Those of you who know my moderately well know that I have issues with being a “librarian”. Maybe this is due to personal insecurities, career identification issues, etc., who knows. However, from time to time, I find a “librarian” who I find to be “cool enough”. One example would be Jessamyn West of librarian.net. She’s cool, she’s fun, she has more than one tattoo and has at least one remaining piercing. Yet, she still is able to be a librarian goddess, whose knowledge in her field makes her “librarian cool” as well.

Of course Michael Stephens is always on my “librarian superstar” list. There are other cool librarians like Meredith Farkas, Aaron Schmidt, John Blyberg, and many more whom I haven’t had much interaction with, and whose blogs I must admit I sometimes just scan like Jenny Levine and Sarah Houghton-Jan.

Well, my newest cool person infatuation is not a librarian, per se, but I have to admit that I have recently been finding myself thinking, “I wish I was cool like Danah Boyd.”  I mean, first of all, it appears that she HAS A LIFE beyond all of this.  Even if she has been caught text messaging at a sleater kinney concert…the fact of the matter is that she went to a sleater kinney concert.  Also, those who know me even a little bit know that I have a more than decade old total err…ummm….  borderline obsession with ani difranco.  I have three pics of her in my office!  My very first sig. file on my very first email account was “There’s a crowd of people harbored in every person.  There are so many roles that we play.”  Danah Boyd likes ani difranco.  Danah Boyd LOVES ani difranco.  She even has one of my favorite ani difranco t-shirts.  I would also kill for a copy of this t-shirt…  five years ago, I would have been ballsy enough to wear it, now…who knows.  So, if I try really hard and become a good little library speaker (I have two proposals submitted!), maybe I can be cool like Danah Boyd too?

Note:  Those of you “cool librarians or library type people/library superstars” out there who have not been one of my gushy, “omg, I want to be like you” infatuations…just give it time, I’ll find you.  Applications are accepted as well.

If this is so, 1,365,337,064 cool points to whomever can identify this pug…

So, I went to the Michigan Library Association Leadership Academy last week.  I must admit I was very skeptical of its value.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  I think I really learned some things, many of which I will NOT mention here, and am not dreading the next two sessions!  Our facilitator, Maureen Sullivan, did an amazing job!  If you ever need a leadership guru, I would highly suggest you find her.
True, the accommodations were not as nice as I expected.  My phone didn’t work, my carpet was stained, the wireless was sketchy at best AND I was greeted by a giant dead spider rolled up in one of my bath towels, but the grounds were pretty and the food was plentiful.

Being one of the most picky eaters in the world, but Tuesday night I was starving and went on a quest for food at 10 pm.  I found myself at a Taco Bell, salivating of the thought of a cold bean taco and soggy nachos.  I swear, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.

The other people were really nice as well.  Two others from MLC attended, and we spoke about how bright and intelligent everyone was.  So, for all of you who have heard Leadership Academy nightmare stories, keep on file that mine was actually quite good! 

I’ve been trying to keep this as a geeky librarian blog.  I often find myself thinking, “oh…I should post about…umm…no…that’s not really library related”. By the time I log in here, I already have enough crap flying through my head, and the last think I want to do is focus on new, innovative library ideas, etc.

That being said, I think I’ve resigned myself to the idea that this is a blog, and I’m going to put whatever I want in here.  Now, that in itself can cause more problems.  There are librarians who subscribe to this blog.  Who knows, there could be future coworkers, or god forbid, employers.  My BOSS subscribes to this blog.  That being said, this can’t be a stream of consciousness rambling blog, but rather, a somewhat reserved, but still freer than before blog.

On Monday, I head of to the MLA (Michigan Library Association) Leadership Academy.  Three others from my organization are attending as well.  I’m not quite sure what to think of this.  I know that it is another line item on my resume, which is a good thing.  I HOPE it will be an experience where I will learn a whole huge bunch of useful stuff.  As to this, we’ll see.

After two programs, two weeks apart, which combined probably caused me to lose at least 15 years of my life.  Luckily, I think the programs went over pretty well.  We had some amazing speakers including Eli Neiburger, John Blybert and our very own Angela Semifero.  Apart from some crashing ice, cancelled flights, lost luggage, a broken wrist, and a technological nightmare, the content of the programs was wonderful, and I believe that the attendees left with more knowledge than that with which they arrived.

To sum it all up, I need a nap.