Meme - Fours

Dylan tagged me with this meme...

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Laboratory Glassware Washer
2. Census Bureau Interviewer
3. Adjunct History Instructor
4. Librarian

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. The Great Escape
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. The Longest Yard (original)
4. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Four places I have lived:

1. Heidelberg, Mississippi
2. Laurel, Mississippi
3. Raymond, Mississippi
4. Clinton, Mississippi
(I'm just counting places where I've established residency, so it's not particularly varied...)

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Iron Chef
2. Celebrity Poker Showdown
3. Inside the Actors Studio
4. Jeopardy!

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Lake Tahoe area (Reno, Stateline, NV; Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, and Truckee, CA)
2. Scandinavia/Baltic area (Riga, Latvia; Stockholm, Sweden)
3. The American Southwest (based in Albuquerque with side trips to Santa Fe, Taos, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, etc.)
4. San Francisco Bay Area (based in Los Altos with side trips to Carmel, Palo Alto, and San Francisco)

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. Salmon (prepared in different ways)
2. Chicken and Dumplings
3. Smoked Turkey
4. Corn and Crab Bisque

Four websites I visit daily:

1. The Clarion-Ledger
2. Jackson Free Press
3. Bookslut
4. CNN

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Australia
2. Japan
3. Traveling around the Baltic and Scandinavian countries again.
4. Vienna

Four bloggers I am tagging:

1. The Rev
2. Steve
3. D Trane
4. The Diplomat

It's Friday Night & I'm Home...

I seriously considered going out tonight; however, I'm just too tired.

The past few days have been hectic. I'd love nothing more than to go out and do something. I had been under the weather earlier this month and couldn't go out.

When I can't go out and be with friends, that depresses me. It's been nearly a month since I've been out with friends (not counting book club). Between being sick, helping out in various ways relating to the college's upcoming SACS reaffirmation, going to a conference (admittedly fun, but also tiring), and doing more and more at the library, which in turn becomes more exhausting, I've been a busy man.

Now, I'm sleepy... very sleepy.

Is there another convention I can attend?

I'm joking, I think. At least, I hope I am.

I made it back to the library this morning.

I had a lot of books waiting for me to work my interlibrary loan magic. We don't normally send out a lot of books daily, but books piled up since I was at ALA Midwinter from Friday to Tuesday. I brought a little of this upon myself because I had made arrangements to send requests to the people at the circulation desk as well as other college librarians.

Needless to say, I did too good of a job. I had quite a few books waiting for me that needed to be sent off to other libraries. There were also quite a few books we had borrowed from other libraries that needed to be returned. I spent about half of my workday getting materials ready to be sent. I got about two-thirds of them shipped. I still have a few books I need to ship back, but I can get those sent off tomorrow.

I helped read some of the college's narratives this afternoon. I've mentioned a little of what I've been doing in previous posts. While Ali recently mentioned some of her favorite words, it'll be a while before I look upon the word "reaffirmation" with great fondness. It looks like I'll be doing some more reading of the narratives tomorrow.

The Dead White Male of the Month

Melville Dewey

San Antonio, Day Five

I'm at Cups in Fondren relaxing.

I woke up a little before 7 a.m. in a San Antonio hotel room. I got ready for breakfast & saw that I still had a little time. and so I did a little packing.

At 8:30, I went to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast with my director and supervisor. We finished at 9 a.m. I went back to the hotel room and finished packing. I made it to the front desk a little before 9:30. When I checked out, my director showed up to tell me that our taxi had arrived.

We loaded the luggage and got in the taxicab. The driver took us to the airport-- chatting with us all the while about Mississippi casinos.

We made it to the San Antonio airport at not quite 10. It took us a few minutes to get everything checked in, but once done. Everything was cool.

We had a little over an hour to kill. I finished reading The Known World and started working on At Swim-Two-Birds in earnest. I'll be making an official announcement on the book club site about it in a few days, but it will be the next book we'll be reading. I talked to Maggie about it less than an hour ago. Because it had taken a week for my copy to arrive, I wanted to be sure there'd be copies on hand at Lemuria when I announced the next book.

San Antonio to Houston is a short flight, but we only had 35 minutes to make the flight to Jackson. We were extremely fortunate in that the plane we were flying in from San Antonio would be the same one we would take to Jackson. We had a chance to get something to eat and drink.

