Friends to know and ways to grow

Can we please take a minute to discuss how much I love the library? I was never much of a library person until I moved to Pittsburgh: for one thing, I always had issues reading a book according to someone else's deadline; for another, I never actually liked the atmosphere of the libraries I lived near. That all changed when I first visited the Squirrel Hill library, which is at most a ten minute walk from our house. Because the Carnegie libraries are associated with a school, they are actually spaces you want to relax in.*** And, in my current limbo of jobs, it's pretty exciting to get free stuff. Even if I do have to give it back eventually. And they have literally everything you could ever possibly want (or pretend to want) in terms of books, dvds, and cds. On my bedside table right now:

• Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates (a fictionalized account of Marilyn Monroe's life)
• The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell, a.k.a. my favorite person ever
• An Autobiography by Frank Lloyd Wright (I'm hoping you can figure that one out. Surprisingly, I got this one rather quickly after requesting it. It seems no one wants to read the 600+ page musings of an architect. Odd.)
• Living My Life: Volume 2 by Emma Goldman (I may have been an idiot when requesting this one since I forgot to get Volume 1. So that one is in transit. For those of you who are not Keri, Emma Goldman is the anarchist who inspired Leon Czolgosz to assassinate President McKinley.)

We've also been using the library to get movies since both of us abandoned our Netflix subscriptions. Fortunately our library has self checkout, which means the really adorable guy with all the tattoos doesn't have to see us borrowing 3rd Rock from the Sun or the Mighty Ducks Trilogy. But we've been having fun with our recent influx of dvds. For your enjoyment, I'd like to share with you the D2: The Mighty Ducks Drinking Game (copyright Keri and Allison 2010):

Drink every time...
1. Someone says "Team USA"
2. Anyone scores a goal (given the completely unrealistic scores in these games, you're guaranteed to finish your drink before the first period is over)
3. There's a flashback, or you see Gordon Bombay regretting his past
4. The plot accelerates insanely quickly, or there is a huge gaping plot hole that a five-year-old could spot (i.e.-- the team meets the newcomers, they dislike each other instantly, then they are best friends four seconds later)
5. Anyone is completely earnest (basically, drink any time Charlie says anything at all or even looks in the direction of Coach Bombay)
6. You see preteen awkwardness, including (and especially) teen romances
7. Goldberg farts (doesn't actually happen that often in D2, but it makes you feel delightfully nostalgic about the first movie)
8. Flying V or quacking (again, doesn't happen nearly as often in D2, but yay Mighty Ducks!)

I believe that's all of them, but I may be mistaken. I also decided halfway through the movie to drink every time Kenan Thompson came onscreen because I was so excited to see Kenan Thompson. I think this was after my third beer. (Also, finish your drink for every time you wish Joshua Jackson would host SNL so it could be a Mighty Ducks reunion. No? Just me? Okay.)

So, the moral of the story: go to the library, kids. It's awesome, it's free, and they provide you with ample material for drinking games. D3: The Mighty Ducks should be in soon, so we're pretty psyched.

And, just because I have to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j8EiWIVZs

***Okay, I have been informed by Keri that the Carnegie Library isn't actually affiliated with the school. They are just inexplicably awesome. They even have a trivia ticker, and I think we all know how much I love trivia.