Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Tonight TSO, JBean, S and I went to the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington for a lecture on aphrodisiacs, given by food historian, Francine Segan , which was followed by a showing of the movie Moonstruck starring Cher and Nicolas Cage. Ten interesting things which I learned about aphrodisiacs are: In ancient times it was thought that foods which resembled a body part would help stimulate that part of the body; i.e. bananas, asparagus and cucumbers were considered aphrodisiacs. Strawberries and Raspberries were referred to as "nipple fruits." Certain "hot" spices were considered to stimulate the body in the same way in which they stimulated the mouth, so spices like pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and later things like chili pepper were considered aphrodisiacs. The scent which most women react to the strongest is vanilla. In ancient Egypt the slaves working on things like the pyramids were given rations of garlic because it was considered a stimulant that lengthe...

This will be short since I am one break for only 20 minutes more. The library gig--I AM LOVING IT! I love, love, love what I do. I was really panicking at the end of Grad School, thinking that I couldn't believe that I had chosen a career that would put me around people all day, working customer service. But I love it! I smile at children, I am polite to old people, I help people get things, I even smile when people are crochety...who have I turned into!?? This is not the normal Monster. Finishing Grad School and putting behind me the loads of reading and papers and working too many hours with not even sleep has transformed me; this caterpillar has fallen from the cocoon. I am so glad I picked this career field, I love what I do, and I am even thinking that being a Children's Librarian is fun--a thought that I could not stomach when I was still in school. This might just be the honeymoon phase my friend warned, and that may be true, but I am savoring it! Worked the Reference De...