I knew I was in the right generation

Yesterday a study was released which indicates that the largest group of public library users are aged 18-30.Who even knew?This is interesting news for libraries and librarians because it means that the very users everyone dismisses as the "Google" generation who get all their information on their home computer are actually using the library as well. I personally can use this as justification for directing more budget money and programming to that age group.According to the survey, lots of young adults go to libraries to use the computers, read newspapers & magazines, check out books, and to get information about jobs, government benefits, educational opportunities & requirements, and health questions.I'm so proud of everyone.If you are hardcore like me and think the funnest thing...

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Get ready to OD on Sumptuous Literary Adaptations

It all begins tonight. Changes are afoot at Masterpiece Theatre, including the recruitment of Gillian Anderson as a new host. Which makes sense now that she's basically British. Will be listening on Jan 13th to see if she and Madonna share the same mid-Atlantic accent. As will a whole lot of X-Philes, I'm sure.Anyway, Scully will be hosting the "Masterpiece Classic" portion of the season, which will include the Jane Austen Season, a new adaptation of Room With A View, a Judi Dench & Co. miniseries, and some film starring Daniel Radcliffe's Eyebrow.Tonight and next Sunday they're rebroadcasting last year's Best Jane Eyre Adaptation Ever,...

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Swansong: 2007

As the number of days left in the unsatisfying year of 2007 are reduced to a mere two, I would like to take this chance to enter a swansong entry, summarising my thoughts about what has happened in the span of this unbearable 363.5 days.Junior College Year 2 and GCE A Levels were what was facing me from the early part of this wretched year, of which I relentlessly pushed myself on mentally, pscyhically and emotionally through that guantlet of challenges and academic setbacks. One particular memorable setback I dealt with immense will and strength had great impressions in me. It was the first common test of the school year. I got back my results shortly after, it was the greatest impact thus far in my academic life - I only passed one subject which is General Paper, of which I topped the class....

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This year's big gift

For the last couple of years our Dad has given us cash for Christmas so that we could buy what we want/need. This year, he said he was doing something different. We were all going to get the same thing, but he didn't say what it was. This, to me, was puzzling. He got us something that he thinks we will all like--and that we'll all like more that we would like cash? More than I would like cash--I who love money above all things? This did not seem possible.Spitfire and I picked Mom and Dad up at the airport and learned that Dad carried our gifts on the airplane in a separate backpack (a purple backpack, mind you) rather than checking them in his suitcase. This, to me, suggested electronics. Whatever was in the backpack felt firm and squarish, based on the exploring I did with my bare feet while...

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Great new Christmas Tradition

So I have to say, my favorite part of Christmas was the girls-only sleepover. We kicked out all the boys, put on our coordinating red underwear and pajamas, and had ourselves a great time. There was lots of giggling and lolling about and teasing and snapping of the waistbands of other people's underwear. Also a pillow fight. We invited some of our girlfriends to come on over, one of whom snuck in a can of whipping cream by holding it in her cleavage. Oh, the mess and squeals we made during the whipped cream fight!Oh. Wait, sorry. That wasn't us. That was the girls from the Victoria Secret commercial that's on the air now and which is driving me slowly out . . . of . . . my . . . mind.If there are any guys out there who think this is what we do at our sleepovers, you can stop thinking that....

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Because I haven't killed enough puppies yet to ensure the 'going to Hell' thing

My mom brought down our old Barbie gear to give to Savannah, and my sister Jenny and I noticed something interesting.We now bring you the Amy Winehouse Barbie. Don't y'all wish you'd spent Christmas at our hou...

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Monotony, perhaps.

Monotony because I have started work, and my work consists of scanning stacks of papers into a weird looking machine that could miraclously convert papers into .jpgs at a nifty speed, typing in even weirder looking series of numbers and looking at people's identification cards, and silently commenting on their names and protraits. What a damned voyeur I am. Haha.Boring, and very monotonous it is, but it is rather good money, partially because I have unwittingly signed a bloody 2 month long contract with the company whose name is Aviva Limited. So, I shall be designated at that hellhole of an office until late Feburary 2008 AD. Bless me, Loki. For my intellect and social life shall plummet sharply to unsightly low heights. To prevent that, I have intended to call upon friends for my hour-long...

