OneMoreBook

More than PowerPoint

2012-01-31T18:31:00.000-05:00

We live in a world where there is color, life, and infinite possibilities. Why is it then that in most presentations we inevitably bore our audiences by reading and presenting in a way that detracts from our purpose and message? By simply paying attention to style and design methods we can infinitely increase our likelihood of being heard.

Style and design

View more presentations from Laura Saloiye.

For a list of other online presentation tools see below:

· Prezi
· Powerpoint
· Keynote
· Sliderocket
· Kizoa
· Qarbon
· Camtasia
· Screencast
· Screencast-O-Matic
· Jing
· Slideboom
· Slideshare
· Vyew
· Sparkol
· Prezage

This isn't a complete list, but rather a sampling of ones that works best for presentations given at the undergrad/graduate level.

There are reasons that we present a certain way. The human brain can only accept so much data at a time. So to avoid overwhelming our audiences and thereby losing our audiences we need to limit the number of points we are attempting to make to 3-4.

Presentations and Learning Theory on Prezi

For more information on these tools you can download a brief Pros and Con list.

More than PowerPoint: Pros and Cons

To see more on why this is important in the academic setting you can see the following presentation.

Assessment of Library Bibliographical Instruction

View more presentations or Upload your own.

For a complete bibliography you can download it here.

If you would like to see an early version of Style and Design it is below.

2011-03-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

2011-03-16T10:51:00.002-04:00

www.flickr.com

2011-03-16T10:45:00.001-04:00

Links

2011-03-16T10:29:00.003-04:00

Modern Apologetics

2011-03-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

Last night Philadelphia Biblical University hosted a chat with Dinesh D'Souza which was highly entertaining and challenging. Mr. D'Souza is an apologetist who has written a number of books including "What is so great about Christianity", a biography on Reagan and one on Obama. He also is known to be outspoken on his views and therefore is frequently on the debate circuit defending Christianity to "New Atheists". New Atheists differ from the intellectual atheists of the eighteenth century in that they no longer ignore the issue of faith but are forcibly against it. According to CNN, "What the New Atheists share is a belief that religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises." Due to this harsh and critical stance it is necessary for Apologists to stand up and create meaningful and accurate responses. Therefore Mr. D'Souza's lecture covered 3 main questions.

What has Christianity/Christendom done for the world?
Does Science disprove Christianity?
Is Religion or a Belief in God responsible for the majority of the world's murders/genocides?

The first question was an interesting one. Atheists, especially the New Atheists frequently stand up for charity, human dignity, compassion and a plethora of moralistic values. Their argument lies in the fact that Classical Western thought and ideas created these intrinsic human values, however if you study Greek and Roman philosophy you will note that Socrates and the Romans didn't subscribe to these ideals at all. Compassion for ones enemies was seen as a weakness, the Spartans left their weak and in-firmed lying in the open so that they could die of the elements or from being eaten by wild animals.

Slavery was also a common practice in ancient antiquity, the only group that protested slavery was Christendom (and slaves). Christendom was the first protesters who talked about human dignity or the rights of men to own other men. Democracy was built on the idea that no man can be master over the other without having his permission.

The next question was regarding whether or not Science disproves Religion. Mr. D'Souza's position is that not only does it not disprove religion, but due to most of the scientific discoveries during the twentieth century, religion and most especially a belief in a creator is proved by the discoveries. How? There are certain rates that must stay constant, sound, light, mass, gravity, otherwise the universe as we know it would literally not exist. Stephen Hawkings admitted as much, and most people agree with him that our universe is built like it is to maintain human life and the universes' dimensions.

The final topic we covered was whether or not Religion is/was responsible for the majority of warfare and genocides in the world. Mr. D'Souza's argument is that no, religion is only a valid main talking point in Islam, not Christianity/Christendom. In the 1100's the Crusades were violent and about Christianity, but in more recent history the Inquisition had about 2000 people killed during 350 years, and the Salem witch trials had less than 20. And while that was still wrong, the numbers or the concept has been blown out of the water. Israel/Palestine, Turkey/Pakistan are all about land, not religion.

Instead the crimes of Atheist rulers/leaders and their numbers is what is truly horrendous. Stalin, Hitler, China's Communist history have been responsible for more deaths than any other all in the name of no god, but man.

What Christians really need to do is to be informed and to stand up for their beliefs, wish-washy relativism is useless in the face of these learned men. They will not back down from their hostility of God, so we cannot back down from our faith in God. Become informed, and learn to critically think through an argument on faith and reason. Work in the media/publishing centers of the world if you want to make a difference in the world, otherwise we will only continue to give up ground. If Christendom were to stand together and stop fighting each other we might have a chance to truly counter the remarks of the enemy and change the "public" opinion and laws.

~LAS

Hooper, Simon. "The rise of the New Atheists". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

Job and character

2010-06-02T09:14:00.003-04:00

This article is one of the better ones I have read recently about working in today's society. The working world is not always an easy place, we are often called to move outside of our comfort zones to work on projects or teams for which we have had little practice. Instead of getting stressed and frustrated it is sometimes better to step back and see what God and Life are trying to teach you. Every new experience adds something useful to your outlook on life, and sometimes provides new listings for your resume.

Most of the students who interview at work have had little to no prior experience working in a library. To me that isn't as much of a problem as the student's attitude in the interview. It takes a special person to thrive in a library environment. Some of my best workers are students who had no experience, but were very hard workers. Attitude is at least 60% of the battle when working with new or learning students. (The other highest characteristic is someone who can think in an organized and structured way.)

For more job related tips check out this article from Relevant Magazine. http://ow.ly/1SZLO

Conferences are great, but boy do they make me tired

2010-04-13T15:54:00.005-04:00

I am currently attending Computers in Libraries in Arlington, VA (#cil2010). I think that it is one of my favorite conferences. There are some definite perks to this conference...1.) The food, free breakfast and 2 receptions, 2.) The technologies are library related, 3.) The topics discussed are current and most are free and instantly usable.

I could go on, but with just those few considerations I have already exceeded the benefits of most of the other conferences I have attended. The only problem with conferences such as these is that there is so much information to absorb and work through. One of the other problems is trying to determine what options from these workshops are actually something that is doable at your particular university.

