Stuffed Animal Sleepover

On Friday, February 25, something strange happened at my library. After closing, stuffed animals came to life and cause much mischief in the building.

Okay, maybe they didn't. But our staff sure did! At 6pm, we held a special storytime where children brought a stuffed animal friend. Afterwards, we tucked them under a blanket, turned out the light, and closed the door. Only one very young boy decided his friend - a plastic wrestler action figure - didn't want to stay and went home instead. At 7pm, the library closed and the children's staff took over. We set up pizza, chips, and cookies on the children's tables and pigged out. Once we were sufficiently fed, we took lots of pictures in the room with the animals. We then split ourselves into 3 groups (there were 8 staffers), divided the animals into 3 groups, and proceeded to take pictures of our animals running amok in the library.

Around 8:30, we reconveined in the department, uploaded our pictures, and put together picture collages on two pages (they were supposed to be one page, front and back, but the printer decided not to... oh well!). So in all, there were 3 different sets. We tucked the animals back into bed where they had been before, and tucked their pictures underneath. We also set up a laptop with a monitor on our counter, and set the screensaver to scroll through pictures of the night. Saturday morning, children were able to come at whatever time they wanted to pick up their friend. They LOVED the pictures. They watched the slideshow to find pictures that weren't on their print outs. A few kids were in love and showed their pictures to complete strangers in the library. A couple older girls had to be convinced, but they were told that the pictures were from the security cameras, and they seemed to buy it.

In the future, I would plan more time for staff (some staff managed to leave at 9, but some of us stayed until 9:30), and I could think of many more pictures to take! But the library staff loved the pictures, and we have had many positive patron comments. But most importantly, the children had fun and the staff had a blast. Definitely one to be repeated.



All pictures can be found here in Picassa.

Dinner for Schmucks

We were fortunate to receive prescreening passes to a showing of Dinner for Schmucks, which is out in theaters tomorrow. Before the screening, my mom said that she didn't know what it was even about. I explained that it was about a guy was invited to a dinner where they bring people to make fun of, so my guess is that there will be hurt feelings and warm fuzzy moments. I was sure right. This film is completely predictable, with the biggest surprises the pure absurdity of some of the situations. However, it stopped short of being too over the top.

Anyone that watches movies with me knows that I hate stupid comedy. Only rarely will I watch anything that could be deemed as ridiculous. I like well-written comedy, such as The Hangover. But this one definitely hit my funny bone (in a good way!). I cannot remember the last time I laughed that much at a movie. There were some moments of cleverness but many more of absurdity. Paul Rudd was convincing corporate monkey under pressure to move up the ladder, while Steve Carell played his stereotypical goofball. There were also little things that I'm uncertain whether they were meant to be funny or not, but definitely were, such as Ron Livingston of Office Space fame playing the kiss-up to the boss. It was also a bit frustrating that it takes so long to get to the actual dinner; I would have liked to see less drama before and more of the actual dinner.

Verdict: See a matinee, wait for the cheap theaters, or get the DVD from the library. Definitely not for children, with a lot of sexual comedy. Still, I found it absolutely hilarious.

More job love

Well, I am now ten days into my new job. Yes, My Public Library and I are still in our honeymoon phase, but I am very optimistic that this is going to be a long and happy relationship. First, I have come into a fantastic team in the Children's Department. There is a variety of experiences and interests, which helps bring a lot to the table. They have worked hard and made sacrifices during this time without a team leader and dealing with library cuts that have caused heartbreak across the country. Still, they are upbeat and focused on providing excellent service to our community. The rest of the staff have been extremely welcoming and I cannot emphasize their helpfulness enough. I think of questions as I go, resulting in random questions here and there, and they have been very patient with my newness! I am fortunate enough to begin during a time where summer reading is settling down and there is a lull before we ramp up for the fall. I have spent a lot of time observing and thinking. There is a great balance of autonomy and teamwork. As with some positions in my past, I feel like I will really be able to be a great librarian for my community, with the added bonus of leading others to do the same. More cheesiness, I know, but I'm super pumped!

In the same vein as my "I <3 my job" ramblings, I was in the paper! While the article isn't specifically about me, it was still exciting! Libraries have had a tough year and it is exciting to celebrate good news!
Library hours, programs to be reinstated this fall, Friday, July 9

The Last Airbender

Holy crap! Posts two days in a row! And maybe another tomorrow for Eclipse (I have my ticket for midnight tonight). Whoa. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Anywho, I was lucky enough to win and get into a screening of M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation of The Last Airbender, based on Nickelodeon's pseudo-anime tv show. We got there an hour early, which is typically generous for screenings, and the theater was packed. In preparation for the movie, like any good nerd would do, I watched the show. I was only able to make it through the first season, Book 1: Water, which is basis for the movie. (Disclaimer: I do have Books 2 and 3 at home and will watch them soon; I promise!)

Short review: Airbender = Awesome

Long review:
As someone who reads many books, and reads many just because there is a movie being made from it, I have been disappointed over and over again for film adaptations. I went into this knowing it would be different than the show, especially since you cut hours and hours and hours of a tv show into a movie that is an hour and a half. The big screen and a cartoon on Nick are two very different mediums, and Shyamalan has not done an adaptation before.

