TLC 2.0 - Final Thoughts

Friends,

I have decided that in the spirit of Nec Arrogantia Nec Despero that I will try to keep my comments balanced.


Web 2.0 : The web of Joiners

My first comments shall center around the idea that Web 2.0 is all about "joining".

For each of the services everyone must "join" the service.
Eventually, the Web 2.0 person becomes awash in a sea of Username & Password combinations.

I believe that I have forgotten most of the services that I've joined over the past few weeks - and possibly most of the passwords.

Many of us since "middle school" have considered ourselves to be "not the joining type". For the rest -- there is myspace.

It's no wonder that sites such as FaceBook and MySpace are so loved and used by the young. They feel that they are part of a group. Part of the club. Web 2.0 gives a sense of belonging and connection, even if the connection is over hundreds of miles.

The irony is that so many of the We 2.0 social networks are full of the "non-joiners". The people that are not likely to be in High School student government are still likely to have a MySpace page where they have joined the service and are desperately looking for connection with others.

With other Web 2.0 apps you still the need to join. Flicker, Google Docs, etc. I became quite fatigued with creating an endless amount of user profiles. The reason, of course, is about the $.

Why would so many Web 2.0 services offer their online software for free ?
How do they expect to pay for their programmers and computer servers ?
Where is the money ?
It's your user profile. The hope is that advertisers will be able to target products directly to you through all of your User Accounts.

In the end, Web 2.0 is a trade off - I give you information about myself - you let me use your software.

The super savvy Web 2.0 user would be better off creating an entire fictionalized version of themselves for use in Web 2.0 products (they have very little ability to verify your identity). Fortunate for them they count on us lacking the creativity for such a consistent ruse.

Web 2.0 : The web of non-ownership


Akin to the idea of "joining" is that most of the Web 2.0 services do not belong to the users.

For the most part, the Web 2.0 user is using someone else's property. They leave their pictures, documents, blogging thoughts and personal information on someone else's computer. All of this is for "free". The old saying is that you get what you pay for... The Web 2.0 user needs to go forth with full understanding that any of this stuff could be deleted, blocked, or shut down at anytime and everything they built in Web 2.0 will be gone - without a recourse.

The great strength of Web 2.0 is that it is online and easily connects users to each other. We don't need to be great programmers - we don't need our own high powered computers and expensive software. We can login from any Web connected computer and type away. And anyone we want to can see it.

I see a future where there may be a good middle ground of this...
A time when we will have our own inexpensive Web 2.0 software loaded on our own Home based servers. We will have the flexibility and the connectivity of current Web 2.0 services --- and still have full control of the content and software.


Web 2.0 : TLC are we having fun yet ?

The TLC program is a kind of programed Play time. Which, of course, loses some of the sense of spontaneity that makes play so much fun. Deadlines are a necessary evil of any program and for some people made the TLC program less fun than the usual way that folks learn and discover Web 2.0 applications.


I found that many of the people that have the nature to "play with computers" were the ones that kept up with the TLC program. For most others they started with the first one or two challenges and they faded back into their daily work. Some folks, I am sure, learned many things they may not have otherwise stumbled upon.

Overall, it is a worthwhile program to introduce folks to. It certainly did raise awareness.


Web 2.0 : Use for libraries or Used by librarians

Part of the TLC project was to build awareness and find application in the library environment.

Most Web 2.0 apps are not directly library related.

Our Novcat Catalog can be considered Web 2.0 because users can "log-in" and use special features.

Some of our databases such as MD-Consult, EBSCO, PubMed also have these user account features.

Wow these are great Web 2.0 tools.

But, so many of the other "fun" apps and "social networking" apps are geared to the individual user.

So, a Librarian may find a Web 2.0 app useful to do certain things, but it would not be useful to the Library as a whole.

The most useful Web 2.0 feature for libraries is that it raises bar of possibilities.
It opens the conversation and asks us if some of the features of these programs can be used to serve our work and our patrons better.

Sure - most of the Web 2.0 stuff can be considered "Web Toys". But even the child that plays "house" will eventually put those skills to use when they become a parent.


