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.

How to Make This the BEST QUARTER EVER

(I'm an assistant teacher in a high school Biology class and today the kids had an assignment to write about how this was going to be the best quarter ever.  They challenged me to do it as well, so here it goes)

I want to have this be the best 4th quarter in the entire world!  The students have some pretty good stuff planned to wrap up this school year.

First, they've all promised to work hard in English and Biology.  The teachers are piling up the expectations on them, but I'm confident they will rise to the occasion.  Sure, there will be a little grumbling and whining, but that's what you get with all teenagers.  They've all done fantastic work through the first three quarters, but this is where it counts - they have their end-of-year tests where they bring together everything they've learned and show that they've actually been able to apply it.

Next, track season - I can't wait to start hearing of the results from the various track meets.  T is pretty good with hurdles and H is awesome at field events.  The rest all do running - sprints and endurance - and they all have a good time with each other.

Community of Caring - we have a strong Community of Caring program and the kids have a blast with it.  They have an adult date-dinner planned for the adults in the valley.  The kids will cook the food, put up decorations and provide music for the adults to enjoy.  These are some pretty awesome kids, really.

Also, the prom is coming up.  They always put together a fantastic prom.  This year's theme is "Where the Green Grass Grows" (definitely a change from other school's themes of "Under the Stars" or some other sparklepoo deal fraught with glitter and crap like that).  They're planning on bringing in hay bales and decorating with a western motif - should be a pretty good deal.

For me, I have plenty of things to look forward to.  I'm halfway through my fourth semester of library school.  I have three classes this semester instead of my usual two, which is kicking my butt - I won't lie.  However, I have a great support system with my fellow classmates and we all help each other out, whether its reviewing each others' papers and projects or bouncing ideas off one another.  Also, I'm getting geared up to do a practicum this summer, which I am completely stoked about.

Also, I'm in charge of the library at the high school and I've been ordering some pretty fantastic books for the kids.  One that I'm excited to read is "I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President."  With a title like that, how could that not be awesome?

Another thing that's going to make this the best quarter ever is on April 23 - the new season of "Doctor Who" starts on BBC America.  "Doctor Who" is the coolest, most awesome TV show in the world and I can't wait to see the new series.  I've seen some of the trailers and promotional stuff (plus part of the season premiere was filmed in Utah and I think that's pretty cool - considering that's the first time the show's ever had principal filming done in the US).  The last season (which was the first season with the new cast and production staff) was really good, but I think this being the second season with this cast and crew, it'll be even better.

Well, those are my plans for this to be the BEST QUARTER EVER!  I hope you enjoyed reading it :)

Weekend Roundup

That video makes me squee so happily. I don't even know why.

It's been a busy weekend, to be sure. So, I'll just hit the highlights and move on with my life.

- I. LOVE. STUDYING. LIBRARY. SCIENCE. Laugh if you must, but this weekend I went up to Salt Lake to meet up with my MLS Cohort buddies and enjoy a full weekend of discussing collection development. Beyond getting all this new information so I can be a good librarian when I get to that point, I just love being around my classmates and colleagues. Maybe it's because I had a real downer week (the kids at school were being little twerps and I'll just leave it at that), but it felt good to get away and do something that makes me feel good.  I honestly can't wait to do my practicum this summer.

- While I was up north, my dad had me move some of my stuff that's been in storage since we moved nine years ago. We'd had it stored at this old house my parents own but are now selling (which, why we didn't sell it years ago is beyond me, but I'm not the one calling the shots). But since I don't have my own place to move all my stuff to, it just moved into another storage area (into a friend of mine's garage - I'm going to be living with her this summer anyway). Most of my stuff ended up getting thrown out because I didn't need it or because of mice (yeah...), so I actually have less stuff than I thought I did.

- Here's a funny story - for my class weekends, we meet in a small-ish library in Salt Lake City down the road from the University of Utah. It's right next to a Barnes and Noble, which does not help my finances at all. I'd arrived at the library early on Friday night, so I thought I'd go browse B&N to see if they had anything good. I ended up in the DVD section, perusing their Doctor Who DVDs to see if there was something I really wanted that 2Entertain wasn't planning a Revisitation version of later. Turned out they had the Black Guardian Trilogy at a decent enough price, so I bought that. The guy at the counter noticed what I was buying and actually seemed impressed that I was buying a Doctor Who boxed set and he started asked me who my favorite Doctor was - I replied that I really didn't have a favorite yet (well, I do, but I haven't seen them all yet, so I'm reserving judgment), but I'd been on a Peter Davison kick lately (hence, my purchase) and I really liked both David Tennant and Matt Smith. I think the guy thought it was cool that there was a 20-something girl in Utah that actually knew what Doctor Who was - even enough to buy some of the Classic series on DVD (or maybe I'm just giving myself gratuitous pats on the back).

