Why I Haven't

I'm at my mother's house in Canebrake. I didn't do much this weekend. I've been pretty tired.

I thought about going to Bay Springs for their Jazz in the Grove Saturday, but the past few days have been too hectic, too crazy for me. I can't wait for the semester to end. I need the semester to end.

I haven't gone out much lately. Work has been too crazy. I don't have much of a life outside work.

When I do go out, I've been decompressing at coffee shops, and lately, I've not had much of a chance to do that as much as I would like. One family friend's asked me to look at some dissertations. I have and provided feedback. I hope that's all she wants.

Another friend has mentioned that she would like for me to be involved in politics again.¹ I think she may want me to do some research relating to one of the campaigns she's helping. I met with her and a couple of other people a few evenings ago.

The past few weeks, I've been looking at women's profiles on match.com and yahoo personals. I'm unimpressed. Several months ago, I decided to take a sabbatical from the dating sites. After giving the sites a second look, I've concluded that they're useless to me.

When I moved to the Jackson area not quite seven years ago, I thought it'd be great. It was difficult for me to find single women who I considered interesting in Laurel. I thought Jackson would be better in that regard. It isn't.

It's at the point that I expect as a matter of course that there are no single women in the Jackson area who would be interested in me romantically. I've considered making some changes in my life-- losing some weight over the past couple months-- and tried for another change that proved unsuccessful.²

I've got to head back to work later this morning. I'm working the late shift tonight-- as usual. Tomorrow, my co-worker who's been on maternity leave returns. Maybe things will get back to normal, that is, if normal exists.

_________
¹My previous experiences with regard to political campaigning consist of varying support roles for my father's campaigns for state representative and supervisor, my cousin's campaign for lieutenant governor, and campus elections when I was an undergraduate at MSU.

²While results are inconclusive, it's safe to say that I'm not satisfied. It may be that my turning 40 years old in a little over a month is an influence. At any rate, I don't want to have a stagnant life.

Medley of Books

I've read quite a few books over the past few weeks, but haven't had a chance to make mention of them what with me being with work at the library among other things.

I read The Children of Men for book club. It was a good book, and I thought it would translate well to film. I had heard that it was made into a movie that received some Oscar nominations earlier this year. I'll have to see the movie when I get a chance.

How I Found the Strong has been on my reading list since this past October when I met its author, Margaret McMullan, at the Mississippi Library Association Conference. I didn't know she taught at the University of Evansville, and as we talked, I found out that she knows my uncle, who is a retired professor, and aunt.

I read the book and was struck by a passage where the narrator says that Smith County (the book takes place during the Civil War) was essentially being run by the children, in that nothing could be done without the children. Fascinating.

Another book that recently made it to my reading list was Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. I was more interested in the legal aspects of the book, but found the firsthand coverage of the World Series of Poker to be more intriguing.

The book club talked about The Day of the Locust last night when we weren't talking about the Frank Melton trial. We got to talking about how Los Angeles and Hollywood was seen as the place of dreams by people, but wasn't really-- more of an artifice. I mentioned I was reminded of a certain quote by William Faulkner regarding Los Angeles.

FP has the next book club selection, and she's chosen Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It looks like it's a good pick. I look forward to reading it.

Google Directions from Jackson, Mississippi to Dublin, Ireland

Click here for directions.

I'm not so sure about Step #24.

Save Chocolate!

The FDA wants to change the definition of chocolate under pressure from food manufacturers. Check out this website for more information. Thanks go to Dave for letting me know about this situation.

Boris Yeltsin and Halberstam Are Dead

David Halberstam died in a car crash this morning. Boris Yeltsin died today as well.

Jazz in the Grove

It's not Double Decker in Oxford, but Bay Springs has a pretty good lineup for their Jazz in the Grove on Saturday.

Delfeayo Marsalis and Jeff Coffin of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones? I think I might go to Jasper County.

Currently at Cups in the Quarter

When I head down to Hattiesburg to visit my mother, I'd normally leave the library at 4 p.m. At this time of day, I would normally be around Seminary and getting ready to turn off US 49 on to Highway 589.

Instead, I'm relaxing at Cups in the Quarter. I'm expecting a phone call from a family friend in a few minutes. She wants me to help out with research of some sort (she's in grad school), and I suppose it'll be a pretty lengthy conversation. We're going to get a bite to eat, and we'll discuss what she needs with regard to research.

My work week is for the most part over. I've got to help out my mother at her shop tomorrow, so once I finish talking research, I'm heading down to Hattiesburg. I had considered going over to Laurel this evening to visit friends, but it looks like I'll do that Sunday afternoon.

Well, I just got the phone call, so I'm heading out.

Listening to Frank...

Sinatra's singing Always. It's National Library Week. The library has programs. I've spoken to a couple of groups this week.

We've also got people out due to funeral attendance and maternity leave, so, yeah, we're shorthanded.

