10 Random Things About Me...

When Helene challenged us recently to continue with Learn and Play by posting 10 things about ourselves that few people know I was a little daunted. I'm new to CML so there are LOTS of things people don't know about me. That part is a little overwhelming. On the other hand, what in the world would be interesting enough about me that would be worth sharing? I finally decided that I needed to stop viewing it as the "10 Most Interesting Things About Me" and just go with 10 that pop in my head. So, here we go:

1. I collect unicorns. In any form. Figurines, pictures, tee shirts, coffee mugs, whatever. I have collected unicorns since I was young, elementary school age. My collection has grown too large and my house too small so adding pieces has slowed down tremendously. One of my favorites has always been The Unicorn in Captivity.
2. Which leads me to..... I am fascinated by all things from the Medieval and Renaissance periods of European history. I have attended Renaissance Fairs (including the one in Harveysburg, Ohio). Yes, I have a costume and it is a serving wench. No, I am not posting a pic of it here. Not because I won't share. I simply don't have one of me in the garb.
3. My family calls me the Pied Piper of Pets. Animals just come to me. Literally. For example, I was walking one day with my mother in a local park and we decided to take a break for her to rest. We found a bench and sat down. A cat came out of no where, jumped on my lap, curled up and went to sleep. Mom asked me if I'd ever seen the cat before. No, I hadn't. Odd. And it isn't just cats. At the moment I have seven animals in my household. Two dogs and 5 cats. Only 3 of them are original to me. The rest belonged to someone else before I took them in. I blame my maternal grandmother, who lived in the country. People from miles around would drop off unwanted pets, some of them in burlap sacks, on her walk up to her house hoping she'd take them in. She always did. Maybe it runs in our blood.
4. I have been called a "black sheep" in my family for two reasons. First, I am the only one from my paternal Grandfather on down who has not worked for Ma Bell. Seriously, all of them. Except my Mom. I guess they didn't include her in the comparison because she didn't work outside the home. Apparently, being a Librarian is thinking outside the box. ;-) Second, I am the only immediate family member (not sure about distant cousins) who does not have a tattoo. I have thought about it. But I haven't figured out what I want yet, and don't want to set it in ink on my body until I know what it is I want to put there permanently. I do know it will not be visible to anyone while at work, only to those I choose to show it to.
5. Although it is not my favorite season (that would be autumn) I am one of the few people I know who loves winter. Not just tolerates it, or likes it, but loves it. Not so much the Ohio winter, with gray dreary skies and snow that's here, not here, melted, slushy, now frozen.... I want snow on the ground all winter with bright blue clear skies. Apparently I live in the wrong state. I have friends who used to live in Idaho. From their discussions of winter there, it is where I need to move.
6. I tend to be very friendly and outgoing around most people. I think my job does that for me. I can approach just about anyone to ask them if they need help or to say "hello". I'm one of those people who others approach in the grocery store to ask where something is on the shelf because I smile and make eye contact. So far, no dates, so they must just think I work there. ;-) Outside of work I tend to be an introverted shy person, especially around people new to me. It's something I'm working on....
7. Speaking of friends, I have known my BFF Keri since we were both 2 years old. Keri's husband David is my next closest friend (convenient that they are matched up like that) who I've known since freshman year in high school. Oddly enough I met him before she met him. We are so close that our kids call each other Aunt, we have keys to each others houses and have taken vacations together. They tease me about being the "oldest" of the three of us. I am a whole 3 days older than her and 9 days older than him.
8. As my blog info suggests, I love to travel. I have been to several countries in North America, Central America and Europe. I hope to someday visit all 50 states. But I have never lived outside of central Ohio. It isn't that I wouldn't live elsewhere, but up to this point in my life family commitments have kept me here. As my kids are becoming more independent adults, who knows?
9. One of my favorite wild animals in all the world is a manta ray. I love how large and graceful they are. I have never seen one in the wild. I hope to be able to someday.
10. And last, some people around here have already figured out that I like Tinker Bell from Disney. But I am fond of another charater, this one from Warner Brothers. Marvin the Martian. If anyone remembers the Warner Brothers store at City Center Mall, in the back of the store there used to be Marvin's spaceship. It was designed for kids to crawl into and play with the instrument panel, see a running stream of cartoons of the adventures of Marvin and K-9, and generally get lost in space. I loved that ship! My own kids would hunt me down in there and ask "are you ready to leave yet?".... "Just a few more minutes, please?" ;-)

So what have we learned with Learn & Play?

