Oh, yeah:

I'm convocating today, thus symbolizing The End Of my Illustrious Library School Adventure. I had to style my hair in such a way that it would look work-appropriate, but not interfere with my silly cardboard hat later in the day. I am going out for one last SugarBowl lunch with three friends who are also convocating today. Also, it seems that a few people close to me have gotten me presents for the occasion. Presents! Oh boy! I kind of forgot that graduation was a presents-thing, as Anya would say.

I'm confused about whether I should be excited. I didn't go to my undergrad convocation, so this will be my first graduation since high school (CLASS OF 2000! WOOOO! AND SO ON!). I don't feel excited, but I also don't feel completely not-excited; that could be the presents-thing thing, though, or the notion of Indian buffet for dinner. And I don't feel particularly proud--not going-out-and-framing-my-degree-tomorrow proud--but I also don't feel completely not-proud. I'm a little adrift. And later I will be wearing a silly cardboard hat with a tassel.

The state of things.

Woohoo! I finished two books I've been bogged down in for awhile: Dave Eggers' short story collection How We Are Hungry (reading since July!) and Alberto Manguel's The Library at Night (started reading in DECEMBER). It feels good to have both of these behind me. It's not that either of them was boring, or not worth reading--otherwise I would never have finished them. But they were both kind of formidable, in their own ways. Now I'm reading another libraries book, which I actually got from the library (which makes it a library library book, or a library² book, or a meta-library book): Rory Litwin's Library Juice Concentrate. (Note: I've been planning to read LJC for awhile, and now seems like an ideal time because I am finished my degree, I am finishing up my summer job, and I am trying to make the transition to "Professional librarian." I am interviewing for jobs. And in these interviews, if anyone happens to ask me what I am reading, I will be able to say, "Oh, Library Juice Concentrate," and they will know that I am Serious. SRSLY. I dream of a job interview where someone asks me what I'm reading.)

This is my last week of work, and it feels like it. I have to wrap up my project and hand over what I've finished. On Thursday I have a farewell "lunch with the librarians." I will have to delete all my firefox toolbar bookmarks. Also, the sense of fall is palpable around campus. There are scurrying new undergrads, many of them WITH PARENTS, everywhere. This is one of my favourite times of year, the scurrying time, but it's tinged with a kind of sadness too, because I get older every year, and those undergrads stay the same age. I miss that textbook-buying frenzy, the evaluation of new classes, the feeling of carrying one's entire life around in a giant backpack. I also miss having parents, although I still have parents, but they live in another country, and even when they lived in this country they never accompanied me anywhere. I'm getting more used to working--especially the having-money part, and the weekends-and-evenings-off part-- but I don't know if I will ever reach another point in my life where I am as contented as I have been for the past 7 years, going to university. Wow, that's morose. Well, come on, work world! Prove me wrong!

James and I are ordering mucho shirts from threadless, where all t-shirts are $10 until Sept. 3. I'm getting The Sound of Silents and Playground Love. DO IT.

I must philosophize, for a few short minutes, about the past.

"And what better day to forgive and forget than Danish Day, the happiest of all days?" -Rory, Gilmore Girls

Today is not actually Danish Day, not in the sense of there being danishes, but it reminds me of Danish Day. You could say it's reminiscent of Danish Day. It's also reminiscent of Thursday, for some reason, and that's pretty confusing, because I keep thinking that tonight I can go home and do laundry, when in fact nothing is further from the truth: I have to stay here, and work on the group presentation my group will deliver tonight, and then I have to go to class, and then I have to go to the bar and celebrate having done those things. Low standards for "reasons to celebrate," around here, that's what keeps us all going.

So, tonight's class is the last of my degree. I know what you're thinking. "Jocelyn, why didn't you just get your MRS degree?" Well, there is a Facebook Group that agrees with you, stranger. It's called "James & Jocelyn should AT LEAST move in together (or get engaged)" and it was started by our friends, who hate us. Heh.

