Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

Reading this blog is a bit headache-inducing, but it's worth it.

Particularly noteworthy post: I wolde I knewe how of thee I might be Quitten!

Decisive

For our night o' drinkin', how does all of this sound:

Thursday around 7pm at The Brass Ring

Thoughts? Opinions? Additional reasons why Prague is better... kind of... not really... :)

#10...never mind, Kathy really is on a better holiday

#9 a brand new eurotrash wardrobe, courtesy of Swiss Air's incompetence

#8 cabbage

#7 chicken breast covered in canned peaches with melted cheese on top

Conservatives rock! (Or not.)

Some of you have probably already seen the National Review list of the top 50 "greatest conservative rock songs". If not, well, you really have to see it to believe it. I'm still trying to figure out if this is the final evidence that The Right is incapable of irony, or startling evidence that they're actually irony-masters of the highest order.

The author admits that in order to have a list at all, they had to ignore the actual political beliefs of the songwriters and focus on the lyrics themselves. Or rather, their own...interesting...interpretations of the lyrics. Did you know that Led Zepplin's Tolkein tribute "The Battle of Evermore" is actually a conservative battle hymm? That "Janie’s Got a Gun", by Aerosmith, is an ode to the Second Amendment? Or that "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song about the evils of Communism?

The jaw-dropping choice for the number-one conservative rock song of all time: The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". (Pete Townshend was surprised to hear it too.)

Interestingly, of the few songs on the list that do clearly express sincere conservative sentiments, most are by bands that suck. Pickings must be pretty slim if any song by Creed can make your top-50.

I'm losing it!

...my drinking tolerance, that is. And I miss you bitches. Thus (thus makes it more official), I am suggesting we, those left in WI, get together for some drinks, in hopes that we can create a list detailing why being in Madison is much better than being in silly ol' Prague, buying acid wash skinny jeans. When? Where? Who knows! Perhaps the Terrace? However, if the heat and humidity ("it's not so much the heat as it is the gosh darn humidity") continue kicking our asses, I say the festivities should take place in a highly air conditioned establishment.

So. What do we say? Times? Locations? Please?

#6

I am the proud (albeit somewhat reluctant and pissed) owner of a pair of Eurotrash/Eastern bloc acid wash skinny jeans.

Reason's why our vacation is better than your vacation

#1 We are in Prague
#2 We are not in Helen C. White
#3 We have found beer that is cheaper than water
#4 Two out of three of us changed our underwear this morning
#5 We have been to H&M so traveler #3 can participate in above said activity

We miss you all, and Deborah's luggage, much!

Islands in the Stream

These two give Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers a run for their money.

Damn, I love this song!!

wingwoman

Check out this karoake star from New Zealand. Go to her website and click on the 'Samples' link. I believe it is possible to download entire songs, but you maybe won't want to.

Contest Entry Zwei: Camping Pic

Mmmm. Lite Freedom Dip and chips. I should have gotten a picture of all those lovely bags of chips.

Being robbed sucks

I'm sorry to bring everyone down with a post like this, but I want to warn everyone to make sure that what happened to me today doesn't happen to you. I guess I also just feel the need to tell my tale of woe.

I had my backpack, with my wallet in it, stolen today at the Big Campus Library. It seems that is was stolen right from the coatrack area in my office, although it might have been stolen from the ladies room. I don't think I'd be dumb enough to leave my bag in the bathroom, but I know I took it in there with me and I didn't notice it was gone until I was leaving work at the end of the day, so it's possible.

I've spent all evening cancelling my credit and ATM cards, filing police reports, and filing reports with my insurance company. Since my camera was in the bag, the total value of what was stolen was pretty high. And that's not counting the sentimental value, such as the fact that the wallet was a gift from a friend in Japan or that the camera had a roll of film in it with photos of my godmother, who I hadn't seen in eight years. There was also a library book (a mystery that I was in the middle of!) and my little box of handmade earrings.

