Good-bye library world...

New job starts tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Troublesome

I had dinner with an old friend of mine last night.

He is seriously one of my favorite people—has been since high school. But I’m worried about him. He had something really tragic happen only a few months ago involving his significant other and I really don’t want to get into specifics. But the end result was his boyfriend committing suicide in their home.

My friend (we’ll call him Joe) is in the middle of beginning a new career in a division of law enforcement. At the time of the incident with his boyfriend, he was in the middle of basic training and getting placed and starting his new career, and it sounds weird to say it, but the suicide was horrible timing. He hasn’t had time to really accept what happened.

As a result, I don’t think Joe has really had a chance to grieve or to talk to anyone about what happened. I asked him if he’s gone to counseling or anything, and he’s gone a couple of times, but the counselors were too busy wanting to talk about when he “came out” than to talk about the problem at hand. My friend came out in high school (which had its own horror stories), but that’s part of his resolved past. What he needs now is to talk to someone about the suicide.

He hasn’t gone in the room where it happened since. Until a couple of nights ago, he couldn’t sleep in their bedroom—he slept on the couch in the living room for months.

He’s excelling in his career, but when I talk to him, I can tell he’s not the same. He seems hollow and unhappy. And no, I don’t think he should have gotten “over it” by now. Not at all. I don’t think that’s the kind of thing you can really ever get over. But he seems like he’s in denial and in depression. And I’m worried that it’s going to get the better of him and he’s going to succumb to it and perhaps never be the same.

I’m not really looking for any kind of response from my dear readers…it was just something I need to get off my chest. Maybe writing it down will help me see the situation more clearly so I can help him in any way I can. But for now I guess my only option is to be there… and to listen when he’s ready to talk.

Kill the Wabbit.

I had a very productive weekend. I cleaned out my closet (resulting in 3 bags for Goodwill—many of these were handbags I don’t use), cleaned out my bathroom (why did I have 700 almost-empty shampoo bottles?), and finally cleaned out the closet under my stairs. I’ve been meaning to do it all summer, but I had horrible visions of being attacked by spiders and who knows what else, so I put it off and put it off, and I finally MADE myself do it this weekend.

Miraculously enough, there were no spiders!

But before I got started, I was reading the paper, had some coffee, and turned on the tube to see what’s on. Now, I only get a few channels because I think cable rots the brain, and “Saturday Morning Cartoons” were on. What is this world coming to, I would like to ask? What happened to the good ‘ol cartoons of the day? Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny…all of that?! Now it’s all computer animated mumbo jumbo that’s not even fun.

Boo. Hiss.

So in the spirit of Taking Back Cartoons, I would like to share the best Bugs Bunny cartoon of all time:

Times, they are a-changin'

It’s kind of strange to think I’ll only be at my job for less than two weeks. I’m finally leaving the library world…and it’s strange. My first job in high school was at a library, and then I was a work study student in college at a library, and now here I am post-college in a library. Other than one summer working at a resort, all I know is libraries. I will say, I’m glad to be leaving. I don’t mind library work, but it can get monotonous. Not to mention unless you have an MLS there’s no way to move up, and there’s little opportunity for leadership.

So here I go, on a new quest.

I can’t really get into the details of my new job, unfortunately. Because I will be working for a specific organization, I don’t want to write about it on a blog—that’s just not a good idea.

So the best way I can describe it is that I am working for a public agency dedicated to improving city life. I’ll start out at entry level, and hopefully as I gain experience and finished my master’s degree, I’ll move on up. I could see myself staying with this organization for a career—but it’s a premature decision since I haven’t been exposed to the culture yet. But either way, it’s a great experience and I am P-U-M-P-E-D.

It’s nice to think I’ll finally be in my career field. What a lovely thought! And I get a pretty substantial increase in pay from what I’m making at the library (thank GOD). Hello, new tax bracket!

I’m also happy to say I won’t need to move to a different part of town because where I am is perfect for getting to work. I won’t be driving because it is located in a downtown area where parking is big buck$. Luckily, there’s a bus that pretty much picks me up at my door and drops me off at work! I love Tri-Met. There is seriously no greater city transportation system out there. It has won national awards, people.

Show some love for MAX:

I will say the blogging will probably slow because while I have no qualms blogging at a job where I’m sitting with nothing to do half the time like here at the library, I won’t blog at my new job. I’ll be a busy bee, and it’s also a little different when your salary is paid by the public. But I will update on evenings and weekends when I can!

Countdown on!

"Developing Story"

Does this seem completely ironic to you?


Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

GASP!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!


Start date is August 29th!!!!

Tales of my airheadedness

So my passenger side window in my car decided to stop working several weeks ago. It had been pretty slow to go up and down since I bought the car, but it worked so it was all good.

