Peeved.

Don't worry, I won't be too much of a rain cloud. I'm beginning to get used to stupid daylight savings and hate life a little less, however...

1) we have new downstairs neighbors. They love to watch some television, which is always really loud. Oh, and of course they don't seem to have jobs. Shut up, I'm a grad student. Don't judge me! I have two jobs.

2) I managed to get a mild sunburn when we were in Tahoe last weekend. Not a regular, terrible, skin-peeling burn, though-- just a weird stripe that my SPF-ed makeup didn't cover along the top of my forehead. Trust me, it is a fetching look.

3) I was mildly misnamed on the invitations for our Giant East Coast Engagement Party. It wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't the same name that GP's most recent ex has, or if GP's mom didn't have a habit of running every. single. thing. past us. How did this escape notice? Oh well...this is not a real problem. And really, if this is the worst wedding-related "disaster," we will have gotten off easily.

4) I have given up cheese for Lent. Which is weird, because cheese is sort of my religion, much more so than Jesus is. Mostly, I'm using it as a test of will, and experimenting with how long I can go without a cornerstone of my diet. I almost accidentally ate pizza for dinner last night-- but, luckily, caught myself and had a sub-par frozen thing of sweet and sour chicken. Cheeseless life is hard, yo!

Silver lining, though! Or, really, just unrelated things that are good in my life...yeah, I'm jumping on the "Grace in Small Things" train...

1) a just-made bed, with clean sheets
2) being done with my final Dialog assignment in Online Searching. Relief!
3) poached eggs on toast with Tabasco
4) Earl Grey with milk
5) Uggs, in chocolate, purchased on sale

Dialog...

...can eat a bag of d*cks (to borrow a phrase from my librarian compatriot, NPW, who is dealing with the nastiness of school budgets and politics-- actual problems, not like mine at the moment). Anyway. I am taking this Online Searching class, so that I can have Real Librarian Skills, rather than just being good at wearing cardigans and shushing people. Oh, and wearing glasses. And hair buns. And fulfilling so, so many stereotypes. The thing is, though? Online searching? Is hard, yo. It's not all Google this and natural language query that...it is actually like a whole other language.

I had to complete my first assignment for the class tonight, and by that I mean that I did pretty much the entire assignment, because old habits die hard and I'll be damned if I am going to change habits that got me (somehow) successfully through and out of undergrad and into library school. I like to live on the edge. Of complete insanity. Over the past six hours or so, I have gone from "Huh?!" to "Yessss!!!" and back a couple times, punctuated with a gruyere-and-apple sandwich (I recommend) and some Insaniquarium (also recommended). Now I am in that zone where I am too amped up to sleep, and too mentally exhausted to even pretend to be wedding planning. Maybe an episode of Say Yes to the Dress (because who doesn't love a girl with a freaking $6500 dress budget?) and a cup of chamomile before I can get to bed.

In short, all you pre-library school people (I know you're out there! I read your blogs), you need to know: they do not just hand out these master's degrees. Do not let this dissuade you, though, because you are likely more on top of things than I am.

Win/lose

Win: My mood has been fantastic recently, probably because I've been working out regularly. Weird, right? Thanks, endorphins!

Lose: I am convinced that I have some sort of specific social anxiety that rears its head only in my Issues in Academic Libraries class. It might be the combination of "I have no idea what I'm talking about," a professor who is formidable and intimidating, and a few classmates who really, really like to talk. This week will be our third meeting, and I am determined to say something other than "here."

Win: I tried on dresses for the first time with my mom a couple weekends ago, and it turns out I am not a plus-size bride. (They don't vanity-size wedding dresses, folks!) The two dresses that I liked the best were this one and this one (sans flower).

Lose: The dress trying-on expedition for this past weekend was thwarted by a dental emergency that my mom had. Also, I have few local friends who are readily available for such tasks...so I stayed home and watched America's Best Dance Crew at the gym. Not a total wash.

Win: I found a DJ who is also a pianist! And is not crazy-expensive! That means that I may only have to pay and feed one vendor for a couple services. Yay!

Lose: I have realized I would much rather be planning my wedding than doing schoolwork of any kind. This had led to massive amounts of procrastination and stress. Turns out grad school is just allowing me to continue the habits I developed as an undergrad...but if it wasn't constantly rewarded with good grades, I'd stop! Seriously. Life is hard.

Win: My weekend ended really well-- first, I attended Wedding University with my best friend/MoH, then met up with another friend for some PF Chang's. Wedding University is much more fun than graduate school, but I don't know that it will improve my job prospects.

Lose: I have a terrible assignment that is due tonight by 11:59. I have no idea how to go about starting it. Whoops.

Proof of nerditude

Megan's Dewey Decimal Section:

484 [Unassigned]

Megan = 357149014489475 = 357+149+014+489+475 = 1484


Class:
400 Language


Contains:
Linguistics and language books.



What it says about you:
You value communication, even with people who are different from you. You like trying new things don't mind being exposed to unfamiliar territory. You get bored with routines that never change.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

What's your Dewey number?

P.S. Yes, this is what happens when I tire of taxonomy work at my internship.
P.P.S. I have informally quit NaBloPoMo. But I am trying to post more!

FAIL.

Yep, I managed less than a week of consisted NaBloPoMo. However, I am planning a double-post Friday to make up for it! Seeing as there is no governing body for this "everyone write, every day!" month, I am not afraid of much censure, so let's just move on. I'm sure all eleven of my readers will forgive (right?).

