fact
weekends = book updates
I got half-way through the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s not a bad book. I just got bored with it.
Horns I did finish. I did start and stop a lot. Joe Hill really likes to beat the expletive out of his main characters. He’s also really good at creating characters that you hate. A lot. All in all, I’ll be excited when his next book comes out.
Next up: Finally reading Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors and Samantha Bee’s i know i am, but what are you?
Completely unrelated – I got the boy a home theater system for his birthday. It came with an iPod dock. I am thoroughly enjoying it.
hooray for insomnia!
That means more books finished! My plan for summer is to have 2 books going simultaneously: non-fiction for lunch at work, and fiction for home. We’ll see how that holds up. Sometimes I lose reading time over at readthekanji.com. Man, that site sucks you in. But that’s another post.
I finally finished Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. I picked it up when it first came out, but was way too busy with school and work to find time for it. Actually, I had stopped at a good point. When I picked it back up this time around, the next chapter was all about Kabukicho, an area that I’m superficially familiar with. The gist? Well… ok, maybe Corey was right to be a lil’ weary about the neighborhood around Holiday.
If you have any interest in Yakuza, I recommend it. The ending is a bit bleak, but that’s life, even when you are fighting the good fight. Jake also has a website that I will be subscribing to shortly: http://www.japansubculture.com/
I also finished Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa. I really liked her book The Housekeeper and the Professor, so I was really excited to read Hotel Iris. It’s definitely different. I didn’t not like it, but I also did not enjoy it as much as her previous work. I put in an ILL for another of her titles. Hopefully that will be more Housekeeper and less Hotel.
And I finally read Kick-Ass. It’s everything you’d expect and then some more violence. Definitely a fun read!
on deck: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and Horns by Joe Hill
books?
Summer reading programs are starting soon. I plan on participating this year too.
I just read Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but also exactly what I was expecting.
Hey John Green, I love your characters!
Hey David Levithan, I need to read more of your books!
Anyone else read it yet? Thoughts? I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll keep the discussion in the comments.
reader pop
Just a post to apologize for the horrid lack of info in my previous post. I’ve since updated it. Please have a look if you’re interested.
ピグ + facebook = Pico
Ok, so it seems Cyberagent has set up shop on this side of the Pacific with their introduction of Pico into the land of Facebook apps. Anyone who’s seen my flickr stream in the past year will find this screen shot familiar:
edit: It just occurred to me that you have no idea what Pico is. (d’oh!) It’s another virtual world filled with little people with big heads. You can get stuff with real or in game “money,” or in the case of Pico, “gummies.” You can also make friends and go to their houses, or just wander around in various areas. Pico has couple of New York spots, a stone age area, and various parks that technically are themed, but more often than not are just hang outs. Example: when I went to the Punk & Ska fans area, it was full of people speaking exclusively Japanese. へえ？
So far, I’m really not sure. It’s definitely not the sameピグ (Pigg) I’m used to, even though it looks and acts that way. Funnily enough, most of the conversations I’ve had were in Japanese. ^^ (But that could also have a lot to do with my avoiding “I’m 16 and live in AZ!” types like the plague.) Also interesting, considering it’s based on a Japanese model, it seems there’s a quirk on Windows for rendering Japanese characters. I had issues, and another person mentioned that she couldn’t type it either. Chatting in romaji is weird!
another edit (3/6/10): When I first found out about Pico yesterday, it had 64 fans on Facebook. 24 hours later, the number is closer to 3,000 and claims almost 25,000 active users. Wow!
And for those who are interested, this is what my Pigg looks like:
Really?
Someone just pointed out about this little tidbit from our state certification manual:
Question: Will Spanish courses count as LEUs? What about roundtable discussion or tours of other libraries?
No. While Spanish, or any number of foreign languages, could be appropriate for assisting diverse populations throughout Indiana, it is not directly related to library service. Tours and round tables do not offer specific objectives that can be applied uniformly for the profession.
I can go along with the roundtable part, but not the additional language part not being related to library service. Granted, at my branch there isn’t a huge call for Spanish, but it comes up enough for me to know that my Japanese is interfering with my fluency. And when I work at other branches I use it more. A lot more.
Hmm… maybe my definition of library service is wrong?
Just sayin’.
ok, this may be relevant
So a lil’ while back, I watched a documentary called Nerdcore Rising, (Netflix streamed on the Xbox 360). While watching, a name popped up: Schaffer the Dark Lord. Seriously, with a name like that, how can this guy not be awesome? So, we checked him out on iTunes, and yes, he is definitely entertaining.
There is one song that I like the best. It reminds me of the one time I was almost picked up at bar, until the guy found out that I worked at the library and promptly walked away. Also, there’s only like 3 references in this song that don’t apply to me. So librarian lady friends, have a listen and feel validated. (^-^)v
Oh yeah, he’s in my top friends. 
Where’d I go?
I know this blog is mostly quiet nowadays. A lot of it has to do with my position change two years ago. There’s not a lot of wiggle room for innovation when you’re busy manning desks / scheduling / weeding / etc. It’s really a lot of fun, but doesn’t make interesting blog fodder.
A colleague of mine asked if I missed working at the Main Library, since I’m no longer a part of “the new and exciting.” I honestly don’t see it that way. Libraries are still way ahead of the game when it comes to using shiny things, so I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by sitting back and watching.
Yes, I am still watching. I still exist on all of your favorite social networking sites, but I’m just not as visible as I once was.
2009
No, I didn’t blog much. Sorry about that. It was a very eventful year though. Just not relevant to this blog. Anyway, here’s a photodump year in review. Enjoy!
sjcplskagirlie