One day, it just didn’t want to go down anymore.

I figure the motor is dead and I need to replace it.

And that is spendy.

So I haven’t been able to afford to take her to Honda to get it fixed yet, which isn’t a big deal because the driver’s side window and the sunroof work, and that’s all that really matters. :)

::: :::

So I have Bridezilla and her husband in my car on Saturday, and he tries to roll the window down.

“Sorry, it’s broken.”

He looks over at me. “Well, your button is off.”

“What?”

“Your button. You need to turn it on.”

At this point I have zero idea what he’s talking about. He points at a switch on my door that says “MAIN” and then “on” and “off.”

I flip it to the “on” position.

Bzzzzzzzzzzst. Window goes down.

What. The. Hell.

I don’t even know what that switch did, not to mention how on earth I turned it off! I swear I could not stop laughing for like 20 minutes. I guess I hit it on my way out the door? Who knows.

But now we know that “childproof” windows also mean Junniper Proof.

All I have to say is…I’m glad I was saved the embarrassment of showing up at Honda for them to flip the switch for me.

Why do I feel sheepish? ;)

He asked for it...

Tristan, that trouble maker...

PS: Job interview went well. I won't hear for a week or two, but I survived!

OMG OMG OMG

OK, I'm not usually one to type "OMG" but this is an OMG situation.

I have an interview on Monday for a job I would kill for. Kill. Bloody. Stabbed. Mauled.

Oh I'm nervous--wish me luck!!

Damn, now I have to figure out what to wear. Time to go shopping?

A Plea

To all the would-be car-breaker-inners in the Portland Metropolitan Area--

Please leave my goddamn car alone. There is NOTHING in there, and it really irritates me to wake up and find my car in disarray because you've thrown my CDs around.

STOP IT.

This is the third time, so I think we're done now.

LEAVE MY CAR ALONE.

Madge said it well:

"Ohmygodyoucrazyharrypottertypes!"

I finished The Deathly Hallows Yesterday.

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN AND READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK!!!

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I was right. And yet so wonderfully wrong at the same time.

But I'll tell you my heart skipped a few beats.

As I finished the final page, I was nothing but content.

It was bittersweet, but in the end, Harry's story was finished the right way.

It's a small world after all...

I just read this story and laughed out loud.

That's the bachelor from Saturday night's party!!

Boogie down

Funniest pick-up line I’ve heard in a while:

“How much does a polar bear weigh?”
“Um….I dunno. How much?”
“Enough to break the ice. Hi, I’m ­­­­­­­___________."

::::::

My friends’ big day is this Saturday. Seems like only yesterday I was plotting a hookup. It’s amazing how fast they grow.

We had the wild bachelorette party this weekend, and a good time was had by all. Also, why is “bachelorette” considered a misspelled word in Microsoft programs but “bachelor” is not? Damn sexists.

Anyway, we hit up the Olive Garden for dinner to get started on the night. Each of us had on our own “pub crawl” shirts with different sayings. Mine was “save the drama for your mama.” The bride had “Buy me a shot—I’m tying the knot!” We were quite the group.

After dinner we headed to Duke’s, which was…well…an experience. I was a little concerned upon arrival because there were guys in Stetsons and Wranglers everywhere. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Junniper was dragged to a country bar. There was even a mechanical bull. No, I did not ride it.

I will admit that we had a blast. We had little “bachelorette dare cards” with challenges on them. I am proud to say I completed my task first: get a guy to show you a hidden tattoo. *wink wink*

My next task was to get a guy to contribute $10 toward the cost of the bachelorette party, but I had no such luck.

We did somehow end up getting together with a bachelor party of about 15 guys. They had rented a van and put magnetic signs on it declaring “CHURCH OF LOWER STANDARDS” and such. It was damn funny. We ended up leaving Duke’s at about 1am and headed over to this other bar called 9Ball. It was a karaoke bar, but since it was close to closing time, we didn’t get a chance to get up and sing.

Just before closing at 2am, two of the guys in the bachelor party decided to get into with some other random guy and they started brawling right in the middle of the bar! Needless to say, I was like “bing! We’re outta here!”

Unfortunately, the Church of Lower Standards van was blocking my exit so I had to yell at the guys to move the damn thing because the brawl had taken itself to the parking lot, and they were full-on fighting. I had zero desire to be there when the police showed up, so I made them move the van and we boogied outta there.

It was an adventure.

Now it’s time to go marry her off!

"Dumbledore's got style."

I’m going to do a short little review of the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. If you haven’t seen it, or don’t care to read my thoughts, go no further!


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OK. So I went and saw the movie last night. And I did love it, but I had some minor qualms.