Today is an unofficial day off, as there is no work-work to be done, but a ton of school and a bit of wedding stuff to do. That means I got to sleep in (until 8! Nice!), and watch multiple episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8...before beginning my prep for a presentation I have to give tomorrow on blogs. Yes, blogs. Specifically, blogs about/by libraries/librarians, which will be a scintillating 7 minutes in Elluminate. Yay, Powerpoint (picture the Michael Scott emphatic pointing here)! Later, my mom and I will check out the house that is a potential wedding venue-- it's in Morgan Hill, and is the home of my former boss's mom and stepdad. GP and I have been there before, but I have to run it by the benefactors before we finally have a venue decision made (this is the other current front runner-- any feedback?).

The winding-down of Barack-tober

Yeah, that's right...I am not even going to mess around with the Rock-tober promises, because this month has been too full of The Busy to apply any such term to it. However, there were some highlights, including:

-a haircut, with deep conditioner treatment that was kicked into the deal and totally blew my mind. Sure, I am annoyed with my sort-of side-bangs now, but at the time? I was so excited about my hair.

-attending the last wedding of 2008, and possibly the last one before my own, which is a scary thought. No, we haven't picked a date (because it turns out I fail at wedding planning so far-- no decisions have been made), but we have heard nothing and gotten nary a Save the Date, so I'm thinking it might be a year-long wedding drought.

-rocking the hell out of most of my Library School assignments. Turns out I have found my calling, even though I still think distance learning is pretty isolating.
-carving the best jack-o-lantern ever. Seriously, friends, all I need now is a couple others that say "No on 8" and "No on 4" (because I loooove gays and hate babies! No wait, only one of those is true), and I will be an official commie. Is it election time yet?

Now, for the lowlights:

-being near tears during a timed online assignment because my professor had given such poor directions that I was almost entirely unprepared for the damn thing. I have survived, but we will see what the grading gods think of my efforts.

-finding out that my 18-year-old stepsister had gotten married in mid-July. Oh, and I found this out...in mid-August. From my mom and stepdad...who had found out only a few days previous. If I felt that this marriage was in any way based on some sort of adult, mature, well-reasoned decision, I might be a bit more supportive. As it is now...well, it hurts to think that one's sibling wouldn't deign to notify her family of her marriage.

-working two jobs sucks. I even did the math, see? Two part-time jobs + graduate school < one full-time job

Am I being too ambitious when I am even considering doing NaBloPoMo?

On being a bad blogger, or why I haven't posted in about a month

Sorry, friends, I don't really have an excuse or apology for you...I was busy, and when I was not busy, I was...not in the mood? Oh well. The point is, I'm back(ish)! How about a little recap? In the past month, I have:

attended a wedding in New York



attended a wedding much closer to home (only 20 minutes away, a new record!)

concocted a watermelon, feta, and mint salad (and not posted an official Whip It Up! entry, sorry)



gone on a small field trip with GP and his parents to the CIA in Hyde Park, for a delicious Italian dinner



...and another field trip to the place on the Hudson where our Big Fat Engagement Party is going to be, next Memorial Day (GP's mom is a planning powerhouse, people, and I totally fail so far at wedding-planning)



had Engagement Party #1, a much smaller affair hosted by my mom and stepdad. The first attempt at getting various friend-groups together, as well as the first "All About Us" activity, and it went pretty well. Cupcakes were involved, so what else would we expect? (Note to self: write those thank-yous NOW!!!)



worked diligently and for very little money at my internship and at the tutoring place

started library school, in which I am taking three classes. I am told that this is an "intense" course load...and so far am not convinced. UCLA's quarter system prepared me pretty well for intense educational experiences, so there.

watched my Bruins beat #18 Tennessee at football. I began watching the game fully expecting us to lose, and was pushed further into the doom-and-gloom category by the (under)performance of our new quarterback (who I still might like to punch, despite the victory)...and then lost my mind when we finally beat them. Yay, college sports!

vowed repeatedly that I would be more diligent in blogging and commenting. With as much attention as all this blog/wiki/Web 2.0 (bleah) stuff is getting in all of my classes, I feel like I should do it, if only to stay on the forefront of the field...you know, because my personal blog has so much to do with library business.

Just keep swimming

This poster hangs on the wall in my office, and serves as a more stylish reminder than, for instance, a "Hang in there!" poster, that I need to keep plugging away at the interminable phone calls and emails that constitute the majority of my job. Now, for instance, I am in a tangle of CC's, unreturned phone calls, and multiple scheduling conflicts, and I want the hell out! Good thing the British Empire is there, encouraging me to maintain the stiff upper lip of my forefathers (well, Granny, at least).

I told my boss last week that I'm going back to school, and that I had been searching for library-related internships so that I can have some experience in the field even before I begin school in the fall. He took it pretty well (maybe there was some degree of relief? At any rate, he knew that what I am doing for him is not something I want to make a career of), and gave me a good reference for the internship woman, who called the day after I broke the news. The reference, along with that of a former boss (who is now a friend), sealed the deal-- I am starting an internship in a special library after we get back from Paris in July! That's not "special" as in "needs to wear a helmet at all times," just "special" as in, "a very specific collection and management system." I am pretty excited, but a bit apprehensive about being in over my head...I hope there's someplace to hang my poster at the internship place.