April is the cruelest month...

why???????????????????

I truly have exhibited to the gods that I know how to sleep, so I see no need for them to bless me with it in the middle of the afternoon while I'm trying to watch Sweet Home Alabama, or before eleven pm last night (shortly after I posted last, whenever that was...) and until 9 this morning. Perhaps they have my address transposed with Babelbabe's, she's the one who craves sleep!

Apparently this heartache is not going to dredge itself out by

• prayer, the purchase of an Easter dress, the watching of quality chick flick, or the passing of such wonderful days as
• the Jokefest
• H's birthday
• Palm Sunday
• The Drivelversary.

UGH! It's not that I hate all men, just the one who kissed me 17 years ago. Hate, actually, is a very strong word. And, not the opposite of love. Disdain, then, is what I harbor for the man who five-timed me and instead of being my prom date took the girl that warned me he would drop me for the next pretty thing.

Poetry writing may ensue...we've got to unearth this root and wash that man outta my hair!

Oh, and somehow there's no connection live with Blogger.com.

Monday, Monday: or, Sarah Louise raided her Easter Basket a few days early

Chocolate does work wonders. So does rum and coke. So does falling asleep while watching "Sweet Home Alabama."

What else does wonders? Walking through North Park, listening to Caedman's Call, skipping rocks on the lake there.

And prayer. Prayer does amazing things.

And friends. Babelbabe and I met at Tazza D'oro, with the fan club of Primo. I swear, they are GROUPIES!

Oh, and guess what? I went to Marshalls, Dress Barn, and TJ Maxx. None of them had my Easter Dress. I should have just gone to Goodwill, where I got a lime green Liz Claiborne dress for 14.99. SWEET!

Today is the birthday of the Twinkie. 75 years and I've never had even one! And Katie Couric is leaving the Today show...(which is old news, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it until today.)

And Ellen, is getting wierder. Today we watched a woman who barks like a dog and the audience played humdinger (they hummed a song, Ellen had to guess).

And I'm hungry.

That is all.

This one's for you, Katie, and for you, Gina & Babelbabe...

I'd be happy to stand next to any man I know in one of those labor rooms the size of a Volkwagen and whisper, "No dear, you don't really need the Demerol; just relax and do your second-stage breathing." (Anna Quindlen)

In response to Gina's post about the upcoming Holmes-Cruise childbirth event...

Confession Sunday

It's also Palm Sunday, the day of shouting Hosannas, but seriously, I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm pretty grumpy. And church isn't until this evening, so I get to be grumpy for a little bit at least...

[okay, got the apple cinnamon cheerios my dad left from his visit last weekend. Yes, my dad was in da Burgh in my apt while I was in Baaaston, but that's a story for another day]

I'm so glad Blackbird posted for this, b/c I've been thinking all week that I needed a "confession Sunday" and well, true confessions...I didn't want to be the only one.

"Mammas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" is one of my favorite songs. Last night it came on the radio (this morning at 12:01, as I was pulling onto 279 South--driving home from the library sleepover where Sarah Louise got to go home to her own bed!!) and I thought, I have been chasing cowboys too long. They will never change. So if you know any non-cowboy types...

Thursday night at work, I did nothing but rearrange my email folders. (This would be semi-acceptable if I was also watching a desk and answering phones, but no, I was wearing the "Tech Serv" hat, which requires putting labels on stuff.)

After I left work yesterday, I went and spent my $3 Brewsters gift card on a chocolate sundae and sat in my car, read an entire book. (Sisterchicks learn to hula? somesuch Christian chicklit. It wasn't bad.)

I forgot to buy milk, again!!

I was e-vited to a baby baptism party being held today and last night, as I was trolling Goodwill for a paperback to read during dinner, I decided that little miss introvert needed one-on-one time, so I called a friend to schedule lunch. oops...

After deciding months ago that I need to get a water filter for my kitchen sink, I still haven't told my landlord I think he should pay for it.

I'd really like to move, if I could move in with some nice people--I'm getting tired of just me in this garret, of having to go out to find companions.

(See how those two are linked?)

So I get my drinking water out of the bathroom sink.

