Jeff’s Journal

So, memes.

01. What’s the last DVD you watched?

Ann & I watched Rocket Science last night. Good flick.

02. What are you wearing at the moment?

Jeans, my Elizabeth Elmore guitar pedal t-shirt, socks and black Chucks.

03. Who is/was your favorite cartoon character?

I was always partial to Danger Mouse.

04. What is your favorite scent?

Thoughts that passed through my mind for this: a burning clove cigarette, burning wood, barbecue, vanilla.

05. What do you drink the most?

Probably water.

06. Is there a useless thing that you cannot brace yourself to throw out?

I can see roughly a half dozen things from where I’m sitting.

07. Who was your first big crush?

his girl I went to school/danced with. I was six. It would have never worked out.

08. What did you want to be when you grew up?

In order: a crayon maker, President, meteorologist, actor, music teacher, politician, director, librarian. Still don’t know for sure.

09. What mythological figure are you?

Zeus, because I’m that awesome. Or something.

10. What characters are overrated?

Thoughts that passed through my mind for this: Starbuck and Roslin from the new BSG, Jack Bauer, Tony Clark.

11. What 3 people would you invite to dinner?

There’s no way I can narrow this down. None at all. I’d love to dine with Jefferson, Kroger Babb, Thomas Sowell, Sarah Vowell, Peter Buck, my best friend from kindergarten, my uncle Tom, and roughly half the people reading this, but there’s no way I could get them all interested in each other.

12.What is your current desktop?

A Diesel Sweeties-style turnip landscape.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

A fun, if enigmatic, friend. Meant entirely complimentary.

14. What are you afraid of?

Failure.

15. What’s your favorite item of clothing?

I hate clothes. I suppose my red Chucks are well loved, though.

16. What are you into right now?

In no particular order: dodgeball, Jenny Lewis, movies, fantasy books, Mad Men, and my wife.

17. What did you do today?

Ate breakfast, went food shopping, watched the Pats game, played some video games, applied to three jobs.

18. What do you want?

One of the jobs I applied to last week to call me back and hire me.

19. What should you be doing right now?

Cleaning, applying for more jobs.

20. What’s the meaning behind your LJ username/name/nicknames you go by?

I am Jeff, and Badly Drawn Boy is a musician I love, but not as much as I probably used to. But the name sort of fits in a lot of ways, so it stays.

Five from Adam:

1) Barack Obama - Where will he rank among the worst presidents ever?

I can’t imagine Obama or McCain doing better than Bush, and I would probably place Bush somewhere in the bottom ten ever on a good day. Neither of them have the answers to solve the problems we’re looking at. So my prediction would probably be somewhere in the bottom 10.

2) Bill Ayers - is that REALLY a legitimate thing for the McCain/Palin campaign to bring up?

Yup.

3) McCain/Palin - What happened? Who’s to blame?

I think the campaign management is the biggest problem. They never seized the narrative, they never went after Obama in a clear, focused way, and they squandered a great opportunity with Palin. It was a hard enough year for a Republican as is, and Obama was like a gift. Kind of pathetic.

4) Palin - You sort of touched on this above, but, really, what is it about her that really does it for you? Just her policies, or her life story and situation too? What do you think about her numbers now?

It really is her policies. That she comes from a pretty middle class background doesn’t hurt, but I don’t respond well to populist angles. Her numbers, well, I’m not sure she ever had a really good shot to do anything about that.

5) Recession - Any thoughts?

We’ll see.

Now from Lee Anne:

1. How would you vote on Massachusetts Question One and what’s your reasoning behind it?

For those unaware, Question 1 would eliminate the Massachusetts state income tax over a two year period. I voted yes on this in 2002, and I’d vote yes today if only to send a message to the legislature. They’re just going to overturn it later anyway, after all.

2. What’s your junk food of choice?

I’m really not much of a junk food guy. I’ll have some cookies with my lunch, I like tortilla chips. If I have a significant junk food vice, it’s probably milkshakes.

3. You and Ann have exposed each other to a lot of new stuff. What are you proudest of getting her into?

Man, I don’t know. This may sound like a copout answer, but she likes so much that I do that the fact that she trusts me enough to not steer her into something she’ll loathe is probably the best part. That I can take her to a bizarre concert and she’ll enjoy it, that she’ll roll dice with me or explore a historic island. It’s the ability to share anything that’s probably the best, and I’m proud because it means that I’ve shown myself to be a good judge of those things.

