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Another “Up”date

  • Posted on September 2, 2010 at 5:14 pm

Still working on that Year of Up

A brief check up:

Shape Up: Yah, I know, I’m on the twiglet side of things. That doesn’t mean I’m as in shape as I’d like to be.

  • May 2010: I’ve been doing Zumba once a week. Enjoying it! Need to start doing it at home too, not just class. Also, ordered a pair of Shape-Ups (caught a Skechers sale) to see about making those strolls down the walking trail a bit more productive.
  • September 2010: I’m working on a modified version of Couch to 5K.  There’s a walking/bike trail behind my apartment building. I’m on it three days a week–alternating between walking/jogging. The jog stretches are getting longer and I’m slightly less self conscious.  Slightly.

Clean Up: Get what I’m not using out of the house. It means less to dust around.

  • May 2010: I’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff–a trunkload to Goodwill, many trips out to the dumpster, books to the FOTL. And….things fluffed up. *sigh* there’s less stuff. Promise.
  • September 2010: Stuff still slowly leaving. I have a hard time cleaning out books and I really need to make a big trip to the post office and drop a number of packages in the mail.

Move Up: There are professional opportunities out there that I need to be working on/towards. Now if I can just guess what the major trend of ALA Annual 2012 will be….

  • May 2010: I’ve got ideas. Need to work on some action steps.
  • September 2010: Hmm..kinda stalled on this. Working with Madame Storyteller next week on goals/plans. Needs to go back on the to do list.

Speak Up: Blogging, Writing, on Committees.

  • May 2010: Guest Blog at Writer’s Beware!This may be being republished, I’m waiting on an email. I’ve gotten a few of the long thoughts out on the blog. May not change the world over night, but the thoughts have been expressed.
  • September 2010: Published an article in Independent, still have a “do you have ideas” that I need to get back to. Helping presently to set up a knitting guild in for the region.

Use Up: Wool Stash anyone? I’m part of a “5K Stashdown” marathon on Ravelry. As I have eleven times that much, it’s not a huge commitment. I might try for the side bet of knitting up an average of a mile of yarn a month (nearly 20K). If I can get to where it all fits in the tubs, that’d be a huge start. Also–the fabric stash, which is smaller and therefore doesn’t get as much blog time. See my actual blog page for my knit meter.

  • May 2010: I brought a bunch of yarn in for the Knit In swap; I gave a bunch to Our Lady of the Business Office. The stash allllllllllmost fits in the tubs it’s supposed to. Except for some of that stuff I bought when I shouldn’t have gone wool shopping.
  • May 2010: I’ve cleaned out a fair chunk of the romance novel backlog. Not all of them–I still want to read the remaining 40 or so…but the others are either to the FOTL sale or off to the Opera Singer. There are only so many hours in the day to read.
  • Sept 2010: I’ve passed 5K meters knit up for the year but there’s still a lot to be used. Especially when I still shop. I’m getting back to reading those books that I wanted to and I’m going to put some on Paperbackswap and see if I can’t get some out the door.

Cheer Up: Enough with the snark, the griping, and the drama. So 2009. I can’t say cynicism is fully retiring, this is me after all, but maybe not all sarcasm all the time.

  • Hmmm…this one still requiring some effort.
  • An ongoing effort, always.

Save Up: Get the debt paid down and the savings account paid up. And more towards retirement (insert chuckle about a public librarian ever being able to retire *here*).

  • May 2010: Making progress–it’s a slow and steady thing.
  • Sept 2010: The credit card is clear! Hooray! And I wrote checks (rather than putting out the cc) for some recent larger expenses.  Don’t like watching the bank balance go down but far better than turning it over to someone charging me interest.

How are you doing on your goals this year?

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Social Media Burnout

  • Posted on at 4:35 pm

As I watched the Boing Boing live stream of the Apple announcements yesterday I heaved a reluctant sigh. Apple’s adding a social network (Ping), another level of/opportunity for following, and more interacting for those embedded in Itunes. It’s 2010, people, and I have Facebook, Friendfeed, Plurk, LinkedIn, Grooveshark, Twitter, Flickr, Last.Fm, Ravelry, JacketFlap, LibraryThing, three blogs, six email accounts, and that doesn’t count work email (2), and professional listservs (8?).  Do I really want/need another social network?*

In the past two months, I’ve seen an increase of retreat and honing of social media interaction. Several friends have deleted entire accounts, walked away with hands thrown in the air, frustration pouring over, etc. I’ve been tempted to join them, though usually a Saturday offline surrounded by books, cat, and needles fixes that.

