A not-post

I was sitting in the Suzzallo reading room a few days ago working on some school stuff, and I thought hey! Why not start taking notes on stuff I could put in a blog post later? I haven't written anything in a while, but I'm feeling too lazy to write much at the moment, so maybe...a list! Yeah! I like lists! Lists are easy, and ADD-friendly! So without further ado (because I seriously need to put in some time on my 560 User Needs Assessment that's due, oh, TOMORROW *panicky flailing*), a collection of random thoughts. I might eventually run with some of them and turn them into a real post, buuuuut I might not. Who knows.

My original blog post opener:

In my Instructional and Training Strategies class right now, we've been asked to read a couple articles that have quietly started the wheels turning in my head regarding why exactly I want to do what I want to do with my life.

While listening to the first story in the This American Life episode "Image Makers" (Ep 294):

"Who does her own librarian version of 'Hello Escanaba, are you ready to rock?'" --> "Hello kids! So what are you here to see today? *pauses* A rock concert! That's right!" *facepalm*

Volunteering during the kids rock concert at SPL killed me - patrons were upset, expecting the library to be a quiet place, and yeah, for 364 days out of the year, it usually is. So what if for one afternoon, they want to be loud?

Why the hell can't libraries be fun, exciting places where people meet, collaborate, and engage with each other?

Libraries are for the young. The learners. The innovators. It's time we took that back.

"Did it make you think differently about the library?"
"Yes it did! It made me think about...hey, if librarians can do this, make a library not very much a library with making it loud, basically anyone could do anything!"

While watching 'The Hollywood Librarian':

"I long to throw my arms around every librarian I meet on behalf of all the souls they never knew they saved." -Barbara Kingsolver

Keepers of a civilizing flame.

Weight of the library world is on our shoulders.

Schmuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp. (I have no idea why I wrote this.)

Defense of libraries focuses a lot on children's librarianship, providing services for the homeless or disadvantaged, and helping students. What can libraries do for the average person?

Book clubs or group or discussions give people a safe outlet to discuss things beyond the superficial and connect with each other in a deep way.

The Hollywood Librarian = a nostalgic love letter to libraries past.

Mitchell and Webb! Aaahahhhaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha!!! I kinda want to post the librarian one on fb, but it might make people who don't possess senses of humor mad.

Libraries should be at the technological forefront of information storage, retrieval, and management.

Apparently, space heaters + crappy apartment wiring = blown circuits every five minutes. Hello blankets!

In 520, my discussion group has spent a week talking about censorship, questioning the moral/ethical side of librarianship, and examining the rather revolutionary (for the time) reference techniques put forth in an article published in 1876 while simultaneously ripping apart the supercilious and irritatingly condescending tone of its author. My small group for the class also picked student filmmakers as our target group for our Top Ten Reference Sources project later in the quarter.

In 560, we've talked about everything from what makes certain professors effective in the classroom, using the ARCS model as our baseline, to exactly why Alton Brown is such a bamf in the kitchen. (Yes, I did just use the term "bamf". Deal with it.) I also decided to use the same student filmmaker target group for my future library skills instruction project.

Based solely on this first week of class, I am so so so excited for how the rest of this quarter is going to go. This shit's awesome, and a big part of why I went back to school. :)

Found out half of my apartment is on one circuit. This particular circuit likes to blow once every couple days totally randomly. It is annoying.

I remember when I was a kid, going back to school after a break was probably the greatest torture adults could ever devise for someone my age. My mom always knew to make my favorite breakfast and steer clear of me on that first day back, since I'd usually be a massive grouch the entire day. Ohhhhh how things change when you get older and start liking what you study infinitely more than what you do for a living.