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Twas the night before, and all that

I'm down in Provo now and having a wonderful time with my sweet family. During the lulls I'm reading the book Unplug the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season, which is looking like it's going to be great and change my life. It's always fun to find things like that.Soon we will cook and consume an obscene amount of prime rib, mashed potatoes, crab-stuffed mushroom, shrimp cocktail, Alaskan King crab, cheese ball, and chocolate fondue. Then some of us will have to make additional Utah Food Bank donations to get over our feelings of capitalist consumer guilt. It's just once a year, though, right?Tonight...

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Self-Imposed Essay Writing.

I spent around 3 hours doing this essay last night, this is my first try at a Buddhism essay. The below is a link to the full essay posted over at my deviantart. Hope you enjoy it!Why Am I A Buddhist? , written by LingNemesis, yours truly.Otherwise, the festival of ultimate consumerism - Christmas is coming up, and I don't give a half damn about it. Haha.Bored. Not in the mood to rant today. Bl...

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Your mom's a crack smoker

This is going to be jumbled. And it will bring up way more questions that it will answer, because it probably won't answer any of them. But I'm curious and wanting to chat about this. And I'd like to hear what you think.1. Lately the Utah Drug Force and other agencies have been getting the word out that the most typical meth users in the state are woman in their 20s and 30s who are also mothers.2. My friend works at a pharmacy where a pregnant woman was recently arrested for forging a prescription for Loritab (she had a prescription, but changed the amount so she could get more pills). She tried to fill it while her husband and children waited in the parking lot on their way to church.3. There have been studies and articles which indicate that Utah leads the way in anti-depressant use, with...

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The Need for a New Enlightenment

Just finished with reading Hitchen's god is not Great. The introductory quote of the final chapter deserves much applause. Here it is:"The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get to the Truth. It is not possession of the Truth, but rather the pursuit of Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectibility is to be found. Possession makes one passive, indolent and proud. If God were to hold all Truth concealed in his right hand, and in his life only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with the proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand. "~~ Gotthold Lessing, from Anti-Goeze,...

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The best-laid plans . . .

So, as you may have noticed, Christmas is next week. My parents are flying down and we're going to have Christmas in Provo with Jenny & Ed & The Precii.There are a few things I'm especially looking forward to:A phone call from dear coolboy, who is laboring away on the sandy beaches of the Dominican Republic, (missionaries only call home twice a year--usually on Mother's Day and Christmas). Coolboy let us know that last year's Christmas phone call sucked bricks and that we'd better think of better & less boring things to tell him this year. I personally plan to make stuff up. I will begin with my pregnancy scare and end with the grizzly bear that wandered into the University Mall and mauled several Victoria's Secret patrons.The food. Mom has already called Jen with the grocery...

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Life seems better, by alot, actually.

"What's up?", you might want to ask. Instead of the ubiquitious answer people usually offer like "Oh, nothing much, really." *insert yawns* I shall attempt to give a more exciting peek of "what's up".Firstly, I have reached the ending few chapters of Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great book. One particular chapter - There is no Eastern Solution, irked me to a certain and significiant degree. The way he slams Buddhism is rather severe and unrelenting. He has given himself a serious concession by trying to pin everything possible to its end, in this case, it might not be neccessary. I would love to meet up with him. Over a nice cup of Ceylon tea, I will try my best to explain Buddhism and its pragmatic nature to him, and I only hope he will listen to it. Lol. Ugh. In his own words from the...

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Saco de Toro

So . . . my roommate has this boyfriend. And he has always been perfectly civil to me which is why I'm going to be careful what I say about him here. Because despite this civility I'm quite sure that if I were to get on his bad side he would probably set fire to my car. He's a wilderness sort of guy, which is all you really need to know here.The other day I was talking on the phone and noticed something on the kitchen table. I picked it up. It looked like a hollowed-out gourd made of leather. Wondered what kind of animal that came from, and then put it back down and dismissed it with an, "Enh. Must be some freaky thing [BF] brought in." Forgot...