More to come later as I clean up my notes.

Relationships

2009-06-17T08:51:00.002-04:00

Life is an interesting thing. I am constantly surprised by life and watching people live it. This is the season of weddings and working at a Biblical university means that there is a large portion of the student body getting married during their time here. I would imagine that all but 10% of the men in my graduating class were either married or engaged by graduation. At times this really bothered me, and when my student workers approach me about their relationships, which is somewhat inevitable, I always try to give them good advise. It isn't always easy, I am an observer of human nature and life, but I have not yet been on a date myself. So my advise doesn't necessarily have personal experience behind it.

I just read an interview from E-harmony with Steve Harvey, and it was something that I wish my school and church would talk about at an earlier stage in most of these students lives. His advise is biblically sound (for the most part, however the Bible does preach total abstinence before marriage not 90 days), and just very practical. I dearly wish I had this advise when I worked with Student Life.

So for now I will continue to observe and to understand, but I just thought this article was something that should be shared. It is hard for women my age in the church to find a spouse within the walls of the church. Most men my age are out "sowing their wild oats" and do not generally come back to the fold until a relationship brings them there. So many of my unmarried friends are disappointed with relationships but constantly longing for one. Maybe some of this advise might be good for them.

Computers and Libraries 2009 or What I think I may have learned...

2009-04-01T20:20:00.002-04:00

~Blogging is Dead...sort of.
~Twitter is dead...sort of.
~Second Life is dead...yes (and thank heavens.)
~Usability is Alive...let the people rejoice.
~Web 2.0 is dying...well sort of.
~Facebook apps are either the best thing ever...or they are the kiss of death.
~We live in a post-desktop world, mobility is key.
~RFID tags will be everywhere (and in everything) so if you think we are currently living in the the land of too much information can be answered in the over used phrase "You ain't seen nothing yet."
~The Library world needs to create custom API's that users will love to use.
~Open source all knowledge.
~Create an environment that encourages learning.
~We need to re-think the Learning commons.
~Librarians need to be "Live-brarians."
~We have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Listen more than you talk.
~Make your library utterly irresistible and desirable.
~Teach your patrons to focus again.
~Test your labels. Change the environments.

These are just a few of the big ideas represented by the workshop and keynote leaders during the 2009 conference. Having never attended this event before I can state that I would love to go back and see what predictions for applications from this year will be on the chopping block at the next conference.

I took a lot of notes, I have complied a massive book list. Now I must take the information from this conference and try to assess what will work for my university and library. Watch for more to come, I am still digesting.

P.S. Apparently trips to Karaoke night are dangerous...

TCLC Summer Camp

2008-07-17T10:53:00.004-04:00

I am currently attending a TCLC summer camp on blogs and wikis in preparation for the launch of our Masland Library Blog. We are trying to create a better and more active library. Therefore we are working on the nitty gritty with blogs and wikis. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to let us know.

My paper if anyone cares.

2007-12-15T19:04:00.000-05:00

Here is my paper if anyone cares. But it explains my use of Berners-Lee.

Done!!!!

2007-12-15T18:53:00.001-05:00

I really do hate long papers. I have such trouble with communicating the thoughts that are going through my head. It would take a book series to completely express all of the information that I went through for this paper. I have something like 60 articles, and 9 books on my dining room table. The problem is I couldn't add them in, without sounding like a brainless moron. There is so much stuff out there. Much to my chagrin I didn't feel like it worked to add in hardly any of the philosophers but Berners-Lee. (Odd, I wanted to add this one Lessig comment dealing with the Kindle so badly, so I will leave it here.

Lawrence Lessig: I have been doing this for about two years--more than 100 of these gigs. This is about the last one. One more and it's over for me. So I figured I wanted to write a song to end it. But then I realized I don't sing and I can't write music. But I came up with the refrain, at least, right? This captures the point. If you understand this refrain, you're gonna' understand everything I want to say to you today. It has four parts:
Creativity and innovation always builds on the past.

The past always tries to control the creativity that builds upon it.

Free societies enable the future by limiting this power of the past.
Ours is less and less a free society. 1

I just couldn't seem to add this without going off on some completely random tangent.)

Dr. Shulman, I do believe in Service learning, I am a convert, but doing it for one class I think is the problem. I think I am more of a advocate for it as a whole year or program long activity. I am only starting to receive back answers from a couple of the organizations I sent inquiries to now. Slow response time.

Okay I am off to work on some Christmas presents. Have a lovely Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

1. http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/214

Mad as Hatters

2007-12-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

Where things stand now.

++ what is the central question you paper speaks to?
The central question or observation is that there is indeed a divide, but the divide is different depending on your audience. Some of the questions being asked are "What can Service learning or Web 2.0 do to lessen these divides. Do student's or senior citizens acknowledge the divides? Is access the problem or is it more psychological?

++ what are the most relevant theories?
This is what I am currently working through. Rawls and Mills are two that I am currently working on. I also want to include Berners-Lee and Lessig.

++ who are your straw people?
Ignorance, Mis-communication, still working on it.

++ what are your tentative findings?
There is a digital divide, it has levels, and it will only get worse if something isn't done now. the best way to work on the digital divide is to be proactive, access is important, but so is early training. If you want your citizens to be digital you need to have additional benefits for those people who can't afford it. As you can see they aren't clearly defined yet.

It didn't post for some reason.

2007-11-27T22:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry my outline and bib didn't post, not really sure why.

I am not sure of all that I will write. I haven’t finished yet. I am a former psychology major, so a reflection paper is something of a personal thing to me. I have never before achieved a 15 page reflection paper, let alone one that involves theories and other students opinions. So this will be my first time, and hopefully my last. Long papers are not my favorite thing, it is one of the reasons pursuing a doctoral degree holds so little interest for me. The other reason is that I do not ever want to be called "Dr. Laura".

1. Introduction/Thesis
a. What is Service Learning
b. What is Digital Citizenship
i. Theories
ii. Digital Divide
2. My interactions
a. Work
b. Margaret Grundy Library
3. Web 2.0
a. Effects on Libraries
b. Effects on Citizenship
4. Conclusion/ Lesson’s Learned

Bibliography (Not complete, still working on)

Halahoan, C. (2007, November 14). Hip-Hopping the Digital Divide. Buisness Week Online, Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Dervarics, C. (2007, October 18). High-tech Help on the Way. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 24(18), 14-15. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Nicholson, P. (2007, March 9). The Intellectual in the Infosphere. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(7), B6-B7.

