Regardless, maternity leave will hopefully give me the ability to post a little more, but for the next few days, I think I just have to enjoy the new baby.

Now, I will be able to pick up the full swing of cooking around the time that summer fades into fall, which means that my normal cooking style will once again need to go into hibernation, and sadly, my quest to conquer summer seafood and cerviches will have to wait until next year. In the meantime, I need to get cracking on finding recipes that are good for fall and winter– I’m not really a hearty cooker, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone. I’m thinking this involves heftier meats and root vegetables and stews, but beyond that I have nothing. So if anyone has a website or recipe emporium to point me toward, I would be more than grateful. The gluten free thing is not a requirement– I’m learning to adapt recipes on the fly with greater and greater ease, though not always great success.

Depending on my success levels, I may end up doing a weekly series detailing my foray into cooking winter meals, but that is yet to be determined.

I became intrigued by the Nook more so than the Kindle, iPad, or Sony e-readers because it had a few features that hearkened back to actual books– a lending feature, a marginally feature, etc. I did not, however, plan to purchase one. How fortunate for me, then, that my husband, generous soul that he is, got me a Nook as a gift– a way of saying that he’s proud of how well I’ve done with our unexpected pregnancy and having to basically reorder my entire life, with a dash of early birthday present thrown in for kicks.

So how does the Nook work for me? Pretty damn well, actually. The major appeal of the Nook is that I can continue to amass books without needing to find a physical space to put them, and since the apartment we live in is small enough that all my books are currently in exile at my parents’ house in Arizona, this is no small consideration. The battery life is pretty good, though if you read as much as I do you aren’t going to get the advertised “10 days” because its based on the idea that you aren’t reading more than an hour or two a day. Also, battery life is affected by the wifi being on, which shouldn’t surprise anyone but sometimes does, and when you’re obsessively downloading the free books Barnes and Noble offers, the battery life gets chewed through in a good two to three days. Still, its as long as life as my cell phone, so I’ll take it.

The e-ink display is quite lovely, and doesn’t strain my eyes. The major reason I’ve been against e-readers (and e-books, and shifting so much functionality to the almighty screen over the printed page) is because of the eye strain it causes. Yes, I am aware that at 23 I have old lady eyes; I don’t really want to get into that. The fact of the matter is that even though I have perfect vision, the muscles themselves work harder staring at a screen, which makes reading a chore. And if reading is a chore, it just isn’t going to happen, since its an enjoyable hobby for me. Back to the e-ink and display: the screen is not back lit, and is perfectly legible in sun light. The e-ink itself is sharp and easy to read, and doesn’t put too much strain on the eyes. The refresh rate on the page is a little slow, but to be honest its probably equal to the time it takes to physically turn a page, and since when is that unacceptable?

Downsides? Well, for one, it is a tablet rather than a book, and if you like the feel of a book then it takes getting used to. I bought a cover that feels like a book to try to get around that, and it helped immensely. Second, the notes feature leaves something to be desired. Part of the issue is that the scrolling feature takes a bit to react, so you can accidentally scroll past the place you’re trying to highlight with very little effort. Beyond that, while the highlighting is helpful, you can’t simply flip through the book and find highlights the same way you can with a physical book due to the load times. Other than that, though, the Nook is pretty good as an entry level e-reader. And yes, its how I started to pull myself out of the stone age and really like the newer technology that’s becoming more and more ubiquitous when it comes to books and reading.

Back? Good, because now you can watch the Old Spice guy endorse libraries in his cool, funny, Old Spice-y way:

Starting this Thursday and running through Sunday, ALA is holding their annual conference in Washington, DC. A dream for a librarian, just another conference for a conference town. I went to ALA last year and loved it, but circumstances, money, and baby have kept me away this year. One neat thing about this year’s conference is that, because it is in DC, it gives ALA an opportunity to directly lobby Congress with regards to library funding.

Everyone knows we’re in a weakened economic state, and that funding for all manner of programs is being cut. However libraries are both being cut and being expanded at the same time. The funding isn’t there, but local public libraries are being called upon to be an integral part of helping rebuild the economy, through programs helping people to find jobs, brush up on skills, etc. If you aren’t aware of these programs, check your local library. They likely have a list of workshops with titles like “Improving your resume for today’s job market” and “How to interview for a job in a competitive market” as well as computer skills workshops to make yourself more marketable. Check out the price tag– free. These classes are helping people everyday, at no cost beyond regular taxes to the community. And in good times, that works out just fine. In times were communities have overstretched their budget, or watched revenue fall, or some combination thereof? Not so fine. but where does a public institution gain more money? Yes, there’s always Friends of the Library book sales, but that’s not going to make up for a budgetary shortfall, and so we turn to the federal government.*

There’s several pieces of current legislation that can impact libraries. I thought about summarizing them, but ALA has a handy dandy website that goes over library advocacy, what needs to be done now, and how you can help. This is all in conjunction with Library Advocacy Day, which is June 29. The website is here, so please take a gander and, email, call, or just write on your blog. Of course, contacting your rep is the best, but even making people aware of the importance of libraries is an awesome, awesome thing. In case you’re curious what all ALA does, that same page has links to other ALA advocacy issues, including Intellectual Freedom, promotion of literacy, and free access to information.

