Red Rover

On the Road Again

2008-12-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

Jeff the Wonderhusband and I are on the first leg of our road trip to the Panama Canal. The first time we tried to pull out of the driveway, we had no headlights. Since it was already dark, we could not leave. I fixed dinner. We ate. Jeff tried the headlights and they worked. Dirty dishes went into the dishwasher to wait patiently for our return in three months. We hit the road southward. We are in Southern California visiting Jeff's sister Gail. Tomorrow we will head east, destination El Paso.

LBB's Tweet Too

2008-02-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

In the birding world LBB stands for Little Brown Bird. There are zillions of different varieties of Little Brown Birds out there, and they all tweet the same, and look pretty much the same, and most of us amateurs just ignore them as more trouble than they're worth. I feel the same about Twitter. It's hard to distinguish one person's tweet from another, and most of the tweets don't seem like they're worth my Highly Valuable Time to bother with. These people need to get a life.

Sites for Students 2pt0

2008-02-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

Hi Bob. I'm getting down to the wire on this MP3 carrot challenge. Today I explored, or at least tried to explore, Notely and Stikkit. Notely looks like an awesome site through which to create, compile, update, and review classroom notes. If I were back in college, I would probably try it out myself. I watched the tour video, but couldn't get the sound to happen. Stikkit looked more promising for the "woman of a certain age" that can't remember "Who am I, and Why am I here?" most of the time. Unfortunately, I could not get any of the little video tutorials to load, so I didn't get the in-depth intro I would have liked. All in all, however, I was very impressed at the variety and creativity of various sites listed in the lesson. These times they are a changin'.

Wikis, pt. 2

2008-02-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

I did the reading, learned the concepts, then deleted the addition to the SubLife page that I added last week. Since I belong to the "on-call staff", I don't really have a branch to call my own to brag about. I love all the branches. Everywhere I go, the staff are wonderful. I feel welcomed each day that I show up for work. I have more co-workers that just about anybody else at KRL and no one is a stranger for long. This is the best job I've ever had, and I'd say so on the Wiki, except there isn't really an appropriate place to do so. Sorry, Bob.

I'm So Lonely I Could Cry

2008-01-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

Facebook is undoubtedly a very popular means of connecting with friends and other individuals with whom one has something in common. It appears to have an slightly older average clientele than YouTube or MySpace. The article, long though it was, gave much food for though pertaining to the use of Facebook by libraries to reach their users. Simply being present, with a link or two, will not popularize the library. Being present with a defined purpose, such as sincerely soliciting feedback from user as to their preferences in media selection may be useful indeed. Perhaps they will tell us that we should stop buying CD's of currently popular music because CD's are no longer the medium of choice for the under-30 crowd.

I created a Facebook account, but I only have one friend. Is that sad, or what??? (Sorry Bob, KRL2pt0 doesn't count)

I'm Late, I'm Late...

2008-01-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wikis on blogs, blogs on wikis. My brain is starting to hurt again. The assignemnt, should I choose to accept it (and I obviously have, being the incredibly competive individual that I am), is to come up with an idea for a KRL wiki. This is a challenge since I've never had an original thought in my entire life. So, I will have to fall back on my old favorite - gleaning Great Ideas from other sources. I loved the list of northwest mysteries at the Stevens County wiki. A brief synopsis of each title doesn't seem like too much to ask. They apparently thought so, however.
I visited the Project Runway site, but had no idea what Project Runway was all about, so I didn't glean any Great Ideas from this source. Personally, I would love to hear what others have to say about local restaurant favorites, safe places to ride a bicycle, wonderful thrift stores and cheap & easy recipes that taste good. But I don't suppose any of these Great Ideas have much to do with the function of a library, so if I want to see any of them in print, I'll have to do it myself. And since I doubt that no one except me would consider any of these a Great Idea, it ain't gonna happen.

KRL2.0, Week 9, YouTube

2007-12-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

What a great concept! I love YouTube. And I will probably never look at it again unless assigned. I could spend way too much time browsing delightful videos from across the world. Watching the Mecklenburg County library book cart drill team was fun, but they could have edited out two-thirds of the video and still captured all the action. History of Dance was hilarious and all too accurate. I'm sure my favorite, though, will always be Joe and Joan and Dottie Mae reminding us of the right and wrong ways to pack a shipping crate.

