In the Valley of the Shadow

My hometown has suffered its first war death.

Whosits and Whatsits Gallore

My friend and I saw New in Town last night. We went to the late show, and there were only about 6 of us in the theater, which was nice, as I am not the quietest movie watcher. :-) It is a cute movie, and I really like how it treats both the corporate and factory aspects of industry. It does a pretty even job of showing both. And, the hero is a widower, which was a different approach, and I appreciated it. Some of the supporting characters are caricatured, but you end up loving them. Especially Blanche. :-) Overall, I recommend it. I believe shopping and ethnic food is on the menu tonight. :-)

I received my official letter from IU yesterday. It matched me with an academic advisor already. I'm still waiting to see if the other schools accept me and if they provide financial aid. As of now, U of M is my last choice because I don't think they have a good special collections/rare books program. They lump it in with their preservation, and it's not a big program. IU and U of I have better programs, so they are my top two right now. But, I really don't know what I want to do, so who knows. Well, God does. I just trust that He will show me what His will is and that I'll end up at the right school.

I'm finding that this is a growing and moving on process. I have been very comfortable for about 5 years now, and I am going to have to move on to something very different. I am looking forward to the challenge though, and I am excited about new opportunities to meet people and volunteer and make an impact in my new community and hopefully eternity.

I absolutely love Celtic music. It is definitely my favorite genre, though I prefer the upbeat pieces over the "soothing." Soothing music often does not sooth me. Instead, it can often put me on edge.

Oh, my tie came yesterday too!

Bookmobile Lady

I think I'd like to drive a bookmobile. I don't think I'd like the driving, but it would be really cool to work on one. However, I would not want to be on an urban bookmobile. More like a very rural bookmobile route between western towns that are too small and remote to have a library. I don't know if those even exist. I'm so all over the place when it comes to my vocation. I know in general what I want to be, but I'm not sure on the specifics. I was really impressed by the rare books/special collections at IU. When I talked with the assistant director, he wanted to make sure that I knew that most big institutions hiring special collections librarians want them to have 2 Master's degrees and a reading knowledge of French, German, and Latin. It was at that point that I think I bugged my eyes. I only know Spanish. We talked more though, and since I am interested in smaller institutions, I may have better luck. Also, I like the South, which is a bonus. He said that most graduates from the North and Midwest are not willing to relocate to the South. Which is a pity, as I think Southern culture is beautiful.

I realized that no matter where I end up going, grad school is going to be hard and different. It will be so different from what I'm used to. I won't have any more liberal arts classes, and the views and culture at a large state school is so different from where I went to school. I'm going to be the weirdo again. But I should be used to that. :-)

Catching snowflakes in your teeth.

Tying the Knot

A double Windsor knot, that is.

I bought a skinny beige tie on ebay last night. Dad said he'd teach me how to tie a double Windsor. I have a shirt that just feels like it needs a tie, so I bought one. I guess I'm going a tad punk/emo-ish. Ha.

Decisions, Decisions

I got accepted to IU! (Indian University, Bloomington) Now I have a lot to think about. I had a wonderful time with my friend, and I received a thorough introduction to life as a SLIS student. (School of Library and Information Sciences). Finding out that I was accepted was definitely one of the highlights. I also had a good talk with the assistant director of the Lilly Library, and I believe that I want to pursue special collections/rare books and/or archives. And, IU is probably the best school for that. There are positives and negatives, though, so I haven't decided and I'm not really leaning one way or the other right now. I'm just waiting to see if I'm accepted to the other schools. And if I get a graduate assistantship. That would be very helpful.

Touchstone

Quotes from Touchstone magazine:
"it is a perplexing theological conundrum to what extent real faith exists if the possibility of rejecting it does not exist also." James Hitchcock

"can see only fanaticism in those who believe that the natural pleasure-seeking of the human animal could actually send him to a place called "hell." S.M. Hutchens

Touchstone is an ecumenical Christian magazine that I started reading in August when I started my job. (It's one of the perks of working at a library :-) They have some interesting and thought provoking articles. I don't agree with all of them, but it still gives me an opportunity to evaluate why I do or don't agree with the author's point. The first quote comes from an article on modernity. I'm not a fan of the whole article, but this last sentence stuck out to me as very profound.

The next quote is from a review of Dinesh D'souza's book, "The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11." I love the wording of the quote, and it is true. People, namely liberals, but I believe all people, have a hard time believing that "natural pleasure-seeking" is wrong and can lead to eternal consequences and damnation. But I mainly love the phrasing. :-)

I got my hair cut today. I really miss my stylist back home, but I needed a haircut and I don't know when I'll be back in the area, so I went to a place here. Some of my friends had good haircuts, so I went to Attitudes. She did a dry cut, which I didn't like, but I think it turned out ok.

Dinner for 7 is tonight. I'm bringing the salad, so I need to go and buy the greens and dressing. I have the cranberries and walnuts already. I'm thinking dark leafy greens and spinach. I'm not a fan of iceberg salad. Dark green salad is so much prettier. :-)