gallimaufry: a hodge podge

so busy

2009-05-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

We've been crazy busy the past few months. Legoland, camping, Disneyland, 1st birthday party... you name it, we've done it. I posted new photos on our site, and will hopefully have more to add this weekend.

Allie & Aaron's photos

Twitter

2009-04-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I signed up for a Twitter account thinking it would be fun to use to share random thoughts with people. Well, I just don't have enough time to post my random thoughts with people. They are too fleeting for me to make it to my computer (haven't set up the text-Tweet) and tweet in time. So, I'm really bad at Tweeting.

As linked from the Food Section blog, Ruth Reichl Tweets ""Judging by twitter, brown butter may be the sexiest pair in the English language. Noticed how often they show up together?" (And, yes, I agree... it's right up there with "bacon"). I scrolled through the rest of her tweets and noticed personal responses to other recognizable figures, such as Rick Bayless. I feel like a voyer, peering into someone's life, that I'm not meant to see. I noticed that she is following other notables like Susan Orlean, and Mark Bittman. People who once were guarded by distance and, sometime, an entourage of body guards, are no longer inaccessible. You can even follow our tech-saavy president on Twitter and see what he's up to.

I realize that Twitter is rapidly changing the way we communicate with each other. But it also has the potential to change our relationships with people we know and thos we don't; and the way we see the world. Maybe this is really it.

And she grows...

2009-03-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

We've been quite busy over the past few months. In fact, so busy I cannot manage to find time to post the photos. I'm really going to have to follow Colleen's lead and get them posted once a month.

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Emigh's house in Fresno for Harper's first Christmas and had a fabulous time. You all know how I'm really bad with cold weather, so I won't bore you too much with the details. We had layers of clothes for Harper, and luckily, Grandma and Grandpa keep the heater going, and we didn't leave the house... except once for a walk. Harper reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story.

Harper had a great first Christmas. As I've heard with other kids, she wasn't that intersted in the unwrapping part - she just wanted to eat the paper. But once we got everything opened up, she had a great time playing with her new toys.

January took us to San Francisco for Katie's 24th birthday. Harper was great on the plane, and had a fabulous time checking out the city. We rode the trolley cars, walked through Ghirardelli Square, and ate fabulous food. Harper spent the afternoon with Aunt Katie and Auntie Kim, while mom and dad went to the Fancy Food Show. She had a fabulous time and tried eclair for the first time (thanks Kim!).

In other news, Harper is walking. Yes, walking. She's been walking for a while with our help, but the day after her 9 month birthday, she saw something across the room she could not live without. She so walks. It's fun to watch her, because she walks with her arms up like she's holding on to us. And she's so proud of herself.

This spring will be quite busy. We've got a camping trip planned to the desert. I really don't like the idea of my precious child getting dirty, but I better get over that quick. Aunt Nan the Great is coming to visit, and we're headed to Disneyland for Grandma SuSu's 60th Birthday. And of course, there will be a First Birthday Bash complete with BBQ and cupcakes. Stay tuned...

View pictures

Late, late, late

2008-12-13T08:57:00.001-08:00

I have been (quite) remiss in posting photos of Harper lately. Every time I think I have time to sit down and work on something, my time runs screaming from the room. So I've been working on doing things in piecemeal. I've finally gotten around to the last step, which is posting everything online!

We have been quite bust the past few months. We celebrated Grandpa Steven's 60th birthday in Yosemite and you couldn't have asked for better weather. It was beautiful! I only wish we had more time to hike and explore the valley.

On our way to and from Yosemite, we stopped in Fresno for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Emigh. It was such a nice, relaxing time, and Harper loved it. She especially loved meeting Simon, the lovable Chow-Retriever mix, who could have cared less about her presence.

Thanksgiving was low-key and also relaxing. While she didn't partake in our feast, Harper had a feast of her own. Next year, though, she'll be able to be a glutton with the rest of us.

She's doing lots of tricks these days... the best one is eating. As many of you know, feeding a baby can be quite an adventure. She likes sweet potatoes the best, and a few other veggies, but pears are her least favorite, much to her mother's chagrin (they're my favorite). She is also squealing like a banshee which is fun (most of the time). She's sitting all on her own, but still not crawling. It is the general consensus that she may skip this crawling business and go straight to walking. Her legs are pretty strong, but she still has lots to grow before she walks.

