Images and Imaginings

This was supposed to be a picture of my puppy with his favorite toy at the time, a stuffed bunny, (which at this point is looong gone!). For some reason the picture ended up as you see it when I uploaded it to Big Huge Labs motivational poster creator. Hmmm. I'll have to try it again sometime.

I've seen Library Thing in other library classes and would like to explore it further. I'm a member of Good Reads which is similar and also a great way to share good books with your friends. I have added quite a few to my "to read" list that hopefully I will get around to this summer. If you'd like to check out Good Reads click here.

Pecha Kucha

Pecha Kucha has formulated design presentations. It its a format in which presenters are allowed a maximum of 20 slides which can be shown for 20 seconds each-instant 6 min, 40 sec presentations! It seems to appeal mostly to professionals who work in visual media like artists, architects and designers of all kinds. What a great idea! It's social, it's productive and it gives more people the chance to show and discuss their work instead of just a few. Apparently it's taken off around the world too, in 171 cities to be exact (from http://www.pecha-kucha.org/ accessed 2/19/09). In the U.S., Boston and San Francisco seem to have some pretty active "nights".

Pecha Kucha Night is the brainchild of Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, architects themselves, and dates back to 2003. The word is Japanese for the sound of conversation (from http://www.pecha-kucha.org/what accessed 2/19/09). Sometimes I wish the English language had great descriptive words like that!

Reminiscing

Flickr is a pretty cool site. Unfortunately, my computer has been on the fritz this week so I wasn't able to play around with a lot of the really fun stuff. I experimented a bit with the Montagr and once I get my computer back up and running at full again I'll definitely be back to check out some of the other gadgets.

It got me thinking though about the technology of photography. I'm also taking a class on preserving archive and library materials and earlier this week the lecture was on paper and pictures, books, etc.-stuff printed on paper! We went over the history of them, the pros and cons of the different methods and how they evolved. I have a ton of pictures on my computer that I say I will organize one day, or, even better, print out and scrapbook. Pictures look really good on a computer screen though. The light coming through makes them really pop. But I'm sure almost everyone has come across an old album or envelope full of pictures and nostalgically flipped through them. Actually holding photos in your hands, seeing how they've aged over the years really takes you back to that time. Or, if it was before your time and there isn't anyone available to tell you about it, maybe your imagination kicks in and fills in the blanks.

Pictures inspire stories and recountings, gatherings of people to look and listen. If you're like me and can't throw anything away (or delete it for that matter) then you even like looking through the blurry, messed up ones. Life certainly isn't perfect and neither are memories. Pictures make up some of the glue that holds people together. Families, communities and countries have these shared memories embodied in photographs. These are the faces and iconic events of our past. So if your hard drive is loaded down with pictures, print them out or back them up! In fact, I'm going to sign on to a photo sharing site right now so that I don't lose all those memories and am left with a tangle of 1's and 0's. After all, photos are fragile, but technology is too!

Grumblings About the Social Web

I'm having a hard time with the whole idea of blogging. In fact, I'm not really into any of the 2.0 social web stuff. The web is full of wackos and miscreants and people who have nothing better to do than read about and comment on other people's lives and stuff. I, personally, would rather live my life off the radar and communicate my thoughts only to those of my choosing. Are you catching the irony here? Oh, well. Since this is a class assignment I'll muddle through and you all will get to read about it.

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning

I kinda like the idea of a learning contract as mentioned in this section of "23 Things". I consider myself a lifelong learner already, but it's rather haphazard at best. Having some structure and putting some well thought out goals in place is never a bad idea. That's definitely the habit I have the most trouble with. As far as I'm concerned the future is a nebulous "out there" place that you have to deal with as it comes. That said, I do accept responsibility for myself and my learning (habit 2). If there is something I want to or need to do I take steps to see it accomplished. I'm not a long term goal setter though.

The habit I have a definite handle on is 7 1/2. No problem with play here. Well, if you count too much play, yes, that's a problem. I figure that a person needs balance in his or her life and having fun is a necessity as long as the work gets done. Eventually!

Habit 3 is somewhat of a problem for me. I tend to see hitches as these huge colossal things that completely block the path on wherever I'm headed. That is until I get it out of my system, get some perspective and find my way around or under or through the obstacle.

Habit 4 is one I've been working on a lot lately. My husband and I got a puppy last Fall who turned out to be very fearful and antisocial. I'm having to constantly put on a coat of confidence when I walk him or work with him so he can get over his fears. It is not easy and a continuing struggle.

Habits 5-7 I have a pretty good handle on. I used to work in a museum where I taught the public every day on guided tours and programs. I had to put together a learning toolbox just for my job. I am developing another one, or adding on to the previous one, for grad school. And tech is definitely in the mix. Just not the social web tech!