My student ID is gone. My driver's license is gone. My bus pass is gone. I had to borrow $2 from my boss just to get home.

I've never been robbed before, and certainly never lost anything of such sentimental value. I've been crying almost straight through for the past three hours. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! There are bad, bad people on campus. Don't ever leave your bag ANYWHERE out of your sight, even if it's in your own office.

I don't think I did anything particularly careless today (unless I did leave my bag in the restroom, but I doubt I did), but apparently you have to be more careful than I was to be safe from thieves. SO BE CAREFUL!

Photo Contest- Entry #1

I used my old-fangled film camera for pictures of last weekend's camping trip so I have nothing to share from the woods just yet. But! Deborah and I went on a mini-vacation to Woodman's last Friday afternoon in preparation for the camping adventure and I happened to have my digital camera in my purse. We were truly roughing it with our 5 bags of groceries and 10 zillion cans of beer...

them's fightin' words

I see Kathy's vacation challenge and I raise you all one. Is anyone up for a photo and caption contest? It could be a spin on the "what I did on my summer vacation" essay that elementary school teachers make kids write in the fall. Only this would be a "my vacation was better than your vacation" blog post contest. Entries will not be limited to overseas trips, so if you only go as far as Stoughton this summer, don't despair. Readers can vote for their favorite photo and caption in the 'comments' section of each post. Deadline TBD.

Of course, feel free to post photos and stories about various excursions during your time away from library school. Keep everyone entertained while we go through Helen C. withdrawal. I'll do my best when I catch up with Katie and Annie on the Continent. See ya, suckahs.

Budapest Bitches

A rundown of our fabulous vacation thusfar:
Got in yesterday. It rained, but we walked anyway. Checked into hostel with sweetest bedspreads ever. Photos to come. Katie almost lit her hair on fire in the great goulash conflagration of 2006. Stumbled upon rare book exhibit and dancing hungarian children. Great combo.
Walked for 7 hours straight today. Saw Buda, Saw Pest, ate ice cream. Almost got trapped in strangers' apartment building for eternity. Wish you were here bitches.
Deborah, it's hotter than weather.com sez.

Rocklopedia Fakebandia

The Rocklopedia Fakebandia is an extensive online encyclopedia of fictional musicians, from all forms of media. Entries range from the big names like Spinal Tap and the Blues Brothers to lessers knowns like The Banana Convention (garage band Greg Brady briefly joined on The Brady Bunch) and Mulligan Stew (from the 4-H produced nutrition education television program of the same name). Coverage is uneven, but it's a fun "only on the Internet" information resource/time-waster -- although they've apparently got a real, print book now too.

I totally wish I'd been the person to come up with this idea. I'd never thought to combine my dual loves of useless rock trivia and obsessively organizing things!

Super-geeky trivia gleaned from the Rocklopedia Fakebandia: the band in the cantina scene in Star Wars was called "Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes".

Impressive or disgusting?

You be the judge...

70,000 cans of Coors Light

Summer is here

Since the rain has finally stopped it is time to partake in my favorite summer tradition, drinks on the dock of the Edgewater. I'll be there on Friday night at 6:00pm and hope you can all make it. The Edgewater Hotel is located on the corner of Wisconsin Ave & Langdon St. When you enter the lobby of the hotel, take the elevator all the way down and head out to the deck. Be there!

Book Cart Drill Team 4-eva!

Just in case I have missed harassing any of you bitches about the book cart drill team, I wanted to make sure you all got the invite to join the team.

I know several of you will be (or are?) traveling until just before the ALA conference and so won't be able to travel. You are excused. ;)

I only just discovered that Kelly will be attending and will be in town until the conference, so I've given her no choice. Plus, her boss said so! (Seriously, Kelly... Keary told me to tell you you're on the team!)

If it's any extra incentive to join the team, children's authors Mo Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc.) and Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, etc.) will be team members this year! We met them at ALA in Chicago last year, and they have all sorts of goofy ideas to add to the drill team fun.

