The peripatetic librarian

As part of my obsessive record keeping and list making, I record where I go every day to access the computer. I try to go somewhere DIFFERENT daily day so no one will think my life is TOO pathetic. This week I have been to:

- Monday - Sea Isle City Library, Sea Isle City, New Jersey
- Tuesday - Vineland Public Library, Vineland, New Jersey
- Wednesday - Little mama's cafe, Bridgeton, New Jersey
- Thursday - Cumberland County Library, Bridgeton, New Jersey
- Friday - Bridgeton Public Library, Bridgeton, New Jersey
- Saturday - Paul Robeson Library, Camden, New Jersey
- Sunday - Starbuck's - Millville, New Jersey

Today I volunteered at Wheaton Arts crafts festival. It used to be called Wheaton VILLAGE but now we must refer to it as Wheaton ARTS(dumb). It was kind of fun, although raining at first and the temperature dropped precipitously. It sounded like a good idea at the time I signed up. I kind of forgot that I am not really a fan of being on my feet for four hours at a time. Then church lasted too long due to COMMUNION and I was a bit late. My job was "booth sitter". I had to walk around, introduce myself to the artists and offer to babysit their booth while they went to the john or to get a snack. Met some nice people, saw some real creativity, felt bad that I didn't buy stuff but shopping causes me anxiety. Got my kettle corn and saw some friends. Decided nex time I should take my envelope of cash from my drawer so I don't always feel like I CAN'T BUY ANYTHING. Sometimes I take this frugality thing too far. Why do I always have to DECIDE between crafts or gas? Why can't I have BOTH? Just askin'.

Now a report on an audio book and a book which I have just finished. The book is Faithless : tales of transgression, by Joyce Carol Oates. I read it because it is the One book selection of the Cumberland County College this term. The 21 short stories do involve a lot of sex and violence and other weird stuff. Some of the topics listed in a New York Times book review were, "loneliness, divorce, revenge and not a little gun ownership". It kept my interest at least. I will try and attend the lecture they will schedule with the author.

Was very glad to get to the end of my audio book called Last lessons of summer, by Margaret Maron. I did not like this book. It involved an old house down south, a family business of children's books, a suicide and a murder and trying to figure it all out. Boy, but this women had one annoying family. Amy goes down to North Carolina to clean out her grandmother's house after her grandmother is murdered. Many boring and bothersome family members are waiting for the house to be sold so they can get some money. Add an irresponsible, cursing sister and a jar of poisoned fig preserves.

I read banned books!

Happy Banned books week, September 30th - October 6th. Celebrate the freedom to read. Just to name a FEW of the banned books I have read:

- To kill a mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Once, when I was a librarian, a patron asked for a book, HOW to kill a Mockingbird...

It is also Gluten free month (October). This is the latest trendy disease. Perhaps there is something to it, but I have not yet had the discipline to investigate it.

Working today. I have a job. It is only one day a month. And not EVERY month! I tried to get here early to make sure everything was working right and that I could remember all the passwords to get things going.

Passwords are quite an annoyance. Luckily, here, there is a list of the needed passwords for all to view. BUT it is password protected. My PERSONAL list of passwords numbers 44. Then I had a big long list for my main job and then another list for my part time job. I won't say where they all are kept, but some people recommend a booklet where you write them all down. Problem with that is I like to keep them in alphabetical order.

Unsavory denizens of downtown

Attended a cooking demonstration down at the pocket park today. We are supposed to call it the "Culinary Park" but I think that is a bit pretentious as well as a misnomer. I picked up a recipe for Broccoli cakes which I don't know if I will ever make. It involves frying in a quarter of an inch of hot oil. I am know for my passion for picking up recipes and my lack of interest in actually cooking. We were advised to bring our own lunch as the demo was just for TASTINGS. Some sort of homeless-looking guys were scarfing up the samples. They had not received the memo. The cook was actually reprimanding one of the guys for his language and his manners.

Word of the day: DENIZEN. It means inhabitant, or someone who frequents a place.

Returned a book to the library today that I did not really enjoy. The dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman, is a historical story of four women a very long time ago when Jews were being done away with on a mountain called Masada in ancient Israel. It was confusing and too violent for me. It was a book club choice and I already missed the discussion about it. So many books, so little time!

Stop making sense!

Ok, it was a movie with the Talking Heads. The title came up in my brain in regards to all my complaining about the various things which don't work in my life. I should keep it to myself because everybody else wants to tell me how to FIX IT. Especially men. Yeah!? Well, maybe I don't WANT to fix it. Maybe I just want to COMPLAIN.

