It’s a rather heavy muscle that allows us to do everything that we do. Breathe without thinking about it. Think. Create. Solve Problems. Remember the past. Feed ourselves. Move our muscles. The list goes on for days.

Included on the brain’s extensive resume is “able to create and maintain complicated filing systems with explicit and secret recall functions.” I know i’m not the only one who has experienced this one first hand. A common scene in my house is something like this:

Me: The guy’s name starts with a “G”.

Them: Patrick Dempsey?

Me: YES!

Them: There’s no “G” in there.

Me: *sigh* I knew what i meant.

A similar thing happened before the last NJ Librarian’s Tweet-up.  Driving up i was singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The version with all the extra parts like “say it glows… LIKE A LIGHT BULB!” Well at the part where the other reindeer called him names i came out with “LIKE BINOCULAR!” Which besides not being a word, didn’t make sense. It took a table full of hip librarians to figure out that it was “LIKE PINOCCHIO!”

Apparently my brain had filed that part of the song under “things with 4 syllables” and “words with second syllable emphasis.” And make no mistake that this secret filing and recall system also has files named “girl scout camp memories” with a post it note on it that says “only accessible when wet pine is smelled.”

I haven’t figured out what trigger i hit today on the way home but the file contained the memory of a book that i have not had in my possession for at least fifteen years. A book that may have been about a teenager, perhaps a runaway. Definitely had sex and maybe drugs. There may or may not have been a scene with a tub. This book might have been written by a man, or a male-sounding pseudonym. My copy may have been hardcover. It may have been a black and white hardcover. Or it’s cover may be visually confused in my memory with a black and white hardcover photography textbook that i’ve been carrying around with me for about as long as this other memory has sat dormant.

This is a book that, while i have only vague recollections of it’s subject or contents, is one that i distinctly remember passing around to my friends at the large circular orange table in the back of the cafeteria during what was probably 8th grade based on the fact that i think the table was on the left. A classic sign that someone was sharing “elicit” material, our table was a mess of head ducking, giggling preteen girls.

This also happens to have been a book that my mom clearly had deemed inappropriate for a “girl my age” and had taken away from me. I have no idea how i came to be in possession of this book or how it left my possession but i’m fairly certain Mom had something to do with it. Seeing as how she was the only person i recognized in my visual of this event that i still know how to get a hold of, i gave her a ring hoping she’d have some additional clues to help fill in my memory gaps.

When she answered the phone i explained the situation to her and she boldly exclaimed that she “would never have taken away something i wanted to read. But upon further description she starts to recall this incident. Oh good, this wasn’t just my mind turning a movie i saw or dream i had into a memory in the “real life” cabinet.  I didn’t think it was a fake memory as anything based off of movies and books usually are far more vivid as far as the memory goes.

And then in a surprising move, Mom said she’d ask my father if he remembered the book and what the title might have been. Now, my father has the worst memory of the three of us (although i am quickly catching up to him) and while he can sometimes come up with obscure things from a time gone by, I am fairly certain that this bit of information wouldn’t have gotten caught by the filter. But i suppose stranger things have happened. Especially in this family.

Okay, so a bit about memory. It’s got three main bits: Sensory Memory (2 seconds and under),  Short Term Memory (7+/- items at a time) and Long term memory which is that fickle mistress of memories such as this one. Like most recollections of it’s kind, this one is lodged in the Episodic area, or “autobiographical memory” versus Implicit memory which are things like how to tie your shoes, the names of capitals and knowledge of social customs.

The part of the brain that houses memory is the hippocampus, which lies in the back of your head toward the bottom (so technically, Wolverine shouldn’t have lost his memory since he was shot in the forehead. But i digress.) You think you have a lot to do in a day; the brain is taking care of and processing trillions of stimuli and messages at any given moment. How’s the core temp? Breathe in. What’s the keyboard feel like? Breathe out. Oh no! Activate the arm to grab the coffee before it spills. Breathe in.  Your brain never rests and can handle all that stimulation and input, but your MIND can’t, it needs to breathe.

In this minute and a half long video, Author, Speaker, Philosopher and Futurist Peter Russell talks about the difference between the mind and the brain. While the neurons firing like crazy are doing so in my brain, never ceasing, it’s the mind that needs time to rest. We need to give our minds the permission to go wherever they’d like. Giving permission is as simple as not thinking about dinner, or an upcoming meeting, or that you wish this guy would stop driving like an idiot already but just clearing your mind and letting the wind get in there and under some thoughts that have been hiding. You may not even notice you did it, clearing your head, but the moment you think of that brilliant solution, remember something totally random, or have a fantastic idea – that’s the product of giving your mind the permission to go where it will.