Poor Katie Holmes, her hubby is flying 6000 miles away and she's about to pop a baby anytime soon. Oh, right, the wedding is after the baby (can't they go to a JP?) I cry for her NOT SO MUCH! (Yes, I read the tabloids at the grocery store when I went there to pick up my drugs and FORGOT TO BUY MILK)

someone who needed a confession Sunday: a father at the sleepover last night who was checking his Blackberry while I helped his daughter with a craft. OH I WAS LIVID! That's why we invited parents, y'know, to participate! And no, he's not a doctor, he's a lawyer. (If he was a doctor, I could have understood it--one of my doctors has a Blackb and I am GRATEFUL, but what kind of emergency does a lawyer have at 11:23pm?) (My apologies to all y'all baristers and solicitors and such....)

instead of sticking to my budget and eating healthy, I went to Damons and had fried fish and french fries last night for dinner instead of having a taco salad at Wendy's. (But seriously, I think it was warranted, I mean, I then had to go help children make a mouse pencil holder which required felt, glue, and mouse ears.)

I told Sally at work that I'd give her back the computer speakers last week when I got back from Baaaaaaaston. They are still connected to my computer. Ugh. I may have to get new drivers, whatever that means... (it's not the CD-ROM, b/c even MP3s skip in the middle of a song.)

I do not recycle paper and plastics as much as I should. Most days breakfast is Carnation Instant Breakfast in a #1 disposable plastic cup that I then throw in the trash. (But I did just learn that IKEA will take batteries, which is great, b/c between my CD disc-man and my digi camera, I go through batteries FAST.) I have been collecting old batteries since 1998...well, maybe just since 2003.

My garett is a sea of piles and laundry baskets full of...piles. I have clean laundry piles, dirty laundry piles, and I have been home a week now and have not unpacked my suitcase, my Swiss Air bag, or opened my mail from when I was gone.

I feel guilty having complaints when it's just me I have to take care of...it's not like I'm cooking dinner for anyone or wiping anyone else's snotty nose...

Oh, the humanity!

Easter, at home

Palm Sunday Worship - Sun, April 9, 6-7:30pm @ the Union Project
Stations of the Cross - Mon, April 10 thru Thur, April 13, 10am-3pm daily, @ the Union Project
Maunday Thursday Worship - Thur, April 13, 7pm @ Fourth Presbyterian (5450 Friendship Ave)
Good Friday: Stations of the Cross - Fri, April 14, 10-3pm & 6-9pm @ the Union Project
Easter Eve Worship - Sat, April 15, 9pm @ the Union Project
Open Door Resurrection Worship - Sun, April 16, 10:30am @ the Union Project
Neighborhood Easter Lunch - Sun, April 16 , 12noon @ the Union Project

A co-worker asked me yesterday if I was going home for Easter. I lied. I said, no, and did not embellish. But as you can see, I will be home for Easter, at my very place that I love the most, The Open Door at the Union Project. I won't be with my parents, but I can count on one hand the years I've been with them for Easter since I graduated from high school at seventeen. I love them, but my home is with the people I worship with, week in, week out.

Last night was wonderful. The

[pause while I call my father, get Bird instead, as they play "Sunrise, Sunset" on WJAS's Best of Broadway...it is the song my father and I will dance to at my wedding, when that day comes.]

First Friday at the Union Project was wonderful. Happy Hour with the Stations of the Cross--a bit of an oxymoronic paradox, but it was great. It was exhausting, as one of the presenting artists, making sure people "got" my piece, which is a bit bizarre. I won't be posting pictures until after Easter, b/c I want locals to come to the Union Project--it's a piece that is best experienced in person. I was there from 6:30 pm to about 8:45. I left when they started putting chairs up. (Today's event at the UP: Miss Black Pittsburgh rehersals.)

In a bit, I'll be going the UP, where we'll be discussing a book about Monasticism. I'm excited. Then, I'll go to work for the afternoon. Then I'll come home?? and then back to the library for the sleepover, the final piece of "National Library Week." Thankfully, I get to go home at midnight. I don't relish sleeping anywhere but my own dear bed after being gone from it for so long.

I love the play, "Fiddler on the Roof." The movie is just not right. I saw the play in Bucks County in Pennsylvania as a young girl. Sally, though we didn't meet until we were in our twenties, saw the same production, though perhaps not the same performance. I saw the play again when my sister was in the George Mason HS production, during the time I lived at home in Falls Church, VA. I have since seen the movie and it is horrible. (In comparison to the play, no offense to those who have only seen the film.)

