a fun book, and The Adoption Process, Part 1 of about a zillion

First off, I thought I'd let you know about Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. I've read about half of it, and it's as cool and weird as it sounds. It's aimed at middle schoolers but older people might enjoy it too. Ralph, although it's on the easy side for him, this might appeal to Brian if he likes weirdness (and he's my nephew and your son, so he should).


Big news: we are moving ahead on the adoption front! Ken and I went to our first adoption-agency information meeting and were quite impressed with the agency's philosophy and staff. We stayed nearly half an hour afterward asking both the domestic and international adoption managers questions. All the agencies have comprehensive services, meaning they provide pre- and post-adoption support for the birth parents and the adoptive parents as well as post-adoption programs for the kids who were adopted. We'll see how they all compare--we're going to a second agency's information meeting this week and the third one on the 18th.

We're most likely going to try to adopt a baby from this country, which means a more or less "open" adoption where we keep in contact with the birth mother (and father, if he's interested). Hardly anyone in the US does the old "put the baby up for adoption and try to forget all about it" method of 20 years ago and more, it turned out not to be good for birth mother, adopted kid or adoptive parents. We're keeping an open mind about international adoption (most likely Ethiopia or somewhere in Latin America that's not having ethical problems such as stealing babies) and adopting an older child.

Call or email us if you have questions! We're happy to talk about it all!

books, again

I just started reading Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You). Pretty darn funny so far. I'm on page viii: "Because this book is for America's Heroes. And who are the Heroes? The people who bought this book. That bears repeating. People who borrow this book are not Heroes. They are no better than welfare queens mooching off the system like card-carrying library card-carriers. For the record, we're not offering this book to libraries. No free rides."

For the record, I just borrowed this book from our library. So call me a card-carrying library-card carrier. (Though I actually don't. I have my number memorized. You don't seem surprised, for some reason.)

I've just finished The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. It's a humorous and surprisingly respectful account of Mr. Jacobs' attempt to live by as many biblical rules as possible in the course of one year. I found it an entertianing and enlightening way to learn about all sorts of biblical rules, including the contradictory ones. And I enjoyed following Mr. Jacobs' story of the spiritual effect his quest had on him--his transformation fron an agnostic secualr Jew to a somewhat spiritual mostly-agnostic secular Jew.

I'm also reading Rasputin's Daughter, which is pretty good so far (I'm on chapter 2), for those of you interested in the more conventional topic of Russian-revolution-era historical fiction.

Of course I'm reading manga, too--I'm about to start D. Gray-man, and Fullmetal Alchemist v. 14 is on its way to me. If you want to try manga and are brave enough to jump into something fairly involved, it's an excellent alternate-world fantasy about alchemy, the use and misuse of it, and the quandaries and efforts of two teenage brothers, their friends and acquaintances and enemies. The art is very good, and the characters are wonderfully three-dimensional and will likely crack if not break your heart--and make you laugh too. Best new (to me) manga I've read this year! I'm glad my anime-club members kept raving about it so that I finally tried it. Husband won't try it, but he did watch half of Mad Hot Ballroom with me--an excellent documentary about lower-economic-class NYC kids (4th and 5th grade) learning ballroom dancing and competing with each other and other NYC public schools. Boy can some of these kids dance!

Enough recommendations. Back to work for me...

Karaoke in the living room!

I simply have to share this with you.

My husband found a karaoke channel on our cable TV system and started singing with it. I started singing "California Dreamin'" with him (and made him run it through to the end.) Then he made the mistake of mentioning that they had "I Got You Babe" so I insisted on doing that--Cher-and-Butthead style (if you haven't heard/seen their version, you haven't lived! Best cover/redo ever, or certainly the funniest!) We did a couple more, then finished with ..."Baby Got Back" And my husband doesn't even like rap. I was doing hip-hop moves (learned from my Zumba classes--not bad for a fortysomething white woman) and rappin' along because, well, I got back.

Awesome fun! We'll have to do some more! I think it chases away the cat.

(In)famous Knights Templar dissolution document found!

The parchment denouncing and dissolving the Knights Templar has been found in the Vatican Library. Turns out it was mis-cataloged (thus proving my favorite library-school professor's statement that cataloging and indexing are all you really need to know about librarianship). Then it was found by one of the archivists--a woman, incidentally (they let women work in the Vatican Library?? I guess as long as she keeps her head covered modestly...), thus proving the importance of hiring good archivists...

OK, now that I've used this as a soapbox to declare the importance of both my job and my husband's I'll sign off...

Saving the world from glamorous heinies...

Just part of our job here as public-library staff. (Thanks to my coworker Mary for the title!)

One of our patrons informed us that someone had spread glitter glue on the toilet seat and light switch of one of our public restrooms. We put up an "Out of Order" sign till our custodian came to clean up, but about 15 minutes later a woman came in dragging her son. She'd found out he was the culprit and brought him back to clean up. I gave them paper towes and Goo Gone (since the stuff on the toilet had hardened beyond the paper-towel point) and she made him clean up every bit.

We approved of the mother's method. I did write an incident report since it could be considered damage to public property. After all the serious incidents our management has to read about sometimes, I bet they got a chuckle about this glitter-glue vandal.

My Birthday List

This is kinda frivolous, kinda serious...

Wheelie shoes. I think I won't break my neck with them, or even sprain my ankle as I did the first time I tried roller skates. And I want to wear them at work.

Manga. Lots of manga, including some that's published only in Japanese.

Silk, lace- and ribbon-trimmed lingerie of all kinds, in lilac and pink and midnight blue, that makes me look 15 lbs. thinner.

Ivan to not wake me up at 4 am. And 4:45, 5 am, 5:25... By walking on me, of course.

Top-to-bottom apartment cleaning by someone else.

Time off to file or ditch old papers, send stuff we don't need to the appropriate charities (Goodwill, Chesapeake Computer Users Group, etc.) and do some scrapbooking.

