Off to Vancouver, BC for the week. I’m stalking the sea otters at the Vancouver aquarium.
I get in tonight. If any CUPE 391 members want a beer, I’m buying. Organized librarians rock.
Decrypting the Cat
We had a breakthrough this week in human-cat relations. Plover, our newest cat, was adopted from the pound, and came with a bit of post-traumatic-stress disorder. He had a rough time in cat jail, and has been on edge for the last six months.
Then we got him a shoelace.
We tried everything to get him to play: catnip, stuffed mice, balls, rattling things. He would try, but he always remained a bit reserved. The shoelace changed everything. He instantly recognized it as a toy, and jumped on it with a joyous fury.
He is a changed cat. He carries the shoelace around the house, lays on it, chases it wherever we drag it (even to previously scary parts of the house), and has generally blossomed into a fun-loving, easy-going guy.
This kitty was a mystery, and all it took was a shoelace to decrypt his code and get him functioning. Kittyhack!!!
Four…
FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE
Historical Reenactor (1800s)
Historical Reenactor (Renaissance)
Waitress/Bartender (Dublin)
Designed a website for a group of Butterfly Researchers
FOUR MOVIES YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER
The Quiet Man
A Room With a View
The Commitments
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
FOUR CITIES YOU’VE LIVED IN
Flint, MI
East Lansing, MI
Dublin, Ireland
Ithaca, NY
FOUR TV-SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
The I.T. Crowd
Veronica Mars
Father Ted
Colbert Report
FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON VACATION
Budapest, Hungary
Ada, Oklahoma
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT OFTEN
Popgadget
Mimi Smartypants
Lifehacker
Cute Overload
FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS
Fried wontons from the Cantonese Gourmet in Flint, MI
Anything from the Earthen Jar in Ann Arbor, MI
Obnoxious cheese
Beer
FOUR PLACES YOU’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
Frank’s in Ann Arbor for Sunday breakfast, the newspaper, and friends
Sailboat in Georgian Bay, Ontario, getting sunburned and listening to the radio
In bed with the cat on my chest
In a canoe on Town Lake in Austin, TX with water moccasins
Status Report, in metaphorical couplets
My tenure as couch fungus has ended.
No longer do I contain the churning seas.
I miss my days-long hibernation
I also miss being an overpaid cat-pillow.
Detaching myself from the couch was the hard part.
Since then, everything’s been duck soup.
After two plague-ridden weeks, I returned to work.
It’s much easier to be an office chair fungus.
Librarian vs. influenza: day you have got to be kidding
You guys rule. Thanks for the comments and updates. I’m still sick. Here’s some replies to the kind souls who wrote yesterday…
Carisse: Hook ’em horns! From what I hear, the philosophy department had one heck of a softball team.
Catrina: I totally agree. I’ve beendrinking pints of DeTox and Breathe Easy, with a side of Echinacia and Chamomile mint. Stupid Ralph left for the day, but his friend Vertiginous Vinnie stopped by this morning. Which means I’m typing this with my eyes closed as the keyboard spins rather disturbingly otherwise.
Cute Overload is the best. I refreshmonkey their feed regularly. Bunnies cure all.
Steve: Thanks! This flu is like a writing exercise. My lit professors always said that constraints catalyze creativity. I’d like to add that vomit volumizes verbosity.
Has your son experienced a traumatic event? His DVD behavior sounds like a cry for help. But then, I’m a girl. It could just be a call for boxing gloves and a little brother.
Meg: Eggs? Org. Perhaps I should rethink my question.
Seriously though, the new kitty nurses. Like, he sucks on things. Schlurp schlurp schlurp. He’s a big snoring baby with hairballs. Schlurp.
Also, hooray to your librarian destiny! Mine got beat up by my better-pay-as-a-user-advocate destiny. But librarianship is an identity, it’s larger than a single profession.
Linda: I have no idea what movie this is. The only thing I really miss by not having cable is the movie previews. Sometimes I remember to check the apple site, but mostly I just rely on word of mouth and Salon.com. This was good? I should watch it? Better than Ang Lee’s finest? Will I require insulin? Will they even play it here in the cinematic desert of Ithaca, NY?
