A Busy Day

I'm not much of a morning person but one thing exercise has done is to make me prone to go to bed a little earlier. I made over to the gym at 6 a.m. and rode the stationary bike for a little over a half hour.

I finished reading Children of Men this morning. It's a very quick read. I'm somewhat surprised at the ending, but it makes sense.

I arrived at the library shortly before 7:45. I needed to get ready to deliver a lecture to a class about some of the library's electronic resources. I think I did pretty well considering that it was an eight o'clock class. I'm still not much of a fan of mornings.

Shortly afterwards, I attended the birthday party of a co-worker. I had some pie and tortilla chips with salsa relish.¹ I was then at the reference desk before I went to lunch.

After lunch, there was another bibliographic instruction session along with interlibrary loan requests to fulfill. I'll be off duty in about 45 minutes. I'll head back to the gym and exercise some more-- I've had too much dessert, and I purchased more girl scout cookies.

Mmmm.... Tagalongs...



_________
¹The cake and divinity I had eaten yesterday was left over from the birthday party of another co-worker held on Monday. I didn't attend that party since I was in Hattiesburg at the time.

M-O-O-N, That spells Spelling Bee!

I saw this article on the Clarion-Ledger site. It mentions that Mississippi Public Broadcasting will televise the state bee next month. Laws, yes!

Eleven

I arrived at work about 45 minutes ago. I'm in my office nibbling on leftover birthday cake and divinity, drinking coffee, and currently listening to Def Leppard via Pandora.

I didn't get much sleep last night. I might have gotten four hours. I got out of bed at 5:45 and went to the gym to exercise. I took it easy on the exercise bike. I was reading Children of Men this morning.

It's a pretty quick read. I just haven't had the time to devote to it. I spent 36 minutes on the bike this morning. Apparently if I read a book while biking, I don't burn as many calories as I normally would while biking for 30 minutes. Since I like to try to burn some 300 calories on the bike in a half-hour session, I biked for a little bit longer.

I've not exercised since Friday morning, but was happy when I weighed myself this morning. 231 pounds. I've lost eleven pounds since I've begun the diet and exercise. I'd say that's pretty good.

I've got book club this evening, but I've not read to the point where I'm supposed to be. I think after work I'll head back to the gym and bike for another 30 to 60 minutes. I should have read the first part of the book by then.

Bounty Hunters, Cary Hudson, etc.

Yesterday, I was reading the Clarion-Ledger website and noticed this story. The guy in question was a year behind me at Heidelberg Academy for a few years, but transferred some 25 years ago before I think what would have been his freshman year.

The last time I saw him was about five years ago at the Cock of the Walk at the reservoir. I was eating there with friends. I chatted with him for a couple of moments.

I'm currently in Canebrake. I'm visiting my mother for the weekend. I'm supposed to meet up with a friend in about a half hour or so. She's taking a GRE practice test. I suppose we'll go out, have some coffee, and if she's hungry, we might go out to eat.

Cary Hudson is performing at Pasta's in Laurel tonight. I may head up that way if the weather's not too bad and catch his performance. I used to live in Laurel and have many friends living there, but I've never been to Pasta's. I might just check it out.

Since I've begun my diet and exercise, I've lost about ten pounds. I've not had a regular cola or sweetened iced tea in over a month. I will admit to having had two to three lattes.

I've been drinking diet colas-- either Diet Coke or Diet Dr Pepper-- and water for the most part. I have been known to imbibe in some beer, wine, or cider (Hornsby's usually) at times.

As far as exercise, I stick to what got me down ten pounds-- the stationary bike. I set it on Forest Ride, level 10 or 11 (and sometimes level 12), and bike for thirty minutes while watching one of the sports or news channels at the gym. It's a nice way to burn 300 calories. Sometimes, if I feel like I'm up to it and have enough water, I'll bike for another 30 minutes and burn off 300 more calories.

Thursday, I burned 900 calories on the bike-- 300 in the morning, 600 at night. I believe I burned off around 2,400 calories total this past week-- along with the 900 on Thursday, 300 on Sunday, 600 Tuesday, 300 Wednesday, and another 300 Friday. I'll head back to the gym probably on Tuesday.

Other than that, there's not much else. Mississippi State just lost at Georgia, so now the Bulldogs are back at .500 in conference play.

I may be heading up to Starkvegas next weekend. I've not seen my pla C in some time. We might catch a bit of the Alabama-MSU basketball game, play some 2007 EA Sports Football, and shoot the breeze.

