Give me something to sing about!

Library Songs to hum at Work (from Biblia's Warrior Librarian Weekly)

...and these too...

yet another Gilbert & Sullivan parody

...and ones someone's actually recorded.

So, I'm basically a martyr...

...whether misunderstood daemon...
Results...: "
Hiei

Which Yu Yu Hakusho Character Are You?
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...or self-sacrificing hero

Oy ve...

It's amazing how you can be cruising along fine, even in the midst of a crisis, and then the littlest things set you off emotionally. Today I got up, went downtown, got some quarters for laundry, gave in the last of my outstanding library books, ate at Subway, watched the Shriners parade, worked out--had a good walk of 15 minutes and cycled 4.5 miles. Then I went to the Farmer's Market and got some fresh corn, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, real wild blackberries (yum!) and a pound of Amish hand-churned butter. So far, so good. Then I stopped back by the library to see if I could pay my fine, discovered they'd charged me $30 for not returning an insert to a CD (I couldn't find it at the time, and figured the CD was more important, after all). And, well, emotionally I just fell apart. I guess everything has been building up, and between watching the Shriners run around in their little cars (which I love, by the way, especially when I can watch clowns from a distance), but after all, they're also in a way my bosses, so it brought back the problem of having my hours cut, and spending even what little I did on groceries, and then feeling like I had done a Terrible Thing as a librarian by losing the insert (which mind you, happened because the case was broken when I got it and every time I turned around, a cat was knocking it off the shelf)--well, I felt like a big, fat loser who shouldn't even be a librarian. Also, I'd gone two days without my Paxil, so that probably had a big chunk to do with it. It didn't help that I was crying in a bus depot and I had some guy who was trying to make small talk when, quite frankly, I wanted to be left the hell alone.

So...I called my friends and cancelled my plans with them (no sense in inflicting an emotional ball of goo on your friends, I figure). I went back on the bus and got my Paxil refilled. Now I'm home and I've eaten some bread with the butter and blackberry jam and put some calming music on and, well, I feel a little better. I guess I was putting off my breakdown from all the cutbacks at work off until the weekend. That breakdown lasted only about 20 minutes, but I feel all tired and generally nothing like I usually do when I've gone to the gym. I just feel like curling up in a ball, even though I really need to do laundry and some cleaning. I think I'll eat something with a little more protein, drink some caffeine, and give the Paxil a chance to work before trying to go on with the day. I'm going to post this on both blogs because it's relevant and most of you don't read this one. But I think in the long run, I feel better. Here's to getting some rest today and tackling the world again tomorrow.

Wow.

Ever wonder what creative math nerds can do with Legos(TM)? These are really nifty, especially the Escher renditions.

ASL's LEGO Page

Whoop! Accidentally put this one on my other blog yesterday...

Dogged Determination

I'm so glad this dog survived. But his story also makes people think of all the abandoned dogs who aren't so fortunate.

Please spay or neuter your pets. And if you find you can no longer care for one, do not just 'throw them away'--even at a supposed animal shelter. They are often simply too overwhelmed. You might relieve your conscience by thinking you've 'done the right thing', but more than likely you've simply taken a coward's way out of throwing the animal to its death. Some places have no real regulations in dealing with euthanasia. Here in Kentucky, for example, it's hard to get some counties to stop shooting dogs or burying them alive. There are 'fly by night' rescues, too, although they need to be inspected carefully. Often they can work with you to find someone to adopt a pet with you still taking care of the animal. And a well socialised pet who is current on all vaccinations is a lot easier to place than a neglected one.

This is incredibly, wonderfully cool. Or sick. I'm not sure which.

But if you have some time, play at: NobodyHere

Owie

I took the bus home tonight and promptly stepped off onto some uneven ground and fell down. This is the third time this year. I didn't think I was hurt, but now both my ankle and back say otherwise. Well, as my mom always said, there was a reason I wasn't named Grace. Still, I suspect if I hadn't been exercising regularly, it could have been worse.

I think the Power Yoga was a mistake the other day...so many lunges up and down. For one, I discovered muscles where I didn't even realise I had them (like on either side of the 'cleft in the buttocks' to put it nicely). But that's fine--I was a little sore for a day but didn't think anything of it. But I also have a heel stone, which is the beginning of plantar fasciitis, and although I don't think I've been overdoing the walking I could see where the bouncing of the Power Yoga might have aggravated it. So, I took some Tylenol, took a day off from my workout, and I am hoping to do my regular cardio workout tomorrow. I'll save the Power Yoga for after I can get my feet, legs, and knees properly conditioned.

I also got word from Dwana, whose friend Aaron also joined and actually got a tour, that there is a pool hidden in the downtown club. It's under the cardio theatre. So I definitely plan on checking that out!

I am SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad this week of hell is over. Work has been difficult given the cutbacks. One good thing, though, I figured out how to get my entire electronic catalogue onto my PDA with SmartList, a database program for the handheld. I also figured out how to get barcodes to work on that database. I can now enter a barcode and then later scan a book and it'll automatically search the records for a match. None of the other programs did that so easily. Now I have to see if I can get the hospital to spring for $49 for the program. The IT diden't think it would be a problem, since it's so cheap.

Anyway, that's all the update I have for now. Have a good weekend.

I love Edward Gorey. If he weren't dead, I'd adopt him into the family. Then again...that might make it easier. He'd make a wonderful eccentric uncle.

You will be smothered under a rug. You're a little
anti-social, and may want to start gaining new
social skills by making prank phone calls.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
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Thankfully, it's Friday

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country? Hunting Island, South Carolina.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling? Hmmm...in terms of actually traveling, the weather as we were moving from California to Kansas. We started out in 104 degree weather with the cats panting in the car. We stopped overnight in Arizona and woke up to 6 inches of snow (this was the last week of March, mind you) and drove through the Painted Desert and couldn't see the formations for the snow. With New Mexico came dust storms that followed us all the way through Oklahoma. Now, my honeymoon to a pagan gathering in Atlanta is legendary (includes the Ku Klux Klan, the American Indian Movement, lightning strikes, Latin conjugations, a chant of 'Lisa has to pee', having a Chevette die on a four-lane highway whilst coming back from buying the first pads for a young girl who'd started menstruating, unleashed hounds, torrential downpours, bubbas with guns (both the KKK's and the ones on our side), Georgia State troopers, and oh, the guy with the sword who kept catching fireflies to read his watch). But technically I was stationary for most of that. :)

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go? I would cruise around the world on the Queen Elizabeth II, first class.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car? I've never been on a train, although I would love to. I hate flying. I know it's safer than traveling by car, but I hate the idea of not being able to pull over if something goes wrong. So, for now, I'd have to say car.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit? If I ever get a reliable car I want to take a trip up to New England during the fall, watch the autumn colours, and do a little genealogy.

Hi, again...

I found out today that I will most likely be able to get unemployment. Yay! The only catch is the unemployment office wants me to come down the week my hours are cut back rather than applying early, like human resources suggested. It looks like if all goes well (keep your fingers crossed) I should be able to draw an amount about $10 in gross pay less than what I would have made normally, so that's not too bad in outlook. It's just a little to iffy for me right now, though.

I talked to my mom tonight. She had been worried about me because she couldn't get a hold of me. Fortunately, everybody at home is fine. That's one less thing to worry about, at least.

That's enough of an update for now...I'm going to go see what's happening over at the Friday Five.