A new twist - knitting

I still buy beads whenever I travel. The light facets on shiny glass, details in carved bone, and funky resin shapes are too alluring to dismiss but time constraints keep my stash in the cupboard. Craft time during moments of relaxation has shifted to knitting and knitting with a purpose. We have a new group at 1st UU --- the Caring Crafters -- who have taken on the task of creating prayer - comfort shawls.

I took our new President and the First Lady seriously as they declared a National Day of Service on the Martin Luther King holiday and thus began my study on Inauguration weekend. Lion Brand Yarn offers lots of tutorials, all very simple and one topic per clickable link. So I tackled casting on and it was so complicated for my old brain. I kept holding the yarn up to the computer screen trying to follow the arrows and getting only loops or knots but not a decent stitch. Finally, Richard suggested printing the six pages so I could follow from diagram to diagram without scrolling - something I had resisted in my green efforts. However, that was the trick! After practicing with yarn left over from a sweater I never finished in 7th grade, I started my first prayer shaw. Despite a long hiatus (1972 to present) my knitting continues to improve and I have contributed four shawls those those needing our caring thoughts and prayers.

Thing #1 - Redux

I blame it all on PLA. I had a good routine going before the national public library conference with attention to one or two library things each weekend. With that pattern, I should have finished in round #1. But then that is the world of coulda, woulda, shoulda --- not reality. Along came PLA in March with my own conference blogging, as well as serving as a blogging buddy for a SELCO-PLA scholarship recipient and 23 Things slowed to nothing.

I am starting where I left off with 14 Things left to do, 8 -13, 15 - 17, 19 - 23, and this time the special 1-gig flash drive prize will be mine!

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Thing #14

LibraryThing as part of 23 Things on a Stick. Is a pattern emerging? Pattern or no, I used this online tool this weekend and cataloged a small selection of the Hutton book collection, just the signed copies. In somewhat un-librarian fashion, I've never inventoried our collection. While there is a general order to where titles sit on the shelves, it is probably more "bookstoresque" than "libraryish."

The collection of signed titles is an odd assortment of books purchased over a long period going back to the days when I would willingly lug home pounds of new books after standing in long lines for the coveted signature of a Newbery Award winner. Most are children's books with a small selection of adult titles. There are classics as well as a few titles of which I am the only LibraryThing owner.

Some titles have been unopened for years. Cataloging them offered the opportunity to experience forgotten details --- the choice of paper and font, illustrations in subdued hues or bright colors. As well as bits of history tucked inside --- the forgotten bookmark (did it mark a once favorite passage or is this simply where it was left as I finished reading), a charge slip (not mine but belonging to the person who gave me the book 29 years ago.) Even more wonderful, the signatures of the creators --- small, tight script or flourishing pen strokes. Well worth toting home all these titles from so many author presentations.

Bookjacket art is missing for 1/3 of the entries and the LibraryThing generic brown cover is ugly. Another project for another winter weekend (there are still a few more despite 45 degree temps today) will be to scan the cover artwork.

Thing #7

My email experiences go all the way back to the days when VAX mail required a "hard return" at the end of a line and once the cursor jumped to the next line there was no going back. If you needed to correct a misspelling or restructure the sentence, it meant starting over. Editing was possible but only with a complicated set of key commands that required a cheat-sheet list.

A 23 Things discussion of email feels like old news but in the spirit of the program, here are are my email likes and dislikes.

Email likes:

• Generic. Other than maybe my Mom just about everyone I know has email. While it may not be the most elegant method to share important news, it does so quickly and uniformly.
  
• SELCO's new spam filter keeping at bay all those messages from foreign princes wanting to exchange currency.
• Filed.
  

And dislikes:

• Full in-box. I'll admit to less than stellar email management. Even with a thorough list of Outlook folders for major projects, committees, etc. there are too many messages just hanging around in my In-Box.
• People who insist on replying only to the sender even when asked to "reply all."
• Flaming and verbal escalation.

If email is on the antiquity end of the stick then IM is a more modern approach to quick communication. Before trying it, I couldn't understand the difference between an ongoing string of email messages and IM. Now I use it regularly to check facts, chat with a friend miles away or carry on a sidebar conversation during a less than productive meeting. Yes, I know that might be considered rude, but the meeting participants were rambling and the IM conversation kept my sarcasm in check and a smile on my face. My proudest IM multitasking feat --- online meeting with 2 IM sessions. Should I try for 3?

Presidents Day

Good things about Presidents Day (For those wondering if it is President's Day, Presidents' Day or Presidents Day, check Apostrophe Ambiguity.)

• Blue sky (at least in Rochester)
• A day when the SELCO office is closed
• Wandering through Barnes & Noble after lunch
• Picking up The Crown of Valencia (Yes, I could have checked it out of the library but much prefer to have a personal copy of the latest publication of a local author and former SELCO/SELS Board member, Catherine Friend)
• Catching up on all the 23 Things blog posts (There are over 100 - 23 Things blogs registered in SELCO/SELS with the rush before the official registration deadline)
  

Thing #6 - Chinese characters

Not because I can read Chinese but because there is such a thing as a Chinese character generator.

Richard pronounced: lǐ shā dé

Thing #6 - Chocolate

There's always chocolate in the SELCO office! And now there is a virtual cocoa version of 23 Things sans stick!

participation and progress

The list of 23 Things participants continues to grow! Aurora (who helped write a portion of the 23 Things curriculum) IM'd me this afternoon to announce 83 blogs were registered from around the region including 17 SELCO staff members. And, as of 6:12 PM, there are 697 registered statewide.

Our 23 Things experimentation ranges from slightly hesitant to wildly creative. Some of the highlights I've found include:

• 23 Enigma post with a Flickr collection of photos shot by a 4-year old in the library. This child has talent!

• 23thingsinAustin's dreams for a new ILS

• Here's the Thing started with Thing #7, then went on to #6, #11, and #20. Very free spirited.

• Links from one blog, It's My Life, to other neat blogs in the region like LibraryTree

And that only takes me through "I."