The Silly Side

I'm still rehashing the ALA Midwinter Meeting. It was a big event, and a lot happened in a very short time. My last blog was about the business side of library-world. This blog? It's all about the Silly Side!

So... Did I mention that the water in my hotel got turned off three times in about 30 hours-- including all of Sunday? Apparently, the first time was because a leak happened-- a big leak. Then the plumber reconnected the lines BACKWARDS, so hot was cold and cold was hot. The pipes couldn't handle the change, so there was either cold water, or really random scalding hot water-- our random hot water was contained entirely in the toilet bowl. I actually am thinking about patenting the idea-- it was such a nice touch to not suffer from cold-toilet-seat-shock in the middle of the night! Silly... but oh-so-practical!

And... Did I mention that my friend and I are seriously discussing sending in a plea for help to Stacy and Clinton from TLC's What Not To Wear? Seriously. These people need help. The top three silly librarian-sightings so far were:
-Tiny pink shirt-- too small for wearer-- topping long mid-calf-length black skirt (complete with black lace ruffle and three different colors of ribbon below the knee), completed by a pair of very white tennis shoes, and white socks.
-Paisley pink shirt, perfectly clashing in color, tone, and style with a knee-length plaid skirt consisting of dark green and maroon, with nice white tennis shoes and "hip" shaved-short-in-spots haircut.
-Large hooded sweatshirt with screen-print fat cat on front, located above fuzzy stretch pants that were too small for the ample wearer. Apparently, this librarian gets the prize for most inappropriate outfit at the business-casual event of ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Also, so far, the overcrowded and earthy Rose Bar (lesbian-identified hangout) had BY FAR the better food and most excellent waitress of any other place we've tried to grab dinner so far. I tell you, there are so many times in my life when I wish I weren't straight! There are some gorgeous, intelligent, hilarious and generous women out there. I hope you are lucky enough to meet them, too. How silly is it to get hit on by one or two of them, and not be able to reciprocate??

The final and most tiring silliness is the fact that most of these librarians are great friends, and only see each other in person at the ALA meetings-- twice a year or so. Therefore, all the inter-dating, feuding, laughing, drinking, and general drama for the year occurs in a 48-hour period of time! O-my-gawd, it is INTENSE, and very very silly. That was definitely one thing I chose NOT to volunteer for this time around. Although, I still got most of it vicariously through my best friend. It's the first time we've seen each other in about two years, and we roomed together. Talk about your mega-girl-talk! Even on the nights we got back to the hotel before midnight, we stayed up several hours talking and trying to understand the dramas in which she plays a part. I tell you, I have EARNED a good long rest. (By the way, did I mention that the first meetings of the day begin between 7-8am, so we had to be up, professional in appearance, and functional in mind about five or six hours after we finally went to sleep each night! Silly Silly Silly.)