so pretty

Troy bought me a new computer today, as a kind of early Christmas present/thank you for some of the things I've done for him. It's beautiful. I have been using XP for ages now, as both my laptop (an Asus eee) & desktop (the one I built in 2003...yes, it was time for an upgrade, but it IS still running really well!) run it. So running Windows 7 on a machine which can actually handle speed & graphics is sooo amazing. I connected it to his TV (we're keeping it at his place because oh yeah, did I mention we're also playing World of Warcraft on it together? - we're so going to disappear/hibernate this winter...) using a DVI-to-HDMI converter, and after a bit of tweaking, managed to get it to look gorgeous on the "monitor". I'm very pleased. He's totally made my day. Of course, it's making getting my schoolwork done *very* difficult, although we are waiting to play WoW until after my semester is over, because we're not stupid. ;) However, I still just want to play around on my new toy!

At least reading for school (using Blackboard on the computer) is sooo much nicer now! Yay. :)

Okay...gotta force myself to get back to work....

xo

stuffy stuff

I was inspired yet again by Karen's blog, this time to cook. Last night I tried to make an easy Spinach Cheddar Bake, but it was somewhat disappointing - not very substantial, which I guess I should have expected. Troy said it might be good in an omelet, and that's probably true: a spinach & cheddar one! An egg was used in the recipe, so he probably tasted that, too.

Anyway, so that was a failure. No worries - just keep trying new things! It actually inspired Troy to promise he'd cook something for ME out of his One Pot cookbook, so I'm excited for that...when he does cook, he cooks very well. His breakfast sandwiches are to die for.

Otherwise, I'm excited because I just finished up the body on my $5 in Paris (or, Autumn 2010 Sweater). It seems to fit well, which I was uncertain about! I still have to do the sleeves, but they have to wait until I can get back to my apartment and grab my set of #7 double-pointed needles.

I'm currently audiobooking Dracula, and really loving it! It's not as scary as I was worried it would be. It's nice to read in bits & pieces for study breaks and while cooking or doing the dishes. I also LOVE this narrator, Robert Whitfield; I've read some other things by him (Bleak House, Pilgrim's Progress - and now I want to hear him do Casino Royale!) and I was pleased when I realized I'd be listening to him again. His voices and pacing are fantastic.

My schoolwork is slowly getting done...I had to write a collections development policy for a library, which TERRIFIED me, but I actually think it turned out...respectably. For never having written one before. I'm still scared I did it all wrong, but...I did what I could, with what I knew. We'll see.

Now, back to work on project #2: designing a teen space! I am very interested in this one, but I'm just not sure how it should be done, or how much the professor wants from us. Guess I'll just, like the last couple of projects for this class, do what feels right.

I'm looking forward to being done with this overwhelming semester...! xo

welcome back?

Karen inspired me to blog again, and so I'm posting - of course - on the day when I'm absolutely most stressed out about getting papers done, ugh. I have 2 assignments due tomorrow evening, and then one paper/project due the 14th, and another the 15th. Whoo! I sure am looking forward to the 16th...! :)

Not much to report on...I just want to try to get back into the swing of this. Who knows if I'll actually stick with it. I just like the idea of getting some thoughts down - journaling, as it were. Or keeping track of my life. A bit like a diary, but less...girly. Heh.

I have been posting a lot on Facebook, of course, regarding my everyday thoughts. And I post most of my knitting on ravelry, since I long ago lost the sweet potato knits domain to an ex. (I am keeping an eye on it, and hoping to purchase it again when it expires!!!) So I'm not sure exactly what I'll be posting up here. My goal is to keep my posts shorter, since I don't have as much time to read blog posts these days, either, so I understand that people don't want to be swamped with words.

...I'm doing a stellar job of that so far, eh?? :)

Okay, I'll keep the rest of this brief. I am still doing library school (duh) and I'm busy with that. I have a side job thanks to a friend where I am a "security guard" - imagine! me! - which brings in a bit of extra cash, but luckily I have student loans (not looking forward to paying those off!) and should be done with the program in spring 2011. (Cross your fingers for me!)

Otherwise, I mostly split my time very unevenly between Bristol (my place) & Hartford (Troy's place - his gets more time, mostly because of the dog). I am knitting while studying, but dying to get back into reading more novels. Hence why I'm not even going to bother posting what I'm currently reading - it's all boring (to everyone else) school books! (Plus, you can keep an eye on what I'm reading on Goodreads!)

That's all, really, in a nutshell. I don't have much news - oh, besides recently becoming godmother to my new niece, Violet! - and besides, I feel like everyone just keeps up with me via Facebook. I'm going to go for more goal-oriented, introspective posts on this blog, then - a la Karen, I hope!

For now: back to work!!!
xo

PP

i'm chilling at Planned Parenthood waiting for my long overdue appointment (+30 mins, at this point), because i have a UTI (sorry if that's TMI! haha) and no GP right now, even though i have health insurance through the end of August from my old job. oh, well. Troy was so sweet because he wanted to come along, but couldn't because of work. so, blah. i'm totally bored, but trying to read. my librarian book is awesomeness. :)

we made marzipan today at work; it was so much fun!!

okay, gotta go wait some more...xo

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9

baking

so today i'm at work at the bakery...and i am learning to make a Gateau de St. Honore (sorry, i don't know how to do accents on my phone). this is the cake which pastry chefs have to make to graduate from the CIA. they have to do it in 3 hours. thank god i don't have to!! but i'm excited to learn it. St. Honore is the patron saint of bakers.

so far, i've just done the chantilly cream, and i'm now on my break. perhaps pictures later if my cakes come out okay. fingers crossed. xo

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9

is anyone out there? haha.

so, i've decided i might start blogging a bit again here & there, because i downloaded a Blogger app to my phone, and that will clearly make mobile blogging easier, hah. also, i wanna try to document things again, like school, the job hunt, books, knitting, movies, etc. all the important stuff. :) let's see how this goes!! xo

Icelandic libraries

Since I'm now a student of Library & Information Sciences (for all of you who didn't know), I thought this was a particularly interesting & amusing bit of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth:

In the first place M. Fridrikssen wanted to know what success my uncle had had at the library.

"Your library! why there is nothing but a few tattered books upon almost deserted shelves."

"Indeed!" replied M. Fridrikssen, "why we possess eight thousand volumes, many of them valuable and scarce, works in the old Scandinavian language, and we have all the novelties that Copenhagen sends us every year."

"Where do you keep your eight thousand volumes? For my part -"

"Oh, M. Liedenbrock, they are all over the country. In this icy region we are fond of study. There is not a farmer nor a fisherman that cannot read and does not read. Our principle is, that books, instead of growing mouldy behind an iron grating, should be worn out under the eyes of many readers. Therefore, these volumes are passed from one to another, read over and over, referred to again and again; and it often happens that they find their way back to their shelves only after an absence of a year or two."

"And in the meantime," said my uncle rather spitefully, "strangers --"

"Well, what would you have? Foreigners have their libraries at home, and the first essential for labouring people is that they should be educated. I repeat to you the love of reading runs in Icelandic blood. In 1816 we founded a prosperous literary society; learned strangers think themselves honoured in becoming members of it. It
publishes books which educate our fellow-countrymen, and do the country great service. If you will consent to be a corresponding member, Herr Liedenbrock, you will be giving us great pleasure."

It's an interesting look at how libraries perhaps should be used! :)

(Thanks to Project Gutenberg for the text above.)

this looks amazing...

...on so many levels.

As Liz Lemon would say, "I want to go to there."

I am seriously considering doing a masters of library & information sciences in good old Austin...I love that city.