Wedding

My brother-in-law got married a few weeks ago. The wedding was a lovely affair - a beautiful day for Chris and Melissa. I don't have a decent picture of the happy couple. But, here's one of Charley and I, who were feeling pretty good by this point in the evening!

I love my cats!

This is "Cats in The Sac." Georgia O'Keefe would be jealous of my photo-taking ability :)

My Latest Puzzle

Well, it only took me a few days, but I finished my latest puzzle! This is one that Mom & Dad gave me for my birthday this year. It has a music theme with lots and lots of instruments, all of them labeled! Even though there is a bit of a glare and you might not be able to see it, the easiest one to do was the green guitar in the lower righthand corner. Of course, my favorite is the tuba, which I played for about 10 years. Even to this day, I feel like I could easily pick up a tuba and start playing again. Of course, the picking up part might be tougher than I remember.

But I digress - back to the puzzle...I enjoyed working on it, once I got into it. However, it took me a while to get to that point! I did the edge 3 different times because Shiloh, my dear cat, likes to walk on the board where I do my puzzles and she overturned it on several occasions!

The Way I Usually Wake Up

I love my cats, but they have a habit of waking me up early, no matter when I have to get up. Even if I have to be up super-early, they always get me up a good half-hour (at least) before. Well, when I saw this YouTube video on Cute Overload, I just had to post it! Welcome to my world!!

Rain, Rain Go Away

Actually, I'm really happy that we are going to get some rain today. We obviously need it. It hasn't rained in weeks and we are dangerously close to drought conditions. However, tonight is the night that I'm supposed to do my first ghost walk at work. All week I have been stressing about this ghost walk. I don't consider myself to be a storyteller and I work much better with children than with adults. However, I've been practicting the material and I feel pretty good about it. I know that I just need to do it and I'll be fine, but for some reason I am super-nervous about it! I think that it is the dark thing - these are done at night and we actually visit the locations that ghosts have been known to haunt (including a cemetery) and that skeeves me out a bit! Maybe I am hoping for rain after all!! Last year I was also meant to do one and it got rained out. It's not looking good for tonight because thunderstorms are predicted, not just rain!

You Know What They Say...

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. Sometimes, when things are feeling really crappy, it is hard to remember this. I also know that when I'm feeling particularly down, I don't want to hear other people giving me such advice. I know that they are trying to be helpful and that they are trying to be comforting. But, sometimes, when I'm feeling down, I'd rather just crawl into a ball and be down. Actually, the reason for this post occurred a few days ago and emotionally I'm on the upswing. I know in my heart of hearts that things will work out and be fine, but sometimes I just need the time to be in a ball of sadness. Ah well... as they say, it will all work out in the end!

LOTR

I love the Lord of the Rings. I have watched all 3 Peter Jackson films and the appedicies (over 12 hours of film and at least that amount of appedicies) so many times I have lost count. I often put it on as "background" while I am cleaning or folding laundry or doing work. No matter what I find myself reciting the lines and getting drawn away from whatever else I am doing. Pete Jackson is a genious and the years of work that went into those films produced a trilogy of films that I can't get enough of. I know that there has been talk about him making The Hobbit, but that it is not a likelihood at this point, but I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I would love to see the odds overcome and have him make the movie. I know that I am not alone and I also know that I don't know alot about the history of why he isn't going to make it, but there are lots of fans out there who would love see Pete make this film. Ah well... only time will tell. Until then, I have hours and hours of the trilogy to watch. And I will.

Playing Around

Well, before I leave for my outing, which I spoke of in my previous post, I decided to play around with my template and change things up a bit. This blog started out as a work assignment and since that is over, I feel a bit freer to make the design a little more me. So, the Orange and Blue are an homage to Gettysburg College. Though I am not a grad, I am as close to one as you can be without ever having taken a class. My husband is a grad and I went to a nearby university simply to be closer ot him when we were dating. I spent nearly every weekend on the campus of G'burg and it truly felt like a second home. My husband is now a professor at the college and we live within walking distance of the campus, which is both a blessing and a curse. More on why I love Gettysburg College later...

The other changes on my blog may not be permanent, but they reflect my current state of being. The yellow background is for the general cheerfulness of my disposition. I have been quite happy lately and I want my blog to reflect that joy.

Okay, now I truly am off to enjoy the day...

