The mayor has dropped out...

...and I have nowhere to go. For the first time since I first voted in 1984, I have no candidate to support, vote for or care about. McCain scared me in 2000 and that hasn't changed in eight years. Romney's politics are just slightly to the left of Genghis Khan. Obama is the Paris Hilton of the Democrats and Hillary has all the charm of a cold sore. Plus she and the lecherous hillbilly are a package deal. *shudder*

Last week, the local Obama group met here at the library and I helped them set up. I handed the guy in charge $5 and told him, "Please use this to stop that woman." He asked if I wanted to get involved and I informed him that I don't support his man, I just want "that woman" stopped. He looked downcast and said, "Unfortunately, we get that a lot."

I may just sit this one out and take what comes. I cannot, as an American, moderate and capitalist, vote for any of these people. Now it is my turn to be scared of the direction we are going. Maybe something will change. I can only hope.

Tish!

I've always said that I have an "unfortunate" attraction to Goth chicks (didn't marry one, just attracted), but I could never figure out why. Now I know...

Over the weekend, I watched some episodes of "The Addams Family" on DVD. I remember watching them in reruns when I was a kid in the mid-70's and thought they were funny. But my young male brain had latched on to something else: Carolyn Jones as Morticia. Pale, shapely, sexy, smart and dressed all in black, complete with black hair and jewellery. Woof! Now I see Goth chicks and hope for Morticia.

Lucky guy, that John Astin...

Don't like Spongebobbery, eh?

For my friend Anwyn's son, the Bean. How about this, dude?




The performer is buried here in Minnesota!

How I got the job

As Mr. Waturi asked, "I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?" And this time, all I had to do was be myself.

According to my boss, I was not the leading candidate for this job. After the phone interviews, I was a strong candidate, but not the best. That person was a woman from South Carolina. So we all schlepped up to Hibbing to plead our respective cases. I went first and blew them away, not only with my skills and experience, but my large bag of camp songs.

I'm not kidding. Camp songs.

At one point in the interview, I was asked to do a song that I might do in a story time. As there were only adults in the room, it was critical that I make a lasting impression on cynical older people. I blasted my way into one of the most over-the-top camp songs I knew, "Ravioli." After all the singing, note holding, coughing and running about involved in that little ditty, I was permanently a part of their memory, especially short term. Ginny (my boss) said, that after I had left, one of the committee members said, "He's crazy. I like that." She also told me that "Ravioli" rolled around in her head for weeks, especially during the other interviews. I love this profession!

I may get a new desk sign: "Danger. Man with Camp Songs."

Just one degree

As in temperature. Right now, it has climbed above zero here in Hibbing, to one. However, that is quite a warm up from last Saturday, when it was 15 below. Wow. I may start to sweat...

And speaking of Spongebob

As a children's librarian, I am well-served by my vast repertoire of camp songs to use at story time. It is too bad, however, that "The Campfire Song Song" is a little too fast for most pre-schoolers.

In Spongebob We Trust

Because, at this point, I trust him more than I do the Fed...

A really big hamster

OK, imagine a Habitrail for this guy (top). And don't get me started on chew sticks...

A slow news day in a small town

But I do love being in the paper!

More sympathy lost

Do I feel badly for Hurricane Katrina victims? Yes. However, they had plenty of warning and knew they lived below sea level. When they don't learn a lesson, stupid things will begin to happen. Remember the USFL? Rather than admit to failure, they sued the NFL. The judge awarded them $1.00. I think that is a wonderful precedent. Let's start with the guy from the article above.

He's a killer!

I love dachshunds! My first wife and I had one named Wolfgang. What is best about them is, since they were bred to go down holes after badgers, they have no idea that they are small, goofy looking dogs. Case in point: I walked by a car parked outside the library that contained two mini black and tans. They threw themselves at the windows, barking and snarling, trying to get at me. No doubt they wanted to tear my leg off for having the audacity to come too close to their car. Vicious little monsters!

Good dog!

Life, as I've known it lately

For those of you who are desperate for news about what I've been up to (and I can't imagine who that could possibly be), here is what you have been waiting for. Sorry if I kept you waiting for too long.

I got into Hibbing on December 31 at about 2:30. I didn't do the 13 hour, one-shot drive, but broke it up over two days (Wichita to Des Moines on the 30th, then Des Moines to Hibbing on the 31st). All driving was uneventful, but northern Iowa was very pretty that morning, with fog frozen to the trees. Then Minnesota greeted me with snow showers! Except for my cold, it was an enjoyable drive.

The house in which I'm staying in Hibbing belongs to one of the library board members. It is her mom's place, but that lady is now in an assisted living establishment and the board member didn't want the house sitting empty. So I'm staying there rent free till Cole and Miri join me in our new place here (wherever and whenever that is).

After I got to Hibbing, I unpacked and then did some shopping. After I was settled, I got the TV to work with my DVD player and game consoles. I watched "Gods and Generals," the prequal to "Gettysburg." Good stuff, go rent it. Then I slept for 10 hours, watched more movies, played games, wandered around Wal-Mart, watched another movie, then went back to sleep.

My first day at work was filled with paperwork, passwords and getting my toys set up. Since then, I'm learning circulation, how packed the kid's room is with books and where the bodies are buried. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming, especially since they have been without a children's librarian since August. I'm already getting tours set up. This week, the local paper will be by to interview me (I'll post a link when it comes out) and the library has scheduled an open house on the 15th for everyone to come by and meet me! Honestly, I have never felt so welcome at a new home or job. Yeah, its cold, but the welcome feeling more than makes up for it.

First big project before Winter Reading club: weeding the kid's collection. I've started with items that have not circulated since 2003 and that is just the fiction section. One book truck is already full, so this will be quite an effort.

From Mary Fahl, "Going Home"

I have become quite the traveler of late, and I have left my loved ones behind to go north. They will join me soon, but I'm alone now, wandering yet again. This song reached out to me on Tuesday night. Thanks, Mary.

They say there's a place
where dreams have all gone
They never said where
but I think I know
It's miles through the night
just over the dawn
on the road that will take me home

I know in my bones
I've been here before
The ground feels the same
though the land's been torn
I've a long way to go
The stars tell me soon
this road that will take me home

Love waits for me
'round the bend
Leads me endlessly on
Surely sorrows shall find their end
and all our troubles will be gone
And I'll know what I've lost
and all that I've won
when the road finally takes me home

And when I pass by
don't lead me astray
Don't try to stop me
Don't stand in my way
I'm bound for the hills
where cool waters flow
on this road that will take me home

Love waits for me
'round the bend
Leads me endlessly on
Surely sorrows shall find their end
and all our troubles will be gone
And we'll know what we've lost
and all that we've won
when the road finally takes me home

I'm going home
I'm going home
I'm going home