Ha.

Only a librarian would call Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 a “classic horror novel.”

Green hats, pink elephants, and red back…

1) Yesterday, I played Rock Band at work. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, I let the teens play. I promise.

2) No blogging about running, you ask? I have not been running a lot lately. This whole being an adult and trying to negotiate a schedule that accommodates a 35 hour work week (plus online teaching) is exhausting and difficult. I’m slowly figuring out how to balance things again, which is including an acceptance of the things I can and cannot do.

3) My massive sunburn (earned on July 1^st) is now gone for the most part. I’m done peeling and am only left with a bit of an itch. If I don’t think about it (which I obviously current am), then it is fine. When I think about it, it’s like trying not to think of pink elephants.

4) There are too many books about vampires out right now geared toward a young adult audience. No, this is not me taking a stand on the quality of subject matter available to young readers. It is me attempting to compile a list so people who are obsessed with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series can find something else to read until a) their holds come in or b) the next book comes out.

5) Right now I’m wearing a Robin Hood “esque” hat. I’m not kidding. It’s mad hatter day at work. The other day, I had on groucho glasses. What worries me, however, is the following: a patron comes by and starts asking a question. She comments on my colleague’s hat, who points out I am wearing one too. The patron looks at me and remarks “Oh. I didn’t notice. The hat looks quite natural on you.” Thank you, dear patron. I’m off to put on green tights, dust off my bow and arrow, and steal from the rich.

6) Because it just happened: a bunch of well-dressed, attractive, business-type men just walked by. Yes, I still have the hat on. While I am not ashamed, these are the moments when I feel just a little ridiculous…and the moment is gone.

7) I am not a huge fan of even numbers, so really number seven has no point beyond me stating that fact.

I ain’t afraid of no what?

Lately, I’ve been catching up on some much needed professional development (PD to all fellow library-journal (not LJ) junkies). It is surprising to note all of the changes in the library community (in North America and beyond) that I have been missing out on: mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, layoffs, staffing changes (why does it seem like so many major, public systems are looking for CEOs right now – and why can I not apply? J). Before we go any further, let’s establish that, yes, I know I am a geek.

Anyway, this morning, I was skimming through ALA’s American Libraries, and I came across an article about No Fear Shakespeare. Essentially, the idea of the site is to “translate” Shakespeare into “plain English.” Initially, the site seemed like a good idea to me. I’m really trying to embrace this “no everyone is not an English major” thing, and I’d like to be more accepting of the fact that a lot of people do not understand/get/enjoy the same types of literature that I do. I eagerly went to the site to check it out (after all, if I’m going to recommend it to anyone, I should probably look at it first). Since Romeo and Juliet is mentioned in the article, I thought I’d check it out first (no bad library-related pun intended):

The grammar is terrible. I won’t even bother going into detail. As promised, things are indeed loosely translated into plain English. That being said, I don’t know which version of English the delightful people at Spark Notes are using. The English language, as we know it now, lacks the proper words to fully articulate the sentiment of a Shakespearean play. I’m sorry, but “There was never a story more full of pain than the story of Romeo and Juliet” is not the same as “For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo,” nor is “oh my!” and adequate substitute for “ay me!” Translating Shakespeare seems to me more than just a test of one’s ability to use a thesaurus. I know, I know…what did I expect from something put out by Spark Notes.

I just looked at one of Macbeth’s famous soliloquies. No more. This is ridiculous. Seriously, have a read. Yikes! The translation makes even less sense than the original?!?!?!? WHY?!?!?!?!? I need to stop.

Would I recommend this resource to a patron? I don’t know. I don’t trust that if I did recommend it that someone would sit down and pay attention to the Shakespearean lines, and something is really lost in the alleged translation. Perhaps it could be recommended with a HUGE FLASHING WARNING SIGN and a reminder that this is not Shakespeare. Good on the people at Spark Notes for trying. A solid boourns to them for not trying harder.

Just in case M thinks I never read her blog:

So, Wordle might be the most fun thing ever! Thanks Michelle for the link! The word cloud seems to indicate I have an obsession with running…hmmm…

Hmmm…

1) I signed up for a 1/2 marathon on October 19th. Yes, I actually signed up. I am 100% committed to it. Am I insane…probably. See you at the finish line.

2) Having to jump through hoops is exhausting. You know what I mean…

3) I need sleep.

Update Pt. 2: Almost end of day…

1) I have a new USB key: either something new to misplace or a potentially useful storage space for all of my library-related stuff. It comes with a pretty red/pink skin. Why is that so exciting?

2) I like answering long referencing questions. Awesome

3) I have a new desk to make messy…I mean, I have a new work space to keep clean and respect.

Update: The “I have 8 minutes before I need to go back to work” Edition

1. I am a librarian again.

2. Two hours of sleep before a full day of work is a bad idea.

3. I’m grateful for coffee, even bad coffee.

4. I need to blog more: I really should count the number of times I lament the large breaks I seem to take when blogging.

5. I’m not used to working a *regular* day. It is a strange novelty. There’s something both gratifying and exhausting of having your day planned for you in 1 hour blocks of time.

