author, author, author (period)

    Oh, my, it seems like more than ten days since I posted. school assignments are all done save one, but work is busy-busy-busy! I don't seem to be getting the hang of verifying the cataloging, and it is really frustrating me. some of it is new errors with each batch, but about half the time I've made a mistake or overlooked something. If I wasn't trying so hard to double-check everything it would be different, but sometimes I can hardly believe I've made the same mistake again! Or, I think I understand how to interpret, for example, pub/copyright dates, reprint/editions... and, then, once again, I am wrong. I don't expect to do it perfectly, but gee whiz, I don't feel like I'm doing much better after being on this project for a month!
    I have learned some lessons, but they are really only applicable to authors:

1. remember the rule of three;
2. don't co-author with more than two other people;
3. if you do co-author with more than two other people, make sure YOUR name is the first one listed on the title page.

    Rule of three in cataloging refers to the fact that if more than three authors are listed on the title page, only the first one is noted in the record, followed by ... [et al.]. And those et al. don't even get an "Added author" line on the record, so, no one will ever find the book you helped write in the online catalog searches. At least when you have an article published in a journal, they have to list everyone's name in the databases! I'm told that next change in the cataloging guidelines will change this.... so, perhaps:

        4.  keep publishing journal articles with your three research pals, and hold off on writing that book.

I just know this will be earth-shattering and life-saving information for all y'all.

(I'm working in Blogger's "Compose" mode to see if the spacing will carry through to the actual post and not end up looking like the 50 questons post -- which I was too lazy to edit with HTML line breaks and other niceities. Here goes...)  Edited to say: nope. didn't work. not enough paragraph break. Blech.

    OH! I almost forgot my good news: had my three-month bloodwork check done last Monday, and got the results on Thursday. My hemoglobin A1C is still at 5.9% and liver enzymes are normal. Woo-hoo!

50 questions

is a lot... think I'll trim it down a bit.
    From Deb Richardson via Rissa:
2. What did you do last night?
    went to supper at a seafood diner with DH; worked til midnight on an assignment for my reference class.
6. What are you wearing?
    sleeveless dress I bought at Sears in 1999, sandals.
7. How many cars have you owned?
    does community property count? three in first marriage, one while single, nine in second marriage, but that includes about five used trucks my DH wore out driving 70 miles to work and home for 18 years of our marriage.
9. Are you registered to vote?
    yes. always have been. only called for jury duty twice, each time never even had to show up.
10. Do you have cable?
    nope. satellite. longlonglong time. used to live way out from town and had a BUD (big ugly dish). now have small dish.
12. Ever made a prank phone call?
    oh, probably to some boy in junior high.
15. Furthest place you ever travelled?
    as of today, Hawaii; ask me in three weeks, and it will be Tibet!
16. Do you have a garden?
    only flower beds, which thankfully pretty much take care of themselves, because I have a brown thumb
18. Do you know all the words to the national anthem?
    first verse, yeah.
19. Shower, morning or night?
    morning for work, only evening if I’m going out.
20. Best movie you’ve seen in the past month?
    would be a rental, I guess… tend to watch series’ on TV… Blood Diamond wasn’t too bad. most recent watch was Hollywoodland. movie was actually fairly good, but story was too too sad. to be so unhappy with life…
21. Favorite pizza toppings?
    pepperoni, but can’t eat it any more, so ham & pineapple.
27. Who were the last people you sat with at lunch with?
    a friend from school, Wanda. she's going with us to Tibet.
28. Favorite chocolate bar?
    Symphony. with almonds.
29. Who is your longest friend and how long?
    Mary-Mouse. 30+ years.
31. Have you ever won a trophy?
    yes. last place in a bowling league
32. Favorite artist?
    Van Gogh is all I can think of right now. I tend to have favorite paintings rather than artists, e.g., Starry Night.
33. Favorite computer game?
    I play Scorpion most, because it is on my PDA and handiest. also play the Bubble game on it. I like Bedazzeled and Nisqually on my laptop, but don’t take too much time t play any more.
35. Sprite or 7-UP?
    regular: 7-up, but diet: Sprite Zero
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?
    at the airport, yes. and at the Sheraton (but there it was just black pants, white blouse, black vest)
37. Last thing you bought at the store?
    cheese, cat food, diet soda, chips (for the boys), Special K Meal bars, butter.
38. Ever thrown up in public?
    yes. but that’s not as bad has uncontrolled diarrhea (fortunately it happened in an emergency waiting room – I got right IN!)
39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
    true love. but not how the question means it.
42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
    gosh… have I visited anyone in the hospital since my mom died?? I truly can not remember.
43. Did you have long hair as a young kid?
    oh yes. very long.
45. Where would you like to go right now?
    home.
47. What kind of back pack do you have, and what’s in it?
    don’t use a back pack, but I do pack a “messenger bag” with my laptop, my school notebook, miscellaneous papers for things I need to have with me or take care of something, lots of “health & beauty aids” type of stuff, some knitting, my glucose meter, and some talisman items.
48. Last incoming/outgoing call on your phone?
    incoming: dr’s office; outgoing, my son.
49. What is one thing you are grateful for today?
    waking up.
50. What do you think about most?
    silly esoteric sh*t.

