J'Espere

t's 2008! Should we be excited about that? I still kind of want to go about ten years back. Am I the only person that actually really liked high school? Maye I just enjoy school in general. Otherwise I guess I wouldn't keep coming back. And I do, all the time. I tried to think of some new year's resolutions. Here's what I've come up with: 1) write. really. 2) begin training for some sort of event- swimathon, marathon, 10K, just something. What's the point of all this exercise and healthy eating if it doesn't lead anywhere? 3) Let go of things that are out of control. But don't think I'm going to quit lecturing on recycling and water conservation 4) Forge my own path 5) do something I've never attempted before 6) Find a barn somewhere, and ride a horse. Why did I ever stop? 7) Speak out for those who have no voice 8) Speak less, listen more. 9) Start planning a trip somewhere I've never been before. I'm pretty happy with my life here now. ...

It was awful to read the front page of the N&O on Sunday, about Johnston essentially going through it's collection and pulling books it finds "offensive". I hate that word. At least in terms of literature. For one thing, it's exclusive. I don't mind cursing or sex scenes in my books, but can imagine there are a lot of people who do. I am not biased by ethnic or religious authors. I think you can read either and both just fine and am not offended. I think that drugs should be a part of YA literature, since they are a part of YA life. So what is offensive? Apparently, it's whatever Fred Bartholomew thinks. And no one knows what he thinks. When the newspaper talked to them the BOE was very vague about how they were selecting books to pull. Were they selecting all the books that contained sex and drugs or just a few of them? Would all minority authors be up for review, or just those that are filling children's heads with "filth". I'm fascinat...

Yes, I had a small accident. My first in seven years, to be exact. And hopefully my last. Since the repair shop completely underestimated when i would be retrieving my own vehicle I was forced to deal with the reality of living in Small Town America again: The Rental Car. Which meant I had to deal with another reality- who was going to pay for this rental car? I try to budget 40 dollars a week for food. That meant having to call the parents and say, "mom, you want to pay for my rental car?" Fortunately I am a Southern girl and they said yes, as long as I promised not to wreck it. So I called Enterprise and now have a very bright red Nissan Versa with unlimited mileage. And it's an automatic. Which, if you're used to a stick, can be complicated. I keep wanting to drive with two feet. And it does something weird when I park it. At the same time, it's kind of fun. I never get to drive other cars (since I have had the same one for a while and plan on keeping it) and i...

Always a socialist at heart (I told y'all I love the French), I'm speaking out on insurance in the US today. It started with a phone call last night. One of my friends just suffered her second miscarriage in a very short period of time. She went to the ER and then to her normal doctor. Who said she suspects she has lupus. I'm not going to judge her for actually getting pregnant on purpose without health insurance. But I am going to judge Blue Cross Blue Shield for trying to charge her $700 a month for insurance. When her husband hasn't received a paycheck in two months. When she has two children to feed. She doesn't know if she has lupus- she doesn't have money for the test required. Nor does she have the insurance to cover it. Now, onto situation 2. My friend has a friend who has a medical disease that requires daily medication. But he isn't getting it because he again doesn't have health insurance. And he needs it- without it he could get really sick a...

I flew up on thursday morning, the official beginning of my fall break, and just got back today. My house is a mess, I haven't done any of my homework, and I'm still breathing and living New York in the fall. If you haven't been there for this particular season you should go. this fall since it was a little warm, it was weird- people were wearing shorts and t-shirts. I brought all 3/4 and long sleeved stuff but was determined to wear it, because, after all, it's mid-Oct in the Northeast. It's a little ridiculous. Since the boyfriend was not on fall break, I actually had a while to just wander around the city on my own. Which I love to do anyway. That's actually one advantage to my friends having real jobs is that I do have some alone time. I did a whole lot and walked around 75-80 blocks total. I walked a lot. But that's not the point. The New York Public Library. I went on the tour (offered M-F 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.) I highly recommend this. because you will b...

So I've noticed something really interesting about people and library school. Whenever I mention that I'm in library school I get two responses- 1) "Really? You have to go to school for that?" or 2) "That's great!". The latter being from people who are generally more educated. So I'm here to clear up a few things. Librarian is a legitimate career. We find things for people. We help people select books. We select books for our libraries. We support school curriculum, we educate people of all ages, we fight for the money to keep you informed with dictionaries, encyclopedias and databases. There is no constitutional right to the Public Library. The Public Library is there because it was started hundreds of years ago, because it turned out that people liked borrowing books for FREE and because people had questions that they could not answer on their own. The library is here today because even our government realized that to an extent libraries are a wond...

or at least the Triangle area. Today may have been a day out of "Office Space". I spent two hours on 40-E going 25 miles. at approx. 20-25 miles per hour. It really took that long. In the time I was on the road, I had two phone conversations, worked on my nails and hands, and thought of reasons to carpool. Or at least incentives that would help people want to carpool. These are some of the ideas I had: 1) Tax break for people driving and participating in organized car pools 2) Gas cards for drivers of carpools (maybe $150/year?) 3) Discounts on car maintenance through Jiffy Lube or something for drivers 4) Special lanes for cars holding three or more people 5) Free Satellite radio I think the best thing would be for hte Triangle to realize it's becoming more urban and embrace it. And put in a true Public Transportation System. I was imagining, to start, a high speed train looping from Raleigh to Durham to Cary and Chapel Hill. It would make few stops, but each one would b...