sometimes i'm not a nice person to talk to

when you show me your diamond ring,

and i respond with, "oh wow, is this a conflict diamond?"

and you give me a blank stare and uneasy smile,

and i just look off to the side and mumble, "i wonder how old the kid who dug this diamond up was when he was stolen from his family and sold into slavery..."

and you don't know how to take it because i'm kind of smiling too...

just walk away.

leave me in my mental fortress of solitude.

i am in a mood. can i blame the weather again?

Cats at Work (WARNING: This post is image heavy)

It all began with a simple cat doodle at the bottom of a whiteboard. I had some extra time on my break. And who can resist so much empty space on a whiteboard? Not me.



Within the next few days, I noticed more cats keeping mine company. Like this cat with chicken feet, later dubbed "Chicken Cat"



And this one, with front legs that are attached to its neck.



I knew who drew this one right away. It was the "mew~" that did it.



This cat is a testament to the saying, "everything is a self portrait."



The first one with no body. But it's got extra hair on its head!



Best use of color (and accessories).



I think this one is part dinosaur. See how it's about to attack the other one?



Of course, Hello Kitty had to make an appearance.



By the end of December, we had a row of cats at the bottom of the board.



And I received an email with this cat drawing attached:



The best part is how each cat reflects the person who drew it. Sadly, they were all erased the week of Christmas. Fortunately, it's a new month...with a new animal. Stay tuned for...SQUIRRELS!

Busy

Hi! I have two jobs and I still work/volunteer at the Armory (at least for this month). I try my best to use my free time wisely, but mostly just end up playing Cafe World on Facebook and accumulating library books that I don't end up reading.

So that this doesn't get too boring, here's a drawing I did in high school:



Here's a picture of a hamster I drew three weeks ago:



Now, would you call the difference in the drawings "regression in skills" or "progression in character?"

Also, I've been looking into g r a d u a t e school..... . . . .just one actually. And mostly because I want to be an Archives intern at the Art Center College of Design. Can't I just have that internship without being in grad school? Please? I'm already used to working for free anyway.

Learning to Cherish my Free Time Like a Normal Person

I had a chance to go to the Walt Disney Concert Hall last year, but got sick at the last minute. That better not happen again. I'm excited about this.

I have two fun Saturdays coming up. First Paquiao vs. Cotto (this is gonna be a tough fight), then the opening of West Coast Left Coast (probably followed by a thousand taco trucks).

...I like living in L.A. :)

Oh, and speaking of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Gustavo Dudamel's got some righteous curls!

Quickly !

Book:
I'm finally reading The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Childhood Among Ghosts. It's haunting and beautiful. I wish I could write the way Maxine Hong Kingston does.


Question:
Does the bird of paradise plant really contain arsenic in the red parts?


Two of the best last names:
1. Youngblood
2. Mankiller


Work:
I like my other job, despite the fact that the Library of Congress Classification system is a HUGE JERK. I'll warm up to it eventually. Also, since starting, I think I've become slightly more efficient at APL, especially during closing. Yay?


Things I like:
Power naps
Eating fruits grown in our yard
Waking up early (surprisingly)
Stairs over elevators - because you never have to wait for them.


goodbye

A Funny Thing Happened (On the Way to This Post)

So. In my last update I said I would try to post an "Adventures in Shelving" every week. Two weeks later, I have a new post, not about shelving or closing, but about how I managed to get hired by a very prestigious scientific research university.

This is a big deal for me. I am more than humbled by this, regardless of how little I may be doing in the grand scheme of things. Although, helping to nourish the minds of potential Nobel laureates is kind of important I guess.

I start tomorrow morning. I am nervous. Mostly because I've never had to work a full time day in my life. And I don't like starting new things. Also, I have to wake up early. Please don't make fun of me.

This is the building I will be inside of most of the time.


It looks intimidating, but the then-interviewers/now-supervisors were surprisingly laid-back. It didn't even feel like an interview. There were none of the typical interview questions, like the dreaded what are your three greatest weaknesses? (they probably are: cats, trivia games, and my lack of front desk experience in that order), It was more like a meeting that I, a well dressed stranger with purple shoes, an over sized man's watch, and a random assortment of rubber bands on one wrist, just happened to sit in on. 1.25 hours later, they gave me a tour of the working spaces and said, "See ya later!" It was fun and inviting.

Now comes the hard part - the first day.

More to come...if I survive.

Other People's Cats/ Adventures in Shelving: Closing

As I've said (and proven) in the past, oftentimes I'd rather hang out with the feline species even more than with my own. Who can resist their smug little grumpy faces? Not me. Did you know that dogs can sniff out cancer in people? Maybe cats can too, but they probably don't care enough to tell anyone. They just want to sleep and purr things. Anyway, I hung out with some cats in Eagle Rock this week. Or, I tried to...


She was friendly.




One of her kittens, on the other hand, was not. This is as close as he would let me get.

On a side note, I want to live in Eagle Rock.


I'm going to try to write a closing edition of "Adventures in Shelving" at least once a week. This is why -> I tend to find the best things while closing up the library. Lots of patrons leave stuff for library workers to clean up. The important things go to the lost and found. The little random bits go to one of two places: 1) the trash can or 2) MEEEE!!!!

Zum beispiel:

See that green cat up there? You know, the one being attacked by flowers at night? While his balloon friends try to pull him encouragingly by the ear to the safety of his house with no windows? He belongs to me now.


And this guy...

is literally flying.....on drugs. Look at his red, dilated pupil...chasing a hallucinated butterfly while the flower does some strange wiggly dance, and the apple tree king with his beady apple eyes and rosy apple cheeks watches intently with his crown made of cumulonimbi.

Gems like these drawings make it so much easier to get through that last hour of closing. It's a tie between unwanted scribbles and the announcement at 8:30/5:30 (depending on the day).

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