Galuszka, P. (2007, March 8). Digging Out of the Digital Divide. Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, 24(2), 20-22.

Metcalf, D. (2007, February). Reducing the Digital Divide. American Libraries, 38(2), 29-29.

Lewis, A. (2007, January). Digital Divides the Poor. Education Digest, 72(5), 71-72. Retrieved November 20, 2007.

Swaminathan, N. (2005, November). The Making of a Good Samaritan. Psychology Today, 38(6), 33-33.

Brescia, W., & Daily, T. (2007, Winter). Economic Development and Technology-Skill Needs on American Indian Reservations. American Indian Quarterly, 31(1), 23-43. Retrieved on November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Paper outline and bib (so far)

2007-11-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

I am really rather sad at the moment (we have been nursing some orphaned guinea pigs) and after having force feed it for the last 4 hours, it just died. One of the other sicker guinea pigs basically killed it. Survival of the fittest my foot. It has been a very bad week for pets.

Intro computer class

2007-11-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I went to a public library in my area that hosts Computer and basic internet/programs classes. There were 4 students for this class which was the first in the series. It was rather basic and to me, rather more than basic. However as we went through the syllabus which started literally at the very beginning, it showed me just how much of a gap there truly is in computer technology.

The students ranged in ages from mid-forties to late 70's. They all came for various reasons, wanting to apply for jobs, basic knowledge sake, and some just to be there. One of the older gentlemen had taken a similar class, back in 1980. However he was aware that things had changed significantly since then, but as he needed a job he wanted to be able to fill out the online applications by himself so he wouldn't have to bother the librarians.

As amazing as it seems, and while we have talked in class about just how large the digital divide actually is, I was still amazed by it. These students didn't know the most basic items; where the power button is located, how to handle a mouse, where the close button is located in a program. I had to evaluate once again how very much I take for granted when I use a computer. To me it is just another necessary tool, one that I use frequently and when the electricity is out, something that is deemed critical for most of my work. But to these individuals it was a new territory, they had used typewriters and knew about typing, but computers and all that goes through that filter was a complete new territory of learning.

This new territory of learning was a struggle, there was this underlying filter of not exactly fear but of apprehension, the one woman who came had a sort of dementia and everything had to be explained to her in a certain way or she would feel completely overwhelmed. We talked about other electronics, cell phones, TV's, DVD players, and even Tivo. This computer/internet apprehension didn't extend to those technologies, in fact they were embraced. But there was some sort of mental block where the computers came into play.

I think the thing that got to me the most was that using a normal optical mouse was such a hard thing. It definitely reminds me of that cartoon one of you sent out. There was this essential need to press on the buttons while moving the mouse. This always meant that we had to try the exercise again, and sometimes several times in a row. One of the outside class exercises that the syllabus used was having the patron play solitaire so they could develop a more natural response to using the mouse.

I think this was an interesting experiment. I have problems understanding the online behavior of the students at my school, and many times I am shocked at the lack in there online skills. But this was an excellent example of just how needed programs like this are to a community, especially the older community.

However I am also very much surprised by the younger community at my school. Admittedly my school does not have a technology track, but with all the discussion of Web 2.0. Out of the 20 students I asked about it, not one has ever heard of "Web 2.0". Indeed the look of blank comprehension will stay with me for a long time. After I asked if they have ever heard of the term, I then asked them if they had heard of Flickr, Technorati, YouTube, and several others, they had heard of them, as well as being registered users.

Most our students also do not like the idea of Electronic books. This is fairly wide-spread. We had a discussion about Kindle they seemed a bit intrigued but mostly put off by it. For them information is still most viable option. Mostly because there is a sense of ownership, if the electricity goes out you still have access to that copy.

So I don't think that librarians or their charge of books will go away any time soon. Just check the reviews of the Kindle on Amazon. :-)

The Millennials are Here?

2007-11-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

I am supposedly a member of the Millennial generation. However I am confused by this to a certain degree. I believe myself to be more of a "border-line" millennial. Why would I believe this? The foremost reason is that I am helping to train "true" millennial as part of my job. Recently I have been given the opportunity to start doing more Library Instruction as part of my job. This has provided many new challenges. One of these challenges is how to give a presentation that challenges and yet meets the students needs. At times this is a paradox. These students have all the gadgets, and automatically seem to "get" technology. However they also don't seem to have the ability to problem solve or to take disappointment well.

This provides many opportunities for new technologies, however it also means that most library OPAC's annoy the heck out of them. Within the realm of the Internet they can always find an answer, it may not be verifiable, but it answers their question. Most library OPAC's don't answer these questions. There isn't that wonderful basic search that covers everything. It isn't Googlized. This is a problem for this new narcissistic generation. Everything is about them, and when they don't succeed as well as they feel they should, it isn't their problem. Their parents haven't allowed them to feel the effects of falling on their butts. Instead they/we have butted in and given explanations to teachers and other adults with the understanding that we can't harm the Millennial's psyche.

This change in perspective has changed how education, and other jobs are preformed. We cannot confront, we must coax. We have to be as the CBS article puts it "a manager must be half shrink and half diplomat". This poses a problem even within Library instruction. You have to cleverly work with your audience to shut down their automatic defenses when someone implies that they may not know everything. This is a necessity. Most of my students cannot use basic searches within the library databases or catalog. While these students have grown up being connected to each other over the Internet, they have no idea how to actually search for valuable materials within it.

There are some student obviously who can find their materials, but it is one of those things that needs to be taught and learned. But Millennials don't necessarily take well to being told that they don't know everything or have to work to have the best results. This is one of the reasons why Google has taken so well. Working hard to have to earn a grade is not really one of the things we have taught our children. We give them awards for everything, we don't allow winners or losers, we are all praised just for participating. This is frankly a load of B.S. But it is what we are encouraging. So when conducting L.I. sessions, we have to be remarkable, we have to prove that we can find something that they wouldn't have been able to find. We have to overwhelm them, while having to back off from all the information we could give them.