Please do let me know if you're interested, as it's a blast--and it looks good on a resume!

grey blog

Hey! Guess what I discovered! A blog written by the writers on ABC's Grey's Anatomy. I know that I'm going to go through a little Sunday night television withdrawal now that the new shows are on their summer hiatus, and this blog might do the trick. Sadly, no, the most recent post does not explain why they killed Denny, or why they gave the Chief's niece cancer, or how in the world Bailey concealed her inner prom queen all this time, or what kind of dramarama they were going for when they shot Burke and, most importantly, why that stupid excuse for a main character squinty-renee-zellweger-eyes-feel-sorry-for-me-I-can't-get-
over-mcdreamy Meredith slept with Derek, but it helps.

Eurovision Song Contest!

Check out this amazing version of an American Idol type song contest. Europeans are way more fun than Americans when it comes to crazy getups and strange juxtaposition...let's just say, this contest is not shackled to any notions we hold of what pop music should look or sound like.

Video is under the "Multimedia Lounge" heading. The groups from Portugal, Germany, and Finland are worth a glance (the Portuguese group has some great gratuitous butt shaking).

And Manolo the Shoeblogger has some chuckle-inducing comments on the participants.

librarian, def.

1) Information master

or

2) Those people who go off at you when you talk too loudly

There are more gems like these at Urban Dictionary.

Save Ferris!

Or The Internet, whatever.

The Evolution of Dance (or What Alcohol Will Make White Guys Do)

This dude does a pretty good Thriller dance. And I know we're always on the hunt for good Thriller dances.

Congrats to our grads!

Congratulations to all of this year's SLIS graduates!

I'm sorry I didn't make it to the ceremony this morning...I overslept. :(

Brewers!

Check your email, bitches. If you're reading this blog message and do not have an email from me asking about your interest in a Milwaukee adventure this summer, I apologize. This only means I do not have your email address, and/or you are not listed as a contributor to this blog. All are welcome! Post a comment, poke me in the SLIS library, join the adventure! Brewers v Astros, August 19. If you blog it, they will come.

Come get your art on!

I know I’ve already mentioned it to some of you, but my husband Mike’s MA show opening is this Saturday night (5/13). It’s at the 734 gallery from 7:00pm-9:00pm. The gallery is on University between Park St. and Lake St. Drop by for a glass of wine, the requisite art opening cheese related hors d'oeuvres, and some purty pictures.

And thanks again for helping me rock my b-day!

JibJab

You guys probably already know these guys but I have just been reintroduced to them.

for real?

Seriously? This is for real? Dubya and the Big Brother folks at NSA have created the world's biggest database that contains phone call logs of tens of millions of Americans. Um, so the prez knows how often I call my mom? and how infrequently I call my grandparents? and how many times I've called Annie when I've been lost in my own neighborhood? Really? This is how the united states "fights terrorism?" I don't get it...

Mission Impossible:

The Car Door. (Scroll Down for the Video)

Free music on Friday

Yet another shameless promotion of my little brother-in-law's band:

Houses in Motion is playing Friday night on the Terrace (or the Rathskeller if it's gross outside) at 9:30.

Talking Heads songs!
No door charge!
Beer!

Justin & I will be there, join us if you dare.

does this mean there will be another statue?

Oops! Britney and K.Fed. did it again!

Birthday drinkies?

Wednesday nights just wouldn’t be the same without a least a few tipsy librarians stumbling around the Madison metropolitan area, so I thought we should continue the tradition for at least one more week.

I was thinking the terrace, but the weather forecast looks poopy. Any suggestions? The City, perhaps, just because it is close and we could move on from there, as mob will demands.

What time sounds good? 7:00? 8:00? Just let me know what is good for folks, and hopefully see you all out - and anybody else who want to come!