Anyway, instead of getting my MRS degree, I got my MLIS degree, which has similar letters but which hopefully will give me greater financial freedom. And I will be done it today, internets. I took some cool classes (History of the Book! Contemproary Theories of Reading!) and a few dumb ones, I met some of the most interesting and nerdy people of my life so far (many of them owning library-themed internet t-shirts and/or librarian action figures), I drank a moderate amount of tea and even more cocktails, I did a presentation about Armed Services Editions (and wrote a Wikipedia article), I made gantt charts and records management retention schedules. I evaluated digital libraries. I applied metadata to things. Gosh, it's been fun.

On another note: at work, I live next to the machine room on the top floor, and there is this weird, loud, rhythmic whooshing sound that fills up my end of the hallway. A co-worker recently described this sound as "like being inside a whale." Oddly enough, I have gotten so used to it that I no longer notice it when I come into work this morning, and in fact, I would probably find the actual experience of being inside a whale comforting. Whenever I DO notice it, it amuses me, because I pretend (in my mind only, so as to retain my Professional Work Facade) that I can speak whale. "Whyyyyyyy.... arrrrreeeee..... yoooooouuuUUUUUUU.... soooooooOOOOOO.... looooUUUUDDDDddd?"

Again, for emphasis, I say: heh.

How could I know there's no island nearby?

Now that I have taken Records Management, and I have seen the error of my own record management ways, I have created a folder on my computer called "inactive retention." In it, I put other folders that are no longer in active use, but that are not ready for destruction or archival storage (which, in the case of my computer, also happens to mean destruction). Unfortunately, I still move these files around in a rather haphazard way, and not in accordance with any kind of retention schedule. (Besides, there is an abbreviation for this type of file use: SO, "until superceded or obsolete.") Still, I feel pretty good about it.

On Friday night I watched Spy Game with some friends from library school, including one in my records management class. We were surprised by the extent to which records management (or lack thereof) figures in this movie. Files are always moving around, being stolen and misplaced! Duplicate copies are being made, but I'm not sure that anyone is keeping track of what office is responsible for the master copy. You know? It's troubling. They should show this movie to recruit people into Records Management. Although that would constitute a trick, since actually the field (as far as I can tell) has nothing to do with espionage, or Brad Pitt. Unless you wanted to develop a file on Brad Pitt, with newspaper clippings. And then manage it.

(Oh: also visible in this screenshot of my documents on the compy is my "jobs" folder, the image for which is a foxy-looking lady shelving in high heels. Although if she's shelving, is she really a librarian? It's hard to say. It comes from the Law Librarians Blog/American Association of Law Libraries photo contest. Also visible is the Cheat's GameBoy-in-a-blender which symbolizes "miscellaneous," since I can think of nothing more miscellaneous than a GameBoy in a blender.)

I'm applying for jobs today, watering plants, listening to the Gothic Archies, and watching TV on my computer. I expect to finish season 3 of Veronica Mars today, and possibly find employment.

----------------
Currently listening to: The Gothic Archies - Shipwrecked (from The End)
via FoxyTunes

I don't like Mondays

I have links a-plenty for you today, internets.

As I mentioned, I finished the last Harry Potter book, and in its honour, I have funny Asian Harry Potter franchise knock-offs including Harry Potter and the Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon and Harry Potter and the Filler of Big.

Inmates of a Philippines prison perform the Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance. I am so baffled by this. What happened to the classic "Jailhouse Rock"? There is also a LEGO version on youtube, but it's pretty boring--it doesn't have the same appeal.

From Bad Gods: Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks.

Another conceptual map of the web, this one modeled on the Tokyo subway system. (Earlier related links: A periodic table of the internet, map of online communities)

And finally: if you live with lazy roommates/spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends who also happen to be gamers, perhaps you can trick them into helping out more with chore wars, a website that uses RPG-style characters and XP for housework. I joined, but since I live alone, there is really no question: around Jocelyn Manor, I get ALL the XP, finish all the dish-washing quests, and do all the decorative-wall-decal-buying-contemplation.

