Terse

Some people are talkers. They have a story, an opinion, a comment on just about everything. I'm not one of them. I tend to be quiet and sometimes have to make an effort to participate in a conversation that involves several people. Even then, I generally don't elaborate unless asked.

I've noticed that people who are natural talkers are also expressive in other ways - like writing. Their letters, memos, emails, etc. tend to be longer than mine.

My communications, whether oral or written, are usually succinct. Some would say terse.

One of my goals with this blog was to practice more extensive writing. Not that I think a succinct (or terse) style is necessarily bad. It's just that sometimes a situation calls for more information or expression or elaboration and I want to have as many skills available to me as possible.

When I first began this post I thought it would be longer. Maybe I need more practice or maybe being succinct is what's needed in this case.

With Thanks to the Rolling Stones

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.

I don't often listen to rock music anymore, but I did back when this song was popular.

Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson has been on my mental "to read" list for a long time. I finally requested it via Interlibrary loan. And a few weeks ago, just browsing through the fiction section of my local public library, I picked up (and have sinced finished reading) Open House by Elizabeth Berg. Coming on the heels of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed that's a lot of introspection. (I did, however, take a fun romp in the middle of the above quartet with Original Sin by Beth McMullen.)

I'm still digesting all of the ideas that have been swarming through my mind as I identify with segments of all of these other womens' stories and feeling how their resolutions might fit into my life.

In Committed Elizabeth Gilbert is faced with having to marry her Brazilian born lover so that he can travel freely to and from the United States. Since both had been through difficult divorces, they were reluctant to marry again. While they wait for the beaurocracy to grind through the process, Liz researched marriage by reading vociferously and also interviewing women in the countries they visited. I, too, was resistant to getting married and am still ambivalent about legalizing my relationship with my partner of 20 years. We did so, like Liz, for practical reasons.

Open House is the story of Samantha whose husband has left her for a younger woman. During her 15-year marriage, she devoted herself totally to being a wife and mother and is now faced with learning who she really is underneath those other rolls. I see the similarities in how I viewed my job which ended before I was ready to leave. I'm now exploring other options, while often wishing - like Samantha does about her marriage - that I were still at that job.

And Composing a Life delves into the lives of 5 women who have had to make changes as their circumstances took unexpected paths.

I hadn't planned to read all of these books together; it just kind of happened. But the confluence, while not something I specifically want, may turn out to be something I need.

Tote Bags

The back seat of my car is full of canvas tote bags. I use them whenever I go shopping to avoid getting plastic bags. Many stores will give me 5 or 10 cents off my purchase for each tote bag I use. The only downside is that I also don't get large paper bags which I need for recycling, so I'm always on the lookout for those.

In the last 2 days, I've had the opportunity to look at tote bags from an entirely different perspective. I volunteered to work at the Clark Art Institute library for a variety of reasons. One is that I like to go there to see the current exhibit and during the winter months there is no admission charge. Also, the Library was one of the test sites for RDA, the controversial new cataloging code that the Library of Congress is intending to adopt as of January 1, 2013.

I've been dreading the coming of RDA because I'm going to have to teach it in Information Organization (I've been talking about it in class, but have avoided getting into too much detail) and likely be using it if I continue working as a cataloger. Since I'm no longer affiliated with a library, I'm on my own for getting any sort of training.

A couple of weeks ago, I contacted one of the librarians I know at the Clark and asked if I could spend some time at their library. Librarians there were not only trained, but have decided to continue using RDA instead of the "old rules" even though it's not yet the official code.

Well my friend was soooo happy and said she could easily put me to work on materials they acquired from the most recent Venice Biennale, an international arts festival that's been held every 2 years since 1895. The materials wanted cataloged? Tote bags!

Each nation has its own pavilion and produces a plethora of materials including books, press kits and tote bags. Someone on the staff had already cataloged the press kits so I had some metadata with which to work. Otherwise, I used whatever was printed on the tote bags.

The new rules are not drastically different, at least for this sort of material. Once I had cataloged a couple of bags and had the structure I wanted, I used that information as sort of a template and made appropriate modifications for the other bags. I left all the records in a save file to be reviewed before they are uploaded to OCLC, the database on which most libraries depend for metadata. All of them have the genre subject heading "Tote bags" which I learned is an official term within the Art and Architecture Thesaurus. Now I have some new "war stories" to tell my students next semester.

