Christmas Greetings

Click here for a little Christmas treat (good until Jan 1)

Thanks to Jeff and Tanya for the link.

MADLibrarian

Pre-holiday update

Only a few more days until Christmas and the weather outside is not frightful. We have snow, not a huge amount but enough to look festive. The weather this week is lovely, seasonal with clear blue skies.

I've put up one tree and Banzai is mostly steering clear. I tried putting the Santa hat on Moe but he's figured out how to remove it. I'm not prepared to give blood so Banzai has been spared. I guess I'm the only one who'll dress seasonally.

I do, however, have a picture of Moe wearing the Santa hat that I took the first Christmas I had him. He looks thoroughly disgusted...




MADLibrarian

Saskatchewan 23 - Winnipeg 19

Yay Riders!!!!




MADLibrarian

Let's declare a Luddite Day!

Every once in a while technology gets the better of me and I wish to declare myself a Luddite and smash a computer or two (sometimes my job gets the better of me and I have a "florist" moment-- when I think it would be so nice to be a florist instead of a librarian). Tonight was definitely a Luddite moment-- I just spent most of my evening reconfiguring my wireless router.

On a happier note: Rider Pride is alive and well and on Sunday me and mine will be gathered around the TV to watch the Green and White battle their arch rivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the Grey Cup.

To get in the mood check out this little ditty by Jason Plumb and the Willing:



GO RIDERS!!!

MADLibrarian

Giller got it right

Last night the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada's richest literary award, was presented to Elizabeth Hay for her novel Late Nights on Air. I just finished this book last week and I loved it. It's set in Yellowknife during the early seventies and paints an evocative picture of the time and the spirit that still exists to some extent in the Yellowknife of today. It was the time of the Berger Pipeline Inquiry and just before a television station was built in Yellowknife, bringing the rest of the world closer to the remote communities of the North. The novel is peopled with all sorts of misfits and runaways, each with his or her own reason for choosing to come North. There is romance, humour and tragedy-- just like life.

Hey, don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself.

It was the only one of the shortlisted nominees that I did read although they all sounded interesting. Maybe I'll get to them someday (after the last Harry Potter, books 2 through 5 of Anthony Bidulka's Russell Quant mysteries, James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential, and other books I have bought but not yet read, not to mention all the interesting books that seem to arrive on a daily basis at the library).

MADLibrarian

Don't try this at home

I've been gradually doing all those things that one needs to do to prepare for winter. Summer clothes go into the downstairs closet and sweaters come up. My lawn mower has been put away as have the garden tools. The snow shovel should have been out this past weekend when it snowed-- quite a lot. It's all gone now.

This morning I underwent another ritual-- the flu shot. I'm feeling a little out of it, tired and achy. Word of advice: DO NOT attempt following a recipe when you're feeling out of it. I was going to make bread and discovered that I had screwed up ingredients and proportions. I guess the Jalapeno Shortbread will have to wait.

I think it's best if I just scrap it all, make myself a big mug of creamy hot chocolate (maybe Irish Creamy??) and check out the CBC's Tuesday night comedy lineup-- Just for Laughs, The Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes

MADLibrarian

P.S. The hot chocolate is really good.

Recent reads

This week I finished reading The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and the Security of the Realm by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stervermer. If the title seems like something from the 18th century, it's entirely intentional. This is the third book in a series that began as a letter game between the two writers. The other books are: Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country and The Grand Tour or The Purloined Coronation Regalia: Being a Revelation of Matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, Including Extracts from the Intimate Diary of a Noblewoman and the Sworn Testimony of a Lady of Quality.

Think Harry Potter meets Jane Austen and you have some idea of what these books are like. Since I like both Harry Potter and Jane Austen I like this series very much. This third book adds another element by including the correspondence of the spouses of Kate and Cecy. Their adventures this time include a royal imposter, modern technology vs. ancient magic, and a trap for magicians that strikes a little too close to home.

I'm now reading Spanish fly by Will Ferguson. More on that when I've finished.

MADLibrarian

Why we call it Fall

Today I glanced out the window and thought we were in the middle of a snowstorm. It wasn't snow-- it was leaves blowing off the trees and swirling in the gusts.

Lawn mowing season is over. It's now leaf raking season.

It was actually a nice day, sunny at times, dark and stormy at other times. More sun predicted for tomorrow.

MADLibrarian

I am handywoman, redux

Yesterday my new refrigerator and (gas!) stove were delivered. Even though I had measured, the fridge was just a bit too tall. Out came the toolbox. I moved the cupboard doors up an inch and trimmed the centre support. I love my cordless drill!

The stove isn't hooked up yet. I have a call in to the guys who hooked up my gas barbecue a couple of years ago and maybe by the weekend I'll be ready to go.

Today is yard work day-- if it doesn't rain.

MADLibrarian

Not using their heads

This past week I saw two stunning examples of why kids don't wear bicycle helmets.

