In which Alia gets a surprise anniversary present...

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary and my lovely husband surprised me with a trip to New York. He did a good job keeping it under wraps because I had no clue what was going on until we got to the stop where the Bolt bus picks up. Then I was like, wait a second you are making me take a bus (I get really bad motion sickness) to New York (a city I find overwhelming and dirty). What kind of anniversary is this?! But Josh just said to trust him, that he had it all planned out. And oh did he! First we ate chocolate breakfast. (Thank you Erin for recommending it. I had just told Josh that I was giving you a mental hug when they started playing Silent All These Years over the speakers. I guess that was you hugging me back!) Then we went to The Strand and looked at the miles of books. Then Josh surprised me again with tickets to Billy Elliot. (And we got my favorite Billy. There's three different boys who switch off days doing Billy's part because the dancing is so physically demanding. We got the Cuban by way of Montreal kid, who we saw interviewed on TV a few months ago.) The show was pretty awesome and afterward we met up with Andrew for a drink before having a very yummy dinner. Then it was off to look at the Rockefeller tree and the Christmas window displays and a rush back to the bus stop. We didn't get lost once. And I have to say, as we were walking around looking at the lights, I started to get why people love that city so much. So not only did Josh plan a wonderful day. He actually got me to change my mind about something. A near impossible feat! My husband is pretty awesome.

Movies based on children's books to look out for/make you cringe...

What's with the stop-motion animation? We should see a stop-motion movie version of Coraline in February of 2009 followed by Wes Anderson's take on Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox in November.

Inkheart will be in theaters in January of '09 (How long has it been since Brendan Fraser has been in a good movie?) and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is set for March. Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is slated to be out in October. I'm cautiously excited.

And Tim Burton's taking on Alice in Wonderland sometime in 2010. Even though I didn't care for his vision of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I actually think this might work well. Burton does love those repressed characters and so, in some ways, may be perfect for Alice.

Oh and I almost forgot (how could I?!) about the big one. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was delayed until July of 2009. Sigh.

It's just one of those days...

Unemployment is getting to me. Every time I start to feel bummed about not having the job I want, I remind myself that it could be worse. I am working. So I'm a nanny. It's a job. And I work at the library part time. So it's not a librarian position. At least that's something. But today that's just not helping me feel any better. I'm pissed. I don't want to be told to go work in an academic library (like it's so easy to get a job there!) or that there's some magical job out there will turn up. I was a good children's librarian. I want to keep being a children's librarian. I'm staying involved with ALA. I'm still reading reviews and professional literature. I'm doing all the things you're supposed to do to keep yourself competitive. But right now, given the fact that they're laying off staff and closing libraries, it all seems pretty useless. And I'm pissed because I feel like I'm doing all the right things for no reason.

I know I'm luckier than a lot of people and I'm thankful for the things I do have. But today, right now, I just want to have a pity party for thing I'm missing.

And back in literary land...

I finished The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and liked it so much I checked out and plowed through How to Be Bad. Yeah, I'm on an official E. Lockhart kick.

More Sesame Street Nerdiness

Check out Cookie Monster in the Library. I just spent way to much time this morning watching these videos.