Nepotism and other forms of Discrimination

So, I tell people that I'm a librarian. I have a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science, so that sort of gives me the right to call myself a librarian even though I don't actually hold that job title.

But I've been working on that. I've been volunteering in the Research Library at the Oregon Historical Society for nearly 2 years doing professional work in reference and cataloging (for free) in hopes that my efforts will either be recognized in the form of employment when the economic picture improves, or that my resume will be just a little bit brighter to someone else.

I've also begun working as a library page (one who shelves) at the Hillsboro Public Library. A bitch of a commute for a measly 8 hours a week, but it's supposed to be a foot in the door. It doesn't really add anything to my resume, except more time in a library.

Recently, a few positions opened up for Full-time Clerks (one who checks items out to patrons). Not a glamourous job by any measure, but it offers 40 hours a week and full benefits. I applied along with everyone else, though I didn't really want it. Hillsboro is a 2 hour commute for me (both ways) unless I drive. Then it's still a half hour. I have no desire to do that 5 days a week.

I expected that the positions would go to some of the Part-time Clerks, since they have been doing the exact same job as Full-time Clerks for years, just for fewer hours a week. So I was unsurprised and slightly relieved that I didn't get the job. But then we all saw who DID...

One position went to a Part-time Clerk who had been working his ass off at 2 different libraries. Yay on him, the man earned it.

The other position went to a girl who has been a Page for less time than I have. OH, and her mother works in administration.

A huge wave of WTF has hit the circulation department. The supervisors are suddenly baffled as to why people have been calling in sick in large numbers and why suddenly no work seems to be getting done. We have been gathering in corners whispering about the blatant and insulting nepotism taking place. I feel like I need to quit, but then I also feel like I kind of need this job, even if it is only 8 hours a week.

When I called my parents to vent, like I do, my dad told me a story:

One day (I don't remember this) in the late 80s or early 90s, my dad got a sweet new job. He quit his appliance repair job (which was slowly killing him) and scored an office job for triple his old salary. This new company promised him opportunities for advancement and higher pay in the future. He was very excited, and I'm sure my mom was stoked too. At last, no more back breaking labor! Finally, they could be ok financially!

And then my dad was introduced to his new coworkers: a group of women who had been working there doing the job my dad was now about to begin for years and years. After meeting these nice women, the new boss pulled my dad aside and said "Don't tell them how much I'm paying you. They'd revolt!"

In one moment my dad learned 3 things: His new boss was a skeeze, there was no possibility of advancement for him in this new company, and, most importantly, his presence was contributing to a sexist work environment.

I asked my dad, "So, did you tell them?"

"Yes," he said, "When I quit two weeks later."

I wish I had heard this story back when it happened. I have never been prouder of my father.

And so, my ethical quandary is actually pretty clear: I need to quit, and tell these supervisors exactly what I think. Maybe I'll burn a bridge, but it looks like that was a bridge to nowhere, anyway.

Wise Words from Crazy People

"Be stingy with your bitches, not your cigarettes."

-Woman who assaulted my friend because
he dared to refuse her request for a free
cigarette while walking down the street.

Mini-Vacation in my House

Boyfriend is on tour with Roommate, which leaves me alllll aloooone in the house, taking care of our myriad animals.

It's like a vacation!

Don't get me wrong. I love Boyfriend, and Roommate is a great guy. But there is just something magical about having a house all to yourself when you normally have to share. For this week only, I can watch weird movies until 3 AM (which I did on Tuesday), sew all day while watching Farscape (which I did yesterday) and walk around nekkid (which I didn't do, but it's nice to know I could). I feel like I've gotten a lot done while getting a lot of rest.

Tuesday: Played Nancy Drew videogames. Made a bookshelf. Worked on my NHN quilt some more. Fixed several torn items of clothing, altered several others. Had dinner with Amber from Seattle. Made the Best Dress Ever (pictured below). Watched movies til very late.

Wednesday: Quilted and watched Farscape. Took a break and made a planter box. Quilted some more. Read 2 books (ok, one was a comic book). Went to a New Century Schoolbook show, got stood up by an acquaintance (boo) BUT scored a free gin and tonic because I was wearing the Best Dress Ever and bartender couldn't stop staring at me. Normally I'd find that creepy, but he was appropriately embarrassed about it and wouldn't let me pay.

Thursday: Learned it was National Dog Day so I decided that I should do what Crayon wanted to do. So we took a three hour walk wherein I discovered that my neighbourhood now has a fabric store that holds sewing classes AND a store where I can buy canning supplies.

This second store, Mr. Green Beans, specializes in coffee roasting supplies. They hold classes too, every Wednesday night. They sell super pricey fancy coffee roasters, so I expected that when I started asking questions I'd get a sales pitch. Instead, the Bean Dude pointed toward the janky popcorn popper on the counter. I don't have a popcorn popper, so I asked about stove-top options. The incredibly helpful fellow recommended that I use a wok.