Say Goodbye to Yesterday

I spoke to my mother on the telephone this evening and she mentioned that a couple of people I knew had died. One of them was three years ahead of me at Heidelberg Academy and Mississippi State. Here's one of the obituaries. There's not much to the Clarion-Ledger obituary.

When she was at Heidelberg Academy, she composed a song-- the title of which is this blog entry's heading-- that I know was performed at graduation events at the school for at least the next few years. I don't know if it still is.

Chuck Norris vs. Jack Bauer

Who wins?

Crunch 'N Munch & Flow

Saturday night, I hung out with Trane and FP. It's good to be with friends. We relaxed and saw Hustle & Flow whilst eating Crunch 'N Munch.

Sunday, I exercised at the gym and then went to Fenian's for a little while. I saw people I knew-- an instructor at the college and the daughter of a retired co-worker. It was good to visit with them.

Yesterday, I relaxed. I didn't have to be at work until the afternoon. It was pretty quiet. Students studied. They also socialized.

I got up at 5:30 this morning and went to the gym. I skipped out Monday. I arrived a little late, so I just spent 30 minutes on the stationary bike. I did a little over nine miles.

I've gotten to the point where I like doing one particular program. I had started out with the steady heart rate, but didn't like it too much, so I switched to a different program that I prefer.

I opened up the library this morning. It was a pretty busy day for me. I had several interlibrary loan requests to fill. One of the requests is a rush order by an administrator that fortunately could be filled pretty quickly. And that means that the administrator and my director are happy. I also worked some on two other projects.

After work, Pezgirl and I went to the gym to exercise-- more stationary bike work for me. I biked nearly ten miles. I also saw some people I knew-- a couple of instructors from the college and a librarian from another local institution.

I needed the exercise. What with today being Fat Tuesday, I was very much the glutton-- shrimp etoufee, seafood gumbo, salad, green beans, carrots, and a slice of king cake for lunch. At least I burned away 600 calories on the stationary bike today.

If I wake up early enough tomorrow, I'll do some more work on the stationary bike before I head over to the library. Considering that I've had little sleep this week (I'm averaging maybe five hours a night), I might wait until work tomorrow afternoon to go to the gym.

Same Old Saturday Night?

I've got iTunes on Party Shuffle, and it must be in the mood for Sinatra and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. My Saturday has turned out to be a bit more lazier than I had anticipated.

I did some laundry and went to a Chinese buffet place to have some carbs before exercising. However, I didn't realize that the gym closed at 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

So, I'm back at the house. I think I'll head on out after a while. I don't know what I'll do. I may call up some friends and see what's happening. I know that Old Crow Medicine Show is performing at Hal & Mal's tonight, and I've thought about going, but I think not this time.

I may just relax. I might go to Cups, get some coffee... I don't know.

Hidden Persuasion

I'm listening to some Sinatra on iTunes. I've been keeping up with my exercises. It helps some that the gym I go to is between my house and where I work.

Sometimes I get up around 5:30 in the morning and exercise before I go to work. Sometimes I just exercise after work. Sometimes I do both-- especially since Pezgirl's schedule is such that she would rather dance her dances in the evenings.

I'm still riding the stationary bike and lifting some light weights trying to keep myself from overdoing it. I've become less and less of a night owl in the past couple of weeks.

Oh, and work? It's going well. I've been trying to work on some projects, but what with people being out because of conferences, illnesses, family matters, and other reasons, it becomes frustrating that I can't devote as much time to the projects as I would like.

Yesterday after work, I exercised for a little while with Pezgirl. Afterwards, I went to Fenian's to get a bite to eat and perhaps have a Gunness or two. I socialized some with people I know, but not all that much since I was a bit tired from doing forty minutes on the bike and lifting some weights. But it was a good tired, you know.

I left Fenian's at 10 p.m. I went over to Barnes & Noble and purchased a couple books that looked interesting and had a frappuccino. I then drove over to Commerce Street. I was at Hal & Mal's and Don's for a while. Goodman County and Tuff Luvs were performing at Don's. I saw friends-- including one from the college I didn't expect to see. I stayed for a while, but bailed a little while later. I was just too tired.

I considered going into Martin's, but needed sleep more. I must be getting old.

I think I'm going to get some lunch then call up Pezgirl about exercising this afternoon. She had asked me if I were planning on being here in the Jackson area all weekend long. Well, it looks like that I will be.