Let the conundrum continue.

(P.S. the reason I believe that I am on the edge is that I am only 1-3 years within the Millennial age group, but also it was that I have not grown up with this extra parental involvement, my Mom raised me like she was raised. I was allowed to fall on my butt, and learn from the experience. However I also grew up with a computer, and remember teaching my 3rd grade teacher how to use basic application on it before allowing my fellow students to work on it."

Grand plans

2007-10-25T10:28:00.000-04:00

I keep having these grand plans for writing these blogs, I have decided to give up that and instead have shorter blogs more often. This will hopefully allow me to actually upload my posts.

I can actually start my Service learning outside of my job until November. There were entirely too many schedule conflicts. I have gone to the Library and just need to let them know what dates I can show up.

Even though I haven't started there, it doesn't mean that I haven't started on my service learning. Every question I receive on the reference desk becomes an opportunity to help people discover the resources available to them either at home, school or work.

I am always somewhat surprised by the questions that come to me at the reference desk. The Undergrad students are often surprised by the information available to them, also I've come to see that they aren't nearly as competent on the internet as they believed themselves to be. Sure they can use HTML to change their MySpace pages, however they have no clue on how to use the educational resources that are available to them through the library.

We also have Graduate and Advance (adult degree completion) programs. These are mostly returning students, many of which haven't written a college paper since they finished college. They seem to know only the most simple computer applications. The OPAC completely freaks them out. And forget about online databases, they are completely demoralized by them. Each day I have to answer questions that for me are every day matters. They don't know about short-cut keys, they don't know how to problem-solve at all in fact.

Every day I have a chance to walk someone through the in's and outs of basic computer science. I am having to learn that certain things are not obvious to most people. Patience is once again rearing its head for me to relearn and practice. It also reminds me of all the readings we are working through. How can the government be so clueless about it's people and their so called "knowledge or proficiency" on the internet. I talked to my grandparents about the possibilities of voting online, their response was that when that happened they would stop voting. I believe that is a sentiment that is wider spread than the government realizes.

But for now I am working with people who are getting excited about the possibilities open to them concerning the internet and its resources.

Found something

2007-10-14T16:55:00.000-04:00

So I am sorry it has taken me so long to write back, but life has been insane. I have had a pet die, and another one run away [it has since been found]. I also went home to visit my parents and that generally means I am so busy having to go places, and see people I can't breathe. My other class has also had something due every week this last 2 weeks.

Enough of my complaining, I have finally found somewhere other than my job to conduct my Service Learning. I am going tomorrow to see them and sort out what my part will be in their program. Yippee!

Now onto the question we were asked about the importance or "uniqueness" of ICT. I suppose that for me the most unique aspect of ICT is the ability a person has to relate to persons from around the world. We have a chance to communicate and collaborate with persons and groups from around the world. Take a look at the Myanmar conflict. This isn't the first time that the Burmese people have had their monks or their police kill their people. I have a co-worker who is Burmese and her parents live next to one of the temples. She was telling me about how the 1984 raid went, how the majority of monks were killed back then. However, there was not at that time the means for the world to experience with them the terror. The didn't have a way for the world to become involved. It took years for people to hear about the atrocities that took place during that particular protest.

Now we have a world in which we have the opportunity to see within minutes to hours about the protests and their end result. The government found out to their consternation that the internet is power and it can be powerful. They had to cut off all electricity and cut the lines of communication even among themselves to try and contain this tool. However the students found a hole, they aren't sure how. But they found a way to still get certain pictures to the press calling for aid. This is one of the reasons why it is important for us to continue on with our studies and our teaching of ICT. It is a way for people to speak for themselves. It is part of every American's personal right of Free Speech. In Great Britain, ICT is worked into the national education curriculum. They know that their students need to be aware of their personal rights, as well as participation in government. To try and get students more aware of their political obligations they are working on the technology to vote by text messaging.

So there is my first response to why ICT is unique and important.

http://www.nc.uk.net/webdav/harmonise

Unanswered emails

2007-09-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

I am having a hard time finding a place to do my Service Learning project. I have emailed several centers and libraries but haven't received any word back. I have done about 5 hours so far at the school I work for, but I really wanted to go to work with senior citizens. I love working with them, they have such great stories.

I will get back to the "uniqueness" of the need for ICT later. Right now I have to go and make brownies for my Student worker meeting tomorrow.

Still looking

2007-09-18T20:20:00.000-04:00

I am still looking for an opportunity in my area. There really isn't anything within a 45 min. distance of travel. I have looked into a couple of places and sent some emails but haven't yet heard back from anyone. You would think living this close to Philly there would be more volunteering that had to do with computers and technology. I was a shift supervisor at a crisis pregnancy center for 5 years before Grad school, but due to changing shifts at work and changing discussions times for class, I haven't been able to participate with them.

I would love to work with them again, but due to money problems they don't have the facilities to support a class. In a lot of ways it is a digital divide. Other than the main computer that houses all of the client files there are no other computers. The people in the community are poor, many of the girls we see go to a special school so they can finish their classes while they are pregnant. But due to funding they still come over to use our 1 computer to learn computer skills.

I obviously grew up as a technical "have". My parents purchased our first computer when I was 5. It was an Apple computer that was still amazingly portable for it's time. I would take it to school with me in 2nd grade so my teacher and fellow classmates could use it. I still remember explaining how to use this computer to my teacher, she had never personally used one before. I was amazingly lucky to have a computer in the late 80's, early 90's. But there are still a great many people that cannot imagine the possibility of owning a computer or at least having a new, internet accessible computer.

However we live in a time of change. I am really enjoying the Inequality.com book. It is amazing to think that when Alexander Graham Bell first invented his telephone, it was not just novel, but practically useless due to the fact that no one else had one. It took many years before telephones became standard in a house. We could be in for the same changes in internet accessibility. You no longer need to own a computer to access the internet, there are PDAs, iPhones, and even the iTouch. As long as you have access to a computer you can download music and other items to your phone or device. You don't necessarily need one of your own.

There are possibilities, but they all are all centered on the next administration's policies. We will have to wait to see our future.

