30 March 2009

My Workout: Cleanup at the Library

Cleanup: 3 & 4 (Teen and Adult Fiction, half the non-fiction)

8:00 - Start cleanup. Attack the Teen section. Find a pair of books stuck together with gum. Incredulous. Fish paperbacks out from behind the shelves. Snub Meg Cabot.

6:07 - "Excuse me, where are the Punjabi books?" They're spread around on trucks because, inexplicably, the library people picked Spring Break to reorganize the World Languages AND build different paperback shelves. "They're just over here while we reorganize."

8:12 - Attack the rest of the Fiction section. Begin building what will be a two-foot-high stack of books that don't belong. Dash down aisles, shoving in bookends. Almost break a sweat.

8:17 - Wonder why so many people read Nora Roberts.

8:20 - Pass Guy Gavriel Kay and feel tempted.

8:31 - Intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen, the library is closing in thirty minutes. You have twenty-five minutes left to make payments on your account, including your printing account. Internet sessions will be closing..." Must start non-fiction! Dump the two-foot stack on the almighty Wooden Truck, where they will ideally be reshelved but probably just put in the back.

8:32 - Encounter mess in the 005s. Wonder who was so curious about Microsoft that they took out and replaced three Dummies books.

8:37 - "So we put the books with the gum on them in the freezer." "Good plan."

8:45 - "Ladies and gentlemen, the library is closing in fifteen minutes. You have five minutes to..." Four aisles to go! Continue dumping misplaced books on the truck.

8:47 - Avert eyes in the 613s ('Sex for Dummies'). Finish!

8:49 - Run to wooden truck, haul it to the back, shift its load onto another truck.

8:50 - "Isabel, did you already do the study carrels?" "No. Crap." Run to study carrels. Find three huge Chilton car manuals, among other things. Haul more books to the back.

8:55 - Run around pushing in computer chairs. Find a home for a homeless one.

8:56 - Glare at people walking in and feel vindicated at - "Ladies and gentlemen, the library is closing in five minutes..." Rejoice when the computers all say, 'This branch is closed.'

8:57 - Run around again. Pick up three Punjabi books and a National Geographic magazine.

8:58 - Lights go off.

8:59 - Discover I have broken a sweat.

9:00 - Flee.

26 March 2009

More on free speech

From small dead animals

Wow.

If you watch the videos, one of the students says something about how they tried so hard, in this program at Delaware University, to say, "Don't be racist! Don't be racist!" all the while making race a huge factor in who someone is. I think that's an excellent point. And quite frankly, I do not support racism, but if someone happens to hold an opinion that is racist - that is their RIGHT. As long as they do not commit hate crimes, which are against the law (though a pretty loosely defined law in Canada) they are free to hold that opinion and discuss with others on it. There's no such thing as a thought crime. End of story. That's free speech: you don't tell anyone how to think or what to say.

As I like to say: One of the beautiful things about freedom of speech is that it encourages the development of a thick skin.

24 March 2009

Two Three links and a resolution

In the spirit of four mysteries and an enigma.

Captain Capitalism, who describes his outpost in cyberspace as 'rantings and tirades of a frustrated economist.'

send in the clowns

[edited in] Boundless Line, "Extreme conversation starters for 20somethings."

Both added to the sidebar. Those are the two three links.

The resolution is to be more poetic. Whimsical, if you will - report on trivial and yet telling things, like when Mom decided today during lunch that her favorite magnetic word on the side of the fridge was 'beneath'. I wonder what poetry could be composed around 'beneath'.

In other news, I greatly appreciate buttered toast.

20 March 2009

Spring Begins

That's what it says in my calendar for March 20. And voila! Spring header, right on time. Also some color changes to match the new header, which I'm still playing around with.

Song of the day is Brave by Nichole Nordeman, in case you were curious. I've listened to it three times already this morning. I'll probably hum it while I'm at work this afternoon.

18 March 2009

True dat

Okay, a bit of background first.

Gary Goodyear, the Federal Science Minister, was asked in an interview whether or not he believed in evolution. (Presumably, what was meant by this is the Theory of Evolution, not the concept.) He evaded the question - with cause, considering the hue and cry that could have been raised by the left had he even mentioned the word 'creationism' - and there was much gasping and shaking of heads. "Oh no!" people said. "Imagine! The minister of Science doesn't believe in evolution!"

There was a brief brouhaha on the topic, especially in the Globe and Mail (who also claim that the Theory of Evolution is a scientific fact; it is many things, but not that), but the article I was really interested in was this one (Jonathan Kay, National Post):

"...And please, no letters from readers complaining about yet another "gaffe" from a "socially conservative" Conservative "reawakening fears" about a "secret agenda." Unless Canadians expect their politicians to lie about their own personal beliefs, there was no gaffe here--just a journo-concocted pseudo-scandal aimed at the one group in society that is fair game for abuse in the mainstream Canadian media: white, male, English Christians. (Can anyone imagine the Globe pulling the same stunt against, say, a devout Muslim, or a Sikh, or a Quebecois Catholic or an aboriginal who believes the Earth was given to us by the Creator?) If it becomes a real scandal, it will be solely due to the Toronto media's own echo chamber -- not anything Goodyear actually said."

