Tell me this isn't funny -

I am not sure why...but it is. That said, may I recommend adding "The Trip" to your Netflix Instant Queue? It's brilliant really.



Reminds me of a plaque I read while exploring an installation art exhibit in Glasgow last winter:

"I think the best kind of humour is the kind where you don't understand what you are laughing at - you intuitively know there's something that is both funny and 'other'." 

   -David Shrigley

Though I know why this clip is funny:

But the question that remains for me is who has a better handle on Michael Cain in this one. Impeccable. What is your vote?

Marbling Marvels

Anythink has a big program during the holiday season each year called "Gifts from the Heart" where each Guide (or librarian) at the branch has a craft program going on in different parts of the library. Our Tech Guide had dress-up polaroid photo shoots, our Children's Guide made felt "Merry Mice" with the kids, our Adult Guide made paper beads, and I chose to do paper marbling.

Though it turned out to be the most involved of the program of the day (not to mention logistically tricky), it was really marvelous to see all these tweens and teens get so entranced by what they created.

It was cool to realize at the end of the day that although I was initially attracted to the academic aspect of promoting literacy in the community, I am beginning to see that I enjoy how broad the term "literacy" can be. What a cool opportunity I have to bring together the materials that help youth in the Thorton community have new experiences whether it is recommending a great book they can appreciate or helping them create their own uniquely marbled pattern. There are some discouraging days on the job but this last Saturday certainly wasn't one of them.

Nutcrackin' Good Time...

To satiate our festive feelings this season, Matt and I went to Colorado Ballet's production of the Nutcracker this last weekend. Matt had yet to have the Nutcracker experience, so it was fun introducing him to something I have such fond memories of as a child. And as you can see from the program, it was an grand production - complete with chest bumps from the malevolent mice.

After years of watching Ballet West perform this, it was fun to see a different interpretation. I turned into a bit of an amateur connoisseur of the thing, pointing out the differences in choreography and costumes. Though I missed a few things from Ballet West, I loved Mother Ginger and the baby bons bons in this one. It was guffaw funny and I laughed probably a little more than was appropriate for a ballet. 

Other highlights of the evening included a walk down lovely Larimer that was lit up with a canopy lights.

 And just the unique pleasure that comes when spending time with such a dapper chap.

Blackout Poetry and Knockout Doodles.

Don't be surprised if your tween and teen writers turn their newspaper blackout poetry into something like this along the way....

The thing is, it can add some flavor to their writing.

On the same note, I had 11 - that's ELEVEN - tweens and teens at writing club today! They all participated and truly came up with some stellar pieces. Feeling pretty pleased:)

Merry Colorado Christmas to all!

...but how can these neighbors of ours sleep?

I heard this could happen...

The ALA puts out a "Top Ten Banned Book" list every year to represent the most challenged books in school and public libraries across the U.S. Though I am against censorship, like any decent librarian, I can sympathize with parents or other library users on why they may be offended by a handful of books that make it to that list. Of course, I would never sympathize enough to take them off the shelf but I do see why people would want to have their kids avoid some of these titles, especially until they are the appropriate age to read them.

But a few of the titles that make it onto the Top Ten Banned Book list are truly baffling for me to understand where the offense lies. For example, did you know that the following books have been challenged in a public and/or school library collection?:

1. Bridge to Terrabithia
Okay - so this is certainly a boring and heavy handed book that few kids can even enjoy. But offensive content? Do you want to guess why it was banned? It's has been seen as "paganism" in reference to the imaginary world that Jess and Leslie create.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, etc
Indeed these are the "racist" books. Too many "n-" words to be decent reading. Of course, these are for the most part canonized school reading fare but challenged nonetheless.

3. Captain Underpants
Stupid - even intellectually offensive but to be censored from a collection based on it's potty humor? Truly...

4. Lord of the Rings, A Wrinkle in Time, Harry Potter
Yep. These are in the "occult" challenge category.

I always found this fantasy/"occult" category to be among the most disconcerting and even baffling of challenges. Okay, so you are looking for an excuse not to have to read "Bridge to Terrabithia" - fair enough. Okay so you aren't keen on exposing yourself to the uncomfortable realities of racism. Okay so you think potty-humor is offensive in its own right - but to basically rule out the fantasy genre because of your backwards sense of imagination v. religion? This is hard to wrap my mind around. Surely this doesn't happen - and if it does, it is in a land far from me.

But this last week I feel as if I have been officially christened into professional public librarianship. While placing a hold on Fablehaven (a fantasy series by a BYU grad Mormon) for a customer, I made a passing remark how this was a fun series. She asked me what it was about. I began explaining it was sort of like Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe meets Harry Potter. Kids get thrown into an alternate universe while visiting their grandparents where they have adventures with magical creatures, etc. "Oh really? Maybe we shouldn't get that afterall. I don't want him reading that kind of stuff."

I then attempted probe her a bit, as a chance to turn this into a "reader's advisory" moment, assuming that she thought the book might be too much fluff or something. Perhaps I could find a happy medium for her agenda and her young son's taste...