$2.50 later, I had evening plans.

A wok, a wooden spoon and 15 minutes got me a half pound of French Roast coffee. Why haven't I been doing this my whole life?

Lavender Vinegar: Success!

Sorry, no photo this time, Boyfriend has taken the digital camera with him on his Fabulous California NINJA tour.

A couple of days ago I decided that my lavender vinegar was ready to be strained and bottled, I didn't get around to testing this light purple concoction until today: YUMS.

If you've ever had anything lavender flavoured and enjoyed it, this is the vinegar for you. It's strongly flavoured (unlike the too-subtle Rose Vinegar), so the tart vinegar flavour takes a backseat to the taste of soothing lavender. I also took a little and mixed it in a bottle with distilled water (approximately 1:8) and put it in the bathroom for use as a toner, so I can be beautiful AND smell great (thus making me even more beautiful).

Lavender grows in great abundance pretty much everywhere. Around Portland, everyone has a bush or two in their yard, so harvesting is a cinch. I recommend using English Lavender for this recipe, as I believe it has the strongest aroma.

Recipe (taken and adapted from Tipnut, a fabulous site):

• Fill a jar with lavender (both flowers and stems)
• Pour white vinegar over top, seal jar and refrigerate
• Shake daily for two weeks
• Strain the vinegar and use

Next to be ready: Rosemary Vinegar.

I want to try making some mint vinegar too, but I've yet to find any recipes, so I'll have to make one up. However, I'm all out of white vinegar for now. Does anyone know where I can buy white vinegar in bulk (as in, bringing my own bottles)?

My First Novel

THE WONDERFUL KINGDOM

By Sarah Stroman
No Publisher, ca. 1985
12mo. 20p. On green construction paper. Bound with staples. Text is Mom Sans Serif.
Some fading and edgewear.

Rose Vinegar: Slightly Less Sucessful

This morning, I decided that the rose vinegar had been steeping on my windowsill long enough. I strained it and poured it into a fancy looking bottle, mixed a little bit with some water and ice, and gave it a taste.

I think this is a vinegar that needs to be used very sparingly. At first I put a wee splash in the glass, and I thought the flavour was too subtle. So I added a bigger splash, and the flavour gave me a headache.

However, the recipe I used said that rose vinegar can be used for marinades and cold compresses for headaches. Also, I used cheap distilled white vinegar. While the cheap stuff worked fine with the blackberries, the rose flavour isn't strong enough to overwhelm the vinegary-ness. Perhaps if one uses white wine vinegar, the whole thing would turn out much more refined. It's also possible that I used too much vinegar. Further experimentation is merited.

In the meantime, I intend to try making marinades with this batch. I also want to try adding it to hot black tea (when the weather cools down).

Here is the recipe I used, taken from Country Pickles and Preserves (one of the more useful preserving books I've used yet):

The petals of 6 roses (preferably red, cause, pretty)
1 pint white wine vinegar

Pull the petals from the roses and wash them. Snip away the bitter white part at the base of each petal. Put into a glass jar or bottle.

Scald the vinegar by heating it to just below boiling and allow to cool. Add the cooled vinegar to the jar of petals. Cover tightly and place in a sunny window for at least 3 weeks.

Try making your own. Let me know how it turns out!

Adventures in Quilting

Sometimes, I have an absurd amount of confidence - always volunteering to do difficult things, convinced that they'll be a breeze.

This time, I've volunteered to quilt a banner for the Northwest History Network by the Portland Archives Crawl on October 2nd. I've never quilted anything before, so of course it's going to be super easy! I got a book on quilting techniques from the library and everything!

I started last night. Here's how far I've gotten:

I have a lot of scraps and clothes that well-meaning family have given to me, so making this quilt is only going to cost me time and brains. At least until the stage when I need some batting for finishing it off, but I think I can cannibalize either some pillows or another quilt. I'm still a fair distance from that stage yet, though.

In the meantime, I'm adding a new skill to my crafty repetoire.

Dear Hipster Bitch Running Red Lights on Your Bicycle:

I had just spent a lovely evening hanging out at the Lucky Lab with some folks. I left early-ish; I wanted to bike home before it got dark, because I had my tiny dog, Crayon, with me. I like to be extra safe with him, because he's already been hit by a truck once, and I can't afford any more tiny artificial hips.

So, it was a lovely cap to my evening when you ran that red light at NE 7th and Fremont and knocked my bike out from under me. I really appreciated how you yelled 'Are you alright?' without apologizing or even slowing down. It was especially thoughtful of you to not stop and help me pick up my possessions, which your actions had strewn across the intersection. It was thrilling dodging traffic to pick up items after being thrown to the asphalt. The absolute best part was having to bike the last mile home with bent handle bars and numerous deep bruises developing all over my body. Fortunately, whatever maternal instincts I was born with made me grab a hold of my dog as I fell, leaving him unharmed. But it was really nice of you to not be concerned about him either.