It was wonderful, last night, showing people my station (#8, Jesus Greets the women of Jerusalem) and them "getting it." As an artist, I felt the pride of a job well done. I'll get a picture (John displayed it wonderfully) and then retreat to the comtemplation--the point of the stations is to simulate a pilgrimage. Last night was the ooh, ahh, how clever! Tomorrow begins Holy Week and the focus will be on the mesage, not the medium. But it was fun to revel in the medium, because there are so many creative folk at the OD! I got to meet Eileen, a fellow blogger, and chat with some folks I'd not seen in a while.

Off to wash hair...

list friday: foods that I will not eat

Recently, I read an article (I think in the New York Times) that said that your body is so smart that if you eat vegetables you don't like, the nutrients won't be as beneficial.

That said, I need no longer eat:

1. Okra
2. Brussel sprouts
3. swiss chard

Foods I don't think I could try:

1. Frog's legs (I can't get past the....ribbit)
2. Squid (although I may have tried it once upon a time and convieniently forgotten, thank you very much)

Foods I have eaten and not asked what it was until it was digested, hours later:

1. Stomach. I was at a party in Warsaw, Poland, and they told me the Polish name for what it was. I purposely did not ask for the translation until hours later. It wasn't that bad. But I think had I known, I might have had issues...

Not necessarily on the foods not to be eaten but more on the whole food scenario: it is wild turkey season here in Western PA. Two turkeys stopped traffic yesterday on the way to work and today I saw a flock at the park that flanks Bigelow Blvd, just as you're coming into the city.

Commenting on other's lists:

• I adore rhubarb pie!
• Cottage cheese, yum!
• Macaroons, divine...

And I'm off to lunch. I'm thinking that thing at Taco Bell that's like a wrapped up Mexican Pizza...

List Friday, sponsored by Mrs. Pom.

It's National Poetry Month, yins!

Well, the folks over at Semicolon are hosting this month's Carnival of Children's Blogging. The focus is (of course) poetry. Go visit, early and often--there's a link per day! (Sort of like a blog advent calendar, but not...)

This week is also National Library Week. The theme this year is pretty cool, methinks. Visit the ALA's site link, here: "National Library Week." American Library Association. 2005.http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/nlw/NLW.htm (Accessed 06 Apr, 2006)

Okay, so it's awkward, as I try to comply with linking policies, but deal with it! I'm trying!!

And since I own the copyright on material I've written, here's a link to my poetry, as found on the OD website. I didn't mean for the webmaster to cite me as "Sarah Louise" but it makes it easier for me to link it to yins, so hey, whateve.

Okay, I think it's time to consider bed, at least. I am longing for a comfort book, like "Eat Cake." The Mother Daughter book for this month is at best mediocre. It took me all of one hour (my dinner break) to read the whole thing.

Tootles!

and when I was in Warsaw in the winter, it got dark at 4 pm!!

okay, so EVERYONE's doing it--railing about DST, so I thought I'd join the fray.

I'm sorry, your time is up...

Yes, I had to (insert expletive) move my car b/c it's street cleaning day. Except, how will they clean my street since there is construction at one end and a "Road closed" sign at the other? Yes, I love living in Western Pennsylvania, where it's always construction season...

I have 4 minutes to eat something before my phone date with my dad to do taxes...

over and out...

SL

Monday, Monday: or, Sarah Louise is Hopping Mad!

This post has two threads: Copyright (the frame) and Christian critics who don't do their homework (the center).

Just visited a coupla blogs.

Okay, this is like white heat rage...

And I actually have better things to do this morning than work out my anger in this arena. (Currently working on Station 8 for the OD's Stations of the Cross, Jesus and the women of Jerusalem), see Luke 23:27-31.

As a librarian and a blogger, I'm beginning to think that I need to be careful about copyright. (It's been in the back of my brain for years, but hey, it's Lent, and you start thinking more seriously when you consider that guy on the cross...)

So here's some interesting reading on how the BibleGateway answers copyright questions (and why from now on when I quote verses, they'll be in KJV)

I live in a glass house: I have linked many a copyrighted article to this blog and no, I'm not going to go back and unlink them, but from here on out, you may need to do your own google searches...I need to find that Bloggers Legal Guide (from EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation)...

