I have a job! :) I'm going to be a Library Assistant at Pflugerville Community Library in Pflugerville, Texas, a small city northeast of downtown Austin. I interviewed on Tuesday and was offered/accepted the job on Wednesday. According to the job description, I'll be shelving books, checking materials in and out, issuing library cards, answering phones, and helping computer users. It seems like a great work environment and I'm looking forward to getting started.
Been busy since the last post, as always. Last week was the first kickball victory I was present for (the other one happened at the only game I've missed). We beat the team that beat us 7-0 in our first game. Very satisfying. We've got two more games to go, so we could plausibly end the season at .500. I have faith.
I've been going to quite a few library-related things lately: a couple of things hosted by our career services office, a Romance Readers' Social, and a screening of The Hollywood Librarian, after which the director spoke with the audience. The documentary isn't, at present, commercially available, but I wish everyone I know would watch it because it captures much more eloquently than I've been able to why I want to be a librarian. Even after watching the segments on the battle to keep open the public libraries in Salinas, California, I felt confirmed in the desire to be a public librarian. It was a good feeling and a powerful documentary. And Ann Seidl, the director, is something else. She's fearless. It's inspirational, even if you don't necessarily agree with her.
Jennie was here. We went to San Antonio for the day on Sunday and did the Alamo, Market Square and the River Walk. She bought me a beautiful pashmina as an early Christmas gift. I'm wearing it right now, actually, because it's finally cold in Texas--it feels like Thanksgiving! :) Monday, she toured the Capitol while I was in class and then that night we had drinks on Sixth Street and went to Artz Rib House. Oh, and we took her to the Dog and Duck and Woodrow's while she was here. Good times.
Now the houseguests are gone and there are three weeks (and lots of homework) left of the semester. But first, Thanksgiving. Pat and I are going down to San Antonio to have dinner with some friends of mine from high school and their families. If I can pry him away from the Packers game, that is.
Happy Thanksgiving! :)
Showing posts with label exploring Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exploring Texas. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
October, I hardly knew ye...Part the Second
What a busy month! November promises to be more of the same because we'll have visitors! Elmo Makes Music arrives in San Antonio this weekend, and with it, Mary! Then, the in-laws next weekend and Jennie the weekend after that. :)
Anyway, more on October. I forgot to mention in my last post the BU alumni event Pat and I went to. It was a pretty fun time at the Belmont, where they have $1 margaritas and half-priced apps on Monday evenings. One of the guys there graduated in '06 and is in UT's School of Education, which is in the same building as my school and I think I saw him the other day, but I wasn't confident about it, so I didn't say anything. Oh well. The person who organized it is talking about doing a Beanpot get-together, which would be nice. Or, considering how the team's doing thus far, maybe it won't be nice...We shall see.
This weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, I went to the Texas Clay Festival with some folks from the iSchool, one of which worked with my cousin Chelle at the Maine Historical Society. Actually, while I'm talking about what a small world it is, I'm going to digress. I finally gave into peer pressure and joined Facebook and I'm glad I did because I was able to get back in touch with two of the people from high school that I really wish I hadn't lost touch with in the first place (there aren't many of those, let me tell you) and they are both living in Texas, too. So bizarre.
Anyway, Texas Clay Festival. I'm a total bum and didn't remember my camera and I really wish I had. I'd love to go back and revisit some of the pieces I looked at during the day because I was experiencing some sensory overload and it would be nice to get a second look. We watched some really interesting demos. One was a man working on the wheel and another was a man doing a quick firing technique that I believe is called raku, but I might be making that up. I could watch people performing their craft all day, and it doesn't have to be art, either. I even get really mesmerized watching other hairdressers when I'm getting my hair cut. I like that pottery is such a tactile art. Every single thing we looked at we were aloud to touch and pick up.
On Sunday, Pat and I went to the Triple Crown Pet Festival. The proceeds went to the Austin SPCA. We saw doggie dancing, a police dog training demo, and weenie dog races! I know, I know, you're thinking, "Becca, weenie dog races? But, I know for a fact that you keep a huge soapbox in your closet for times when you need to talk about greyhound racing." These were people's pets that they brought with them to the festival and they weren't compelled to race by any means other than someone standing 50 feet away with a toy or treat. Some of them chose not to run at all; one rolled over and asked to have his tummy rubbed. It was really cute! I wish we could have a dog, but two cats is the limit in the apartment building.
