulls me, allows me to leave my own thoughts and worries behind.

Lately, I've been wearing earplugs, living in a downtown core has that effect. And the fact that people frequently play bongo drums in the park across the street into the wee hours. Actually they usually don't start up until the wee hours. So how do I listen to the radio and wear earplugs? Somehow if you lay on the earphone and turn the volume up. Well, the other night I rolled over and in a semi-conscious state, realized I was listening to the radio through my nostril. Yup, you can listen to the radio through your nose when your ears are plugged. This was to weird and yucky to continue with once I realized what was happening, and made me laugh a bit (alone in my bed, roomie must have wondered!!)

Well when I saw the headline for this article I was naturally intrigued: http://www.slate.com/id/2162384/?GT1=9231 But it actually didn't quite meet my expectations! Anyways, it does relate to a novel I read this weekend featuring a nurse working a burn unit (in part II) during world war II and overhears a girl break up with a soldier who has lost his nose and has been horrible disfigured. They have just completed one surgery to start creating new nostrils for the poor fellow. The girl whimpers, I'm sorry I just can't do it and rushes out. Eva enters the room, and the soldier holds up a photograph of a very handsome young man, it is himself. (I can't find the page, this is just a rough description) She assumes that it is the girls new beau until he rips the photo in half and she realizes who it is. Of course this lead to an interesting discussion with Supple Scientist over what one would do in a similar situation. If you are looking for quaint historical fiction with a touch of the mysterious and otherworld and a healthy dose of sad ending, you may enjoy Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey. A girl grows up in a remote part of Scotland with the helpful and sometimes irritating intrusions of "the companions" - a woman and a girl visible only to herself. Her mother dies in childbirth, when 6 magpies arrive in the tree outside the window. She leaves for Glasgow to nurse, hoping to leave them behind, and loses the love of her life when she admits their presence to him. She learns better later on, and enters into a marriage without sharing this aspect of her life. Omens, moving furniture, ghostly conversations, and a life recounted in a wise and well written narrative. I disliked the final chapters however and went to bed depressed. But, that's just me. I'm a sucker for happy endings.

I also read Wild Orchid, by Beverley Brenna, a delicious interpretation of life with Asperger's Syndrome written for teens. In it's way it is much more approachable that the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. An eighteen year old girl moves to Prince Albert National Park with her mother for the summer and finds herself coping with this unsettling change, seeking her first boyfriend, and attempting her first job. The narrative is incredibly realistic, Taylor herself displays the incredible recall and attention to logic and detail that accompanies this condition, and the story rolls along with interest. The story is about more than her condition. It's about gaining a sense of self, and ability to cope with a life that is sometimes out of your control. The story was a bit short, the secondary characters a bit underdeveloped, and plot a little happy-go-lucky, but overall it was a very good read. The setting was lush, and easily imagined as Taylor spends her day at the park's nature house, and as she seeks rare orchids along the pathways with her new friend Paul, who's wife has been diagnosed with MS.

Just In Case by Meg Rosoff

Wonderful YA. Wonderful. A fifteen-year old boy nearly loses his infant brother, who teeters on the brink of death by deciding to fly out a highrise window. In the nick of time, the protagonist grabs him. In thinking about what might have been, he becomes convinced FATE is out to get him. He decides to ellude fate as best he can. I love how the lines between reality, and what one person's reality is, can be blurred in this novel.

The older I get, the more precarious "sanity" seems to be. The more accepting I've become of what other people believe and feel, so I think this is a powerful book for a teen, a dash of fantasy, or a dose of reality, could be either one. He changes his name to Justin (his last name is Case) nearly dies in a plane crash inferno, finds himself the centre of a photographic exhibit, makes a delightful and unlikely cast of friends who give him a place to stay, continues communicating with his baby brother who is both wise and telepathic, and lives with a most delightful imaginary greyhound, sleek and doting.

Age is relative and even the youngest, can have the most profound thoughts in this novel. Justin is working through some terrible things, and while you question his reality, alternate chapters offer a glimpse into the terrible voice of FATE. This novel definitely transcends teen literature, read it even if you prefer adult material. Do, do, do.

The Time of Year Children's Librarians Love (er, hate)

Hello, you've reached --- public library, information desk.

Am I speaking to a real person?

Yes, I am a librarian.

Do the children have school today?

No, they are off today.

How long will this last?

All week, it's spring break.

All week?

Yes.

Oh blast!

Time is Relative

Today I got a Library Journal from May 1st, 2006. That's how far down the routing list I was. Almost a year.

One positive thing about Daylight Savings happening early...My watch is back on time. It's been one hour ahead since the last daylight savings. Now it's bang on. Proof that sometimes if you do nothing at all, things sort themselves out.

How many books can I check out and not read before they are due back again? A lot. How many did I add to my take-home pile in one workingday? Four. I'm thirsty for time to read!

Is 8:15 in the morning too early to plug in your amp and start playing guitar? I know it's a weekday but isn't 9:00am the norm? I happened to be working a late shift today, and was hoping to catch a little extra sleep, fighting this cold and all. I tapped my handy high heel against the floor in a congested cold induced fervor this morning, and heard my neighbour scream a resounding f*** off! Through the floor. Spent half an hour plotting revenge (like wearing heels in my house, or once again turning the base on the stereo - both things not done on request of those below)- before admitting that my neighbours are too scary to mess with, even if we are moving shortly.

I am 28th on the list for Ysabel by G.G.Kay. I will not get to read this book before leaving the country.

PS- regarding lovely illustration - that's me in the morning... (by Jeremy Tankard- children's illustrator)

Sometimes People Read...

Cockeyed by Ryan Knighton - humourous, interesting, insightful, sometimes goes on and on a bit about the blind perspective, a bit like a blog, small degrees of skimming resulted. I read half of it in one sitting, loved it overall and can't wait for more from this author- more than his memoir! I enjoy his style of writing, and would love to read a work of fiction by him.

The Road of Bones by Anne Fine (J Fic)-gripping, powerful, fable-like in nature, however the suspenseful, ending may leave a child empty.

Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley - smutty (rated R for a reason!) but natters on like the Gilmour Girls fixated on CNN's coverage of the so-called "War on Terror"...sometimes I felt like my life was slipping away, wasted listening to an endless conversation.

Beijing Bicycle - DVD - lovely and tragic, interesting, didn't mean towatch it all in one night and stayed up waaaay too late for a week night

There You Are: A Novel by Joanne Taylor (J Fic)- east coast days of old,lovely and fascinating, sibling rivalry disolves a bit to easily, rifewith tragedy that ends happily, a satisfying top pick for family readaloud.

My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere by Susan Orlean -If you like travel writing with a journalistic slant, she pulls a collection of magazine articles of all descriptions together under this title. I have only skimmed a few enjoyable articles, some didn't interest me, and came across as a bit insipid or dated, but this works as light pre-bed reading.

My completed reading list.

