Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
My relative (okay, my mom, I'm never sure just what to share online) is out of the hospital and at home.
I have as much of tomorrow as I want to recharge, regroup, and do various things to de-stress and get things back on track, which is awesome.
Oh, here's maybe a third: on my way home I was driving and someone tried to cross into my lane. I was probably in his blind spot. I honked to alert him, and he backed off, so neither of us were hurt, etc. Yay for that!
So, what am I going to do with my time? Well, tonight, I am going to go on to bed soon and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, there's:
Listening to the Top 40 countdown.
Putting stuff back in their place in the closets. [Partially done.]
Straightening up the house. [Partially done.]
Doing the rest of my laundry (I got some done tonight at my friends' house, but we decided to record 'Grimm' and watch it later, so I didn't do the last load. Fortunately, I think I have enough quarters now.
Putting up the holiday decorations.
Doing the dishes in the dishwasher.
Exercising at the complex gym (while doing my laundry, most likely, as they're in the same building).
Watering the plants again.
Putting water in the fish tanks.
Vacuuming.
Listening to music.
Working on the game notes.
Reading (maybe finally pick up Library of Souls and run with it).
We will probably not be playing on Sunday, since Brenda has a Society for Creative Anachronism event on Saturday and a rather long drive, but I'd like to have them finished nevertheless. Okay, I think I'll head on to bed. Good night!
PS I finally saw the Australian comedy 'The Librarians', which I'd heard discussed on various librarian electronic lists in terms of images of librarians, not to be confused with the spin-off of The Librarian movies with Noah Wyle. Oh, my goodness, what a cast of characters. And Frances says the most terrible things! YKWIA has a Hulu subscription, and so can get them. I'm interested in seeing more.
I'm home a little later than I planned (I was hoping to start Library of Souls) because we watched The Abominable Doctor Phibes, a Vincent Price movie from 1971 that I saw in the late '70s in school. I've celebrated Halloween, but haven't really done so for Samhain yet. So I've lit incense and many candles and I'm listening to Loreena McKennitt. I have some wine for an offering that I'll give about midnight. All in all, even though this week was crazy and there was so much to do (and I'm still not caught up at work), it was a good week, with lots of Halloween fun, a friend's birthday, and now today having some rest and relaxation with friends. We are playing the game tomorrow, so that should be fun, too. The game notes were finished days ago, so I'm in good shape there. I can't believe it's almost November. The Chicago trip will be here before you know it.
Anyway, I hope you have a great holiday, and are having a completely decent weekend. It's a busy one here in Lexington--we had the Breeder's Cup at Keeneland yesterday and today, and American Pharaoh (see post for 2 November 2015 about the name American PHAROAH) completely nailed the Classic, which is to be his last start before retiring to stud. A and I watched it, and it was breathtaking. The horse at one point, once his lead was assured, seemed to be running just for the pure joy of doing so, rather than to win. I have some mixed feelings about horse racing, but it was still exhilarating to watch.
Okay, I'm going to bed now--morning comes early. I wish I had time to read Library of Souls, as YKWIA got enthralled and finished it the very same night he started reading it. I can't take that chance just now, but I definitely hope to do some reading this weekend. According to him, Ransom Riggs did an excellent job with bringing everything together with a multitude of revelations--I am so wanting to stay up and read now, but I've been up since 5:45 am and I have to get up about then tomorrow, as well. Tomorrow should be very, very busy, as I'll be playing catch up on several fronts, and then 'Grimm' premieres tomorrow night. But Saturday I have got to put aside some time to read Library of Souls. At least I'm good as far as game notes. We should be playing Call of Cthulhu Sunday. :) (And you know, it makes me happy that the Chrome browser spell check actually recognises and knows how to spell 'Cthulhu'.) :) Good night!
To increase the number of wake-up alarms from two to five again. With the dark mornings we've had lately, I've really struggled with waking, and even more importantly, getting up. Today I slept through my normal alarm, which played every ten minutes for two-and-a-quarter hours before I woke up, as well as a one-time alarm. On a normal day, 7:45 is about right, but I meant to be at work by 7:30 this morning.
At least the daylight savings will end Sunday. I'll have at least two or three weeks where the mornings will be lighter (albeit sacrificing the evening light) earlier before it's just dark both when I get up and when I get off work.
