Time for bed

Just spent a minute scratching at a spot on my "p" key.

It would not come off.

Then I looked closer.

It was a tiny * in the bottom corner of the key.

Its supposed to be there.

Huh.

Directed Dreaming

Early this morning I started to dream about finding a kitten in the dumpster behind my building, but since I was almost awake, my thinking brain took over and started presenting too many options for where the dream could go.

Like choose-your-own-adventure on speed.

There was no choice about bringing the kitten inside, it is winter.  Then the dream suddenly produced posters proclaiming "Found Cat".  But thinking brain took over and said that would take too much time, we needed to wash the kitty first.  It was found amongst garbage after all.

Then the options: Which sink, kitchen? bathroom? bathtub?; What kind of soap, shampoo? liquid handsoap? dish soap? bar soap?; Does the kitty have fleas?  Would a rinse with tea-tree oil and water get rid of them?  In what ratios? Would it be safe for the kitty?  Do I have anything else in the house that would get rid of fleas?

Then the rest of the dilemma: Am I keeping the kitty?  What about Baz? A kitten should really meet Baz when it is a kitten, not once it gets established, but Baz is not here, she is at mom and dads.  Do I want to spend money on litter and food if I am not keeping it?  Should I call my cousin and ask to borrow some from her cat?  Where will this kitty be contained?  The bathroom is awful small to keep it in when I am not here.

Am I keeping the kitty?  Am I not? Who will I give it to? How will I find it a good home? Where? When? Why? How? -


So I woke up.  Far too many decisions for first thing in the morning.

What could have been a wonderful dream that I would have woken up from feeling wistful about the day in the future when I can have a kitty of my own, turned into a logistical nightmare that I woke up feeling very frustrated from.



Thanks a lot thinking brain.

Outside

Outside it is -11C and snowing

There is something moving in the tree across the parking lot.

I have been staring at it for awhile trying to figure what it is.

It is moving back and forth, maybe a squirrel?

but it seems to be black and white, so.... woodpecker? in the snow? do they do that?

chat on facebook with my friend in Costa Rica (I think). She is telling me about the monkeys and parrots outside her window.  I tell her about my mysterious animal...

... right when I figure out that my "animal" is in fact,

a shoe.

her comment?  "Oh, those rare and endangered shoes!"

I have now been teased from the jungle.

Hello Again!

Heya everyone,

Sorry about that, stepped out for awhile, but I think I am back now.  Not quite sure of course.  In any case, enjoy the new look, very fitting, I thought, for a library science degree!

So, things I did while I was away:

• finished a summer semester of school which was mostly about children's librarianship
• got only two co-op interviews and thankfully was offered a position at Library and Archives Canada
• moved to Ottawa for four months for said position
• had an awesome roommate (the best ever!) and a terrible landlady (just par for the course)
• had a great job at LAC and learned a lot.  Especially how to work with archivists, we are a weird lot
• Saw one best friend for a few hours on Christmas Eve, and another for an overnight in T.O.  both visits were way too short.  We need to live closer!
• moved back to London into a one bedroom apartment I am subletting from a friend who was lucky enough to get an extension on her co-op
• started my last semester of my MLIS with 2 archives courses, web design, and the dreaded management!

I cannot wait to be done this degree!  I am ready to be a grown-up with a proper job, having enough money to actually feed and clothe myself and have some fun too!  I look forward to weekends and evenings that do not have any schoolwork looming overhead!  Maybe live in a city long enough to know where I am going and how to get there!  Live in a place where Baz can live with me again!  Own a car, a house, ... a baby carriage?

I really hate this feeling of waiting for my life to begin.

I know that finishing this degree won't magically make all this happen, but it will at least get rid of that "stalled in neutral" feeling  (that is probably a bad analogy since I only drive automatic)

At the moment I would just settle for having a reason to not still be in my pyjams at 4pm on a Saturday.

Finally!

I am finally in all the courses I want to be in!

It involved attending 8 classes last week, but it was worth it in the end, but very nerve wracking, especially when the add/drop form that I filled out on Thursday night did not actually register my course changes until this morning at 10am.  I feel sorry for the poor secretary who got all those panicked emails on Friday!

I did not get into the archives conservation and preservation class, but I am ok with that.  I attended the first class and discovered that if I actually wanted to do conservation I would have to do a years apprenticeship anyway.  If I can't get into the class next time around, I am sure practical workshops will be just as useful.

I was worried about getting into digital libraries class, and while discussing this with a colleague, I remembered that I was 4th on the waiting list for Folktales as well, so I attended that class the next day.  The prof said she was fine with having extra people in the class, so I went to our departmental library to email the secretary to let me into the class.  There I discovered an email that said that I was enrolled in digital libraries!

So now, instead of not having enough courses, I had too many and had to choose one to drop!  My friends convinced me to drop our last required course, Management, because it is compressed this summer, and therefore much more work, and it is a course that will be offered every semester, unlike the others.  

So this summer, I have three storytime classes, intro to archives, and digital libraries.

Can we say "Summer or fun"?!!!!!!!

The algorithm

There is an algorithm that chooses classes for you in my program.

You choose your top 7 classes and rank them, and then the algorithm puts you in those classes if your ranking holds up to the number of people wanting to get into the class.

Of the 7 classes I gave it, it gave me 2.  That, plus my required course meant I was enrolled in 3 courses instead of 5.

I am on the waiting list for my other classes, which means that this week I am attending 6 classes in an attempt to get into at least one of the classes I wanted.  Why?  Because all of the courses I am remotely interested in are wait listed.  Even my reserves that I did not put in my 7. I found another class to enroll in provisionally, so I am currently enrolled in 4 classes.  That class is turning out to be very interesting, so that is ok.

Now, I am ok with just having 4 classes this semester, but it means that I will likely have to come back to make up an extra semester at some point.

What I am mad about is that they claim that there is no order to how people get into classes, it is all based on this magic algorithm.

Now, if that was the case, how did I end up being 4th on the waiting list for 3 of my five waitlisted classes?

Need to go back to bed

I just bought a box of salad greens.

I put them in the fridge.

As I was closing the fridge, I saw a box of salad greens and thought, "Oh damn, we already had a box!"

Then I realized I was looking at the box I had just bought.