Growin' Blog

Back to China

2009-07-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

I guess we'll call this my birthday / graduation present: we're heading back to China for 2 weeks at the end of August. Whoo-hoo! We're calling it a practice run for a potential sabbatical trip.

I want independance: from construction!

2009-07-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sitting here at the end of week 8 of what was quoted as a 5 week job, I'm regretting a little bit not blogging the whole process: from the mis-sized windows to the mis-communications about paint, it would have made a good story.

But we're at the mercy of the people working for us. Once the house is taken apart, you're sort of stuck with them. It is nice to have them sit down with you and explain what's going on, but I can't help but feel like smoke is being blown up my ass. Disclosure is nice, but all to often it feels like finger pointing. 'We didn't know the sub was going to do it this way, etc. etc.' What you want to say is: 'Hey--the check to the sub doesn't have our name on it, it has yours.' Or: 'Hey--it's your insurance policy, not ours.' But then again, I have no idea who would get tangled up into the bullshit if things went downhill. But one thing I do know would definitely happen: work would grind to (even more of) a halt, we would continue to sleep on couch and twin bed in the mini-dining room, and it would be a huge mess.

So we smile, nod our heads, and I secretly reconfirm my decision not to tell this story day-by-day.

Fish on.

2009-06-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like such a baby. I spent a little money today replacing some lost gear (fuck you burglars!) and learned a new trick--a trick I probably should have learned a long time ago. The trick is: take advantage of those pre-tied loops in your leader. Buy a leader one notch up from what you want and by some tippet material. Put a perfection loop on the end of your leader and to the end of a length of leader. Now you have 2 loops that you can tie together, and it's easy to take that knot apart. This way, you have a length of tippet to tie flies to. Once this tippet gets short, you can take it off the leader and put on a new length of tippet. This way--your leader never gets shorter. It will really lengthen the life of the leader.

Really glad for the advice. But like the shop owner said: the advice is always free.

Finding the best resources.

2009-06-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Lindsay has already recommended the New York Times and content from the BBC. I'll add a few other sources that are excellent:

The Christian Science Monitor. Please don't confuse it with Scientology. It's very different, and this online-only newspaper is an excellent source of coverage of world events.
The New Yorker. Most of its content is available for free online, and each week they will typically have two or three 5000 word essays which are excellent.
The Economist. Staunchly pro-free market, this British magazine is a good alternative to openly political journals such as The Nation and he National Review.

But that's just the open web. The UO Libraries has a huge assortment of material available to you (we spend about $4 million per year). Try the topical lists of databases available for searching. These databases are especially good at finding news sources:

Newspaper Source. A search engine that includes content from many different newspapers.
Lexis Nexis. Has even more news content.
Ethnic News Watch. An index of newspapers by and about ethnic minority groups in the US.

And this is just news stuff! I'm sure you'd get bonus point if you were to use scholarly journals in your work--stuff like a couple of the journals I have listed under geography on my blogroll. Try GeoBase, or some of the indexes under Political Science and International Studies to get a taste of what these are good for.

As for the cheese--when I returned to the coffee shop, I'm sure the two young ladies thought I was pretty smooth when I walked in and said "Excuse me, did you see a piece of cheese sitting here when you sat down?" I finally bit the bullet and rode my bike all the way back downtown. I had left the dang goat cheese sitting on the cheesemonger's table when she gave me her change. She had set it aside for me in a little wax paper bag. "I knew you'd be back."

Duck U blog options.

2009-06-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

Lindsay's class has to put their blogs somewhere. If there's a high-octane geek in the class (and isn't there always?) they can always put it on their own domain. But that's usually not an option. So generally, students can put blogs on their local webspace (Hey everybody: did you know you can have webpages hosted by the university? It just takes up part of your disk quota.) or just let Blogger take care of things at blogname.blogspot.com.

Here's some essentials about getting a Blog started at uoregon.edu/~your_user_name:

Getting a page set up on the university's server.

