la septième semaine - 17e chose. PBCLS sandbox wiki.

well then, i've been to the PBCLSwiki sandbox, and left my footprints firmly planted there. it was interesting to see what all of my co-workers favorite favorites were...as instructed, i posted my blog. and found the other 2 easiest sections to post in were favorite restaurants [i love to eat] and animals. *a disclaimer: if i had attempted favorite music, i fear i would have derailed the whole train...my list would have been ex-ten-sive.*

feel free to take a visit and see what i - and my coworkers - are up to when we are not at work. people who know me will automatically know which favorites are mine. care to take a guess?

s’il vous plaît m'accorder l'attente, la sagesse et discernement pour reconnaître le tisserand.

There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that.
In one well
You have just a few precious cups of water,
That "love" is literally something of yourself,
It can grow as slow as a diamond
If it is lost.

Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a
Stranger,
Only to someone
Who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.

There are different wells within us.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far, far too deep
For that.

- hafiz -

la septième semaine - 16e chose. wikis.

i like wikis. i like saying wikis. but if i had to laud my most favorite thing about wikis, it'd be how downright egalitarian they are.

again. mr. thomas paine comes to mind with his ideal of a society in which people have a right to express their own opinions, even if they incite controversy...in his perfect world, the presses would be the voice of the populace...his is an argument for free speech, and the web certainly helps the reality of such exchange to happen.

but back to our wiki assignment: i like the prospect of using wikis as an interactive database. it's a brilliant forum for reader's advisory. see: library goddesses. i also liked that some of the libraries had different wikis for use in customer service: like the memphis public library's "staff language skills" for non-english speaking patrons. what a great way for staff/patrons alike to compile any individual expertise in different hobby wikis like this one for cooking found on the St. Joseph County Public Library's wiki. i know, i for one, can't wait to contribute to a section on my favorite sport: extreme ironing

from the hallowed hall of irony: my favorite absurd news story of the week.

"Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition."

at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center was closed Wednesday

due to flooding from a broken water main.


my favorite commentary on this unfortunate incident was from peter sagal, host of
NPR's Wait Wait, Don't tell Me...

...it went somethin' somethin' like this:

"Museum officials were tipped off to the situation when a frozen Leonard Dicaprio went floating by."

refrigerator roundup, or what to do with those summer vegetables.

[okay, i think an awful lot about food...and for those of you who know me...when i appear to be staring off into space, chances are i'm concocting some meal in my head with what i know to be in my refrigerator, soo, i just have to share this tasty, little vegetarian better-than-fast food i scared up in the kitchen sunday night...round up all those languishing summer vegetables in your fridge...taco bell ain't got nuthin' on this Mexican pizza]

2 limed corn tostadas
1 cup freshly made, or canned chipotle refried beans

[note the chipotle is verrry important. the smokiness is incomparable]
1 zucchini, diced
1 red pepper cored, diced
1 spanish onion, diced
[feel free to come up with your own combination of vegetables, but these worked especially nicely]
1 pinch cumin
1 pinch powered chili
1 ounce queso blanco or other Mexican cheese
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 small avocado, slivered [optional]
2 tbs grapeseed oil, divided [can substitute olive oil, or some other vegetable oil]

Heat 1 tbs the grapeseed oil in a skillet over medium high heat

Flash sauté the zucchini, onion, and red pepperSeason with the cumin and chili

Remove from heat and set aside warm

Return the skillet to the burner
Heat the second tbs. of oil until warmed.

When thoroughly warmed, press one tostada into the pan evenly with your fingertips
Allow to cook for approximately 30 seconds or until it begins to golden

Spoon the refried beans on top of the tostada as it continues to crisp

Spoon the zuke/onion/pepper mixture as a second layer

Top with the cheese
Finish with Avocado and Cilantro

Place the second tostada on top and [masterfully] flip

Wait as patiently as possible [important…it's in the details] until the second side is crisp and golden.

Remove to dinner plate, and mind your manners as you devour.

* if you must indulge in something akin to sour cream, try plain fat-free yogurt.
it's full of protein and healthy probiotics

[yum]

speaking of keeping unusual collections.

[and here's why i love my friend leisy - aka luna - aka "the" baba ganouch]

leisy [via email]: ...interesting fact of the day.

Somehow I thought you'd appreciate the following; while flipping through the classifieds yesterday afternoon, Laura happened upon the "Arts & Crafts" section.

There were two things listed.

1) Amish Quilt. Meh.

2) Mannequins. Dressed to resemble movie stars. $50.

Dare me to call that number?

me [via email]: yowsa.

how norman bates-ish.

i'm very frightened-cum-intrigued.

double dog dare.

[and the thing is, she's just the kind of sport who will call]

la sixième semaine - 15e chose. Web 2.0.

okay. i must admit.
i've been mired for a small bit in reading our assignments for

week 6 - thing 15 - web 2.0.


and it's difficult for me to adequately express the complexity of issues that rise to the forefront when i consider all that a concept of library 2.0 could comprise.

it's interesting that within our own system, the range of opinions can be downright polarizing: from the static, predictable, staid caution of "wait and see" to the more progressive awareness that if we do not change with the times, then we will cease to become relevant to mainstream culture.

while the purist in me has a hard time envisioning moving away from building a physical collection of items as presented in OCLC's 'Away from Icebergs' article...[of course, that concept would make a girl shudder who owns nearly 4,000 cds and almost 2 thousand books]...i know the trend towards information [our stock and trade] is virtual and digital...i subsequently found rather amusing the thoughts presented by Dr. Wendy Schulz in her article "To a Temporary Place in Time" as she imagines the pendulum swing through library 2.0 through 3.0 to the nostalgia of a library 4.0 as a reprieve from the technohustle and a place that functions more like a salon and knowledge spa.

i think some interesting watermarks of change with regards to an awareness of how emerging technology is altering our time-honored traditions is the recent Obama-McCain Twitter presidential debate on technology and government. could it be the the blogosphere is finally bringing about the hope for equanimity in society that Thomas Paine envisioned? it was his championing of free access to printing presses and subsequent pamphleteering that helped inspire our own American Revolution after all.