Update, Oct. 8:
We went to the Green Festival yesterday and talked and shopped with about 1/4 of the vendors. Small Meadow Press had the most beautiful papergoods. I love the Book Leaves (under "All in Order" in The Shop) and am debating what I want printed on my Name Cards--I like the Lucy Maud Montgomery one with the roses the best.
Also, there's a story that goes with this... Lesley Austin, who runs Small Meadow Press, said "I know you" but wasn't sure where from. We ran through the usual (the libraries I've worked at, New Jersey--nope, she was from Virginia) and then finally something clicked. I asked if she was a Quaker, and she is! Turns out we'd met last winter at the Women's Retreat.

Yes, more!

"Ain't Never Been Plugged," the new cd by Mike Agranoff. This includes "The Dream" (which I'm sure is the infamous song that Amy L. introduced to the Folk Project; Hands on the Switch/The Explorer, which I have fond memories of hearing at his old concerts; "The Water is Wide;" and a parody by Mike called "The Water is Weird" (I can only imagine so I must have it.)

We need a bit of good world news...

With all the crap going on between wars, unethical politicians and corporations, and environmental disasters, I figured you all would appreciate reading aboutlogging community in the Congo that provides for the community including a way to protect their sacred places.

Celebrate Banned Books week!

It's Banned Books Week (till Saturday, I think)! As a librarian and a supporter of intellectual freedom, I'm delighted. So, here's the American Library Association's article on the top banned and challenged (books people attempt to ban) books of 2006, with links including one to a list of banned books over the years.


My absolute favorite is a tie between two:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, which I've already mentioned was the book that got me started on reading science fiction, as well as being one of the better science fiction and fantasy (it's both) titles I've read. Its crimes: witchcraft and "nontraditional view of Christianity" 8-P

Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden, the first significant young adult book written about a lesbian relationship. It's as beautifully written and authentic as any GLBT book for teens that I've read. The romance is simply lovely from Annie and Liza's first meeting at the Cloisters in NY city to their differences in social status to the personal and social complications they have to deal with.

Update: Since there's no room on our Banned Books display at work, I put a copy of Annie on My Mind on our Staff Recommends display!

I also enjoyed reading the most-banned/challenged book of 2006, And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins raising an egg and chick that the mother of a male/female pair couldn't handle. Not coincidentally a lovely adoption story that warmed the heart of this prospective adoptive mom.

Want to tell me some of your favorite banned or challenged books?

My nerdiness has been tested...

...and I have been declared:






Stasa blew me out of the water though. She's a Nerd Goddess!

I scored ultra-low on dorkiness (probably because I'm married and don't own a lightsaber).

Career Meme

My F/friend Stasa did this one and put the results on her blog. I went a couple of steops further than she did and did the "skills" set and put in level of education (university). It still came out, well, you can see. "Librarian is waaay down at #22) Oh, and with the "skills" results they were labeled "a" for the best and "b" for next best. I but the "A"s in bold. You'll notice that "Librarian" was *not* one of them...

1.
Child and Youth Worker

2.
High School Teacher

3.
Elementary School Teacher

4.
Early Childhood Educator

5.
Editor (not bad, since I was one for about 10 years)

6.
Computer Trainer (I do like training!)

7.
Clergy (Aha! Someone tell the Pope, well, I'm "unclergy" now...)

8.
(rated "C" so I ditched it--Market Research Analyst, if you must know)

9.
Critic (ooh, I'd like this. Tried to be a manga reviewer for Libray Journal and didn't get picked, rats)

10.
Music Teacher / Instructor

11.
Writer (Yess! I'll quit my day job)

12.
Disc Jockey (I wanna be the next Steve Post, only cheerful)

13.
Print Journalist (Hey, Dave...)

14.
Translator

15.
Corporate Trainer

16.
ESL Teacher

17.
Foreign Language Instructor

18.
Public Relations Specialist

19.
Communications Specialist

20.
Customer Service Representative

21.
Special Education Teacher

22.
Librarian (finally!)

23.
Professor (my next career, if I ever change careers again, will be Theology/Religious Studies professor)

Random comments and observations

I do not know how to use a corkscrew.

Yesterday while I was driving to a database workshop, WBJC (our classical station) was playing Finlandia by Sibelius (the most famous Finnish composer). A melody from this piece was used as the melody for the lovely hymn Song of Peace, which I sang this summer at FGC Gathering along with Stasa and her group. It seemed particularly appropriate to me to hear it (and sing the words along with it on Sept. 11, because the lyrics are, to me, a set of truths so often forgotten after that tragic day.

Ivan has just discovered a new way to be near me when I'm on the computer. He climbed up the back of the chair (nylon fabric feels so nice to cat-claws) and sat along the top of the back/the top of the pillow against the back of the chair.

Blogger does not instantaneously show the words I type into this post box. It's annoying to my mind and eyes. Bleah.

I'm making a sort of coq au vin and black thing (Ken's name for baked acorn squash, because the first night I made it he didn't recognize it and asked "What is this black thing you're feeding me?) for dinner tonight. Both are in the oven but the coq has to wait for the vin because (see first item above).

As promised, Otakon!

For you, a pictorial tour of Otakon. But first, a brief review of the anime:


The early anime (1920s-30s) that I saw Friday morning were quite interesting, though--black & white, some narrated and others silent (with music dubbed in). They included two old Japanese folktakes Peach Boy, which had rather amusing bits with the animals; and the two men with bumps on their faces. There was also a cute song about children wishing a cat would come out and dance--the cat peeks at them from behind a tree, and then dances, and then brings out his brother.

We saw a couple of episodes (somewhere around eps 26-29) of Utena in the early evening--boy was it weird! And I thought the manga was a bit odd. My dear husband also sat through three episodes of Gakuen Heaven with me (earning major spouse points for watching shonen ai).

The anime music videos were rather good for the most part. They included fun (of course) Ouran High School Host Club video to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" with both Tamaki and the twins chasing after Haruhi (Ouran is total silly romantic comedy fluff. I love it). Ken and I were both impressed with what we saw of Gankutsuou (an anime version of The Count of Monte Cristo) in a music video using that anime, so we'll have to rent it!

Best anime I saw for the first time was Le Chevalier D'Eon (eps 1-4) with well-done animation, appealing characters, and a complex pre-Revolutionary France political/mystical plotline that another attender told me gets even more complicated as things go on.

Now, for the pictorial tour. Tons of cosplay (that's the term when someone's in costume and especially when they're in character) as always!

Even the guy who registered us was in costume (don't ask me who...)




I got to meet Summer Mullins, the editor of Anime Insider, a magazine I devour every month when we get it at the library:

I fangirled over her (and the magazine) a bit; I hope she felt a little like Maki Murakami (creator of the manga Gravitation and one of the major stars at the con).



Husband wanted his picture taken with the Simpsons.
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This is the only photo I took, btw.



We arranged to meet Megan, a friend I met at last year's Otakon at the Loveless photo shoot.


From left to right, Megan's friend Devon (in black Lolita wear); Megan (as Miwako from I-don't-know-what anime) and me (as Shinonome-sensei from Loveless). This was one of the high points of the con for me!
We're looking at an art book I'd bought that afternoon in the Dealer's Room. (I also bought a lot of manga--over $100 worth but still considerably less than many otaku who attended!)


We also ran into Danielle, one of the pages I supervise at work. She's cosplaying someone from Final Fantasy X.
I didn't recognize her character but when we showed Ralph and the kids the photos, my niece and nephew instantly recognized who she was cosplaying.



Here's Megan again, cosplaying Kisa from Fruits Basket.




We saw Totoro on the streets of Baltimore!

I like that he's under a tree, though it's a pitiful little one, not like "his" tree in the movie.



Ah, one of my favorite parts of Otakon 2007--Samurai Champloo cosplay at the harbor:


Mugen (the one in red) and Jin (the stoic samurai type with the lovely long hair) are in combat as usual: Rock Paper Scissors.


And Fuu's trying to break things up (and trying not to break up!) as usual...





Two sisters were cosplaying two characters I adore:


The little girl is Yotsuba (from the children's manga Yotsuba!&) and the older one on the right is Belldandy from Oh, My Goddess!



And then there was the walking maki roll



As usual, I can't resist a maki roll...



Lastly, for my fellow Classic Star Trek fans...


His red shirt, in case you can't read it, says "Expendable"

First of two postings: History Boys

Yay! Responses! Including my first-ever Blogger response from baby brother (who is way cool and has a band that has a MySpace, hey Mr. Bassman, want me to post a link here?)

Ahem. The movie review (Otakon news--and pictures--are coming soon)

The History Boys, based on a play by Alan Bennett

Basic storyline: It's 1983 and eight bright but rough-around-the edges (the headmaster says "crass") Yorkshire schoolboys are studying to get into Oxford or Cambridge to "read" (that's British for "major in") history. They're working with their two longterm teachers, Dorothy-I-forget-her-last-name-because-the-boys-call-her-Miss) and Mr. Hector the beloved unconventional old teacher who, well, that would be giving it away. Then the headmaster brings in a new young man, Irwin, to give the boys "polish."

The rest is, well, what it's really about. History, getting into a prestigious university, homosexuality, life, sex in general, love, life, lots about life. And humor, an abundance of adolescent male humor (one of the best kinds in the world IMHO.)

The movie's not perfect. Some of the characters are stereotyped: the Snotty Vinegary Headmaster, the Handsome Popular Smartmouthed Ringleader (neither Ken nor I like Dakin at all), and Posner who is just so stereotypically gay that my saying so isn't even a spoiler (though I must say I love him dearly!)

Others, however are not stock characters: Rudge comes to mind. And there's that humor,amazingly true things said about history and education (and truth) and the boys' "endings" and and oh, the music. Samuel Barnett, who plays Posner, has a fine voice and sings with beautiful expression. His rendition of the Rodgers and Hart tune "Bewitched" just absolutely makes me die every time. ::siiiiiggghhh::

I can't compare this to any allegedly-similar movie, such as Dead Poets Society, because it just isn't, except for the setting and the overall maverick-teacher(s) theme. It's its own thing.

Highly recommended. (unless homosexuality, liberal use of the F word, or British accents bother you.)

Are you out there...

Okay, once again, I'm doing a poll to see who's out there reading and is sufficiently interested to respond. Shall I post about:

Otakon? (anime/manga convention)

or

The History Boys? (the movie I'm currently obsessing over)


As they say on fanfiction blogs, "feedback is love"

Edit: No fair posting anonymously! At least give me a first name or a nickname so I know who's actually reading this blog before I abandon it and you all have to actually email or call me to find out what's going on in my life.

In the meantime here's a bit of news: I'm reading this great anthology for teens called 21 Proms. Some funny stories, some pathetic, and at least one that is pretty darn bizarre.

FGC Gathering, or Quakers Take over a College Campus for a Week of Serious Fun!

FGC Gathering, was, to quote my friend Mathew, eight kinds of awesome. In fact, I'll use that to limit myself so I don't blog you all into boredom.

1. Our ritual/spiritual music gig!
We did four hours of rehearsal Sunday in my friend Stasa's room in the dorm, five women singers plus two drummers we literally met that day and pulled in--one was my roommate Vonn, who'd arrived just half an hour before. Harmonies and drums came together outrageously well in both rehearsal and the cabaret. We did sacred and quasi-sacred music ranging from Song of Peace to Imani (African-inspired song about faith) and were rarely off key (usually my fault) and only had to restart 1 song. I hope to have audio files up in the next week.


