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This has been an interesting weekend.

Friday I did my income taxes with some help then did other things around the house. Saturday I went to a body shop party at a friends house. I'm in big trouble because now I love their stuff. Sunday I found out that my next door neighbor who had cancer passed away on Thursday. I didn't know him too well but he was only 30 and he was a nice guy. I also found out one of my cousins got married in December. I saw Shanghi Knights with my parents and my brother. It was a good movie. I also wanted to see the country bears video that I checked out from work but didn't have time to. I can have it until Thursday so I'll see it sometime before then. Once again Steve Kerr wasn't invited to participate in the NBA all-star weekend. He hasn't gone since 1997 when he won the 3pt shoot out. I did watch some of the festivities though.

Valentines day is coming up. I got out a few decorations tonight. As usual I don't have a date or anything so I'll probably wind up taking a bubble bath while listening to my new manheim steamroller cd and then giving myself a manicure, pedicure, and facial. I also want to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I havn't seen it yet but have heard that it's good.

I am a Pornographer Librarian. I have wanted to be a librarian since I was in the 7th grade when I worked in my school's library. The public library was a place where I hung out a lot as a kid watching movies, checking out books etc. I love to read and I love to help people find information or a good book, or use our computers, . On the news tonight they did a undercover piece on the Phoenix Public Library System showing people looking at porn on the internet. It made me feel like they were saying I was a pornographer eventhough they didn't say that and of course they didn't call me by name. They did interview the chief librarian and this was an "investigative report" but they could have done better. They made it sound like this happens on a daily basis but it doesn't. They also could have shown that people use the internet at the library for more things than looking at porn. They use it to download tax forms, get medical information, stock prices, legal forms, look at other library's catalogs, get fulltext newspaper and magazine articles, addresses, and advice. Travelers use it as a free place to read their e-mail. I had a patron a few weeks ago who had to do a report and the only place I could get the info was NASA's website. I was happy that he could walk away with the info he needed because I thought I wasn't going to be able to find it anywhere. This has happend to me other times as well. The Internet saves us money and gives us access to a lot more information than if we didn't have it. One of the chief librarian's points was that filters don't always work and I'm sorry to say that they don't folks. Unfortuately, libraries are not the same place that they were when I grew up in a small town 20 years ago. And unfortunately people view porn on the internet at the library sometimes, but that's the nature of the beast and they are kicked off the computer imidiately. But libraries still are a great place to go to see a movie, attend a program, get information, surf the 'net, and yes even read a good book. Plus where else can you get all this at no expense to you in these hard economic times? Next time you go to the library hug your librarian. Between this and the budget cuts he/she will need one.

Labels: personal