A patron just said,"It looks great up here." Isn't that lovely, good displays do make a difference. Our hard work does pay off. Occasionally people do read the boards, or look at the little creatures and books on display.

That book does not exist and other trivial matters

Reference Question:

Hi, I need a book of experiments.

For a science fair?

Well actually inventions.

Like the lightbulb, in history?

Well, inventions that I can invent.

Oh, a book of things that haven't been invented yet?

Yup.

Storytime Antics:
The plan was to wear pajamas in the library during preschool storytime. A mere half hour of penguin clad fun, complete with fuzzy slippers. I don't know where this need to ham it up came from, perhaps it was repressed for many years. I don't know, what do you think? Well I had a few reactions:
A coworker - sneer and titter
Manager - You are going to wear your clothing underneath right?? (no, the flannel will be enough, maybe she envisioned me in something more scant)
Small Boy afterwards- Do you live here?
All the children - You are still in your pajamas! You didn't get dressed yet!!
Everyone else was quite nice! Of course, it was only half an hour!

Lunchroom:
1. I didn't want to hear about our oldish baldish male library director's foray into the Amsterdam red light district as a wee lad.
2. I also didn't want to hear about cat hairball remedies.

The Very Quiet Cricket that Wouldn't Shut Up

As I browsed the shelf looking for an item, the annoying and continuous drone of a cricket chirping began to get on my nerves.

I looked around in the busy children's picture book area and saw several parents reading to their children. There were no Eric Carle books in sight. I drew closer to the C section and the sound grew louder.

Yes, the book had gone bezerk. Chirping away even with the cover closed. No one thanked me, yes being a librarian is a thankless job...

This is ironic because tomorrow I am using a grasshopper puppet which I installed with a chirping mechanism talem from a discarded book *the same book as the afformentioned bezerk book - the Very QUIET Cricket...! I'll be using this rhyme: (crickets and grasshoppers are interchangeable in my world, having had little experience with either)

There was a little grasshopper

Who was always on the jump

And because he never looked ahead

He always got a bump!

Listening Outside the Box

I haven't overheard anything remotely interesting at the library this week, so bare with me and journey into other facets of my life...

Overheard at family gathering:

Grandma: How have you managed to get so trim?

Brother: I'm anorexic and I do coke every weekend (sarcastic).

Grandma: Bewildered chuckle. You don't drink coke anymore? Pop is really bad for you!

Brother: Yup, I'm down to 195.

Ha ha ha, another happy Lithe Librarian family gathering! I just managed to make it though the week, I was sick all last weekend, missed Monday, felt okay on Tuesday and steadily declined. By Friday I was ready to crawl into bed, but had one more family gathering to attend. I spent all of Saturday in bed, except for a brief foray into the pet store for some supplies.

Over heard at Pet Store:

As I'm waiting in line, it is finally my turn and I start rooting around for exact change.

A large golden retriever leaps at counter, stands on hind legs panting next to me, facing the male store clerk.

Female yuppy owner exlaims: Wow Bruno, you just want to be the gayest dog in town don't you!

Clerk looked weirded out.

Ohhhhkay. I'm going home and crawling back into bed with my neocitran and box of kleenex. I tried to find my car to drive it closer to my apartment but gave up in the wet drizzle. The night before I spent 25 minutes circling the 'hood for a spot, and not once, not twice, but THREE times, I lost out for a parking spot by seconds. It was like a Mister Bean episode, where that evil car (SEE PICTURE) always gets the parking spot first! As a result, I currently have no idea where I parked, it was so darn far away. I was wearing heels too!

Tonight when my roomate comes home, she'll drive me around and we'll find it! I even called the towing company just in case they took it away (they didn't!)

So feeling sorry for myself with all this illness, I've been doing a lot of reading for pleasure (aka not work related, aka not children's or teen novels):

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The life of a girl from Somalia, who ended up in Holland as a refugee. Now she is a member of parliament, coming to terms with her faith and the politics of immigration in this small European country full of religious and racial rife. I skimmed through the first few chapters, as I didn't really feel a burning desire to know the details of her mother and grandmother's lives as well. I can see why she recieves death threats, and sometimes feeds into right wing conservative propaganda, but I learned a lot about some of the turmoil in Europe and what it is rooted in. I have been unable to put this book down, and when I hear about riots in Paris, or kafuffle over religious cartoons, I have a slightly better context to place all this in.

"Most of the women in Holland could walk the streets on their own, wear more or less what they liked, work and enjoy their own salaries, and choose the man they wished to marry. They could attend a university, travel, purchase property. And most Muslim women in Holland simply couldn't. How could you say that Islam had nothing to do with that situation? And how could that situation be in any way acceptable?"

I understand that this brand of Islam is much more fundamental and looks very different from what friends I know locally believe. Religion aside, Ali explores the nature of segregation within a country, equality and the rights of women...and interesting and thought provoking read.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyle.

If you've read the Swearing Librarian's review, you know the story! I have been on the holds list for ages and finally it landed in my letter box! Hands down, most interesting book jacket description ever:

"The story of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book (I agree). We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence. "

I won't give anything away. But Bruno is a remarkable little boy. The dialogue is crisp and clever, the pacing is excellent. It is a forboding tale that unfolds without context, and yet context is not needed at all. The setting is familiar to us all, and in forgetting the setting, the tale becomes stronger and truer. The conclusion is spectacular. You will not be disapointed.

Everything else I read while sick is trash and not worth talking about! Ta!

Labyrinth of Emotions!

I saw a little girl cry today and I wanted to cry too.

If that happened every day, I would need a siphon leading into a bucket under the reference desk because I see a LOT of crying.

This was a little different! I think it was my fault she got in trouble! I had good intentions and taught this annoying little info desk harrasser how to use the catalogue to find her own books. She was cute the first twenty times she approached the desk in her prep school uniform, bouncing up and down impatiently to ask me for the same book she asked me for yesterday and the day before...only to huff and puff impatiently as I helped others...to lead me around and monopolize my time with incessant nattering informing me of this and that and everything that I obviously didn't know, and turning up her nose at every alternate suggestion. It was a VICTORY when I sat down with her at a public catalogue and invested some time into teaching her the catalogue, because before you know it, she was off, search and destroy was her motto.

Well, eventually I noticed that no matter who accompanies her to the library, no one really listens to her or pays any attention to her at all. True her mile a minute know it all dialogue is easy to ignore, becoming a vague humming, but your own flesh and blood??!! They made her! Today I showed her how to do an advanced search and returned to my desk. A few minutes later the mother strode in, found the little girl and said "we don't have time to look on the computer, the book is in the godammed K section where it always is!" (Nancy Drew) ...the girl burst into tears and followed her mother, arms folded across her chest, really quite suddenly upset. Good grief, I was upset by her mother's sharpness!

