The ToshoCON Report

Welcome to ToshoCON!

Last Saturday was ToshoCON, Salt Lake County Library's anime convention for teens.  This was the first year we held this convention and it gave me a lot of insight about running a con, as opposed to simply attending one.  It also gave me a chance to talk to the kids that I see off and on, being a substitute librarian, and actually getting to know some of them beyond the limited interaction that I get with them in my day job.

Now, I have a pretty baseline knowledge of anime, but I haven't been into it all that much in recent years.  I have my favorite animes from childhood (Sailor Moon, InuYasha, Fruits Basket, Fushigi Yugi - okay, those are more from my college years, but I'm so far removed from college that it might as well be from my childhood), but I don't really know what's new and cool today.  So when stuff like Hetalia and Black Butler and Homestuck showed up at ToshoCON - well... I just went along with it all (and I FINALLY found out what those flower crowns on Tumblr were from. Turns out they aren't from anything. Just hipsters making crap up.  At least, according to the one teen source I consulted with at the con).

Paper cranes at the ToshoCON photo booth

I was helping staff the convention, so I didn't get to see all the panels and what-have-you, so this won't be too much about that kind of stuff.  But I can talk about some behind-the-scenes goings-on and the kids I got to meet.

I did get a few pictures of the cosplay the kids had, but there were some issues with adults taking pictures of the kids at the con, so I'm a little leery about posting those. The Salt Lake Tribune had an article about ToshoCON and they have a decent-enough gallery, so you can get a good idea of what was featured. I did cosplay a little bit as the 10th Doctor - I didn't do too much because the staff was still supposed to look professional - which I did (and it was a zillion degrees inside and I was roasting enough as it was, so left the suit coat in the car).  But I had my sonic screwdriver handy so people could get what I was supposed to be. I did get some pictures of my own cosplay and I have zero qualms about posting those -

A dressed-down version of my Tenth Doctor cosplay.

At the Rocky Mountain Muggles booth - Davie's a Library Assistant for the system as well as a member of RMM and he had the great idea of doing a Harry Potter/Doctor Who crossover pic and this was the result.

By the end of the con, I had turned into Raggedy Doctor and was ready to regenerate.

First of all - we got some fantastic vendors! For a first-time, non-profit, library-run anime convention, we got some great local businesses to come run our Anime Marketplace. Anime Banzai was there promoting their convention in October and taking registration. Fongo Bongo Games has always been a great supporter of anything our library system does.  Plus, there were some local artists and crafters selling things they've made.

A shot of the Anime Marketplace from the hallway

The first part of the morning, I was in the gaming room where Epic Games ran a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament.  It was sort of slow there because the gamers all knew what they were doing and they really didn't need so much supervision.  I ended up wandering out to the amphitheater where we had the Manga Swap.  There, I met Sydney and Paul - two of our fantastic youth volunteers and it turned out they were fellow Whovians!

Me with Sydney and Paul at the Manga Swap after we had to move it inside.

We spent some time geeking out over Doctor Who in general (Sydney got this really goofy grin on her face when I said my favorite Doctor was Peter Davison) and talking about how excited we were for Peter Capaldi and theorizing about what would be coming up in the 50th Anniversary.  The geekier our conversations got, the more Whovians we attracted to our discussion!  This also led to finding out who was on Tumblr and that spread out into geeking out over Sherlock and Marvel Comics and various other things (there were a couple of girls who dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson - and even acted the part too!)

Speaking of the Manga Swap - we did have to fight the elements a bit - there were plenty of storm clouds coming in and they were blowing the tablecloths and manga around.  Then it started to rain and we all had to scramble to get the manga in the building (there was room in the gaming area, so we just relocated the Manga Swap in there.  The gamers didn't mind - they were all deeply into their tournament).

The Manga Swap before the wind and rain rolled in - but plenty of dark clouds hovering over us.

The main part of my day was the craft room.  Early on in the planning stages, I ended up in charge of the crafts and we decided to make plushies, origami and soot sprites.

Don't ask me to make that Pikachu again because it was a beast.

Turned out that the crafts were a bigger hit than I anticipated because even when the dance was going on - the kids still wanted to come make plushies! The other librarian I was working with had to do a last-minute run for more felt because we ran out! The craft room was actually supposed to be closed down at 8:00, but there were so many kids still making things that it stayed open until it was time to close down the con.

It was funny for me - this convention was primarily for teens and designed with teens in mind.  So, the majority of people at the con were so much younger than me.  But every time I got to talking to these kids about our common interests, it didn't feel like there was that big of an age gap between us.  I don't know what that says about my sense of professionalism and being a super-dignified librarian and take my adult responsibilities seriously - but I rather enjoyed it.  Honestly, these kinds of programs are what I love best about being a youth services librarian.  When I'm slogging through a busy day at the reference desk and patrons are mad about not getting their computer reservations or their holds not coming in or their fines or whatever the Angry Library Gods have decided is going to be the Problem of the Week - I think of these kids and how much fun they have and that I get the chance to work with them.

Anime Art Contest entries

A peek in at the dance. There were tons more people out in the lobby and hallway. 

This was the lobby crowd after the con was supposed to be over. Sort of wished I didn't have to break it up.

This is why I love the teens - while I do feel a responsibility to enforce the rules and things like that, I feel like I can connect to them on their level.  I'd rather treat teens like they're adults - so long as they show that they are deserving of that distinction.  And I'm not above squeeing over the latest Tumblr trend or whatever we feels like getting excited about.  Because it's fun.  And the library isn't just about rules and fines and limits - it's about having fun in a good, safe, positive environment.  So many of these kids don't have that - and even the ones that do, they need a place where they can cut loose and have fun once in a while.  That's my goal in my career and that's what I loved the most about ToshoCON.  Even when it was 10:00 and we were shutting things down and the Homestuck cosplayers were still out in the lobby dancing to someone's iPod - I really hated to tell them that they needed to pack it in and go home (didn't stop me from actually doing it - but it wasn't my most favorite thing of the day).

We're hoping to make this an annual thing and I hope the Powers That Be at library administration are sufficiently impressed by this first go-round that we get to do it again.

An Open Letter to Barnes and Noble, Re: eBook Prices

Dear Barnes and Noble,

Over the years, I have been a loyal customer.  I have enjoyed your selection of books and other media both in the physical bookstore and online.  In fact, I applaud your foresight in maintaining your own online presence instead of going the route Borders did of partnering with Amazon, which ultimately led to their demise.  For many years, I have enjoyed the discounts afforded through your B&N Membership program and I would shop at Barnes and Noble the way some women shop for clothes or shoes.

When I was in the market for an eReader, it was an easy choice to go with the Nook.  I wanted the eInk screen because I spend plenty of time in front of backlit digital displays for work and school and my eyes need a break.  At the time I was comparing models, Amazon was extremely persnickety about the files allowed on the Kindle while the Nook was much more accepting of eBook files outside of what B&N offered.  I was drawn to the fact that I could load PDF and ePub files downloaded from other sources (such as my syllabi for the classes I was taking in graduate school at the time). Of course, I was happy to purchase for Nook books through B&N, but it's nice to have options.  Also - should my Nook have problems, the thought of going into a Barnes and Noble store and talking to an actual person appealed to me greatly (I have not had issues with my Nook, which is certainly a major point in the Nook's favor).

