Originally published at digital biblyotheke.. You can comment here or there.

When I moved back to Grand Rapids in December of 2002, I made a promise to myself that the only place I would want to live is in Eastown, a wonderfully hip and fun area that reminds me of Ann Arbor (in which A2 is always considered to be Michigan’s answer to Berkeley), just on a incredibly smaller scale. It took several years before I would end up living in Eastown, and for 3.5 years, I had a ramshakle apartment on Norwood Ave that gave me 5 minute walk to some of the better eateries, pubs/bars and shops in the whole of Grand Rapids area. In the last few years, other walkable neighborhoods have started popping up such as Cherry Hill, Diamond District, Downtown and the burgeoning midtown areas. But Eastown has always been my first love and it is here I always come to visit when I come back to visit the ‘rents. And if there is any chance of moving back to Grand Rapids, Eastown would be the first place we would look to live.

The one thing that Eastown has that I have not found duplicated anywhere I have traveled is Wolfgang’s, one of the (bar none) best breakfast places ever. And ever, I mean ever. There is nothing like Wolfgang’s anywhere — it is not their extensive breakfast menu, their awesome hazelnut coffee or the familiarity of their waitstaff who recognize me when I come in — it’s the whole attitude of breakfast that presented. It’s not some highfalutin, overly priced restaurant where one gets some “fusion” dish that fails horribly (Muse in Royal Oak, I’m looking at you) or has a limited sampling of breakfast entrees (most breakfast places), but over and over again, they have pages upon pages of delicous, artery hardening, weight gaining breakfast. It is no wonder they are consistently voted the number one breakfast place everywhere in the local “best of” polls.

My favorite, something I have tried to duplicate by ordering separate dishes at other places, is the Keane: Southern style biscuits and gravy, topped with corned beef hash and scrambled eggs. I think one of the reasons I could never go vegetarian is the promise of no more Keane, something that I would gladly travel hundreds of miles to have.

Wolfgang’s has become the staple to visit when I come into town, not a visit goes by where I’m here at least once. When Justin and I end up moving to our nesting spot and if that place ends up outside of Michigan, I’ll lament not missing friends and family, but I’ll lament missing out on Wolfgang’s.

Originally published at digital biblyotheke.. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been a bit lax on the whole “digitally document my life” thing, understandably due to heavy work and school load this past week that was unforeseen last Sunday. I’ve got a few days to fill in (and which they will be backdated so I’m not terribly sure how they will translate to updating Twitter and LiveJournal), but I’m really keen on getting these uploaded sometime soon. Also, interestingly enough, I brought everything with me to power/transfer my camera but not the camera itself. The camera on my phone takes fairly decent shots but the system of shooting, uploading and fixing is a bit more kludgy than I’d like.

This partial weekend, I’m in Grand Rapids visiting fam and heading to a few doctors appointments. Now that my insurance has changed, finally, from one job to the next, I’m honoring a few appointments I have left before I start the process of digging for a new set of doctors in Detroit.

With that being said, Mumsy and I went out to lunch today and on our way back to her house, we stopped at Biggby Coffee so that I could load up on caffeine. I ordered a 24oz iced Mocha Mocha, which contains copious amounts of espresso but also interestingly enough, while it is labeled as “Sugar Free,” my iced Mocha Mocha came with whipped topping and chocolate syrup. What would have made this even more priceless is if I had this made with skim milk.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I’m terribly behind on posting updates and finishing writing nearly a dozen articles that I have saved, but bear with me, the content is forthcoming. I promise

About a month ago, a posting came through my program general discussion list about GSA positions that were going to became available at the P/K Graduate library and the undergraduate library, respectively. GSA (graduate student assistant) positions are paid positions where ones tuition is also paid (almost literally until you graduate from the program) and offers bennies. Thus, you get hourly wage plus free tuition. Being the broke-ass student that I am, I applied for the position and was notified less then two days before the interview that I had said interview. Thankfully my schedule was clear enough for me to pull it off and I did some creative re-arranging with ThePugKids to get them settled while I was gone.

The interview was — interesting.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

Be suspicious of Women. They are given to the Reading of frivolous Romances, and at all events, their presence in a Library adds little to (if it does not, indeed, detract from) that aspect of gravity, Seriousness and Learning which is its greatest Glory. You will make no error in excluding them altogether, even though by that Act it befall that you should prohibit from entering some one of those Excellent Females who are distinguished by their Wit and Learning. There is little Chance that You or I, Sir, will ever see such an One.