I recommend putting a basic index.html page up just to test that you set everything up correctly. There's also a campus IT page with some extra file transfer help.

Set up a new folder on your 'shell account' that is named whatever you want the url of your blog to be, such as: uoregon.edu/~your_user_name/myblog/

You're all set to start following the instructions at blogger.com!

If you want Blogger to host your blog, start there. If you have a gmail account--you should be able to use that username to log in at Blogger.

Easy as pie.

But what about the cheese? On Saturday I went to the market for the first time all year (that admission by itself is a bit embarrassing). Strawberries, cherries, and all sorts of early vegetables are available. Often, I'll also buy a loaf of bread or a piece of meat. It's expensive, but it's almost always worth it. So Saturday I bought this beautiful piece of cumin flavored goat cheese, ingredients for the salmon chowder I made Saturday night, berries, cherries, and greens for a salad. Then I headed to the Goat for a morning coffee. When I got home and unpacked.....

...the cheese was missing.

Feed me!

2009-06-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

In the past two years, I all but gave up on feed readers. I was committed to bloglines for about a year, but writing my thesis made me feel totally opposed to keeping current with library blogs. Besides: I kind of enjoy seeing the blogs I read regularly in their native format. In a way, blogs lose some of their appear when they look like webmail.

Anyway, I do want to introduce Lindsay's students to readers--at least to take their pulse to see if anyone is using them. I've never been a Google Reader user, but it does seem to be a popular option amongst my colleagues. Getting started is certainly a breeze:

Bloglines is much the same, and I use it to generate the blogroll to the right. I spent some time today playing with CSS to make them match the look of the GrowBlog a bit more closely, but those skills are REALLY rusty.

You might be wondering about the cheese. I'll explain as I continue to prep for Tuesday, but suffice it to say: if I was single, I think I would have just discovered a new pickup line.

Found my cheese!

2009-06-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Spring cleaning here at the GrowBlog. I'm visiting a class on Tuesday and need not only to show a few features of Blogger, but also show what a blog is useful for. So get ready for some rapid posts, a few template changes, and just a little bit of commentary on the weekend's food and reading.

First off: the class I'm visiting is charged with identifying news and/or reading items on a given topic each week, and writing a brief posting about them. As it's summer and all, I'm also catching up on a little reading. Starting in China, I checked in with one of my semi-regular Chinese blogs today which recently posted a whole bunch of commentaries on how June 6 was treated in the world media. I will note that my own campus had a panel discussion on that evening, but I was unable to attend.

The posts though, led me to a new site and introduced me to a blogger who is also an archivist. A great combination. I have heard of this Budapest human rights archive, but have never had an opportunity to check out their website. This here post is a reminder for me to do so at some greater length at a later date.

"Almost belligerantly unambitious"

2009-06-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Is how one of my coworkers described herself today. I thought that was f'in awesome.

3 more retirements.

2009-05-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Announced since I wrote that last post. All map librarians. Seeing as there are typically 3 jobs open nationally each year, this seems to be a big deal. 7 openings. Well, that's not exactly accurate. 7 positions vacant. Only one opening so far.

(note to my own colleagues: no, I'm not looking. If I was looking, I would only be getting a new roof and paint job instead of all the other renovations.)

I've just been slated to teach Library 101 in the fall--a 1-credit 1-hour-a-week course. In starting to think about how to go about it, I realize that there will be few places in the syllabus where they will actually have to touch a physical resource. I'm thinking about making attendance mandatory though. 5 random quizzes in 9 sessions? As one of my high school history teachers would say: "Gentlemen, take out....a half-sheet of paper.

Libraries losing.

2009-05-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Just finished up several days in Salt Lake City. I wandered around town less than I have at other conferences, but this was primarily because I spent most of Sunday with a fellow iSchool alum. It was great to meet his family and friends--they actually threw a brunch!

