Sarah: Tool of the Week

I'm totally psyched about my new hair product

BEDHEAD'S AFTERPARTY SMOOTHING CREAM

that makes my hair look better than it ever has when straight. My hair is naturally really curly, but I can use this product when my hair is wet (and then blow dry and flat-iron) or dry (after I've styled it) and my hair looks smooth and healthy, almost like it's naturally straight. I'm inspired to actually do my hair more often.

Sarah: Why hello, Officer.

"So, I had the strangest dream."
"Oh yeah? What about?"
"A policeman pulled us over so he could flirt with you."

Lisa: Reason #156 why being a librarian is the best job ever

A few weeks ago I attended the BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers for work. Most of the events were held at the Provo library (below, swarming with librarians and schoolteachers):

While we were there, we checked out their children's area for good ideas. Here are some display cabinets we liked (but aren't going to get approval for in our budget):

And here are some letters that I think we are definitely going to copy. They are foamcore wrapped with felt, with felt cutouts and pipe cleaners glued on. I'm not sure if they were following templates or what, but maybe we can at least use the general idea.

There were a bunch of authors and illustrators at the conference, giving workshops and signing autographs. They're listed on the page I linked above, but most relevant to this entry is the author Garth Nix. I just read his Abhorsen trilogy for the first time and loved it, so I was excited to hear him speak. I am totally fifteen years old, because he is from Australia, with the cutest accent, and has this dry sense of humor, and he is cute in a slightly nerdy way...

OK, so that picture is really bad because I took it all stealthily so he wouldn't think I was a crazed fan and I didn't want to take another picture and call attention to myself. I'm sure he would have posed for a picture with me if I had asked, but I was too embarassed. But I did get a chance to ask him questions at one small Q&A session, and he autographed four books for me with my name.

Anyway, I decided he is added to my nerdy boyfriend collection. I now have a nerdy musician boyfriend, two nerdy TV boyfriends, and a nerdy author boyfriend. Please feel free to suggest new categories and candidates in the comments.

BONUS:

I wanted to post a picture of the castle I made for the library before we have to dismantle it or throw it away. It was originally for a beanbag-toss game, but we have kept it up as a decoration in the story room for the whole summer. Basically, I drew a picture of a castle on a piece of paper, traced it onto a clear piece of plastic from the laminating machine (in lieu of an actual overhead sheet), and used the overhead projector to project the image onto several big foamcore sheets. I copied the projected lines onto the foamcore with pencil, then laid it down and traced the pencil lines carefully with permanent marker. I painted the castle with Crayola paints, let it dry, and then cut out the pieces and window openings with an X-Acto knife. I taped the pieces together with packaging tape on the back side, anchored it to a big sign-holder thing so that it would stand up, and added the stars with the point values for the bean bag game. The stars are Cafe Rio take-out lids cut out with a Sizzix machine. Yay! I think it turned out really cute.

Lisa: What won't Val Kilmer do?

Dude. These would be some seriously awesome t-shirts.

Lisa: Advantage: Lohan

Normally, pop-princess vehicles and movies heavy on the singing and/or dancing teens are prime choices for girls' night. However, I fear that last night we went too far. By this I mean that we checked out Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice from the library.

Keep in mind that our standards are low. The critically-acclaimed Bring It On (starring the aptly-anagrammed Dr. Sunken Tits) has happily shared TV time with One Wonky Eye's straight-to-DVD Drive Me Crazy. Even so, Raise Your Voice was by far the worst of its genre I have ever seen.

Sarah: Tool of the Week

Because I have been a slacker with posting my favorite tools, this week is a double feature! My friend Mallory is a firm believer in the magical healing powers of

BUBBLE TAPE

and enjoys her elementary school confection while at work every day. Her only complaint is that it does not freshen her breath. Mallory, if you're reading, Keep The Backstreet Pride Alive.

Lisa (and our fairly recent viewing of New York Minute) inspired my second tool,

JARED PADALECKI

who defines "tool" in almost every way. I know Lisa still sees him as "Cute Dean," but she, unlike Mallory, can no longer keep the dream alive. Cute Dean is dead. Tool Dean with lame hair is alive and well.

