Just got back yesterday from spending the weekend at a camp in the Adirondacks. A combination of things gave me a lot to think about, so much so that I don't think I have time to put it all into one post. The week before, all of the meteorologists, here and in Watertown said it would rain all weekend, and this I was prepared for -- but the weather was lovely, and I was so grateful. We were able to hike and go canoeing, which is what I had really hoped we would be able to do. I took Friday off work, packed at my leisure, drove up and arrived relatively early. Driving back Monday was a joy because of what was not there -- no need to race home, no need to immediately unpack. Somehow, being up there momentarily cleared my mind of all the usual crap that resides there. There was time to read and hang out with people and just be.
By adriennelibrarian at 9:13 PM

Trampolines are fun! Had my first first experience with one this evening. It is a smile I think I will carry with me for awhile. It felt good to giggle with friends, and whoops! lose both my stomach and my footing. People don't usually laugh when they lose their footing and most times, it is probably more dangerous to do so on a trampoline.
By adriennelibrarian at 9:03 PM

Been kind of a long day. The morning started with a 3 hour meeting, followed by an enjoyable reprise for a few hours at Java Junction with Justin. (J is my favorite letter in the alphabet, so having 3 J-words converge in a sentence describing my day gives me bizzarre pleasure.) The next 6 hours had to be spent at work. I would probably feel less tired if I had put something into my body over and above a bowl of Raisin Bran, two cups of Columbian coffee (heavy cream, a little sugar) and a cheeseburger. One of the libraries I work at is located in a plaza about 30 years old. The line of businesses runs as follows: Dr's office, pizza place, library, bar, storefront church, empty laundromat, abandoned grocery store whose interior walls are reputed to have moss growing up them. The bar next to the library has the best cheeseburgers on the planet. They are so greasy and delicious. They even McDLT'd it, separating the hot stuff from the cool stuff in the styrofoam box. (If you are in the nonfiction section of the library on a Friday afternoon, you can be sure to hear Patsy Cline's "Crazy" or Jimmy Buffet doing "Margaritaville" -- if the mood so strikes, you may also check out his book, A Salty Piece of Land -- sorry, can't help myself, I am a librarian, after all.) An interesting feature of the bar is that it has rustic boards on the walls up to chair rail height -- that are painted silver, which looks cooler than you are probably imagining, but not by a whole lot. Usually I call in my order and walk over, but one day it took them a bit longer and some guy at the bar was talking to me about being Catholic in this town. I don't remember exactly why this was a big deal, but apparently it was enough of a major component of his identity that he had to bring it up with complete strangers, trying to get them to side in an argument he was mostly having with himself because nobody else in the bar seemed to care a whole lot. Kerouac could probably find meaning in this, tonight I am at a loss.
By adriennelibrarian at 9:12 PM

So I am clearing out my living room about 3 feet at a time, prepping it to paint. I am removing the books from the shelves and packing them up in boxes to be left in the garage until the job is done, which is a bit of an extreme measure for a person like myself who has this "problem" with books. As in accumulating way too many of them. Even after the paint goes on, I think I will let the shelves remain empty for a little while to try out the minimalist point of view. This will be rather a novel experience in itself. I've always been a busy person, and the environments I create for myself generally reflect that. In high school my personal appearance definitely reflected that. Anyway, I eventually want to get the whole room emptied, except for the furniture -- there isn't any other storage place for that. In the end though, things will be sorted out and there will be somewhat rational reasons for having things where they are aside from sheer laziness or "oh shit company is coming i'll just throw this shit in here they'll never know." When I was younger I didn't plan for anything, which made life pretty exciting because I was open to almost anything. If something came up out of the blue, I would say sure, why not? unless there was a really obvious reason why not, but that didn't usually stop me either. All that has given me some pretty good stories to tell, but there is something to be said for planning. . . .while not always a deterent to the forces of chaos, it does provide some stability that would never exist without it. I guess i've gotten sick of flying by the seat of my pants. I know Justin will have problems with the lack of books in my living room, though I am sure he will be relieved to know I did not pack the reference books away and they are sitting in a pile next to an easy chair, in what he considers an aesthetically pleasing manner. Of course, when I have gone through everything, it will be infinitely easier to locate books that come up in the course of conversation. . . .
By adriennelibrarian at 9:03 PM

I have had worse days than this, and they are all too recent in my memory. . . . but this has just been the kind of day when I come home and crack open a bottle of wine all for myself and waste a lot of time on the computer instead of thinking much. Have Nora Jones' Come Away With Me on which I will probably end up listening to several times before the wine runs out. I first heard it at my son's friend's house. George, the man of the household, installs plate glass windows and has these bulked up shoulders and arms from his work. He drinks Canadian beer and smokes Marlboro lights and loves music. And Nora Jones. I think it's the only thing I've ever seen him put on, switching from Ween once his teenage daughters leave the room and he plays it over and over. They are the sort of people where you can't just stop by for a quick minute. No, you have to sit down and have a cup of tea. And then another. Sometimes they offer me a beer, particularly on balmy summer evenings, but I guess I retain my "good girl" aura, so usually it's tea. They offer a kind of a cozy hospitality I find no where else. Anyway, the Nora Jones thing is all George's fault.
By adriennelibrarian at 9:14 PM