Sneaky, sneaky

This is a dirty little trick played on pedestrians in New York City. I wonder how pervasive it is elsewhere. For my part, I am a faithful button pusher, but I only push once. What I find funny is when people push it like five, six, seven times, as if the system is saying "wow, a whole lotta people must be waiting to cross!"

Looking forward to a nice evening out with the hubby, with the boy at extended daycare tonight (Parents Night Out). It's a beautiful thing. Since the boy didn't even want to leave daycare yesterday this should go off just fine.

Pssiew, psiew!

That is the sound of laser-gun spinning around, hitting targets--you know, the "psiew, psiew" sound? That's how the workday is shaping up, returning phone calls as soon as I get in, back to back meetings where I deftly answer questions and also listen well to concerns. Psiew, psiew!

Compensating for yesterday's late lunch with a slightly early one, and then back to target practice!

Soggy and Foggy

I remember using a similar title for an earlier entry. Today is stormy beyond all belief, rainy and windy. So, today would be the scheduled day for picking up a gift donation, entailing driving across the causeway and back. Against all better judgment, we didn't reschedule (again), but plowed ahead. The result was not catastrophic but comedic, all involved taking great care to stay in one albeit soggy piece.

Day 1 of Lent, and without an official mandate to fall in, I think it's generally a good idea to remind oneself of what one is attached to in the world. I wouldn't make it chocolate necessarily, as folks I know have done, but I don't think I've resolved my sugar "issue" either. I've also heard of "positive" decisions for Lent rather than sacrifices: donating time, incorporating healthy habits, etc.

I finally get lunch at almost 4pm after a day of adventure and meetings. Just in time for pre-dinner!

Not so much hoodoo...

OK, I've just read/skimmed the emerging church article. This movement is very exciting as it attempts to reach the previously unchurched. I will say that our church experience in Seattle was more traditional than what is described in this article, although the leaning is definitely toward a desire to be relevant to a post-modern culture (and a highly technologically sophisticated culture, as Seattle generally is). Where the article talks about a "back to basics" Bible-based approach to talking about Christianity in a relevant way, I say thumbs up. Where some of the alternative practices are discussed, I say OK if it rings true with Biblical teachings, but beware of the hoodoo.

Surf and Turf

Just noticed a NYTimes.com article on emerging churches. Haven't yet read it, so no editorial commentary at this time. We're making arrangements to get CDs of the sermons from our Seattle church so we can recover from our withdrawals....

Also front page news about Dean's ending his bid, which is unfortunate. I was hoping that the grassroots efforts would take hold more thoroughly. Too many Democratic candidates. I'll still leave the link to left live, as long as it's live. I hope that Governor Dean will continue to remain active. He has revitalized an apathetic and un- (never-) involved citizenry.

Pile it on, plus keeping up critical thinking

Slowing feeling overwhelmed at work. The honeymoon is wearing off, the projects are moving beyond the orientation stage, and the limited library resources (people and $$$) are making themselves felt. Trying to keep a chin up on all that.

Now that press on Mel's The Passion is heating up (mentioned here before, I forget which post and don't have a fancy trackback feature), and I've mentioned The Purpose Driven Life, a topic has come up in our household which is kind of interesting and bears some examination. How does an over-educated one approach spiritual works like these as they become popular and mainstream-ized? Often one has to work through an impulse of reverse snobbery in these cases, where something might otherwise gain value for being more esoteric. Still, that's throwing out the baby with the bathwater a bit. This is more about being patient and measuring against standards of Truth (yes, you post-moderns, that's a capital "T"). A friend has commented along this line as well, and it rings true (small "t") for me.

We caught last night's Diane Sawyer interview of Mel Gibson. Without elaborating more on thoughts (still processing), I will say that this is going to be a major event and I'm interested in seeing how it ripples out.

Eminently blog-worthy....

Doing a little info-gathering at my MLIS alma mater and find a link to an article about my advisor's class on Google. This guy is not only the current Internet Librarian columnist for ALA's American Libraries, he's also massively inspiring. There are too many linkable projects of his that I won't even start. The fact that he's leading a class on the cultural implications of Google is no surprise. It does make me miss the energy and environment of the classroom, however.

But, I just finished my first staff meeting in my new position, so there's another source of energy/enthusiasm. I feel myself stepping into the leadership role that I envisioned for myself, managing people the way I hear them wanting to be led, and not doing the things that I've seen in bad management (not listening, top-down dictates vs. bottom-up involvement, etc.). It feels really good and I hope the momentum carries into some great projects here. It's not just about wanting them to like me, but that's a start and can't hurt. I tend to work harder for people that I like than ... otherwise.

Oh, I should also add that the Sac Bee had the Tower story as its headline on Feb 10, making up for no online mention of it on Monday.

Figurative and Literal Roadkill

On the front page of nytimes.com this morning: a headline from the Business section about Tower Records, and how the parent company is filing Chapter 11. I then went to the Sacramento Bee site, and no mention of it at all. Very strange, since the AP wire is based out of West Sacramento (I don't know the technical journalistic term for the city listing), and Tower started in a Sacramento ice cream shop with boxes of records on the side. I guess there's so much competition out there that it's hard to stay afloat.

Another big roadkill day yesterday: squirrel, skunk, possum (looking pretty fresh with its teeth bared), even a raccoon. This always hits me in a profound way, especially with how fast people seem to drive here (Seattle drivers seem a bit more genteel). A sign of society's decay and disrespect for Mother Earth.

Juggling....

Acquisitions librarians have to juggle many priorities and serve many interest groups. Many librarians and folks in other sectors have this experience too, but I'll just single out my own specific niche. We serve/interact with acq staff, selectors, catalogers, Systems and answer to superiors above each of these lines. It's stressful. I'm feeling pretty comfortable in my new job, and am trying to keep all of the balls in the air, answer all the right questions to the folks who ask, etc. Organization of paper and e-items is critical to success here.

Back on track spiritually, or at least getting there. Rescued the bible from storage, bought and started reading The Purpose Driven Life, which is being read by a group in our former Seattle church a friend's church, and a church I passed here in Sacto. There is a snobby strain that bristles at such a mainstream read, but sometimes books are popular for good reasons....

I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day, though I don't know why yet.