Sarah: Tool of the Week

Lisa and I recently watched "13 Going on 30". It's obvious that we like the chick flicks with no actual substance, and this one was cute. But there was the MOST repulsive character, who's annoying-ness was only topped by the actor himself, who we saw in the cast interviews. And so,

SAMUEL BALL

is the biggest tool yet to be featured on our blog. Mr. Ball won this title without question when he told the interviewer about how this film compared to his other, larger projects. Excuse me, Sam? NO ONE KNOWS OR CARES WHO YOU ARE.

Sarah: Does this count as a seven degree thing?

I dreamed about Kevin Bacon. I know. Don't say a thing. Not even cute, Footloose Kevin Bacon, but older, hollow cheeked, floppy haired Kevin Bacon. Technically the dream wasn't ABOUT Kevin Bacon, but featured more prominently his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, whom I was having lunch with. I have no idea where my apparent fascination with this couple came from. I must have been in some sort of trouble, or at least I was hiding from something, because although we chatted about the new job I was about to start, I wouldn't tell my old buddy Kyra where I would be working. After Kev-y joined us, I left my purse leaning against the leg of the picnic table while I walked up to the hot dog stand counter . Through the thick fog (hey, where did that come from?) three men in dark suits rushed up to the table. One left a note near Kyra and whispered in her ear while another reached down and took my purse before I could reach it. I ran after him, but I could not catch up to the man. He searched my purse as he walked, discarding items that did not provide the information he needed (he threw my phone, wallet, and iPod! How inconsiderate.) until he came upon a globe paperweight. This mysterious thief carefully peeled off the price tag from the bottom of the paperweight, and then left my purse behind. My alarm went of, and I never discovered the following:
1. Why was I friends with Kyra Sedgwick?
2. Why didn't Kevin Bacon help me retreive my purse?
3. What was on the note?
4. Why the paperweight pricetag?

It was a strange and extremely specific dream. At least I didn't kill anyone in one of Lisa's trademark Dreams of Extreme Rage and Violence.

Sarah: Lots of caffeine makes Sarah a good student

Today is the first day of school! Welcome back everyone!

Lisa: I love your dentifrice

Ever since we performed it at my high school, I have had a soft spot in my heart for Bye Bye Birdie. Something made me think of it the other day, so I impulsively checked it out from the library (the library rocks!) and I watched it again last night. As the movie played, my mind wandered to what I'm sure it thought was a brilliant idea--a remake of Bye Bye Birdie starring Lindsay Lohan as Kim (played in this version by Ann-Margret)! With Topher Grace playing Hugo! And George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones playing Albert (the Dick Van Dyke character) and Rose, respectively! And then I got sidetracked, because who should play Kim's dad, replacing the guy who so adequately voiced Templeton in Charlotte's Web? The guy who voiced Flounder? Pumba? Mr. Potato Head?

And then I slapped some sense back into myself. Because those kind of thoughts are just not responsible. And what would we have if someone actually listened to my idea? A travesty, that's what. Anyway, Topher would never agree to do it.

On the other hand, Rose (Janet Leigh) had some killer dresses in that movie. It reminded me of that dress Diane Lane wore in Under the Tuscan Sun [disclaimer: that movie is crap] that I really liked. I want to make a cute fifties dress with a cinched waist and a super-full skirt! Sexayy, yet not revealing! I found a pattern I like, Simplicity 3068, but of course since it is actually from the fifties it is not currently available. Ideas?

Lisa: This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse is Upon Us

I just caught myself whistling the Spice Girls.

Lisa: Oh, Utah.

This past weekend I went to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival for work. On Thursday I attended a workshop with Charlotte Blake Alston about using rhythm and music in storytelling. She played us a lot of examples of traditional African drumming and songs with polyrhythms. This is all fine. The problem was that the workshop attendees were largely the whitest, squarest, and yet most enthusiastic hippie librarians on the planet. Out of the 24 attendees, six wore Birkenstocks or Tevas, and eight others wore sandals. These fourteen individuals were flexing and wiggling their long, ashy, and (need I say it?) poorly-manicured toes wildly in only the barest approximation of the beat. Many others were also bobbing their heads in obvious enjoyment mingled with musical idiocy. I held still while still trying to look like I was having a good time, in an attempt to balance out the behavior of my fellow participants.