More Job Openings of the Month

Nunavut Public Library Services has three open positions:

Manager
Community Service Librarian
Systems Librarian

So where's Nunavut?

And Baker Lake?

Finally, here's a map of the library system.

Running Across These Posts Today

Red Tape Chronicles at MSNBC.com features two excellent posts focusing on some of the reasons why I no longer care for the online dating sites.

The February 14, 2006 entry.

The February 14, 2007 entry.

If I Were a Famous Leader, I Would Be...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I don't agree with this one.

If I Were a Classic Movie, I Would Be...

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Getting Ready

I've been in Hattiesburg the past few days. My mother's birthday was Friday. I visited her and intended to visit with some friends as well, but our schedules didn't quite work.

There's one friend who I've not seen in what must be well over a year. It would have been nice if we were able to visit. Cellphone conversations are cool, but visiting face-to-face-- whether at a coffee shop or sushi place-- is better.

Sigh. This is what happens when we have busy lives. This semester has already been pretty hectic. Two co-workers have been away for at least one week to attend that conference last month, and one of them had to be away last week and it looks like she's got to be away next week.

I'll be heading off to work pretty soon. One good thing about not having to be at work until 1:30 in the afternoon on Mondays is that I can relax to start off the Monday. The drive up highways 589 and 49 is also usually pretty peaceful-- no rush hour traffic to contend with like what I had to go through Friday afternoon after work.

The Deconstruction of Farish Street

The Clarion-Ledger has an article on the deconstruction of historic buildings on Farish Street. The first thing I thought of when I saw the headline was what sort of influence did Jacques Derrida have regarding this project?

National Gorilla Suit Day Revisited

Penn Jillette devoted one of his shows to National Gorilla Suit Day. Click this link to listen to the podcast. It's hilarious. Thanks again go to Neil Gaiman.

Stationary Thoughts

I'm in my office listening to Ahmad Jamal perform No Greater Love on Pandora. I've just had a meeting with a vendor representive and have some interlibrary loan materials that have arrived. It looks to be another busy day.

I had a quiet evening yesterday. After work, I went over to Lemuria to purchase not only my book club book, but also my mother's birthday present. I ran some errands and then made it back to the house.

Working out yesterday morning was pretty tiring. I went to bed at 11 p.m., which is early for me. I got out of bed at 5:30 this morning. I don't believe exercise has made me a morning person.¹ However, it was early and I didn't have anything else better to do, so I went to the gym.

I did about 19 miles on the stationary bike and lifted some weights.² I've got no problem biking,³ but will likely take it easy with the weights. I've lost a few pounds since I've begun my diet-- not much, but at least I'm not gaining.

_________
¹After all, I value my sleep.

²The 19 miles were completed in two separate thirty-minute sessions. Again, I lifted light weights.

³If I have a Diet Dr Pepper with me and am watching something interesting on any of the televisions in front of me such as ESPN's SportsCenter, I could bike for as long as I wish; however, the gym prefers people stay on the equipment for 30 minute periods.

Job Posting of the Month

While this position at this institution may not be as interesting as this opening I mentioned back in September, it looks to be something that would be challenging and rewarding. I'd almost feel like Mr. Chips or to be more precise Madam Pince.

This Morning

I got out of bed at 5 a.m., went eight miles on the stationary bike at the gym, opened up the library, did some interlibrary loan stuff, worked on a serials subscription, and am now listening to the Tony Bennett podcast in my office. I've got to be at the reference desk in a few minutes.

Politics and Education

Eric Clark has announced that he is not going to run again for Secretary of State in Mississippi. He used to represent the district adjacent to the one I lived in when I was younger. Clark and I also have graduate degrees in history from Mississippi State University and were mentored by the same professor.

The district where I resided when I was younger was represented by current House Appropriations Chair Johnny Stringer. Heidelberg was removed from his district when redistricting occurred in the 1990s.

My father knew both Clark and Stringer. He introduced me to Clark at the state Democratic Party convention in 1992. My father, at the time, was a county supervisor representing Jasper County. He'd always been interested in politics and the political process. He knew though that there was no way he was going to be a delegate to the national convention especially since he was a white male who voted for Jerry Brown.¹

As far as Stringer is concerned, my father ran against him for state representive in 1983. My father lost by about 80 votes in the runoff election. I don't believe Stringer has had a serious challenger ever since. My father was elected to be a county supervisor in 1991. Stringer represented a large portion-- if not all of Jasper County-- at that time, so obviously my father worked with him some on issues pertaining to the county. I've also had the occasion to see Stringer at a couple of functions and talk to him over the past few years, but not recently.