I could tell you were probably really cool because not only were you running red lights on a Friday evening next to a park, I could also see the trademark hipster short haircut held back by the unnecessary wide cloth headband. I could tell you were probably really smart, because I could see all these things due to your lack of a helmet.

Seriously bitch, you are the reason why drivers hate bicycles.

Blackberry Vinegar: Success!

Yesterday evening, after a long hard day of bowling, I strained, decanted and sampled some of my freshly finished blackberry vinegar while attempting to watch last night's meteor shower.

While the Perseids were a bust, the blackberry vinegar was an explosion of tarty fruity refreshy-ness!

As promised, here is the recipe (taken and altered from Preserving Nature's Bounty.)

A whole bunch of blackberries, washed
Enough apple cider vinegar to cover them all

Place fruit in a non-reactive bowl (I used a ceramic casserole dish) and pour vinegar over them. Crush fruit with a potato masher to release the sweet sweet juices and leave, covered, for 48 hours. Strain through a cheesecloth (though I only have a sieve) and then decant into bottles. Cork and label the bottle. Enjoy!

A note: many recipes I've looked up warn to NOT use apple-cider FLAVOURED vinegar, but to use the real junk made from apples. I didn't realise until after I'd started this process that I have the cheap flavoured variety. While I'm sure my vinegar would have been even more delishuser with real apple cider vinegar, my cheap knock-off store brand didn't ruin anything.

New Obsession: Vinegar

So, a few months ago, boyfriend and I went into our favourite local Japanese bar (Miho Izakaya) and the fellow behind the counter said, "We've got some new drinking vinegars right now. Wanna try some?"

My brain said 'wtf? drinking vinegar?' My mouth said, "Hells yea!"

And.

It was delicious.

It was like drinking a cocktail, but slightly tart, and without a buzz. A much less embarrassing non-alcoholic drink to order than a Shirley Temple. In fact, I did some research (being an Information Professional), and it turns out that drinking vinegar cocktails, called Shrubs, was a huge trend among proponents of the Temperance Movement about 100 years ago. I'm against prohibition of any sort, but temperance is something I can get behind.

So, being crafty and thrifty, I've been frantically making tasty vinegars of my own to put into Shrubs using whatever is growing around my neighborhood. So far I have some Rose Vinegar and Rosemary Vinegar steeping in the sunshine on a windowsill, some Lavender Vinegar chilling in my fridge, and some Blackberry Vinegar hanging out in a covered container on my kitchen counter. If any of them turn out well, I'll share a few recipes.

In the meantime, I've been daily enjoying some Coconut Lime Shrubs:

1 pint glass
1/2 ounce Coconut Vinegar
a splash of Lime Juice
3 ice cubes
Fill the rest of the way with distilled water or soda water.

Refreshing!

Stroshimi: Bulgarian for Destroyer?

My room-mate, Josh, works for Underdog Sports League here in Portland. Their thing is "laid back" sports, which people seem to enjoy, because he works a lot. A few weeks ago, he told me and my boyfriend that they needed just one more team for this summer's co-ed bowling league. Naturally, being the terrible bowlers that we are, we jumped at the chance for discounted bowling fun.

Currently, our team NINJA (named for the best band ever) is at the bottom of the league. It's mostly my fault. My scores have ranged from 85 (an especially good day) to 27 (most of the time). The rest of the team usually manages well above 100. But it's ok. They still like me.

Last week, as I grabbed my 10lb neon orange ball, about to toss it into the gutter, a woman approached me from a team a couple of lanes away. "Your name?" she said, "It means 'destroyer' in Bulgarian!"

I replied, "Sweet!" and proceeded to roll a 4 or something.

Now, Stroshimi is a blend of my last name, Stroman, and Yoshimi, of Flaming Lips fame. When I was in college, my friend, Sara Ferra, and I skipped a lot of classes and saw a lot of concerts, several of them being on the Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots tour. We bribed our way backstage a few times, through Sara's irresistible Chocolate Peanut-butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, and got to dress up like animals and wave flashlights on stage. Good times.

Sara Ferra is big on nicknames. I've never really had a nickname (unless you count Berry the Cake, which my parents have called me since my obsession with Strawberry Shortcake at age 5), and so Stroshimi was born. There have since been other nicknames, such as The Stromanator, but none ever had quite the same ring. And, while choosing an epithet which accidentally means 'Destroyer' is serendipitously metal, I generally prefer creating things. Fluffy and/or sugary things.

Can anyone confirm or deny the alleged Bulgarian translation of Stroshimi?

UPDATE (8/16/2010):

Translation has been confirmed, sort of.

I happen to work with a woman from Bulgaria. According to her, "Strosh" means "fear", and "imir" means "one who causes" or "one who does" (I may have these spellings slightly off). So, "Stroshimir" would mean something like "one who instills fear." She says that it's a name that dudes used to take on, in order to intimidate people, but it's no longer commonly used.

How 'bout that?