Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Blah, Blah, Blah

Well today it is so gloomy outside that the lighting in the library actually hurts my eyes. It's one of those days where you can just feel snow building in the air ready to dump on us at an inconvenient time, like rush hour. My commute wasn't good today. It took me over an hour and a half to get here . What is it about road construction that makes everyone stubborn, refusing to leave the lane that is going to close until the last moment. So that you have to wait 30 minutes to get through a small length of road that is crawling b/c no one will let the other guy in. Hard to believe it is almost December. Only a few shopping weeks left. My paycheck doesn't seem to last as long as it used too. When I first started here 11 years ago, I was able to take a portion of my part-time check and save each pay period. First I treated myself to a movie camera (which of course, does not work anymore), 2nd I was able to save enough money to take my family on a trip to Disney World for 1 week. That was memorable, my kids were still young, trips were still fun. I would like to do that again but now the money has to go in so many directions that it will probably take me 5 years to save it up. Good Grief!!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Another niece!


Well, let's see my niece Emma is in the title bar picture (she's 1) and I have her little sister Caitlyn (2 weeks) on a post. It is only fair that I have Josie (Laura Josie) somewhere on this blog. Josie has turned 7 months old and lives in NY, so I don't get to see her often. She looks just like my brother, big blue eyes. She takes a picture next to her teddy bear each month and in this 7 month picture she is bigger than it.

It's the little Things


It's the little things in life that jump start you, I believe. My niece, Caitlyn was born two weeks ago, beginning of November. She was supposed to be born the end of December. So she is in a neo-natal ward at 3 lbs 12 oz. She is doing very well but the initial shock of seeing little tubes hooked to her and oxygen being pumped into her to keep her little lungs open and working is just that- a shock. She is sooooo tiny. She reminds me of a kitten, with the tinest of heads and the darkest of eyes when they open. She (Caitlyn) puts life into perspective. We can go to work, caught up with deadlines, having a rotten day, yet one little tiny hand touching yours or just the thought of it makes everything else better. I've always said my job in this world is to Mother. Some people are techno savy, some great with business, me-I could just sit in a rocking chair all day and put a baby to sleep, or feed them a bottle. I have 2 brothers, I'm the oldest and they are 9 and 15 years apart from me, so I've had a lot of practice. So even when I get my very first speeding ticket a block away from my house. The irony being it took me an hour and twenty minutes to get that far. And no he didn't let me off of it, it certainly is not like that in the movies. But to get back to the point, even with a crappy day like that, the thought of little Caitlyn makes everything clear. There are so many other things in life to worry about, first breathes, tubes being removed, first bottles, first diaper changes, first touches, laughs, etc that one cop with a hit list getting a chunk of my christmas money doesn't really matter in the larger scheme.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Christmas Shopping in October?

Got up at 5:30 this morning, on the road at 6, to where you might ask. Toyland opened this morning at Farm and Fleet. My daughter and I stood in line to start getting those bargains for Christmas. We did really well, and are done buying toys for the little ones. And the weather was good for standing in line. I remember going to Best Buy a couple of years ago after Thanksgiving and it was freezing and I thought those people at the beginning of the line better get what they wanted. And yes, I live in a Farm and Fleet area. They only have toys for the holidays and it's a big deal around here. You can buy clothes and tractors at the same time. I actually started Christmas shopping a couple of months ago, got a few things and have had them tucked away. This year we have little ones in the family and it will be fun. We'll see if the Christmas tree gets pulled down or if everyones present gets opened by one little one having fun ripping paper. Now my problem is where to put the stuff once I wrap it. I'm running out of hidiing spaces plus one of the little ones has a birthday in November and I have those presents around too. Oh well, tis the season. I looked at a few blogs yesterday, started at the bottom and am working my way up. It would be nice if I could tell which ones were newly created instead of clicking each one to see if I've read it. Gotta go, picked up tape and wrapping paper and If I want to sleep in my bed I have to clear it of stuff.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Pay attention to Me!


Pay attention to Me!
Originally uploaded by barbee0913




My poll is still open, remember to check your favorite sci-fi show.

Some of my Barbies


Some of my Barbies
Originally uploaded by barbee0913
Mandy mentioned that I didn't have any Barbies on my page, so here are some.

Happy Halloween!


Happy Halloween!
Originally uploaded by barbee0913
Carving pumpkins are still a tradition at my house.