I loved my 2 days at the Clark. It felt good to be working even if it wasn't for pay. The librarian there was great about telling me and showing me some of the specifics of RDA and things that she learned. And she was so happy to have the tote bags (or most of them, anyway) cataloged. It was a good situation for everyone.

I also learned it is a long and slow trip to the Clark from where I live. I don't travel it often and I don't usually have a deadline for getting there, so I was much more aware of the routes. In fact, I tried 3 different routes for the 2 round trips. None is easy; each is slow and winding in its own way. They are all very scenic, though, so on a nice sunny day the trip is a pleasure.

Obsession - or is it Compulsion?

I've already begun waking up in the middle of the night thinking about how I'm going to make changes to LIS415 next semester. I understand that catalogers don't have OCD. They have CDO - that's OCD but in alphabetical order. :-)

The other news I have is that I am probably going to be the new fitness instructor at the Hatfield Senior Center. This is one of the volunteer jobs I called about yesterday. I was a volunteer fitness instructor at the Greenfield YMCA for 8 years and really loved it. I was even certified by ACE (American Council on Exercise) and the YMCA.

Being the instructor is the perfect way to insure you work out. Even if you pay for aerobics classes, it's still easy enough to skip a class. But when you're teaching the class, there's no way you can skip.

For a while I considered a career change. However, it's hard to be a full-time fitness instructor. Even energetic 20-year-olds can't teach enough classes to pay the rent without causing serious bodily injury. Fitness instructors are often also Personal Trainers to give their muscles a rest and I wasn't sure I wanted to go the Personal Trainer route. I'm not certain why, though I know it involves a lot more training than I had at the time. Somehow being a Personal Trainer seemed to mean I would have a lot more responsibility and I didn't feel confident enough then.

Anyway, after some training (after all, it's been about 12 years since I've taught fitness classes) you'll be able to find me on Wednesday mornings boogeying at the Hatfield Senior Center.

Some (Maybe) New Adventures

The semester has ended and over the weekend I compiled grades and submitted them to the Simmons GSLIS administration. My students did very well and I'm proud of them. They are going to make great librarians and archivists. And even if they choose not to continue in this field, they've made contacts and learned all kinds of practical skills and information that will be useful in whatever they decide to do.

Things have been very slow in libraries lately - at least my getting part-time jobs and short-term projects. So I've finally branched out and applied to a local temp agency for part-time office work. I don't know if this will result in anything. And even if it does, it won't pay what I get for library work, but I want to expand my horizons, develop new skills and generally keep my brain occupied.

I had applied for a full-time (even though I'd prefer not to work full-time) para professional job in a library nearby. Not surprisingly, I wasn't even interviewed; I'm so over-qualified for that job. But it would have involved tasks somewhat different than I'm used to and I figured "Why not?"

There are two volunteer opportunites that I've begun to pursue. One is totally non-library. More on them if they become a reality. I'm fortunate that money is not a major issue at the moment and I can "expand my horizons, develop new skills and generally keep my brain occupied" without necessarily worrying that these pursuits don't pay.

I've just started the sequal to Liz Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. It's called Committed and comes at a significant time in my life. I am a newly married person who resisted that state of affairs for a very long time. My "boyfriend" and I lived together for 20 years before finally deciding to make it legal. Every year on the anniversary of our moving in together, we'd go out to dinner, make a toast, and commit to one more year. Last June on our 20th anniversary, we got married then went out to dinner, made a toast, and committed to one more year.

So far it's working.

A Reasonably Productive Day

It's best for me to exercise first thing in the morning - before I have a chance to think about what I'm doing. This morning, I walked to the end of the road (1 mile, inclined downward) and back (1 mile inclined upward). It takes me about 40 minutes to make the trip and I'm always very warm by the time I return home.

The assignments are ALL GRADED!!! There were twice as many as usual because the students worked on these individually instead of in pairs.

And, I vacuumed the inside of my car. It looks lovely. When I bought this car a year ago, it was in pristine condition. I regret to say it does not look quite as nice as it did then, but I want to maintain it physically as well as mechanically. It's the nicest car I've ever owned and I want to take care of it.

I have a big day tomorrow, which I'll elaborate upon later.

