Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Feeling truly blessed today. Nobody wants to work on their birthday, but today has been a blast, and yes, I have gotten very little done. My staff surprised me with a cake My dear friend Liz sent me a stunning bouquet of flowers Mom, Prairie Dawn, and I went to one of my fav restaurants in Sticks for lunch Two of my favorite kiddos surprised me a homemade card and chocolate chip cookies And I get to be dressed in costume (one of my favorite things to do!) because Sticks Trick o' Treat Night is tonight and our FRIENDS group throws a huge party for kids passing through Feeling so grateful, grateful, grateful today; thankful for a job I love, folks who care about me, and health and happiness to appreciate every day of this grand life! Part of the card the kids made for me Part of the card the kids made for me

"October" O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the forest call; Tomorrow they may form and go. O hushed October morning mild, Begin the hours of this day slow. Make the day seem to us less brief. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, Beguile us in the way you know. Release one leaf at break of day; At noon release another leaf; One from our trees, one far away. Retard the sun with gentle mist; Enchant the land with amethyst. Slow, slow! For the grapes’ sake, if they were all, Whose leaves already are burnt with frost, Whose clustered fruit must else be lost— For the grapes’ sake along the wall. --Robert Frost I know I've shared this poem here before, but it's one of my favorite poems and I love to reread it every year, multiple time a year....

For all of its' flaws, Facebook is great on your birthday. I woke up to a way-too-early-alarm-clock and the pinging of Facebook updates. Through blurry eyes and whiskers--Hemmy decided to wake me up by laying on my neck--I read the first of many birthday messages. Instant gratification. I felt loved. Aside from the fact that I had to go to work today, and couldn't stay in my pajamas all day, it was a good day: the ladies were sweet as pie and bought me lunch; I managed to get all my annual work evaluations done (DREAD OVER! WOO HOO!); I responded to the 80+ emails that had accumulated over my long weekend; I got caught up on paperwork, and by golly, my desk is cleared off! A good day, indeed! Now I'm home and getting ready for a birthday dinner with Grumpy and Prairie Dawn. Grumpy is a townie who I've recently begun hanging with; he's one of those slightly-chip-on-his-shoulder-grouchy-heart-of-gold-guys, like Luke on Gilmore Girls, or Nick on New Girl, or Grump...

Pic here We are under a snow advisory tonight, expecting 6-12 inches! Gah! Looks like I will be waking up to a white Christmas...errr...white birthday, which I guess is kinda cool--the only other snowy birthday I remember was when I turned 13 years old, so it's been a while.  Working at the library, leaving in 45 minutes, just hoping the roads are ok since it's been snowing hard for the past 2 hours;  just want to get home and ready for the Farm's Halloween celebration. Actually I don't really care much about what's happening at the Farm, I am just really excited to have a party at B1 & B2's house! My little cabin is too small to host a party, so I was tickled pink when B1 offered up their house for my birthday/costume party. Looking forward to seeing the costumes which people come up with; anticipating chatting and watching the snow through B1 & B2's big window; almost tasting the surprise punch with Jay and RugbyGirl cooked up for the occasion!...

Ok ok, I'm obsessed with Mumford (at least that's what RugbyGirl says), but I just had to share their Bookshop Sessions! I love how raw Marcus' voice is...*sigh* I can't wait until their 2nd album comes out later this year!! Also, I wanted to shout out a HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY to my brother A2 ! And I wanted to welcome Choco , a new follower! I am traveling to the Virgin Islands today and will be gone until Sunday, so I will just post some videos/poems until I get back. See you next week! Mumford &Sons - White Blank Page (Bookshop Sessions)

Six years ago I received a phone call telling me that my best friend L and husband K were welcoming their second daughter into this world. Six years ago. It feels like forever since then. I called to wish Audrey a "happy birthday," this weekend and briefly chatted with her and bestie L in the midst of a birthday party. Hanging up I was left alone with my thoughts; what will the rest of Audrey's life hold for her? The first six years of a human life is rife with so much growth, development, movement and change...and then what? As I pondered this I began to think of the last six years of my own life. What was I doing six years ago? Six years ago at this time of year I was freaking out about grad school, I was going, right? What was I doing with my life? Where should I apply? But for what programs? At that point in my life I had decided to make a go as a writer and apply for MFA programs. But where? The Midwest, where I hailed from? Or the East coast? Be nearer family agai...

"At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above all, accept these things."  ~ Albert Camus "At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit, and at forty, the judgement." ~ Ben Franklin "Time and tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty." ~ Robert Frost Everything I know I learned after I was thirty".  ~ Georges Clemenceau "The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." ~ Hervey Allen So, 30. That seems to be the most profound thought I've had since my birthday. I'd dreaded 30, and yet now that it's happened I have this strange sense of achievment. I liken the feelings of dread, which...

Happy 50th Birthday, To Kill a Mockingbird! "Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." ~ Harper Lee , To Kill a Mockingbird, (Scout Finch) "When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em." ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird , (Atticus Finch) "They're certainly entitled...

