He's Special

Have you met my cat? If you have you know he is a little spastic. Spastastic, even.

I took him to the vet this morning to update his vaccines and get him a check-up. No big issues. However, the vet was incredibly amused by his spastastic demeanor. She said that normally his actions and behavior would point to a hyperthyroid, but that is something that appears in older cats as a change in behavior. My cat's behavior isn't new--he's always been like this. In fact, he's calmer now than he was when he was younger.

So, my vet said, "Then I guess he's special." I have a feeling she meant shortbus special.

He's Special

Moving. Maybe.

No, I'm not moving.

But I am thinking about moving my blog. I've been checking out WordPress and it has more features and seems a lot more user friendly than Blogger.

But here's the thing, someone already has the name Yankee Librarian over at WordPress. It doesn't look like an active blog, but it's still there. I could get URL just for me and that's pretty cool. But here's the thing: I started this blog with the intention of it being kind if a pop culturey librarian blog, but that never happened. So I am thinking about shutting down this blog (not deleting it, just shutting down comments) and moving over to WordPress under a different name. Same type of content and all, just a new location, and a new name.

Why? Well, there is what I mentioned above. This blog really doesn't have anything to do with being a librarian. But, also, Sweet Pickles gave me the name Yankee Librarian when I first moved to the South because I was the Yankeeist Yankee he had ever met. It worked when I was down South, but I'm not anymore. It's still a cute name, and I like it, but is it all that relevant now?

So, dear readers (all four of you), I need your opinions. Should I move? Should I change the name? If I do change the name, to what? I'm feeling unoriginal and uninspired and need your creativity.

Putter-cation

We're on intersession in the Pacific Northwest. Most places call it Spring Break, but since we're on the quarter system and we just ended Winter Quarter, it's the intersession. I'm still not used to it, but it's not as foreign as it was last year.

Last break I took some time off and went to Portland. This year I took half the week off with plans to not do much of anything. I wanted three days where I could do whatever I wanted. I could be productive or lazy. I could make some day trips or I could park my ass on the couch. I wanted to putter. It's a putter-cation.

So... I spent Monday afternoon In Seattle. Most of my time in Seattle has been centered around downtown since it is easy to get to from the train station. But my iPhone makes it really easy to use Seattle's mass transit system, so I ventured out to the U-District for the afternoon. I was going to do some yarn shopping and meet K for lunch. I did make it to the yarn shop, but I cut my time short to catch up with K at Flowers and then met another friend for coffee at Cafe Allegro. This isn't a bad thing--I didn't need to spend the money, I like food and coffee, and I like catching up with people.

My next stop was the Public Market. I like the Market. Some Seattle folks avoid it because it is such a tourist destination, but on a Monday afternoon it is pretty low key. I didn't get there until almost 5:00 so some areas were already closed down. I tend to hit three places in the Public Market: Cinnamon Works (for vegan cookies), the Piroshky Bakery, and the fruit stand on the corner.

Cinnamon Works was closed. Too bad. They have these monster-sized cookies. Last time I was there I had a vegan snickerdoodle that was sooooo good. The Piroshky place was open but they were out of what I wanted: the apple cinnamon piroshkies. The woman in front of me bought the last two. I've been told that the apple cinnamon ones are vegan (if you eat honey, that is). This is one of those times I am going to take their word for it because the apple cinnamon piroshky I had last year was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. I don't go out of my way to eat honey. I don't buy it. And if I have two items--one with honey and one without, I go for the one without. But when I eat out, I will allow the honey. I know... It probably doesn't make me a true vegan in the eyes of some, but it's my life and my diet. Anyway.... I made it to the fruit stand, bought a tangerine and apple for the train ride home and headed down to King Station early so I could swing by Uwajimaya before the train.

At Uwajimaya I grabbed what turned out to be a damn good Vietnamese rice noodle and tofu dish from the food court. Seriously.... so good. It was simple: rice noodles, shredded tofu, a few veggies, and soy sauce on the side. I can't stop thinking about it. It was a dry, cool noodle dish. It was easier to take with me on the train than the soup version because I didn't have to worry about it getting cold, spilling it, etc. And, as I was clomping my way to King Station, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and fell on my ass. Well, technically, I fell on my side. I scraped up my calf pretty good. It was über embarrassing, but at least no one I knew saw me.

The last two days have been lazy. The weather has been amazingly gorgeous. I took care of a lot of things I have been meaning to: oil change, getting blood drawn for annual blood test, etc. I had an odd noise checked out on my car. Turns out it wasn't that odd; It was a normal sound that I didn't notice until now. And my blood test results were fine except that my vitamin D is so low I need to take prescription strength vitamin D for the next three months. Yippee.

