Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve...and the season feels different but still special. Actually it's Christmas as I right this but for me it doesn't feel like Christmas until I've woken up on Christmas morning and eaten a cinnamon bun! Normally, I would be in Rochester...however my parents abandoned the town we grew up in and I find myself Christmas eve night remembering cherished traditions instead of participating in them at the church I was raised in.
What I miss tonight is the tradition for the last hymn, lighting a candle, singing Silent Night and standing in the candlelit sanctuary as a congregation with only our voices softly filling the midnight air. And then as the hymn ends, the sound of everyone blowing out their candle with a second of darkness, followed by about an hour of catching up with old friends that are back in town for the holidays. As a kid the sanctuary always felt magical, so calm and filled with love.
I feel so blessed to have been raised in a church filled with that kind of love, for each other and for Christ. I'm realizing especially tonight the importance of remembering, cherishing and loving - genuinely, sometimes painfully and with much gratefulness.

coffee

Today I went to take a swig of coffee from my thermos...it's not a large thermos, just one of those metal kind that you take with you in the car. Anyways, took a drink and spilled coffee down both sides of my face and a bit dribbled on my shirt.

I wonder, am I so excited about drinking coffee that I'm attempting to drink it to fast? Or am I just really clutzy? I think it's both...what a mess I can be for my love of coffee :)

baby steps

Changing a career is never easy. I've learned that moving from retail management to librarian...is really not easy! But not impossible. Like a baby learning to walk I've been taking small steps - mini moves and slowly, with increasing steadiness and soon more speed and grace I will be walking tall and proudly and will be a librarian.

The wonderful and rewarding part of grad school is that officially when I am finished I will have earned the title Librarian. I told my mom one day that the idea that I will have earned a title and will have that for life...Librarian gives me such a sense of accomplishment and pride.

The tricky part is getting someone to pay you...hence the baby steps in my career change.

I knew soon into my grad school experience that I needed experience, library experience. I realized this even more when a year ago I interviewed for a temporary part-time position at an academic library, the job was for a few months and I thought the interview would be cake. It was harder then I thought and I realized I wasn't ready yet and wasn't going to get the types of library jobs I thought I had deserved with all my grad school experience. Grad school is hard and I've learned a lot and yeah management experience is great too but when you're going into a very bureaucratic field and your competition are other grad students who have been working in libraries for a few years or more you see the light real quick.

So I sold my house to move to the cities where all the experience lies at my fingertips. I started volunteering in a cancer library and took a student job in the library at school...all of this for any kind of library experience I could get. I'm starting to walk steadier!

I interviewed Thursday morning for a temporary part-time position at an academic library - sound familiar? Different position, different library, different outcome. At 1 pm on Thursday I got offered the position! It's only for a few months but it will be a great experience. I will be a part-time interlibrary loan technician at Capella University in downtown Minneapolis and I can't wait, Unfortunately I have to wait, until the end of January! I think I can handle it ;)

My so called life

In an earlier blog I talked about the writer's strike and I must say that I am enjoying it for one small reason...ABC has started reruns of the show "My so called life" which aired way back in the 90's.

I liked the show back in high school and I'm having fun watching it again now. If you've never seen it I will warn you that it's a totally depressing show and is probably the reason why I went thru a dreadful fashion stage in high school that involved too many oversized flannel shirts and wanting to dye my hair weird colors. But, there is interesting dialogue and teenage drama which in my book never goes out of style ;) And it brings back memories from teenage angst that often we want to forget but really helped develop us into the people we are now....'sigh'

on a totally different note...I may have an update about library job related stuff very soon, stay tuned in for more in a few days ;)

Virtual Worlds

A few descriptions first:

Avatar – a virtual image of yourself used online to represent yourself in a graphic way, other than with just text. This is created and can be changed by the creator at any time. It can look as close to or as different as the creator.

Second Life – created in 2003, this is a virtual world. Users pay a minimum of $9.95 per month for membership and more at times if they wish to buy virtual property, land or retail items. Interaction with other users is made possible with Avatar’s.

Webkinz – are stuffed animals purchased in real life. The stuffed animals come with codes that when entered on the webkinz site then become virtual pets. Kids take care of their pets online and by purchasing items in real life at retail stores they then have more virtual items…i.e. trading cards come with codes that can win accessories for the virtual house, etc.

Many say that webkinz are great for kids because they help them with their computer skills and teach them how to take on responsibility in their life. I can see how this is true however on the flip side I can also see how we are training are kids on how to use and live in virtual worlds.

