The Little Things

"My outlook is that little things are the trip. I’m very happy with very little. Maybe that’s why I have so much."
- Linda McCartney


I am not sure when, how, or where I came across this quote.  Maybe it was back in middle school when we were doing a calligraphy project.  Who knows.  What I do know, is that like many a song lyric, and other random pop culture worthless-ness, this quote has stuck with me.


In this world that is full of crap so much of the time, full of things that dissappoint (like a certain third book in a triology that shall remain nameless, and the movie Phenomenon), it's sometimes important to really enjoy the little things.  Now, for granted I am going to come across as some Tony Robbins/hippie mix that's all sunshine and rainbows, but I guess I'll just have to live with that.


For example, today I was driving downtown, the window was open, the music was playing, and the sun was on my skin.  It was awesome.  Also, coming home from work today I realized that I enjoyed coming home to my house.  I've done lots of work on it this summer, and now it is almost like living in a new place, a place that feels more like "home" than the house I've been in for the past 7 years.  


So, I guess I am advocating that people listen to the late Linda McCartney's words and appreciate the little things.  :)

Glee

In this episode, I will try to explain my reasons for loving Glee.

Yeah, I know, pretty much anyone that would be reading my blog probably knows I love Glee.  Hell, most of you also probably love Glee (the whole 1 of you that might be out there).  But, and this may come as a shock, there are actually people out there that don't dig the show.  So, I've found myself in a position of trying to explain what it is that I love about the show...you know besides Kurt being teh awesome, Brittany and her inane comments, and Puck being the most dudalicious bad ass GLEE CLUB member ever!

The thing that really gets me about Glee, the thing that makes me keep coming back, and the thing that has made me cry multiple times over the first season (aside from the introduction of Sue's sister), is the relationship Will Shuster has with the students in his Glee Club.  You see that relationship from the very first episode.  During "Don't Stop Believing" we see Shue go into the auditorium and look on the stage to watch the kids that HE inspired, trying to make something of themselves.  In that moment, he realizes he's done something good, and could be doing something great.

In the last episode, the Glee Club students sing "To Sir, With Love" to Shue, and again, I got all teary eyed.  While this may lead you to believe I am nothing but a big cry baby (which could very well be true), but I digress.  The thing that made me choke up was the fact that these characters were telling their teacher, their mentor, that no matter  how long of a time they have together, that he has influenced them in a way that will be with them the rest of their lives.

Why does this make me love Glee?  Well, because I want to be Shue!  I mean I don't want to be a man who is making a bunch of teenagers prance around a stage and sing.  I want to be someone who affects the teens, or anyone, that I work with that way.  I think it's especially poinent to me because I do work with teens.  I know I won't have a huge impact on every teen that walks through this door, or even on a majority of them, but I want to know that with at least a few of them, I've influenced them in a (hopefully positive!) way that will stick with them the rest of their lives.

That's why I love the show, because I see myself reflected in the characters, especially in Shue.  I hate to admit that I relate to the "adult" on a show, but I really do.  And hell, maybe one day my teens at the library will sing "To Sir, With Love" to me....or then again maybe not.

Mockingjay

While one of the bloggers at Forever Young Adult has pretty much said everything I'd want to say about Mockingjay, I thought I would post about it here anyways.  It's not really fair to review a book unless you've read the whole thing, but you know what?  I don't really care.

As has been mentioned before, I have a love of The Hunger Games that may border slightly on obsession, and I was all a twitter to have Mockingjay come out.  I even dragged my ass to Meijer at 1:30 am release day to see if I could purchase a copy.  No such luck for me.  I did eventually get my hands on the coveted book and started reading.  But, something was amiss about Mockingjay.  It was just different.  Some other librarians had said that they thought it started slowly, and I do know that even people who love The Hunger Games said that started slowly for them, so I worked on sticking with it.

Then, last Sunday, I really got time to sit and dig my teeth into Mockingjay.  I was going along with it, and then I just started to come across passages that made me go, eh?  I started reading some of the stuff out loud to my boyfriend, and outright complaining to him about what was happening in the story.  Then, it happened, I broke down and looked up spoilers online to see what happened in the book.

NOTE here be spoilers!

WTF Gale!?  Ok, so the whole point of the series, or the start of it at least, is that Katniss wants to save her younger sister from going into the Hunger Games, she wants her sister to live.  And in the end, her sister dies because of Gale?  Yeah, thanks, but no.  I get it, everyone was Team Peeta, and I get it, war sucks blah blah blah.  But seriously?  Oh, and Finnick, the person who gets built up to have lots of sympathy, he dies?  Thanks for that one.

Now, I can deal with the death of favorite characters.  In Harry Potter, it's sort of the right thing that Fred dies in the end (even though I luvs me some Weasley twins!), and actually I cried for George.  But, the end fits.  Mockingjay just felt like, a different world, with different characters.  I missed the awesome BFF Gale who reminded me of my best guy friend growing up, and I am mad at Collins for taking that character away from me (or trying to, I've decided to ignore her ending and make up my own).

