another sun day

I'm still getting used to my schedule and can never remember what day of the week it is. Last night, I was sure today would be Saturday BUT NO.

anyway - we're having a sunny but not too hot summer here in Portland and it is lovely.  Tomatoes are out of control (good way). The rest of the garden is out of control (less good way, but the bees don't mind).

In other news, my sister gave me a bunch of fancy sewing patterns for my birthday and the first one is coming together nicely. Excellent. (Mr. Burns hands.) I'm almost done with the tunic but I want to make a bunch of dresses because it's so easy to wear. Pockets!!! (although I'm probably going to take the pockets off the tunic because they hang down below where I want to hem it, which is not the look I'm after.)

I get feisty

I love Fiona and I love this video.

(and I love that she's singing with her sister! (Maude Maggart!) )

mermaids to australia

this month is zooming by.  Right now it is a FULL JULY MOON (thunder moon! or buck moon! or some other nature name that also sounds like a special edition Axe body spray for camping.)  It's right out my window so I went outside to look at it with the binoculars and it's so bright and beautiful - less like singing cheese and more like science when it's right in my eyeballs. RECOMMENDED if you have a view of the moon (full or not) and binoculars. and eyeballs.

Now that you know what's up with the moon out my window, here's the latest on work and mermaids

WORK: good! I've had 2 full weeks of my schedule now plus a partial week and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of it. I'm faster than I was, which feels better because I was sloooooow before. Being familiar with the branch and the staff has been a huge boon, but it also led me to think I should know what I was doing immediately. This is ridiculous and I would never hold another human to it, but I did it to myself anyway. So frustrating until I caught on.  (no surprise to anyone but me: I did not, and in many cases still do not know what I am doing! But I'm finding out, which has been rewarding.)

MERMAIDS: I sent 3 mermaids sailing across the sea (in an airplane) to Australia today. I am a very neglectful etsy shopkeeper, so it's always a surprise to me when I get an order from Idaho, let alone an order from Australia. My shop has been like a long, slow internet course in keeping an etsy shop. (Lesson 1: have mermaids available at all times because they are popular.)  Every order brings new knowledge and I can tweak things in a better direction - this time I realized that my international shipping prices were not updated on every item, so my Australian friend got a good deal on shipping which I certainly do not begrudge her.

Now it's late and I have to go to bed before my eyeballs turn into miniature cheese thunder moons.

sexy high speed car chase crimes (for the greater good)

(I was just trawling around my own photostream and found this picture from the Grand Coulee Dam, not that you can tell it's from there.)

WORK: Despite working at this location for a long time as a sub, I've found that being a permanent employee is very different - I have to pay attention in a whole new way. (I say after noticing a my-fault mistake on a paycheck.) I'm sure I'll get used to things soon enough. Right? Right???

TV:  Orphan Black!!!! Is anyone watching this? I'm not quite done with it so don't tell me the end but I can hardly stand it, it's so good. (and suspenseful.)

BOOKS: just finished Neil Gaiman's latest and am still mulling it over. It's easily read in one sitting which I think is the right way to read it, but it's not easily condensed to a single thought bubble so I am STILL THINKING. (it was good, though.)

I think just three categories tonight. Until next time, please enjoy this new Franz Ferdinand video. I saw it this morning and fell down the Franz Ferdinand youtube rabbit hole shortly thereafter. Despite this song being called Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action their songs make me want to commit sexy high speed car chase crimes. INTERNATIONAL SEXY HIGH SPEED CAR CHASE CRIMES! Okay, this one makes me want to commit sexy high speed SCIENCE CRIMES (robin hood/ greater good variety). Like, Franz Ferdinand and I will get this bee problem sorted out!




Who gives a damn about the profits of Tesco? 


I've never seen most of these videos before today and this is NOT what I have in mind when I hear the song, but it does fit the bratty persona of the character in the song.



This is the "band version" of the video for this song, which is lo-fi silliness but preferable to the weird official version.

but not too bold

I finished my non-fiction book  - Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary - and it was very good! The beginning sped by for me, but once it started getting hot and the book entered the nation-state era, I found it harder to pay full attention. (I blame the heat, not the writing. It's a very accessibly history and I fully recommend it!)

but what to read next...

Fortunately, my two weeks ago self acted immediately on a Kelly Link tweet and put Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi on hold at the library.  My three days ago self picked it up and my lunchtime today self started reading it. PLEASING! I'm not very far, but I'm glad to see that she has written more.

Here's a little glimpse of an epistolary section. I do like how Mary Foxe is direct and to the point.

july july july ONE

JULY is nuts already, people. Or maybe I'm just hot and tired. (probably just hot and tired.)

The first week of July (this week!) is when I start my new library job. Woo Hoo! Friday Saturday this week before I settle into my regular Thursday Friday Saturday schedule. I love that my days are grouped together to I can still work on-call or just have 4 days off.

I have erased 50 different beginnings to this next part.

Maybe I'll just bullet it.

• everyone has been lovely. LOVELY. Encouraging and happy for me and all that jazz. The Best. 
• I'm eager to just start doing my job and stop talking about how long it's been, etc. Time to move forward. It's a weird time, that's for sure. 
• Lots of other transitions, which makes me uneasy. Not like seasick, but like when the possibility of being seasick first enters the mind. Not because of anything specific, but just because it (work)  was good before and now it will necessarily change which I know is a constant in the universe, and so on, but I am up to my eyeballs in change and I just sort of want to lie down for a while. It will be good again!  Or remain good. Whatever. You can't step in the same river twice, etc. (sigh. I am hot and tired and DRAMATIC.) 
• I've been getting very little sleep, which has caused me to say things that I immediately wish unsaid. Note to self: develop time machine. 
• Note to others: the words Time Machine remind me of a preview I saw before The Heat - it's for a Richard Curtis (I think...) movie called About Time and it looked charming and slightly messed up. (it is cheating to go back in time over and over to perfect a moment, correct? does it matter? am I overly concerned with fairness right now? Maybe. )
• Will I ever finish the non-fiction book I'm reading and catch up on my reading challenge? YES. It will happen, so help me. 

ION, This song kept going through my head today for no good reason: