Sean It. Done It.

So maybe being rich, famous and gorgeous doesn't make life any easier. It's certainly played havoc on Sean Bean's life. A little research involving my brain instead of just my eyes revealed although he's older than me (yay!), he's been married four times and was arrested for domestic violence involving his fourth wife (who's twenty years younger than him) earlier this year.

Sigh.

Four marriages. I'd think that after, say three, you'd think to yourself, "Maybe it's me." But, I don't know. I have a cousin who got it right on the fifth time. Or was it the sixth?

But domestic violence and being arrested is a bit different.

Oh well, I can still enjoy looking...

Give me space!!! And Bean there, done that...

Okay, now I've got your attention! If you didn't know, this guy is Sean Bean--who has a somewhat tenuous literary connection. I mean, he has acted in many movies based on books, after all! The Lord of the Rings series, Lady Chatterley, Patriot Games, Anna Karenina, and of course, Cornwell's Sharpe series. Which is where I found him, courtesy of my husband who, after listening to many of the books on audio, asked me to request the movies for him. I'm not quite sure he realized what he was starting. But...golly jeepers...what can I say? I'm an old married lady so hubby should feel quite safe in allowing me to ogle the guy.

And here he is...

So you can ogle him too. (And his baby--or at least someone's baby!)

Anyway--the real topic of this is a celebratory posting because I'm done (done, done, done!!!!) with creating the 8N08 exercises.

The last one is on social networking sites and I really struggled with it because I just don't get it. I mean, I do get the attraction for many people. It just doesn't work for me. Don't want people to know what I'm doing all the time and don't want to know what you're doing either. Not that I don't care about people. I just don't want to know. Despite this, I understand that it's just a different way of communicating and connecting with people. It's just not for me (says the person who has just blogged about her newly discovered fascination for Sean Bean! ). So, staff get to explore myspace, tour Shelfari, and create a profile on one of them or their choice of facebook or linked in.

As for me, I'll be the one doing the little celebratory dance in my office because I've finally completed the exercises. And, oh yeah, discovered Sean Bean to drool over.

Every reader her book...

Yesterday was our staff day and someone quoted Ranganathan's Five Laws. I had forgotten about them and wanted to put them somewhere I'd remember them more often. So, here they are courtesy of an online image generator. Also, the speaker had a power point presentation and the title page was from an image generator I recognized. I felt so techno-savvy because I thought, "Hey, I know how he did that!" And, better yet, so did many of our staff because they had to do that exercise as part of 8N08.

Still working on the last exercise, on Social Networking. To do it, I had to register on facebook and since it's for work, I used my work email. Wow! I would find it very distracting if I kept my work email on it--all those pokes and posting to my board and everything. I'll be glad when this one's done. And then my work here will be done...

Why Wikis?

Exercise #7 is exploring wikis. It's ended up being a rather easy one, but that's okay because Exercise #4 and #6 were time-consuming and this will be a little break for everyone. I even wondered if it were worth talking about wikis, but decided it was. Many people, even librarians (gasp!) only know of Wikipedia and don't really know what a wiki is. Well, after Exercise #7, they should have a better idea.

Writers Live went quite well--people really enjoyed hearing David Giffels talk and we had the biggest crowd ever!

Last book I read was Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave. I read it because it was on one of the RITA lists. I was thrilled to discover she has a second book and it was on our library's shelves! And she has a third one coming out next year!

I also read Bloody Confused: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer by Chuck Culpepper. Ha! And you thought I only read romance! You could perhaps stretch it and say something about this is a book about the romance of the game, but that would be pushing it. Highly recommended if you love soccer (real football) and/or sportswriting. Not recommended at all if you don't because you wouldn't understand! (Just like I wouldn't understand or be interested in reading a book about--oh, say, cricket or golf! It's not an insult--it's just why would you want to try to read something you won't enjoy?)

Writing and Authors and Books, Oh My!

So, next week we have one of the two Writers Live luncheons MCDL holds each year. This time we have just one author. David Giffels bought a nearly condemned mansion in Akron (with his wife, Gina, who must be a saint to have done this) and has spent ten years restoring it. His book, All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House is a book worth reading, especially if you are familiar with Akron. Belle Elving of The Washington Post said, "His memoir, All the Way Home, is not only a chronicle of this renovation but also an homage to Akron, Ohio, and an affirmation of his place in it." Since my mom's family is from Akron and I received my BA from The U of A, I can relate to his love of the city.

