Category: it’s all about me

switching teams

No, not that team!

This evening, I placed an order through the Apple Education Store for a brand-new 20-inch 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with iWork ’08 preinstalled. I have been eying this thing for months as a replacement for my Compaq Presario R3000 laptop. The old girl is still chugging along, but her memory is failing and she can’t keep up with all the apps I need to run at the same time.

I decided to go for a desktop since that’s really what I need at home now. The Presario worked okay as both my desktop and portable laptop, but it’s heavy, and the keyboard isn’t comfortable for long-term use. A Macbook would be lighter, but the keyboard thing would still be an issue. And, since I have a laptop at work, I won’t need to have something to cover the portability thing. In any case, I mainly needed it for work-related things such as taking notes at conferences and staying connected to work while on the road.

I waffled for a while between getting a Windows machine or getting a Mac, but in the end I decided that I’d get more bang for my buck with a Mac. I’m sure there will be a few applications I’ll miss from my PC, but from what I understand, there are more and more equivalent or better applications to do the same thing on a Mac, plus there’s the whole Parallels thing if I want to bother with it.

I’m not going to get rid of the ol’ Presario anytime soon, either. I’m pretty sure it will take me a while to transfer all my important files, and I may just turn her into my dedicated music server, depending on whether or not my external hard drive containing all my tunes will work with the iMac or not.

hangin by a string

Earlier this week, I saw that my friends Kiya & Miriam had a gig up in Germantown, Maryland, last night. I noted that they didn’t have anything else booked on the day before or after, so I emailed them to see if they would have time to stop and visit, since their route would take them by Richmond. I didn’t hear back for sure until Saturday morning, and that was just an email telling me to call later.

I called when I was on my way to a Sacred Harp singing. I’d spent the morning writing, and I’d planned to do some much needed house-cleaning after the singing. However, those plans were scrapped in a few short minutes.

Turns out, they were only about a half an hour away from Richmond, and there was room in the car for me, so did I want to go with them? Heck, yeah!

I quickly dashed home and attempted to do some guest preparations. They arrived shortly thereafter, and off we went.

The show was faboo, despite Kiya having just gotten over being sick and Miriam coming down with what she had. I took some photos, but most of them didn’t turn out too well due to the dim lighting in the venue. I also thought to use my camera to capture some audio/video. Here’s most of the encore, “Hangin by a String”:

unvocab debut

I made my debut on Uncontrolled Vocabulary the other evening. Everyone on the call were folks I had met at one point while at Computers in Libraries last week, and it kind of made my heart ache a little less to hear them all again. I called in on the ShoePhone, but it was glitchy, and I probably won’t use it again. Dunno if it was a TalkShoe problem or a ClearWire problem, but I think my cell phone would sound better.

So, go listen to the episode and revel in our memories of CiL!

luck is fickle on the interstate

boxes and boxesThe past week has been a mix of good and bad, along with an overwhelming volume of “stuff what must be done,” and the end result is that I neglect the blog. In brief: Hit a F-150 in my (new) car two days before I moved into my new apartment. Discovered that my insurance doesn’t cover rentals, so paying for that out of pocket. On the upside, no one was injured. On the downside, experiencing unexpected and expensive transportation costs. As for the move, it was a scramble, but I managed to find a few friends to help me, which saved both time and my back, and I drove a UHaul for the first time.

The new digs are nice — not fancy, but livable and close to both work and play. I haven’t really begun to unpack yet, but I hope to get a good bit of that finished this weekend. For now, I’m catching up on sleep and some reading/writing that needs to be done.

Speaking of which, my review of Eccentric Cubicle by Kaden Harris was published on Blogcritics last week. That puts me at five books so far this year. I’m slipping behind again, but that was to be expected. I’m currently reading book #6, so hopefully I’ll have something to post here about that soon.