Classes started back up on Monday, and just like first quarter, after the first couple of days getting acclimated to the new content and class structure (and touching base with my new groups), I'm realizing I'm in for one hell of a semester. The thing that excites me, though, is that I feel like we've gotten past the appetizer that was first quarter and are finally getting down to the meat and potatoes of the degree. I have really missed working in reference at Linfield over the past two years, and now I'm going to be learning the structure and methods behind what I did as a student worker! At times during my brief ref worker tenure, I felt like I was doing something (and doing it relatively well) without the proper understanding of how and why it worked. I'm really hoping these two classes will help fill in those gaps and give me a good foundation for where I'd like to start out before heading towards administration: reference librarianship in a medical or science library.

So in other news, I realized after having coffee with a friend last night that I'm slightly behind on the whole Huck Finn censorship drama that's playing out at the moment. From what I understand, a publishing house in Alabama is combining forces with a Twain scholar to publish an edition of the many-times-banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that removes the "n word" and replaces it with "slave". People are outraged. Here's my take:

We live in a free country. If one publishing house wants to print one edition of a novel that is censored in some way, they are entirely free to do so. In my opinion, it isn't even that much of a censoring - replacing a derogatory racial slur with a socially acceptable word that still encapsulates one of the most shameful periods of our history admirably is fine by me. It isn't like NewSouth is trying to replace "n****r" with "African American" or some other politically correct term. And quite honestly, if the n-word is the sole reason this book isn't getting into the hands of more junior high and high school students, then by all means put out a slightly altered version that won't piss off close-minded, uptight parents and school boards. They are editing out one word. In one edition. They are not editing the content or controversial subject matter of the novel, nor are they launching a campaign to stamp out the n-word from all copies of Huck Finn ever printed. If a kid wants to get his/her hands on an unaltered copy, all they'd have to do is wander down to their local library or bookstore and pick up one of the HUNDREDS of unaltered versions.

Censorship of any kind is a definite sore spot for me - the second I was old enough to comprehend the idea of a Banned Books list, I immediately went to the library to try and track down as many of them as I could. So don't get me wrong - I am 100% against the idea that anyone in a position of authority can deny the rights of others to read or watch or listen to any controversial material. But that isn't what's happening here. What's happening here is an interesting kind of reverse censorship that I find both fascinating and entirely blown out of proportion. Let NewSouth print their version of Huck Finn. Let whoever would like to read it do so. In the meantime, please just stop talking about how this one edition of Huck Finn is going to be a giant leap backwards in the fight against censorship and banning books, because that argument is total crap. But that's just my opinion. I'd be curious to hear what you all think about it!

Whew. Okay. Mini censorship rant over. Think I'll play a little Machinarium before heading to bed. Lots of good beer and good company to look forward to this weekend. ^_^

In which I ramble about music and whatever else pops into my head

Today's been a busy day, mentally-speaking, and instead of following my usual pattern of either talking it out of my system with other people or ignoring it until the wheels in my head stop spinning, I figured I'd inflict another blog post on the world. :)

Have you ever noticed that when describing a new band to other people, most of the time, you default to describing them based on other groups that have a similar sound instead of describing the sound itself? I was thinking about that earlier today while listening to a new album that's currently rocking my socks off. I love to share music I think is amazing with other people, but when I was trying to figure out a good way to describe Elbow to people I think would like them, I found myself trying to figure out who they sounded like instead of trying to find the words to describe the music itself. It's so much easier to make comparisons than use your own words to describe something, which is a little sad to me.

It reminded me of one of the many random events that occurred while I was volunteering at the library a while ago. A blind woman came up to the welcome desk and asked for some assistance with a couple basic things, and at one point, she wanted to buy some thank-you cards from the library shop. She asked me to describe the cards to her one by one, and the knowledge that she'd choose based entirely on my description gave a sort of pressure to the situation that doesn't normally exist when picking out greeting cards. It was surprisingly difficult to describe the scenes on the cards to her, which really made me think about how much I take in sense-wise without it actually registering in my mind. Describing something visual was difficult enough, but describing a smell? Or a sound? No wonder people revert to comparisons when trying to describe music. That being said, bear with me while I mangle a quick outline of some current favorite tracks.

