My mentor and boss’ mom died Monday after a somewhat lengthy hospital stay, which means the rest of our kids staff has really been pulling together to make sure that, on the eve of summer reading pandemonium, the earth and everything on it does not collapse.  This led to a very interesting incident that involved a Harry Potter book and a ragingly psychopathic woman who claims to be a librarian :-p  It also led me to proclaim that I loved my job because on my request form I got to write “popsicles.” 

But anyway.

I found out that I have 15 kids scheduled for my next PJ storytime at CFD.  FIFTEEN WHOLE KIDS!  This may not seem like a lot to some of you who have large libraries, but that is by far the largest number I have ever had registered at this library, which is very small.  It’s taken me almost a year, but it looks like these new PJ storytimes are starting to pick up speed.  I also got asked to add a second preschool storytime at another library, which is quite exciting.  My teen craft programs are also quite popular.  The only bad news is that our thoroughly awesome college program has received ZERO sign-ups, which is a little scary, so I made some more fliers and begged all the librarians to hang them up.  So, we’ll see.  I hope we get some people.

Calling hours are tonight, which I am attending with Amanda.  Then its the weekend.  Holy shit, where did this week go?

 Oh right.  I was at the library.

Thanks to the AS IF! authors group (http://asifauthors.livejournal.com) I have discovered the newest list of most frequently banned books– the ALA’s “Top 10 Challenged Books of 2006.”  Go to ala.org for more info about banned books (always a favorite topic of mine), but here is a little tidbit from their website:

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006″ reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:
“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
“Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
“Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
“The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
“Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
“Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;
“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

Now, allow me, in true book dork fashion, to comment on this:
**Come off the “And Tango Makes Three” thing already!!! It is about BIRDS. And it’s based on a TRUE STORY. And its a PICTURE BOOK. People really have nothing better to do with their time, do they?
**The “Gossip Girls” series may be a bit trashy, but unfortunately that is a pretty honest portrayal of high school life these days. And I read most of those, and I don’t recall any homosexuality, but maybe I missed it.
**I’d like to challenge and ban “The Bluest Eye” too. And “Beloved.” And everything else Toni Morrison ever wrote. Every English teacher on the planet makes you read those, and honestly once is enough for any of those books. The rape/incest/plight factor is so high that it makes you want to vomit. It’s good literature, but I can see why people have a problem with it, and I’d take it out of high schools if I could.
**”Scary Stories” has been challenged for EVER, and I think its stupid and getting a little old.  (The challenging, not the books.)

At least the fact that “Catcher” finally got off the list is a sign that America is starting to come to its senses. I hope.

that I was at Ellen DeGeneres’ house sitting on some bleachers and she came and gave me a personal tour of her house.  She had the same exact laptop I wanted, and I was all excited, and I went back out to the bleachers to tell Portia de Rossi and Ellen’s mom Betty (who I had been sitting with) all about it.

This is what I get for watching the Ellen DeGeneres show and then going to Best Buy to look at laptops. 

At least in my dream I wasn’t scared of elevators…

is an oxymoron.

Because trust me, as much as you think you might want these problems, you don’t.  Trust me on this one.

In other less depressing news, I had a great night last night at the Dulanski/Herr house with Em and Allison and Steve and Monica.  Their mom made dinner, which was yummy.  The rest of the night was great too, but all I will say is that it involved a movie, a cell phone, ice cream, a kitty, and afterellen.com’s top 100 list. ;-)

Somehwere in there I also found time to go meet with the librarian at one of the libraries I will be working at this summer.  She moves at the speed of… well, very fast.  But after seeing her work environment I see why.  She’s a part-time librarian and the only librarian on staff at a library that is certainly open more than 20 hours a week.  Their principal clerk is also part time.  It’s really sad.  If we had more money that could be a really great library, and they’re trying, they really are, but without the funding it’s just so hard.  Hopefully my summer programs will be a success and I can help out in some small way there.

