There Must Be Something In the Water Here, So Baby Let's Dance.

The long, tall, mysterious AlienCG over at Swamp Gas & Moonlit Reflections was TAPPED to pick this week's word...so he turned it on us and made the word TAPPED. Good one, Alien! Here is what I was able to come up with for this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots post. Behold.

Girlie Girl had her nails did a could weeks ago. Some counter or desktop could be seriously TAPPED by those bad boys...um, girls.

Since I know you must all enjoy my awful desk staging area, featured so regularly here, please to enjoy this shot of my empty Coca-Cola bottle. You say you want some bottled Coca-Cola too? Sorry, can't help you...all TAPPED out, man.

Hm. Okay, now I really am TAPPED out. Hey, I gave it a shot! haha! Check with the Alien and see who will be TAPPED to choose next week's mind bending theme word :-)

Show Me What You've Got

Let's hear it for the brave men and women who make their living performing for children in libraries and schools.

Instead of working yesterday, I earned my keep by going to a Performers Showcase. There are three or four of them each year, put together by one of the library associations. Performers are booked to come and show off their acts for many, many librarians. We get to see who is out there to hire for programs...they get, hopefully, more jobs.

Since I've been in the library game a few years, I have been to quite a few showcases. Sometimes the majority of the performers are just awful. Cringe worthy. You feel so bad for them watching them do their awful, lame little act they've put together. This year was not at all bad though, thank goodness. We got to see about 25 different acts, plus other performers who couldn't showcase show up with flyers and things. Anyway, I can't say it was a bad way to spend a work day. Sometimes though, standing there chatting with a woman dressed as a cowgirl or having a South American harpist tell you how he worked his way through medical school playing his harp...well, it can feel a bit surreal.

Have you had any surreal moments on the job lately?

Looking Good, Feeling Great.

I thought I'd check out your sartorial preferences on this fine Choose and Defend Wednesday. You have to wear something. I mean, this isn't some sort of nudie camp after all. Now, at home I assume we all want to be super comfy cozy...but what about in the outside world? Not naming any specific event or destination...just available for public viewing, you know? What do you prefer...

Fashion and looking supah fine...or do you prefer...

Comfort and looking, uh, comfortable....

Make a choice, defend your choice, and make this the best darn Choose and Defend Wednesday yet! Um...yeah. Dish.

What's New laura b?

Not all that much, really. Seems to be a bit of a fallow period, which is not entirely a bad thing...

- As I posted yesterday, my only daughter is now a licensed driver. Her dad told her he would get her a car soon, so she has virtually nothing else on her mind at this point.

- I've been reading about all these great movies that I simply must see. The last movie I actually went out and saw? Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I'm not kidding. But I do have kids so....

- I was kind of embarrassed when the U.S. of A. won Superstars of Dance. Also kind of embarrassed that I watched Superstars of Dance, yet here I am talking about it. So, I am forced to wonder...does some part of me enjoy humiliation? Disturbing.

- No prospective dates or anything like that to report. At the moment, I haven't the energy to care so it is probably just as well. I believe it is coincidental that this point came up right after I talked about enjoying humiliation. One thing has nothing to do with the other. Probably.

- I am currently reading Fool the World: the Oral History of a Band Called Pixies. Reading it causes me to spend way too much time viewing YouTube videos of Pixies in concert. "Way too much" is a relative term though. I mean, we are talking about Pixies. I want to be Kim Deal...post-rehab I suppose. Too bad I have no discernible musical talent. Next life!

Who do you want to be in your next life? Let your imagination run wild.

Another Lady Driver

I posted this photo about six months ago, showing Girlie Girl and her learner's permit. I don't have another photo just yet, but I do have the news that she is, as of today, a fully licensed driver. Her dad is working on getting her a car. It will be nice for me in some ways to have her able to drive herself and maybe pick up Handsome Lad from school sometimes. Still, I worry. It is scary to have them out there tooling about. You'd think I'd be used to it, as she is my fourth driver....but apparently you never get used to it. Wish us luck :-)

You're a Stranger to Me Now

It is Saturday! Time to post some photos that express something. This week that something is MISUNDERSTANDING, as chosen by NoRegrets. This one was a toughy...and I say this is a completely positive way. So without further ado, I give you my Saturday Scavenger Shots:

I was reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris and I came upon this passage where is tries to pass off an incident where a popular kid beaned him in the mouth with a rock as "a little MISUNDERSTANDING between friends". I took a picture of it...and it came out awful...but here it is anyway.

