Finally

In high school I was one that groaned at the idea of reading Shakespeare, just like the rest of my classmates. Mrs. Skauge started a love affair that year because I have loved The Bard since that first reading of Romeo and Juliet. Having professed my love for the writings of William Shakespeare it may seem quite peculiar that I only went to my first Cambridge Summer Shakespeare plays last Saturday... to be honest, it is quite peculiar. I'm so glad I finally went. Nothing like a willing house guest and an observant husband to finally get me out to a college garden to watch Puck and Oberon and Hermia and all those wonderful characters playing about. We saw A Midsummer Night's Dream in the garden at Girton College. It was very entertaining and I laughed a lot. Then my brain kept wurring over the details.

My favorite part was the wall in the 'play within the play.' It was so clever with its modern references while keeping the role true to Shakespeare's intent. The actor who played both Oberon and Thesius lacked interest. He was type cast. The actor playing Titania/Hippolita was the same. Puck was great until intermission and then she lost that real sense of playfulness. So basically, the players were average or below but the Shakespeare was wonderful and I hope to go again soon. It's just a matter of deciding which play.

This theater outing has rekindled my dream to see Shakespeare performed by the RSC in Stratford. Maybe that's how I'll celebrate my 30th next year.

Good day

Life happens. :-)

We're inching closer and closer to getting pictures taken of the study. The carpet tiles arrived today (thanks to my lovely neighbor who signed for them and helped me carry them from her house to mine). I haven't checked all the colors, but the one I did see looks very good. The cupboard doors have been quite the pain in Neil's everything this week. All we wanted to do was replace the door handles. They match the door handles I stupidly bought based on looks and not substance. How was I to know that beautiful and expensive hardware would be put together so poorly!

This weekend we have a couple of house guests (which may mean the carpet tiles get layed faster, or it may mean they get put off all together). One is a regular visitor who even has his own key to the front door. He's always welcome and it's always great to see him. The other is Patirck who hasn't been to Cambridge to see us in quite some time and has never seen the house except in pictures. He was suitably impressed. Now on to the adventure!

Personal radio

So it's been awhile since Neil and I had a radio. The online stations just don't seem worth the effort (at least not when we've tried). And when we rent a car we usually end up quite annoyed with the radio DJs and commercials. We miss hearing new music, but we don't want an expensive radio nor do we want to listen to music out of little tinny speakers when we have a great set of speakers hooked up to the computer network. We still like the albums we've purchased, but they get boring due to predictability from time to time. New is good. Neil mentioned last.fm to me and we set it all up last night... I'm loving it! It's like a radio station full of what I want to listen to, new songs and artists that are similar to things I know I like, and none of the annoying banter or commercials. Last night I listened to artists similar to Imogen Heap, and it really worked, they were a lot like her (if not actually her or her band Frou Frou). It just played in the background and it was perfect. At the moment I'm listening to things similar to Indigo Girls... not all have been good, but then I just ban it and skip ahead to the next song. Wonderful!!! Oh, I can also say that I love something and it will save it to a play list for me. There are lots of other features (including that it will make recommendations from both WMP lists and itunes lists) so if it interests you I'd suggest checking it out.

Happy Birthday Neil in a digi layout

If you have good enough eye site to read the schedule on the layout you'll see our plans changed from going to the aquarium. I was too impatient when the aquarium website took ages to book tickets. So when we arrived at the Aquarium and the queue was out the door our adventure changed to viewing the 3D Deep Sea adventure at the IMAX. It was a good alternative plan. Oh, go see Wall.e if you haven't yet... it's fantastic!

Redecoration continues

As you can see (if you've been here before last Sunday) I did a little redecorating again. The purple just wasn't working for me. I like purple, but it just wasn't what I wanted I like this green one. I'm not thrilled with the picture but it's a good shot with a smile. And in a way I kinda like looking at it knowing that I've lost weight since then. If you saw me now you'd see it in my face that I've lost weight. That makes me happy. The green makes me happy too. My favorite color is actually orange, but green makes me happy too.

The photo was taken by my friend Jessica when she was here visiting me. This shot was near the pond at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. If you ever come to visit I will take you there (if you want to go). It's one of my favorite places in Cambridge. The rest of the banner was made using products from Scrap Girls. If you want to know the product list then leave me a comment and I will belatedly post the list. But as for now, it's back to real life decorating. The study is looking really good (and yes, study works better than den in m opinion). We just have one more coat of matt white on two walls and the ceiling, a coat or two of gloss white on the skirting and door, a shelf to add, carpet tiles to purchase and fit, and a portion of wall to paint green.* That may sound a lot, but when I think of all the work we've done so far this week... the light at the end of the tunnel is much more visible, so to speak.