My life, in bulleted form:

**I mostly have my voice back.  Enough to sing along with my iTunes anyway, which is all that really matters.  It makes me feel human again.

**When I searched (“Kathryn Erbe” interview) the other day in an effort to find more interviews with my idol and all-time favorite actress and human being, I was shocked to see MY BLOG on page 4 of the search results!  This is a tad confusing, since I have never interviewed Kathryn Erbe, but whatever, it’s cool anyway.

**Hoooolllllyyyy cow the Summer Reading hoopla at my libraries is quickly approaching– a little too quickly for my taste.  I’m not too worried about my weekly storytimes, or my PJ storytimes, but my teen programming is a whooollle other bag of fish.  This is a brand new thing for my libraries, so I don’t know what to expect.  I’ll just try to publicize it like crazy and hope for the best!

**In the words of Green Day, “wake me up when September ends.”

Life really is what happens when you are making other plans, isn’t it.

Like the part where I got laryngitis and had to not go to work for a week and I nearly died of boredom and stir-crazy-ness. 

And how it made me think a little too much for my own good.

Things that have happened as a result of my confinement:
**I have an unbridled passion for SNL Celebrity Jeopardy
**And Robin Williams
**And Nathan Lane.
**And, in fact, anything that will make me laugh and forget that I’m sick.
**I have a new determination to get everything done that I need to get done
**But I need to get better to do it all.

So now (finally!) I’m back at work, even if it is just sitting at a computer for 7 hours not talking to anyone. But its a start, and that’s what I like.

Those of you who know me know that my homepage is cnn.com because if it wasn’t, I’d never know what was going on in the world.  When you’re in college, the closest you come to watching the news is watching the Colbert Report or Weekend Update on SNL.  So every time I go forth to YouTube or LiveJournal, I need to see what is happening in the world first.

And you really wouldn’t think that CNN would be so interesting, but that silly website never ceases to amaze me.  For example: when Ellen DeGeneres hurt her back and did her TV show in a hospital bed because she was confined to bedrest, that was one of the top stories.  Not that that isn’t really effing cool, but top headline on CNN?

Today there were two stories that caught my eye.  The first was:
Man Tries to Jump Onto Popemobile
The other was
‘Jericho’ fans assail CBS with 25 tons of peanuts

The popemoblie thing might not be quite as funny to you if you are not catholic or have never heard the phrase “big popin’” as coined by my little sister Caitie Brown.  But the Jericho/CBS thing is crazy.  I mean, I’m pissed Crossing Jordan got canceled, but you don’t see me sending dead bodies to NBC.  That’s just kinda scary.

It’s also headline news for one of the most respected news services in the country.  Which makes me wonder about the state of our nation.

My dear friend Adrienne over at What Adrienne Thinks About That tagged me for this little thing, so I’ll play along.  I will now copy and paste what I’m supposed to do:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Well all righty.  Here we go then:

1) I really like my job. Both of them. I like my co-workers and I like helping people every day. And at the library, I like working with kids :-) People complain about their jobs, but I can honestly say I love mine. I’ll miss Admissions when I’m not here anymore.
2) I love Kathryn Erbe. For those of you who don’t know who she is, she plays Det. Alex Eames on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I want to be her when I grow up. Kathryn Erbe and Alex Eames. Both of them.
3) I always seem to fall for computer dorks.
4) Or, in the words of Matt, “bitchy dark-haired musicians.”
5) I’ve wanted to be a children’s librarian since I was 16, but if I wasn’t a librarian, I’d either go to law school or become a college admissions counselor.
6) Sara Ryan is my favorite author. Hands down.
7) Even though I tend to dislike my parents, my family, my house, and being in Webster, I can’t imagine what I’d do without any of them. Deep down I love my family more than anything and I want to go back to Rochester when I get done with school.
And Number 8- I suck at relationships. Romantic ones. Friend relationships I’m great with.

I don’t know who has already been tagged, but I’ll tag O and Sabrina and…. I dunno. Anyone else who wants to.