In other news, I'll be on the east coast from January 1st or 2nd-ish to January 15th-ish. I'll be spending some time in Maine, some in Boston (I'll be begging for sofa space soon, friends!), and some in Philly (woo, Randi!) for ALA Midwinter.
Last but not least, a little story about why library school has its perks: I've spend the last couple of weeks working on a project about Romance fiction for my Public Libraries class. I even decided to read one of the books I talked about in my presentation. In one of the books I used, The Romance Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks, the author told a story of working in her library and having an elderly man come to the reference desk whom she had difficulty understanding. He apologized to her, saying that he'd had a stroke and was learning to speak all over again. She mentioned to him that she'd just read a book about a stroke survivor learning to speak whose first words were swears; he said he'd had the same experience (drove his wife crazy) and he'd like to read that book. She gave him the book I'm reading now, Flowers from the Storm, which he then gave to his wife and recommended to his doctor, who in turn recommended it to other stroke survivors and their families. Very touching story and a pretty enjoyable novel, to boot. :)
Anyway, more on October. I forgot to mention in my last post the BU alumni event Pat and I went to. It was a pretty fun time at the Belmont, where they have $1 margaritas and half-priced apps on Monday evenings. One of the guys there graduated in '06 and is in UT's School of Education, which is in the same building as my school and I think I saw him the other day, but I wasn't confident about it, so I didn't say anything. Oh well. The person who organized it is talking about doing a Beanpot get-together, which would be nice. Or, considering how the team's doing thus far, maybe it won't be nice...We shall see.
This weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, I went to the Texas Clay Festival with some folks from the iSchool, one of which worked with my cousin Chelle at the Maine Historical Society. Actually, while I'm talking about what a small world it is, I'm going to digress. I finally gave into peer pressure and joined Facebook and I'm glad I did because I was able to get back in touch with two of the people from high school that I really wish I hadn't lost touch with in the first place (there aren't many of those, let me tell you) and they are both living in Texas, too. So bizarre.
Anyway, Texas Clay Festival. I'm a total bum and didn't remember my camera and I really wish I had. I'd love to go back and revisit some of the pieces I looked at during the day because I was experiencing some sensory overload and it would be nice to get a second look. We watched some really interesting demos. One was a man working on the wheel and another was a man doing a quick firing technique that I believe is called raku, but I might be making that up. I could watch people performing their craft all day, and it doesn't have to be art, either. I even get really mesmerized watching other hairdressers when I'm getting my hair cut. I like that pottery is such a tactile art. Every single thing we looked at we were aloud to touch and pick up.
On Sunday, Pat and I went to the Triple Crown Pet Festival. The proceeds went to the Austin SPCA. We saw doggie dancing, a police dog training demo, and weenie dog races! I know, I know, you're thinking, "Becca, weenie dog races? But, I know for a fact that you keep a huge soapbox in your closet for times when you need to talk about greyhound racing." These were people's pets that they brought with them to the festival and they weren't compelled to race by any means other than someone standing 50 feet away with a toy or treat. Some of them chose not to run at all; one rolled over and asked to have his tummy rubbed. It was really cute! I wish we could have a dog, but two cats is the limit in the apartment building.
In other news, I'll be on the east coast from January 1st or 2nd-ish to January 15th-ish. I'll be spending some time in Maine, some in Boston (I'll be begging for sofa space soon, friends!), and some in Philly (woo, Randi!) for ALA Midwinter.
Last but not least, a little story about why library school has its perks: I've spend the last couple of weeks working on a project about Romance fiction for my Public Libraries class. I even decided to read one of the books I talked about in my presentation. In one of the books I used, The Romance Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks, the author told a story of working in her library and having an elderly man come to the reference desk whom she had difficulty understanding. He apologized to her, saying that he'd had a stroke and was learning to speak all over again. She mentioned to him that she'd just read a book about a stroke survivor learning to speak whose first words were swears; he said he'd had the same experience (drove his wife crazy) and he'd like to read that book. She gave him the book I'm reading now, Flowers from the Storm, which he then gave to his wife and recommended to his doctor, who in turn recommended it to other stroke survivors and their families. Very touching story and a pretty enjoyable novel, to boot. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)