The North Wind and the Sun--an Aesop Fable

This version is from the book by Jerry Pinkney:
"Of everything in the sky--the sun and the stars, the rain and the snow--the North Wind boasted that he was the strongest. "There is nothing that can resist me! the North Wind cried, blowing such a blast that the roofs lost their shingles and streams turned to ice.
'Are you sure?' asked the Sun. 'The sky and the land are full of strong things. Why, it might even be that I am stronger than you!'
'You?' roared the North Wind, and laughed an icy laugh.
'Yes, why not? Let's put it to the test!' answered the Sun. 'Do you see that traveler down below us? I'm sure I can make him take off his cloak. Are you strong enough to do the same?'
'Of course!' blustered the North Wind. He sent howling blasts of frigid air to tear the cloak away from the traveler. But the man, shivering in the cold, only wrapped the cloak tighter around himself. No gust that the North Wind blew could rip it from his grasp.
'Now it is my turn,' said the Sun. And he sent warm beams of light down to where the traveler was walking. The man sighed with relief and pushed his cloak back off his shoulders. Steadily the Sun shone, until the traveler pulled off his hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and at last took the cloak and lay down to rest in the shade of a nearby tree."
"Gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails." I love this story! It holds such wisdom. It reminds me of the Yiddish proverb, "You can catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar."
This is my philosophy. Kindness will get us further than meanness.

James Schuyler, from Hymn to Life, May, 2008 Oprah Magazine

Unhibernate. Let the rain soak your hair, run down your
Face...
Then another day brings back the sun and
Violets in the grass. The pear tree thickens all its boughs and
Twigs into silver-white,a dimmed brilliance, and already at
Its base a circle of petals on the unmowed grass. Far away
Bust out into their dog mouth pink. Visitors gasp...
Thank you, May, for these warm stirrings.

Food for Thought from Seth Godin

I chuckle because my life is chock full of serendipitous moments! I was first introduced to Seth Godin by Mr. Billy! of all people. He turned me on to Seth's book, "All Marketers are Liars." I thought t/his video about curiosity was just great. These words stick with me, "The riskiest thing you can do is play it safe." Also, "How much of the mediocre 'stuff' of life have you led yourself to believe is great?" I think by nature I am curious but sometimes I stifle my own curiosity because I am tired or craving stability or I feel strange! I liked that he said that curiosity is about searching and he inferred that curiosity is about openness and awareness. I feel like much of my life I am in a high state of alertness (not calm) and by Godin's definition of curiosity that is probably okay! Sometimes I wish that I wasn't as "wired" as I am. I am still learning to be comfortable in my own skin! Ha!

Random thoughts about Playing More, Learning More & Fearing Less!

Another semester accomplished--that's amazing. This has been a wonderful time and I am gratified to see that you are contemplating ways to continue the Project on a less intense schedule. I would really be happy with that idea. Let's keep this powerful momentum going! You (the instructors) have done a fabulous job!
Thank you for the link to "yes and". I really liked this in juxtaposition to "no but". I think when we examine the words we habitually use in communication, we can tell what our outlook is and tweak it to make it more hopeful. This reminded me of a book that I return to time and again: "The Power of a Positive No" by William Ury. The basic premise of the book is to sandwich your no between two yeses. I have been practicing this and it really works(!) for your own integrity and keeping relationships in tact and in balance.
I have bookmarked Pew Research. I think that we definitely cannot work in a vacuum and we need to know what is happening en masse.
I will definitely continue on blogging and I want to practice tagging as part of blogging because I think that is a great "librarian" habit to have!
Finally, being aware of the habits of our patrons is critical. I thought it was so wonderful when Gerri pointed out at the AAC meeting that Infosoup is NOT Netflicks. What an "a-ha" moment for me. And what great self-knowledge for when we are encountering a patron who is also a Netflicks fan. The more we know, the more we can compare & contrast it to what else we know!

Thinking about Mashups

Yes, very interesting. I liked the Chicago one because I am familiar with the neighborhoods. It was interesting to "poke around" and see what is going on. And I liked the Jackie Chan movie one that was mentioned in the comments. It was just fun to goof around with that! I really like all of this because there is so much POTENTIAL--people can use their talents and it seems to me that elitism is being removed more and more. I also am still loving the cooperative spirit. Like our playground. I think it is great that people can share information with each other and make contributions and that we also learn about being respectful of other points of view and other posts, etc. It is cool.
Of course there will be an explosion of experimentation. But that is okay! People will whittle down what actually works for them.
My favorite mash up (so far) is still "Spell with Flickr."
I have been racking my brain since week #10 about a neat mash up application for libraries. I haven't come up with anything solid. But in light of the cool things that Infosoup does for our public and how participatory Infosoup is, I am always trying to think of ways for patrons to have more ownership of their libraries. I was thinking, really big, about the arduous task that the Caldecott and Newbery committees face when choosing winners. I think it would be so wonderful if there was some way, electronically, for children to root for their favorite contenders for those awards. And maybe there is already something like this in place--how would I know? But it just seems to me that this would be a perfect example of sharing the enjoyment of making these decisions with the audience that actually embraces the books. And using the power & rapidity of technology to make it happen!

The past month

Holy Cow! The past month flew. St. Patrick's Day, Spring Break, & Easter came and went. My sister Christina came to retreat at our house. Mark had a gig. It is time to "THINK SPRING"!