The Best Time of the Year

Fall is here and I am so excited! This is my favorite time of the year. The weather is cooler, the leaves change and the holidays are approaching. I'm going to a halloween birthday party next weekend.

I'm going as Uma Thurman's character Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. I bought a black wig (which is unnaturally poofy by the way) and I think I have the rest of the 'costume' in my closet. The biggest problem is that I've never seen all of Pulp Fiction. I've seen segments here and there. I decided to get it through Netflix but the copy they sent was cracked. They're sending me a new one today. I understand it is a rather disturbing movie but a bit of a cult flick as well.

My violin lessons have been put on hold until December. I thought I would have loads of free time because I'm only taking one class this semester rather than two. Well, it turns out that taking a class, starting a new job, moving to a new city, and learning a new instrument was more work than I estimated. I'll keep practicing but I'll be ready to really tackle this goal once I graduate.

I've been given a new title at work. I'm the new Teen Representative for my branch. This means that I organize monthly activities for my teen advisory board. The only problem is I have no memebers at the moment. Our branch has been in a lull with this aspect of public service. I'm trying to get the word out and get a TAB together. This week I'll visit the local high school and two middle schools to promote our teen writing contest. I'm very excited about this new responsibility.

My first assignment for class was due last week. I got it done with plenty of time for the editing process. We have not received our grades yet but that may be a good thing at this point (not my best work). I feel more focused now that assignment due dates are approaching. I'm listening to a lecture right now about Melvil Dewey--this whole class is so interesting.

The Novice

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a violin. My first lesson was last night. It felt so strang to be playing an instrument. In middle school I played the trombone, I played for three years and I have not played an instrument since. That was 14 years ago. My homework is to learn to relax when holding and playing my violin. Easier said than done. I feel as if my violin is superior to me, kind of haughty yet magical.

My American Library History class is moving right along. I've been listening/viewing lectures that were filmed about two years ago. It's kind of interesting to watch my professor. American Library History is my final course in the MLS program and it's the only time I have ever seen one of my professors. Strange.

Work is still going well. We are so busy, I think I only sat down for a total of 30 minutes today. I've had this new job for a little over two weeks now and today I got not one but two reference questions. I don't know how I did but I think the customers were able to leave with something useful. The day flew by again which was a good thing because I knew Gilmore Girls would be waiting for me in my mailbox via the wonderful Netflix. I finally saw The Bourne Supremacy (yes through Netflix) which I enjoyed very much. I also saw Alpha Dog--awful, disturbing movie. It made me remember how much I dislike edgy, violent, drug-themed movies. I've been listening to Clive Barker's Abarat. I read it about five years ago and loved it. I wanted to listen to the sequal Abarat: End of Days but it had been five years since I read Abarat so I figured a refresher might be in order. As I listen I'm remebering more. I also checked out The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella on audio book today. There is a dilema when shelving at work--I find at least five items I want to read or listen to (daily!!!).

I'll be heading home right after work on Friday to be with the fam. My uncle from New York will be in town and my birthday is Sunday. The big 27. I don't feel 27 though, most days I feel younger and dumber than your average person of 27. I do however think this is going to be a good year for me.

Crazy Changes

It's been a while since I've posted anything. There is a legitimate reason for that. I got a new job in the Lawrenceville area. I had a little less than two weeks to find a place to live, move in, be ready for work on 8/27 and for class on 8/28. I traveled to Hotlanta about 3 times within a week and then went to work in the evening at my old job. The move went well and I really like my apartment. Today has been an absolutely wonderful day because I finally got my brand new computer, I ordered a washer and dryer, and my bed was delivered. Also, an old friend from my undergrad contacted me and I am just so shocked and excited to hear from her again.


Spring Cleaning by Nishan Akgulian

Since the move, I've been busy unpacking, cleaning and getting lost on Sugarloaf Parkway (it has become the bane of my existance). I'm exhausted but also thrilled about all these changes in my life. I'm enjoying the job thus far and everyone that I work with is very intelligent and professional. I had a change in my class schedule because I learned of some unflattering information about the instructor of my first course choice. I hope The History of American Libraries will be interesting and enlightening.

I'm A Travelin' (Wo)Man

The past several days have been extremely hectic. I was able to finish my design class projects a little ahead of schedule thus leaving extra time to work on my international lit paper. The editing process did take the longest as I predicted. I was able to write the paper in time to leave for my trip to Myrtle Beach to spend time with my folks. It was very hot but I enjoyed walking on the beach looking for rocks and shells, almost beating my dad at miniature golf, and reading non-school related literature (Lean Mean Thirteen to be exact). I was home for two days and then we got some sad news and the family was on the road again to Virginia. I returned Friday. I estimate that from 8/1 to 8/10 I spent 33 hours in the car, not including the commute to and from work on 8/6 and 8/7.

Any free time I've had at home has been on the computer checking for my grades (I received A's in both classes), and trying to fit in leisure activities during this short time off before my last semester begins. I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a second time with a friend. I must say it was even better the second time. Things are moving rather quickly at work now preparing for the new school year and looking for replacements for the circulation supervisor. We were able to hire someone for our part-time circulation position and I'll be able to help with the training process.

BookPage August 2007

Feedback

Over the past couple of days I've posted my web site URL on my course discussion board and sent it to friends and family to review. I've received compliments and suggestions. Some of the suggestions include grammatical corrections and editing the page layout. I've added each comment to an editing list that I've written for each page. Most of the changes come from my own observation but it is great when someone notices an error that I overlooked. I realize that sometimes it is easy to get lost in the formatting and design of the page and let the attention to the content take a back seat. I really appreciate the suggestions and the encouragement. Composing the text of a web page is best done in Word and then copied and pasted into the layout. This allows fewer grammatical errors to be made.