First of all, I do want to say I think this director did very well overall—the opening scene was fantastic and really demonstrated the sweltering sadness. The lighting was perfect—the scene where Harry & “Big D” are running through the grass was great. And who know Dudley could run so fast? ;)

BUT. It felt rushed. I know it’s impossible to fit that phenomenal book into a movie without losing some of the fabulousness, but there was just so much important stuff missing! The incident with Mr. Weasley wasn’t explained very well. The Occlumency exercises felt boring, and the scene with the younger Snape was rushed and not explained, either!

But most importantly, the ending seemed pretty anticlimactic. I mean, HELLO, Sirius dies, and it was just like “eh, it happened.” It moved on so suddenly that it wasn’t even sad. And in the book it was SAD! I think I cried. And if I remember right, in the book Bellatrix makes him sort of fall into the archway, whereas in the movie she actually does the Avada Kadavra spell. What up with that?

I will say this, however. Imelda Staunton was fantastic as Umbridge. Absolutely perfect. There were several times I just wanted to reach into the screen and stab her in the forehead with Harry’s wand. And the girl playing Luna Lovegood was great, too—she definitely got the character down.

And the scene where they’re flying on broomsticks through London: magic.

Grade: B
Thoughts?

I can't dance...

Wade Robson is a choreographer, and he often creates dances for the summer show I watch: So You Think You Can Dance.

The man is ridiculous. His visions are amazing, and his use of costume, character, and music is always spot-on. I can’t dance to save my life, but I can appreciate art when I see it.

Hopefully these videos will stay up for a while—these sites like to knock them off since it’s sort of a copyright restriction.








Top 10 - Zombie Ramalama Bang Bang Dance

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Sexy Back-So you think you can dance

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Tell me something...

Am I mad or is it kind of funny?

I can’t decide.

I made a discovery on Friday—somehow, my employer has been shorting my vacation time for the last three years.

I’m supposed to get two weeks’ paid vacation every year—or a total of 80 hours. I took a closer look at my pay stub on Friday and thought…hmm…I’m only accruing one hour per week of work…that means I’m only accruing about 52 hours per year.

Well that’s strange.

So I emailed payroll and sho ‘nough, for the last three years, I’ve only been earning 48 hours of vacation per year, instead of 80.

So now I’m getting back 93 hours (which is almost 12 days!!). I can’t decide if that’s really awesome, or if I’m just really pissed about it.

I mean, while it’s nice that I can now take some more time off, I really could have used that time before—like I dunno, so I could stay longer in Alaska?! Or maybe when I was out for a week from my surgery and didn’t have enough sick time to cover it all?

And how did they even screw up that bad?! Thank god I figured it out, that's all I can say.

Human Resources in this place is a joke. I’d do a better job than them.

The answer comes in two weeks' time.

I’m going to expose some of my dorkiness in this post. It’s about the final Harry Potter installment: The Deathly Hallows.

I’m kind of stressed out about it. I’m worried about what’s going to happen in this book (let’s say it right now, I have a funny feeling I’m going to be really pissed off), and more importantly, I’m worried that I’ll find out what’s going to happen before I get to read it myself.

For that reason, I’m staying away from all news stories about the book and JK Rowling, and the “will Harry die?” theories and yada yada yada.

But that still couldn’t keep my imagination from wondering if it’s going to happen. And I’m wondering if this is how—read no further if you don’t want to hear it.


I am wondering if perhaps Harry is somehow the final Horcrux. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, Dumbledore said himself that some of his powers were transferred to Harry that night. I’m thinking that the final showdown will be Harry killing Voldemort or Voldemort killing Harry and in doing so one will destroy the other.

And I’ll be mad. I’ll be livid. And the series that I’ve loved so dearly will become bitter to me every time I watch one of the movies or re-read one of the books because I know, in the end that Harry will die.


Hopefully I’m wrong. JK, don’t let me down.

Yawn

I think my neighbors’ decision to stay up until 2am setting off fireworks (what, does NO ONE ELSE have to work today?!) has decreased my ability to think and see clearly.

A headline on CNN that says “Virginia Fireworks Mishap” looked like

VAGINA FIREWORKS MISHAP

And all I could think was *ouch*.

Although it does kind of remind me of this guy:

D'oh!

Be sure to visit this website and vote for

SPRINGFIELD, OREGON

to host the premier of The Simpsons!

It's only right---Matt Groening is FROM Oregon, not to mention the numerous references to Oregon in the show...like Ned Flanders.

Straight outta Flanders street, people! :)

I will tell you a story--

I can’t really explain how fantastic my vacation to Alaska was.
Marvelous.
Fabulous.
Incredible.
Wonderful.
Nope, those words don’t really encapsulate it.