I also read this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Unlike instructors, being a librarian very much involves customer service. My family used to own a grocery store, so customer service is always emphasized. One issue I have with the article is that the writer makes the following statement:

For one thing, when students hear it, their first association is with that famous if not necessarily correct adage, "The customer is always right."

What I don't believe the writer recognizes is that the adage is not necessarily followed by businesses unless there's a reasonable doubt involved. For instance, I would not have gotten all my change back from Pizza Hut unless I had specifically requested that the business count how much money was in the drawer.

Also, like it or not, customer service works in that if demand exists for something-- whether it's more online classes and accelerated classes or a desire to take classes during non-traditional times such as winter break, then colleges need to address this demand. I don't think the writer intended to denigrate this idea, but offering more classes at different times and dates is another facet of customer service.

_________
¹I voted for Paul Tsongas in the Democratic primary and cast my vote for Ross Perot in the general election.

Super Bowl Sunday

The Indianapolis Colts won. My Indiana relatives are happy.

My day has been pretty quiet. I woke up around 10:30 in the morning. I relaxed for a while.

Finally, I decided at around 2:00 this afternoon to head over to the gym. I was planning to eat quite a bit today and decided on a little workout to make me feel less guilty.

As it turned out, I was on the stationary bike for an hour-- a lot longer than I had planned. I suppose having a Diet Dr Pepper with me to drink helped.

I burned away about 550 calories and biked nearly 17 miles according to the odometer. While cooling down by walking a couple laps on the track, I recognized a student from one of the classes I had given a bibliographic instruction session this past week.

When I left the gym, I thought about heading over to Buffalo Wild Wings. I was in a wings mood, but the place was just too packed. If I knew anyone over there, I might have stayed. However, I didn't.

Instead, I went to Sal & Phil's. I've not eaten there in awhile. I've always liked the place ever since I ate there with my uncle a few years ago.

I watched the first quarter and a half of the Super Bowl there while dining¹ and then headed on to the house. When I turned on the television, Prince was performing.

I might exercise some more tomorrow morning before I go to work. Perhaps one of those stationary bikes will be open again.

_________
¹Dungeness crab, salad, and Diet Dr Pepper.

Seven Months Later

While conversing last night, TD wondered why I'd not found a girlfriend via match.com. One would believe that it would be very easy, and I do know several people who've gotten married or engaged thanks to the personals websites.

In my July 3 entry, I mentioned that I was taking a sabbatical from match.com. I removed my old match.com profile from public view, but forgot to do the same to my old yahoo personals profile.

About a month and a half later, I received a yahoo icebreaker from someone. She seemed interesting at first glance, but when I google searched her username, I found out that she (if she actually existed) also had a profile located on an adult site, and so I didn't respond. I later removed my yahoo personal from public view.

I'm tired of the scammers, the women who I don't trust because of past experiences, the women who announce in their profiles that they don't want to be hurt, and the women who send me emails and winks even though their profiles state I'm not their type of guy. While I don't particularly care for hate mail, it can sometimes be amusing.

Getting back to TD's thought concerning my lack of success on match.com. While I don't have a numeric breakdown, I would say that a plurality of women stopped communicating with me when I mentioned my profession. In the remaining cases, whatever initial sparks that happened in the course of email communication eventually died.

For several years I've believed that the type of woman I'm looking for is not normally found in Mississippi. Friends who've travelled more than I have confirmed my suspicions time and time again, so for the past few months, I've not been looking to date anyone.

Am I bitter? No. Do I sound bitter? At times, I might, but I know that it won't help me. The only thing I can do is to be myself. And if that doesn't work, I can always place a profile titled Hugh Jackman Look-alike ISO...

Stupor Bowl Saturday

Saturday night. I'm tired, and I'm at the house. I suppose I could go out, but I don't really feel like it.

I went out last night. I went to Fenian's and relaxed.

I saw friends. I saw acquaintances. I socialized some. After dancing my dance yesterday afternoon, I was in a pretty mellow mood, so I didn't socialize that much at Fenian's at first, but did later on that evening.

I went to Don's and Martin's later that night. Again, I saw friends. Again, I saw acquaintances. I socialized a bit more-- talking about life while at Don's. And at Martin's, mostly I wandered in and out listening to songs and snippets of songs performed by Burnside Exploration.