I wrote about our dearest R some time ago . R, after 80 years at the Farm, passed away this past November, just 4 months shy of her 100th birthday. R was a pillar of the Farm who is very greatly missed, so it was only natural that we throw a birthday bash to celebrate her life and the impact that she had on the Farm, but more importantly on the people who knew her. This past weekend the Farm hosted a day of activities which R loved: hikes on Farm trails; games of Pick (think Scrabble--in lieu of keeping score everyone has to come up with a story at the end, using all their words); story telling; desserts; and a contra dance to end the evening. During the planning phase of the event the coordinators were unsure how many people to figure on; the last I'd heard there was a rumor of about an extra hundred people around the Farm for the event; so I counted myself one of the pleasantly surprised to see around 140+ people stuffed into the Farm's dining room, living room and d...

I will be 30 years old this October. Holy cats! That sounds so old *insert grumbling of people over 30 here.* I know, I know, I just, well, I guess we all imagine we will be doing certain things by certain ages...Anyway, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about sending my twenties out with a bang, or at least an effort of some sort, and have come up with 30 things that I would like to do by the end of the year. Nothing too thrilling; I am not really the sky diving, bungee jumping sort, well, maybe I will be as I come up on 40...? Anyway, call them goals, ambitions, dreams, hopes, wishes, aspirations, whatever; I have a mission. I suppose I will periodically write to tell of my (mis)adventures as I pursue my "30 for 30." Wish me luck! Clean our basement   Farm houses are old and while ours is very cool, our basement looks a little Sandford & Son-ish, with remnants left behind by the last few families that have come and gone. This seems a little easier said than...

"Vermont, Early November" It was in between seasons, after the thin twitter of late autumn but before the icy authority of winter, and I took in the scene from a porch, a tableau of silo and weathervane and a crowd of ferns on the edge of the woods-- nothing worth writing about really, but it is too late to stop now that the ferns and silo have been mentioned. I drank my warm coffee and took note of the disused tractor and the lopsided sign to the cheese factory. Not one of those mornings that makes you want to seize the day, not even enough glory to make you want to grasp every other day yet after staring for a while at the plowed-under fields and the sky, I turned back to the order of the kitchen determined to seize firmly the second Wednesday of every month that lay ahead. ~ Billy Collins And so we begin another fall month and watch as the leaves on our beloved New England trees move to the next stage of their journey. The first leaves fell gracefully and now wh...

"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born." ~ Henry David Thoreau, Chapter 2: " Where I Lived, and What I Lived for," Walden There is so much to mull over on a birthday, no? I spent the latter part of the (Thursday) evening decorating the house a little for my birthday party, which will be tonight (Friday), and now the house is silent and I find myself unprepared for sleep. I am wide awake in a quiet house: TSO is at another house dogsitting and RugbyGirl is upstairs sleeping, even Bravo cat is lurking around trying to find some entertainment in this waking time for us both. At a little after midnight I rang in ...

Almost two weekends ago we celebrated the 99th birthday of a Farm tradition. The eldest member of our community, R turned 99, and that is cause for much celebration. R came to the Farm when she was around 18 years old--which means she has lived here for over 80 years of her life!!--at a time when the Farm worked under a very different system. Today the Farm's major focus in therapy is the mental health aspect (meaning healing through therapy, paired with work), but when the Farm was created it used more of a therapy through work approach. And unlike today, the lines between jobs and roles was skewed, meaning everyone helped out with everything to make sure it got done. Anyway, R occasionally will talk about the old days here at the Farm and share some of her memories, so in honor of R, I would like to share some things I learned about/from her: 1. A lot of the daffodils around the Farm (and particularily my house) were planted by her. She would walk around and plant at will. 2. The...

I am doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do...getting TOO busy to write about the wonderful life I have here in Massachusetts, at home again at the Farm. This is just a short check in to promise a longer, explanatory blog either tomorrow or Saturday. Things are great, busy busy and staying that way for a while. Now doing research for places to visit in Rhode Island (Newport). Going to visit my brother A2 next weekend for a day, then he may come back for a day to be spent at the Farm. Would be cool, as he has never been here, and also, I just love to show people the place that I love so much!! Speaking of A2, wanted to send a huge HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY wish to my niece, Monster Niece G in California. Wish I could be there celebrating with my little monster! I am sending nothing but love and happiness to you, Monster Niece G!! Aunt Monster loves you so much! And, since I am not leaving my beloved readers with much, let me at least share a beautiful poem that best friend Mummy Dearest s...

Just read a CNN article this morning about the Aurora Borealis making an appearance. It reminded me of Northern Exposure and Chris the DJ. So, thought I would share a quote as I reminisce about the Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. The Northern Lights, which I saw my first year at the Farm in Massachusetts, which I actually saw on my 23rd birthday!--the best birthday present I ever got!! "There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!" ~ Chris, Northern Exposure, "Aurora Borealis (A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups).” It feel...

As I celebrate another year of my life I look at all I have learned in 28 years. 28 years old! When did that happen? Holy cats! I swear I was 12 like yesterday! Anyway, I thought I would share some of the things that I have learned over the past 28 years: Sometimes the solitude of a graveyard is not such a scary thing Bumblebees can turn purple in that fat, furry yellow part of their body; depending on what type of nectar they drink Holding a newborn child can really make you wonder at your own mortality Crocuses are an amazing achievement of nature every spring Magnetic poetry is like magic--words and sentences appears out of thin air Reading Jack Handy-isms can make almost any day better John Lennon was a visionary The movie Gone with the Wind is long, but it is an even longer book Jon Stewart is smart The generational creation of/slanging down of words makes me hopeful that generations from now will look back at us and think of us as Shakespeares in our own right ...