Thanks Moms for all you give us…

…including the powerhouses of life:  our mitochondria.  Here’s a cute little rock song about mitochondria, from ScienceBlogs:

MITOCHONDRIA! By David Ng

Brandoodles game

I recently received a board game, Brandoodles.  I haven’t opened the box yet, but just the outside was amusing.  First, I noticed that they used a very nice font, one you don’t see often enough.  Although frankly I think it’s better for a headline, not a whole paragraph.

The into paragraph is optimistic:  you are “bound to have a lot of fun and fast paced excitement playing this game.”

Brandoodles intro

A later paragraph discusses strategy:  “To win the game you have got to pick the correct letters…”  Really?  Got to?

Brandoodles

I don’t know much about games, but the gameboard looks familiar — is that  Jeopardy rip-off?  The basic premise is that you are using letters to guess a product, such as “B-tty Cr-ck-er C-k- M-x” (Betty Crocker Cake Mix.)

It seems to have the potential to be fun.  I’ll have to remember to bring it to my party. 

astute PR

Brandeis University (my alma mater), like many colleges and universities, has been facing some economic problems, with more on the horizon. Negative PR swirled around when the administration discussed closing the Rose Art Museum and selling off the artworks. Last week, Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz sent an FAQ to alumni to reassure them that things are not as bad as they seem, but of course there’s still an uncertain future. He closed the letter with a very positive message, complimenting everyone and holding out great hopes for the future:

“With the guidance of our dedicated faculty, skilled Board of Trustees, committed senior administration, and devoted alumni and friends, the University will come out of this challenging period as a stronger institution.”

Thank you Lord, for bringing me food thru the left window of my car

After four straight days of nothing but turkey & stuffing & mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, last night’s quesadilla was a nice change.  And tonight’s flame broiled beef was delightful!  The over-salted fries really hit the spot, and the single onion ring hidden in the bag was a welcome surprise (although the grease did impact my ability to steer the car — thankfully, I was only 100 yards from home by then!)

Of course I am thankful for all the food you give me.  The portabella mushroom sandwich I had for lunch today at the campus coffee shop was, however, a waste of $4.99…  The tiny shroom was dwarfed by the faux-foccacia, and the pesto was nothing but a green schmear.  The whole sandwich tasted like nothing but a white dinner roll with mayo.  But hey, it wasn’t turkey! 

Our Thanksgiving dinner was quite nice, Greg really made a perfect bird.  And I’ve come to really love his rutabaga-taters!  Thank you for sending us 2 guests to share the bounty, I hope they enjoyed the day as much as we did.  Watching “Big Trouble in Little China” was an odd end to the day, but hey it’s not that Christmas that I watched “Silence of the Lambs!”

desk organizer

My new workspace is more visible to the general public, so I *should* keep it tidy. My old “desk organizer” just didn’t seem appropriate anymore (and frankly, it never worked that well anyways…)

So I shopped around (see my previous post here for some ideas) and ended up finding something kinda nice at Target for $19.99. It’s really a “letter holder” but I figured I could adapt it to my needs. I always love a chance to be creative! (BTW, if you buy one of these, it says the photo openings are 2 x 2 inches, but they are more like 2.75 x 2.75 inches.)

The two compartments are rather wide, and I wanted separate areas for pens, pencils, and other stuff — so I made some impromptu dividers from my old business cards and stuck them in with double-sided tape.

top view of box - before

2 cards, folded & glued together

top view of box, after

I think the final result turned okay…

But after looking at it for a few days, I feel the need to paint it a soft white with a pink-ish tinge… or go all the way pink!

The pink thing on the left is a magnetic dry-erase board I picked up at WallyWorld. Rather than attaching it to the wall, I put it on an easel from Joan Fabrics. To attach anything to the wall, one must fill out a requisition form and schedule a state carpenter to install it!

desk organizer envy

I have a new desk that’s more visible to the public, so I need to keep it quite tidy. I’m trying to decide between the following desk organizers… I wish I could just walk into Ikea and buy some of their cool stuff, but no, they won’t build one here — and the little things aren’t for sale on their website.

WOOD

Richards Homewares spinning desk organizer in warm mahogany $26

Space saving message center in natural wood $34

METAL

Container Store organizer bin in silver mesh $5

Container Store desk station in silver mesh $8 (regularly $15)

Container store magnetic bins in silver mesh $5 – $7

Design Ideas “Ultimate” desk organizer in silver mesh $36

Design Ideas “Desk Station” in silver mesh $23 — hey this looks exactly like the $8 from the Container Store!

Design Ideas “Office Manager” in silver mesh $11

Office Depot “Metro” mesh angled desk organizer $16

PLASTIC

Office Depot “Essential Elements” rotary desk organizer (with stapler!) $18

3M rotary desktop organizer $27

Staples All-in-one desk organizer $16

General Motors to close factory in Wyoming

I didn’t even know GM had a factory in Wyoming! I grew up in a GM family in Michigan, and silly me, I thought most of their factories were in the Midwest. But one way out West, I had no idea…

Yahoo news 10-13-2008

…so I did a little checking, and the factory in question is in the city of Wyoming, Michigan. Not the state of Wyoming.

Nice clarity in reporting, AP!

change of venue

All my writings regarding libraries have been moved over to http://bulletedlibrarian.wordpress.com/

This blog ( http://michellehawkinsthiel.wordpress.com/  ) may continue as a personal blog.

History of the World Wide Web

I just stumbled across this intriguing bit of history.   I remember studying Vannevar Bush and his fabulous Memex, but I don’t recall this guy:  Paul Otlet, who originated the concept for the Web, in Belgium in 1934.

• 2008 article in New York Times June 17, 2008
• 2002 documentary from Belgium — short clip available on NYT site above, definitely worth watching  – box info for English DVD version here
• 1998 documentary from Netherlands (mixed English & French — no subtitles…) — free steaming or download from The Internet Archive
• 1990 translation of some of his writings from The Internet Archive 

 

 

 

Hello world!

I am starting a new blog just for my career exploration journey. I recently completed 9 credits of core courses toward my MLS (Masters degree in Library and Information Science) from UNT (University of North Texas.)

Soon I will need to focus on a specific “major” or track to study for the remainder of the program (27 credits.)  My two preferred paths are:

• Health Informatics — leading to a position as a science / technical / medical (STM) reference librarian in a university, medical school, large public library, or biotech firm
• Youth Librarianship — leading to a position as a children’s librarian in a public library