Done but still tweaking

Well, I'm done. I just finished tweaking some things. I couldn't get to the 10things flick'r page b/c my computer at home knew my acct and would keep putting it in for me without letting me switch to the 10things login. So today I did it from my kids computer and I was able to post there. Yeah!! I started reading staff blogs today. Some interesting stuff there, can't wait for more to be listed. Talk to you later.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

eBooks

My family tried to do this the first time they came out but we couldn't get it to work. I couldn't believe it worked today. I just tried a simple little book Berenstain Bears and Baby makes 5. My computer hasn't been working well and I was surprised that it actually downloaded and had room for the software. It was very cool. Nice to see the collections have gotten bigger, when I tried before there weren't many titles. On our website, I like the Skokie History and digital collections. It's like having a museum in your own home. I'd like more of that, things in museums that you may not be able to get to, artwork too. Later I tried to download an Italian course for my daughter that you could burn to a CD, had trouble getting it to see all the individual sets for that book. Only 4 of the courses showed up to burn.

Microsoft Look Out!!

Google Products! I went and played with their version of word and powerpoint. They were the same. As easy to use as the other version. But are they compatible with everyone else's system? I played with the demo of Google Mobile (I don't have text messaging) That was pretty cool. I like Google Earth, my son already had that on his computer. I found some catalogs online that I want to use for Christmas gifts. That's always useful. I've used YouTube a few times. That can be entertaining. I normally use google for things, translating web pages, finding my way, etc. I was already sold on them. That's all I have to say.

Wiki's

Radical Trust, I think that is just reality. It's what you do with your kids. You teach them over and over and eventually you have to let them on their own. You hope for the best but know that you may not get perfection because the world isn't perfect. I use Wikipedia often, but when I do use it, I understand that everything may not be accurate. Sometimes I just use it as a jump off point to research more. Soemtimes it gives me the ideas about where to go next. I understand that we have to relate these jobs to the library but it's just hard to think out of the box. That is why we have tech savy people to do that. I can't figure how it would be useful for us. Why would we want to re-invent something that is already out there. Looking forward to see how others answer this.

Podcasting

I used Library Sucess Wiki to look up a few libraries. I thought they should tell you a little more about what each library actually had on their webpages. So I picked by places. My husband has an 2nd cousin who used to work as a librarian at the Denver Library so I watched that one and added it to my reader. I didn't see many listed for IL except Kankakee so I grabbed that one. They seem to be very busy in Kankakee. For personal taste, I chose a Let's learn Italian. I'm 1/2 and my mom didn't learn Italian b/c her mom and dad didn't teach any of the kids. They liked to keep it as their little secret when their kids were growing up. My daughter spent a little time in Italy and knew enough Italian that she could understand what people said. I would love to visit Italy and would really like to know how to speak the language. I can see the libraries doing VOYA booktalks for areas that don't offer that service. I like the links they have for teens with their book reveiws and their blogs listed. I can see a video podcast showing what is being offered at the library for the month. I think it would be nice to show a video podcast of a program, maybe for kids that we hold, kind of like the mass for shut-ins. It wouldn't help with circulation but it would get information out and that is what the library is for.

Social Networking

I looked at del.icio.us . It was just another search engine. To me one is the same as any other. What one person tags something may not be how I would be looking for it. I thought the ones on the del.icio.us page weren't very interesting. I still prefer a plain old google or yahoo search. I guess the library would use all the separate genres as tags, crafts, storytimes, books, fun, familys, as possible tags.
I added a link to the national Barbie Collector's Club that was here a few years ago. It was a highlight of the year for me, I was lucky that I was able to get in and I didn't have to get a hotel room. Room shopping was great fun, got a lot of bargains plus it was fun to meet Bob Mackie. It's fun for me to look back at the pictures and relive it. It may make someone else want to attend a convention too.

Mashups

Dumpr.net is my favorite of the mashups. Lots of fun ways to play with your photos. It was easy to use. There are so many creative people out there. Now on to Social Networking.

Let's try again

Do you know how you learn to do somthing and you are all excited and work on it like you are manic and then the fun wears off and life happens and you don't share that same enthusiasm? Well, too much driving, not feeling well, having too much fun with my niece and too many interesting tv shows to catch up on kept me away from the 10 things. So today, I'll try to keep going on it. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Me


Photo_31[1]
Originally uploaded by barbee0913
This is me, totally depressed with Flickr.

AHHHHHHHHHHH

I hate Flickr!! It was not user friendly. First I couldn't log in on the libraries account apparently I have an account because at home I have an sbcglobal account. So I put my pics on that and stuck them in collections and what not. I also tagged them. It took a long time to figure out how to find the blooger tool and once I did that I was disappointed that you couldn't do multible pics. It was very annoying, not a relaxing evening. I use shutterfly for my pictures. My kids use Shutterfly and Picasso. The picture is Giggles, she is one of my dolls. Trust me I wasn't giggling when I was working on this.

