Interesting strategy

I should make sure I’m ill for all my job interviews. Apparently, speaking to someone from behind that kind of fog works in my favor. At least it did in this case: I’ve been offered the position, and I have accepted. The job starts on the 8th, so I’ve got a bit of time to get myself ready and figure out how it’s going to work with my school schedule. It’s 17 hours a week, which is awesome (more than I expected, really), and should be doable.

I’m excited!

I need new shoes.

Ill

It seems a bit early in the semester for me to be ill, but that’s the current situation. Nasty head cold. Ick. I haven’t slept well for two nights. I talk like a honking goose. My head weighs 80 pounds. And I have a job interview today.

Great timing, eh?

I’ll be sure to perk up with plenty of herbal tea before I go in this afternoon. I did a menthol/eucalyptus steam thing earlier, and that helped tremendously. Maybe I’ll do that again before I head out. Though, then I run the risk of having steam face – you know, where you get all red and sweaty looking? Yeah, that’ll be really impressive: Hi, I’m full of mucus and I’m sweaty! I’ll take that job now.

Once I perk up and put on my interview clothes, I’ll feel much better. I’ll make sure to take my nice handkerchiefs, so even if I’m all gross, I can at least have pretty accessories.

Notice!

Please mark your calendars:

17 November 2007, 7 – 11 pm

Joelle and Jesse’s 65th Birthaversary Fancy Schmancy Dancy Party!

Jesse and I are both turning 30, we’re celebrating our 5th anniversary, and we want to have a fancy schmancy party (with dancing, of course) to celebrate. We’ve rented a hall (the same one where we got married) and will have music and food and entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment: if anyone is interested in performing, please let us know in advance so we can make sure to plan for it. You don’t have to tell us what you’re doing if you want it to be a surprise, but let us know if you need any equipment or whatever.

We’ll send out actual invitations, and have a website with all the details, so keep your eyes out for those. The guest list will be fairly loose, but if you know of anyone who would like to come, please let me know. I can’t think of any reasons why this wouldn’t be a child friendly event (unless your performance includes, you know, sacrificing children), but keep in mind there will be alcohol (cash bar) and drunken fools (my family).
Woo! Party!

If you can read this, the site’s working

Been having some trouble lately. Don’t really know what’s happening. Some sort of error about the database being out of date, yet, when I update it, it only works for a few minutes, then I have to update it again. Weird.

It was working fine for a while today, so I decided to try to update the template, but then it broke again. So, yeah, if you can read this, then nothing’s wrong now, I suppose. (Though stay tuned as I try to find a lovely autumn colored theme template.)

ARRRR!

Here be pirates!

I nearly missed it last year, and if Flickr hadn’t reminded me, I’d have missed it this year, too. I think I may have also missed the celebration day of the patron saint of librarians and archivists, but having googled it, I think there are a few saints to choose from. I’ll have to actually do some research on that, just out of curiosity. My vote goes to St. Catherine of Alexandria (beheaded in BCE 305 in Alexandria, Egypt). I love celebration days, even if I’m not Catholic. (There’s a book, Making Saints, that I’ve been wanting to read for ages, but have never gotten around to. Eventually.)

ETA: jolly roger flag restoration (link via BitchPhD)

Welcome Autumn! (or apples and quilts)

apples

A little bit early, perhaps, but I couldn’t wait. Last weekend was super fun. Kristen celebrated her last year as a twenty-something in the usual manner: with apples, beer, and friends. I had a blast. I love apple picking, and look forward to it every year. Tasty! This year was a bit soggier than years past, due to the rain that morning, but we didn’t see much of it while out picking apples because most of us were quite late to the gathering. See, it pays to be tardy!

I’ve never been apple picking at any other place, but I can’t ever see us wanting to go anywhere other than Russel Orchard in Ipswich, MA. It’s perfect. You’ve got your hay ride up to the orchards, farm animals roaming around, pumpkins gathered for sale, a big barn store filled with produce, honey, (and here’s the best bit) several varieties of fruit wine. After sampling nearly every variety of wine, we settled on their black currant. It’s a sweet dessert wine, but still has a bit of a tart/dryness that keeps it from being overly sweet, in my opinion.

After apples and fun at the orchard, the caravan traveled to Salem for dinner at the Beer Works. Food and beer were excellent as usual. Salem businesses close down quite early, so we didn’t get the opportunity to check out the apothecary, unfortunately. After that, we headed to Kristen’s and watched the Rev’s game (woo!), played Scene It, and had some more food and drink. We ended up leaving rather early since we had to be somewhere the next morning. I wish we could have stayed over and chatted some more, though.

Sunday morning was Patti’s quilt show. Her guild (the Silver City Quilt Guild) has only been around for a year or so, and this was their first show. I don’t even know how many quilts were entered into the show, but by the looks of it, it was a complete success. I hope the vendors fared well, too. Each program had a ballot included so you could vote for your favorite quilt. JeT picked one of Patti’s and I picked one of the three hand quilted ones. Which brings me to the following conclusion: I’m a craft snob, I think. Some of these quilts were quite beautiful, and as I’m marveling at the skill with which they are put together, I notice a comment in the accompanying description indicating that such and such a quilt has been machine quilted by so and so (often a different person than the quilter at hand).

