What Can I Say?

I love the Library website.

Creating in Google Docs

I had the opportunity this afternoon to type up a procedural document called Creating or Editing Catalog Buttons using Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word. It was probably a good type of document to create because it includes numbering and stuff.

I usually like my procedure step numbering to go 1. 2. 3. (for the first level), then a. b. c. (for the second level), but I didn't have that option in Google Docs. And the font choices are, of course, quite limited. But the big advantage is that, once saved, my document is available from any web browser if I'm logged into my Google account. I think that's pretty nifty...

Wikiing

I added a little posting about Door County and Ireland to the Favorite Vacation Spots staff wiki. I like the idea of wikis, just as I like the idea of the web overall, but you need to keep both of them in perspective when it comes to trusting what you come across. I can't imagine having the time or inclination to intentionally mislead people with bad information, or post mean things that others could read, but I'm sure that there are many, many people that have no such restraints... so it's viewer beware, I guess.

Has the Whole World Gone Podcast Crazy?!

I visited (and bookmarked in del.icio.us!) Podcast Alley and ended up adding three podcast subscriptions to my Google Reader account:
American Experience PBS
tech5
Stories Of Great Hymns (in keeping with my blog theme; unfortunately, it's pretty lame)

Anyway, I guess what I found most amazing is the sheer volume of podcasts that people are out there creating, on every topic imaginable. After we got an iPod a couple of years ago, I subscribed to a couple of podcasts -- one produced by The Onion, and the other from Ricky Gervais. Great fun! But, like everything else, you have to find the time to listen to them, and I was never able to work them into my routine so they just kept accumulating until I finally stopped my subscriptions...

Delicious!

After looking into the basics of del.icio.us, it made a lot of sense to me to go ahead and create my own account. I then installed the browser buttons in both Internet Explorer and Firefox so that I could quickly add new links regardless of which browser I was using.

I'm a little surprised at how unattractive the website for del.icio.us is -- really, not very DELICIOUS at all. But a handy site to have around...

Flickring

Photo 393
Originally uploaded by theskokieten

I just uploaded and tagged fifteen of my favorite Ireland trip photos. I am choosing one of them to illustrate this posting.

AntiSocial

Well, I was supposed to join a social networking group today, so I chose Eons: Social networking and activity sharing geared toward ages 50+. I found that I am very uncomfortable discussing myself online, and only decided to share some boring historical facts about my education, places I've been, and current employment.

While writing this blog posting I became so uncomfortable with the whole thing that I sent an email to the Eons help center and asked that my account be deleted. That didn't last long...

Chatting It Up!

This afternoon I was supposed to have a "Google Talk" experience, but I couldn't locate anyone around to chat with. So I decided to have a "Meebo" experience instead.

Our Adult Services reference staff's Meebo account was offline, but I was fortunate to find that the Youth Services account was up and running. I IMed with Meebo Mandy for a few minutes, and then said, "Bye for now!"

Someday I'll Look a Little Harder...

But today I wasn't able to readily find any RSS feeds out there that seem to target those good old choruses, songs, and hymns.

So I ended up subscribing to the following five feeds:
New Adult Feature Film DVDs at Skokie Public Library
NPR: Movies (audiocasts)
Pets: Dogs - Articles from EzineArticles.com
Recent and Upcoming Bestsellers
Wikipedia - Recent Changes

I Love Old Hymns

I wasn't feeling particularly creative today when I established this, my first ever, blog. I realized I might have difficulty coming up with a blog name and maybe with the name, a theme, so I tried to quickly assess things I like, things that are important to me, things I would enjoy thinking and writing about.

Glancing around my office, I saw the printouts I made a few months ago of the lyrics to some of my favorite choruses, songs, and hymns, and I found my title and theme! There's a beautiful stanza in When the Roll is Called Up Yonder that opens with "On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, and the glory of His resurrection share..." So "Cloudless Morning" it is!

Lyrics from old hymns and choruses bring me an incredible amount of comfort and hope, and I know that shifting my focus to these meaningful phrases for a little while each day will be a good thing.