While I'm writing this sentence, I'm listening to Grounds for Divorce (Elbow), and I'm really digging it. It's one of the most interesting songs I've listened to in a while because it's insanely layered. Every time I listen to it, I notice something different - a new little gravelly spot in the vocals, a new piece of the bassline, etc. Gah, even now when I try to describe the scene it sets for me in my mind, it's really hard to think of the right words to put it in. It feels like a song that should be heard in a bar with a beer in one hand and the other pounding out the time on the table. There are so many moments in this song that are ripe for audience participation - repeated lines, post-chorus intensive percussion sections, vocal hooks, you name it.

Next up is The Bones of You, also by Elbow. This song stood out to me when I was thinking about buying the album, and the percussion hooked me right away. I'm a sucker for a good beat, and this one definitely has that. This song feels like a driving song to me. It feels like a song that should start a summer road trip mix. Car windows open, sunshine streaming in, driving down the Oregon highways that I miss so much sometimes I can hardly stand it (one of the very few things I miss about living in OR during undergrad). I used to go for long drives when I just needed to get off campus and not think about things for a while, and I really wish I'd had this album back then.

On a somewhat related note, Derezzed by Daft Punk from the Tron soundtrack is definitely near the top of my list of current favorites. I've been a fan of Daft Punk for quite a while now, and their soundtrack to the movie was absolutely fabulous. This particular track is a favorite because of the incredible moment about ten seconds into the song where the beat gives way to the heavy synth. While Elbow is great for a leisurely car ride, Daft Punk (this song in particular) makes me want to sign up for motorcycle certification and start saving up for a sport bike.

I really don't know how I've gotten so far in life without knowing about Rodrigo y Gabriela. I don't even remember why I happened to look them up on Youtube a week or so ago, but I'm glad I did. Watching them play Tamacun and Diablo Rojo makes me feel the kind of awe that I don't really feel very often when it comes to watching musicians perform. I've always loved Spanish-style guitar, and their music makes me want to take up some form of dancing that would allow me to not look like an idiot while dancing to the beat. I bought both of these songs on iTunes, and while they're great, it just isn't the same as actually watching the song being performed. When you just listen to it, you don't see the fingers flying all over the place, or them getting so wrapped up in the beat that they're practically dancing in their chairs. I think they swung through Seattle (or Marymoor, at least) earlier this year, and I can't imagine how amazing they'd be live.

And with that, it's time to pack it in for the night. I'm off on what I'm sure will be an epic cabin adventure with some friends tomorrow through Wednesday, and I still have to track down half my snow gear. I've located my coat, pants, and boots so far, so all that's left is to hope that my goggles and gloves aren't stashed in storage somewhere...

Happy Katie is happy

Just a quick post tonight - Steam is having a completely ridiculous sale, so I'm about 3 minutes away from some serious gaming bliss. Downloading Portal (finally), Trine, Braid, Super Meat Boy, and all three Winter Voices games. Yay.

I've got to say, now that grades are all in for all three classes, I am pretty damn pleased with how my first quarter of grad school has gone. As stressful and overwhelming everything was at times, coming out of it with much better grades than I was expecting gives me a lot more confidence going forward. Now that I've got a good baseline established for what's expected of me, I can finally start to up the ante and really push myself.

I'm pretty excited for next quarter to start up too. I'll be taking LIS 520 (Information Resources, Services and Collections) and LIS 560 (Instructional and Training Strategies for Info Professionals), and on top of that, I'll be reading and evaluating what will probably be a mountain of applications for admission to the MLIS program next year. I'm so ready for it all, though. I'll take the stress of school over the stress that comes with putting off Christmas shopping until the last second any day. Whoops. O_o

In between now and January 4th is going to be a ton of fun though, so while my brain's ready to get another pounding, I think my liver's first in line. Christmas weekend followed immediately by an epic cabin trip with some friends and a NYE bacchanalia to finish it all off? Yes. Please.