I finished my capping exercise! All I have to do is pass this class I'm enrolled in, and I'm gonna gradumacate! I'm gonna make it after all!

But not anymore.

Good morning, internets.

It was the weekend! I did everything without leaving my apartment. It was far too hot to go anywhere or do anything. It was still pretty good, though, as weekends go. And I got two parcels in the mail yesterday-- ON SUNDAY! It was completely inexplicable. Since when does Canada post deliver anything on Sunday? My "powerty" poster arrived ("woo! Powerty!").

I am well into Season 2 of LOST now. Michelle Rodriquez showed up, prompting this conversation:

Jocelyn: It's just like Battlestar Galactica.
James: And Admirable Boobs?
Jocelyn: She's a tough psycho, but you can sort of understand why she did what she did--her circumstances transformed her into a psycho.
(Admirable Boobs = Admiral Kane)

I still don't have a crush on Sawyer, gunshot wounds and sultry eyes be damned. I tried to have a crush on Boone, but then I found out he was a male model, and THEN he died, so I guess it was not to be. I am hesitant to develop a crush on any of the characters on this show--I'm afraid of them going crazy. I don't want to be responsible.

I'm enrolled in the last class of my degree right now, which means that I have to finish the final academic requirement of my program (besides the class), my "capping exercise." This is a re-working of an earlier paper, updated and internetified. I have zero desire to work on it. The paper I chose is on digital copyright in Canada, which happens to intersect with my (paid) summer research project, so I am doing two literature reviews for the price of one. How crafty! Anyway, I'll be sure to post a link to my capping exercise when it's done, since I know the whole internet is waiting with baited breath to read about libraries and digital copyright in Canada. I will post it and within hours it will catapault to the top of digg and delicious.

I'm actually developing a personal site with my CV, portfolio, etc., on it, and I'm debating whether I am actually self-obsessed enough to put it up. I am not suffering from any delusions that people are interested in me, but I DO want to get a job, and I think a personal website might make me seem more tech-competent. I don't know if my desire to appear cool and unpretentious will win out over my mercenary desire to appear savvy and employable. It's, like, a total battle of personal values.

I just discovered Barbara Ehrenreich's blog at the Huffington Post. I want to be Barbara Ehrenreich when I grow up.

Ted Stevens (the "internet is not a dump truck" guy) wants to switch from his land-line to wireless while riding his motorcycle. Wha?

Depictions of grad students on The Simpsons

The source material might be a little sparse for an actual thesis, but I haven't given up hope...

Seriously, though, I made way more than $600 last year. $900, at least.

"Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter."

I waffle between these 2 theories.

1. At this point in my life, I would be better off having taken cataloguing. Then I would know how to catalogue the items in my digital library, instead of it making me want to cry. It might also lead to a better mark on this assignment, since I'm pretty sure I can't just classify everything as "women in advertising."

2. I hate cataloguing so much, it's lucky I never took it because it probably would have ruined an entire semester instead of just the very end of this one. In fact, I should never do anything cataloguing-related again, unless it is ordering things from the Eddie Bauer catalogue.

WAFFLE WAFFLE WAFFLE!

Work, and school, are ruining my life. SERIOUSLY. I feel like a bundle of nerves, and by nerves, I mean bitchiness. I did that thing again where I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So I have been working for 3 1/2 hours already today!

The chronicle of my digital library: Breakdancing vs. feminist principles.

I am all about finishing assignments more or less on-time, the open-access journal movement, pork chops, pillows from wal-mart, multi-tasking on my GIANT MONITOR, and the pussycat dolls' song "buttons" (i know... i suck).

I shall type ever onwards. I am making good progress on the week's assignments... little quick math...

10/10
31/35 (that's right, I have 4/35ths of an assignment left to do, you got a problem with that?)
5/25

I am 46/70ths done! w00t.

Overheard today in library school:

"The feel-good puppet show of the year"