People, StarGirl, and other Musings

It is a quiet and peaceful Saturday morning. My husband went camping/hiking for the weekend, so after I kissed him goodbye this morning, I made myself a cup of tea and settled in for some reading time with the kitties. It's what I call "People Saturday" - where I spend some quality time reading the latest issue of People Magazine and getting caught up on the latest Hollywood news. Lately, I have not been enjoying People Saturday as much as I used to. I think that it is my own undoing though. I like to read celebrity websites, like Perez Hilton, and by the time the actual magazine comes out, I have already seen most of the stories. I kind of spoil it for myself, which I don't like to do, but I'm full-on addicted to the Internet. What a catch-22!!

There wasn't too much exciting in this week's People anyway. I decided to amuse myself by reading the latest Jerry Spinelli book, "Love, Stargirl." I loved the original Stargirl and was curious to see what he'd do with this one. So far, I am enjoying it - told in letters written by Stargirl to Leo, her boyfriend that she left behind when her family moved from AZ to PA. I love Stargirl and the free spirit that she is. She's passionate and strong, but she is also incredibly human and at times, childlike. She is able to see the world from a different perspective and that is something that I envy about her.

I think that I will get myself together and go out to enjoy this beautiful day. Since my hubby is out of cell-phone range, I don't have to worry about missing a call from him. I'm not sure where I'll go today, but somewhere that I can be outdoors and enjoy the sun. I hope that you enjoy the day too!

Things That Make Me Happy

I've been having a lot of happy days lately, and while it can't be attributed to just one thing, I thought I'd share some of the things that have made me smile lately. First of all, the Yankees are coming on strong. The post-season seems likely and the AL East Championship is looking better and better. I am especially happy that my favorite Yankee, Mike Mussina, is doing well. He's had a rough year and it is good to see that, like his team, he seems to be bouncing back. Something else that makes me happy is The Bourne Ultimatum. I loved that movie. In fact, I saw it twice in the theater, which is twice as often as I see a lot of movies in the theater! I love the fact that Jason Bourne and Nicky Parsons had some type of a relationship. I love the character of Desh - he is incredibly hot and has a really interesting biography on IMDB. I love the tea set that my husband got me for my birthday. I look forward to weekend mornings when I can make a pot of Oolong tea and just veg out with my book or Sodoku puzzles. Either way, it is glorious relaxation time. I also love the LoveSac that we have. It is the most giant poofball of a not-exactly-a-bean-bag chair. Instead of beans it is foam pieces and it is the best nap I've had in years!! I can't lay in it without falling asleep within 10 minutes. I love it! Talk Like a Pirate Day made me really happy yesterday. I wore a head band with skulls on it to work (not something that one expects to see of their librarian, that's for sure!) and I enjoyed the looks of interst/confusion on my customer's faces. It was explained quickly enough and others seemed to enjoy the day. I also love finding incredible sales. I had a Sears giftcard and while I'm not a huge Sears fan, I found some great clothes on sale. I bought a dress, skirt, and 2 shirts, which retailed at $130 for Twenty Bucks!! That was a good sale - and some good shopping!! I love my nephew Jack and the latest videos on his blog. I am grateful that my brother and sister-in-law are keeping a blog for him. Since he lives so far away, this helps me see how he is changing and growing. It makes me happy. Last, but certainly not least, I love how happy my husband has been makind me lately. I love our evening strolls and our playful banter, our dinners out, and our time together. It has been really great lately, totally ordinary - there is nothing major going on in our lives, but just really great. I'm happy and that is a wonderful feeling!!

Monday Morning

It's Monday morning and I am recovering from a busy weekend. Actually, the weekend itself wasn't all that busy, but my parents were visiting and while we had a great time, there is the constant need to entertain and I'm looking forward to a quiet evening. It was nice to visit with them. Charley and I took them to dinner on Friday and on Saturday we spent some time shopping and then we had a nice dinner at home. We went for a long walk that evening, which was lovely, except it was probably a bit long for everyone else. Oh well - it was such a wonderful temperature, not hot at all. Really very pleasant. Yesterday was a quiet day. We watched a movie, played some games, and just chilled out for most of the day. So, it was relaxing, but it still somehow felt busy. We said goodbye this morning and I headed into work. And now I am here and I have much to do. I'll sign off for now and wish you all a good day!