Since then, I talked to plenty of people who are die-hard Kindle and Amazon people who frequently cited the higher prices of Nook books and various advantages of shopping solely at Amazon (the Amazon Prime service being high on the list of the "Yay! Amazon!" camp) as reasons why Barnes and Noble, quite frankly, sucked (their words, not mine).  I turned around to defend the Barnes and Noble model, citing that you can't get the cozy bookstore feel from a website that connects you to an impersonal warehouse out somewhere in the boonies.  I like being able to browse through the shelves of a store or a library (the same people crowing about the ease of these digital downloads also tout the idea that the traditional library is dying.  As a librarian, I can assure everyone that this is far from the case).

However, recent events have forced me to re-evaluate some of my entertainment media purchasing practices.

The latest of these is the eBook pricing of the novels being re-released under the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary reprints.  Like a good consumer, I like to compare prices.  Yes, usually the Barnes and Noble prices are slightly higher than Amazon, but I figured that the difference in price is worth supporting a business that keeps with the traditional bookstore model in addition to selling online (and the price difference usually no more than a dollar anyway).  Except this time - the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary reprint line is eleven books all prices separately.  I want to buy all of them, but I also have to budget my expenses carefully when considering such large purchases.

So, when I see this is the Nook price -

Same price for each individual book in the series.

And this is the Kindle price -

For the mathmatically challenged, that is a difference of $5.75  - which adds up when this is the case for a series of 11 books.  FYI - The price on Apple's iBooks for the same title is exactly the same as Amazon's.

... I have to wonder, does Barnes and Noble, really want to keep my business?  What, are people not buying enough $4 muffins from your in-store Starbucks?  If you guys are going to jack up prices needlessly (and it is needless, seeing as Apple's iBooks lists the same prices as Amazon), I will happily take my money over to Amazon.  In truth, I let my B&N Membership lapse and have already gone with Amazon Prime because it combines the services of Netflix and a B&N Membership for a hell of a lot less than what I was paying when I had both separately.  Plus, since the time I was initially in the market for an e-reader, the Kindle has become much more flexible in what types of files they allow on the device.  Not to mention that I have an iPhone now and love the variety of apps available to me, so I could very well be persuaded to get an iPad and do all my digital reading using Nook, Kindle, Adobe, Bluefire, OverDrive and whatever other reader apps there are out there (and still check my Facebook and Twitter feeds) all from the same device.  Honestly - how many separate electronic devices do I need?

Maybe I'm just late to the party, but I'm starting to see what the Amazon-only people were crowing about for all that time.  If these astronomical differences in prices are going to continue, I don't think the "cozy bookstore" thing is going to keep me coming back to B&N and I certainly won't be able to defend you guys to my friends and co-workers.  Besides, I can get the same sort of coziness at my local library where the books, DVDs and browsing experience are completely free! Another reason I am not worried for traditional libraries even though I'm becoming less and less confident in the brick-and-mortar bookstore.

Beyond that - who says I even have to leave my house for the cozy-bookish lifestyle?

Sincerely yours,

Chrissy Johnson
Salt Lake City, Utah
April 11, 2013

ETA: Including a screengrab of the price of the same book on the Apple iBooks Store - just so you know that it's not just Amazon drastically lowering the price -

Still $3.99 - same as on Amazon.com

That's Nice of You to Say - But How Does it Put Gas in my Tank?

I'm such a horrible blogger and I apologize for anyone still hanging around here.  In my defense, I have been tackling other projects that have been patiently waiting for attention for years in some cases (catching up to all thirteen published volumes of The Wheel of Time before book 14, A Memory of Light, comes out next January is no mean feat).  But I come bearing updates, so do enjoy.

As I've mentioned before, I'm working for Salt Lake County Library as a substitute clerk, which is vastly different from working as an actual librarian, though I have the qualifications. You have to get in the door somehow, right?  Since I became a sub last summer, I've been trying to become a merit employee for the county.  See if you can follow me on this for a second - Salt Lake County (herein after known as SLCo) employs two kinds of employees - merit and exempt.  Merit employees are the ones with the set hours, salary and benefits.  Exempt employees are more or less considered temporary and just get the hourly wage.  This is countywide policy - not just for the library.  As a sub, I am counted as an exempt employee.  The library hires a lot of people internally - meaning people already working for the library can apply for these positions.  Sadly, only merit employees are eligible to apply for internal positions.  Which means that, even though I have a master's degree and have all this experience under my belt, it means bupkus because I'm just a sub and can't apply for these positions until they get posted on the external job listings.  But I am okay with that because something has to open up and I can keep working and getting experience.

Last fall, the SLCo announced that they were in a hiring freeze (and I counted my lucky stars I was hired mere months before the freeze was implemented) - however, the library has its own budget and several new positions had already been approved and they're opening two new libraries by summer 2012, so the freeze wasn't likely to adversely affect the library too much.  Even so, I wanted to scream to the heavens because I wanted to work as a librarian and most of the librarian positions I'd seen were only posted on the internal listing that I saw at work (the internal listing board for me is like a parent telling a child that they can look at the cookies, but they can't touch.  It's quite frustrating, but there you go).  There was one librarian position posted externally that I did apply for, but I was told that I didn't have enough experience (even with a degree and an internship behind me - I couldn't even get a blasted interview.  I'm well-aware that there are people with more experience, but couldn't I just get an interview, at least?).

So, my mission lately has been to become a merit employee and just keep working and it seemed my chance had come at the beginning of January when they posted a chance to apply for a general clerk position.  This pool of applicants would be used to fill clerk vacancies throughout the library system over the next six months.  And since I've worked at all the libraries in the system at least once (some considerably more than that), I had a pretty good shot at this, so I applied.  Long story short - I made it through the first round of cuts and actually got a couple of interviews!  It's not for librarian (yet), but it's a step forward.

My first interview was at one of the larger branches in the system and one that I've worked at quite a bit.  I know the staff and supervisors and they know me and I get along with them very well and I would be thrilled beyond reason to work there.  The position they had open was for a 20-hour position, which is about as low as you can start, but - benefits!  People I like!  Place I enjoy!  Yay!  The interview went well and all I had to do was wait to hear back.

About a week or so later, I got a phone call from the head supervisor and I immediately knew I didn't get the job (sadness).  However, the supervisor went on (for about ten minutes) to say that she wanted me to work for them so much and she thought she'd have a 40-hour position to offer me, but that wasn't the case and she was really disappointed she couldn't hire me.  Honestly - I've never had a rejection phone call go on like this.  On one level, I was sad that I didn't get the job (I was certainly prepared to wait the out the initial six-month probation as a merit employee to actually be a card-carrying merit employee and be eligible to apply for internal positions - trust me, it's in The Plan).  On the other hand, I was buoyed up by the fact that this is one supervisor saying this to me and taking the time to say it - how many other supervisors in the system would say the same of me? (hopefully, most of them).

The story doesn't end.  Because the very next day, I was scheduled to work a shift at that branch and I got the chance to speak to the supervisor face-to-face.  And she told me who I lost out to.  And... well, how would any of you take this news?