On Thursday evening I was getting into my car to go home when a father and son rode by on a tandem bicycle. The son was wearing a helmet but the dad wasn't. What kind of example is that? As soon as the kid is old enough to assert his own way he won't wear a helmet either.

On Saturday I was at the Lloyd Folkfest in Bud Miller Park when I saw a dad with two kids. The older one had her own bike and she had a helmet. The younger child was safely strapped into a bike seat on dad's bike, complete with his own little helmet. Dad, of course, was bareheaded.

I rarely see an adult on a bicycle wearing a helmet. Little kids almost always wear them and older kids hardly ever.

My brother and I used to watch families cycle by our house, the kids all with helmets, the parents without. "Oh look," we'd say. "Orphans."

I once stopped a Mountie on the street who was riding his bike to work to ask him where his helmet was (I knew him and he usually wore a helmet)-- I think I'm a bit of a zealot on this issue.

I don't care if it messes your hairstyle. I don't care if you think it makes you look goofy. A helmet can save your life.

MADLibrarian

P.S. An excellent book that deals with this subject is Mick Harte was here by Barbara Park.

A portrait in black

I took this picture hours after Banzai had his little "operation". He spent the evening dozing and plotting revenge.



MADLibrarian

I am handywoman, hear me roar

Spent most of Sunday installing a new ceiling fan in my back bedroom. The old fan needed to go because:

a. It was really ugly
b. The light in the fan was no longer working

I looked all over town for a ceiling fan with a light that wasn't hideous (as most of them are). I finally got one at Home Depot in Edmonton when I was up there last week for a conference. It's kind of funky.



It came with four blade colour options (black, silver, two shades of fake wood) and two light cover options (white and this dark orangey thing with black speckles).



Aside from a phone consult with my dad and a friend about wiring-- I didn't want to set my house on fire-- I did the whole thing myself (just to prove that I could). I got to use my new stepladder in the process.

Now that I have a ladder (and light in the room) maybe I'll finally get around to putting up the curtains I bought months ago.

MADLibrarian

P.S. I did make cherry jelly-- 18 little jars of plain and 10 jars of Jalapeno pepper.

How does my garden grow?

As promised, here's a look at the lilies along the side of my house earlier this month:



The Nanking cherry tree is heavy with fruit. I'm thinking of making jam.

MADLibrarian

TV Meteorologists really bug me

We're having a heat wave and my house traps heat and I don't have air conditioning.

Yesterday morning I was watching Canada AM from the BC time zone and they did the BC weather. The weather guy happily announced that the BC interior was going to have a great day-- 32C and sunny. Victoria, on the other hand, was not so nice-- 18C and rainy (I say bring it on).

Attention TV weather announcers: 25C and sunny with a breeze is a great summer day-- 32C is too damn hot!!!

It's supposed to be a little cooler over the next few days but I'm off to Moose Jaw and the Festival of Words (www.festivalofwords.com) where the weather will be hot-- and possibly humid. The air conditioning at Moose Jaw Library better be working this year. Veronica and I sweated a lot last year.

Veronica and the kids came to Lloydminster's fair last week. She and I had a sisters night out on the Thursday-- chuckwagon races followed by the grandstand show featuring Trooper. I came out ahead on the evening because I won the 50/50 draw (over $1100!). Now I'll never win the lottery.

MADLibrarian

Tennis anyone?

I've been trying to watch Wimbledon over the past week before work. Every time I tune in I get talking heads-- which means rain. But the Canadian/Bahamian connection continues with Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles in the quarterfinals of gentleman's doubles.

No rain here. It's the first serious heat wave of the summer right now. It should be cooler on the weekend though. We had some serious rain over a week ago and now things are starting to pop in the garden. The lilies by the side of the house have started blooming and the rhubarb is almost ready for the second harvest-- I promised my sister-in-law she could have this batch.

Saw Live Free or Die Hard on the weekend. Perfect summer action flick with real stunts not CGI effects (I especially like how a fire hydrant is used to knock a guy out of a helicopter).

MADLibrarian

Recent reading

It's the first full day of summer and the sun which woke me when it rose has disappeared again. Mother Nature is determined to mess with my gardening schedule. I have a three-day weekend and I need to get some things done but forecast is predicting a chance of showers (thundershowers at that!)

I just finished reading Ascension by Steven Galloway. It's one of the books I bought last July at the Festival of Words in Moose Jaw. I'm off to this year's event in four weeks and I've still got a pile from last year. I'm down to only three Vanity Fair magazines as well. I've been reading a lot of stuff from work-- I love working in a public library. I just read First into Nagasaki by George Weller. He was a prize-winning war correspondent who wrote several dispatches from Nagasaki in September 1945 that were killed by military censors. He held onto the carbons of his stories which were discovered by his son after Weller's death in 2003. Fascinating reading for a history junkie like me. I also finished the latest China Bayles mystery by Susan Wittig Albert, Spanish dagger. I really like this series.

The sun has emerged again. I'm off to the garden.

MADLibrarian

Where has the time gone?