I really hate the blogger editor... no line breaks without adding the tag manually.

trips of a kind

    oh, my... so many days and no postings again. and there were days I had so much to say -- not that it was worth reading, though!

    i am trying to stay focused on school work and not get too wound up about Tibet yet. THAT is really hard to do, though. the weekend in Jackson sort of helped, and I have such lovely goodies from my little shopping adventure in Trish's stash. for the first time, I think I actually have enough pieces of dance clothing for a complete outfit: skirt, bra, turkish vest, hip scarf, belt. then there are some extra bits, like a fringe belt, and bell anklets. gee, now all I have to do is re-learn how to do the steps!

    it was such fun to see the MissiHippy troup dance again on Friday night. Hubby was along, and although he said he was turning away from the dancers because it was twisting his back, it was funny that he only seemed to do it when they danced toward him. if he thought *I* was going to get upset at him watching them or them flirting with him, he was wrong-wrong-wrong! Just as long as he doesnt' touch-touch-touch.

    sometimes it is hard to come back to P'ville after the being in Jackson. Yes, big cities have their drawbacks and problems, but so do small towns. I probably would hate living in Jackson if I was there (or if I was there, all my friends would be elsewhere!), but, it is nice to visit, and shop, and eat somewhere different.

    I bought one of these today. It is a 1.5-inch prayer wheel, which actually spins, and inside is a piece of microfilm with the Great Mantra printed on it over 1 million times. I was thinking about waiting to see if I found them in Tibet, but then I realized I wanted to have it with me everywhere I went in Tibet, so I ordered it.

    In other pre-trip activity, I'm going to load up all my music and some reading onto my three 1Gb SD cards for my iPaq,* and borrow #1Son's ipod shuffle too. I almost ordered one for myself yesterday, but I couldn't decide what I wanted. They are making the shuffles in colors now; I couldn't pick. Then there is the Nano: twice as much memory for only a little more money, but also twice the size. But that red one at 8Gb, for $250 is sure tempting.

I don't guess hubby's XM radio will work over there, but I'll fill up the rest of its hard drive for him and he'll have plenty of music along too. It's a hell of a long plane ride to China and back. I want a really good book to read too....

    Speaking of books, think I'll go read, or maybe ponder one of the meme Rissa posted this week, then go to bed. Night, all.

*nope, can't load up all three of them, then I'd have nothing to take digital pictures with, would I?? duh.

was I bored?

    Looking at the number of pick four's I did on Friday night, would you guess I was bored?? Just a bit. I was waiting for the group members in one class to upload their portions for our paper due on Wednesday. And trying to get the motivation to work on my portion (the introduction, conclusion and APA formatting). Most of the actual work wasn't done until Sunday.
    How is it one can be so bored when there is so much needing to be accomplished? My sweet mother would say that my "get-up-and-go got up and went." We managed to miss Sopranos last night. The DVR switched to Dresden Files, and since it doesn't repeat (or so we thought) we didn't change to HBO. Turns out the 8pm episode was a rerun, albeit a good one, and the 9pm episode was the new one. We could have watched both Sopranos and Dresden... but we were too far into Dresden before we realized we had seen it already. So, tonight, while 24 is recording, we'll watch Sopranos. I had to keep turning off Walton & Johnson on the way to work so I wouldn't hear them talking about last night's Soprano's episode.
    I suppose I should be panicking about school, but really, I think I'm pretty much on schedule for getting assignments and papers done. I have a whole week at the end of the term to write the actual final paper for one class, and I'm piddling along with the research for it just about every day. Then there will be another whole week to prepare for Tibet. That's lots of reading time, so I've decided not to fret about not being able to do it ahead... except that I WANT to read about Tibet, not library stuff. LOL

