Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Novice Book Wrangler
Today was a milestone day: I received my official County of San Diego Employee Photo ID Badge, complete w/ neck lanyard. And a memo on permitted and forbidden uses of the badge, which I had to sign that I'd read.
My absolute favorite is "DO NOT ... use as an ice scraper..."
Only in a county w/ weather like San Diego's would it be feasible to use this clear hard plastic sheath and enclosed magnetized card as an ice scraper! When I lived in MN I had 3 different ice scrapers, and would vary my use based on kind of ice and location on the car. Up around Julian, where we do have a branch, they do get snow and ice. But still, it would only occur to a Californian to use an i.d. card as an ice scraper!
My second big achievement was receiving my own personalized, colourful laminated sign for claiming book carts. Now if I'm working on an elaborate project which I have stacked on a cart, but get called away to something else, I can slap my 8-1/2x11" "Gillian's Cart" sign on top of it and my coworkers won't mess w/ it.
I think I have arrived as a Novice Book Wrangler. I've been on the County payroll 11 days.
My absolute favorite is "DO NOT ... use as an ice scraper..."
Only in a county w/ weather like San Diego's would it be feasible to use this clear hard plastic sheath and enclosed magnetized card as an ice scraper! When I lived in MN I had 3 different ice scrapers, and would vary my use based on kind of ice and location on the car. Up around Julian, where we do have a branch, they do get snow and ice. But still, it would only occur to a Californian to use an i.d. card as an ice scraper!
My second big achievement was receiving my own personalized, colourful laminated sign for claiming book carts. Now if I'm working on an elaborate project which I have stacked on a cart, but get called away to something else, I can slap my 8-1/2x11" "Gillian's Cart" sign on top of it and my coworkers won't mess w/ it.
I think I have arrived as a Novice Book Wrangler. I've been on the County payroll 11 days.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Git along, lil' Deweys, git along...
I am now a Library Technician I for the San Diego County Library, Solana Beach Branch.
However, I think a much better job title would be Apprentice Book Wrangler. Yes, we wrangle more than books-- we also handle lots of CDs, DVDs, audio cassettes. But I think "Book Wrangler" has a nice tone to it. And it's sure descriptive of what we do.
The uninitiated would think that books are fairly placid things, just sitting around in piles or on shelves. Nope. Ours migrate all over the county, and have to be corralled, branded, culled, herded....On a typical day we receive a shipment of 6-12 boxes of books from other branches and ship almost as many out. Not to mention the piles of our own books that patrons return or check out. We're one of the busier branches in the system.
I am planning on spending at least my first week's salary on comfortable shoes. Being on your feet 8 hrs a day is hard work when you've been managing a desk for much of the past decade. That is one part of the librarian stereotype that is accurate--we all wear comfortable shoes, and for a reason!
However, I think a much better job title would be Apprentice Book Wrangler. Yes, we wrangle more than books-- we also handle lots of CDs, DVDs, audio cassettes. But I think "Book Wrangler" has a nice tone to it. And it's sure descriptive of what we do.
The uninitiated would think that books are fairly placid things, just sitting around in piles or on shelves. Nope. Ours migrate all over the county, and have to be corralled, branded, culled, herded....On a typical day we receive a shipment of 6-12 boxes of books from other branches and ship almost as many out. Not to mention the piles of our own books that patrons return or check out. We're one of the busier branches in the system.
I am planning on spending at least my first week's salary on comfortable shoes. Being on your feet 8 hrs a day is hard work when you've been managing a desk for much of the past decade. That is one part of the librarian stereotype that is accurate--we all wear comfortable shoes, and for a reason!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Shrove Tuesday
Wow. I done church.
St Paul's has a tradition of having a Zydeco Mass on Shrove Tuesday, followed by a banquet in the parish hall. I think the Zydeco Mass is as close to summing up the whole Gospel in one incredible dramaturgical extravaganza as is anything short of The Great Vigil.
Remember, St Paul's is on the edge of the gay district and makes a *big point* of reaching out to the GLBT community.
For several weeks Scott+ has been making announcements about the Zydeco Mass, and saying how it's really not to be missed, and rather incredible, and involves lots of dancing, and music, and feathers, and is a bit over the top. And unlike Nick+, Scott doesn't play things up for dramatic effect.
The Zydeco band started playing at 5:45 and the whole place was literally swinging for the prelude. We were encouraged not just to clap, not just to sway, but to literally dance in the aisles. Which people did. Including the bishop and his wife. (Swing-dancing while wearing a mitre and holding a crozier is a real art....) Folks did swing-dance, they did freestyle 1980s post-disco rhythmic shuffling, and everything in between. I sat w/ 2 friends of mine from Listening Hearts, one of whom was there stag b/c her husband had some other obligation so we'd agreed to be each other's date. :-)
Most of the congregation came wearing Mardi Gras beads, many of us had on feathered masks, there were lots and lots of sequins everywhere, there were folks in jester-style caps, there were folks in green/gold/purple sequin-covered top hats (one of which seems to be in the center of every pic I snapped), and there were feather boas. I didn't see anyone in drag (unless you count the altar party :-), but I wouldn't swear that there wasn't. Well, one of the lectors who is a guy (and the Cathedral's Artist in Residence) had on a red wig and a Minnie-Pearl style hat, but was otherwise in masculine attire. All the vergers had on multi-colored jester caps along w/ their purple cassocks. (*Matching* jester caps, you understand--we must be *decent and in order* about this--we ARE a Catholic parish.)
