Idiosycratic Life

So today I called into the bureau and told them that I am here and able to do any freelance work that they might have available until my official start date, and they were like, “Oh... Can you be at the courthouse in an hour?” and so I did my first Miami assignment with Big International Newswire (don’t want my name and the actual name of Big International Newswire to pop up in google searches with this site as one of the first hits... you understand, right?:) today!!! Yay!

It was really interesting, actually, to be at a press conference in a bilingual market. They did it all in English first, and then they had an interpreter repeat it all in Spanish for the three Spanish networks based out of Miami. And Univision, (which is the main Spanish channel that we get in Lancaster and most other people get when they are referring to “the Spanish Channel”) is actually like, a reputable news network. I always sort of breezed past it at home to kind of laugh at the Spanish soap operas and that Horrible Cristina Show (like Rikki Lake, with a lot of blonde hair dye), but Primer Impacto, the main news show, is a very respected news show, like 60 Minutes or Dateline. So that was kind of interesting...

And I got a library card today so I can listen to books on tape during my morning commute! I haven’t actually gone to a library and applied for a library card since I was 10. HHS and SU just used the regular Ids, and I always have my Lancaster card from when I was, well, 10, I guess.

The night before I left to come down here, I went to Barnes and Noble to find a good new book to read, and I started looking at books on tape, thinking maybe I would listen to the Harry Potter books or something on the long drive. As you all know, I love those books, so owning the set would be kind of fun. NO. No, no, no. One Harry Potter book on tape- ONE, mind you- costs 35 freakin’ dollars. Not just regular dollars- freakin’ dollars, which, you know, are worth a lot more. :)

But the library in my neighborhood is really great. I was there at 6 o’clock in the evening, and it was completely packed. There were kids everywhere, walking up to the desk with so many books that they had to hold them in place with their chins. Entire families were there, getting on the Internet, reading out loud in more languages than I can accurately place. There were signs everywhere: “Now open Fridays until 9 p.m.!” It made me so happy. :)