Questions abound

[luciab]

It's been a quiet day here in Lake Wobegone... maybe I shoulda made some Powdermilk Biscuits to get things moving, instead of my usual yogurt with fruit. I practiced some calligraphy this AM in preparation for doing the Ten Thousand Villages invitation. Most of it will be a Word font, but the front will have some real live calligraphy from mine very own hand.

There was a pleasant -- surprising, but very pleasant-- moment this morning when I woke up. Miranda jumped on my chest en route to the side of the bed where Molly was sleeping, and then curled up next to Molly. Nobody hissed, swatted, or otherwise made rude gestures at anyone else! In fact, they washed each others faces a little bit. Wow. I was stunned. I just sat there for several minutes, wondering if I was really awake.

This afternoon I've been doing some preliminary research into a suggestion Nia made-- that I consider getting a Masters in Library Science. Kinda out of left field, huh? I'd been sort of mulling it over in my mind, and today I went online to check out the programs at UNC and NCCU. The results were interesting. I haven't had any problem picturing myself doing what I know librarians do, but I haven't had a good idea of what they do when they aren't at the desk, preparing books for circulation, etc. The class descriptions were thus kind of a shock. I couldn't even figure out what some of them meant. The really sobering realization was that I've never seen a more boring group of classes in all my life. That doesn't bode well... surely there should be something that makes me say, "Wow! That looks cool! I've always wondered how to do that." Many of the classes sounded so esoteric that I couldn't figure out what they have to do with the daily functioning of a library. So now I'm wondering, DO they have anything to do with what goes on daily? I was also reminded of the guy who wanted to be a surveyor because he thought it'd be fun to used one of those gadgets on a tripod. What a gap between the perception and the reality.

The big question, of course, is what do I want to do when i grow up? Or at least, what do I want to do until then? The single thing I enjoy most is painting. However, just sitting in my little corner painting won't feed me or shelter me. Some business acumen-- and a fair amount of luck, as far as I can see-- are required to actually make a living from painting. I'm not so good with the business stuff, and the idea of marketing myself leaves me thoroughly intimidated. I'm much happier with the idea of just going to work, doing my job, and letting somebody else figure out all the business stuff. I'm really burned out on the whole take-charge, figure out what to do, be responsible (especially for someone else) thing. That's a pretty good indicator of how much I look forward to getting another architecture job and having liability issues, too. If I could go back to drafting, I'd consider it. I like drafting. It's just been a few years too many since I did it, is all. I told you before, I have no ambition. I wasn't kidding.

I think I'm going to work on the Villages invitation for a while before turning in. That's one thing I know I can, and want to, do. Night, all.

Comments

[zihuatanejo.livejournal.com]

I'm going to UNC. http://sils.unc.edu/

The Design library sounds great--is it like an art library, but focusing on architecture and graphic design?

He he he... I totally understand the surveyor attitude. When I was ten I saw an episode of "Reading Rainbow" featuring a preservationist. I loved how they fixed the book spines, washed the pages, made new covers, spiffed them all up and made them pretty. So I decided I wanted to be a librarian, because I thought that's what they did. Then in college I was a circulation assistant and had to deal with the public. Ye freaking gods, never again. Finally I was apprenticed in the archives and found my bliss. A room all my own with boxes and boxes of cool stuff to fix up, organize, and catalog. I'm an insanely organized person (I abhor the second law of thermaldynamics) and I love fixing things, so I decided this was the job for me. Thus I'm going to grad school.

I only have a passing knowledge of a lot of library positions, but you sound a bit like an art library cataloger, collection development (maybe--deals with money), records management, or art preservationist to me. I could be totally wrong, but these are the least people-oriented, task-juggling jobs I can think of. If you want to find out if libraries are a possible job option, the best advice I can offer is to hang out in the Design library, ask a LOT of questions, maybe volunteer to shelve books.

Anyway, I'm a library crazy person, so I always enjoy talking about them, even if you're not interested in taking classes.

Speaking of classes, this is my first semester schedule, and an example of class title translation.

Information Resources and Services: search techniques, ie, how better to find the answer to a reference question using databases.
Management for Information Professionals: gag me. It's a required class, let's get it over with.
Resource Selection and Evaluation: how to buy books for your library.
Human Information Interactions: philosophy of information age.

[luciab.livejournal.com]

Cool beans! We need to talk, I think. I don't mind interacting with people, at least what I've done so far. That would be volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages, where I work the sales floor. I've been reading some of the library lists here, and I can see that I haven't experienced the full range of the public. Heh. I'm also basing a lot of my thoughts on what I see at the Cameron Village, Cary and Apex branches of the Wake Co system. I'm volunteering at Cam Village now and enjoying it. The archiving that you're talking about sounds good, too.

Thanks for the course translations-- helpful.

[zihuatanejo.livejournal.com]

We should definitely talk. We seem to have a lot in common--migraines, politics, bookish stuff, Livia (my new neighbor), and art. I've been trying to get started in the SCA illumination world, but I keep getting sidetracked. It's hard to do much in the SCA without being properly outfitted with clothing, first. A-tunic makin', I have been. C'est la vie.

You're volunteering at the CV branch? Cool. What do you do there?