It can be a challenge and a physical effort to be always available, up to date, and interacting with all of your friends on various networks. We ask ourselves to care on a much larger and expanded scale about people around us. This is not always bad–being aware and outside our daily boxes is good for us–it’s one of the more refreshing things about traveling and attending conferences and participating in social networks. However, there is a physical and mental commitment that we must acknowledge.

Things I have noted:

1. We don’t always need to reinvent the where/how-to-communicate wheel. When LPL did our last major website redesign, launched last year, we had aspirations of a ton of patron interaction on our website. As a result we created blogs, added comment options, put in a rating system for books. It was going to be huge. Only–it wasn’t. Public library patrons come to our website primarily to find out if we own a book, when their books are due, and if their holds are in. Now we’ve added a Facebook page and are getting far more participation there. It’s not a failure on our part, in my opinion, but the reality of where our patrons are and are not right now.

2. Most of us need a way to filter our time spent on networks. I’ve become a big fan of the Firefox Plug in LeechBlock. I have it automatically set for certain periods and I’ll turn it on at other times when I find myself overly distracted. The simple removal of access to those websites for 15 minutes can be enough for me to embed myself in something else and by the time I come up from whatever it was I was working on, the time has passed. (I’m also a set-the timer-for-15-minutes-to-clean at home type too.) It’s rare that there’s something so immediate that it can’t wait 15 minutes and if it is that big an emergency, it’ll be someone with my cell phone number if not my work number.

3. We’re running into the clutter of repetition. I have friends who will blast from one network (usually twitter or twitter client) and their message will appear on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plurk. And since I’m friends with them on all of these places, I’m seeing it 5 times, possibly participating in conversations about it in more than one place, and that could just be one contact out of many.

4. We’re getting involved to the detriment of the rest of our lives.  Not all of us, not all the time. But if this looks like you…

5. It’s just not coffee. I have many close friends who I only know through the internet and I’m deeply grateful for the relationships we have. I’ve laughed with them, cried, celebrated, screamed…all of that. We have drama and petty fights, friends come and go. They’ve preserved my sanity when Gypsy just can’t understand and kept me from trying to expect an answer from the houseplants. That and philodendron just refuse to edit things for me. But there is a different connection when you actually can sit down face to face with someone. Typing alone in my apartment is not having dinner or coffee or a drink, getting a hug, or curling up over a bowl of popcorn. We still need positive human connection in our lives that isn’t work related.

Blog posts are supposed to have eventual summaries, goals, destinations, aren’t they? Hmmm….

I think we’re going to see an increase of burnout until people are able to decide which one or two networks and methods of communication is the most important for them (and perhaps until companies stop asking us to register and give our opinions on every bleeding thing we ever click on).  We’ll splinter off into our various little factions that will not be unlike bars with different clientele, coffee shops that have a specific appeal, and every other in person social way we divide ourselves.  I also think we’re going to see people advocating more and more for an unhooked day of the week/week of the year–where we step back and take a look at people around us, rather than names on a screen.

It’ll be interesting to see if more vacation options arise where they take away all internet connected devices. Even just going down to a DVD player, no-web mp3 player, and TV is quite a disconnect these days. Or perhaps we’ll all sail away on a cruise ship that promises that no one can reach us for a week (except of course by the emergency phone and email system the ship has).

Oh and look what came in while I was writing this post, apparently according to TechCrunch, I’m doing it wrong.

*Of course, that would mean I have to download I-Tunes again.  I had it for a bit but as I own a non-Apple mp3 player, it was mostly just cluttering up the desktop.

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Random Wednesday

  • Posted on September 1, 2010 at 1:06 pm

Silence can be a sign of too much to say rather than the inverse.  Trying to align my thoughts of late has been challenging.  I’m working on a lot of to do lists.  And if it isn’t in my day planner, it is not happening.  That’s the rule. The day planner is final and it’s paper.  Yes I know that means it isn’t backed up and synched to my phone and etc etc etc…the best organization system is the one that works for you and accomplishes what you need it to without infringing on others. (I’m mauling someone’s quote there…)

1.  School started today. HOORAY! Does this mean the library is empty? Well…for about 15 minutes it did.  The school year isn’t necessarily quieter during the school year, but the focus is a little different.  Storytimes start again week after next and we’re swinging back to after school programming. Homeschooling parents are still  in and there are early release days starting next week so we get to play “what school district are you attending and are you truant?”  There are also an increasing number of families taking advantage of online education for the K-12 crowd.  This works to varying degrees, just as all other methods of education.