But copyright isn't what I'm mad about: it's that some folks have not done their homework. It's SO EASY to be a critic. Hey, I'm not crazy about Joel Osteen either, but be careful when you start slamming Beth Moore and Rick Warren, who on the surface may seem in the same "Franklin Christian" category (God helps those who helps themselves, which is NOT a Bible verse, btw.) Bill McKibben's recent article "The Christian Paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong" which can be found on harpers.org, blasts the aforementioned folks and others. Now, Joel O. is not a favorite in the Louise household (he tells a great story, but is it a Christian story?) and I admit that I never finished reading Warren's bestseller, A Purpose Driven Life. I have however, very much enjoyed Beth Moore's Believing God study and have found it invaluable in my faith walk. Also, Beth and Rick are two folks that join Bono in letting their walk speak louder than their talk: they are personally involved in aid to Africa. Rick, for instance, now reverse-tithes (that's tithing 90% and living on 10% of income) and is focusing on work in Rwanda, due to his wife's interest in the African AIDS crisis. You can find two great articles from Christianity Today, "Purpose Driven in Rwanda" and "Hunting the Big Gazelle" on their website.

Well, I feel better. In keeping with April being the cruelest month, stay tuned for more rants from SL.

Update, as I research the copyright issue: an article from Marketing Sherpa, and their link policy (thanks for clarity!!)

And from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Questions about copyright.. and their Creative Commons info. (which took too long to find, methinks)

Trit Trot to Boston...

So I didn't take pictures until my last day, as I didn't want to lug the camera around. I'd been to Boston, in the early 90s, so I have those pictures. (You wanna see them? Later, after I've scanned them (but I'll have to find them first...).


This first one is of some a capella singers (men, yes, in tuxes) from Haavad. Apparently their rendition of "Danny Boy" brings tears. Unfortunately, we missed that. But the two songs we did hear were fun and good. Ack! Have I been away so long that my vocabulary has diminished to "fun" and "good" as descriptors? We'll work on that. Meanwhile, next slide...

The view from my hotel room, on a misty Saturday morning.

The salsa band at the PLA reception at the Boston Library. Still learning how to use the camera, I promise, this was the best shot. We'll just say it's artistic.

One of the librarians was light on her feet so one of the members of the band came off stage to dance with her. Again, it is an art photo. But I'm rather proud of it.

The detail on the headboard of the bed at the Radisson.

So, I'm sorry, no ducklings or monuments. No swans, no Dunkin Donuts. But believe me, I had fun in Bean town and can't wait for my next trip back. And yes, Joke, we went to the Legal Seafood on the second floor. Guess what? It now has a bar! But the service and the food were wonderful. I had rainbow trout.

Gotta go lunch!

Show and Tell: Windows!

Well, it's only one window, but it's the most important one in my apartment, the skylight. Blackbird wanted some pix and there just happened to be snow and well, here it is. Why would anyone leave this garret for longer than 2 weeks or 3 years, I ask you?

I took some other pictures but this one was the best one. Next up: Baaston. But first I have to crawl underneath some furniture to attach my cord to my USB and curse the men at Ikea...

The one where there was MUCH REJOICING!!

(Snoopy dance)

I am home! Yes, I am back at my computer in my third floor walk up garret and I am listening to some crooner on the nostalgia station. (They played "Second Hand Rose" earlier, the sweethearts.) Oh, and they are now playing a song that was featured on the only episode of "Are You Being Served?" that I watched til the end of the show--it has a "Rat tat ta" and "J'adore" in it. (It's pretty on the radio, but it was hysterical on AYBS!!)

Tomorrow I'll probably help clean up Highland Park, unpack, and maybe go see "Failure to Launch" again. Oh, and drive to work (once I get my car back) to pick up my Inter Library Loan Holds, especially "Walk the Line" (I've only seen it 2x...this is a movie for the ages...)

And I promise to do a Show and Tell this weekend. Windows, of course, and maybe chocolate (I rewarded myself each leg of today's trip with a square of the Godiva chocolate with raspberry.) Also, I will post on Boston, and airports.

Other things:

• yesterday was Beppe's "arriving day" (when she came home to us)--Happy Day, B.!
• Indiana is going solidarity on the Daylight Savings/Eastern Standard time thing, woo hoo!
• (reminder: spring forward Saturday night/Sunday morning at 2 am for purists or folks that plan to stay out the extra hour to last call...)
• Oh it is so good to be home!!!!!

But I had a wonderful time away, which with stories I will regale once I get sleep, milk, and unpack, maybe not in that order...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The one where the answer to the question "Did you sleep?" is YES!!