2. the Quaker LGBTQ community
I stayed in the FLGBTQC dorm (which was also the teen dorm, very much the college experience all around), went to the community's meeting for business (I got frozen out by the air conditioning) and the wonderful meeting for worship they sponsor, heard incredible stories about creative activism (LGBT-related and otherwise) from playing flute in mourning for the current war in Iraq to Peterson's comedy/activism.


3. Kody and Joanna, the Sunday-night speakers. They were tapped into the Light (the usual Quaker term for the Divine/whatever you believe She/He/It/They are) for certain, when speaking about the conference theme, Who is My Neighbor? that night and in their lives. Kody's organized a house full of people with radically different religious beliefs at his college, Joanna lives on a nearly-self-sufficient working farm where permanent and short-term residents also help migrant workers and other struggling people in the area.


4. My green/purple/black/gray/white/gold/hot pink Guatemalan striped pullover, bought at the book/gift store. It's light, warm, looks great and of course I had to wear it with my green/turquoise/orange/hot pink/black tacky Hawaiian pants. No pic--probably would break any camera.


5. Broadway Sing! There are other people on this planet who know the intro vocal to "Hello Young Lovers" and some of the more obscure songs from Guys & Dolls.


6. The Quaker kids' awesome presentation on "The Neighbor," a story about beautiful unusual blue Lucy with loooong hair who is so different the grownups (but not the kids) in the town she comes to do everything they can to drive her off and the river has fallen in love with her and finally goes away with her and oh, what the kids and the theater troupe working with them did with just cardboard, paint and live music!! I got one of the fish to take home!


7. The daily workshop I attended on Holding Each Other in the Light, which is a Quaker practice encompassing praying for others and healing prayer. One of the first things I learned is there are many "right" ways to do it. I found when I do it I often get very vivid imagery and sensory "pictures" as my way of prayer and focusing. Hard to describe, amazing to experience on both ends. I had a profound experience with two people holding me in the Light regarding having a baby. I happily offer to hold any of you in the Light for anything or in general if you like, no guarantees but my love and attention (the Light is in charge of anything else.)


8. Being seriously Quaker for a week, from the interest-group meeting on an effective nonviolent way to communicate with opponents on hot-button issues to the *boys* in childcare making crowns with cloth rosebuds for themselves (and at least one for a Daddy) to the Karma-Shave Signs. One example of "Karma-Shave": Is new attire your desire?/One query would we pose:/Is it 'lilies of the field you're after/Or the Emperor's New Clothes? (Incidentally, my new pullover mentioned in #4 helps support college scholarships for poor Guatemalans and was sewn of gently-used Guatemalan wrap-skirt cloth by a Quaker in the US, not a sweatshop worker.)


I love my chosen faith, can you tell?

Quaker gathering!

Saturday I'm flying out to the Midwest tomorrow for the FGC Gathering. Ken can't go unfortunately, so he and Ivan will be home destroying the apartment.

One of the coolest things about going is that my friend Stasa is doing a workshop on being Quaker and Pagan and was asked to gather a group to sing some of the music from a ritual she co-compiled. She asked me to sing! I haven't sung in a group that does harmonies in years and I absolutely love singing good sacred music of any faith (multiple faiths in this case), so I am ecstatic. Also nervous.

A few days ago, I wrote a slightly nervous email to Stasa about lack of rehearsal time at the gathering (three of us are in PA and Stasa's in Michigan) and not knowing all my parts yet. Stasa, bless her, sent two emails, the second one of which concludes:

"And the main point of this gig is to have fun with each other. It doesn't
have to be perfect: we're not getting paid; and it's a cabaret. It's about
sharing cool music and not having to be perfect. Yay!"

Yay indeed!

Yes I will be recording this, and yes I will post some audio files if it comes out! We're doing not only the ritual music but some other pieces, including 2 I suggested, Song of Peace and Swimming to the Other Side. Both songs fit with the theme of the Gathering "...but who is my neighbor?"

As for the rest of the Gathering: mornings I'll be in a workshop on Holding in the Light, a Quaker practice of healing prayer, afternoons and evenings there's music (including ours) talking, worship, interest groups, speakers, and dancing.

Uprooting

I was heading out tonight to my twelve-step meeting and saw that the landscapers my landlords have had working on the property all weekend had torn out my beautiful (despite the weird beige disease the leaves have picked up) johnny-jump-ups and pansies from the big pot by our apartment's front door and replaced them with these ugly (to me) big-shiny-leaved impatiens just like all the other impatiens they've planted around.

Now, granted, the property, including that planter, is my landlords' but I loved those damn flowers and have had the johnny-jump-ups in particular for three years. They'd finally gotten to the point where they'd filled the pot with the help of the pansies I'd put in last year.

After a brief rather upset exchange with my landlord (not at him, at the situation, he just pays the landscapers and lets them do whatever), he finally showed me where they'd put my uprooted flowers. They were already too dried out to replant and revive, of course.

That's when I lost it, apologized to my landlord for being so emotional, took the plants up to our deck in back and started crying. I've got them lying in a pot now hoping they'll go to seed and resurrect next year.

Of course it didn't take long for me, Ms. Jungian Psychoanalyst, to figure out this was about a lot more than flowers being uprooted. It's about conventional society destroying what's different, not seeing the value and beauty in it. It's about the current US administration stomping all over independent thought, freedom, and dissent. It's about male authority destroying and forbidding the work of women (Stasa sent me an article dealing with Vatican idiocies today). And of course it's about my efforts at growing something alive being destroyed. (Okay, now I'm tearing up again. And emotional though I am, I don't cry often.) Yes, this brought up the damn fertility issue on top of everything else. Tomorrow I find out whether my latest blood test results indicate that there's a chance my body will allow an in-vitro fertilization cycle. Although last time everything seemed okay and we know that was a crashing failure.

