So remember how I'm a librarian?

Sort of. Sometimes. Hopefully soon. In a recent job interview, I was asked what it is I'm reading. So, here's a list. First of what I'm reading, and then what I'm looking forward to reading.

The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that exists only from sunset to sunrise. Le Cirque des Rêves features such wonders and "ethereal enigmas" as a blooming garden made all of ice and a fire-breathing paper dragon. Its truly magical nature is occluded under the guise of legerdemain. The curious circus develops avid fans who distinguish themselves to each other by wearing the black and white of the circus tents, with a splash of red. The magicians Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr. A.H— groom their young proteges, Celia and Marco, to proxy their rivalry with the exhibits as a stage.


Why I'm reading it: Because I'm a sucker for a good cover. No, really. I am. Really though, when I was a kid, one of the school librarians once told me to "Read the first five pages, and if you're hooked, get the book." When I read the first five pages, I was drawn into the story, it seemed just fantastical enough, excellently written, and most importantly, I didn't want to put it down.

Thebes, 1999, the run up to the end of the year: the Scales family must deal with a matriarch driven half mad by a blow to the head by a statue of the Virgin Mary, while gay choirmaster Jeremy must find a practise space for his band, which may draw him into a collision course with the local nuns.

Why I'm reading it: Because I *loved* Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister. I'm also admittedly a sucker for an author who writes out of their comfort zone.

Burned-out private dick Michael McGill needs to jump-start his career. What he gets instead is a cattle prod to the crotch. The president's heroin-addicted chief of staff wants McGill to find the Constitution-thereal one the Founding Fathers secretly devised for the time of gravest crisis. And with God, civility, and Mom's homemade apple pie already dead or dying, that time is now. But McGill has a talent for stumbling into every imaginable depravity-and this case is driving him even deeper into America's darkest, dankest underbelly, toward obscenities that boggle even his mind.

Why I'm reading it: Because I was told to. I was aimlessly wandering the rows of Chapters, as I do, debating if I should bite the bullet and buy Patricia Briggs book (it was a thing.) and I ran into a friend of a friend I knew from Twitter, and met once at a TFC game. We got to chatting, found out we have very very very similar literary tastes, and she informed me I could not leave without it. Good enough for me.

What I'm looking forward to:
Seanan McGuire's Discount Armageddon. I love her Rosemary and Rue Urban Fantasy Series. Love love love. Comes out early March.
Kim Harrison's A Perfect Blood. I LOVE her Hollows series. Arguably more than anything else I've read recently. So does everyone else who's read it, or who I've given it to. Comes out late February.
Jim Butcher's Cold Days. I also LOVE the Harry Dresden series. Who knows when it will be out, but Ghost Story is one of my favourite books.
Rosina Harrison's Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor. Already out, and been recommended to me a few times. Already out, looking forward to it.There are more that I am both reading, and looking forward to.
I'm on a bit of an odd Urban Fantasy kick, usually I tend more towards straight-up fiction. I think it's in rebellion to 2 years of Academic reading about Information.

One in every crowd

A good friend of mine from undergrad just turned 30. We had a bunch of our friends crash in our condo, and I realized how much I miss being around not only these guys, but all the guys from my undergrad. I had a job interview for pretty much my dream job in my hometown, and another one for a pretty great job in NWT. Both would be awesome (though I would vastly prefer the one in my hometown).  I'm ready to settle down, grow some roots and start life. 

30th Birthday celebratory Hendriks and Tonic, with cucumber - because not ALL of my life revolves around my dog. just like, 70%. apparently. Or so this blog would have you think. I swear I have a life. I do stuff. I read. Ok, that's probably obvious too. But I leave the house!

Something like that

This is the back of my business card. I use it for consulting in research, libraries and grant writing.  In LIBRARY SCHOOL they teach us about the reference interview, and in the reference interview, our job is to find out what the real question is. The real question is usually easier to answer, then to figure out.

I'm feeling vague about what the real question in my life is right now. Excited, but vague. So many great options, I don't think there is a bad answer, and I'm pretty sure it's the simplest one.

Either way, this weekend I'm celebrating the 30th birthday of one of my favourite people. Happy Birthday Mr. Smith.

Window Height is a big deal

It's cool though, my dog can be a problem solver. Just don't tell my mom how he problem solves, and it'll be fine. I mean, she's totally cool with his furniture re-arranging. Mostly. Probably. For sure.

Field to Ring

So I don't talk about it much, because it's not really that big a part of my life, but my Barbet is shown in Conformation. He's only been in 3 shows, and is doing pretty well!

At any rate, my dog goes from this:

To:

and this:

(above, is when a dog is stacked. Gambit hasn't been, the brown one has. To give you an idea, the day before, the brown dog took breed, the day above, Gambit beat the brown for BOO, and the day after, a female took breed!)


I love my dog, win lose or draw.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Not many people realize that line is actually the second line of the Mac--th. The first.... more depressing, and the following sets up nicely for the tragedy that Mac--th is.  I've been out of theatre for... 6 years, and I still can't bring myself to say the name.

Anyways. As I've said, I grew up in Stratford (Canada). When you grow up in Stratford, you grow up surrounded by the Festival - we got tickets at school, camp, from actor boarders and later, when both my Mom and I worked there. We also (luckily) had most of the plays explained to us in school - something most other elementary schools weren't so lucky with. I remember the first time I saw Mac--th. It's not my favourite play (Pericles) but it's always resonated with me.  I'll always remember sitting there, a little too young to understand, and hearing:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

I might not have fully understood where it was going, but it always resonated with me. Too young to understand the specifics I felt, and feel to this day, that what matters isn't the past, it's the future.  We always look back with more knowledge then we had.

I have a job interview tomorrow. For it, I turned down a job offer out west.

So, here's to hope, dreams and the future.

2012

Seeing as this year may be the end of the world, I thought I'd make a list of 11 things I want to do this year

1. Go on a vacation somewhere cheap
2. Cook more new meals
3. Present a seminar 
4. Successfully grow an herb garden
5. Buy a car
6. Pay off one of my school debts
7. Plan a vacation somewhere amazing
8. Start singing again
9. Read 1 (good) book a month
10. Keep better track of my life
11. Enjoy life more. Last year sucked. A lot. This year, will be better.

Tell me what you know about dreams

I am a bit superstitious when it comes to the job hunt. Wanting certain jobs more than others. So, here’s what I know about dreams:

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” 

Thanks Dr. Seuss.

What's Past is Prologue

Then:

Now:

I don't even care if I am that person.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Summary: It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive.


Why I recommend it: Because I read it and enjoyed it. It's not vampire fiction, werewolves, fallen angels. It's just a good book, that's sci-fy enough to be a good read, fantastical, reminiscent of X-Men a little. It's great. The pictures are a little disturbing, just look at the cover. It may not be my favourite book, but it's well worth a read!