Happy birthday to me

Yes, I know it's over a month away, but I had to buy my present early.

I just discovered that Avenue Q is finally touring the country! And I found out just in time, too. It will be in Houston next month. I bought myself a ticket, and since I'm not poor anymore (yay), I splurged on a good seat. Okay it's a great seat: center orchestra, second row. This is going to be so awesome! I can't wait to see it. And if the show is as fantastic as I think it will be, it's going to be in Ft. Worth in July, so I can see it again!

Curious?

Oh, how bad I am at leaving my poor readers hanging.

Do you want to know what has happened with random kissing guy? Well, I called him Tuesday after Labor Day like I said I would. We talked on the phone for a long time, but it only confirmed that I don't like him romantically. I didn't see him at work all week and he didn't call me, so I thought I was home free.

He called Friday night and we talked a long time again. This time I came close to not liking him even as a friend. He has some infuriating (for me) ideas on religion and society. I had to ask to change the subject when my blood started boiling. He didn't mention getting together and I didn't either.

So far this week he's waved to me in passing and sent me a 'hello' email. I hope he's gotten the hint that I'm not interested. I don't want to have to spell it out.

Dialogue

Samsara: I never thought it could happen to me: a drunken makeout with a guy I'm not really attracted to. Okay, it wasn't exactly a makeout. It was just kissing.

Inner voice: "Just kissing?" Uh-huh, but where?

Samsara: What? On the lips.

Inner voice: Don't be coy. You know what I mean. "Just kissing" on the goldarn town square! In front of whole world.

Samsara: Alright, alright. I admit there was some PDA.

Inner voice: You're darn right there was. Don't forget the little episode on the patio of that restaurant.

Samsara: Oh, lighten up. That was just a peck!

Inner voice: Fine. I just hope none of those 8 million college kids out there was one of your student workers. What kind of example was that to set?

Samsara: Okay. You and I both know college kids. They don't need to see me being an idiot to think it's fine for them to do it.

Inner voice: *sigh*

Samsara: But what do I do now?

Inner voice: Oh, I see. Now you want my help. Last night you gave me all that tequila and told me to beat it.

Samsara: I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have sent you away like that. Just tell me what to do.

Inner voice: Alright, look. He's not a bad guy. He's nice, he's not ugly. Why not just go with the flow, act normal, and if necessary, you can give the "let's just be friends" speech.

Samsara: You think that will work?

Inner voice: Why not? And keep in mind: he was drinking, too. Maybe he's getting a talking-to from his inner voice right now.

Samsara: You're right. Should I call him?

Inner voice: Yeah, I think you should. That would be the polite thing to do. You both said you're going out of town for the holiday, so you can call Tuesday evening when you get back. Just thank him for Friday night and see what happens.

Samsara: Okay. But what if he thinks we've started something and he's all "personal" at work? People will know.

Inner voice: From what I could tell before I was unceremoniously dismissed, I think you can trust him to be discreet. And if he's not, you can tell him to be. Not that hard, really.

Samsara: That's true. Well, I guess I'll enjoy the rest of the weekend and face next week when it comes.

Inner voice: Yeah, and lay off the margaritas for a while. Dummy.

Cataloging, how I love thee

Yesterday I had a super fun cataloging quest. I am so glad I'm back in this field!

Warning: Extreme library nerdiness follows!

The Library Assistant IV from Special Collections came over to ask for some help cataloging an unusual book. He had gone to the Dept. Head and she referred him to me (how's that for confidence! Yay, me!).

So, the book was called Llano, Gem of the Hill Country, Revisited. It had a title page referencing the author with a line "edited posthumously by his children." The t.p. verso said "First edition, 1970. Second edition, 1988." No problem so far, but after 193 pages there was another title page with the same title but referencing only the children as the authors. It had 56 pages of new information.

We were unsure if the children were calling their 56 pages the second edition or if the whole thing was the second edition. Maybe they wrote the added part considering it a second edition and bound it with the original edition. The original author died in 1967, so the 1970 first edition was the thing edited posthumously. If the children were calling their supplement a second edition, that's not really correct and would cause us to create a misleading record. Then I discovered the preface to the 56-page part in which they referred to it as a supplement and referenced reprinting the 1970 edition.

Another clue was that the cover had the title of the book and only the children as authors. I picked up on the word "Revisited" in the title and decided to check OCLC to see if there was a record for the 1970 edition. Sure enough, the 1970 edition was just titled Llano, Gem of the Hill Country -- no "Revisited." Therefore, the book we had in hand with an added supplement was the second edition.

We decided to use the cover as our primary source of information and I instructed the LAIV to include a note about its being a revised edition. I suggested he go back to the Dept. Head and let her know what we came up with and asked him to tell me the results. She agreed with my approach and here's the record: Llano, Gem of the Hill Country, Revisited

She's back!

I told Lass that my chickening out had gotten out of hand and if I could just do one thing, maybe I'd break its hold on me. Sure enough, it was true!

I went to a sports bar in New Braunfels to watch the Cowboys play and although I was a little nervous going in, once I sat down it wasn't bad at all. It was a nice atmosphere, not too crowded, super friendly service. It was freezing cold in there, but an old guy came over and started talking to me, so I mentioned how cold I was and he loaned me his jacket.

I've been volunteering at the public library and when I was there last week, I talked with the cute guy who works the circ desk. This week when I came in, he was busy with a patron so I went straight to the back and started working. When he finished with that patron, he found me in back to talk to me. We talked several times during my shift, one of those times being about chess wherein I told him that I don't know how to play. As I was leaving, he said, "So when do you want to learn chess?" Smooth. Heehee. I gave him my number. He asked if I ever go to the coffee shop down the street, I said yes, he said he'd call. So exciting!

Today a co-worker suggested we go out for a drink after work (just as friends). He started a week after I did, so we've gotten to chat some during orientations and such. It was a nice way to start the weekend.

Tomorrow is breakfast (by myself, because I'm not scared anymore!) movies and shopping (because I'm not poor anymore), bank business (again, not poor), and cleaning (because I'm still a slob, lol). Sunday is church, Columbo, and a nap.

X Games 13

I've been watching the motocross events at the X Games this weekend. The tricks these guys do are just amazing. I've got to see this in person some day.

Here's the gold medal winner for best trick, Kyle Loza. It was his first appearance at the X Games!

AOL Video

Minimum wage increase

This week's Democratic radio address included a bit about the new minimum wage. (It was supposed to be a response to the President's address where he talked about the bridge collapse, but whatever.)

So, the speaker was all "Yay, Dems," because of the wage increase:

"Democrats also passed the first minimum-wage increase in 10 years. Raising the minimum wage won't make anyone rich, but it will help hard-working people take home a little more each month."

I fail to see the good in it really. On the surface it's good for people to take home larger paychecks, but in reality prices for goods and services have risen in response to businesses having to fund larger payrolls. Check your grocery store, favorite restaurant, big-box retailer. It may be only a few cents, but I've seen higher prices already. Even the little snack bar on campus has raised their price for coffee. (That's all I usually buy, so I don't know about the other items.)

It seems to me the raise looks good on paper, but will turn out to be a wash. "Hard-working people" will take home more and then spend more for their essentials. Yay, Dems!