So the good news (you know me, Ms. Sunshine and Optimism) is:
God in Her Wisdom gave me an opportunity to fully live and express my frustration, anger and grief over the neocons, the patriarchy, and my own beautiful-and-imperfect body. Thanks, Mom. 8-)

I went to my meeting, shared my story and got lots of love and understanding and empathy, as I'd hoped and sorta expected, because that's what we're about. I also got reminders from many sources of all I do have--a wonderful husband, a lovable wildly affectionate cat, loving and supportive friends and family, an amazing spiritual life, and, well, the universe. Some of it is pretty shitty (and that's insulting to a useful fertilizer!) but overall, it's a good life.

Oh, and today's my parents' anniversary. I am endlessly grateful for my always loving and supportive dad and mom. I love you so much, Mom and Dad!

Coolest library video

Here's the coolest video I've ever seen about a library! It's one of the entries in a national "I Love My Library!" video contest.


warning: there are zombies

Vacation part 2

Tuesday, as I said in my last post (ages ago, I know...) was Visiting Day.
First we visited with Ken's Uncle Jim and Aunt Kay in Ocala at their retirement community. They have a lovely semidetached house and a very friendly community--they gave us a tour (including the library, where I met one of the librarians!) and we met several of their friends. They also took us to Sholom Park, beautifully landscaped (Picture is of Ken and Jim walking through the park). My favorite part was the meditation garden with roses, other flowers and plants, and periodic places to stop and read short plaques with meditative quotes.
We also talked a lot--about their involvement in the community with adult education, about our child-pursuit, and old family stories. I enjoyed getting to know them better and sharing about our lives.


Then we visited Tom and his parents, Ellie and Russ (whom I haven't seen since before they moved from NJ to FL eight or so years ago). We got a tour of their house (in Dunellon, not too far from Ocala) incuding Ellie's ever-growing teddy bear collection. We caught up on all kinds of stuff ranging from my career to how Tom's youngest brother and his wife were doing and had a delicious dinner at a local Italian pizza place where Russ pulled an excellent trick to have the waitress give me a blank bill with a smiley face to "pay for dinner."

Tom drove back to Orlando to stay with us for the rest of the trip in our luxurious resort condo.

Here's Ken in "Japan" at Epcot.

Wednesday we went back to Epcot, this time with Tom. After years of thinking about it when going to Renaissance fairs and other places, I got a henna tattoo in "Morocco" It's finally faded out after two weeks but was worth it.

We also saw "Soarin'" which really made you feel like you were hang-gliding up and down the California coast, sometimes in the clouds, sometimes dipping down into a valley or just above a group of surfers. Tom's dad Russ had recommended it--many thanks to him!

Thursday we went to Kennedy Space Center. We took the special historical tour (guess whose idea that was?) and got to see wonderful old, old computers and launchpads as well as the usual tour. The Apollo I site hit me kinda hard as I'd read a children's biography of Gus Grissom and was saddened to hear he and his two companions were killed in the fire. There's a wonderful plaque on the launch structure to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could go into space. That's Tom at the site in the picture above.

We also talked with Kenneth, a volunteer tour guide who'd worked at NASA in the 50s and 60s and told us stories of the old days.

Friday through Sunday we spent at Orlando's tiny but very enjoyable science fiction convention. It was great--like a science fiction family reunion. Lots of authors famous, such as Robert J. Sawyer, and not, or not yet, such as Yvonne Wisdom, a pixieish dark fantasy/horror writer who is also a librarian!! We had some great conversations and I got her second book, personally inscribed. I went to awesome panel discussions, most notably "What Makes a Human?" along with others on religion in the future and sex in the future: particularly alien sex (with each other and with humans) and an art show with more dragon and cat art than I've ever seen! I got one of each: a beautiful blue-and-pale-gray Chinese dragon and one of two cats wearing amulets sitting on magic books. The latter may go on my desk at work.
Oh, and I got to watch Torchwood, this truly excellent science fiction show my friend and colleague Mathew told me about. It's spun off from the new Dr. Who series (which has better special effects than the old one) and has excellent plots and characters.
And of course there was a masquerade with people in costumes...

Spending time with Tom was one of the best parts of the vacation, though. I really hate my best friend being so darn far away. And Ken and I had our first full week of vacation together, and our first full week of vacation in years--much needed and wonderful for our togetherness and our mental states! ::happy sigh::

Quote for the Day

"Native Americans seemd to know what to do with teenagers. Their culture provided challenges; meaning; episodes of freedom; festivals with drugs, music, campfires, mad dancing; and adults on hand as guides."

- The Happiness Myth by Jennifer Michael Hecht

Sounds pretty good to me...

By the way, that is an excellent book, about how things that are supposed to help people have a happy life change from generation to generation and century to century. For instance, taking opium and cocaine were good unless you overindulged, pretty much like alcoholic drinks, up till about 100 years ago.
Now I'm onto the section about religion...

A legendary writer...

Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors, was recently awarded a special "lifetime achievement" Pulitzer Prize, the first science fiction/fantasy writer to receive one (about time!). He talks about the award and his most famous book, Fahrenheit 451, in this article from the LA Times.

Bradbury disagrees with most scholars about the main theme of Fahrenheit 451--they think it's censorship, he says it's how TV will destroy (has destroyed?) reading and to some extent people's thinking. I'm with him for the most part on that, except for select quality TV shows that stretch one's brain such as M*A*S*H, Babylon 5, some PBS programs such as the Mystery! Sherlock Holmes stories, and most recently Torchwood (it's been shown only in Britain and on the Net so don't be surprised if you haven't heard of it.

Most "news" programs, on the other hand...

Vacation part 1 : horny insects and Epcot Center

Hi! We are in Orlando Florida, finally making use of Ken's timeshare. This place is awesome! There's a jacuzzi in the master bedroom, a full kitchen (with a dishwasherl, which Ken adores) a washer/dryer, great decor, and a front porch.

Ah, the porch. It's definitely the Lusty Month of May here. First of all, Ken and I are driving from the airport to our resort, crawling toward our first toll plaza, when Ken notes, "Insects having sex in midair." Certainly amused us while waiting to shell out our toll!