It's a new day

2007-09-07T21:40:00.000-04:00

I spent over an hour looking for open opportunities dealing with this classes topic. I found one, but the timing doesn't work with my work schedule. They need someone while I am still at work. So now I am contacting various community centers and senior centers. I know there used to be a program similar to this at my ministry (crisis pregnancy center), but it has been years since something like this has been done there. Mostly due to the lack of access to computers with internet.

And I have to say, my schedule spoiled me this Summer. I am so busy this semester that it reminds me of our first semester Summer course. I wonder how many of the hours I can use in my library. Even my student workers who have grown up in the digital age haven't the foggiest idea about databases, government documents, and business dealings they have access to on the web. Then I have the graduate students who are returning to school after 25-40 years. They are stunned that there is no card catalog. They are only truly aware of email. Anything else is beyond them.

There are plenty of opportunies, it is just figuring out where to move with it.

Resurrecting an old blog

2007-09-04T11:43:00.001-04:00

I have re-set up this blog for my new class Digital Citizenship. I haven't used it since my first semester with Dr. Tomer. Therefore let me say, Thank you back everyone.

Laura

Good golly

2007-07-25T15:31:00.001-04:00

I haven't used this account in about a year. I have to admit that I only got it for class. And then I forgot the password. But now I have it back so I will compose once again.

I read the new Harry Potter in about 8 hours, it was a good final book, though it did leave me with questions. And for some reason it reminded me very strongly of the "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There were some amazing parallels. Well, I will talk later.

I'm tired!

2006-08-14T14:54:00.000-04:00

I don't know, I thought these weeks off would be all about sleep and relaxing, I think I am too optimistic.

I am tired, I picked up my sister from the airport at around midnight so it took another half hour to get home again. And now I am at work and so sleepy. I need to get back on auto-pilot.

This weekend I go home for the first time since Christmas. I finally get to see my cousin Josiah, he will be about a month old. So cute.

Can I go to sleep now?

2006-08-03T15:45:00.000-04:00

Well I am tired, last night I just couldn't sleep, now I am falling asleep at my desk. And today one of my co-workers sent his resignation to the entire university, before consulting his boss. Can we say "Oh, my." So it seems that I will be moving downstairs for at least part of my time, because our intern doesn't start until September. I wonder if this means that I will have to start working on ILL? These two cartoons make me think of today... and Dr. Tomer's thing with toasters.

Two days left!

2006-08-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

It is really a rather remarkable thing that this semester is over in 2 days. I have a hard time fathoming it. For being such an intense semester, it went incredibly quickly. I had surgery, and still accomplished everything, well I am still working on some of the readings from the weeks time, but they are all downloaded on my computer, so I just have to click on them and then read them. And now when I pick up Library Journal and other Library magazines, I have an actual interest in what is printed on the cover. In fact I am recognizing issues because of these classes. What a remarkable concept. Well, I am preparing for the next semester, and I will continue to try and make sense out of everything that is going on, and try to keep up with the library world. I did joine ALA and the New Member Roundtable, and I am already a member of the PaLA and SEPTLA so I will try to keep up with what is going on.

Almost there

2006-07-31T20:07:00.000-04:00

I am almost done, I just need to do make sure I have done everything. I am pretty sure I have, but I just want to be sure. I haven't had internet all weekend, and on top of that my roommates parents came to visit. It was nice seeing them again, but I wish that these last two weeks could have been without all the disturbances and distractions, like construction, and more leaks. Yeah, thats right they replaced everything and now it has mold again. However, due to our coming over to the main office with a digital camera, showed them what it looked like. Annoying things, and we have to put in a request to get any compensation or money off our rent. Anyways, due to the fact that I cooked, and it is like 85degrees in here, I think I am going to close the windows and doors and turn the air conditioning on. Oh, and read something fun.

TGIF

2006-07-28T09:11:00.000-04:00

So I finished Free Culture last night, it made me hate Congresses decisions on the whole copyright act thing.

They are still doing construction on my apartment, no one was there yesterday, so I need to call them back, my roommate's parents are suppossed to come this weekend, which means that I would like to reconstruct my bathroom, and get my bathroom stuff out of my bedroom.

I have a new cousin, Josiah Robert as of Wednesday evening, please pray for him. Apparently the new doctor they got when they moved is an idiot and one of the reasons why malpractice is so high in the state of WV. They did a test so late in her pregnancy that Josiah Robert is anemic and dehydrated. He also had the ambilical cord around his neck so they are keeping him until Saturday instead of Monday because he is doing so well.

Now I am reading the Anarchist in the Library I am hoping to fly through it this evening. I want to get the last discussion written. I am ready to read something that I want to read, (aka something with little to no educational value).

Fables

2006-07-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you all but I cannot believe that this semester is almost over, I also cannot believe that I still have 3 books that I am working through, I think I am going crazy trying to finish them all. I am tired and I want to go home, however being without a car that isn't going to happen. That and I am working, and will continue to work when I get home. You'd think with the fact that I am all alone since my roommate is once again house and dog sitting this week that I would be getting a lot accomplished, but unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Oh well, everything will get accomplished, it always does.

I need a weekend to myself!

2006-07-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

Hello All, I am tired. I got back from Pittsburgh, and my family was here on vacation, so I had little to no time alone, or any ability to work on my homework, there was no where to go, and while I took my books with me everywhere in the vain attempt to get some reading done, it was pretty hopeless until my parents left Sunday afternoon.

And I am tired also because I keep having to dope myself up on allergy medication because of the mold in my apartment. They told me they were coming in yesterday to tear down the walls and fix the pipes in the bathroom, but then I called when they hadn't shown up by 2:00 in the afternoon, and the woman said that it wasn't until today that they were going to show up. Sigh. I was hoping to be there to discuss what the specifics were going to be with the contractor, so I could keep the cats away, and if necessary move them over to the apartment that they had open for us in case we have to be out of our apartment for a day or two. I don't want my cats to get out while they are working.

On more pleasant news, I am going to be an "aunt" again today. My cousin Rachel is being induced since she has been in labor for a week already (can I just say "oww"). So little Josiah will be here shortly or already is here. I also found out what 2 of my other pregnant cousins are having. Kristine is having a boy that they are naming Taylor Donovan, and Jessica is having a girl named Reagan, but they aren't due until November, the same time my boss is due. I feel like I am surrounded by female horomones.