I had fun. Being with people I care about is a joy. Having been under the weather for a good portion of January, it was good to get out and do something.

I'm not really in a mood to go out and do anything tonight. I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend. There was a chance that I was going to go to Laurel to attend a Super Bowl party with friends, but it looks like that it fell through. Too bad, I don't often get a chance to socialize with my Laurel-area friends.

I could have gone to Starkville I suppose. A friend of mine had called me about possibly attending the LSU game, but my phone was on silent, so I didn't answer in time. I missed the game, and the Bulldogs won.

It looks like I'll be here in the Jackson area for the Super Bowl. I don't anyone who's hosting a Super Bowl Party, so it looks like I'll be going to one of the bars and watching the game.

Groundhog Day, Dancing My Dances, Etc.

Well, it's Groundhog Day. It looks like that the Grand Groundhog Cartel has predicted an early spring this year, which I believe would be a good thing. It's been rather cold this winter.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I had a couple of bibliographic instruction sessions, and they both went well. Fortunately, the two class periods in question were long enough for me to go into detail.

I didn't have reference desk duties. A co-worker won't be at work next week, and she had some extra time at the desk.

Yesterday afternoon, Pezgirl bailed out on me on going to the gym. She said she was under the weather. I went anyway. I wanted to go a little early yesterday because I planned to go see The U.S. vs. John Lennon, so I danced my dance¹ sans exercise buddy.

Two and a half miles on the stationary bike, a couple of laps walking, I lifted some weights-- light weights. I didn't want to overexert myself, and I didn't.

I called up Coppertop and left a message. We had made plans to meet up and go see the movie. However, when she returned my call she told me that she was too tired after her exercised, and so, she regretfully bailed on me.

I had a quick bite to eat at Hal & Mal's² and then saw the movie. It was a good movie-- perhaps a little too long, but good.

I'm also looking forward to the movies that are going to be shown at Hal & Mal's on future Thursdays. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints on the 22nd. The History Boys on March 1. And potentially, on March 8, Little Children.

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to the Chrysler Podcast Series. I listened to the Johnny Cash podcast this morning. I also listened to the Miles Davis podcast today. I had it playing all day at my office. Awesome stuff. I need to try out the other musicians when I get a chance.³

Today, I was at work on some projects-- two of them being bibliographic instruction projects that are going to be presented during National Library Week. At least that's the plan. I was also finalizing another class project involving another librarian. I was approached while my colleagues were in Seattle for Midwinter and had to schedule it.

After work today, I danced my dance. Again, without Pezgirl. To be fair, though, today wasn't scheduled to be a buddy workout day, but I felt like I needed to after what I had for lunch.⁴

Two and a half miles on the stationary bike again, a one-mile walk, I lifted some weights-- light weights. Again, I didn't want to overexert myself.

I believe I'm going to head on over to Jackson. Perhaps I'll go to Fenian's. Perhaps I'll go someplace else. Perhaps I'll do both.

_________
¹William Byrd II often mentioned in his secret diary that he "danced his dance," which was his terminology for exercise.

²Greek salad with crabmeat and a Diet Coke.

³As of this morning, the other musicians featured in the Chrysler Podcast Series are Gloria Estefan, Journey, Tony Bennett, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Vaughan is the topic of the January podcast, and as of this morning, I didn't see which musician would be this month's subject.

⁴A special sampler plate commemorating the Super Bowl consisting of grilled sausage with peppers and onions, shrimp bisque, buffalo wings, french fried sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, some kind of chili and cheese dish, and cake washed down with Diet Coke.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting Writers Blog

I've always appreciated a good book. It's one of the not-so-hidden joys of being a librarian. When I mention to people what I do for a living, books are always the first topic of conversation.

Last night, Emily sent me a message asking me if I would help promote the MPB Writers Blog. I said sure, and so here I am with this post.

Tonight at 8:00 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the episode is titled “Renegade Writers” and features Barry Hannah, William Gay, and Ron Rash.

Today in the JFP's Culture & Society Forum, Emily posted:

Please stop by and play writer with me. If not for me, do it for Miss Eudora. Or Willie Morris. Or Jill Conner Browne. Or the Blues. Or Civil Rights Reporters. All this and more, on this season of MPB "Writers."

Once again, that's the MPB Writers Blog. I've also included a link to the site on my blogroll.