Happy holidays!

Fiction 101

2008-10-22T10:29:00.001-07:00

For the past few years, Aaron has been submitting stories to the City Beat for their Fiction 101 contest. The stories can be of any genre, but should be no longer than 101 words. This year, Aaron submitted 4 wonderful stories, but the readers at the City Beat have their heads somewhere else, and his stories were not chosen. So instead, we're sharing them here. Enjoy!!

ODELAY!

Strange coincidence: Coyotes dig Beck! Sitting on my patio, waiting for burgers to grill, I was bobbing my head and tapping my foot to “Hotwax” on the boom box; mid air-drum I noticed an army of scrutinizing eyes coming from the adjacent canyon. My peepers bulged uncomfortably and leaping from my chair with supernatural ability, I grabbed the grill brush and brandished it menacingly. Unfortunately, I knocked over the stereo, thereby ending the illustrious cacophony. Momentarily I gawked at the wreckage, lamenting, but then quickly resumed attack stance; the beasts were moving away disenchanted.

"Wait, you assholes owe me $200!"

KARMIC ENTRAPMENT

He sits contemplating the bug he squashed Monday. Normally the man with a crooked nose wouldn’t remember such a thing, but that’s about when his luck turned south. He’s sure it’s something to do with the insect’s pulverized carcass looking uncannily like John Lennon.

He looks up from his beer and stares out the window. Past gold letters spelling out "The Last Goodbye", sits his car modestly full of belongings.

"So I said 'I work hard so you got everything you want.' Before the door slammed she said 'all you need is love.'"

The bartender sighs and returns to his crossword.

BROTHERHOOD LIES NOT IN BLOOD BUT IN ITS LOSS (A RUSSIAN FABLE)

The cold had long ago usurped the marrow in my bones, leaving me hollow and beaten. My glare followed the horizon, set along its course by limitless drifts of ice—a canvas emblazed white. Even the trees that dare rise up against the tyrannical snow, eventually succumb against its relentless assault.

When wolves appeared as if suddenly distilled from the landscape itself, I knew my body, weakened by a sniper’s skilled shot, would not much longer suffer against relentless chill. Adjusting my ushanka, and checking my AK-47 clip—now empty—I prepared myself to let them come to lick my bones.

A COZY SILENCE

“Maude?”

“Yes, Frank?”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, Frank.”

Pause.

“How much?”

“For heavens sake, what’re you getting at?” Maude put down her knitting and stared over the top of her glasses.

“I’ve something to tell you.”

Silence.

“I won the lottery.”

“Oh…that’s nice dear,” Maude said, resuming her toaster cozy. “Enough for your weekly tobacco allowance, I hope.”

“Uh, yes…”

“Enough for a new sweater for your lovely wife?”

“I won $210 million.”

Needles hitting the floor boomed thunderously.

“When?” she said instinctively, her ears ringing.

“1964.”

Tomorrow’s headline flashed through Maude’s head: MAN DIES IN TRAGIC KNITTING ACCIDENT

Best song ever

2008-09-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

Four months

2008-09-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in posting lately, but for good reason. I started work again on Sept. 2, which was difficult. We haven't gotten into any routine, yet, so every morning is a logistical nightmare. Every day, my goal is to get to work. If I can manage that, we're off to a good start.

But in other news... Harper is growing like a weed. She has almost outgrown the swing, which we hadn't really planned on. I know that sounds silly, but she only naps in one of three places: her swing, the carseat, or our arms. Well, she doesn't really like her carseat, and only sleeps there when she is realy sleepy. So now we have to start moving her to her crib, or the cosleeper. Not really looking forward to that. There may be some sleepless days ahead.

She still only rolls over one way, but Grandma Barbara has had a preview of what's to come. I think Harper likes to put on shows for her grandparents that we don't see. She's getting better about sitting up. We got her a silly chair that she can practice sitting in, and she seems to like it.

Harper seems more and more interested in food. She sits and watches intently while we eat. We tried banana a few weeks ago and she seemed to like it. But as she swallowed, she made a face. So we'll wait another week or so, and try some cereal, or something else.

