The Zoo

Even though it was rainy, I enjoyed San Diego's zoo actually quite a bit. When it's rainy out the animals play more. Usually when I go to the zoo, most of the animals are sleeping or inside, but yesterday they were all out and about! So I guess there are some good things about rain in San Diego... Today is "beach day". We'll see if it clears up enough. I hope it does because I really want to do some reading for class on the beach!!

San Diego is NOT Sunny

My boyfriend has been working in LA for the past week, and this weekend I flew out to meet him. I've been looking forward to some warm weather and sunshine and worked hard to complete my work for class this week early to be able to relax on the beach and catch up on sleep. Everything I ever heard about San Diego has been about how great the weather is. It only rains once in a blue moon, and usually only for like an hour or two, just to get sunny again right afterwards. Well, I'm here in San Diego and it has been drizzling/overcast/cold since I landed on Friday. I'm sure that as soon as I board on Sunday, the weather will clear and be beautiful, so if anyone is in the area, be sure to hit the beach next week!

As for my studies, I think I'm starting to get my time management skills under control. The readings are really dense so it takes me a long time to get through, but I actually think I mostly understood everything I read this week....well except for that one article about 'aboutness'. I understood about 28% of that one. And I didn't understand the Huges article at all because I can't find it to read it!!

I'm taking a break today from my library sciences studies to write an article for a trade magazine to which I have been contributing for nearly 5 years. It's a nice way to earn a little bit of spending cash, but I enjoy the work for other purely selfish reasons too. Every time I get assigned an article, I get to learn something new about subjects that I never would have otherwise thought to explore. I've always believed that the acquisition of knowledge should be ongoing and exploratory, and have sought opportunities to do so throughout my life. This is one of the main motivators for me to be pursuing this degree. Really, it's two-fold: first, of course, I want to give others the opportunity to continue to explore the endless body of knowledge in meaningful ways, and secondly, I think (or at least hope) that by becoming a librarian, I will continue to be exposed to new subjects and areas of research that I might not ever otherwise explore.

Concentrate!

Well it's really difficult to concentrate while everyone around me is drinking, watching the Phillies game (RAUUUULLLL!), listening to music, playing cards, eating, cooking, blogging (me) and talking all at the same time. Though miraculously, I've finished most of my reading. Whew!

Tonight promises to be interesting. I'm staying at my boyfriend's parents' shore house with several other friends, and we all slept on the beach all day. We just drank a little bit of this alcohol, Agwa, that apparently has some herb in it that "invigorates" the drinker for a somewhat energizing euphoric feeling. Yes, it's completely legal, and you can find it in your local distributor, unless you're in Pennsylvania because the liquor laws there make absolutely no sense. Sleep tonight won't be had until well after midnight, I'm sure, but all in good fun.

Until tomorrow...again.

Move Along

Week 2 and I'm at the Jersey shore finishing up the last of my work for the day before I actually enjoy my brief vacation. I continue to enjoy all that I've learned so far, which is a lot, since librarianism is new to me. I'm glad to hear some of the discourse surrounding the present and future of the field, as it seems to me that librarians recognize the need to innovate to cater to their patrons in an increasingly informational society. One of my worries (which I am somewhat ashamed to admit) in going into library studies is its ambiguous future. It seems from what I've heard so far that the importance of librarians, though changing, will continue, as it has for hundreds of years prior.

My only frustrations so far have been technical, as I haven't been able to read/hear much of the content available online. I understand the problems I am experiencing are shared, so I'll hang in there and continue to follow the syllabus and hopefully I won't get too far off track.

AAhhhh, the shore. My concentration is fading... More tomorrow!

The First

No, not the first ever, but this is my first post to my first blog in my first class in the MLIS program. I'm perhaps overly excited to be back in school, and I keep telling myself that I have to remember this feeling when I get frustrated or feel stressed, or stay up until 4 am to finish a paper.

Though only a week in, I am enjoying the course material, and find it doubly interesting since I know that what I'm learning will eventually be directly applicable to what I do professionally, which is exactly what attracted me to this program to begin with. I'm glad to be starting at the macro level to understand the many modes of information and subsequently see where librarians fit in, especially given the changing landscape of information acquisition.

Perhaps the best part of the program in my opinion at this given moment is that I am curled up on my couch, having just finished cleaning up dinner. So convenient!