It was sucky because I felt badly for the mother and for the daughter. The daughter had every right to be taken back by her mother's spaz attack, and the mother had pretty good reason to be annoyed by her daughter (an extremely annoying child) but like I said - You made her! I think her annoyingness must be a plea for attention. Or maybe private school fosters that self-centred-know-it-all-anal-attitude in little girls? I'm not sure, but it was all too much emotion for a girl recovering from the flu. It made my palms sweat more than they already were!

Do dogs belong in the library?

There is a woman with a scottie dog wrapped up in a library book bag. Only his head and front paws are visible. Actually, he looks like quite a load, really he's not that small!

And he is staring at me with those gigantic black eyes, buried in his bushy white face. She is browsing in the childrens picture book area, and there is no one else in the department at the moment.

The branch manager said to me before wandering away: "I hope she's not too long." But none of us have made a move to say anything. She looks like she'd kick me in the face if I said anything.

I live in a city where people take their dogs every where. I was browsing in a gift shop when a small dog, snarled and barked in my face. Literally, it was at face level, worn in a sash being held against a man's body like a baby. I also had a bad experience at a coffee shop recently with a friend, when a couple seated themselves at the table next to us, with their huge standard poodle. Its head was level with the table and my coffee cup. It had a strong wet dog smell, and spent a lot of time sniffing at me and staring. The owners glared at US as it became increasingly busy and crowded in the small neighbourhood shop.

It is unbelievable how people inflict their pets on other people. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, and my family dog is the dearest dog in the world, but alas she does not get along with other dogs and has a gigantic and unruly presence which can be intimidating. So, she stays home and has a happy life snoozing in front of the fire, chasing snakes in the garden, and romping around the undergrowth. Just because she hasn't beento the library lately, doesn't mean that she's not a smart pup!

A Reputation for Being Dangerous...um not me.

I just watched a clip on t.v. about Ryan Knighton, the blind Capilano College prof. who wrote Cockeyed. He seems genuinely interesting, which mean that I must rush into work tomorrow and put a hold on his book, which must also by default and as a memoir, with local flavour be captivating as well. The reviews seem to indicate the same :
http://www.thebukowskiagency.com/Cockeyed.htm
My brother's ex-girlfriend also had him as an English prof, and thought he was great. He spoke succinctly about writing a story about a small town boy of eighteen finding his direction in life and simultaneously adapting to what life will be like as a blind man.

And now, to recommend a book I've actually read:

Letters from St Petersburg by Victoria Hammond.

I often start non-fiction books, but it truly is a delicious triumph when I finish one. This is a place I've been thinking about visiting. Well, about how interesting it would be to visit sometime in the next few years while I'm abroad. Now, I'm not so sure that is a good idea, though I am more interested than ever...I couldn't put this down, even though at times I felt opressed by some of what the author described, it cast a temporary gloom, even in the cheery atmosphere of my cozy apartment. Lots of us have a fascination with Russia (right?) - just look how Russia shows up in all those films, the politics, the horror of nuclear power ill managed, and the radioactive spies. Although I minored in English Lit. as an undergrad, I have never read Pushkin, or any other Russian author. I wonder why? I know even less about the history of Russia. This book dabbles in the past but concerns itself with the present and the ideology and culture of the Russian people. Perhaps that is travel writing at it's best, an honest exploration of daily life for "the other" - Victoria Hammond, an Australian curator heads to Russia for the first time to stay with the friends of a friend, curators themselves. She explores the poverty that academics and artists live in, and the fixation on the golden past the permeates the culture. She experiences unbelievable filth, beautiful, ornate and crumbling architecture, gets four different kinds of worms, visits a museum collections of "human monsters" preserved alongside all sorts of wonders, she flirts with a soldier on a train who follows her through the city, gets lost underground many times, and experiences influence of the Russian mafia as a friend is forced to move from a desireable apartment that she owns so that her apartment can be given to someone else. The rich cast of friends that people this story make it a very interesting and enlightening read.

"I know no one. I don't speak the language. The city has a reputation for being dangerous. I've become addicted to this scenario, to the thrill of travelling alone and watching how I deal with the terrors of a strange place. But this time it's different: Ada, a curator at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, is meeting me. At least I hope to God she's meeting me."

Driving Home, and Starting Another Day

Saturday morning, and though I'm working a sixth day in a row, I'm feeling strangely calm after being in such a state yesterday! It's peaceful and quiet here as of yet, and rays of sun are streaking through the cloud cover.

I sometimes drive through the worst of the worst areas to get home more quickly...there is always lighter traffic on this route. People care not to see such sights? Or as I discovered this week, the risk of hitting a pedestrian is too great. Not one, but two suicidal individuals mindlessly on drugs lurched across dark streets, causing me to break sharply. Friday night is always the busiest for this route, and the cars braked heavily upon entering the worst stretch. The city is so interesting at night, and I love how each evening the sky is a little less dark as I weave home.

What adventures will this new day hold? I only have eleven weeks left to sing my songs, say my rhymes, tell my stories...and then it's all an unknown adventure!

There are RULES in the library!

Anger then hunger then sugar and now I feel blah! So much for making a hearty dinner!

I lost my temper ten minutes before leaving work on Friday afternoon. There is probably a statistic somewhere that indicates that this is the worst time of the day to tick someone off.

Busy children's department. I have been on reference on the adult desk all afternoon, dodging the perv. Finally a half hour at my desk in the back before leaving. The phone is ringing of the hook outside on reference though, so I head out to answer it an get sucked into a long question vortex. Finally escaping and heading to my haven in the back when I see two 13 year old girls chowing down on an enormous bar of chocolate in the picture book area. I breeze over, planning on quickly saying something...

"hi, just to let you know, food isn't allowed in the library"

-no response-

I stand rooted looking at them.

-eye rolling-

Girl A deliberately takes another piece off of it, followed by the second girl.

I continue standing there.

"You can pack it up or go outside."

They start muttering, still stuffing face, fooling around and beginning to consider putting it away.

"Fine, whatever, we're going to leave!" (said with spite)

Me (internally) OOoooh please don't go bitchy girls, please stay!! What will we do without you!

Cell phone rings.

Girl B directly in front of me picks it up and starts telling someone that they're getting kicked out of the library.

She turns away and continues talking.

"Annnddd, there are no cell phones allowed in the library. You need to put it away or go outside."

Girl B continues talking. Girl A is rustling around with chocolate.

"EXCUSE ME, but cell phones are NOT allowed in the library." (loud voice, I can really project)

Girl B stands up and has about a foot on me. Somewhat incredulous.

"You need to close the phone and say goodbye. There are RULES IN THE LIBRARY." Girl B's jaw drops.

OOOooh gosh why did I say such a stupid thing. I'm being totally honest here, reader, this is the geeky thing I said when all the blood was exiting my brain in anger."

I stride away.

Girls mockingly cry out "ooooh there are rules in the library! what a retard! ooooh rules oooh rules!"

Now during the RULES in the library part, a head librarian from tech services happened to walk by and surely heard the mocking as well. Ooooh. And the librarian who was suposed to answer the phone and deal with food and such while I soaked up some peace and blooody quiet, was an auxiliary, soft spoken and probably horrified at my display of unbridled emotion.