We are getting a new supervisor here in the Children's division within the next few weeks. I hope that there is no MISUNDERSTANDING concerning the circus under my desk. *sigh*

Fun with words for the other juveniles out there. Again, *sigh*.

I hope that you enjoyed this sort of MISUNDERSTANDING. Seems like the best kind to me. And just so there is no MISUNDERSTANDING, check with NoRegrets to see who she is tagging for next week! And...have a great next week :-)

Friday 5 - Net Habits

Doin' the Friday 5 again! I'm glad it is Friday and that it is my day off...but I'm just not feeling the rain that is, uh, raining. Yeah, not a fan. But here...read about my net habits! And feel free to share yours as well.

1. What types of blogs do you usually read? I mostly read individual, personal blogs. It feels a lot more relaxing and engaging than reading media or political or official types of blogs. And I like relaxing and being engaged!

2. What kinds of products do you usually buy when you shop online? I mostly buy used books and cds for myself. I also gift shop and then who knows what I might stumble upon!

3. What kinds of online videos do you usually spend time watching? Music videos or funny shorts. Things put up on YouTube or Funny or Die.
4. Besides Friday 5, what weekly memes do you particularly enjoy? Ah, now...you know I love me some memes. However,this is the only actual weekly one I've been doing. Yet you know when someone has a meme and invites others to participate, I tend to be all over it.

5. Where do you like to go for streaming online music? I like Pandora and XM online.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I work tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing everyone's Misunderstandings :-)

I Never Knew You. You Were a Roller Skater.

None of these people are me, but you get the idea.

At least twice a week, from the time I was 7 years old until around the age of 15, my mom dutifully drove me to Whittier Skateland for my skating lessons and practices. We’re talking roller skating here, baby…none of that Ice Castles stuff. I spent years fully immersed in the world of competitive dance and figure skating. Occasionally I had a partner, but mostly I skated singles. Couples was even more competitive and I don’t think my parents could really absorb the expense. In fact, now as a parent myself, I can’t help but reflect upon how generously they indulged my hobby. We weren’t wealthy by any means and keeping a growing kid in new costumes and skates, not to mention the cost of the lessons, must have been pretty intense.

I still remember with great pleasure my many hours spent at the rink. I loved and respected my coaches. The friends I made there felt like some sort of private and special society with our inside jokes and show off-y games. I remember the way the lobby smelled of leather and popcorn. The rink itself smelled mainly of the floor…the varnish perhaps? As we skated our parents sat patiently in the seats surrounding the rink in little social knots. My own mom tended to sit alone and read. I remember worrying about that, wishing she were more social with the other parents. I worried that it seemed unfriendly or something. Poor mom…it wasn’t enough that she carried my sorry ass down there two or three times a week and took care of all my skating needs, I also expected her to be the life of the party! Geez.

Skating is what I associate most with my childhood and growing up. My legs are still strong and for years I had these huge deltoids from holding my arms gracefully extended for long periods of time. I have good balance because of skating that has come in handy when I’ve tried other sports such as ice skating and skiing. All those years of dance skating made me at least feel that I could attempt other sorts of dancing with some level of confidence (however misplaced it might be). As a girl at the rink I fantasized that I would marry another skater and we would have a whole family of little skaters. I actually saw a family or two like that, so I totally believed it could work like that. I had several very long standing crushes on boys I knew from skating. Let me give a big shout out to Ron, Todd, and John. Haha! There were girls as well that were essentially crushes. Girls who skated pairs with a doting partner and always seemed to look perfect and were generally funny and friendly as well. Now upon reflection I realize that really snobby people most probably wouldn’t have fallen into roller skating. I loved it, but I do recognize that it is, you know, roller skating…

Did you have an activity that shaped your days and your existence when you were a child? Tell us about it!

Spread 'Em!

Choose and Defend Wednesday has rolled around once again...so line up in an orderly fashion and tell us all how it should be! You are given a piece of bread or perhaps even some crackers. You'd like something to put on there, wouldn't you? Of course you would, I understand. Well, you have a choice! You may have...

Jelly/Jam

Or...

Peanut Butter


I even invite you to go crazy and tell us a bit more specifically about your preference...what flavor of jelly or jam do you favor? Do you like chunky or smooth peanut butter? Choose and Defend! Thanks for playing :)

Today Was a Good Day

I loved his inauguration speech. I think it made us all feel hopeful...and for the first time in a while (I'm speaking for myself here) proud to be an American. My son Social Animal (19) called me up because he didn't know who else to tell that listening to President Obama's speech while driving to work had moved him to tears. I totally got it. It is a dark time in our history, but today brought hope that we will get through this and we will all be better people for it.