I'll always love The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire.  I'll always root for Katniss, and cry when Rue dies.  But, Mockingjay was a bit let down for me, and I'm sorry that an amazing series ended on such a sour note.  At least I got out before I couldn't make up my own fan fiction version in my head.

The Mockingjay thing

I am sure many, if not all, if you who would read this know about The Hunger Games, and it's third and final installment that just came out:  Mockingjay.  Any of you that know me, know that I LOVE The Hunger Games, in fact, one of my tattoos is slightly based on the cover of that book.

So, why is it taking me so long to get done with Mockingjay?  I know many librarians, authors, and other readers went through that book within a day of it being released, but I've been working on it for more than a week now.

I think my problem with this book, much like the problem I had with Deathly Hallows (the last Harry Potter book), is that I don't want my experience with these characters to end.  I want to know what happens, but I am going to miss them and their adventures once I finish that last page.  So, while I want to fly through the book, I am stopped by the fact that I also *don't* want to know.  

Does anyone else feel like this?

Dark Song by Gail Giles

This review is based on an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of the book Dark Song by Gail Giles.

Ames has grown up in privilege.  She's gone to fancy schools, and never wanted for anything.  She thinks her family is perfect, and her father is her hero.  Then...her family starts to change.  Her father isn't going into work like he used to, and Ames's friends are starting to talk.  Soon, her world is turned upside down.  Ames learns that her perfect family isn't so perfect, and that her father is far from being a hero.

After Ames's family is forced to move from Colorado to Texas, Ames meets a boy, Marc, and she becomes increasingly alienated from her family and remaining friends, and ever more dependent on Marc for love and affection.  But Marc is dark, that darkness attracts Ames, but will it also force her to do the unthinkable?

I really enjoy Gail Giles's work.  I was thrilled to get this book in the mail, and couldn't wait to read it.  Also, the cover is just awesome.

Ames was a character that I think a lot of teens will be able to relate to.  She feels betrayed by her family, and is drawn to someone that makes her feel rebellious, but also someone she feels she can trust.  I would have liked to have gotten to know Ames before the downfall of her family a bit more.  We get a glimpse, but it mostly feels like a set up for what is to come.

I had a hard time not reading this book, and went through it pretty quickly.  I am sure that teens will love it, and it continues Giles's tradition of gritty realistic fiction.

Social networking and the library

If you are a librarian you hear it over and over again, social networking *is* where the library world needs to focus.  As a librarian I'm surprised to realize just how much I use social networking to do my job.
I obviously blog (since you are reading my blog) but I also use twitter, facebook, and myspace.  Some teens have my email address and have emailed me or IMed me via google talk, and I've gotten text messages from teens about events and books (although text might not be considered social networking, but for the purpose of this blog I am going to lump it in).

Facebook is the social networking site I use the most, and the one through which most of my library-related communication is also focused.  It really isn't a big deal for me to log onto my facebook in the morning and have a teen IM me about a book that he or she wants, or a program that's coming up that day.  My library recently launched an AniManga club, and one of the patrons who attended ended up making a facebook event for the next meeting.  I use facebook messages to talk to patrons, and even other staff that I might need to get a hold of.  The teens at the library sometimes IM me just to say hi or chat a bit.  I've even used facebook to keep up with librarian friends that I've met who live across the state from me.

If you'd told me when I first signed up to facebook/myspace/twitter, et. all that I'd be using these sites to be a librarian who was almost always available, I'd have been surprised.  When I first signed up to those sites it was mostly to reconnect with old friends, or keep up with new ones that I've met.  Now I can't imagine doing my job without the use of these sites.

I will admit, that having such open access to my social networking profiles does make it so I need to be careful of what content I post on there, but that's not always such a downside.  It's probably best that I not post on the Internet anything that I wouldn't want getting around the library because you never know what might come back and bite you in the butt one day.

So yes when they tell you at those conferences that social networking is important to your library; listen up.  Social networking can be one of the easiest ways to communicate with patrons and build relationships in the library.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I was recently kind of challenged by someone to read a classic that I've never read; The Little Prince.  This is a book I've meant to read, and heard a lot about, but I just never seemed to "get around to it."  So, with the extra incentive of a challenge thrown down I decided to check the book out from my library and give it a go.

For those of you that don't know The Little Prince is the story of a little prince who leaves his planet and explores the universe.  He is found on Earth by a pilot whose plane has crashed in the desert.  I will say that I was prepared not to like the book because it is so hyped by people, and I often don't like things that are overly hyped *cough*Avatar*cough*.  But, to my astonishment I did find The Little Prince to be charming and enjoyable.  Some of it was a little too precocious, but I think that many of us could do to be reminded of the simple joys and thoughts of childhood, and how loving a single rose can make all the difference to a little prince.