Meanwhile, back in the mundy...

If you've read Bill Willingham's Fables, you know that "mundy" is the term his fairytale folk use for the non-magical people and places outside their little fable community in Manhattan.

If you haven't, well ... I've just explained it to you, so it shouldn't matter. You should still read the series though, graphic-novel fan or not. Even if Bigby seems not to have a face half the time....

Anyhow, I've come to the conclusion that if this is in fact the real world, the library is clearly Fabletown.

In the mundy, people carry around bags and purses and water-coolers and things.

In the library, staff (including myself) have been spotted trekking across the lobby with stuffed animals and giant beanbags, or wearing a plastic lei and carrying a pitcher full of spatulas.

In the mundy, closets and drawers are labeled sensibly or not at all. They contain pens and files and mops and such and rarely go anywhere interesting.

In the library, drawers and closets have at one point or another borne labels such as "Sesame Street" and "To Narnia." One closet door leads to a book drop, a book cart, and a shelf half-covered in glass vases.

In the mundy, people misplace hats and gloves and wallets.

In the library, people misplace baby strollers and pairs of pants. There has been a banana in the Lost & Found basket for two days. It was found in the lobby, and no one has had the heart to throw it out. It is, after all, a perfectly good banana. The empty tub of ricotta cheese from the computer area was discarded.

In the mundy, you can sometimes pet goats at a zoo once you've paid your admission and bought some goat feed.

In the library, we brought a very large miniature bull into the auditorium and people had their pictures taken on top of it. Because it was springtime. We did not charge - luckily, neither did the bull. It was a nice bull, really.

THAT one made the news.

Just some musings from me on this, the last day I am a teenager. Now I will be able to remember these things for my memoirs. I do not have to write about the secret admirer from the computer area, because he left me a very descriptive note with illustrations and everything. It is a very useful memory aid, though I am not sure why the Eye of Horus is on it.

Goodnight.

Oh, dear. He took the red one.

I don't typically title my blogs with direct quotes from movies, but I felt like making an exception today.

I have a new cameraaaah, and it's red. That's really all that's important, right?

It works much better in low light,

... in regular light ...

... in Wal-Mart ...

...and just in general, really.

It's a Lumix DMC-ZS7, and I've only dropped it on the concrete once. So far.

In other news, five people have stopped working at the library since I started up there. Some timing I have. :( I wonder if this is tied to my ability to chase away every mall and grocery store I've ever lived across from simply by being in the area for a couple years.

Decisions, decisions

I've decided I'm going to get a new camera.

Decided it just now.

I'm making just over no money, and my limited photography skills mean I can't rationalize that a new camera's going to help that (the way I could with my drawing tablet, which was all but a necessity - I never could have drawn my Easter Bunny with a touchpad or a mouse).

Still, I wanna camera.

I'd prefer that it isn't plastic (I drop things a lot; my little Fuji J38 would have been deceased long ago if it weren't made of sturdy stuff), that it takes decent low-light pictures (my little Fuji might, if it would ever focus), and that it let me tweak a few more settings manually. Unfortunately, that ... doesn't really narrow it down as much as I'd hoped. Not to mention, I see all the shiny expensive cameras that do AWESOME THINGS and I wannnnnt.

But I must be reasonable here.

There is a budget.

I'm going to say ... $350, max.

No idea what that will get me, but off to the Interwebs to find out.

Wait, I'm already at the Interwebs.

While I sort this out, have a gecko:

You can't really see his face. Because. my camera. won't focus. in low light.

So we meet again...

So, here is (more or less) all that has transpired since last we met, dear reader:

I acquired a new computer (Desktop, HP pavilion, under $500, nice big screen, just waiting on the wireless adapter)

I found my camera

I realized I had lost my camera (in this order, because before finding the poor wretched thing in a heap of grimy snow on the side of the road, I'd assumed it was still in the house somewhere)

I removed the guts (SD card, battery) from my camera, laid it out to warm up, applied a little Pledge Multi-Surface to the LCD and body to remove the mud and grass, reassembled it, and discovered that despite 24+ below-freezing hours in a snow bank, it was in perfect working order. Hurrah for Fuji. Not so for the pockets in my coat, as they are less-than-ideal when it comes to retaining the objects placed in them. I haven't any pictures of my camera in its sad state, as my camera was busy being in a sad state at the time, but here's what it might have looked like if it were an orange:

I found an orange on the side of Welch street.

I discovered that college students are not big on reading forms before they sign them (long story regarding library cards).

I finally got around to watching the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland. Pros: Literally rated PG "for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar"; not sure whether the Jubjub bird is a harpy eagle, an archaeopteryx or a Wargle, but it's fantastic; the Mad Hatter was pretty clearly Jack Sparrow. Cons: Closing credits song (the mood seems odd for the setting); Hathaway's White Queen was quite creepy, we needed some character development for that woman (and don't you dare say "sequel"); the Mad Hatter was pretty clearly Jack Sparrow.

