Gilmore Girls Reading List - Awesome!

I loved the show the Gilmore Girls. There is actual dialogue, it is witty, quick, strong role models (women and men) and just fun. It reminds me of the old school movies with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy specifically Adam's Rib. Plus Rory was a girl after my own heart. What a role model for young girls... She wasn't boy crazy but did date, wasn't catty with girls but was actually friends with them and read voraciously. Anyway, the reason for this post is someone actually took the time and created a list of EVERY book that she read during the 7 years on air. I have read A LOT of books and this list made me feel a bit behind. Check out the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge here!

The GPO and Privatization

I just found out that there is a House Proposal to have the Government Printing Office be privatized and/or broken into bits. It is difficult enough to find out what is going on or find documents as it is. Could you imagine if it is broken off and sent to various places? Also, what happens when something is privatized? Seriously, it does not ever seem to work better when this happens... Look at the U.S. Postal Service.

The biggest issue I have with this is how do we ensure the transparency of government?

For more information:
HR 2551
Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill page 25

Did s/he really say that?

My iGoogle home page has a "Quotes of the Day" section. Below is one of the three:

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward."  -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Being a librarian and understanding how words, much like numbers, can easily be manipulated, I headed over to the reference section to verify the quote. According to The Harper Book of American Quotations the quote was accurate. However, it is an excerpt from a longer statement from FDR. The full quote is below.

"A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted--in the air. A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs, who, however, has never learned to walk forward. A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backward. But a liberal is a man who uses his legs and his hands at the behest --at the command--of his head." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a radio speech, October 26, 1939

Now that you have read the full quote, does it change your perception of what the quote means? It did for me not a lot but enough to give me a better perspective. Of course I wanted to read the whole speech as I could not figure out why this would pop up during a radio address. Here is the link if you are curious as well. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15828#axzz1ZqGo3JBH

Another quote from years ago that motivated me enough to attempt to track it down was the the quote by Matt Damon in the movie The Departed where he stated "what Freud said about the Irish is we're the only people impervious to psychoanalysis." Well, Freud never said that. I tried to find it when I was working as a Reference Intern at Northwestern University and could not find a thing. I even asked the real Reference Librarian if she could find anything regarding the quote as I as a student may have missed. She checked his concordance and found absolutely nothing. He NEVER said anything about the Irish anywhere that has been recorded in print. The Freud Museum in London has it in their FAQ section http://www.freud.org.uk/about/faq/

Why am I going on about this? Simply because I think it is important for people to question what they hear and see. Be a thoughtful person, embrace knowledge. Remember if you can't find the answer call/email/facebook/text/IM your local library;)

The Bathroom

It is done! Well, almost...

Below are some before shots. As you can see it is an interesting colour scheme. If the lyric "Color u peach and black" from U Got the Look by Prince doesn't come to mind then you are either under 35 or lived under a rock in the 80's. And yes, that is wallpaper, everywhere!

     

I wasn't sure what to do with this that wouldn't require a complete tear down of the space. My ah-ha moment was remembering the seller's agent mentioning another client who painted their bathroom black with a chandelier. Black, hell to the yes, plus I had just come across an article about high gloss paint becoming quiet the trend. It clicked for me, black high gloss paint, duh. So the wallpaper came down, the wall sanded and primed. Then the reality of black walls and ceiling with the only light source from the sconces by the mirror kicked in. My mother suggested a white ceiling to help reflect the light from the window which was planned for the doors and window anyway. Eureka!

I painted the doors, trim, ceiling and the arch ceiling in the stark, bright semi-gloss white and the walls in hi-gloss black. The goal was to have the walls look like lacquer without using any. Nine layers of black with sanding in between each one did not give me the look I wanted but was shiny enough to be close plus Andrew was getting annoyed with the progress and I was tired. In the end, I think the outcome was pretty cool. The contrast highlighted the archway beautifully and the scheme helped tone down the peach.

    

Materials Used:

• KILZ Original primer which was recommended by my best friend and her husband and my brother-in-law. That stuff stinks to high heaven but it worked miracles on the wall.


• Ace hi-gloss paint in black


• Benjamin Moore Aura Semi-Gloss paint in ??? I painted over the label. I really hope we never need to touch up too much.


• Sponge roller 3" for smooth finish


• Ace brand paint brushes - 1 1/2" and 3


• 400-600 grain sandpaper


• Power handsander

Organize, Organize, Organize

This Labor Day weekend I have decided that I cannot live with all the furniture still under wraps and the boxes everywhere! I am sick to death of not being able to find reciepts and other important documents. Perhaps after I unpack and organize then I can actually show you a few before and after (more like work in progress) pictures.

Current Projects:
Finish the bathroom by Friday - me
Paint the guest room - Andrew
Unpack
Organize

I am quite confident Amvets, Goodwill or whomever we call to collect the duplicated and unnecessary stuff will be so pleased;)

Famous People and Libraries

I love when famous people support libraries. We have had two in teh past week with Neil Gaiman and Russell Crowe. Granted Russell just showed up for lunch during a bike ride but still awesome PR:)

http://triblocal.com/batavia/2011/08/17/russell-crowe-bikes-to-batavia-library-for-lunch/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/17/neil-gaiman-edinburgh-book-festival

Finding a Good Home Inspector

I watch a LOT of HGTV, specifically Holmes on Holmes and Holmes Inspection. If you are not aware of these two shows, they show what happens when you buy a house that has shoddy workmanship and an incomplete home inspection. They completely freaked me out during our 6 month and 60+ house search. My way of dealing with this is was to research the heck out of it.

The research process:

1. Checking out the national home inspectors' association websites.
   Be sure to check the Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage of both sites.
   In my opinion, AMHI was more organized and provided a list of inspectors with more detailed information.


2. Narrow your list of inspectors to a manageable amount.
   I suggest narrowing in realtionship to the location of the property that will be inspected.


3. Check out consumer rating sites.
   I searched by rating and location in both Yelp and the BBB (Better Business Bureau). 
   Angie's List is brilliant but does cost $.


4. Go to your state's department for professional regulation and/or licenses to check if the inspectors' license was current and if they have ever been disciplined.


5. Review the inspectors' web sites.
   Remember: Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage
   The one I chose had posted a sample inspection report and closely matched the Scope of Service provided by the AMHI.

USA Women's National Soccer Team and the World Cup run

Go USA! I am at work today and will be following the match online which is disappointing. Watching these women is extremely fun as they are really, really phenomenal athletes. I was lucky enough to catch  the Brazil v. USA and France v. USA. HOLY CROW! What amazing games.... Brazil's match went full regulation time, down a man, two overtime periods and then penalty kicks! The France match was anxiety producing as France clearly was the more talented team. However, despite the odds against the USA, these women always find a way to win! They work as a team and never give up. They are a team that can be held as role models for everyone and serve as a brilliant reminder what can happen when you work as a team and believe you can be the best. Good luck USA and kick some team Japan butt!

Here is a link from FIFA for a play by play update. http://www.fifa.com/live/competitions/womensworldcup/matchday=15/day=1/match=300144437/index.html

Why start a blog now?

Well, why not? Once I came to terms with the fact that I will not become an international star (Perez Hilton) and I didn't need to be perfect, I decided it was time. So I will post a variety of topics, hence the stew, but most will be focused on the research, the library part, I do for rehabbing our 60+ year old house that hasn't been touched in about 35 years. I hope you enjoy this as much as I will!