Social Media {A Little of the School Life}

This is for an assignment for one of my classes... ignore away. :)

Social networks seem to be everywhere. Both on a personal and a professional level. I have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, GoodReads, and LibraryThing. There's a chance my Myspace account is still there, I suppose. While I have accounts on all of the above, that's not to say I use them all regularly or that I use them at all, really. Take Google+ for example. I can't recall the last time I actually checked out my page. (Although writing this will probably spur me to do so... that's how it ends up happening for me.)

Facebook is one that I use almost daily. I scroll through it, post to it, kill time with it. There are downsides to it, as with anything (drama, anyone?), but overall it's good for keeping up with friends and family that don't live near. I can see what they're up to and they can see what I'm up to. On a professional level, it's great for spreading the word about events or for letting our followers know what's new in the library. I also like to share fun things that are related to reading, books, or even general stuff that I think our community might find interesting. The Shelby County Public Library has a general Facebook page as well as a Teen-specific page. The IUPUI SOIC uses Facebook to promote students' successes as well as events and varying celebrations (like Spring and International Women's Day).

I've had an account on LinkedIn for some time but I've not used it as much as other social media sites that geared more toward personal interests. It is a great networking site for professionals and a great way to connect with people in the community. For instance, one of my connections is Nathan Burger, who is a Manager for the Indiana Fever Group Events and Programs. Every year he provides us with vouchers for free tickets for those that complete our summer reading program.

While nothing can take away from the value of face-to-face interaction, technology is ever-present and ever-growing in this world. It's a great tool for communication and making connections on both personal and professional levels.

MUVE {A Little of the School Life}

This is an assignment for a class I'm taking - ignore away! ;)

I don't have much experience with any MUVE, interactive, or gaming technologies. My son, who is 6, plays Minecraft via an app on his tablet, but I've not done more than watch him do some things on it. A friend and coworker of mine is into all things technology related, including all the ones mentioned above. He likes how it works as a stress reliever for him and the creativeness of the game. He has the tools to make the game whatever he wants it to be, and even mentioned that some people go really far into the coding and creating their own space out of it. He talked about the different modes people can play in - peaceful, creative, survival, and adventure modes. It's easy to see why so many people become addicted to it.

One of my other coworkers talked about her former library where they had a Minecraft club that would meet at a set time each month. I think it would be a great way for kids to meet other kids with like interests. They can interact with one other in the game as well as outside the game, in the physical space they are sharing. She also mentioned that one of the librarians had used Minecraft to create an exact replica of the library. That could come in handy for all sorts of things from advocating for more space or grant applications.

Carry On {A Little of the Book Life Review}

Title: Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Source: Own
Rating: 5 stars (or 20... whatever...)

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

 

OH, MERLIN!

Seriously. Rainbow Rowell has super powers. For real. The way she can weave a story... the way she can suck me in and make me forget the world exists outside of her pages... I can't even begin to imagine a book world without her in it. 

It doesn't seem to matter what she is writing about - normal teenage drama, magickal teenage drama, adult drama... I'm there. I'm feeling it all. And I FREAKING LOVE IT.

I loved watching Simon grow and learn about himself. I loved watching Baz struggle with who is - not only as a person, but as a vampire. The dynamics between all the characters leap off the page. The voices of each were so distinct there was no confusion as to who was narrating the part I was reading. And the intensity of the story, the tension between characters... whew! She writes it better than real life usually presents it.

More, please. Not necessarily Simon/Baz/Penelope/etc, just more. More writing, more stories, more characters I can fall in love with and wish were really in my life. More.

Still here {A Little of the Mom Life}

     Yesterday I had a newcomer to storytime. His name was Jacob and he'll be one at the end of this month. This is super important to the story of my day. It's the catalyst of all my thoughts and emotions. His older brother used to come to storytime. (He's now 6.) Jacob came into the room with his grandma and his grandma said I might remember his brother when he came with his mom. She mentioned their names and it all clicked - probably partially due to the fact that Jacob resembles his older brother a lot.

     And then she told me the news. How last April, the boys lost their mom due to a pulmonary embolism. I don't know this family other than them coming into the library from time to time. And they haven't been in on a regular basis for quite some time (even before the tragedy.) Life gets busy and other things take priority. But I had no clue that these boys' mother had passed away. She was 31. Jacob won't remember her. His brother will, at best, have snapshots of memories in his mind.

     All day long I kept thinking about them. About her, their mom. And how she's missing out on seeing all the wonderful, and not-so-wonderful, things her kids are going to do in their life. How she's not going to see so many firsts, so many smiles, so many tears. She's going to miss out on the laughter of life and the snuggly hugs and kisses and all the silly moments.And those boys. They are going to miss out mommy hugs, kisses, snuggles, advice, tears of happiness, tears of frustration, fun times, not-so-fun times...

     Needless to say I was a bit emotionally exhausted at the end of the day. I just wanted to go home and relish in the fact that I'm still here. Yes, bills are due. Yes, school is happening. Yes, work is demanding. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, I get frustrated. But I'm here. I get to hear "MOOMMMYYY!" when I go to pick up Zoe-bug from the sitter. I get to go hunt down Eli at the Boys and Girl's Club and make him upset that he doesn't get his turn on the X-box. I get to deal with first grade frustration from a boy because I "don't do homework like Daddy." I still get to pour that glass of wine while he's wailing in his room because I tried doing homework in the wrong order. I still get to be told by Zoe that "Mommy, you're yelling." Yes. Those types of moments can suck. And suck the life out of you. But I still have them. I also still get the night time story reading, the hugs and kisses, and the "I'm sorry we couldn't get along earlier" moments (for real, that was a sincere apology from Eli at bedtime).

     I'm still here. They're still here. Good. Bad. All the in-betweens.

Wreck This Journal (#2) {A Little of the Book Life}

Guys, I am loving Wreck This Journal. Seriously. So. Much. Fun. And it's great that Malissa is doing it as well. It's cool to see how we do things differently or the same. It really kinda tells me something about myself when I look at one of the pages and I think "Um... No. I don't think I can do that."(Here's the first post on the journal...)

Example

Uhhhhhhh............... We'll see how that one pans out... eventually. lol

Here are a few pics from this past week's adventures with the journal:

 

This one is going to take me a while. Mostly because I'm having fun with it and using it as a random doodling page. :)

 

I started with a glue stick. Then thought I'd have fun with a bottle of liquid glue. It took a while to dry, and it was hard as hell to actually draw with them, but the end result was cool.

 

I know the instructions say to basically do whatever you want. But I've always been a rule follower. So I tried to rip on the lines. That took a LOT of work. HAHA

 

I swear I closed my eyes!!!!  I sent the pic to Malissa and told her maybe I should do more things with my eyes closed. :)

                               Malissa has been having just as much fun with her journal! :)

 

Excited to see what other fun we can get up to. 

Have any of you done this? Share your experiences if you have!!!  :)

Smiles,
B

Assignments {A Little of the School Life}

I completed my first assignment for school. What our instructor calls 'challenges.'  And it was daunting, to say the least. I haven't attended school in 10 years. That's a loooong time in school years. And there were nine 'steps' in this challenge. The first challenge? Nine steps?!

Admittedly I overthink things. Big time. Once I just started addressing each step, noting what needed noted etc etc, all went well. I mean, I assume it did. I felt pretty good about it before I submitted it. I haven't gotten a grade on it yet, tho. But... I did it. First assignment. Done. And I got to talk about movies, and books, and wishlists. The worst part was giving examples of things. But... phew. One down...


Now on to the next... and the next... and the next. What did I sign myself up for, exactly? ;)

Wreck This Journal {A Little of the Book Life}

My friend Danielle got me this book for Christmas:

Here's the Amazon description:

The special limited edition red mesh cover of the international bestseller…

For anyone who's ever had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or sketchbook comes this expanded edition of Wreck This Journal, an illustrated book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster up their best mistake and mess-making abilities and to fill the pages of the book (or destroy them). Through a series of creatively and quirkily illustrated prompts, acclaimed artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts--poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more--in order to experience the true creative process. With Smith's unique sensibility, readers are introduced to a new way of art and journal making, discovering novel ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative process.

Have you seen this? Like the inside of it? It's really pretty cool. And pretty scary.

The instructions are simple enough:

And the first page wasn't hard at all...

 

And then there was this, which was great for releasing some stress/aggression:

 

But shit got real when I looked at this one -

And what the what?!

Yep... I did it...

 

When I got this, Malissa mentioned how cool it would be to do together with someone. I sent her one. I agreed. And it's worked. We keep texting each other about it. Like this one, this morning, that I got from her:

"Pretty impressed with myself. I found six different fruit stickers for my journal at my house this morning!" 

And this pic from her:

I'll keep sharing. It's going to be fun!!!!  :)

Smiles,
B