Night Gecko

After returning from our grand adventure this summer, I borrowed my parents' nice film camera and loaded some black and white film from the collection I have inherited from a variety of sources.  I had a really good time taking photos, though I wasn't able to persuade anyone to take me to some of the places I really wanted to go photographing...  Anyway, I finished the roll and took it to be developed.  I have these crazy ideas of being able to sell some of my artwork, including photos (which I would love to make into collages), random knitted stuff, dyed silk scarves, etc.  So I just wanted to get the negatives developed so that I could either play with the photos on my computer, or enlarge them, or whatever.  Since I don't have a negative scanner, I paid for a photo cd along with my developing.  When I got my cd back the next day, (ok, so a few days later when I had the chance to look at what was on the cd), I was very upset to find that the images on the disc are a very low quality and poorly done -- I mean, come on, there is dust on the negatives.  I can't do anything with the files on the disc and I still don't have a negative reader.

So I guess I am in the market for a negative reader, or else I'm just going to ignore the 20-some-odd rolls of film I have and give in to the idea that film is dead.  I just like the feel of the real camera, or more importantly, it has an awesome zoom and manual settings.  And yeah, they make cameras like that that take digital pics (my brother has one), but I a) hate to waste the film, b) don't want to borrow my brother's camera all the time, and c) can't afford a camera like that on my own unless I really can make some money with it. 

I love photography.  I would walk around with a camera all the time if I could.  Sometimes I do.  And most times I'm okay with my little digital camera (Juniorette) because it fits in my pocket, but then I use a nice, big camera that takes focused, properly lighted pictures, and it is so hard to go back...

Ah, the minor dilemmas of life...

Yet again, how time flies.  I can never keep track of days, with all that has been going on lately.  Mostly this is a good thing...keeping busy is far better than the alternative.  It doesn't necessarily seem to be helping my sleeping habits, but everything can't be perfect, can it?  We've almost reclaimed the living room and gazebo from the fiesta supplies and equipment.  Spent a long day filming for VBS.  Haven't even thought about the Great ESCAPE today, but that's been a significant focus over the past few weeks.  I wish I had more hours in a day or days in a week or just the ability to slow time down for a little while so I can catch my breath.  I've been stealing a few hours, from sleep-time mostly, to just chill and not accomplish anything, except to keep myself from going insane.  I absolutely love having my weekends back to myself, which of course means voluntarily visiting the library nearly every weekend anyway.  Everything changes so much when you want to be there... :)

Plans for tomorrow: Be spontaneous!

It feels so good to be off my feet.  I'm not sure why I do this to myself, but I walked to work, spent 4 hours standing around, and then served dinner for another 3 hours.  It was fun, though, so I guess it was worth it.  I also drove home from church, mostly because I've decided that I am less nervous driving than I am letting Josh drive.  Or maybe it's just one of those sibling rivalry things...

Anyway, nothing else new, just time progressing at its usual astonishing speed.  Making plans for the Great Summer Adventure, which really needs a better name than that.  I want to go fossil digging...

Guess it's been a while again.  A busy while, as usual.  I've spent so much time at the library that I might as well live there.  Which would be a perfectly satisfying situation with me.  Or maybe finding some way to turn off my brain so I can sleep for a little while.  That would be good, too.  Other random 3 am thoughts:
-I need to put some new songs on my mp3 player (note to self: check out some cds tomorrow...er, later today)
-...

Ok, there are definitely more things on my mind than that, but as I am trying not to think about them, I am not adding them to the list.  Instead, I will say that I am looking forward to spring.  Picnics in the park.  Photos of flowers.  Killer Bunnies.  ;)  Planning a trip to the Grand Canyon.  Not having to worry about situation x, or y, or z. (Not that z worries me, but it's there in the back of my head anyway.)  Going to look up cds in the catalog now...

I just checked my UB transcript and it says "Degree Awarded".  Yay! :)  Awfully anti-climatic, though...

Well, there was all sorts of excitement this weekend in our house. Most importantly, I got my new bed. It's nice. Very nice. Just a tad bit too high, but I haven't fallen off yet, so that's a good thing. I did manage to get out of it this morning to do my Wii Fit, but I am back sitting on it now. I also dragged myself out of it yesterday to go to work and watch the Superbowl, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a nap in my future. So yeah, the bed is nice.

