The Cranky Lady Speaks!

Today I was working in my Random University library. They are now starting to box up shelves and shelves of reference materials – bound journals, archived magazines, technical dictionaries and the like – and send them to a central consortium storage place. You will still be able to access the materials by requesting them through the college library and there is an easy method to do so though the college computer system.

However, seeing all of the volumes being put onto carts and taken away makes me incredibly sad. One of my favorite pastimes in libraries is walking randomly through the stacks, pulling down books or topics that look interesting at the moment, and finding very surprising, fascinating bits of information. For example, one day in Ye Olde Colonial College’s stacks I found a series of bound women’s magazines from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. To look through all those volumes and see the ads and fashions of yesteryear, all of the articles of housewife-y information and advice, was quite a treat. Another time, I was wandering though and started reading old business magazines, marveling at the predictions and business practices from decades ago.

I know that in writing this I sound incredibly old fashioned, like someone nostalgic for the good old days, not sufficiently appreciative of the current technologies that allow people to access any information from anywhere. Well, I *am* appreciative – especially as a student and a researcher of sorts – but as someone who is always interested in a wide range of topics, and who sometimes depends on random connections to spark creativity, I think that the disappearance of the physical books from the scene can be considered tragic.

On another blog, someone was talking about how, as a kid, he would pull random books down from his parents’ shelves and read them as they struck his fancy. If we all have kindles or e-readers, will that moment of random discovery ever happen? Will everything in the future have to be purposefully sought out? What does this mean for future generations? I mean, I know that Wikipedia has a "random" function, but that supposes that you are constantly connected to a computer. I prefer not to spend huge amounts of time staring at a screen, and a tiny one at that! (And gee, can you tell that from my sucky posting these days?)

I also wonder why one technology has to push out another so quickly. I'd much rather continue to have choices of how I'd like my information, but it seems that especially in the newspaper realm those choices are being made for me, even though I'm willing to actually pay for the format I prefer.

These are some of the things that occupy my brain these days. Do you agree? Or do you think I need to adjust my tinfoil hat? Inquiring minds want to know . . .

Rumors of My Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

Hi, all! Yes, it's been a while, but in the interim the hard drive died on my laptop right after Inauguration Day, thus my fabulous post on freezing the the cold with 2 million other people evaporated into the ether.

Also, my social psychology class is is full swing and, while it doesn't have as much reading as my Money and Banking Econ class, I still have a lot to keep up with since it is not very intuitive to me. Or rather, the subject matter is a little TOO intuitive and I need to work on differentiating between similar types of definitions and explanations. I'm both excited by the class and befuddled by it at the same time.

My ESOL class has started up again and this semester we are using a more useful new textbook and accompanying workbook with our students. I love the new format, but it does take some getting used to. I also have fewer students in my class this semester (8 instead of 17), so we're are able to do a lot more discussion exercises and dialogue work without it taking up most of the class time.

Work at the Random Non-Profit continues to be a source of stress, as we lose more people and our financial situation becomes more precarious. Recently they instituted salary freezes at Mr. Random's Random Publication, which is worrisome, but given the state of a lot of other publications, we'll be happy with that for now.

I've also been continuing to have medical issues, which takes up a lot of karmic energy trying to get things sorted out. I've had a few meltdowns recently, due to the extra stress of not feeling well on top of all the stuff I'm trying to do. I am developing a hatred for doctors and for tests and am losing the energy to keep seeking answers, although I know there must be some.

On the plus side, I have been able to fit in a few more plays with my friend J, who continues to be quite a help in keeping my spirits up. We saw The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard - branching out from the pure Shakespeare and going into other writers. The Winter's Tale was especially interesting because we sat next to the lovely wife of one of the actors in the play, whose comments and explanations added another dimension to the performance.

Also on the plus side, I've been to the Campus Career Center and started to do some work to figure out what I really want to do and how I want to go about doing it. It is a slow process, but I am trying to stick with my plans and not to get too discouraged. I am getting a bit frustrated at the pace - taking one class a semester is driving me bats - but it's the best I can do for now, since having and keeping a decent paying job is kind of key these days . . .

So that's what I've been up to since January! I hope you all are doing well?

Waving hello to you all . . .