I lost out to the assistant circulation supervisor from another Library branch. In truth, if that guy hadn't applied for the job, it would have been mine.



It should bolster my confidence, I suppose, that I lost out to someone who's been in the system before and held positions of authority (the reason he's taking a cut in hours, etc. had something to do with school or family reasons, which I can hardly blame him).  Still - it doesn't exactly make it easier to deal with the fact that I came thisclose to another step in my goal and now I'm back to square one.  I still haven't heard back from the other interview (and my hopes for that one grow fainter by the day).  The only other thing I can compare it to is my freshman year of high school when I tried out for the basketball team and made the first cut, then was one of only two girls who were eliminated in the second cut (and I was passed over when several of the other girls had to quit the team because of bad grades and injuries - nope, not bitter. Not at all).

One of the people I've worked with at the library put it this way - Out of all the losers, you were first place.  Which is a nice thought, I guess. But how does that put gas in my tank?

ETA: Just heard from the second interview I had. Apparently, The Powers the Be decided that branch won't be allowed to hire anyone at all!  Which means the supervisors went to all the trouble of interviewing x-amount of people - for nothing!

I'll insert a facepalm .gif here when I get home.

I'd Like to Thank The Academy...

Today, I presented my Capstone portfolio for Master of Library Science program.  After two years of blood, sweat and tears (oh, heaven help me, there were tears), I am a professional librarian (as soon as the final grades get put in, of course).

It's a really weird feeling.  I don't have homework anymore, I don't have to go to classes and I don't have to do group projects or stress out about presentations.  But something about this final weekend with my classmates has made me a little sentimental (read: weepy).  Ten minutes of a Capstone presentation wasn't enough time to really thank everyone and reflect properly on what this entire program has meant to me and I'm not that good of a public speaker to really say it.  And I feel more sincere when I'm in an informal setting.  Since blogging is what I do best, I am putting my thanks and appreciation here for everyone to read and refer to often.  I'll just use first names and initials, since I know I'm picky about my own privacy and I figure others are too.

First of all, I have to give a HUGE thank you to Adriane, our wonderful and indispensable advisor.  Even when I thought there was some giant catastrophe with financial aid or registration, she was always calm and collected and ready to reassure me that it wasn't that big of a deal (even though my brain kept telling my otherwise).  I often wonder if she even sleeps at all because she does so much and is so wonderful at it.  One of the first things I tell people asking about the Emporia State program in Salt Lake City is that Adriane is a total and complete sweetheart and is the one of the best things about the program.  Even when I first met her for my application interview, she was so warm and welcoming to me.  Even before I met her and we were just communicating via email - her demeanor made me want to be in this program.

While we're talking mentors and such - another HUGE thank you to Susan, LuCinda, Donnae, Mindy, Bret and Eddie at the West Jordan Library where I did my practicum.  I don't know how the managers and librarians are at other libraries in the Salt Lake County system (with me only being a substitute clerk and not a librarian), but these guys and gals were the best group of mentors a girl could ask for.  Susan especially, being my official practicum supervisor, welcomed all my questions about children's and teen services, collection development, reference questions and even cheering my quest to find that "perfect job."  When I'm in the neighborhood, I try to stop by West Jordan Library and say hi to this amazing group of people that I wouldn't mind actually working with for realsies (hint,hint, HR).  All of them helped me in ways that I can't really express here, but I am grateful beyond words.

I had some stellar professors, but the one that really stood out in my mind was Cheryl from two summers ago.  Cheryl taught our reference services class during our second semester, which was a time that I was still getting my feet under me.  She is also the associate director of the Utah State Library, which means she's a pretty important person in the Grand Scheme of Things.  We had a group presentation assignment in that class and my group did a PowerPoint about technology in libraries.  I was in charge of putting the presentation together and I also made a video for it.  After our presentation, Cheryl asked me if she could use the video I made for the trainings she did for librarians all over the state!  Also, when I saw Cheryl at the ULA conference in May, she remembered who I was and even bragged to some of the other people there that I did a rather clever presentation in for her class.  For a hayseed farm girl from the sticks, that's a pretty big deal.

On to my cohorts.  All of them have contributed something to my education and influenced my experiences, but some stand out from the group.

Next, I have to thank Heather N.  For one thing, putting me up for the week of the ULA Conference.  For another, being my "other mom" during the Serbia study abroad trip (more on that in a minute).  And for all her confidence and expertise (which she'll deny to the end of time, but she is one of the most capable people I've known at any level of academics I've been in) never, not once, did she make me or anyone else feel inferior.  On the contrary, she always had a desire for all of us to be our best and succeed.  As far as she was concerned, one person's victory was a victory for everyone.

Speaking of Serbia, I could not have survived that trip without Ginger and Brienne as well.  I've mentioned how I had never traveled outside the country before, but Ginger and Brienne had and were more than willing to take this "international greenie" under their wings (Ginger was my other "other mom" on this trip).  I loved being with the entire group, including the ladies from the other Emporia cohorts - Kristy, Amy, Ericka and Mary - but my classmates hold a special place in my heart.  The entire Serbia trip was a wonderful thing for me to do, even though a part of me wished the entire time I could go home.  It was in Serbia that I realized that I had enough knowledge and confidence to stand my ground even with the most experienced librarians - that I have just as much to contribute to the conversation as someone who's been at it for twenty years.

Angie.  Angie, without whom I would not have had the guts to even apply for Serbia.  For the implications of that, see the previous paragraph.  Angie - thanks.

Back in Utah, I have to acknowledge Brenda, who was my seatmate for most of our classes together.  Somehow, we managed to sit next to each other for nearly every class and we had a blast when the lectures got a little dry (sorry folks, it happens sometimes).  We found things to talk about, both in and out of library-related topics, and I consider her a good friend.

I also have to mention Lisa G. - one of the most dynamic and excited-to-be-here children's librarians I've ever met.  I can only hope to reflect a fraction of her enthusiasm for the profession.  I keep thinking I ought to go watch her do a story time at her library because it would be one of the most gratifying things I could see.  She is someone I also look up to and I have to thank her for her example.  Along those lines, Jessica gets a special mention for her equal excitement about teen librarianship.

Other people that I found joy working with - Katie, Jon, Dale, Josh, Kellie, Emily (who was also one of the best lunch buddies I've had), Amy C. and the other Amy C., Trisha, Heather B. (who helped me find a place for the books I weeded out of West Desert High School's library) and Catherine - all of you made the entire Emporia experience for me.

I would remiss if I didn't mention the people outside of the Emporia program who supported me.  Mom and Dad - for the money, verbal support and a place to live while I did my work.  Kathryn for letting me stay with her during class weekends (and who continues to give me friendship and emotional support).  Ed for giving me a job at West Desert, letting me have time off for class and the ULA conference, allowing me run of the West Desert Library.  Also, my students last year who were willing to be my guinea pigs for some of my class projects (I showed off some of your excellent work in Serbia, you guys!)  Not to mention the West Desert Community for letting me show them off for my Strategic Plan Project in LI 805 (another video - you all have no idea how much fun I have putting videos together).

This has been something I will always treasure.  It sounds trite and a little cliche, but this was one of the best things I've ever done for myself.  I have learned and grown so much from it and I wouldn't exchange it for anything else I could have done with these last two years (in spite of all the times I got on here and pissed and moaned about this professor doing that or that classmate doing this.  Don't worry guys, I never used names).  I'm not quite sure what to do with myself until I get a job (please Job Fairy, find me something good!), but I am glad to have known everybody and I hope I have done something good for the rest of you as well.

There's not much else to say - except *hug*



I love you all.

The End Is Near!

My MLS Capstone is tomorrow.  Two years of the hard slog in grad school comes down to this - putting together a 10 minute presentation showcasing what I learned in those two years and praying that I learned the right things (as far as my professors are concerned, at least).  So, in honor of the occasion, I have a couple of theme tunes floating around in my head.  The joy of having a blog is that I get to annoy share them with you all.

1. Theme from "Rocky"

2. "My Way" by Frank Sinatra



Dear Sweet Gallifrey, this whole thing is making me loopy.

I'm Famous!

Well, I'm in the Utah Library Association October newsletter, at least.  Check it out!

Click to Embiggen

Here's the link to the entire October issue, but I figured people would just want to see our article instead of having to search until page 11 for it.  All I can say is that I'm glad the picture they used is from the first day we were in the country.  We all look fresh and happy (and like our clothes had been washed in a washer rather than a sink in our hotel/dorm/thingie).

And because I promised I'd post them and I haven't gotten to it yet, here are some pics of some of the Serbian night life.

Yes, that's Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper walking down the street with some Monty Python guys.  I wish I'd had my camera more at-the-ready, but I was in the middle of having dinner and was lucky I got the backs of them.

Show Me Something Real

I'm in a posting mood today.  This probably won't have anything substantial to it and I reserve my right as a blogger to have posts where I just ramble.

First off - this is funny.  Even for people like myself that know almost nothing about Star Trek (Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, Spock, Data, the Enterprise, The Final Frontier... yup, that's about all of it) will enjoy the joke.



Today I ended up working with one of my classmates and I am very grateful I did.  I am having the hardest time with this capstone thing for my end-of-master's-program wrap-up.  The professor keeps harping about applying theory to what we've learned in this program.  Only problem is that we talked about theory in the first semester and then it was never heard from again.  And with good reason - in the real world, there's no such thing as "theory." Either something works or it doesn't and no amount of academic bull-s****ing will make it work (just ask the Soviet Union. Oh wait...).  In my entire academic career, I have treated theory as something nice to look at and something that makes you feel important when someone else says it but when I say it, I sound like a pretentious little snot-nosed student that no one will ever take seriously.  So, instead of spouting off a bunch of researchers' BS, I just call it like I see it (using my own terms and my own experiences) and it works out just fine.  People know I'm being honest and real with them and they know that I have internalized what I was supposed to learn rather than who supposedly thought of it first.

So back to work tonight - my classmate said that he really didn't understand the whole thing about "theory" because we never covered it (which is good to hear because I was freaking out when I heard we were all of a sudden expected to know what it was) and besides, this is just a one-credit class and once it's over, we've passed everything and we can go get awesome librarian jobs and do something real in the world.

(hey, I like that term - "do something real."  Sound much more proactive that just sitting around "doing good." Because "real" and "good" are not mutually exclusive.  Hmm... I'm going to hang on to that one for a while).

Anyway, theory be damned - I know I learned something significant (and real) in this program.  Whether or not I can spout off a bunch of pretentious, pipe-smoking professors who wrote papers about the concepts is another story (and, really, I'm never going to have a five-year-old ask me who came up with the theory of library usage.  More likely they'll be asking for an Elephant and Piggie book).

I'm Back!

What I would have given for those red shoes 48 hours ago.

I made it home, folks.  After three countries, six flights, two weeks, one delayed flight (but no luggage lost - thank goodness), my trip to Serbia is complete.  And was it ever an Earn Your Happy Ending.

The library programming itself was great.  We did a lot of work with kids and teens, which I expected.  What I did NOT expect was how discombobulated everything was on the administrative front.  I heard the phrase "Be flexible" so many times during this trip that "Flexible" is the new dirty F-word (and you shall not see it written out for the duration of this post).  There was just zero communication between us, our professors, officials at the embassy and the folks in charge of the conference.

Don't get me wrong - once we got into our discussions and library tours and programming with the kids, everything was fantastic.  Especially when none of my professors were around - I could "cut loose" and be myself with the kids and my classmates and have fun while also achieving my objective.  But when either of my professors were there, they made me nervous.  It didn't help that during a presentation to some high school students, one of the professors - rather obnoxiously, I thought - kept yelling from the back of the room for me to speak up.  That threw me off so bad and I wound up shouting my whole presentation and it was not very good.  Please note - the time to give constructive criticism to someone is NOT in the middle of their actual presentation.  Do it before or after. Don't embarrass them in front of their audience.  Whatever failings you've perceived in the speaker are automatically doubled and it ruins the entire thing (and the problem might not have been that big of a deal to begin with - but now you've totally flushed it down the crapper).  I count my blessings that I had other people presenting with me and they could back me up when I lost my thread.

But Serbian teens are a lot of fun.  One memorable thing happened when we actually visited a high school in Belgrade.  We had a wonderful discussion about libraries and studying when one of the boys asked us all what book mad us angry.  I said "Twilight" - prefacing my answer with the concern that I would make some enemies.  On the contrary - I got a rousing applause from the group.  Not just the boys, either - some of the girls joined in the clapping.  From there we had a short discussion of why they didn't like "Twilight" either and their answers were mine as well - it's poorly written and it's a bad portrayal of what a romantic relationship should be.  It did my heart good to see that, even half a world away, there were people who got it.

We did a lot of work with American Corners, which is an organization that US embassies throughout the world sponsor as an outreach and education center where people can come and learn English by reading books and watching movies in English.  They also get Americans to come visit and do presentations about American culture and talk to the people.  It's a fantastic program and I wish I'd known more about it before I got to Serbia.

One workshop we did with American Corners was a discussion with some children and teen librarians from a public library.  At first, my classmates wanted to be all deferential and insist we be the students and the professionals teach us - but the professionals were there to learn.  It was that point I realized something (well, I'd thought about it before, but this was the first time I really got it) - a country like Serbia is still trying to figure out a lot of things.  Good grief - it was only relatively recently they figured out that communism is a really bad joke.  They have to look to other countries as examples of how to do this whole democracy-republic-free market-capitalism-thing when much of their population is still looking for their free chunk of stale bread (trust me - that bread done been ate a looooong time ago. [poor grammar intended]).  So, where are they looking?  The European Union is one place they look to, which makes sense since they are on the same continent.  But they also look US - and that's just what we do.  When we have the resources and the know-how, we help people help themselves.  Whether that's in education or humanitarian aid or throwing off an asshole dictator.  Even countries that were once our enemies, once we're done fighting, we help rebuild.

