My Favourite Nonsense Blogs

Looking for something fun to subscribe to once you've learned how to do the whole RSS feed thing? Well, I've got a few for you!

These are purely frivolous, silly bits of fun that I really enjoy each day, and I've got some examples here for you to go with them.

The first one is LOLCats or I Can Has Cheeseburger.

This picture is for Kerri B:




Then it's poochie counterpart I Has a Hotdog :



And then there is FAIL (a blog of when people get things terribly wrong!)



Cake Wrecks is fabulous fun too. It's subheading is "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong."



That should give you all something to giggle over, and to bulk up your RSS feeds.

Now Break it Up Fellas, Break it Up...

Notice it's always the chicks that step in to break it up huh?

Reasons Why Cats Amuse Me, Vol 1

1. Because they put their heads in things and wander around looking silly...

Go Away Summer

It's hot today. I'm not happy about that.

You see, I am a creature of the cold. I LOVE the cold. I'm happiest when my nose and fingers are nippy, the wind is blowing and I'm having to keep moving to keep warm.

This time last year, I was in the US. Lapping up the tail end of their autumn, in Wisconsin to be exact, where it was cold and windy. The lakes were starting to freeze, bits of snow were falling, sleet was around most days and one had to really rug up to go outside. It was delicious.

If I had my way, I'd be over there in the US and Canada for six months of every year. I'd head over about late October (ready for Halloween) and come back at Easter. That way I could enjoy Brisbane's gorgeous crystal clear and cool winter, but avoid the sticky, humid, breath-stealing summer. I'd have a white Christmas every year (oh boy that was fun last year, I was in Michigan) and be back here to enjoy jacaranda season. I'd get to see all my lovely friends over there, but still come home to those that are here in BrisVegas.

I'm trying to keep myself cool by remembering the delicious cold over in the US. Tramping around the streets of New York City, with my purple gloves on, watching the squirrels scamper through Union Square. Walking across a frozen river on a covered bridge in Frankenmuth, Michigan, all rugged up with gloves, scarf, woolly hat and my nose turning red in the cold. Stamping in snow in Chigago, making snowmen and hitting my friend Melissa on the butt with a big snowball.

This is the picture I have on my desktop wallpaper here at home at the moment:



Yes, those are my feet, in Chicago snow.

Two Hundred and Fifty Four!!

I just looked at my blog subscriptions in Bloglines, and I've subscribed to 254 blogs, and that number climbs every day.

Of course, well over 75% of those are library staff blogs. If you're registered in 23 Things with your blog, I'll have subscribed to you, or will soon. Just so you know you've got one reader out there, someone holding your hand so to speak! When I can, I will leave comments on your posts too.

People kind of look horrified at me when I say I read everyone's blogs, like that's all I must do all day. But using Bloglines (or any other RSS tool), I find I can usually spend less than an hour per day catching up on everyone's blogs. That's because of course, not everyone posts every day, so there's only a certain percentage of new material to look at, and also, when people post pictures or videos, they're really quick to peruse. I've got it all down to a bit of a fine art now - I've had to or I'd go bonkers. But tools like Bloglines, or Google Reader using the RSS feed technology has enabled that. It all kind of intertwines eventually.

I've absolutely loved reading my colleagues blogs. So many people tell me their blog is boring, or that they don't know what to say, but I've discovered so much about people. I've discovered that we're full of artists and musicians, folks who've travelled, people with adorable pets, fascinating hobbies, great memories, interesting tastes and often just new perspectives on things. It's been a really steep learning curve on just how diverse and full of knowledge and skill and talent we all are.

Plus it all helps me do what I do... which is help you, my colleagues. That's what I'm passionate about in this whole 23 Things - not the technology itself (though some of it is lots of fun and really cool), but in helping you guys all learn what is happening in our library services and the big wide world, and helping you all find ways that you can streamline your work so that the day is just that little bit smoother. I figure if you save 10 minutes per day, that's time to have a cuppa that you might not have had before, isn't it?

And after the cruddy day I had yesterday, today I had two people who said the NICEST things to me. It really makes a difference when someone just says "Thanks", it makes the times you feel a bit run off your feet or tired or whatever really worth it. So to those people who have made a point of thanking me or complimenting me... I thank YOU. It's the positive, upbeat folks who really give me the warm fuzzies while I'm working on this project.

Had a Real Rough Day...

I've had a rough day today. Had my bum kicked, had someone be really rude to me, worked like a dog only to feel like it was for nothing, and I'm tired and grumpy.