2. Book 10 of the 39 Clues is out.  I was number 2 on the hold list and I have started reading my copy.

3. Last check of the Mockingjay holds list had us down to 179 in the system with 30 copies. Hopefully readers will continue to turn things over quickly.  Audio is looking a little longer, the Branch Princess and I bought four copies but there’s only 1 other copy in the system so far.

4. I added a widget that shows my knitting projects! I know, I know, knitting was broken out of here and sent off to Hedgehog Knitting. My blog, my rules though, right?  So if you’re inclined you can click over to HL Headquarters and see little images and my progress. This is pulled in from Ravelry, where I’m pretty good about keeping up with admission of how much wool I buy and just how many projects I have going on at present. Feel free to nag about projects you think I should be finishing.

5. I’m going home three weeks from today! I have nearly an entire week in NY and only a few definite plans as yet, though the goal is to relax and get away and just see everyone there in person.  Just found out The Actor is going to be away (sad) so I’ll miss him this round. But I will get to meet my new nephew, Tyler; I can hopefully fit in a trip to  my hairdresser; and, perhaps I can get the Brunette to go with me to the American Museum of Natural History or the National Museum of the American Indian. Haven’t been to the former in 5-6 years, the latter, ever.  He doesn’t want to go yarn shopping with me, I’ll compromise if we can hit a museum instead.  Also, maybe out to the North Fork of LI (assuming Earl doesn’t wash it away) to the wineries. (Gypsy will be staying at home with her usual live-in minion, oops, sitter)

6. I’m reading Domesday: a Search for the Roots of England (Wood) and listening to Dragon Rider (Funke/Fraser). Blameless by Gail Carriger came out TODAY, so that might necessitate a trip up to BN after work.  Because I have copious spare time.

7. I almost have all my long picture books pulled for Wee Reads Part 3. I still haven’t found a chapter book I’m happy with so today will need to be rummaging the shelves again.

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Congratulations!!!

  • Posted on August 17, 2010 at 5:08 pm

Congratulations to The Blonde and Husband on their new baby boy, Tyler Reed, born early this morning! I can’t wait to meet him.

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Random House Fall Preview

  • Posted on August 10, 2010 at 8:42 pm

I got to tune in to the Random House Fall Preview online today. Several of the really interesting books I’d already seen in pre-pub stuff elsewhere but there were some things of note. Working from my not very excellent notes.

Confessions of a Former Bully by Ludwig.  Apparently it’s one in a series, which I didn’t realize. I already have it on order, as does the Branch Princess. Several new anti-bullying titles floating around that look good. Definitely something we’re seeing in response to demand from teachers/parents.

PBS is going to be having a new show called “Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That” which they hope will bring new/cool science focus with the Cat/Hat easy reader style. Not sure if the accompanying books will be Easy Reader or Non-Fiction. The one title I got was Ice is Nice.

Magic Tree House Book Eleventy-Three-Hundred is coming out.  (okay..44)  It’s accompanied by Research Guide 22 (these are being rebranded as ‘Fact Trackers’). Both look at Victorian Times, Charles Dickens, and the Christmas Carol. Mary Pope Osbourne and MTH has a new website coming which they are very excited about.

Babymouse has a new title coming out: Cupcake Tycoon and Babymouse is being developed for a television series.  I can’t decide if I want to shoot hooray or heave a deep sigh.

ZigZag Kids by Patricia Reilly Giff—this might be something better for Easy reader? 80 pages, avail in both HC and PB.

Book by Betty MacDonald (she of Mrs PiggleWiggle fame) being brought back into print: Nancy and Plum. I’m putting it on a list.

New things coming on standing orders I have already set up: Fairy Godmother Academy (book 3), Alvin Ho, Animal Rescue, Tapestry Trilogy, Century Quartet

Looking Glass Library—new covers on classics. I enjoy and they’re going for Edith Nesbit and a Golden Fleece with modern author intros (anything that says Golden Fleece and Rick Riordan is going to go!!)

Lot of historical fiction…1918, Revolutionary War, the usual WWII books,

New Fairy “history” that I’m looking forward to.

Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate

By Lesley Blume

Flipped by Van Draanen is coming out as a movie this month? Oops….hmm…two copies here, no holds.  Better get it on display.

New Gary  Paulsen coming. New Eco-Thriler by Mark Peter Hughes

Maze Runner will officially be a trilogy. Scorch Trials due out soon, Final Book is set for Fall 2011

New 20s series that they likened to Luxe:  Vixen, Flapper Girls by Larkin.  Looks pretty excellent!!

David Levithan and Rachel Cohn’s new book Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (nov 2010) has already been optioned for a movie and is heading towards a big screen near all of us probably sooner rather than later.

That’s what I have.

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