I know a fair few will read that and scream at me for it (because it's sooo vogue to criticize America, even when it does something good).  To you who scream and harp, I say that you weren't there and you didn't talk to these people and you didn't see how much they admire us for the things we do have.  Good grief - when the American Corner said they would be getting ten Kindles for people to check out, the Serbian people in the audience were so happy to hear they would have access to something like that.  One girl said it best when she said "We have TV - we see your culture."  Serbia is by no means the poorest country in the world, but they don't have all the technology and the things that we do.  But they know of those things and they want them for themselves.  And this is not a bad thing.  One presentation at the conference at the University of Belgrade suggested that they wanted to be listed among the top colleges in the world for technology along with the likes of MIT and UC-Berkeley.  These people have goals - and they are asking for our help in achieving them.  The fact that I spent the last ten days in their country proves that.  Believe me - Serbia was never on my list of places to see before I die.

Back to our workshop at American Corners: Basically, these librarians wanted us to teach them.

So, I started off by sharing a few things I'd done with my students.  Nothing flashy - just a few examples and ideas to get the conversation rolling.  And boy, did it ever roll.  My classmates and I had gone in thinking we were the ones doing the studying, but we were really the teachers.  Don't get me wrong - I wasn't all "Hey, we're Americans and we're going to change your lives if you listen to us and only us."  But the whole idea behind this meeting (at least, what these librarians were told) was for us to share what we were doing.  They wanted to learn from us - they were there by choice and they were eager to listen to us.  And I was extremely honored and humbled by that.

Second Bottom Line: Despite administrative bungles and total miscommunications between parties, this was an eye-opening and rather fun experience.  I have more stories, but I will save them for another time (because I am still fighting jet lag and a head cold).  Suffice it to say that I feel truly blessed to live in the United States and I am glad that there are people in other countries working to find new ways to improve their way of life and I am glad I could contribute something.

And I am glad to be home.

Programming Note: I did get to watch "The Wedding of River Song" while I was in Belgrade (long story how that happened).  I have not written down my thoughts, but I will soon.  Look for that in the near future.

Updates and Stuff

Felt like updating today.  It's my blog and I do what I want with it.

- I think I mentioned this before, but I'm too lazy to go back and see for sure.  In a couple of weeks, I'm on my way to Serbia for study-abroad!  It's only for ten days, so it's not like I'm leaving forever.  But I'm still a bit nervous because this is the first time I've traveled outside of the U.S.  I am lucky in that there are people going with me that have been to Europe before and know the ins and outs of travel and I'm sure once I get there I will get settled-in nicely and everything will be great.  It's just the anticipation and preparation for a trip like this that's stressful - you know, making sure you have everything you'll need (most of that is just guessing what to take with me because we haven't got many details about the itinerary or schedule, so I'm sure that I'll get there and wish I had brought along X, Y or Z.  But that's neither here nor there).

- I haven't mentioned much about school this semester, but I am in this really neat Children's Library Services class!  Most of the class requirements entails reading children's books (picture books and novels) and giving short reviews of each one.  I had read some of them before this class, but some I had not.  But I will be posting my short reviews on cj's bookshelf later (I've posted at least one review of a novel from this class there already).  The rest of the class involves coming up with a puppet show and doing a read-aloud as though we were reading to kids.  This is going to be goooooood. :)

- Which reminds me that I never posted pictures of my Fancy Nancy adventure this summer.  During my practicum, I helped out with the "France with Fancy Nancy" program at the West Jordan Library.  And it was a BLAST!

If you don't know, Fancy Nancy is a girl from a series of picture books by Jane O'Connor.  Nancy LOVES anything that's fancy - words, clothes, food, parties, you name it.  So, this party was all about the fancy!

I read "Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words" to the group and that was fun.  But the REAL fun started when...

I let the kids dress me up as Fancy Nancy!  We just had some cute accessories in the library closet and we set them out and I acted like a giant doll for them to dress up.  Now, I would not do this in any other setting, but because it was part of the library program, I was okay with it.  And the kids had fun with it (I even had a few of them ask for a picture with me, which was a heart-warming moment).  That is the secret of being a children's librarian - you leave you dignity at the door.

- These days, when I'm not at work or doing school things, I am just enjoying my little niece.  In the two months since she was born, she's grown a lot.  But she's even more cute for it.

My sister texted me this picture the day of the first University of Utah football game and it made my freaking day (it was kind of a crappy day anyway).  Some background info - I made the blanket for her and I gave her the Ute onesie, so it was the best thing I could have seen.  I haven't been able to see her in person very much because of work and what-have-you, so I just enjoy the pictures my sister sends me or posts on Facebook.  And I just love this kid!  It's a weird thing, being an aunt, but I love every minute of it.

This is Seven Kinds of Awesome

Monday night I went in to do my internship at the library. Now, I'd had a pretty crappy day on Monday and I toyed with the idea of calling my supervisor and telling her I wouldn't be able to come in (they're pretty flexible with me since I'm not actually acting in an employee capacity). But I figured the sooner I got my 120 hours in, the better.

I went to the reference desk and my supervisor gave me a project to do which required my full attention, but it was a bit tedious. I was actually happy to have the task because I was ready for something slightly mindless, but that needed to be done. While I was doing that, a seven-year-old girl came up to the desk and asked me if the library had any books about "rare creatures."

After getting through a few specifics (which is what they trained us to do in library school), I figured out that she wanted books on endangered species. I started searching through the database and found some nice children's non-fiction picture books that I thought would work for her. But before I could show her what I found, she told me she wanted "big thick books with lots of words" and she didn't want anything with very many pictures because that was kids' stuff.

Hand-over-heart, that's exactly what she told me.

So, I scrapped my last search and started looking for adult non-fiction books on endangered species. I found a few titles and I took her to the animals section of adult non-fiction. I found one title - and it was this huge biography-looking thing. Even after our reference interview, I was still a little nervous about giving her something too advanced for her. But she took the book from me and cuddled it like it was her favorite teddy bear. She even said that her parents didn't let her read that stuff because they thought it was too old for her, but she would sneak her dad's books out and read them.

On the one hand, I didn't want any parents upset at me. On the other hand, it's library policy to give patrons whatever they want - regardless of how old they are (unless they're kids with restricted cards - and even then the only thing we can restrict is R-rated movies).

We found some other titles she said looked good. She said she wanted to look around on her own for a bit and I went back to the desk. About 45 minutes later, I was helping another patron when she came back and ended up talking to another librarian at the desk. In addition to the books I had found for her, she had about three more books and was asking for more.

It just made my heart all warm and fuzzy to see a kid that age asking for books like that. And being dead serious about it too. The best way I can describe her attitude was "Don't patronize me with that childish BS." Kids like that give me hope for the future.

I love my job :)

I Guess Academia Really is Just a Bunch of BS

Maybe I'm the only one who will find this amusing.


This morning, I received an email from the professor from my Library Management class announcing that our research papers from last week had been graded and we could all look at the feedback he'd left us.  The email (which was generic mass email to everyone) expressed some disappointment in how a majority just summarized the paper in our abstracts and that, on the whole, our papers really weren't structured well and we all need to revisit proper APA style, etc., etc.


