I'm such a follower.

A few of my blogging reads have been making lists lately so I took it as a sign to make my own.
Here it is, ten thing you don't know about me.

1. I rub my feet together to go to sleep.
2. I don't mind cockroaches until they fly and then I'm paralyzed with fear.
3. When I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I replied ballerina/real estate agent. I truly wanted to be both at the same time.
4. I'm watching the whole series of 21 Jump Street on DVD and by God, enjoying them.
5. I can't remember my ex-husband's birthday which doesn't sound bad except for the fact that I couldn't remember it the entire time we were dating and married. There is absolutely no reason for it. I remember family's and Boyfriend's birthday just fine, but after 13 years of relationship, his just wouldn't stick. Weird.
6. I have a space heater at work that I keep on year round. Doesn't matter if it's 90 degrees outside. I'm cold.
7. I didn't know Jimi Hendrix was black until I was 18 years old. Never saw a picture. How was I to know?
8. I don't call my mother enough.
9. I hate Henry David Thoreau. Who the hell does he think he is? Poe, on the other hand, he's hot. I'd do him.
10. I put salt in my orange juice (and everything else, for that matter).

There you have it. All you need to know about the ol' Pollywog.

Silo and Roy are my heroes.

Here in the library, Banned Book Week approaches. We love BBW. And why do we love BBW? Because it gives us a chance to push literature that ignorant backward galoots try to tell us to censor in the name of religion or race or creed or whatever. Oooooo, that makes them so mad. I've been dealing with this a lot lately.

Recently someone asked us to remove a book called You're Different and That's Super by Carson Kressley because it promoted homosexuality. Well, yeah, granted it's written by one of the Queer Guys but it's really about being different in any sort of way. Hell, it's about a unicorn in a world of horses.

And then it was a formal complaint on Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. Yes, it's a tough book to get through, lots of naughty words, lots of painful situations, lots of character you loathe but so so so good. And what was our patrons main complaint? Ready? That the main character is black and the author is white and therefore cannot authentically speak to the situation. My response was "Does she know J.K. Rowling is not a 17 year old wizard?" I ended up writing a two page response to that one backed up with 25 pages of Crutcher support from the internet. Mr. Crutcher has been through this several times. Saw him speak once. Seems to be a helluva guy.

So I attacked Banned Book Week this year with vim and vigor. Put a display prominently in the teen area with books that have been challenged because of sex, drugs and rock & roll generally. Put another display right beside check out where people will have to see these books. Just saw a father reading The Stupids Die to his 2 year old while waiting in line. But in my research, I found this gem of a book that had slipped past me. It was the most challenged book of 2006 and I had it here in my library and didn't even know. Here it's is, the most hated book of last year......

Yes, people, hold onto your hats. It's And Tango Makes Three and it's about, dare I say it, GAY PENGUINS. That's right, homosexual chinstrap penguins. A blight on society. And furthermore, they hatch, raise and love an unwanted baby penguin. My God! What's next? What if this spreads to humans and unwanted children are successfully adopted, nutured and loved by, gulp, same sex couples? We must put a stop to this. Before you know it, this world could be full of acceptance and peace. DOWN WITH GAY PENGUINS!

For y'all who might be interested, it is a true story of a couple of same sex penguins at the Central Park Zoo who became a couple and hatched an egg that was laid by a female who laid two eggs. The female can only care for one so the zookeeper gave Silo and Roy the unwanted egg and they hatched it and raised a little girl named Tango! All three are still there at the zoo being a family. How freakin' cute is that? I mist up just thinking about it.

For more info on Banned Book Week, go here. ALA Banned Book Week You'd be surprised what has been banned!

Happy (and scandalous) reading!

Vegas and Ghostly Warnings

Time for a multi-subject blog. I know, I know, I know. I don't blog and I don't blog and then suddenly I throw a bunch of crap at you. Sorry.

Anyway, first subject. Vegas, baby! I just spent a quick spontaneous 24 hours in Las Vegas with my siblings and a cousin and her husband. It was not nearly long enough. My god, I love Vegas. I mean, love like if I could have sexual congress with it, I would. (Come to think of it, I think you can have sexual congress with Vegas for a price.) Anyway, I was sitting around trying to figure out why oh why do I love Vegas (besides the free drinks). I think I've got it. Nothing is real there. Nothing. It's all make believe. It's soooooo good when you've had a healthy dose of reality and you're ready for something else. Nothing but good and crazy things have happened to me in Vegas. Actually, I once had severe, I mean severe, strep throat in Vegas with a fever of about 103. I was 14. My best friend and I were walking around Circus Circus while my parents were off gambling and I remember all the sounds and sights being distorted and blurry. It was so Alice in Wonderland. I still find, in perfect health, that everything is distorted and blurry. So good.

Okay, next subject. Ghostly warnings. As mentioned before, I saw my cousin in Vegas. Her name is Cathy and she's very spiritual, not in a God way, but in a "I will explore every religion and take bits and pieces of each to fit my needs" sort of way. She's a shaman. I don't know what it takes to be a shaman but she did it. Some sort of training with a vision quest, I don't know. Now I wouldn't say she really believes in ghosts, per se, but she definitely talks a lot about feeling the energy of those who have passed around her at certain times. My sister is the same. She will often stop in the middle of what she is doing and say "Grampa is here." The closest I've ever come to this phenomenon is smell. I will sometimes walk into a room or be sitting there and I will smell one of my grandmothers. And there is never a reason the smell should be there. For example, part of Grandma's smell is coffee. It's not the whole smell but it's part of the mix. So I'll be standing in the living room and the smell will show up and stay a few minutes then go and there is no coffee anywhere. I like to think it's my loved ones stopping by to check up on me.

So, I was at a buffet in Vegas listening to Cathy talk about how she felt the energy of her father when she was at a convenience store counter and looking at a scratch ticket. So she bought it. She put it in her purse and went to dinner with her husband but in the middle of dinner, she felt her father again so she got out the ticket and scratched it and won $200. My sister went on to tell stories of feeling our father around her. I was jealous for I haven't felt a thing.

Here comes the warning part. I dreamt last night I was walking through the library and my father was sitting there in a wheelchair. In the dream, I knew he was dead and shouldn't be sitting there but I was so so so happy because I could see him in such great detail. I could picture him perfectly and in real life, I'm having a harder and harder time bringing his face to mind. So I was standing there being thrilled I could see him and I walked forward, knelt beside the chair and put my hand on his leg (the same spot I was touching when he died). He looked up at me and laughed, the sort of snort that comes before you say something ironic, and said these exact words "Everyone I see here, I know. Don't you be one of them."

ANYONE HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT THAT MIGHT MEAN?

I mean, even if it's not my father's spirit coming to tell me something, it's definitely my own subconscious telling me something. It'd be nice to know what. Theories are most welcome.