We arrived in Jackson just before 3 this afternoon. While waiting for my hanging bag at baggage claim, an older friend of the family from my hometown was waiting on a friend. She was recognizable, but I'd not seen her in at least ten years not since when her son was attending graduate school at Mississippi State at the same time I was. We chatted for a little while until her friend's luggage arrived and then she left.

I left baggage claim and my uncle was in his SUV right in front. I put the luggage in the back and we drove off to his business in Richland where my car was parked.

I'll be back at work tomorrow morning at 8.

San Antonio, Day Four

I got up this morning & headed over to the hotel restaurant to get some breakfast. My director and supervisor were there. I sat at their table.

I asked them how their day went. My director had been looking forward to the ALA President's speech, but was very disappointed. Apparently and for some strange reason which must be important to the ALA higher-ups, the President had talked on and on and on about Cuba. I have no idea why-- and since I was eating a sirloin at Steers and Beers whilst chatting with my pal TR at the time-- I can't speculate-- well, I can but it would be uninformed speculation.

I have no idea why Cuba is important to the ALA people who attend these meetings annually-- or even twice annually. It seems to reason though that the ALA should pay more attention to matters affecting libraries and librarians in the United States-- working to help New Orleans is a good thing-- I've not seen much on what ALA is doing to help Mississippi libraries though recently. The ALA was good in letting people know about how Mississippi coastal libraries were affected in the aftermath and did start a rebuilding fund. Also, it's great that other libraries have adopted Mississippi libraries. I just feel though that Mississippi libraries just seem to be forgotten by the ALA. At least that's my perception.

Then again, my opinion doesn't matter much to the ALA since I just attend conferences every eight years. David Durant wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education back in September about librarians being predominantly a liberal profession. Speaking as a bipartisan voter, I'd say librarians are more libertarian than liberal.

The majority of the email messages I had been getting from them have been reminders about voting for various ALA officer positions. I've not voted in a single ALA election because: 1) I don't know these people; 2) No one I know has run for one of these positions or has recommended to me a previous candidate. I've considered leaving ALA. Perhaps if I had witnessed the speech itself, I probably would not have renewed my membership. As of the moment, though, I'm a bit irked.

Another thing that irks me as well as other librarians-- the Librarian in Black has gotten into some detail about a new ALA e-newsletter. She and Jessamyn West don't like it. I don't like it either for similar reasons. I will be unsubscribing from this perquisite.

Back to the subject at hand...

After breakfast, my director, supervisor, and I went to the Convention Center. I brought along an Orange OCLC Bag filled with library swag that I deemed to heavy to take with me on the flight. I planned to go to the UPS store in the Convention Center and mail it home. The line was long though, and so I decided to wander in the exhibits area for a little while in the hopes that the line would shorten sometime.

I saw some vendors I'd not seen before in this trip-- one of them a regular from the Mississippi Vending Circuit. He's going to be working a little more hands-on in Mississippi this year and so I handed him my business card and told him the best time to contact me. I also ran into a vendor and she went over some changes that were going on with their database. This convention has been especially helpful as far as going over future changes.

I wandered around some more. I made a second pass by Dark Horse Comics. This book will be making its way to our collection. I also got a hold of some advanced reading copies of books-- James Patterson, Tim Dorsey, et al. I also grabbed another bag so I could carry all these books.

I finally found the Unshelved booth. Unshelved is a hilarious web comic strip centering on library workers and libraries. I bought this book and this shirt. I might just wear it during one of the days of our state conference up in Tunica later this year.

At about noon while a lot of librarians were waiting in line for free HarperCollins books, I went over to the UPS store. The line went out the door, but was still relatively short. I waited for about ten minutes. I rearranged the way the books were set in the second bag and placed both bags in the UPS box. The bags fit perfectly in the box. What would have cost me $18 cost me not quite $23 for three times as many materials. That's definitely deserving of a Woot!

I left UPS and went back to the exhibits area. I saw a couple more vendors and got some information from them that might just be helpful.

A little before 1 p.m. I began walking to the Alamo. I toured the building and grounds. The area's smaller than you would think-- especially if you're not familiar with San Antonio like I am.

After I finished touring the Alamo, I went to Rivercenter Mall. I had a Blizzard at the Dairy Queen and wandered around aimlessly.

At 3:30, I decided to take a ride on the boats that travel on the river in the Riverwalk area. It was cool. The boat captain was entertaining and I learned some things about the city.

When the boat ride was over, I walked over to Bretano's and scanned through some of the new W.E.B. Griffin book until 4:45. I then walked over to Boudro's and met up with my director and supervisor. My director had made reservations there at 5 p.m.

