A little more than one year ago, I was enjoying my first day here in Naples. After a long drive from Texas, I was busy, getting my driver's license, car registration and then finding the Walmart for a huge trip to buy cleaning supplies and food. I was marveling at our huge condo on the beach, the beautiful sunny weather, and glad to be home. I was looking forward to my first visit to the church, to meeting the pastor. I was excited about my first day at a new job, an meeting everyone there as well. I also still had to really finish my dissertation, and unpack and find a place for all the things I had brought with me from Texas. ( Read more... )

I keep thinking I am going to sit down and write a post about this or that topic, and then I don't, and another day goes by where all that gets posted are my tweets from twitter, and some days, not many of those. I was thinking about it, and my online activities seem to go in cycles where I am glued to the computer, constantly checking e-mail, facebook, twittering, and blogging, and then something comes up and I stop or scale back. I wonder if it is a difference between my generation, where computers and technology were part of our lives, for sure, but nowhere near as ubquituous as they are in the generations that followed. And then I think, maybe it isn't even that complicated, maybe it's just that I figured out from an early age how to entertain myself, and no technology was involved in reading, doing arts and crafts, and playing outside. (It makes my heart feel good when I walk around our complex and see kids playing outside, especailly when I see them being creatvie and using their imaginations...)

Work is going pretty well I think. It amazes me how I can be working on something and struggle with it and push it to the side only to realize one day exactly what the problem was and then fix it. (Or in the case of RSS feeds from the OPAC, tell the Tech guy at TLC the problem and have him fix it.) I have come so far from the days when I made my own manual online list of new titles from the catalog or from book orders. I can definitely see that the Fall is a busier semester, and there are some days when it seems like everyone who comes into the library is coming because they need help. The Libguides/Research Guides have been a big hit with huge numbers just in the first couple of months of the semester. I have a better grasp on many of the databases and resources, and am working on understanding EZProxy parton authentication as well. Collection development is taking some adjustment still, as it is hard to order for some of the programs when many students are online or distance and have little or no use for physcial hard copies of books. I am hoping soon that we get things straightened out with Netlibrary and can order ebooks through them again. Also always looking for other ebook vendors.

I am LOVING ballet, and completely not regretting choosing Naples Academy of Ballet over Etudes. The Intermediate class is challenging but tons of fun, and when I do get something the first time, it really makes me happy. Konstantin is a great teacher, always giving corrections, even to us adult students, without being mean or degrading, and Toshiko takes class with us every Monday night. I haven't taken class with Liliam yet, but I love to listen to her give direction to the class before ours, "es step, es step, pas de chat..." Hard to communicate her Cuban accent on the written page. The school is moving to a brand new custom designed studio in Janaury, and everyone in the school has been invited to participate in a dance showcase to celebrate, even the adults! Of course I signed up immediately! Konstantin is going to choreograph our piece I believe, and he mentioned wearing long skirts Monday night (us of course, not him!)  Hey, tamrin , I need a ballet/ballerina user pic--maybe I'll get a picture of myself from the showcase...

Still reading and knitting away. ReadSpace is still doing well, and I was thrilled to get the chance to interview Patrick Ness after he won the Guardian for The Knife of Never Letting Go. I guess I need to start looking for books to review in the spring. (I still have a whole row from fall/winter.) It is harder for me now, I think, since I am not a plugged into the public library scene. I finally finished knitting the purple and yellow LSU scraves for my sister and her new husband. I am working on a special gift for my roommate from college and her family, and after a present for another friend. For some reason, I give away almost everything I knit. (Although if I ever knit the sweater I really want, I am keeping it!)

