listening after dark

On this day in 2006...

...it hailed.

On this day in 2008...

On this day in 2009...

...the ducks looked cold.

On this day in 2005...

...I found some junk.

On this day in 2007...

...I photographed a photograph taken probably in 2004, viewing my grandpa through my parents' kitchen window. He was eating his lunch in the sun.

Blog? what blog? Lists are the thing

>>> The semester is under way, and I don't feel overwhelmed at all (yet). So I suppose that is a good thing.

>>> I have been exhausted lately. Work is busy, winter is dull, my dreams are bizarre.

>>> So much of what I do revolves around library/libraries/librarians.

>>> I wonder how many people think "nonfiction" means "not true." It's a common mistake.

>>> Sometimes my ego enjoys being tickled. For example, being evaluated as a saint after teaching a very challenging class (two hours of 16 people asking 16 different questions about digital photography, computers, cameras, email, etc.).

>>> Cooking is such a relief. This month's experiments: lots of artisan bread, Judith Jones's boeuf bourguignon and apple tart, potato/leek/bacon/clam chowder, breaded mustard chicken, other treats I'm forgetting. Speaking of treats, the Two Fat Ladies make me very curious about British cuisine...and pretty much every other sort of cuisine.

>>> Also, much of my recent pleasure reading/watching has been centered around food and the food industry:
• Dishwasher by Pete Jordan
• Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica
• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
• Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
• My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
• Spain...On the Road Again
• Two Fat Ladies

>>> Not only food, but travel and the West. Despite grad school, I have been able to read a surprising number of fun books. Audiobooks help, because I can listen while cooking, eating and cleaning. My apartment has actually been cleaner, because it's a good excuse not to do homework. It's much easier to justify not doing homework if I'm cooking or cleaning. Those are essential things. I must eat. I must have clean dishes, clean clothes and swept floors.

>>> Winter is when I seem to plan vacations. I will be heading to San Diego in April for a friend's wedding, and to Montreal in August for my brother's wedding (even though he's already been married for a year — really, it will just be a party). There should also be several camping and backpacking trips wedged in between. The two-week January thaw is leading me to think that spring is just around the corner. When in fact spring arrives in late May, following several months of fluctuations (snow, rain, wind, melt, more snow) and followed directly by summer. But I think I love Wyoming. Maybe not Casper, particularly, but Wyoming, certainly.

Brevity

School, blah blah

The semester is nearly over. Just a final to take this weekend, and then one more class next Thursday. I think my grades will be just fine. And I think I may have learned a few things in the past few months.

As of December 11, I will have three weeks of freedom! Which will include work, of course, lots of good food and knitting and books, and a visit to Walla Walla to see family over Christmas.

In early January, it's back to class, with two new offerings: reference and information technology. Sounds fun, right?

Food obsessed?

Just when I was thinking I was eating too much junk (just after Thanksgiving), I came down with some kind of raging, maniacal stomach bug. Three days of nausea and stomach pain later, I've lost 5 pounds. Not that I had any pounds to lose. The past 36 hours, I have been enjoying beige and white foods: crackers, rice, oatmeal, banana, ginger ale, baked potato, chicken broth. Dull dull dull!

However, tonight I made my first risotto, and I allowed myself to have a few bites. I'll save the rest for tomorrow's post-final victory dinner. It tastes delicious.

Perhaps unintentionally, I have been reading food-centric books: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, and Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. This summer I read A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. These have made me want to try French food I can't pronounce or visualize. But where in Wyoming does one find truffles or unusual mammal innards?

Not much else

Aside from work, classes, homework and eating, my recent weeks have been fairly uninteresting. I haven't mentioned the weather yet. See? That's how uninteresting. Well, I suppose that's unfair. I find my life interesting, mostly, but it hasn't been very eventful: I walk to work, I answer questions at the reference desk, I eat my lunch, I answer some more questions, I sort some books, I make phone calls, I deal with email, I meet with volunteers, I come home and eat, do homework, go online to class, write and read and read some more (sometimes even for fun).

And that's about all. For now.

Other great reasons to work in a library

I overhear some pretty hilarious things. So many hilarious things, in fact, that I usually forget them. But sometimes I write them down. For example:

Guy on the computers to girl browsing books nearby (possibly following some introductions I missed): How old are you?
Girl: 17.
Guy: Oh wow.
Giggling, banter, etc.
Guy: I'm 18.
Etc...
Guy: Do you have a guy?
Girl: He's going to jail.
Etc...
Guy: So you're single?
Girl: I guess.
Etc...
Guy: Do you want to get out of here?

A few minutes later, they walk off together. Meanwhile, I'm alone at the desk, trying not to smirk too much. About half an hour later, he comes back alone. I resist the urge to ask how it went.

This is fairly common for library workers, by the way. There are entire websites and blogs devoted to the strange conversations that occur in libraries. Two examples:

• Dispatches from a Public Librarian
• (The Customer Is) Not Always Right

A few beautiful things

Several weeks ago, I visited Ayers Natural Bridge (not pictured), where I photographed the red cliffs and the inside of a defunct power plant. On the way home (in Douglas?), I saw the classic car and the blue chairs.

Last week, after my dad and brother returned from a trip to Germany and Hungary, my family sent me a pile of Milka chocolate. I should have included something to show the sheer size of the chocolate bars. The large ones are each 4 inches by 12 inches. That's a lot of chocolate! Not as good as a trip to Europe, but...

Library moments, part II

Last week there was the grandfather with his toddler granddaughter, who was wearing one of those backpack-leash combos. He was trying to use the computer, and he attempted to tie her to a table leg. She hollered.

Today there was the somewhat hard-of-hearing old man farting in the stacks, while a younger man complained, not very quietly, about his "nasty ass."

However...

Yesterday there was the young woman who, after I found several titles for her, said, "Thank you, this is great! It's like you've done my homework for me!"

And today there was the 80-something woman who called to get the number for the home brewery supply store. She said she liked wine and figured she might as well try to make some. I said that sounded like a good idea. She said maybe she'd bring me a glass.