Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Happy Birthday Rudyard Kipling (1865), author who gave us The Jungle Book ; Just so Stories , and over 300 stories and poems. Kipling won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. I found this today and LOVED it. “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools If you can m...

I am reading Brene Brown's Daring Greatly , right now and am sucked into what she is saying about vulnerability. After putting myself out there with some relationships this year I am feeling vulnerable, and while looking for the quote I wanted from her book found, this...not sure if it's in her book, but it works, and is leaving me feeling a little less vulnerable and a little more hopeful. "I think we lose sight of the beauty, the most beautiful things I look back on in my life are coming out from underneath things I didn't know I could get out from underneath. You know, the moments I look back in my life, and think, those were the moments that made me — were moments of struggle." --Brene Brown So, Saturday finds me with laundry at the laundromat, coffee on the table at this great, little coffee shop I've discovered, and trying to work through those moments and find some beauty... this song just came on as I was about to press publish...I will take ...

UB40 CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE I LOVED this song when I was in middle school...in fact there may have been a dance to go with it, and maybe I used to lock my door and do said dance and imagine the day when Tom Cruise and I would star in a musical together...too bad Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman beat us to it...and that Tom Cruise is now crazy and not as hot as he was to be 12 year old brain...and I remembered that I can't sing. Here's to Fridays and fun memories. Happy weekend!

A beautiful sky at the Farm Everyone has a napkin ring at the Farm for sit down dinners--I found mine! Where all good things go to die...or be recycled. View heading toward home! The tree outside Avalon where TSO , RugbyGirl , and I used to live!

B1 & B2's house and their kitty Mabel. BEST brunch ever: homemade mac n' cheese, asparagus and black forest ham frittata (made by me), veggie salad, homemade sesame bread (made by me) with soft Farm cheese, homemade blueberry muffins, grapes a BIG beef steer DiXit--I LOVE this game so much! Think Apples to Apples with pictures!

I was supposed to leave tomorrow for Massachusetts and the Farm, but winter storm Draco (Malfoy) is headed our way and so I am leaving early, taking to the open road. I pray that no matter how old, how crooked, how arthritic, I never forget or lose this love of the open road ; this dog-like desire to bounce on the seat, stare out the window, breathe in the changing smells--tongue lolling in excitement. I don't want to lose this desire to see towns, cities, lonely country unfolding in front of me; to go over the bumps of hundreds of railroad tracks and know the different journeys available in that too. I will keep this need to look for familiar signs and traces of roads I've traveled on, walked on, lived on. I will never lose the appreciation of what it means to add seconds, minutes, and hours--a math sum of home. I am so excited to get back to the Farm; to spend Christmas with my dear Farm friends; to again walk the familiar paths and roads, to see the animals and gardens. Ca...

For all my Dad's faults, some things I really valued in him and have tried to replicate in my adult work life: 1. Work HARD. 2. Look people in the eye. 3. Don't bullshit people, be honest. With that in mind, at a recent Board Mtg. one of the board members offered to break some news to my staff which I knew was going to be met with less than enthusiasm, but  I knew I had to do it, this is why they pay me, right? It can't always be easy or fun, and it's important to not bullshit people and avoid the tough stuff--people respect you more for doing it. So, I did it. And I didn't enjoy it, but trying to gracefully make it through something uncomfortable makes it easier for the next time, and makes you stronger.