It turns out down here in Florida there is a twice-yearly mating season for these lightning-bug-like creatures and we've hit the springtime one. They are everywhere, flying and crawling (well, never mind, you don't want the explicit details). Lots of them get killed on windshields. It took a good scrubbing at a gas station (thank you, Tom!) and a rainstorm to get our windshield reasonably clean.

Back to the porch. We sat on the screened-in deck the first night, overlooking the pond and the frogs were croaking like crazy. Ken imitated/translated: "I-want I-want I-want-sex. I-want-sex. Sex. Sex. Sex."

Okay now that I've got that out of my system...

Sunday was our settling-in day. First we had a most excellent Thai lunch: pad thai for both of us--and not spicy at all! First time I've been able to have Thai food in years. The place also had authentic decor (handmade carved dragons, Buddhist shrines, other lovely items) and great service.

Then we pre-checked in, went to the local outlet center for matching light-sage hats and sunglass clips (both on sale!) and did grocery shopping.

Monday we went to Epcot Center. We went for the main ride, on the history of human communication, in the huge geodesic dome (the "golf ball") and critiqued the display (too many white males especially in the "caveman' days and no mention of China, but coverage of Arabic culture during the European 'Dark Ages').

Then we focused on the Worldwide Showcase. It was lunchtime so of course we headed to Japan where I had udon noodles (yum!) for the first time. They had an excellent display of Japanese tin toys from the 1890s to about the 1990s, including of course Astro Boy and Godzilla, also the precursors to mechas and Transformers. We spent a lot of time in the shop--oooh all the cool Japanese candies! We bought about $15 worth including effervescent "soda candy" in garishly colored wrapping for my AnimeFreaks club at the library, and sushi-shaped candy for me (Squeeeeeee!) We admired the kimonos ($175 plus tax, obi costs extra) and the largest collection of Hello Kitty merchandise I've seen. No manga though 8-(

Next segment: Visiting Day on Tuesday plus whatever else I fit in.

the baby process, continued

Ken and I have been talking about adoption. He'd brought up the idea of starting to look into it shortly after Dr. U. canceled our IVF cycle. Of course I'd already done a lot of reading while we were still debating whether to try IVF first. So we've done the adoption quiz I found on an adoption site, and talked about it.

I guess I'm leaning more toward adoption as the way we'll have a child. I've searched Medline and a medical-literature database we have at work for information on my paradoxical reaction to the first set of drugs and there is nothing. I sort of expected that as I'm sure our doctors keep up with the literature, but I was hoping I'd ferret out something new, being a darn good online researcher (specialized in it at Rutgers) having medical knowledge from my pharmaceutical company days and medical reading, and then there's all the health-information research I've done for patrons.

A conversation I had last night was what really affected me, though. Wanda, the manager at my old branch (an amazingly wonderful manager and person), recently lost her mother. I was at the funeral home last night talking to Wanda and the conversation turned to her daughter Lauren, whom Wanda and her husband adopted while I was working at North County. Wanda told me if she'd special-ordered a daughter she couldn't have a better one. Soon afterward Lauren, who had been very well-behaved by six-year-old-at-Grammy's-viewing standards, came over to hug Mommy and to be picked up. (Definitely worth two years of wrangling with the oldest bureacracy in the world!)

People keep telling me "there's a child waiting for you." Ken and I have our doubts about our "adoptability" as adoptive parents (age, health and financial concerns). But I'm getting all these leadings that maybe there is a child waiting for us...

Latest news on the baby-making front (warning: gynecological details!)

This all went down over the past week.

My menstrual cycle simply wouldn't stop completely (which means no chance of building a nice uterine lining for a fertilized eggs). We're talking fourteen days, unheard of even for me with my long cycles. Also, I had no significant egg follicles, and my estrogen was friggin' lower than it is when I'm *not* on hormone-inducing medications. Wednesday morning I went in for my latest round of tests (this has been every three days: a blood test and a pelvic ultrasound). I was hoping to get answers from Dr. U. but he was in surgery so I got the ultrasound/office visit with his partner, Dr. M. (Boy, I picked the right doctor. I do *not* like Dr. M--lousy bedside manner and communication skills.)

That afternoon I called Dr. U. to see what the story was. He said we should have had results long before now and it was time to stop the drugs since they weren't working and "try another protocol," which means different drugs, once my body resets.

I was actually relieved after talking to Dr. U. on Wednesday. I had been getting so upset over my body just not doing what it was supposed to and ending the struggle and uncertainty really helped.

Dr U. has never heard of such a thing happening (the incessant though slight bleeding and the lower estrogen) and neither had Dr. M. and they've both been doing this over 10 years. So I'm guessing and hoping Dr. U. is on a fertility-doctor blog or discussion list asking "has anyone else had such a weird patient?

I hope I get into the medical literature for this. At least I can help further the cause of reproductive science.

Planting Seeds

(This was supposed to go up on the 7th but for some reason I never posted it. The events of my latest blog entry may have had something to do with my spaciness...) Over the last month I've been planting. In early April I concluded that since the ice storms seemed to be finally over and the dirt in my planters was "able to be worked" (quoting from the seed packet here) that is was time to plant my early-spring seeds.

The bok choy came up beautifully, despite being year-old seeds. The year-old chive seeds, however, were a no-show, so I bought a plant and the bok choy will take over their planter. The forget-me-nots are sprouted, and the parsley is finally seeming to make an appearance.

A couple of weeks ago I planted basil (now starting to come up) morning glories (just popped up this weekend, to impress my mom and dad when they visited Sunday!) and cucumbers (still thinking about coming up any day now...)

In the perennial container, the pansies have fully recovered from ice storms and are blooming like crazy. The first johnny-jump-up plant has bloomed, and the others are jumping up.

I'm in a ranting mood... (Annotated on April 14)

...and it's coming out in bumper-sticker-type sayings.