The New Yorker day-by-day calendar 5/8/07

My theme paper has been off to a slow start. The beginning of any paper is always the hardest part for me and the editing takes the longest. I have potentially a dozen or so sources to use if needed. Three of my eight theme books are due tomorrow and I'd hate to tarnish my no fine status! I have asked for no interruptions in the house and hopefully any noise will be minimal, I don't want to have to use my librarian face! I look forward to turning in my final draft because that means I will have about three weeks ahead of me to read non-school related literature and I'll have time to get organized for my last course in this program.

The Writing Can Begin

I finished The Garbage King this afternoon. It was a good book with a really positive ending. It wasn't the best of the eight I read for my theme paper; I think Crow-Girl gets that prize. I'd still recommend both books for young adults and adult readers of ya lit. Tomorrow I shall begin writing my theme paper. Tonight will be spent reading over the theme paper instructions (once again) and organizing all my sources--I might even be super ambitious and compose an outline just for kicks!



My Entertainment Weekly came in the mail today with "36 pages of pottermania!" If you have not finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows do not read this EW edition yet. It is full of spoilers. On the plus side it is full of fun facts about the seven books and their impact on the rest of the entertainment world. I can't wait for the amusement park to open up at Universal Studios in Florida!


Harry Potter theme park; EW issue #946 August 3, 2007

We Have Lift Off!

My web site is up and running as of this afternoon! What a labor intensive, yet unbelievably exciting and beneficial, process. The decision to purchase a domain name and a host provider was a good move. I used godaddy.com as my host provider as well. Hopefully I'll be able to use the site as another tool to show potential employers my abilities. My main intention is to keep the site as a tool for myself. I found several helpful and unique sites for young adult reading interests and library programs. There are a few things that I need to tweak still but I will get those taken care of before my web site due date of 7/31.

Things are still moving along for the shift at work. We have shifted over 400 shelves this week, including our awkward and heavy art books. In addition to the shift, recruitment has begun for circulation. We are filling our part-time library assistant II position. We are interviewing a couple candidates next week. I will say that the interviewing process for my current job was one of the most grueling. The length of time (2 hours) and number of people I met during the interview (felt like 20) seemed overwhelming at the time. We are trying to fine-tune our interview questions in hopes of receiving more detailed responses.

I intend to have The Garbage King finished by this weekend and to get a jump start on my theme paper due 8/3. I've received positive feedback about my topic, the struggles of orphans, from my professor. I've read eight novels (which will include The Garbage King) all of which take place and are written by authors outside the U.S.--hence the course title: International literature for children and young adults. Updates on this blog will also be accomplished this weekend.

Ideas Afloat

I showed my blog to my supervisor and she is very excited about creating a blog for circulation. We have several student assistants and their work schedule is even crazier than ours. Email is the only way that we communicate changes with all of them no matter what shift we or they work. However, we have found that they do not really check their school email very often. The idea is that a 'friendly' blog would be more casual and interesting to them. We could post procedure changes or notify them of the next staff party in a creative format. I think we should also have a ticker counting down to Christmas break, spring break, summer break, or any other event that evokes delight. My supervisor and I will probably get started on this project once we get the OK from our reference librarian supervisor.

I've been listening to Prey by Michael Crichton on my commute to work for about a week now. The reader is excellent and the story is rather interesting, although the techie stuff is way over my head. Anyway, I recommend listening to it.

Amerian Libraries June/July 2001

1, 2, 3.....Cheese!!

The shifting continues as does the influx of more new books to shelve. Our IT reference librarian has been busy working on re-vamping our library web site. He and I discussed some of the programs to use for web design. He is very comfortable with coding by hand in notepad and working from there. The new pages are such a huge improvement. They are very user-friendly and pleasing to the eye.

My hours after work have been spent taking pictures to post on this blog and my web pages. Picture taking has always been a hobby of mine but I'm not overly fond of having my own picture taken. Ah, the sufferings I endure in the name of education! I also registered my domain name today at godaddy.com. I've been designing the pages since early last week and it looks like everything will be added and ready for publishing tomorrow (fingers-crossed).

A Shifty Day

We've started a mini-shift at the library where I work. This is the first shift that I've participated in. The library recently received some money, all of which has to be spent on the purchase of new books only. We've been spending like crazy because of the whole 'if you don't use it, you lose it' theory. Therefore, our shelf space has become a little congested. It's not such a bad process as long as you only work in groups of two. I've also discovered that it's a great way to see books in our collection that I wouldn't ordinarily look at. A review process has also ensued--we're not calling it weeding but we are reviewing to see if certain copies would be useful at any of our three center libraries. Another benefit of the shift is the day just flew by!

After work I did some more editing and designing for my web site. This evening I think I'll try Google Pages or Geocities with Yahoo to register for web space. I could register through FSU for space but I'd like to use the site after I graduate as a personal tool and possibly for potential employers to visit.

I'm still working on The Garbage King. Dani, one of the two main characters, comes from a very rich family but I think he is getting ready to run away. Mamo, the other main character, is poor and a stranger claims to be his uncle and then sells him to work for a cruel farmer. The boys have not met each other yet, I'm only on chapter 5. I think I've been reading a little slow because this is the last book I need to read for my theme paper. I'm wrongfully assuming that I have plenty of time. I hope to start my paper next Monday and be ready to submit it that Wednesday (2 days early!). This way I can leave ahead of schedule to visit my folks while they vacation in Myrtle Beach.