warriorlibrarian.com Blog

… how come I’m not overwhelmed with a sense of enrichment and/or achievement after multiple displacements in the building’s elevators?

Although the glass analogy is usually used to separate the optimists from the realists (sometimes called pessimists, but that’s only by people who live with the pixies), no one seems to be considering what the ‘glass’ actually contains.

If the glass contains some toxic concoction - say hemlock with library paste - and you’re having a really bad day, you might well embrace the half-empty condition as auspicious. You would only have to drink the other 50% to move into another state of being. But then again, if you were having a good day, then the imperitive to consume the remainder would be minimal.

Conversely, if the glass contained full-cream milk and you were lactose-intolerant, then the thought alone of having drunk a half-glass already should render you nearly comatose.

Just a thought. Nothing’s ever simple, is it?

… to teach an old reader new genres. Or if not actually ‘teach’, then at least introduce.
From Shelly Shapiro’s essay “What is Alternate History?” (although I still maintain it should be ‘alternative’, but what would I know?): “… also known as “counterfactual history … an author takes a pivotal turning point in hisotry, spins it on its axis, and examines what path events might have taken as a result …”

Fair enough. As my newest best friend Shelley points out, any historical fiction could be classed as alternate(ive) history, in that the fictional elements never actually occurred.

Enough with the analysis, already. Dissection, discussion, and decision have been the death of many a good read. Roads not taken (ISBN 0-345-42194-9) was well worth the trip to the local public library’s Paperback Spinner, where many of the good reads seem to end up. Don’t know why that is; it’s not my library.

Although, in the interests of information dissemination I should really ask. Goodness knows, I’m sure they’ve come to expect a series of irritating queries from me. But in my own defence, I’d like to state that I know where the photocopier is, how to use the OPAC, and always carry my stationary with me. Now, if only we could train all library users to do that …

I guess there are worse things than having cement and sand delivered at 6.30am, but it does tend to throw your whole day out of kilter.  But heck! You don’t need the family dog let out of the yard by the rendering ‘team’ (and I’m using that word very loosely).
So at 6.32am, running down a wet street (yes, it was raining - in Sydney) in sheepskin slippers plus sleeping apparel that NASA should make an offer for, after a dog that has has often expressed his views on the lack of social justice and equity in his personal familial context.
Perfect for constructing a mind-set for dealing with a day at work, especially one that started with a 3 hour staff meeting.

Sigh.

Not that this is concerned with work in any way, shape or form, you understand, but had reason to recall the part of the conversation from 101 Dalmations, where Cruella de Ville asks her butler “What sort of syncophant are you?!!!“.

He replies “What sort would you like me to be, madam?”

There’s nothing quite like going back to The Office after two weeks leave, is there?  The mutual greetings exchanged with colleagues, the sharing of news, the viewing of (other people’s) holiday snaps, the mountain of backlogged work …

Sigh.

So, in the local book store, and a lady asks the clerk if they stock Spanish language books. The clerk says no, so “someone” pipes up with the information that the local library does, and that it’s free!  Sigh.  Advocacy is all very well, but some of us (OK, me) don’t seem to have learned the lessons about appropriate times and places …

Sometimes precious gems can be found in the most unlikely places, and often serendipedously. The current Cosmo website (which may not be available for long on this link) featured an article on high heels vs back pain in its fashion section.

But (together with the feature on Nicole Kidman’s wedding and similarly life-enhancing items) is the news that “big butts are back”. And given our enormous salaries, ” … transforming that casual look into something more professional for the office” can be nicely teamed with the information on a glamour makeover in preparation for progression to Becoming a Professional Model. Not.

Was it worthwhile?  5 months into the ‘project’, and it’s on the downhill run.  Yesterday the loungeroom walls and ceiling painting was finished, this morning the sound system was put into the kid’s rumpus.  Still waiting for the theatre seating for the home theatre (probably another 2 months off), then the CandyBar can be installed.  Still have to resurface the floor in the former dining room,