Very un-energetic today

I don't why I feel so lethargic today. It's Sunday, but I haven't been doing anything strenuous.

I managed to print out the final assignments my students emailed to me so that I can grade them tomorrow. I made a nice breakfast; did some laundry; changed the sheets on the bed; still working on the dishes. Actually, now that I look at the list, that's not so bad. There are lots of leftovers in the fridge, so that's supper.

I do want to write out a few more Christmas cards. Since I only send cards to people I don't see very often (probably haven't seen in years), I include as much news as I can fit inside.

And, short as it is, this counts as today's blog entry.

One More Class

Next Saturday is the last class of the semester. Today, most of my students gave an oral presentation on topics of Library Science history. Next week, the rest will give their presentations on topics on the future of Library Science. It's so much fun to see how excited they get as they research their topics. The only downside is some of them are not able to distill their information into the allotted time. I mark them down (not a lot, but some) if they go over their time limit.

They turned in their last homework assignment today. I'll spend Monday and/or Tuesday grading the papers so that I can return them next week. Then I still have to compile and submit final grades. Then I get a 5 week vacation - although some of that time will be spent preparing for the Spring Semester.

I've gotten back into the swing of morning exercise. That October snowstorm threw me off of my schedule and then I began experiencing pain in one knee. The pain is good incentive to spend time on Pilates or Yoga every morning because I can really feel the difference. Activity, specifically stretching, minimizes any discomfort. Both of my parents have arthritis and have had various joints replaced. I'm hoping that by paying close attention to my exercise routine (there's that discipline again) I can avoid a similar fate.

Anxiety, Anger and Discipline

The last couple of mornings I awoke after some unsettling dreams.

Two nights ago, my dream had to do with being in the hospital for some sort of procedure that involved a large needle. To say that I was not looking forward to this is a vast understatement. Fortunately, I awoke before anything happened, but I was still left with the anxiety that accompanied the situation. I attributed the dream to the fact I had an appointment that morning at the local hospital for a routine mammogram, hardly something that would cause such anxiety.

The dream early this morning involved a former boss giving me some annoying and unwanted advice. I felt a lot of anger and responded in a very unladylike way. I then felt I had over reacted and considered apologizing to her, not for my anger but for my response. However, a colleague congratulated me saying she was proud of my outburst.

I don't take dreams too literally, but look at them as signs that something in my life needs some attention. If so, what is causing these feelings of anxiety and anger? Perhaps it's time to do some serious mediatation and explore deep inside my psyche. Am I ready to confront that?

And you may be wondering about the word Discipline in the title.

By posting to this blog daily, I'm trying to build some discipline in my life, a life which has been somewhat aimless the last few months. I'm hoping daily posting will stimulate some other activities that I'd like to pursue.

'Tis The Season

Sometimes I just have to go shopping.

Since I learned I might lose my job more than a year ago, I've been very careful about spending money. And since I decided I just have too much stuff, I've been very careful about accumulating more stuff. But sometimes I just have to go shopping. Like today.

I had an appointment this morning and I planned to restock the larder (some types of shopping still have to be done), but I did a little extra shopping, too. Being the frugal person that I am, I spent some time at Steals & Deals (or maybe it's Deals & Steals - I can never remember, but I know where it is) in Northampton. Since 2 pairs of sweatpants that were considered "play clothes" are now officially in the rag pile, I'm on the lookout for replacements. That I didn't find, but I did purchase some much needed socks (most of mine have holes in the heels and will soon follow the sweat pants to the rag pile) and some rubber boots. My new rubber boots are blue with a floral print. I can hardly wait for slushy snow in which to wear them.

I finished Eat, Pray, Love today. I almost feel like starting at the beginning and reading it all over again, but I think I'll take a break; I returned it to the library. Liz Gilbert's experiences while meditating are so intriguing that I'm seriously considering meditating myself. But in the meantime, I'm concentrating on Yoga. I had let it slip for a while, but I'm practicing most mornings now and trying very hard to pay attention and be mindful.

After a week off for Thanksgiving break, I'll be teaching again on Saturday. Well, not exactly. Some of my students will be giving their final presentations, so I get to sit back and listen to them. They are a very bright and energetic group and I'm really looking forward to hear what they have to say. Libraries and Archives will be in good hands once these people graduate and enter the workforce.