Now, I really have a low opinion of academic writing.  I don't enjoy doing it, I'd rather just tell you what I know, maybe reference a few quotes from other people but largely ignoring stylistic convention.  I certainly tell you where I got my information, but not in a formalized "Put the comma in the right place in your citation or you DIE!!" style that so many academic fields insist upon using.  I suffered through MLA formatting in my undergrad, but that was a cakewalk compared to the nit-picky, overbearing crap I have to put up with in APA style.  This paper was made even worse by the fact that it was for my Management class, which I have no interest in whatsoever and I wouldn't even be taking this class if it wasn't required for graduation.  But you do what you have to do and try to make the best of it.


Let me be clear *holds up index finger to show I'm making a point* - I have zero intention of ever doing research or publishing any academic article after my graduate work is over.  My efforts in my library career will be focused doing the best job within whatever library I work in, helping kids and teenagers (and maybe a few adults) with whatever information needs they have.  Whether it's a kid looking for material for a school report or looking for the latest Star Wars tie-in novel, I'm there.  I'm not getting in this career to impress a bunch of stuffy academic types in tweed jackets and turtlenecks (now, if it's a guy with a tweed jacket and a bow-tie - I may have to reconsider.  But show me the blue box, first).


I had a point... oh yes - so, when I wrote my paper I was writing it just to get it out of the way.  At this point in my academic career, I've pretty much abandoned the formal, high-brow style of writing and have opted for a much more relaxed style reminiscent of the way I blog.  As an example, this was my abstract:

"My paper is on marketing.  I’m going to talk about how it’s important to do proper marketing and advertising so people will actually see what the library is doing and decide to come.  I will be addressing different techniques and tools used in marketing as described in several scholarly articles by librarians from around who have used these tools.  I chose this topic because it’s a management topic that requires thought about patrons and potential patrons rather than focusing on things that are away from primary library functions."

(This was actually better than my first version of my abstract which was this: "I chose to write my paper on marketing the library and different ways to do it. I chose it because all the other management topics were boring and I hate business-type buzzwords because it all sounds like a bunch of ass-kissing to me." It's really a shame I had to edit that out).

So when my professor mentioned in his email that he was disappointed in our abstracts, I figured I had lost some points for my cavalier attempt and I probably didn't get a very good score on it (so, I'm saying that things I tell my own students actually apply to me???  Really? /sarcasm).  Imagine my surprise when I read the feedback he left me (emphasis added):


"You discuss the importance of marketing strategies for libraries. I was pleased to see good evidence of your analytical skills in looking at previous work, as your arguments were clearly built upon the work of previous researchers and theorists. Your abstract got things off on the right foot, being precise and clear and very indicative of what you would be discussing in your paper. Your paper is structured in such a way that it progresses logically with relevant and recent citations. I really like your strong introductory and concluding sections, providing a great counterbalance at the beginning and end of your paper, allowing the reader to easily absorb the information. I very much enjoyed reading your paper—great work!"


The amazing thing?  I got the full 20 out of 20 points for it.


So... it's really okay to be that brutally honest in your abstract?  Evidently so.  But what amazes me even more is that I totally BS'd my way through this whole thing.  Sure, I found some good articles to cite, but I only cited each one once (more or less), just so I could get back to blathering on about what I wanted to say.  I figured that would have showed up (okay, maybe I wasn't that terrible, but read some academic journal articles - I don't understand how people manage to read through all that smarmy, stilted crap).


Maybe I ought to rethink my whole outlook on academic writing.  If snark and irreverence is actually looked upon kindly in academic circles...  (pfft... yeah right)


Eh - whatever.  It's full points - I'll take it!

My New Pet Project

With a new year comes a new semester (more or less) and I've found something new to do that's going to take up the better part of my time and sanity (but it's all for a good cause).  The high school library has a shortage of shelving space.  I could invest in new shelves... but then I got looking at some of the books that are taking up all the space and the kids don't read them.  Actually, nobody reads them.  Ever.  Most people just request new titles and I buy them (hence, why I am looking for more shelf space).

In a somewhat unrelated twist, the librarian before me had begun weeding out old titles and taking them out of the system, but she didn't know what to do with all the old books.  She thought about a few things, including a book sale, but if people want to buy books, they can go get new ones from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.  So, we've got at least three huge boxes of old books in storage with no idea what to do with them (I say "at least three" - I think there are others stored elsewhere.  I haven't had time to go on an exhaustive search, but that's for tomorrow).

Here I come - bright-eyed and full of idealistic... ideas.  I haven't been able to implement very much (lack of money, lack of time, lack of people), but I did find an interesting place to take our old books.  One of my classmates in my graduate program has connections with the library at the state penitentiary and brought up Books Inside, a not-for-profit group that provides books to prison libraries.  Looking at their website, it looks like they don't really care what condition the books are in because the inmates can repair them and they're always looking for more books and things.

You can all see where this is going, can't you?

Pending district approval, all our old books are going to the prison.  On the surface, it seems like an odd place to take our stuff, but I have the feeling that most of these inmates are serious about paying their debt to society and they'll be better people when they get out.  Besides, they could probably do with some good books to pass the time while they're incarcerated (according to my classmate, the library is one of the most-used facilities in the prison).

Now - I have to finish the weeding process, de-catalog (is that even a word?) the old books, box them up and get them to the Books Inside people.  And I'll finally have room for the new stuff.  Everyone wins. :)

Reading, 'Riting, Recitation

Holy crap - busy today!

During English, the kids did their poetry presentation.  Every term, they each have to memorize a poem and do some kind of presentation with it, whether it's a skit or a video or a slideshow.  This term's poem is "Meeting at Night" by Robert Browning.  My class decided to do a group recitation with actions and it turned out pretty cool.  I should have filmed it... maybe I'll have them do it on Monday so I can record it.

Also, Friday is the day that we practice our play.  We're doing a version of "A Christmas Carol" that has Scrooge as a female (the girls were the ones most gung-ho about doing a play, so I wanted a mostly-female cast.  The boys will help and participate, but it's almost better if they just have bit parts).  And the most exciting thing is that today was the first day we got to use the whole stage area that we want.  We're performing the play in the common room/lunchroom, but one of the walls can be opened up into the adjoining classroom.  We've wanted to open the wall so we could have a bigger staging area, but I didn't want to infringe on the teacher who uses that classroom.  But she said it was okay if we opened the wall up and left it open so we could practice because no one's in the lunchroom during her classes (our school is small enough that we can control that).  So, we got to do some blocking and visualize how this is going to look and it's way stinking exciting!

In addition to all that - today was my first official day as the school librarian!  The lady who had been the school librarian/special ed aide is moving, so they're letting me take over the library for the high school (and, technically, I'm also in charge of the elementary school's library.  At least, I think I'm supposed to go over there and do some library maintenance and what-have-you - I'm still learning the ropes).  Today, I just got the library computer swapped into my classroom.  With the Poly-Com and the library stuff, you should see how much equipment I'm in charge of.  I feel like I really am the captain of the Starship Enterprise (or the TARDIS - take your pick.  I do have a sonic screwdriver that doubles as a pen, you know).

Oh, and somehow I have become the unofficial tech support for West Desert High School.  Don't ask me how that happened, but people are now coming to ask me questions about everything to making videos, using PowerPoint and why the copier is printing phantom shadow-y text on the copies (I dunno... dirty rollers?)