I would say the congregation was around 2/3 regulars, and 1/3 folks I didn't necessarily recognize. But that could be b/c they were in different attire. Though by the announcements Scott+ made, I'm thinking there are usually lots of visitors.
After 15 minutes the prelude segued into "When All the Saints Come Marching In," and suddenly there was a procession *sashaying* down the aisle. The bead-bedecked crucifer was keeping time w/ the cross like a drum major (it sounds really crass in writing but didn't look that out of place), and all the clergy were tossing beads into the congregation. Bishop Mathes was Presider and he had his crozier in one hand and was tossing beads w/ the other, and was wearing what was probably the only "odd" chasuble he had--looks like one made for Summer Camp, VBS, outdoor liturgies, etc.. The vergers' maces were covered in metallic ribbons. I have a shot of one of the clergy tossing beads....
The lections were focused on mercy and incarnation. OT was the Isa. text about children and adders and lions and lambs and etc. Psalm was a praise psalm--don't remember which one--but basically "Hallelujah--Yay God!" :-) NT was 1 John 4:1-11, and Gospel was a very very short snippet from Luke, 11:27-28.
Scott+ preached a most excellent sermon. Basically told the story of a turning point in his adult spirituality--a story I've heard b/4 but it gets right at my heart every time--when he was rector of the evangelical, staid, politically conservative, St Mary's, Lompoc, deeply hurting over his divorce from his first wife, and feeling pretty burnt out and distant from God. He went to Mt Calvary Monastery to seek out a spiritual director, and when he finally found a monk who wasn't too busy to take him on (he had to approach several!), the monk's instruction to him was to read Ps. 139:1-17 daily to finally get it into his head and heart that God isn't out there but as near to us as our breath. I hope he posts the sermon on the web, b/c I can't do the rest of it justice (about God being w/ us tonight in revelry and tomorrow in ashes, and embracing polarities).
Instead of the creed there was a Musical Response to the Sermon--another 5-10 minutes of swing dancing in the aisles. Then annoucements, then introduction of Bp. Mathes, for whom this was all a brand new experience :-). There was a mis-cue of the ushers, so they didn't get in position to take up the offering, which was to go to Episcopal Relief & Development for Katrina relief. So Scott improvised, since the baskets were up front but w/ no money in them, and told the band to hit it again and that we were to all dance our offering up to the baskets. So another 5-10 minutes of dancing in the aisles.
The Great Thanksgiving was "Rite 3" with lots of emphasis on mercy and love. Communion was at stations at the front, w/ the band doing a different arrangement of "When All the Saints." Then we said the postcommunion prayer and Bp Mathes gave the blessing. Then the altar party formed up and sashayed down the aisle to some more up-tempo tunes. The SSP brothers' sequined stoles showed off in the light quite nicely.
The catered dinner was a mediocre melange of cajun-inspired dishes--lots of rice, okra, corn, chicken, shrimp, sausage and spices in assorted combinations. (Though for only $15 a head it was actually quite generous.) And blackened salmon over a bean something. Bottled water or wine to drink. Dessert was bread pudding.
And then some of us left for home, while others left for more festive events elsewhere.
Apparently the Zydeco Mass was started at St Paul's by the recently retired Canon Liturgist, Lee+ Teed, who studied at CDSP under Louis Weil.
My description can in no way begin to convey what I believe was the deeply incarnational and sacramental nature of the service. I'm quite serious that I experienced it as second only to the Great Vigil for enacting dramatically the glorious mystery of God becoming fully human that humanity might become fully divine, and darkness be vanquished. Amen.
Really grainy, blurry pics taken w/ my Treo in the dim nave while everyone was moving around. They've ended up sort of like Impressionist paintings. :-)
P.S. I really needed to hear that Gospel tonight, and to experience it. Which I did. TBTG. Now I feel as ready for Lent as it's ever possible to be...
St Paul's has a tradition of having a Zydeco Mass on Shrove Tuesday, followed by a banquet in the parish hall. I think the Zydeco Mass is as close to summing up the whole Gospel in one incredible dramaturgical extravaganza as is anything short of The Great Vigil.
Remember, St Paul's is on the edge of the gay district and makes a *big point* of reaching out to the GLBT community.
For several weeks Scott+ has been making announcements about the Zydeco Mass, and saying how it's really not to be missed, and rather incredible, and involves lots of dancing, and music, and feathers, and is a bit over the top. And unlike Nick+, Scott doesn't play things up for dramatic effect.