Had breakfast out. I really like that. Mainly because I have not had a working coffee pot for perhaps years now. A dear friend gave me an individual cup one from a major brand and it just didn't work out. I finally had to THROW IT AWAY! I kind of soured me on the whole making coffee at home thing. Today I had the satisfaction of using COUPONS at the local Dunkin' Donuts. Now that the FREE coffee weeks are done at McDonald's it is time to go back to my other coffee methods (oh, how I miss the days when our dear adorable maintenance man used to make us coffee every morning at work). I can get the CHEAP coffee along with the visit to a small business owner or the expensive coffee trying to support another new business or the cheap coffee at McDonald's AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR. See how much more fun this is than drinking alone at home?

I am enjoying a book about blogging. Really, I am reading about ten books at once.
Some I DREAD and some I look forward to. This one has gems on each page. First, it has about four pictures of creative blogs on each spread. Some I have heard of and some not. Then there are the fascinating statistics, such as that most blogs are abandoned after three months. I'll share more when I am finished and have the book and the computer "in hand" at the same time.

Why did I order flavored coffee?

I don't even LIKE flavored coffee. But, in the quest for NEW EXPERIENCES, I was lured into ordering Red Velvet coffee this AM in the coffee shop. Now I have to load it up with cream and sugar. I have managed to train myself to get back to black but I like just plain old delicious coffee, not too strong. I am not really well set up this morning. In order to get the airconditioning, I had to give up the view and the table is too small. Also the chairs are uncomfortable. Perhaps I should develop an evaluation system for computer usage spaces.

Was reviewing my notes on CLUTTER this morning. I took two series of classes. One was on organizing and one was for your more serious clutterer (that's me). I learned that there are four clutter syndromes:

- vicarious clutterer
- comfort accumulator
- hunter-gatherer syndrome
- sentimental keeper complex

I am the comfort accumulator. She mentioned people who gather many objects in order to replace something missing in their lives (alright, she didn't say what). Also, single people who have collections which are over the top, such as too many cats or CDs. My personal pecadillo is paper clips. (why doesn't blogger have spell check?) I also have quite a collection of SCRAP PAPER. Entire sheets of plain paper which I am not even fond of using for scrap (I prefer lined paper). In addition to being a hoarder, I am a recycler. I can't bear to throw out anything that could be RE-USED.

Screwed by Sprint

Sprint is winning. I have visited two stores and called customer service 4 times and I give up. Guess I am not getting Sprint navigator back. Can't even THINK about the cell phone, it gets me so angry. The problem is I WANT stuff, but I don't want to PAY for it. Since I do not see any inheritances coming my way, I guess I will just have to try and not WANT so much. The irritating thing with Sprint is I LOST something I had had for 22 months and now they say I can't get it back.

Junk drawers - one person advises never to have one. My sister's junk drawer consists of keys, suntan lotion and bug spray. So I guess it is not really a junk drawer!

Things I need in every room - scissors, wastebasket, stapler, handiwipes, kleenex

Had lunch with the retired persons from my job today. It was funner than I was anticipating. Only four of us today. Of course, I am the youngster. We had fun talking about technology, change, libraries, bosses, coffee pots and people we worked with.

My assistant is the only one following me on Twitter...

OK, I STOLE that headline from an ad for Lucky in Vanity Fair. I'm not really even ON Twitter but I can see the appeal. When you have a THOUGHT, you want to share it. Instead, I have a bazilion scraps of paper here and there. But, that headline made me laugh, as it reminds me of the disconnect between wanting to have a blog and wanting it to be SECRET and ANONYMOUS.

Forgot my headphones today. I really regret that. Have an intense desire to listen to PSY Gangnam style. Suddenly, now, it is on the RADIO. Note to self: look up the translation of what he is saying (it is in Korean, with a few English words thrown in like "sexy lady"). I also have a need to listen to Playlist.com and see if the miracle which occurred the other day is still happening. I have been engaged in a love/hate relationship with this website for many months now. A bunch of months ago, I lost the ability to play down the list. Suddenly, it came back, making me not just a HAPPY camper, but an ecstatic camper.

Down at the beach again for the last class of Home organization 101. Actually, I have already taken this class, accidentally, twice before, due to some personal DISORGANIZATION. But, I like the teacher and the classmates and I like having a reason to come down to Sea Isle City. The boardwalk was kind of buggy, though, and the fudge shop was CLOSED. So, now I am just appreciating the great view from the library, overlooking the Intercoastal waterway. We had homework which I am rather BEHIND on. But, I DID get a few extra bags of trash down to the receptacle this week. Not as many as I SHOULD have, but more than the usual two bags weekly.
I am paying for this ginormous trash receptacle so I might as well FILL IT UP.