As I was leaving the library after the Cataloging party, I noticed a terribly handsome young fellow awkwardly following me. After a few steps he heyed, and I turned, and he asked, “Are you Vlad?”

“Lenin, yes,” I replied, extending a shake he accepted.

He told me it was cool, and I began walking off. I noticed he was awkwardly tagging along again, so I began small talk about how surprised I was to see so few students in costume. He mumbled something or other and then told me “I appreciate it” and stopped following.

And so of course I spent the entirety of the walk back wondering whether or not I missed some subtle hint indicating I should have stopped for conversation or even chatting up. The fact that he followed me suggests yes, the fact he stopped following so quickly and seemed at a loss for anything to say suggests no.

Me, I’m just socially inept.

I have an hour before the Cataloging party, which isn’t enough time to do anything useful but too long to sit around doing nothing. I will, therefore, fill out a quiz I just ran across on MySpace:

A - Age you got your first kiss: Do kiddy-kisses count? If so, then 6. If not, then (I think) 20.
B - Band listening to right now: The Dresden Dolls
C - Crush: At this point? Just about any pulse-bearing guy within ten years of my age.
D - Dad’s name: Richard
E - Easiest person to talk to: Donny B.
F - Favorite ice cream: Ben & Jerry’s Wavy Gravy, which is sadly no longer available.
G - Gummy worms or gummy bears?: No thanks. Eugh.
H - Hometown: Like, where I grew up? Cherokee, AL.
I - Instruments: Trombone, once upon a time.
J- Junior High: Cherokee Middle School
K - Kids: Ha!
L - Longest car ride ever: Muscle Shoals, AL, to Ft. Monmouth, NJ.
M - Mom’s name: Dianne
N - Nicknames: Currently, just Picard.
O - One wish: 18 billion dollars.
P - Phobia[s]: Surprisingly, none that I can think of.
Q - Quote: “I bet Rufus Wainwright’s apartment came equipped with hot and cold running ass.”
R - Reason to smile: Too many to list. I’m easily delighted.
S - Song you sang last: I think it may’ve been “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”.
T - Time you woke up today: 08:45
U - Unknown fact about me: pass
V - Vegetable you hate: Cucumbers
W - Worst habit(s): Letting the laundry pile up
X - X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, left arm
Y - Yummy food: Pizza, pizza, pizza!
Z - Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Now let’s hear it from all you guys!

Here I am fresh from this morning’s shower:

First, I darkened my facial hair and eyebrows and tried to sculpt my goatee into pointiness. Oddly, this effect I can normally pull off casually on any day of the week wouldn’t cooperate when I really needed it:

Next it was eyes, lips, and a make-up approximation of cheekbones:

And finally I paled out my skin and put on the rest of my accoutrements:

Workers of the world unite and give me your braaaiiiins!

I ain’t complainin’.

And Paula Poundstone rocks!

I may be being set up for something, or I may not be. It’s hard to tell. Grr.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden brings the nascent dinosaurs and sodomy genre to public light.

I will be sharpening my own personal quill (missus!) this afternoon, I think.

The other night in class our guest lecturer expressed curiosity over what backgrounds lead people to librarianship. The professor pointed to my right and said, “Tracy has a doctorate in French.” She pointed to my left and said, “Katherine has a master’s in anthropology.”

Then she pointed at me, and she said, “Matthew, I know you have an advanced degree, but I can’t remember what it’s in.” On the spot, I had to cop to just a bachelor’s in polisci. At this confession, my professor got an “a-ha!” look and said, “Oh, that’s right. Matthew only has his bachelor’s, but he has interests.”

Now it is extremely important to note that this was said without even a hint of condescension, was said without the vaguest sneer. On the other hand, the construction is inherently cutting and, outside the singular instance in question, has probably never once been uttered without the intention to wound.

I love this teacher, respect her, adore her. But she is the library-school equivalent to John Houseman’s Paper Chase character, if that means anything to you. She is not intentionally abrasive, but she is professorial. Her deserved and earned confidence strikes some as arrogance, but in my opinion such estimations are far from the mark. This is all a roundabout way of saying that the professor under discussion would never intentionally insult, even slightly, a student in class.

Knowing this, I was not offended by the statement. I was a little startled, but I trust that this teacher always acts in good faith and, besides, there was no irony detectable in her tone. Still, it was freakin’ weird.

This did lead to an interesting, near-Seinfeldian discussion during the break, though. About midway through I made reference back to that utterance and the two women in class were all like “I know! I couldn’t believe she said that!” They agreed with my assessment that the phrasing was accidental, but they turned out to have been perhaps even more shocked than I to have heard it. The other guy from the class, though, hadn’t even realized that the phrase used could even possibly have been intended to be hurtful and in fact seemed oblivious to the fact that such a statement could possibly be used as an insult. I can’t help but think this says something interesting about gender roles, but that’s probably for later.

I’m tempted to go ahead and paint my nails, just because.

And yes, there will be pics.

In other news, I’m feeling kinda blah today. No particular reason, just because.

Working with microfilm, I just came across a reel of a newspaper called the Ulster Plebeian. What’s even better is that, according to the label, it was published in Kingston, NY.

A Guide to Resources on the Life and Works of Stephen Sondheim, the end product of the Collection Development assignment that’s been giving me fits for the last week, is now online for your perusal. Not that you’d really get much out of such perusing, but, y’know.