I may have mentioned that I work at a bookstore which is where I spent the day yet again. Well, in this profession (for now), it is difficult to make it through the day without compiling a list of potential books to read. Most of the time, the day moves by too quickly to allow for time to read book flaps or back covers, so I’m left wondering if the interesting cover or title that I saw will actually make for an excellent read. Is it worth my time basically?
So I took my list to Google Books and searched for each title, mostly looking for the user reviews. My first two picks “Drinking, Smoking and Screwing” edited by Sara Nickles and “Twenty Grand” by Rebecca Curtis sound like definite must-reads. One reviewer said “Twenty grand is disturbing and innovative.” Honestly, that’s exactly what I’m looking to read right now. My list also includes:
“Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex” by David Henry Sterry,
“Love Is a Four-Letter Word” by Michael Taeckens, and
“Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia” by Marya Hornbacher.
Using Shelfari.com, I also checked in to see what some of my friends are reading. My former roommate recommended the “The Secret Life of Plants” and the Ringing Cedars series by Vladimir Megre. Looking at the descriptions of these, I also saw another book that I thought might be interesting: “Cheap: the high cost of discount culture.” Finally, the New York Times book update that is emailed to me every Friday reviewed a book called “The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris” which sounds all kinds of right-up-my-alley reading wise, along with “The Girl with Glass Feet.”
Check out http://www.shelfari.com/yamagirl8705 to see my reading list
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
A Bit of Kennywood History in Photos
Having been without electricity for the past 30 hours, I have a rekindled thankfulness for the electric light but also a stronger annoyance for the fact that my entire livelihood depends on electricity. No email, no access to Blackboard, it was a right splendid time knowing I had a deadline approaching, then passing, and being stuck in a county that probably won't see power fully restored until Saturday.
I do feel lucky that I'm back online sooner than I had anticipated.
This deviation aside and back to the topic at hand-- I was overwhelmed by what I found on the Print and Photograph Online catalog. I didn't necessarily find an overwhelming amount of images pertaining to the place I'd chosen, but the catalog in general is huge--rich in content and subjects, hard to search.
At first, I browsed the subjects, clicking on random letters, choosing a subject, and mindlessly glancing through the images it returned. I enjoyed navigating like this with no real objective. I found images that were old and intriguing. I wished to myself that I could continue browsing for hours and choose random photo for the assignment. Alas, I needed to get down to the searching because the power outage had put me behind far enough.
For this assignment, I stuck with the Pittsurgh theme, again searching for "Pittsburgh" initially and receiving 2161 results. Too many, so I returned to the subject that I'd been browsing. From the "P" list, I chose "Pennsylvania--Allegheny--Pittsburgh" which narrowed my results to 140, a manageable size. Frustration arose when I noticed that none of the entries were appearing with thumbnails that one can see from the results list. Choosing a random one since I had no idea what it was, I learned that it had several images attached to it--sketches and black and white photos. Anyone of these photos could have been utilized as a thumbnail image to make the search process a little more user friendly. My search would happen much faster if I could browse the thumbnail results without needing to open a record to see images. I played the game of opening records, then clicking through photos, then backing my way to the original results page countless times without finding anything that really struck me as perfect.
From here, I changed my thinking on Pittsburgh and decided to search for a specific place: Kennywood. I have lots of fond memories of Kennywood, so I searched. The Library of Congress provided me with three results, all black and white pictures of locations at "Kennywood Park, near Pittsburg, Pa." I was actually very grateful to see these images from "back in the day" when Pittsburgh lacked its "h" ending. I was pleased to see the casino, the lake and wonderland. It would be interesting to contrast those images with pictures from Kennywood today. It's not at all the same thing.
I do feel lucky that I'm back online sooner than I had anticipated.
This deviation aside and back to the topic at hand-- I was overwhelmed by what I found on the Print and Photograph Online catalog. I didn't necessarily find an overwhelming amount of images pertaining to the place I'd chosen, but the catalog in general is huge--rich in content and subjects, hard to search.
At first, I browsed the subjects, clicking on random letters, choosing a subject, and mindlessly glancing through the images it returned. I enjoyed navigating like this with no real objective. I found images that were old and intriguing. I wished to myself that I could continue browsing for hours and choose random photo for the assignment. Alas, I needed to get down to the searching because the power outage had put me behind far enough.