Another author whose books I've been reading (gobbling up, devouring) is Katie Fforde. She's kind of like a British Susan Wiggs, but with perhaps a bit more humor. Her characters are gloriously, lovably imperfect. Here's her description of the hero in Restoring Grace : "Flynn Cormack might well have been Irish, but he certainly didn't exude the bonhomie Sara was obviously expecting. In fact, he seemed distinctly irritable." Later, Flynn catches the eye of the hero Grace and "regarded her with a strange, intent look. Grace wondered if her ancient makeup had done something funny to her face." How can you not relate to these characters? Well, okay, how can I not relate to them? And it's not just me. My mom loves them too. So, give Fforde a try.

Then at my NEORWA meeting, we learned all about how goals, conflict, and motivation can be used to strengthen your story. All I can say is I have work to do!

Attack of the Pod People -- Podcasts and other downloadable media

Finally (!) finished Exercise 6--podcasts and downloadable media. This is one I really wanted to get into the hands of staff members especially now that our library system offers access to downloadable books for iPods and other Apple products. Because we didn't want to clutter up the whole network with like a zillion books being downloaded, our tech people had to come up with a way that people could try it out without doing that. Which they did. Thank heavens. I hope a lot of staff members realize that it's not as difficult as they thought it might be.

As for me, I'm now reading Working Stiff by Tori Carrington, an ARC borrowed from a friend. When it comes out, if you look closely you'll find me (me!) mentioned in the acknowledgements. This was an unexpected treat and I was thrilled. Just started it but so far, so good. I like the character of Sofie Metropolis.

RSS Feeds

Between moving, attending ALA in June, and heading to Oshkosh for the EAA Airventure with a couple hundred thousand of my closest friends, I've spent most of my working hours catching up with what I missed. Thank heavens my library branch has a great staff that can function without too much guidance. Here's a(nother) picture of our plane, N5255N, a 1980 C-182 Skylane at Harry Cleaver Field in New Philadelphia, Ohio. If you look really closely, you can see me in the right seat. We spend a week camping under the wing every year with a group known as the Metro Warbirds. If you're not familiar with the phenomenon and are interested in aviation at all, you should check it out at http://www.airventure.org/.

Then, of course, I spent a day working at the Valley City Frog Jump. Yep, that's an annual festival in Valley City, Ohio where kids of all ages compete to try to make their frog jump highest. Not into catching frogs? No problem, you can rent one. No kidding. Check it out at http://www.valleycity.org/frogs/frogjmp.htm.

Here's a competitor!

So, with all this excitement, can you blame me for maybe not getting around to doing any more 8N08 exercises?

Fortunately, Eric, a colleague, was kind enough to pick up on RSS feeds and develop the exercise for them. I just tried it out--subscribed to loads of romance writing and library feeds. I'm amazed how easy it is! I think it will be a nice way for people to ease into finishing the second half of 8N08.

And my friend Carmen emailed me about a new Web 2.0 application from Amazon that ranks--for lack of a better word--stuff! It's called Unspun. Check it out: https://unspun.amazon.com/

8N08: The Saga Continues

First, if you read historical romance, let me recommend a nice light summer read by a friend of mine. It's getting great reviews and if you do the genre at all, you'll probably enjoy it.Now, back to business. I've been typing my fingers to the bone (to the bone, I tell you!) trying to get my fifth exercise together so our tech department can figure out how to make it happen. I'm trying like mad to get it done before I leave for ALA next week.It's on podcasts and downloadable media and I think staff will really enjoy being able to see what the fuss is all about.
Plus, with the news that some items will soon be available for use on iPods, I think there will be even more interest in using downloadable audiobooks.

Finished The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I loved her first book, Garden Spells and just gobbled this one up too. They are magical!
Also, listening to on my MP3, another sophomore effort, Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. Again, I loved her first, Love Walked In and am engrossed in the second. Love all the movie references, even though I don't get many of them!

Another debut, by Rebecca Flowers, Nice to Come Home To was like taking a walk back through my younger days. She was obviously from around my home town and I was thrilled to find out her mom was the director of a library in the county I work in. Too cool! I have to admit, at first, I didn't like the main character, but I grew to become quite fond of her. The mentions of Springsteen alone would win my heart.

Hope you are all enjoying some fabulous reading too!