So for our kids, ourselves and the future…are virtual worlds simply a new way to entertain ourselves and interact socially with others or should we have concerns…and if so what should those concerns be? I hardly believe that “real-life” society will fail to exist simply because there is now a virtual world but I do wonder what the impact on personal relationship will be like in 20-30 years. Will there be virtual relationship and real relationships and will they co-exist or will people consider their virtual life entirely separate from their real life. I don’t want to get carried away…I’d love to hear thoughts, I really have no set opinion on this subject myself, just curiosity and my rambling imagination…

Just west of the smelly stacks

Moving to Rosemount was not in the plans. I was going to live in my lovely rambler, in Rochester, for the rest of my life. Eventually, meet a wonderful man (who didn't own his own house and loved my house as much or more then me!), we would marry, he would move in, we'd have babies, build a family room addition off the dining room, create a larger bathroom in the basement and live happily ever after. Sigh. Rosemount was not in the plans.
For anyone who's driven on 52 headed south of the Cities or going north towards the Cities, you have experienced the smelly stacks. They are located off of Hwy 52, near the Hastings exit and you can't miss them. They are huge, they light up the night with their white lights and smoke and they stink. Here's the funny, quirky thing about this plant and these stacks. Just west of the smelly stacks, there's no smell. And even better there's beautiful farmland, trees, small rolling hills and gravel roads that are never monitered by police ;)
Rosemount is just west of the smelly stacks and although it was not in the plans I am as Lewis wrote (i say this in a different context as him), "suprised by joy" that has been found in this random change to my pre-planned life. Less and less do I plan my future and suprisengly find more and more joy by this. Almost everyday now I drive on the back roads from home to 52 and vice versa. The gravel road that I can drive dangerously fast on provides great excitement and the feeling of freedom that I so desperately have needed to feel for a number of years. Just west of the smelly stacks I enjoy God's beauty in the nature surrounding my home. My life certainly can't be planned for a while, if ever again!, and I don't know how long I'll be in Rosemount so even though Rosemount wasn't in the plans I take joy in the fact that just west of the smelly stacks there is no smell, great beauty and exciting roads to travel on.

The 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike

I am a TV and movie junkie so I thought I’d look into this whole Writer’s Guild of America strike and see how my TV shows are going to be affected. The histories of strikes in the past and the reason for this strike are somewhat interesting. All of the information that I’m writing about was found on Wikipedia.
The first strike in 1960 lasted for 22 weeks. The second strike in 1988 lasted only one day longer than the 1960 strike. The 1988 strike was based on residuals. Apparently the use of VHS in the household was becoming so common that the WGA felt they needed to renegotiate their contract. The outcome was the decision that a writer would receive .3% of the first million of reportable gross and (.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. This stayed the same even as buyers moved from VHS to DVD.
Now, here’s an interesting fact, the home video market (presently) makes close to 3x’s the box office. Not too much of a surprise considering how cheap DVD’s have become and how pricey going to the movies is. Home video market brings in 4.8 billion, the box office 1.78 billion. So it’s no wonder that with changing technology and it being almost 20 years since the last strike the WGA is striking again due to “new media.” This 2007 strike is based on an inability to negotiate on “new media” residuals. What is new media? Internet and cell phones are the prime concerns for the WGA and I really can’t blame the WGA for being tough to negotiate with – once you’re done negotiating you’re usually stuck with what you agreed on for a significant period of time – despite what changes take places in the world around you.
Changing technology could have a huge affect on the public’s access to creative works…AND…the contract that the WGA finally accepts could also have a huge affect on the public’s access to creative works.
How will this affect our shows?, is what everyone’s asking. And it will have an affect, for most shows starting in Jan we will see more reruns. Wikipedia has a list of all shows and how many episodes have been produced before the strike – when looking for 2007 writers guild strike, take a peak at their link to effects of the 2007 WGA strike. I think this strike could have a great affect on America, maybe keep junkies like me from watching too much TV and finding something more useful to do with my time :)

Privacy vs. Openess

I was enjoying one of my favorite shows last night, after I had created this new blog and the topic of blogs became a discussion on the show. A statement made in reference to blogging was, "does no one value privacy anymore" and the response made was, "the value now is on openess."

I may be a little off with the wording of the quotes but the point was that we used to view sharing of information online as giving away your privacy, and in a way not protecting yourself. We valued the certainty of knowing that others didn't know too much about us and in turn couldn't harm us, emotional, physically, etc. What about this value of openess, what does that mean. For some it may mean that they want to know as much about someone as they possibly can, that would make them feel closer to that person. For others, it means they want others to know about themselves, their thoughts, feelings so that they feel known.

I'm partial to believe that there may be a shift in the value of privacy to openess but I think the reason of why remains the same. I think for both the driving emotion is the fear of being misunderstood and harmed in the process of either sharing too much or too little of ourselves.

At times I seem like an extremely open person, I share my opinions, my feelings, my thoughts easily but I know that I am also an extremely private person, especially about my experiences, fears and convictions. I'd like to flip this in a way, learn how to be more private about things I'm quick to be vocal on, and become more open about those things that by becoming vocal make a real difference in my life and possibly others.

Becoming a Blogger

I will say, up front, I am nervous. An "online diary" is not something I start lightly or without reservation. I haven't even maintained a private diary for many a years so writing my thoughts, and posting them for the public to read is intimidating. Not that I really believe I'll have many readers! I do plan on writing substantial and hopefully interesting posts. Because I am nervous, intimidated and clueless still about the organization of my blog I am ending this post before it becomes a random mess. But first, 2 quotes as an intro to my blog:

"It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something." from the book, Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

"For it is the mind which creates the world about us, and, even though we stand side by side in the same meadow, my eyes will never see what is beheld by yours, my heart will never stir to the emotions with which yours is touched." from the book, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing

I hope that my friends choose to muse with me as they see fit in this journey through the country we now refer to as the Internet. Your thoughts and feelings are important and I value them because we all see the world a little differently and can find much worth from our differences.