It's also near the end of the semester. Students are working on assignments. I'm being asked for help. I'm working on some projects as well.

I try to relax with some difficulty. Working out at the gym helps to relieve stress. I'm not fond of waking up very early in the morning though.

I went to the State-Ole Miss baseball game Tuesday night. It was fun. I saw people I knew, and MSU won, which is good.

The past weekend was somewhat relaxing. I saw a play Friday night and then went to Fenian's.

I saw friends. I interacted. I had fun. I needed fun.

I didn't do much Saturday. Sunday, I went to Fenian's.

I've not had much sleep this week. It seems like that I've been living on coffee.

Maybe I can decompress some this weekend. I need it. Final exams are approaching.

In the meantime, sleep would be so welcome.

Yesterday

A couple of weeks ago, FP invited a whole bunch of us to this function. I could get away, and so I did.

Patchett's great. I purchased this book. She drew a hat & rabbit.

I went to Arts, Eats, & Beats in Fondren after the book reading and signing. I saw friends. I had fun. The book club had a meeting last night too, and it went well. We talked about "Miss Lonelyhearts." Next, we'll talk about Day of the Locust.

Book Club Postponed

Real life happened last night. Life's been hectic for people. Others aren't feeling all that grand-- being under the weather and all, so we didn't meet up last night.

I think we're planning on meeting up tomorrow to discuss "Miss Lonelyhearts." I don't know when though. We're planning on going to a reading, and then maybe a local Arts thing.

We may talk about the story while we wander. We may wait until later that evening to chat.

This afternoon and evening, I served as a judge for a competition going on at the college. It was pretty time consuming, but also fun.

I'm relaxing right now. I need to head back to the house sometime soon. I've got to get some sleep before I do some more exercising tomorrow morning. I'm not doing too badly considering that I've not had the chance to exercise as much as I was used to in the first month and a half of dancing my dances.

Reading

I've been doing some reading the past few days. While surfing the net some 2-3 weeks ago, I saw some positive press about Positively Fifth Street by James McManus, an account of two trials-- a murder trial and the World Series of Poker. It's a most excellent read. I might try reading this book recommended by McManus.

I got a chance to read How I Found the Strong by Margaret McMullan. I had misplaced the book, and it's such a slim volume. There's a passage in the book that mentions almost off-handedly that children were in charge of the homefront during the Civil War-- nothing could be done without them. I'm sure that there are books out there concerning childhood in the Civil War, but this thought is something that hadn't previously crossed my mind.

I think I mentioned it before, but I finished reading The Children of Men two-three weeks ago. I've got a book club meeting tonight, so I suppose there will be a recap of the last portion of this book as well as "Miss Lonelyhearts."

Concerning Chicago, Coyotes, Clark, Cameraderie, Cameras, Cinema, & Comics

Chicago. The Windy City.

Apparently, it's also a City of Coyotes. I've no idea if the canine in question ever found the Frozen Roadrunner on a Stick.

Bob Clark, the genius director of A Christmas Story, Porky's, Rhinestone, and other classic and not-so-classic films has died. Sadly, it looks like he and his son were killed in a head-on crash with a drunk driver.

I went to Pub Quiz last night. What with a lot of my weeknights this month already being filled up with various functions I have to attend, I decided I needed a little fun. The team I was on won first place. The winnings were enough to pay for my chocolate pie (yes, I had pie, and I'm on a diet) and diet coke as well as leave a tip, and that's what I did.

I was working at the library tonight. I swapped nights with a co-worker. I had been working on interlibrary loan projects for the most part this afternoon as well as going through some magazine volumes that recently returned from the bindery. I'll be heading off to Hattiesburg tomorrow after work.

I got a card from Lauren Rogers today concerning...

Oriental Mystique: A Night of Asian Splendor -- Friday, April 20, 2007

Rogers-Green House
7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
$50.00 per person

Join us for a special night of lively music, food and spirits. A benefit for the Rogers-Green House, sponsored by the LRMA Guild of Docents & Volunteers.

It sounds like it could be fun, but it's something I think that could be more fun if I had a date and there aren't many women I know who would be interested in traveling two hours in order to attend this little shindig.

I noticed that one of the museum's upcoming exhibitions is Linda McCartney's Sixties. It looks like it could be interesting. I'll have to see it this summer.

Lastly, surfing the net, I noticed this note at Variety.com.

Warner Bros. Pictures has hired Mark Burton to pen the bigscreen adaptation of James Turner's comicbook "Rex Libris," about an everyday guy who becomes part of a secret sect of librarians who battle forces of darkness in chasing down overdue or stolen books.

Looks like I'll have to read the comic.

April Weeknights

It's April 3, and my weeknights for this month are almost completely filled up with college functions, social events, and work responsibilities. It looks like that if I have to exercise, it'll have to be during the mornings this month.