23 Things is Important

I have said this in a few other entries, but the point needs to be re-stated. I feel that 23 Things has been a very important process for staff members of public libraries go through because it is an easy and comprehensive way to familiarize ourselves with technologies that our customers are already using. It is important to be aware of these Things, so that we can directly relate to and understand our customers. It is also important to be aware of these Things because they may be useful to our customers, and while they may be receptive to learning about these Things, they may not be aware of their existence. I keep thinking about Flickr and how great it will be to share photos with my family and friends of the various things that happen in my life and the things that are happening in their lives. We all live various distances from one another and it will be great to share our lives in "real" time. I think that customers will be able to relate to this and find it a useful tool. So, overall I do believe that the Things we learned in this process have been important. I may not make use of all of them in my own life, but it is very important to at least be familiar with them because the people that I deal with and interact with every day may be making use of some of these Things or may have an interest to learn about some of these Things. And now I will be able to help.

Week 9 - Thing 23

I can't believe I've finally reached The End! This has been a really good experience for me. There are lots of new technologies that are out there that I haven't had the time to discover. This concise program was a good way to get familiar with a lot of different technologies that I may not have found otherwise. I will certainly be making use of Overdrive, Flickr, YouTube, Yahoo Podcasts, and Library Thing. And it is great to be aware of all of the Things that we discovered in this program because now I can better relate to customers that make use of these Things and I can recommend them to customers that may not be familiar with them.

I am particularly excited to further explore Flickr. I have a new nephew that lives in Minneapolis, so I am hoping that my brother will make use of Flickr to help me (and my parents, who live in Connecticut) see photos of little Jack growing each week.

I knew that I would enjoy making discoveries in this program, but I didn't know how much I would come away with. There are at least 5 of the Things that I plan to regularly use in my life - and that is something! Actually, I am planning on continuing this blog, so that is another Thing!

This has been a very positive experience for me. It has been fun checking on other folks' blogs and to see what kinds of things other people are discovering. It has also been a good teamwork experience because many of us had to ask other co-workers how to accomplish various Things. It was good to work together and get input from one another. I would certainly participate in a program like this again. I think that giving us 12 weeks to complete the 9 weeks was a good idea. This way we didn't have to feel enormous pressure if we got behind or took a vacation. It's been a fun experience!

Week 9, Thing 22 - Overdrive

I am so glad that this was one of our 23 Things! I have been familiar with Overdrive for some time, since we got an Overdrive station at the Westminster Branch. However, I did not spent enough time familiarizing myself with it and I felt a bit uncomfortable talking it up to customers. This tutorial was fantastic and I feel much better about recommending it to customers. I installed Overdrive on my home computer, updated Media Player, and proceeded to download a couple of audiobooks, including "Dave Barry's Money Secrets: Like Why Is There a Giant Eyeball on the Dollar?". It was so easy! I even put a few on hold that were unavailable at that moment. I'm going to burn a book or two to CD, so that I can listen to them in the car. And now I really can't wait to get an mp3 player! This has been a really great Thing!

One more to go - I'm almost there!!

Week 9, Thing 21 - Podcasting

I have only heard about Podcasting over the last couple of months, but I have been a listener of podcasts for a lot longer. I just didn't realize it! For this Thing, I spent some time searching for various podcasts at Yahoo Podcasts, which is so easy to search and a lot of fun. I originally searched for some children's author podcasts and then I went searching for Harry Potter podcasts and found a link to one of my favorite sites: PotterCast, which has everything Harry related that one could hope for! I added a feed to my bloglines account for an author website called Book Voyages, which contains podcasts about "Children's Lit from the point of view of a school library/media specialist." It has some contemporary authors and books, including "Heartbeat" by Sharon Creech. I will certainly be checking for updates to both podcasts and it is exciting to know that there are so many more out there that may be interesting one day in the future.

Only 2 more Things to go! I can't believe I'm almost done!!

Week 9, Thing 20 - YouTube

This is one of my favorite YouTube videos ever! I love Weird Al and this video is one of his most recent songs! I love the part with Donny Osmond dancing it up.