Anyways, this is an honest blog. I know I broke every rule in the "customer service" handbook and the library school teen inclusiveness mantra! There aren't really any excuses. I was angry. I am human and now I can think of a thousand more effective ways to deal with it. Though I can hardly believe how evil they were. I hate rudeness! Those are the type of girls I imagine peer pressuring and kicking the ass of the baby-librarian I once was. And I was a multi-coloured hair skater girl at that age (which pre-Avril Lavigne, was not not not the best choice in a gangster school)....These girls will grow up to be the people that pass the line for the bridge in the wrong lane and then cut in....the mom's who steal my homemade egg shakers from storytime rather than let their darlings shed one tear leaving it behind....

Anyways, if they're so cool, why are they at the library afterschool on Friday night. Hell, I'm paid to be there!!!!

Rocking Postal Trucks and Kissing Advice

Well, I just got in from a lovely evening jog around my hood. And I thought it was odd to see a Canada Post truck making deliveries so late, the irony truly struck me when I jogged past and strains of "Taking care of business...working overtime" came floating out the back end of the truck. Rock on!

In other news...

"Finlanders consider mouth to mouth kissing obscene."

According to Kissing: The Complete Guide by Tamara Schreibman. Kissing games, music to kiss to, how to prepare for your first kiss...utterly Judy Blume in nature and incredibly embarrassing to take surreptious but curious perusals at while working on the reference desk one busy Saturday afternoon.

"A ten minute kiss burns ten calories."

Aaaawwww. Is that all?

The Indian in the Cupboard? Non, non! The Light in the Cupboard

One night, I stumbled out of bed and weaved into the washroom in the dead of darkness...or so it would seem at first. I had not turned on any lights, however a beam of light was coming from the cupboard above the shower (yes, I have high ceilings!) Startled and amazed out of my stupour I pulled out my earplugs (to hear any ethereal music that might acompany this strange sight) I stood on the closed toilet seat and attempted to peer into the cupboard. To my amazement, it appears that the wall along it's side, is only a large piece of painted plywood haphazardly nailed in place. A gap at least a half inch wide runs the length, and at first, in horror I believed that it was a peephole into someone elses washroom.

At this point, I believe upon further late night explorations that it may in fact look into the same vast void that my kitchen peers into. The light from a neighbours window into that void, may have produced the glow. I'm not certain, perhaps I shall futher investigate tonight. It's all together unsettling. Now we have bathroom smells and kitchen smells communally intermingling in a very weird way.

Also, this evening at the library:

I love it when I get to work on the adult desk. Not only did I have our resident perv hovering around the desk, our resident friendly-man-who-will-talk-your-ear-off, but I also finally got to meet the strange-priest-man who is very grizzled and knarled, shakey and scared in the face, with gigantic old glasses that have slid down and pinched in nostrils into non-existance. Wearing a trench, messily clad,with a cleryman's collar, he asked me for two books we would never have...25 year old books on physics and nuclear energy....he also informed me that he is a student at UBC! Wowee, it's never too late to learn. That's what I keep telling myself!

By the way- one small correction, the perv's last name is THOMPSON and not SANFORD as previously noted! Just in case! Today he made cracking whip noises, said "hey hey hey" repeatedly every five minutes about everything to me (I ignored him until another patron, said, ummm I think that man wants you or something) and I had to go over to his computer terminal. Ugh.

The Book Thief? Non, non, The Song Thief!

EVERY single time I do a new rhyme or song for preschool story time, a co-worker immediately uses it in her storytime the following week. This time, she has even gone so far to type it up in large print for her group. Which is in itself funny because it consists of only two sentences repeated over and over. Fast turn over, my work makes it into print within days. Mimicry is the best form of flattery?

Still, all my hard earned hours wailing away to CD's in the car on the commute home, hunting down catchy tunes and rhymes, finding props...snatched away and used by someone else (someone else, who I might add is not very nice to me and told my boss that I was not being very professional and related a petty story-that's strong from someone who wears Lulu to work and thinks chit chatting to parents about her personal life complete with complaints about her work, for half an hour is okay ) Sorry, I'm feeling a little peeved. Also, she borrowed my "personal-spent-hours-making-it-props" last week. I'd feel fine with it all if she was anyone else. It's just that she seems to strive towards undermining me, proving me wrong, making me feel small, and putting me down in any small way (what did I do to deserve this??) and feels that she is in direct competition with me about everything. She's super aggressive, so it's tough to feel generous with my personal belongings. Okay, the ranting is over.

My cup runneth over...sniff sniff...

An incredible movie, that I watched last weekend...
I cried buckets but they were good tears.


What: a woman works as a photographer in the red light district of Calcutta, documenting the lives of women who live in the brothels. She finds herself surrounded by their children. She decides to teach a photography class and equips the children with cameras. They edit and select their best pictures and learn from her. The photographer several shows of the children's work together in order to raise money to pay for boarding school. It's the only chance they may get, some of them are on the verge of being forced into prostitution or have already been exploited. She puts on several sucessful shows at Southebys. The children profiled in the documentary are amazing and the female photographer who works with them as well. Each child has such a strong personality, and they are a tightnit ragtag group. They taunt one another with love, and are realistic about their futures. Each child speaks directly to the camera about things, and we also get to watch them interact with each other as they head on several photographic excursions, and work with the photographer. The boy above is singled out as having great talent, and an epic battle mounts to get him papers so he can represent India at a show in Amsterdam.

If you would like to cry a little more, read The Year the Gypsies Came, a YA novel by first time novelist Linzi Glass. Set in apartheid South Africa, it chronicles the life of a twelve year old girl, the summer a traveling family comes to a stop on their land, living out of a trailer with two boys. As time passes, Emily carries more and more of the dark secrets of the adult world around her. Something ominous hovers as the story unwinds languidly like the dark python one of the visitors wears over her shoulders...

"If it were not for our proximity to the lake and the woods where they camped, we might never have encountered them. It was from beyond the lake that they came into our lives. From where, I do not know; no one ever asked. It did not seem to matter at the time. They simply walked into our world from across the road. Weary travelers carrying the fates of our lives in their dank pockets."

It's a Friendly Neighbourhood...not really

It's a different sort of day. This morning a full moon lingered, creating a lovely path of light across the water in the early light. Let us see what the day will hold....

Yesterday was odd enough in itself. I arrived home to find an old red suitcase and a bunch of junky boxes to be the new view from my kitchen window. We live in an odd old place where the kitchen window, along with the one next door the floor above (but not below) looks into a grey washed space, like a small vertical room with a skylight above. It provides a small degree of natural light and allows a space to vent your kitchen cooking smells (thus sharing them with any neighbor's who happen to have open windows as well)....We've joked about putting lawn chairs out there, but didn't even know if the floor was solid or not.

