Snowfall in Ohio March 9, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Generalities.Tags: Snow, weather
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It started out to be a normal March day. The sky was overcast, the ground was bare, and the streets were dry. About an hour after I got to work, the skies opened up and started dumping this white stuff all over the place. I think it was that old Groundhog’s fault – “Six more weeks of winter,” he warned back in Punxutawney. And sure enough, he was right.
For two straight days, the snow continued to fall and our small city was brought to its knees with not a car to be seen on the streets.
But, being from Western New York, we were used to it and in a strange way a bit homesick.
Cheat Sheets Galore! February 28, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Web Design.add a comment
While I was reading through my American Libraries Online today, one of the posts caught my eye. It was The Cheat Sheet Cheat Sheet: Top 100 Lists of Web Development Cheat Sheets.
Always looking for a shortcut, I decided to give it a look. WOW! I’m definitely going to have to spend some time looking through all these great links. In fact, I found a couple that I plan to share with my beginner’s web design class when they meet for their final session tomorrow.
CSS Design Links February 14, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Web Design.Tags: CSS, design links
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http://meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/popups/demo.html – How to create pop-up rollovers
Open-Schmopen February 11, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Librarianship.add a comment
There’s been a lot of talk lately on the OPLINTech list regarding OpenSource (OpenOffice) vs. Microsoft (Office 200x). Should we all abandon Microsoft and only offer the “free” OpenOffice to our staff and patrons? Are we doing our patrons a disservice by not offering the industry standard? Are there enough similarities between MS and OO to make it easy to learn one and then transfer those skills to the other?
PC Magazine recently had an article on “The Best Office Alternatives” which outlined many of these concepts. Statistical facts from the print version of the article (Nov. 26, 2007) were missing from the online version, unfortunately. If I remember correctly, the percentage of computer users without an office suite on their computers is up from several years ago while the percentage of users using Microsoft Office has decreased.
Is this because MS Office is too expensive? Too many features for the average user so they are relying on built-in programs like WordPad? And what of training issues? Whatever the case, we need to consider OUR users when we decide on the programs and services we offer.
Groundhog Day 2008 February 2, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Generalities.Tags: Groundhog Day
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Ever since we met, my husband has always wanted to go to Punxsutawney to see the groundhog. Then Bill Murray came out with the movie in 1992 and it became one of our favorites. Today, the dream finally came true and at 3 A.M. (yes, 3!) the alarm went off and we made our way into Punxsutawney to see what all the fuss was about.
After driving around town we finally found a spot to park on the street not too far from a shuttle bus stop. The line moved quickly as bus after bus filled and left for Gobbler’s Knob.
The Knob had opened at 3 a.m. for the festivities. By the time we finally made it there at 5:45 a.m. the field was filled with people. DJs, live radio broadcasts, and yes, Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” were playing over the airwaves.
Even with all our layers of clothing, heavy socks, and boots we were still pretty cold. The temperature was about 28. The crowd, estimated at about 20,000, helped to block the wind. The line for coffee and hot chocolate was about 15 minutes long but was well worth it just to get something warm in us.
At 6:30, the pre-dawn skies lit up with fireworks. Around 7:30 it was time for the Inner Circle to make their way to the stage with Phil for the moment we were all awaiting. But, with that many people in the crowd, it was impossible to see the prognostication. However, we could still hear – he saw his shadow – six more weeks of winter.
And with that, the crowd dispersed quickly and we were able to get close enough for a couple good shots. It’s amazing how much Phil’s handler looks like Bill Murray. Coincidence?
We made our way back into town on foot (about a mile and a half and all downhill!) with the rest of the crowd and finally got some blood flowing to get us warmed up. We took in the breakfast buffet at the Eagles and a couple other events before hitting the road.
It was a fun experience and definitely worth it but not one we expect to fulfill again – or will we? (cue the Sonny and Cher music …)
eBay, iPods and Blogging for Beginners January 27, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Librarianship.add a comment
Yesterday, we hosted a day of eBay training for beginners. We had never offered anything like this before, and brought in a certified eBay trainer to lead the sessions. We had a large turnout, which alerted me that we had found a definite interest in the community.
Tomorrow, we are offering a program on the basics of iPods, iTunes and music on the Internet. Interest has been high for this program (offered by my husband and for the Mu Phi Epsilon Alliance Alumni Chapter) so hopefully we’ll get a good turnout for this program as well.
I’ve also been working on a hands-on program for Thursday on Blogging for Beginners. I found a good tutorial at Mahalo that will work well with the group. It’s the first time I’ll be teaching a class like this and I’m not familiar with Blogger, so it should be interesting to say the least!