If you were contacted by me to pray or I bitched incencently to you via email (I cannot spell and I do not care), THANK YOU! Yesterday I had a shower, I went to New Hampshire for breakfast, and I slept! I went to bed after American Idol (no, I did not watch House, I went to bed!) And I slept from 9 something pm to 6 something am.

It is a wonderful thing, sleep. Also showers. I recommend them HIGHLY!

I also recommend going to New Hampshire for breakfast, esp. if it means you get to see how they make maple syrup after you have eaten your pancake, your sausages, half of Princess's hash browns, a half a piece of toast, and drank a glass of water and a glass of ice tea.

Since we're on the topic of shopping (see Poppy and Blackbird), I'll fill you in on my latest spree. I went to a LL Bean factory store. OMG this was dangerous! I bought one of those barn coats and a (of course pink) fleece thing and a parka that has a hood.

Monday morning (where I was awake from at least 3 am to 7 am) I read Maniac Magee. WOW! Now, yes, I know as a librarian, for children, I should have read every Newbery and Caldecott ever written, but I haven't gotten there yet. And I'm not sure it's my goal, as some books are just meant to stay on the shelf gathering dust. But NO ONE TOLD ME how great Maniac Magee was. (So I'm telling YOU!) Why did I read it Monday? b/c my cd player w/headphones was downstairs and I didn't want to wake anyone up and MM was just sitting there on the shelf. Once I started, I could not put it down. Well, no, I put it down twice. But when you have a span of four hours when you have sequestered yourself in a child's room with nothing to do but organize your luggage and its contents, a good book comes in handy.

So. Maniac Magee. What a great book! It is not funny, but it is this great legend about this boy who has no home but...oh I can't describe it. The language sings, the story rocks, and I can't believe that no one told me I had to read this book. I'll try to be more descriptive later...

Yesterday I re-read The Great Gilly Hopkins. I love Katherine Paterson. Duh (have you met me?). But I had forgotten what a great book this is. You would never guess KP is a minister's wife...

Although I think we all have misconceptions there. I know three ministers wifes (I am not fixing the plurals, it is not even 9 am!) and they are all very different. One is in a band (and she rocks!), another teaches yoga, and the third directed the school play.

Can you tell I missed yins and am crazy happy to be blogging again?????

Hopefully today I'll have a chance to download my photos...I had lotsa fun in Baaston.

Tomorrow, the quest to reunite with more high school friends continues. So far, let's recap:

• I had coffee with L in February (whom I'd not seen since graduation)
  
• after my time in Baaston, on Saturday I came to visit with Susan for a week (whom I'd not seen for 6 years).
  
• Sunday, I had lunch with Lorelei, (whom I'd not seen for 13 years)
  
• and tomorrow, Susan and I have a playdate with K, whom I've not seen since we graduated in 1989. Yes, it's called make your own high school reunion!
  
• Why, though, she wonders, did three of my friends from Maryland settle in Massachusets and Maine? (It must have to do with the letter M.) (Says the children's librarian...)
  

Oh, and the New Englanders, they understand the concept, "Classic Rock." While in DC or even Pittsburgh, you might hear some Guns and Roses on the "klassic" station, here you hear Grand Funk singing a cover of Little Eva's "Locomotion"! (I had never heard this cover before and loved it! It goes on the "when Sarah Louise has a Shin Dig what they'll play list") I hear Grand Funk Railroad in Pittsburgh so rarely that I almost jumped out of the car when I heard them on Frank-FM, which I think is a great name for a radio station.

Okay, time to get links to Poppy and Blackbird and get some grub. Blogging makes me hungry! Besides, as Susan will tell you, from studying for her Chem midterm tonight (pray, y'all!), breathing is work.

New England: Roller skates and Unitarians

(or the one where Sarah Louise posts live for the first time in over a week!)

Okay, Blackbird knows this, but did you know that Unitarians call themselves UU's for short? As in "yew-yew"? It's pretty funny. (Of course, I'm a Presbyterian, one of God's Frozen Chosen, so I can't really poke fun.)

I adored Susan's church. I'm not ready to convert (I love the OD) but I can see why she likes it. And it was started in the mid-1600's!

There is a lot of roller skating going on, and yesterday I contributed to it. Woohoo!

Dunkin Donuts is the region's real religion, though.

And I'm hungry. Time for lunch, methinks. Having a very nice vacation.

