This happened a few days ago when it got really cold here. It was a slow night, so those of us working at the desk had some interesting conversations. Around 7:00, Maurice comes in saying that it's snowing outside. I run out to check and, sure enough, snow is coming down in little flurries. But Jon doesn't get outside to check until a while later, by which time it's stopped snowing. For the rest of the night, he insists that Maurice was making it all up.
Jon: I don't believe you about anything anymore. You were lying about the snow. I think you got snow confused with stars.
Maurice: You just couldn't see the snow, because you didn't believe enough.
Me: It was falling all around you and you were blind to it. Open your mind to the snow!
Evan: Yeah, it's like Polar Express or something.
Lauren: What??
Evan: Uh, yeah, I don't know where I was going with that.
Jon: I still don't believe you guys.
Me: Every time you say you don't believe in snow, a snowflake dies.
Evan: Quick, clap your hands! Put on your gloves and clap your hands!
Me: I do believe in snowflakes! I do! I do!
So...I got a call from the Allen County Public Library yesterday asking me if I was available for an interview on Thursday morning for the position I applied for. For those who aren't up-to-date, this is the 15-hour-a-week position in the same young adult department that I interned in this summer. The job would be perfect if it were just full-time. Still, I applied, because it'd be a foot in the door and hopefully more hours would come along sooner rather than later. We'll see - that's some of what we're going to talk about in the interview. So I'm heading back to Fort Wayne tomorrow night. I've got Fridays off this semester, so I'm planning on just spending a long weekend with my parents before coming back down to Bloomington. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
This weekend I spent a bit more money than I was intending to do (not to mention, I royally screwed up my attempted diet). Friday, Kate, Terra, Jesse and I met for brunch at the Runcible Spoon, which is one of my favorite restaurants here in Bloomington - I love their breakfasts. I had a huge and decidedly not low-fat meal including eggs, homefries, and French toast. Then Friday night I went out for milkshakes with Annie and Elissa and finally got to see Sweeney Todd. I really enjoyed the movie - it's one of my favorite musicals anyway, and I can't think of a director better suited to the show than Burton. I was pleasantly surprised by Johnny Depp's singing ability - his voice isn't anywhere near as strong as the various stage Sweeneys, but I think he did it justice. And Alan Rickman! They tried their hardest to make him repulsive, but you just can't take the sex out of Alan Rickman. His and Depp's duet on Pretty Women was probably the high point for me. You could tell the whole theater was really involved in the story, too - in fact, when Anthony burst in on Sweeney about to kill the judge, someone down in the front row yelled "OH SHIT!" I'd definitely recommend Sweeney Todd to anyone who likes beautiful music, creepy atmosphere, and doesn't mind liberal amounts of ridiculously over-the-top blood and gore. Heh.
On Saturday Kate and Sarah and I went to see a completely different type of film - Atonement. It's a beautiful film - I thought the cinematography was gorgeous, and I liked the way that ambient sounds were used in the score. Also, James McAvoy is kind of Hot, at least in this movie. But dear lord was the ending depressing. I even teared up a little, and I'm not typically the type that cries at movies. I can't imagine it's not going to be getting Oscars. Otherwise, there aren't too many movies out right now that look that interesting to me. I still kind of want to see Juno, but it's been so hyped that I'm afraid it'll be disappointing. Besides, with all the money I spent this weekend, I should probably go low-key for a while. I guess I'll just snuggle up at home with my Flight of the Conchords DVD and my knitting.
There's a poster up on the bulletin board in the Wells library right now advertising a Kazakh movie night. Wonder if they'll be showing Borat?
It's time for an utterly pointless Kids in the Hall sketch! Enjoy:
Check this out - so fun. The idea is to go through book collections, both public and private, pull out books, and arrange them so the titles can be read in order. There are some great ones:
(Found through Bookshelves of Doom)
From xkcd:
Just looking at stick figures damaging a book like that makes me shudder. And don't even get me started on the nasty things people do to paperbacks.
I love these. If only I'd discovered them before I decided to be an English major - it would have saved me so much time!
My favorites:
The Collected Works of Jane Austen
If On a Winter's Night a Traveler
Dante's Inferno
Ethan Frome
The other day I picked up a copy of Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn at a used bookstore here in Bloomington. It's a strange little novel about a fictional tiny island country that worships the creator of the classic typing test pangram, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." They've erected a monument to this guy with the phrase written on it, but when the letters start falling off one by one, the island leaders take it as a sign and, as each letter falls off, they ban the people from using each letter in writing and conversation. Anyway, reading this got me curious about other pangrams, so during a boring reference desk shift I wandered over to the Wikipedia entry on pangrams and wasted a good hour or so. Among my discoveries was this incredible Finnish pangram, "Törkylempijä vongahdus," which Wikipedia helpfully translates as "Muckysnogger booty-call." Now, I have no idea what a muckysnogger booty-call is, exactly, but the fact that it exists and is a perfect pangram in the Finnish language just makes me unreasonably happy, and I intend to proudly use this beautiful phrase at every possible chance I get.
Other great pangrams in other languages and their translations, as mentioned on Wikipedia:
Bulgarian: За миг бях в чужд плюшен скърцащ фотьойл: "For a moment, I was in someone else's plush squeaking armchair."
Lojban: o'i mu xagji sofybakni cu zvati le purdi: "Watch out! Five hungry Soviet cows are in the garden!"
Dutch: Sexy qua lijf, doch bang voor 't zwempak: "Sexy of body, though scared of the swimsuit."
Korean: 키스의 고유조건은 입술끼리 만나야 하고 특별한 기술은 필요치 않다: "The essential condition for kiss is that lips meet and there is no special technique required."
Go here and fight against other people for refrigerator magnet letters and have very slow conversations!