Life in Denim and Flip Flops

At the beginning of the year, I set a resolution to blog 3 times a week. I set resolutions every year but I rarely keep up with them beyond March. But here it is July 31 and I've managed to stay true to it. I think part of it is knowing it's public. Not that any of you out there are going to call me out on it, but I think just the simple fact there is someone else out there expecting it really does help. Another thing I've managed to do since January is not buy any bread at the grocery store. I laughed when I got the bread cookbook for Christmas and it said it would change your life. I mean I didn't buy bread every week at the grocery store, but I also didn't eat a lot of bread because it would go bad before I could finish it. Now I eat bread all the time and bake it all myself. I've done some experimenting with the recipes I liked and can make a bunch of loaves I really like. Just ask my coworkers, they've gotten the good end of that deal too :) One thi...

i really loved amy's post this week. so i'm stealing the idea. things i learned thursday even at the age of 26, swinging on a swing set is fun. i got to the concert early tonight and figured i really ought to explore more of the park. i wandered further into the park than i had before and found a completely empty playground. the summer i spent in madison i used to go swing once every 2 or so at a cute little (underused) park. just a few minutes on a swing and a lot of problems seem less important or not so dire. even after spending an average of 150 hours standing in front of a class for the last 2 years. i still get nervous. we're planning a skit of an over-the-top informercial for orientation. in it, i will be playing the role of the student. and mostly i'm nervous to get up in front of students and play a role. i'm really starting to realize i'm jsut being myself when i teach. here's to hoping i can muster the courage to pull it off as over dramatic...

I can't tell you the last time I saw 2 movies in the theatres in one week. And not only that, but 2 movies I would be willing to see again in theatres. :) I saw Inception this weekend in Omaha with my friends. What a movie!! It's one where seeing it with a crowd of people at a theatre makes it a completely different experience. And one totally worth doing. It's not one of those movies where you can just show up and turn off your brain. You must engage and follow along, but the story is deserving of that attention. The amazing cast (Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotilliard) make the characters so real in what could easily have become a movie lost in it's own mystery. Go see it. The hype you've heard isn't hype, it's deserved praise. As for Despicable Me , I don't think I've laughed that hard at an animated movie since Up. Cute, hilarious, heartwarming, and just plain fun. The youngest girl is destined to become the new ...

I've got all sorts of things to love this week! euchre night- Last Saturday a bunch of us got together and played euchre and ate vegetarian food. Tres fun. Homemade pizza, salad, spicy cheese bread, brownies, and kolatches. There was some euchre playing, and those of us off the table played cribbage. Well I taught cribbage to those who didn't know. :) new Sunday routines- Last weekend I spent an hour at my fave independent coffee shop in Dubuque. Ok, my favorite that is open on Sundays. I've got 2 faves I flip back and forth between. Anyway, one hour writing at the coffee shop and an hour out at the park on the Mississippi. I was so productive and enjoyed it so much, I decided to do it again this weekend. I was rewarded with a familiar face behind the counter. I learned Saturday night (at euchre night) that I happened to know the son of the owners and that he was covering for his brother Sunday morning. I'll miss it this weekend thanks to something further down the l...

This has been a long time in the editing sorry. But here's day 2. Hope you enjoy! It involves tour buses, commentary, museums, and tired travelers. :)

If you missed part 1, you can find it here. untitled summer project #1 (cont.): Sometimes it was hard to believe they'd been friends for 8 years. Beth couldn't extract Cole from her life if she tried anymore. That's what made their current fight ? disagreement ? problem ? issue ? "Yeah, issue ," Beth thought, so disconcerting. Avoiding her at work was one thing, but brushing her off was another. Despite working together, they really didn't really see each other much during the day. Part of the occupational hazard of being tour guides. His parents hated the idea of their son not using his college degree to follow in the family business. They just couldn't see that Cole wasn't interested in being an accountant. "But why major in it then?" she'd asked. "Because it gives them hope that someday maybe I'll come to my senses and join them in their boring humdrum lives. Well that and I can put off telling them the truth for another...

Despite the ridiculous heat I've been baking up a storm. I made lemon and apple kolatches (separate, not together) and I baked up a batch of spicy cheese bread. I haven't made the bread quite like this before, so we'll see how it turns out. I feel like maybe I should taste test it before I take it to Euchre and Vegetarian food night. :) All I've got left for the food is to mix up the salad before I head out. It's one of my favorite salads. I don't really have a name for it, but it's got mandarin oranges, craisins, green onions, and salad mix. Usually I top it with candied almonds, but knowing someone's got a nut allergy, I'm going to swap them out for rice noodles. I do love cooking. I think it's time for me to find a few more new recipes to try out. :)

I wanted to just blog about a few random things from this week. None of these really necessitate a full post, but I really wanted to talk about them. construction cones- There have been construction cones and a Road Closed sign sitting near my street all week. Not in the street, just near it. So everyone in the neighborhood has been parking on the side streets avoiding the main drag. They're still sitting in the grass tonight. I was a little bothered by the fact that I had no idea what was going on. I was more distracted by the fact that the city just left them there for the entire week taunting me. I've sort of had this weird desire to have one of those tall, skinny construction cones. Not entirely sure why, but walking past them all week has been kind of mean. :( library cleaning- We had a staff cleaning day on Thursday. That meant coming to work in "grubby" clothes, i.e. jeans and t-shirts so we could clean for most of the day. Most of tackled our offices/desk. Y...