As I left the store, I had to get on the escalator down and I noticed a guy walk in with either his wife or girlfriend. This guy had a black t-shirt on with white lettering in the shape of a TARDIS that said "Bow Ties are Cool" and a white image of a bow tie above that. I wanted to yell out "Nice shirt!" to the guy, but he'd passed by the time I got to the bottom of the escalator (plus, I'm a little shy about yelling out in a crowded store - and I try not to get too over-zealous about my love of all things Who, especially in public. I don't do well with awkwardness). But seriously - how cool is it that I encountered not just one, but TWO people who seemed to know what Doctor Who was and even were fans of it? 'Course, I was in Barnes and Noble, which I lovingly refer to as "The Geek Store" but it just made my heart happy ^_^

So, I'm feeling pretty good about life right now. And I'm off to listen to Radio Free Skaro's latest episode while the rest of the world sits and snores at the yearly parade of Hollywood's Most Pompous (or as I like to call it "The Best Movies No One Cares About." With the exception of the year "Return of the King" cleaned everybody out, nothing I like ever wins so I don't even bother)

Cheers!

Do Not Operate Heavy Machinery or Participate in Serious Classroom Discussion

I had a tooth pulled yesterday morning, which was great because that tooth was giving me so many problems before and I'll feel better after it's healed up.  But right now, I'm so loopy from the pain medication.  Of course, this would happen the week before I have a class weekend so I'm trying to get ready for all that.  Also, I'm working on some of my online postings for another class and the fact that my brain function isn't 100% doesn't translate on the message boards, so I hope that my answers are semi-coherent.  I might go back to look at my discussion threads and wonder want language I was speaking.

So, if I post something here or elsewhere and it doesn't make any sense, you know why.

Self-Reflection, Professional Development and Verbage

My graduate classes started up again last week.








Seriously - I'm stoked. I've got three classes this semester instead of my usual two, so I'm going to be busier than usual. But it's a good kind of busy.

My first assignment is a reflection of myself in the program so far. It's supposed to be kind of informal - no real page limit. It's billed as a chance for me to look at how far I've come and what I still want to learn. Which is nice to start off the semester with a little fluffy assignment - just to get myself back in the groove of working, but it's not enough to send my brain into over-fried-overdrive.

But... (yes, there's always a "but," coming, isn't there?)

When I start to actually writing this reflection, I can't help but get into the high-stilted, beat-around-the-bush, take-a-million-years-to-say-hello, writing style that I inevitably land in when I write for a class. I can be informal and relaxed on my blog - even with a SERIOUS BUSINESS topic - but sitting down to pen any kind of academic writing turns me into Wordy Wanda.

For example, this is an actual excerpt from the rough draft of my reflection:

"I find that kids who are good at academics, sports and/or arts get lots of recognition and encouragement for their talents, as well they should. But I’ve noticed that kids who have less-traditional talents, such as construction, welding, family-consumer sciences or other so-called vocational fields, get less encouragement – they may not see their interests as something practical in life."

Mmm 'kay - so, what I was trying to say is that there are kids with talents that almost always get recognized while there are kids with other talents that are just as good that sometimes get overlooked. Sort of like "You want to be a cook for a living? Why?" Part of what I want to do is encourage kids with those "secondary" talents to work at it and develop where their interests lie and never mind what chess club, piano lesson or dance class they're signed up for this week. But I can't say it like that in my academic writing because... I really don't know why.

I hate, hate, HATE when I want to just write one sentence or phrase and it turns into a long wordy piece of crap. One thing that I can't stand about writing business emails for my dad is that I think the people he's writing to must be idiots because he's had to tell them THE SAME STINKING THING at least three or four times, just with different wording. Good grief, how many different ways are there to spell "cat" before you realize he's talking about a small household pet that sheds all over the furniture but is still pretty good at catching mice? (that's a metaphor, JSYK) Personally, I just want to shoot them one line - "Can you please lend us this much money? Our credentials are attached. Many thank yous" - and be done with it (given, I left out the gratuitous butt-kissing these emails often include, which I'd be happy dispensing with altogether).

So, back to my writing assignment - I should just go back and rewrite it. I'm no where near being done, but what I have is crap. Make no mistake - the ideas are fine, it's the execution of the idea that sucks. At least I have until Friday to finish.