4. On a different note, what has she introduced you to that you really like?

This is a tough question, since I’m considered the “entertainment coordinator” of this household. The first things to pop into my brain were black olives and red grapes, but that sounds trite. So I asked her:

Jeff: “What have you introduced me to?”
Ann: “Nothing. Seriously, nothing. Foods. Quesadillas, maybe? Tacos. Ooh, I know - non-tapered pants.”

See?

5. If you had a million bucks to donate to the charity of your choice,

Alzheimer’s research. Start a nonprofit to give interest free loans to people who want to open small businesses. Make some sort of fund for rural libraries to be able to get newer, lesser known books for their children’s collections.

Now from the wife:

1. It’s Groundhog day, you’re Bill Murray, but at least you can control what happens that day. What’s your day’s agenda?

Lots of illicit sexual escapades I’d probably try more new things over and over and over just to see what happens.

2. What would Pigeon be saying if she could talk?

Food? Food food fo– hey, what’s that shadow?

3. Alright, the condo is on fire! Pij and I are okay, what do you have in your two hands? (Yes, yes, I know you wouldn’t have time to go digging in the closet or whatever, but suspend reality for a minute, okay?)

It’s funny, because I don’t have a lot of stuff with sentimental value. Or any non-financial value. Sure, the CDs are there, but, well, that’s a lost cause. The Rickenbacker has no personal value, the “big ticket” items can be replaced. Honestly? I’d probably grab all the Kroger Babb stuff, because that’s the only irreplaceable stuff I have.

4. What do you like most about ManchVegas? Is this the city where you picture us raising our children?

It feels like what I wanted Worcester to be. I still think our future is further north, but I’d be happy with here, too.

5. You have known me five years now(!) In what ways have I changed the most? How do you think you have changed?

You’re more confident and self-aware. You care more about everything. I’d like to think I’m similar, but I don’t know.

I started this at 10:30pm Friday night, I’ll probably finish in the morning. Who knows. If you want 5 of your own, let me know - these were from Mike:

1. Are you having kids any time soon?

In the clearest possible terms, no. For one, we’re simply not ready in any way shape or form - we don’t have a second bedroom, I don’t have a job in 7 days, and we’re enjoying our life as it is anyway. Beyond that, the adoption process is, bare minimum, a two year process. We’ve put off buying a place until the economic stuff sorts out a bit more, so we’re at least 3 years away at this point, I think.

What’s your thoughts on being a parent? What kind of dad do you picture yourself being?

I’m scared. It’s the single scariest thing on my future horizon. I fear being a poor parent, about not doing right for my kids, for not being able to provide what they deserve, for not bringing them up the way I think they should be. I fear my genetics. I fear my own insecurities.

Ann thinks this might make me a better parent, since I’m so aware of all these things. I’m not convinced yet, but, again, 3 years down the line.

2. You’re a literary nerd. Why aren’t lyrics important to you?

It’s probably because I’m even more of a music nerd. I’m drawn to a song’s structure - whether it be a catchy melody, a great hook, or an interesting arrangement - long before I even hear the words being sung.

Even as a “literary nerd,” there’s very little in literature that sticks with me. I just finished Anathem today, which is probably my favorite book in 12 months, and I couldn’t even begin to tell you the details of a passage that really caught me, even though there were plenty. Maybe I just don’t have that sort of mind, not that I know what sort of mind it is.

3. How in the world do you find the time to read as many books, watch as many movies, listen to as much music, and do as much stuff in a 168 hour week?

Okay. First, a typical “adult” book is 250-400 pages long. A typical “adult” book, as it is, I can read at a clip of 55-70 pages in a 30 minute sitting. I’ve always been a fast reader, so it’s pretty natural for me. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t fit in at least 30 minutes of reading, and it’s usually closer to an hour when it gets to the points in time I can get 10 minutes in here or there. The 30 uninterrupted minutes over lunch alone make up for that easily. Now, that’s close to a book a week on lunch breaks alone. A book like Anathem or A Game of Thrones, both 900 page tomes with a ton of detail, move slower but get more attention than normal. Meanwhile, I’ll read a young adult novel with larger print and smaller book sizes at a clip of maybe 100 pages in a 30 minute time span. I can polish two or three of those off in a week. Or perhaps a graphic novel, which is 100 pages on a good day and can often be finished in one or two sittings. Add them all together, and it’s not so strange to have read 115 books as of this point in time.