Saying that, I was very impressed. The landscapes and graphics are quite impressive, creating a setting that extends beyond the physical land and into a world of benders. Shyamalan's story is much more serious, which adds the humanity to the new human characters. One plot point that I do think was well done was the introduction of Azula, Fire Nation Princess. Most importantly, I do think that the spirit of the story was the same. Several of the shots and language were taken from the story, including an opening sequence.

Now, the not so good. Little things irked me, such as instead of calling them Benders they also called them Nomads. It was disappointing that they only glazed over their journey north, although I understand why it had to be done. There were a few plot points that felt forced, like "We have to explain this! Let's just stick it in there." An unfortunate side effect of squeezing the story into the shorter time but still awkward. Sokka also had a much more subdued part. In general, humor was very rare. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments which were appreciated, but the light-hearted humor, Sokka's goofiness, and Aang's playfulness were missing.

*Minor spoiler below*
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Except for the humor, the only thing I really missed was the acclaim of Katara as a water bender. They did not include the girls-not-allowed-to-bend issue and she was just another student who happened to be friends with the Avatar.
**********
*End spoiler*

Overall, a fantastic adaptation. I left giddy and was quick to tell the people that work for Paramount (embarrassing Husband a bit, I'm sure). Now I can't wait for the DVD to see if there are additional scenes! There are many more little things to gush about and to nit-pick, but it stands as one of the best adaptations I have seen. Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will not be disappointed, and newcomers to the story will enjoy the drama, (non-graphic) action, and adventure of this world.

2010

Wow. It has been a heck of a year. As many of you know, September 2009 I was transferred from one library branch to another about 45 minutes further away, and my job changed from teen services to youth services. While I enjoy what I do, the geographic location of this job did not fit our plans for living in Cincinnati, buying a home, etc. So I spent the next many months job hunting. In the midst of this, I also planned this little thing I call my wedding, which was in April 2010. Needless to say, it has been a busy year. But shortly after returning from my honeymoon, I had my third and final interview with another library system. They then offered me the job as a Children's Team Leader, which I enthusiastically accepted. Beginning on Monday, July 5, I will lead the team of Children's Services, birth through teen. I am excited and terrified and cannot wait to start.

However, all of this excitement has not kept me from thinking of my current system. I had planned to work in this system for many, many years to come, but this transfer changed that. Still, I have had many fantastic library experiences and met so many amazing people, both patrons and staff. If anything, I am most sad to leave my coworkers. These are some of the nicest, hardest-working people that I have ever met. There are even staff who I have never met but know that they are wonderful simply through emails and phone calls. Facebook will help keep in touch with these people, no doubt, but it will not be the same as talking to them every day, as making faces at them as they walk by, as sending random chats on gtalk throughout the day. While I am sure that my new job will have awesome people as well, I will remember the great people I have worked with here. I will now get off my soapbox o' cheesiness.

Splice violated my brain

Over two months of no posting. I'm a bad blogger. OH WELL.

So last night Dan and I saw a screening of the new movie, Splice, in theaters on Friday, June 4. I went into this thinking it was splicing human and alien DNA, as well as picturing the creature killing everyone. This was not that kind of horror.

The film began as a scientific challenge. Two scientists, married and at the top of their field, have successfully spliced several animals (I remember a pig and chicken, there are a few more... but no aliens) together to create creepy little slug things. But these slugs produce a chemical that could be used to cure diseases. But as is science, that is not enough for the ambitious duo. Let's add human DNA to the mix. The sheer creation and development of this creature was interesting to watch.

The two scientists spend the middle chunk of the movie growing attached to the creature, later named Dren, and hiding her from everyone else. However, there is one scene towards the end that destroys the whole film. At our viewing, the whole audience freaked out and some people left. Then it was all downhill from there. It got to the point that a woman hit her head and the audience laughed. Honestly, if they had taken out two to three extremely awkward scenes, the movie could have been great. But there are some things our society is just not ready for... human DNA being spliced with animal DNA and this story.


*SPOILER SPACE*

A few more notes...
So these awkard scenes. No suprise, it has to do with sex. The married couple has sex, which is not a big deal. But Dren witnesses it. Dren starts to develop an almost hypnotic power, which is not really explained. And yes, the scientist man has sex with her, chicken legs and all. And at the very, very end, the scientest woman is raped by Dren (who since changed into a male... another plot point under-explained). Unfortunately, these disturbing scenes are too distracting to give the rest of the movie proper credit, although most of it was well-done.

Fantastic sites

Exactly one month until the wedding and there are about a million things still to do. That's what the last minute is for, right?

I wanted to share some fantastic sites I've found on my journeys through the www.

I-Do-It-Yourself. No, it's not just wedding items! She frequently posts great graphic downloads and cute food ideas (I loooooove the make-your-own drumstick tutorial!). Many of the posts are just sharing items from other blogs.

DryIcons. Tons of great graphic downloads. The files are .eps; I don't know what all programs open it (yes, big fail on my part), but I used Adobe Illustrator.

Wedding Monograms blog. There are some very newbie-friendly tutorials for creating your own monogram. She has stopped posting new ones, but it's great to look.

Also, what bride could even think of planning a wedding without theknot.com? However, what I failed to realize until a couple months ago are the fantastic resources on the Community pages. These are message boards for other brides, grooms, wedding party members, etc. to post their experiences (but let's face it, most are brides or married women). Their experience, ideas, and resources have proven invaluable for collecting ideas and planning projects for our own wedding.