Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

"Nothing is written," Mumford and Sons Since they released their first album, "Sigh no more," in 2009, many fans have been eagerly awaiting a second album. That album is due out later this year and until then, I am trying to satisfy my Mumford cravings with these newer songs which aren't yet released, but can be seen on Youtube.

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Had another great dinner last night. I help Jay milk the cows Sunday afternoons. The girls were milked, the milking dishes were all done and things were tidied up, and we'd just gotten into the truck to leave when we heard some horrible screams coming from the Pig Palace. A piglet had gotten his head stuck in the fencing around the pen while he was trying to munch on the weeds just outside the fencing. It seemed like the poor little guy had all but used up his energy by the time we got up there--he was panting and gurgling for breath. Jay wrestled with the fence and tried to push the piglet back through or pull from behind, but to no avail. While I tried the same he ran and got bolt cutters and in no time the piglet was back playing with his siblings and, as Jay put it, probably saying, "man, my head hurts!" I had to laugh when Jay said that we got some good karma for getting the piglet out. After a quick swim in a nearby swimming hole we met up for dinner at my cabi...

Had another great summer dinner this weekend at B1 & B2s house. We'd talked about having a "bring your own grill items" night since the start of the summer and by golly it finally happened. Word of mouth invites were passed among our friends and Saturday early evening found us gathering at B1 & B2s house; B2 had the grill heating up, Sierra was shucking corn, Beth was slicing Farm cheddar for burgers, and I was finishing a Farm cabbage coleslaw. The dinner was perfect because we had some staples: coleslaw, cucumber salad, burger fixings and beer, and then wound up with a variety of choices with what everyone brought: B1 & B2 had the burgers, I brought hot dogs, TSO and Brett brought venison pork sausage and lamb sausage, RugbyGirl brought Farm steaks. And the grilled corn--AMAZING! It felt nice to sit around and talk and laugh. If the worst complaints of a summer night are that mosquitoes were present or that the beer wouldn't stay cold enough long eno...

Part of what makes the best summer dinners is the food, but the other equally important part is the company. This past Wednesday Ian and Sascha (his gf and my Kitchen coworker), Jay and Pico came over for a grill out at my cabin; what came together was a Farm meal of cosmic proportions: marinated Farm ribeye (beef) steaks; potatoes, (white, red and fingerlings), garlic and onions from Jay's garden; lettuce greens from Sascha's garden; turnips from the Farm's gardens; cranberry lemonades with vodka from my refrigerator.  Ian oversaw the grilling, so the rest of us kicked back and chatted, enjoying the summer early evening. Everything was amazing! Here's how we made everything: Steak: Marinated for 5 hours in olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, maple syrup, oregano, rosemary, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. We didn't put anything on the steak after it was cooked (medium rare), the marinade left the MOST AMAZING flavor. Potatoes, onions...

Peter Jackson on The Hobbit. This movie will give me something to look forward to post HP.

I heart this song. So much.  Hard knock life--Jay Z

This is for my cousin Suzanne, who just shared this poem with me! "The Red Wheelbarrow" so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. -- William Carlos Williams

Today I learned of a great, FREE service for persons in need of a cell phone, but who are unable to pay for these services themselves (not yet in all states). This is great. Just a couple of months ago I was assisting a woman who had recently lost her job, was fighting losing her apartment and didn't know what to do since she didn't have a phone or internet--how do potential employers reach her? (We were eventually able to find a program through a phone company to do something similar to this). Anyway, this is worth sharing: SafeLinkWireless A little info on SafeLinkWireless taken from their website: "Lifeline is a federal program created by the Reagan era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1984. The program was enhanced under Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was supported on a broadly bipartisan basis in Congress. The FCC’s Low Income Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC...

Just heard about Amy Winehouse. Thought I would share this song, which rocketed her career to greater heights: Rehab, Amy Winehouse

We are in the garden season here at the Farm, but for whatever reason, we don't seem to be getting as many vegetables in the Kitchen this year as we did last. To say that I am bummed out about that is an understatement. Long gone and terribly missed are the asparagus of May and June--these days we are enjoying lettuce and mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard and bok choi, mung bean sprouts; carrots and turnips look and taste amazing this year; broccoli, cabbage, sugar snap peas and snow peas have all begun to make an appearance in the Kitchen, and taste so fresh and green that I am in complete ecstasy with every bite. Eating things that were picked just hours before is such an amazing gift. I am always absolutely astounded by the difference in taste between a fresh vegetable and a store bought one. People who "hate" veggies have never tried farm grown, hand picked, fresh veggies. There is no way that you can hate foods which taste so good! The greens taste as leafy ...

I was daydreaming today, back to THIS day in May. I sat on a lichen covered rock watching as strong May winds whipped and bent the barley making it waves in a sea of browns and greens. It was gorgeous. This video definitely doesn't do it justice, but I am glad I made it anyway; captured was something...maybe nothing more than my poor quality camera's take on the clouds changing the shadows over the barley. Will write again soon. Real entries. Not just videos. Tomatoes are just controlling my life these days.

I jones to be in a city sometimes. Sometimes I am jonesing to go to the City. Especially after I hear this song: "Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z, Alicia Keys. I am feeling like a trip to NYC is in my near-ish future.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze (2nd Take)

I've been digging on the Black Keys again lately. Love love love this song. The Black Keys, "Tighten Up"

I love BluntCards . Just had to share. Also, wanted to say thanks to my newest followers! You know who you are--THANK YOU!

