It has been a couple years since I was really in the swing of an ALA conference and I almost forgot the headiness of it all, the intoxicating sense of being with people who inspire you and drive you forward. Friday, I had a lot of moments that sounded like this in my mind, “I love librarians! I love being inspired by their will to face any challenge. I love talking about big issues with smart, funny, snarky, beautiful people!” Over and over all day.

For the first time Friday, I was able to attend the Library Journal Movers and Shakers lunch. This year it was at the National Press Club. As I sat listening to all of the fabulous things the new class of Movers and Shakers did to forward the cause of libraries, literacy, and knowledge I was truly, utterly humbled. It was amazing. They are amazing.

Besides sit in that room full of people that are doing astounding things, I serendipitously ran into my first boss after library school. She was the kind of boss everyone should have at their first job. She was encouraging and supportive. She fought hard for her team. She found my strengths and let me follow them, regardless of their actual relation to my job. She spoiled me for anyone else actually. Now, I am blessed that Clara is my friend still though professionally we have moved on.

I had an astounding first day and things only got better from there.

I felt that I listened more at this conference. I usually have a lot to say, but I felt more like a sponge than anything else. What I heard were the dreams and ideas of people that I regard very highly. I have some specific reflections on a couple ideas, but those can come later.

I think this marks the beginning of me being back into the midst of things and I am happy to be surrounded by the chaos of my peers.

–Jane, loves being a librarian

First, perhaps I should explain something to those of you who may live outside of Texas. There is one thing that rules high school: football. Football and all things related. High School band, whatever it was where you lived, is serious business in Texas. We practiced as much, and often more, than the football team. We received more standing ovations than our team did and they went to the playoffs almost every year. We gave sweat and tears to our field. You have to love something a heck of a lot to practice it in 100 degree heat on an asphalt lot.

So band was not something we just did. It was something we breathed in High School.

Mr. Johnson shepherded us from a fairly crappy band into something great. A band that won awards nationally. It was amazing to be a part of that transformation. Mr. Johnson taught me some lessons I will never forget.

Mr. J taught me how to win. He taught me that winning was hard work involving hours of toil, sometimes heartache, for one shiny moment. I learned that in order to be good, I also had to be on a good team. To be on a good team, I had to help people around me be better. In band, you are only as good as your worst player, and to be really great, you have to lift up those around you and be willing to learn from others. Teamwork was winning together.

Mr. J also taught me how to lose. One year, we went to a competition and gave it everything. We were, in our minds, far and above, finally good enough to break into the top ten finalists. We knew it. Felt it. But when the results came down and we had failed, according to the judges, I was angry, incensed. Mr. J though, he said he was proud of us. That we had never been better. That we had done our best and THAT was the best part of the day. Then, I only felt bitterness at something denied, but now, with years behind that memory, I know that I learned that day how to accept failure when your best is not good enough. Mr. Johnson taught me to be humble and feel blessed by my opportunities, regardless of the outcomes. I did not appreciate it then, but I surely do now.

Mr. J also taught me that adults in my life truly cared about me. He did, truly, deeply care about his students. I will never forget the day I sorely disappointed him in a way I have never disappointed another adult growing up. I still think about that day and I hope he knows that it was the folly of youth that made me reckless. Later, it was his anger that made me rethink my choices. What a fool is youth!

Lastly, the most important thing I learned: how to fold pants properly. This may seem frivolous, but I assure you, it is not. As a girl, I did not have occasion to fold dress pants as a kid. Why would I when I could so much better show off in a skirt? In band, the seam on your pants is critical. It is a uniform because you are all supposed to be uniform. A wrinkled uniform, an unruly plume, a step out of line, these are all things you strive to banish. For the first few weeks every year, Mr. J would patiently stand up at the front of the group and demonstrate how to fold pants.

Put the seams together at the cuffs. Tuck under your chin. Grab the seams farther down the pants, towards the waist, with your fingers and flip. Place carefully on the hanger and clip them in. All the while making sure the seams are all lined up.

I never fail to remember those demonstrations every time I fold pants. I also remember the “I don’t want to hear that you forgot ‘fill in the blank’ “ discussions we had every Friday before loading the buses. If you left something behind, it was your fault, your responsibility. And for those of you doubting, A missing “fill in the blank” let everyone down. Your failure impacted everyone.

Band made me a better person. The people I am still friends with in high school were all in band. Mr. Johnson taught me a lot about life. Things I never appreciated until I had some years past high school behind me. I am blessed that during that time in my life, I was shepherded by a caring and Christian man.

Mr. J has been directing bands for 27 years. He is retiring this year. I hope he knows that he is well loved and has impacted more lives than most of us could dare to hope for.

–Jane, Thank You Mr. Johnson for everything you do

This year, I surprised myself with the amount of books read: Sixty! I can only attest to the escape they gave me from diapers and dishes and I promise I never let the Bairn fend for himself while I read. Well, not long anyway.