I don't support "band wagon" approaches. I don't support the idea that we need to participate in every Web 2.0 application, social network, etc so we can remain "relevant librarians".

I do support the idea that we should keep up with current ideas and trends online and pick out the useful jewels that can help us do our jobs better.

--- and that's my final thought.

TLC Web 2.0 - Facebook

Time - Time - Time

There just isn't enough time to play with Face Book.

I'm using it right now to keep in touch with the Catholic Campus Ministry Group.

It is neater and cleaner than MySpace. - but it doesn't seem as much "fun"

The Clean small text look of FaceBook makes it very text and reading intensive.

It does make a lot of sense on Campus for a library to have a presence on FaceBook - or at least some of the librarians.

The announcements features are good. Some of the Apps seem like fun.

Most of Web 2.0 stuff is a collection of Web Toys for Folks that like to play. Online.


Overall I like facebook - but I would agree with the DaisyDog blog that I'm starting to get too old for a Social Networking Site like that.

Honestly, I just don't care that much about keeping up with my friends and them keeping up with me.

I'd use FaceBook as an occassional tool - or a complete life consuming toy. There doesn't seem to be any half-way point.


TJP

TLC Web 2.0 Podcasting

This thing to to cover Podcasting.

Besides pictures I have always been interested in Audio downloading from the Internet.

There once were large FTP depositories of sound clips from movies and TV shows. We could download them and assign them to events on our computers.

Eventually, the web downloading became faster and the formats became more compact.
.MP3 hit the scene and Web music was never the same.

Of course most folks knew that this was mostly for sharing songs...
Napster - mp3.com and other services. But the idea of AudioBooks and serialized Audio programing was not unheard of.

Services such as Audible.com began as a subscriptions service where Audiobooks and a Weekly version of various Audio Magazines could be downloaded.

They even offered the free Audible Otis MP3 player when you singed up. -- Yep all the way back in 2001.

--- The world of Podcasting - exploded when the IPOD was released and associated with ITUNES.

The Idea that ITUNES could offer a way for various serialized audio programs to be registered and found... along with the advent of RSS feeds... really made all the difference.

Also - the availability of inexpensive Audio Hardware and Software on the PC desktop - with high speed Internet access made creating Serialized audio programs an easy and fun thing for folks to do.

I live off of the Audio format.

All my fun book reading is AudioBooks.

The original format of Story Telling .... reading is a true bore to me.

Podcasting is gives me just what I like and need --- and it cane be done while Multi Tasking.

-- Although I'll admit I don't like the word - "podcast" - it's a new lingo for an older idea.

OH - well who am I to argure with a living language like English... ?

Many years ago folks with amature radio stations could broadcast their own "pirate radio shows" - Podcasting is more similar 'power to the people' !

TLC 2.0 - You Tube

I have been using You tube or quite a while now.

Music Videos - and Clips for old TV Shows are great...

There is a big question about copyrights on You Tube.

I think that the Legal world will be wrestling with it for many years.

While I don't have any real video equipment at my home PC - and I don't really want any videos on You Tube of my own - I do like the Video Blog Idea.

This kind of Production really levels the playing field between the amateur and the Film and TV studios.

Many younger folks don't care if the quality on the screen is small and fuzzy -- they would rather see the video for free.

Amateurs can build a resume and find finds all over the world without having to go through the TV or Movie business corporate machines.

Watch this video and look at the special effects.



Compared to a You Tube Video of a real Star Wars movie - it looks just as good.
Hurray --- I wish I had YOU Tube when I was a kind making stupid videos with Mom and Dad's Video 8mm and Video Cameras.

Of Course YOU Tube is not the only Video Hosting site... but it is the most well know.
Here is another one that has my favorite video.




I'll let you guess why ??


TJP

Web 2.0 Awards - Real Estate Maps

I've been viewing lots of Real Estate Mapping Web Apps lately.

http://www.realtor.com
is still the King as it has the most complete listings

http://www.floridamoves.com
is a pretty good one too.

