Why you should have a blog

So, my final project for my "Information Technologies for Libraries and Information agencies" class (like the title?) is due today, and then I'm done. I had the great idea to build my website in Dreamweaver, even though I'd never used it before, and I'm a barely beginner code builder, because it's cool. Well, everything went great for several hours, and I had a pretty good looking website. Trouble was, I couldn't load it to my school server, long story short, I stayed up all night building a new website from scratch. And where does the blog come in? It's helped me learn HTML code better than I would have on my own. Anyway, to see the fruits of my labor, click here.
Don't be too harsh-it's my first time.
Cheers!

A Christmas complaint

I love Christmas, and I love Christmas music. In fact, I've been listening to a radio station that plays nothing but Christmas music since the week before Thanksgiving. They pretty much play the same songs everyday (sometimes twice a day, and what's up with that? I know there's more Christmas music available), but that's not what I'm writing to complain about (at least not this time). No, feel the need to publish a great frustration that I feel every year at this time towards one Christmas song in particular. It's an overplayed, annoying Christmas song, but that's not my complaint either. Are you ready? The song is Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and my problem is the intro:

You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen,Comet and Cupid, and
Donner and Blitzen, But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all?

I can't stand it!! If Rudolph is "the most famous reindeer of all," how could he possibly be the one we would forget? Isn't it far more likely that we would "not recall" Donner, or Comet? If a song doesn't make sense, I think it should be banned from radio play. That would mean no more Backstreet Boys (or is it N'SYNC) song about how he can do what he wants, but she can't (okay, I know that's vague but I'm talking about a specific song, and if you know what it is, put in the comments), no more Christina Aguilara's What a Girl Wants saying "whatever makes me happy sets you free" (how does that work?), and most importantly, no more Rudolph!! Or at the very least, cut the intro, please!!!

Chocolate Mint Hershey Kisses

Am I obsessed?
Yes.
Can I stop eating them?
No.
Is this bad for me?
Yes.
I don't know how it happened, but I think this mint Hershey Kiss addiction may be even worse than my Cadbury mini-egg problem. Maybe it's the added stress of school, yes I'll blame it on that. My last project is due on Friday, so until then, you know what I'll be snacking on!

A holiday recipe

Chocolate Caramels
From the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook

1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1¼ cups sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons corn syrup
2¼ cups (firmly packed) brown sugar
Patience

– Grease the inside of an 8x8 inch pan
– Put the butter, chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, and brown sugar into the large heavy saucepan. Mix with a wooden spoon.
– Place the saucepan over medium heat and let the mixture come to a boil. Let the chocolate melt completely.
– Turn the heat down to medium low and cook the mixture for 30 minutes. It should boil gently during this time. With the wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly the whole time. It’s important to stir constantly because candy burns easily.
– When it’s cooked, the candy will be very thick. Pour it into the square baking pan and set it on the cooking rack.
– Let the candy cool completely (about 1½ hours) then cut into ¾ inch squares.


“I had one chocolate caramel once two years ago and it was simply delicious. I’ve often dreamed since then that I had a lot of chocolate caramels, but I always wake up just when I’m going to eat them.”
-Anne of Green Gables, III.

It's all in the perspective

Actual listing in the TV section of the Marin Independent-Journal, Marin, California, Summer 2002:

Movie "The Wizard of Oz": Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.

"It's Christmas time in the city..."

This is a blurry picture of the lights outside my library. There are snowflakes in the trees, and I like them.

Here's the tree at Lincoln Center. The night of the lighting, it was unseasonably warm, so people were walking around with no coats, and I even saw some sandals. It's gotten colder this weekend though. I think winter has really started. As soon as my classwork is finished (two weeks to go) I'll really be enjoying the holiday season. Of course by that time, it'll almost be over, but we do what we can do. I wish you all a very joyous holiday season!
Much love,
Catherine

Another celebrity sighting

Just had lunch at the Julliard cafeteria, as I sometimes do, and on the way out I spotted at Brown! It was a girl, I think the one on the far left. Yes, I know you are all jealous of me and my glamorous life, seeing celebrities left and right...

Celebrity sighting

I was doing a little Christmas shopping at Columbus Circle tonight, and who should I run into but Renee Zellweger. We crossed the street together and then we parted ways, I to the subway station, and her to try to catch a cab in the middle of Columbus Circle! I thought about telling her that wasn't the best place to hail a cab (not even sure if one could stop there without getting rammed into) but I figured she wouldn't appreciate my talking to her. I knew she was small (what celeb isn't?) but really, she was quite tiny. I was surprised her thin little legs could support her. Also, I didn't really get to look at her because we were standing right next to her, and I thought it would be rude to actually turn and stare at her, but she didn't seem that squinty. Maybe her eyes are really sensitive, and she she's forced to squint in front of film lights, stage lights, and camera flashes? With such sensitive eyes, it might have been better to choose a different career path, but she'd probably disagree with me. Anyway, I thought you'd all like to know that Renee is well and in NYC.

Missing quarters

If anyone wants to get me a great Christmas gift this year, my State Quarters collection has three holes in it that make me quite sad:
Michigan (2004)
California (2005)
Kansas (2005)