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You say potato . . .

It's occasionally fun to be reminded that I now live in an agricultural town--especially when that reminder does not come in the form of fresh manure scents wafting in my nostrils or gap-toothed cowboys wearing Carhartt coveralls (which, so help me, I left Alaska to get AWAY from!)The most recent reminder was a linguistic one. At a Sunday dinner potluck hosted today by Before, a group of us got into conversation about the term "borrow pit," which all the agricultural kids know about and use, and which I and the rest of the decadent bourgeoisie had never before heard of.Apparently it refers to the deep indentations on the side of the road.Me: Isn't that a ditch?Aggies: No, because there's no water in it.Me: So it's only a ditch if it has water?Aggies: Or if it sometimes has water.Me: Riiiiiight.So...

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Fine, are you happy now?

After two weeks of trying to shake this cold, I give up. I give UP, do you hear??? I succumb. This is me, succumbing. I am leaving work and going home to sleep for the next 18 hours. And when I wake up I had better both sound and feel like a normal person and not like a staggering zombie with the voicebox of a German Shepherd.In my absence, here is something to watch.When I saw this I thought, "Hey, it's that guy from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz!" And "Hey, it's that guy who played the police inspector for 2 minutes in North and South!" "Hey, it's Lemsip! Good times!"Yes, I need a life. But if it doesn't involve an encyclopedic knowledge of British actors and products then I don't want it because clearly that is no life at a...

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Sometimes I wonder if we're actually related

Last night I was in a bit of a work-related strop and my dear sister Spitfire did her best to cheer me up. Her cheering-up ideas included flourless chocolate cake from Sweetly Divine, a fabulous pastry shop here in L****. Mine involved Wammart, cheap things made of glass, and a brick wall.We went with hers, since it was technically better.On the way there, though, she started talking about the movie Transformers.Spitfire: Oh that's right, you probably haven't seen it.Me (slumped down in the passenger seat with a permascowl): No, I only watch quality programming.Spitfire, shaking her head: That may be the case, but you're missing out. It was kind of good.Me: [unintelligible sneering and snorting]Spitfire continued: Just think, Megatron was the bad guy but originally he was their brother in...

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My sister <3

Just look at it. On the freaking front page of Youtube. I am so very much impressed and proud of her. Sister ftw!And, if you happen to be in the Esplanade region on 20th, drop by the Powerstage in the evening. Your very chance to hear Larkin Step live! *ZOMGWTFBBQ!!!* Yes, grab that chance and be at Esplanade. =DHaha, I am such an advertisement. Heh.- Ling The Seco...

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Have found some good stress relievers

Remember last week when you gave me all the good advice about how to keep the eye twitch down? I decided to follow your counsel.On Saturday I used a birthday gift certificate I'd been hanging on to and got a massage at the Valhalla Salon & Spa. It was so, SO nice. The therapist was great. Not as good as the one I used to use but can never afford again (She Who Has Dark Magic in Her Fingers), but I've kind of given up on the idea of finding anyone like that ever again because I don't think such people exist. Saturday's therapist did actually spent time working on the places that needed it, though, and didn't try to run any Matchbox cars up...

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My letter to the parents of L**** and its environs

Dear Parents,They are called babysitters. Look into them.My enjoyment of Saturday night's Christmas concert at Utah State University was slightly marred by the squalls and piercing shrieks of your infant and toddler offspring. I especially appreciated the part where, rather than sitting near an exit so that you could make a hasty retreat at the first signs of fussiness, many of you chose to park yourselves right in the middle of a row right in the front of the audience. I think I would have made a different choice if I had a ticking time bomb in my lap, but oh well. And I really loved how some of you finally took your screaming child out of the theater and then brought them back in again a few minutes later just to repeat the entire process.I'm also curious--why was it so important to you...