Taken from The Old Librarian’s Almanack. A real update coming soon, I promise.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I’ll admit that I’m a Wikipedia/Google whore — I keep joking to a friend of mine who works for Google that when I’m done with my MLIS, I’m ready to sell out.

But joking aside, I was on Wikipedia today when I saw this advertised at the top of their donation page:

Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. – — Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia

Yes motherfucker, it’s called a L.I.B.R.A.R.Y. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? You may have, gasp, been to one as a child? The arrogance kills me with that statement — Wikipedia, you did not infact, create the context of indexing human information for easy perusal — print encyclopaedias predate this by over a hundred years – AT LEAST. And the idea of indexing all the information of human kind AND having it available to all of human kind presumes that EVERY living human being has access to the Internet. According to this site, currently only 21% of the world’s population has access to the Internet. I’m betting and it’s just a hunch here, that there are more libraries available than Internet kiosks. Just a hunch.

I’m dropping this topic out there to be picked up later by myself — I’m also currently listening to The Google Story on my commutes, so I’m sure I”ll have more to say on this in a bit.

For now, I slumber (wearing one of my Google t-shirt, of course).

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

Currently, I have a 1.5″ binder that is jammed packed with articles that are assigned in one class. If I were pro-active, this binder would have been completed and sorted at the beginning of the semester over than half-way through but I am the queen of procrastination (or suck at time management, take your pick).

As I was reading the this weeks homework for that class tonight, the assigned article is about indexing as a cottage industry, I found myself surprised by the author discussing the “probability of indexing the Internet” which made me go back to the beginning of the article and look at the date — 1996. My notes in the margin? “Google? Yahoo?”

While I’ve been woefully behind in keeping the day to day (or week to week) stuff of my first semester of lib school documented as well as I would have liked, one thing that has struck me since the beginning of the program is that some of the information that is parsed to us as teaching tools is woefully out of date. I don’t mean in age, per se, but in content of the information being given. In the computer competencies class that I’m taken, the book (current, dated 2008) is incorrect about various technologies as well as gives too much information on things that for the lay person, may seem to be over wrought. I’m trying to figure out why a librarian will need to know what EEPROM is, but apparently this information is necessary for dissemination.

Referring back to the article from 1996, yes it does give a good overview of what indexing is and is not but on the flip side, how much are we to take away from this over what has changed in the last 12 years? By this I mean that clearly there has been much advancement in the field of librarianship that would warrant more current and perhaps more timely piece then something that is so aged?

I find this to be a circular argument within myself in that as someone coming into the program with such a heavy technical background, perhaps I’m jumping the gun on these topics but on the other hand, it is not like my professors are not technically savvy or incompetent — they are, in fact, neither. It just seems irksome that so many of my professors seem stuck in older information while new information arrives daily. THIS is what I do not get.

For now, I am going to go mull this over a bit more and will return with a more complete update soon, I promise.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

Everytime I post on lib schooled., my blog automagically updates my Twitter and my LJ with the entry. This always makes me giddy for some reason, I have no idea why.

When my twitter updated with this entry, pandora_radio on Twitter caught it and broadcast it to the masses. I was talking with Lucia, the CM and she told me that a lot of people seemingly liked the station I created. I also found out that she, too, is a librarian!

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I’ve become a huge podcast whore, to the tune that I follow dozens of different podcasts on a weekly basis. One of my favorites, and the one that got me into this craze, is NPR’s All Songs Considered.

Not only has this podcast introduced me to a plethora of new music I may never have gotten my teeth into, but, it’s also allowed me to expand my musical taste. Who knew I was totally into neo-soul as of late?

I also follow Song of the Day, but that sometimes is seemingly overwhelming.

I decided to harness the power of ASC and Pandora to create the NPR’s All Songs Considered Mix. I cherry picked nearly three dozen different bands I’ve heard over the last six months, interested to see what Pandora would come up with but at least this way, I can listen to old favorites and fall in love with new favorites.

Enjoy.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

To give you an idea of what my general week is like: I work 32 hours at my job, take nine credit hours of classes and my free time is filled with homework. I’m behind on some, not so behind in others but all of my assignments and etc. are up to date. One thing you learn in grad school, really learn, is how to prioritize your time. I made this choice, I know this, and the lack of social life I’m totally okay with that decision.

