Life in Denim and Flip Flops

Monday through Friday has been work, work and more work, but weekends have been nothing but fun lately :) I'm really glad that I get to do so much of the prep work for the classes, but I had forgotten how frustrating summer can be. Every vendor is updating software, which is problematic, especially when it happens without my knowledge in the middle of a project. Nothing is irreparable, but now it takes like twice as long. Also, I may have learned to bend Microsoft Access to my whim, but Word 2007 still kicks my ass. Mostly the problem was the ridiculous template for the labels. A headache and a half, but will totally be worth it in the end. The fun things you can do with mailing labels, a hole punch, index cards, and metal rings. It'll be a unique library scavenger hunt. The weekends have been a blast. I spend 36 hours in Madison hanging with Manda, being the Cornell expert that I am, and seeing Brandon and Anne at church. Hanging at the terrace with some of the kids from St. P...

I truly hate living in Iowa when it comes to sports coverage. Apparently Iowa residents are only Cubs fans. Or White Sox fans. Therefore I only get to watch those games. I made the mistake of getting excited about watching a Brewers game when it was on ESPN. However, ESPN also hates me. Apparently, I'm in the blackout area for nationally televised games. I'm close enough to Wisconsin to be blacked-out but not close enough to actually be able to watch the games. So either way I'm screwed. The only times I get to watch the games are when they play the Cubbies. Ugh. So I'm hesitantly excited about getting to watch the game. However, lately when I've gotten to see the games at home, they've lost. So I'm torn; do I watch the games because it's my only chance to see them and jinx them, or not watch for the good of the Brewers nation?? Maybe I'll just quit believing in superstitions! :)

Sorry. It's been a while. I have time for a few quick notes before I go to bed. It's going to be a sad, sad day when my UW ID quits working. I do love having access to so many journals. I never thought I'd be using book reviews from the Journal of Pop Culture for collection development...but I am. Just last week, I got a rejection letter from a school I applied to the same day I did for the job I currently have. But even better was getting the letter today that said a school I applied to and was called for an interview by was sorry to inform me I was no longer being considered. Is it really necessary to say they're sorry, when I cancelled the phone interview because I'd accepted another position? The best yet was reading today that the school re-posted the same opening. It's sad how they think they'll get a different, and by different I mean better, pool of applicants. I also enjoyed seeing a classmate of mine posting on an info lit list-serv today as a ...

The bulleted lists are back. Well, at least for today. Professors are people too, and are bound to show up at a wedding if they've had both the bride or groom for over 4 years in their class or hired them to direct the steel drum band. Thus I should be prepared for that. Some neighborhoods in Urbana don't believe in street lights making the trip to a place you've never been before interesting, especially when you realize reading street signs at 25 MPH is awfully difficult. Free, serve-your-own Killian's beer on tap was the best idea ever . I can drink beer all night and not wake up with a hangover. Being dipped while dancing drunk is difficult, but funny. Having a Walgreen's in the same parking lot as the hotel is ingenious. (You never know when you'll need it.) There's a Target in Champaign that has the same wrapping paper as the Target in Dubuque, so when you (i.e. Gretchen) forgets the wrapping paper you can replace it. Getting caught with the deck at the...

I found this in my RSS feed this morning and thought it was a nice way to start the day. It is a list created by the National Endowment for the Arts, and a blogger writes that they claim most American adults have read only six of these hundred books. I've read 23, but about half have been for school; however, some of those I chose to read for a class assignment. :) Here’s what you do: 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. 2) Italicize those you intend to read. 3) Underline the books you LOVE. (Or in my case turn them green.) 4) Reprint this list on your own blog. 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible (um, how many people have actually sat down to read the Bible? Like, straight through? I'm counting it because I read at least a chapter every night.) 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (I own it, but haven't read ...