It's insane - but that's life out on the desert.  You can have any job you want as long as you take three of them.

ETA: Forgot to add - Scout is out to the ranch today.  I feel like I'm in some weird kind of weenie dog joint-custody agreement - my sisters in town get her for a couple of weeks and then I get her for the weekend.  But then, Scout went sniffing around the door to our utility room and one of the cats snuck in from outside and had kittens.  You might be a redneck if...

A Word on Internet Filters

It's the librarian in me, I suppose.  And I understand about federal funding and parental controls and locks on computers.  And I get that there are big bad boogeymen out there in chat rooms and that the internet eats babies and small dogs.  But I am going to complain for a bit about filters on school computers.

When I am preparing a lesson for my computer class and I want to link to a video that happens to be on YouTube, I can't show it my class because some YouTubers post porn or what-have-you.  Fine, so you blocked YouTube.  But then I can get on The Oatmeal (which, that guys doesn't have the cleanest mouth 100% of the time either) to show them "When to Use i.e. in a Sentence" as a way to teach them proper grammar (oh, just take a look around at that website - as funny as all get out, but watch some of it.  Especially the one about Sucking at Facebook.  NSFW, indeed).

Internet filters simply do not work the way you want them to.  They're like airport security - the airport guards can frisk Grandma and take away her knitting needles, but you still can have some wacko shove a bomb in his shorts and get through without a problem.  All filters do is punish the people that follow the rules - but if kids want to get through them, they will.  Witness this article I was given in a class - and a couple of Facebook groups that have instructions on how to get to Facebook and YouTube from school (granted, I haven't tested their methods, but these things do exist).  As far as I can tell, if you try to discourage kids from doing an activity that they do anyway (like check Facebook or play with the Giga pet clipped onto their belt loop - as was popular when I was in middle school), they'll find ways around it.

We've hashed this out in my library classes before, but there's not really anything we can do about it, per se.  I just wanted to gripe about it here because I like using the internet to find interesting things for my classes and the filters make it impossible to find anything worthwhile.  I can plan ahead and download/screencap what I need, but that defeats the purpose of having internet access at school in the first place.  Not to mention it clogs up my hard drive (which, I just got a brand new shiny computer that I'd like to keep nice and shiny (and WORKING) for the next six years or so.)

Bottom Line: Internet filters = FAIL.

Some People Have 26 Hour Days. I'm Not One of Them

(reposted from my LiveJournal)

Another class weekend is upon me (seems like that's all I talk about - school, Doctor Who, family stuff... well, it's summertime.  That's what happens).  I'm part of yet another presentation, but this one is on Medical Subject Headings (MeSH for short), of which I know absolutely nothing about, but that's okay because I'm only supposed to come up with the uses for it in cataloging and I only have to fill up about 5 minutes of presentation time (one of the benefits of group work).  I found some good info on the MeSH website and sent it on to our group-leader-person, so yippie.  Sadly, MeSH doesn't lend itself well to making another cool-yet-educational video based in fandom, which is a shame because I'm becoming quite proficient at it ^_^

In the course of my quest to become a well-rounded and informed librarian, I checked out a book called "This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All" by Marilyn Johnson.  My instructor in my last class suggested that we all read it because it's got some good insight on new technologies for librarianship.  I'm right in the middle of reading it... and I just must be an idiot or something because it's making my brain melt.  Every chapter details how various librarians throughout the country are using blogs, iPhones and Second Life to meet the masses' information needs - and they all have tattoos and spiky purple hair, because, you know - that's cool!  We have to grind that oppressive stereotype of dowdy spinster librarians into dust!  Peace, love, dope - it's all about anarchy!  Down with the establishment!! (yes, Sheldon, that was sarcasm).

Not that there's anything inherently wrong with tattoos and spiky purple hair - if that's the way you roll, then go for it.  But it's like people have to go from one extreme to the next just to prove how relevant they are, which is kind of dumb.  There are plenty of middle-of-the-roaders (like me) who aren't necessarily going to get on your case for being loud in the kids' section or playing "World of Warcraft" on your computer time, but I'm not going to go make up a bisexual persona on Second Life just to show how "hip" and "with it" I am (some people will and that's fine. I'm not disparaging that lifestyle - I'm just saying that's not me).  Personally, I think we have sufficiently proven that geeks can be cool without having to make a big neon sign proclaiming it to be so.  You're as relevant as you make yourself out to be - and it's not by playing some whiny victim act that everyone picks on you and your life is so unfair because that gets you nowhere.

Anyway (now that I've made my political statement), it blows my mind how many avenues there are to librarianship.  I mean, I blog (obviously) .  I have a Facebook and a YouTube account, but I don't have a Twitter or a Second Life account.  Honestly, I think that I'm one of those people that if I had a Second Life account, I'd never get off and venture outside.  I really have to be careful about things like that because I can be an extreme person.  I probably would be okay with doing roving reference (where you have an iPhone and you go out into the stacks or even the streets to provide reference - you don't have to be tied down to a desk).  There's just so much librarians can do and sometimes I feel like I have to do it all to be a good librarian.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's okay to pick and choose what you do.  Not everyone is going to respond to everything out there.  There are some people that still run the ink-and-paper route and if you try to explain something like Second Life to them, they aren't going to go for it (happily, there is a chapter about people who still deal in bound books, but they get pretty whiny when there's talk of funding cuts and stuff like that.  Heaven help me if I ever become so annoying).

That's what my Future of Reference presentation was all about - we get so enthralled by these shiny new toys and how things have changed, we forget what the changes were for.  It's about serving people - not serving our egos or staying on trend with the latest and greatest.  I'm just trying to keep a perspective on things for myself because I can get caught up in all these NEW! IMPROVED! AMAZING! gimmicks, much to my own detriment.  I want to become a librarian so I can help people become better than they already are - especially middle and high school kids because they're just fun.  I want to help the sophomore English student with a report on "Julius Caesar."  I want to help an 8th grader work out a question about volcanoes for a science fair project.  I want the 13-year-old whose parents are divorcing to be comfortable asking me for a book on how to cope with the situation.  I want some kid who got a telescope for Christmas to ask me for the names of the constellations.  Whatever they need - that's my purpose in life.

And, you know what?  I'm okay with that.

To Stroke My Ego (plus video-spam)

Quick post, just to show that I have not forgotten this blog.  Life has been busy of late - had a crazy 4th of July where your humble correspondent was obligated to come out from behind the computer screen and socialize with family members and friends.  But I must say, the food was good - not to mention the fireworks.

School keeps me busy, as always.  I have a paper due tomorrow that I am feverishly sprinting to complete.  But I have decided that since I've kept all these articles from my past classes, I might as well use them.  I often am required to quote from other articles, which I just think is a pain because why do I want to write a paper using other people's ideas instead of relying on my own?  I mean, sure it's good to know what's out there and what others have written does help you formulate your own thoughts, but I'd much rather share my own ideas.  I usually just quote a line from each article I find and then just prattle on about my own thoughts in a convoluted-academic-smart-people-sounding way (academic writing is really wordy, which also bugs me).  Which is why I ended up creating this "Reference Librarianship in Star Wars" video - it's creative and information and really entertaining (if I do say so myself).