Hope all you MLIS folks are having a fantastic break thus far, and congrats to all of us on successfully navigating our first quarter of graduate school! In a lot of ways, this will probably go down as one of the most difficult quarters we'll face, and I really couldn't have asked for a better group of classmates and colleagues to tackle the rest of them with. :)

Oh Christ. No, seriously.

I subscribe to a couple listservs through the UW that target both student and professional positions, and one of the emails that made the rounds this morning advertised a Library Assistant position opening up in Cataloguing at Seattle Pacific University. In a frenzy of excitement, I clicked on the job description, decided to ignore the fact that I don't have any direct experience in cataloguing (yet), and got to work filling out a job profile during my morning break that I never ever take.

About two questions in, I noticed something odd about the tone of the application. I was asked to read the mission statement and statement of faith of the university and state whether or not I agreed and supported them. Normally, I'd have just not read them at all, clicked the Yes button, and gone on without a second thought like 98% of the other applicants will probably do. But I was curious, so I actually read them. And got extremely uncomfortable extremely fast. One of the options regarding your opinion of the mission and faith statements was a "Yes, with the following reservations:" button followed by a text box, and I wrote a basic "was raised Christian, now no longer follow the faith, still have the highest respect for people who choose to do so" blurb, and moved on.

The next two questions basically assumed I'd answered Yes in my support of the mission and faith statements. They asked me to explain in detail my assumed personal relationship with Jesus Christ and about my assumed involvement with a church or youth group, including any leadership roles I had taken. At this point, I clicked out of the application, and I'm still debating whether or not to continue it.

I feel like I'm an extremely accepting person when it comes to issues of faith. While my personal church-going experience has been mostly negative (leading to a current diagnosis of "I don't know what the hell I believe" and a definite aversion to most church-related activities), I have zero problems with other people's beliefs as long as they aren't getting shoved down my throat. To be confronted with these questions of faith in a job application really made me stop and think: should I go through with this application even though I can't justify being anything but totally honest about my lack of faith? And if I do decide to apply, would I be ruled out from the get go because I don't ascribe to their particular brand of belief? Is it more valuable in the long run to be honest on a job application than to just say what you think they want to hear?

Interesting thoughts, for sure. On a happier note, please read this. It totally made my afternoon.

I really didn't mean for this to dissolve into a rant, but what can you do. Once it starts, there's no stopping it.

When I re-downloaded WoW a few days ago, I was sort of afraid I'd fall back into the pattern I developed the first time I played the game: going to work, coming home, turning on the computer, falling into bed five or six hours later after a hefty bout of leveling. I'd never played competitively or even really collaboratively in the past, as by the time I got on board, most of the friends I knew who played had been doing so for years, while the most complicated video game I'd tackled prior to WoW was Ocarina of Time (fucking Water Temple forced me to pull out the FAQs every time). As a result, I'd maybe actually play with friends about 10% of the time, while the other 90% was spent running around blissfully killing everything I could see.

I was listening to a Stuff You Should Know podcast on the Vikings the other day, and their discussion of the Berserkers definitely rang a bell when it comes to my video game playing - I am an admitted button masher, and I am not ashamed to say so. This makes me little more than a huge nuisance when I play with other people, so I usually wind up soloing my characters, as doing anything more than moving the mouse WHILE hitting a key or two on the keyboard, like strategizing or attempting to chat during a battle, turns into me dying in a matter of seconds. So while WoW is probably going to be a lot of fun to mess around with during break, I somehow doubt I'll have that much of a problem putting it away once classes start back up again.

School has finally started to get back under control for me, which has been great. After a last-minute crunch to get my IB paper and presentation put together (the latter largely thanks to my incredibly on-the-ball teammates without whom I probably would have totally bombed the thing...or at least certain deadlines), as well as an incredibly frustrating afternoon putting together my final website design project for the quarter, I'm 10 presentation reviews in and looking good to finish out the quarter strong. I decided to only take two classes next quarter instead of trying to squeeze in an elective, since I'm guessing that admissions committee work is going to be pretty intense and time-consuming, and of course, probably going to amp up about two or three weeks before the end of the quarter.

