in the 95th percentile and loving it

it turns out that only 5% of the participants in this program are up to THING 12 ... well, i am very proud to be in the 95th percentile! i have always been an achiever. anyway, i am really enjoying this project. i think it is a really fun way to get people to try new things and push themselves out of their comfort zones. admittedly, i already know how to do most of these things, but i've been enjoying brushing up on my skillz and learning a few new things. i'm sad we'll be taking a break. i will miss The Things.

roll-y poll-y

i made a rollyo. yo. its okay i guess. i found it took a long time to load. i guess it could be kinda useful, but i think i prefer just checking each site. and it made me crave fruit roll ups. mmmmmm, fruit roll ups.

image generator

this was fun. i never really thought of using an image generator. probably because i didn't know it existed. but i could see how this could be useful if you had an idea for a very specific picture or image. i'd probably use this again.

library thing

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/geekybookygirly

fun ... but what is the point? who will want to see my bookcase? i certainly don't care about other people's bookcases. i feel like on sites like myspace or facebook you see a person's profile and you want to know what books they read or what movies they like. but to create a site whose point is just to have virtual bookshelves? i don't know, i don't see the lasting entertainment in this. it's no flickr.

number nine .... number nine ... number nine

just the other day i was thinking about how i miss my subscription to the new yorker. of course, when i got the new yorker they would pile up and i would never read them in a timely fashion and all the news would be outdated blah blah blah blah i cancelled my subscription.
so i decdided to subscribe to the new yorker in using their rss feed! yay! and this way i can subscribe only to the portions of the magazine i like: humor and talk of the town. maybe i will add the movie reviews. maybe. anyway, i am excited at the prospect of reading the new yorker again. let's see if i can keep up.

are my feeds burning?

okay, i think i set up an RSS feed ... not sure. i remember something about feedburner or some craziness like that. anyhoo, maybe someone would like to subscribe to my blog and see if it works. maybe i will!

YESS! RSS!

okay, i admit it ... i am a blogger who does not read other blogs. not only that, but i expect others to read and memorize everything i blog as soon as i blog it. it's hypocritical, i know. so i decided that i would subscribe to my friends' blogs through bloglines. yay! hypocrisy no more! but i don't think i like reading the blogs through bloglines. all the prettiness and nice formatting of the actual blog is lost. if someone posts a picture, can you see it on bloglines? i'm not sure. we'll see. i was also wondering if they will email me when there are new posts, or do i have to actually remember to check bloglines all by myself. sounds like a lot of work.

and then i was wondering how to set up an RSS feed on this blog. i know once long ago in the past i set up an RSS feed, but alas i do not remember how to do it. maybe that will be one of the later 23 1/2 things.

thing 1 and thing 2

thing 7

technology, how i love thee, let me count the ways ...


i think people often talk about technology as if it's some passing fad or a blight on society that one day may be alleviated. but this is not the case. techonology is here. get used to it. adapt or be left behind. and really, what is the big deal? don't know how to use a computer? take a class. figure it out. small children can do it, so can you.

the thing i love about technology is the ability to have the world at your fingertips. what did we do before the internet? how did we possibly live? life must have been terribly boring and unsatisfying.

the other night i was hanging out with friends and we were reminiscing about some really bad tv show from the 80s and then when i got home i was able to find it on youtube and watch it immediately. instant gratification. and i can't tell you the number of times i have solved debates with wikipedia. okay, so maybe wikipedia isn't the greatest source of information but it is quick and accurate enough for settling friendly disputes.

i love going to someone's house and instead of lugging along several heavy photo albums with me i can just go to their computer, log onto flickr and show them photographic evidence of what i've been doing with myself for the last few years.

the unbridled power is amazing.

but i hate IMing. what a waste of time. most people write a whole lot of nothing, using abbreviations and acronyms that i don't understand.

the other day i got to play around with someone's iPhone. boy was i jealous. he showed me his pics on iPhoto and how he could zoom in to amazing detail just by dragging his fingers.

don't even get me started on how much i love iTunes. it's so organized. it's like a librarian created it. but probably not.

and even though everyone gets all up in arms about the evils of myspace, i love myspace. i like reading my friends bulletins, which are mostly silly but sometimes informative. i like getting messages from people i knew years ago and then deliberating on whether or not i want to respond. and what is more fun that taking pictures of you and your friends and then saying, "oooh, that would make a great myspace photo!"

so in conclusion .... technology is good. embrace it, you'll like it. you have no other choice.

bonus

here is the much anticipated picture of the dinosaur stick puppets we made ... i had to take it with my phone since my regular camera is busted. le sigh :(

thing 6 ... moving right along

i must admit i didn't think i could have MORE flickr fun, since i feel i have had a lot of flickr fun in the past. but i really like the color fields colr pickr. you see, at home i have a very pink bathroom. everything is pink. so i chose pink and found millions of pink pictures. i am thinking of printing some up and framing them (in pink frames of course) and putting them up in my bathroom.

i also really enjoyed the librarian trading cards from trading card maker ... so i made one. cool, isn't it?

thing 5!

okay, i already heart flickr SO MUCH. i have had a flickr account for several years and i happily uploading this lovely picture of my supply closet. it took me FOREVER to organize it but now it is so organized and so lovely. if you look closely you may see the little labels on the drawers. so now i know exactly where to find my pipe cleaners and googley eyes.

i also organized my board games which were a MESS when i started working here. yesterday we had a trivia contest. the kids really enjoyed it. and they may have even LEARNED something. crazy, i know.

23 1/2 things ... specifically things 1-4

ooops, i am supposed to be talking about these 23 1/2 things i am learning. my bad. okay, so far this has been pretty easy. i won't lie to you. i know a little html. BUT, using blogger is WAY easier than doing html. so i am a fan of blogger. its like using Word, but to make blogs. okay, i will admit another thing. i did not listen to the tutorial. i wanted to. i really did. but i don't have speakers on my computer here and i keep forgetting to bring in my headphones. but look at me! i have completed steps 1-4 anyway! woohoo!
here is what i think about lifelong learning: there is no excuse not to learn something new everyday. (or every few days, some days are kinda slow and you may not learn anything) but i feel that in order to progress as individuals and as a society we must always be open to learning new things. i once worked at a library where we had several elderly employees. as the library became more and more computerized and modernized many of these employees decided to retire. but one woman stayed on and she learned ALL the new computer programs. and i tell you, she was AWESOME. she was a pro. and i feel like if that woman could push herself and learn all those new things, we all can learn new things all the time. there is no excuse not to. and those are my feelings on lifelong learning.

story time and dinosaur stick puppet extravaganza

today i did my first ever story time. i had 22 kids from a local daycare center. they were very well behaved and i read them the following stories:
if you give a pig a pancake
five little monkeys jumping on the bed
don't let pigeon drive the bus
-break for stretching-
how do dinosaurs get well soon
it looked like spilt milk
then we made cute little dinosaur stick puppets. i got the pattern from the summer reading manual, which i never found to be all that useful when i was a teen library, but is surprising useful for children's services. anyway, the puppets looked AWESOME. mostly because i came up with the idea to mat them on construction paper and then enhance them with googley eyes. who doesn't love googley eyes?! i tried to take a picture but my camera broke. alas, you must picture in your mind in all its greatness.