Second Term Kickoff

Have I mentioned I hate spam?  Both the mystery meat and the crap that floods my inbox.  Unfortunately, that seems to be the only kind of comments I get on this blog.  So, if you do read this blog, would it kill you to leave an insightful comment?  It would do wonders for my ego self-esteem.

Second term has begun and I love that my students are realizing that we only have a month in which to practice our play (a month, moreover, that loses half a week because of Thanksgiving break).  So, we've decided to take a half hour every day out of our third period class and quickly practice a scene or work out something with sets.

Also, in regards to Monday Night Football last night - I love how everyone's ready to bail off the Colts bandwagon at the first sign of "trouble" (like, losing to the Texans in week 1) and say how they're washed up and they have all these injuries and Peyton Manning isn't that great... and then the Colts still win in prime time.  Thus proving that all the analysts and pundits really have no idea what they're talking about.  The most entertaining thing to do: DVR any of the Sunday NFL pregame shows and watch their predictions and picks after the games have been played, just to see how totally off-base they were (and to further prove that nothing in professional football is ever settled - even when you know the Raiders and the Lions are going to lose... sometimes, they still win).  This could be an example of the pot calling the kettle black, of course, seeing as how I make my own picks every week on this very blog - but I can't resist a little ribbing of the guys in the studios (probably why I enjoy watching Frank Caliendo's picks on Fox every week).

Oh, and it's Election Day today.  Rather than launch into my own brand of punditry (which would take all day and just raise my blood pressure and I actually have a project due tonight that I need to work on), I'm going to just say this: payback's a bitch.

Now sit back and watch the drama unfold (pass the popcorn, please).

Taking an Early Weekend

As I left school today, I told the kids that I would see them on Monday because I'm not going to be there tomorrow.  One of the kids quipped that I was taking a three-day vacation, to which I replied that I was taking off early because I've got school this weekend.

I dunno... it was funny when it happened.  We've got our family Halloween party on Saturday, which I'm excited for.  My Tenth Doctor costume is nearly finished and I'm happy about that.  And I've been writing my little fingers off this week, which accounts for the lack of blog posts (some of the stuff I've come up with really surprised me... I'm wondering if I should share it... it's a little... strange, really.  Not my usual style of story-telling either and it kind of weirds me out.  But at the same time... I really like it.  Maybe I will finish it  *shrugs*).

But, life is grand ^_^

ETA: Oh, Stick Man Theatre (which I thought had gone defunct) posted a new "Twilight" parody, which pretty much cracked me up.  I have to admit, I have not read the Bree Tanner book because it's like... why?? (seriously - she was in "Eclipse" all of - what - two sentences?  If that?)  But I did catch the Cleolinda recap, which was brilliant and probably more than enough to enjoy Stick Man Theatre.  Since I like to pimp out internet things that make me laugh, this is worth a spot in my "I'm-not-dead-I-just-don't-have-anything-significant-to-post-about" update.

It's Time for Another "Good Day, Bad Day"

Hey-oh - it's FRIDAY! *parties*

It's been a long time since I've written much.  But I have an valid excuse - I have been working on my four-page ('cept mine is five, but my fifth page doesn't have much on it) website that is due on Tuesday.  I finally got it done, but I also have a group-project-research-literature-review thing due on Sunday and that's kicking our collective butt (I'm so stinking glad this research class is all group work because I don't have the first idea of what I'm doing).  But it's becoming hard to squeeze blogging in between school and work and the other projects I get up to.  So, my blogging life must suffer (but not entirely - 'cause here I am!  Yay!)

School was very good today - the kids practiced their play and I have to say that this was the BEST play practice we've had so far.  We spent last Friday working on our set arrangements, so we finally feel like we can practice changing scenes and working with lighting and it starts to feel like this is really going to happen!  Even the elementary school kids were on-par with their lines and what-not.  We even got to run through a quick curtain-call and I spent my prep hour deciding on what music cues to use and where.  It was brilliant.

