The Wait is Over!

I'm leaving to go to Greece tomorrow morning. I'll reach Greece on Monday morning, Greek time, which will also probably be Monday morning, your time, if you are somewhere in the U.S. Just... significantly earlier on Monday morning.

There probably won't be any updates for a few days- I'll be getting settled in before I log on to the internet and post. Hopefully there will be photos and such.

The Ordeal of Waugh Watch

It's back! When I checked the fiction shelf at approximately 4:30 this afternoon, there were copies of Scoop, Vile Bodies, Put Out More Flags, Unconditional Surrender, and three copies of Brideshead Revisited. I guess the patrons, probably acting according to the hive mind, decided to go Waugh-crazy again. Note the three copies of Brideshead Revisited. Three. This is what leads me to believe that it was multiple patrons, not just one.

And, since this subject doesn't appear to be as obvious as I had always thought it was...

A Library Page's Guide to What Does Not Constitute Proper ID

1. Your cell phone
2. Your iPod
3. Your mp3 player
4. Any electronics of any sort
5. Expired library cards that no longer are connected to an actual record in the system
6. Library cards from out of state that don't have your name on them
7. Your name written on a piece of paper
8. Your name written on your hand
9. Your name written on someone else's hand
10. Monogrammed pens and pencils
11. Your library card number written on a piece of paper
12. Your promise that you are who you say you are
13. Your friend's promise that you are who you say you are
14. Your promise that you are who your friend says you are
15. Your friend's promise that you are who your friend says you are
16. Pieces of mail addressed not to you but to "current resident"

Got it?

Feel free to print this out and carry it with you at all times, if necessary.

Packing 1, 2, 3...

So, I've realized that I'm really bad at packing. Not in a "I can't fold things neatly so they take up a minimum amount of space" way, and not in a "I bring wildly useless things but forget socks and toothpaste" way, but in a panicky, guilt stricken, worried way. For example, the morning went something like this.

Panicked Bit of Caroline's Mind: Should I bring these pants?

Rational Bit of Caroline's Mind: Yes.

PBoCM: But they take up space! I'm worried about how much I'm bringing.

RBoCM: Caroline, they're your favorite pants.

PBoCM: True. They are. But are they versatile? Comfortable? Useful?

RBoCM: Yes, yes, and yes? Caroline, you like those pants a lot.

PBoCM: Ok, then. (Pause.) But should I really bring them?

RBoCM: Ok, let's take a break and fiddle around with our Greek travel guide for a bit. Look, pretty islands.

PBoCM: I'm so looking forward to fall break.

George does not help matters. George does not like packing, suitcases, or people not paying attention to him. He lurks around a lot and occasionally bites people (me).

On the bright side, I'm leaving a week from tomorrow!

There Is a Patron Named Amenhoteph Smith. Discuss.

A Question of Geography
Patron: I lost a book and I want to pay for it.
Caroline: Ok.
Patron: The book was from Andover.
Caroline: I'm sorry. I can't take care of that here. Andover isn't in our network.
Patron: Well, I'm sure as hell not driving to Andover to give them money there.
Caroline: Alright. Let me look at your record- I'll see what I can do.
Patron: Here it is.
Caroline: Err. Your book is actually from the Farms branch- we can take care of that.
Patron: You just said you couldn't.
Caroline: That was when I thought the book was from Andover.
Patron: It is from Andover. The Farms branch is in Andover.
Caroline: Actually, it's in Beverly. On Vine Street. In the Farms.
Patron: No, it isn't.
Caroline: No, you see, it's our branch. You know, us, the Beverly Public Library. We don't have a branch in Andover.
Patron: Clearly, you haven't worked here very long.

I (Don't) Love Lucy
Patron: Can I look at those DVDs behind you?
Caroline: The ones in the return bin?
Patron: Yes, those.
Caroline: Sure. Though they're all I Love Lucy, I think.
Patron: Can I see them anyway?
Caroline: Ok.
Patron: Aww. These are all I Love Lucy.