"What kinds of things would you like him to read? Maybe we could find a good series that would have the escapism and fantasy in it that he would like but would suit more what you are interested in him reading."

Diplomatic enough right?

"Well, we just don't believe in that kind of stuff. We don't read Harry Potter and those types of books that have magic and satanic stuff in it like that."

?....Wasn't sure how to respond to that immediately. I couldn't help but pause briefly to ponder how we lept from magic to "satanic stuff" in reference to Harry Potter. When I came to, I tried to play up the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe  thing, thinking that no one can accuse CS Lewis of being satanic. In the end, she decided that she would read the book before deciding whether it was appropriate for her son.

Though I got the feeling that she left feeling satisfied with our interaction, I was a bit rattled. Could it be that here in Colorado there are library going folk that would find as much issue with their kid reading HP as they would in having them play a Ouiji board? I can't help but think living in a world where fantasy is not only taken seriously but challenged on religious grounds would prove to be an exhausting lifestyle after awhile. In spite of how unfortunate I find that thought to be, there is something really satisfying about having my own ALA moment where I witnessed the need for "intellectual freedom". I am thanking my lucky stars that the librarians who served me while I was growing up didn't let people like that filter out what I could read.

Traditionally Unconventional

It's funny how living in lots of new places during the holidays makes you less loyal to maintaining traditions. I know people who have an annual obligation for every day of the week leading up to and the week following a holiday. It becomes overly ritualistic and though I have a handful of promises I keep to myself for events from year to year, lately I have really embraced the freedom of knowing that I really don't "have" to do anything the same this year as I did last. When I think about it, I have spent the last three Thanksgivings in unconventional ways:

2009 - Austin, TX  - Matt and I went to Fredericksburg and stayed at a B&B, ate at Rather Sweet bakery twice, watched movies, rode a tandem bike around (how hipster of us - I know) and then hiked Enchanted Rock.

2010 - Edinburgh, UK - Ran on the Chariot's of Fire beach, explored St Andrews and ate fish and chips with Matt and my mum, as it were.

2011 - Denver, CO - Did a crazy holiday workout with the Jeffco Aquatic Master's swim team in the am, enjoyed a heaping bowl of Pho at one of the many Vietnamese places in town, made and ate Maple Pecan Pie and watched The Outsiders.

The one aspect of this phenomenon that is proving to be a bit painful is that each year I am pining for past experiences. Perhaps this is how traditions start. A tradition is the closest, the next best, thing to making sure you get to relive all that was great and memorable from the year before. When every year offers something different, that means there is something to miss. There's the rub. Still, I imagine that future eras of my life will offer the same-ness, the tradition moreso than my life does now. In the meantime, I am going to collect a heap of limited time only experiences that add to all that I have to be grateful for the next year. I believe that would be under the umbrella of "grateful for such a fulfilling and opportunity filled life".

Big Library News!

I don't want to sound like a pessimist or anything but when I heard about how we were applying to for the IMLS computer learning grant I didn't let myself get super attached to the thought of us getting it. Maybe it was because I got an email before my first day of work saying that I would be on the project planning team if we were to get it. Not to be overly self-deprecating or anything, but I am not used to be associated with stuff as objectively cool and exciting as this. Tell me, do you have to be a public youth services librarian to think this is awesome?!

Let me also say that the types of places that have received this $100,000 tech grant have been library systems like:

Chicago Public
San Fransisco Public
Nashville Public
Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation
Da Vinci Discovery Center (a big name in the modern library world)
etc

Do you see the trend? In other words, these are all places that are more readily recognizably on the map than Adams County or Thorton Colorado. But the thing is, out of the 98 applicants for this grant, we were one of the 12 chosen to do something exciting with this money. And we have big plans for it - and I get to be a part of it! Not only will this mean paid training opportunities with all kinds of cool Apple film and music software but there are even rumors that the project team will need opportunities to "research" the ways this grant is used in places like Washington DC and Chicago. Three cheers for lifelong learning!



Want to learn more? Check out this article Anythink put up announcing their big library news...

Onion inspired writing

Though many may think that a 4 person turnout isn't much to be excited about in a program, I was thrilled last Wednesday to have that many show up for Huron Street's first writing club. They were all in middle school so it was easy to target the exercises for about the same age group. We open up with a game of "Death By" which basically is an association/word vomit game to help get things verbalized. It begins with everyone writing a noun on a scrap of paper (or maybe several nouns on separate slips of paper) and putting it in a bowl. Then each kid is responsible for saying the first thing that pops into their head. If they hesitate or falter then we draw a paper out of the bowl and say that they experienced "death by....." It is perfect for the tween crowd and I kept it a secret until someone actually experienced "death by" what the slips of paper were for. Then someone was appointed to describe how this death happened and as we were eating cookies through the game it turned out that the funniest inspiration was "Death By Cookie Monster". That ended up be a recurring theme in everyone's writing that day. Great fun. Below is what I typed up as fast as I could of their associations in the game.