The coconut shrimp was very good. The guacamole was fresh-- the server prepared it for us at the table. I also had some cappuccino. After dinner, we took a trolley car back to the hotel.

We leave tomorrow. We fly from San Antonio to Houston and then to Jackson.

San Antonio, Day Three

Today was a relatively easy day for me at ALA Midwinter after going from one place to another and attending programs. I got up at 8:30 this morning-- still awfully early in the day for me & finally got ready to go to the conference around 10:15. Before I left my room, my friend TR called. We made arrangements to meet up at 4 p.m. at Rivercenter.

I left the room and headed to the front desk. I saw my director and supervisor. My director asked if I'd eaten yet. I hadn't. I was planning on having breakfast before I went to the Convention Center. She mentioned having breakfast at the Guenther House, and so we took a taxi from the hotel and had breakfast.

It was raining in San Antonio earlier this morning, but stopped by noon. The weather was still cool and overcast. We took a taxi from the Guenther House. My director and supervisor were going one place before they went to the Convention Center while I planned to head straight to the Convention Center.

I planned to be there for about an hour before I had to take a conference shuttle to another hotel. I spent more time than expected in the exhibits area. Next thing I knew, it was 2 p.m.-- and the session I planned to attend began at 1:30. I figured since I missed that much of the session already that I might as well go around the exhibits area for the next 90 or so minutes, and so I did.

I left the Conference Center a little after 3:30 and made my way to where we were supposed to meet at Rivercenter at 3:50. TR had called to say he was running late. A few minutes later, he called again and mentioned where he was at-- another part of Rivercenter. I had walked by there on the way to where we were supposed to meet, and so I walked to where he was.

We ate at a steak/BBQ place called Steers and Beers in Rivercenter. We chatted for about an hour-- maybe a little bit more. We saw the end of the Steelers-Broncos game on TV. When we finished, TR offered to drive me back to the hotel. We drove by the Alamo. I've not visited it yet. I plan to do so tomorrow.

TR dropped me off at the hotel a little after six. I watched the NFC championship game. I've got to sort through the library swag and choose what I need to ship and what I think I can take back with me on the flights back to Jackson.

San Antonio, Day Two

I got up early-- really early-- for a Saturday-- 7:30 in the morning.

I made my way to the hotel restaurant an hour later. After breakfast, I took a convention bus to the convention center. I made a pretty quick run-through of the exhibits.

I got some library swag-- including some cool posters as well as some cool books-- this book and that book I believe I'm going to see about getting see processed by the college and put in the library's collection.

I got a couple posters at the Marvel Comics booth & signed up for some comp Anime DVDs-- getting a couple volumes of Manga too.

One company the library does a lot of business with had a luncheon meeting. I didn't know about it until today. A rep invited me this morning to the lunch.

I attended one presentation in the morning and then went to the luncheon meeting. I saw and sat at the same table with two people I know-- a director and librarian with different Mississippi colleges.

After the luncheon meeting, I walked to another presentation and finally called up TR, a friend who lives here in San Antonio. We may meet up sometime Sunday or Monday.

After the presentation, I went back to the exhibits. I ran into a couple people I sat with on the flight from Houston-- a flight that looked to be predominantly filled with librarians and others who were going to Midwinter.

I made it back to the hotel at 5 p.m. and relaxed for a little while. I hitched a ride in the hotel's shuttle van with some other people who were going downtown.

I wandered around the Riverwalk area for a little while. I finally decided to get a bite to eat at The Republic of Texas. I sat at a table outside right by the river. It was good to relax if only for a little while.

I then called for a taxi and made it back to the hotel.

San Antonio, Day One

I am in San Antonio for the next few days for the ALA Midwinter Conference. My director, supervisor, and I flew out of Jackson shortly after noon. We arrived in San Antonio at about 3:30 p.m. We hitched a ride in a Holiday Inn courtesy van that was intended to carry only a couple of airline people-- a pilot & flight attendant. I saw the van right as we were leaving the baggage pickup area. I walked across the street and asked the driver if they were going to the Holiday Inn we were staying and he was, and so I motioned my director and supervisor over to the van. We put our luggage in the van and were driven to the hotel.

I checked in and entered my hotel room a little before 4:30. I checked my email. I got an email related to the college's SACS reaffirmation work. Fortunately, this question could be answered pretty easily. The requested documentation is available on the Internet-- I hope, anyway. I had asked my director and she had mentioned that the more recent the data, the better.