Since I am a guy that likes lots of Maps I have been playing with the Google Maps Home buying featture. MY MAPS - Google Real Estate Search

http://maps.google.com

I Found these two sites at the Web 2.0 Awards that work much the same way.

http://www.housingmaps.com/

http://www.zillow.com/


I really like to get the Mapping features at all of these services.

It helps me with my current job hunting.

Thanks to this TLC project I have found a few more resources.

Online Productivity

I has trouble posting from ZOHO to my Blog -

but my thoughts were very positive about the applications.

Well this is my test of ZOHO.



I was also able to setup an account with Google Docs and try out their presentation software.



I would have to try some serious documents to stretch the limits.



They seem to be adaquate for general usage.



I am impressed at how wee developed they are - yet at this point I don't see them replacing Desktop Wordprocessors.



For Temp stuff, and sharing simple Docs online these Web 2.o apps work great.



---

You have two Cows - Distributism

In the tradition of the

"You have Two Cows" series of jokes, and political metaphor.

Others found at
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/You_have_two_cows/17


I Shall submit the one for the missing "ism"

Distributism

You Have Two Cows
You use one Cow's milk for your family's daily needs. 90% of the rest is sold for profit. 10% of the rest is given to the poor.
You use the second cow to slaughter for meat, leather, gelatin, and every useful byproduct for your family's daily needs. 90% of the rest is sold for profit. 10% of the rest is given to the poor.
You use the manure to fertilize your garden.


Need more on Distributism ?
Read the ChesterBelloc Mandate
http://www.distributist.blogspot.com/

TLC Wikis Part 2

I fell a little behind this week - but I think I made up for it.

I played in the NSU LIBs Wiki sandbox.

• I added my favorite book

http://nsulibs.pbwiki.com/Favorite+Books?l=S

• Favorite Restaurant

http://nsulibs.pbwiki.com/Favorite+Restaurants?l=S

• Favorite vacation spot.

http://nsulibs.pbwiki.com/Favorite+Vacation+Spots+?l=S


This was Fun -

TLC Wikis

I believe Wikis are a great development in using the Web for exactly what it was designed for.

The old days of ARPAnet - and the original academic Internet were a time of collaboration.

The true purpose of the Internet.

Wiki's are finally that dream completely realized.

For Libraries the Wiki holds a great possibility for the staff to collaborate and add things to a Website without having to rewrite and FTP a web page.

It is easy web page writing.

The HPD Library has started it's own Wiki for Health Related pathfinders.

Alex & I have been working on it for the past few weeks.

Here you can take a sneak peek

http://aawachsler.pbwiki.com

TJP

Future of Libraries and Web 2.0

Well- I may change my mind in the future - but here is my take on the whole Web 2.0 in Libraries so far......

There seems to be a great deal of hand ringing about our changing profession. There also seems to be a great deal of job protectionism and grasping for a need to be "relevant" to our patrons.

Academics, library school students, and librarians with too much time on their hands seem to have a very ethereal idea of Librarianship. And discuss it as if Librarianship is now and has always been about bibliographic control and access to all information, everywhere, at any time, for everyone.

Yet, in reality Librarianship has always been like any other profession; doing a specific job, with a specific collection, for a specific patron base, during specific hours.

Furthermore, just like any other job - it will change. If I am no longer needed by my University to do technical services - then I will need to go find another job.

It is as simple as that.

If a small city no longer wishes to support a community library - then those librarians need to hit the pavement.

How often do we see Doctors and Lawyers pleading with local governments trying to convince them and all people how important they are ? Not often.

Carburetor manufacturers didn't stand in the streets trying the convince the world they are still important once fuel injectors were introduced. Blacksmiths reduced in numbers and found a small niche in a world without horses as common transportation.

If we need to convince people they need us, then maybe they don't ?

Eventually, some of them will fall into chaos in a glut of information resources and cry for help,
"Won't someone please be an information professional for us !"

And thus the cycle will continue. And we can make them "pay through the nose" for our expertise.

Web 2.0 does not threaten libraries or librarians. Nor do I think Libraries should be involved much with Web 2.0 beyond very practical applications.