Let’s go ride some ponies. Okay I love some ponies. I love tacos. I want to play some tacos. Wow.Awesome. I heart doors. Flying tacos. Cool. Awesome. Unicorns. Let’s go eat a car. Let’s go to mcdonalds. I’m loving it. Halloween crunch. Candy food. Hungrayu. Braces hearts. You’re mean. Awesome cool. I’m loving it. Think outside barn. Hearts. I love me. Cookies. Heartache. Chocolate. Crunch. Trash can. Banana. Fun? Bag. Tree. Omg pickle carroyt. Banaa. Picking my nose. Ew yummy. Hairthings. Anybody have chocolate. Sorry. Capri sun. I hate it. I love it. Trains fire drill. Duh I hate that orad. Suitcase. Trees. Traintrack. Life. Popcorn. Chair. White board. I do complete sentences everyday. Alexis is a weirdo. \I love roads. I hit my head with a door. I hurt my finger. Ow my ankle. My tooth is missing. Who hates braces. I do. I love cups. I love chocolate. I love eating. Braces. 

My favorite bit: I love eating. Braces. Sums up what I remember about middle school in 2 sentences:)


After the warm-up, we moved onto writing fake newspaper headlines and accompanying stories. Though a lot their ideas involved talking toilets (probably the biggest hit of the day) and other like-minded prompts, I have to say that I was utterly impressed with their tireless sense of inspiration. At one point I even tried to touch on the notion of "writer's block" and most of them let me know that they simply never get it. They always know what to write about. Impressive - right?

I participated in the exercise to be a good sport and although my article didn't get nearly as many laughs as the talking toilet one, I was glad I did it. Here's what I had time to put down in the 10 minutes we had:

Scientist realizes that he is a nerd.

After years of working at the top of his field, noble prize winning scientist John Malgrem realizes that he has nerdy tendencies. Suspicions arose after his interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy grew into an obsession. “It all happened so quickly. One minute I was a fan of the books and the next minute I started critiquing how well Peter Jackson movie adaption was.” Things quickly started adding up after that. His bad haircut, thick glasses, high rise pants, and his love of jokes that usually included the periodic table as the punch line. 

So yeah. It was a good kick off for our monthly Huron Street Writer's Club. It warmed my library heart when, on the way out, one of the wee writers let me know, "This was great! I can't wait until next time. I always want to read things that I am writing for other people but my teachers never give me the chance to do it..." Of course he didn't at all realize it but he just validated the role of my profession in his community, in his life:)

Not everything needs to be made from scratch...

Thus begins the month of gratefuls and I have an overflowing list. Just below the gratefuls of health, Matt, jobs, gospel comes great friends. After several years of being transplanted to new places with foreign faces, I grew accustomed to starting from scratch in making new friends. In the last while I have become "fit" for moving to new places, much in the same way one would get in shape to make a routine out of running up a sturdy hill and getting the adrenaline rush that comes with it when they reach the top. It isn't an utterly comfortable process but there is something thrilling and exciting about it. In this way, going to a new place and making new friends is a great adventure to be sure and not one to miss out on. But it takes a good push of effort and energy when trying out your sense of humor on a new personality and the like. And like exercise, it always takes so much more time than you want, expect or would hope.

All that said, I was prepped, ready, open-minded and determined to set out and find me some new friends when we moved out here to Colorado. I kept reminding myself that they come in unlikely places, often when you least expect and who you would not necessarily have thought would have been someone you would "get on" with so well. In Austin it was fellow swimmers in lanes next to me at the Amherst pool, in Edinburgh it was a spunky Polish housekeeper I worked with and an ex-Sailor Welshman (about 75 years old) who greeted me every time I made it through the rain to the Dalry Public Baths. So I anxiously looked around me in my first months here to see who I would make my new friend out of.

True to previous experience, it was in a most unexpected way that I found a great friend. What struck me as most surprising about it though was that it was a dear friend I already had! What luck! What surprise! For all you Anne of Green Gables fans out there, my "bosom" friend of yore, Claire, just lives an hour north of me in Fort Collins. And, like all best friends, though it had been an age since we had chance to reconnect, we picked up right where we left off. And though a visit can make for a bit of a pilgrimage, I have to say that it is an easy thing when meeting up and having a laugh is utterly effortless. And once again, I am amazed at the mysterious ways that good friends come about in new places - and there is something really lovely about when they don't always have to be built from scratch.

A perfect example of this, is when Claire gave me a tour of her Chemistry lab on campus and showed me around all her PhD projects, I immediately knew what there was to appreciate about the moment when in her torn and faded Princeton running clothes she reached in the fridge and pulled out a vial of orange crystals. With a shameless smile and great pride she shared with me: "Hey Cate! Check out these crystals I made this morning! Chemistry can be artistic you know." Such an utterly Claire-moment. And I had to agree - there was something artistic about the crystals and the event of her showing them to me as well.