All: My friend Kara has put up some of our photos from NYC and Paris on flickr if you wish to travel vicariously.
Librarian vs. influenza: day twelve
How did you spend your holiday vacation? For the last two weeks I’ve had the flu! I got better for awhile, then right before my future in-laws came for a visit, 
I reverted to what has become my default state: slumped on the couch, cat snoring on my shoulder.
I met a new symptom yesterday (let’s call him “Ralph”) who requires me to consume only miso soup and saltines.
In other news, um, nothing. I’m becoming a connoisseur of Ze Frank’s The Show, which is hilarious and requires only that I summon the energy to press play once in awhile.
I messed around with 
this morning for a bit before passing out. My cat nurses in his sleep.
How are you? Please write comments and make me feel like I’m part of the world. Anything will do. What did you have for lunch? Heard any good jokes? Movies? Adventures? Accidents? News? Alien invasions? Alan invasions?
Does anyone have cable? Can you tell me what is on tv?
Help.
Librarian vs. influenza: day seven, Christmas edition
Today’s theme was “relapse!” (imagine a glittery song-and-dance number) with special guests Seal Cough, Bleary Confusion, and starring Blissful Unconsciousness.
I didn’t travel this year, so my tragic demise will only be witnessed by the Cats (who couldn’t care less and will cheerfully sleep on my head, living or not). I’m done for. Save yourselves.
My favorite gift was an Audubon bat house, courtesy of my parents. They know me well.
Happy holidays everyone, and get your flu shots.
Librarian vs. influenza: day six
Amid the body pain, sore throat, fever, and seal coughs, I’ve managed to keep myself entertained. Here’s how to beat a week-long flu using only a laptop, broadband, and some good over-the-counter drugs.
Web
-
South Park character maker Version Two. Yes, I said version two.
With even more hairstyles, weird hats, and weapons. Waste your holiday break the new-fashioned way! - Download obscure mp3s from emusic.com, a DRM-free site that gives away 50 free downloads to get you hooked. Quite successfully, I might add. They have the entire Alternative Tentacles catalog, so you no longer have to fill out the little form in the back of your Dead Kennedys cassette tape.
- Facebook – Stalky stalky!
- Shoe sale at Amazon.com. Ann Klein boots are 65% off. I’m powerless against low-priced yet stylish footware.
- E-tarot cards. It’s so much more meaningful when you shuffle them with your mouse.
- My dad’s blog (caution: ham radio geekery)
- New Universal – The latest comic by transmetropolitan genius Warren Ellis. The premise? In a slightly alternate world where Paul was killed instead of John and China owns the moon, individuals begin to spontaneously develop superpowers. Often with unhappy results.
-
White Oleander – I grabbed this from the library book sale because it was
well-reviewed, and I enjoyed it despite my friend Kara’s warnings. She has a point, the characters can be less than sympathetic. Still, I enjoyed the book’s authentic voice, and the author’s willingness to describe a young woman’s reaction to desperation and loneliness. - Bitch Magazine – I’ve got a subscription. You should too. Give this to smart female patrons who haven’t yet tapped into the vibrant young feminist culture out there.
Video
- Invader Zim – Find and watch this. Kill if you must.
- The Tick – Mighty! I love Bi-Polar Bear.
- Battlestar Galactica – There is good acting and directing here, if you don’t mind the occasional robot army and Deus ex machina.
Here’s a 44 minute recap to get caught up on the plot.
- Thank you for Smoking – I haven’t watched this yet, but I’ve got the Netflix envelope sitting on the coffee table. I’ll letcha know.
- Creature Comforts – Not sure if you know this or not but, the Wallace & Grommet folks have a show on the BBC called Creature Comforts. They interview people in Britain about random topics, and overlay their voices onto claymation animals. It’s rather wonderful.
- Loose Change – an independently-produced video exploring many of the unanswered questions about the events of 9/11. An interesting topic, and less frothing than most. (warning: do not watch while taking cold medicine, as you will be especially vulnerable to sad footage and will probably need to stop the film several times to blow your nose and cry)
Realia
- Cats – Preferably in a large pile, nesting around your head. Include one that doesn’t mind being used as a pillow.
- French cold medicine. Seriously? This stuff is fun. I can see my house from here.