Such as:
Using a Blog for Newsletters.
Making funny Patron Signs with Image Generators
Using a Wiki for committee meetings

Many of the other tools of Web 2.0 (Technorati, del.icio.us, etc) could be used as web tools for the individual librarian in their daily work.

Web 2.0 applications could be shown to library patrons as part of computer training classes.
But, this is better for a Community center to tackle. I have never felt that the Library and Librarians are best suited to do "computer training" for the community.

Local Governments should rather set up large computer centers and hire computer trainers and technicians to man them.

There should be a "City Computer Lab" that is _not_ the Local Library. (Although they could be in the same building.)

Leave the Libraries to only have access to "specifically selected" resources. Leave the Librarians to do what they do best - provide access to a collection of materials - take care and preserve a collection materials - provide assistance and training for research and patron selection of materials.

In general, Web 2.0 is not "part of the collection" it is only a set of web tools.



Web 2.0 tools need to be used under the criteria of serving the needs of the librarian's job.

Who is my patron ?
What is my collection ?
What is my job in relation to each of these ?
What tools are at my disposal to do my job better ?

Without a clear understanding of these things it is understandable that there may be much anxiety.


I really like a recently published article that has the most well thought out discussion of this topic. I also believe that the author's recommendations are very appropriate.
In short, he thinks Libraries should stick to what they do best - managing a small and specific collection of Books and a limited collection of "specifically selected resources".

Stop trying to control the web - stop trying to be all things to all people.

Unfortunately, the Library Community may not want to hear it.

Please read:

"The Peloponnesian War and the Future of Reference, Cataloging, and Scholarship in Research Libraries" prepared for AFSCME 2910 by Thoams Mann, June 13, 2007.

http://www.guild2910.org/Peloponnesian%20War%20June%2013%202007.pdf


Now, if you'll excuse me I have a job to do.
I am a Professional Librarian with a collection to care for.

TJP

Technorati

Hey - well this is a useful tool.

It is Blog search of Blogs !

I like it !

I think that this is one of the first "Things" we should have done - even before we created our own Blogs.

It is a middle of the road tool ---

It works much like a Web 1.0 search engine and a Web 2.0 Blog and links to other Blogs.

Wow it's a big universe out there.

Del.icio.us

This weeks Thing is to exploer social bookmarking.

I started my account with Del.icio.us and successfully imported all of my MS-Exploer Bookmarks into it.

http://del.icio.us/tjpaladin

I feel that it will be a bit of a time waster to go through them all and add tags.

The look and feel of Del.icio.us is a bit --- er uhm --- boring.

The idea of having our favorite books marks on the web is a good one.

Tagging them and being able to sort them out is good.

I'm not very thrilled with the Social aspect of the service. I do like the serendipty of finding new and interesting things from those people that are taking the time to do tagging and social interaction.

I'll force myself to use it a bit more.

Rollyo

Today's "Thing" exercise was to create your own

Rollyo "federated" search.

It is not clear about the reference of Rollyo as a "roll your own" tool being related to:
tobacco cigarettes ?
or
spliff, doobie, joint, ace, blunt, or pinhead ?
or
sushi ?

But the idea is a good one.

It wasn't very difficult to set this up at all.

I enjoyed the process of choosing my favorite websites and adding them to a list so that they could be search together.

Adding the widget to my Favorites/Links Bar was an interesting - {but it stops working if I clear my Cookies}

Adding the Widget to my Blog worked very well....
Look to the lower Right corner of my Blog

The Downside:

Unfortunately, the searches start at the "domain" level and can't specify a sub-directory.

This doesn't work well for my intended purposes. Often I find sites of Online Books. Each of them has a sub-directory for a specific Author. -- But the Rollyo search engine can't be directed to only the sub-directory of that author.

The result is that all of the authors end up in the search.

This make the searching less than ideal.

--- Thus making my "G K Chesterton" search into "GKC and Friends"


Also it is a little slow.

Additionally - with only a few specified sites one would miss the serendipity that an engine like Google could help with.

In short - The federated aspect of this product is not comprehensive enough to replace Google - nor is it precise enough to replace Google.