So a tour of the CSU Chem lab, a wintery walk in Fort Collins and dinner with a bunch of nerdy Chemist friends of a great friend this last weekend is a perfect start to a grateful month.

The Bowler Derbies Take Silver!

In the team costume contest that is. Our bowling score bottomed out but we made up for it with team spirit.

I often refer to October as "the most wonderful time of the year" and it seems I work for an organization that has much the same sentiment. Apparently, costume bowling night is the biggest Anythink social event of the year. All kinds of people showed up to it too - including:

David Bowie

the Tooth Fairy (Rosie the Riveter too)

and The Dude (*gold star to anyone who can guess what she made her beard out of...)

Matt originally planned to go as Alex DeLarge from the Clockwork Orange (as he had white temple clothes and a bowler to work with) but he opted out when his eye makeup failed and went for this look:

Though we originally thought that he would be my "sugar daddy", we decided that he was way too under dressed to match my flashy look and perhaps even a decade too late. We decided he could be the middle class banker look of the 30s. An interesting costume in today's economic context I think but it just came together on its own when we found a cheap waistcoat at Unique Thrift Store and a black tie at TJ Maxx not more than half an hour before bowling time. Still, we were told more than once we made a dynamite couple's costume. It was fun hanging on his arm with one hand with my straw cigarette in the other. I felt absolutely smashing.

So indeed, it made for a most wonderful time this autumnal season. There are still many festivities to anticipate too! Glow-in-the-dark party with my tweens and teens on Thursday, ward Halloween costume and chili event on Saturday (they asked us all to dress up from the scriptures. Matt is planning on going as the iron rod and me the mist of darkness. perhaps more on that later), and library movie night on Halloween itself. Oh and we have been eating squash and pumpkin everything these last few weeks thanks to our friends garden. A very happy October to us all!

*Karo syrup and tea leaves...

And in other news, I have officially joined a master's swim team. I now swim in the wake of Amazon women and am learning all kinds of things that are wrong with several of my strokes. It is humbling and inspiring and I believe the best way to improve. Though I find myself constantly reminding myself what my cross country coach used to say "what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger". Hopefully I can remember that the day we swim 4K.

We've Reached the Star Trek Threshold People...

The week before Matt and I left for Scotland, we had only just finished the 1st season of Mad Men and had all kinds of Instant Queue shows waiting for us once we got back to a stateside IP address. When we first got back we had a bit of a smorgasbord of television series to catch up with. And with the new seasons of Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, and The Middle it seemed like there would be plenty to keep us busy. But it turns out that when you move to a place where you don't know anyone (read: don't have many friends) and have limited funding, well, you can burn through that kind of stuff pretty fast.

And so, we have reached a new avenue in our lives together (or should I say a new frontier?) and have climbed aboard the Star Trek wagon (or should I say space ship?). You know things are intense when you hear "Whoa, cool! They just added "Deep Space Nine" to Instant Queue. They took it off for awhile but then put it back on." I made fun of Matt until I realized it was my turn to come up with an idea for a show to watch before we went to bed tonight and I couldn't come up with anything. Matt offered "Hey, well. Star Trek is pretty good if you can get over the space thing."

So here we are tonight, watching Star Trek: the next generation. Disclaimers aside ("Yeah the special effects aren't good, so that is kinda distracting sometimes." Matt admits. "And their uniforms are kinda funny..." etc)

Other than that, we have reached the Star Trek threshold. And so far, I have to say, it is an okay place to be in life. Maybe we can add this to our list of things that make us more "adult" (afterall, we do own a Subaru and have 9-5 working schedules...) Either way, it has spurred a number of questions we are now seeking to answer like:

"What do the different colors of uniforms refer to?"

"Is Data sentient afterall?"

"What happened to Jordi Laforge's eyes anyway?"

"Do some of these characters have X-Men-like powers? What's the deal with the lady that can read minds?"

Full Immersion Language Learning

When I moved to Texas, I learned the art of using terms like "y'all" and "fixin' to" and "mess of..." etc.

When I moved to Scotland, I learned the art of British English. "Y'all" became "Yous" and "Pants" quickly became "Trousers" (the learning curve was much sharper on the later).

Though Colorado is not known for its rich culture and linguistic intrigues, Anythink makes up for it three fold. And being culturally committed to where I am planted, I am immersing myself in the "Anythink" way so that I can count myself not only a "team player" but also be part of "The Revolution of the Rangeview Library District".

And so these are things I am learning to say:

 - I am not an "employee" - I am an "Anythinker"

 - I don't serve "patrons" - I serve "customers"

- I am not a "Librarian" - I am a "Guide". This one was a wee bit tricky for me as I worked hard for two years in school to earn the official "librarian" title but a "Teen Guide" I am.

 - Nonfiction is not organized by Dewey or Subject, rather it is "Wordthink".

- I don't do "book talks" - I do "book pitches" or give the latest "book buzz"

- I don't wait for questions at the "reference desk". I hang out close to the "front perch" or "tech perch" or "children's perch" etc so that I available to answer questions when they arise.