This was the year of the series. I reread a few goodies (Harry Potter and Outlander) and scorched through some new ones. In fact, I would hazard to say the majority of the list are books in a series.

Here is my list. Enjoy and please consider keeping track yourself and sharing your literary finds at the end of 2010.

Total Books Read – 60
Most Books Read in One Month – 9 in August
Least Books Read in One Month – 1 in November
Average Books Per Month – 5

Best Book Read (hands down no contest!) – World War Z by Max Brooks. Zombies with a real world twist. I loved, loved, loved this book. Everyone should read it.

Best Second (or third!) Round Read – Castle of the Wolf by Sandra Schwab. I read this for the 3rd or 4th time and I have to say that it just never gets old to read such a great gothic romance!

Book that surprised me by not being as ridiculous as I thought the premise sounded: Kiss of Fire by Deborah Cooke. Shape-shifting dragons and star-fated romance. Sounds all kinds of terrible, I know, but I assure this series is fabulous!

If you want to know which books were bad, they will not appear on this list. Taking Nancy Pearl’s advice, I refuse to waste precious time on bad books. I give them about 50-100 pages and then move on. I did throw a few down in disgust, but I have blocked them from my mind and thus this list. This list is, therefore, books that were good enough to be finished, savored, enjoyed, and, some of them, read again next year.

January – 3
Stone of Tears – Terry Goodkind
Blood of the Fold – Terry Goodkind
Temple of the Wind – Terry Goodkind

February – 2
Voyager – Diana Gabladon
Soul of the Fire – Terry Goodkind

March – 3
Faith of the Fallen – Terry Goodkind
Lie By Moonlight – Amanda Quick
For My Lady’s Heart – Laura Kinsale

April – 4
Pillars of Creation – Terry Goodkind
The Red Scarf – Kate Furnivall
Mr. Darcy’s Diary – Amanda Grange
Naked Empire – Terry Goodkind

May – 6
In the Shadow of the Ark – Anne Provoost
Castle of the Wolf – Sandra Schwab
The Hidden Heart – Laura Kinsale
The Black Knave – Patricia Potter
Fountain of Dreams – Josie Litton
Mr. Knightly’s Diary – Amanda Grange

June – 8
Chainfire – Terry Goodkind
The High King’s Tomb – Kristen Britian
World War Z – Max Brooks
Captain Wentworth’s Diary – Amanda Grange
The Demon’s Librarian – Lillith Saintcrow
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 – David Petersen
Her Man of Affairs – Elizabeth Mansfield

July – 8
Phantom – Terry Goodkind
Before Midnight – Cameron Dokey
Love is Hell – Marr, Westerfeld, Larbalestier, Zevin, Stolrz
Peter and Max – Bill Willingham
The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 2: The Burning Bridge – John Flanagan
The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 3: The Icebound Land – John Flanagan
Confessor – Terry Goodkind
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall – Bill Willingham

August – 9
The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J. K. Rowling
The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 4: The Battle for Skandia – John Flanagan
The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 5: The Sorcerer in the North – John Flanagan
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling
Kiss of Fire – Deborah Cooke
Kiss of Fury – Deborah Cooke
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J. K. Rowling

September – 8
Kiss of Fate – Deborah Cooke
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling
Halfway to the Grave – Jeaniene Frost
One Foot in the Grave – Jeaniene Frost
At Grave’s End – Jeaniene Frost
Tribes – Seth Godin

October – 4
The Starfish and the Spider – Brafman and Beckstrom
Crowdsourcing – Jeff Howe
Ready for Responsibility – Dr. Bob Barnes
The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowiecki

November – 1
Fool’s Puzzle – Earlene Fowler

December – 4
The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson
Irish Chain – Earlene Fowler
Shiver – Maggie Stifvater
Wikinomics – Don Tapscott

–Jane, thinks life without books would be a terrible life indeed

The following link is NSFW because of language. This stand up bit by Louis CK about the differences between girls and women is hilarious. Fabulously, hilarious.

I am currently reading two books:
At Grave’s End by Jeaniene Frost (fluff with the undead)
Tribes by Seth Godin (be a leader already)

The new podcast that I am listening to and love is Slice of SciFi. Why have I not listened to this before? I do not always agree with them (they are not big fans of District 9 for instance), but the banter is superb and the geekery… it’s awesome.

Mr. Rochester and I are popping open the Trappist Ale we have had aging in the fridge. I think it is the perfect way to end the week. Next on the brew list is malted apple cider and some pumpkin ale.

–Jane, happy, content, may you be also

My morning was filled with the Wee Bairn and I driving all over town looking for the illusive St. Arnold Divine Reserve 8.

I camped out at the Spec’s (a large local chain) before they opened this morning at 10. I was not the only one there and we were all sad to hear that they were doubtful that they were going to get any at all. This batch was smaller so there were not as many 6 packs to go around.