My Trolls


P1010006
Originally uploaded by barbee0913

GoodRead

I went and registered at GoodRead. I like the visual format of the site. It was easy to read. I pulled up a few books that I love to see how many people hated them. Most agreed with me, so I don't have to concern myselves with the others. Some reviews felt like they were written by someone with a masters degree, or want to be writers. Those I didn't like, I like the normal ones by moms on their way to take kids to hockey, dance or gymnastics. The other site, LibraryThing was just too big. I didn't like the format. It seemed like a search engine for desk staff than the average joe. If I can't figure out how to interact with a page right away, I lose interest in it. I can see linking to reviews of kids books on GoodRead, it would be another source of opinion.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Social Networking

Well, I made a fake page on FaceBook and searched around a little. I think it's interesting that they knew all the names I tried were bogus. Also they decided I couldn't be 90 years old and be registering for a page. Pretty smart of them. If they don't want 90 year olds perhaps they shouldn't put the date down! I really wasn't impressed by any of them. They seem to do everything a blog does except for the search feature. I only look up people I went to grammer school with and none of them have their own pages. It's better for me to use Classmates.com for that. Other than those people, I can spy on my kids. I've seen a few friends childrens' sites and they just had pictures on them that their moms and dads shouldn't ever see. I went to Eons and was put off by the death memorials. Not exactly what I wanted to see right when I got there. Geesh, I'm not that old!!! Now the dead or alive trivia game was o.k. That I played and answered the male television stars as Dead or Alive and got them all right. The corporate one didn't interest me at all. These sites are really boring unless you know the people you are reading about. They are usually filled with many un-truths or exaggerations. Many of the people who respond to the pages act like jerks. Girls and guys put up suggestive pics. And why would you want 100's of friends? It's not like you know all 100 personally. My son is on many of the music groups, that's o.k. You might find someone who is just starting out with talent that you'd like to keep track of. I guess I just don't get it. Tomorrow, I'll check out LibraryThing and GoodReads.

IM ing

I used IM years and years ago. It was a real fad for a little bit on my part. Had to get all my relatives names and bug them to death. It got to be inconvenient. Even my kids set their away messages on their accounts so they can monitor who is on. Mr. Dave and I talked (IM'd). Its just that sometimes its better to talk face to face with people because when you write things, you write too much and can be to forceful in what you say. Face to face in a business situation is better because you tone yourselves down and have less chances of getting fired for what you say. I just think if the desk uses them with patrons, you'll have the annoying people who just want to waste your time because they can. Think if you are really busy at the desk and not typing back to someone quickly they might just keep im'ing you over and over until you respond. I've heard Follett uses IM for staff to get a hold of each other. Limiting it to that works well for them. I would just worry that someone would forget to put their unavailable link up and you would be pestering them at the wrong time and making enemies.

Number 2 is done!

Well, I've subscribed to a few places and added some to my page. If a feed reader is the same thing that is on your SBC or Comcast homepage than I've been reading them all along. That is where I get my news, I hardly ever get to watch a real newscast on tv. I only want to catch the important things going on so I don't look like a total moron to the rest of the world. It was easy doing it, I was just confused with the fact that we put them on the reader page first and you only wanted one in the template. So I decided I wanted to see more of my choices than one. I bugs me that the template doesn't swap what side of the page your posts are every now and then. I don't like to have to scroll all the way the bottom to see the other stuff. I don't see how it would make a difference at the library. I looked at some of the links and Denver had everthing up in HTML format. That's all I have to say. Till later.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Spiffed up my Page a little Bit

I just came back from Mickey D's, thought I would get a My Scene Happy Meal doll but no all they had left was a My Scene bracelet. Kind of weird for them to even have the My Scenes because Mattel is discontinuing the dolls. I have to pick up some dolls before they are all gone. They are some of my favorites. Interesting note about My Scenes, Barbie used to be one of the dolls but they made her move away and a girl named Kennedy, that looks just like Barbie took her place. I guess they were worried about her image, looking like the Bratz dolls and made her leave all her friends. Delancey is my favorite. Well, I've surfed a little more and added to my page. I think I've done all you guys want for now. I thought the page that takes you to all the various links wasn't that great. I guess I'm interested in some weird things that people aren't listing. I'll try again tomorrow with better search terms. Remember to add your answer to my poll, play with Dolly and pet my kitty Salem.

The first one is done!!!

Well, I have done #1. So far setting up the blog was easy. Talky Tina did not have to pull a string to make it work and still likes you! I think of blogging more as a diary or as a place for that person who always has an opinion about something, their own personal soapbox. The library sites that I looked at just seemed like a regular webpage. To me, using the format of a blog wasn't that much different. The only thing I can see a patron using it for, would be if they didn't agree with a book review and wanted to present their views. Sometimes this is helpful, I always read the ones on Amazon and sometimes they sway my opinion. That's all I have for now. To those out in the great World Wide Web. This is a activity for my job. All of us have to do 10 new things involving technology. It is a step by step process, so if this stuff is boring it's because I'm following our list of stuff to do.