It may all sound funny at first but I think I am finally starting to get the hang of it. One thing is for sure though. The easiest way to adapt to a new culture, no matter how foreign, is simply to embrace it. I am a full immersion learning when it comes to things like this (judging by my last 3 moves in the last 3 1/2 years). Though that may give you some kind of explanation if all of the sudden my terms for things get a wee bit "hip" or "Anythinky" for the likes of myself. I am not a poser. It is just that, at the moment, I am an Anythinker...

So much to love about cold weather...

Cold autumnal running, hot baths with a crossword puzzle, herbal tea!, soup, pumpkin and squash everything, flannel pyjamas....

And for some reason, it just seems so fitting to watch my fill of Pingu these days. If you are unfamiliar, may I direct you to Netflix instant queue? They have the definitive collection I believe. For anyone who possibly knows this character already, may I pose the question: Is it "NOOK NOOK" or "NOOT NOOT"?

Sweetbreads.

Matt came home tonight from the library with a handful of CDs, the 3rd HP movie and The Country Cooking of Ireland. The cookbook has a beautiful cover with gorgeous accompanying photographs of the dishes, as every good cookbook should.

Though the book is full of some appealing savory soup recipes (leek and oatmeal soup - intriguing...) and comfort foods done right (proper shepard's pie!), there are a fair share of untouchables woven throughout. While paging through some of the recipes I came across the following:

- Roasted Loin and Venison
- Collard Head (exactly what it sounds like)
- Creamed Sweetbreads
- Lamb's Liver with Whisky Cream Sauce
- Michalemas Goose
- Leek and Black Pudding Pizza

It is a hefty book. Perhaps even comprehensive of the Irish culinary culture (there is certainly things from all over the spectrum). And it got me thinking. Perhaps I should do my own Julie and Julia narcissistic musings and cook my way through this cookbook - variety meats and all.

Then I got thinking again. That is actually a terrible idea. How about I just cook the things that appeal to me in that cookbook and not write much about it since there is really nothing significant about how it relates to my life. Afterall, I find no life metaphors in head cheese or blood sausage and no doubt you wouldn't want to hear them if I did. Still, perhaps if something goes right with one of the more approachable recipes, I'll let you know about it:)

In the meantime, here is what Mr. Andy B has found profound about such novelties.

Daniel Radcliff v. Hugh Grant

Watching "4 Weddings and a Funeral" tonight. Tell me that Hugh Grant in his "height of the 90s" hair and charm phase isn't Harry Potter at age 35...

Can't help but picture him saying something like "Expecto Patronus!" here.

SCIENCE! museum

So a good friend of mine is really keen on science. So keen on it in fact that she studied it to become a science teacher to boot. Not only was she known for sharing her insights on a hike when she saw a weird bug or something the like but she also tried her darndest to get middle schoolers excited about all things science while student teaching. You can imagine how quick this would take even the greatest enthusiast to wits end though when trying to instill passion for science within an adolescent. Out of desperation she started giving out bonus points (if I remember my story right) to any kid who would just yell out the word "SCIENCE!" while looking through a magnifying glass or reading something from the textbook. I am not sure how this "experiment" worked out but it seemed like a valiant effort if nothing else.

I thought of her this last weekend when I went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is my 3rd time there, my first time being about the age that teachers were making me yell out their subject areas like explictives to get me enthused about learning. Though I am most definitely an art museum goer-type, this place is truly awesome/cool/interesting enough that I indeed felt like shouting out "SCIENCE!" more than once while walking through.

Truly this is a place where "learning is fun!" and not in a School House Rock sort of way either. This is beyond that. I thought my favorite bit would be the rocks....

Or perhaps learning about flightless birds in the taxidermy animal learning area...

That was until, though, I got to the special T-Rex exhibit. Would that my wee nephew Tom could have oooohed and aaaahed over the animated, roaring dinos and ogled over the T-Rex bones! Man was that stellar! Lucky for me, I didn't notice the "no pictures please" signs until I had already snapped a few...

So yeah. SCIENCE! can be fun stuff . It just takes a bit of vision or someone to bring it to life sometimes to reach a few of us. But well worth it once it does.

A New Blog is Born...

So to spare BakedGoodsandBads from becoming a solely library/booky blog, I have decided it is time to expand these adventures into their own forum. What will this entail? Well, I suppose I will see where it goes but to start there will be stories, book thoughts and a wee bit of programming brainstorming and probably musings on life metaphors found in library work. Though some of these things may make in into BakedGoods, this will be an exclusive forum for all things library. Let me know if you are interested in antics such as these. Leave your name, number and short message (or actually just email address) and I will get back to you with an invite to:

NonfictionInFiction.blogspot.com

Otherwise, BakedGoods will be sure to keep the latest updates on how the Sweeneys continue to take the Mile Hile City (or its suburbs if we're honest - ha!) by storm.

Cheers,

Cate

Tasting Colorado...