The conference itself was especially good for me, but the side conversations were dire. There are considerable shakeups happening out there in library land, and I have been thinking carefully about their effects on colleagues across the country and in my own library. Lunchroom conversation this week has been similar topics: What services will continue into the future? Who will be responsible for them? Will as many people work on providing them? What will the library look like as an organization in 5, 10, 20 years? In six months?

The public news is serious:
A big cut at UW.
Other ARL libraries are cutting. And this isn't a very comprehensive list. For example: my own ARL library is in the middle of a 30% serial cut.

The private news, gathered at the abovementioned conference and via the grapevine: one colleague holding a 'temporary' spot for five years finally had her position advertised: but with a caveat in the job description that makes her unqualified. A 20% staff reduction at another prominent university library. A 'terminal contract' for someone not quite ready to retire. And again, in my own library: a 25% monograph cut last fall BEFORE the campus started talking about across-the-board cuts.

In an environment where the dean says that her two largest priorities are preventing staff and (further) collection cuts, we can't help but wonder if the choice is really hers. In a budget where more than 90% of the money goes directly to staff and collections, what else is there to cut if there is a budget rescission? We're not dumb, and we don't think the collection can really stand another cut. The only temporary solution that I can imagine is a 'year without books,' which some other libraries have done in the past. But I don't know that we would be allowed to only plan for one year. Cuts to budgets take a long time to come back.

Unfortunately for this blog, this leads to a lot of conversations that I would never repeat online. Conversations about whether or not administrators have enough information to make sound decisions. Or whether they understand the information that they have. Conversations about which services (read: departments) have outlived their usefulness. Which ones are nice to have, but unessential.

I had a job interview a few years ago where I went out on a limb at one point. It was a library with about 65 staff, completely traditional in its range of services. Basically, a mid-size college in a mid-size city. In any interview you get asked to do a bit of handwaving: What will the future look like? What sorts of new services do you want to see in the future? How will librarians spend their time as more and more tools become self-service and materials arrive more and more shelf ready? I gave what I thought were pretty middle-of-the-road answers: more data services; more assistance with higher-level projects; leveraging of unique and local collections. The people just weren't getting it though. It's as if they hadn't left the building in 25 years. That's when I decided to go out on that limb and say something to the effect of:

"Look, they (the researchers and students) really don't need us anymore. Someday a provost or a president or a politician is going to come in and notice that there's a lot of people sitting around and not doing anything. As a proportion of new materials, we do almost zero original cataloging--and even that could be outsourced. There's a hundred service companies that will provide shelf-ready books, electronic content, and outsourced web development and technical support. We already have distributed virtual reference--how long will it be before the person on the other end of the chat widget is living on another continent? This isn't a particularly big library, and I haven't seen very much that is out of the ordinary. It could be run with 15 people: Three to hire, train, and supervise student assitants. One to do selection. One (preferably a lawyer) to negotiate contracts. A couple to manage integrate online systems together and design a web front end. One to visit classrooms and do other sorts of teaching and outreach."

You get the idea. But my audience didn't. They were having nothing of it. Two years later? While 15 might not be the right number, there are staff reductions happening everywhere.

The problem with many libraries--not just my own--is that the people who decide who stays and who goes are not the best equipped to make that decision. In only 1 case, out of the 6 I have learned about in recent weeks, is there any sort of rational planning happening to make sure that the library is evolving into some sort of new entity through this process. So what does this mean for the other 5? Irrelevancy? Absorption by another campus unit? A warehouse for grumpy employees treading water until retirement?

Stay tuned. The next few years will be interesting.

Just read: "Citizen of the Galaxy"

2009-03-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

While gardening and woodshopping this week, I've been listening to an audio book version of Citizen of the Galaxy, a 50-year-old science fiction novel. For some reason I got totally sucked into the first part of the story--to the point that I just had to sit down and listen for a while on Sunday. It went downhill a bit, but it was still an awfully good read.

