Work It Baby, Work It

So it seems that the hundreds of hours I have spent obsessing about jobs (including having visions of me living at home in my parents' basement or working in Mississippi in a swamp somewhere) were kind of a waste of time. Turns out I'm quite employable....

Yes... I have a job. I feel like this situation demands cussing--so let me rephrase. I have a mothafuckin' job!!!! Oh and please do not be afraid, it's not the weird job with the questions re: my happiness. It is the nice, normal job that called me back for a second interview. I know I said I wasn't sure but after lots of obsessing in my head (yup, I'm an obsesser...) and lots of advice from many sage-like sources, I was all in for the job. Would you like the details? Okay, I willl oblige :)

General Location: Small public library in a small town north of Milwaukee

Position: Children's Librarian (i.e. I'm in charge. No really. In charge of the department with an assistant to... well... assist me. This is the terrifying part.)

Pros: It's a job. And the people are nice, really really nice. And the town is cute, really really cute. And they think I'd be good at it (I'm starting to believe.) And I love small towns. And they're building a new library! And I will get to have my say in what happens in the children's department! (The power is intoxicating!) And it's close to Milwaukee... where I have friends!

Cons: Ummmmm. The amount of responsibility involved is terrifying. Really truly terrifying. *MUST. BE. BRAVE* Also, I will be starting at the end of May. The summer reading program starts beginning of June. And then the madness will overtake me.

Now, I must get back to freaking out about the responsibility and basking in the glow of employment.

Love is All You Need...

So originally I was going to post this on Valentine's Day... then the day after Valentine's Day... then three days after Valentine's Day. Obviously, that didn't happen. But, in the spirit of living through another Valentine's Day, here is a love oriented, Valentine's Day related list with lots of pictures...

1) Back when I was 18 years old, I truly and honestly believed that John Mayer was my soulmate and that we would get married. I believed this so much that I actually wrote an essay for my college German class all about my love for John Mayer and why he should love me back. My professor's comments? *Auf English* "Interesting! Good luck!" Luckily, I've overcome this quirk and can now just appreciate his music. But, it was oh so appropriate that he was playing in Madison for Valentine's Day. Of course, I had to go. And I had a wonderful date, Amy, my fellow John enthusiast.


And of course, I didn't bring my camera into the show (I follow concert rules... okay, most rules in general) but, I found this with the help of Google (of course!) and this basically what the concert looked like:


I know many of you were wondering if Jessica was there... well, I didn't see her but Annie sent me this the morning after the concert. (Really, what would we do without Perez Hilton...) As Katie C. wisely commented on Friday, it seems Jessica has given up all hopes of a music career and is now latching on to John's... including memorizing all of the lyrics to all of his songs. I personally wish her the best of luck.

2) Valentine's Day gifts are the best... particularly the unexpected ones. Amy's roommates made me a cookie with my name on it! I was quite touched, particularly since they're saints for putting up with me always hanging out in their living room.


3) On Thursday, I received an email from the library where I had the non-weird interview... and they want me to come in for a second interview to meet the assistant director! Holy moses!!!! I am definitely feeling the library love but I'm not sure if I'm willing to return it. There are a lot of positive points about this library but also a few negative ones. This whole growing up and becoming an adult and making decisions about the future thing sucks.

4) On Sunday morning, my parents were in the area and took me out to breakfast. They also gave me a bag full of random junk mail addressed to me (why they don't just throw it out, I don't know) and belated Valentine's Day presents i.e. a hollow milk chocolate frog with a gummy bug inside. Generally my mom strays away from these types of gifts so it seemed a little weird but it was a nice gesture. So I was looking at the box while not doing my homework and noticed this on the back of the box:


My mother regifted a Valentine's Day present!!! Now, my mom is a crossing guard and spoils her kids rotten and in turn the parents give her tons of present for every major holiday. For example, she gets lots and lots of lotion and soaps for Christmas presents and since she has sensitive skin, I inherit most of it. But regifting chocolate frogs!? That just doesn't seem right!

All right, must go back to doing homework... this whole starting reader response papers at 11:32 on a Sunday night is rather ridiculous.

Google... Who Knew?

I now have a love affair with Google Calendar. I knew that Leah and other SLISers used it but I always thought that it seemed a little bit pointless. I had a weekly planner in paper form and I never used it. So I didn't really see the point of adding more crap to my already cluttered life. Then, on Saturday, I was over at Amy's, buying tickets to go see John Mayer on Valentines Day (more about that in a few days!), when she logged into her Google Calendar. I must say, I was slightly taken aback. It was soo cool! And it looked helpful and organizational and like it might even keep me from losing my mind! So Amy sent me an invitation (complete with the cheesy, Google generated "message from Amy") and I signed up. And wasted a good chunk of my Saturday night creating my very own Google calendar. I've placed reminders on events and obligations that I know I will forget and I've changed my setting so my events are purple! Too neat!

