So Many Things To Read!!

Honestly, when you work at a library it's a blessing and a curse to those of us who love to learn. On the plus side you are drowning in information from all sides in all formats.....heaven. On the other hand, there's only so much time in each day and it's impossible to read everything I check out from the library....hell.

During recent training for the library it was suggested that we track what we read. The speaker had been doing it for years and had pages upon pages of books listed. It seems like an interesting idea. Imagine being able to look back and see what I was reading 10 years ago. I was going to buy a journal and start tracking but then realized it would probably end up with all the other lists I make.........lost. As an alternative I'm gonna try tracking them in my blog. The idea is to update this post with each thing I read (or at least thoroughly skim) along with the month and year. Let's see how long I stick with it.

(Nov 07) Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters by Peter Vronsky
(Nov 07) The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 2) by Laurell K. Hamilton
(Nov 07) 300 Frogs: A Visual Reference to Frogs and Toads from Around the World by Chris Mattison
(Nov 07) Boners: Seriously Misguided Facts- According to Schoolkids. by Alexander Abingdon, Dr. Seuss (Illustrator)
(Nov 07) Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton {It's fun to finally have started this series. I'm looking forward to reading the rest}
(Nov 07) A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry, Book 6) by Laurell K. Hamilton
(Oct 07) The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx {I love this book! I've been a fan of Motley Crue since 'Shout at the Devil' came out...I was 11 or 12. Nikki Sixx was always my favorite because he did the main songwriting. Of course at the time I was too young to realize what a maniac he was. I was crushed when I wasn't able to make it to his recent book-signing. =( sigh }

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

That's right, folks. It's Halloween and I've noticed the news on tv & radio is obsessed with 2 things in particular: Parents letting their kids dress like skanks & Massive quanitites of candy rotting our teeth away. I don't want to digress too much so here's a quick note on the 'skank' issue. One news show had the author Celia Rivenbark on their program to discuss her book 'Stop dressing your six-year old like a skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom". We currently have 2 copies in our library and I plan on checking one out. Interesting topic. Now, back to the chocolate! On the news this morning they were discussing all the Halloween candy and some dental person actually said if you're gonna let your kids have candy, make it chocolate. I of course had to investigate this so started Googling right away. Here's a snippet of what I found........

September 24, 2007 Chocolate helps prevent cavities Posted under: Articles— Aalam Samsavar @ 10:04 am Chocolate could leave you cavity free! This is due to the benefits of tannic acid or tannins found in a variety of food like chocolate. Tannins are naturally occurring Polyphenols and prevent cavities. Polyphenols are what make wine and many other fruits astringent and make variety of flowers and autumn leaves colorful. Polyphenols also cause precipitation of proteins. What that means is that it prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth.

http://www.drsamsavar.com/blog/?p=411

Yes!!! Bring on the chocolate! =)

30 Days of Night

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/30daysofnight/

i rarely go to the movie theater but this movie seemed promising enough that we shelled out the dough. we just got back an hour ago. it was dark out already and i walked very briskly to the house waiting for the hubster to open the door so i could rush in. i've finally shaken off the heeby-jeebies. i say that now but will probably be looking over my shoulder, under the bed, and on rooftops for at least a month!

i've been so let down by vampire movies for quite a while now and this one was worth the money to go see. of course no movie is perfect and we all have different tastes but this movie worked for me. we were both creeped out during the movie, jumped many times, gasped, and i even pointed at the screen at one moment cuz one of the freaky vampires was sneaking into view. there were awesome shots that gave such a desolated feeling and overall sense of helplessness.

the basic jist of the movie is this......small town in middle of nowhere alaska, no sun for 30 days, all communication & means of escape have been disabled, vampires come to town & the massacre begins......

more info?? they weren't the pretty romantic vampires (don't get me wrong, they have their place in movies, books, etc) but the straight on monster vampires which at one point you realize actually have some intelligence behind their plans. that usually creeps me out more. anyhoo, if you're like me and have been disappointed in vampire movies for a long time go check this one out!!!!!!!!!

Branching out

This is my first blog, second post.
After working hours on setting this up one evening I returned to work the next day and realized things just weren't gonna be right. All of the employees at work were, on a voluntary basis, prompted to create blogs. I jumped in thinking, "Cool. Something new that I can throw some creativity into." Then I came to the conclusion that I would have to make another blog just for work or else "Enter the Mind of the InfoVampire" was going to suffer from a dampening of that creativity bursting to get out. I would always be wondering if what I wrote would somehow be breaking a "rule" I didn't know about or offend someone (which was very likely to happen with the plans I have in mind). So, another blog has been born to deal with work and this place can be my little haven. (ahh...sigh of contentment...life is good again)

And so it begins.........

"What should I write?"
"What's the point of doing a blog when there are millions out there? I'll just be another drop in the endless sea, to be lost with all the others."
"Don't people put themselves on the web just so they can hear (see) themselves talk or perhaps to try and make others listen? Hey, look at me!"

I asked myself those questions and many others, urging my brain to find a starting point on my new journey. The thought that popped in my noggin most was this..... The deepest part of me is shy and it took years to prod myself into being braver and more comfortably social. Sure, I've become much better at speaking up when needed or talking about nothing during those awkward social gatherings that scream for noise to fill the silence. Regardless, I'm still that shy girl who has to talk herself into going to the gatherings where I won't know everyone. And banish the thought that I would show up late. That would mean walking into a room of unknowns! What this all boils down to is that I have a brain full of thoughts but that doesn't mean that everyone needs to know about them. Just because we have the technology to be connected 24/7 doesn't mean that we should be.

My ongoing goal with this new project is to find a balance between being connected and still keeping a part of my being just for myself. The place I work at now has encouraged us to explore a whole list of new technologies including the almighty blog. So, let the adventure begin!