What makes the book blogworthy though is that I picked it at random at the public library without knowing who Robert Heinlein was, or that he was writing 50 years ago. While listening, I did think that the book was mis-categorized YA fiction (or that maybe EPL doesn't segregate its audiobooks by adult versus kids). It never occurred to me, until the narrator said it at the end, that the book might have been written in 1957. I think this is the second or third time this has happened to me in recent years.

So while we're on the topic: everybody go re-read Snowcrash. And for those of you who have never read it, resist reading the copyright date.

2 things

2009-03-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

First: one of my favorite bloggers is back after more than a year away. She holds to a strong theme (successful meals--whether cooked in or out) while subtly dropping in life updates.

Second: to the commenter at March 13: for the record, my house is one long block away from the Tiny Tavern. And when you gotta go, you gotta go.

oh--let's make it 3 things. My adviser accepted my thesis on Friday largely as is. Now I only have to jump through the grad school hoops and then I'm done.

The horror!

2009-03-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

I stopped in at the Tiny Tavern on my way home from the Whiteaker Jig on Saturday (not too crowded due to the rain, but the sound sucked), and saw something a little odd. In the men's room were three or four bright red lipstick kisses.

A lady in the men's room? Natch.

A man wearing lipstick? Natch.

Touching anything in the men's room of Tiny's with your lips? Now that's scary. Think about the opening scene of Trainspotting.

A world class university?

2009-03-02T18:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a little embarrassed that my "world-class teaching and research university" is looking at hiring a new president that can't format a CV.

Of course, since this smacks of a cut-and-paste job, maybe a more accurate statement would be to say that I'm embarrassed to work for a world class university that can't take the time to re-format the new president's CV before posting it online. Of course, it's an improvement over the 404-message that accompanied the initial announcement earlier today.

That said, it is very intriguing to see a variety of (what appears to be) hi-tech advisory gigs on the CV of a Hindu scholar who has written a scholarly journal article titled "Never marry a woman with hairy ankles." And although one of my coworkers called him a foreigner today, it should be noted that he is a Chicago native. I wonder where he grew up?

Abandoned plans

2009-03-02T18:00:00.001-08:00

So that would be a big "NO!" on the major remodel. Here's several reasons why it's not a good idea for us at this point:

It would take almost all of our savings just to pay for a very stripped down project. It would be at least 2 years before we could finish the bathroom that we'd be roughing out.
Is anyone's job really secure at this point?
Committing to Eugene for 5 years is not really an option for us at this point. Things are just too precarious
The house is pretty awesome as it is. And with just a few tweaks (which I'm sure you'll all be hearing more about later) it will be even more awesome.
We're just not fancy enough

It sort of feels like a dodged bullet. When push came to shove, we were just not willing to take the risk. Live and learn.

Contemplating...

2009-02-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

It's not that I have too many plates in the air right now, but rather there are decisions to be made that all affect each other. At the same time, these particular decisions have long-term effects.

The main decision, of course, is what to do about the house. We know we need a new roof and a thorough paint job. So last year we began exploring the idea of the most obvious renovation for the place--an attic remodel that would include a dormer and second bath. As time has gone on, we realized we can't actually afford to have all of the work done, so a cascading limiting of the scope ensued. Now we are down to having the contractors leave us with finished dryall and a subfloor upstairs--and little left in our savings accounts. (Don't panic parents--we're not touching retirement.)

This not only is a big financial commitment, but it is also a time commitment over both the short, medium, and long term. First, we have to pack up a good chunk of the house and do the demolition work. Second, my summer will be committed to doing all the finish work after the contractors are done. Third, doing all this basically commits us to Eugene for the indefinite future.

Then there are the career considerations. If we pursue this project and then leave in less than five years, we'll take a huge financial hit. Of course, in a world where no one's job is 100% secure, we could take a huge financial hit no matter what. So there's financial risk. There's also the risk of whether I'm really up to doing the work that I am committing to. There's no Kramer to bail me out this time. Who will be my personal construction guru? Then there is the general risk that we're getting ripped off. We know it's a fancy design-build firm, but avoiding the risk of architects and contractors miscommunicating seems to be worth the premium price.