This entry is going to be fairly short, my eyes are watering from how tired I am, but I did want to update on what is going on. I still have to get into writing the “So, You Want To Be A Librarian?” series because it helps me refocus on what I’m doing now and what my plans are.

Today I met with my adviser for the first time and started working on my plan of work. The p.o.w. is what Wayne State uses to help guide students through their years while at lib school and helps with the student to make a better use of their time. It’s mandatory for all lib students to complete this by the time they have enrolled in nine credit hours (which I’m currently doing). Failure to do so means that their account is put on hold until the p.o.w is completed and turned in and it also means that until it is completed, the student cannot register for classes.

Wayne offers a general MLIS degree as well as several concentrations, certifications, of which I am doing two. Yes, two certifications: Archives and Information Systems. I choose archives for my love of research, history and general nosiness. Information Systems was chosen because of my technology background (a decade in real world tech experience, mostly high end) and it would be extremely foolish of me to not capitalize on that learned history. There is also a possibility of doing a thesis option, or I can simply do a directed study (create my own class), which I think that I would rather do than a full-on thesis option. My original thesis proposal at Central Mich was never completed due to time and energy and feeling a totally, “What the hell am I doing?” but it can be transferred (subject matter is the global village with social networking and pop culture) to Wayne, if I want, to get actually started on it and completed. Right now, I’m leaning towards more of the directed study approach over a full-on thesis, but, who knows what will happen. Instead of 36 credit hours needed to complete the degree, I’m up to 51 credit hours. My projected graduation date is Fall, 2010.

I also discovered that there is a little utilized graduate scholarship that essentially gives a full ride that I can apply for — and I could have applied for this year and had no idea about. I am going to be submitting for 2009/10 year because if I can get monies that I don’t have to pay back — yay for me!

As par usual, more concise updates will be provided later.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

So, You Want To Be A Librarian? is going to be a continual, on-going series on stuff that I should have known about before I applied for lib school. Stuff that I didn’t find out until AFTER I had applied and the rejections AND acceptances started rolling in. Stuff I generally felt would have been beneficial to me before I made final decisions to what schools and programs to apply to and eventually, what I wanted to do when I graduated (other than get a big girl job and pay off the massive student debt).

So the first question you must ask yourself is, Why? Why do you want to become a librarian? What is it about librarianship that you feel would make you an ideal candidate? Do you dream of working with kids? Working in a corporate setting? Working in a special library or archive? Teaching aspect? Collections? Fondling rare books?

If you don’t know off hand, that’s totally okay — a lot of students in my first year program have various ideas of what they want to do but are being persuaded by new interests and technologies that they did not think were available to them or were not feasible with a MLIS degree and even more have no clue. But that is what the beauty of the MLIS degree — unlike many other graduate programs — is that it is entirely flexible based up your desires and wants. And the other great thing about getting into a MLIS program now? Jobs are booming. The next decade or so is going to see more jobs and opportunities open for those in MLIS degrees not just in traditional settings but every where. The skills learned as a librarian are so completely flexible with the ever changing needs of current and emerging trends and technologies, what company wouldn’t want to hire someone who has this skill set? And oh yeah, most of the jobs that are coming open are not necessarily new jobs but the Boomers are finally beginning to retire, which means a mass exodus of people (who will begin to suck up Social Security, but that is another rant) are opening up existing job markets for new grads.

So in short, a MLIS degree can be whatever you want it to be.

Now that you have an idea that becoming a librarian isn’t just slinging books to snotty patrons who demand absolvence of 50 cent fines, the next decision is where do you go to school.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

ARGHHHHHHHHH! Had to take a deep breath there for a moment as I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO AND VERY LITTLE TIME TO DO IT! type of mood. I shouldn’t even be writing at this hour but hey, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

First up, the image is from the wonderful site indexed, which I’ve fallen in love with recently. That card is one of my favorites and also available on a t-shirt. Size men’s M if you want to get me something for the holidays.

Secondly, I’ve created another blog that will be a group collaborative thing for one of my classes. We are working on a group presentation on intellectual freedom, with my sub-topic being book censorship. This should prove to be awesome if we can get it off the ground.

