Mmmm... SPAM

Gmail now incorporates headlines and RSS feeds at the top of your inbox that you can customize to suit your preferences. A handy feature if I didn't already use Bloglines to consolidate all my blog reading. At the top of your Spam folder they also have different recipes using, what else, SPAM. Frankly I don't think SPAM is ever a good idea but some of these meals sound truly revolting. Vineyard Spam Salad? Yuck. Or some Savory Spam Crescents perhaps? Noooo thank you. I think the next time I have friends over for dinner I'll serve some French Fry Spam Casserole. heh.

Canadian Culture

We received an informational package from Canadian Heritage about their new website culture.ca. It looks really cool - check it out.

Who Moved My Cheese?

It's been a week full of conferences, workshops and seminars and while interesting, it can get tiring. I never thought I'd say that about continuing education as it's usually something I really enjoy but three days in a row has been a lot. For the third year I attended the Disability Resource Network conference and took in some very interesting sessions. In the morning I learned about organizational and personal change and how to identify my reaction to it. Then after lunch I sat in on a very interesting session about chronic pain led by Dr. Chan Gunn of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain. Dr. Gunn's approach to treating pain is to target nerves that aren't functioning properly instead of looking at blood and organs. Apparently he has made a real breakthrough in the medical field and revolutionized how people approach chronic pain.

Wednesday CILS held a workshop to introduce new people to our services as well as refresh the knowledge of people who are already familiar with us. We also discussed web accessibility issues and what library staff and disability advisors can do at their institutions to help make resources more available to students with print disabilities. I was able to meet a lot of people I've been communicating with over the years and was also able to answer a lot of questions from the people at my table so, for me, it was a success.

Today and tomorrow are the college's reading days so there was a staff development day held today which gave support staff an opportunity to attend some sessions. The theme was "The Balancing Act: Having It All" so most sessions focused in some way on balance. I managed to get some exercise in by attending a cardio-funk class which was a lot of fun and then in the afternoon I tried to "Beat the Brown Bag Blues." That one wasn't as useful since I didn't really learn anything new. Apparently my lunches aren't as boring as I thought they were. Now it's Friday again and back to the daily grind.

Other than that everything is just kind of meh. My evenings perk up for an hour or two but after the daily call I'm usually asleep on the couch by 9:30. I need more of a life. Only 7 more days and then hopefully things will be better.

Perception

Click HERE and tell me what words you would use to describe me.

Gabaldon strikes again

I ordered book #7, A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, back in September when I was still in Afghanistan. I managed to read about 400 pages before I had to pack everything up and ship it back to Canada. When I got home I got caught up reading other books but I finally came back to finish this one. I had been a little disappointed with the first part of the book as it moves slower than I have an attention span for however, the more I got into it the harder it was to put it down. (I stayed up until 6:30am one Saturday morning reading it!) I don't want to give any of the plot away but I will say that it is set on Fraser's Ridge in North Carolina in the period leading up to the American Civil War. Gabaldon does intensive research to make these books historically accurate and it always pays off. I've been a fan of this series since book one and I'll keep reading them until she stops writing them.

Love in flower form

They were delivered yesterday after I left work but this morning there they were, in all their gorgeousness. Thank you so much A.

A whopping three parts

I did a Google search today to see who was linking to my photos and I found some interesting results.

Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library

Stereogum (Half-way down the comments.)

Yahoo! Travel

Science vs Romance

and last but certainly not least,

The Bingo Guide (The one for club members' bingo reviews)

I also got an email today from a photo editor with the New York Times asking if I could submit a self-portrait for a story they are doing on people who take pictures of themselves and post them on the 'net. Crazy!!

*****

A Graphic Revolution! Books 5 & 6

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi continues her story after her parents send her to live in Austria in order to escape the war in Iran. She's lived an amazing life and the graphic novel medium is a perfect fit for her to bring the story to the masses. For a long time I had a negative perception of graphic novels but so far I've enjoyed all that I have read. I highly recommend both this one and the first one, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.

Continuing with the graphic novel genre I then read Blankets by Craig Thompson which I had received for my birthday from Laurel. Again, an excellent novel about Craig's life growing up in Wisconsin and his search for faith along the way. The drawings are amazing and the story is engrossing.

*****

In other news, my MP, David Emerson of Vancouver-Kingsway has crossed the floor to the Conservatives in exchange for a cabinet position. I didn't vote for him when he was a Liberal but I certainly didn't vote for a Conservative and am very much looking forward to a by-election. Maybe Ian Waddell, our NDP candidate, will get the majority of votes this time around.

Book #4

It's already February and I've only managed to read four books. I really need to pick up the pace if I want to get to 50. Lately I haven't been that inspired to read anything thought provoking - it's all about the easy reading! I need more recommendations. Come on people, I know you all read great books!

Me Talk Pretty One Day is the 4th David Sedaris book I've read and they have all been enjoyable. His collections of essays are easy to read and never fail to make me laugh.

Perk of the job

In our weekly meeting today it was mentioned that if we were to put on a workshop on the Island or in the Kootenays I would probably get to go. Sweet!