(no subject)

I made a really ugly cake for the youth services meeting-and-potluck today. I didn't know it would turn out so ugly, obviously. I actually attempted to fix it by turning it into a layer cake, and of course that made things worse. But now I have an ugly chocolate layer cake to eat at home, and Saint-Andre cheese and crackers to bring to the potluck. (If you can't make something good, buy something expensive!)

I had carved out a niche for myself as The Geek at this library (which disappeared while I was at the Garner library-- T. was more of a geek than I was. This was actually kind of nice. We talked about hot guys in Asian movies). Graphic novels? That's my beat. Computer support? Of course. And I seem to have a new niche as The Writer. Not in the sense of fiction or anything because I don't tell people that (except once in the context of Eragon and 'any teenager can write a stupid novel'-- not in front of a patron, obviously), but for newsletter items and such. I was actually embarrassed that my newsletter-thing was as bad as it was-- journalism is not my thing. But it seemed to be acceptable. I feel like... things are going a little better than they were, before the library closed, when I felt deeply incompetent and I felt like everyone else knew I was incompetent.

OTOH, the most progress I've made so far on the cash register is getting it to give me a whole NEW set of error messages. So much for being The Geek.

Our library system has run out of book-buying money! Well, if they're going to buy our little library two copies of all the Beverly Lewis books, and if they're going to buy the system 465 Harry Potters, no wonder we're broke. Technically I think this is the fault of our little library-- the money for the remodel wasn't in the budget at all, but the Friends of the Library made themselves heard (and rightly so!) and we really stretched the budget to the limit, in a year when-- because of all the big library openings in the past couple years--we had to be in the black. That could be why the system didn't buy a couple of YA books I'd really been looking for, one of which I've now ordered from Amazon. We also, alas, have very little cash for the summer reading program.

Someone just told me I look like Meredith from Grey's Anatomy, which was... a kinder comparison than the girl from Princess Diaries, anyway. ;)

Even without Myspace, being the computer cop is not so much fun. I wish we'd get a security guard.

Still not J-rock star

Searching the Japanese sites for a TAB of Bump of Chicken's Onaji Doa wo Kuguretara led me to a lot of students who had learned to play the song on their guitars. Later I figured out that the Japanese for TAB is TAB, and found what I was looking for-- and I learned why so many students were learning the song: it's dead easy. It's a very slow song-- and the chord progressions are very easy, while still being musically interesting, throwing in an Bm7 and an A7 into the usual I-IV-V progression.

In fact, if I had a little less pride you'd see a link to an mp3 of my cover of the song. But it's out of my range, I think-- and in fact I can't find any place on the scale where it's neither too high nor too low for me.

Maybe I need to try "Diamond," which goes jouzu ni utaenakute ii sa, it doesn't matter if you can't sing...

ETA
OMG. I guess you can't be good at everything; Motoo is a fine songwriter and a fine artist, and... well, it's possible that he's an excellent guitarist who knows that you don't need to show off. At any rate, "Diamond" is so easy to play! I am happy now. Because I was getting sick of "Bad Moon Rising."