On Tackling the Thanksgiving Holidays by Melissa Voynich

Oh, the holidays. Turkey, casseroles, seemingly endless dessert trays, travels, family, and, for me, stress and fatigue.

Over the next week, many of us will be remarking on the Thanksgiving feast that has been set before us. Some of us will indulge in turkey and casseroles at home, and some of us will be traveling across states to see family - or get away from them. Some do both, and some do neither.

No matter how you celebrate it, the Thanksgiving holidays cause stress for many people trying to balance the work, cooking, cleaning, traveling, and family mingling that happens.

Below I have provided some ways to tips on how to combat this stress creatively and (hopefully) spice up your Thanksgiving. Some might even make you feel good about yourself for a little while, and many of them will get you through potential holiday boredom. Here goes:

1. Make bean dip. Cooking is often stressful around the holiday time, but I have found that no matter who is around, everyone seems to love bean dip. For a simple dish to bring any place, and for a way to avoid eating Uncle Fred’s Shrimp Surprise, just dump a can of black beans into a melted bowl of Velveeta and stir. You will be thanked.

2. Pack board games. Board games are not just for kids, and they help avoid the turkey-induced hours of inactivity and boredom after big meals. I highly recommend the game “Apples to Apples” for pretty much anyone who can read. It can be serious or downright hilarious, and it is easy to explain to a big crowd. I have played this game with parents on Father’s day and with bachelorette groups. It’s great.

3. Learn a few good jokes. Try to make the jokes regard the same general subject area (like football, turkey, or one weird family member). Once with other people, start a conversation about that subject. As you unleash your jokes, at worst you will be entertaining yourself and can change the subject. At best, you become the life of the party, everyone praises you for your sense of humor, and even the neighbors come over to hear your funnies.

4. Make a photo album of a big event that happened since last time you saw your family and friends. This will be a good conversation starter to pass around, and it makes you look like you are really organized and rather artsy. You can always make up events or stories if you don’t have any.

5. Offer to be the Pet Sitter. Let’s say your cousin always brings her dumb poodle to Thanksgiving, and your grandpa has a gerbil that is really annoying as it crawls the tile floor in its ball. Offer to take all the pets on a long walk. You can escape if you need, get exercise if you need, and let the dumb poodle run away if you need. Remember, gerbils look funny on leashes, and even funnier if they are in a ball tied to a leash. Besides, your family might actually appreciate your kind offer to take care of the pets.

6. Offer to be the Kid Sitter. Up the ante on pets, and offer to take any child younger than 6 out of the house for a while so adults can bust out the real rum cake, clean a bit, and/or take a breather. A good rule of thumb on childcare for me is about one adult to every two kids, so you might need to corral some help on this one.

7. Convince your family/friends to go see a kiddie movie. I am an adult who is willing to admit I have seen Madagascar 2 and Bolt within a week of premiere, and I liked them both. A showing of Madagascar 2 can be turned into a day-long activity if you rent the original Madagascar and watch it first. Bolt is in 3-D at many theaters, so you get some cool 3-D shades to wear and keep if you want.

8. Be the family photographer. There always is that one family member or friend who always around, in a corner, behind a door, or on the floor getting the prize shots of Thanksgiving. Might as well be you.

9. Support a cause. At Auburn’s Chik-Fil-A restaurants from Nov. 24-29, a portion of the proceeds from each purchase will go to support research on the life-threatening illness afflicting AU Baseball coach John Pawlowski’s daughter. If you need a tray of chicken nuggets for any event, consider this option. Or go volunteer at any shelter or facility distributing Thanksgiving meals to those in need. There are plenty to choose from, and help is always needed, as there are many who don’t have families to see or places to go for the holidays.