Wednesday: Finally, Lauren Winner on how not to be a jerk

Notes from Lauren Winner's Sunday School talk at Ascension Episcopal Church, 2/19/06

"...em" (something LW says a lot)

(this is being transcribed from notes that are exactly one month old, so bear with me)

"I can share my story with my computer and then my publisher can figure out how to share it with everyone else" (How she sees writing her books as a sort of cop-out to evangelism)

"I have cool glasses. I went to Ivy League schools. I am a Democrat." (On why she is interviewed by reporters in the regular press more often than many noteable Christians.) (The reporters feel like she's one of them a little bit.) And then, they ask her, off the record, "Do you think I'm going to hell?" and her answer is fabulous!

"The question is so loaded that I can't answer it until I have spent a month with you (this is not a direct quote, but from memory), going to manicures, staying up late, going to the mall...It may not be time to answer that question."

She mentions a book, Miriam's Kitchen, a memoir of a woman who is recording what it is like to cook Kosher.

She talks about her friend Jonathan, who is an outright atheist and very Freudian. When she is going through her "spiral of craziness" she knows he will have something to say that will un-spiral her, something to the tune of "Doesn't your gospel have something to say about this?" Jonathan does not believe in Lauren's belief, but he knows it works for her, so encourages her to excercise it! She finds talking to Jon often more useful than talking to her Christian friends, who are often as helpful as Job's friends when he was going through his crap. She and Jon agree to disagree, which is often more healthy that when friends pretend to understand.

"Go into someone else's house and eat." She talks about when she kept Kosher, it was hard to visit other people--you had to invite them to your house, meet at a Kosher restaurant, or subsist on baggies of food you brought along. But Jesus didn't keep Kosher. He went to the houses of sinners, tax collectors, and this was SCANDALOUS.

"defensive and twitchy" A phrase I clearly liked enough to quote.

She recommended a book, Dare we hope "That all men be saved"? by Hans Urs Von Balthasar which has the basic premise that the Gospel allows us to hope that God may save everyone and that's all we can hope.

And my notes end there. **sigh**

Her point is be friends with people, and live your life. Wait for them to ask questions.

A way to deal with people who ask "are you one of those born again Christians?" from John Fischer.

Okay, this post should have been written a month ago. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Talk amongst yourselves...

Tuesday: Why I love listening to Sunday morning radio

Yes, this is being written on Sunday, as I sit in my pajamas listening to Radio 360.

I just heard an interview with Vim Vendor, the German director. He has a new movie, "Don't come knocking," with Sam Shepherd.

Earlier, I heard an interview with Isabelle Campbell, who is a singer/songwriter living in Seattle.

Before that, I heard Paul Adams talk about cooking eggs with a cell phone.

Today I'll be traveling to Boston.

Right now I'm listening to an article about spam and the really good stuff that you sometimes find at the end of spam. It's to fool the filters. (Does anyone know what I'm talking about?) As an experiment, I go straight to my spam filter in my work email and find these gems.

• "Esther, dear," she said very quietly, "I am not going home again."A light shone in upon me all at once."
• try correspond in encephalitis but trunk , wilson it's alexandre some ccny some augustus but western it cosy not migrate ! corpus or mint it newsstand ! bellini or galway it's cyprian on bookplate
  
• sway. Garfunkel bowers slung Himmler friendlier Brillouin basked. eked labored outgoing discrepancies equaling terrorizing Nestor. villa forbear maintenances reign rock germinates Niobe. nasally Mexicanize rolled protects chronology bluster escorting. manufactured departmental patterns Liverpool Zimmerman finds congratulatory. Jansenist shenanigan dock unused liberalize ballast Watertown. volleyballs peaked ambush shrinkable Norwegian arouses contaminate.
  
• donate you eclat me, biddable coronary ascend . fiduciary you experiential me, hindmost cleft . quinine you viscount me, at moonlit jest what'd .beau you germany me, dewy demoniac hippocratic cricket . lilac you thump me, habitual wretch stratosphere abominate . leper you festival me, frontage flu . gunnery you picofarad me, antagonistic amethystine acetic rototill .

Is this not hysterical?

The one where Sarah Louise Panics and then takes a deep breath, facing reality squarely in the face and denying it!

Okay, deep breath.

One more.

***

Sally just called. Can we say saved by the bell? Not only did she talk me through (read: she listened as I babbled) my recent angst and woe that I'm still packing when I should be at Women's Bible Study but she is coming in 20-30 minutes to give me a ride to said Study. Is God and are friends not the best inventions since or before sliced bread?