I’ve written before about distraction. It’s of great interest to me these days and i’m not the only one; friend and colleague Andy Woodworth recently blogged about disconnecting from the world when it was most literally forced upon him in the form of a power outage during the latest snowpocalypse. The physical brain and the “mind” need time to regenerate and to drift to wherever the winds want to take them. Daydreaming has scientifically proven benefits but we don’t allow ourselves the space nearly often enough.

I really love the strange and seemingly random things my “mind” comes up with. I’m happiest when i’m able to see clearly, combining seemingly random things into brilliance and wonder. [And in a moment of true random connectivity i remember a post i did a few years back about creating magic in customer service.]

So… my point? Take a breath and give your mind time to recouperate from the inevitable toil you put it through. Amazing things will happen if you let the winds blow where they may. Who knows, maybe you’ll come up with that book title for me. (It really is going to bug me).

possibly related posts:

1. “Focusing distractions” or turn it up, i can’t concentrate
2. Computers in Libraries: Teens are users

May 1st came, i had tickets, and the theatre was packed. We still managed to get seats near our fav spot, in the middle, not to high. Before the movie started, one of the theatre workers was kind enough to announce that “to see the whole movie you *must* stay until the end of the credits.” Staying until the last second is habit for us but it was good to know something was actually going to happen.

(WARNING: SPOILERS)

The movie was fantastic. There were some continuity issues i noticed (like Logan ditching his jacket before jumping out of the helicopter and the fact that he’s not bloody after the adamantium is injected like he is in the flashbacks in the other movies) but none of them distracted me from the enjoyment of watching Wolverine do his thing.

By the end of the movie I already want to see it again. We see the small scene with Striker and the credits roll. Despite the warning from the theatre guy, some people start to leave. The credits finish and then, there it is. The extra scene:

cut to shot glass, liquor being poured. Wolverine downs it and asks for another in Japanese. the female bartender pours him another and asks if he’s drinking to forget.

“No,” he says. “I’m drinking to remember.”

REALLY? Seriously? What the hell people, that’s so bad. I know it’s a throwback to the comic and the time that Wolverine did spend in Japan but that line is so bogus. Totally ruined the feeling i had before the credits rolled.

The next day, though, i heard the news: the movie was released with TWO DIFFERENT EXTRA SCENES!!!

Last night, after a long day at work (and a bazillion hours straight listening to the soundtrack), i wanted to see the movie again. So after work the bf and i both booked it home, ate dinner, grabbed our “2 tickets for $14″ coupon and headed to a different movie theatre in hopes that we could catch the alternate ending, the apparently good one that hints to the next X-men Origins movie.

But an hour and forty seven minutes later we saw the shot glass again. DAMNIT!

This time though, we went straight to the “guest services” desk and asked. Did they have both movies? Is there any way to know which one we’d be watching? A quick phone call was placed to the Projectionist and a few minutes later we found out that they had both copies, each one playing on a different screen. But at the end of the week they were sending one back and they didn’t know which one would be kept. Well damn.

But then an amazing thing happened. “The other version just started on screen 10,” the Guest Services woman said. I look at my watch. It was only a few minutes past start time and probably not past the previews yet. “You can just go in.”

Sweet! Even sweeter was the fact that there were only 2 other people in the whole theatre so the bf and i took the opportunity to comment and joke around at the expense of the movie (albeit still quietly). After all, we’d already gotten to the point that we could recite lines and anticipate comedic timings.  I also figured out that in this theatre (only the 2nd time i’d been in it) the arm rests popped up into the seat and out of the way so I was able to enjoy this third viewing laying down, my head resting in the bf’s lap, like i was watching it at home. Awesomesauce!

I was midly afraid that after 3 viewings so close together i’d find out that the movie wasn’t really as good as i thought it was, but that didn’t happen.

(MORE SPOILERS)

Another 1hr 47mins later, the 3rd viewing came to an end… Wolverine walks away from the sirens, camera pans back and loses the world in the clouds. Credits start. Striker is found and collected for questioning. Credits roll and finish. And there it is. No shot glass. (YAY!) Instead, we see Deadpool and I shiver in my seat (because decapitated heads shouldn’t make noise). THIS was the extra they should keep. This is the one that doesn’t ruin the feeling of the movie.