Another Productive Day in the City

Gosh, I would have joined in doing some sort of public good...if I were off! Every year on this holiday, library staff is required to come in, although we are closed to the public. We use this time to do special training of some sort. This year, we went over the Emergency Procedures Manual, front to back. Fascinating. Okay, I get that we need to know what to do in the event of an emergency. But have you ever sat in a room going over something point by point with a bunch of people who derive pleasure from finding ways to improve upon the written word the way a bunch of librarians do? They will talk a point to gosh darn death, I promise you. I have learned not to ask a question unless I have some secret desire to start a discussion that is going to spread like wildfire as these people consider all possible nuances. Sometimes that is amusing, but today my tolerance was pretty low.

We did have a speaker come in and she was quite interesting. She is the Deputy State Librarian of the California State Library and apparently a renowned Futurist. So, she had some interesting things to talk about concerning the need for libraries to forsee trends and stay on the cutting edge of what people want and need. Unfortunately, her presentation only lasted for about an hour. Before and after, dude, it was all about The Manual. So come on by! If we have any possible sort of emergency while you are here, I can assure you that you will be in the best of hands.

I hope that most of you had a very nice three day weekend :-)

You Know I Got All the Tools

Welcome to my Saturday Scavenger Shots post. It was a week right out of a Three's Company episode filled with wacky misunderstandings. Still, we finally all agreed that this week's word would be MAINTENANCE. Thank you to both NoRegrets and Churlita for your great "Who's on first" style of comedy shenanigans in coming up with this word. Yesssssssh!

When I was oot and aboot this week I looked around for things that somehow showed the idea of MAINTENANCE. Here's what I found:

Here is an old oil change sticker on the windshield of my car. An oil change is an important part of automotive MAINTENANCE. I'm pretty sure it is about time for me to tend to that. Hm.

I drive by this pile of old, dug up pipes on my way to work when I don't take the freeway. I'm not sure what they were for...water? Sewage? I don't know, but there is obviously some sort of MAINTENANCE going on along here.

This picture is actually from last...what, September maybe? Every year the Public Works Division has their Open House and Chili Cook-off. They always put out some of the equipment that their different departments use in the course of City MAINTENANCE. I bet these guys could answer my question about those pipes...

Thank you all for stopping in and especially thank you for helping with the MAINTENANCE of our little game.

Next week's word, already on deck thanks to NoRegrets, is MISUNDERSTANDING. Man, I just love youse guys!

Friday 5 - Wind

I decided to go ahead and do the Friday 5. Please feel free to do this little meme too. I like them because they are short, but they make you think :-)

1. Among your friends, who could be blown over by a strong wind? That would have to be my little bear friend Milly. She is so tiny. Oh, my mom too! Sometimes I can't believe how little she is.

2. What’s something in your house you occasionally wind? Hm. I like to wind up my kids occasionally. haha! That must count for something.

3. Is there some significant gossip you’ve recently gotten wind of? Ah, I am out of most gossip loops. By the time I catch wind of anything it is pretty much fact rather than gossip. Sad.

4. Where is the windiest place you’ve ever been? My car with the top down. Woot!

5. What do you do, on a typical day, to unwind? Typically, my unwinding starts on the drive home, listening to music. It is also pretty essential that I take my shoes off when I get home. That is like my cue to really relax. Sit on the couch, have some sort of beverage, take a deep breathe...unwind :-)

Saturday Scavenger Hunt Word Executive Decision

I'm making one...although it is without any sort of author-i-tie. Let's recap: Churlita tagged NoRegrets to choose a word. She also had a sentence in her blog about her life being about maintenance this week. NoRegrets commented that Churita had chosen the word "maintenance". When I read her comment, my assumption was that NoRegrets liked this de facto word which had popped up and ran with it as her choice. Churlita sees it more as a misunderstanding, which is possible too!

Now though, since it is Thursday afternoon, what do you all say we just go with MAINENANCE? It hasn't been used and it is a fine choice after all, don't you think? After Saturday, let's defer to NoRegrets. She can have the choice of choosing another word for the following week or tagging someone else to choose.

What do you guys think? Cool?

Bending the Laws of Time and Space, Just For You.

Well, I am happy to report that I am feeling more lively on this fine Choose and Defend Wednesday. It definitely did help to have a good 45 minutes in the sun at lunch time. Plus, Girlie Girl had late start today, so I got up at 6:45 instead of 6:00. Woot!

And guess what? Today, I am giving you the gift of time travel! Ooh! Aah! But now, as I try to harrangue you into doing each Wednesday, you must make a choice. You are indeed going to travel through space and time...but where are you going? And lets say you might end up having to stay there...so choose wisely.