Thirdly, I’ve got a wonderful set of things I want to discuss about lib school, including writing a “so you want to be a librarian” series discussing topics that I wish that I had found when I was researching lib schools. If by judging from some of the communities I read on wanna be’s and current grad school participants, there seems to be an overwhelming amount of running around with the head cut off scenerio — of which I’m gleefully one. I’m also planning out more observations on some of the work I’ve been doing along with commentary on current attitudes towards the practice. I also have some minor research I have to do to solidify some of my opinions or to figure out some of the theory behind, for example, why librarians seem to hate people who work in bookstores. I’m not the only one who has felt this, which is interesting because we should work together in a parallel manner but we seemingly are not.

My eyes are currently glazing over, so it’s time to hit the hay.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I take Bloc Party seriously. By this I mean that they are one of the few bands I actually listen to and by listen to, I mean that I sit down and pay attention to the music and the lyrics. I like a lot of bands, but there are a scant few that I return to time and time again. Joy Division is one, R.E.M. is another, Elbow is definitely up there and Bloc Party most assuredly rounds out the set.

For me, and I will assume for a lot of people, music is a very personal thing. This is not to say that I do not enjoy my fluffy pop or my occasional foray into old school gangsta rap, I do. But this is to say, that when I love a band, I really take the band to heart. For those who know me, you know how constantly I refer to High Fidelity as a bible to my life — I AM the female Rob Gordon. (Complete with relationship problems, neuroses and other high jinks. But that is for another post.) And like Rob, who arranges his music automusicgraphically, I too also do the same. I can get from one band to another by telling you where I was, when I first heard it and what I was doing (or who I was doing). And if my choices seem a little chaotic at times, that is totally okay. Straight and narrow never won any interesting awards.

But this is not really about me, per se, but more about Bloc Party and the release of their third album, Intimacy, a mere 18 months after A Weekend In The City. The album was released digitally at the end of August, with the physical release set for, in the U.K. and U.S., at the end of October. WOrd on the street is that the title tracks available on the physical release will differ from the digital download, but like the good little fan girl I am, I will have procured both.

Silent Alarm, their first album with the stunning single Helicopters, came out kicking and squalling to the world in 2005. A Weekend In The City was their “falling in love” album in 2007 and I wasn’t too terribly surprised to find out that Intimacy is their “break-up” album of 2008. When the title track is entitled, “Ares,” and the song begins with “War! War! War!,” I got the feeling that Kele Okereke was stalking my life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

[Cross-posted to GoodReads and LibraryThing.]

One of the reasons I adore Kate Atkinson so much is that her books are mysteries that you didn’t know were mysteries until the very end. She has a writing style that I have found to be fairly unique. Her prose tends to border on stream of consciousness and twisted plot lines, but doesn’t come off as being too presumptuous or even at times, wordy. Her gift is for creating characters that are not always what they seem and at the same time, are fully formed and believable.

Her latest book, When Will There Be Good News? imagines a world where Joanna Hunter (in the now) is re-visited by the horror of her past, her family (mother and siblings) brutally killed when she was six in front of her. Thirty years later, the killer is paroled and Joanna suddenly disappears. The question then becomes, is Joanna Hunter the innocent she has portrayed after all these years?

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

[Cross-posted to GoodReads and LibraryThing.]

I work in a bookstore and this arrived as an ARC several days before the promotional material, and thusly the hype surrounding it, arrived. I had no idea upon grabbing it that it was to become of falls “hot new reads.” That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

The back story is this:
Stieg Larsson, political journalist and activist in Sweden, completed a trilogy (with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo being the first), which were eventually sold to a publisher. Shortly before the publication of the book, Larsson died of a massive heart attack in 2004. Rumours of his death as not being natural have been swirling, which perhaps have lent greater mystique to the series. The books were published to great acclaim and became international bestsellers. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was released in the U.S. in September, 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I couldn’t resist posting this image — I was originally going to use it for another post I’m working on but fuck it, this works just as well.

For anyone that has spoken to me lately, I’ve become a homework recluse. I work, eat, occasionally knit, occasionally dream about sex, even more rarely catch up on Tivo and but read voraciously. But the bulk of my time is spent with my nose in books doing homework or doing “something” related to what needs to be done for class. My work load has gotten so heavy that I’ve dropped my job hours from 40 to 32, freeing up that one extra day a week that I can actually breathe. I’ve also had to stop hanging out so much with friends and had to give up the Walk For MS that I was planning on in a couple of weeks. That was one of the hardest things I’ve had to come to make a decision on and while my partner in crime, Steph, totally knew this was going to happen far before I did, she graciously knew that my education comes first before anything else.