Well, it seems that our new neighbor's lack storage space and think we are trust worthy enough not to rifle through their storage boxes. I really feel like I'm slumming it sometimes, well, if it weren't for the exorbitant rent. The neighbor's have a frosted window and don't have to look at the boxes, but why do I want to look at their junk every time I wash dishes or cook? We have storage spaces the size of a horse stall (and similar in construction as well) in the dingy cavernous basement.

I can't wait to move.

Last week we left a note for the number one most annoying neighbour in the world who lives below us (unfortunately he owns half the building so no rules apply to him)- it read:

"Dear neighbour, Your dogs have been howling all evening. It is 11:15, we hope they go to sleep soon because we are."

My only regret is that there may now be only one dog, which I failed to notice until this week. What if the other one died? Am I insensitive? Hmmmm...think back to his girlfriend pounding on the door at 6pm while I was frantically getting ready for a dinner party...and put heels on...for about 2 minutes..."Do you mind not walking around so much, you sound like an elephant and we're trying to watch t.v." ...naaah.

Comfortable Reading isn't always Satisfying

Mostly comfort reads and movies for a long goodbye...

Winter's Child by Margaret Maron - comfort reading at its best, however I forgot it at work one night and almost moved on without finishing. But for me, this was like crying and eating potato chips after the Supple Scientist left town.

Angeline by Karleen Bradford (YA)- so unrealistic, and I can't believe it's Canadian. I love Egypt, and I love this kinds of historical fiction. But this is watered down YA. She becomes a concubine, and the initial meeting with the sheik isn't even described. She discreetly becomes pregnant without so much as a kiss...

The Children of Men by P.D. James - I couldn't get in at the movie theatre, so I gave up and read the book, which is at times cheesy, unrealistic, and contrived, but I can see how it would make a great movie, and Clive Owen can't hurt. Regardless, it's utterly captivating and hard to put down in the way that some apocolyptic tales are...I enjoyed it.

The Squid and the Whale (DVD)- A very disturbing father figure, so real it almost hurt to watch this incredibly snobbish Brooklyn baby boomer academic novelist as he nearly destroyed his son with self-preoccupation and bad advice. There is also an uncomfortable scene featuring a boy rubbing against a bookshelf in the library and wiping the ensuing bodily fluids across the book spines. Beware. (the above picture depicts the boy in question, his crazy father, his cheating mother, and her soon to be boyfriend- his tennis instructor)

Earth (DVD)- now my favorite Deepa Mehta movie ... tragic and powerful, richness of characters, beautiful but simple cinamatography and the lovely soundtrack make it a great movie to take you away from the present. I watched it one weeknight sitting in the darkness, a few candles glowing, and the lights on a myriad of freighters beckoning on the horizon.

A little RANT

1. Traffic gridlock. Turn around and try another route. Still terrible. Awful people speeding up slow lane and cutting in. Awful people in slow cars, I guess all BMW's have that tragic problem going up hills. Late, late, late.

2. Called ahead to let staff know I'd be late. Left message. The person who checked it, did not pass on this knowledge to the other info. deskstaff. No one knew where I was.

3. I could not find the class I was supposed to visit at a local school. Spent 20 minutes filling out visitor forms and searching. Empty class, empty library, not in the gym, teacher across the hall was veryunfriendly and unhelpful (jealous maybe?), not in computer lab where they should be. Aha. Teacher forgot. Teacher librarian told me that I should really send reminders. In a perfect world...During my longest stint of full time teaching, I only had one visitor. The local RCMP officer. Only one brave enough?

4. Could not find necessary bookclub supplies at the Zellers on my lunch break. I suceeded only in setting off the alarm and purchasing chocolate. The alarm situation was stressful. The chocolate situation was calming, but guilt inducing.

I happened to be carrying a large suspicious computer bag, stuffed with books and school visit supplies. They asked me to walk through it several times. Disturbing nearby coffee drinkers (who chooses to drink coffee at a table in the mall under the glowing Zellers sign? - well, old people) I almost had to dump my belongings for the store manager, I even flashed my library nametag. This humiliation was witnessed by one other library staff member who casually walked through the gates while I was explaining (didn't even stop to help me!) and a storytime mother and child crew.

I just want to go home and crawl into my bed. Alas, 2.5 more hours....

Stiff Librarian
(in fact that might be my next blogline) - not as in dead. Simply, uptight and bent out of shape.

3 reasons I need to sign up for a self defense class...

It's been a while wee blog of mine. I've had so many postings tumbling around in my thoughts at work lately, but no opportunity to write. I'm enjoying a rainy Sunday afternoon snuggly nestled on my bed, pillows, blankets and a few glowing candles as I look out on a misty view of the water. Only the dull thud and whine of the ceaseless 'ol down south blues on my neighbor's stereo intrudes...Fine, even nice in small measures...but ugh. Supple scientist is back to Europe, and the 100 day countdown to our reunion and my move to join him begin. In the meantime... a few notes from the workplace...

Creepy Perv #1

I blogged about this fellow in April. He has been a problem- his last name is SANFORD if I ever go missing. I know this is a breech of my blogger anonymity, but I don't care. I've taken it lightly up until recently, but it crossed the line when I saw him at the mall on my lunchbreak and he began calling me by name, taunting me for ignoring him, drawing the attention of other people. I don't need some thirty-something-year old guy who dresses like an 18 year old gangster shouting me down in public. Yeesh. Comments like "you've got some body" and "are you single?" are in library fare for him. The creepy part is that he comes back even after being stonewalled and even when I say "that is not appropriate" - he knows it's wrong, bothers me when I'm alone, avoids me when there are other librarians present, seems agitated on occasion, sometimes talks in third person, muttering to himself, uses everyone's personal names, moves upstairs or downstairs depending on my location, and now comes to the library for hours every single day! I won't talk about it anymore right now because that's a waste of thought, and it gives more power to this already very aggressive person! I simply will not be bothered!

Hair-Puller

We have a fellow who is severely disabled, and comes to the library with a companion. He was at one time banned basically for pulling hair. Coming up behind a person and grabbing, pulling them backwards and on the the floor, refusing to let go. Apparently this happened to 3 or 4 people including a librarian. All of the incidents were very traumatic and involved ripped hair. Well he's back!! I am to "keep an eye on him" most "particularly when the library is busy!" Um...okay.

Lecherous Polygamist

I met a man the other day who has 17 children. He volunteered this information. Yes, he has been married 5 times. He didn't indicate if any of the marriages were concurrent. He seemed a genial, old charmer with a sparkle in his eye and lots of compliments for a young female librarian like myself. I don't mind the old guys...but when he started talking about his youngest child (I thought he was too old for a little one!!) and then how special she was after having so many...!! He also told me that she asks him to read the Bible each night, and asked me if I was familiar with the Bible. He also in the course of the conversation asked me my age and if I had any children myself or planned to...
Good grief. Looking for wife #6?