*Now, as an aside, I cannot help but let my inner poli sci major defend the move  to seek federal funds. Are these libraries federal? No, we just said they’re local. So where’s the government get the authority? Why should the government feel obliged or bother? For one thing there’s that lovely preamble which will give you several reasons:promoting general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity (because yes, Virginia, liberty DOES begin with an educated populous who can gain access to information.) Hand in hand with that Article 1, section 8 allows congress to collect taxes and provide for general welfare, and if helping people gain access to information and skills in order to obtain jobs and thus help, in small part, to raise us out of this mess doesn’t qualify I don’t know what does.

So, my first sample was actually two samples, both Cover Girl makeup. The first was their Smokey ShadowBlast, which was the part I was looking forward to the most because my eye makeup skills are… let’s face it, 9 year olds are better at eye makeup then me. So the product “promise” was a smoky eye effect in two steps. Too easy, right? Well, yes and no. In the “not too easy” column was the fact that it is actually a two step process, that the application is super quick and smooth, and that the blending between the two colors was fairly flawless. In the “yes, too easy” column? It wasn’t a striking smoky eye; to be honest it wasn’t that smoky or smudgy at all. I’ve gone through three different application attempts with varying results. The best one was using a dark eye liner first, then the shadow (the directions indicate the liner isn’t necessary). Still, its a good product if you’re in a hurry or if blending is something you associate with smoothies and not makeup. The major upside for me was that it covered the eczema outbreak I currently have on one eyelid without any trouble, which isn’t always the case with eye makeup.

The second sample was Shine Blast lip gloss. The big product promise here was that it wasn’t sticky and the applicator made it easier to put on the lip gloss, and I’d say they were right on both counts. The gloss isn’t as sticky as you usually find in lip gloss (even in other lines that Cover Girl puts out), though its not as smooth as lip balm– but really, what is? For the applicator, its a rather nifty little thing. Rather than being the standard cotton sponge soaked in lip gloss that splatters a fair bit, the applicator is angled so that the gloss goes on smooth– and it actually works! The one down side to this product? I don’t really like the colors available. Now, I grant you, lip gloss is never more than a tint anyway, but I just didn’t really like the color palette choices that were there. Its possible I was just limited for sampling purposes though.

So overall, really decent products from Cover Girl– especially the eye shadow. I could never do cream shadows in a palette form so this was better on that front. Its also good if you have dry skin or itchy skin, because it doesn’t react, and that’s a major plus!

Now don’t get me wrong, humidity is an evil evil thing that also sucks the life out of you, but at least the surroundings are greener and more deeply colored. Though I have to wonder, how on earth does one deal with this type of humidity? It’s just… soul crushingly humid. I suppose one just toughs it out and gets used to it, as one gets used to 120 degrees in the shade.

The Atlantic Ocean is funny to me, it honestly is. I grew up with the Pacific, potentially the most inappropriately named of the seven seas. The Pacific is anything but– its in constant motion, always crashing against the cliffs or beating the shoreline. The waves are big compared to Atlantic waves, and hardly gentle. You can’t have a beach on the west coast without a lifeguard present– it would lead to very bad things.

And this Atlantic ocean is so different– yes, there’s a sense of movement but it is so much… less. The waves are more like ripples, the activity similar to what you would see on a lake with motorboats zooming across it. And the wind! There was certainly no mistaking that stiff, cold wind– so unlike the more gentle breezes that come off my home ocean. Yet for all that, I enjoyed it. Different as they are, the sea is still the sea, and I have sorely missed that during my months and years away from the ocean. And there were delightful experiences with this ocean that you don’t get with the other– the perfectly windswept sand, the whole shells that are gently washed ashore rather than beat to pieces, small pieces of driftwood sitting along the shore. I think my husband laughed the hardest at that– though in my defense one doesn’t happen across driftwood out west.

So now I’m home, and goodness if I don’t want to go back, or to another ocean front town, or just anywhere but here.