Grans Got Guns

You've heard it a million times. "You never know who is the person on the other side of the keyboard," or "Don't assume the other person is who they say they are!" Well, World of Warcraft or Call of Duty friends, watch out for a rowdy player that just hit the scene. She is a lean, mean, bun-wearing machine, who seems pretty talented with a gun.

Across the row from me one morning was an elderly woman that took down some people with a virtual gun. My fiance has tried to pass along some basic skills, and this generation x-er was forced to admit that online gaming is hard... which, is why I can confidently say that this grandma rocks. She jumped over generational expectations and is making some college kid work on his sniper shot.

Get it grandma! Just another reason I love my local library- it causes me to re-define cultural expectations.

Hide Your Coffee, Hide Your Tea, Cause' They Are Taking All The Beverages Out Here

My days have had a slight change with an addition of a new serving job, so the people watching continues, just in a different setting. Before my 9-5pm hours at the library ceased, a disturbing thing happened. Someone touched my tea.

Deep in concentration over my cover letter, resume, and applications, I barely noticed a hand grabbing for my perfectly blended ice tea. I did, however, notice when it was lifted from the table. A librarian took my tea. Right off the table. She took it!

Horrified, I looked up at her. I was a mix of angry, hurt, and above all- shocked. "You can't have this." She whispered, although I'm sure I was making a scene with my angry looks. I then tried to persuade her to give it back to me, which as you probably guessed, failed.

My head was spinning at the prospects of loosing my tea, so I mentioned the lack of signage about drinks, questioned if I could even have water (it was clearly tea...), and then finally succumbed to the removal of my tea, but then asked if it could be placed at the front desk of the computer lab. Luckily the librarian agreed, but I have to admit that I've become quite a professional water smuggler since that fateful day. New skills like these often come in handy much much later in life.

So another lesson learned. You can't persuade a librarian to let you have beverages in the computer lab, but you can hide them at the front desk. Another wonderful reason why I love my local library!

Two Degrees of Seperation

I've never succeeded at the "Kevin Bacon" game, or as many people call it- six degrees of separation. Surely my failure stems from the lack of Kevin Bacon knowledge, not from the disbelief that we are all connected through six degrees (I can admit I’m not a Kevin Bacon aficionado since I am from an undisclosed location- no one can find me and make me watch them). Throughout my classes at University, I argued this theory only proves to be true with the footnote of similar social class. However, with the increasing use of Facebook and Twitter, I can now limit that footnote to people with access to a computer or Smartphone. My education taught me that media is making the world a more global place. Well, now media has a new "bestie," social media. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they fight, but they are now reliant on each other.

Yesterday, while forming my blog in the lovely library, I saw a girl watching the same video that I shared. Did I link it to her? No. Did I know her? Nope. In fact, I had never even seen her before. This is the beauty of it. We were connected over something on our screens… dare I say, by two degrees of separation?

The video was created by one organization, Invisible Children, who has focused their efforts on spreading their message not via the news, but from social media. They have successfully turned their latest campaign into a viral video explosion less than a week after it was available to the public. Many naysayers quickly popped out of all kinds of woodwork, arguing that funds weren't being used correctly or that the creaters weren't educated enough on every major news network or newspaper. Reporters and editors were taking their leads from social media, and then trying to spread their articles or newsclips.

Personally, I think we can all take away something a little different from this viral video. For me, the cause is emotional, which people are allowed to support and believe in at their own free will... but it’s the medium and its relationship to the media that that phenomenon. I first watched the video when signing off from my computer location and catching a glimpse of a twitter feed on Tuesday. I shared the video because of the message, but more importantly... because they challenged me to. They asked me to. Hitting a button takes two seconds, and I was happy to do it. To date 57,733,541 people (as of Friday, March 9th at 4:14pm) have viewed the video. The World Bank reported an estimated 6,840,507,003 people live on this earth in 2010, so simple division will give you a percentage of 0.8439% of the world have seen this video. It is safe to assume at least a couple million have shared or even talked about the cause. This video is impacting the world via social media.

Sadly, my photos of the family cat dressed up as Santa have had less than 100 views, but the Kony 2012 phenomenon taught me:
A) The people in the library are not only sharing your personal space, they are far more connected to you that originally conceived.
B) I now respect Facebook and Twitter. They brought someone's passion and voice to the forefront and made the news listen. Well done, well done.
C) We will always have to sift through people's new nail designs or new-twitteries/facebookers typing in all caps, but these lovely social mediums are giving people platforms, that if used correctly, can get your cause on the Nightly News.

Now off to more job applications and a my turn on Words with Friends. Happy librarying!

Community Resources are Awesome!

Each and every day we are graced with a few things that are just plain awesome. I’m well aware that I overuse the word, but public libraries really do embody the word. This blog is in no way, shape, or form designed to disgrace or discredit the public library, but to bring awareness to that awesomeness it beholds.

Just in case you were doubting the fact that public libraries are awesome, I made a list to further persuade you:
A) They are free for daily use! What is free anymore? Air? Water? Depending on where you are reading this from, water isn’t even a resource… it’s a luxury. Put your cash away. Leave those credit cards at home… the only card you need is a library card!
B) They welcome you inside; let you use their free air, free water, free chairs, free books, and free computers. They are your bfflwn- best friend forever that lends you whatever you need. These are few and far between.
C) Everyone is invited! There is no application process, you are just you. They don’t look at me funny for wearing my caution-light-yellow rain boots with whales on them or even question the middle age man that sits across from me and often Googles women’s accessories.
D) They are there to help… and you don’t have to tip! Often helpful people are a perfect fit for service positions, but in the library they will help you find a book or print a document and just smile. How lovely!
E) Books! Whatever you are feeling like that particular day, you can walk down an aisle and experience. Feeling crafty? Head to DYI books! Feeling a little down? Perhaps Dr. Suess? Comics? If that doesn’t work, there are rows and rows of self help adventures. Not that I’ve ever been down that isle while being unemployed and eating discounted Valentines candy….

If I still haven’t managed to convince you, I urge you to read on. I promise to report the many experiences and triumphs I experience as often as I can!