Of course, still cooking up a storm, so to speak :) I have decided to renew my subscription to Everyday Food when it comes due, as almost all the dishes we have tried from there have been good, easy, and healthy. Recently there have been several pork dishes that were excellent. (Saying alot coming from me, because I don't really like pork much.) The first was Broccoli and Pork Stir Fry. I did not use the orange zesy because I didn't have it, and I left out the cornstarch and broccoli stalks as well. (Cornstarch because I didn't want the sauce to get to thick, and broccoli stalks because my husband is not a huge fan of broccoli to start with, and I felt like the florets were enough.) I was pleasantly surprised that such a few choice ingredients melded together so nicely. I might like orange and broccoli together even better than lemon and broccoli. And my husband liked it too--between the two of us, we ate all of it. The second was Broiled Soy Glazed Pork with Rice and Asian Vegetables. This one was even better, the perfect quick cooking healthy meal. The vegetables and pork all go in one pan to broil in the oven and come out delicious browned. The snow peas were a bit expensive, but definitely worth it because they contrasted with the peppers and onions. And the honey on the pork was better than barbecue sauce (my preferred choice with pork.)

Finally, I am very excited to be attending not one, but two conferences this month. This weekend is the LITA Forum in Cincinatti, and I can't wait, as it is a smaller conference focused on libraries and technology. The opening general session is with Tim Spalding, founder of Library Thing, who always has interesting insight into all things library since he has a real outsider's view. I am also looking forward to Michael Porter's Hi Fi Sci Fi Library on Saturday, not the least because the video cracks me up and the song is stuck in my head. (Couldn't get the embed code to cooperate.)  I just know his presentation is going to rock as well. (More on the Chicago conference and trip closer to the trip dates.)

I don't really have any specific topic in mind, just felt like I ought to post something for some reason.  If you were to ask me, I would tell you that there is a whole lot of not much going on in my life right now.  Which, I guess, is both true and not true.  It has become extremely easy to be unproductive.  Over the long weekend, I pretty much did nothing behind knit and read and sleep. 

I did manage to go to Home Depot and buy a dehumidifer and to Michaels (yay 50% off coupons from craft stores!) to purchase the Fall Issue of Interweave Knits.  I am a subscriber to Knitting Daily, also from Interweave, but this was the first issue that I really thought there were several patterns I wanted to try out--a really cute completely round felted bag, a double breasted pea coat, and several other sweaters, vests, and more.  I finally figured out how to cast on stitches at the beginning of a row, so I finished knitting a racerback tank out of Lion Brand Incredible in Blue (actually, it was yarn that came from Big Lots for $1 a skein, and it doesn't have a Lion Brand label, but it looks exactly the same.)  As soon as I sew up the seams, I'll take a picture.  Maybe I'll even model it myself, although I think I need more practice in sizing, because I think it might be a wee bit short.  I started another baby sweater for a friend whose little girl was born last December.  I love making things for babies and children because they take less time and they look so sweet.  I told myself I was NOT buying any more yarn--I have one large tote and two large tote bags FULL of all kinds and color of yarn.  But when yarn is on clearance and it is the perfect yarn for the gift I want to make for a friend, well then I just had to buy it.  Did I need all four skeins that I bought?  Maybe not.

Last week I was so excited because I had decided to go back to taking ballet classes.  There are now two ballet schools here in Naples, Etudes de Ballet which is right down the street and teaches the RAD method, which I learned in middle school, and Naples Academy of Ballet which has teachers from Russia and Cuba and is owned by a former member of the Japanese National Ballet.  I took classes at both, and while I liked them both, I liked taking class with the Russian teacher more.  The next day my lower body hurt from my toes to my hips.  I went back last night, and my legs turned to jello.  I am trying to figure out if there is anyway I can take two classes a week.

At work, we are gearing up for the next semester.  The library portal pages I designed have been made live, and we are adding the research guides I created using Libguides into all the online classes.  I am also setting up my own class in Blackboard.  I found out today that there are 30! students registered.  It is so weird to be thinking that I will be the professor. 

Finally, just a quick update on ReadSpace.  Thanks to my partner in blogging, ReadSpace has a new home.  You can find us at http://readspace.net/  I hope you check it out some time.  I have started asking publishers for advanced copies, and some have graciously provided them.