T-shirt sayings

Here you go Katrina!
For those of you who missed our fab brainstorming session pre-pub crawl, here are some of the t-shirt slogans we came up with:
Ready Reference
Ask me for my number; I believe in freedom of information
I catalog monkey lovin'
Who cares about literacy?
Do Librarians know how to party? Boy, Dewey!
Once I get ahold of you, your original order will never be the same
Librarians have tighter buns
Astronomy librarians have celestial bodies
Librarian Groupie
Others? I'm drawing a blank...

Wikipedia is dirrrty

I swear to you, I just copied and pasted this phrase from the Wikipedia entry on "public domain":

The poop domain comprises the pubic hair of knowledge and innovation (especially creative works such as writing, art, music, and inventions)...

If I was a good little citizen I would correct the entry. But I think poop is funny so I'm leaving it there AND telling all y'all about it!

Here's the link if any of you feel like doing a good librarian deed.

this is your librarian on alcohol and wiffle

Give us a few more weekends of procrastination and we should have enough fodder for a public service announcement campaign.

Boobs Out II

Boobs Out

Just in case your heads don't hurt enough this morning, here are some photos to remind you got your current hangover.

Tom Cruise fan art!

Because, let's face it, none of us can get enough of this guy....

Your Wish is My Command

Since it seems not many of you know about my livejournal, I bring you "Katie's Adventures in Library Land".

And Annie, I updated it today... that's twice in one week! (see, I'm looking out for you :))

He's got moves

Tom Cruise makes me want to throw up...

Horrific dancing

Event!

Southern Culture on the Skids at the High Noon, May 25--come for a night of hilarity, debauchery, and the celebration of trailers, corn liquor, halter tops and the like! More info on the band and even some MP3s here. (P. S.: Camel Walk is one of the best songs I never knew I knew....)

We love you, Stephen

If the NYTimes won't acknowledge him, we will!!

Thank you Stephen Colbert

nooooooo!

Why can't the NY Times ignore skinny jeans like they ignore Stephen Colbert? I find tapered legs just as offensive as Dubya-bashing.

Let's get crafty

What is a pub crawl without obscene tee-shirts? Come to my house on Friday between 5:30 and 7:00 if you want to make a tee-shirt. I will get some lovely men's undershirts at target this afternoon and Deborah's office is providing markers. I know some of you want to hit up the GSC but I live close to the start of the pub crawl so there is time to do it all. Please let me know if you are coming so I can get enough shirts and email me if you need directions a mi casa.

Cello and brews

Hey bitches, and Jamie, who I guess is an honorary bitch now, let's meet at 7:15 at the clock on near the humanities building to go see Deborah cello.

Cats, noble creatures that they are…

Sometimes look even better with the contents of one’s purse strategically placed on their sleeping bodies

I’ve never taken it to this extreme, but I have been known to balance a bottle cap on my sleeping cats’ heads like a little hat.

For additional feline indignities go here:
http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

last chance

If anyone is looking for a study break on Thursday, come see me rock a Requiem with the undergrads. Morphy Hall in the Humanities building, 7:30 pm.

Beers, bitches

Annie just broke my heart by telling me she's not going out after class tomorrow. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels she (or he) has earned a Wednesday beer or five!?!

Brilliant... but not-so-DIY

Since I am completely useless when it comes to DIY (hello, did you see me on stitch-n-bitch night?), I bring you what seems like the largest costume website on the internet courtesy of a strange woman named marylen. The costumes are wacky (my favorite are the food related costumes but the "predatory birds" page is also full of laughs) and the models are straight out of the 70s and look slightly intoxicated as well. Full o' fabulous ready-to-wear fun!

brilliant hiring decision

Whoever hired Stephen Colbert to give an outrageous presentation at the White House Correspondent's Dinner is brilliant, but probably fired by now. Here is the link to Salon's footage, via CSPAN. You may have to watch an ad AND scroll down halfway through the page to get to Colbert, which is a little annoying but totally worth it.

BTY, did anyone else notice that Rush Limbaugh was arrested last week? Holy crap! Finals are almost curing my internet news addiction.

Nuclear Proliferation

Double trouble at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.