The Perfect Circle by Pascale Quiviger, translated by Sheila Fischman
lyrical and abstract, like poetry, full of emotion, and longing, and a delight to the senses. I was too sad to finish it though. I will another day. Some of my favorite books didn't get read through on the first go.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Imaginative, darkly fascinating, and I just needed to know what it was like. Does seem to try a little hard to be dramatic and artsy...with the free verse disjointed form, setting characters, inserting things. "Here is a small fact. You are going to die." on the first page stands alone in different font. OOOKAAAY. SCARY STUFF MAN, SO POIGNANT. At 552 pages, I knew that I'd probably not make it through at this time of the year. I never seem to find appropriate reading materials for the season! I think this book will be great for many.

"A SPECTACULARLY TRAGIC MOMENT. A train was moving quickly. It was packed with humans. A six-year-old boy died in the third carriage."

It seems a bit like the movie, Amelie. Which I love by the way.

Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna
This picture book is okay. Really. Well, it's totally moralistic in a frighteningly way, in a weird world where everyone is concientious and polite. A boy sees his coach (Mr. Peabody) take an apple without paying while walking down the street. The coach is well liked. The boy tells others. Rumours fly, and no one comes to play baseball. The boy explains to the coach. They walk to the shop where the grocer explains that Mr. Peabody pays once a week for his apples. The boy is told to cut open a feather pillow and shake it in the wind, then pick up every feather. Each feather represents a person - see how hard it is to take back gossip? But actually, I think it's a useful story in a classroom setting and well suited along with bright illustrations for the early grades. And heck, maybe the kids can gyrate to a Material Girl song afterwards...

PS- her other book, English Roses was so unappealing, I couldn't read it. I can't even get through a picture book...what's happening to me?! I can't even finish a picture book!

Several Suggestions

"The library is wonderful except there is too muchfiction/unrealistic/make-believe material. It takes up valuable shelf space. 89% of all fiction is junk food. True?"

At the top of a comment card: Please take a moment and let us know what we are doing right or wrong. Patron rossed out "let us know" and replaced with "pray" = Please take amoment and let us pray about what we are doing right or wrong. Still filled out a suggestion.

"All fiction books should be marked/described as not real. Fictionwriters are too often sicko's, culture terrorists, or hateful people. Sorry for my writing" (messy)

Darn it, another comment said that we are making crappy fiction "too available" - ha, ha, ha. Yeah right. Try getting on the holds list for a Giller Nominee. I'm just getting them now, and of course, three in one day.

Snot-nosed book reviews

Home sick. Again. Drat! It's sucks a lot because the Supple Scientist will arrive to a congested, dripping, coughing, thoroughly sick girlfriend. What a romantic reunion after 5.5 months apart. Furthermore, I missed my last babytime for the season, and that is disappointing, and probably was a big hassle for all those folks at work. This is also day two of missing work. I dilly-dallied on whether I could go in until the last minute, realizing that my obvious and apparent sickness would inhibit my singing (already weak at the best of times) and also disgust mothers who will only want to shield their babies from all my germs. I still feel guilty for the hassle it causes though! We don't have a clear work culture about how sick is too sick.

So I am writing this from my bed (thank heavens for lap tops!) and I'll catch up on a few posts. Heck, I have a whole pile of overdue materials (speedreads!) right here.

Miss Smithers by Susan Juby.

Funny and delightful but not as great as the first - Alice, I Think (see previous review). I have to admit that the "zine" articles she writes are pretty great. This one was in response to her best friend who grows distant after losing her virginity (of which Alice is a little jealous):

"Some people, particularly teenage people, take pride in being the first of their friends to have s**. Those people are misguided. S** is a serious matter. A person shouldn't have s** until they are old enough and mature enough to deal with the consequences. Which can be severe.
In the final reckoning, the person who has s** with someone they love is probably the winner over someone who makes it with someone they hardly know. If you are having s** and think that makes you more advanced than your friends who aren't doing it yet, think again. Maybe that friend of yours has better things to do. Maybe he or she is active in the community for instance. In closing, just remember that just because someone hasn't had s** yet, doesn't mean she hasn't tried.
Think about it.
-P.J. Hervey"

I love how Alice is then accosted by a chastity group, which she repeatedly tries to join in with (but fails) while her mother, who believes they are a cult, rails against it. There is such a great naive sincerity about this character that really appeals! I have adjusted the word sex to s** because I have this weird feeling that I'll end up with more strange trolls dropping comments on this blog than I already have. And I don't think I've ever typed that word so many times in one paragraph in my life. I can't really remember typing that word at all, but anyhow.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.

A quick story told in the tradition of a story, a single plot, a group of characters, an outcome expected and awaited. Two city boys are sent to a rural mountain village during China's cultural revolution to perform manual labour. Their quest for books, which are banned, and their daliances with the tailor's beautiful daughter are thoughtful and contemplative; the tale abounds with beautiful imagery and excellent internal dialogue.

The Birth House by Ami McKay.

I loved this book. It was unique to anything else I've read lately. Do you ever get the feeling that you are reading the same book, the same tale over and over again with perhaps different characters and different settings...? And its' CANADIAN! Hurrah!

The protagonist Dora Rare, begins the story as a young Nova Scotian girl assisting the mid-wife, an Acadian who delivers all the babies in the community and lives off the generosity of gifts left upon her doorstep, while shunned elsewhere for her "sorcery." Soon a doctor arrives promising quick painless childbirth in a sterile environment with the aids of drugs, chloroform, forceps, eschewing generations of wisdom and ringing his hands when things go wrong. Dora finds herself in an unsatisfying marriage, determined to continue aiding women in her community.

Historical fiction at it's most delicious, spanning World War I, the Halifax Explosion, medical history, and traditional medicines and beliefs, it's fascinating and well developed. Always convincing, and realistic, highlighting the loyalties that bind, and the concept of community.

Just listen to the frogs...

Books that have been read lately or have spent some time at least on my bedside table:

The Jane Austen Bookclub by Karen Joy Fowler

Excerpt 1:
"Just listen to the frogs," Jocelyn said. We listened. Apparently, somewhere beneath the clamour of her kennel of barking dogs there was a chorus of frogs."

Excerpt 2:
"No passion at all." Prudie repeated the word, but pronouncing it as if it were French. Pah-see-ohn. Because she taught French, this wasn't as thoroughly obnoxious as it might have been. Not that we liked it. The month before, Prudie's beautician had removed most of her eyebrows; it gave her a look of steady suprise. We couldn't wait for this to go away. "Sans passion, amour n'est rien," Prudie said.

Excerpt 3:
"Bernadette was our oldest member, just rounding the bed of sixty-seven. She's recently announced that she was, officially, letting herself go "I just don't look in the mirror anymore," she's told us. "I wish I'd thought of it years ago...."Like a vampire," she added, and when she put it that way we wondered how it was that vampires always managed to look so dapper. It seemed that more of them should look like Bernadette. Prudie had once seen Bernadette in the supermarket in her bedroom slippers,hair sticking up from her forehead as if she hadn't even combed it. She was buying frozen edamame beans and capers and other items that couldn't have been immediately needed."

