Oh, my pretties! I miss you!

I'm so sorry it's been all automated posts without real thought or insight.

I'm feeling devoid of any more thoughts or insights these days! I'm enjoying my term with OPL's Diversity and Accessibility Services (since March), but my manager and I were both saying today how we feel that it's been about a week since March. The time is flying by this year at work: I pointed out that we've done a lot of great things, but I think we are both going home at night exhausted (I know I am: it's all I can do to say hi to The Husband, eat, rouse myself briefly for Two Broke Girls, make a salad for lunch the next day, and then fall asleep somewhere between 9-11 pm).

Today, a training session I was scheduled to attend was cancelled, which bought me a morning "free," so I got a few things done, but it's like feeding a cranky elephant one peanut - it's just not going to cut it. I woke up at 5 am today, worried about several different things.... Most of which, of course, I have little control over. Bah. Overthinking things. Too emotionally invested in things. Pick the crappy explanation you prefer.

Some days, it's just a fish-eat-fish world....

(That's the Fish Hall in McGill's Engineering Building, btw)

I do have some (read: more than one!) fun projects up my sleeve (shhhh my pretties..... Soon!), so that's good. In the next little while, I'm going to nominate people for awards, give out cards, clap when a dangerous area of our offices gets re-paved, oversee two VIP ride-alongs on Bookmobile, and go on two outreach trips (bringing three new-ish employees for professional development)... all while attending at least two more retirement parties (this year has been WHACK for that stuff) and at least three OPL Christmas parties.

Also, in the "not-really-important" category, you know what I love? (Chocolate-glazed doughnuts? Members of my team stretching themselves to learn new things? Cracking the spine of a new novel? Finishing a 3-month long project? Sitting in the front row of a ballet? Holding hands with the husband? Lunch with a friend? 3-day weekends? Kat Dennings? Malbec? Montreal and London?) No, no.... My office at Main Library. Basement and all, it's growing on me, but I think that's J. Alfred Prufrock's influence (words to live by, in this case - and the answer is YES!)

Meanwhile, here are some recent 10-second book reviews from since we last spoke:

• State Of Wonder by Ann Patchett: reading it before Carrie kicks my butt. We have to schedule a mini-book club / debrief in my office when I am done. So far, really enjoying it.
  
• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: If you looked up "Contemporary (ok, 80s) American Novel" in the dictionary, this book should be listed. I definitely liked it; it had AMERICAN REALISM written all over it, but not in a bad way. I felt for Madeleine, especially when Eugenides focused on her reasons for / feelings about staying with a man who evidently has some mental health issues, but other readers might just want to smack her. Bonus points for saying nice things about Quakers (since my uncle was one, that is, in case you are wondering...)
  
• Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner: A bit too out there for my taste (sorry, I am a total square) but, on an intellectual level, I appreciated it. Whoa, snap, that sounded bad. My Giller prediction to Kris, shouted out across the living room 2 minutes into the broadcast, was "If they want to be really brave and alienate the general reader, they will give it to Zsuzsi. If they want to be sort of brave , they will give it to Esi."
• The Antagonist by Lynn Coady: Oddly compelling, despite subject matter that isn't usually up my alley.
  
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Beautiful book; couldn't really care less about the characters.
  
• The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht: Disturbing, engrossing, weird. In the best possible way.

Must dash. Dizzy with fatigue.