Halfway peoples

Ok, I’ve been slack. Not just a little slack, but on an epic scale. Since semester finished I’ve been spending more and more time away from my laptop. Time that has been channelled into far more pleasurable activities, like seeing my friends and reading. Always reading. This slackness has meant that I didn’t print my reading list for May or June, something that I have now rectified.

With the countdown to my final semester I have started getting things into order. I’m in front for my reading, which is a good thing. Today being the 1^st of July, and day 183, I am quite pleased that I am currently reading book 187. It’s all downhill from here. I realise that in lots of way this challenge has taken over this blog. The last few posts have been little but my reading lists. It would be easy to think that it has taken over the rest of my life too. But it hasn’t really. 

I don’t go out any more or less than I would if I wasn’t reading. I can honestly say that I haven’t missed out on doing anything with friends, or going places with Miss R. I don’t entertain any less, or see fewer movies (though there hasn’t exactly been a wealth of stuff worth seeing). In fact the only thing I do less of is watch tv. Which, in the grand scheme of things, I can’t take that as a bad thing.

On the baking front I finally sourced chestnut flour for my wheat/gluten free baking. It’s first outing as part of a vegan chocolate pumpkin cake was a success. I plan on consuming the last of it with a bowl of warm custard after dinner.

I’m running a second photobooks class on Tuesday morning, and have managed to pick up a few extra shifts, so the bank a/c is slowly recovering from the chunk my rego took out of it. Work also paid for my first aid course. I expect my certificate in the mail any day now. 

The quest for full time work continues. There are possibilities with the opening of the new library in September, but council is still looking over the positions. In the end what they decide will come down to money. I don’t want to leave my library, but it’s hard to live on only 17.5 hrs a week.

Maybe Miss R and I should open that dessert home delivery business …

2012: the year of reading

I know I haven’t posted for a while. December is usually busy, and with half of the family descending it was even more hectic than usual. But that’s all last year’s news now, so I won’t bother to recap. We survived, that’s all that matters.

What is important in that this year is the Year of Reading. Librarians (and librarians in training) are all geared up for a year that we’re made for. So, what better way to celebrate that to read as many book as possible this year?

So far I have read one book this year. Started, and finished today. Not half started sometime last year and finished today, but read in its entirety. Naturally this got me thinking about just how many books I could/should try and read this year.

Now as there are 366 days in this year (yes, it’s a leap year) I thought maybe that should be my target. I should point out that while some think this is completely unrealistic, there are others who are confident that I will surpass that target. However, once uni goes back, I think I’d struggle to find the time. So would 52 be more practical? A book a week doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for me.

It was about this point that I remembered that I’m reading for pleasure, so it doesn’t really matter how many I read. For my own interest I’m going to try to remember to make a note of every book I read this year. I may even put it in a spread sheet with a breakdown of the details, like if it is a first read or a re-read, fiction or non-fiction, print or e-book, just too see how pretty the pie charts are by the end. Yes I’m a geek, but I’m a book geek.

And this year is mine.

August in review

I know I said I'd blog more this month but I just haven't had the time. That means another bullet point post. Next month will be better. It has to get better.

• Four year anniversary. Miss R has been putting up with me for quite some time. In fact, this is now the longest relationship I've been in. Not always perfect, but we haven't killed each other in our sleep. Though she has been tempted to kill one or two others ...

• Spent 45 minutes explaining to a library patron why librarians study to do our job. I don't think she realised that she was being offensive, but telling a librarian that anyone could do their job is like waving a red flag at a bull.* I managed to make sure she was fully informed and she left in awe of librarians everywhere. She also came back to let me know about a better job going at different library. There was much rejoicing in the workroom too.

• Scared the girls at the blood bank by having an ectopic heartbeat. Every fourth beat was doing a twostep. I felt fine, but it made them nervous so I have a chat with my Doc. ECG says I’m fine, according to the technician. Was a moment where it looked like she was going to have to shave my chest to get the pads to stick, but we managed to part the fur.

• After much consultation I decided to withdraw from one of my masters subjects. I’m just not getting enough out of it by doing it online, so I’ll do it face to face next semester. I’ve kept all the notes so I’ll be better prepared. My sanity is worth more, so if it takes an extra semester to finish so be it.

That’s about it for the time being. Slightly less uni work for now, but more time to put into the subject I’m still in. Off to the Melbourne Writers Festival next weekend. I’ve got tickets for a few events so it should be fun. I may even treat myself to dinner at The Chocolate Buddha. I’ll be the one in the corner watching the big screen. 