10. Give thanks again and again and again. Remember that many postal employees, many federal workers, police, and firefighters (to name a few) do not get a formal break over the Holidays. Some mall employees are busy setting displays for shoppers on Thanksgiving night, airlines are functioning, and grocery stores are open for your convenience. Even many gyms are open for those people who need a good work out before or after a large meal. Why don’t you buy a few cards and write s short note of thanks? Many people are not taking breaks so that others can take breaks, so say, “Thank you” to any one you see. What do you have to lose?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Registration is actually closed right now, but you can put yourself on a waitlist in the event of cancellations.  GPLS really hosts an awesome teen services conference (this will be my third year attending and my second year presenting), so if you want to attend, I really hope I get to see you!

Palin as President [Interactive, and updated since its debut to include Saks shopping bags]

This.F**king.Election [The campaign in key words and phrases, also updated to be current]

Election Night and Public Libraries [Blog post, from Library Garden]

Nevada Election Results [An election tracker from the Nevada Secretary of State, makes me wish every state had something like this.]

Electoral-vote.com [The main site I've been using to track the polls.]

And if you haven’t already, get out and vote!

I didn’t actually make it into the building until almost 11:00, and by that time my toes were numb, my teeth were chattering, and my legs were getting, to say the least, tired.  It helps that I spend most of my workday standing at a reference desk, but even then I can sit or lean, and I can mix it up by walking to the shelves to help a customer.

It was almost noon when I finally filled out my absentee ballot application, and it was 1:15 when the election volunteers (who were actually very kind and I’m glad they were there) finally verified my registration, gave me a card, led me to a machine, and let me vote.  I cast my vote for president, voted on a few amendments, and ignored the races where only one candidate was running.  After that, it was another ten-minute walk to my car (vehicles were literally parked on curbs and sidewalks, and some cars were unluckily boxed-in). Since I had to be at work at 2:00, I drove to the nearest Zaxby’s and treated myself.

So yes, my morning was a little rough, and so was my early afternoon.  But I feel good about myself, having taken care of my vote and made things easier for whomever actually votes on Election Day, and from the sound of it, most of my state’s registered voters will have voted before Tuesday.  I’ve heard horror stories from other people, and I realize that I had it pretty easy.  I did not, like some Georgia voters, end up missing work and I wasn’t waiting for eight hours or until 1:00 in the morning, nor did I get turned away for any reason.

I’m thrilled to see the ridiculously significant turnout.  But it does have its flip-side.  All in all, I think a lot of people (maybe most?) are discontented, and I mean that in the most non-partisan way possible.  When your president’s approval rating is as low as it is now, you’re probably hoping for a change, whether you belong to his party or not.  I’ll be honest, I don’t care how anyone else votes. I’m just glad that the past eight years will be over soon.

And all things considered, I do feel good about my voting experience.  When my legs started to wobble or my teeth began to chatter, I chanted in my head, “In some countries, people can’t do this.  In some countries, people can’t do this.  In some countries, people can’t do this.”  It might have been annoying to wait in line so long, but it’s a small price to pay for having a voice.  Many people would die to have stood in that line, and for even longer than I did or even in the snow.

Looking back, I realize that the entire time I was out in the bitter and windy cold, the sun was shining, and I’m taking that as a good sign. Here’s hoping for a change.

Librarianship may or may not be a science.  Good teaching is an art.

– Marilyn Lutzker

Considering the question I asked at the end of my last post, I definitely had a vague “Twilight Zone” moment.

Anyway, one of the things I do remember was that he adamantly (at the time, anyway) described himself as “straight-edge”: no drinking, no smoking, no drugs.  He never really made a big deal out of it, and if asked, he would simply say that he wasn’t into those things and he’d leave it at that.  It somehow made sense for Bill.  Considering how intellectual and hardcore he was about everything else, it was logical that he wouldn’t cave in to these vices, that he wanted to remain as clear-headed as possible at all times.

Now with graduation only 190-odd days away, I’ve been trying to consider librarianship in a sober context — something like a realistic continuum of information professionals and information services — if for no other reason than so that I can understand *why* I’m working so hard to get this degree.  I’m wondering to what extent we, as librarians, intoxicate ourselves with theory, with the desire to manage and control, and with misguided attempts to justify and redefine our profession when we aren’t even sure what we’re doing — or what we should be doing — in the first place. When we get right down to it, when we sacrifice the sacred cows and strip away our own professional neuroses, and when we even ignore (if only for a moment) whatever new trends are on the horizon — why are we here, and why do we do what we do?