So... I should be sitting out in the sun for my health, but today has been lazy: the gym, a few errands, a little spring cleaning.... Just stuff.

I left the flash drive with all the work stuff on it in my office. I rarely checked my work email and only responded to maybe three work-related emails. My putter-cation has been a rousing success. I need to do this more often.

Health Care

So... Where to start?

If you listened to some people any day now we will all be required to wear Mao Suits while goose stepping and sieg hieling as we pass a replica of Lenin's Tomb that Obama built on the south lawn of the White House.

People, people... get a fucking grip. I know some people don't agree with the new health care legislation. I'm okay with that. I think it is the right thing. Some don't. Some think it will cost too much. Or that it doesn't address the real issues. That's cool. There is still work that needs to be done. But there is a difference between not liking something and some of the bullshit that is out there right now.

Some examples:

A man with Parkinson's Disease is yelled and and ridiculed.

This dumbass who suggested someone should take a shot at Obama. Unfortunately he's not the only one.

Then there is the winner who is urging people to destroy property. He doesn't see it as anything but harmless vandalism, because he's not telling people to kill people. How nice of him.

And then there is the John Lewis and Barney Frank incidents. Now, I've read stories that after individual yelled racial and homophobic slurs and Lewis and Frank that some of their fellow Tea Party protesters called the offenders out. Good for them. I've read other stories where Tea Party organizers told them if someone yelled racists words and phrases to point at the offender and condemn their actions. Good for them. And the leader of the Tea Party condemns the racial slurs. And Michael Steele of the GOP claims it is a limited few.

Well, you know what, GOP, you are associated with the people mentioned above. You have attached your organization to their bile and bullshit, to their shameful behavior. Deny it all they want, but they are part of you and you are part of them. A large part of this is your fucking fault. Own up to it. And then break the tie. Until you do, dear GOP, this bullshit will continue to be legitimized.

Oh, and Glenn Beck, you have more of a responsibility in this than the GOP. I don't know how you sleep at night.

I really wanted to take the high road and not get all petty and insulting, but some of the stories that have come out the last few days make that impossible.

So.... To the people out there who feel that this legislation has somehow taken your freedom: Your behavior is reprehensible. Why are you not willing to take care of your fellow man? How selfish does one person have to be to believe that it is not our responsibility to take care of those who can't take care of themselves. People are dying because they don't have access to the care they need. It's disgusting and shameful. Why should you have to pay for it? It's not your problem, right? You work hard for your money and people keep taking it from you. You know what? You're already paying for them through higher premiums from your insurance company. Because people haven't had access to preventative health care and they wait until it is too late and go to the ER for care. So, those of you who think that people who lost their insurance are lazy or that they deserve what they got, I hope whatever god you believe in has mercy on your soul.

The legislation that passed is not what I wanted. I wanted a public option. I want universal care. No, it isn't socialism. But I figure this is a start. And when I think about the enormity of it, about what was accomplished, it is almost too much to wrap my brain around. But when I saw an article about Patrick Kennedy leaving a note on Ted Kennedy's grave that said, "Dad, the unfinished business is done," I cried. (By the way, don't read the comments if you have high blood pressure.)

Some days this job doesn't seem worth it...

And then there are days when it does. Like today.

It's been pretty quiet in the library this week, and completely dead today. Today was the last day of finals and graduation is tomorrow. I caught up on some writing, editing, and organizing. You know--end of term stuff.

Mid-afternoon a student showed up at my door. If you asked me his name I couldn't tell you, but he has been in at least one of my classes every quarter since I've been here. Last quarter I told him I would try not to bore him--since he really had heard everything I was going to say. (I call them "my classes" because I work much closer with the classes and students here than I did at Ye Olde University.) Anyway, I always liked this student. He was never afraid to ask for help. That may sound simple, but many people can't ask for help. Or when they come to me they try to be a know-it-all or they are ashamed they couldn't do it on their own.

This student would show up in my office or come to me when I was at the desk, books in hand, trying to find that one piece he was missing. He never came across as entitled or needy. He just knew when to ask for help. By last quarter he'd come to me at the end of an assignment with a list of sources he had checked, knowing I'd ask him where he had already looked. But there was always that one piece that eluded him.

So today he stopped by to tell me he was graduating tomorrow. And he wanted to thank me because he couldn't have done it without my help.

Y'all, I almost cried, I was so touched.

The only thing students at Ye Olde University ever did was try to hug me after getting loaded in a local bar.