Oh, and before I forget, my commentary on Harvard and open access was noted in the Library Journal Academic Newswire. There’s my 15 seconds of fame, not to mention the honor of being included along with the other more thoughtful and scholarly types.

new town, new digs, new job

On Friday, the movers arrived early in the morning and loaded up most of my earthly possessions, leaving me with a suitcase, a “man bag,” two cats, and two pet carriers. I ran a few errands, but ended up sacking out for a few hours, completely exhausted from the week of packing and saying goodbye. Later that night, I sang my final concert with the Ellensburg Women’s Chorus, and in the morning, we headed off to the airport.

Alex went in with the cargo, and he arrived unscathed, if a bit irritated at all the changes. However, my boy can handle quite a bit of stress, and he was just fine after a few minutes of freedom from the carrier. Pesh, on the other hand, spent the day with me in the cabin and the terminals, and the little nervy furball still hasn’t quite recovered, although she is doing much better tonight than she had been.

I don’t have my own place yet, and my stuff is still in transition. It’s weird living out of a suitcase knowing that everything else you own is on a truck somewhere. I’m staying with a new colleague, who has graciously offered to let me continue to use her guest room for a couple of months so I can have more time to find a decent apartment/condo/townhouse/whatever I end up in. It’s mutually beneficial, as I can also serve as pet sitter (she has two cats) and house sitter when she is out of town. In addition to giving me more time, it’s given me tremendous peace of mind.

Today was my first day at the new place of employment, half of which was spent going through the endless HR paperwork and information sessions. Useful stuff, but too much to digest in one day. I have the next two weeks mapped out for me, for the most part, which is a good thing, actually. I handle stress much better if I know what’s happening next. In fact, the gaps between meetings over the next few days frighten me more than the meetings. It will be easier when I have projects and tasks to work on.

I had forgotten how hard it is to start over again in a new place. I’m dealing with a bit of depression, but I think I’ll be okay in the end. I’m glad that the holidays are coming soon and I can go to my parent’s house for a while. It’s not like being in my own home with all of my things where I want them to be, but it’s the closest I’m going to have to the familiar and stable for quite a while.

blogworld and more reviews

I have to agree with Philip: I hate Las Vegas.

The BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas was tons of fun. My liver is fine, but my heart is a little sad for having to say goodbye to my fellow Blogcritics editors until next time. It was wonderful to meet everyone and to get a chance to just be with each other. It’s amazing how well such a diverse group of people can get along.

We definitely had one of the best booths there, thanks in part to the great swag, but also because of who was staffing it. Several people commented that we were more warm and friendly than the folks at other booths, and Pete from the Planetary Group kept coming back just to hang out because he enjoyed being with us. I think we will have quite a few new writers joining soon, particularly now that they know we do critical reviews of all sorts of stuff, not just blogs.

The panel I was on was fun and informative, and I think in the end, beneficial to us because it helped us define what makes for a good review for a variety of styles and formats. I wish we could have had a larger audience, but all things considered, we did pretty well. I understand we had good representation on several other panels, and there were several folks who stopped by the booth after hearing one of our Politics section editors speak on a political panel.

The only down side to the whole event was the location. I’d never been to Las Vegas before (besides the 30min or so I spent in the airport on a layover one time), so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Now that I know, I’m fairly certain that the only thing that would get me to go back would be my Blogcritics pals or some other conference.

Anyway. Here are some reviews I’ve written recently for BC Magazine:

Wishing Chair – Folk and Roll: Live in Austin [full review]

[This album] has a little bit of something for everyone. From newer arrangements of old favorites to brand new songs, the album straddles the line between being a best-of compilation and something fresh and different.

The Best of the Colbert Report [full review]

This collection is sure to please fans, although some will be disappointed that even with nearly three hours of content, a few of their favorite segments will have been left out of the collection. For viewers who have not yet caught on to the show, this collection is a good introduction; however, I recommend watching it only a little at a time in order to build up a tolerance.

Jim Bianco / Jenny Owen Youngs / Sean Hayes – High Dive – Seattle, WA – 11/12/2007 [full review]

Prior to the concert, I had not listened to any of the acts, and had only a passing familiarity with their names. Probably not the best example of research, but I went with an open mind and low expectations. In some cases, those expectations were exceeded far beyond my imagination, and in others, not so much.

movin’ across the country… again

Anyone need a new-to-you car?