6. I was complaining to my parents about my lack of summer vacation, and they told me to suck it up. It was actually really amusing. My Mom said something along the lines of the following: “Right, so what you’re annoyed about is now you don’t get to do all of the fun stuff that you were doing because you weren’t working full-time. No one lives like that. Welcome to reality.” Apparently, everyone else in the world isn’t as social as I am…who knew?

7. I now have three minutes left of my lunch break. Time to down the coffee (I’m already inexplicably jittery). I’m thinking a run after work has potential…

Ugh

This does not make me proud to be *from* Owen Sound: source of hometown shame a and source of hometown shame b. I do not really the Owen Sound Sun Times on a regular basis, but I do check the Star, which is where I found out about it. When you’ve made the homepage of the Star, it’s either really good or really bad. This isn’t great.

Work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger

Now that that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cause I can’t wait much longer…And with another race gone by, the sweet sounds of Kanye West’s “Stronger” guided me across yet another finish line.

A couple of friends and I ventured to Ottawa this weekend for Ottawa’s popular Race Weekend. I wanted to see Ottawa again, I wanted to run a 10k, so off we went. The weekend was somewhere beyond fantastic. I cannot adequately express my love for Ottawa in words. I started smiling the minute we entered the city and really did not want to leave. If I could live in any city, it would be Ottawa. Unfortunately, while it has the lure of some fantastic people (and quite clearly an awesome race one a year), it does not have my workplace. I love my job; therefore, no moving in the near future.

Nonetheless, good times were had, bridgehead coffee was obtained, places were walked to and visited, friends were seen, and a race was run.

I won’t go kilometer by kilometer with this one. I promise. The beginning of the race was insane. Over 8000 people were running it, so that was already nuts to begin with. They put you into corrals based on the time you said you finish (I said somewhere between 71-80minutes), and you start the race in waves. The gun goes off, but it took over five minutes to get across the start line. It takes another couple of minutes to get to the point where you can actually run and find your pace. It’s more of a run/walk while everyone spreads out and heads down the street.

The weather was FANTASTIC! It was beautiful, sunny, and a bit cooler than it had been during the day. That being said, holy crow did it ever get hot after a few minutes. I could feel my face heating up more and more due to the sun and the running. It never cooled down. I was crazy sweaty by the end of it. All I have to say is next time, I buy running pants/shorts. Yikes…

Anyway, the first couple of kilometers were fine. It was a lovely run as usual. I was anticipating a water break at 3k that never came. It did not appear until almost the 5k point, which I thought was a bit cruel. I was desperate for cool liquid at this point, and was happy to see it. I saw a number of people who seemed to forget (or not know) race etiquette when it comes to drinking water/ditching your cup. Do not whip your 1/2 full cup of water several feet away from you when you are done. It might hit someone. Pinch the cup, drink, lower cup, pour our remaining liquid (even if it goes down your leg), and drop the cup. Not hard.

For the most part, the course was just about the flattest thing I had ever run (aside from running on a track), which seemed to confused my body. I’m accustomed to running up and down more inclines, so you work harder, get a bit of a break, work harder, break, repeat. My muscles rebelled against the unfamiliar course (I had no idea what I was in for, and I really found that not knowing what was coming in terms of incline a challenge), and I will admit this was a hugely challenging run. Had I the time prior to the run, I would have liked to have run at least 1/2 the course, just to know. Next time!

By the time I saw 7k, I knew it was going okay. 8k made me smile even more, and I just about died with happiness when I saw 9k. They even had a count down in meters until the end, which was really motivating. As you head down the race course, there are people cheering from everywhere…LOUDLY! Strangers yell your name (it’s on the bib), and encourage you. While I thought this would be creepy and odd, I found it surprisingly comforting to know that people cared about your race performance. It was also great to hear (because I couldn’t spot them in the crowds) friends cheering you on. That last 500m might have been the most glorious of the race. My body felt good (a little tired, a little sore, but this is normal – my knees held up okay!), I had music in my ears, and I knew my friends were there. As I ran through the finish line (1hour and 16minutes), I could not help but be ridiculously happy to be part of a community that is so supportive, to have such fantastic friends that cheer me on, to be able to run, and (oh here comes to cheese) to fulfill the dreams of my teenage years to be a runner (why am I thinking about dreamracer here…). I’ve been running seriously since January, and this was the first moment that I really felt like a runner.

After the race, I ate happily, stretched, iced my knees, drank water, hugged my friends, and went off to bed where (when I finally made it there), I passed out solidly. My body is recovering quickly (much quicker than last time), and I can’t wait until the 8k next month.

What doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger. I’ve said it before, ad I’ll say it again: I run because I have to. I run because I love it. I am a runner.

1/2 marathon, here I come!

Raindrops keep falling on my head…

but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop running. Yes, I realize that doesn’t exactly follow. As you can probably guess, I went for a run in the rain. It was lovely, really. The freezing cold rain and wind made for a nice cool run. Since I often try not to focus on the running when I’m actually running (i.e. frig this hurts, why isn’t it over yet…the not focusing on the pain/burn/run itself actually makes the run more fun), I was thinking about the nice people in their cars who managed not to splash me. While this is one time when I truly wouldn’t have minded, the people in cars, really didn’t splash me once. Go figure.

In other news, I’m going to sleep. That’s right: squash + run = Jess is tired. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.