Here’s to surviving the week 
Back to School! January 23, 2008
Posted by flutebrarian in Web Design.Tags: classes, CSS, HTML
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Recently I joined IWA (International Webmasters Association) to take advantage of the discounted cost of the offerings of eClasses.org. The class I chose is CSS 2.1 in Depth and it began on Monday.
After seeing the syllabus for the 8 week class, I see I have my work cut out for me! While I’ve been able to use CSS pretty successfully over the past few years, I’m not exactly an expert at all the intricacies nor am I comfortable with all the theory behind what makes it all work.
So, it’s back to school and time to brush up on all those details that I’ve skimmed over in the past.
Not Your Typical Christmas Concert December 16, 2007
Posted by flutebrarian in Music Performances.Tags: Christmas concerts, concerts, orchestra
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Playing a Christmas/Holiday concert with the Tuscarawas Philharmonic is never a dull thing. I’ve played many Christmas concerts over the life of my community band and orchestra career and many a painful Christmas sing-along after the long ordeal of Nutcracker Suites/Leroy Anderson medleys/Messiah excerpts leaves one’s chops sore and tired.
But not so with an Eric Benjamin concert. Sure, there are plenty of familiar Christmas tunes to put one in the mood for the season, but Eric interweaves them with intricate counter-melodies and lots and lots of notes and noodles. Let’s just say one does not expect to sight read the concert!
This year’s concert included what seemed to be a smaller children’s chorus than usual, although the sound and enthusiasm from the kids seemed much more lively than normal. One of my favorites was brought out from the vault (kind of like the Disney animated movies) this year, “Here in My House,” a delightful partner song to unite Christmas and Hanukkah traditions.
Our workout for this year was a new work called “Music for a December Day.” This turned out to be quite a workout and one that I definitely will need to brush up on my scales up to high C# and D to be able to play next year. Ah, but the effect was there at least. Thank goodness for doubling with the piccolo!
But wait! There’s more…
Not only were we joined by the kids’ chorus, but Divine Hope, a gospel group from Akron, Ohio performed a set of holiday numbers with us as well. The rhythms and accidentals are tricky with these arrangements since they are transcribed from aural recordings before they are orchestrated. But we let the music happen and with only a couple of glitches, the performance was met with wild enthusiasm from both audience and orchestra.
A Musical Christmas Carol December 9, 2007
Posted by flutebrarian in Music Performances.add a comment
We’ve all seen the traditional performance of the play A Christmas Carol – bad English accents, tired acting, and ragtag costumes used year after year. This was not so with Carnation City Players staging of the musical version with music by Alan Menken.
I had the privilege of playing in the pit ensemble – an ensemble, mind you, not an orchestra. You see, even if we wanted to, we could only fit about 7 people maximum in the small pit space off to the side of the large stage. Another reason for the small group of musicians – there are no mics used on the cast. Our group this time included piano, flute, viola, electric bass, and percussion – and all with no conductor. That alone is quite a challenge in live theatre!
After the initial run-through to get tempos and cuts, the race was on to figure out all the vocal cues to know when to play. Head bobs from the pianist cued us in – well, most of the time – and we were off to the races. The piccolo was too aggressive, so we stuck with just the flute. And if it weren’t for sticky notes, I never would have found my way through all the cuts.
So, the performance is over and I have my evenings back, more or less. So, Civil War, the Musical anyone?
Digging My Roots November 19, 2007
Posted by flutebrarian in Genealogy, Librarianship.add a comment
For the past few days, I have been in Salt Lake City, Utah. The view from the hotel is beautiful with the sun coming up over the somewhat snow-covered mountains to the east. Even though it is almost Thanksgiving, the temperatures beg for a lightweight jacket or sweater – not the earmuffs, gloves, and winter coat that I brought with me! But I’m not complaining.
And of course, what does someone with family research on their mind do in SLC? That’s right – spend hours in the Family History Library.
This magnificent facility was crawling with people. I could tell I was headed in the right direction as I got off the train at Temple Square – I simply followed the little old ladies dragging their small suitcases full of their genealogical research!
Once inside, there were volunteers and professional genealogists throughout the 5-floor facility to help with every aspect of your search from starting from scratch to finding the right index, to locating the microfilm or book needed to printing out your results. There were no lines to access a computer or a film reader and the printing software worked like a charm. I’m just glad I don’t have to maintain that many computers at my library.
My main goal was to get John/Johann/Johannes/Jean ROLL onto a boat and off of it in America. I *think* I’ve done that. I had previously narrowed the arrival down to the 1830s. “Ooh, not a good time period for finding results,” one of the staff members mentioned. But with a couple of indexes to peruse, I located a family of 12 bound for New York City from Le Havre, France on the ship France. They arrived on 9 July 1832. Looks promising, but we are still cross referencing and checking to verify this is the correct family unit.