As I indicated a while ago, I have a new job. Starting December 10th, I’ll be the Electronic Resources Librarian at the University of Richmond. They already have me in the staff directory, so it must be true. My time at Central Washington University has allowed me to grow and explore both professionally and personally, and it has given me the knowledge and experience I needed in order to make the decision about where I would like for my career to go.

One major thing has been the realization that I do not have any interest in participating in the tenure process, at least as it stands at Central. I am a practitioner first, and a scholar only in the most liberal sense of the word. I do have a desire to share my knowledge with anyone who is interested – I have had a blog for five years, and it’s not always just a bunch of naval-gazing posts about nothing – but the method of dissemination and the content of that knowledge is not what this university expects from its teacher/scholars, and I suspect that may be true elsewhere, as well.

I want to be a librarian. I want to come into my job every day knowing that the work I do will directly benefit my users. I do not want to spend time outside of my 40 hours worrying about whether or not I will have enough publications in journals no one actually reads (seriously – when was the last time you read a peer-reviewed library publication for anything other than a literature search for your own article or book chapter?) just so I can keep my job.

I can be “just” a librarian at the University of Richmond, and I’m really looking forward to that. I’m also excited about moving back to Virginia. When I left to go to grad school, I thought I’d be back soon. When that didn’t pan out, I gave up that dream. Now I’m going back, albeit not to Harrisonburg, but Richmond is close enough. Plus, I am closer to my family and friends, and it won’t cost me a $400 plane ticket to see them whenever I want to.

The moving process has begun, but I’m starting to freak out a little because I haven’t nailed down an apartment yet, nor have the movers responded to my queries. I do, however, have real moving boxes this time, and once I get some packing tape, I’ll be good to go with the daunting task of sorting through my stuff to determine what comes with me and what stays in Washington.

Anyone need a new-to-you car?

boohkie boohkie boohkie

I just hope the Dubshack will be gentle with the recap.

Last Saturday I was able to do something I’ve wanted to do for over a year: hang out in the Draco Vista Studios while recording some FarPoint Media shows. It was awesome, or I should say, it was full of boohkie. I left my camera in my bags, which in retrospect was stupid, but at the time I was so overwhelmed that I probably wouldn’t have taken pictures, anyway. If you would like to hear the results, tune into this week’s Wingin’ It 3D and a future episode of Speaking of Beer that will feature three Norwegian beers.

Also, I will make an appearance on a spot that we recorded shortly before the other two shows. I don’t know when or where that will show up, but when it does, I’ll let you know. I have only one word for you: Joust.

crazy busy – an update

Read some stuff, reviewed some stuff, and I’m still working until late at night.

I’ve been swamped at work and at play, leaving little time for blogging. For anyone who is keeping score, I read two more books towards my goal of 50 this year, thus bringing me up to 22 total. Those two were Nemesis and Ordeal By Innocence, both by Agatha Christie. I re-read them before watching the new film adaptations of them. My review will be published on Blogcritics this week.

Speaking of which, I had two more music reviews published. Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Experience…101, which was released last week, and Amy Grant’s Greatest Hits, which was released today. I have been fans of the music of both for many years, so it was a nice change to review something… familiar.

The insanity will continue. I have tons of committee and seasonal work in my day job to keep me busy for quite a while, and my Blogcritics work is increasingly consuming even more time in the evenings. There’s still enough of it that I enjoy to keep the balance, but I fear that it may one day tip and something will have to go.

indie rock hipster

I’ve discovered that the side effect of reading so many QC strips in one sitting is that I now have an odd desire to become an indie rock hipster.

I went on a Questionable Content binge last night and spent two hours reading the archives and trying to get to the point where I became a daily reader almost a year ago. I still have a couple hundred more to go, I think.

I’ve discovered that the side effect of reading so many QC strips in one sitting is that I now have an odd desire to become an indie rock hipster. This is all I have to say to that.

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