After some internal waffling, I decided to race up the freeway 40 minutes to the large Spec’s downtown. I grabbed Gideon and raced into the store only to be faced with the fact that they too were out. I slumped home, sure that this year, I was not going to get the strong scotch ale about which I have been dreaming. I found out later in the day that they sold out of 70 cases in 20 minutes.

I stopped for eggs and milk at the Kroger near my house. On a whim and a prayer, I cruised down the beer aisle. To my joy, the beer guy was putting two cases of Divine Reserve on the shelf. I almost kissed him (he was cute and holding beer, can you blame me?).

Two 6 packs are now resting comfortably in the Rochester fridge.

We will make them last as long as possible.

–Jane, all hail St. Arnold.

Many of my librarian friends have been in Denver at Midwinter. Not only are they in one of my favorite locales, the mountains, they are there, having fun, without me. I suddenly feel like the lonely kid on the playground, sitting on the seesaw all by myself. I received some good news from one of my friends, but it was older news (though new to me) and made me feel even more out of the loop. Like the loop has passed me by.

Thinking about this and walking to our car on Friday, I told Mr. Rochester that I missed my friends and that I missed traveling. I made sure to clarify that I did not miss my job! I only missed the fun traveling and cavorting in different cities with people that I respect and love. It is the truth. I miss my profession. I certainly do not miss my job.

The second reason for my malaise is that the Rochester family has been busy this past week planning a series of trips for the upcoming months. I love nothing as much as I love to travel. Well, I do love coffee and the mountains… can I have a vacation involving both?

Viola. Maybe not mountains, but the Rochester clan, along with all of the in-laws, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. of Mr. Rochester, are going to Costa Rica in June. I am very excited about going back to the place with the most beautiful, wild beaches I have ever seen. Any family outing this long and lasting a week should be hilarious and crazy enough to make a sane person loony. I think plenty of pina coladas will take the edge off enough.

We are also going to Boston for a long weekend in April, to Florida in June, and to Chicago for Annual in July. All this planning, while great, only makes me want to go right this moment. Like now.

And that is enough whining for today, tomorrow, and the rest of the week!

–Jane, will have to be patient

I know I am obsessed because after finishing the second book, I went into mourning that it was over. I did not have the next book, Blood of the Fold (there is a waiting list at the library), so I could not immediately continue the adventures of Richard and company. I sort of moped about the house and Mr. Rochester laughed at me, though he is, by now, used to me being silly books.

I have been in a funk about it since Saturday. Happily, my back up book was Voyager by Diana Gabaldon and that has kept me reasonably content. I have read Voyager many times and I never fail to cry through the first quarter of it. I am currently reworking my way through the entire series, instead of endlessly rereading the first installment. Outlander is still my favorite book, hands down, and that is admitting a lot about myself and my secret reading loves.

What is the lesson, dear readers? Always have a back up book, or two, or three. Never travel with one book lest you should finish it and be bereft or lest you find your current read is ridiculous and unworthy of your time. If you know you are in a reading funk (i.e. nothing but your current series/genre will do), make sure one of your backups is an old stand by that will please you in any mood. For me, old friends that are my backups include:

Jane Austen, often Pride and Prejudice, just thinking about the dialog makes me giggle.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

A decent romance novel or one that is bad enough to make me laugh. Nothing says this romance is going to be hilarious like a play on words (and a fairy tale) which makes it into all key scenes. And I do mean all. key. scenes. I recommend it for a laugh.

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, but only the first 10, you know they are really hard core porn after Cerulean Sins.

Looking over that list, I realize that when I am finicky, I only read stuff with some combination of romance, history, fantasy, and wit. Interesting.

–Jane, not ashamed of her reading habits

As a result of having what my more experienced friends call “Mommy Brain,” I have been unable to do much of anything interesting. Couple that with the fact that it takes me twice as long and about twice the energy to do even the simplest tasks and you have a Jane who has energy only for nesting.

I am pulling the life trumps blogging card now and taking my maternity leave from this site for a few weeks. I will pop in occasionally with a quip. There will be very big news here on Friday. Not baby news, but actual library related news. Keep your RSS readers ready for that because I think it is fabulous stuff. Would I lead you astray? Never!

There will be an announcement and picture here of Baby Rochester once he decides it is time to join the land of the living, breathing people. He is officially one day late today.

I expect to be back annoying you with inane commentary later in May. Until then, I will be posting ridiculous updates and pictures of the most. wonderful. baby. ever on our family blog.

–Jane, expects to be less round by late May

I have already heard about some of the excitment from CiL including some not so Swift things and an incident involving the Brickskeller. I plan on catching up on everyone’s goings on in the next couple days. I am going to make an effort to be in this space more the next couple of weeks, until Baby Rochester makes his appearance. After that, I am taking about a month off for maternity leave and it will be very quiet around here, but a little more chatty over at Defying Genetics.

–Jane, must go get organized for the day has suddenly filled

–Jane, full of hormones