Book lists. Where to begin? And Why?

2007-11-20T18:44:00.000-08:00

There are probably really good applications for LibraryThing, and I'm trying to keep a good attitude here, but I guess I'm just not social enough to care about what other people have in their personal libraries. Either that, or I'm missing the point entirely. I did complile a list on LibraryThing of some of my favorite children's classics in my personal library, but to be limited to 200 entries really put a damper on things. My quilt book library alone exceeds 200 volumes. Then there are the art books, the history books, the nature guides, the gardening books, devotional and inspirational collections, and of course, the children's classics. I could spend a very long time cataloging my entire home library, and for what? I know what's there if I want it, and I don't much care about editions or publishers. I missed the point of LibraryThing, didn't I?

Flick'ring Through China

2007-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

I returned yesterday from a wonderful, whirlwind tour of eastern China, and guess what? After three days, my camera died! I was at the mercy of my fellow travelers for photos. Enter Flickr. I suddenly had at my fingertips, a whole range of photos taken by a multitude of tourists taken in the same places I visited. I browsed through a couple hundred photos of Beijing and Suzhou for starters and selected several to my favorites list. I now have those missing pictures of Starbucks in the Forbidden City and the leaning tower of Tiger Hill that I thought would be lost forever. Thank goodness for other peoples' vacation photos. Was this a timely lesson, or what?!?

Podcasting the Weather

2007-10-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

The mission today, should I choose to accept it, is to watch or listen to a podcast. I've already listened to/watched a few podcasts in the form of mini-lessons for learning 2.0. They were interesting and informative and served a specific purpose toward fulfilling my homework requirements. My computer doesn't seem to be fast enough to keep up with some podcasts, however, and the audio/video had frequent pauses throughout. It turned three minutes into four, but that was OK.

Today I found an audio podcast that sounded interesting using a podcast search engine (if that's the proper term). The subject heading were "quilters" and "quilting" and "quilts". Unfortunately, most of the four minutes was a lovely voice extolling the virtues of Autumn. She loved the lovely reds and golds of the trees. She loved wearing lovely sweaters all day without getting overheated. I loved it coming to a lovely end.

Feed me! Feed me!

2007-10-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to conclude my title with "Barf", but restrained the creative urge for just a moment.

I set up an account with Google Reader rather than Blogspot because it seemed easier to keep all the various accounts tied together. Ignorance can be bliss. Or not. I do find it handy to subscribe to "Unshelved", the online library comic strip this way. It keeps my e-mail in-box just a tad tidier.

As with all skills, perhaps this will become easier with practice. We'll see. The most difficult part of this assignment was deciding what information I wanted to be kept current on. I didn't find any. That could be because my search skills are seriously wanting, or because I'm a boring person. I'll assume the former for now.

I tend to eschew information overload, so I do not see myself desiring constant updates from anyone's blog or podcast. (no offense meant, dear friends) I do leave open the possiblilty that I could be wrong, but spending even more time in front of this infernal computer is not my idea of a good time. I'd rather bake a quiche, go for a long walk, read a good book, or work the Sunday crossword with Jeffrey the Wonderhusband. We can do this every day if we choose because I buy books of Sunday crosswords.

Tag - You're It

2007-10-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

My first impression of tagging was that of frustration. I never did manage to get the del.icio.us buttons to manifest themselves on my MSN homepage because "toolbars" is not a choice when I click on "View", as the illustrations show. I did, however, find the buttons on my toolbar when I went directly to Explorer, bypassing my MSN homepage. Wah, Wah, Wah...

I'm sure that social bookmarking has a promising future in libraries, particularly among reference librarians. For front-line staffer, I can see applications leaning more toward special interests of the individual, which may be tapped by the aforementioned reference librarians in order to assist patrons with similar interests. My pet interests are quilts and quilting, great campgrounds in Western Washington, and local birding. Perhaps my posts can be accessed so the topics I have already researched can save someone else the time and effort of doing their own searches.

