Wadsbone and I bought a Scion xA, and we’re having trouble coming up for a name. Not having a name is not an option. Here are the ideas we’ve had so far:
1. 1/2 Ton Mouse
2. Titus Andronicus (aka Ass and Tittus)
3. Professor Nubbins
4. The Abstract Concept of Hubris
Obviously, we could use some help. What we’re looking for is something we can add -mobile to and have it still sound cool.
For the second Christmas in a row, Lifehacker has posted my impromptu gift-wrap idea.
Thanks to Jake for pointing it out, and for making my free association with gift wrap the Flinstones cereal rap.
It’s time for a new one. This year, I found myself needing impromptu gift wrap, but the office keeps track of copier use. Instead, I used Project Gutenberg to decorate my gifts. (PG is a collection of free e-texts, sometimes stuff so old it can’t be copyrighted, or publications people want to be freely available.) I found person-appropriate stories, and printed out the text on copier paper, and wrapped the gifts in that. One person got the first portion of Alice in Wonderland (in German) and another person got the Gift of the Magi. I cut and pasted the text into a text editor, then decreased the margins so the text would run almost to the edge of the page. I changed the font and size so I could fit as much as I could – Gift of the Magi fit all on one page with 8 pt. Times font. (I used Times because a serif font works well when text is tiny, a trick I learned in the one graphic design class I took.) The receiver of this gift has something to read on the bus on the way home from work. I kind of hate gift wrap – it’s so shiny and pretty, and then you immediately throw it away – so giving it another reason to exist makes me happy.
Plus, personalizing a personal gift kicks altruism up a notch.
I’m kicking it up a further notch by adding to my list of New Years resolutions the pledge to volunteer with Project Gutenberg. They need people to proofread the texts they add to the database. I’ll be able to do it when I want, and from home.
Marylaine posted a link to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website, which has a .pdf of typical questions found on the naturalization exam.
(Hey, Keem found the newest version of the exam!)
Some of the questions I knew (What are the colors of our flag?), some were hard (Why are there 100 senators in the US Senate?), and some I can’t imagine answering in a way that is easily quantified (Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.?).
Go check it out!
I’ve already sent out an overenthusiastic mass e-mail, shouting this to the rooftops, but I got a job!
I’ll have my MLS in a week, and I’ve accepted the youth services position with the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, MA. Let’s talk about the job:
1. Youth services means people age 0-18, so I get to do babies’ laptime, as well as book discussion groups.
2. I’m the only YS staff, so I’ll have a lot of autonomy. The director is amazing, and I have the impression that she’ll be very supportive.
3. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. Even when I was in high school, when I was asked the ever-popular “what do you want to be when you grow up”, I answered “I’d like to be a little old lady librarian (with tattoos), who sits in the children’s section waiting for school to let out.” I’m not little or old yet, but there’s not a lot I can do about it. Maybe watch more Golden Girls.
4. The library was built in 1893 by a steel magnate, in an Italian Renaissance style. That’s right. I’m going to work in a CASTLE.
5. This is no ordinary castle. This is a haunted castle.
6. This is no ordinary haunted castle. This is a haunted castle by the sea. There is an ocean four blocks away.
7. There is a yarn shop two blocks away.
I’m trying to remain realistic in my goals for starting this job. I know that my first impulse when I first get there will be to change a bunch of stuff, and that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. I’ve been trying to remind myself of that, and I know that I can spend all that energy in the first few months unpacking, exploring the area, and maybe – just maybe – using the expression “doughty old salt” with a straight face.