Fun sites

Ages ago I posted a link to the Random Romance Novel Title Generator, and I thought it was time for a revisit... today's offerings are:

• The Slavic Knight's Buxom Baby Mamma
• The Austro-Hungarian Dragon Emperor's Depraved Housekeeper
• The Italian Deputy Undersecretary for Homeland Security's Gold-Digging Mistress
• The Pacific Islander Viceroy's Bashful Bride
• The Assyrian Hunter's Sleep-Deprived Homemaker

Other fun sites I've visited lately...

• The Darwin Awards
• The Titanic Awards

You know, I could have blogged about the deaths of Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson - but I figured we all needed some fun today. I remember seeing the video for "Thriller" the first time it was aired on NZ television - after midnight, just before the Sunday horror movie... sad, but true.

Has the world gone mad?

and, do I need to hand in my job? How do I hold my head up as a teens' librarian and admit that I haven't read Twilight et al, nor seen the movie - and I don't intend to... Nor do I intend to buy the Twilight Barbie dolls... [Star Trek Barbie could be a different story...]

Why do I come to work?

I mean, apart from the obvious - like I like having somewhere to live, food to eat, and clothes to wear...

Some days I wonder. Yesterday was one of them. Drag myself to work when I should have been home sick (no, not swine flu!) because I had something really important on that would have been a total pain to reschedule, and annoyed the crap out of the others involved... and it wasn't that pleasant an experience. The joys of defense mechanisms... [long story]

Anyway - today I had the major answer (apart from money) confirmed.

One of our staff lost everything in a house fire. She came back today after two weeks off to find a card with lots of loving, caring, and supportive messages, and money raised for her...

When Dad was dying, and after he died, sometimes coming to work was the best thing - there were people here who understood - who had been there - and who would say something that just helped. Or who didn't... because they knew that you don't always want sympathetic comments, or questions about how you are. The answer - my father is dying, I'm completely shattered and I'm about to fall apart any minute, do you have tissues? [or words to that effect]

Then, if you're lucky, there are customers who make your day, too... the ones who express their gratitude at the work you've done, who thank you for finding the perfect book/resource, who know your name and have a chat (which I really miss from working in the comm lib world).

Yeah, sure, there are people at work who do my head in. There are some I try to avoid - or keep in small doses. But, hey, I get to hide in my solo office for a whack of the week!

Hutia te rito o te harakeke
Kei whea, te kōmako e kō
Kī mai ki āhau
He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao
Māku e kī atu
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

When the heart is torn from the flax bush,
where will the bell bird sing?
You ask me, what is the most important thing on earth?
My reply is it is people, it is people, it is people
http://lianza.org.nz/events/conference2009/

That's not manners is it...

Somehow or other I came across Why manners matters: the case for civilized behavior in a barbarous world by Lucinda Holdforth.

It's been a fascinating read with many sections resonating. But, with my fairly new living conditions, the one that got me was right at the beginning with the author discussing living in a block of units but not 'succesfully relating to each other' and each being 'urban hermits'.

There are 12 units - three blocks of four - where I live, and a house behind them that shares our driveway. There is at least one empty unit, but still that's a lot of humanity in a reasonably small space. I know the name of one of neighbours, because the people (of indeterminate number) in that unit are a bit suspicious of people around the area (could be fear or guilt, trust me...). I know the name of another neighbour, because he does the lawnmowing and needed to check in about payment...

I know there's someone next door who has small boys (two or three, I'm not sure) who visit most weekends - you can tell they're there, because the noise level goes from 'is the place occupied' to 'herd of elephants'. But those boys are the only people who have willingly said hi to me in six weeks.

I don't want to develop a close friendship with them all, but being able to say 'hi' and have it responded to would be nice - civilised. I've tried. I introduced myself as a walked passed a couple I saw cleaning their car one weekend, but they just said 'oh, you've just moved into number 11' - it was only latter I learnt his name (the lawnmowing guy).

If it wasn't for lights going on and off, I'd swear most of the places were empty. You just don't see anyone! The boys visiting #10 are the only ones outside. No one uses the clotheslines (including me, admittedly, but I don't hang my washing up on the balcony for it to blow all over the place). Tell a lie, I did hang towels up one day - but the weather hasn't quite been up to it, really!

I'm an urbanite, born and bred, but still say 'hi' to people I walk past on my way to the bus early in the morning - some even say 'hi' back. There's one woman who just glares at me, so I don't dare say a word. There's a man I often wait at the bus stop besides. Over the last couple of days we've started smiling and saying 'hi' to each other. Small steps.

I say 'good morning' or 'hi' to the bus driver. I say 'thanks' and wave when I get off the bus... I usually say 'hi' to shop assistants, too, and 'thanks' - and try not to impolitely have conversations with others while I'm being served. Doesn't always mean I'll chat to the assistant - but I'm not ignoring them or treating them like robots or slaves...

Is it so hard to treat our fellow human beings with civility and politeness?

Swash those buckles & laugh like a man!

One hundred yesterday ago today Errol Flynn was born!

More youtube weirdness!

How odd!

Nostalgia time!

and, thus proving my age...

No...

On my way to somewhere else... I discovered this...
David Eddings (1931-2009), In Memoriam
"I'm never going to be in danger of getting the Nobel Prize for literature."
"I'm a storyteller, not a prophet. I'm just interested in a good story," he added.
And he, with his wife Leigh, wrote many a story that lives on my shelves - ones I re-read nearly annually.