We're heading into the second week of November, and it's 75 degrees here! (That's like, I dunno, 24 or something for Canadians and Brits out there.) I'm wearing shorts because it was so hot in my room earlier when the sun was streaming straight in the window. I guess this is what it'd be like if I moved to Texas, or some other warm all the time climate. Of course, Target is decorated with Christmas trees and snowflakes, like it could totally start snowing in just a moment here. I don't buy it!

Usually there's a point in the semester when I start obsessively watching TV or anime episodes. It tends to be during the last few weeks of class, leading into finals. It seems this year I've hit that point early. Over the past two weeks I've watched the first three seasons of The Office then finished off series 2 of Spooks. Priorities, what?

Don't get me wrong, I've also written a few assignments, gave presentation in class, and accomplished a bunch at work. This week I've taught my student assistants about Depeche Mode, Top Gun, and, um... metadata. No amusing videos for that one.

Because it has nothing to do with anything, I really like the new Weezer single (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To much better than their previous couple of singles.

Also, new Doctor Who in a week. I've decided I really don't like this whole spread out specials deal. I'm kind of out of the fandom loop right now. I do at least have a few Whovian friends in the area to geek out with.

ETA: I want some new icons, but I am lazy. Suggestions are very welcome for fun icons posts for Bones, Doctor Who, Dollhouse, PGSM, Harry Potter, Star Wars, 30 Rock, BSG... anything awesome, basically.

I'm reading this article for class, and whoever scanned it left these giant black spaces around the edges. Back when I worked in a university library, we had to measure the journal pages and program the size into the copier. If we screwed up and left an 1/8th inch of black space the document delivery people sent the request back with angry admonishments written on it. I could totally do this better!

I have another job interview. :) It's for a job... wait for it... SCANNING THINGS! I can honestly say I never thought that particular job experience would ever come in handy again. Sometimes, it is good to be wrong.

The Torchwood radio play "Lost Souls" was on this afternoon, and it had ( lulz and weird skience. ) You can download it here for the next 7 days.

Shameless self-promotion: I entered some icons at dw_icontest this week, and although I can't say which are mine, I encourage you DW fans to vote! :)

I want a purple iPod nano. I'm not actually going to buy one; there's absolutely nothing wrong with my silver one. (Besides not being purple.) And speaking of Apple-y things, I downloaded the newest version of Firefox today, and I swear graphics are slightly duller colored than they are in Safari.

Anyway, about that article I'm reading...

This morning at work we were imagining an Extreme Library Makeover and decided to go poking around in one of the (nearly) empty file cabinets behind the circ desk, and we found...

DOS!

It came with two sets of floppy disks, 5.25 inches and 3.5 inches, for the people who have really hi tech systems. Yeah. 1988.

Why do we have this when not one of our computers can load it? I have no idea... It's just further proof that no one there ever gets rid of anything.

I knew there was a reason I came to work today! I may have to be here until 5pm, but here I have an internet connection, unlike at home. I brought my laptop with me, which means I'll actually get to watch Who tonight! Yay! (I've been worried about this since Monday, day one of "the internets hate me" week.) Theoretically, work will give me something to do all day... except not. There's literally no one else here. So much for distraction, eh?

In lieu of the non-existent work I have to do today, why RTD's characters remind me of a Dr. Seuss story. ( Spoilers through 4X12 and that one cast photo for 4X13. )


I couldn't be arsed to actually drive somewhere last night, but I did get to watch some fireworks from my patio. It's not the same as sitting so close that some of the ash falls on your head, but oh well. They still look nice from far away, and I don't think I would really have enjoyed sitting by myself in the middle of a big crowd. (Being alone I'm fine with, but alone in a crowd is lonely.) I also finished watching "The Ambassadors of Death," which was very good. I'm almost to the end of Season 7 (Jon Pertwee's first season) now. The era of being Earthbound with UNIT is very different from a lot of other Doctor Who, but I like it.

It feels like this has been an extrememly long week for some reason. Maybe because I haven't been sleeping enough, but you'll have that. The weekend is finally (almost) here, though (not quite, cause I'm at work for another hour), and I've got plenty of reasons to be excited (other than being easily excitable).

Tonight is the season finale of Moonlight, and there's a new episode of Battlestar Galactica for my Kara and Laura fix. Afterwards, I'm going to see Prince Caspian with friends. The Narnia books are some of my all time favorites, and the movie looks awesome.

Tomorrow is the Turkey Creek Festival. d4ni and I have no idea what it is, but it's at the park a couple blocks from our apartment. We know there is a parade involved. Basically, it promises to be amusing (either amusingly lame or legitimately fun, though probably the former). And Saturday night there's new Doctor Who!

Today is the end of finals week, so there have hardly been any people in the libary all morning. It's eerily quiet. I did some shelving (which was actually okay, cause it was the lit section, so the books aren't ten pounds each and actually look interesting), then spent a quality hour cleaning all the keyboards. YUCK! I now never want to use public computers ever again and have thouroughly rid my hands of all forms of bacteria. Sweet. At least I got paid today, so it (kind of) makes up for it.