White, male, English Christians. So true.

As a side note, let it be known that I'm not sure I completely support Goodyear's view on the topic, because his reply when asked if he believed in evolution was: "I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate." Well, it wasn't really a question of his religion, in fairness. You can be a supporter of Intelligent Design without being a Christian at all, and his response implies that his view is unscientific and therefore not relevant in a scientific discussion.

However, that doesn't change the conclusion in the least. The fact that Gary Goodyear is a Christian does not in the least make him unfit to be the Minister of Science.

17 March 2009

Ponderings regarding the clock

"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." - Golda Meir

"Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life." - William Faulkner

"The hands of every clock are shears, trimming us away scrap by scrap, and every time piece with a digital readout blinks us towards implosion." - Dean Koontz

Yep, it's that time again. When I get irritated with some figment of life that I can't change and vent to cyberspace. Today it's the clock.

I'm tired of trying to be in bed by midnight and up by 7 am and out the door by 5:45 pm and complete this in two hours and finish that in three hours and be forever looking at my watch. Time is a brilliant thing, really, but there's so little of it, especially when it's measured out in hours and fractions of hours and fractions of minutes. Do this fast! Eat supper now! You're late for work! Actually, let me clarify. Time is brilliant. (Incidentally, God's responsible for creating it.) Clocks, however - necessary, but not so much brilliant. (And, of course, we get credit for that one.)

What if time were only measured by when it was dark and when it wasn't? What if there were no mealtimes or bedtimes and people are when they were hungry and slept when they were tired?

It's okay, I can answer myself. That's called 'several centuries BC.'

Darn.


"Look, a puppy!"
"No, that's just one of the ninjas."

[Was this post inspired by my timed essay-writing English exam this morning? Perhaps.]

16 March 2009

Lyrics of the day

What if you're right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you're right?
What if it's true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it's true?

What if he takes his place in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

What if you dig
Way down deeper than your simple-minded friends
What if you dig?
What if you find
A thousand more unanswered questions down inside
That's all you find?

What if you pick apart the logic
And begin to poke the holes
What if the crown of thorns is no more
Than folklore that must be told and retold?

You've been running as fast as you can
You've been looking for a place you can land for so long
But what if you're wrong?


What If, by Nichole Nordeman

10 March 2009

"It's funny how you talk about motivation...

...and then don't post for a long time."

Thanks Josh. No, I kid, it's been a while, primarily due to this process:

[Sees blog in bookmarks]
[Checks the sidebar for other blog updates]
[Contemplates header and thinks, 'I'll need a new header soon']
[Contemplates posting and decides there's not much of interest to say]
[Doesn't]

See, I'm not a fan of just rambling on about me all the time, because I have this preoccupation with being even vaguely original, and there are gazillions of bloggers all over cyberspace who are all like, "Yeah, so today I went to English class and then to the mall after" or something like that. Therefore, I try to find things to blog about that are a bit more relevant to people other than me. But as I think the reason most of you are reading this (all the multitudes of four of you, following on the side) is to find out about me...that doesn't make sense.

So! Begin the rambling!

First up: I made the Great Western Canadian Bible Quizzing Invitational Tournament (commonly known as Great West, despite the grandiosity of GWCBQIT), for the second (and last) time. This means I get to study my butt off for the next six weeks minus a few days, and probably go through the ritual of having grand plans before the meet and having reality smack me over the head the moment they say "Question number one." You'd think, that after almost six years of this quizzing thing, I'd be over that. But no. I always think that this meet is going to be the meet where something magical happens and I'm BAM one of those uber amazing quizzers who quizzes out flawlessly in the first three and a half questions of the quiz. (...and for those of you not familiar with quizzing, you need four.) However, I am not. But I have other good qualities.

Like having my work called 'publishable' by my university-level English tutor, for one. (Sorry. [/bragging])

Also, I have officially acquired my mark from the Royal Conservatory for my Grade 9 piano exam. It is a 75, solid Honours and very respectable for this level of piano. I'm glad it's over. My transcript is very nearly illegible or I'd try to reproduce some of the examiner's more complimentary observations of my playing. Now I'm into some fun stuff, currently working on The Entertainer (Scott Joplin), Moonlight Sonata (all three movements, Beethoven), the first of the Deux Arabesques (Debussy), the Star Wars theme and The Incredits (credits music from The Incredibles.) It feels really good to not have an exam hanging over my head.

I always talk about upcoming events and never blog about them, which is perverse. Oh well. My English exam from the University of Athabasca is looming, so if you think of it, prayer for that would be appreciated. Otherwise, I just need to keep on slogging through it all.


"Don't feel bad about crying. I think that if you didn't, you'd short-circuit something somewhere."