I didn't realize how painful and tedious SACS work can be. In the course of a year, I've helped write and edit narratives, ensured that citations followed editorial guidelines that we were given, requested books consulted for SACS work via interlibrary loan, been an independent reader of all of the college's narratives-- not just those responses concerning with libraries and learning resources, and acted as a researcher.

Most of my day at the library yesterday was spent researching articles relevant to reaffirmation. Technically, I had the day off today, but since one of my responsibilities is interlibrary loan I checked OCLC firstsearch this afternoon when I arrived in San Antonio to see if the library had received any requests.

There were a couple of requests. I denied one. I think the requesting library in question mistyped the OCLC ID. One request was for a book that my college does hold. I sent an email to some of my colleagues to be on the lookout for the book. I've asked them to let me know when books arrive to be ready to be shipped either to the libraries that have requested to borrow them or to the libraries that we've borrowed books from as well as articles that I'm expecting from other libraries that were requested by a faculty member.

Another faculty member needed a book we borrowed from another library. We got the books for him. We've renewed a couple of them once already-- one of the books was a little slow in arriving.

Later that afternoon, about 5:30, we went to the Gonzalez Convention Center. We had preregistered. We just needed to get our badges, which we did. We also walked around the exhibits area and then went back to the hotel to put some stuff back up before going to this Mexican place called La Margarita.

Good food. Very filling. Lots of musicians.

I'm back at the hotel. I'm tired. It's been a long day, and I'll be attending a couple of meetings tomorrow and I'll wander around the exhibits area as well I suppose.

Bush: A Zork Adventure

Defective Yeti has a hilarious take on the Presidency as a Zork game.

Thanks go to Harry at Kudzufiles for the heads-up.

Dental Happenings

I had a dental appointment yesterday. I needed a crown. Fortunately, the tooth in question had already had a root canal so I wasn't in any pain.

I drove from my mother's house. For the past year when I've had dental procedures, I've brought my iPod with me. There's nothing like listening to Metallica, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, et al while breathing high octane nitrous oxide and having dental work done.

I forgot to bring my iPod with me to yesterday's appointment. I think my dentist was slightly disappointed. Instead of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, it was contemporary Christian music (my dentist was at one time-- don't know if he still is-- a Promise Keeper) and, well, drugs... or at least nitrous oxide and three shots of anaesthetic.

I did, however, bring the book I'm reading for Book Club. I had read a couple chapters, but by the time I was on Chapter 3, the nitrous was taking effect & Alice (a character in the book) was making a heck of lot sense to me!

Now, I have a temporary crown on the tooth in question. I've got another appointment in a couple of weeks to install the permanent crown. I may bring along the iPod.

Being a Librarian: More Stressful than being a Police Officer or Firefighter in the UK

Not surprising to me at all. Most people think that being a librarian is a low-stress job. It's not. Here's a BBC report.

Thanks to Jessamyn West for bringing this to my attention.

Wimped out on going out...

As much as I would love to go out & decompress after the rigors of this week, it's just too freakin' cold for me to go out since I'm just getting over this sinus crud-- not to mention there being so much going on in the next few days. Another consideration: my mother would not be happy if I showed up at Canebrake very much under the weather. She doesn't want to get sick. Neither does my uncle.

I think the next time I'm going out at night will be Tuesday.

Friday the 13th

Today is a paraskevidekatriaphobic's nightmare.

This week has been hectic for me. I was too sick to go out this past weekend. I also took Monday off to recuperate some more. I came back to work on Tuesday and have been busily working.

I worked the reference desk and did some interlibrary loan work for most of the day Tuesday.

On Wednesday, there was some more reference work, some interlibrary loan requests to take care of, and perusing some acquired books to see if any of them were considered reference books. I also had reaffirmation readings to do that day. Last year, a committee I was on prepared some narratives for our upcoming reaffirmation of accreditation. Last week, our committee was asked to read all the narratives. We were asked to make suggestions and comments when necessary.

We started last Friday, worked Wednesday, and then today. There's a lot of narratives to read. We've made comments. I'll be busy on this project for pretty much the remainder of the month and the next month as well.

Yesterday, I worked the reference desk for most of the day. I also worked on some interlibrary loan stuff and read over some narratives. Today, it's been narrative reading in addition to interlibrary loan. I've also been getting ready to attend ALA Midwinter in San Antonio.