Wow! We are at the end. It is finally here. I see others who are still catching up, and know of many who will still the next few weeks to complete the 23 Things. But is only just dawning on me that I am done and feeling a little let down. It has been wonderful to participate in an activity like this with lots of other people involved. I think that it is exciting that CML to is behind this initiative to educate the staff about Web 2.0 tools, if for no other reason than for them to be aware. I know I heard some frustration from people about how much time it took to do each of the tasks. The time involved really varied, depending on either the persons familiarity with the tool (if you knew nothing it might take longer figure the basics out) or their interest level with the tool (if you were just checking it out, you could get it done fairly quickly but if you really wanted to understand it, it might take longer). I do not think it is necessary for people to continue using all or even most of the Web 2.0 tools. If you have found some gem in the pile, that's great! At the very least, when our customers talk about one of the tools we have a clue what it is they are talking about.

MOLDI

I kinda feel like I'm cheating on this one. I have an existing account arleady with MOLDI. I recently came to CML from another local public library system, and I was their MOLDI rep, attending the annual meetings to determine where the focus of the money should be, who was interested in obtaining download stations (so glad to see CML has one in AV at Main!), etc... This is not at all new to me, though I realize there are many who have yet to discover it. For those of us who love to listen to audiobooks the potential for this iniative is exciting. But having been a longtime user of it, I have two quibbles with it. The first is small - is there a worse acronym in the world than "MOLDI"? I keep thinking of bad rhymes with 'old moldy librarian' in them. Not a good image. The second is much larger - and potentially damaging for users - when will iPod users be able to download audiobooks too? I realize that the issue is not with MOLDI itself, and rather with OverDrive who runs the system. But there are so many users they are alienating right from the beginning by not downloading to iPods. Just my thoughts....

Podcasts

I have listened to podcasts before and even subcribe to a couple on my Google Reader account. The most useful feature for listeners of Podcasts is that they can do it on their own time. One person might have time to listen in the morning but another not until the evening. And both can access the Podcast and listen at their convenience. The most useful thing for podcasters is that there is the opportunity to get their message out, whatever the topic, to a wider variety of people than a simple broadcast would.

YouTube!

I have teenage kids and was exposed to YouTube years ago. We have spent more time laughing over videos they have brought me over to their laptops to see than I'm willing to admit. I have never posted a video there myself, but I have seen some work by family members (posting a video from a class, a video of their kids for the holidays, etc....). Because humor is very important to my family, and humans in general, and many of us here have feline companions I want to share a video I recently uploaded to my Facebook page for my friends enjoyment. It is part of a series of animated shorts about "Simon's Cat" and this one is entitled "Cat Man Do". I hope you enjoy it too! (As an aside, I have a cat who does the "face pat" too).

CML's Tool Box

Wow! Has it really been that long since my last post? Today I spent time exploring CML's Tool Box of Web 2.0 tools. I feel good that I recognized all of the items listed, even if I didn't always use them. Played around a little on Boing Boing, already subscribe to the RSS feed for MAKE, and spend WAY too much time on Twitter already. Thinking about downloading the Library Toolbar at home. Good jumping point for those who are new to the whole Web 2.0 thing, but not necessarily interesting for anyone already living it. Wish there was some note on the page, however, indicating to newbies that this is only a sampling and not necessarily the full experience.

Google... It's not a post about what you think

Google likes to celebrate uncommon holidays. When they do that, we see a change in the way Google is presented on the initial search page. It's been dressed up for a birthday party when it recently celebrated it's ten year anniversary. It's sported Olympic rings and Chinese dragons to honor the most recent Olympic games. We'll be sure to see soon pumpkins at Halloween, turkeys in November, and possibly decorated fir trees in December. So why not urge Google to acknowledge World Diabetes Day. It may seem like a silly thing, but wouldn't it be great if the millions of users of Google were educated, if only slightly, about a disease that affects us all. Even if you don't have it, I bet you know someone who does. If you are interested in signing a petition to do just that, please feel free to click on the "sign the petition" button below. And thanks!