As on that note, it is time for bed. I am going to try for earlier than a normal Wednesday, so I should turn in. Also, it is hard to type on a phone, especially by swiping, when you have hiccoughs, anyway. :)
PS I finished Hollow City tonight, and Library of Souls came via UPS today, which was very timely. I'm going to let YKWIA read it first, though, since he finished the second book before I did.
was Classical Civilisation, and I am a Classics geek. [My BA degree is in history and sociology, with an honours programme, but I went back after graduating with my master's in library science and completed the classical civilisation major and a minor in Judaic studies. I was, sadly, only one class away from completing a linguistics major--phonological analysis was never taught at a time that fit into my schedule in all the years I was in school.] One good thing about my education is that I can read both Classical and Mediaeval Latin, between the Classics courses and the graduate work I did in history. I didn't get as far in Greek, though, dropping out about the time we got to the aorist tense, which Wikipedia defines as 'a term for a set of verb forms that usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite.' But, it continues, 'The word comes from Ancient Greek aóristos "indefinite", as the aorist was the unmarked (default) form of the verb, and thus did not have the implications of the imperfective aspect, which referred to an ongoing or repeated situation, or the perfect, which referred to a situation with a continuing relevance; instead it described an action "pure and simple".' If that makes your brain hurt, well, it did mine as a well. I would like to go back and study my Ancient Greek textbooks (I have both of the first two semesters' worth).
But even though my Greek isn't that great, I still love things to do with Classical Greece, and one mystery series I'm working my way through is Gary Corby's, which is set in the childhood of Socrates. In fact, the main protagonist is Socrates' brother. The first book of the series is The Pericles Commission. Then there's The Ionia Sanction, The Marathon Conspiracy, Sacred Games (I have all of those, though I'm still reading), and finally Death Ex Machina.
I also read Gary Corby's blog, A Dead Man Fell from the Sky..., the title of which is taken from the first line of his first book. I started reading it before he actually had any of his books published officially, and found it to be quite enjoyable. The latest entry is on Classical Greek music and I really enjoyed it. If you are interested in Greek, Classics, or music, You should check it out. And you might check your library for his books as well.
After sleeping till 11 am, I got up and ate, and then got cold (which almost never happens), so I crawled back in the bed and didn't come out till 2 pm. So I got a LOT of rest. A and I went on a two-hour journey through two grocery stores in order to get everything on the list, including the one nearest me, which is a huge Kroger that has clothes and housewares as well. But they didn't have the right creamer, so we stopped by Chinoe's Kroger for that. After that, YKWIA splurged slightly and we got dinner from Jin Jin, so I went and picked that up (I had my usual, Kung Pao Tofu). We ate, A watching a classic movie about the Roosevelts, and YKWIA and I watching an episode of 'Lost Girl' on Netflix. Then I left, because they wanted to watch the premiere of 'American Horror Story: Hotel' (I'm just not into that show--I watched 'Coven', but I haven't seen the others, and YKWIA thinks I'm just a wuss because it's too scary for me.) So I came home, and I watched the final episode of the second season of 'Sherlock'. I'd though I hadn't seen much of it, but I had. But I haven't watched the episodes from the third season yet, and so it set those up. Now I'm listening to the OneRepublic Pandora station, with candles and incense burning, and the windows open. It's a pleasant night, and there were no game notes to do because we haven't played in two weeks (due to a wedding and an illness), and I got the notes finished quite some time ago.
I think before I go to bed I'm going to do a little reading. I didn't the other day when I thought I would; I was just too tired. I'm more than halfway finished with my book (Hollow City, by Ransom Riggs, and I'd like to go ahead and finish it. There is a third book in the series out called Library of Souls. That's not one I own; I'll have to get it through the library. I really do like the series, and I am concerned about what Tim Burton is going to do with the film adaptation. There is an excellent book trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children on YouTube:
Hmmm...the other day I found two unused AA batteries; now my mouse is dying, so I changed them out. Serendipity, indeed. And yes, I turn my mouse off, usually, after each use. Which is why the batteries have lasted at least two years.
Okay, I think I'll go do that. I'm listening to 'I Lived' by OneRepublic right now. I love that song. But I'll do some reading and then turn in, as Sunday morning will come soon enough and I need to go over and help get the house ready for company and get it ready for the game. A wants to take a walk and plant tulips and a hyacinth, too, so we'll see if we can get it all worked into the normal busy Sunday schedule. :)
on the night before the Call of Cthulhu game, when I don't have to do game notes because I finished them last week. Do I:
Take a nap?
Read Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, which is due back to the library soon?
Watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part One on DVD, which I haven't seen yet?
Re-watch Galaxy Quest on DVD, which is a really fun movie?
Watch the first episode of last year's 'Doctor Who' on Netflix, since YKWIA won't watch Peter Capaldi, whose accent makes it difficult for him to understand?