The Zydeco band started playing at 5:45 and the whole place was literally swinging for the prelude. We were encouraged not just to clap, not just to sway, but to literally dance in the aisles. Which people did. Including the bishop and his wife. (Swing-dancing while wearing a mitre and holding a crozier is a real art....) Folks did swing-dance, they did freestyle 1980s post-disco rhythmic shuffling
Most of the congregation came wearing Mardi Gras beads, many of us had on feathered masks, there were lots and lots of sequins everywhere, there were folks in jester-style caps, there were folks in green/gold/purple sequin-covered top hats (one of which seems to be in the center of every pic I snapped), and there were feather boas. I didn't see anyone in drag (unless you count the altar party :-), but I wouldn't swear that there wasn't. Well, one of the lectors who is a guy (and the Cathedral's Artist in Residence) had on a red wig and a Minnie-Pearl style hat, but was otherwise in masculine attire. All the vergers had on multi-colored jester caps along w/ their purple cassocks. (*Matching* jester caps, you understand--we must be *decent and in order* about this--we ARE a Catholic parish.
I would say the congregation was around 2/3 regulars, and 1/3 folks I didn't necessarily recognize. But that could be b/c they were in different attire. Though by the announcements Scott+ made, I'm thinking there are usually lots of visitors.
After 15 minutes the prelude segued into "When All the Saints Come Marching In," and suddenly there was a procession *sashaying* down the aisle. The bead-bedecked crucifer was keeping time w/ the cross like a drum major (it sounds really crass in writing but didn't look that out of place), and all the clergy were tossing beads into the congregation. Bishop Mathes was Presider and he had his crozier in one hand and was tossing beads w/ the other, and was wearing what was probably the only "odd" chasuble he had--looks like one made for Summer Camp, VBS, outdoor liturgies, etc.. The vergers' maces were covered in metallic ribbons. I have a shot of one of the clergy tossing beads....
The lections were focused on mercy and incarnation. OT was the Isa. text about children and adders and lions and lambs and etc. Psalm was a praise psalm--don't remember which one--but basically "Hallelujah--Yay God!" :-) NT was 1 John 4:1-11, and Gospel was a very very short snippet from Luke, 11:27-28.
Scott+ preached a most excellent sermon. Basically told the story of a turning point in his adult spirituality--a story I've heard b/4 but it gets right at my heart every time--when he was rector of the evangelical, staid, politically conservative, St Mary's, Lompoc, deeply hurting over his divorce from his first wife, and feeling pretty burnt out and distant from God. He went to Mt Calvary Monastery to seek out a spiritual director, and when he finally found a monk who wasn't too busy to take him on (he had to approach several!), the monk's instruction to him was to read Ps. 139:1-17 daily to finally get it into his head and heart that God isn't out there but as near to us as our breath. I hope he posts the sermon on the web, b/c I can't do the rest of it justice (about God being w/ us tonight in revelry and tomorrow in ashes, and embracing polarities).
Instead of the creed there was a Musical Response to the Sermon--another 5-10 minutes of swing dancing in the aisles. Then annoucements, then introduction of Bp. Mathes, for whom this was all a brand new experience :-). There was a mis-cue of the ushers, so they didn't get in position to take up the offering, which was to go to Episcopal Relief & Development for Katrina relief. So Scott improvised, since the baskets were up front but w/ no money in them, and told the band to hit it again and that we were to all dance our offering up to the baskets. So another 5-10 minutes of dancing in the aisles.
The Great Thanksgiving was "Rite 3" with lots of emphasis on mercy and love. Communion was at stations at the front, w/ the band doing a different arrangement of "When All the Saints." Then we said the postcommunion prayer and Bp Mathes gave the blessing. Then the altar party formed up and sashayed down the aisle to some more up-tempo tunes. The SSP brothers' sequined stoles showed off in the light quite nicely.
The catered dinner was a mediocre melange of cajun-inspired dishes--lots of rice, okra, corn, chicken, shrimp, sausage and spices in assorted combinations. (Though for only $15 a head it was actually quite generous.) And blackened salmon over a bean something. Bottled water or wine to drink. Dessert was bread pudding.
And then some of us left for home, while others left for more festive events elsewhere.
Apparently the Zydeco Mass was started at St Paul's by the recently retired Canon Liturgist, Lee+ Teed, who studied at CDSP under Louis Weil.
My description can in no way begin to convey what I believe was the deeply incarnational and sacramental nature of the service. I'm quite serious that I experienced it as second only to the Great Vigil for enacting dramatically the glorious mystery of God becoming fully human that humanity might become fully divine, and darkness be vanquished. Amen.
Really grainy, blurry pics taken w/ my Treo in the dim nave while everyone was moving around. They've ended up sort of like Impressionist paintings. :-)
P.S. I really needed to hear that Gospel tonight, and to experience it. Which I did. TBTG. Now I feel as ready for Lent as it's ever possible to be...