I know that for the next 2+ years, I’ll be married to the program. It is not just the work load but the accouterments, if you will, of everything else associated with becoming a librarian that surrounds it. It is the networking, conferencing, professional development and hopefully at some point, a pint or two of Guinness. It is also the research on other topics that will be happening that also coincide with all this work that is making it worthwhile.

I’ve never been so exhilarated, frightened or have wanted something so badly as much as I want this degree. There are so many possibilities and opportunities that have arisen since I’ve started this program that I’m absolutely spell bounded by it all. But I need to address something due to a remark that was made to me tonight because I’m highly sensitive on the topic of education and the paths one takes to prepare oneself for the future.

In conversation tonight with a friend of mine who is also a graduate student, I was lamenting about the amount of work that had to be completed, in general. Her response to me was, “No offense to your old program, but welcome to a real Masters program.”

She is, in fact, referring to my humanities MA from CMU, of which I finally received the diploma for several weeks ago.

From her tone, you would have thought I would have sent in five cereal box tops and $5 dollars. And viola! Several weeks later, a freshly minted, laser printed degree was on my doorstep.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I have to warn you that I’m currently battling laryngitis, I had a root canal finished today and I’m also PMSing. To say I’m not in a good mood is an understatement. I am also existing on only several hours of sleep at the moment as for some reason I could not get to bed at a decent hour last night AND had to get up at 5:30 AM to boot. So, there is that.

So this post is more of a reminder of stuff I want to write about over a real “content” post, but it still has content, with most of it stemming from my first month in lib school.

1. The work load is enormous. When they said that each class requires 3-4 hours of study time per credit hour (and I’m taking nine credit hours this fall), I thought they were joking. They were not, it seems, joking. The sheer amount of reading and participating is so overwhelming that it seems that all I do is homework. When ever I can get a free minute to study, I grab it. Except for tonight, with the whole root canal/laryngitis thing going on, totally understandable. And coupled with the reading is the projects and not only the projects but the side work that is to be completed as well (and observations and interviewing and so on). I’m so overly stressed right now that I have cut back my working hours from 40 to 32, effectively immediately, just to get a breather in. I don’t think I’ll ever really get caught up. I mean, I know I will if I continue on the path that I am on but seriously, I’m just like say whoa.
2. This blog isn’t just about lib school, it is also about other diversions that I have going on right now that I have yet to write about (shame on me). Two of the main ones are going gluten-free and knitting. Several years ago, I discovered I was sensitive to a large number of foods. After going on a fairly strict diet for a few months featuring the foods I could eat, I felt a tons better and lost nearly 20lbs. For the first time in a long time, my stomach wasn’t giving me shit anymore. Then I met the ex-boyfriend and I forwent my diet for love. Well big mistake on the forwenting part, because I’ve been feeling physically awful (more or less) for the last six months (longer but more noticeable shortly after the ex and I split) and of course the weight steadily came back. One of the big sensitivities was gluten and things have been MUCH better since I went gluten-free, again. More on this later.
3. Dating. Last week I had a number of people attempt to fix me up with guys they think I may find interesting — which is all well and good but where is the freakin’ TIME to date these wundermen? There isn’t any, is the problem. If I can’t find time to shave my legs, then how am I supposed to work in these said dates? Last night I was mulling over this problem (i.e.: I’d like to start dating but when do I have the time conundrum) and realized that while I may feel pretty good overall, I don’t feel particularly sexy. I live in jeans, t-shirts and cardigan sweaters (of which I have a plethora). And while I may feel awesome about my self-image, not feeling sexy means I don’t want/think anyone will find me sexy in said wardrobe. This was a startling revelation to me last night and right now I’m not about to start getting out the hooker gear to get a man. The man can wait until I’ve progressed more in this degree. Also, I browsed through match.com a week or two ago and went, “Ew.” So, there is that.
4. I’ve taken up knitting in a big way again, after finding a number of projects via ravelry that are not scarves. I’ve only knitted two projects and I’m so every looking forward to creating something new.
5. I’ve also been itching to work on some new pop-up ideas. I’ve been thinking about creating pop-ups for family and friends for the holidays but I can’t remember where the hell my stuff is at — other than packed in one of the gazillion boxes in the basement.