A Phone Conversation
Patron: Hi. I'm the patron who left their license at the library this morning.
Caroline: Right.
Patron: I need my license number.
Caroline: I'm sorry?
Patron: For reasons. Important reasons.
Caroline: What reasons?
Patron: I can't tell you that.
Caroline: I'm sorry, but I can't give out personal information over the phone. It's library policy.
Patron: Are you kidding me?
Caroline: No.
Patron: But I can't come in and pick it up.
Caroline: Why not?
Patron: (hangs up.)
Caroline: Well, then.

Clearly, This Person Doesn't Understand Multiplication
Patron: I want to reserve four passes to the Museum of Science.
Caroline: I'm sorry, we only have one pass. It admits four people, though.
Patron: But I want four passes that admit one person!
Caroline: I'm sorry, but that's just not possible.
Patron: That's it. I'm calling the Farms branch.

Architecture
Patron: I think you have such a beautiful library.
Caroline: Thanks! I like it too.
Patron: I haven't been in here for a couple years.
Caroline: Well, not much has really changed. We moved the Large Print section and added a CD section.
Patron: You added some stairs.
Caroline: Come again?
Patron: Those stairs over there. The marble ones. They're new.
Caroline: I think they're original, actually. That whole side of the building is.
Patron: You mean like that door? I thought that was a nice door you added there.
Caroline: Oh, no. Not this again.
Patron: What was that?
Caroline: Nothing.
Patron: So, when did you add the stairs?
Caroline: Err. 1913-ish?

Knitting, With Pictures

I've just finished (whereby finished I mean "cast off and am now blocking") the " Lace Ribbon Scarf" over at knitty. This here is a photograph. It was my first foray into lace in recent memory, and I think that, other than some unfortunate mishaps, it came out rather well. (For example, some of you extremely observant people will probably notice that I did six eyelets on each side instead of five. Oops.) I also knit it with thicker yarn and on bigger needles than were called for, but all in all I think it turned out quite well. Also, to my surprise, I enjoyed it quite a lot. My memories of lace knitting mostly were unpleasant and involved a lot of staring at charts, muttering unpleasantly. This was a really easy repeat to memorize, so it ended up being pretty mindless. Now, I'm just waiting for it to dry...

Adventures with Wildlife

The good news: no-one was actually hurt.

The bad news: there's a skunk outside, the entire house reeks of skunk and mango-papaya air freshener, and George is still covered with tomato juice.

Fun times. Fun times.

On Speaking Like People in Literature

So, my sister and I recently went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which is something that I would not suggest you do, since the movie was rather horrible, and left me with a variety of pressing questions, such as, was I actually supposed to dislike everyone involved by the end of the film? Also, was Tibby's boyfriend supposed to be a total creeper?

However, these questions are really neither here nor there. They also might not be entirely fair, since I have not read any of the books or seen the first movie.

What I really am interested in is a quote by Carmen, when she says that she wishes that we still talked like the people in Shakespeare plays. I have been thinking about this, and the conclusion that I have come up with is that this would be horrid. What really would be fabulous, in my humble opinion, would be if we all spoke like characters out of P.G. Wodehouse's novels. Wouldn't it be great? Our conversations would be composed of inane observations and half-forgotten poems and misinterpreted Biblical allusions. We'd say "bally" and "tinkerty-tonk" and "with knobs on". We would give each other ridiculous nicknames, and refer to people as "the efficient so-and-so" or "Comrade so-and-so" or "la Last-Name-of-So-and-So". We would always be quoting Jeeves. Or quoting quotes formerly quoted by Jeeves. Essentially, the world would be a lovely happy place and everyone would think that we were mentally negligible. But with hearts of gold.

Ok, so my secret plan is to subtly get people to start talking like Bertie Wooster. I will do it sneakily, to the point when everyone is quoting Wodehouse all the time without actually knowing. Plan number two is to get everyone to read the books, already. You may take your pick.

I Have a Visa!

