Thing 6

Thing 6 is fun, fun fun! Why can't work always be like this? Wish I had more time to tinker around with all the tools and gadgets listed on Big Huge Labs (and I am definitely going to play around on Image Chef as well), but alas alack, not today. Maybe never. My big issue is not finding time to do a lot of this stuff, and wishing I had more than just the bare minimum amount of time to work on it. I'm always squeezing it in between other things I have to do at work. Sigh. In any case, here's my trading card :




(I love Wallace and Gromit, in case you were wondering, and just had a discussion with one of my co-workers about the show -- apparently, Mississippi Market now sells Wenselydale Cheese! For real! Must get some and try it ... wonder what it really is, not a real cheese obviously, but someone must have made a concoction).

Here is another image I made with a photo of my son :





Couldn't resist. What a stud. And in this photo he's only 2 1/2 years old. What will he look like at 16!?? Hope he really does turn into a swimmer. He's got the upper body strength for it, that's for sure!

In any case, I can see that for promotional purposes, all this fiddling around with images would be very handy. Or for (ahem) updating the look of your web page (double-ahem ... I think some of you out there know why I'm electronically clearing my throat!)

Random Patron Musings ...

My new and "improved" text size is from a request made by Jennifer (hope ya like it!).
Here is my patron musing of the day ... yesterday, I had a patron in who needed to fill out an online application with the St. Paul Public Schools for a temporary, summer-only position. She is a retired teacher from SPPS and (ta-da!) had zero computer skills. Didn't even know how to use a mouse (wow, it's been a long time since I've seen someone pick up the mouse to try and make the cursor move around on the screen ...) The upshot of this entire thing was that (of course) she could only apply online. And guess what? She needed an email address in order to complete the application! I was not about to recommend she get a web-based, online email account just to fill out the application (which she could not do at all without staff help, and very concerted help at that). Fortunately, she did have a phone number to call if she needed help. But why does the public at-large just assume that everyone knows there way, be it basic or advanced, around a computer? I thought it very unfair that the SPPS did not offer a non-electronic way to apply for a part-time position and put her through an application process that, frankly, embarrassed her. She apologized about 10 times for not knowing how to use a computer, asking for my help, etc. I felt really bad that this obviously well-educated woman could not do something as simple as apply for a job. Computers ain't everything, and it would be nice for potential employers to recognize this. I suspect that her summer teaching position would not require her to have computer skills (or would it ...?) As I continue on the "23 Things" initiative, this keeps coming back to me -- the juxtaposition between those that get it ... and those that don't.

Thing 5

Wow, you can really get sucked into all the enhancements that Flickr (and other online photo services) has to offer. I did not have the time (nor the patience) to plow through everything. A lot of it seems like fun, but more for the entertainment value than for library services ... with the exception, perhaps, of storytime which can be a visual medium in the library (actually, it is a visual medium). I could see using some of these photo enhancements to "spruce up" a storytime, be it something embedded in the body of the program or a flyer/craft/activity that is tied into storytime (of course, I must be a children's librarian, eh?). I could also see the merit in Tagnautica (mentioned on the webmonkey 10 Best Flickr Mashups). That seems like a deep tool for finding relevant images that students might perhaps want to include in a classroom presentation. Other than that, seems like all this Flickr and images stuff is for fun ... not that there's merit in fun!



Here's my image ... I call it "Warhol Daniel"