Alice in InfoLand - Life LessonsBloghttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/2010-04-13T15:24:29ZSquarespaceSeven Things You Don’t (Need to) Know about Me - A Memehttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/seven-things-you-dont-need-to-know-about-me-a-meme.htmlAlice2008-12-31T18:56:19Z2008-12-31T18:56:19ZI’ve been tagged by Cathy Nelson for this perennial meme. Since I listed five things when Doug Johnson tagged me two years ago, I’ll just add these items to the list:

1. I am incorrigibly curious. My parents were educators, and the daily dinner question was “so what did you DISCOVER today?” (note: not learned; discovered. BIG difference.) That curiosity has occasionally gotten me in trouble … On the way to the hospital to have my first child, I stopped to read an historical marker near the hospital entrance. My husband got to the admitting desk only to discover that I was still a half-block behind him. The next time I was pregnant, he insisted that I read every signpost along all the possible routes to the hospital each time we went for a check-up, just to make sure that there would be no “delays” this time.

2. Although I am probably the most tech-savvy of my immediate friends and family, the truth is that I have NO idea how computers actually work. There could be little green men in pointy hats frantically shuffling index cards inside each of those machines to make the magic happen. I know how to USE the magic as needed, but don’t understand (or even need to know) how those technologies work. I’m just grateful for the opportunities and adventures that cyber-connections provide!

and a bonus:
3. I am a certified klutz.  But most of you knew that about me already.

Now I tag Sara, Carl, Lazygal, Chris, Diane, Sophie, and Brian.

]]>100 things memehttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/100-things-meme.htmlAlice2008-12-25T22:36:15Z2008-12-25T22:36:15ZBeen there, done that? I wonder who came up with this list, and how culturally biased it is.

In any case, I’ve bolded those items I have already done, and italicized those I’m still hoping to get to, someday, somehow:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

]]>Misgiving Dayhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/misgiving-day.htmlAlice2008-11-29T21:20:28Z2008-11-29T21:20:28ZDid you know about this annual observance? Observed (obviously not an occasion for celebration) on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, *Misgiving Day* “is designed to break the arc of forced bonhomie that extends from Thanksgiving, hits its apogee at Christmas, and climaxes on New Year’s Eve.” Here is our opportunity to “rue our excesses, our sins of commission and omission, and the overall shallowness of our existence not to mention the gluttony of the recent holiday.”
Anyone care to join me in some sour mash?

]]>Friendshipshttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/friendships.htmlAlice2008-07-24T16:39:57Z2008-07-24T16:39:57ZIn this age of instant online connections, don’t forget the folks who have been present in your real life over the years. George Heymont’s Best Friends Forever explores the real meaning of social networking. (confession: George is my brother… and is my best friend forever!)

]]>School Librarian Job Descriptionhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/school-librarian-job-description.htmlAlice2008-07-01T20:48:56Z2008-07-01T20:48:56ZJob%20Descrip%20Cloud.png Hmmmm… a current Job Description for a K-12 School Librarian, as imaged by *http://www.wordle.net*
Do you agree or disagree with the proportions? Why?
What isn’t there that should be included?


]]>FOOLPROOF TURKEY RECIPEhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/foolproof-turkey-recipe.htmlAlice2007-11-14T01:55:41Z2007-11-14T01:55:41Zaka How to cook a  20 lb. bird in 2 and a half hours
 Although this recipe sounds unlikely, trust me.  I’ve been using it for over 20 years, with success EVERY time.   The turkey comes out perfectly done — both white meat and dark meat juicy and tender — with plenty of flavorful juices/broth for making gravy and stuffing.
Ingredients:
15-20 lb. UNSTUFFED, COMPLETELY THAWED turkey
2 cups (16 oz) water or broth
Optional:     1 raw onion or 1 raw apple
assorted herbs and spices
Large, heavy-duty roasting pan (if using disposable foil pan, put it on a cookie sheet or baking pan for stability)
Aluminum foil
Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 450 degrees.
Put UNSTUFFED, COMPLETELY THAWED turkey into deep roasting pan.
        note:     if turkey is 20-25 lbs., just add 15 minutes to last hour.
                     if turkey is 10-15 lbs., subtract 15 minutes from last hour.
Optional: put 1 raw onion or apple into the bird’s cavity: it adds flavor, and reminds you to make sure that you already removed the turkey innards!
Pour 16 oz. water or broth into bottom of pan.
Cover turkey with aluminum foil (Tented, not sealed).
Put turkey into hot oven, set timer for 90 minutes, and walk away.
(Do NOT keep opening oven to look; that bird isn’t going anywhere.)
When timer rings, after 90 minutes, take foil tent off turkey.
Lower heat to 400 degrees, set timer for one hour, and walk away.
(Get stuffing ready ***, prepare other side dishes, set table, etc.)
When timer rings again, take turkey out of oven and remove from pan to rest on cutting board (gathering juices/thoughts) for 15-20 minutes before carving.
Use turkey juices in pan to make gravy.
 