So much for good intentions-- I hoped to post something every week and now more than a month has gone by.

Lloydminster's first Arts Without Borders Festival has come and gone and it was a grand success. The photographer just dropped off several cds of photos to add to the gallery so I'll be gradually uploading them over the next few days. Check it out at www.artswithoutborders.ca

As you can see from the picture, Banzai is growing by leaps and bounds. He's into everything. Last week he chewed up one of my headsets (the cheapest one not the really expensive one I use for Skype). I'm still finding bits and pieces all over the house.



My yard is looking less like a wild jungle-- this morning I finally planted the 5 lilac bushes I bought nearly 2 weeks ago. It involved digging up over 100 square feet of lawn so it took a while (especially since it's rained nearly every day for over a week). The tomatoes are thriving and the lilies will be blooming soon. Expect pictures later this summer.

MADLibrarian

TV advertising vs. daytime drama

I know a lot of people don't pay attention to television commercials but sometimes they are more interesting (good or bad) than the shows. They can also provide plenty of soap opera-ish entertainment as I discovered one morning--

A&W has an ad they started airing last year about a young guy and his wife who surprise his parents with a visit and then slyly announce their impending parenthood to mom and grumpy old dad by buying the old coot an "Grandpa" burger. This commercial disappeared for a while but is now back in heavy rotation.

WestJet's newest ad shows a flight attendant singing a baby to sleep and putting the rest of the passengers under as well. As she hands off the baby to dad, it's the young guy from the A&W ad! Only his wife is blonde on WestJet and brunette at A&W.

I wouldn't have noticed this but the two commercials aired in the same half hour one morning while I was watching Canada AM.

MADLibrarian

It's been a hectic week

Time to take stock of the past few days:

Monday -- raked my yard (7 bags of leaves, grass, etc.), attended a performance/service by the Harlem Gospel Choir. It was great.
Tuesday -- supervised a couple a final exams. Got home late.
Wednesday -- we had a fruit platter at work to celebrate my birthday (which was Thursday)
Thursday -- did my first storytime in nearly 9 (!) years. Board meeting. Got home late.
Friday -- attended the final concert of this year's concert series, Papa Duke. It was great. I highly recommend him if you like wild gypsy music fused with all sorts of other styles. Check out his website (www.papduke.com)
Saturday -- worked
Sunday -- I'm planning on doing laundry and barbecuing something (or maybe I'll just sleep)

The weather has been nice-- warm, a little windy. We could use some rain to settle the dust.

Furry Bliss

Well, it has been a week with the new kitten and the two cats have reached an accommodation.

This unity has left me outnumbered-- 2 felines to 1 human; 2 males to 1 female. I still have the upper hand (for now)-- I'm the one who feeds them.



The kitten also has a name-- Banzai. If you saw him leaping off things with reckless abandon, you would totally understand.

Banzai goes in for his second set of shots next week-- we'll see how much he likes me after that.

MADLibrarian

Kitten-To-Be-Named-Later

There's a new addition to the household and as you can see Moe, the gray tabby, doesn't know quite what to make of him.



I think Moe will adjust-- after all who can resist this face...



He doesn't have a name yet but I'll keep you posted.

MADLibrarian

April Fool?

This is what I woke up to on April 2nd.



Just another example of Spring on the Prairies. Last week we had two days of a winter storm watch/warning that resulted in some rain-- after a prediction of 10-20 cm of snow.

MADLibrarian

Spitting MAD

When did spitting in public become a common thing? A couple of weeks ago as I was walking to work, I saw a person casually turn his head and spit. He was walking toward me about half a block away.

This wasn't the first time I've come across this behaviour. When I was living in Yellowknife I saw a lot of public spitting-- somewhat disturbing given that TB is practically a pandemic in the North.

Growing up, my parents made it very clear that spitting in the street was completely unacceptable. Even now I think there are only two occasions for public spitting (aside from accidental spit takes)-- eating watermelon or eating sunflower seeds (which are available here in Canada under the brand name Spitz). Even then it shouldn't be done on public streets but in the privacy of your backyard or at the cottage. (I admit I do indulge in Spitz at Rider games but I am careful to spit the shells discreetly and not on the opposing team's fans who invariably sit in front of me.)

Don't even get me started about the slobs who empty their automobile's ashtrays in public parking lots in the winter believing the mess will melt with the snow.

MADLibrarian

Signs of spring?

We've had a lot of snow this year as evidenced by this photo taken on Thursday, March 8th. But the melt has begun and birds are returning as seen in this second photo taken Tuesday. March 13th. (Of course we got snow on March 14th so winter isn't done with us yet.)

Playing around

Every once in a while I come across something cool that I play with. Here's a little flash movie that I created called Head Crush:



P.S. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular Kids in the Hall bit, check out this video on the head crusher

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Here I hope to share my view of the world, things that irritate me to no end and stuff I like.

I also plan to keep friends and family up to date on things -- since I rarely email anyone.

If all goes well, expect weekly posts (at the very least)

MADLibrarian