Listen to music (which I did last night, so maybe not)?
A got me to go walking with him again to Gainesway Pond, and this time he took a dog but I did not, so I could focus on not falling. Despite a sock that kept trying to inexplicably fall down my foot (it didn't yesterday when I wore it, so I guess that's just proof you should change socks every day), it was a good walk, although now I'm a bit sore and tired. The pond fountain was on, and that was nice. I saw a duck, several geese, and what looked like a peregrine falcon with a vole in its talons while we were out.
Now I'm home after also going grocery shopping with him and watching two episodes of 'Lost Girl' with YKWIA. I'm a bit pooped. So I think a small nap may be in order, followed by watching something and maybe a little reading before bed. Good night, in case I don't post more tonight.
I laid down for awhile, and then YKWIA called me and we talked for a good hour-and-a-half or so on the phone, and then I got up and put up the new shower curtain liner (what can I say, I use a clear liner with an open weave black cloth curtain you can see through. Years ago, when we lived in the same house and there was a connecting door, YKWIA hid in my shower and scared the beejesus out of me when I got home. At the time, I had a lovely opaque aqarium curtain. No more of that, for years now--I like to see through). I also put the recyclables into bags for transport, and in the process of getting the bits out of the bottom, I knocked into the shelving the container was near, ever so gently, but a ceramic pentacle a gaming buddy gave me years ago toppled to the floor and shattered. Unlike the past, where I'd hoard the pieces thinking I'd somehow make it whole, I chucked it in to the garbage, salvaging only the plate holder, which may still be useful. I am sorry to see it go--it was a nice gesture on her part, and it looked nice in its space. But I'm practicing keeping emotionally detached from things, so I don't hoard them, so there we go. See, it's not that I'm really a materialist. I just form emotional attachments to things that I shouldn't. Oh, that teddy bear will never find a home. Oh, I remember this when I was a little girl. That sort of thing. So we're not going to do that this time. I appreciate that Dee gave it to me, and it was nice for the years I had it. I'm sorry it broke. But its time is at an end, unfortunately. But I do wish I weren't a klutz.
I did take the old liner and the recylables out, so that leaves doing something fun for about an hour until it's time to go to bed. I have some DVDs I've been meaning to watch, but they're a couple of hours long. So I think I'm going to read. I have a book out from the library on the 1854 London cholera epidemic that was the turning point in public health, when the source of the cholera was found. It's called The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, by Steven Johnson, or there's Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, the second novel of the series begun by Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which I own, but it's currently being borrowed by a friend, so I downloaded it onto my Kindle from the library. I should go ahead and read it. I loved the first book, and there is apparently already a third one out, Library of Souls.
I watched the season 8 premiere of 'Doctor Who' tonight, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about Peter Capaldi's Doctor yet. I rather like the Scottish accent, but it does make it slightly more difficult to understand him, especially if he's speaking low and fast. I haven't really connected with him yet, and I've never really connected with Clara completely, either, so it was a little weird watching them on the screen. It's like I wasn't completely in the story, which is unusual for me with 'Doctor Who'. Afterwards we watched the premiere of 'Intruders', which was intriguing to the point of making me want to check out the book upon which it's based, by Michael Marshall Smith, for more information.
Today I spent the early part of the day getting some rest and relaxation, then I picked a friend up from a funeral and we went to the store for some groceries a little while after that. YKWIA and I watched a bit of 'Star Trek: Voyager' and some 'SeaQuest', a show that had slipped my mind entirely, but which I did enjoy. Then there were the BBCAmerica shows tonight. Now I'm home and it's storming again, with quite a bit of rain, which is nice, as August isn't normally quite so wet and yet we had a dry spell earlier in the summer, so the brown vegetation has greened up again.
Tomorrow there's no game, so I haven't done the game notes yet but will do them this week if at all possible rather than waiting till the last minute. There's a list of things for me to do tomorrow over at my friends' house, but I don't have to be over there quite so early, so I'm going to shoot for an hour or an hour-and-a-half later than my normal time. I have to remember to bring binder clips and a couple of books YKWIA wants to borrow, the ones by Ransom Riggs. I know where the second, Hollow City is. I'll have to glance on the shelves and figure out where Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is. I think it's in the bedroom near the bed. One of these days I will have to really put the fiction books in order. I have the non-fiction mostly in order, but the literature isn't. One bookcase has quite a few of the children's and young adult books on it, but those aren't there. Bad librarian! If I had time, I'd classify it all as well. The non-fiction is by subject and the history is in chronological order, but that's as far as I've gotten so far. At least they're all up on shelves, though. :) Okay, I'm off to find that first book. Good night.