Harper is learning early about presidential elections. She listens with great interest when mommy and daddy spout off about current events. While she has definite party affiliations, she hopes that regardless of which team you root for, that you will all go vote on November 4. Happy fall!!

The cutest

2008-09-01T11:51:00.001-07:00

Ok, I know I'm biased, but don't we have the cutest kid in the whole world?

(Thanks to April and Hal for the adorable hat!!)

Catch-all

2008-08-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

I was looking around the living room the other day and realized that Harper's toys could get out of control quickly. I searched my house high and low for a cute basket I could use to catch the toys, and realized in one of my fits of let's-get-rid-of-all-our-crap, I must have given them away. I remembered this post from RookieMoms and found my inspiration. We had an empty bin from new cat litter (and yes, I did bleach it first), so I covered it with contact paper and ribbon. When we were kids, my mom used to cover old dog bone boxes with contact paper for all our toys. The bonus here, is that with the lid on, they'll stack quite nicely.

(I know, I know... this is kinda lame to be posting about, but my sister has already given me crap for becoming a Mom-Blogger. Must be the hormones.)

Take me out to the ballgame

2008-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening was Harper's first trip to Petco Park, to watch the Padres get beat by the Phillies... Poor Pads...

You can see how enthralled Harper was by the ballgame.

Three months

2008-08-13T08:58:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that Harper is already three months old. Everyone says it goes by so quickly, but I didn't think it would go this quickly. Knowing this, Aaron and I are enjoying every minute we get to spend with her.

This month has been full of changes. Harper is sitting up, with help from mom or dad, or a pillow to prop her up. She gets closer and closer every day to rolling over, and in the process is able to pivot herself 90 degrees. She is examining everything she does and everything we do. She sits on my lap while we eat dinner, and watches us all with intent. In fact, at lunch the other day, she grabbed the fork right out of my hand. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Earlier this month, we drove to Stockton to see the Libbey side of the family. As per our usual craziness, we rented a minivan, and put Harper, mom and dad, grandma, uncle and dog in the minivan and drove almost 11 hours to get there. It wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't driving through the Central Valley. Once we arrived, we had a wonderful time. Everyone loved seeing Harper. Harper's second cousins, Caroline and Jack, spent hours entertaining her. Since we were all in one place, we took some family photos, which turned out great, thanks to Aaron's fancy new camera.

During this trip, we introduced Harper to swimming. Thanks to Great-Grandma, she had an adorable swim suit to wear, so she didn't have to skinny dip. There is a heated pool in my grandparents community and when there was shade, Harper took a short dip. She seemed to like it (she didn't cry), so we will try it again in the future.

Tickling rats

2008-08-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

On last week's Radio Lab, here was an article about laughter. Aristotle thought that laughter separates humans from beasts. He also thought that a baby didn't have a soul until she laughes, which happens on day 40 of life. We are at day 94 and sadly, Harper has still not laughed. Aaron said that he heard a chuckle, but she hasn't laughed at me yet. But she's still smiling.

Two months old

2008-07-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy month. Harper has been on two short trips, made her way around the zoo, gained 2 pounds, 12 ounces and met a lot of new people.

Harper experienced her first library conference in Anaheim on June 29. The American Library Association's annual conference is a great place to learn new things, and people watch. We drove up with our friends Katy and Bill, and their son Liam, and Harper was a trooper. Luckily it was a short drive, and we did it with no meltdowns. Big Bear was a different story.

Barbara and Steven took us to Big Bear to celebrate Aaron's 30th birthday. We made it almost up the hill before Harper decided that she didn't particularly like the car, carseat, windy roads, altitude or mommy and daddy's singing. So the last 30 minutes of the ride was rough on everyone. But the weekend turned out to be a great success. We took it easy with a leisurely walk around the town, and a paddle boat ride around the lake. Harper slept through both of these activities, but Aaron and I enjoyed them.

At her last checkup, Harper weighed 10 pounds, 13 ounces, up from 8 pounds, 1 ounce. She's grown in length, too, but I missed it when the nurse told us. You can see how much she's grown in the photos (try as I might, I can't get her to smile). She's smiling a lot and I think I heard a giggle last night when she was sleeping. She can also hold on to rings, but she doesn't grab for them yet. We, of course, think she is the smartest baby ever, as I'm sure most parents feel about their own progeny.