As for movies, baseball season and the advent of the DVR has cut back on that tremendously, but if I can find time to watch two episodes of Mad Men in an evening, what’s a 90 minute movie? I could, in theory, probably watch a movie a day if I didn’t give it my full attention. I just enjoy movies too much.

Music? Wicked easy - satellite radio plus having a CD going whenever the TV is off and I’m near a computer.

And why isn’t working on The Most Important Book In The World included more often? Seriously. Get back to work on that thing.

I know, I know. The Drama is nearly over, and the creative juices feel like they’re coming back again, which is a good sign for that. Hopefully the prodigal grandchild will understand…

4. What happened to all the Palin love in your blog as of late? Are you still as enthralled with her?

The love went the way of most other writing as of late. I just haven’t been enthralled with anything, the election included. As it stands, if my excitement in late August was an 11, it’s probably around a 9.75 right now - I’m still a huge fan, and I just don’t know how much to blame that rough Couric patch on her or the inept McCain campaign.

5. Stubbornness: a boon or bane? Explain. (Bonus points for a tie-in to your recent job situation.)

Depends on the context. It’s a boon in some ways because it keeps me grounded - my stubbornness goes a long way when I know I’m not completely off-kilter. I know I’m not insane when it comes to recent troubles, and it keeps me from going completely nuts in my head. It’s a bane in the same way, however, where if I wasn’t so stubborn, I could have saved myself a ton of mental anguish.

The whole library thing isn’t unique to my typical stubbornness. It’s probably the number one cause of my inaction on many areas of my personal life, and probably gets mistaken for apathy in a lot of areas. I need to overcome it.

6. WHY SO SERIOUS?

All that time in the asylum…

I say “weekend” as if I’m not just feverishly trying to recap life in general since I’ve had no desire to write much of anything. But that’s slowly going away, I think. But anyway, less Sox talk and more real life…

1) I went to a children’s library conference on Thursday, and I’m amazingly glad I did:

a) It was held in Bethlehem/Littleton, NH, which is about 2 hours north of Manchester, through the White Mountains. I’m not a “ooh, nature” guy, but holy crap was it gorgeous. It was a pretty crappy day, but as I got to the mountains, you could see the clouds and fog rolling off the hills and mountains, and the foliage was pretty, and I could honestly pick up shop and move up that way for good if things were different in my life right now. Just such a perfect, gorgeous, beautiful area.

b) The conference was enlightening, both personally and professionally. I’ve gotten a bit of a reputation from other librarians with the authors and events I’ve been able to get, apparently, which was a very surprising and nice thing to hear, but each panel was just as interesting as well - one on autism and dealing with autistic kids in the library was great, but my favorite was the Native American materials presentation, which really spoke to my personal vendetta against bad nonfiction in children’s collections. The whole day was really great in that regard.

The whole thing was a very uplifting experience for me.

2) Dodgeball didn’t go so well in week two, but I did nail someone in the babymaker, so that’s worth something.

3) I took Friday off, and went to meet the wonderful, amazing Jon Scieszka on Saturday:

It’s always wonderful when a guy you’ve admired for 20 years ends up being even more awesome than you could have thought. In the picture is fellow librarian friend Jackie, who joined us on the excursion. We got to talk to Scieszka for a good 5 minutes before he spoke, and he signed a couple things for me and posed for a picture. Wicked down to earth, amazingly funny - he has a Norm MacDonald-style delivery which is just hysterical - and really someone I’m happy is cool, and makes me appreciate his work that much more. Really wonderful stuff.

4) Yesterday was D&D, first time in a month. Wow, did I miss it - a really crazy battle with some undead dragon newborns, some crazy challenges, and the afternoon really flew by. Every session becomes more and more fascinating, which is great. Two more weeks? Really?

5) Currently obsessed with the following:

a) 30 Rock. We’re all caught up, finally. Talk about a wickedly funny show. Anything that can make Al Gore fun is fine by me.

b) Anathem by Neal Stephenson. A less talented author wouldn’t be able to make me care about monks who study math and philosophy, but there you have it. Rick has been trying to get me to read Snow Crash essentially since the day I met him, and I may have to bump that up considerably.

c) Mega Man 9. No video game hates you quite the way MM9 does. Yet I can’t stop torturing myself.

d) Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis. The CD isn’t anything special, except that every song feels as if it’s better than the song before it, and you’re disappointed when it’s over. That means something, right?

e) E. L. Fudge cookies. The double stuff variety. Yeah. Cookies shaped like elves are my anti-drug.