Tonight I’m off to dinner with Miss R and her family. Let’s see if I can get to the end of the meal without trying to kill myself with my chopsticks. **

*For the record, yes I know bulls are colour-blind, but the saying conveys a point rather than factual information. For more information on cows please take yourself to 636, or ask your librarian for assistance.

**Miss R’s family aren’t really that bad. Her father and I just have different politics. If he starts on about climate change and global warming being a myth again ...

falling off the face of the earth ...

Is it really possible that I didn't blog at all during July? See what happens when I have uni break and can step away from the laptop. Shouldn't be a problem again for a while. Already week 3 and the assignments are coming thick and fast.

I will mention this #TweetAugust. Haven't managed to take part yet, but probably will at some point. For now sleep.

coma slice

My biggest complaint with study is the homework. I love the learning, but the homework sucks. When I think that I've got another 12 months before I finish my Masters ... well, I try not to think about it. While everyone (mostly) was enjoying their break I was fighting with my archiving assignment. Going back to work on Wednesday it soon became apparent that I was the only one who hadn't spent the break in a sugar induced coma.

So to address this I decided to spend my Sunday correcting this. Thus the coma slice was born. I've put all the photos on flickr, so if you really want to know what went into it you can go there. I will put one pic up here. There are more on Facebook.

 

Don't ask me how much I've eaten. Most of it is gone now. I'm taking the last of it to work and the bloodbank. If you see your local librarian zooming around the library they may be running on coma slice. Just don't make any sudden moves. :)

indoor picnic

I love my friends. No really, I have awesome friends. I could try and list all the ways that they are awesome, but that would just make everyone else sick with jealousy or depressed that my friends aren’t their friends. It’s all true.

This afternoon’s picnic is an example of what happens when you put us all together:

• Miss A’s lentil and chickpea surprise (one of the few things I could eat, stupid body),
• Mr T (no, not that mister T) dates, cheeses, olives, crackers, tasty looking cob loaf (stuffed with lots of things I could eat, and one that I couldn’t),
• Miss J’s chicken pasta bake,
• Miss K’s zucchini slice (definitely something I can’t eat),
• Ms H’s fresh and hot non-denominational buns (with serious amounts of butter).
• Mr N provided the chocolate and walnut cookies, and I made my spicy Cajun capsicum, cheese, and corn loaf.

Lots and lots of food. Of course it’s not the food that makes my friends awesome. It’s more the loyalty, understanding, and the fact that no level of geekiness is too great (though four of us singing the “popcorn song” and could name the two games it was the theme music for was a very geeky moment). It's nice knowing that your friends will back you. They don't need you to explain. They are just there, no matter what.

It is shame that we don’t manage to spend more time together, but we have a few things to look forward to:

• Thor,
• Captain America,
• The Zoo (our gang of roving librarians [and a few non-librarians, we don't discriminate] will be enjoying ourselves, but are still prepared to leap in to action, correcting parents that are filling their children’s brains with rot),
• And a final Harry Potter marathon before Deathly Hallows pt2 is released. (I particularly like the idea of hiring the whole cinema for a bunch of us, but don’t know that we’ll actually go that far).

But first we have to survive work/uni, which means more assignments/hours/PhD proposal. Wonder if I can get zombies into my disaster management plan ...

not sharing

Two posts in one day, scary stuffs. I hadn't planned on posting before bed, but Miss R said something that got me thinking.

I started playing with this as a way to get some of the crap circling in my head out. There was no real way of knowing that anyone would read it. I know some of us share the blog love, making sure that we comment on each other’s posts. We know each other, and are comfortable enough that we say what we like. Not all that different from how we are when we're actually together, but much easier than trying to find a time when all of us can be.

Still, there are things that I put on here that I don't share with Miss R. I don't blog or tweet specifically about her, but she does get referenced in quite a few. She is aware of this, and while not thrilled she understands the context. The other stuff we don’t discuss anymore because I know she’s reached her limit. There’s only so much you can take on before the presence of another woman in your partners head has you ready to kill. She has been exceptionally patient with my funk and hurt feelings, and equally forgiving towards Ms L (though I think given the chance she would smack Ms L down over hurting me and the way she has behaved towards me since the misunderstanding).

Since I can’t talk about this stuff with her anymore, the only way I can get it out (without driving anyone else insane) is here. So when Miss R asked if she could read my blog I said no. It got me thinking about some of the other blogs I read, and what other people think. Would you be in a hurry to let your partners read your blogs (assuming they had any interest, which isn’t always a given)?

For the record I am very comfortable with my decision. I don’t see any conflict in keeping this part of my life private. I am however curious about other peoples perspective.

For now I’m going to bed, otherwise I’ll be a complete zombie at work. 

Zombie Librarian wants “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOKS.”