I would much rather use the Cluster by URL feature of Clusty - to distinguish specific websites.

This offers the same multi site searching that Google does - along with a visual Clustering of the Keywords or the Key Websites that the results were found in.

I'll play with Rollyo a little more to see how it goes - but for the long term I'll probably stick with Clusty

With Clusty I Made this Cloud for my Blog

Loading Clusty Cloud ...

Library Thing

Heh - here is my Library Thing entry.

It is an easy way to catalog - but certainly not up to Professional Cataloger standards
-- {he says smuggly}

Fun with Generators !!!

I love the toys at

Generator Blog !

http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

Here are a few images and stuff from image generators ---

Don't forget to play my Bob Dylan Video on the Bottom

http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/

http://www.glassgiant.com/back_to_school/

http://www.glassgiant.com/make_pictures.php

Bob Dylan Video

TLC 2.0 Week 4 1/2 part 3

Hooray !

I did finally get my BLogLines Confirmation the next morning.

I have been checking Bloglines every morning.

I do have to admit that it is very convienent to have so much news together in one place.

Yet - I do feel a bit overwhelmed. And it does suck up a lot of time sifting through the stories.

I think a tool such as Bloglines will force me to change my habits or else I'll spend an entire morning reading web news.

TLC 2.0 Week 4 part 2

Alright it is now

5:30pm

I still haven't seen my confirmation e-mail - or the three that I asked Bloglines to resend....

I looked over a few of the feeds that I subscribed to - They piqued my interest in many ways but tempted me to spend lots of time reading the stories.

It seems to me that RSS feeds are a big temptation to waste my work time reading web news.

Now I don't have to actually look at the links in the
"My Favorites" and do general Web surfing to my favorite news sites ---

I can actually have my favorite News sent to my Bloglines account Enmasse.

Now I can waste my time all in one place.......

I'm not impressed

- Nor do I think another "online account" with some 3rd party webserver is of much use to me.

I think I'll stick to the "My Favorites" buttons on my Web browser.

- I could see that someone who travels much may want to use Bloglines when they are not on their own PC. --- {But then again they probably have a laptop}

I'm goinv to shut down my Bloglines browser - and hope that my account is still there tommorrow.

I've wasted enough time on RSS feeds for the day.

TLC 2.0 Week 4

2:30pm


OK - so I'm spending some time to accomplish my TLC Thing for RSS feeds





Here is a picture of my Bloglines Account.





I'm concerned about being over whelmed with the information.





I intentionally choose to look for my news - only when I am ready to look.





I hope that it really will make my life simpler ... we'll see.





3:30

I've been looking for RSS feeds and subscribing to them.

I've been waiting for my e-mail confirmation for my bloglines acount.

I actually did some of the work I'm paid for for a while.

4:00
I'm still waiting for the confirmation e-mail.

I'm glad I took that screenshot to prove that I registered for Bloglines.

So far - looking for and reading all of these RSS feed has been soking up more than an hour of my time.....

I though TLC 2.0 was only supposed to take 15min a day ??

My new toy !!

It's my

Sony W300 i

Yes I have had this phone since December - But finally this summer I got the 1GB memory card.

Now I have plenty of memory to story Audio and Video Files on board.

I purchased an extra headphone adapter and now I have a -

FM Walkman Radio

Full Color video Player

MP3 player

Headset Telephone

Handheld mapping tool

Web browser

All-In-One.

The Best thing about it is - I worked out only having to pay

$16 set-up fee

$6 headset adapter

$25 1GB memory chip

Yep that's $47 dollars for a New Cell Phone and MP3 player

Now you'll see me around campus will my headphones on.

I listen to stuff while doing chores around the house - when I'm working our at the gym - etc.

You just won't know if I'm talking to friends on the phone, watching a little video, listening to the radio, podcasts or just music.

It's lots of fun. I'm not being rude.

PodCasts from the

• National Library of Medicine


• EWTN


• SQPN - The Secrets of Harry Potter, ... of Lord of the Rings, ... of the Chronicles of Narnia and more


• Scientific American Magazine


• NPR - National Public Radio Podcasts

I only hope that I can learn when to turn it off.