This weekend, too my knowledge, we have nothing planned. I’m looking forward to a late-night High School Musical 3 and a lot of sleeping.

…but my goodness is my wife’s new haircut gorgeous or what:

I’ve generally always known that I picked a good one, but it’s always fun to get a new reminder about how damn cute she is, too.

…that I have no clue as to whether I can remember everything.

1) So remember that short film I was in? It made its debut at Lumen Eclipse last weekend, and apparently to pretty good acclaim. I have a copy of it, there was one on DailyMotion that doesn’t exist anymore, and when I am able to share it with you all, I will, because I think it’s worth seeing - it’s offbeat, it’s a fun Nancy Drew homage, and if you hate it, well, it’s only 60 seconds out of your time. It’s worth noting that I’m on screen for roughly .75 seconds, which is a new record for any sort of film presentation, and thus makes my role as “The Pianist” of similar substance to Dame Judi Dench’s Oscar-winning turn in Shakespeare in Love. Just sayin’.

2) A couple weeks ago, Rick and Mark came up for a long weekend. It was essentially like old college times all over again, which was exactly what was needed and a good time. We hit the Anna Maria alumni weekend pub night - it’s my 5 year reunion this year, which is scary in so many ways. Saw a lot of people I didn’t expect, a few I did, and I’m honestly glad I went. The rest of the weekend went smoothly except for the amount of money I spent on food and the fact that my 360 hates EA games.

3) Dodgeball started up this week. A solid W for The Ocho, and I didn’t play half bad, either. I forgot how much I missed it, too - good competition is fun, and the team’s a pretty solid good time, too. I wish I could be one of those people who can hit the gym 4 times a week or whatever, but I can’t even blog regularly. But I feel great tonight, even if the tops of my thighs are absolutely on fire from the running around.

4) With my time at the library coming to a close, I’ve been trying to get myself set up better at the Manchester Library, which means navigating through their new system and getting used to the kinks, especially from a patron side as opposed to the librarian side. Instead of getting into the nitty gritty details without knowing the specifics, I’ll say this much - every so often, I’ll tell Ann how sad it makes me that I simply will never get to read all the books I want to. I’ve read over 100 this year alone, so it’s not as if I’m a reading slacker - it’s just that a) I know my list at Manchester is about 60 titles deep right now, b) it could be doubled if I wanted to take an hour and play around with it, and c) that doesn’t even start getting into the books that the library doesn’t have and, scarier, probably can’t get.

My literary holy grail at the moment is Zen in the Art of Slaying Vampires. I’m not paying $44 for a used book on Amazon, and even weirder is that no library shows as having it on WorldCat. I may never even see this book in the, uh, paper flesh in my lifetime, never mind get to read it. It has apparently been optioned as a film (yeah, that’s right - not that anyone’s ever seen the book or anything), which bodes well, but still, this book is essentially the story of my life when it comes to books. Not that I won’t have hundreds of others to read instead, of course, but still.

5) Related to the above, I’ve tried LibraryThing and couldn’t really get into it. I tried the iRead application on Facebook and found it difficult. I did GoodReads and got annoyed. Finally, I’ve found a web-based book program I actually like - Shelfari! I know it doesn’t do much new with certain things as perhaps the others I’ve tried have, but I love the interface and this just feels easier. I don’t know if I’ll keep up with it - after all, I’ve read over 400 books in the last 3 years, and I can’t normally remember what I read last week without keeping it written down somewhere - but if you’re unhappy with your other ones or whatever, friend me over there and check it out.

6) I feel like the only human being in the world who doesn’t understand Twitter.

7) At this point, I think the best move is to NOT talk about the Red Sox in fear that it might, like, bring Mike Timlin into a close game or something.

8) Finally, I can’t decide which one of these videos is more awesome, so enjoy them both:

I quit my job today.

Yes, it was a good move for me. Yes, I’m going to miss being a librarian, but I was missing my basic sanity even more at this point. Details as I can provide them, but a) it’s the right thing to do, and b) if you’re hiring, let me know.