The sites I saved to del.icio.us are those of 21st century quilters specializing in 19th century reproductions. These sites all have many photographs of quilts either made by these quilters or in their collections. I love making small quilts that look like they might have been doll quilts from a Little House on the Prairie set. Many share my passion, and I hope to share web sites with others who have found places to view pictures of new/old quilts to get ideas for new projects.

Money Can Buy Happiness

2007-10-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

As a student I always hated giving book reports. In my later years, I seldom read a book worth recommending except to say "this book is hilarious," or "what a terrific mystery - the author had me going right up to the last page." This time, however, I have read a book that has a message so timely that I want to share it with anyone that hasn't already learned this lesson.
The book is Money Can Buy Happiness, by M.P. Dunleavy. As you may have guessed, we are reminded that newer and better stuff will not make us happier people. How then can we use the limited financial resources we have to "buy happiness"?

First, pay off debt. Being in debt is a huge stressor and drain on happiness. There are many resources available to help with this step. Spend less than you earn.

Invest in yourself through education, formal or informal. The more you know or can do, the more interesting the world around you becomes.

Invest in your health. Eat well, get plenty of exercise, see your dentist regularly, and get those diagnostic screenings that we all detest. A healthy lifestyle has great payoffs down the road.

Invest in relationships. When all is said and done, it is the people in your life that really matter.
Set aside time to date your spouse, play games with your kids, cultivate shared interests.

Invest in fun. Go dancing. Be silly. Laugh.

Invest in your retirement. Take advantage of your 401.K opportunities, build an IRA, learn about investments and investing. No one wants to feel that they must work until they die or depend entirely on Social Security. You will do your kids no favors by having a good college fund saved for them if you will have to depend on those same kids in your old age for financial support.

Invest in your happiness by giving to those in need. Volunteer your time to build homes or serve at a soup kitchen. Donate money if your cause if far away or if time does not permit, but giving of yourself to those less fortunate generates a happiness like none other.

Money management has always been a big deal with me. I learned frugality from a mother who grew up more destitute than most during the Depression. I got to apply what I learned in a big way years ago I was a newlywed with a well-paying job and a husband with the same, and a brand new home with a 30-year mortgage based on both incomes. Before we ever moved into the house, I found myself pregnant and determined to be a stay-at-home mom. Priorities shifted in a hurry. Fourteen years later we had no debt, the mortgage was paid off, we both had fully funded IRA's, and the college fund was going strong. We did not have a ton of money. We just used what we had very deliberately. I'm proud of this accomplishment and want to share what I've learned with anyone I can possibly help.

I enjoyed this book because it reinforced some things I already knew, and gave me some good ideas to implement in the near future. It may not seem that eating right or saving for retirement are much fun, but losing one's health to poor habits or being dependent on the charity of others through poor planning are no fun at all. I've seen it. You've seen it. We don't want to go there, do we?

KRL2.0 Oh Oh Oh

2007-10-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Up until last week, I lived my life at the tip of the tail of technological progress. I was not a technophobe, so much as I liked my simple life just fine the way it was, thank you very much. There were times, however, when disturbing little thoughts got me wondering if it might not be nice to know how to use some of the newer technologies to make my simple life even yet more simple.

In all of the assigned reading on the subject of KRL 2.0, Web2.0, Library2.0, etc., it became clear, in a murky sort of way, that users of libraries will determine the direction of change in the future. This is a scary thought when it seems that far too many adults of the future will have grown up reading (I use the term loosely) little more than comic books that aren't comical, and the hatcheted English of texting on their has-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cell phones. I guess I must trust that these young people will change as they grow, as I did, from silly and self-centered to serious and self-reliant. (In truth, I am neither, but the alliteration works).

I like the concept of "43 Things". Making a list of goals and breaking them down into achievable, measurable steps, is a process everyone should incorporate into their lives. Self-determination seem a better way to grow than the "Life Happens" method. I'm still old-fashioned enough, however, that I will make my list with pencil and paper, to keep it handy lest I be caught with time on my hands in a power outage.

I will find a way to use this new technology for personal gain.