YouTube has been a favorite site for me for a long time. I am able to catch the highlights of all of my favorite shows, not to mention hilarious clips, music videos, and all kinds of other things. This is a great way to share videos too. My brother and sister-in-law live pretty far away, so I'm not going to get to see my nephew grow up as much as I would like, but YouTube will help me enjoy some of those moments of his life.

A friend of mine loves to create videos that he posts on YouTube and one of my favorites is the one that follows. Each year my husband and I spend New Year's Day with some friends. The day consists of eating a big dinner of pork & sour krout, followed by a huge Trivial Pursuit guys vs. girls game. Up until this year, the score was tied - the girls had won 3 games and the guys had won 3 games. Sadly, the men prevailed, but this is the video that was created to commemorate the time leading up to this year's game. Enjoy!

Week 8, Thing 19 Web 2.0 Awards

I took a look at LinkedIn, which won 1st place in the Professional Networking Category. I love the fact that there is a way to network with former classmates and coworkers, along with the added feature of meeting new people. I joined the site and instantly found "10 People who I should connect with." When I got my confirmation email, I learned that there are over 12 million people registered on the site! It was easy to register - name, job, school attended - and then you can connect with other people that have similar information. What a great way to re-connect and to network! This was a really cool find and I'm excited to continue using it!

Week 8, Thing 18 - Online Productivity Tools

Well, I spent a bit of time playing with Google Docs and while I found it to be easy to use, I must say that I prefer Word or Excel. I created a document for one of my storytimes, which was helpful. I like the idea of having 1 stop shopping (everything that you can possibly need is in 1 spot) and I really like the fact that you can access the information from anything with an Internet connection (it sure beats carring around a thumb drive!), but I think that I would prefer to continue using microsoft products like Word and Excel. Perhaps it is because I am used to using them and am comfortable with using them that I prefer to stick with them. Usually I am up to learning about new technologies and I am generally willing to continue using them. This one, though, is a dud for me. Sad to say, but true!

Week 7, Thing 17- Sandbox Wiki

Well, that was easy enough. This sandbox is the kind I like - lots of play time, lots of sharing of "toys" (ideas), and no sand in unwanted places! I created an account, added my blog to the favorites page and posted an entry under the favorite books page. Of course, because this Thing called for some "play" time, I made the most of it and spent some time investigating the books that other folks suggested. There weren't too many things listed under the cool websites section, but I'll check back toward the end of this project and see if anything new has been added. I'm trying to work ahead because I'll be away for 2 weeks and will have limited computer access. So, maybe some folks haven't gotten that far yet. In any case, this is another "Thing" that I can mark off of my checklist!

Week 7, Thing 16 - Wikis and more...

As a CCPL staff member, I'm familiar with wikis. We use them for the various teams that we have and there have been lots of opportunities to make use of them to communicate and share ideas with a large group of people. I am very excited to start using the wiki that is being created for idea sharing (among other things) for story time presenters. So often ideas are reinvented, simply because someone at one branch tried something and then someone at another branch thought that something similar would be a good idea. Because they weren't in the same story time at the same time, efforts are doubled and time may very well be wasted. But I digress...

For this Thing, I took a look at several of the wikis suggested. I really like the Book Lovers Wiki over at Princeton Public Library. What a great way to share personal reviews with other folks that like to read the same kinds of books. I like how they have the reviews divided by genre, so that folks can get some book ideas from the mystery section, for example. It looks as though the wiki needs to be updated. They still have information about last year's summer reading program. That, I supposed, is one downfall to wikis. If they are not maintained and used on a regular basis, they become "old news" pretty fast. The good news is that they can be updated fairly quickly, simply by adding a new post that says "we're back on track and moving forward" (or something like that!).

I also took a look at the ALA 2006 New Orleans wiki, which is organized and very easy to use. I like how they have various links to conversation strings for lots of different things: the conference itself, where to stay, the city, dining, and all kinds of things that would be useful to someone attending the conference. I'm sure they create one each year, which is a really great way to communicate with the many people that attend ALA each year.

Week 6, Thing 15 - Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future

You know, for me, library school was a few short years ago. And I can remember the lengthy discussions on the future of the librarian. With the innovation of the Internet and the new technologies that were being invented left and right, would there really be a need for a librarian? All of the information that a person could possibly need is available in some form, electronically, digitally, or whatever. You can get whatever information your desire - and you don't have to talk to one single person on the way to getting that information. The discussions went round and round, some of the most heated having to do with technolgy and the "older" generation and their fear of it. The balance, I am certain to say, has shifted. There are significantly less people who are fearful of technology. My own mother finally learned how to use the voice mail on her phone (her home phone that is - let's not get too crazy and assume that she has a cell phone!).