Aside from my library life, Matt and I have been trying to sample some of the Denver offerings to help us fall in love with this place, and thus stop mourning how much we miss Edinburgh and Austin... Labor Day weekend included a few exploits in the name of adventure, including a trip downtown Denver for the "Taste of Colorado" festival.

We had pretty high hopes for what we may experience with a festival promising newbies like us some good Colorado flavor. I'd like to say that the glorified carnival it ended up being was all we had hoped for, but alas, it was a bona fide disappointment. Though it turns out that disappointments can be entertaining fare when you stumble upon weird phenomenons set up like this children's activity:

booths that leave much to the imagination (any ideas on what this is getting at? or are the Scots suddenly the Amish woodworkers of home improvements these days?)

and someone inexplicably dressed up as a shrimp.

It is hard to say the effort was a wash as Matt and I never cease to be surprised at how much fun it is to have a laugh at the absurd and the disappointing. Needless to say, it was a entertaining night out together.

Not to be discouraged by last weekend's let-down event, Matt and I took a trip up to Boulder for a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory. This ended up being an hour of filled with all kinds of interesting tea trivia (Did you know that the tea leaves grow best at humidity, altitude, and high temperatures? Or did you know that white tea is simply picked first while the leaves are white while green tea when they are more ripe and black are oxidized?). It also included some overwhelmingly marvelous smells (the mint room made your eyes water with heaven itself!), cool views of robots and factory people at work (worthy of a Mr. Roger's Picture Picture episode), and a thrilling opportunity to for Matt to sport a beard-net. It was a proud moment for us both:)

We also got to feel like real connoisseurs in the tea tasting room.

The whole experience left us with even more enthusiasm for herbal tea drinking. We are now anxiously awaiting cooler weather...

In other news, Matt bought himself a red bow tie at a Labor Day sale at Dillard's. He is still learning how to tie it but man! I think he is going to be one smart-looking fellow when it all comes together.

A Public Librarian's Star Trek Convention

So can I nerd-out on you right now? Public librarian-style, that is. While meeting with HR this week to set up the ol' health benefits and a few things, I asked about an upcoming training the library would be having for Columbus Day. They told me that it was going to be a pretty cool set up and in passing mentioned that the keynote speaker would be Nancy Pearl.

"Nancy Pearl?!!"

Oh yeah, didn't I already know that?

No. I didn't. But I am glad to know that I can spend my next couple months becoming Trekie-level of excited about getting to hear from the legend herself. Afterall, this is a public librarian who not only has her own Wikipedia page and series of hugely popular reader advisory reference books. Not only has she contributed to NPR on subjects like the upcoming Harry Potter installments. But this lady has been made into her own action figure. Come on - admit that is pretty cool. Tell me, do you have to be a library nerd to think that is impressive?

In the meantime, I need to come up with a list of books to do some "booktalks" or "book pitches" for that training day as well. I am think of doing a series of books under the theme of ...

"Books for Reluctant Boy Readers":
1. Airman by Eoin Colfer
2. Looking for Alaska or An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4. Shakleton's Stowaway
5. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief  by Rick Riordan
6....etc

or

"Great Classroom Read Alouds to Recommend to Teachers"
1. The Truth About Georgie
2. Most any Roald Dahl book
3. How to Eat Fried Worms
4. The Graveyard Book or another Neil Gaiman
5.....etc

Any suggestions to add to either of those lists? Would love your good reads input. Though maybe that Nancy Pearl will also offer some last minute inspiration:)

Life is like a library...weeding makes things grow.

One of the hardest things that any librarian will tell you they have to do is "weeding". Do you know what I mean by weeding? It is a lot like it sounds. In fact, I recently read an authoritative article about weeding in a library that likens a collection of books to a garden. The basic idea is that you have to preen a good collection of books. Things that were once well thought out purchases or generous donations to accept at one time gradually become irrelevant, outdated, unappealing, even inaccurate. So the time finally comes when the harsh judgement call needs to be made about what stays, what needs replacing and what is simply no longer useful to the rest of the collection. And as pretentious as it may sounds, it really does take a professional to do that. Not because it is "rocket surgery" or "brain science";) but rather because you really need to take the emotion out of throwing out a book for the good of the collection. Or for the good of the library. Indeed, there is even a science behind being discreet while going through a thorough weeding process because there are all kinds of well meaning people who will do everything they can to stop you (some public users or teachers just can't tell the difference between necessary weeding and Fahrenheit 451). But the librarian must persevere. A whole collection of resources is at stake.

It is a well known phrase in the library world that "weeding makes things grow". In real terms, getting the weeds out of the collection bring ups circulation and betters the entire collection. Truly, a well weeded collection is a healthy one and thus creates a healthy library. Leaving the weeds in the collection makes resources not only less appealing but less accessible. It forces the library users to search through more than they would need to find what they are looking for (you can see how this could be a serious problem for an institution that can only compete with Google in the quality of results they offer and not in the quantity).

Can you see where I am going with this though? The whole life metaphor and everything?

