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Nov. 22nd, 2009 @ 11:13 am Sunday
Snow is falling, the sun peeks out from time to time. There's at least half a foot on the ground. (Do I exaggerate? Possibly, but not on purpose.) I've had about 4 cups of coffee. Time for a run?
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lusi plane
Nov. 6th, 2009 @ 08:05 pm A few steps forward, some back...hey...I'm dancing!
That subject line is nonsensical. Ah well. Tomorrow I head out for my first hike with a group from meetup. I'll report back with all the details...if it doesn't slush. If it snows, I can deal, but I don't want to hike in the sleet. As long as the weather agrees, though, I'll make it out.

I think I need a guidance counselor. Like one that I can sit down with, take the Myers Briggs test, and they can tell me what my perfect profession would be, or something. Not really, but I like and don't like aspects of every job I've ever done. Isn't there a perfect one out there for me? I heard that one's answer to the question, "What would you do if you won the lottery and never had to work for money again?" is what you should aim for in your work life. How can I make a job out of, "Start an organic farm, travel in the off season, swim, hike, cook, craft and read"? Hmmm, and organize stuff. But that can be seed packets and train rides. Oh, and educate. Heh. Sounds like a self employed type situation. But, then again, if I ever did throw it all away for that dream "job," I'd certainly find something I didn't like about it, as well. I'm too picky.

How does one become content with one's life? I'm sure contentment isn't just settling for some people...but that's what it seems to be, often. There are too many great, interesting, amazing things in the world to be happy with a small set of them. And it feels like you can only get a small set of them in any one place/time.

Rambly ramble tamble.
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lusi plane
Oct. 20th, 2009 @ 08:30 pm Good stuff does happen
Screw you computer for erasing my post. It was nice and heartfelt.

Suffice to say...I recently learned that a lot of the kids in my community have to deal with some pretty crappy things, and I am now even more committed to making the library a safe and welcoming place for them to be.

And stuff...
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lusi plane
Oct. 14th, 2009 @ 11:32 am (no subject)
At least with the cold weather I get to wear my knee high argyle socks. Silver lining, I found you!
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Sep. 30th, 2009 @ 09:05 pm Samoan tsunami
Tags:
As you may know, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa from 2002 to 2004. Yesterday morning (their time) an 8.0 (or 8.4) earthquake shook the ocean floor to the south of the archipelago, between Samoa and Tonga. Reports vary, but it seems that at least 100 people have died, and many more are still missing. Furthermore, entire villages have been wiped out so that survivors do not have homes to return to. The tsunami hit the hardest on the southern coast of Upolu which houses many of the country's resorts, meaning paying jobs and tourists will be few and far between on that part of the island.

People that I know and care about appear to be safe. The island of Savai'i, and the far eastern, inland village of Falealupo, where I spent my two year service, weren't highly damaged. Not everyone was so lucky. If you're interested in helping out the people of Samoa, please consider donating to the New Zealand Red Cross or Oxfam New Zealand.

According to the Peace Corps website and some PCV blogs (here and here, for example), all the volunteers and staff are accounted for. Staff and volunteers are helping out the Red Cross, and working in their site communities as well as those of staff members' relatives.

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Sep. 19th, 2009 @ 11:26 am furniture
My furnishing style is still, um, minimalistic, to say the least, but I am getting some stuff. I now have enough places to sleep should any guests come visit (just have to buy some more pillows). I even have chairs for them! Well, a chair for me, and a chair for you...plus a cooler which makes a great seat. :-)

Today, though, I was browsing a beautiful furniture store. Way too fancy for me, but fun to look at, ya know? Well, there was this table right at the front that just had some amazing lines, plus great grain in the wood, not too much ornamentation, nice and big, rectangular, classic feeling. Sort of what I'd want to get if I was in the market for actually buying right now. Well, I wandered around the store looking at all the pretties and the saleslady mentioned that the table I had been drooling over was on sale for 45% off. Now, I wasn't serious about buying and hadn't actually looked at the price. I would've guess, maybe $1000-$1500...Yeah, huh, I went and looked after she told me about the deal. The sale price? Somewhere a bit above $8000. Who the hell buys a table for $8000? And that's the sale price! Whoa, I was so out of my league. That's more like a car price.