Today is going to be an errand running day, even if it is Neil's official birthday. Happy birthday to my lovely hubby Neil! He's decided he would like to go to London on Sunday to celebrate. This is because we can have sushi for lunch, go to the aquarium, and then finish the day by seeing Wall.e at the BFI. Sounds like a nice day out to me, a great way to finish off our week's holiday, and the perfect way to celebrate my love's birthday (food, fish and film are three of his favorite things). Today's errands will be exchanging a couple of Wii games for store credit (hopefully), dropping off a friend's birthday present before she dashes off on her two week holiday in Wales, looking for curtain fabric, and picking up the last of the 8 foot shelves. We ran out of time to pick up the shelf on Tuesday since we had dinner reservations at Loch Fyne (lovely, lovely food) and yesterday was filled with rain. It's gotta be nice when we go because we have to walk the shelf home. It's 8 feet long... do you think they'd let us on the bus with it? Today looks sunny apart from a probable afternoon shower. I'm going outside to enjoy this while it lasts.

*I crossed these items out on July 11th. Woo-hoo! We're gettin' it done!

Happy 4th!

Happy Independence Day to all my USA family and friends. Everyone here keeps asking if I'm celebrating. We are, but very low key. We're grilling some chicken and vegetables on the bbq tonight. No fireworks as I'm not really a fan of small displays, I've been too impressed by the big ones over the years. If I had more friends from the States here I would suggest we all had a great late night party around the fire pit, but, alas, I don't.

My fondest memories of celebrating the 4th were days at the lake starting with a boat parade, followed by lots of swimming and eating and card playing, then everyone (usually at least 11 of us) cramming into one car - yes this involved the smallest people riding in the trunk - for the fireworks in a nearby alfalfa field. I have very old memories of my Dad and Uncle John setting off fireworks from the end of my Grandpa's dock but that tradition ended when we were young - I think it had something to do with wooden docks and fire not being a safe combination, and the expense of fireworks that had to be collected outside city limits, and the men having to run away from the firework on a aging dock. Good times with family. I miss my family. I hope they're having a great day at the lake.

Queries on collection management

This is a question for any library staff that may wander this way. In my collection management module (my current module for my Masters in LIS) there are three questions I should ask the professional staff at my library to learn more about the official collection management policies. I thought I'd open it up to the general public to see if I could learn more than just what my library does.

The questions:
1. Does responsibility for evaluation and review appear in relevant job descriptions?
2. Do the post-holders allocate time for this work? (if yes, weekly/monthly/sometimes/never)
3. Are targets set for achieving evaluation or review of defined parts of the collection?


They're all yes or no questions, but if you respond please tell me which library you work at, or at the very least where your library is.

Many thanks! Information is what I like!

Consider yourself warned

Pauline emailed this link to all of us at work and she warned us well that it was addictive. I thought I could handle it, that I'd just play a couple of times but I was wrong. I think it's because it's so slow at our reception desk at the moment that there's no reason not to play. Anyway this is a game to test your reaction time on the BBC website using sheep and tranquilizers. It's fun, but be warned that it's addictive.

If you're competitive... my best score so far is Rocketing rabbit with an average of 0.1568. Let me know what your average is if you choose to play.

Delayed surprise

So on Monday I weighed in (on the Wii) to discover that I somehow lost 3 pounds since Friday. Hurray for me! My Wii Fit chum was a little worried that I lost the weight too quickly, he's such a worrier. The more exciting bit is that I've kept it off this week and continue to lose, although much, much, much slower. I've lost about a half a pound since Monday. My Wii Fit chum isn't worrying so much anymore.

To be a cat in the afternoon

Sometimes I really wish I could be a cat in the afternoon. I feed ours when I get home at 1 o'clock in the afternoon and when they're finished they find a comfy place to relax and digest. Maegan's safe and comfy place is always above the refrigerator (this is where she gets fed as well). Maegan and Owen don't get along because Owen can't help but hunt her.


Owen used to sleep as near to me as he could while still being comfy, until last week. The weather has finally become wonderful here and the herb garden has been growing well. Owen is a herb lover, just like me. He's like a kitten again when he sniffs the thyme or the nibbles the mint. His favorite place at the moment seems to be just in front of the miniature apple tree and underneath the dappled shade of the fennel and oregano.
Doesn't this make you wish you were a cat in the afternoon?

Good morning from Owen

When Owen, our medically dramatic but lovable cat, wakes up enough in the morning to find me in the study/den this is how he greets me:

He comes in, gives me a little yell (due to one of his medical dramas he can't hear and therefore can't meow properly), then digs his claws into my leg so that I will pet him. Sometimes he stays there and pats (with claws) my elbow until I pet him again. On occasion he desires a little more attention and decides to pull himself up into my lap. Due to the same drama that left him deaf, he's unable to jump up higher than a foot. He's got strong front legs though and if he can dig his claws in then he'll attempt a climb. We love him, but often wish his claws were less sharp.