As of this morning, I officially have my Greek visa. It has been glued into my passport, which is in my purse, which is on my desk chair in my room. I have triumphed over the forces of bureaucracy. I return triumphant, like a knight questing in times of old, from the dread land of 86 Beacon Street. Catching the 10:20 out of North Station provided no difficulty. My months of toil have now brought forth fruit from the fallow fields. Etc.

Waugh Watch, Revisited

Caroline, intrepid library page, is pleased to report that the crisis has been averted. After an adventure filled three weeks, the Evelyn Waugh craze appears to be over. Yay! Only one copy of Brideshead Revisited appeared today, and a quick shelf check in the stacks shows that the shelf housing Mr. Waugh's collection is once more reasonably full. It has been an interesting three weeks or so. Chief among the interesting facts that have been learned in the midst of the mayhem is that Evelyn Waugh's first wife was also, apparently, named Evelyn. Their friends called them "He-Evelyn" and "She-Evelyn." I don't know whether this is cute or scary. I guess the moral of the story is "Don't name your male child Evelyn if you can help it."

In other exciting library news, a very exciting landmark in my countdown to Greece has been reached- today is the first day when three-week books are due back after I have left. That's right! If you checked a book out of the library today, and your library has a three week loan period, it is due back on September 2nd. The time truly grows short, my friends.

You Know You've Read Too Much P.G. Wodehouse When...

Today at the library, I saw a copy of the book Spindrift, by Phyllis A. Whitney. And my first thought was, "Wow. That's really cool. Somebody wrote the book that Florence Craye wrote in P.G. Wodehouse! It's too bad that the cover doesn't have a woman with a green face smelling a purple flower." Sadly, this was not the case.


Though if I was going to write one of the fictional books in P.G. Wodehouse, I think that I would rather write the Gridley Quayle detective stories. Or possibly the collected works of Rosie M. Banks.

This Week on Waugh Watch...

A patron is mysteriously excited to read a classic novel. Caroline helps them to track down a book. Conveniently, three copies have just been sent down from Tech Services, and are sitting on the new fiction shelf at the circulation desk.



A mystery is discovered (rediscovered? thought about again?) when Caroline, intrepid library page, goes to shelve the fiction section, authors' last names K-W.



And Caroline, our heroine, tries in vain to piece together what is going on.


In all seriousness, though, what is up with the sudden popularity of Evelyn Waugh? Honestly, we can't keep the man's books on the shelves, which is pretty unusual for an author who wrote years ago and hasn't been shown on Oprah and doesn't write thrillers or romances or mystery novels. Also suddenly popular are Kurt Vonnegut and Dorothy L. Sayers. Go figure.

One Step Closer to a Greek Visa!

Today I spent an exciting morning at the Greek Consulate General in Boston, and I am happy to report that I am a week away from having my visa! This was very exciting. Even more exciting was the bit where I realized that if I didn't want to miss the 10:20 and have to wait around for the 11:15 train, I was going to need to get to North Station at a bit of a run. Let me tell you, those brick sidewalks on Beacon Hill are absolutely treacherous when they're wet. Which they were, since it was raining. Mother informs me that this is good practice for the marble sidewalks in Athens.

26 days,my friends!

The Countdown Continues

In exactly one month, I will be in Athens. Yay! To celebrate, here is a picture of Mount Lykavittos, which is the big hill in Athens which is not the Acropolis. I am very excited.

In other exciting news, I have solved something of a personal mystery. You know how I listened to one of P.G. Wodehouse's books on tape in 8th grade, and could never remember the title, and could only remember that the plot involved meddlesome aunts, unwanted fiances, and disapproving elders, stealing things, and Jeeves' schemes, which, let's face it, describes 95% of the Jeeves books? And how I was pretty sure it wasn't Code of the Woosters, which seemed like the closest match everyone could come up with?

Ha ha, I have found it out! And I was right, it wasn't Code of the Woosters. It was, in fact, Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, which I think most people can agree is a funny place to start reading Wodehouse. But, err, mystery solved?