Fortunately, I've been feeling better the past couple days. I may head out tonight and have a little fun. I'm heading over to visit my mother in Canebrake sometime tomorrow. Her wireless isn't currently working, and so when I arrive I'll be doing a little troubleshooting.

Monday's a holiday, and so I don't have to be at work. I will, however, be at my dentist's. And yes, I will be having the Nitrous Oxide.

Some final notes:

I added three blogs to the ever-expanding Ready Reference sidebar. Rick Cleveland, being in my opinion the best newspaper columnist in the state, doesn't really need an introduction but is getting one anyway. I've been a longtime reader of his work. As previously noted in this blog, I gave him an idea for a column last year.

I consider Ali Greggs' columns a must-read. Since the Jackson Free Press started personal blogs for writers and columnists, interested citizens, and elected officials, her JFP blog meets the standards set forth by her column. And yes, readers of my blog may also have noticed that I already had a link to her personal blog.

I also added Tom Head's JFP blog to the roll. I've never met the gentleman, but he's brought up enough points of interest that I also included a link to his blog.

Back at Work today...

I was under the weather this past weekend-- sinus congestion, intermittent sore throat, with occasional fever.

I didn't go out any except to eat, get groceries and medicine, and for an eye examination that was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon.

I didn't feel quite 100 percent Sunday evening, and so I called in sick for Monday. Fortunately, I already had someone scheduled to work for me last night. I was planning on going to the SPQ signing at Lemuria, but I felt too terrible to even do that. I even forgot to call over there to see if they could get a couple books inscribed for my sister and my friend K-- their birthdays are later this month.

The Cruelty of Nature...

Harry is sad today.

Apparently, a heron seeing a garden pond is not unlike the feeling a lot of people have when the Krispy Kreme "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign is on.

My Old Blog Template Went Ker-Blooie!

And I lost all my links to the right earlier this afternoon. Thank goodness for Google cache and View Source. Just copy & paste and everything's working pretty decently. I don't know about the bulleted book cover images though.

Midnight's Children

For the past couple of months, the Book Club has been reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.



I finished reading it Monday-- a day before our final discussion of the book. It would have been earlier, but I left it at work before I left for the New Year's holiday. I thought the book was really good in the beginning and the middle, but the end of the book was lacking.

Tuesday night, we met up at the India House on I-55. We socialized, talked about the book, and ate. Being a newbie to Indian cuisine (the last time I had had Indian food was almost eight years ago-- also at India House), I was wondering what was good and what wasn't.

My friends from college football chatrooms and sites who read my blog might be frightened (or worse for me-- have their suspicions confirmed) because I ordered the Mughlai Ghost. I didn't want anything too spicy.

DT has chosen the next book. It is The Known World by Edward P. Jones. It won a Pulitzer and isn't a really long book. We've got the book here at the library and I've checked it out. I might be reading it while flying to and from San Antonio for ALA Midwinter.

The Week in Review

I've been a bit busy over the past few days. I had to work for a couple days last week. I have to be back at work tomorrow.

The past week went well I believe. After working on Monday, I got a haircut at Northpark Barber Shop and then went to Cups to relax and read a little of Midnight's Children. When I arrived, I saw that TD, FP, and Otherjay were there. We chatted for a little while and made arrangements to meet later downtown.

I read a couple chapters of the book and then went downtown and met up with TD & OJ. We talked for awhile and then went to Bucky's. I had to be at work at 8, so I couldn't stay too long and left just at the same time as L'Archie arrived.

It was good to see OJ. I'd not seen him since this past summer. The way my schedule's been I wasn't sure if I'd get a chance this past week.

After working Tuesday, I went to Cups for a little while and then to Hal & Mal's for the NMAS show. I got there really early. I like to get there early enough to get a bite to eat and a good parking spot, and so I did.

I ran into Chris Chew before the concert-- I've mentioned this before, but he knows me as the Librarian. Every time he sees me he calls me Librarian. We exchanged pleasantries and then he went back to the bus to take a nap.

After I finished eating, I walked across the street to Don's. I had three beers and relaxed until the doors opened.

I went back across the street to Hal & Mal's a little before 9 p.m. I already knew it was a young crowd. I didn't see any of the Jacksonian regulars who normally show up. I saw some people from Vicksburg who've been at previous NMAS shows in Jackson, but it was predominantly a college-age crowd.

Burnside Exploration opened. I've heard them perform before and they've previously opened for the Allstars. They put on a great show.

