Express Yourself with Baseball & Endless Activities

It has been a very busy couple of weeks!  At the beginning of the month, I went up to New York City to see Madonna in concert at Yankee Stadium.  While the show was enjoyable, I still think my “Librarian Gone Wild” book cart drill should have been incorporated into the show somehow. Call me, Madonna!

"Librarian Gone Wild" seeing Madonna at Yankee Stadium!

While I was up in New York City, I had a meeting with my favorite bookstore, The Strand, and they loved my literary purses and cosmetic bags and will be carrying them in the store this fall!  I was also booked to perform in their rare book room for an event on December 6^th!  When I used to live in NYC, I spent just about every weekend wandering through the stacks and now I get to perform in them.  So thrilled! 

The Stand-Up Librarian at The Strand December 6th!

Just after getting off the plane in Florida, I had to turn around a performance in just two hours for a benefit honoring a friend moving back to NYC.  Inspired by Madonna’s show at Yankee Stadium, my love for baseball, and the song “Express Yourself,” (which I hadn’t done since high school), I  did a baseball-themed number that the audience seemed to enjoy – especially since I pulled off that Yankee shirt & revealed a Tampa Bay Rays t-shirt!  Watch the video here:

"Express Yourself with Baseball"

I have also been sewing a lot – preparing for The Strand order but also my holiday items that are available on a made-to-order basis, just ask me and I will make them for you!  I also decided that I needed to have a website entirely devoted to my designs so StandUpLibrarianDesigns.com is now operational and links directly to my Etsy Shop!  I am in the process of updating all of my websites but that is such a major job that it is taking longer than I expected!

It's the Great Pumpkin purse & hat, Charlie Brown!

And then there are performances!  I am preparing for my part in The Vagina Monologues at American Stage on September 30^th - something I have never done in my life is say the V or P or C words on stage or out loud, so this should be interesting (especially for my very conservative family members!)  Then the very next week I am booked to do my literary comedy show at a library staff day and since I love to write new material, not to mention choreograph new dance moves with that book cart, I am very excited about doing some of those parodies!

Plus, everyone needs a social outlet, so in addition to my acting classes that I do two days a week, I have now joined a book club that meets once a week & I have joined the St. Petersburg Shell Club that meets monthly!  Yes, we discuss seashells!!!  Oh, it is a happy day when you can show your latest beach treasure with a fellow conchologist who can appreciate it!

Seriously, nobody talks about Shell Club - ever!

Wow, a lot is going on!  So I need to get back to sewing, writing, reading, dancing, oh, - eating!  I always forget to do that one.  I hope all is wonderful and cooling off in your worlds, I just LOVE the fall season, don’t you?  Express yourself!

Happy Birthday Madonna!

My show art from 2003 spoofing the Like a Virgin album cover.

If there is one birthday I celebrate more than my own, it is Madonna.  She's inspired me in so many ways over the years, and continues to do so. "Don't go for second best, baby....Express Yourself."  It began with a performance of "Papa Don't Preach" in Girl Scouts to doing "Vogue" in high school to eventually building a whole one-woman show around her in 2003.  My latest, the "Girl Gone Wild" librarian parody in 2012, was probably my favorite of them all.  An example that age most certainly does not slow us down, it makes us better.  Maybe one of these days I'll actually meet her so I can thank her in person for being the soundtrack of my life.

Happy Birthday Madonna! 

And once again, here are those "Girl Gone Wild" parody videos:

Happy 2nd Anniversary StandUpLibrarian.com!

Today I celebrate 2 years of StandUpLibrarian.com.  A lot has happened since my first post on June 1^st, 2010 (read that here: http://stand-uplibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/06/welcome-to-standuplibrariancom.html), where my only intention after graduating with my Masters degree was to be an advocate for libraries while looking for a job to hopefully work in one.  My mission was simply to show how fun & educational they are – for all ages, for all types of people.  I thought a blog would keep me busy while filling out those job applications and would show those I was interviewing with that I was not sitting by the phone but an active member of the library field with numerous talents and skills to offer my employers. 

On a personal note, I was trying to distract myself from a broken heart and hoping to overcome writer’s block.  In committing to this blog, I was ultimately putting myself first again and trying to find my voice as a writer.  I was forcing myself to write on a weekly basis while showing my strength and vulnerability during life’s crazy experiences.  I hoped to entertain people with my sense of humor but my focus was less on being funny and more on just being myself…a person that does the best she can but never gives up.

It’s odd to me that now 2 years later with endless hours of filming & editing videos, interviewing & interacting with a variety of experts in the field, writing passionate blog posts and jokes that promoted the library (not made fun of it), that I am still unemployed!  How could a person work so hard and not get the one thing she did all of it for?     

Because if there is one person who understands & identifies with the patrons at a library, it is me!  How to file for unemployment?  Done. Start a new business? Done. Living with a crazy roommate and need a quiet place to go?  Done.  I could go on and on with scenarios here but I have to wonder if any of it was worth it.  Or if all that I created was just a huge mistake and actually hurt my chances at getting a job due to the conservative folks out there that just didn’t understand me at all.  My parents are some of those people constantly worried that I am offending someone in HR.

Then I look at what I have experienced over the last 2 years.  What I have learned.  Where I have been.  Who I have met.  I look at the person I was when I began this journey and then at the one in the mirror today.  In actuality she probably accomplished far more than she set out to.  Does it always make sense?  No. Does she ever make mistakes? Yes. Does she have more fun at the library than most people?  Probably.  And isn’t that what it’s all about?

If anybody goes to the library because of something I said or did, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  It doesn’t matter to me if you think I am hilarious or talented or smart or qualified.  What matters to me is that you USE THE LIBRARY!  And if you have fun while you are there, well then I’m really doing something special.  Oh and the words “Stand-Up” in Stand-Up Librarian may have hinted at stand-up comedy, but it actually refers to standing up for libraries and for yourself.  In my opinion, you cannot have one without the other. If you utilize the vast knowledge available to you at the library, you will always have the means to stand up to any curve balls life throws at you.  Think of me as the catcher.  I’m behind you the whole way…if only to remind you that your butt looks great in those pants!  OK, maybe I should turn off the baseball game while I am writing this.  Anyway, thanks for joining me in what has been the greatest adventure of my life.  Support your libraries but have fun doing it!

*In honor of my 2-year anniversary, I have created a special video that incorporates my love for libraries & Madonna.  Like a lot of girls growing up in the 80’s, I have been influenced by her artistry in more ways than even I realized.  While some are quick to judge her often-controversial choices, I have always respected her work ethic and passion.  Madonna has dedicated her life to the art of performance and how it can influence people, making them think and question things.  I don’t always agree with all of her decisions but I will always respect her for being fearless and an incredible entertainer.

I would suggest watching Madonna’s very erotic “Girl Gone Wild” video before watching my "Librarian Gone Wild" so you can understand the parody where I incorporate her books (I feature her Sex book from 1992 and her line of children's books.)  I have posted both videos below for your convenience.  Enjoy!