Except... there's one boy that really doesn't have his heart in this and he'd much rather be doing something else.  But with our small numbers, we need everyone we can get.  And this kid doesn't really have very many lines (that was by design), but when it came time for his small scene, there was a big ol' fight and he quit the play - which, on some level is okay because I really don't want to deal with people that don't want to be there and have them ruin for everyone else.  I ended up reading his lines, which I will probably do until we decide who should play his part.  We're already doubled-up on roles as it is - but we might be able to get away with the kid playing Ghost of Christmas Future filling this role (this kid has been so supportive of this whole endeavor, which truly, truly surprised me - if you knew how big of a goofball he was during regular class, you'd be surprised too).  But this whole situation is kind of a black mark on an otherwise fantastic play practice.  Hopefully we can take the weekend and cool off and be fine on Monday.  I think when you spend an entire week in school with the exact same people day in and day out, you tend to get sick of each other by the weekend.  Shoot, I'm only there half a day every day and I need a break.  Things will be okay, I think.

But for now, I've got plenty to keep me busy.

PS - If you really want a post-a-day, my cousin has this "Blogtober" thing going that I thought was pretty cool, until I realized how much stuff I had to contend with this month. Be warned - many of her political views are opposite of mine, but she still has some pretty funny non-political things she says.  Somehow, we still manage to get along (in this grand Facebook-blogging-internet life we lead ^_^)

How Do You Interpret that Garglemesh?

I've been working on my 4-page website and this sucker is kicking my butt!  I have to do something whackadoodle with CSS (which I understand in theory - getting it to work is the tricky part) plus some other stuff that I don't even know what the heck I'm doing.  I understand basic HTML, but the basic stuff just looks like poop.  And I wanted this website to be my portfolio/resume so I could just send the link to potential employers, so I kind of want it to look semi-professional (and it's nice to not have to have all the layouts and presentations I've done stuffed into a binder somewhere).  Brain... hurt... muchly....  This is what I get for being an overachiever, I suppose *sigh*  I think I'm going to call it a night on that front - I got the online discussion post in that's due tomorrow, so I can breathe a little easier.

School was fun today.  We got new library books in, so I spent my free period cataloging and getting the books ready for circulation (taping the jacket covers down was murder, though - that tape is sticky).  The kids asked for "The Hunger Games" trilogy, which I think looks interesting.  That's next on my list of things to read (right after I finish the Percy Jackson series - I'm in the middle of the fourth book).  If there's anything I've learned from being the librarian at the high school, it's that there are some pretty good young adult books out there.  Of course, there's plenty of crap to be had, but these kids have good taste in books.

In football news - the Giants won, which made up for that soul-crushing loss Indy suffered at the hands of Jacksonville (what the crap is up with my Colts?  Honestly...)  Right now, I'm watching the Patriots-Dolphins game with my little cousin.  He like the Pats, but I'm more or less "meh..." because I don't really like either of them.  And since it's October and it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the NFL has pink accented on all the players' uniforms and sideline gear.  For most teams, the pink accenture works (they've got pink cleats, gloves, towels, etc.), but the Dolphins - whose regular colors are turquoise and orange - look even girlier than they usually do (I call them the 1970s Lisa Frank rejects).  I think the turquoise makes the pink pop out more, so it's more noticeable.  Maybe Miami should go with their orange uniforms during October... I dunno...

It is cool that the NFL supports breast cancer research, though.  We had a family friend who passed away from breast cancer in 2005 and she was an absolutely amazing woman.  She and my mom helped us in our 4-H clubs and we'd hang out with her girls all the time (my younger sister moreso than me because her oldest girl was my sister's age).  So, whenever I see anything to do with breast cancer awareness, I think of her.

Blogging from a Thursday Morning

How I go nearly a week without updating this, I'll never know.  It's not for lack of things to talk about, that's for certain.  Maybe it's because this is my more public blog and I have another place where I'm more anonymous to carp and rant about things.

- Thursday today - the kids at school are pretty lethargic when Thursday rolls around, I've noticed.  Then again, they're pretty lethargic on Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday, they perk up for reasons-yet-unknown (to be fair, I have a tendency to to that as well).  Friday - well, duh - that's obvious.

- This past Monday, everyone was grumpy (that includes yours truly).  It always seems like everybody is angry or upset on the same days.  Sometimes I wonder if there's some rotation of the stars or the moon that aligns just right to make everyone feel like being ornery.

- Then again, there are days when all it right with the world, as far as I'm concerned, and one or two people around me are channeling Linda Blair.  That's when I retreat into whatever corner I have handy and occupy myself with some project or another.

- One of my students just came up to me with a question about a short story assigned in English.  She's not sure how to end the story (which is currently at nine pages in length).  I offered to read it for her and make suggestions, which she accepted that offer with the warning that her story is "super cheesy."  To which I replied, "You're in high school.  Everything is super cheesy."  I seriously think some of the stuff in secondary education exists for the sole purpose of being cheesy.  Again, I digress.