Matt and I got home last month with just 2 suitcases each, from which we had lived for a year. It was hard to only have that much space to work with up when we headed out to Scotland but surprisingly easy our way back home. The surreal part began when Matt flew out to OK to load up a Penske truck with everything from our storage unit. After moving the stuff into our apartment and unpacking it, we had forgotten about so many things that we had once owned. Everything from clothes and shoes to kitchen utensils and books. How had I never realized how much stuff we owned? And as irony would have it, we have seen fit to send at least half a dozen boxes of some of this stuff to Goodwill after having moved it here! I hear it is easier to do this before a move but I suppose I will just have to keep that in mind for the next time.

Just like the book weeding process, weeding out the stuff from life can be an ongoing process or prolonged until it is a big annual project. At any rate, I think it really ought to be done at least once a year and ongoing may make it more of a habit than an emotional event to have to dread every spring.

And also like book weeding, I think I could have benefited from some kind of unbiased business professional a couple of times. There is guilt with getting rid of stuff. Things people gave you as a gift - things you appreciated but simply no longer need. Things that you once found useful but just no longer can think of a reason to keep. Things that remind you of something significant you never want to forget but really just doesn't have a place in your everyday life now. I feel like I am waxing a Real Simple article here (may I should submit this to them? ha!) but seriously, it can be tough stuff to get rid of things. But what I have found useful to remind myself of is that not only do I have a Master's Degree in knowing what is useful and what is not in a collection of information, I also probably have loads of pictures, blog entries, or dear friends to remind me of whatever I think I may forget. And for all the rest, it was nice while it lasted but I need the space for new things to grow.

Scrumptious Living.

So, in an effort to feel at home and begin to embrace what this place has to offer, Matt and I decided to spend our Saturday evening exploring "Scrumptious" in Old Town Arvada. The missionaries recommended we check the place out after talking to them about all of the sweet and chocolatey wonders we discovered in the UK. The elders promised quality bottled sodas, ice cream and of course Roald Dahl-esque (my words not theirs) variety of sweets. With the description they gave us, we knew it was our duty to check this place out in a timely manner.

Indeed, the shop did offer a good spread of our favorites - both the classics to the delicacies, the new and the old, the American staples and the international specials. This included Curly Wurlys and Chico Sticks, M&M and Jelly Belly assortments, Nerds Ropes and Gummy hotdogs/ hamburgers/ fries/ etc, Boston Baked Beans and Black Jack Chewing Gum. It was your basic collection of confectionary delights you would expect from a proper "candy shop". What truly caught my eye though was the Valomilk...

Maybe it is just because I am coming off of year of the Tunnock's Teacake but still, good use of mallow is hard to beat when it comes to confectionary and I had to give this one a go. It took a bit of commitment too as this indulgence costed me a whopping $2.25 (the Curly Wurlys were $1.50 - UK price was 30P!). For this reason, I am not so keen on the "Scrumptious Scene" as they were charging this same Valomilk price for a simple Snickers bar...shameless really. That said, I will indeed be looking for another source for this wee treat. It was this impressive mix of chewy and sticky, chocolatey and creamy and of course oh so sweet. It may just be able to make everything right about coming back to the Teacake-ignornant U.S. Now to find something which fills my sultana scone and clotted cream empty soul here...though perhaps with me driving a car to work again, I may need to find contentment without as much British influence in my diet.

PS - Do you like conversing on candy? Do you fetishize it like I do? If so, may I suggest a listen to Chase's Kandy Korner? Matt is even featured on Episode 3: Milky Way Simply Caramel. Listening may inspire you to try something new that could change your candy paradigm.

New Places

Looks like buying a car, driving to Denver, finding an apartment, getting the car temporarily registered, doing (and passing!) emissions/inspection, flying to OK to truck up our stuff (I forget we have more than 2 suitcases of possessions sometimes), finishing up school, getting a license renewed, moving in and starting a new job really is doable in 2 weeks. Though I wouldn’t whole heartedly recommend trying it unless you were in a time crunch like we were. What I am trying to get to though is that we are now Denver folk these days and even have the address to prove it:

7805 Allison Way #107
Arvada, CO 80005

Okay, so I suppose we are technically “Arvada” people since we chose a place halfway between the city and my job in Thorton. Still, I have to say that this area offers some nice rolling hills that can’t be found too central or East of city centre.

The drive over on Sunday was actually one of our easier days. We only had to complete one pretty straight forward goal that day as opposed to all the other days that were full of bureaucratic catch-22s that befall anyone ambitious enough to try and get legit enough for employment and housing after not living in the country for the last year. That said, we tried to take it in stride and appreciate all the sites of Wyoming along the way – especially while having our lunch snack of Appleauce, Cheeze-Its and Red Cream Soda (nothing like eating like the locals:)...

No doubt you have road tripped through Rawlins, Wyoming. Is it not the most poetically sad Western spots you can think of? That sky! That landscape! All those out-of-business hotels – can’t help but think of the poor housekeepers that once tried to keep the place tidy and neat looking...