Today is today

2006-07-20T17:02:00.000-04:00

Sorry no creativity left....must get sleep...or I will pass out on desk.

Stuck at home

2006-07-19T18:25:00.000-04:00

Hello, I hope everyone made it home safely. I am soo tired, however because of all the storms last night. I am at my sister's apartment it is her birthday so my mom is making her favorite biscuits and sausage gravy. There is no power at work so I stayed to help get any and all water removed from around the books and then I got to go home again since they don't know when they will have power again. So I am going to continue reading "The meaning of everything." Bye, bye.

On Campus

2006-07-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

I am in Pittsburgh, and I am tired!! It happens, I have walked more in the last 3 days then I did all last year, which is a pity because it means I have been a lazy bum, but now my feet and body are telling me I suck. I am hoping my blisters go away, 5 in three days is a bit much, luckily Judith took me to the store (no we didn't get lost! we decided instead to take the long way to the store) and I got bandaids.

I also went on the Cathedral of Learning Nationality Classrooms tour, and it was lovely, but some of the classrooms smell really weird. I really should take another Allegra D, it works wonderfully well. I am on the internet in the hotel, and unless you are in the lobby it is 10 bucks a day, that is truly ridiculous, but unfortunately I have no "relax" clothes, and so when I took a shower when I got home all I had were my PJ's. So Sunday I am going to take my laptop to Hilman or the Cathedral of Learning and work on some stuff before I come back to my room. I would do it for tomorrow, but it is the baseball game and so I don't want to take my laptop with me. Anyways, talk to you later.

Do not like one book summaries!

2006-07-10T17:45:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I hate one book summaries. They just are not my cup of tea. I have such a hard time coming up with an angle. With two or three books it is easy to compare and contrast ideas and philosophies, but one book, especially one that is in no way controversial is a bit of a strain. I always think that the paper stinks. And I have to work on my bibliographies. I have no idea how to site web address and articles that I got off of course web. I only had MLA in undergrad and it isn't very through on those.

Otherwise I am trying to clean and pack for Pittsburgh, I am not at all sure what I am doing. I think I am going to call my cousin and then get started on packing. I need to clean because my parents and brother are coming up to stay with me as soon as I get back from Pittsburgh, and while my roommate does help clean, there are some areas that she never remembers, the bathroom floor and kitchen floor being two examples. However I do have to say she does an excellent job of the living room and bedroom. Anyways I have to go, I also want to get an idea of what I need to do for school while I am away.

Yeah!!!! my site is finished!

2006-07-08T19:24:00.000-04:00

I finished the website. Yeah, all the people rejoice!!! I know a little melodramatic, but I am tired, and I am so happy to figure everything out. Though I cannot take all the credit myself. That lovely discussion board and the cohort is what gets me through. Now if only I can finish all my readings for the week. :-) I am so very happy. I am trying to decide now on outfits, this is the first real trip I have gone on in years that doesn't involve going to see a relative, it actually matters to a certain degree what I wear. So now everyone, au revior.

Working and Cold's do not mix

2006-07-06T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am still working on NVU I am trying to figure out the last couple of instructions so that I can finish this site so as to move on to the last assignment. I also need to keep reading the books that we have assignments for along with everything else. I am still amazed at how much work there is in Grad school. I knew there was a lot, but most the the grad students around my college don't look nearly as frazzled as the undergrad. I will have to come up with a theory about that later. I am still sick only now I have cold medicine, which is making the world a slightly more funny place.
My nose vaguely resembles that famous reindeer's. Have fun now.

Things to figure out.

-inline formatting
-getting 12pt font
-getting my RSS feed for my blog
-figuring out the Feed2JS link.

Amazing

2006-07-05T15:03:00.000-04:00

I just looked at a bunch of people's Nvu projects and I must say I am jealous. They looked wonderful. I am still trying to figure out if I am doing everything correctly. I suppose I will have to ask next week. I can't believe we have our quiz finally. I am going to do it when I get home, now that I know it isn't due until tomorrow.

I have a cold. It stinks. I haven't had one since I moved out of the dorms at school, so about 18 months. Now because I had surgery, I get one just by touching the cough drop bag that the person with a cold touches. That stinks. Also my car is basically dead at this point, which is amazingly exciting.

I have to finish my Access Principle book so I can do the report this weekend. That should be good. Anyways, have a fun day everyone.

Hello 4th of July!

2006-07-02T22:28:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know it isn't the 4th of July, however it will be. My car is still in denial that it wants to work, so I get to call AAA. I put off doing it on Saturday because I got my hair cut. And Sunday is supposedly a day of rest. (So in honor of the Lord's day, I try and do things that don't make me want to swear.)

I hear at present the melodious sounds of people setting off generic fireworks, supposedly illegal, but still found in most neighborhoods this time of year. We had a marvelous thunder and lightening storm come through earlier this evening. I keep feeling sorry for all the rain we have been receiving because I know that there have been some heavily hit areas. But I love thunder and lightening storms, they are amazing things. Seeing all that power unleashed, power that scientists have been trying to harness or replicate for eons. Sorry my mind is wandering, and when it wanders it tends to be a bit spastic. Well anyways, if I don't remember to post tomorrow, happy 4th of July!

Nvu equals a New Headache

2006-06-29T18:18:00.000-04:00

I really hate learning to use new applications, especially ones that are supposed to be user friendly and aren't. For some reason I just couldn't get it to work for me. I ended up transfering it over using the ftp internet explorer way and copying the file over. I have no clue what it is that I am missing. My boss came to help me and even then we had a problem. [Sigh]

I am now trying to remember that I have to blog. I can only be so consistent for so long and then I stop remembering things. Especially with assignments such as these.

My car decided to try and die on me this morning while I was driving into work. That sucks. Unless the bill is under $50 to fix him, he needs to go to the dump and die, after he has been picked over for parts. There are some good ones in there, I should know due to the bills that have accumulated. I have to go out now and see if he lives, or if a tow truck is needed. I keep trying to remember the old saying "God only gives us as much as we can handle" but right now I feel in need of a huge shovel to pick me up.

