The Other Side of the Stacks

...but here's Katie Couric's commentary on President Obama's strange use of the term "wee wee'd up":

Check out this classic ad from the archives of TV historian Ira Gallen:

"This rich, amber liquid bursts into rich, lanolin-blessed lather." What she say? These old ads always crack me up!

Apparently I do need to find a new product. I was informed last weekend during my monthly trim that I have "bossy" hair. Said my head, "Yeah, she betta' recognize!"

My pal Joel shared this last week and I am only just now getting around to watching it. Too funny!

Speaking of Twitter, I'm enjoying Geek Pickup Lines there this morning. My early favorites:

• @mr_smudge: "Let's convert our potential energy to kinetic energy."
• phil_donahue: "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a beautiful baud?"
• twittingtwit1: "You're once, twice, 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 times a lady."

I saw this last week when it first aired. Such a funny sketch here from Jimmy Fallon!

What, a video that combines Chad Vader and Keyboard Cat? Unless you know me well, you cannot know how happy this makes me:

I am about the 4,227,356,892nd man in human history to have found that mowing one's own lawn is an overrated experience. To that end, I have devising a five-year plan for maintaining my yard:

• Year One: Mow what is already here (primarily weeds and clover) without killing myself
• Years Two and Three: Feed and seed the lawn so that I can actually enjoy it between cuttings
• Years Four and Five: Plant as much as possible so that I don't have to mow as much

That's all I've got so far.

I could not make this up:

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- A Kenyan man has sued activists who called on women to boycott sex to protest the growing divide in the nation's coalition government.

James Kimondo said the seven-day sex ban, which ended this week, resulted in stress, mental anguish, backaches and lack of sleep, his lawyer told the state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corp.

The lawsuit filed Friday claims lack of conjugal rights affected Kimondo's marriage and seeks undisclosed damages from the G-10, an umbrella group for women's activists, KBC said.

The women's caucus caused a national debate when it urged women to withhold sex to protest increasingly frosty relations between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Citizens of the east African nation are frustrated by a shaky coalition government, which was formed after post-election violence killed more than 1,000 people in 2008. The wrangling between Kibaki and Odinga has sparked fears of more violence.

Gender activists say they are not worried about the lawsuit.

"I have not been served with the papers, but I was told they are coming and I am eagerly waiting," said Ann Njogu, executive, director of Centers for Rights Education and Awareness. "It will be interesting to see the face of a man who is not willing to abstain for the sake of his country."

Despite the lawsuit, Njogu said, the boycott was successful.

"The principal leaders met as a result of the boycott, and I understand that they are setting up reforms to look into the country's internal security," she said.

Plans are under way for women activists to meet with Kibaki and Odinga, according to Njogu.

So, keep in mind, this was seven whole days without, um, conjugal rights. Imagine if it had been a month?

Things I Loathe:

• Being completely unable to formulate thesis statements for my Vonnegut papers. (Semester-long gripe.)
• Being awakened at 3:00 Sunday morning by the sound of my cat retching. Thanks a lot, Gracie!
  
• Scrabble on Facebook. It sucks, and Hasbro/EA Sports obviously don't care.
  

Things I Love:

• Opening our home to Jacquie's study buddies. Last night was the third visit in several weeks. It's been nice getting to meet them and being able do something for our students.
  
• Living close to urban, green spaces. Morning walks rule!
• Lexulous on Facebook. It's not Scrabble, but it works and it's still a fun game.
  

The decision that American colleges and universities would be used as farm systems for pro sports leagues was made long ago. Now--as if we needed more evidence--comes today's Birmingham News story about the "big business" of high school sport in Alabama:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/alabama_high_school_sports_bec.html

It could be said that the librarian never takes a day off, but this is a powerful example of the proximity search. Needless to say, I find the phrases "big business" and "high school" being this close together in the same sentence more than a bit disturbing.