It was so great. Even though it was only four full days, I don’t think we could have packed more fun in if it had been a week.

On Thursday we left for Homer , a quaint little town on the Kenai Peninsula. The drive down was beautiful. I swear, at every turn I would gasp. The pictures really don’t do it justice.

We stopped here and there for pictures and sightseeing, and had lunch at Gwin’s, which I guess is a pretty famous stop! There were tourists everywhere, taking advantage of the prime fishing and weather.

Look how green the water is. It’s really eerie in person—the color comes from the glacial silt in the water. The silt never settles so the color remains the vibrant green. Very cool.

We got to Homer, and it was adorable. Homer is famous for fishing, boating, and of course, The Spit.

Down The Spit is where the fun starts—cute little shops, great food, great people, lots of cute fisherman doing their thang. This is where the Salty Dawg Saloon is, which is a pretty famous bar. We hit up some ice cream and some fish and chips, which were TO DIE. It was amazing to me how readily available fresh halibut was.

I love halibut, but it’s pretty spendy in Oregon. I was sure to get my fill on vacation.

We left Homer around 6 or so, and headed back north to Kenai to stay with my friend’s grandmother. She let us stay for the night so we could take the quick drive over to Seward for our glacier cruise on Friday! She is such a funny lady. She’s fabulously sarcastic and I was laughing all night. But on our way there, I spotted a MOOSE!

I also made a tally of how many bald eagles I spotted: 15! It was crazy. Before that, I had seen maybe 2 in my life.

Early Friday morning, we headed down to Seward. The drive was a little cloudy, but it wasn’t too bad. Seward is an adorable little town. Here we got on the boat for our six-hour cruise. It was so excellent. I can’t even begin. We saw humpback whales—

Harbor seals—

Puffins, dolphins, seagulls, sea otters, magpies, and many others.

Then we started coming up on the Holgate Glacier:

And it kept getting bigger:

And more incredible:

There were no words.

It might be the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen…and I’ve seen some amazing things in my life and travels. It was so breathtaking that all 100 people on the boat just stood in silence. Just standing there you could hear it cracking and crunching against itself and the surrounding rocks. At one point, a huge piece of it broke off and fell into the water, making a deafening sound. Its sheer size was probably the most incredible thing. Explaining it, or even showing pictures really doesn’t capture it. We were freezing standing there on the boat with the wind coming off the glacier, but we really couldn’t look away.

It was beautiful.

We left Seward around six, and headed back to Anchorage. We met up with my friend’s boyfriend and goofed around and watched a movie. We left his house at about 1:00am—and it was still light out! Bizarre!

Saturday was spent toodling around Anchorage. We went to Moose’s Tooth for lunch and met up with an old friend of mine from high school who moved up to Alaska with her husband. She, like the friend I was visiting, is moving back to Portland. It served as a reminder that no matter how breathtaking it all is, the winter weather forces people out.

We then went to the Saturday Market in “downtown” Anchorage which was fun, but definitely can’t compare to Portland’s downtown or its Saturday Market. But I got some good touristy stuff and we had some great funnel cake, so you can’t beat that!

We had dinner at Bear Tooth (it was a toothy day I guess), and then headed out on the town at 10:30pm—still light out. We headed to Humpy’s, a bar with the strangest assortment of patrons I’ve ever seen. There were young people, hipsters, geeks, old guys, old ladies, rowdy folks, quiet folks…you name it, they were there.

We had a great time BS-ing and whatnot and closed the bar at 2:45. Then we started hassling this one guy to do a crabwalk around the block. Yes, folks, this is what the kids in Anchorage do. So we got him to race this girl, and whoever could make it all the way around the block first would win $250. We made this bet knowing there was no way they’d make it—it had started raining and they were both drunk.

It was very entertaining, to say the least.

We didn’t get home until 4am. I don’t even remember the last time I stayed out that late. Seriously, I was probably 21. I’m too old for that now, man.

Sunday was my last day, so we went and got some breakfast…I say breakfast loosely since it was noon. Then we drove around Anchorage a bit to see the city. Then we decided to take a drive to the Portage Glacier just outside of town.

On the way, we sall Dall Sheep on the rocks!!

The hoards of tourists gave it away.

On to Portage. This was kind of sad, actually—

The Portage Glacier is on the right. It was magnificent in its time, but global warming has made it recede so much that you can’t even see it from the official visitor’s center anymore. It was pretty funny because we watched a film about the “Voices from the Ice” and when it was over, the screen lifted in the most dramatic fashion to a big picture window where you SHOULD see the glacier, but because it’s receded around the corner, all you see is the lake. Tragic.

I know this was a long story, and who knows if anyone will really read this whole long thing, but I had a great trip. I’m still trying to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get, but it was all worth it in the end.