***

If you are the praying type: pray for this trip. I am angst ridden and am already experiencing computer/blog/email withdrawl and I think this is where I need to start a saving up for a laptop fund...

I must go finish packing. I have no idea if I will be posting while in Boston, except on the plablog, and since the software was doing wierd stuff on Sunday, my show and tell is not on file, so I'll post when I get back to the Burgh.

Traveling mercies go with me....

Monday: More Required Reading!

Note/disclaimer: Okay, each post this week will feature its "day of the week" as most of them are being composed on Sunday and it will be easier for me to just hit "Publish" when I get the occasional online moment at the PLA conference. I have considered going to the Goodwill Computer Store, getting a flash drive...But I digress. (Update on Monday: Yeah, probly not. I've squandered my time doing useless things like browsing in the Seminary bookstore...plus I chatted with a neighbor who has a Katrina survivor dog for like 20 minutes.) Doing two loads of laundry as we speak (one in the washer, one in the dryer).

Oh, and I'll be blogging this week on the plablog. You'll have to figure out which one is me because I'm using my first name (and it's not Sarah Louise, I know you are sooo shocked!)

Found on Library Things blog: (linked from Jean Louis Picard to Stationery Queen to A box full of letters to Library Things blog (Yes, you have just seen my self serving desire to keep a record of how I got there b/c I'm not updating the template until April): Library thing has more JK Rowling books than the total # of books that Thomas Jefferson gave to the Library of Congress after the first fire.

This is the continued required reading from Joke's Blog and clearly shows my obsession, since Joke, Babelbabe, and Gina all finished their lists in one post and I already have committed to two more Mondays beyond this week...

Young Adult (13+)
*Jacob have I loved by Katherine Paterson. (This blog bears the name of the protagonist, Sara Louise) It is a book that brings me great hope and it takes place in the Chesapeake Bay. Um, and it's REQUIRED. If you want to understand the essense of me, you have to read this book. Or listen to the audio, which I highly recommend. I have read/listened to this book over 10 times in the past year. No substitutions will be accepted.

Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt. (and the entire Tillerman cycle) My dad discovered the first book in this series, Homecoming, in the New York Times Book Review. I have loved these books ever since. Part of why I went to my alma mater, Washington College is b/c I fell in love with the Eastern Shore of Md through these books. This book I've read more than the first one, but I've been reading it yearly since I was 13, so you can see how momentum would work.

Jackaroo and its companion book, On Fortune’s Wheel. (also by C. Voigt) Wonderful fantasy without the dragons.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton I HAD (as in, it was required) to read this in library school. It is so wonderful. You must read it. Haven't seen the movie yet.

My Life as a girl by Elizabeth Mosier. This is one of those books I’m not sure I want to share with other people because I like it so much.

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. This is a book about a 23 year old woman. Before chick-lit, there weren’t very many books that were about 23 year olds. Besides that, it takes place partially in Poland and revolves around a fairy tale. Besides, it has amazing quotes of P.L. Travers, the woman responsible for Mary Poppins, who wrote an amazing book on Sleeping Beauty. (and I just made my first correction on Wikipedia!!) (B/c "On the Sleeping Beauty" is non-fiction, not a novel, as it was originally classified.)

The Trouble with Thirteen by Betty Miles. If you ever feel crappy, this is the book. I mean, thirteen is a really bad year. And this is a really good book about that.

*Bloomability by Sharon Creech. This girl has to move overseas and live with her aunt and uncle in Switzerland. It’s really great.

A couple of kooks and other stories about love by Cynthia Rylant These stories are just wonderful. (and when I read it, I sent a postcard to CR and she sent me one back!!)

Okay, I am realize my descriptions are personal anecdotes, not descriptive of the plots…but pressed for time and on my blog, WHY they are required for ME, this is what you get.

And packing has commenced, but waiting somewhat on laundry...I had four hours of sleep last night, AGHGHGH!

And thanks to Joke, Psalm 46:10.

Over and out and back to prep for Baaston-town!

Benovelant Creator

Benevolent Creator

Okay, part of this personality quiz did not include the following question: do you read directions r keep going until you get completely twisted around and then you notice that you need a different HTML script?

