Midwinter ponderings

There are a few things I’ve been pondering lately.

  • Why does a meager two-inch overnight snowfall cause massive traffic jams during the morning commute in Madison?
  • Bob Marley would have turned 60 years old a few days ago, were he still alive. Way back in the late 1970’s, his music served as my introduction to reggae music. I wonder how my music collection (and my fondness for reggae and other world music) would be different if Bob Marley hadn’t been around.
  • Is it feed a cold, or starve a cold? With all the liquids I’ve been drinking (and subsequent bathroom visits) I’ve decided it should be drown a cold.
  • Using Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft FrontPage at work only reinforces my dislike of Microsoft products. At least I’m able to use Firefox there.
  • What are Asian beetles doing in North America? More importantly, what are they doing in my attic? Hopefully they aren’t inviting the African, Australian and the South American beetles to come over too.

I’ll choose Frederick Bloy

As part of a newsletter article for the library where I work, I was asked the following question:

If you could have a conversation with anyone (living or dead), who would it be and why?

There are all sorts of interesting people (from history, pop culture, politics, etc.) that I would love to talk to. After thinking about it for a while, I decided I would choose my great grandfather, Frederick Bloy, who emigrated from Germany in 1874.

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Good day for a hike

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With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and the sun shining, I thought it was a good day for a hike. So, I found the box my snowshoes were in (yes, I still have boxes to unpack) and headed over to Elver Park. The largest park in the city of Madison, Elver Park is only about two-thirds of a mile from my house and one of the reasons I chose to live where I do. While the wind was a little brisk today and the park full of sledders and cross country skiers, it was great being in the outdoors and hiking through nature again. Something I haven’t done for many months. There was even some solace to be found: watching the snow sparkle in the sun as the wind blew it off the pine tress I was hiking through.

When the wind on my face told me it was time to head home, I reluctantly did so, but not without feeling the charge of energy I get from being in the outdoors.

Tale of the towel bars

The work on getting my new home in shape continues (hence the lack of posts here). It almost amazes me all of the things that need taking care of in order to get settled into a new place. Even more amazing is how people can continually live with things that could so easily be fixed.

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2004 music awards

The end of the year means it’s time for me to list my favorite CDs from the past twelve months.

Air – Talkie Walkie
See my post from February 20.

The Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
Better late than never. This album was released four years ago and I don’t know where I was then, but I’m sure glad I found it this year. It’s easy to hear the band’s Brit-pop influences, but their sound is unique and edgy, painting musical pictures you want to hear over and over. My favorite musical discovery of the year.

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Lumino-bulbous-phobia

Well, I made it. All of my worldly possessions are now in the same city that I have been living in. Most of them are still in boxes, but at least they are here.

It’s always interesting moving into a “new” place. In all the apartments/homes I’ve lived in, I’ve usually found a few little quirks or oddities about the former residents. For example, I’ve been in living in my condo in Madison for four days now and I do believe the former owner had some kind of irrational fear of screwing in light bulbs.

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Moving on

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I’m sorry it’s been two weeks since the last post. As you can imagine, I’ve been very busy lately. Today I finished my first full week working as the Web Services Librarian at Edgewood College. After five days, I think I’ve had enough experience to say that I’m going to enjoy working there.

In other news (if everything goes as planned) I should be permanently living in Madison by the end of next week. Speaking of which, I was browsing through some moving and packing websites the other day and found out how to pack hippos (from the US Postal Service, no less). Does anyone have a 1000 gallon tank I can borrow?

Thanksgiving thoughts

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, I thought it might be good to post some things I’ve been thankful for recently.

  • The exciting opportunity of a new job.
  • Being supported by family and friends.
  • The beauty of the natural world.
  • The opportunity to travel.
  • Music and all of its charms.

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Soon to be Web Services Librarian

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I got the job! Oh wait a minute… I should probably back up for those of you who don’t know the whole story.

Last week I had interviewed for the position of Web Services Librarian at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. After the interview I felt pretty good about the whole thing and was very excited about the possibilities of working there. The position’s responsibilities are an interesting combination of website development and librarian duties.

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