Over the river and through the woods

2006-06-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

Let's see, my birthday weekend went well, I went to a wedding, spending oodles of time in the car since I had to go out for the rehersal dinner, drive home, then drive back the next day (good time to read the final book for the paper that was due on June 26). The wedding was between two friends of mine from college. It was 2 1/2 hours away, in Danville, PA. It was an amazing contrast, the church being in the middle of farm country, the music was all classic, with several selections from opera pieces, sung very well by friends. And then since the groom is a farm boy, despite being a music major (music major = insane at least at my school) they got bombarded by grain seed and driven by a tractor through the parking lot. So I spent close to 10 hours in a car this weekend, which was very good for my reading if very bad for my side.

Then on Monday I wrote my paper, it is amazing how when I am sorting out my thoughts for papers, I rarely ever go where I think I am going to at the beginning. Thoughts start sprouting and taking root during the whole process. Yes it is a little odd, but that is almost always the way I write, outlines never seem to work, which is something I really have to work on.

Let's see tomorrow we will be discussing Superman, Pirates, and HTML vs. XML. You're excited aren't you. I can tell.

Not by bread alone

2006-06-22T17:50:00.000-04:00

I am sitting at Panera and enjoying a wonderful salad and free internet, can anything be better? ( I am sure the answer is yes, but being that I just got out of work, this is wonderful!) The only thing that could make me happier is a huge comfy chair. (oh, and my internet to be working at home!)

Today is my birthday. I always get contemplative on my birthday, well contemplative and completely nondecisive. Family have been calling throughout the day and now I am sitting eating and reading at a place with really good bread. I am not sure about the contemplative part, I am generally contemplative, why else would I have 3 blog sites, a journal on my computer and another beside my bed? But on my birthday, it is different. Oh, I don't know.

Anyways, I think I got the Cloud Tag assignment completed, it worked for me when I was signed in anyways. I think it is very funny that I worked getting all my tags for Connotea making sure they were proper and mostly different from delicious and then it won't work. Very odd and vaguely disappointing.

I am now going to go back to reading.

Internet Scout is killing me

2006-06-20T08:27:00.000-04:00

I was having a hard time trying to find interesting sites and then "cataloging" them, so I built an email list and then sent it to myself. But it got even worse as I was trying to add them on yesterday and I could only get like 6 of them on, and half of those I had to do twice before they would go on. I have them all I promise, but the system just wasn't working yesterday.

My internet is still not working well. I am going to see if the school I work at will give me access to everything I need so that after work I can stay late and do some of the stuff, at least until the lovely IT hubby can come out and work on the problem to see if I have to switch to someone else. This is so annoying! Thanks Stephanie for the help, I have to wait and do it in a bit. I am glad and rather nervous about doing the HTML stuff, at least my boss knows it well so I can ask her scads of questions. Anyways see you all later. Laura

the internet and i

2006-06-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

I really hate our internet connection it works for my roommate throughout the day, and then magically I come home and boom! it stops working. I have DSL shouldn't that be working, but no, Verizon owns the lines and I have to suffer. GRRRR.. I need to clean my apartment so my boss and her IT hubby can come over and see if he can find the glich. Or tell me that with my apartment I have to switch to Cable. I don't want to switch to cable, but if I have to I have to.

I went to church today so I got to see people I don't normally get to see. It was the first time I had made it there since my surgery. It was good to be back. The church was a blast, they are having VBS (vacation bible school) and it is a fiesta theme, so the church was decked out for that this week since they decorated yesterday.

I am still trying to catch up with all my reading from the other week, man, I think I am going to have the school make it so my laptop will work here so i can stay after work and do some more school work before going home. Ugg, is all that I can feel about that. I never studied in this library while I was a student, and now that I am a grad student at a different school I will be using the library to study in, how ironic is that?

Migraines and Mindgames

2006-06-14T17:40:00.000-04:00

I am not sure what is worse, the pain in my belly or the pain in my head. I get all excited over things, like being able to work from home on a half day schedule this week and then come home to find out that the not only is the internet not working none of the jacks in the apartment are working. So my roommate goes and calls everyone she can think of to solve the problem. Our apartment maintance people come over, finally today (because it isn't an emergency) and all of the jacks, even the one in the living room that hasn't worked since we got a phone line are now working!

Of course I woke up with a migraine that I haven't experienced in ages, shakes, chills, nausea, auras, pain in my sinus cavities and teeth, and can't take my prescription for it because I have to be on the meds the doctor gave me for my surgery. So it took until about 3:30pm this afternoon before I could stand to uncover my eyes.

I am still trying to wade through all the reading I missed out on from last week. There is so much on a normal basis that getting through all of this info for two weeks is feeling a little too heavy. Oh, well. Life happens and will continue to keep going whether I fail or pass. Though I fully intend to pass! Have a grand day!

Hello again

2006-06-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

I am back again. I have had my gallbladder removed, and now am once again at a computer, though still rather uncomfortable. I still feel rather bruised and cannot laugh hard, cough or sneeze. I had no idea there were so many stomach muscles involved in those processes.

I finished the next paper and have so much reading that needs to happen. My evenings all this week and probably next will go towards reading to try and catch up from last week. Narcotics are rather dangerous things, I hardly felt them working the first 2 days I was in so much pain, and then they put me asleep for the next three days, I would be doing some reading and then suddenly would get ridiculously dizzy and then start to sleep for at least 3-5 hours. Not well mind you, I would sleep 5 minutes, then wake up suddenly only to fall asleep again. Fun times let me tell you.

Though it was nice to see my parents, I haven't seen them since Christmas so I was very glad to have them here. After having gone through the surgery it still surprises me it is outpatient. Though for me, the problem was that my nurse left too soon after the surgery so she couldn't explain some of the circumstances to my new nurse. Oh well, it is over with. Now if only the bruising would go away. I am supposed to start work tomorrow and am a little nervous there is so much I still can't do. And sitting upright for 2 hours seems to be one of them. :) Anyways have a great day.

This is the day.. but for what?

2006-06-05T10:03:00.000-04:00

I don't know. I am sad and glad about the quiz getting moved. I got through all the material, now I shall have to read over my notes everyday or so to try and remember it all for the July 5th quiz. Also can anyone explain to me how to get "subscriptions" that is what my xanga account calls them anyways. They are "friends" on myspace.

