HELLO WORLD!

Hello world!

Here are two things I want the world to know right away:

1. I'm a dual-career woman: I work as a full-time children's librarian in Los Angeles and I am also a homemaker. Wendell Berry is one of my heroes (though the shout-out is ironic because he eschews computers and most modern technology); I love his essay about the household as an economy. I also love both my jobs... most days.

2. I am leaving for a week's vacation in 1 hour and 18 minutes so I've got to do my homework for http://21thingsforkidlibs.blogspot.com/ very quickly and probably very incompletely! That means no time for jokes and probably no time for deep thoughts. If you want to laugh, I'll include a link to a funny Youtube video below, and if you want deep thoughts, try Wendell Berry. In print.

I am of that generation which can't remember ever NOT having a computer at home, even if said computer was an Apple II clone with a monochrome monitor, and (not to brag) but I was one of the first users of Facebook since it started at my alma mater. Yep, been a part since day 8, baby! That said, I'm not particularly familiar with many more Web 2.0 technologies and I'm looking forward to learning a lot this summer. I do most of my Web browsing on the reference desk at the quiet neighborhood library where I work, although at home I happily log into http://www.ravelry.com/ (I'm learning to knit). Ravelry's an exemplary online community, and during my vacation from vacation this week, I hope to delineate some of the reasons I think it's great--how it works well and gives me hope that the Web isn't all junk. So does http://www.freerice.com/

But as far as using Web 2.0 at my job, I have only gone so far as to start browsing Youtube for good preschool storytime songs. I love singing at storytime (and the kids don't seem to mind too much) but I didn't grow up listening to Raffi songs (remember, I was busy "playing the computer"!) so I sometimes need a quick source to find a tune. I also browse to find songs to use with some of our varied themes. Most recently, I was doing a toy storytime. Here's what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__t7HT9tdI

Stuff like that not only changes my job, it changed my life! And it will change yours if you take a look.