I am going to see the final movie installment of Harry Potter in about 24 hours; five friends and I are making the trek out late at night, to sit spellbound (pun intended) and watch (and judge) to see if the final film does justice to J.K. Rowling's final chapter in the Harry Potter saga. I feel like years from now I will be telling my kids how cool it was to see these movies in the theater (just like how some older friends relive the moments they spent in awe of the Star Wars Trilogy). And yet, I wasn't always a Harry fan. When Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone hit the U.S. I was in high school, delving into classic English literature, and becoming a literary snob, poo pooing the HP books as "crap fiction" for kids. It was about  eight years ago that TSO got me to watch the first movie, assuring me I'd like it. I didn't. I convinced myself that I would hate it. And I think I did...probably because I couldn't remember most of the movie, having fallen...

Holy hell, it's hot today. "Heat" From plains that reel to southward, dim, The road runs by me white and bare; Up the steep hill it seems to swim Beyond, and melt into the glare. Upward half-way, or it may be Nearer the summit, slowly steals A hay-cart, moving dustily With idly clacking wheels. By his cart's side the wagoner Is slouching slowly at his ease, Half-hidden in the windless blur Of white dust puffiing to his knees. This wagon on the height above, From sky to sky on either hand, Is the sole thing that seems to move In all the heat-held land. Beyond me in the fields the sun Soaks in the grass and hath his will; I count the marguerites one by one; Even the buttercups are still. On the brook yonder not a breath Disturbs the spider or the midge. The water-bugs draw close beneath The cool gloom of the bridge. Where the far elm-tree shadows flood Dark patches in the burning grass, The cows, each with her peaceful cud, Lie wa...

"Desiderata" Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the f...

Orange lilies will forever remind me of my Mom and Dad's house; the reaching orange stars, stretching out from the shade for the sun which makes the petals peel back. Orange lilies are what I picked when I walked down the long driveway to bring in the mail; filled moments with important "he loves me, he loves me nots;" beautified lesser vases; are now what I look to as signs of summer, what I gather and pin into my hair.    I couldn't find a poem I loved with lilies in it, so Uncle Walt's one about lilacs (really about the death of President Lincoln) will just have to do.   "When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,"                                                      1 When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd, And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the ...

I periodically look for examples of really cool librarian jobs...I think this comes out of a need to prove to myself that my field is more exciting than most people think it is. Anyway, saw this old-ish (May '11) posting this morning...I just wish that I wanted to move to CA...can't 20th Century Fox have a Boston office!? Twentieth Century Fox Research Librarian The Fox Research Library is the Entertainment Industry's premiere Production Research Library & Service. Created in 1923 specifically to meet the needs of filmmakers, it provides visual and background research exclusively for Fox Film and TV projects, Legal and Marketing departments. The Library's unique and extensive special collections of production materials include: Fox history, Fox location photos, illustrations, books, photographs, DVDs and VHSs, periodicals and clipping files dating from the mid 18th century to present day. The Fox Research Library is currently seeking a Research Librarian. Th...

Riihanna - Umbrella (Orange Version) ft. Jay-Z I am really into Rihanna again these days, and this song felt apropos since it's pouring.

"Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." --William Butler Yeats

I watched the loveliest movie tonight: 84 Charing Cross Road with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins; a movie based on the correspondence that took place over 20 years between NYC author Helene Banff and the staff of Marks & Co. (London antiquarian book sellers). I loved everything about this movie: the cultural differences, most obvious early on in the film as both countries move through post WWII; the chain smoking, drinking, typewriter clacking, loud and loveable Bancroft, the bibliophile heroine; the stoic Anthony Hopkins; the portrayal of love and friendship that can be formed over such great distances. (Mary Ann Shaffer, author of The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society must have read the book before writing her own!) Watching 84 Charing also made me nostalgic for the pre-internet days of my childhood when there was an excitement in checking the mailbox, waiting on letters from dear ones far away. I recommend this movie. But, until you see it, just enjoy this gem,...

Stopping by M&N's house before I left for Jamaica (and my brother A3's wedding), 4 year old Maddie and I got to talking and she seemed confused by the idea of me being on an island for a week. "What's an island?" "Well, it's land that floats in the middle of the ocean." "But won't the ocean wash over it?" "Well, the ocean washes up on the shore, but not all over the island." "But what's an island?" Beginning to feel like my high school chemistry teacher, I took Maddie's shoe and placed it in the middle of their blue couch, "Maddie, this sandal is the island where I will be staying, and the blue couch is the ocean all around it. See how the island's on top of the ocean, sitting there?" And then she did that amazing thing that little kids do--she sat and pondered it. Later that day I again found myself hanging out with Maddie and her family and Mummy Dearest and her family, this time a...

View from one of the paths around the hotel Back view of pools and hotel Ocean, ocean Where I spent much time. The pools! And the main stairway from the hotel Today as I sweated under the hot July sun, I thought of Jamaica: the smell of the ocean and palm trees and coconuts. I was glad to be back at work, but did miss falling asleep to the sound of the ocean...just a little...

Reflections on our Jamaican vacation: I am lobster red My brother A3 got married without a hitch (Ocean) crabs are working together to scare the crap out of me--almost stepped on 2, both times at night, which made the experience even scarier  Knocking fists with the hotel staff, while simultaneously saying, "Respect!" is encouraged Playing Bob Marley music all the time isn't cliche (said with heavy sarcasm) Being asked if you, "like to party," means, "You want to buy some weed from me?" Everyone, from the bell hops to the rasta dudes on the beach, will ask you above question I am getting that vacation-ed out restlessness; it has been absolutely gorgeous here, but I am ready to trade the sandy shores and clear waters of Negril for the Farm.  "You have to remember one thing about the will of the people: it wasn't that long ago that we were swept away by the Macarena."  -- Jon Stewart