I am having a hard time concentrating. There is so much that needs done. I am trying to remember my undergraduate days, how did I do it? I think I had less work with 18 credit hours than with 6 in graduate. I once again feel like a hermit.

I get to see my parents they are coming up for my surgery tomorrow. I am having my gallbladder out. I had hoped they would have let me have surgery earlier this year but they kept wanting to run tests. So now I am off for a week. Let's hope I can still keep up with my reading. Have a great week.

I think I am very far behind

2006-06-02T10:35:00.000-04:00

I am so far behind, I keep trying to catch up and yet seem to keep lagging behind. I only just found the homework posting site. This last week I have been trying to catch up on reading, and I keep calling the DSL company trying to get them to fix my connection because it is taking forever to get anything related to FT to download.

Maybe after my surgery I will have time to sit down and try to figure this class out. I am so confused and seem to be missing things. I think I need to talk to my group members to see where they are at. This is one class that I wish I had the in-classroom experience for. I didn't realize how technologically inept I am.

Nothing inspiring to say

2006-05-31T16:13:00.000-04:00

I have discovered that while glancing through the Discovering Computers book, and it looks very awe- inspiring it really isn't. I was able to very simply comprehend what it was saying. Which is good since I have to finish all the chapters I haven't read and process it before our quiz on it Monday.

Monday is the last day before I have my gallbladder removed. Amazing really that they can do that as outpatient. It will be the first time I will be given prescription painkillers. But at least it will be out and hopefully getting rid of this 5 month pain and nausea that I have been having.

However I hope they don't mess me up too bad, because I really want to get some reading done. It will be a very good oppurtunity. Here's to hoping and praying for the best. Tomorrow my pastor and his wife are coming to pray with me over it. Very nice of them. Talk to you later.

Yipee!

2006-05-30T13:48:00.000-04:00

I just got my Discovering Computers 2006 book! Now I won't fail the first quiz. :) I started reading the intro to the 1st chapter and nearly started to hyperventilate. I don't think that I had any idea how much I didn't know about computers. Grip for the day. My DSL wasn't working properly most of the weekend and so I had a hard time doing much of anything. Hopefully my roommate will see if is working better otherwise another call will go out to my ISP provider. I am once again gauging my options on switching services. Anyways, hope all of you who read my post are well? I am trying not to be nervous over my surgery next Tuesday. I have blood work on Friday so that should be fun. Bye.

Nice to know

2006-05-27T22:23:00.000-04:00

It was nice to know that I am in tune with much of what other people think and say about technology. I know I have a hard time reading for long periods of time on the computer. I hate my cell phone but deem that it necessary, especially when I am going home to WV (a 8 and half hour drive). I have all sorts of accounts for things that I don't use anymore. Anyways I am going to bed.

Great Poem

2006-05-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

Be a little careful of your Library. Do you foresee what you will do with it? Very little to be sure. But the real question is, What it will do with you? You will come here and get books that will open your eyes, and your ears, and your curiosity, and turn you inside out or outside in.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am trying to finish reading the Kuhn book. It was really hard last night, it took almost an hour per chapter because I just couldn't concentrate. I guess being told about surgery and everything that is going to be happening in the next two weeks got to me. Knowing that the pain will stop, is a lovely miracle in itself. I have had too many tests that came back saying I should be normal.

So the plan is that tonight- homework, go to movie, sleep in, and then homework and clean house during the weekend. Sounds like a doable plan, so let's see how it goes.

LIS 2600

2006-05-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

I honestly don't know if I am going to make it through this class. :-) I didn't realize I was so far behind in technology. Though I am happy that I am not the only one, obviously misery loves company. I still haven't recieved my book for this class. I am never going to choose the "as few as possible" shipments ever again. I am also trying to delve into this class a bit more. I think I should have spent more of the weekend looking over this Course rather than LIS 2000. Though I am having a problem with the 'http://mingus. assignment file, I can't get it to come up until after 8:00 pm at night, I have to try my roommates computer, maybe it will come up there for me.

This is definately more work than I had anticipated, at least right off the bat. I am trying to change my mindset from undergrad to grad style classes. (Exp. Read every word vs. picking out general ideas.) I enjoy watching the classroom sessions, they make me feel involved, and I also like the Podcasts. I am still waiting for more info on the Tag assignments. I have actually never done those before. I am much more familiar to blogging, and chat rooms.

If you couldn't tell I am more than a bit of a worrywart. I suppose I am also stressed by the fact that my one and only book for this class still isn't in. Here's to praying for a miracle from Amazon.

Still figuring this blog site out

2006-05-19T19:49:00.000-04:00

I am trying to shift through all the reading that we have to do, especially this week. I thought that I had to do a lot of reading compared to my friends in undergrad, but this is amazing!

I am also trying to figure out this blog site. I have a xanga site, myspace, and facebook, but all of them take time to learn. Though I must say that xanga was by far the easiest to learn.

Now a bit about myself other than what is in the profile. I was born in Groton, Conn. And then when I was 7 moved to West Virginia. I have a very large extended family and we all grew up together and so are very close. Now my cousins are all having children of their own, so I am Aunt Laura. Currently 4 of my cousins and their spouses are expecting children.

I came to the Philadelphia area for school. I attended Philadelphia Biblical University initally as a Secondary Education History/Social Studies major, but after one semester switched to Counseling. I started working in the library of my school the 2nd week of my 1st semester during my Freshman year. I have always loved libraries. Whenever my librarians saw me coming, they would go over to the holds shelf and get down about 20 books at a time, which I would read in about a week.

During my senior year of college I went through a crisis of sorts and discovered that I didn't have enough life experience to be a Marriage and Family Counselor at the age of 24. So I started looking for a career until, who knows when exactly, I guess the real reason was that i needed a job that would help pay off my student loans. :) I looked into Massage Therapy, MLIS, and several other possibilities. However, since I couldn't make up my mind so I took a year off after my undergraduate studies to work in the library and decide if that was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I discovered that I really rather enjoy it, and so applied for FastTrack MLIS and that is how I got here.

Hello, True Gods of Sound and Stone

2006-05-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion's pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay--
O I loved too much and by such by such is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that's known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say.
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay--
When the angel wooes the clay he'd lose his wings at the dawn of day.
-- Patrick Kavanagh