- The mail just came.  I think I get some of this stuff handed to me because I will throw it away.  I'm certainly not the math coordinator for the elementary school - but it's obvious that envelope is junk.  But everyone else just lets stuff pile up (not just at school, either) and never throws anything away.  I know some people are big on saving compost or whatever, but not on my work desk, please.

- I'm supposed to teach these kids how to use Excel, but it's a pain in the butt.  Maybe it's just because I'm not a business-type-person (not that I'm against business - I'm just not interested in it), but Excel and I have never gotten along.  And now I have to ensure that these students know how to use a program that I have zero-to-no faith in (yes, I know that's redundant).  Why input all these formulaic crap just to get an answer that I could get with a calculator?  That's much easier.  I hate it when computers try to do all the thinking for me and then they get it wrong.  As one of my students said - the formulas are all jacked.

- I do enjoy my job.  But I am excited for tonight - new "Big Bang Theory!"  Although, I am missing not having other shows to get into this year.  Nothing else really caught my attention this season, sadly.  So, I'm continuing my adventures in Classic Doctor Who.  I'm in the middle of the Season 2 serial "The Chase" where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are being chased around time and space by the Daleks.  And it is stinking hilarious.  Maybe not so much that the one lady jumped overboard the Mary Celeste with a baby - but other parts are pretty good (though I have to point out a major "Did Not Do the Research" moment - people from Alabama would not say "clever."  At least, not in the 1960s and not the Deliverance stereotype the BBC had hanging around the top of the Empire State Building as a tourist.  Then again, probably the best American accent British actors back then could do was a hayseed-backwoods-Larry-the-Cable-Guy thing.  My, how far we've come.)
   - I mean no disrespect to British actors by that comment.  I would actually love to be proven wrong about my assessment of British 1960s-style television acting, if anyone can do it.  I just figure it's a testament to how much more skilled actors and crew-people have become over the years, that's all (I could do a whole post about my thoughts on TV - American and British - in the past 50 years).

- That was a long tangent.  Must mean it's time to go home.

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.

First Day and some other stuff

Today was my first day working at West Desert.  Since my job hinges so much on the use of technology, of course nothing worked right, but we knew that the PolyCom system was knackered last Friday, so we anticipated this.  The district's head tech guy came out to work on a few things, so hopefully he got it working.  It really didn't set in how much responsibility this is until today and I got a little nervous.  But now I've had a chance to look over what I'm doing, I think I'll be all right.

Yesterday I went with the other WDHS teachers and staff to a meeting at the district office and I felt really good about this opportunity.  Both the English teacher and the biology teacher are really great and they both gave me plenty of stuff to get going.  Plus, the computer teacher gave me some things to get the kids started there (the computer class isn't PolyCom, but we don't really have a computer teacher - I'm kind of it.  But we're dovetailing yearbook into computer and the kids just need to know enough to pass the state test.  As I understand it, the state test is just making sure they know basic word processing skills - but we're going to do more fun things than that, trust me ^_^)

(There's wasn't really much "other stuff" here, was there? Oh well...)

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.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

In celebration of Blogger's new template designer (and the fact that I complained about it in my last post), can I just say - THANK YOU BLOGGER!!!  My new blog looks AWESOME!!

I actually got on here to talk about something cool that happened today.  I applied for a job at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.  Now, I attended Snow and got my Associate's degree from there in 2005 before I went on to Utah State and (now) Emporia State.  Today, I had an interview for this job and it wasn't as long as I originally anticipated (don't know if that's a good or a bad sign), so I stuck around on campus and walked around.

Snow is a 2-year junior college in a small town, which means that Ephraim is pretty dead in the summer.  But there was still plenty going on.  They built a brand new library right behind the Noyes Building - and the new library actually looks like the historic Noyes Building (a bit).  One of the people interviewing me told me I should go walk around the new library before I left, but they were doing landscaping and some touch-up construction work and I felt funny walking inside, so I just walked around the outside.

Where I did go inside was the old humanities building, which hasn't changed a bit since those long nights at The Snowdrift.  The room numbering is still as weird as ever and there's still that one brick in the connecting hallway that isn't as shiny as the rest.  But they moved The Snowdrift office - the old newspaper production classroom  hidden off in the corner is... just a plain old regular classroom!  Sad day! :(  And I couldn't find where the newspaper office is now (though the Department of Communication got some nifty new signage.  Meh).  Oh well... I guess you really can't go home again (yet the student radio station is exactly where it used to be).