I really enjoyed this, and gulped it up in two days. The narration was clever and dryly sarcastic but constantly kind and understanding of individual foilbles. I was only disapointed that it ended sooner than expected because the last bit of the novel was actually just a book club guide! The end fizzled a bit I think though. And as much as I enjoyed it, the forays into unique lives of individuals making up this bookclub, and the things that brought them together...I know it will make a terrible movie, in the tradition of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Something geared towards menopausal women. On the other hand, it might be more of a winner if cast closer to the mold of How to Make an American Quilt. Casting will be key I think....

The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe
This is a book with substance. There's something to it, that you can really lose yourself in. Rich narrative, plot, and characters abound and it's a period piece set in the second half of the nineteenth century in the American and Canadian west as well as Victorian London. The characters are deeply flawed and one or two are rather sinester. I got quite caught up in it and then mislocated it quite to my consternation. I just finally found it and after a few weeks away from it, I'm planning on picking up where I left off somewhere in the middle. I heard that something shockingly violent caused my friend's mother to put it down. It's been gritty for sure. One scene involved slicing open a horse abdomen and crawling in for warmth during a storm. All I could think of was that similar scene from Star Wars etched indelibly into my mind at a tender age.

Chelsea's Ride (Not Just Proms & Parties) by Patricia G. Penny

Teen lit- featuring a truly selfish and conceited central character which actually makes for an enjoyable read as you wait for her to get just desserts. In using a geeky guy for a chauffer, and dating a hottie purely for his looks and sex, she finds out he has used her as well, to get back at his ex-girlfriend. She bounces back though, and with a few more encounters the book ends with an unrepentent but highly interesting flounce. A great book for reluctant teen readers.

A Bike Ride: 12,000 Miles Around the World by Anne Mustoe

Haven't finished it though I found it really interesting, non-fiction never grabs me the same way. A middle-aged out of shape British woman quits her job as a private school headmistress and heads out on a bicycle to circle the globe in 15 months. I really enjoyed reading about Europe, because I'd love to do the same thing. I am looking foward to the bit about cycling across India, though my own ambitions do not reach that far!

J-Fiction to come another day...

Just another day....

Older, mildly disabled woman with her shirt up around her neck. She is a character and a half and generally get's half the staff running around fetching things for an hour a day (she doesn't bring her glasses in) and can be very rude in a very loud voice (ie. Intimate personal details, racist remarks, etc). She has apparently forgotten to pull her top down over her bountiful bosom, and now her full coverage, heavy duty suspension bra is on display for all to see. In fact, it's so full coverage, it may not even be a bra. Shall I say anything? Ahem, perhaps not. Don't get me wrong, normally I would, but it's not my reference interview, and I feel strangely detached today. Back to work.

Moments later, we're all in a fluster- she managed to get a small cut on her finger (from the edge of a VHS?) and nearly went down. We seated her in the ref. deskchair as she cried out for a bandage. I realized there are no latex gloves at the Children's Desk and this should be remedied asap. Our hardy male co-op student jumped into the melie with enthusiasm, smoothing a small bandage onto her finger. Ooooh, I can feel the medicine soaking in...she breathed in relief.

Telephone Survey Hell

Girl claiming to be a SFU student calls, conducting a telephone survey...I actually answer her questions. Why?

Well J* and H* may recall that fateful Psychology Research Methods class that had me on the telephone for hours and hours....We were determining the male - female ratio for telephone hang-ups when speaking with a stranger who pretends to know know you. Only problem is that seniors can talk forever, even when you're clearly a stranger. Don't I know this? Now I experience it every day.

Today, the conversation went a bit like this:

How many people live in your household? Um 2.

Who is the primary meal maker?

We both cook for ourselves.

Oh, that's ummm strange! Ha ha ha.

I am silent.

What is the age of the household members... under 19, 19-24, 25-55, etc.

Um, 25-55. Internally: that's crazy! We're not that old!

She then proceeded to ask a series of "True or False" questions, half of which required a yes or no answer. Some even required a maybe, which she automatically defaulted to a yes. And one of her most annoying responses to my answer- "why does everyone say that?!"

At the end of the survey, she said "Can I ask your name?"

No. (internally: what the hell?)

Okay, um, well thanks.

There are so many ways in which this project deserves an F. With 3 research methods classes under my belt, I think I can say that with authority! Egad!

I only hope she really is a student!

What does this have to do with libraries? Not much. But, I do know that only crazy people take the time to answer telephone surveys, so next time your library pays and exorbitant fee to a marketing company to conduct a user survey - think twice!!

Books and Whine

Overheard today...
"No! You don't get to take any books out! You didn't listen during storytime!"
As a mother drags a two-year-old out of the library. Wow, that's lame. Some two-year olds are ready for storytime, some are not. Different children have different needs, and at that young age they probably shouldn't be punished for simply getting a bit squirmy during storytime (especially when it's not my storytime!) Besides which, punishing a child by not allowing them to take home books - that's awful!

Also, I was shushed the other day.
A woman was ignoring our no cell phone policy, blabbing away kids in tow, the library was quite peaceful with most people either studying or working at computers until she came alone. I approached her and said, "Excuse me, cell phones aren't..." as she waved her hand my face and violently expelled a loud "shhhhhh!!!!!" while turning away from me. I was more than a little offended. I take my personal bubble seriously! I love this sort of challenge. I wouldn't say I'm confrontational. But when I am clearly following the rules and someone else is not, and they're being rude to boot, well, I can be perisistant. "Excuse me, you actually need to turn your phone off in the library." She walked away from me, still talking and finished, then said, "It was important!" in a super loud voice. Shortly after I encountered the most sour mother daughter team in the universe. I was on a bad role. In the past two months I haven't had any bad experiences on reference (though now that I'm a full-time employee, I spend only 50% of my time on desk). Anyways see below for the other lovely experience.

Okay, enough complaining! Books I've read as of late...

Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth- teen fiction, really enjoyable and fast read but total girl fiction set in Mumbai, India - sibling rivalry, forbidden love...aaahhhh.

The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales - Pura Belpre Award winner - teen fiction - a bit too perfect and sweet - but a really interesting look at Mexican Catholicism. The author is Harvard grad, lawyer, human rights advocate, blah blah blah - somehow I wonder if her tough fight as a woman and as a Mexican to get to the top in a rather cut-throat world was as simple as her writing - upbeat but rings a little false and gets a little monotonous after a while.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - adult fiction- a book club title at our library. I quite enjoyed it, because I love historical fiction and this was a rich and lavish cascade of colour and sensuality from start to finish. A nun is discovered to have a shocking and explicit tattoo upon her death. Chapter one, we meet Alessandra Cecchi a difficult fifteen-year old who loves to paint and seeks only freedom. Religious fervor is making life in Florence very dangerous as she seeks freedom through marriage...I can't really say much without giving it away - my only complaint is the ending...