In this morning's news, the International Association of Athletics Federations has ruled that double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is eligible to run in the Olympic Games. I'm impressed by anyone who can run that fast, let alone a man with two prosthetic legs, so I'm glad they're letting him compete. (Also, I think discrimination against the disabled justified by science is still discrimination.) I honestly don't think runners are going to start amputating limbs to get prosthetic ones, and I think critics who cite that as a potential problem are vastly underestimating the stigma attached to disability that would prevent people from doing so.

Elsewhere in the world of sports, Speedo is involved in a monopoly suit. Supposedly their new full body suit could monopolize the competitive swimwear market. Now, I don't care if full body swim suits can shave off a few seconds of time, I'm still against them. Why? Swimmers have some of the fittest bodies ever and it's significantly less fun to watch men's swimming if they're completely covered up.

BSG tonight! To celebrate, a silly limerick! :D

( Season 3 Spoilers Re: The Final Five )

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Miley Cyrus seriously needs to get the heck out of my head. That song will not leave me alone! (Forget "All Along the Watchtower"; you want people to go crazy, play some Miley Cyrus.

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This morning at work the printer jammed five times and had two more imaginary paper jams, all in an hour. I think that the printer, like the Cylons, has evolved. And it HATES me. Also, I saw a guy in a Gogol Bordello t-shirt, which was cool. I recently started listening to some of their music. It's fun stuff!

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I finished two books yesterday: Promises to Keep by Charles de Lint and The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. Both were short--less than 200 pages each, and the latter is a children's book--but that's still a lot more reading than I get done on the average day. They're both good, by the way.

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Another story of daft moves by American publishers: One of my friends in Montreal recommended the book Starter for Ten by David Nicholls, which she said is her favorite book ever. (Definitely sounds worth a chance, eh?) Unfortunately, when I looked for it in the library here, they only had the movie version. Several weeks later I finally discovered that the book was initially published in the US by a different title, A Question of Attraction. For the paperback edition (after the movie release) they switched back to the original title, which I think was a better title in the first place.

Armed with this knowledge, I've finally located a copy, and I started reading this morning (in between printer jams). We'll see if it lives up to Sarah's hype.

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And welcome to my new friends from from goin_my_way! Only one more day 'til the Doctor and Donna hit the screens! :D

The college where I work is a Gallaudet University Regional Center, so we regularly have deaf patrons at the library. (Gallaudet is a US university for the deaf.) In past positions, I've often encountered English language learners, but working with deaf patrons is a new experience for me. The most difficult part, as you might imagine, is communication. I don't know American Sign Language, and only some of the patrons can lip read. All of the deaf patrons I've helped so far have written down their requests. For something simple, like a book renewal, I write down the new due date. Easy enough.

Today I had a trickier situation. A patron came in looking for a specific book, which I looked up for her. Normally we try to explain the call numbers to patrons--most of whom are unfamiliar with the Library of Congress classification system--rather than personally tracking down each book ourselves, but I was unsure how to give that my usual explanation--or even ask if she needed it--without writing an essay. Writing out the call number and pointing to the appropriate shelf range seems inadequate, though she did find the book she wanted.

I did quick searches on Amazon.com and the public library catalog, and discovered that there really isn't much in the library literature about services for patrons with disabilities. (There's a ton about reader's advisory and teen services.) I don't recall any real mention of disability in libraries in any of my classes last semester, which makes me think it's still a neglected area. The lack of information seems to imply that it's a bit of a niche area, but I'd think, especially in public libraries, where I eventually hope to work, it'd be essential that librarians have some understanding their disabled patrons.

It's definitely an area I'd like to look into further. In particular, since I know I can expect to meet more deaf patrons in the upcoming months, I'd like to learn at least some basic phrases in ASL. Written transactions work, but feel somewhat impersonal to me, and it would be nice to at the very least be able to greet the patron in ASL. I guess it'd be an attempt to meet them halfway, communication wise, rather than expecting everyone to understand my language. In general, I think English-speakers in the US have an overly unilingual perspective. (The "this is America, so speak English" philosophy. We could be a lot more linguistically flexible. And learning languages is fun!) Maybe I can even figure out how to explain the call numbers...
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A sidenote: My boss is strange. He doesn't like "clutter" on the circulation desk. There's about five feet of desk in between the two circulation computers, and I learned today that putting an issue of MacLean's in that space constitutes clutter. Okay, a little anal, but sure. What was really strange was the way he conveyed this information to me: by picking up the magazine and kind waving it around a little. I wondered if maybe he was going to comment about the article I was reading (about digital music downloads at public libraries) until he gestured with it toward the other side of the desk and mumbled something about keeping it on the other side of the computer because he likes the desk clutter-free. Oy. It's like Office Space, but in a library. Library Space? Why is it that so many library workers have little to no people skills?