Week 2: Online Communities

Like many of the other bloggers in 23 Things Kansas, I have been using Facebook for several years now. I was first introduced to it by a friend who convinced me to sign up, even though I had concerns about privacy and the vague possibility that someone would steal personal information. After setting up the account though, I didn't really use it. Later on, most of my co-workers got excited about MySpace, so I also set up a page there. However, that site didn't hold much appeal for me, so once again, I ignored it. It wasn't until a couple years after setting up my Facebook account that I really started to use it. I think the thing that got me coming back was the applications at first. Since then, I have quit most of the applications, but I was a farmer for a while, and I've probably saved several thousand feet of rain forest all by myself. ;)

One thing that keeps me coming back now is my ego, I guess. I love to get feedback on posts! I also love to get tidbits of my "friends" days. I put friends in quotes, because the term encompasses so many different levels of relationship. I'm friends with my husband and my mother, old classmates (some of whom I was closer to than others), co-workers, my neighborhood association, old mom's group friends, people from my church (that's one way to make sure your posts are tasteful), my children's teachers, and even a few people in other countries that I'll never meet. One friend in England has the cutest little girl, her posts have a wonderful British "accent", and she's a mom. Because of that, I feel comfortable with her; we have enough in common that what started out for game applications has become a real connection.

Professionally, I don't use Facebook routinely. I love to read status updates from other TSCPL "minions" (Tanya's funny, apt term). Librarians are such an eclectic, intelligent, and entertaining group! There's been a time or two that a program or story time made the library's FB page, but not because I personally posted it. I suppose the closest I come to using Facebook in the line of duty is that it's the most reliable way to communicate with my Amazing Animals partner in crime, Jackie. Sure, we use the library's email system, but we both know I check FB pretty regularly...

Wanna be my friend?

Odd links and mixed metaphors

I just want to spend some time figuring out how to incorporate links. I've seen some cool blog links [ Jackie :) ] and to tell the truth, it's killin' me that I haven't used any yet. So, here goes.

Since I was reminiscing about good times in Arizona the other day, I thought I would show you some of my favorite places there.

One of the things I remember most about living there is all the fun I had hiking with Randall. (That's him in the picture above. We had just gotten off the Thalys at Gare du Nord in Paris - but that's this whole other story.)

We hiked Camelback Mountain regularly. Those last few yards were pretty steep, but oh, what a feeling when you got there! Only to discover that the butterflies had gotten there ahead of you. So beautiful. And then to descend in a barely controlled, completely exhilarating plunge. I'll always remember it.

Neither could I forget boulder hopping and gasping for breath when I fell into the chilling water at Oak Creek Canyon. Laughing when I took the wrong trail and missed the summit at Humphrey's Peak. Watching the ocotillo in my front yard go from brown dessication to fresh, effulgent green after a rain; blooming so that the tips of the branches appeared to be on fire; finally burnished and replete when autumn came to our home in Kingman.

Arizona is where I fell in love with the man I was to marry and where our first child was born. I think in some ways, I was like that ocotillo. Arizona was the place where life and love flooded over and through me. With a gasp, I came alive and I've been immersed in the brilliance of it all ever since.

Whoa, after all that I feel a little like Keanu Reeves after his moment of deep thinking in the movie, Parenthood. I leave you with one last link...

More of week 1: blogging

I'm reading some wonderful blogs - great work, everyone! After reading them, I felt like I would like to add a little more information about myself.

My background is in Park Resource Management and at one time, I worked as a naturalist for the Phoenix Zoo in Phoenix, AZ. In many ways, my job here is a lot like what I did there - helping people access, understand, and make the most of great resources.


So now I'm a Public Service Specialist in YS at Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library and I love my job! I like where I work, I really like the people I work with, and what I do is always a lot of fun. There are so many creative outlets for a children's "librarian". Making props and flannel boards for story time, sharing books, singing songs, and watching those little faces light up, dreaming up new programs for older children. I'm even still sharing animals with kids in a program that Jackie Hurst and I present called Amazing Animals. (Jackie is the best and working with her rocks!) It's already pretty good gig - I think 23things is sure to make it even better!

Week One: Blogging

In the quest for a blog name with a little appeal, I googled the term "literary allusion." After glancing through a few random links to the phrase, and then squishing and poking what I found, I came up with this: a literary allusion is a reference to one thing that helps you understand another thing because you can remember the first thing and apply it to the other thing. Understanding the first thing helps you understand the second thing.

But you, or in this case me, (ignore the fact that the grammar doesn't work here) must first be aware of the reference and then be familiar with what the reference means. And that's where I come in. In reference to technology, I have limited awareness. Oh, I use a little too much Facebook. I have a couple of e-mail accounts and a Twitter account that I only acknowledge to delete notices that somebody I'll never know is following me. I fantasize about cool Animoto creations. I've even used LibraryThing - once or twice. But when I think about posting a blog to our library's webpage, I get a little wobbly and go completely blank.

So, I'm participating in 23Things because I want to increase my awareness of and familiarity with the tools we will be covering in the weeks to come. Maybe even figure out how to apply them. Wouldn't that be cool?

Just wish I knew: will this be my 15 minutes of fame? Or my Catch 22? The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.