Ch-ch-changes

Have I mentioned how much I am loving having an online class? It's been really convenient—no driving, and I think I'm learning as much if not more than in a traditional class. I do miss the human interaction, but I've gotten to e-mail my professor and share a discussion forum with my classmates (many of whom I've already had a class or two with, so they are familiar to me) which has resulted in some interesting threads. We've read about tagging, OPAC web-based adaptations, Drupal, social networking, Library 2.0, search engine optimization, openness/copyright, and so on. I've successfully learned how to develop a webpage using (X)HTML and CSS, and have really enjoyed pretty much every facet of this course. Here's hoping I can take another one before I graduate, since this class ends tomorrow with a final exam...

After class is done, I'll have a new task to look forward to: moving! Here is my new neighborhood, showing the distance from our place (B) to the new library (A, completion date: sometime at the end of August—in the aerial view, it's still a big parking lot):



On the right of the aerial view, you can see the dense buildings that make up the campus of my alma mater and S's current place of education. We'll both be within 10 blocks of the place we go to most frequently. We're going to try to be as green as possible, factoring in that I drive a total of 3 hours merely to get to my school's campus and back at least once or twice a week. See the green spot on the map? That's our 'lake'! And currently, my friend Amanda lives on the corner of the green field near the dot you see in the image.

We have a bit of packing to do, and the plan is to start moving in some larger furniture on Tuesday evening, culminating with the delivery of our new mattress on Wednesday. I see a trip to IKEA in our future...

Another mix, even though it's Wednesday

Fingers crossed

Well, tonight at midnight is the deadline for my final project for this summer's course. There are a few assignments and a test left, but this is the major assignment:

The Final Website!

So, that's the link, and I feel like it really is some of my best work. I actually understand XHTML and CSS now, which is incredible and surprisingly fun. I really got a kick out of making things look how I wanted them to look using simple commands.

I really, really hope I get an "A" on this.

Guess who got me these lovelies when I was feeling crummy earlier this week

I'm so happy you're alive

On Saturday I headed to the Rosedale Mall to meet up with two of my college friends, Kelly and Sara, to see David Sedaris read at the Borders there. They managed to get me a contraband wristband at the line up earlier that day, so we were able to eat a leisurely lunch and talk before the reading and then have books signed after the reading. It was really nice to see them both and catch up. Both of them are married and we talked about what comes next in our lives. They got us a lovely wedding present as well, which was an awesome surprise: our espresso machine! Woo! Plus, the game Taboo, so now we can have proper game nights and make yummy lattes for our guests.

Kelly had to leave a bit early, so Sara and I stood in line after the reading to have our copies of "When you are engulfed in flames" signed. We were talking about random things, and I was commenting about what a crappy day it was to be inside for an author reading, since the weather was so great, and that's when it was my turn to talk to Mr. Sedaris. So I wound up talking to him about the weather. Oh well. He signed my book, "To Beth, I'm so happy you're alive," which he signs for a lot of people, but it's kind of funny nonetheless.

Sara doesn't have a blog, so I'm going to tell her story here. It was her turn right after me, and David said her full name aloud, "Sara-Bridgett... we met last night!" and Sara said, "No... but we met the last time you read here," and he said, "I remember you," and she said she was surprised, but then he said, "Sara-Bridgett, what's in your bag?" and she kind of laughed and said, "Well, I'm kind of embarrassed." David said, "Why would you be embarrassed?" and Sara said, "It's a book for my husband," and she pulled it out and said "Cthulu and other stories," and David said, "How do you say that?" and Sara repeated, "Cthulu" (cuh-thoo-loo) "Why, how do you say it?" and David replied, "Oh, I don't know! Cthulu... Well, that's a lovely painting on the cover," and Sara agreed. I forget what he wrote in her book, but I do remember that he missed a word, probably because he was busy chatting to her about Cthulu. Hee.

Anyway, I've already read a few of the stories in his latest book, and they're pretty great. Also, if you're a Sedaris fan, I definitely recommend checking out Sloane Crosley's book, "I was told there'd be cake." It's humorous urban essays about everyday things, but the woman has a knack for description, much like Sedaris.

It's nice to be living in the future

This video (in case the embed above doesn't work) is something I had to watch for my class, and watching it kind of gives me goosebumps. It's so great to be living in an age of technology; typing this as I sit using my laptop to read articles online and watch Clay Shirky videos for my graduate school class, while thinking of how to design my webpage for my final assignment is pretty incredible when I think about what higher education was like even 20 years ago.

My favorite summertime drink

When Melissa posted Hemingway's favorite drink, I realized how similar it is to something my sister Andrea and I accidentally 'invented,' which we like to call:

The Lime-gasm!

Instructions for use:

Fill highball style glass with ice

Pour in the following:

original Malibu rum (approx. 2 shots worth)
lime juice (approx. 1 shot or to taste)
fill rest of glass with citrus soda (7up or Fresca work equally well)

Sip and enjoy!

I had no idea that there was already a drink called the Papa Doble, but I am not really a 'drinks' kind of person, more of a 'meet up with friends' type who capitalizes on cheap beer and/or wine. Anyway, I really like the lime-gasm, and if you try it, hope you do, too!

Also, check out Melissa C. Morris in The New York Times! I've enjoyed reading her blog for a while (I remember when she posted the first wedding photos, and I loved her intimate ceremony and white suit) so it's fun to see her getting some blogger recognition. She's not the typical blogger, that's for sure, and I love Monty Mondays! Like she says in the article, she tries to be lighthearted, and that's why I enjoy her writing.

As promised, Thing #4, photos of the new STC Library

IMG_1168,
originally uploaded by rubybeth.

As my readers know, I already use Flickr, but it's on the list of 23 Things, so again, I'm blogging about something I already like. I mainly use Flickr for personal photos, though with Facebook having unlimited uploads of photos, I often skip uploading things to Flickr and go to Facebook instead. I guess I do this because some photos are only interesting to those who are in them, and with Facebook tagging, this is easy and more fun for my friends than just seeing photos on Flickr. However, Flickr opens me up to a far wider community of awesome photographers. I love trolling for new and interesting photos, though I don't do it very often.

I used Flickr to find ideas for engagement and wedding photos, and our photographer uses Flickr, so I could comment on our e-photos as soon as he uploaded them, only a day after they were taken. I think this immediacy is what users want from libraries. As a millenial/gamer generation/generation Y librarian-to-be, I understand this need for something I want. Right now. That's what great about digital media; I take a photo of my friends out celebrating, and then before I go to sleep, I upload the photos to Facebook, and the next day we can already reminisce and solidify relationships, all because of technology.


All the photos of the new St. Cloud Public Library are on Flickr.

A mixtape application

Customized!!

I realize this is fast becoming a total wedding blog, but hey, when I've got 2 months to go, I want to write about the fun things I'm doing!


We decided on some custom stamps for our invites/reply cards/thank you notes. One of the things that we're paying special attention to for the event is the invitations. I really think the invites give guests a cue about the event itself—its formality and level of personalization, etc. so the fact that we designed our own stationery and are having it printed (soon!) and are getting these photo stamps, etc. is kind of important to me. I also addressed most of the envelopes today, and only messed up one! I inadvertently wrote "MN" instead of "Minnesota"—so not a huge deal, but I re-wrote it nonetheless. Here's hoping the printing process goes well!