We walk out of the theatre into the rain and i promise the bf that i won’t ask to see WOlverine a fourth time. Because that might be too much. :-)

And that is the story of our quest for movie extras and how i came to see Wolverine three times. Rock on.

possibly related posts:

1. Indiana Jones 4 sucked or why we gouged our eyes out
2. saving the world: one plastic cup at a time

in the meantime, enjoy the simplicity and excuse our dust.

Thanks!
~Management

possibly related posts:

1. Spring Cleaning
2. tinkering with themes

rule #1
a box is the default and non-negotiable packaging material for items that can be squished, broken, or otherwise scratched, bent, or bruised. The items in said boxes should be wrapped and cushioned well in paper, air, bubbles, biodegradable peanuts, or other cushiony materials.

Examples:
a calculator should be wrapped in bubble wrap or newspaper and surrounded by newspaper or bubbles in a box that’s only a little larger than the item itself.

rule #2
the only items that should be shipped in envelopes / bags than move when blown are items that move when blown.

Example: Shipping a sweater? Put it in a ziplock to protect it and keep it clean and then put it in a paper or Kevlar envelope. Shipping a contract? Try a cardboard envelope. Shipping a puppy? Who does that!?

rule #3
write the return address and sending address in big, clear letters. Preferably in black marker. The bigger the package, the thicker the marker.

rule #4
securely close boxes and envelopes. Is your envelope flap not staying closed? Use tape. Boxes should be taped at least once across each direction on both the top and bottom, especially for heavier items.

Remember that the main priority for shipping items is to keep the item safe and un-battered during transit. Your second priority is speed of delivery. Doesn’t matter how fast it got there if it’s damaged.

Side Note #1: Boy asked USPS the best and fastest way to ship calculator to Girl1. They said a box couldn’t be used for overnight priority shipping and suggested the kevlar bag. Wtf!?

Side Note #2: I’m running out of companies i’m willing to use to ship things. FedEx and DHL are already on my banned list.

*the blanket statement made was for humor purposes and was not intended to single out men as poor shippers. :-)

possibly related posts:

1. The Rules of Ice Or a Guide for Southerners
2. i finally have help: a review of Alice.com

On top of everything else, i’ve had adoption on my mind. Adoption of pets; lets not get ahead of ourselves here, folks. :-)

What got me started about expanding my pet repertoire was the events of the weekend before last. When returning home after a weekend in NJ, we ran into a stray kitten (teenager?) at the Clara Barton Rest Stop on the NJ Turnpike. We tried for a good 30 mins to try to get it to let us pet it. It let us get very close, but never close enough to touch it. When i was convinced that (s)he was not going to let us rescure it (this time), we decided to leave, calling an agency to help out. On the way out of the rest stop though, we saw another, smaller, one. And then we saw them. There were at least 12 cats, 2 adults, multiple kittens, and some teenagers. We knew we wouldn’t be able to help them all so we figured we’d call some agencies to help them out.

(Very) long story short, multiple agencies were called and no one has the resources to capture and/or house all those cats. best advice i got was to try to rescue as many myself and then donate them to barn cats. Except if i can’t rescue all of the cats, i don’t want to try to rescue any. You might think that’s mean, but i figure they’ve got a system of dependence going and i don’t want to break up the delicate connections.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that I have a lot of love to give and need a new place to direct it.

Last night, a friend of mine had accompanied me to hear David Sedaris speak in the city. While waiting in line to get my book signed, we got to talking about pets. I was still thinking about having something to care for besides myself this morning. Searching the local human society’s site i was thinking about how much i want a dog, but that i can’t be there as much as a dog would need me at this point in my life (even with telecommuting 2x weekly now). And i like cats, but was never all that into owning one.

Enter bunny.

When i saw Mr. Noodles in the list of pets for adoption, i knew i had struck gold.

His description sealed the deal, “I’m a super sweet boy who loves to cuddle!” YAY!

My mother offered me some sage advice the other day- not to make any major life decisions while i’m sorting out this stage of transition. And I tend to agree with her, which is why i’m going to take my time with this seeing as my pet record to date consists only of two fish, Socrates (left) and Fishie (right).