This all started because the truck in front of me at the gas station ($2.79 a gallon, I want to collectively dope-slap the Big Three, the politicians who have shot down fuel efficiency requirements since the 1970s, and any company in power who's deep-sixed high-efficiency prototypes.) Anyway, where was I? The truck had a bumper sticker that said "My Newfoundland is smarter than your honor student."

So my mind started going...

My Russian Blue is smarter than your honor student.
I don't really think Ivan is smarter than, say, our nine-year-old nephew who I just found out reads at a 12th grade level (go Brian!). I do think he'd give our two-year-old niece Mary a run for her money (but not for long...)

Support all families. Support same-sex marriage.
I'm especially ticked off about those "Protection of Exclusively Heterosexual Marriage Act" laws these days because 1. one of my friends here was seriously ill and hospitalized for two weeks and his legal-in-Vermont-and-Canada husband wouldn't have been able to *visit* him if we had one of those dumb laws. and 2. Another friend is losing her health insurance because even though her wife's university currently provides insurance their state has one of those laws and it will be cut off soon. Incidentally, of the four couples in same-sex committed relationships whom I know personally, three were married in the eyes of their religions. So if it's a "values/morals" issue--why deny something approved by many branches of the Quaker, Pagan, Jewish, Unitarian, some Protestant and probably some Buddhist faiths?

Pelosi for President in '07
This is an actual bumper sticker. I'm not that crazy about Pelosi but agree with what is implied by this statement. Yes, I want both those guys impeached and thrown out!

I want our Constitution back from the neocons who stole it!
Five words: First Amendment and PATRIOT Act. There's a lot more where that came from...

When did "Christian" come to mean "intolerant, mindless supporter of war, wealth and corruption"? I want my religion back!
After what I've already said, do I need to elaborate? You don't even want me to start on the un-war in Iraq, tax breaks for the wealthy, Halliburton, or... let's just say I've seen one too many SUVs with fish and "W" stickers on them.


There. Now I feel better. Of course, if I put any but the first of these on my car I would be tempting everything from key-scratches to beatings here in Redneck Republicanland, in a district where a long-term legislator lost to a second-termer whose primary issue is opposing same-sex marriage. This in a district and county with slightly more significant issues such as severe pollution, a very tight budget, and housing out of the reach of most middle-class families.

Now I don't feel so good anymore. Good news, good news... Lois McMaster Bujold, Kage Baker, Chigusa Kawaii, and some British fantasy author are all publishing the final book in their current series in July. We're going to visit Tom next month (!) and go to a science fiction convention. I got four bars of my favorite fair-trade, organic dark chocolate in our co-op order yesterday. And Ken got his jacket and hat in the mail yesterday--thanks, Mom and Dad!

(note: I'm not a raving liberal; just a moderate-to-leftist politically, religiously and socially. I only seem radical because of the severe rightward swing of this country in the last dozen or so years. If you don't believe me, try reading 1970s era news, or current European news, and current nonfundamentalist Christian scholarship.)

Warning: this post, and any paper, audio or electronic communication you recieve from or send to me may be monitored by government officials without your or my knowledge or consent under the provisions of the PATRIOT act.

Yessss!!!

We are going to start in-vitro fertilization procedures!

It's completely a "go"!! In the past several months, we have:

--had numerous tests done (Beth, mostly, Ken had just one)

--talked twice with a fertility specialist

--had more tests done (mostly Beth, again) discovering that Beth effectively has slightly more than half a reproductive system (call us if you want details!)

--called a Quaker Clearness Committee to discuss, reflect on, and otherwise seek clarity regarding our fertility options and decided to try for IVF first

--talked with a high-risk obstetrician about our concerns regarding both the chances for a live healthy baby and for Beth's health

--made numerous phone calls regarding the ever-vital insurance coverage

--attended an IVF orientation session

--finally found out we got insurance approval today!

Still to come:

--more tests, including multiple ones for Ken

--lots of trips into Baltimore, mostly for Beth

--lots of chemicals/drugs, all for Beth, though Ken gets to inject some of them into her

--the necessary medical procedure

--waiting, emotions, uncertainty, all sorts of fun

::sigh::

Prayers, lighting candles, holding in the Light, rituals, calls, emails, support of all kinds are welcome. Heck, we even have a lucky Pet Sperm magnet on our fridge!

The Potato Song, and life in general

I am sick. I am sitting here in my Wonder-Bread polka dot pajamas, having eaten a sweet potato (brought home from Texas Roadhouse by my sweet husband) and having sung The Potato Song (sorta. Hard to do with a sore throat and a barely-functioning brain)

I highly recommend you check out the Potato Song link. Not only is it one of the most fun songs I know, but the audio clip is by children's-and-folk-music greats Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

The song actually came up yesterday at work, and not in the way you think it would (i.e. me considering doing it for a storytime). I was checking out a patron who had three books in various genres and of various levels, all about potatoes. One was an interlibrary loan title "Spud Songs." The patron confessed that he has something of an obsession about potatoes, so of course I asked him if he knew "The Potato Song" by Cheryl Wheeler. He did not, so despite the other two patrons waiting to check out, I quickly looked it up and printed it. (Have no fear, Barbara was not busy and came over from the Info desk to check out the other patrons). He was thrilled, and when I asked if he'd found everything he needed (we're supposed to ask that at the checkout desk), his reply was "Yes, and more!"
Happy patron. We like that.

So anyway, back to the rest of my life. I'd better recover before Saturday as that is Anime/Manga Mini-Con day at my old library branch. Don and Jackie could theoretically handle it on their own, but Jackie's never done a mini-con before (she's our "branch liaison") and we *are* talking about forty or more teenagers, audiovisual equipment, two contests, artists and costumers coming in to do workshops for the mini-con, and a plethora of other stuff to set up and keep in some semblance of order.

