Endings and Beginnings

I'm molting. In the last few weeks I've been forced to shed the skin/feathers/carapace/whatever which was so comfortable and familiar for so long and, with much hope and some apprehension, see how the tight and shiny new covering will function.

After 10 years with Decatur Public Library I have accepted a position as a Youth Services Librarian at Madison Public Library. It's like moving away from home all over again. Even though my natural inclination is to be introverted and insulated, I grew to think of the staff at Decatur as family and I care about them a great deal whether they ever realized it or not. OK, so I was starting to think of my computer at Decatur as family too and it's probably healthier to sever that particular addic...um, relationship.

I arrived at Madison Public just in time to help end the summer reading program. Coinciding with these momentus transitions is the release of the final Harry Potter book (NO SPOILERS please, I'm only on chapter 13). While I'm very excited to see what will happen, I also don't want it to be over, don't want to let go of a proven and established good thing. That pretty much sums up my feelings about the job change as well.

In the beginnings category, my oldest son is starting kindergarten in a few weeks and shortly thereafter I'll be starting the regular storytime schedule at Madison. I've already run into three or four families at Madison who knew me from the children's department at Decatur.

Anyway, I'd better end this before I get all sniffly.

P.S. Some of you may be wondering why I'm posting to Decatur's blog even though I no longer work there. To this I reply "All your blog are belong to us." Just kidding--this was hacked by permission, nay request, as are any subsequent contributions.

Each year when my family gets together for the 4th of July my friend Matt and I are inevitably designated official instigators of pyrotechnics and every year as we light the fireworks and run for our lives I am surprised at the inappropriate and pointless names concocted for these things. “Purple Haze,” “Jump Jive and Jam,” and “Pretty Little Boat” were some of the names I encountered this year. What in the world those names have to do with chunks of incendiary chemicals flying through the air is beyond me. Somehow “Peony Shower” just sounds more like potpourri than a product designed to explode in front of my family. I have concluded that the fireworks industry must be very stable. Americans are always going to buy fireworks and, being Americans, all we really care about is the size of the package.
If fireworks manufacturers had to really market these things, I suspect we’d see some much more dangerous sounding names. Each 4th of July I start thinking of names I would use if I were trying to sell fireworks. Here is this year’s list of names guaranteed to boost sales to teenage males:

• Severe Tire Damage
  
• Uninsurable
  
• Satan’s Flatulence
  
• IED
  
• Cauterization
  
• “Hey y’all, watch this”
  
• White Phosphorus
  
• Pointy Pointy Shrapnel