Red Letter Day

As I drove to work this afternoon (it's Monday, remember?) singing along to The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, I realized today is remarkable:

• Not once in the past month did I say to myself, "I don't want to go to work today."

• Today, for the first time since Sept 2005, I received a pay check, either biweekly or monthly, for more than $1,000.

On the Horizon

Sat April 28

I foolishly signed up to take cupcakes at the beginning of a church talent show and to clean up at the end. So, unless I can find something to do in between, I'll be at the talent show Saturday night. Why do I have to be such an over-achiever?

Fri May 4

Fly to Dallas in the evening in order to get my hair cut (thank goodness) and prepare for the move (oh dear).

Sat May 5 - Thurs May 10

Pack, load, move, and unload.

Sat May 12

Drive to Ooltewah to hang out with Mary's fam. Yay!

Wed May 16

Fly to SLC (via Denver, the plane leaves Nashville at 6:05 am) to stay with my wonderful aunt and to attend the Utah Library Association Conference in Provo. Yes, I know it's weird, but why the heck not? The agenda includes attending the conference Thurs and Fri, hanging out with auntie and two cousins, hitting the BYU Bookstore, stopping in at the LDS Museum of Church History and Art, and paying a professional visit to the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU, assuming I get the nerve to make contact with someone who will give me the $0.50 tour.

Sun May 20

Arrive back in Nashville at 11:35 pm, retrieve my car, and drive home.

Whew!!!

Speaking of Completion Issues

Some of you readers might be interested in this story about the top ten fiction and non-fiction titles the British public has started and just can't finish. I have only attempted one of the twenty titles on the list, and I did finish that one (gold star to the first person who correctly identifies the one title I've read).

Of course, it probably doesn't surprise you that there are so many books I've started and not yet finished (that doesn't mean I won't finish them someday) that my brain will not remember them all. A few that come to mind (and please recognize that I'm baring my soul here, so be nice, because I know some of you think I've finished these books) are:

David Copperfield

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Unfinished Bombing

Ugh--I feel terrible knowing those three are just the tip of the iceberg.

To be clear, I do endorse Nancy Pearl's opinion that there's no sense in finishing a book you just aren't enjoying, and I like her formula about giving a book 50 pages, or 100 minus your age if you're over 50.

My guilt, however, stems from the fact that there are so many books, like the three aforementioned, that I did enjoy but for some inexplicable reason, I put aside unfinished, in some cases years ago.

To my credit, however, there are some books I have finished and indeed read multiple times, including The Book of Mormon, Anne of Green Gables, all of the Betsy-Tacy Books, and The Stranger Beside Me.

Looking Back

I've been blogging for over a year. I would say that's pretty good for someone with completion issues.

True, I'm not contributing anything particularly profound to the world at small or large, and no one would ever use my blog to illustrate application of good blogging habits, but I am enjoying myself. I'm always thrilled and gratified when one of you makes a comment (or tries to make a comment--sorry!). And you, dear reader, may not recognize it, but blogging has improved my writing in small ways. For example, I do actually edit some of my posts, usually for succinctness (yes, really).

So, here's to another year ahead.

An Assignment

If I were stranded on a desert island, maybe I would get some sleep. I'm caught in the oh-so-familiar circle of staying up late, dragging through the work day, crashing after work and then waking up a couple of hours later to eat dinner, surf the Internet, and stay up late once again. Too many stimuli.

But, I found quite a treasure while surfing tonight, one that is perhaps worth the lack of sleep:

At work today, another librarian showed me the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers site at the Library of Congress. Actually a partner project with the National Endowment for the Humanities, they have digitized newspaper pages published between 1900-1910 in six states, including California, Washington DC, New York, and Utah. The librarian looking at the site wasn't sure why anyone would want to look at papers from Utah, but I know the answer to that one!

So, here is a required library assignment for all Redd descendants reading this post:

Go to the Chronicling America search page and from the top of the page moving down, do the following: Select UT as the state, select All as the search year, and enter the words Burton Redd in the "with the exact phrase" search box. Then execute a search and marvel at the one result your search should retrieve. (Note: to actually read the text of the article, I had to first view the image as a PDF. You do that by clicking on the small arrow in the maroon box at the top of the newspaper page that says "More options for this page" and has the date of the paper.)

I expect reports back from at least four people (you should know who you are). I thought about just printing and mailing you the item, and I am still happy to do so, but as a good librarian, I want you to experience the thrill of successfully using a resource on your own and finding your own information nugget. And since I am, as we already established, a good librarian, don't forget that I am always happy to walk anyone through technical difficulties if they phone me when I'm in front of a computer (and I won't even roll my eyes or make fun of you behind your back--I reserve that for people I don't know).

The assignment is of course optional for all non-family members, but I think it's an interesting story even if you don't know the persons involved, and it's a fun introduction to an awesome resource.