We're off to Stockton in a few weeks to meet great-grandparents, an aunt and some cousins. The road trip should make for some great story telling... maybe I'll leave that up to Aaron.

See all the photos on our website.

Flag Day

2008-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I love my libertarian neighbors. (I call them the libertarians for effect, but really I think they're neo-cons). They have an array of flags that they display at all patriotic, and mildly patriotic, holidays. According to Wikipedia, Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag, which happened on June 14, 1777. Flag Day was really meant only to honor the American flag, but as you can see, my neighbors use the day to honor all flags. They have a total of 11 flags flying, 3 of which are the American flag. The others include a Marine Corps flag, POW-MIA flag, and others I can't identify. If you can identify any others, please post them in a comment.

Other fun facts about my neighbors: The Ford truck has a bumper sticker that says "Happiness is a Northbound Yankee;" he has been known to participate in Civil War reenactments, guns and cannons included; their screened-in "porch" (formerly carport) is for the big screen TV.

Harper's First Month

2008-06-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it through the first month. Harper had her one month checkup and she is now 8 pounds, 1 ounce (up from 6 lbs., 11 oz) and 21 inches long (up from 19.3 in.). And, of course, she is brilliant. Well, we think so anyhow.

This month has been filled with fun, and not so fun outings, and meeting her fan club. We have lots more planned for the summer before I have to go back to work. I wonder if we'll get to it all.

So far most of our pictures have been taken at home. That is one of our favorite afternoon past times - mommy torturing Harper with the camera. We'll work on getting her out and about for her photo shoots.

A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette

2008-05-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

This blog provided a necessary chuckle to my sleep-deprived state. While it is directly mainly at librarians, I do think that many of these can apply to non-library workplaces. If it doesn't, then it will provide a window into the perverse and twisted world of librarians. As much as I hate to say it, I'm actually kind of surprised that it is written by two men. One, because it seems like many of the sentiments come from women, and two, because there are so few men in the profession. Enjoy!

Announcing our newest arrival!!

2008-05-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

Harper Elise Carr arrived healthy and very happy on Sunday, May 11, 2008, at 2:10pm. She was 6 lbs., 11 ounces ("a little peanut!"), a little over 19 inches long. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, but I'm a little biased. So far, Aaron and I are having a wonderful time just sitting and staring at her. I have a few pictures of her with various family members, but will be adding more to the blog in the next few weeks.

Yes, Virginia, censorship does still exist

2008-04-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

While on the one hand I love to hear librarians in the news. It thrilled me to hear an interview with a librarian on NPR this morning until I realized why they were talking to a librarian. Recently, a large medical database decided that "abortion" would be a stop word. Essentially, this means that it stops the search from working. If you were to try and search for abortion in this database, you would retrieve nothing back. You might ask, "how can that be? Aren't there are a lot of scholarly, research articles about abortion?" The answer is yes, which is a big problem. In my mind, this is a perfect example of politics determining access to information, which should not be. If we allow these practices to continue, it could be as bad as the futuristic society found in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Luckily, the change to the database has been reversed, and the ever-previous access to information has been restored. But if it happened once, do we have to worry about it happening again? It could. Optimistically, I'd like to believe that it might not happen after a change in our administration, but that's just too Polly Anna-ish for me.

Read more from Salon.com

If you're going to San Francisco...

2008-03-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

We went to San Francisco a few weeks ago, partially because I had a meeting in Sonoma, but partially to have our last weekend getaway before baby. We took advantage of the fact that work was paying for part of it, and flew up to hang out in the City. Saturday, Katie took us around town and we saw the Chinese New Year's Parade in Union Square. It was rainy and really windy, and all of the marchers and floats were covered in plastic. But it didn't take away from the festivities.

Sunday we hung out with Katie at the SF MOMA. They have some fabulous exhibits, but I have to admit, that I really don't "get" it all. But I still appreciate it.

Monday, we leisurely drove from San Francisco to Sonoma, through the Presidio and up Highway 1. We didn't do much but sit in the car, but it was absolutely gorgeous. Once we made it to Sonoma, we had a fabulous dinner at the Fig Cafe, in Glen Ellen. I highly recommend it for anyone in the area.

Even though it was a short trip, we managed to eat really well, and enjoy ourselves as usual.