How do you deal with a really rough day? What do you do to make it better?

I have a few things. I usually start by going for a walk with my iPod on, and listening to "Rough Day" by Paulini Curuenavuli. I can't find a decent version of it on YouTube, so I can't share it unfortunately. But it's upbeat and fun, and it's about someone who has had a rough day and they just want to get out and have fun to forget their day.

Then I like to put on some Mythbusters and watch them blow something up. My favourite Mythbusters explosion is when they vapourise a cement truck. Check it out:



Lovely, isn't it? Go on, watch it again. You know you want to. Better still, have some chocolate while you watch it again. Chocolate and explosions... I can't think of anything better!

Hmmm, I feel better already! Of course, while I have been getting that video for you all, I've watched about a dozen other Mythbusters explosions on YouTube. Go on, have a search, you'll have fun!

Multiply Your Intelligence

I've needed a wee break from blogging for the past week, things have been kind of intense with me dealing with a close friend who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, and I've needed some time to process that before I got talking about other stuff. As you may have been able to see from my last blog post, my tolerance level had dropped considerably!

But I'm back ready to blog!

I've found a wonderful subject to talk about today. Mythbusters! Ok, it's not directly Mythbusters, but the lads have cropped up with regards to the internet and Web2.0, that I think is VERY relevant to our whole 23 Things journey.

Being the solid Mythbusters fan that I am, I have Google alerts (where you get an email that tells you if there are any new pages/blogs about whatever subject you choose) on them. One of the alerts pointed me to this WONDERFUL interview with Patti Schiendelman from Makezine online magazine of Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from Mythbusters fame.

It's such a comprehensive interview it's split into two parts, if you'd like to read all of it go to:

Make with Mythbusters: Part 1
Make with Mythbusters: Part 2

The part that particularly stood out for me as relevant to our 23 Things journey was this quote from Jamie:

JH: Well, the strange thing is that I'm finding it just as entertaining to read non-fiction. In particular, the thing that I've realized, especially recently - people talk about the impact of the Internet, and I'm sure different people use it, obviously, differently, but for me, it's just absolutely fantastic because I have no end of questions and I can answer those questions almost instantly. Obviously a lot of it's crap that you're going to run across; if you learn how to filter it, you're better off. I was halfway through my master's in Library Science, had a degree in Russian Language and Literature before that, I was
already really into Information Science, way before Mythbusters, before getting anywhere near where I am now. But the Internet - I think of it as something that's practically mind-altering. The amount of power that you have for advancement and development of technology - I don't think we've really seen the impact of it quite yet - people may not realize the potential of it. But when one learns how to really use the Internet, it's like you've multiplied your intelligence, your abilities by huge factors.

I knew I liked the guy! Not only is he a prolific reader (and if you read the whole article, some of his favourite fiction titles are a delight to discover), but he was also studying to be a librarian before he got into the career he is in now. How cool is that?

Now his point on the internet and it's potential really impressed me. This is not a man who jumps on to technology because it's new and cool, he's known for always taking the unadorned, elegant approach to problem solving. This is also not a young man (he just turned 52 in September), and this is also one of the most phenomenally intelligent men in this world. And he completely sees the potential of learning how to use the internet and it's tools (which is what Web2.0 technologies are, internet tools) to multiply your intelligence and as a source of information if you learn how to use it effectively.

Web2.0 is very much a buzzword, and unfortunately people are naturally adverse to buzzwords. I know I am. That's why I really loathe the term myself. But I don't want to see us tainted against these tools simply because the hype has overshadowed them a little. Think of books you've read or movies you've seen that have been hyped up, and you were a bit over the whole lot, but when you DID find out for yourself, you've been so glad you did so. Harry Potter was like that for me. I avoided reading those books because of all the hype, but when a trusted source convinced me to try them, I found them truly wonderful and regretted that I hadn't picked them up earlier, that I'd let hype turn me off them.

The whole point of 23 Things is that we are leading you into learning what the tools are, how to use them effectively and then YOU choose how they apply to you. Once you are armed with the skills and knowledge, your intelligence multiplies and you're able to do so many things more effectively and efficiently.

I really urge you to read the whole interview with Jamie and Adam, you won't regret it, they're both fun and fascinating. And as a treat, here are a couple of my favourite YouTube vids of the Mythbusters in action.

Jamie shooting fish in a barrel, Mythbusters style:



Adam demonstrating the power of lighter and heavier gases on the human voice: