Ten Randoms...

Okay, so the randomness in my tweets did not get the job done, so here goes...

1. My senior year of high school, I toyed with the idea of going to culinary school. Still enjoy tooling around the kitchen and making up recipes, and wonder if I might get there someday...
2. I am number 10 in my family of 12 (9 girls 3 boys); all fourteen of us lived in the house for about eight months before the oldest was off to the Marines and the second was off to marriage. My parents still live there and plan on never selling it in case an emergency brings us (and their 7 sons/daughters in law and their 21 grandchildren) back home.
3. My first choice of profession was H.S. math teacher, 1 year in school; then pure math 2 1/2 years in school (to do what????); then tallied credits and loans and went for the practical Bus. Admin. w/ Accounting (gotta have me some math). Eight years later, BBA, please call me Dr. Wendy (okay most of it was part time, but still eight years...)
   
4. My biggest indulge the crave snack: Dark Chocolate covered pretzels. Loved it as the fundraiser pretzel rods made by Jr. High-ers until I worked with them on making it for a fundraiser...
5. I love to try new beers. Best gift EVER beer of the month club, some good ones some not so good, but nice to look forward to each month. One of my sisters works as a sales rep for a microbrew distributor, so I now have a filter so only the good stuff comes my way.
6. I "married" a library lover, and have converted. Don't have (make) as much time as I'd like for reading, but after my first interview w/ CML, I stopped in at REY and paid my fines.
7. I am not a huge animal lover (could do without them), but when I was told our house WOULD have cats, I dealt. I don't kick them or anything, but I don't show a tremendous amount of affection either.
8. When my eight year old asked for help with cursive, I had to consult my good friend Google I'm not proud of this, but feel I must own up.
9. I HEART Excel (some of you may already know this). I think pulling (sometimes seemingly unrelated) data into one file and cleaning up for presentation is FUN. Most of my Excel knowledge is a compilation of leaching off others' formulas and playing on my own to figure out how the heck they did that.
   
10. Given my perfect circumstances (work and home) I'd work second shift. I am a night owl and do not like seeing the sun in the east, EVER. Sometimes (everyday) it's a necessity, so I deal, but just for the record, I think I'd have gotten L&P completed in week one if I was working with the sun in the west and/or out of the sky.

Twenty-four (of twenty-three) things complete. Pretty sure that's good enough for a MacBook...

That's all folks

The L&P final post (excluding the 10 random; I'll get there). So I keep getting little pokes about whether I am finished or not. I figured I ought to take a break from work and get some playtime in. The journey, so far, has been fantastic. The results, unexpected. Going into this I figured I'd get exposed to new web tools and some old tools that I am already using. Figured it would be a couple months of playing around seeing what I liked and what I don't like. Figured I'd add some apps and bookmark some things.
Well... all of these things happened, but the BEST experience that came out of Learn&Play for me is the connections that I made. Being stuck at my desk with the volume of work that needs to be completed, it's easy to overlook the ultimate goal of my position; I am a cog in the wheel of an organization out "to promote reading and guide learning in the pursuit of information, knowledge, and wisdom." The library plays an important role in the community, and (aside from the accounting, reporting, timing, auditing, and technology differences) it's easy for me to get lost in my spreadsheetsssssssssssssssssss, and forgot where I work.
A huge THANK-YOU to the L&P team for bringing me out of my work and closer to the face of CML, the PSD staff that lives it everyday.

MOLDI

I've looked through through MOLDI's collection before, but did not find the user interface very intuitive (might just be me). With the nudge of L&P (again, thank you) I was given guided instructions and a little kick to poke around MOLDI. I went for music, and ended up finding a couple fun titles that went a head and downloaded. Then the program to read them (I wondered about the copywrite issue, think I got it now). I think I will spend some additional time looking through the MOLDI "stacks" and see if I can utilize this more fully.

PodCast

I've listened to podcasts of some of the talk radio that I used to listen to, but not for a while. I've given that up for music (again). I've found that throwing on a few of my faves in pandora can keep me occupied and productive for hours (as I look up and notice I should have gone home hours ago). I trolled through some podcast search sites looking for a quality cast on accounting (dork, I know). I think I found one that I will listen to as topics are appropriate: Dorky, I know
Although my history with podcasts has fizzled, I am hoping that my podcast future works out better.

YouTube

One video, just one? I've run into YouTube mostly from email links for ranges from religious, politics, professional presentations, and (of course) humor on all these topics and more. I lived on YouTube pre-election, mostly as a humor break, I have taken a time-out now that it's all settled. I still do check in on a comedian I picked up doing a SP impression, very funny, then moved to 236 and tamed up :( I still am enjoying her humor though. I will continue to check YouTube as it strikes as things interest me or come my way. As for embedding, I gotta go with my mean-self in:


That's some fine acting

Web 2.0 Tools

OMG How many tools are out there? I actually realized that I am fairly up on some of the more popular (award winning) sites. Mainly through others' invites, not because I am up on things myself... I have however payed it forward and gotten people to join things like Facebook, set up iGoogle, join Twitter (yeah I took a little pushing...), set up stations on Pandora (and share stations). I guess I am not as far behind as I thought. Unfortunately, I have chosen a profession that has not fully embraced web-based applications (that I've come in contact with). Many cannot see beyond the risk factors. I really think an opportunity for greater real time collaboration is being overlooked, but who knows maybe I am a leader in the trend...

CML Tools

I love the CML Power Tools page. The toolbar is sitting on all the computers that I work on regularly (4 or so) and I love the fact that IE opens my account in a new window and Firefox opens in a new tab. Power tools actually encouraged me to update my browser (on all computers) to Firefox (THANK YOU!!!) The only downfall of CML's Power Tools is how hidden they are on the main CML page. I want to see a PowerTools button across the top...

Web-Based Apps

So I played a little with Google docs. I added the app to my iGoogle account, and decided to play around. I was looking forward to some outstanding functionality as I LOVE my gmail account. Sticking to my comfort zone (MS Excel), I went to the spreadsheet functionality. I am so used to the keystrokes and formulas playing with data in Excel, that I decided to see how the functionality translates. Many formulas work the same, which I was happy with. I was unable to find filters, which is a function I cannot live without, but will continue to play with until I find it. Since I've updated to include Google docs, I will continue to play with some of the non-confidential information I come in contact with and Google docs to see how it works for me. Google docs (or some other platform) would have been really beneficial with my previous employer where information needed to be shared across the globe; would have loved that for some of the docs that I worked on across language barriers. I did love to see the import export feature. Will continue to play; look for blog posts created with Google docs.

L&P Wiki

So I spent some time looking through the Learn & Play wiki, learning about fellow staffers favorite things (raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittena...) has been fun. I was unable to add content as easily as the vids/instruction said. As a matter of fact, nothing populated when I went to the edit tab. I will wait for the admin, and hope my attempt (this blog) will count (as I don't have a tremendous amount of time to complete)...

Wikis

I love the idea of wikis. I know that most of my knowledge comes not from having the knowledge in my head, but in knowing where to find an answer. Usually this comes from checking with others. I get partial answers from multiple sources and pull bits of information together to fit it all into THE answer for which I was looking.
Wikis can offer one stop for all the sources of information to get my answer. My trouble with wikis is finding a site that I trust. The few times I land on a wiki in my frantic search for answers, I make sure to verify information. I have not yet ventured into adding/editing content onto a wiki, but hopefully L&P will help me get over that fear (much like my former twitterphobia). We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I will continue to skim information that others post.

Wrap it up

Okay, so I thought I was on the home stretch when I got to twitter, but it looks like there's ten things left if I want any prizes (which of course I do). I feel like I'm back in school (which I need to do, also).
Being in a support department, I don't have the touch with the public that the majority of CML employees have. Growing up the library was a once in a while thing, but as an adult, I had the good fortune getting together with an AVID library user who walked there every week and stopped in on off days (Sanger). Fast forward, we get together, live in a crappy rental for a bit and did not have the weekly walk to the library as the library was a bit pretentious (aka old school) for me. Then we moved to our current home, and fell in LOVE with CML and resumed the weekly walk and occasional stop ins (REY) (who knew I'd end up an employee). As a customer with internet access at home, the library is books for me; I stop in I wander through the stacks, and I start pulling what interests me. As an employee (out of the public space) the idea of library services that our customers need (i.e. Library2.0 services) did not occur to me fully. As I've worked here (almost two years, and counting, I hope) I've seen the unique challenges that face libraries in keeping services current. It's good to see that CML is not behind in looking at the model of library services, and seeing that the issues facing our future are shared globally. L&P has given me more exposure to staff and how they are keeping current. It's been a truly rewarding and eye opening experience.

Delicious... not sure

For a group of people needing consistent access at their fingertips, I can really see the benefit of setting up a delicious account, for me, not so much. It may be because I am a little anal about organizing my favorites, and I go through an update the three computers with two browsers each that I use about every month. I have different favorites for work and for home use. I also find that a favorite last month is no longer relevant this month. I also tend to google topics before looking through saved websites. I may be doing myself a disservice by not setting up an account, but I have become accustomed to finding things years after everyone else is doing it... Oh well, maybe I am missing out. I have put delicious in my favorites (at home) for further playing and continued learning (we'll see if it makes the cut next month).

Twitter

I've joined. Thanks to an invite from a friend; I've faced my information overload/garbage for your head fear, and signed up for a twitter account. I am forced to utter (type) one of my least favorite lines (but I am willing to say it when needed), I was wrong. Garbage for your head, not at all; information overload, it comes in spurts and with any data I should be able to be discerning enough to determine my own interest in tweets and filter information as necessary.

What a wonderful tool to keep updated on peoples' lives! As a huge proponent of face-to-face contact, I assumed twitter removed that element. Much to my surprise (makes perfect sense, just took me a while to figure it out), it really enhances face-time. I like opening up one-on-one conversations in a personal way, "how is you daughter doing in school?" "is your wife feeling better?" etc. Outdated information may make for inappropriate conversation (unfortunately I have run into this more than once...) Twitter gives more updated information, so I can know what someone did last night and ask him or her how it went when I run into him or her the next day.

I am having trouble actually finding people (email finder is great, but with people with multiple addresses, guilty, it becomes a little bit of guesswork). Thanks to L&P I can follow co-workers, and sap off of who they are following; thanks. For anyone who has not tried it out, twitter is lots of fun! Sign up, follow some people, gain some followers, and invite friends.

Library Thing

LibraryThing seems to be a really cool site. In a former life I was an avid reader, but have become slack in my old age. I pick up a book from time to time and exhaust renewals trying to get into it at this point in my life. My family however is filled with super-avid readers (who love the delivery and return service I provide). I decided to set-up an account under my partner's name knowing that she would get more of a return (http://www.librarything.com/profile/WendyHWar). It's not too populated right now, but I've been assured that when she finishes this series (and everything else ever written by this particular author), she'll put down the book and check out the site... Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

So it's been a month... In the back of my head I've been saying, "Get back on track." I guess the heart is willing, but the flesh is really tired. I'm up to image generators (Thing #10). I am looking through the different sites posted, and it's all really fun, but it suddenly occurs to me that I do not take pictures. Our camera has been broken for about a year, and my old camera has had dead batteries for about 6 years (I know there's film in there, I am sure there's photos on said film, and I am not really sure I want to see them, former life and all). Sometimes the phone comes in handy to snap something, but it either gets sent to someone or never is seen again. So (aside from mapping out databases and process flows), I don't know that I am a visual person. I enjoy the annual change over school pictures so we can see the progression from baby-face to adolescent face, but don't take a tremendous amount of pictures. I voyeuristically look at the fun things that image generators can create, but have not had a tremendous amount of fun playing with them myself. Perhaps my left brain does hold me back. Send me fun pics and sights so I can discover more about what I am missing out on.

Technology

I find all things techie super interesting, but when asked to blog about anything technology related; I'm at a loss. My biggest technology thrill comes when I can find a way to make my work easier. I will stand my much repeated comment "I'm not smart, I am lazy."

I look to technology for opportunities to make my life easier and to free up my time. I have trouble when working with people who are adverse (even scared) to embrace new systems. I struggle to explain how to rely on a piece of hardware or some new software to complete tasks that were once done with triplicate copies and multiple signatures. The common denominator among all people is time. When I take the approach, "this new technology automates steps 3, 6, and 10 of the way you're used to and here's how..." I am usually able to break through and show how we truly are completing more things with less resources.

To me this means I have more time to do the truly dorky accounting work that first attracted me to the degree.

Off Track

So I have gotten too much into the thick of work to really play, and now I find myself six things behind. I suppose it's typical of a dorky accountant to not want to play, but I have been busy with other things...
I am now trying to get back on track (that and someone stopped in my office and I was listening to mediocre music and was enticed by the idea of completion and the potential of winning a shuffle). Thing Six did not entice me too much. I don't have a tremendous amount of online photos (much to the dismay of my myspace and facebook friends). I find the various mashups somewhat fun for voyeurism, but not for my own playing. I'm all over the learn part, but the hands on playing with this type of things just doesn't grab me; give me a flat file full of data that you want in presentable, meaningful charts, and I am ALL over it. Now that's what I call fun (especially when I can use Excel). SO I've completed thing six, but probably not to it's fullest potential. I am, however aware, and that seems important (ignorance may be bliss, but it doesn't get you very far).