The one argument that sticks with me is that most of us library students stood firmly by the fact that humans desire human contact and even though they could get anything they wanted without speaking with another human, they simply wouldn't do it all the time. No, the job of the librarian would be secure - our role may shift a bit, but we'll always be around. What I did not see was that the role of the library was going to change. The library itself has become a hub for technology; and as a result, we will still be in business. As humans, there are two things that we can get from the library: the almighty computer (and the technologies that come with it) and human contact. We like to be in contact with others and the library is a great place to do that. I will admit that I did not see the future and see things like Facebook and myspace, which would bridge the gap between technology and that desire for human contact. Social networking sites are great - they combine these two human needs and the library is a great place to access them.

Now, stepping outside of my librarian self, I will admit that I am not a fan of Facebook or myspace. I believe that the idea of both of these social networking sites is a great idea. However, I think that these sites can get folks in a whole lot of trouble. The newly crowned Miss New Jersey is apparently being blackmailed over some photos that were on her Facebook site from years ago. As an Education professor, my husband has the thankless task of checking various social networking sites for the students that he is teaching. If his students are going to become teachers some day, it is absolutely vital that they are not putting various images of themselves online for their students to see. He had a student recently who was student teaching and his students found his Facebook profile, including pictures of him playing Beer Pong - not ideal for someone teaching middle or high school students.

I know that I've gone off course a bit. I have some very strong feelings about these sites and about the future of libraries. I know that we will always be around because there will always be a desire for information, technology, and human contact. What better place to get all three than at your library?

Week 6, Thing 14 - Technorati & Tags

One of the most astounding facts that has come out of this "Thing" is that there are over 50 million blogs and that the total will double in another 5 or 6 months! I will say that since it has been so easy to create one, I am not surprised that there are a lot, but 50 million!?! That is shocking! I know lots of people that have their own blogs and now that there are so many of us from CCPL creating blogs, it is great to have a way to search for my favorites. I have heard of Technorati, but I wasn't really sure how it worked. It seems to be fairly straightforward. I created an account and even put a link onto my blog that says "Add to Technorati Favorites" so that others can add my blog to their favorites. I like the fact that you can add your own tags when you add something to your favorites. This way, you can decide why that particular blog is important to you. I may think that something is useful for "learning 2.0" and someone else may find the same blog useful for something totally different, which is why it is great that you can customize your tags to fit whatever is important to you!

Week 6, Thing 13 - Tagging & Del.icio.us

I can certainly see the advantages of del.icio.us! I can't tell you how many times I have been at home doing work and I have clicked on Favorites, only to discover that the item that I thought I had bookmarked on my home computer was not bookmarked at all! It will be great to have one place to put all of those bookmarks and to be able to access them know matter what computer I am using! I watched the podcast and got very excited to start experimenting with it, but I believe my work computer is experiencing some technical difficulties right now because I am having a tough time getting into del.icio.us to create an account for myself. But I will come back to it and do it later!

Update: Okay, I think that we were just experiencing some bandwidth troubles (first thing in the morning, you know - everyone needs to check their myspace!). So, I created an account and I think I LOVE this tool. It is going to be fantastic for keeping track of the things that I can't keep track of! Click here to see my account, which will certainly keep increasing over time!

Week 5, Thing 12 - Roll your Own Search Tool

Well, I must say that it has been too long since I've posted anything. But, since we are caught up to where I got ahead, it is time to get working again! I'm going on vacation in 2 weeks and I want to be as close to done with my 23 things as I can be! So, here we are with Rollyo. I will say that I was skeptical about this one at first. But, as always, technology wins out and I can see how very useful something like this will be. I created My Rollyo Account and made 3 Search Rolls so far - 1 for news, 1 for entertainment, and 1 for NY Sports (I'm a Yankees fan and while I'm not that interested in the other sports teams in my search roll, I can see that someone else may be - someone who is probably from NY, that is!). Google is the ultimate search engine, but it is pretty cool to know that I can custom make my own, using only the sites that I approve. A parent could really make use of this with sites that are appropriate for homework - they could have a search roll for each subject. This is certainly something to pass on to our customers!