Baby shower...

2008-03-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

We are woefully behind at sharing our photos with everyone. I'll be updating and emailing as quickly as possible, but in the meantime, check out our photos at Shutterfly, and watch for new ones!

Allie & Aaron's Photos @ Shutterfly

Empty libraries make Dewey cry

2008-02-19T14:55:00.002-08:00

I'm not sure if I like the purpose or design of this t-shirt better. Most times, the only people who think like this are librarians, but this time Glarkware outdid itself. Known more for their irreverent and non-sensical designs, Glarkware is dontating the whole sticker price of the shirt to this year’s book drive charities the Rockhouse Foundation and Children’s Institute. If you'd rather not have the t-shirt, you can dontate directly at Dewey Donation System. Go on... do a good deed for libraries.

Yes, I am obsessed with the weather

2008-02-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning a freak winter storm blew in to San Diego, and after having been told that we would only get a little drizzle, it poured all day long. It was 58 when I got to work at 8:30am, but by the time I left at 4:00pm, it was 44!! As a result, we got snow in the mountains, and many country dwellers had trouble getting home due to road closures.

While I can appreciate that to those who live in climates that actually have weather, this is par for the course, but in San Diego, it is quite a sight to see snow on my way to work, and from my office window. So bear with me while I express my awe with mother nature. AAAWWW...

Driving on Interstate 15 (yes, I took the picture while driving), this shot looks north east towards Palomar Mountain. Palomar Mountain got 10-11 inches of snow from the storm.

This is the beautiful view from my office window. Gotta love working for the gov'ment.

Read more about our freak storm from our award-winning local newspaper.

Annoyance #22

2008-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

All bathroom doors should open out from the inside. That way, after you wash your hands, you won't have to deal with everyone else's germies.

"A Librarian's Worst Nightmare"

2007-12-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

I like what this article says about Wikipedia, as I am a big fan of the community effort to increase the reliability of the site. I haven't used Yahoo! Answers much, but I have found similar problems that the author mentions. I'll stick with Wikipedia, thank you very much.

Literary death metal?

2007-08-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

This should be part of ALA's "@ Your Library" campaign: Bloodhag: The Faster You Go Deaf, The More Time You Have to Read

When pigs fly...

2007-08-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I listen to Santa Monica's KCRW instead of my local KPBS is because of Morning Becomes Eclectic - best music show ever - and because of their slight edge (well, edge compared to other public radio stations). So when I noticed that their summer image was that of a flying pig, eliciting both a thought of the old adage "when pigs fly" and a yearning for good bacon, I couldn't help but share. Go on, give to your local public radio station. It's good for your soul... and for the pigs.

To my elected officials...

2007-07-25T16:51:00.001-07:00

I noticed that there are a great deal of programs that help uninsured children. Why is there no assistance to help uninsured adults? My brother works for a restaurant part-time and goes to school part-time. Because he is over 25 he is ineligible for coverage under my parents' policy. He makes too much money to qualify for Medi-Cal, and has no company sponsored plan he can participate in. He had individual insurance, but because of the ever increasing cost - it went from $180 to $250 without him receiving notice - he had to cancel his coverage. To top things off, after he received a small increase in pay, and he reapplied, he was told he was ineligible because of a pre-existing condition - asthma. I have two questions: Why are the health insurance companies being allowed to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition like asthma (which, I might add, is a result of the poor air quality in the Central Valley); and why are my elected officials doing nothing to make sure that all Californians have access to health insurance, or affordable health care? Are the health insurance companies donating that much money to politicians' campaigns that my elected officials are answering to the health insurance companies and not to the people of California?

Open Library

2007-07-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

From the creators of the Internet Archive, Open Library strives to collect "all the world's information about all the world's books and made it available for everyone to view and update." It has amazing potential, along with some tremendous implications on the library community. They want to use a structured system to catalog all the books in the world, but they'll do so by allowing people to make changes as they see fit. Image LC Classification System meets Wikipedia.

Sshh!!!

2007-07-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

A recent article in the New York Times found that librarians are not the shushing, gray-haired, "Marian-the-librarian" of old. But instead are tattoo-wearing, technology-toting hipsters. Read on...

Home again...