Needless to say it was nice to see the geography change to the familiar Rocky Mountain fare that looks like the homeland. It was funny to me that I am moving to Denver for a couple of reasons. First, I realized that I had always lived in a capital (Salt Lake City, Austin, Edinburgh, now Denver). But what struck me as funny when driving in past the skyline that normally gives me a thrill when going to a new place is that I didn’t know what this place was all about. It seems like when I have moved to a new place in the past I have always thought that I would be taking in a new, unique, rich culture. SLC – the Mormon culture! Austin – the liberal, hippy Texas culture! Edinburgh/Scotland – just about the richest culture you could expect for a place that size. But when I think of Colorado my mind just goes blank. What does Colorado do exactly? Aside from mountains – what are they known for? What do they eat? How do they talk? What offends them – other than all the general things that would offend any other average American? Although, I did get my first wee taste of the flavors I might get here while at the pool last night swimming laps. A mother called to her daughter who was swimming about, “Aspen! Don’t go that deep!” So they name their kids “Aspen” here. Now that is something unique. We will see what else unfolds…

The lack of cultural identity I perceive Colorado has is not at all to say I am not keen on being here. All I seem to hear every time someone figures out I am moving here (whether past or current locals) are all kinds of great reviews. Oh the recreation! Oh the fun things to do! Oh the sporting events! I am hanging on firm to all of that right now because I keep reverting to the dangerous but tempting practice of comparing everything to Austin. I must be careful that nostalgia doesn’t ruin the great things of now. It can be a damaging exercise to indulge in, if not kept in check. Must let this place grow on me instead of wishing it was someplace else.

So I think my Matt and I are up for the new experience (or perhaps less new and more just easy and familiar as it may be) that this Colorado place has to offer. I have said it many times since my big move of ’08 – the more cities I go and stay, the more I realize how many great places there are to live. Though, there are some exceptions…and I think one of those would have to be poor Rawlins Wyoming.

Madam Librarian

So people have been calling my "a librarian" for several years now. But I am a purist - I have only worked up to the "assistant librarian" title. Calling myself a bonafide librarian before now would have been like wearing my race t-shirt after I get it at registration. I have always been the type to wait until I have completed the 10K to feel worthy of broadcasting myself as an official race participant/finisher. So it is with the title I have long coveted: "librarian". I wasn't even prepared to take it on after finishing library school. Nope, not until someone hired me to work as one.

And would you believe someone did? That is, someone hired me to be their librarian. Just 2 days after graduating with my MLS on Aug 13th, I will become the newest Teen Librarian in the Rangeview Library District. Maybe that doesn't sound super impressive to you, but for library folk it is something to feel right proud of.

And speaking of nerdy library news - this place is pretty cool. Aside from winning the 2010 National Medal for Museums and Libraries (a pretty impressive feat in this obscure field), they are often published about for their "cutting edge" philosophy about modern public librarianship. I actually read about this place in library school long before ever even considering applying for a job there. Yeah, that sounds really stupid - "cutting edge" librarianship, especially to those people who think I just memorized the Dewey decimal system for 2 years in school. But let me tell you, this is a business model for a library you would be keen on having in your community. They have a drive-through "pick up" window for reservations and books pulled off the shelf ahead of time. They have a media area for teens to watch movies. What's more - there is no Dewey Decimal system! Everything is arranged by intuitive topics, the same as you would find in a bookstore. The space is intended for comfort (fireplaces, bean bag chairs in youth areas, giant multi-colored domino building blocks for the young ones, etc). So yeah, I am going to be a librarian in one of the hippest public libraries around. You knew me back when....:)

So what will I be doing? Mostly loads of teen programming and readers advisory (such a dreamy/wonderful part of the job description - recommending good books to people). For the interview I was asked to present the first 10-15 minutes of a teen program  I would like to implement as a Teen Librarian. I racked my brain for a week trying to think of something "catchy", "in-the-now", even a bit of a spectacle. Afterall, I really wanted the job - got to be memorable in the interview. Matt came up with the idea of doing a "Zombie Contingency Planning Night" for it and the moment he said it, I knew it was just the thing. To pull out all the stops, I learned how to create a presentation using "Prezi" software online and consulted many authoritative zombie resources which included my brother TR, Shaun of the Dead and other zombie flicks, Max Brooks books and even CDC.gov on their zombie preparedness webpage (which I screen captured for effect and emphasis in my presentation). I practiced my tone until I got just the right deadpan effect "Thank you for coming tonight. It is great to see such concern in the community. We have seen this in our history." < hold up a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies> "As you are here tonight, you undoubtedly realize that is not a question of "if" there is an uprising in the community....it is a question of "when"." I sealed the deal I think when I called a local Tae Kwon Do business in the Denver area to talk to them about doing self-defensive training demonstrations. They were keen on helping if I ever got to do the program. And that was that.

I start on Aug 15th, so onward to Denver we go! The layover capital of the West! We hear great things about the area and we are looking forward to explore this new place for ourselves. And perhaps most importantly, you can now call me Madam Librarian.