Going Postal for Swimming

Being new to the swimming culture, specifically the master's swimming culture, I am not positive why they call the swim-as-far-as-you-can-in-one-hour the "Postal Swim" but I can take a guess. At any rate, I can honestly say it was far less painful and boring than I thought it would be. Less painful because I am comparing it to "Brute Squad" from the fall (200 Fly, 400 IM, and 1600 swim - all back to back) which is 300m straight of fly, mind you. And less boring because when you are still getting the hang of flip turns in a 25 yard pool, there is always something to think about. I felt like I was constantly either recovering or preparing for a flip turn. Still, I was pleased with myself that I made it the first 40-45 minutes with all flip turns. A feat for someone like me.

Here were my splits, courtesy of my swimming pal Tom's wife who did double duty in recording both my and Tom's splits with a fancy iPhone app.

Right when I stopped doing my flip turns at around 45 minutes, Tom started to pull ahead of me to a solid 50m (an entire down and back pool length) in the 15 minutes left of the timing. Though I simply couldn't have maintained what I needed to because I was dizzy and mixed up with flip turns, I have a renewed sense of motivation to get that quick turn down to absolute muscle memory. In the meantime, there is something so nice about doing a hard swim like this and not feeling like I took something from my cartilage or joints that I am not going to get back (I love running but this often seems the case after a long or hearty run). Still, I like the muscle confusion that comes with doing lots of sports. Right now my perfect mix is swimming, running and yoga - in that order.

Three cheers for trying new sports and partaking in a new culture! Everything feels fresh and motivating and all my times are a PR.

Birthdays are a Season!

Someone once told me that "birthdays are a season" when I felt bad bringing a double layer birthday cake by a day late. I like that idea and I think it is true - well, that is to say that I think the best birthdays are celebrated in that spirit.

My problem is that January can be a cruel month in general. The days are short, cold and devoid of much sunshine. It is the month when tuition is due and I feel like I am barely recovering from the energy and finances Christmas demanded from me. And as my birthday falls on the 23rd, someone once pointed out to me that my birthday is the day before "the most depressed day of the year".

In the past I have tried to even displace my birthday to a more hopeful and happy month. While living in Austin, I had to be on campus for a MLS "web institute" over my birthday weekend. I decided it was time to try something new. So I told Matt that I wanted to go out for birthday celebrations April 15th this year. We would hold off on gifts, dinner, etc until then. Seemed like something worth trying out. Problem was, April 15th came and went and I completely forgot that we were going to celebrate my birthday. Woops!

This year seemed bound for the most epic of birthday fails too. January 23rd was officially declared "Bluest Monday" of the 2012 year. But it turns out a good birthday doesn't have to come from good weather or ideal placement within the calendar year. I learned that pretty quick while eating Pho then frozen yogurt with Matt and my dear friend Claire who came down from Fort Collins in honor of the upcoming "Blue Monday", or my birthday. We finished off the evening with a fire and Freaks and Geeks. Life seemed it couldn't be sweeter.

But then Blue Monday came around and my RS president came by with a card, chocolate bar and a visit. Throughout the day I got a handful of phone calls, text messages and loads of loving FB postings - I was feeling right loved and up to the brim with happy birthday feelings! Then I came home to a card from Luling and a wee birthday shrine Matt had put together (shopping on foot since I had the car at work).

The happy birthday Cate vibes kept coming from all kinds of places for the rest of the week through parcels, cards, messages and phone calls. So indeed birthdays are a season and I can't help but send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone you has made my birthday special this year or in years past. I am one lucky girl to have been born in January:)

Did I mention Chicago?

My first paid work trip. Airfare, my own room in a Marriot downtown, per diem - I feel like such an adult!

It is the first meeting of the IMLS tech grantees and it is going to be held in Chicago so as to give us a chance to explore all the super awesome things that CPL has done with the funds and give inspiration to drive success for our own communities. I wasn't sure whether or not I would get to go on the trip as only 3-4 or of the 7-8 people on the committee would be able to come. Though I think few were as keen as me to head to Chicago in February, I couldn't be more thrilled. They gave me the option of heading out a couple of days earlier in case I wanted to stay and visit friends/family/etc. Lucky me - one of my best pals from my Austin days has moved up north while her husband is attending Kellogg for his MBA. Just $1.75 and a one hour bus ride away - we are already making some plans to maximize the 30 hours I have in the area before my meetings start. Any suggestions from you folk what should be on the itinerary? No doubt pizza and the art institute - I am also thinking some cool pics up Willis tower? We will see. Though I have to admit, it helps that I have to spend a lot of time at the public library there for work. That saves my leisure time a bit since I would probably want to take some time there anyway.

Three cheers for new adventures in new places!

What is an Experience Zone you may ask?

One of the most defining (and in my opinion, coolest) Anythink methods is the "Experience Zone". It is a hard thing to define, we are constantly trying to do just that at meetings. Still, the best way I can describe one is by saying that it is sort of library meets museum or book display meets program. It should be a discovery for library users when them come into the library that in a creative way brings the collection alive - a self-guided way of learning and much less structured than a program. It should be an "experience" where they indirectly experience the "lifelong learning" phenomenon all public libraries seek to promote. Need an example?

Well, I have done several experience zones since starting this last August including zombie magnetic poetry set up by a paranormal and poetry book display, magic eye and optical illusion pictures throughout the teen area, origami, etc etc. The one I did this month though is what I think is my best yet and it warms my librarian heart every time I see someone "experiencing" the community puzzle I made with one of the shelvers I worked with (a theater, media arts major - great with diverse materials!). It was quite the process to make...

I developed a mighty callous during the exacto-knife cutting phase with the foam boards. I think Sarah did too.

And figuring out the mounting logistics was a wee bit tricky. But it worked in the end - here is the result thus far. Only a few more pieces left!

We made sure the board was sticky so that once people decorated their pieces they would readily stick up on the framed puzzle. The numbers helped people match up the right pieces to the right place. So far I would say it has been a great success with surprisingly few mishaps. I have to admit, I just can't get over how great the metaphor is of having the community put together a big puzzle like this. Such a great message to library users:)

I am already thinking of the next experience zone a couple months down the road. I am deriving inspiration from these incredible videos one of my co-workers showed me of the Glass Harp.





Not that I could set up anything as elaborate as this but I am thinking of having these videos available to watch somehow and then have several crystal goblets set up with a wee bit of water in them for them to explore the different sounds they can make with them. The logistics are always the tricky part - must think of a way to attach them to the table so they can't be stolen, broken, etc. But I have a couple of months to figure it out. Any ideas? Suggestions?