I was attracted to this article because, frankly, so much of Hollywood today is recycled stuff and I wanted to see what might be coming up. Oculus with Karen Gillan (Amy from 'Doctor Who') sounds intriguing. I am interested to see what they will do with Lois Lowry's The Giver. Two more based off of books frighten me because I love them dearly and would hate to see them done badly. One is Sandman, based on Neil Gaiman's excellent comic book series, and the other is Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which is being directed by Tim Burton, which could mean it is very good or that I will totally dislike it. Please tell me it will not have Johnny Depp. I really don't care for him, and it seems like he's in just about every movie the man makes. Thanks to Alexandra Bond for sharing this on Facebook.
Yesterday I said I was tired. If anything, I was worse today, having gotten up very early to get my teeth cleaned at an 8 am appointment. I was so tired when I got off work that I didn't even have the energy to sing along with the CD player in the car. I went over to a sick friend's house briefly and made him some dinner, and then came home, relieved to not be driving any more. I don't think I'd reached the dangerous/can't drive point, but I was definitely feeling a little slow on the reflexes and struggled to remain vigilant for any issues. I didn't immediately sleep, and played on the computer and did some online shopping before finally going into the other room about 7:30 and putting on some Ed Sheeran, none of which I heard beyond the first bar of 'A Team', waking up about eleven. So, I didn't really get anything accomplished tonight, but I did get some rest, at least. Here are my plans for tomorrow:
Get up early, and work on the house.
Take out the trash and recyclables.
Run the dishwasher.
Go get some medicine from the pharmacy for one friend.
Go get or order some paperbacks from Barnes and Noble for another.
Take A to the grocery store.
Watch 'City of Ember', which I have out from Netflix, with YKWIA.
That's pretty much it. The game notes are finished, so no worries there. Lots of running around, though, I know. And the pharmacy closes at 1 pm, so there is a time limit there. I also have a package that might be delivered to work tomorrow that if it comes in, I'll stop by and get if possible. But it will probably be Monday before it comes.
I did get a package today, courtesy of Amazon Prime. It is Ransom Riggs' second Peculiar Children book, Hollow City. I'm looking forward to reading it, and started it earlier, finishing the first chapter. I also had my second performance appraisal today (I have two jobs, two bosses, two pay grades, one place of employment). It went really well, and I addressed some concerns about what happens to this job when the hospital goes to an ambulatory care model. It's still up in the air, but I did find out that part of what I do currently would not be needed, so unless I take on additional duties (which has happened over the last four years in other ways), I'm thinking it won't go either (the library is also to be eliminated, and me with it). Still, things have been pushed back enough that I've still got about two years to find another job, so if you're aware of anything in the Lexington, Kentucky area, please feel free to pass it along. But according to my boss, we should be getting an update soon on things like severances and the way things will work during the transition, which was reassuring. Oh, and I'm getting a raise with both positions, starting in March.
Today I paid my bills for the end of the month and went through and budgeted a bit for next month. I'm trying to pay my credit card down before the April trip to Chicago so I have that for cab fare, etc., which will be reimbursed. But I'm afraid I can't swing an extra day in Chicago this time, so I'll be flying up on a Thursday and coming back on a Friday. But I'm looking forward to it anyway. It's just a little sad that when I did have everything set up for an extra day, someone ran over me with their car. :( But at least hopefully this time something like that won't happen again.
Okay, I think I'll go back to bed so I can get up early and get some things accomplished. The weather is supposed to be partly sunny and in the 50s tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have no excuses for getting things done. Maybe I'll open the windows a bit, even. Good night.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, which is a young adult story that I found very enjoyable. The title, of course, is intriguing in and of itself, as are the quaint photographs inside. I borrowed a copy from the library for my Kindle, and although the waiting list was not as great as the one for the physical copy, I waited about a month to check it out. I definitely recommend it, and I hope a sequel is forthcoming soon--I've read it's expected in spring 2013.
I definitely plan to get a copy of my own (in the physical sense, in fact). The Kindle isn't the best for reading the illustrations that involve handwriting, such as a couple of letters, although I managed. I also think YKWIA would enjoy this as well.
If you like fantasy books, particularly ones set in our own world, with monsters and heroes and peculiarness, you'll enjoy this book.
Here's the book trailer:
My favourite line in the book, which I will paraphrase here because I've already returned it to the library, is how much the narrator loved listening to Welsh people speak, even if he couldn't understand a blasted thing they said. :)
