29. beyond the sea.

i'm presenting my first solo story time in the morning for 3-5 year olds.
this was really fun to put together, and helping plan the one last week was great practice.

we'll be reading about otters,

 rhyming about ocean friends, 

making paper bag puppets,

and of course, dancing.

my mom pointed out to me that the one thing i said i didn't want to do upon entering grad school was be a children's librarian.
i still don't know if i'd have the energy to do it full-time, but getting to work with kids at least some of the time is certainly a highlight of my job.
and frankly, making crafts and dancing around with toddlers sets a pretty good tone for the rest of the day.

28. freaks and geeks.

the awl asks: "when exactly did it get cool to be a geek?"

Geekiness has accrued cachet, and geeks are becoming the cool guys. In an interview about the comedy web series "Geek Therapy," actress America Young observed: "We started talking about how geek is 'in' now. Everyone, all of a sudden, was proudly waving their geek flag. How cool is it that traditional high school status had been turned on its head?

i often refer to this as "the seth cohen effect"

see also: main streamization of indie rock, largely via television appearances and popular movie soundtracks (see: death cab for cutie, garden state), supposed geeky guys getting the hot girls (see: every teen/young adult/angsty white person movie and television show in the last near decade), and the fashion cardigan for both genders.

i guess it just means being smart is okay now as long as you're also attractive and/or own apple products?

27. the pony express.

a visit to the national postal museum, housed in the old post office.

jj: "i try really hard not to collect stamps."

 

practicing sorting by zip code

owney, the offical mascot of the usps.

"So many people added tags to Owney's collar that Postmaster General John Wanamaker had a harness made to help him carry the weight. After Owney died in 1897, his mail clerk friends raised money to preserve their mascot."

even the floor looks like mail!

and a bit of creepy vandalism to finish.

they had a great video showing how mail gets sorted in the modern age, gorgeous old letter boxes, nice docents, and it wasn't crowded at all. definitely worth a visit, and a place many people miss when they're in town.

26. bury your dead.

arlington national cemetery, yesterday.
site of school visits, funerals, and romantic strolls in the sunshine.

fitting accompaniment to my current read:

this republic of suffering: death and the american civil war

by drew gilpin faust

 

noteable fact:
proportionate to our current population, the number of lives lost in the civil war would be like losing 6 million people today. all right in our backyards.

25. galentines.

and in honor of valentine's day, an assortment of things i love:

-eating string cheese for breakfast
-baby shampoo
-pretty little liars
-new tights
-lace
-pizza delivery
-playing with puppies
-not actually having a puppy
-flossing
-zooey + jean ralphio:

and you know, other great things like my family, being able to feed and clothe myself, art, music, books, tea, a great job, jj, and all my friends. ya'll are pretty great.

24. library love.

my friend ashley sent me the following reader's digest story today:

Check Out a Romance
I met my husband while I was working in a science library. He came in every week to read the latest journals and eventually decided to take out the librarian instead of the books. After a year and a half of dating, he showed up at the library and started rummaging through my desk. I asked what he was looking for, but he didn’t answer. Finally he unearthed one of the rubber stamps I used to identify reference books. “Since I couldn’t find the right engagement ring,” he said, “this will have to do,” and he firmly stamped my hand. Across my knuckles, in capital letters, it read “NOT FOR CIRCULATION.” – Contributed by Ruth E. Chodrow

(from here http://www.rd.com/family/11-funny-valentines-day-jokes/)

23. roofi.

i'm being trained for toddler storytime and planning my first solo one at the end of the month, which involves a lot of looking up rhymes and picking songs.
and all i can think about is the simpsons.

this is going well.

22. a love letter to holidays.

i am someone who likes occasions.
i like any excuse to wear dressy clothes, like something made of lace or a headband made of sparkly things. i like surprises and cake and having reasons to make a day special. i have been known to buy a fancy dress just so i can invent a reason to wear it.
i'm not cynical about christmas, i think about halloween for months, and one year, okay i may have made abraham lincoln a birthday cake.
i like giving people cards, making people presents, and chances are if you've sent me a handwritten anything in your life, i still have it in a box and regularly think about how awesome you are.

super bowl sunday and valentine's day are ridiculous days in many senses, but maybe i love them too.
maybe it's really fun to have a reason to invite a friend over to eat dip and watch puppies run around on television.
and perhaps one of the most fun things i did in grad school was when we all got together to make valentine's cards out of national geographic issues and glitter glue.

so you'd better believe i'm going to rock my toddler-approved heart-printed tights come february 14th. and i'm sure i'll be alone in my enthusiasm for the holiday. but it's going to be awesome.

21. not a lady.

a large vendor did a presentation at the library yesterday on upcoming children's releases. i didn't attend since it was my day off, but there were some leftover tote bags in the break room today for whomever wanted one.
i'm not one to pass on free library swag, but i was not expecting to find this among the YA werewolf/mermaid/ghost sex fantasy lit that filled most of the tote:

20. yachter.

can ben wyatt be my valentine?

my current plans involve going to the dentist.

19. the box.

book i am loving at the moment:

why we broke up

by daniel handler, with art by maira kalman

a first love and the detritus of a relationship.
min frames the story of why she and ed broke up with the casting off of objects: a rubber band, a toy truck, a torn poster.
the remnants of how it began, the reminders of why it had to end.

"Could I call you--"

I thought you were going to ask if you could call me Minnie. But you just wanted to know if you could call me. Who were you to do that, who was I saying yes? I would have said yes, Ed, would have let you call me the thing I hated to be called except by the one who loves be best of anyone. Instead I said yes, sure, you could call me about maybe a movie next weekend, and Ed, the thing with your heart's desire is that your heart doesn't even know what it desires until it turns up. Like a tie at a tag sale, some perfect thing in a crate of nothing, you were just there, uninvited, and now suddenly the party was over and you were all I wanted, the best gift.

read more at http://whywebrokeupproject.tumblr.com/

18. winterish.

welcome to the month of february, where it's 63 degrees at 6:00 pm.
as enjoyable as it is, it might also be making me sick.
i like my germs like i like my yogurt: frozen.

also, my friend jessica made a beautiful pillow case and one of you should buy it because i want you to have pretty things.