The Allstars came on at 10... They opened with songs from Electric Blue Watermelon. Luther was playing "Mississippi Boll Weevil" with a cigar box guitar. The only other person in recent years I've seen use a cigar box guitar has been Richard Johnston.

After "Boll Weevil," Luther switched guitars. It seemed like the first part of the show was all-EBW, and then songs from previous albums were in the second part. I believe there were two EBW songs in the second part of the show. One was "Bang Bang Lulu." I cannot remember if the second song was "Moonshine" or something else.

Near the end of the show, a petite college girl is trying to get to the front, but she can't see the show. I figure-- that hell, I've seen the Allstars perform before and have been up close to the front (and at the front, a few times) so I offer to let her sit on my shoulders so she can see the show without obstruction.

A few minutes afterwards, two guys get the same idea, but they had a more difficult time since the guy that was on the shoulders was at least twice the weight of Petite College Girl.

She was able to see NMAS perform the last song as well as the encore songs. She was also able shake hands with Chris and Cody (I believe) when they finished their encores.

Afterwards Petite College Girl's friend offered to help me get her down, but there were still bunches of people around (and beer bottles on the floor), and so I said that we'd go over to the seats at the side (think seating like at a men's dormitory common area in front of a TV). So I walked over there, sat down, and she then sat down. I think Petite College Girl had fun. She thanked me after all.

I talked to Chris and his cousin briefly after the show. I've seen her at previous shows and she also comes on to the stage and sings "Freedom Highway" at Jackson shows as well as the show I saw early last year at Starkville.

Afterwards, I went across the street to Martin's. I was parched. I didn't have anything to drink during the show, so I had some diet coke. I talked to some friends and relaxed while people were leaving the area. I finally left Martin's around 1:45.

I went to bed at about 3 a.m. About six hours later, I get a phone call from my dentist's office reminding me about my 3 p.m. appointment in Laurel. I go back to sleep for another hour and a half.

I get up at 10:30. I check the email. I surf the net. I take a shower and run some errands in Clinton. I go to the bank. I go to a local Chinese all-you-can-eat place and eat.

I make it back to the house at 12:30 p.m. I pack up stuff and get ready to head off for Laurel. I leave shortly after 1 p.m.

I stop by the McDonald's in Magee a little before 2 p.m. I get a Filet-o-Fish, large fries, and a large Chocolate Shake. I take Highway 28 to Laurel.

I drive through Mize, Taylorsville, Summerland, and Gitano. I drive by the turn off to the farm where my mother grew up in Jones County. I drive through Soso. I pull on to Highway 84 and then take a left at Highway 15. I turn right at Old Amy (that's a road, not a woman).

Dental appointment complete, I make arrangements for another dental appointment this month for a crown. I then drive to K & T's house-- I've known them for almost eight years now. I give them belated Xmas gifts. I visit with them for an hour or so and then make my way to my mother's house in Canebrake.

I arrive at Canebrake a little after 6:45 that evening. I'm pretty much lazy for the next few days. I do some errands around the house, but other than that-- not much else.

I leave my mother's house a little after 5:30 New Year's Eve. She knows I'm heading up to attend a party, and she got really concerned especially after the obligatory New Years Drunk Driving Story appeared on NBC Nightly News. She asks me to send her an email when I made it back from the party.

I make it to Clinton a little after 7:30 p.m. I get ready for the party. I don suit and tie and drive to Jackson. I arrive a little after 8:30 p.m. The party starts at 8. I'm not the first person there, but believe I'm one of the first five.

I see the Glamorous One. She-- of course-- looks glamorous. I see Jaysus. I see Mary. Marcia. Puggy. The Giant. I see a lot of my friends and acquaintances. I have fun. More friends and acquaintances and friends and acquaintances of friends show up. TD, LA, DT, Bucky. As normal, I don't do a lot of talking-- when I do, it's mostly one-on-one.

Midnight. It's 2006. Happy New Year.

I leave the party at 1:15. I'm one of the last people to leave. Most people had left by 1 a.m. I make it back to the house a little before 1:45. I surf the net. Yes, I send my mother an email.

I go to bed at 3:45. I sleep. I wake up at 12. I surf the net. I get a bite to eat. I have to be at work tomorrow.

On Tuesday, there's convocation and book club.

On Wednesday, I'll be working a bit later-- we've got to stay open later because of registration. I'll either be working registration or covering for one of my colleagues.

I've got a doctor's appointment Thursday afternoon. I've got an eye exam after work, and so I'll drive over to Ridgeland.

Friday? Who knows?