The surroundings are pretty good, too, after the big cleaning/rearrangement. I have two awesome new bookshelves to bring my total up to 5 1/2. Basically all my wall space is taken up with bookshelves. Very cool. I also have sort of a window seat, with the trunk strategically placed under the window. As soon as I get all the boxes and piles off it...

The other big project was Josh's room. It is clean. Immaculate. It will not last, but I have photographically documented it (no, wait...ok, now I've documented it), so we will always remember.  We (by which I mean, Mom) built a whole wall of metal cubes and I threw lots of things away and dusted and vacuumed and found interesting things in the closet.  The other cool part about it was that Josh was gone this weekend, so it was a complete surprise when he came home and finally decided to go upstairs for something and went "oh, my..."  It would have been cooler if he hadn't known that he was getting a new bed, but since we gave away his bed on Thursday, he kind of knew about it.

So yeah, that was my weekend.  I mean, there was watching the Superbowl, which required carefully placing the tv antennae out on the front lawn on a stool and preparing lots of yummy food.  Oh, and reading some good books.  Checking some more out of the library.  Placing holds.  Making lists and checking them twice.  I am reading both the Best Books for Young Adults 2009 and Teen Book Festival authors, so I have lots to look forward to.  In fact, as soon as I go find some food, I am going to come back to my nice new bed with a stack of books and not leave until...well, later.

As I am the creator and sole participant in this challenge, I think it is within my rights to adapt the terms as I see fit. Therefore, I am allowed to count as read all books that I have
started, which means that as of my deadline, this morning, I have successfully completed 213 of 216 books. The other 3 I have deemed as not falling within the parameters of the "award", so I am ignoring them. These slight modifications mean that I am in the middle of 8 or so books right now, but there are several I do not feel compelled to finish.

My condensed thoughts on this past year of reading? It was interesting. I haven't had time yet to fully examine my assessments as compared to the committee's decisions regarding the "best" books for young adults, but I can tell you that some of their choices are a little (ok, a lot) crazy. I guess I have more appreciation for the committee, who have to read quite a
few of these books themselves, as well as get teenagers to talk to them about the books. Although I loved hearing the teens speak about the books at last year's conference, so if I had a group of teens like that, it would be pretty awesome. My goal for some day: to be on the committee.

And as much as I said I would never do this again, I am quite looking forward to seeing the final list for this year, any time now...

Well, I've done it. I've finished all 84 of the BBYA finalists for 2008. (Except for that one that I didn't actually read but made two other people in my family read and tell me about.) I've been surprised by how much I liked some of the recently read nominations, since I thought I had gotten to all the good ones before. Actually, since I am reading them in no particular order, it's not really that surprising, but it is good to get to read some stuff that I might have chosen on my own. My list of things I still want to read is growing so much, I think it might be long than my nominations list for last year. But that's okay -- there is still plenty of reading time in my future, though I seem to be spending an awful lot of time at the library. It's almost like I live there, seeing as how I have spent a night and eaten four meals there this past week. And it's only Wednesday... I could just put a little bed in back and stay there. I've always wanted to live in the place where I work. Easy commute!

To get back to the list, there are 25 unread titles left. There's at least one I plan to skip, as I've glanced at a page and decided that no teen I've ever met would even consider picking it up, but I actually think I might make it through the rest in less than 15 days. That's less than 2 books a day. :) Of course, that means I need to make a trip to the Penfield library for the last 17 titles...

It's that time of year again, though I'm not sure where the time goes. 2008 happened so quickly, it feels like I missed most of it. I am going to try to do a better job of keeping up with this year, so of course, that means some resolutions.

In no particular order:
1) Finish cleaning the house.
This is an on-going project that I pick up in my spare time...or when I'm looking for something specific that I know we have somewhere...or when guests are coming to visit. I see some free time in my immediate future, so I intend to make some serious progress in the disaster area that is our house. Starting tomorrow, with the food cupboards...
2) Get a job.
Preferably a job in a library or other book-related field. Preferably at least 20 hours a week. Preferably in the Webster/Rochester area. I can settle for any one of these...
3) Find food I can eat.
I still don't know what is up with my crazy stomach/digestive system, and I guess I should try to figure that out. That is part of the motive behind the "clean the cupboards" thing, but that's also because I am in an organizing mood. I think I'm going back on a gluten-free diet, and maybe more vegan, too, for a bit, to see if that helps. Or I could just live on Lara bars...I like that option. :)
4) Read a book a day.
I know that sounds a little extreme, but that's more of an average thing. Although I would love to read a book a day. I can keep track of all my stuff on LibraryThing now (yay for Christmas presents!), so that is part of this goal. And mostly what I read is children/young adult books, so they don't take quite as long. I'm not going to do any more crazy "read the entire list of ALA Best Books for Young Adults nominations list" again, even though it was an interesting experiment. I made it through 175 of 216 nominations and 83 of 84 finalists, and I'm giving myself til the end of the month, since that's when I got the list last year. But I feel like I missed so much stuff by reading mainly off the list, so now I have a lot to catch up on.
5) Write every day.
I feel like in the midst of writing papers for school and all sorts of other crazy stuff, I forgot how important it is to write stuff for fun, or just for myself. Lately the only things I've been writing are mini book reviews for LT, and while that's good and all, it's not really writing. So I'm going to try to write a bit every day, whether for public consumption or not. My grandpa keeps telling me I should write a book, but I'm not sure that's going to happen this year (or ever). But you never know...