I want to take this opportunity to poke fun at something I've always found funny about college recruitment.  While I was wandering the humanities building, I walked past a campus tour group that was checking out the Writing Lab.  Now, I figure all campus tours are about the same - they show you where the library is, where the cafeteria is, the writing lab, the science building, highlight any historic buildings and also talk about all the cool stuff there is to do in and around town (most of what's cool about Ephraim is outdoorsy stuff - hiking, mountain climbing, camping.  Actually, I've noticed that holds true for all the colleges in Utah).  Maybe it was just the way that I decided where to go to school, but not once did I have to weigh my decision based on the location, the size of campus or anything like that.  I just said "I'm going to Snow and then to Utah State - end of story."  I couldn't even really tell you how I arrived at that decision.  Utah State's Aggie Ice Cream didn't have anything to do with it - but in high school, there was no way I was turning down the free ice cream the recruiters brought to College Day.  Anyway, campus tours and visits - funny things.

Speaking of college - an email just popped into my inbox from the American Library Association (ALA) regretting to inform me that I was not awarded a scholarship that I had applied for.  Well, I applied for this months ago and hadn't heard a thing, so I figured I wasn't getting it.  But this'll make you laugh - at the end of the email, after the sender's contact info and stuff, it has this quote: "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."

If that doesn't make you giggle - what's wrong with you?

Ain't Nothin' Like the Summer!

I know that's from a song, but can I remember which one? Of course not!

I just finished reading "Enchantment" by Orson Scott Card. And can I just say, that was one of the cutest darn stories I've read in a long time! (Obligatory Spoiler Alert!!!) I think I really started to like it when Katerina and Ivan went to Ivan's time and Katerina got to meet his parents (and Ruthie, but I never liked her anyway). That first go-round in Taina was kind of annoying - mostly because Ivan and Katerina were both being twerpy about everything and the townspeople mostly failed at life (with the possible exception of Sergei). But it was cute how Ivan was kind and understanding toward Katerina when she first came through to his time, even though she wasn't when he first came to her time. Anyway, cute story - definitely going on my list of favorites!

I also had my class weekend - I think it's just because I had a pretty stressful week leading up to it, but I didn't enjoy class as much as I usually do. Some of it was fun, but I've kind of been grumpy lately about a whole slew of things that have nothing to do with school. Maybe The Greater Cosmos(tm) just decided I needed to have a downer week for no good reason. Wish TGC(tm) would give me some notice about these things.

But church was wonderful today. There was a lot about being patient and remembering that life works on the Lord's timetable, not mine. And adversity makes us tougher. Oh, and we had a Relief Society presidency meeting this morning and we got our first activity planned and started on getting Visiting Teaching going. And I'm going to be getting a blog set up for our Relief Society so the girls can get online and see what activities are going on. Anyway, church came at just the right moment. I love my calling!

Summertime has officially begun. Which means that I will be seeking out the darkest, most air-conditioned basement to hole up in until September. I hate the hot weather. Since coming home from Florida, I've especially grown to hate the hot dry weather (which, incidentally I grew up in - I don't know why 18 months in humid Florida would make that big of a difference). I like spring and fall weather the best because it's that middle-of-the-road cool/warm. I hate being sticky and sweaty, even worse than I hate freezing. At least when I'm freezing I can put another pair of socks on.

Oh, here's a funny story from the weekend - when I go up for my classes, I stay with my friend, K. A month or so ago, our cat had kittens and K said she wanted one to help keep the gopher population down in her yard. So, over this weekend, I took one of the kittens up to K. Now, I had a box to put the kitten in while I drove up. Most of my trip was out of radio range, so I listened to Glenn Beck's "Arguing with Idiots" audiobook on my iPod. But when I came to a point where I had radio reception, I decided to switch because my friend Sean Hannity was on. Now, up until this point, the kitten was happy and content in his box. But when I switched the radio from Beck to Hannity, the kitten climbed out of his box and demanded that I pay attention to him. He even climbed up to the front seat and under the pedals (did I mention I was trying to drive the freeway at the time?) Anyway, Hannity's show got over and Glenn Beck's radio show came on and I swear, the minute Glenn came on, the kitten calmed down and went back to the back seat and fell asleep. It was the weirdest thing ever. I told K about it (she's a Glenn Beck fan) and she said that we picked the perfect kitty for her (and yes, she named the cat Glenn).

ETA: I am going to be re-vamping this blog because I finally figured out how to play nice with Blogger. So, the boring white space behind this will not be permanent. Just to let ya know.