Week 5, Thing 11 - LibraryThing

This is a great idea! What a great way to keep track of the books that I own and have read. I love the fact that it is so easy to use and add books to my library. I added several of my books and I plan on adding more when I finish my 23 Things. This is a resource that I will certainly put to good use! Click here to see my Library. Can you tell what book I'm looking forward to reading in the next month or so?

Week, 5, Thing 10 - Play with an Online Image Generator

This is the image that I created in meez.com. For those of you who don't recognize it, I'm doing the Thriller dance! What a hoot this was! I had a great time creating an alternate personality and putting myself into a place where I only go in my imagination! I love the tatoos that I have on my arms, because I'm not brave enough to get any in real life.

It's just that kind of a day...

Oh, how I wish I were sitting along side this creek. It is a beautiful day in Gettysburg and I am stuck inside with a head cold. Oh well! At least I can enjoy the lovely weather and this babbling brook from somewhere inside my head... it's just that kind of a day!

Week 4, Thing 9 - Explore MERLIN

The Drama of a Prairie Dog! I love this 5-second video. It is all over the Internet, but I found it most recently when I was exploring Technorati, which seems to be the most visually appealing of all the search tools that I looked at for this Thing. The look of the site is clean and not overwhelming, like some of the others are. I know that they contain lots of great ways to search for feeds, but most of them were extremely cluttered. Technorati has a couple of great features that allow the user to see commonly searched words (a scrolling marquis across the top of the page will allow the user to click on the random links, and a box on the righthand side of the page has a list of randomly searched words too). I also really like the link to WTF, which in the world of Technorati means "Where's the Fire" or more specifically, the latest hot topics that people are blogging about.

As for MERLIN, I created an account and look forward to exploring that site a bit more. I have heard of it, but had not used it at all before today.

Week 4, Thing 8 - RSS Feeds

I love the idea of having one location that gives me updates for all of the sites that I regularly visit. Currently, I keep all of my favs listed in "My Favories" which is a good place to keep them organized. I thought that was sufficient because I could go to each site to check out what was new at each one. As the Lee LeFever video pointed out, that takes a lot of time and by creating a bloglines account, I could save a lot of time. So, I created one and put all of my personal favorites like PostSecret, CuteOverload, and Perez Hilton in it, along with some news sites and library sites. I think that I will have a lot of fun customizing it in the future. For now, I'm glad I learn more about these and I look forward to using RSS feeds in the future. Click below to get to my Bloglines Account:

Breadcrumbs' Updates

Week 3, Thing 7 - Anything that Interests me this week

I am a huge YouTube fan, and while I know that we are going to have a "Thing" about YouTube, I can't help but write about my most recent favorite video. If you are a fan of reality shows, you may know that America's Got Talent originated across the pond in the form of Britain's Got Talent. The show just wrapped up another season and this year's winner was an incredibly talented and humble man named Paul Potts. He is a mobile phone salesman and he is the most unassuming man. I can honestly say that if this was the American version of the show, the man wouldn't stand a chance. He doesn't have that "look" that seems to be so important on American "reality" tv. Anyhow, his talent is that he can sing opera. Now let me tell you, I enjoy all kinds of music, but I will say that opera is not one that generally listen to. Take a peek at this video and prepare to be blown away. This is the final of the show, so keep in mind that he goes on to win the show. I don't think he'll be selling mobile phones anymore!

Week 3, Thing 6 Flickr Mashups...

It was fun exploring the third party Flickr applications. I have enjoyed looking at the mashups that other folks have produced on their blogs. The third party application that I really like is the Flickr Postcard Browser which allows you to search for various tags and it produces about 25 snapshot pictures that have that tag. I searched for Gettysburg, PA and Washington, CT (where I currently live and where I grew up, respectively). It was fun to see the various pictures that popped up, especially the ones that came from my hometown. This is a great way to get some unique photographs of well-known (and not so well-known) locations.