But I highly recommend this quiz, if not only b/c it is so cool the way they ask the questions. Each page is a different style. Like one page it's "empty the bucket" and another page it's a grid...anyways, it's very cool. And apparently I'm pretty self aware, b/c it suited me to an absolute "T." I wonder where that phrase came from. Just got a book on words that has gems like "audit ale" which is the drink used for (surprise, surprise!) doing audits. It was stronger. Maybe Joke's TBTHM would like some...

And "Adam's ale" or "Adam's wine" is water! The book is one I got at the Bargain Bin at Borders. I think it's called Word Museum.

I had a two hour nap today. So I'm up, now, at 3 am. It's also b/c I'm going to Boston (I always get nervous when I travel.) I should have had a beer at the Sharp Edge. The iced tea probably had caffeine. In the background, you might hear the voices of Sandra Bullock and company. I'm watching While You Were Sleeping. Key word: You!

Me, that's the one that needs to sleep.

Meg and Tom, coming up, methinks...

the foot of the bed, or sarah louise goes to confession...

From the Friends archive, or how I feel about confessing after reading Joke's:

Joey: Okay, my weirdest place would have to be... the women's room on the second floor of the New York City public library.
Monica: Oh my God! What were you doing in a library?
***
Phoebe: Oh! Rachel?
Rachel: Oh come on, I already went.
Monica: You did not go!
Everyone: Come on!
Rachel: Oh, alright. The weirdest place would have to be... oh, the foot of the bed.
Ross: Step back!
Joey: We have a winner!

So, it's been two years since my last confession...

• I never saw Titanic in the theatre, but I now own it on video and love it. I keep thinking there's gotta be some way that Leo could live...
• I love country music. I have both Pittsburgh stations on my radio "favorites" (What are they called?)
• I do not follow world politics unless it's about Poland or my dad has emailed it to me from the NYTimes. (This, from a girl who set foot in 22 countries by the age 22)
• I blog obsessively and constantly check my faves to see if they've updated. I check my email hourly when at work. Um, that's both email accounts. If I'm bored, I check my gmail account, where pubyac emails go to die.
• I loved 90210 and Dawson's Creek. I would love love love to get the last episode of 90210 on DVD.
• I actually own books that are the professional equivelant of "fan fiction" for the aforementioned two shows. I actually special ordered the Dawson's Creek ones.
• I have never finished The Brothers Karamasov. I doubt I ever will.
• When I'm broke, I think about the yellow diamond (which I've only seen once) that languishes somewhere in my parent's safe deposit box. It was given to me by my Great Aunt Mildred. I think it would pay for some nice things or pay off a debt (which is probably why my mother always evades my questions on the subject of the ring)
• I thought such heinous thoughts about my Nancy Drew collection, which was built by my aunts' (different aunts) hard toiling at yard sales. (Solution: I donated it to the Pitt's Library's Children's Room)
• My main motivation for going to library conferences: indoor pools.
• At my library, staff do not acrue fines. I renew my books to the hilt and currently somewhere in my apartment is a Dean Koontz book I catalogued back in December. (and I haven't gotten past page 5)
• I have never read the Handmaid's Tale. I have never read Chaucer. I hated the Kite Runner.
• I google myself about once a month.
• I am a bit xenophobic. I like Pittsburgh because all the hairdressers speak English.
• I shop at Walmart. (Forgive me, Babelbabe!)
• Friends character I am most like: Monica. I am such a people-pleaser that I have censored this b/c I don't want to offend people (people=Babelbabe)
• The other day, when I told my mom all my dishes were clean, I didn't tell her that I didn't do them.
• I voted for Clinton twice. I voted for Bush twice.

Oh, that's enough. I cringe as I hit "publish post."

Which is actually not the point.

Psalm 130
A song of ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

I just figured it out: this is not a list of things I'm confessing to purge from my life. These are "dark secrets" that I haven't disclosed and some of them I harbor secretly with pride. Yes, I really am screwed up. Oh well. I refer to the text of a card I purchased in college: "I'm glad you like me. (inside) I'm too weird for anyone else."

One more:

• I often buy cards that I like and mail them to myself. I just bought some cards for my friend Lorelei who I'll be seeing in a week. I hope she mails me some...

And I obsess about my blog entries. This one, which will probably take you 5 minutes to scan, took me over an hour to write not including my research as I visited Kim, Blackbird, Babelbabe, and Joke. And it would take longer if I linked it up, which I am tempted to do but I am stopping, NOW!