Here's a nice NPR Audio Piece about how this kind of media is melting our minds and possibly our culture.

This Holiday Weekend, Be Your Own Search Engine

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14094452

But, I promise I only listen to educational stuff --- really .....???

TLC 2.0 - Week 3 - Part 2

I forgot to Blog about an image on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/idogcow/317749/

Here is a neat Fauxtograph.

It is a pasting of the faces of characters from one movie -
"Rocky Horror Picture Show"

onto the bodies of the characters from an other movie -
"Star Wars : A new Hope"

It is comic mostly because it is a "bit jarring" to the eyes of us who know both of these movies - perhaps a bit too well.

For those folks that do not know these movies - this pic is very mundane.

With only a moment of consideration the "Fan" can project his mind into a conversation doing a comparison and contrast between these two films.

And have a little fun with a "what if...." scenario.

What if - Brad and Janet were Han and Lia ?

What if Rocky was Luke ? Or Luke Rocky ?

Riff-Raff is monitoring the Death Star - in the Place of Grand Moff Tarkin ... ?

Of Course, Darth Vader would be played by Dr. Frank-n-furter ---

When Darth Vader is confronted by Obi-Wan (obviously played by Dr. {Great} Scott) will he throw off his dark mask, cape and leather outfit to reveal a well assembled collection of lingerie ?

--- Then again is there really much difference between Chewbacca and his substitute cast member of Eddie ( The role made famous by "Meatloaf") ?

Ah yes - and we know know how it will all end - with a rousing rending of the Rebels performing - "Let's do the Timewarp again !"

Yep all this from one picture on Flcker !


heh - I think I'll logoff and "get a life" now.

TLC 2.0 Week 3

Using Flickr and Photo Sharing.

I found flicker to be interesting, to a point.

At some points I felt as if I had stumbled into an old relative's home and was subjected to an endless night of watching the family slides back to 1953.

You start to appreciate those slides as you get older. Especially, the stories that begin to trickle out from them.

Flickr is a bit like that; except that the old family stories don't come out. So all the pix seem to be "out of context".

What did I like best ?

I did make a Librarian Trading Card

With one of the BIG Huge Labs Tools

This was a bit fun for anyone who has played RPG card games.

I could see that many of their tools would be great as customized gifts for friends and family.









What captured my imagination the most ?

I loved the products from





Zazzle











Especially the Photo Postage stamps

WOW what a great way for promotion !

This is fun for Wedding Invitations and Thank You notes.

I made a stamp sample for my Wife and suggested that she use these stamps when her book is published.

And/Or as a method to promote her work.

Overall

I am comfortable and well versed in photo sharing and manipulation around the Internet.
I can already send photos around and assemble slide shows.

I felt no need to set up, yet another, account in Flckr and subject my pix to the rest of the world.

Most of the Mash-up tools also allow for uploading pix from the PC.

I will keep Flckr in mind if I am looking for certain types of images.

------

Yet - I still miss that dusty smell that blows out from the back of the slide projector.

Forgetting my Briefcase

We all have our routines in Life. When the routine is disturbed we feel that sense of anxiety.

For me, it is my Morning routine.

The alarm goes off and I begin a 45 min routine of getting ready for my day at work.

Unfortunately on some days something happens differently. I need to take out the trash. Or I get a phone call, or my wife wakes up and engages me in an unexpected conversation.

Today - I needed to write down some notes to myself for later this week. And my car wouldn't start - so I needed to use that jumper battery my parents gave me for Christmas last year.

Inevitably, this throws off my routine and I will forget something.

Sometimes - it will be a forgotten cell phone, or packing a lunch . . . today I forgot my entire briefcase.

I parked my car in the garage and actually grabbed for a handle that was not there in the passenger seat next to me.

Panic set in for a moment when I realized what had happened.

I was angry, for a moment, at myself for forgetting this most essential tool.
It was followed by complete anxiety !
--- My day planner ! It is lost - how will I know what to do today ?
--- My thumb drive ! What if I need to save an important file and transport it ?
--- That stack of papers ! What if I finally decide to sort through those papers in my briefcase and actually find some use in them.
--- Extra pens !
--- That picture of my family !

