Incoherent Scribblings

August Review/September Goals

Wow! Is it goal day again already? How this month has flown…

Anyway, as a reminder my August goals were to:

1. Focus on robins and exchanges, but work on my daily rotation when possible. More or less… Since I packed most of my WIPs away I didn’t get to work through my rotation this month. As a result, robins and exchanges were definitely my focus.
2. Finish and mail Recipe Exchange Replacement Piece. (Post date ASAP) Yep!
3. Finish round two of my robins. (Post dates August 15 and September 1) Yes and no. The August 15 was finished and went out without problems. Due to some postal problems, the post date for the September 1 was moved to October 1 though.
4. Start and finish my Needleroll Exchange Piece. Yep!
5. Participate in the FGBB August Stitch-a-thon. The FGBB closed down, but we started a Stitch-A-Thon over on the Robin’s Nest and I participated in it.
6. Possibly finish “Catch the Wind.” However, with everything else that is going on, this is a very low priority. YES! *Mega Happy Dance!*

(Note to self: Really must find and upload a good “happy dance” emoticon.)

Now, for September I plan to:

1. Mail my Needleroll Exchange Piece. (Post date September 5)
2. Start, finish, and mail my Crazy Cat Lady Exchange Piece. (Post date September 25)
3. Start, finish, and mail Round 2 of my RR. (Post date October 1)
4. Start my Scissor Fob Exchange Piece. (Post date October 25)
5. Get back to my daily rotation ASAP.
6. Participate in the Robin’s Nest September Stitch-A-Thon.

Making Lists

I am five days into my 101/1001 project and I have already completed two tasks. Yeah! I have completed my “50 Books in 1001 Days” and “25 Places to Travel Someday” lists and believe me, they weren’t as easy to put together as one might think.

The travel list was fairly straight-forward as I have a basic idea of the places that I would like to visit someday. However, I may expand upon it because while it is nice to say that I want to go to Mexico for example, Mexico is a big place and I think it would be better if I knew exactly where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see, and/or what I wanted to do.

In contrast to the few hours it took for the travel list, it took me over two days to do the book list. This list was pretty labor-intensive because I wanted to have a good mixture of “fun” books and contemporary literature.

I already have a few of the books on the list and I plan on starting with them. The reason they made it on the list is because even though I already have them, I have never gotten around to reading them. (Shame, shame) I am not planning on buying any of the books that I don’t already own after that though: Instead I will use the opportunity to fulfill another goal that relates to the use of my local public library.

And finally, I have about two dozen recurring goals that I had to try and figure out how I was going to track in relation to this project. I didn’t really want to have to edit my main page and add little notes concerning whether or not I did something all the time, so I finally settled on creating a spreadsheet. It lists my annual, biannual, monthly, weekly, and other recurring tasks and each month when I update my list I will check the spreadsheet and tick the corresponding boxes. At the end of my 1001 Days I can then specify how each task was (or was not) completed.

With the exception of trying to get a job, I am not sure which task I will tackle next… Even though with this chilly weather the idea of starting to knit an afghan (#79) sounds awfully tempting!

Let’s Share!

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Carolyn and is:

How do you share your finished pieces with others? Do you frame them, scan and/or photograph them, or do you have another method that you would like to share?

I have a few of my pieces framed, but since very few people ever visit my house to actually see them, the main way I share my cross stitch with other people is via my online gallery. I either scan or photograph my pieces, upload them into my gallery, and then add details such as the designer of the piece and the fabric and stitches used.

Flo and Knitting

First up is a progress picture of “Fairy Flora.”

The picture really sucks but at 15″ long, Flo will no longer fit on my scanner. I tried slapping two scans together, but couldn’t get them to line up so I just gave up and used the camera. This picture makes the fabric look a lot more olive green than it is in real life. If you would like a better idea of the true fabric color, look at the previous progress scans in my gallery.

I don’t think that I am quite half done with this project yet, but I have reached the bottom of the pattern: In other words, Flo will get no longer. The chart claims that on 32 count Flo will end up being 20″ tall and as I still have to add her wings, I believe it.

And now for something completely different…

For those of you who stop by my main blog now and again you will know that I joined in the 101 Things in 1001 Days madness. If you have not read my list, one item that I have under general craftiness is to knit myself an afghan.

Now I am not sure what technically constitutes an “afghan,” but yesterday my Lion Brand Yarn weekly newsletter came with a pattern for something that is called “My Favorite Blankie.” It is a beginner’s pattern which will result in a 34″ blanket and so once I get back to the US I think I will go shopping for some yarn to make it.

If all goes well and I catch the knitting bug, I hope that it will be a prelude to something larger and more complex. If not, I will still have completed a significant knitting project and that is really what that particular item on my list is all about anyway.

And now, I am off to finish my needleroll for XXX.

The Job Search Begins

Ever since I decided to return to the US a few weeks ago I have been scouring the library want-ads looking for a job. In that time I managed to find five prospects and so over the weekend I sat down with my long-neglected résumé and cover letter and went to work applying. Three jobs have now been applied for and I hope to apply for the other two some time this week.

While it has been a few years since I applied for my last library job in the United States, in general the process has not changed. The basics I need to send are a letter of application or cover letter, my résumé (or since I am an academic librarian it is referred to as my vitæ), three professional references, and sometimes copies of my transcripts.

However, one thing that has changed (and I think for the better) is that most places are willing to accept electronic applications now. In fact, some actually require it.

When I was applying in the past this was not case. If you emailed the search committee inquiring about the possibility of sending an electronic application it was usually only accepted in addition to the hard copy. Now, I am not opposed to applying via post, but I must admit that in my current situation it makes things much easier if I can apply online.

In addition to the basics, one particular job that I plan on applying for also wants me to include a brief statement of my service philosophy and a summary of my research interests. Ultimately my service philosophy has not changed since I graduated from library school, so I just have to dig out that document and polish it a little bit.

However, my research interests have definitely changed. When I was working a few years ago, my research interests leaned towards the integration of technology into the public services environment and, in my opinion, were broad and not very well defined.

Technology in the library still interests me, but after my experience abroad I can definitely see myself doing research in the area of library services to foreign/non-native English speaking populations. Though I had read about the differences in library services in different countries when I was a student, it is only when I experienced them first-hand that I really understood how distinctive library services at American universities really are. Not only that, but I feel that after living in a country where I was a non-native speaker I will have a unique perspective when interacting with students who speak English as a second language.

I would be lying if I said that the four-year gap on my résumé didn’t concern me a little bit though. Nevertheless, my diploma still says that I am a librarian and basic library philosophy and services have not changed during my absence so I know that I can still do the job. Luckily I am not a luddite either and so I am confident that I will quickly adapt to any technological changes that may have occurred. I just hope that the search committees for the jobs that I am interested in see it that way too…