I finished reading Gaiman's Sandman series; great fun seeing how each artist interpreted Matthew the raven.

I marveled at the obstinance of the robins, who insist on arriving in a snow or ice storm EVERY YEAR. Today they huddled miserably in the crab-apples outside the library while a few inches of snow hurtled around them in 30-mile-per-hour gusts. I was working, so no photos of that. Sorry. Have some kraut juice:

That is all. Good night.

Laptops, puffins, penguins....

Four weeks in and already exhausting my supply of user-offered penguins from Zazzle, looks like. I'll have to start trawling around for others and asking permission and stuff. Heigh-ho!

I haven't been taking many pictures lately, though there's one still on my camera (I'm terrible about leaving pictures on my camera to rot) of some awesome pink Himalayan salt that comes with a tiny little grater and the helpful instruction "Grate rocks to obtain salt."

Have a puffin instead:

Anyhow. Tablet's still working nicely, though it took a bit to get Inkscape working with it. Can't say the same for m'poor netbook. The screen's getting worse - I could peel it open and fix that up, but there are a half-dozen other little things falling apart at the same time. Looks like I'm in the market for a new computer, maybe one with a sensibly-sized screen now that I have a job to pay for it. It's going to take a while to decide which, though - goodness, so many choices!

Had some pizza and cupcakes at the Cupcake Emporium. Tomorrow I'll have to check out the Vinyl Cafe, which sits nearby, down a scary flight of steps near some exquisitely cold-looking chrome chairs.

Winter Wonderland

Well, it's snowing here. Not like it is in blizzard-land, just a nice steady "drizzle" if you will that's piled up here and there. Where they've plowed, the drifts are up past my knees (note to self: don't try to cross the parking lot via the drifts), but otherwise the wind has kept it pretty tame.

Decided to take a nice moonlight stroll down Main and catch up with my old buddy, the Pumpkin Patch. (No, that link doesn't go anywhere, but it'll remind me to keep checking until it does.)

On my way there, I realized there was a store I'd never actually heard of - Ames Cupcake Emporium, who serves - you guessed it - pizza. And cupcakes, obviously, but ... also pizza. Pizza and cupcakes. I wanted to save my money in case I found something I just HAD TO HAVE at the Pumpkin Patch (something under 10 dollars, that is, since I hate my wallet and just grabbed the first bill that wasn't a 1 to bring with me). Set out for the Patch, a whole three yards to the left.

Admired all the pretty pretty things; little tin wind-up things, and plastic dinosaurs, and a wee little room of books, and so very many puppets and stuffed toys with soft soft fur. Played with Rocket Frog, who is technically Frog in a Spaceship, who (anyone at the Ames Public Library will tell you) is the bestest Folkmanis puppet - which is saying something, since Folkmanis puppets are wonderful critters (with a price tag to prove it).

Following so far?

Had to train myself not to look up every time a customer addressed the woman behind the counter, whose name was Emily. Half listened to whatever it was Iowa Public Radio had to say about the Superman comic with Des Moines in it ... something about Supes being too whiny and punching things.

Finally bought a little spinny bit of peppermint left over from the holidays; I don't like peppermint, but I'll give it to someone who does.

It was half an hour till closing when I got there, so soon enough I was back out on the sidewalk and hungry for cupcakes.

Went back to the Emporium for something with green frosting (kiwi, it was kiwi - the fruit, I assume), looking a bit lonely on a big plate but fluffy and yummy and generally a cupcake.

I like Main Street. Five dollars isn't much to donate to the place, but every little bit counts, eh?

Take one tablet before breakfast...

...And try not to wear it out by lunchtime. Stop periodically to eat, stretch legs, etc.

Lo and behold, my touchpad woes are cured. I love my tablet. I have a netbook, no external ... mouse, speakers, anything, and for Christmas I finally got me a proper drawing tablet. It's useful all around, but what I can't get over is the stupid little Corel Sketch Pad program. I ... I can draw with a pencil. ON THE COMPUTER. I know, I know, the train's not going to come off the screen and hit us. But c'mon, you have to admit it's cool that I can scribble for three hours without worrying about wasting my good pencils and paper.

I'm glad I didn't spring for a larger model (got me a little Intuos4 Small) because it's bigger than my netbook as it is. Some have mentioned the pen stand ... it's true, the pen stand is awesome. It's like having a little inkstand. The less using a computer feels like using a computer, the better, if you ask me. It'll take a while for me to determine whether it was worth the 200 bucks, and whether I really need to keep all this free software installed on my poor overburdened computer, but for now I'm having a blast. Even Inkscape is a little easier on this thing (not so much *clicking*), and I made me a raccoon:

Getting tons of replies for my Penguin Project so far - keep 'em coming, you nonexistent blog-viewers, I've still got over 300 to go!