But, it was a nice table.
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Sep. 14th, 2009 @ 08:26 am booky talky
I got up at six this morning to give a book talk to high school seniors on 1) a book I read in high school, 2) a book I read on Friday, and 3) two books I haven't read. I'm tired. But I think it went okay. There'll be a repeat performance today at 12:30. Six am is too early to get up for any reason that doesn't include the great outdoors. Or travel. (And, yes, in my last job I got up for school at that time every day, but I've adapted to my new, 9 am thing!)
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Aug. 9th, 2009 @ 02:47 pm brilliant flash!
Current Mood: silly
I've been thinking for a while that I'm not going to get a TV, or if I do it's something for far, far in the future. I've lived without off and on for years and the on times haven't been any more exciting than the off times. But...then I realized something earth-shattering and possibly decision changing: somewhere in the deep, dark corners of my cabin (aka storage of random, random stuff) I have my old Nintendos. Heh. Maybe I do have to get a TV so I can play Zelda and Super Mario Bros. Maybe. It'll take some more thought, but sure as heck those babies aren't going to Goodwill!
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Jul. 16th, 2009 @ 03:01 pm tax and budget question, fuen, eh?

I'm a fairly intelligent person, but I lack a ton of real world (or US "real" world) experience...so, here's a question for you all who are light years ahead of me:

When considering pay, what percent should I estimate will be taken out in a normal year for taxes? What is the US tax rate these days?

(I've seen 25% for the income bracket I hope to fall into, does that sound right?)

Thanks!

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lusi plane
Jul. 14th, 2009 @ 02:43 pm Rapa Nui!
I finally finished uploading, tagging and describing all my pictures from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and mainland Chile. Take a look at them. (I warn you, though, there are 233!)

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Jul. 12th, 2009 @ 03:23 pm settled-ish
I've kind of got things set and settled for a short-term stay in Portland. I have a place to live (cheap, and found quickly, nothing special). I have a library card. I have a loner bike. I've found a good bike path and three grocery stores (one is not really worth it, but just across the street). The post office seems too far away, as does Whole Foods and food coops, alas, but I'll survive.

The bike...hm, well, it's my  aunt's and she doesn't use it much. She won it in a raffle and the price is right: free, but whoa, not what I would've chosen were there money involved! I just feel like it doesn't fit me, size wise. Ah, well, it's fun to have! (Even if the seat is ouchy.)

Let's see, exciting things today: went for a run, got my library card, put Hunger Games, and The Hemingses of Monticello on reserve, ate my first Garderburger in years, talked to my dad and continued the flickr upload of Rapa Nui. (That last one is taking forever 'cause I get burnt out on tagging and adding info, but can't stand to not do that!)

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lusi plane
Jul. 9th, 2009 @ 03:34 pm interview questions
Failed interview question:

Name top 5 adult reference sources, not including Google and the world wide web.

What would you say?

HELP!!!

(I'm not going to admit to my answer in a public place.)
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lusi plane
Jun. 16th, 2009 @ 10:04 pm Back in Santiago
Current Location: Santiago, Chile
Last post was lame. I should write a big long one, but suffice to say that Rapa Nui was incredible...but really, really, stinking expensive. Hiking and views were amazing, the ocean was beautiful and powerful, and the moai/statues were just out of this world bizarre and unique. I promise a million pictures to come when I'm back at my own computer.

Bus for penguins tomorrow of the next day...but debating the environmental and social reprecussions, so might just hang or go to Vina del Mar. We'll see. Bagels are definitely planned, though!
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Jun. 16th, 2009 @ 12:56 am 30 second update
Current Location: Rapa Nui
Tags:
Page took too long to load! Rapa Nui is g
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Jun. 7th, 2009 @ 12:29 pm sunday morning
Current Location: Santiago, Chile
Walking around Santiago on a Sunday morning, thinking, whoa, this place is dead. Nothing is open, no one else is walking around and alI can find is Nescafe. Then, boom, I hear drum beats. And, hm, there's a band warming up for a concert ant the streets fill with people and a street fair appears. Like it was timed...like in a musical or something.

Still haven't found coffee, though. I saw a Dunkin' Donuts. That might have to do. Sigh. Don't Chileans drink real coffee?
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Jun. 1st, 2009 @ 03:55 pm Hither and yon

I leave for Santiago on Saturday. Before I leave I need to:

*Disconnect the Internet from my house
*Decide what I'm wearing for the next few days and pack the rest
*Get my landlord to sign this silly form that says I don't owe her any rent and submit it to my school
*Transfer my desk to Isa
*See The Fast and the Furious
*Write out thank you cards
*Apply for a Colorado reference/cataloging hybrid job
*Do my King County interview (on Skype)
*Go cheer my kids on at their NJHS induction ceremony
*Pack for Chile
*Go to the local book fair and spend copious amounts of the school's money on really cool books for the library

Hmm...that might be it. Seems like there's more, though.

