Penguin rides!, a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

I saw this cute little penguin while I was taking the dog for a walk earlier. It really stuck out in the middle of the park, as it was the only toy of it's kind, all alone. I'm afraid it is probably going to get pulled out soon to make way for newer playground equipment. I hate how that happens.

I actually read a book for fun!

What I'm reading..., a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

So, I have been so ridiculously busy lately. Library school = tons of work, all the time, and I am starting to pick up lots of hours at the 'Bux. It seemed like my days of pleasure reading were over, at least for the near future. Last weekend, I went with my mom to Target, and on a whim, I bought a copy of Shiver. I'd heard of the book, but I didn't really think it was something I would be into. My plan was to save it until August, when I will have a few weeks off from school, but on Sunday night, I had a little spare time before bed. I read the first few chapters, and I was hooked. Even though I had to work Monday afternoon, I was able to finish it within 24 hours.

I never really thought I'd be interested in a werewolf story, but this book was a lot different from what I expected. I really enjoy Stiefvater's writing style, and while initially I didn't think that dual narrators could work, it actually worked REALLY well.

What I found especially awesome was the fact that Grace was not some helpless baby, as so many of the female protagonists seem to be in paranormal romancey YA books lately. I mean, I'm not totally hatin'... I love fluff, I thoroughly enjoyed the Twilight books (for what they were; it's not like I thought they were amazing literature or anything). But I think it is important for girls to read about girls who can actually take care of themselves, and don't need to be saved. In fact, there was definitely some role reversal in this book, in terms of who saved who.

I could talk a lot more about this book, but I just got home with Linger! I need to quickly do some homework so that I won't have to feel guilty for staying up late to read.

Caturday

Caturday, a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

No time to write a real post... I have to be at work at 7 am tomorrow, so I need to go to sleep. I have to finish up a blog post for a group project as well.

Tomorrow is Father's Day, a pretty depressing holiday for those of us who have lost our fathers... I'm sure it will get better the more time that passes, but now, only a year later, it's still pretty sad. Usually the sadness only comes through when I hear of someone's dad being sick, or when someone dies. Or maybe if I hear Steely Dan (he was a fan) on the radio. My dad wasn't a perfect guy, and we didn't even always get along. But he was my dad. And it is really hard to accept that I am never ever going to get the chance to see him or talk to him again.

So I am just going to hope that we don't get a lot of people taking their dads out for coffee at my store tomorrow. And that I don't have to help too many people who want to buy a present for their dad. Maybe it won't be too bad, and I'll just be distracted by all the things I have going on.

I didn't intend to write out this bummer post, but I guess it's been on my mind. :(

Best Coast + Design

Recently, I've become totally obsessed with Amazon's MP3 Store and the Amazon Cloud Player. $5 albums are my jam, and not having to fill up my laptop's hard drive with MP3s is pretty awesome.

The album I've been listening to the most lately is Best Coast's Crazy For You. It is amazing, and I keep listening to it over and over. It has helped me through a monster of a Microsoft Access assignment, a bunch of reading, and a few webdesign projects. Here's one of my favorite jams:



On the webdesign tip, can I just say how hard it is for me to design things that are not cutesy? Cute is my default. Unfortunately, cute is not really appropriate for library school group blogs. :(  I think I was able to come up with some nice, adult designs, but it took me so much longer than it would to design a personal blog. Oh well.

In other news: I got a haircut today! Nothing exciting, just a trim and some bangs. I also heard back from a friend who gave me the good news that I'll be able to start volunteering at her library very soon! I'm super excited about it; she's a youth services librarian, and I am going to be helping in her department. Youth services is the area that I am interested in, so I can't wait!

Caturday!

George, a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

George Washington gets to sleep all day while I try to figure out the beast that is Microsoft Access.

I have finally met a computer program that bewilders me. Even with a million video tutorials and a $40 guidebook, I'm still pretty lost. I've pretty much managed to fumble my way through this assignment for my Information Technology class, but it's taken me hours. And I just know that the things I am doing are probably SO BASIC, and anyone who is used to using Access would be able to finish in, like, 20 minutes. Eep.

The good thing is that every time I figure out how to do some new thing, I get this great sense of accomplishment. Tiny victories, I guess.

Life...

craftin', a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

My work is participating in a Relay for Life event this weekend, and I volunteered to make some reusable coffee sleeves. We will have a table selling coffee, tea, and some overstock of reusable mugs, so I thought sleeves would be a nice complement. It was really hard to find the time to sew, since I have a million projects going on for library school, plus I've had to work really early every morning this week. I have been STRESSED OUT.

Anyway, life has gotten in the way and I've really neglected my blog, as well as my list of things to do before 30. I feel like every minute of my day belongs to work, or library school work, or sleep. It's tough, because undergrad was so easy for me, and I had tons of spare time. Now, I have no time for any of my hobbies, and I feel guilty whenever I sneak a moment for myself. Bleh. Part of me wants to ask for less hours at work, but I've only just begun to start getting a decent schedule, and I really need the money. If I could, I would quit working altogether and just focus on grad school. Unfortunately, I really need the health insurance, so that's just not an option right now. Soon i am hoping to start volunteering at a library, so things are going to get worse before they get better. I'm really trying to work on my time management skills.

If anyone has any suggestions for ways to stop being a procrastinator, holla at me. Please.