And of course, it's coming in handy for other reasons as well.... for some crazy reason, I will put off homework and other obligations like nobody's business unless it's in writing, in an official form. Yes, I enjoy following the rules... So when I got this email from my mom this morning....

Hi Sweetheart, Dad and I are coming down to Madison this weekend to see you. Let us know which day is better for you. Dad would prefer Saturday but if Sunday is better for you, let me know. Love, Mom

... I knew just what to do. I logged into my handy dandy Google calendar and added a new event: Friday, February 16th. Noon-5pm: Clean Like a Mad Woman. And set a reminder 1 day in advance.

Weirded Out!

So, Leah mentioned in her blog that Jack's crazy days on 24 were possible. I wouldn't know about the Jack thing (yes, I am a freak... I don't watch 24) but I wholeheartedly agree with her astute observation (cheesewhiz on the bus!? crazy!). So, Leah had a crazy day. I have had a weird week. And thus, I am officially weirded out and waiting for something even more weird to occur.

Last Friday, I mentioned that exciting things were happening in my life. And it's true... I got two job interviews!!! For real professional librarianing positions. I won't go into too much detail but I will say that the first job interview went quite well and if I would be available right now (damn you May graduation!), I think I would have a shot.

But, the weirdness comes in during the second job. I was getting interviewed by the director of the public library and a random woman. This random woman never introduced herself and the director never introduced her and in my sheer interview panic, I didn't even think about it. So, she was asking me questions and the entire time, I was thinking "Who is she? This is weird." But it got worse. They asked the weirdest interview questions in the world. There were certain questions I was expecting in a job interview for a children's librarian. I expected those standard "Give us an example when you showed leadership" questions and I figured that I would have to talk about my experience with children, programming, book selection and other things. And we talked about that for a little bit... but there were four pages of questions and most of them were just downright weird:

1) Are you happy?
2) Why are you happy?
3) How do you know you are happy?
4) How would you describe your best friend?
5) Do you appreciate your life?
6) How do you know you appreciate your life?
7) Why do you appreciate your life?
8) Who is your hero?
9) Use some adjectives to describe someone who is negative.

And then the awkwardly worded questions... they were asking me these vague, yes or no questions... I could have come up with better questions.

Examples:
1) Do you like booktalks? (Not do you have experience booktalking? How would you use booktalking in programming?)
2) Do you like technology? (And no, they didn't want to know if I had any experience with technology... just if I liked it or not.)
3) Would you be willing to work with babies and teens? (What am I going to say, no?)
4) What are your favorite books/CDs/websites/movies? But not for children... they didn't care about that... they just wanted to know about my personal taste.

In short, it was weird. I didn't notice much during the interview but then I left and as I was driving out of the city, it hit me and I thought to myself, "That was weird. That was really weird." And I was officially weirded out.

Then, three days later, weirdness once again rears it ugly head at the GSC social (basically a breading ground for awkwardness, if we're going to be truly honest). The source of this weirdness was Chris, a GSC regular, who is normally quite nice and respectable, in a Southern gentleman kind of way. But then, weirdness hit:

*Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You" is playing in the background. I am grooving out in my chair, as I have a tendency to do when a good song is playing and there is alcohol involved.*
Chris: I can see you dancing to this song *pause pause* at a strip club.
Me: Excuse me?
Chris: Oh yeah, you and the pole. I don't know what you're wearing but I know what I'm wearing.
Me: Oh my god. *awkward pause* I don't think I could ever be a stripper. Especially to an Aretha Franklin song. Especially to this song.
Chris: I think you're the stripping type. A little bit of a shimmy.
Me: No, I am not. Oh my god. Ahh, weird! I can't believe you just said that.
Chris: I could say something more but that would be crossing the line.

WEIRDED OUT! Even now, I am shuddering in horror.

So, it's been a weird week. And I'm hoping that tomorrow will start a new week, free of weird. Because really, all of this weirdness really makes me want to hide under my covers until it's safe.

Hail Poetry!

So supposedly, today is the Second Annual (Silent) Poetry Reading for bloggers.... and you know how I love a good theme (if you didn't, well, now you know.) And since I'm keeping all of the exciting things under wraps (for now! I promise!), I am taking part in this poetry reading so you all have something to read. This poem seemed oh so very relevant:

Eating Poetry by Mark Strand

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.
The lights are dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs bum like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.

I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.