For this assignment, I stuck with the Pittsurgh theme, again searching for "Pittsburgh" initially and receiving 2161 results. Too many, so I returned to the subject that I'd been browsing. From the "P" list, I chose "Pennsylvania--Allegheny--Pittsburgh" which narrowed my results to 140, a manageable size. Frustration arose when I noticed that none of the entries were appearing with thumbnails that one can see from the results list. Choosing a random one since I had no idea what it was, I learned that it had several images attached to it--sketches and black and white photos. Anyone of these photos could have been utilized as a thumbnail image to make the search process a little more user friendly. My search would happen much faster if I could browse the thumbnail results without needing to open a record to see images. I played the game of opening records, then clicking through photos, then backing my way to the original results page countless times without finding anything that really struck me as perfect.
From here, I changed my thinking on Pittsburgh and decided to search for a specific place: Kennywood. I have lots of fond memories of Kennywood, so I searched. The Library of Congress provided me with three results, all black and white pictures of locations at "Kennywood Park, near Pittsburg, Pa." I was actually very grateful to see these images from "back in the day" when Pittsburgh lacked its "h" ending. I was pleased to see the casino, the lake and wonderland. It would be interesting to contrast those images with pictures from Kennywood today. It's not at all the same thing.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Flickr or not
I've held off on writing this blog mostly because I work 55 hours every week to make this grad school thing possible, and I literally have been choosing between sleep and homework. I have also hesitated because, Sunday night when I created my Flickr gallery, I was hardcore hating on it.
I never used Flickr or Delicious before this class, and I doubt that I will when this class is over. When I began my first interaction with Flickr, I felt out of place. I do not have an overwhelming passion for photography, nor do I like to share my life and passions with the world. As I stared at the screen thinking how much I dislike it, I knew I had to pick something I like to create a gallery. I love the city. I've been away for 2 years, and I'm homesick for it despite the fact that it is not my "real" home. I wanted to find pictures of Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh places that meant something to me, so I started by simply searching "Pittsburgh". My vagueness was rewarded with pages upon pages of pictures which I browsed leisurely. Finding a couple photos that I thought were aesthetically pleasing, I ran a new search looking for the "University of Pittsburgh". Yes, I am a Pitt alumna.
With this search, I again had several pages to browse. I was pleased that each of my searches seemed to return only items that were relevant while providing enough content that I could browse to find exactly which pictures I wanted to add to a gallery. In addition, Flickr was very easy to use which is one of the reasons it’s popular, I’m sure. However, I think avid photographers probably get the most value from this site because it offers a forum for critiques, community and conversation. I, as a non-photographer, am not looking for these things, so I fear that my Flickr account activity will be short lived. I did find some cool pictures though. :-)
I never used Flickr or Delicious before this class, and I doubt that I will when this class is over. When I began my first interaction with Flickr, I felt out of place. I do not have an overwhelming passion for photography, nor do I like to share my life and passions with the world. As I stared at the screen thinking how much I dislike it, I knew I had to pick something I like to create a gallery. I love the city. I've been away for 2 years, and I'm homesick for it despite the fact that it is not my "real" home. I wanted to find pictures of Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh places that meant something to me, so I started by simply searching "Pittsburgh". My vagueness was rewarded with pages upon pages of pictures which I browsed leisurely. Finding a couple photos that I thought were aesthetically pleasing, I ran a new search looking for the "University of Pittsburgh". Yes, I am a Pitt alumna.
With this search, I again had several pages to browse. I was pleased that each of my searches seemed to return only items that were relevant while providing enough content that I could browse to find exactly which pictures I wanted to add to a gallery. In addition, Flickr was very easy to use which is one of the reasons it’s popular, I’m sure. However, I think avid photographers probably get the most value from this site because it offers a forum for critiques, community and conversation. I, as a non-photographer, am not looking for these things, so I fear that my Flickr account activity will be short lived. I did find some cool pictures though. :-)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
So It Begins. Countdown.
An ex-boyfriend used to call me dollface. (So it begins.)
I'm not really a fan of talking about myself (which is probably why I've never had a blog before), yet here I am. My hand wasn't forced though, I promise. I've always thought about blogging. Never done it. Not sure what I'd write. I got my push into this blog world from a library science course, my first one. I intend to spend the next year becoming a master (at least that's what they'll put on my diploma). I'll be a master of the library, a master of the information. Perhaps, both.
Let's see where this goes.
I'm not really a fan of talking about myself (which is probably why I've never had a blog before), yet here I am. My hand wasn't forced though, I promise. I've always thought about blogging. Never done it. Not sure what I'd write. I got my push into this blog world from a library science course, my first one. I intend to spend the next year becoming a master (at least that's what they'll put on my diploma). I'll be a master of the library, a master of the information. Perhaps, both.
Let's see where this goes.
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