Oh, and Ken's birthday is Friday. Assuming I recover, I'm going in to work with him to finally see his workplace and meet his coworkers. And take him out for dinner (most likely in Chinatown as that's the repeated recommendation he gets, and we both love Chinese food)

Ivan does not understand that his mistress is ill. I was half-asleep this afternoon when he landed on me with one of the longest meows I'd ever heard. When I reenacted the meow for Ken, Ivan was quite startled. "That's how I reacted." I told him.

I'm rambling, I know. Whenever I get one of these viruses it eats my brain, fortunately only temporarily...

I'm still here...

...and haven't been frozen in the ice storm or overwhelmed by babies during Babies in Bloom at work or deafened by the last Anime Freaks meeting. Ivan did dig his claws into me last night but discovered that's the fastest way to get evicted from his mistress' lap.

Now that it's February, here are the Christmas pictures!

Two things happened before our trip, one good, one...not so good. A few days before we made our NY-VT-NY-NJ run, Ken found an excellent bargain on a GPS (global positioning system.) This was most useful when we had to pull off an highway in Massachusetts to search for a gas station and took numerous turns, found one, then took further turns to hit a donut shop with a bathroom we could use. The GPS kindly led us back to the highway and on track.
The less useful event was that about an hour before we were due to go, I found out that temporary crowns and dried cranberries do not get along well. So, a delay while I recovered the crown and finally got it on, the right way, with Fixodent.

Anyway, pictures. Vermont first, at Ken's sister's house with her family. Here's Ken reading to just-turned-two-years-old Mary...



Mary's big brother Ian had received two sets of medieval armor before Christmas and enjoyed being Sir Ian immensely (so did we!)




Next is a more sedate family grouping: Ken's dad with Mary on his lap, and Ben (Mary's dad) on the sofa. I think Ben's watching football...


Mary again, with the family's little-kid's set of Nativity people...


This was all pre-Christmas. Christmas Eve we walked to the local church (United Church of Christ/American Baptist--Karen, Ben and the kids live in a very small town) for a cozy, simple candlelight service with Nativity readings, bell and vocal choirs, sacred dance, and candles. A wonderful way to celebrate the Nativity once again...

Late Christmas Eve, Ken's brother Ron, his wife Carolyn and their daughter Rachael arrived, with Rachael sound asleep after her plane and car trip up from Texas.




Christmas morning, now! Ian got a Hot Wheels racetrack set with a charger to push the cars to go very fast. I was delighted because my brother Ralph had gotten an earlier version of the set many, many years ago, when he was just a few years older than Ian. I helped a little with putting the set together on the kitchen floor...


Well, since Ian owned two sets of armor, we also had Sir Rachael!

Another view of Rachael, this time in one of her many holiday outfits--yes that is real fake pink fur on her sleeves and the hem of her skirt! And the hat is so cool!


I didn't do too well on pictures of her parents--the flannel in the foreground is her mom Carolyn's nightgown, though. (Ken did get in a good line to her dad, his brother Ron, when Ron got fancy golf balls as a gift: "Great! Now you can hit the balls further in the wrong direction!)


We "did Christmas" with my family on Christmas night, after a short stop in Kingston to see my cousin Stephanie, who has gone back to school to study nursing as a new career. Yay Stephanie!


Brian got a few high-tech-robot type toys, they remind me of Transformers. I forget what they're called but Brian wanted them to be put together, so my brother, being a good Dad, did what good Dads do on Christmas and successfully (& patiently!) put the dudes together!


Evidently, "Hello Kitty" is back "in" again, or maybe it never went away. Anyway, Sheila's a big fan! She also enjoys reading Tokyo Mew Mew (manga! Yes!! They are raising her right!)





Underneath Sheila is Pirate Brian. The kids got tons of Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, they're both very big on it. Brian got an entire pirate ensemble (well, not a peg leg or a parrot--I think). I believe Kathryne got a PotC calendar too!



And we actually got a picture of all of us, thanks to my "adopted brother" Daryl.


The morning of the 26th, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Tony came to see us since we had to run out and head toward home, stopping in NJ to have lunch with Ken's close friend Tamara, her husband Craig, their son Michael and Tamara's parents. Craig cooked his usual excellent former-chef luncheon-with-leftovers and we caught up on life.

Then, after dealing with the usual bumper-to-bumper on the NJ Turnpike (with a useless detour to try to avoid it), we got home...


...where Ivan enjoyed Christmastime too! NO, he doesn't eat candy canes, he just enjoys batting things around, and is attracted to cellophane.

Sunday was a good day

I went to Quaker meeting Sunday morning, as usual, and had a message about creativity. I started with a quote by my beloved JRR Tolkien about "sub-creating" (humans creating, by writing and by other means, in reflection of the way God created the universe)--"We make still by the laws in which we're made." The essential message was that we all have creativity within us, whether it's cooking or writing or whatever.

Then I had about half a dozen people to talk to--including Valerie, since we're teaching children's religious ed together next month (she 'hasn't a clue' and is grateful Sarah and I will have the curriculum all planned, though she's bringing brushes for the Chinese New Year craft); Sarah, to loan her a book of Chinese-festival crafts (the kids are learning about Asian religions); Mary, who was talking about sister's adopted kids from Ethiopia and their newly-painted living room; and then since three generations (Carol, Ruth and Lauren) were putting together the monthly newletter mailing, Mary and I pitched in and helped them and talked. (If you attended our wedding, Lauren was the slim, darkest-haired babysitter. Mary was the woman with short dark hair who began and ended the ceremony.)

Next came Trader Joe's shopping. The place was mobbed but by a miracle I got into the shortest, fastest line! (I usually pick the very worst line).

On the way home there was a wonderful clarinet-and-piano duet by von Weber, and then some Mozart on the radio. Then, home for a nap with Ken and Ivan, and I made sweet-and-sour chicken (a bit heavy on the sweet but still good).

::happy sigh::

Christmas pictures coming soon, yes!