I found it jarring that so many quilts in this guild’s show were quilted by machine. Yes, it does take skill to execute complicated stitchery using a machine, but still, what I find most impressive about quilting is the time devoted to the creation of one object. My mother hand quilts everything she makes. It takes her months to finish one quilt. We’re talking hundreds of hours. A machine takes, what, a couple of hours at most? And the fact that they’re being sent out to be quilted. I don’t know, I guess it seems a bit like cheating. And to top it all off, the ones that were hand quilted were done with very little skill. Again, I’m comparing them with my mother’s work, where the stitches are minuscule and perfect. The emphasis was certainly on the piecing of the quilt top, and the quilting was a sort of after thought. In having so many machine quilted items, it’s like they were missing out on half of the craft. See? Quilt snob. And I’m not even a quilter.

That being said, most of them were stunningly beautiful, and it was difficult choosing which one I liked the best. There were some really lovely color combinations. I walked up to one, and went “ooh, I love the color in this one.” Of course, it was one of Patti’s, and she creates her quilts using fabric that she dyes and paints herself. It’s breathtaking. I also learned a couple of new techniques, which are making me want to take up quilting again. Alas, that’s one craft that’s going to have to wait. The crafty back log is already staggering.

MLS soon, i can has job?

Been trying to find a couple of part time jobs to work around my course schedule this semester. I’ve spent some time the last couple of days trying to tart up my resume so it reflects my most recent archives experience. It’s looking pretty good, I must say. I have a few different versions, as one should, so they’re also rather flexible.

I’ve only applied to two jobs thus far: one where I might not be entirely qualified, and one where I’m overqualified. It’s a strange place to be. I am always keeping my eye out for other appropriate opportunities, though. My advice for job seeking in this environment? Keep scouring the job lists, and apply as soon as you see something interesting. In this field, in this town, jobs are snatched up quickly. Especially the para-professional ones.

I’d be willing to bet that nearly all para-professional library jobs in this area are filled with Simmons GSLIS students. There’s an understanding that we’re all competing for the same jobs. And we’re not all crazy and cutthroat, either, which is nice. I’ve heard that in schools for other professions, the grad students are much more bloodthirsty in their quest for employment. It’s nice to engage in friendly competition without fear of incuring the wrath of fellow librarians-to-be.

“The Wrath of Librarians” would make a great movie.

Beginnings and Endings

As the semester begins, the first phase of my work at the MSPCA is ending. I submitted my report to the appropriate parties, who will then present it to the CEO. I’ll still be in contact with the assistant to the CEO and the grant writer, but for now, I’m not actively working for them. Once more grant money is secured, then the next phases of the project can continue, and I’ll be involved further.

It was a great project, and it looks fabulous on my resume (which I’ve just updated for the most recent round of job applications). I am quite pleased with the work I was able to accomplish this summer, and am gratified to know that my work was appreciated. It helped me sort of work out what I might want to do “when I grow up.” It got me thinking more about what areas of archives I really am interested in. I love the way archives can be used to illustrate the history of an organization, and how the archives can be used as a marketing tool, in addition to the academic/research side of things. This marketing doesn’t have to be in a corporate environment, either. A library needs to market itself (to secure funding), a town needs to interest tourists, etc.

I think archives can play a huge role in this kind of marketing and public outreach. I am, of course, being interested in an academic archives environment, concerned with the educational role of an archives: linking the primary source materials with the work of instructors. Finding creative ways to use the materials in an archives (or special collection, manuscript collection, etc) to inform the public of our presence will be a step forward towards making archivists less like ‘passive guardians’ and more like educators themselves.

Feeling rather optimistic, and waxing poetical about the profession today. Don’t worry. It won’t last; it’s still the beginning of the semester!

Firsts of the Last

We’ve had the first sessions of both of my classes this semester. I had the privilege of being among those to raise their hand when asked, “Who is graduating at the end of this semester?” I am taking the following courses:

• Records Management – the last of my archives core classes. The instructor is all “Woo hoo records! Awesome!” And I’m all, “Yes, important, but not that woo-hoo.” Still, records make the world go round, especially in an archives, therefore, it must be learned. It’s a very structured course, which complements the looseness of the other course (see below), and should provide that needed balance. It’s an evening course (6 – 9pm), so I’m stretching my boundaries a bit. My brain usually clocks out around 4 pm, so this might be a struggle. Though I may do well and get a second wind, so we’ll see.
• Digital Libraries – this is where it’s at this semester. I failed to register early enough to get into this class originally, but the series of scary emails that the instructor sent out must have been sufficiently frightening so as to make the wait list people drop like flies. I was number twelve on the list in the beginning, and I was able to get in two days before the class began. We’ll be working as a committee to launch a website for the Notable Women of Simmons collection. I’ve already volunteered for the position of documentarian/historian/project archivist. There was a bit of competition for this position, but I had my camera at the ready and as soon as class was over, took photos of our brainstorming activities. I really wanted this position, and so (even though the instructor asked us to let her know our preferences after class) I just sort of stepped up. Not my usual classroom behavior, to say the least, but I’m excited about it. I’ll be managing that section of the class wiki, most likely. And I’ll be setting up a Flickr page for that aspect of the project.

I’m feeling pretty energized about the semester. It’s going to be a TON of work, but well worth it. In Digital Libraries, I will have been part of a collaborative effort, and will have something tangible to show at the end of the semester. And in Records Management I’ll be gaining skills appropriate for the academic archival environment, so that’s good, too (though not as exciting).

Madeline L’Engle

Madeline L’Engle, Children’s Writer dead at 88

ETA: Want to read more? Click here. (Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.)