2007-07-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

We made it home with no drama or adventures to speak of - thankfully. Before we left yesterday, we had lunch at a burger joint called Five Guys. We (Aaron, April, Hal and I) have decided that they are the best burgers we've ever had... ever. And the fries are to die for.

Excellent food in DC is not at all hard to come by. We tried to make it to the cheaper, neighborhood joints, as well as some of the more well-known restaurants that litter the tourist areas. Each restaurant was so good that we can't even pick our favorites. So instead, here are the list of places we went:

Jaleo - Fabulous tapas and sangria - even though they were out of most things (bread, beef).
Matchbox - A very hip restaurant in Chinatown with burgers and other bar food, along with yummy bistro dishes.
Domku - Slavic Scandinavian Comfort Food - Odd mixture of cultures, but excellent food.
Cosi - A chain that serves freshly made salads, sandwiches and pizza. Way better than average.
Rumberos - Latin American tapas, and drinks
Georgia Brown's - Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant; Low Country cuisine
Luna Grill & Diner - A typical cafe, but a local favorite.
Mama Ayesha's - Excellent Lebanese/Syrian food. I went twice!
Five Guys - As previously mentioned, best burgers on the planet.

More from DC...

2007-06-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

I hate telling about my vacation using lists, but I'm afraid I'll forget otherwise:

Tuesday - check in to Intown Uptown Inn (great B&B, check for another post); Second Story Books in Rockville, Maryland, where I found the best set of books of all time. Dinner at Domku - a Slavic Scandinavian Restaurant.

Wednesday - floor tour at the mint (we touched wet ink on dollar bills!); National Gallery of Art (part 1); Dinner at Rumberos (Latin American tapas).

Thursday - Tour of NPR (we saw Michelle Norris and Robert Seigel); check in to Topaz Hotel near Dupont Circle (yes, this is the trip of many hotels); walk to the White House, dinner at Georgia Brown's, and an evening walk on the mall.

Click here for more photos.

Intown Uptown Inn

2007-06-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Intown Uptown Inn is a delightful bed & breakfast in northwest Washington, DC. Sandra, the hostess, has done a lovely job at creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The rooms are tastefully decorated and the breakfasts are to die for. She served banana-pecan waffles with hand-formed sausage patties one morning, and on the next were fried eggs over lox and toast.

Although it is further from the tourist center of Downtown and the Mall, the public transportation is easy and fast - 10 minutes by bus to the Metro station, and another 10 downtown.

If you're looking for an authentic DC neighborhood home, definitely check out Sandra's Intown Uptown Inn.

Free thinking, faithful women

2007-06-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

While Aaron was out buying a new camera and visiting the International Spy Museum, I was fortunate to see Irshad Manji speak about her book, "The Trouble with Islam Today." In addition to being a fabulous speaker, her faith and knowledge of her faith is astounding. She's also done a documentary on PBS's American Experience. Definitely worth the watch.

madams organ... no wait... adams morgan.

2007-06-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Friday I had the day to play in Washington, DC. Instead of hitting the tourist destinations, Lia and I took the Metro up to Adams Morgan and walked... and walked... and walked... Adams Morgan is the more colorful parts of DC, with the bars and clubs to prove it. Walking from the Metro station to Adams Morgan, you see how the architecture here is so unlike the west coast. This is a short photo log of Friday's adventure.

I have two and a half days of conference-going, which includes a plethora of free stuff. And I would be a very bad librarian to not pick up the free stuff. So off I go...

if you liked march of the penguins...

2007-06-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

You'll love March of the Librarians.

This is a video from the conference in Seattle last January, but it felt the same way when I checked in this morning.

international surfing day

2007-06-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

June 21 is International Surfing Day sponsored by Surfing Magazine, Simple Shoes (my fav), the Surfrider Foundation and a bunch of other organizations. Even if you don't surf, tomorrow is the day to celebrate the beaches and oceans around the world. To get involved, check out the Surfrider events going on in your area:

http://www.surfingthemag.com/ISD/get-involved.html

well, i've finally done it...

2007-06-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've broken down and created a blog. Why would anyone care what I have to say? That's a very good question, and as soon as I have an answer, I'll post it here.

I leave for Washington, DC, in the morning for ALA. It should be a good time... at the very least, we have some good restaurants in mind to try. Check back for photos and a detailed travel log.