A frustration has begun to surface as of late that I've hit in the past before, but had hoped not to encounter in my library science journey. I've been keeping an eye out for any library jobs in the greater Seattle area that would suit a 23 year old graduate student, and while a couple have popped up, despite a pretty significant amount of library experience and one hell of a resume, I still haven't gotten any bites whatsoever. I'd interviewed with one institution in particular quite some time ago when I'd just graduated from Linfield and was desperately searching for a job, any job, and while the evening shift library supervisor position I applied for would have been the perfect next step, I was passed over in favor of someone a couple decades older than me. Since then, despite frequent follow-up with the library positions I've applied for there during the past couple months, I've never even gotten an email back to thank me for my interest in the position. And sure enough, a couple weeks after the job closes, I see another 40-50 year old in the position.

I'm trying really hard not to draw the wrong conclusions about this cold-shouldering, but getting a foot in the door is turning out to be extremely difficult. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the job I currently have - I've taught myself quite a lot about the legal process, and met some very nice people. But one of the reasons I thought I was hired there would be to aid in legal research using the skills I acquired during 3 years as a student worker in reference, and to date, I haven't done one damn bit of research. My days are mostly spent doing copy jobs, data entry, and basic filing, which I probably could have accomplished just fine when I was 15 years old. Being 23 and trying to find a challenging, interesting job that pays enough to support you is starting to seem like a mythical state of being at this point.

While I know my eventual MLIS degree will probably help, I suppose I'm just afraid that after graduation, I'll run smack into the same wall I'm beating my head against right now - it'll just be a little further along the path. I don't expect to waltz my way to the top of the library world, but I'd like to be given the chance to accomplish the things I know I'm capable of doing, and want desperately to do. I miss working in a library. I miss interacting with patrons, and having every day hold something different. I miss the feeling of being excited to go to work. I suppose that's one big reason I volunteer at SPL, but even there, I get chewed out pretty frequently for stepping beyond the established boundaries for volunteer aid. About a month ago, for example, a patron came up to me who spoke only Korean, and he managed to convey he needed a translator. I asked the circ desk worker what the normal procedure would be for that, and she handed me a placard with the number of the free translation service used by the library. I called the service, explained the situation, and set up the call for the patron. After speaking with the translator, he handed the phone back to me, and the translator conveyed his request (he'd forgotten his library card at home and needed someone to look up his number for him) to me, which I passed along to the right person. Simple enough, right? You'd think I'd have run up to one of the stacks, doused it in whiskey, and lit the thing on fire based on the librarian-in-charge's reaction to my account of handling the situation myself.

I think half of what attracts me to library administration is the concept of self-management, and not being constantly bitched at by people higher up on the food chain than me. Realistically, you can learn all there is to know about an entry-level job (if you aren't a total idiot) in a month. Why 3-5 years of experience on average is required for most of these positions is totally beyond me.

Okay, enough ranting for now. Trust me, I could go on, but that isn't exactly productive. For now, I'm going to stick with networking as much as humanly possible, which doesn't really feel like work, actually. My interest in the field is absolutely genuine, so meeting and interacting with as many people as possible that are currently in it is extremely interesting, and I've really enjoyed talking with the folks I've met so far! I'm hoping to get a chance to speak with some of the reference librarians at SPL sometime soon about what exactly they do, and in an informal, conversational context. I'm interested in getting to know what people really think about their jobs as librarians - not just the rainbows and butterflies that's projected to everyone that doesn't know better.

Sorry about the enormous post - despite taking an HTML class, I'm still trying to figure out the easiest way to hide chunks of text behind links in a blog post. I was a champ at that during my Livejournal days, but since there isn't a handy little button anymore, I'm a little lost. Hokay, time to Worgen it up for a while before bed. Later!