*** I prepare stuffing in separate pan.
When turkey is done cooking, I use some of the turkey “juice” to moisten the gravy, then cook the stuffing in the oven while the turkey is resting and then being carved.
The stuffing is perfectly cooked by the time the turkey is carved and ready for serving.
 
 Enjoy!
 

]]>Conference-boundhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/conference-bound.htmlAlice2007-06-21T01:42:45Z2007-06-21T01:42:45ZI’m heading south tomorron morning to the ALA conference in Washington DC, for four action-packed days of learning, laughter with friends, and l o o o o o o t s of lengthy exhibit aisles, hotel lobbies and convention center corridors filled with more-than-you-could-ever-imagine ideas and possibilities for library-land. I’ve got my schedule of programs (more than one in each time-slot) to go to, vendors to see, and an extra bag for swag to send home.
Then on Monday I head even further south to the NECC conference in Atlanta, for two more days of learning and looking at new tools and toys in the ed-tech world. There will definitely be overlaps — in fact, I’m somehow on a panel at NECC (!!), talking about the 21st Century School Information Center, along with (much wiser) panelists David Warlick, Will Richardson, Larry Johnson, Joyce Valenza, Doug Johnson, Lisa Perez, and Brian Kenney.
(Unlike Doug Johnson, though, I’ve gotten NO paperspam from NECC exhibitors. I guess they don’t know me… yet.)

If you’re at either conference and run into me (literally OR figuratively), please say hello!

tags:
]]>Cleaning closetshttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/cleaning-closets.htmlAlice2007-06-09T18:29:09Z2007-06-09T18:29:09ZI haven’t posted here in a while because I’ve been dealing with my 93-yo mother’s increasing frailty.  She’s been living in an apartment in a  “lifecare community” for the past few years, but in March we realized that she could no longer live independently.  Her mind was ‘dis-integrating’ (her own apt word) more rapidly, causing not just memory loss, but confusion and even occasional danger to herself.  After much to-do and travail, she’s now in what’s called “residential health care” in the same community, where she is much safer and well-supervised.

In the process, however, we had to pack up her apartment and dispose of whatever wouldn’t fit in the new room.  Here are some lessons I learned from that experience, and plan to apply to my own home:

  1. Do not save/stockpile grocery bags and/or plastic containers. They multiply when you are not looking.
  2. Label ALL photos, with names, dates, and locations.
  3. Weed your closets every year. If you haven’t worn it in a year, get rid of it.
  4. Three sets of sheets for each bed is plenty: one in use, one in the laundry, one in the closet.
  5. Sample sizes of shampoo, etc., are meant to be used, not hoarded.
  6. If it’s broken, get it fixed or throw it out. It won’t self-heal with time.
  7. Do not expect charitable organizations to be charitable to you.

 A word to the wise (and weary): stop stockpiling!  You’ll probably never use all that stuff, and it only means more for your kids to have to throw out later on.

]]>Stop Cyberbullying Day: March 30, 2007http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/stop-cyberbullying-day-march-30-2007.htmlAlice2007-03-28T17:45:16Z2007-03-28T17:45:16Z Andy Carvin is initiating a Stop Cyberbullying Day this Friday, March 30, 2007, on his PBS Blog in reaction to the terrorization/bullying that has been done to Kathy Sierra. Kathy’s Creating Passionate Users blog explores and explains “how the brain works and how to exploit it for better learning and memory… and how to recognize when someone else (including one of us) is applying brain-based techniques to get you to do something.” Her posts are frequently praised and quoted across a wide variety of industries and interests: marketing, technology, education, libraryland, etc.

In school-library-land we know how important it is to alert students, parents, teachers, and administrators to the realities of the Read/Write Web. We advocate for social responsibility and fight against censorship. We want — nay, need — our future citizens to know how to conduct themselves appropriately and ethically at all times, whether face to face or online.

Bullying and social cruelty is hateful behavior, no matter what the format or the age of the instigators. As educators, it is imperative that we do whatever we can to make sure that it does not happen to anyone, child OR adult.

http://cyberbully.org and Nancy Willard’s Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use provide excellent resources for you to use and share with your students and colleagues, while Vicki Davis suggests several ways for educators to take action on her Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

What will YOU do to prevent cyberbullying in your community?

(cross-posted on LM_Net, and on the AASL blog)

]]>Advice for new TLshttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/advice-for-new-tls.htmlAlice2006-04-24T23:58:02Z2006-04-24T23:58:02ZOver at School Libraryland, Justin has distilled what he’s learned in his first year as a school librarian into excellent advice for those now looking for their first job. 

For even more suggestions and guidance for newbies, check out GraceAnne DeCandido’s Ten Graces for New Librarians, and my own Y’s Guide to Starting a New School/Library/Job.

Interesting to see how we all stress the same survival strategies:

  • Develop a support system
  • Keep learning
  • Don’t try to conquer the world
  • Remember to have a life
So to all the new graduates out there — welcome to the wonderful world of school librarianship, where life is never dull!

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