Tomorrow after work i’m going to go over to the adoption place and talk to them, spend some time with the animals, and Mr. Noodles and see if the urge to adopt still stands. If not, I’ll find other ways to direct my energies. But i’m hoping i’m still in love with Mr. Noodles after talking to the folks at the shelter; just the thought of him made me smile more hugemongous that i had in a while.

possibly related posts:

1. How I Got Started Blogging (or Filling my need for public approval) ;-)
2. 37 sites to know and try

Later in the day, however, a colleague called to heads me up about something and mentioned my blog was all in pirate speak! I didn’t catch the comment at the time but when i went to check on my blog for something else, i noticed it! It had been translated into pirate speak! ZOMG!

I’d like to reassure you that i didn’t manually go through every post on this site and piratize it. I had the help of a Text Filter Plugin. Which, honestly, until it was mentioned, i had completely forgotten about!

For the record, i also have the Jive, Fudd (as in Elmer), and Sweedish Chef filters available as well. :-)

So next time ye mateys be thinkin’ me time ain’t be filled, remember: me be usin’ little helpers. Them scallywags never be lettin’ me down.

Happy Pirate Day!

possibly related posts:

1. VHS, DVD, and Beta, Oh my! Or what to do with old media
2. Conform to the computer’s organization method no longer!

An Open Letter to All Airline Customers

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known.

Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com/sos.
Sincerely,

Robert Fornaro Chairman, President and CEO AirTran Airways, Inc.	Bill Ayer Chairman, President and CEO Alaska Airlines, Inc.
Gerard J. Arpey Chairman, President and CEO American Airlines, Inc.	Lawrence W. Kellner Chairman and CEO Continental Airlines, Inc.
Richard Anderson CEO Delta Air Lines, Inc.	Mark B. Dunkerley President and CEO Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.
Dave Barger CEO JetBlue Airways Corporation	Timothy E. Hoeksema Chairman, President and CEO Midwest Airlines
Douglas M. Steenland President and CEO Northwest Airlines, Inc.	Gary Kelly Chairman and CEO Southwest Airlines Co.
Glenn F. Tilton Chairman, President and CEO United Airlines, Inc.	Douglas Parker Chairman and CEO US Airways Group, Inc.

possibly related posts:

1. the molecular structure of car titles
2. Rally around real Health Care Reform

Tonight the bf and I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He will be guest writing this post with me…

You know how the doctor tells you this shot is only going to hurt “a little” and deep down you know he’s full of shit? That was our experience watching this movie.

Not only was it an abomination on it’s own, but it singlehandedly tarnished and pissed all over the good name of Indiana Jones. As it turns out, Denholm Elliott‘s (Marcus Brody) untimely death was a good career move rather than appear in this latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise.

The genius of the once-visionary George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, has soured and begun to fail with age (see Star Wars Episodes 1-3). We’re not commenting on the physical years of Lucas and Spielberg, but rather of their having given in to the creativity-sucking money machine. Apparently they thought that a public willing to elect George W. Bush into office twice would be gullible enough to hand over their money without much problem.

I fear that when both of us walk into our respective offices tomorrow morning, noses will raise from behind cubicle walls, wondering what the stench is. “I smell Indiana Jones 4!” Yes, quite like a skunk’s spray, this is a marking that will not easily be showered away.

You may be wondering why we thought it sucked so much. It might be shorter to tell you what we thought was good about it… but then this post would end.

For starters, the style was all wrong- it looked like it had been shot as a Soap Opera. The lighting was bad, the cinematography was predictable and the dialog was about as complicated as the comics in Bazooka bubble gum. The set looked like one and the Crystal Skull seemed made of plastic filled with that crinkly iridescent tissue paper. Come on, people. You can do better.

Oh, and lets not forget about the fact that they ditched the Nazis (a lesson they should have learned from in IJ2: Temple of Suck) for Soviets and… wait for it… ALIENS!!! WTF?! It’s like Spielberg was attempting not an homage to the IJ franchise but a sequel to that other alien movie.

What were they thinking, insulting IJ fans, and intelligent humans, by putting ALIENS as the whole gimmick to the movie? That’s the other problem, it wasn’t a movie with thought-out character development or respectful throwbacks to the good stuff that came before or even something with a coherent plot- the entire thing WAS a gimmick- a gimmick to romance money out of the hands of an unsuspecting public who willingly gave it up hoping that filmmakers are still visionaries and decent human beings who wouldn’t disgrace the icon that was Indiana Jones. Was.

I just hope that I will be able to watch Movies 1 & 3 without thinking of 4. I have no issue forgetting 2, but that may be because time has begun to heal those wounds.

