Overview of June

I think this past June was the busiest month ever for me.  I had something on my calendar every day.  It was annoying because I had no downtime, something I need otherwise I'm not pleasant to be around.  I had finals, a librarian conference, 2 trips to NYC, more classes, work, interviews, doctor appointments, social outings to make friends, etc all going on.

Some pictures from my second NYC trip:

Lego lion in the New York Public Library

 Grand Central Terminal

Statue in front of 30 Rock

 Guggenheim

In Greenwich

SLA - special libraries association conference

So earlier this week was the special libraries association conference in Philadelphia. While I enjoyed the experience and feel that I learned alot about the various types of special libraries and the people, I found the entire process exhausting. It would start up at 8am and go on throughout the day, ending with happy hours and parties. It's a hard life being in the special library field. However, I do think that I learned alot about the field and successfully networked my bum off and get some good job search tips.

One of the nights, the happy hour was at a bowling alley. I had no idea that there were bowling alleys in the city only because that can be considered a "redneck" thing to do. I was even more surprised to find out that I'm competitive outside of playing games with my family. I found it disheartening to find out that I was the only person that took the game seriously. By that I mean I was the only one that cared whose turn it was and how we were doing. But at the same time, I got to met with people that are in my program that I had not met before, so that was neat.

Overall, I feel that the SLA conference helped me worked on my "small talk" skills with strangers- which might negate everything my mother taught me when I was younger.

Whisky

Well I thought it went down smooth. Yet

Hell thought otherwise

It came back up

Saturating me in liquid

Killing me by smell alone

Yet, I was satisfied.

Today's poem

From a old recent photo:

Four girls.

Same smile.

Each a daughter

a mother

a grandmother

a great-grandmother.

Unable to look directly into the camera

smiles beam

Proud.

Milestones

Disclaimer: I'm on my second drink of the night. I made them myself so they're pretty strong.

The other day I turned 25. I spent the day reflecting on where I am and where I thought I was going to be. To be honest, I'm not at all where I thought I would be. In school to be a librarian in Philadelphia? There are three things wrong with that previous sentence: school, librarian, and Philadelphia.

I figured I'd be in NYC or Seattle or Chicago either doing something within the publishing industry or a neat non-profit or making money off my writing. All longshots but 25 sounded so old I figured they were possible. Sadly, I was wrong on all accounts. I still feel like a teenager but not doing as much stupid shit. Though I have gained a decent amt of weight around my midsection to negate that previous statement.

So I decided my goal of being 25 was to try and write a poem (no matter how awful) every day and to work on speaking in large groups whether formal or informal.

Today's Poem:

Mortality is a funny thing.

Here one day

Gone the next

POOF

Like magic

But without the laugher

(bear with me, they're gonna suck for a long while)

Ovarian Cancer 5k Walk/Run

My family and will be participating in the Ovarian Cancer 5k Walk/Run this coming Saturday, 15 May in Reston. It would mean a lot to me if you could either join the run or donate to show your support.

More information can be found here: http://www.tiny9.com/u/Team_Toto_homepage

Thank you

Broad Street 10 Miler

I ran the Broad St. 10 Miler run yesterday. You literally run 10 miles down one street. Overall, I have to say that it was pretty awesome. Of course I'm prejudiced b/c I PR'ed (set my personal record) in the 10 mile distance. But the crowd cheering the runners on- throughout the entire race, I don't remember a quiet spot at all- was amazing. As was all of the volunteers out there not only handing out water and gatorade (hatorade) cups but the police force blocking the streets as well. Considering how many runners there were- 30,000 I was told, it was organized well. Picking up my packet, from the time I left my car and walked a ramp up 4/5 flights or stairs to the time I was back in my car was 20 minutes. That's pretty awesome. I also think I really enjoyed the race b/c of the ease of transportation. In the past, I've had to wake up an extra hour early just to find parking. I was out of bed 2 hrs before the race and had no issues with transportation- though the ride back was smelly b/c of all of the sweaty runners. This race made me excited for the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon and the full marathon I signed up for- both in Philadelphia in the fall.