Maybe I’m just seeking simplicity, something essential rather an over-arching set of lofty, idealistic (and often disappointing) goals.  Like Bill, I don’t want to be distracted by intoxication.  I’d rather see things as they are, for all their glaring imperfections and all their little victories.

But then again, I have to wonder if intoxication is sometimes a good thing. Can controlled chaos and confusion lead us in new directions? Can blurred vision help us see things that we otherwise might never imagine?  Surely the idea of a de-Deweyfied library was radical when it was brought up within the past couple years.  But its implementation went over pretty smoothly and the project continues to, well, thrive.  When we talk about the Perry Branch of the Maricopa County library in 2018, will we be using the phrase “the then-radical idea”?

Maybe we can bring productivity (or at least creativity) out of that chaos and intoxication.  Jackson Pollack’s works wouldn’t exist without his alcoholism, and the Jesus and Mary Chain couldn’t have composed “Psychocandy” without LSD, amphetamines, and who knows what other drugs.  Poe had absinthe, Ginsberg had weed, Hemingway had whiskey, and Hunter S. Thompson was, God bless him, crazy.

But then that seems like a violent, Cobain-esque self-destructive streak — and that might work for cutting-edge creative expression, but it hardly seems conducive to good librarianship.

I have to ask: Is there a reason why we call it “library science” instead of “library art”?

As of Friday, Planned Parenthood had taken in $802,678 in donations from 31,313 people, said a spokesman for the organization, Tait Sye. More than two-thirds of the individuals are first-time donors to Planned Parenthood, Mr. Sye said, and money came in from all 50 states.

Ms. Palin’s status as a fund-raising draw for Planned Parenthood puts her in the company of President Bush, who was the target of a similar scheme in 2001, said Patt Morrison, a columnist for The Los Angeles Times who took credit for the idea.

Check the NYT article for the details of the “scheme.”  I love the idea, but since Palin tried to ban library books, I have to ask, when are librarians going to hop on this kind opportunity (especially with Banned Books Week in full swing)?  It’s perfect for both self-promotion and fundraising — and really, what do we have to lose?

Sadly, I think it will be a while.  The ALA still hasn’t picked up my call for Cascada to be an ALA spokesperson.

Thanks to Susan K for the heads-up on this one.

Keeping that in mind, the literary world (and the world at large) lost one of its most brilliant, energetic, driven minds when author David Foster Wallace committed suicide late last week.  I’m really not good for words at times like this, so I’ll defer to Jessamyn, who writes,

I don’t think I was necessarily any more favorite than any of his other students, just that he wanted the best for all of us. He had an unstoppable brain that could do anything it wanted and yet at the same time reminded him constantly just how much his brain couldn’t save him from.

And I’ll add this: even if he relied on footnotes more than the average writer, David Foster Wallace certainly will not go down as a mere footnote himself.  Without a doubt, he will be missed.

I know people who have graduated from Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Cornell, among others, and what strikes me the most about them is that all of them are humble people and none of them are wealthy. They all try the best they can to live harmoniously with others who express varied opinions and beliefs. These people are intelligent caring individuals yet instead of considering the value of their opinions the Republican base always chooses to blindly follow the self-serving people who have scared them into submission. Clearly, it is much wiser to follow intelligent people from diverse backgrounds than it is to follow old white wealthy men who are desperately trying to stay in power, but fear tends to paralyze even the best of us.

You can read the whole post here.  The author also has some excellent thoughts on Palin’s nomination as VP candidate (although please note that the picture of a bikini-clad Palin is certifiably Photoshopped).  I recommend checking it out, for the same of food for thought, if nothing else.

“Each life is an encyclopedia, a library, an inventory of objects, a series of styles, and everybody can be constantly shuffled and reordered in every way conceivable.”

- Italo Calvino