And with that, I bid you adieu.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

I found the Hot Library Smut page again recently and couldn’t resist posting an image and a link back to the source. I’ve wanted this book for ages and now that I’m officially in MLIS school, the time seems right. Amazon.com has it on sale, currently, for 37% off and if I can hold out until “employee appreciation days” at $corporate_bookstore, I can get it for 40% off. Yes, I know, 3 whole percent but hey, when you are a starving graduate student, 3% is a a gallon of gas (roughly).

Henry Rollins, as part of his schitck, talks about leaving libraries and bookstores angrier then when he walks in. The reason? All that human knowledge accessible to him and he will never, ever be able to contain or grasp it all. He, as he is wont to do, flips off the store/library on his way out in a double barreled salute because of said frustration of not being able to obtain that knowledge. This is the reason why Hank is one of my future husbands and I kinda miss having his glare burn into me when I wake up in the morning.¹

1. I’ve seen Hank perform his spoken word a number of times, the last time having grabbed an autographed poster of Hank, barefoot and in a tux (and of course, flipping off the world). The poster was framed and hung directly across from my bed so that literally the first thing I’d see in the morning would be Hank’s snarling face. While I’m in temporary digs, the artwork and such are in storage, hence why I miss Hank’s snarling face every time I wake up.

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

Day in the life of Lisa, the MLIS candidate:

• 8:30: Up, walk the dogs, shower, and get ready for the day
• 9:45: Leave and take Mumsy to the doctors.
• 10:15: Leave doctors and grab breakfast.
• 11:20: Drop Mumsy off, grab stuff for the afternoon
• 12:00-15:00: Interview two ref librarians and then study for the remainder of the time at the downtown branch of the library.
• 15:00-15:45: Come home, walk the dogs, drop off some stuff and grab additional stuff for the evening.
• 15:45-19:20: Drive to Holland, get hair did and head back to GR to the library.
• 19:20-20:55: Study at the downtown library.
• 21:00- now: Eat dinner, walk the dogs, do Mumsy’s laundry, wax eyebrows and catch up on email/Internets stuff.
• 00:00: Roughly – bed!

Let it be known that librarians apparently have a very dirty sense of humour. How so, one may ask? In one of the textbooks that I’m currently reading for a class, the author suggests that “librarians engage in ‘personal intercourse’ with clientèle in order to improve services.” The quotes around “personal intercourse” is included in the book and the quote is a direct quote from the text. I have gone back and re-read that sentence numerous times in the last few days because I have the maturity of a 12 year old boy and that he (the author) MUST have some idea of what he’s saying? Right? No, he doesn’t. The text continues for several more chapters in this totally dry and academic tone. Dude, C’MON!

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

Internets, I have a request! For one of the classes I’m taking, I’m required to purchase a webcam. I went searching on NewEgg and Amazon and found this one. It’s cheap, USB, has built in mic and a clip to attach to my laptop. As I have not purchased a webcam in years, should this one do the trick or do I need to look at something else? Somewhere around here, I have an old B&W webcam from my days in San Fran and D.C. Here is an example of me circa 1998, with Justin, in our old place in San Fran. I’m getting vaguely excited about seeing him in December, as it would have been 10 years since we last saw each other. I’m kinda excited about posting images of us from then and now, and in this new fangled thing called color! High res even! Technologies, it astounds me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at lib schooled.. You can comment here or there.

To your left you will note a brand spanking new, ink barely dried diploma with my name on it. And it is NOT photoshopped. One MA down, one MLIS to go. Not too shabby from someone who did not finish high school. (I obtained my GED one year after I was to have completed high school. Statistically, I do not exist, imagine that.)
–
I haven’t been to the library in ages.
Years, even.

It had been so long that the information that the downtown main branch had on me was from several moves ago (i.e. years); I had $7 dollars in outstanding fines and I had to replace my library card as my old one was outmoded. Now I have a swanky, trendy library card and a key fob card. I’m not quite sure what is wrong with me, but I’m vaguely obsessed with key fob cards, especially when they are lime green!

Read the rest of this entry »