I haven't written a short story in a while. In fact the last one of any length was probably Red-Sequined Dress that I wrote back in the fall of 2008 as a Christmas/Hannukah present for Emily. I'm not entirely sure where this new story is going to end up, but Nicola asked to see a preview. And I'm all about pleasing my readers. (All like 6 of you!) So without further adieu. untitled summer project #1: She felt small. That's what her mom used to call it when she was younger. She'd meant it when you felt hurt or needed comfort or protection, but in Beth's mind it'd become blurred into meaning her quiet times too. Beth was rarely quiet when she was little. She was the chatter box filling the room with a constant stream of stories, jokes and random facts. So at a very early age, Beth's family had learned to equate her quietness with trouble, hurt, sickness, or an impending meltdown. Though sometimes she just needed to be quiet and nothing was wrong,...

I don't normally read adult fiction. Well, ok. Sometimes I read adult fiction, but 98% of the adult books I've read in the last 3-4 years have been by authors I've read before (Sue Grafton, Tess Gerritsen, Iris Johansen, Jasper Fforde, Charles de Lint, and James Patterson). I rarely pick up an adult fiction book by someone I haven't read before because to be honest, I've got a list about 2 miles long of Young Adult fiction to read. So, now you're wondering...Becky, how did you come to read this adult novel by a first-time novelist ( Tanya Egan Gibson )? Well, I'll tell you. It had a lot to do with sleep deprivation, ridiculous heat, a catchy title/cover, and the Boston Public Library. While I was on vacation recently I ended up camping out at the BPL for 2 hours to take advantage of their location and air conditioning without some sort of entertainment with me. I figured I'd just grab a book off the shelf to read while I was there. The adult new fiction ...

A year ago today, my grandpa passed away. It's hard to believe that it's been that long that he's been gone. He'd been sick for a while, but some how you just always believe he'd pull through. We've always been a really close family. Some of my favorite memories of Grandpa were from family vacations we took together. We'd pile my parents, my sister and I, and my grandma and grandpa, and all our luggage in the family mini-van for a 2-week driving vacation. We saw Maine, Colorado, the Dakotas/Montana, the Northeast, and Washington DC that way. Up until the end of those vacations Grandpa kept up with Manda and I, climbing all over the rocks, having snow ball fights in the mountains, and playing whatever swimming pool game we made up that trip. One year we set forth on his birthday when he ate a meal in 3 different states . One trip, he also ate cold pizza for breakfast. You can't say we didn't rub off on him a little. :) And the games we played. We pla...

Every semester I work with a research class, RES104. You've probably heard about it before. We take a look at a different region of the world through 3 different disciplinary lenses each semester. Being the Social Sciences liaison, I'm in charge of prepping and purchasing books for the first unit. I'm in the throes of that right now. I don't know about the rest of you library peoples, but book ordering is not a short process. And for me, this class takes even longer. Because I'm sure you're all totally excited to hear about my process, I'm gonna explain it :) First, I do some background research about the region which usually includes reading wikipedia articles, scouring my own mind for anything I already know about those countries, taking hand-written notes and typed notes. Then I dig through the last few months worth of Choice Reviews to see what topics people are writing books about. I throw those in an online cart if they pass the 3-point test: rig...

Here are the pics I took in Philadelphia. I haven't had time to caption them yet. I will soon :)

When you read a book, do you imagine what characters look like? I'm sure we all do. I've noticed recently that I tend to imagine characters as other fictional characters or people from YouTube. For example, I'm reading a book about teenagers in high society in Long Island, one of whom is kind of the golden boy of the community. In my head he looks exactly like Logan Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls. Or in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Trilogy (soon to be 4!! Squee!), a few of the characters take on other visages. Luke/Lucian- always and will always be Luke from Gilmore Girls in my head Jocelyn- I imagine her to look like River Song from Doctor Who (except with red hair) Magnus- He's totally Dr. Noise . (P.S. I really like that song!) Ironically I have a really hard time imagining the main kids in that one. Not entirely sure why that is as 3 of them are featured on the covers!! And it's weird, because they don't just look like the actors, they loo...

Wow, a TILT blog actually posted on a Thursday! :) Haven't managed that in a while. Can't guarantee it'll happen again soon, so enjoy it. Doctor Who- As I've said before, I love this show and I particularly enjoy this season. The transition from old to new doctor was not only palatable, but also entertaining in how we saw nods to David Tennant's doctor while allowing Matt Smith to really create his own character. The finale just aired in Britain (and on my internet), so now it's withdrawl for a while. :( Thankfully I can rewatch it whenver since I just had to buy it on iTunes this week! staff picnics-We threw a pot luck to welcome a new person and to spring a surprise wedding shower on another. We grilled out, chilled in Diana's backyard, and played party games. A great afternoon of staff bonding. If we know how to do anything, it's throw a party. Oh and we also managed to take at least one nice new staff photo. (And a few goofy/odd-looking ones too!)...