Finally, I'm also contemplating what to do with the shank. We've been very much enjoying our half-lamb from Pammy's farm. I wish I had met it--it tastes great.

The shank is on the upper left of this photo:

Maybe I should have laid everything out anatomically.

Monthly updatey.

2009-02-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Maybe someday it will be more than monthly. I still can't say it's done, but it has been submitted to ye olde committee. And actually, it sort of limped across the finish line--there were no trumpets. No one poured Gatorade over my head. Maybe that comes when the thing is actually approved.

So I seem to be paving the road to hell brick-by-brick via my plans for the blog, but here's what's going on:

A snotty cold.
The abandoning of a very old, very Spam ridden email account. It's harder than you think.
The first table saw project. I made my first tongues too long. Or maybe I made the grooves too shallow. But my dado was fully extended, so I'm sticking with the tongues.
Final discussions with the contractors regarding the upcoming renovations.
Learning a bunch about the Coast Range--in my penultimate MA class.
Making of this here Valentine's casserole: because nothing says I love you like a hot dish
Cancelling of one-third of my university's journal collection.

What's next?

Overhaul of this here blog.

Preparing manuscript and making requested revisions.

Making some sort of epic 'tips for writing a thesis' blog post.

But as with most of life, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Closing in on being done.

2009-01-19T10:13:00.001-08:00

I'm currently in thesis hell, but it's rapidly coming to an end. As I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am beginning to poke my head out of the attic and back into the real world. Last night, as I was finding a reference to last fall's final report from Berkeley's youth culture onlne study I discovered that someone who I followed extensively a few years ago had just posted (like literally--the date was the 18th) her dissertation (part of the larger study) online.

I gotta say: it was a little inspiring because I remember when she started school. Although we're in a bit of a different league: people actually read her writing. Her post was doubly charming because a: it admits that theses and dissertations rarely get read; b: she acknowledges the OCD-type qualities of online-type people; and c: she frets that, like all dissertations, it is not a finely polished piece of prose.

And I had a nice little moment when I pictured her with her finger poised over the upload button chanting (much as I have been the last several weeks):

The only good thesis is a finished thesis.
The only good thesis is a finished thesis.
The only good thesis is a finished thesis.

Changing times at Library of Congress?

2009-01-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

Funny, I didn't think they circulated.

Oh Senator Franken

2009-01-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Will you be wearing your longjohns tomorrow?

The long silence...

2008-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

...of the thesis is, hopefully, over. It was a crazy month, but now the presentation is complete and the paper is almost complete.

I'm a little tired of the project, but that might just be my ADD talking. This week, it's off to Chicago for an all too brief visit. When we return, the paper will get polished off and then it will be time to start planning the next adventure: which may or may not be a big construction project here at whatsgrowing HQ.

Here's some recent, non-thesis happenings:

Renewed correspondance with my Lanzhou interpreter. Who is now in Alberta! How'd that happen?
Thanksgiving with the father-in-law at the neighbors was lovely. And perhaps made a couple new friends. If Eugene keeps up, it might become home.
We've been having weekly advent wreath lightings here with the alterna-Catholics. I'm flummoxed at how to proceed with them.
Managed to prime the garage door yesterday. But today was too wet to apply color.

Finally!

2008-11-03T00:34:00.000-08:00

It only took me 14 months to find Dick and Cowboy's rendition of 甜蜜蜜. Oddly, alot of Dick's other stuff is sickly sweet mando-pop. So I'm still not sure where this came from.

Chapter 1: in a nutshell

2008-11-03T00:30:00.003-08:00

Well, in a wordle shell anyway. It's late.

Yes, I can...

2008-10-26T22:00:00.001-07:00

carve.

My parents' money was so not wasted on art school.

New favorite LC class number

2008-10-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

GV 850.45

Dancing on ice.