Roller Derby and Cupcakes

Last Saturday, May 30th (does that still count as last Saturday?), some friends and I went to a LA Derby Dolls game (roller derby) between the Sirens and the Tough Cookies. The Tough Cookies were so my girls that night and did me proud kicking the Sirens' asses. During half time, I wondered around the stalls of merch and found this adorable necklace:


Then just this past weekend, I took a break after finishing the first two of my three final papers and made cupcakes with my roommate and watched Kiki's Delivery Service and The Cat Returns.


Who doesn't love adorable cats, witches, and cupcakes? We made lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and blueberries on top and chocolate cupcakes with orange zest, cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on top.

Graduation Gear

I picked up my cap, gown, hood, and tassel today for my Master's degree graduation ceremony. I can't believe how much nicer (and creepy looking) the master's degree gown is from that undergraduate gown. Instead of being that cheap, thin fabric with a cheap zipper and absolutely no embellishments, this is all detailed and fabric that's actually somewhat a nice quality fabric (or at least worth something more than the other kind) with folds ("fluting") and weird arms that really remind me of Harry Potter. Here are some visuals to demonstrate:


That thing hanging down the back is called the hood (why?? who knows...) and mine just happens to be this absolutely hideous combination of black, gold and neon lemon yellow-green. And if that's not bad enough, it's a not nice velvet and it smells nasty. Oh yeah and my tassel is that same puke yellow-green. Wonderful. It's like UCLA's way of saying "we hate librarians and archivists and your whole information studies department and this is our way of saying close your department now or we'll make you and all your graduates regret it!" Again some visuals to help you image the color (I'll show the terrifying/hilarious photos of me in the get-up after graduation):

Of course I'm not wearing shoelaces with my cap and gown. This is just for the color.
I'm so thrilled to let all my friends and family see me in this! (note the sarcasm)
Happy Tuesday!

Lewis Carroll Scrapbook

I was looking for articles for my term paper today and came across this article about Lewis Carroll's scrapbook in the Library of Congress. Apparently they have digitized images of the scrapbook available online.



How exciting is that?! I love scrapbooks so much. I think it's so exciting to see what people think is important enough to save. It can really say a lot about the person. Head on over to see for yourselves!

The end of the school year is fast approaching. It's already week 8 of the quarter, which means only 3 1/2 more weeks until I graduate with my Master's degree and will be done for school for good (or until such time as I see fit to return).

with the end of school comes our move to Maryland. About a week and a half after I graduate, Charlie and I will be moving to Southern Maryland, close to D.C.

I think what I'm most excited about is how much time I will have to myself to do what I want to do, not something school related. I can't wait to have evenings and weekends to myself to do crafty things like knitting, crocheting, and learning to sew. And as much as I love my children's books, it will be nice to not be brain-dead and actually enjoy reading a non-children's book without going "oh! my brain doesn't want to think...". Of course having a job is a big part of being able to enjoy such hobbies since many crafty activities can be draining on the wallet. So far, no word on jobs yet but hopefully soon.

In the mean time, here are some pictures of things I look forward to making in the somewhat near future:



This is a bag created by Ms. Hilary of Wee Wonderfuls.



This ingenious button sweater was created by Ms. Emily, a.k.a. The Black Apple.

Portfolio

I passed my portfolio!!!

The portfolio is the alternative to writing a thesis in my program and involves writing a new paper and including work from throughout your time in the program, a resume, career goals and other things relating to our program. Then, we have to give a presentation on our original paper and answer questions from 2 faculty members and 1 outside professional. Needless to say, this is a pretty stressful thing since not passing delays graduation, especially for someone who is absolutely terrible at public speaking.

So last Friday was my presentation and it went well enough. I was pretty stressed out all day but I passed! So everything is fine. :) This means that pending passing my 3 classes this quarter (which will happen, no worries), I will be receiving a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies this June!

Children's Book Sale

I work in the Multimedia and Information Technology in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Awhile ago, we had a book sale of old children's books from our collection. Honestly, I went nuts. I spent so much money but I scored so many great finds!!! Including this amazing book:





And this book:







As you can see, I have a crazy-wide range in my taste in art. These are just 2 of the wonderful books I found today. I think I bought something like 20 books....I ended up with picture books, chapter books, a book of myths, and even a geology book. I'm so excited about all of them but I think Winnie the Pooh in German tickles me most.