You may choose to travel to...

The 18th Century

Or you may choose to travel to...

The 24th Century

Tell us where you want to go. Or at least where you will accept going. Choose. Then, tell us why you want to go. Or why it wouldn't be as bad as the other choice. Defend. It's what we do here on Wednesdays, so let's hear it!

So Tired. So Very, Very Tired.

I came out of this weekend feeling a bit sleep deprived and I don't think I'm going to feel any vast improvment until maybe next weekend, when I am all hopeful that I will get a chance to catch up.

Last weekend was one of those weekends that wasn't. I was off Friday, but of course it was a school day so I got up as usual at 6. And I was even less productive than usual as Handsome Lad got out of school at noon.

Saturday was a work day, so that shot that day all to heck. Then, Girlie Girl had her party. That actually ended up affecting me rather minimally (except I was the deep pockets for the extravaganza). The girls, final count was 8 of them, went out to dinner and then a movie. After that, though, they went to her dad's house to spend the rest of the night. He has much more space. What I had instead of the girls, was Little Prince. He spent the night with me. He's four months old, so it isn't like he is any trouble. He only woke up once during the night and was actually fine company. But you know how it is...you never really sleep the same with a guest over. haha! And he did wake up fairly early.

We spent all day Sunday together as well, then I had to take him home and spend another three hours or so with all of the kids, because Princess Diva's mom (who'd been watching the girls) had somewhere she had to be. What? The crack head convention was in town and I didn't hear about it? Mean, I know, but this woman is such a piece of work. Anyway, I got nothing done Sunday and I also got no real down time. Little Prince isn't a napper. On the balance he did only wake once at night and that seems to be the baby version of a trade off.

Then the week started and now I am on this usual course where I can't get to bed any earlier and I can't sleep in any later. There is really nothing to be done. Oh! Plus, I think this might be some sort of, like, elderly symptom or something. I keep having to get up to pee about an hour before it is time to get up. Sometimes, though, I don't really wake up. No, I don't pee my bed. I just dream I am running around somewhere frantically trying to find a restroom or a bush or something! It's exhausting! And then I wake up and go - oh, I see. Guh.

I know...this post was awful, awful. It is written under the effects of sleep deprivation and a three hour stint on the public desk. Not a good combination. On a more positive note, the weather here has been astoundingly lovely. I bet if I spend tomorrow's lunch outside I will feel better. I hope that all of you are feeling much more chipper. If you catch me yawning, try not to stare at my uvula :-)

Who Are U?

Here’s an alphabet meme the you may enjoy, should you choose to do so. A letter from the alphabet is assigned. I got this from Tara at Eclectic Spaghetti. She was assigned the letter “T” and then when she finished the meme she assigned the letter “U” for anyone who wanted to try it. Next step is to write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your blog. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on. (I took this intro right off Tara's blog with minor changes, thanks Tara!)

Now "U" was a toughy, but here's what I put together:

1. Unicorn - Who doesn't love this magical creature? And of course, I even have my special Princess Unicorn doll!

2. Ukelele - What a cool instrument right? Remember that version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and he's playing his ukelele? I love that.

3. Underwater - When I first learned to swim, I could only swim underwater. It is still easiest for me. I love looking around while underwater. Maybe I should learn to SCUBA dive.

4. Up - A good direction in which to move. It seems optimistic. It is cute when babies lift their arms to be picked up...so up gets my vote.

5. Uncle - Sort of a mixed bag. Everyone seems to have that weird uncle in their family. But your uncle might be really cool. Like when your parents are being ridiculous, you call him up and he laughs at them with you. Maybe he comes over and takes you out for a burrito or something.

6. Useful - I very much enjoy feeling useful. It brings me great pleasure.

7. Utilized - Kind of the same, but what the heck. It's going here anyway.

8. Uvula - We all have one. Whenever I hear the word I think of an old Saturday Night Live Sketch called "Bab's Uvula"...It'll behoove ya to care for your uvula!

9. Uterus - Oh, I've wondered off on body part words, but yeah, I love my uterus for sure! It helped me bring five awesome peeps into the world, so yay for my uterus!

10. Underwear - What are you doing under there? I just made you say underwear! Where would we be without our underwear? Well, I guess we'd be going commando. That's cool, I guess, but it's not for everyone. So I am choosing to sing underwear's praises.

No, I don't like these! It gets no mention here...and I prefer to call them bumbershoots anyway! Hmph.

