"This is the most romantic place I've ever been in. Too bad Dave's not here." - Sij

Here's the scoop:

I've been moving. Moving, moving, moving. Packing kitchen stuff and books and getting rid of things I will never use, like the orange backpack, because I don't need 5 backpacks, I only need one. And also the beautiful cherry shelves, because they won't fit and someone else can use them.

And then Sij came and we went to the Olympic Peninsula and it was BEAUTIFUL. I would one day like to honeymoon there, stopping at a town on the coast every day. Sequim is marvelous. We stayed in the Treehouse because no one else was in any cabin and they upgraded us, and I highly recommend it. Super romantic. It would probably be more romantic with someone you wanted to kiss, but it was also pretty great with a good friend.

We went to see the kids exhibit at the Glass museum, which is also worth a trek to Tacoma, as are the hot glassblowers, and then to an Indigo Girls show at the Pantages theater, which is also lovely. Go there if you can.

And then back for more moving and now down in Portland for a conference with librarians wearing bags that say, "Radical Militant Librarians." Well, only one librarian had one of those. I want one of those. It's from an internal FBI memo that ended up on NPR. Apparently the FBI thinks librarians are dangerous.

We got to hear Nicholas Kristof speak today. Basically, if you've read his columns, you've heard it, but I just think he's pretty thought-provoking and I appreciate his push for gender equality and empowerment.

And we went to Powell's AND got gelato. Grapefruit gelato. It was also amazing.

Whew. Like Calvin says, the days are just packed.

#7 four and twenty blackbirds...

Flavia is both sweetly intrepid and alarmingly intimidating - I imagine my good friend Beckythief was like her as a child.

Also, Alan Bradley is a 70 something Canadian man and this is his first book. Gotta love that.

"so basically, you're going to be a priest." - eliacin

I am going to save the world, according to This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.

That's kinda fun. I feel like the Nancy Pearl action figure needs a little makeover, though. If I'm going to save the world, I want a better costume.

A while ago I was hanging out with Eliacin, who is on his way to being a priest. When I told him what I was learning about,

(A Short Summary of Things we Talked About)

- making search engines as hospitable and welcoming as possible
-figuring out how to link the user who speaks English and wants a Korean website on Topic X, with the user who speaks Korean and wants an English website on Topic X.
-creating MEANINGFUL access for peeps all over, particularly those who don't have it
-etc.

he said, "so basically, you're going to be a priest. welcoming and gathering everyone in."

That stumped me for a minute and I've been thinking about it ever since. I mean, taking holy orders isn't really appealling. I'd have to stop saying fuck, for one thing.

I do think of where I'm headed as vocation, not in the priestly sense, but in the personal mission/calling sense. Not in the scary-evangelistic-missionary sense, just in the I-want-to-make-a-difference-sense of the word.

Anyay, that's what I've been thinking about these days.

Friends!

Sij is coming! Sij is coming!

(I could have been Paul Revere in another life)

This week, while theoretically exams week, I have no classes. And Sij is coming to visit! And she's never met Wallace or been to the Olympic Peninsula, and we are going to have a GREAT time.

On the docket:

Dog obedience class.
Haircut.
Sequim & the Dungeness Spit
Potentially Rialto Beach.
Pantages theater and birthday celebrations with all the march babies - k8, radebaugh, and me!
And also packing up the books and the kitchen for the April 1st move. Whew. Not as fun, although Sij can make the shittiest, most horrible things fun, so I'm betting she can help on this front.

#6 the help

don't look at the cover. Just read the book.

#5 a more grown up suggestion

is for Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey series.

I re-read Gaudy Night every spring, around my birthday, to remind myself of who I am.

It's the rare mystery novel that can do that, and this one is simply delightful. It's probably more delightful if you've read the previous books, but it can also stand alone. Brilliant piece on work, love, and what we are meant for wrapped up in a post-WW One Oxford mystery.

#4 "a few extra minutes in bed" - linda sue park

Linda Sue Park is super. You could read everything of hers, but I think my favorite is Tap Dancing on the Roof, a poetry collection for kids between 5 and 9 ish. Or older. Love it. Funny. If it were food it would be something you nibble on.

#3 "goodnight clocks and goodnight socks..."

Because it's just the best.

Also, I have decided that during finals week it might be in my best interest to have someone remind me that I need to eat properly, sleep more, and remember that all will be well. Applicants can e-mail me for an interview.

#2: Charles and Emma

I'm making myself read only a chapter a day, which is DIFFICULT.

I've always been intrigued by how folks with different faiths can make intimate relationships work. After realizing I was not going to be one of those people, I saw Charles and Emma, and put it on hold at the library, and was about #83405640. Not really, but still. It took forever.

And I'm also going to try to continue the food analogies. It's not like a lemon bar, it's more of a hearty breakfast. With a pastry on the side.

a series of book ideas

as a future librarian, i figure i might as well start giving book suggestions.

and since it's eff""%$#)%^%$&%$)&(O%)%O#$%@ing finals week, I'm procrastinating and thinking of happier times, when I was reading books.


XOXO.

Suggestion #1:

Princess Hyacinth. Because it's like a lemon bar at tea time. Except no calories, which is even better. Good for readers 4-8 and everyone older, too.

"We must love one another or die." - Auden, quoted by John Green this weekend

John Green is my new literary crush. I got to hear him speak at a children's lit conference this weekend (and also got to eat raspberry ice cream from mallards! YUM!) and fell in love. I would post the whole speech here because it was so brilliant, but essential point is that:

story is what helps us see that other people are people. who have needs like us.

Please watch below to see brilliant summary of Catcher in the Rye, and then go check out the vlog brothers.