Five is probably more than enough goals to have right now, but I am going to throw in a bonus 6th.

6) Watch more movies.
I have several motives behind this one. First, entertainment. I haven't watched any new movies in a long time, and while most of them I'm not missing, there are some that sound good. There are also a lot of good older movies that I've never seen, and there's no time like the present to start. Second, I need to stretch my attention span back out from the tv episodes we've been watching. Not that I'll stop watching my tv-on-dvds, especially since we're still in the middle of some seasons and I'm waiting for some others to come out. Third, I can knit things while watching tv, and that makes me feel like a slightly more productive person.

We'll see how well these go. I'm pretty excited about most of them, so it should be fun rather than a challenge. These days, I pretty much see everything as either positive or negative, so I'm going to work to keep things on the positive side. There are no doubt lots of other things I could add to this list, like driving, buying (and using) Wii Fit, making friends with the phone, meeting new people, learning to play the guitar, etc., but I figure some of those things will come whether I want them or not.

I think 2009 is going to be a good year.

So that soon I mentioned? Yeah, sometimes soon takes a while...
Anyway, here is a picture of some of my hats. There are lots more now, but I was too lazy to walk downstairs and take another picture.



Apparently this is my new business, along with selling my super awesome dyed scarves:


Christmas presents, anyone? I sell at competitive prices!

Ug, I wish there were no more standing on my feet today, but sadly, I still have 4 more days to go before I get a break. I need softer shoes that do not zap me every time I touch something metal. Maybe I'll just wear my slippers today...

Apparently, it's been a while. An insanely crazy while. Between student teaching and working and "knitting" hats, I have had no time for anything else -- which pretty much just means reading, blogging, and the like, because really, what else would I be doing with my life?

I am both loving and wanting my elementary practicum to be over. The kids are amazing (and most of the teachers), but the constant critiquing and observation is annoying and intimidating. I do much better when there isn't someone hovering over me, waiting to tell me what I am doing wrong and how I could do it better, even though I prefer to learn by seeing good examples, which I can't say that I am. I feel way better about my time management skills, though I clearly lack classroom management skills. Whatever. We'll see how the secondary one goes in a few weeks.

I'll post a picture of my hats sometime soon. They are very cute and colorful.

TTFN...

Back from Indiana/Illinois and headed straight into some more busy weeks at work. I did miss my library, though. No library trips at all last week, which is very surprising. I did however partially fall in a river, get attacked by giant tree spiders, bowl a 123, visit the largest flea market I have ever seen, search for planets and pirate's treasure, and dye my socks. I officially have house envy, after taking a tour of my aunt and uncle's huge house, complete with balconies (indoor and outdoor), pool table, hot tub, home theatre, and really soft carpet. And the gluten-free experiment has come to an end, because the choice was either flour or starve. I like wheat. I missed it. Let's see how it and I get along.

And now maybe, just maybe, some sleep...

We are now the proud owners of a gazebo. In our very own backyard. It landed safely, after a rather questionable start and a brief thunderstorm, during which we cowered in the back of a friend's van across the street. I still got wet. But it was so worth it. The first dinner in the gazebo was truly the highlight of the summer. I hereby invite everyone to open gazebo parties every evening for the next...well, forever. After we get back from the Great Midwest in ten days or so, that is.

Ok, sleepy time...

So our house is infested with insects -- ants in the kitchen, spiders in the bathroom. Must be summer or something. Yay for air conditioning in the library, where I have been spending much time. Next week, however, is VBS, which means crazy schedule-ness and preparation that has not yet been taken care of. And we have a dumpster coming this weekend, which just adds a bit more craziness. I vote for it not being 90 degrees again on Saturday. And for being able to sleep more than four hours at a time one of these days...