    Changing the subject... why do you think that out of the blue we dream about people from our past? I'd watched so much weird stuff on TV last night that I was sure I would have freaky dreams. But I dreamed of an old boyfriend, one I haven't thought of in  Y E A R S.
    We dated when I was a junior in highschool; he was a senior. The only time I usually think about him -- don't laugh -- is when I put on a pair of tight pants and reach my hand into the pocket.
    These "low-rider" pants the girls wear now are nothing new. We wore them in the early 70's only we called them "hip-huggers" and they had "bell-bottoms." I was quite thin then, especially in the hips, but I like to wear tight pants -- this was also the days of mini-skirts and h0t-pants. I can so clearly recall the afternoon that Jim came by my "Office Machines" class -- actually, he did so every day on his way to soccer practice out of his own class somehow! The doors were clear glass, and I'd see him in the hall and excuse myself to go to the restroom. So, we are standing in the hall (doing what kids *then* did when they were going together and could catch a moment alone in the hallway), when he laughed and said I was the only girl he knew who could actually get her hands in the pocket of her hip-huggers.... isn't that a weird thing to remember??
    Lordy, he was sweet. Good-looking in a bookish way, played soccer and lacrosse (wasn't really happy unless it was rainy, muddy and sloppy on the field). Just broke my heart when he broke it off. I really thought he was the one.

. . . . I don't think I really dated my whole senior year after he left, not until, gosh, I think it was Spring semester of my freshman year at college! I remember I had a crush on a boy from church that went nowhere, had to scrounge a date for the seniorprom, but I eventually made up for lost time. Hah! -- mostly with the Midshipman in Annapolis. Get your minds out of the gutter... I remained "pure" for a little longer than that . . . .

    But, Jim went off to West Point, and I think I only saw him twice before I ran off to Texas with my first husband. I know he went to paratropper training in GA, and got hurt, but I don't know where his Army career took him.

    So, anyway, isn't it funny how a good dream makes you feel?

pick four meme

    Ran across this meme while reading library/librarian blogs. People seem to modify it to suit them, and I have, too.

Four places I've lived:
Maryland
Tennessee
Texas
Mississippi

Four places I have been on vacation:
Grand Tetons, Wyoming
Puebla, Mexico
Freeport, Bahamas
Reno, Nevada

Four places I want to see:
Scotland
Italy
Peru
India

Four places I'd rather be:
St. Augustine, FL
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Juan, PR

Four movies I could watch over and over:
Affair to Remember
Fifth Element
Sense & Sensibility
Highlander

Four TV shows I love to watch even in reruns:
House
CSI (Las Vegas, Miami, and New York)
Dresden Files
Monk

Four websites I visit daily:
Google
OCLC Bib Formats and Standards
Google Reader (library blog feeds)
Library OPAC

Four bloggers I read regularly (that I’m not tagging for this meme):
Yarn Harlot
Wendy Knits!
Yarn-a-go-go
ChicKnits

Four CDs (almost) always in my car:
Mask & Mirror (Loreena McKennitt)
Chocolate (Mayonesa)
Duets (Emmylou Harris)
Allison Krauss home-made compilation of four CDs

Four songs from my teens/twenties I still love to hear:
Vincent (Don Mclean)
Werewolves of London (Dire Straits)
London Homesick Blues (Jerry Jeff Walker)
Desperado (Linda Rondstat)

Four covers I like better than the originals:
Layla (Unplugged)
Iko Iko (think I have 5 different cover versions)
When you say nothing at all (Allison Krauss)
Hurt (Johnny Cash)

Four songs I sing in the shower:
... I wake up to talk-radio, so I don't sing much in the shower any more... if I do, it is whatever I just heard on the radio...

Four novels I like to re-read:
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

Four books that changed my outlook:
In search of stones (M.Scott Peck)
Joshua: A parable for today (Joseph Girzone)
Hinds feet in high places (Hanna Hurnard)
Diet Cure (Julia Ross)

Four magazines to which I subscribe:
Better Homes & Gardens
Interweave Knits
Diabetic Living
PC World

Four cookbooks I’ve actually used out of my very large collection:
Frugal Gourmet
Farm Journal Country Cookbook
Joy of Cooking
Bell's Best

Four jobs I've had in my life:
travel agent
telephone customer support
airport security (70's era)
home party sales

Four Vehicles I've Owned -- I think I've got pictures of them I can post:
1973 Chevy Malibu
1976 Datsun B210
1978 or 9 Buick Regal
1980 MGB Special

Four Restaurants I’d love to eat at again:
Evita's Italian (Ochos Rios, Jamaica)
Sweet George's (Kauai, unfortunately, doesn't seem to exist any more)
Phillip's Harborplace (Baltimore)
Columbia Restaurant (St. Augustine)

Four of my favorite foods -- evidenced above:
Italian, i.e., almost any pasta/red sauce entre
crabcakes, shrimp & crawfish
Cuban/Mexican/Carribean
Steak

Four people I'm tagging (who can whatever "four" they like from the above):
Mary Anne
Karin
Lisa
Rissa