Week 3, Thing 5 - Explore Flickr

The Big Mall
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9144581@N05/581654300/

It has been a hectic week and I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to explore Flickr, but I did create and account and post a picture of my own to my account. The link above will take you to my picture (which I was finally able to add to the beginning of this post - major accomplishment!!), which was taken about 3 years ago at the Mall of America. My husband, my brothers, and their significant others are in the picture, along with Snoopy and the gang. My brother Gabe and his wife Lisa (who just had a baby on Thursday night - my adorable nephew Jack) live in Minnesota and took us to The Big Mall, where we enjoyed shopping, taste-testing deep fried twinkies, and a ride on the roller coaster in the middle of the mall! It was a great trip and I can't wait to go there this summer. Of course, I'll be more interested in meeting Jack, but I'm sure I'll find some time to get to the mall!

Week 2, Things 3 & 4 - Set up your own Blog and register it

Clearly, I'm having fun with this! I'm looking forward to spending some time customizing my blog and truly making it my own. I'm a bit ahead of schedule though, so I'm going to slow down and enjoy the ride. As I said in a previous post, I tend to learn by rapid-fire (jumping in too fast and not learning everything that I need to before I get overly-involved in something). So, my blog is now set up. It was quite easy. I'll confess that I have another blog (on AOL) that I recently started and I am a frequent commenter on other blogs (Cute Overload is one of my favorites). So, I have been exposed to blogging, but I haven't spent too much time on my own. This will be a great way to learn new things that I can do on my blog!

Week 1, Thing 2 - Pointers from Lifelong Learners

Well, I already posted quite a bit under the title "7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits," but I'm sure I can add a bit more to what I have already learned! I would like to say that the habit that I am most looking forward to is #7 1/2: Play! I love to try out new things. I used to teach computer classes, from the very basic "How to Use a Mouse," up to more advanced classes like Word, Publisher, and Searching the Internet. When I taught my beginning classes, I would always tell my students (who consisted mainly of senior citizens) that they can't break the computer. Usually they were very apprehensive new learners and they were so worried about breaking the computer. I would always tell them that they may get lost (on the internet, for example), but that they couldn't "break" the computer. I always keep that in mind when I am learning new things. I would also tell my students that the best way for them to learn was to play around and experiment on the computer. While most of them started out to be nervous learners, I am proud to say that many of my students went on to be successful and skilled computer users. So, that being said, I'm looking forward to Playing with the new technologies that will be taught in this program!

Week 1, Thing 1 - About the Program

This is where it all starts. I'm on my way to learning a lot of new technology - and I hope that you will have fun too. As I have mentioned in a previous entry, I love to blog and I believe that this is going to be a great way to learn.

I am participating in the MD Libraries Learning 2.0 program, which will allow me to learn and play with new technologies on my own. Of course, there are lots of librarians participating, many from within my own system, so I will have lots of folks to talk to about the 23 "Things" that we will be learning in this program. There are "things" in this program that I am especially interested it. I love photography, and I love to use my digital camera, but I haven't had any experience in posting pictures to the web. I'm excited about using flickr and some of the other resources that we will learn about in the coming weeks!

I'll have an entry for each "Thing" that I learn and I will likely include other entries as well!

7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

I love the idea of lifelong learning. I love to learn new things and to keep my brain constantly engaged. Of the 7 1/2 habits, I feel pretty good about most of them. My best habit is that I have confidence in myself to be a competent and effective learner (Habit #4). I like to challenge myself and I feel as though I can learn anything, if I put enough effort into it.My great challenge, however, is that I am not very good at beginning with the end in mind (Habit #1). Often, I will get half-way through learning something new before I really consider why I am learning it. My goal is usually to learn something completely, from start to finish. But I am often well into the project before I really think about the purpose of why I am doing it. For example, I wanted to learn how to knit so that I could create an afghan for my brother's wedding gift. I learned quickly and got half-way through the afghan before I realized that I could have learned (and probably should have learned) a lot more information before I dove into the project. I'm certainly not afraid to learn new things, but sometimes I get so excited about learning something new that I forget to learn the preliminary items that go along with it. I have to slow down and take my learning a bit slower!

The Beginning

I'm working on this project for work, learning about lots of new technologies and one of our first assignments was to create a blog. This will allow us to track our learning and to share what we have learned with others. I love blogging and I'm looking forward to incorporating learning new technologies into this journal. This should be a fun project!

I've decided to name this blog Breadcrumbs because I feel as though these entries will be like bits of me left on the trail of my life. I hope that you will enjoy my breadcrumbs! Until next time...