It all just goes to show you that you too, for a mere $185,000,000 can make something that will destroy an icon, ruin childhoods around the world and still make you millions.

The bf, for one, would rather cover himself in chum and throw himself into shark infested waters than go anywhere near that movie again (he also mentions something about circumcision and a rusty spoon, but that’s probably more graphic than you need.)

While I still wouldn’t go the chum or rusty spoon route, my heart is broken. I was nervous when i heard about this movie being made that the story was all wrong- that Indiana Jones can’t have a son, no matter how old he gets, and that Cate Blanchett is just too modern for the story. I was right to be nervous but i was nervous for the wrong reasons. Cate didn’t seem *that* out of place compared to the presence of ALIENS! I didn’t notice too much that the once Womanizing, Government-hating Indy had been turned into a decorated war hero father and husband because i was blinded by the plastic-y goodness of bad ALIEN props! And I might have been mildly distracted from the “Insert Homage Here” formula because of the clear attention to ALIENS!

I’m sorry, the bf informs me there were no aliens in this movie.
I stand corrected; they were “Interdimensional Beings.”

Apparently Genius can die and someone can ruin a good thing. In this case, the good thing that used to be the Archeologist/Professor Everyone Wants And Wants To Be, dies a 2 hour long, painful, gut wrenching, eye gouging, death. Complete with Aliens. There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to admit he’s slid off the bell curve of his creative faculties and needs to roll over and give up for the sake of the rest of humanity. Lucas and Spielberg are way past their deadline.

As he rolls over to go to sleep, my bf asks, “Will the stench ever come off?”
“We have Top Men working on it.”
“Who,” he asks?
“Top Men.”

—
Other reviews:
- “Indiana Jones and the Savage Reviews,” Telegraph
- Listing of reviews from Movie Review Query Engine
- Rotten Tomatoes.com
- Reel Reviews

possibly related posts:

1. The search for the extra endings (or How i came to see Wolverine 3 times in a week)
2. Book lending; Netflix style

This one goes first because I have the most to say about it: You Can Do Anything- Can’t You?
Last night we caught the “My Porcelain God” SCRUBS rerun on one of the few channels i get with my rabbit ears- it was the episode where Janitor builds an Epiphany Toilet on the rooftop. Michael J. Fox, playing doc for two episodes, has a great line towards the end of the episode:

If there’s something you know you can do, whether it’s intubating a patient or…copping a squat on the roof, and your mind keeps throwing up roadblocks, just know you can drive right through ‘em.

But it frequently occurs to me (and the Fast Company post confirms it) that there’s a lot of people out there who don’t even know they can do something. People say “you can do whatever you put your mind to” but if you were frequently told as a kid that you can’t do something (or worse, shouldn’t try), your brain is now programmed, unbeknownst to you, to make you think you can’t do something. At that point, it takes a lot of self-understanding and guts to get past something like that.

So here’s my question- How do I understand my librarians (in their 250+ varying upbringings) in order to help them get past any mental roadblocks? Or, how do I do that with the 34 liaisons and then help them do it for their librarians? How do we dismantle all these childhood roadblocks to help create better librarians with more patience and better customer service intuition?

Any and all ideas welcome. Where do we start?

Impromptu Postcarding: or Being greener while being more real. Greatest Idea yet this year. I’m so doing that- and since I couldn’t find what I wanted at USPS.gov i may just buy some postcard stamps (do they make forever in postcards?) and use up my huge can’t-ever-use-them-all, Dad-please-stop-buying-them, 3×5 cards as the postcards.

Blast from the Past: Topsy the elephant gets her film debut while Edison tries to discredit alternating current

Had trouble txting your friends on NYE? What happens when there’s a mass emergency? “It’s people having to think a little bit differently about how you communicate… Maybe there’s a need for some different models.” Maybe there’s a need for better (or a different) infrastructure.

possibly related posts:

1. CIL2009: additional highlights, thoughts & links
2. thoughts about VR

Anywho- there’s been some complaints (like the comments on the post linked above) about having to pay for access to blog posts. Yes, that sounds crappy to me, but think about it-

You’re essentially paying for access to blog posts now! You paid for your computer, phone, or whatever you use to access the internet… you paid for your internet access or data plan… so how is that different than paying for your kindle and then paying per thing accessed?

… now as I write this I feel like I’ve heard this before…. And I’d be right.

possibly related posts:

1. a word about doing things online (or If i can’t pay online, you’re saying you dont want your $)
2. How do you stay organized?