If you want to do a meme...and you really do, don't you...you may do this using the letter "V". If I managed "U", you can certainly manage "V"! I challenge any and all comers. Show us your "V"! Um.....

No Matter Where I Run I Know You'll Never Give In

It's been a busy day at work, but I am finally getting a chance to post my Saturday Scavenger Shots! Yay! Many thanks to Churlita for stepping in and choosing our word for this week. What is it, you ask? Why, it is - OUTSIDE. I think this is a great time of year for pictures of OUTSIDE stuff, don't you? Here is what I have put together...

Here is the OUTSIDE of my apartment building. I feel happy when I see that view coming in the front gate.

Here are some pretty roses that need a bit of attention. They live OUTSIDE, of course, but they don't mind a visit from insiders.

This OUTSIDE view is how we see snow around these here parts. We can see it, but we have to drive an hour or so to touch it. Right now it is unseasonably warm OUTSIDE.

Thanks for coming in from the OUTSIDE to take a peek at what I see in the OUTSIDE world. Churlita will let us know who she is tagging for next week and I will be sure to post it in my upper right corner too! See you soon :-)

Friday 5 - Lucky

Thanks go out to Friday 5 for this fun end of the week meme :-)

1. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky in love? My circle is distressingly short of people whom I'd consider truly lucky in love. I'm going to say, though, that so far my oldest son and his girl are doing pretty darn well. They're a pleasure to be around and that says a lot about their relationship I think.

2. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky with money? Again, a bit of a shortage in this field. Maybe since we're talking about luck and not hard work, I would go with my friend The Activist and his inheritance that allows him to do his thing.

3. Among people you know, who’s lucky to be alive? Definitely WTG. Two years ago, when he was so ill, there was every chance that he wouldn't make it...but he did. And really, it was luck.

4. Among people you know, who seems to have the worst luck? Hm. Bad luck plagues everyone from time to time...who is consistantly unlucky? The person who comes to mind is my co-worker, The Drifter. She is a good person, but yeah, does seem unlucky in many ways.

5. What kinds of good-luck charms do you own or carry? I don't have a genuine good luck charm. Probably because I lose things like that. I do like tucking happy fortune cookie fortunes into my wallet. That kind of makes me feel lucky, silly as it is.

I'd love to hear about your lucky stuff too!

My Sister

It's true, I am.

In my family, it was just me and my sister. We grew up in an area where there seemed to be many large families and I was always a little jealous of the seemingly endless relationships between various siblings in a family. With us it was...well, it was just us. We were great friends though, when we were young. Only 17 months apart, our mom raised us almost like twins it seems. We were often dressed alike when we were very small and our toys tended to come in twos. We shared a best friend in our neighbor across the street for many years...and our second best friends were two sister up the street who were just our ages. From the time I was a toddler until our teen years, my sister was truly my best friend.

We had a bit of a rough patch during our teens. Well, let's face it, those are rough years. Suddenly, every difference between us was pretty harshly emphasized. I was the good (boring?) sister. I loved school, had nice, devoted friends, participated in various wholesome activities, dated a bit...quite chastely, really. She was the bad (intriguing?) sister. She started ditching as soon as she entered high school, she hung around with the lowlifes in the neighborhood, drank and drugged, and was much more experienced with the boys much sooner than I. We didn't really fight or anything...it was more like we were living on two completely separate planets. It was during this phase that our parents divorced. Our home life was a bit sketchy. I think my mom, who is wonderful, was overwhelmed and sort of let us just go. I responded by making the most of time out of the house doing my activities and being with friends....and my sister did whatever she pleased.

The years went by. We both grew up in our own ways. I met WTG and started a family. During those years my sister and I still were not terribly close, as I was pretty caught up in my life as a young wife and mother. She had calmed down a lot, but was still living a very different life than me. I think what changed everything for us again was when she married and had her only child. I already had three when he came along and my sister seemed drawn to my supposed experience with kids. It felt like we were on the same page again. We even had some of the same friends again, other women with young children. And over the years as our kids have grown up, we've remained close. Our husbands drank together. I divorced mine...hers took the hard way out on a motorcycle and a gravely, slippery road. We were there for each other and our lives went on. And so it goes.

Sometimes I look at my sister and I can imagine that she is a stranger to me. Someone unknown. Other times, I look at her and see the little girl looking at me to see what we were going to do next. I do think there is probably a different sort of intensity between siblings who are close in age and have only one another. I also think some things about that dynamic helped me to decide to have a larger family with all these premutations of attention and affection. Maybe it was part of what led her to have an only. Parents are presumably our biggest influence, but isn't there just something about the people we actually grow up with? It is like our siblings are us, but not.