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Tiny Friday Present

I realize that every word from my lips is pretty much gold, but in case you want to learn other cool stuff from other cool people, check these out:A Big List of Sites That Teach You How to Do StuffiTunes U--I learned about this one from Yankee GirlAlso, did you know that you can use good ol' YouTube for things like flute and guitar lessons and stuff? Because you c...

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Blah blah Golden Compass blah blah

Someone who clearly does not know me very well sent me one of those "BEWARE THE GOLDEN COMPASS FOR YEA VERILY IT SHALL SUCK OUT YOUR SOUL" emails. I was not impressed, and kind of wanted to write this person back and ask that the next time he chooses to blindly pass on inflammatory information like a mindless, mindless drone that he kindly leave me out of it.My acquaintance isn't the only one sending this stuff out, though. I just read that an elementary school principal in Bountiful, UT sent an email to the parents of his students back in October, warning them about the film. Which, WOW. I was glad to read that he got a reprimand from the district, because as a parent I would have been well bothered by that.The quite witty Eric D. Snider wrote a blog post about the whole hoopla surrounding...

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Kitaro in Singapore

I just got back from my first non-metal/rock live concert experience, it's New Age this time, surprisingly. Haha. The artist is above-mentioned and as you have probably realised from my past entries I have ranted abit about him and his work and wisdom.Now, about this concert today at The Indoor Stadium.I was in an extremely delicately good mood at this evening, feeling at ease and full of the positive energy or metta, if I were to use Buddhist terminology. Haha. So yeah, the show started. There were more camera flash lights than the stage lights at first, that was rather annoying. After the first song which sounded totally alien (it's probably...

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Striving for emotional health

They say you should learn to recognize signs your body and mind may be giving you when they want to tell you that you are stressed. If my 2-month eye twitch is any indication, then yes, I may be slightly stressed. It comes and goes, but most of it is to do with work and wanting to get things resolved so that I can get back to kicking the trash out of one job rather than eye-twitching my way through two. Is that so much to ask?Yesterday was a long 12-hour day wherein I oversaw the library's employee/substitutes/volunteer Christmas party. It was a lot of fun but I'm kind of exhausted and getting slightly cranky. Also I have a cold, which turns...

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Kitaro Tomorrow

Time to immerse myself in such briliant cacophony tomorrow night at the Indoor Stadium.Can't wait....

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Songs from Enchanted

If they're going to be stuck in my head then I see no reason why they shouldn't be stuck in yours.I keep thinking of Amy Adams as "Katie the Purse Girl" from The Office. I kind of hate how adorable she is. But seriously, this movie is worth watching if only to see how well she plays a Disney Princess.Also???? If they're going to take the trouble of putting Idina Flipping Menzel in the movie then why the heck doesn't she get to sing, huh? Tsk tsk, peop...

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Quick announcement

Hey, remember when I blogged about the student art sale here in L****? And some of you wondered if they'll be doing anything like this in the Salt Lake City area?Wonder no more, friends. According to the fabulous girls over at Your Heart Out, which you really must read if you live in any kind of radius to SLC, the University of Utah is having a student art sale Tuesday through Thursday of this week. You can get details here.Happy Mond...

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In which I become my mother

On Saturday I went to not one but TWO craft market show bazaar thingies.I know. But the first one was the Beehive Bazaar in Provo, which was all kinds of hipancool. I would have wandered in there for hours, but1) they were crammed into a really really small space (I hope they can get a bigger room next time!)and2) Jenny and I had Savvy with us. Even though she was very good, we knew we had a only very brief window before she would give in to her heart's desire and start making out with a gingerbread castle.There were so many funky and gorgeous things there. These prints by Sarah Jane Studios made my ovaries seize up.So yeah, I definitely want...

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Mourning Palace

So fucking good to see old, epic songs being played again. This one is Mourning Palace, by Dimmu Borgir. In a studio of 80 people as audience. Small and tight performan...

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