I actually forgot to mention this here, but I used that video in my last class weekend for a presentation and my instructor liked it so much that she asked if she could use it in future trainings.  By the way, my instructor is the assistant director for the Utah State Library - not the USU library, but the library for the State of Utah.  Oh yeah - who's awesome?

I also managed to finish the 2009 "Doctor Who" specials, which were an emotional roller coaster on steroids (It's official - I am a Tenth Doctor fangirl, but Eleven is making a convincing case).  If I can get so involved in a story after just one month, then that's something.  This is what I was talking about when I was lamenting the lack of books that kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning - but who knew I'd find that kind of mileage in a TV show of all things?  I'm almost happy that "24" was canceled (almost) because then I wouldn't have had the desire to find something new to squee over.

And thanks to "Doctor Who," I have also become a David Tennant fangirl - I'm now on a quest to find other shows and movies he's been in.  Before "Doctor Who," I knew him from his role as Barty Crouch in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but that was it.  But since then, I've found other (smallish) things he's done and it's simply marvelous ^_^  My next plan of attack is to find the version of "Hamlet" he was in (it should be no secret that I love, love, LOVE "Hamlet" *points to blog subtitle*).  I've seen a few clips on YouTube.  When I actually stop to think about it, I feel a little odd drooling over David's delivery of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy because it's basically Hamlet contemplating suicide, but the giddy fangirl in me just can't help it.  Seriously - if you have any interest in Shakespeare at all, you owe it to yourself to hit the big play button.



Bottom Line - Shakespeare = Win.  Hamlet = Win.  David Tennant = Win.  David Tennant as Shakespeare's Hamlet = So Much Win that the Universe Explodes (good thing we have the Doctor in the house ^_^)

Also in the realm of stories that keep me up at night - Shannon Hale.  Ahem - Shannon Hale!  Is amazing.  I've finished all the "Books of Bayern" and I have to say that I have a writer's crush on her (meaning that I am in love with her style of writing).  The last one, "Forest Born" was simply brilliant.  After three books of having part of the focus being on romance (which, you'll never hear me complain too much about that) it was nice to have Rin come to grips with her people- and tree-speaking abilities.  Rin is an absolute delight.  The others were good too (if "The Goose Girl" hadn't have been so good, I wouldn't have read the rest) and I have gone on to "Book of a Thousand Days," which is lovely.

So, that's what I've been up to lately - school, reading, fangirling, being generally awesome, you know the usual.

Welcome to the Imagi-Nation!

**This is meant for any of my writer friends or others who considers themselves an intellectual or creative type. Even if you don't think you are, chances are you'll find an application here anyway.**

Wow - had an excellent Institute class today (given - I've never had a non-excellent Institute class. I've long since determined that, like Apparating inside Hogwarts or outrunning Edward Cullen or the Detroit Lions having a winning season, this is impossible). I gained some great insights that apply to me and quite possibly a lot of people and I feel compelled to share them.

Currently, I'm in a class on the Pearl of Great Price. It's a short book, but it's chock full of great doctrine, if you dig deep enough (oh boy, do we ever dig!) Right now, we're talking about the Creation and how science and religion add up, but that's not what intrigued me today. It's something our teacher said. At the beginning of class, he held up a brick and asked us all to list as many uses for a brick as we could in 60 seconds. So, we did - at the end of the time, he asked us to tell us how many things we thought of - the class average was around 15. To illustrate the point, when he would do this exercise as a student, the class would come up with 30-50 uses.

Conclusion: we are less creative and imaginative nowadays. We let other people be creative and we just be entertained by their creativity.

To tie all this into the Creation, he asked us a series of questions: What does God imagine? What kinds of things does God daydream about (inasmuch as He would daydream - just go with me here)? What does the Greatest Creative Genius in the universe imagine in His free time? And how does that show our potential as His children?

He said some things that really struck me that I want to share. Of all God's creations, we are the only ones that have the ability to imagine - to create literature and art, to build a space station, to develop the Internet, to reason, to philosophize. BUT - what does that amount to in each of us?

And this is the one that hit home: Are you letting someone else's imagination stifle yours?

I had to think on that one. I've been working on a novel since high school that has gone through so many incarnations, for better or worse (I hope better). Sometimes, when I find a fellow writer friend, I will share some of my ideas because I am so in love with this story and the characters and I really, really, REALLY want to write it and I want to have a sounding board. But sometimes (not all the time, but now and then) the person I share it with says "Why did you call your town X? That sounds a lot like the town from book Y." Or even - I'll read a new book and there'll be something in the plot that resembles something I've included in mine, and that'll frustrate me because I feel like I'm the last one to the table and I can't do that now because someone else did. For instance: I picked up a book that retells the legend of King Arthur from the perspective of the women in the story and one of the characters had a piece of jewelry that resembled something I had one of my characters own. And I'd never read this book before - it was pure coincidence! (not to mention, English majors are conditioned to be deathly afraid of anything remotely resembling plagiarism. It's like the swine flu of the literary world).

Sadly, I concluded that I do let others' imaginations stifle my own. And it's not solely reserved for my writing, either. I've wanted to pursue a Masters degree since I knew it was something I could do, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to study - I had a boatload of options and Masters degrees in any field of English are highly specialized. You have to pick Medieval Literature or Studies in 20th Century American Folklore or Literary Fiction or Poetry ... the list goes on.

While I was on my mission, I decided that I wanted to do it in Library Science. So, when I got home, I started researching programs, picked one that felt right and began applying. I am in the ending phases of the application process and I am very pleased with myself and there are others who are happy for me. But - there are a few that give me funny looks when I tell them I'm getting my Masters degree to become a librarian. It's like "You'll have spent six years in school just to be a librarian?"

Honestly - it hurts. And I started to second-guess my decision, just like I second-guess my story decisions. Decisions that I have pondered long and hard on (yes, I think LONG and HARD on my story - I've worked on it this long, it's going to be good, gosh dang it!) And I hate second-guessing my decisions - makes me feel like all the work I've done is a waste and I'm no good at anything. And even though the criticism might not really be worth my time or even energy, somehow it gets stuck. It's something I have to deal with - that's when I go to the people whose opinion really does matter - usually a member of my family or a close friend and they put me straight and all is well with the world.

But the lesson in Institute really helped. It's nice to know that part of my purpose is to be creative (shoot, creation is one of God's hobbies, why can't it be one of mine? Maybe not on the plane that He operates, but I can work in my own sphere. "Worlds without end" "My words never cease" - sounds like a pretty creative God to me).

I have a really creative mind, you know (at least, I like to think so). I don't mean to sound prideful or full of myself, but I'm a good writer and it's something I enjoy (and I love books and nothing would thrill me more than to be a professional bookworm ^_^). I just have to stop taking what other people say to heart as much as I do (unless it's warranted - but that's on a case-by-case basis).

That's my story - hope it helped any of you creative-imagination-driven types out there. What do you think? Let me know! (even if it's bad - hey, if I'm ever going to be published, I need to get used to negative feedback).

And I'm going to post this now before it gets any longer. But it's something good to muse about (ha ha - "muse" - no pun intended ^_^)