Of course, I was eventually able to calm myself down.

I realized that I would be able to sufficiently pass through the day with what I do have with me.

Sure - I might go home at lunch time and retrieve my briefcase - but perhaps it is not as essential as I think it is.

This little drama repeats itself each time the Morning routine is disturbed. Even if it is my cellphone or my lunch bag that has been forgotten.

I often find great comfort in the morning routine. I like to think that I have it all down to a science and that I have planned everything perfectly . . .

What a grand Hubris I have !

Days like today - I decide to laugh at myself.

I shall not let --> hubris + ate = nemesis

Instead I choose --> hubris + clarity = comedy


Perhaps I can also find comfort in that. The self assurance that I may safely continue my day with only the head on my shoulders and the keys in my pockets.


TJ Paladin
________________________

Every man is important if he loses his life; and every man is funny if he loses his hat, and has to run after it.
G. K. Chesterton - Charles Dickens

Happy Blog Day ! - Let us Celebrate the Mundane !

On this "Blog Day" Let's celebrate the mundane.


I shall not participate in "Blog Day" the way that they prescribe - for that is celebrating the unusual.

Blogging began as a way for folks to express their everyday thoughts. the Web Log is akin to an online public diary.

And as we all know diaries are quite mundane.

Many folks are too intimidated to start their own blog because they fear that they have nothing unusual to say - - .

I am among them.

So today let's blog about brushing our teeth and combing our hair.

Let's celebrate fumbling around in our pocket for the right key.

For indeed it is a wonderful thing that our fingers can be thrust into a small dark space and make the distinction between lint, and leather, and then touch a cool piece of metal.
Our fingers know the difference between that flat aluminum key fob, left over from the last time we brought our car to the mechanic, and the rough peaks and valleys of a key.

Our fingers can sense the general size and shape of the key we are searching for.

Yes - let's give praise for our fingers - and for pockets - and for keys.

Especially for the keys since they can open the doors...

______________________________________________

The sun rises every morning. I do not rise every morning; but the variation is due not to my activity, but to my inaction. Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they especially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony . . . .

The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore. . . .

Repetition may go on for millions of years, by mere choice, and at any instant it may stop. Man may stand on the earth generation after generation, and yet each birth be his positively last appearance.

GK Chesterton - Orthodoxy

Learning Challenge 2.0 - 23 Things

I have started this web log - Blog in response to our library initiative.

The Learning Challenge 2.0 -- Setting up your own Blog is the 2nd of 23 things to do.

What's in a Motto ?

My Motto
Nec Arrogantia Nec Despero
Is a loose Latin translation of the phrase "Neither presumption nor Despair"

It is a reference and a Battle Cry :

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G.K. Chesterton wrote

in Autobiography 1936 :

"I began by being what the pessimists called an optimist; I have ended by being what the optimists would very probably call a pessimist. And I have never in fact been either, and I have never really changed at all. . . . For indeed, I never saw the two sides of this single truth stated together anywhere, until I happened to open the Penny Catechism and read the words, "The two sins against Hope are presumption and despair."

and in Orthodoxy 1909 :


" The evil of the pessimist is, then, not that he chastises gods and men, but that he does not love what he chastises--he has not this primary and supernatural loyalty to things. What is the evil of the man commonly called an optimist? Obviously, it is felt that the optimist, wishing to defend the honour of this world, will defend the indefensible. "

" I came to the conclusion that the optimist thought everything good except the pessimist, and that the pessimist thought everything bad, except himself. "
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When I first read these words I realized this is what I too had always felt.

That indeed my battle cry in this life is to Encourage the Virtue of HOPE .

Not that any of us should presume "all is well" in all things
nor
That any of us should despair that "nothing is well" .

Hope includes an aspect that our spirits should have Faith that things will turn out well while simultaneously that our bodies will work for that end.

An old cliche' comes to mind

Work as if what you do matters most. Pray as if it does not.

The First Post

Welcome to the Blog of Hope