Shelfari -- Readers Advisory Gone Wild

Here's a picture of our plane, which was in Illinois this weekend with my husband and daughter while I played soccer, rode my bike 25 miles and moved the kitchen. Needless to say I slept well on Sunday night. It's Tuesday now and I'm still recovering! But, isn't she pretty? Please note the dual nationalities of the flags which flutter in the breeze off the antennas.

Mary B. sent me something about Shelfari. It's a nice RA site that uses Web 2.0 to share your reading with others. Because it uses book covers, it's very visual, making it attractive to view and use. And--very cool--you can add it to your blog as I've done. SRC has been keeping us quite busy here at the library, so I've not had a chance to get any other exercises done and posted. The next one will probably be podcasts and uploading online books. Of course, ALA is coming up, followed by several days vacation, so if I don't get started before then, it will be July before I get any more done.

Here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a blog, blog...

It's really been fun seeing all the 8N08 blogs come in. I've linked mine to quite a few, if anyone wants to have a look.

Now, to find time to work on the remaining four of 08. (Or should that be 4of8N08? Or perhaps 2nd4of8N08?)

I'll get to it--I swear. Just not this week. We are gearing up for SRC (Summer Reading Celebration--a very big deal in the library world) which means school visits. That is, I send library associates and librarians into the netherworlds of the schools to present what's happening at our library this summer and I mind the desk.

A fun, but busy, time.

Exercise 4 -- Play Day: Rollyo, Pandora, Webjunction, Reader's Advisory Online, and Image Generators

Can a person develop an addiction to image generators? I'm becoming a little concerned!

Although, the Reader's Advisory stuff isn't strictly Web 2.0, we're including it because some of the links and newsletters may be new to staff. I think they'll particularly enjoy Pandora and the image generators!

Even Punkers Do It!

Take a trip to Heaven.

Yup, it's from another image generator.

Fun with Exercise #4

Yesterday and today, I've been playing with some of the fun things we'll be doing for Exercise #4. I started with Rollyo--where you create your own search engine and decided it would be more useful to do on my laptop where I've saved favorites that I use more frequently. But, it's a neat tool.

Today, I've been trying to find some neat image generators (adding a blog that lists them to this blog under "Blogs of Interest"). Amongst the list were some name generators and I discovered that my roller derby name would be "Amber LiquidateHer." Wow! I feel so tough. I need to channel some of that name into my real personality! I also designed a "Clippy" as you can see.

Talking Tags

Finished the tagging exercise yesterday. Staff will explore tag clouds, how tags work, and how they might be used in the literary and library world. Rather than forcing them to sign up for yet another account somewhere like del.icio.us, I've given the option to just tag something on Amazon.

Mashups

Just added Mashups to Flickr Exercise. Hope you all have fun with them!

Exercise 2 Flickr

Barb C. was kind enough to design the Flickr exercise and did a great job. The blogging and Flickr activities already have clear instructions on the websites in which they are based, so we didn't have to add much.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this post--it's just a neat picture, although not so neat an experience for the owner of this plane.

We were at a chile fly-in in southern Ohio in 06. Suddenly a shout went up! A plane that had not been chocked or tied down was sliding into the lake. No one could reach it in time to stop it. Here you see a kayaker paddling by it to try to hook it with a rope to pull it out before the water damaged it more than it already had.

Look what I made playing with image generators! Staff members will enjoy it when they get to this part of 8N08.

8N08

In an effort to be more "hip," 8 in '08 has become 8N08 (I know, I know, but we can try, can't we??)

The initiative will be introduced on 4/29 at our adult workshop and we plan to have four of the eight activities ready by then. Since all the other members of our Adult Planning Team are busy opening new libraries or holding down the fort in brand-new libraries and my branch is oldest, I'm in charge! Whoever thought 2 years old would be considered old?? We're the toddlers of the Medina County District Library world. But, since all the other branches are actually infants (bear with me on this analogy--I know it's a stretch), we're the "mature" branch. (OK, that's really a stretch!) Check out the picture of my branch!

Anyway, I've managed to get the activity on blogging completed while an old man plows my driveway. I feel guilty. But, he has a plow and we have shovels and the snow/ice mix is heavy. But, now he's taken out his shovel to sort of trim where his plow missed and here I am cozy and warm typing away on my laptop. I expect I'll feel better when I hand over the $30 he's making to do it.

Hope all the MCDL staff enjoy doing this as much as I am!