first day of school
Let’s talk about this from the beginning:
As I mentioned in a previous post (probably months ago at this point), I didn’t get into any of the doctorate programs I applied to. After receiving the first rejection from the University of Rochester, I pretty much knew that it was over (side note: It is worth mentioning that not two days after getting the rejection letter, I received a call from UR asking if I would like to donate money to the school. Classy, I know.). Week after week, I received another rejection letter, with nothing more than a “You’re a great candidate, but we’re not taking you.” It was pretty depressing.
So I began casting around for ideas of what to do with myself. Obviously, I had experience as an office drone (first at the law office, now at a real estate marketing office) but nothing else practical. I could make a mean sandwich, I could usually interpret what customers meant when they came up to me at Barnes and Noble and said, “Uh, yeah. I’m looking for a book? It has a blue cover?” but that didn’t really lend itself to a profession.
Then I looked into the University of Buffalo (UB) and their Library Science program (MLIS). It sounded pretty awesome: a program that would prepare me to be a librarian in pretty much any field I could think of, with two years of schooling. I’m cool with that. It would get me thinking again, and it had a definite end-game and a goal. So I applied, and after many panicked emails to professors for recommendations, things getting lost in the mail, and having to physically drive to Fredonia to get my transcripts sent, I was accepted to UB. It was pretty exciting and somewhat scary: I was making a pretty big decision on relatively short notice (I pretty much did everything in about a two week period).
But since the middle of April to now, I have done research and I have looked at message board threads where professionals talk about what the field looks like now and how things are going, and I feel pretty good about it. The funding situations are kind of bleak, but what academic/humanities-based area isn’t having that kind of problem? I found out that my first MA is going to be worth something in this field, as well as the importance of joining organizations. As soon as I have the cash, there is going to be an application and fees in the mail to the New York Librarian Association (NYLA) and to the American Librarian Association (ALA).
I just started classes this past week. In all of the time I spent at UR, working my ass off in those classes, I didn’t get as much out of it as I have this week in two sessions. This is where I am supposed to be. The value placed on information, the questions being asked about documents, documentation, preservation, worth, and aesthetics has made my head spin in an extremely pleasant way. I have been thinking about all of it for the past week, when I received my first syllabus and started researching library organizations (something for my first assignment). I am so thoroughly in love with this field already and everything I find out about it makes me more and more interested: the expanse of information, the collection of everything and anything… it makes my hoarder heart flutter. I’m sure that there will be a number of things to come along and break this impression I have, but I’m enjoying the puppy-love phase of my relationship to it as long as possible.
I think part of the reason I’m enjoying it so much is that it took my by surprise. I went into this with a very utilitarian mind-set: I would get the degree, then I would go out and get a job. But there is a lot more to it than that. Without an interest, a true interest in the field, there is no way someone could just get along. There is a lot of crap to be dealt with and there are a lot of bumps in the road that mostly are out of the hands of the librarians and are on the desks of fiscal managers and bureaucrats. But there are an immense number of amazing things that go with it.
I am taking the basic intro to Library Science class as well as the information and technology class. The tech class is pretty concrete and basic as far as information dealing with digital info, websites and databases, but the teacher is funny and is really knowledgeable. The other intro class so far is amazing: the discussions we’ve had and the things we’ve read have been amazing. There is so much significance being placed on truly defining what we, as librarians, will be doing and where our values lie. The five things laid out by Raganathan really sum it up:
1. Books are for use.
2. Every book its reader.
3. Every reader his book.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.
As always, I am going to say the weary phrase “I am going to try and keep up with this more often.” But now, with classes, I just think I might. I’ll have more to talk about.
And to cap it off, here’s an awesome video our teacher showed us in the intro class:
for the love of radio
Over the last eight months or so, I have made it a habit to listen to podcasts while I work. Whether I was printing something or working mindlessly on the computer, I would plug myself into these stories that were being told on the radio. Granted, I wasn’t listening to anything live, as most of these programs aren’t available locally, but in essence, I was tapping into a nearly-extinct way to communicate.
All of these months, all of these stories that I have heard now… the hours upon hours of information I have been able to consume while my hands were busy with something else have shown me how valuable the old ways of telling stories are. Before anything else, before writing, even, people listened to stories. Poets memorized whole epic poems, reciting The Iliad before an audience. An entire work, with thousands and thousands of verses, recited night after night. That was their job.
It is amazing to think about this now. The only way for people to understand a story was to listen to it. There was no other way. And now, having experienced this, I am realizing the value in it. Listening forces one to hold on to multiple lines of thought, giving no convenient way to look back. Without the visuals, one is allowed to visualize what they want and forces one to really think for themselves.