Sick Days

So I'm off to thing #5 and rather than sit at my desk for hours and hours and hours trolling through billions and billions of pics, I am fortunate enough to be home with a sick 9 year old. We both spent the night in the living room while the rest of the house slept. So I began playing on flickr while she watched a fascinating movie starring the creepy Bratz (http://www.bratz.com/). If you are familiare with the actual dolls, know that they have no feet, creepy! So her movie ends, and I say, "Come blog with me." We were looking through pics and I was getting nowhere, (visual overload). I look to her for some guidance.

Side note, we just adopted two kittens (this was a condition of the relationship, and I did not think the day would necessarily come, but alas...).

So she's saying, "look for cats or kittens" Not being a domesticated animal enthusiast, I am not blogging a kitten picture, that would just be a misrepresentation. So I ask, "what's your favorite thing in the entire world?" And she says, "Llamas!!!!" So that's how we got here. Thing #5, check

Painting

I have not been as disciplined in my blogging as I would have hoped to be. I have been playing online over the past week or so (maybe the past few years...), and trying to learn a thing or two, but then the phone rings, a new email pops, someone stops in, etc., etc., etc. I have not attempted blogging within my playing as I am aware of the time needed for me to write anything, and cannot devote two days of work to laboring over a five sentence blog post that should not make my palms sweaty.


So I spent some of my summer while my family was away painting bedrooms, meaning that I thought about painting for the five weeks they were away, and spent my last few days alone feverishly painting (with a little help from friends; imagine link here, but they aren't set-up, yet) to make it look as though my month had not been a complete lazy waste. The rooms ended up okay, the 16 year old was happy w/ the Buckeye colors http://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/, although I could care less. The 8 and 9 year olds were very pleased with their valley scene bedroom, although I think it looked different in real life than in their imaginations:
Thank you art teacher for rendering my creativity juvenile on a good day. This left only my room and the 15 year old's...

I thought better of a nice homecoming surprise for WU and held off painting our room until we can officially choose colors together and paint; I am becoming accustomed to the flat primer that we've lived with for years, while taping up samples of different shades of the same four colors.

The 15 year old was away for another few weeks buying us painting time. We had a color request which was easily accommodated, yellow, you know the angry color (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html). I went to the store to find a nice soft yellow, and settled on one called something like Banana Cream Pie, or maybe that's just what it reminded me of. So I had two yellows in the house when the kids came home, the more visible one was the shade I used to create the sun in the valley scene. I believe it was called UTI Yellow, or something similarly harsh. The kids are having dinner with us, and I ask the 15 year old if she's seen the color, to which she replies, "yes, I love it!" I can't imagine she really saw the sample swipe on the banana cream bucket, hopefully she will not be disappointed when she sees a muted yellow rather than the harsh, bright, angering shade of the sun. Only time will tell.

In closing, ANY bedroom color suggestions would be greatly appreciated; if a left brained accountant thinks she's got the creativity to paint a valley in a bedroom, a little inspiration is most definitely in order.

Ugh, blogging...

So far I've resisted blogging. I think it stems from my adolescent (aka awkward, ugly, hormonal) period when I was first asked to journal. I could not figure out why this man (my English teacher) cared what was in head, deserved to know what was in my head, or what he would do with said information... So I half-heartedly journaled, giving little insight and a LOT of fluff (aka made-up and/or exageratted junk). I've come across people who have found some sort of serenity from journaling, and I've been in awe. Despite my best efforts, I have several journals with half a page of nonsense left off mid-sentence (no doubt for a more interesting calculus problem, novel, or sitcom; in that order) and 149 1/2 blank pages. Oh well, at least I tried.
I've looked at blogging much the same way, who cares what's in my head, and once someone's read it, what will they think? I am much more secure in myself since adolescence (as I hope we all are) and I have this wonderful opportunity through work http://columbusmetropolitanlibrary.wordpress.com/ to participate in a voluntary program where I can keep current on technology and have fun with it. So I decided to take the plunge and start a blog.
For those that care to read, enjoy! My disclaimer(sssss):
Everything you've read has been painstakingly written, deleted, and re-worded at leat twice (numbers I can do, words come a bit more deliberately)
~87% of an iceberg is underwater; you may be reading the fluff
I distract easily; I'm aware of all the balls I'm juggling, it just may take a while to get back to the point
If I have a concise story to tell, you may want to set aside a couple hours to pour through several irrelevent pieces of information; the point will be worth it
I will not blog about politics, religion, or my feelings (mi sh'yavin, yavin - those who know...)