Wing Nut by MJ Auch - juvenile fiction - a boy on the road with his mom, transient, new jobs, communes, boyfriends, car troubles, you name it - so far fulfilling all the tough luck single mom stories you can fathom. But doing it well. Lovely little details are making this enjoyable - though I'm only half-way through!

Sour Kids - Yum, yum

Okay, I rate my energy level quite low. Must be productive. I find crazy people to be very demoralizing, I had two in a row. And now I feel like sipping my mug of hot cocoa and surf'n the net, rather than planning next weeks storytime programs...just now, a strange mother daughter pair who were rude, sullen, and rude. They had matching scowls. Usually people are happy when you find books for them, and even happier when you suggest one or two similar authors they may not of heard off. Maybe I'm living in bizarro land this afternoon. There are also dogs barking in the library. Yeah, some crazy authors brought their pets in for their booktalks. Cool, but annoying. Yes, I'm turning into a gasp...gasp...librarian!!!

My foot slipped. Again.

Okay, my life is ridiculous. I was writing a blog entry in part about all the technical problems have been having. When my foot slipped and hit the power button on the computer tower. I lost the entry.

Where was I? Oh yes, in my mad dash to make it out of the house on time yesterday, I accidentally left my laptop on. A subsequent power outage wreaked havoc. As a result, my already temperamental, blue screen of death loving, slower every day computer stopped allowing me access to any of my email accounts. Home or work! The nerve!

Well, needless to say, I’m not at home writing this entry. Last night I watched Darwin’s Nightmare. It's not a science focused movie, despite the title. I don't tend to watch a lot of those, though I am really looking forward to getting my hands on the Weathermakers movie. I attempted to watch the DVD of Guns, Germs, and Steel, but I waned early on. I wonder if the Supple Scientist will influence my movie watching habits in future. I suspect yes!

Anyways, back on topic. Darwin’s Nightmare looks at the false economy of the fishing of Nile Perch at Lake Victoria, Tanzania. One man, one bucket, one day = end of ecological discussion as the predatory fish is introduced to the lake, decimating the local species and devastating the local ecology. This part of the story is touched on very briefly. The true story surrounds the people who live around the lake surviving off the economy of fish. People give up farming – move to villages surrounding lake – barely make enough to survive – it’s a difficult life, swimmers who brave the waters to scare fish into nets may become crocodile food – women move to the area to prostitute themselves when their husbands die of AIDS- disease is rampant –orphans are everywhere – young boys sniffing glue which is incidentally made of melted packaging from the fish factory – young girls sticking with the younger boys to avoid becoming rape victim- locals can’t afford the fish and subsist of fish scraps from the factory. What makes the film so gripping, is the few characters that is zeroes in on. A prostitute, a factory owner, a pilot, a security guard…A few Russian pilots who fly in cargo and fly out with fish. They are the cheapest available. They just want to support their families. However, the airtraffic control is minimal (burnt out planes litter the runway) and all of them when questioned about cargo, say, I’m only a navigator, I only want to feed my family. The incoming cargo it becomes more and more apparent is ammunition. Someone has to supply weapons for war. Many of the locals want war, it is a chance to enlist and make better money. The power of this film lays in the subtle way each layer is built upon as it become more apparent that each person is a pawn in a greater and more evil plan, or a participant pleading ignorance. Makes you wonder what your part is in the greater scheme.

Of my bedside table this week (no I'm not a teenager, I'm just reading like one- right now)

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel- genius, wonderful, any adult would love it! One of my new favorites.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz – kind of ridiculous but I can see the appeal, great for a reluctant reader.

The Shadow in the North by Phillip Pullman – I do like cozy Victorian era mysteries – quite a lot in fact, but this teen novel didn’t grab me and I didn’t actually finish it.

Gossip Girls – read a bit and decided that the shallowness and conceit was corroding my soul. Had to see what the fuss was about.

Doing it – even more upsetting, another incomplete read. If that’s all that teenage boys think about, and in that horrible clinical disgusting way, than I’m so glad I didn’t know that a decade ago. Lacked redeeming qualities.

My Heartbeat by Garret Weyr – touching and lovely account of a girl who suspects her brother is gay and is in love with his friend. Her questions lead to a riff between the two and she begins dating his friend. Sometimes her line of reasoning seems quite stunted and naïve for a teenage girl, she is admittedly not like the other girls, a bit of an oddity, and in that way a little sad. It’s also a little sad that at fourteen or fifteen? she is sleeping with someone who is heading to college (but at least safe sex is advocated here!) I think it’s probably the combination of sexuality and naivety that upset me, rather than any one thing on its own. She seems so little aware of herself and the consequences of her actions as well as the world itself…Overall, I would recommend it. It was insightful and intriguing, with excellent characterization.

A number of things have happened since beginning this post that have made my blood pressure soar, and have cause me to scream internally (I'm in public)...

a) my foot slipped again b) the internet is too slow to add pictures right now c) attempting to hit the spell check cause me to lose the entire blog posting forever. Thank goodness I wrote most of it in word earlier.

Get me away from this thing! Happy Thanksgiving!

A Few Happenings

Post Booktalk Fun:
Grade Two class running amok, boys fighting (physically) over a stool, whole rows of books dumping off shelves and being shoved back randomly,teachers talking not even supervising...argh. A really great pop-up book is ripped among other casualties that I certainly haven't discovered. My solution for the class visit from hell part 2? I am cutting out slips of coloured paper which I will tell them to put in the place where they pull the book out from. I don't remember where I saw this before, but it seemed to work. The teacher wondered if they could look around but just not pull the books all the way out. Yeah, that sounds like fun. Go to the library and peek at book covers. Wowee.

Observing Strangeness:
Disturbing father daughter affection. Daughter too old and too skinny to be cuddling with father on bench in children's department - she may have been twelve or thirteen. Odd looking father who is harry, stooped and wearing worn, dirty clothing. Holding hands with both girls. Youngest girl is half dressed -wearing bikini top and shorts. Very grubby. Father says, "Why don't we go home and share a granola bar." Share. Why can't she have her own. She's friggin anorexic and about 5'8. They don't take any books out, only a DVD. All I could wonder, is if the girls are in public school, and what their teacher thinks. I think children who are affectionate by nature, and who aren't embarrassed to show it are wonderful - I've seen it with all ages and genders - but this felt strange. What can you do? I wonder if I'll see them again.

Keep Curious George on a Leash:
Woman comes in looking for book on tape for a three-year -old child. I don't usually promote the mainstream - but there aren't as many choices in this section - Curious George. Response: Well, no I don't want to get her into the idea that she can get into trouble.
Well, the kid is on a leash. No kidding. She's already harnessed in like a rabid dog. She has been politely looking at books all over the library for ten minutes. I have seen little sign of misbehavior. Grandma is taking this seriously! Darn Curious George, destroying the standards of behavior everywhere!!! Seriously, this is silly, all children laugh at Curious George and love him because they can see what he's doing wrong, and it's delightful for them to be able to watch it and point it out!! After all, he's a monkey!