Some of the programs are really informative. RadioLab, with Jad Abamunrad and Robert Krulwich, deals with science issues in a social way. They interview people who are involved with the issues they’re covering, as well as weave a story with natural progression throughout the episode. I have learned about diseases, peoples, places and scientific concepts I never knew existed before. Another information-based program is Stuff You Should Know. They take a topic and explain it in plain language in around 40 minutes. From the Black Plague to Munchausen Syndrom, Art Theft to the Mob, these guys cover anything and everything they’re curious about.
My particular favorite programs to listen to are the storytelling shows. Here are a few:
The Moth: This is a long-running live program that has the audience place their names into a hat to tell ‘stories without notes’ to an audience. The winner of a weekly show is chosen to be broadcast on the podcast. Sometimes they’re hilarious, sometimes I cry. But all are brilliantly told and are stories I can’t forget.
Risk!: Take The Moth, make it a themed hour-long episode with multiple stories and crank the rating up to NC-17 and you have Risk!. This show is hosted by Kevin Allison, a member of The State, a sketch comedy group out of New York City. From the looks of the first episode, it seemed like it was just an idea among friends to ‘tell stories you never thought you’d dare to share.’ Most of the stories are laden with swearing, sex and drugs, but they’re brilliantly told and the music is well-chosen. It feels like you’re sitting around with friends, trying to one-up one another with a funnier, weirder story.
Snap Judgment: ‘It’s that left, that right, jump! Or don’t… Storytelling with a beat.’ This is a newer NPR show hosted by the smooth-voiced Glynn Washington. These stories deal with a moment’s decision that changed the course of the person’s life, whether briefly or forever. They’re remixed with beats in the background, sound effects and commentary from the hosts. The stories, while not fall-over hilarious or soul-crushing sad, are completely engaging. They’re fantastic adventures that you can barely believe are real. Some of them have supernatural elements to them, those strange occurrences you can’t explain.
Standing boldly between storytelling and research-based is the long-running This American Life. Ira Glass presents two to 20 acts, with stories and documentaries researching specific subjects. There is a reason this show has been on WBEZ since 1995. It is thorough, indelicate and informative in the way it goes about looking for answers to specific questions. One of the first episodes was about gay men in straight marriages who cheat on their wives and never tell their children. Glass thew hard questions at the gentleman he was questioning and didn’t let him off the hook. It is a brilliant show that, while being an older show, doesn’t sell out for being popular.
I feel like these shows have helped me to continue learning while I am still out of school. I am able to listen for a long period of time without interruption and comprehend all of what was told to me as well as make connections in a way that I had some difficulty with before. I would often drift off and stop listening at certain points during lectures or conversations and I feel like it’s become easier to stay present.
a reminder of how it was
I know I stopped posting a long time ago, but this is important.
But first, a small review: I did not get into Binghamton, my trip did not happen. But I retook the GREs and currently have applications out to Notre Dame, Tufts, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany. I want to get into Notre Dame and I will not find out until the end of next month.
And now, the important part:
I just found my old iPod from college. It was one of the original little clip-on shuffles. It looks like this:
It was only 1g of music, not even completely full. I plugged it into my computer and didn’t let the computer completely clear it. I opened it and paused for a moment. Something I don’t often think about is that this laptop that I’m using right now is not the computer I used while I was at Fredonia. While I have been able to save all of my information, the number of times I played a particular song was not saved.
It was always something I looked at with great interest. I could see the trends my listening was following by looking at this count. Existentialism on Prom Night by Straylight Run always had the most plays, with Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol came in a pretty distant second. I know why: Existentialism always help a special meaning to me from my freshman year of college and Set became an obsession for some reason my junior year.
Unfortunately, with the new computer, I don’t have record of this. I only have new counts, new obsessions recorded. The most played song on my iTunes right now is April and May by David Fridlund with 82. Existentialism only has 40. Set only has 19. I have lost that record of my favorite songs from that time in my life because I switched computers. I didn’t think it would make me as sad as I am now, but there it is. Who knew?
But this little ipod… there is still a record of plays on it. It’s like looking at a photograph or painting. It’s a small piece of my history on a piece of technology. I know this all sounds so post-modern, but I guess that’s just where I am now. I look through it and I see that Existentialism was played 121 times. Set has 107. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service has 101. I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie has 90.
This is a look into who I was and what I loved. It was what I listened to walking between classes, working out in the gym, writing in the library… it was always with me. Music has been and always be essential to me and how I remember. It is a way to interact. I remember listening to Lux Aterna by the Kronos Quartet (21 plays) on repeat one night after a frustrating evening with my thesis. I remember blinding light on the snow as I walked across campus in time with the down beat in The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service (88 plays) which actually made me think of a different evening in Fredonia my freshman year that had me and three friends walking all over Fredonia proper. I remember bouncing my head along to Supermassive Black Hole by Muse (61 plays) and imagining the people around me dancing along. I remember finishing my thesis while listening to I Found A Reason by Cat Powers (65 plays) at 3am.
I don’t think I will erase this ipod. It would be like burning a journal. There is so much that I can remember from simple song counts on a four-year-old ipod.