I have also been neglecting my list reading in favor of winning elephant feet and a tool belt at the Wii Carnival. Bad me...but I want some cool red wings!!

After five years of talking about it, it's finally done. Tonight we dismantled the swing set and club house, in preparation for the coming of the gazebo. I have long obsessed about the gazebo. Right up there with spiral staircases and hammocks. This could very well turn out to be the best summer yet...

The worst part about going gluten-free is that nothing has the texture of bread, except bread. I eat food for textures... :( And who knew that licorice has flour in it?

I read 5 books today and am on number 6...

So it turns out that I don't have enough money to pay my summer tuition. Guess that's what I get for taking 2 months off work...not that I really had a choice. At least my experiences have been valuable in other ways. And I am sort of making progress on my goal of reading the list of nominations for ALA Best Books for YAs. I'm somewhere around 38 of 217. Which means it may still be a while...

Nothing else significant to report. Almost done with my online class. Just one more major project and a few little things. Have to take care of getting fingerprinted and the like. Oh, and find another practicum site. And sleep for a few weeks, assuming it ever gets cool enough again or someone puts the air conditioners in...

I need a couple of extra hours in the day. Preferably to spend sleeping, but I could also use some time for homework, studying for the ATS-W, reading, and watching movies. I have yet to even figure out what exactly the assignment for the first week of my class is, but at least I figured out that I could order one of my textbooks for $4.71. It's slightly odd that neither of them is particularly in the system, though...

Anyway, there are 140 feeds waiting in my reader, 2 overdue episodes of Macgyver, and who knows what else lurking around, giving me this lovely headache, to match the sore fingers that come from removing stickers for 8 hours straight. I'm also going to Buffalo tomorrow for Art Speigleman, staying the night, and heading to Ohio for the weekend. Which means no catching up on anything this weekend. Hopefully it will at least be somewhat relaxing.

Still haven't made much progress on the food front, other than to suspect that my stomach just hates me, or whatever the second thing I eat of the day is. Cutting out eggs just in case...

Oy, I need a vacation...(Oh wait, that's right. I'm on one...)


Oh, and I applied for a reference position today... :0

The end of the spring semester means spring cleaning, of a sort. It should refer to organizing my room, but that project halted prematurely, due to lack of time, space, and energy. It does however mean that I have reinstalled my computer, thereby giving me a faster, smoother operating system. Which means I am now customizing my baby back to the way I like her. There was a second point to this whole "spring cleaning" thing, but I can't think of it right now. Oh wait, that's right, the gluten-free diet. Added to the meat-free, dairy-light diet makes for some interesting thought processes before I am able to eat anything. So far, so good, though it has only been 5 days. I am finding all sorts of foods that I can eat and really like, so that is positive. Throw in some occasional exercise (5 mile walk!) and I might even turn out healthier by the end of the summer.

Also in news today, I started my internship at St.JF. It was both better and worse than I anticipated. The task itself is simple - recode books using Dewey rather than LC. The hard part -- removing old stickers. Emphasis on "stick". I estimate we will go through 6 bottles of GooGone, 18 rolls of paper towel, and several sets of fingers. Thank goodness for label peelers... I like the atmosphere, though, and I actually get to work with books, so overall I think the next month will be survivable.

Much traveling to ensue in the coming months, so the next challenge is to come up with a new car activity that won't make me sick...

I think I am more overwhelmed and exhausted now than I have ever been in my life. I'm not really sure why, since my list of things to do isn't that long, but I think it's all in the details -- remember to do this, find time to do that, oh, and sleeping every once in a while would be nice.

I have definitely discovered lately that I have a hard time dealing with situations where I have to rely on others to get things done that I could do myself much easier. Namely, group projects. Normally, sharing responsibility is a good thing. But lately, it doesn't feel that way. I know my people skills aren't all that great, so I guess I am doing pretty well, but it doesn't make it any easier. I guess I'm just stressed over everything, though not as much as some people.

I can't believe there is only one week left in the semester. 6 more classes. 2 more presentations. 2 more tests. 3 more events.

I have to pack this weekend. And finish aforementioned projects. And maybe de-stress. And go to a party. And hopefully get rid of this headache...

In other news, the Relay went pretty well, despite the lack of organization. I won two raffle baskets and bought some cool stuff.