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lusi plane
May. 28th, 2009 @ 08:45 pm Sometimes I wish...
Current Mood: dorky
Tags: ,
...guys were like MARC records. Can you tell I've been cataloging lately? A good one would look something like this (skipping the fixed fields, etc.):

100     $a      Doe, Jane,
            $d      1945-
245 10$a      John Doe, Jr. :
            $b      a down to earth guy with a good heart /
            $c      parented by Jane and John Doe.
260     $c      c1975.
300     $a      182 cm. :
            $b      br. hr., ath. +
            $e      motorcycle, dog
505     $a      Intelligence -- Kindness -- Humanity -- Curiosity -- Sense of adventure.
521 30$a      Someone like me
546     $a      English ; Spanish and/or Russian and/or French and/or something exotic
650     $a      Man-woman relationships.
650     $a      Explorers.
650     $a      Conservationists.
651     $a      West (U.S.)
651     $a      World
            $x      Description and travel.
655     $a      Literary
700     $a      Doe, John,
            $e      Father.
900     $a      973xx

Okay, that was way more fun that I should admit. :-) Some of those are made up, some are legit headings, etc. Wouldn't it be nice if guys had a MARC record and we could search for them as easily as we could books? 'Course it would still depend on good catalogers getting the right aboutness of their...uh, "information packages." Gosh, it's rather awkward fitting real life into AACR2...obviously I didn't try so hard to follow them.

Librarians among us, am I going loony? Or is this amusing to you, too?

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May. 15th, 2009 @ 03:10 pm Let's get outta here!
Woo-hoo, I'm about half an hour from leaving Santa Cruz to spend a weekend in the Andean foothills. Yay, off to Samaipata I go (elevation 1600 m, should you be curious). A belated birthday weekend. Ah, time to relax. :-)

Just have to escape campus, avoid senior pranks, send something at the DHL office, get my pack from my house and then away we go!
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May. 7th, 2009 @ 07:15 pm mr. bluebird?
Toblerone is nummy.

I found my planner! It was in a perfectly normal, safe place, under my desk, under a stack of paper. I'm happy to have it back and only jumped to the wrong conclusion (that I had lost it) 'cause I was in a bad head space.

My partner in crime for this Chile trip got her international driver's license. Yay, there may be driving on this adventure!

Did I already mention the Toblerone? MMmmmm.

The toborochis (flowering tree) are absolutely beautiful...even if they are a bit too pink.

(Okay, I purged all the negative with yesterday's post, now it's time to fill back up with positive.)
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May. 6th, 2009 @ 10:05 pm putting positive into the universe
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We can really make our own moods. I truly believe this. I also believe in the need to vent, share, find support and understanding...(which is sometimes done through putting negative into the world). But, in an effort to balance my blahs with some yays! here's a follow-up.

A student told me today that I really need to read Brisingr. A freshman boy! He's a great person, so it's not surprising, but I do like it when kids recommend books to me.

I have more than enough miles to go visit my dad and brother in Hawaii if I don't have a job in July when I get back...'cause if you're unemployed, might as well travel, right?

Plans are all in place to go to Samaipata one last time in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to spending some time out there.

My birthday is in a few days, I'm actually looking forward to making a bit of a deal about it this year. Normally I'm interested in nothing more than a dinner, at most! This year I've got a friend promising to make me a carrot cake and some other ideas, etc. :-)

The weather has been so nice the last couple of days. It's finally getting a little cooler, pleasantly; fall has started.

Plans are sort of forming for Chile. Big stone heads! Penguins! Wine! The Chilean peso keeps making things more expensive, but today it lost a little ground. It'd be nice if it was 600Chp to the dollar before we got there.

Pete Seeger is 90 this year and there's a really nice special on KLCC right now about his life.

Places I want to visit in the next decade or so: Yap (big stone coins), Malaysia (when Adria's there) and Borneo, Mongolia, Trans Siberian railroad, Maldives, Kilimanjaro (with Mindy and Su, hopefully), Greece and/or Italy, Egypt (more big stones), Alaska (gotta see white nights and/or aurora borealis),Yosemite, Belize.

Where do you want to go? Or where have you been that you would recommend to me?
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