A Day of Anticipation

Yesterday the book I was reading (Camel Club by David Baldacci) the book I was listening to on my Mp3 player (Good Guy by Dean Koontz) and the book I'm listening to in the car (Treasure by Clive Cussler) were all at pivitol points in their plots. It was a day I could read, listen or go for a drive. What did I do? I went to Bible Study. Sigh so much excitement. I did finish Good Guy in the afternoon while cross stitching for someone yet unborn. And I did finish the book before I went to sleep last night. Now, I just have to wait for Tues when I drive to Orlando for FLA to finish Treasure. In the mean time I have started Hoot by Hiaasen on the Mp3 and The art of Crucial Conversation (or something like that) in book form. I'm thinking about Marie as she finishes her last day in Fort Smith.

Fair Warning to Followers

To all my professional friends who are following this because of 23 Things... This blog is going personal. My daughter and her husband have recently started blogging and were surprised to find out that I had been doing it for 6 months already. So this is your warning. This blog is about to go "family" very little professional content will be found. There.... you've had your warning ... now don't blame me if you get bored -- my life just isn't that exciting.

Thing 23 -- Final Survey

All Done

Thing 22 -- Staying Current

Time for reflection. Hmmm. I was really looking forward to 23 Things. I mentioned it at every staff meeting from the NEFLIN Annual Meeting until it actually started. Did it live up to my expectations? OK brutal honesty time. It was too much. I consider myself pretty tech savy and it overwhelmed me. Too much in each thing. WAY too much. I feel more overwhelmed now than I did in January. I'm like, "why bother" -- I can't keep up with all the new stuff. I'm having trouble cherry picking what is useful for me. This is someone who was using myspace, facebook, delicious, youtube, rss feeds and podcasts. I can't imagine how anyone to whom all 23 things were new handled the onslaught. If I were to do it for a group of newbies I would do it over a year. A new thing posted every Monday -- small bites.
Will I keep up my blog. Why? People followed it because of 23 Things. I'm not working so what would I have to say that professional friends would find interesting?
Positives? I did add several RSS feeds and started using Google Reader rather than MyYahoo. I had to discontinue my Life Hacker feed as it was just too prolific and had far too many posts. I signed up for PaperBack Swap and have already mailed off a paperback of mine and received on from someone else.
What did I learn today (actually yesterday since it is too early for much leaning today)? I do not want to move to Kingsport. It has a huge Chemical Plant and a stinky paper mill. See not very library oriented. I did visit the library, however. Reading rooms on 2 floors with high or normal ceilings. Stacks are on three floors and low ceilinged (height of the 2 floors plus a little lower level divided by 3). The floor creaks alarmingly and you have to wonder if the historic building was designed to carry the load of a library. Sitting out bad weather today -- doing Things, reading and cross stitch. On to Cleveland, TN tomorrow.

Thing 21 Student 2.0 tools

I compared Assignment Calculator and Research Project Calculator. The dates for each came out similar with what seemed to be a little more time in the definition portion in Research Project Calculator. I also liked that the RPC had an evaluation section for after it was over. However I did like the e-mail alerts available with AC. I looked at the teacher tools available . I did not download any of them as I am traveling and the hotel Internet connection is not the strongest. I would like to take a closer look at Boolean Basics and Google Seach Tip Sheet.
I can't really see using these personally other than to get suggested dates. I used a white board in my office for similar project tracking and prefer something before my eyes. I'm just a visual learner.

Thing 20 Books 2.0

Wow, another thing that has seventy million components. Just as TV did not mean the end of radio -- books are not headed for the dumpster yet. I signed up for Daily Lit. We will see if it takes too much time. They offered normal, longer and longest settings. I was looking for a shorter setting -- oh well. I love KDL's What's next. I have used it for years and even contributed corrections when they got things a little screwy. I'm not as crazy about their latest interface. I don't think it is as intuitive to use but still a great site. I am a fan and member of Book Swim. I primarly use it for things I can't get thru the library. In fact they are going to be Beta testing some changes in their website starting soon and I am one of the Beta Testers. I also signed up for Paperback Swap. I always shared my paperbacks with my dad but since his death I have just given them to the library. I listed five books this afternoon and someboday wants one of them already. Of course I immediately had to say I'll be gone for 10 days starting Tuesday. Oh, well.

Thing 19 -- Other social sites

I am on Web-Juction. When I attended the CPLA class in Arizona everyone was hot to keep in touch with each other. Since Michael Porter (AKA Libraryman) was the instructor and is with Web Junction. He said someone might want to start a group on that site. I just looked at it (first I had to remember my password) and it looks like 4 out of a class of 20 signed up. It is OK but too many spots to go is too time consuming. PLA has started a new series of discussion topics. I happen to be the moderator of "Be a Better Manager" So far we have 6 members and no discussion.
I was talking to my SSLLI mentor the other day and I said that first everyone was on MySpace, then everyone moved to Facebook, now everyone is Twittering. I asked her what the next "big thing would be? She said that it wouldn't be a big thing it would be something small that happens to grab our attention for a little while.
I'm worn out from it all.... Could I be getting old? Nah! Just tired.