sept choses meme: things you don’t know about me

no one tagged me but we all know how much i love a bandwagon – there’s a meme going around…

here are seven things you might not know about me.

1. i can sing the alphabet backward as easily as i can forward. i was a bored child and took to reading books backward once i had read them the “proper”. if you buy me a beer i’ll even serenade you with “mary had a little lamb” backward. if you want me to do this on karaoke night, it’ll cost you more than one beer.
2. i can read hebrew (with the vowels, pls) and russian but have no idea what i’m saying.
3. i was in a “reverse-integration” (holy gawd i hate that term) program in grade five where i was lucky enough to go to Mackay Centre with kids with various physical disabilities as well as share a building with a deaf school. my sign language, at the moment, is atrocious.
4. my cousin is a bit of a rock star in quebec. for the record, i hated him between the ages of 9 and 13 because he was always being told how awesome he was for being able to sing so well. now, however, i think he’s a big sweetheart.
5. this was the first gizmo i ever used to get on the internet. (actually, my uncle had a coupler so i could get on it at his house, but this was the first thing we had chez nous.) my parents had no idea how to work it. i won a samantha fox cassette answering a quiz on a bulletin board.
6. i was on the opening crew of the Disney Wonder and loved everything about it. i trained at Disney World for a month (working in the Magic Kingdom). then was flown to the Fincantieri shipyard in Venice to pick up the ship and sail it first to Southhampton (where Sir Richard Branson sponsored an “open ship” event and we had the most amazing fireworks EVER), then to Porta Delgada in The Azores, then across the Atlantic Ocean for a week (sans guests) to home port in Port Canaveral, FL. i sailed through hurricanes and worked with 3 year olds. i consider this some of the best management experience i’ve ever had and actually feel the company gives (some of ) their employees an awful lot of autonomy to make people happy. cult-like corporate culture, i eats it up.
7. due to my diastema, i have amazing accuracy when spitting water out through my two front teeth. i love knowing that i share a bar trick with the Wife of Bath, Cleopatra, and Madonna.

according to the rules of this meme – i have to tag seven peeps. so here ya go!

1. jason puckett
2. david rothman
3. jan dawson
4. graham lavender
5. steven cohen
6. jason hammond
7. anna creech

99 things meme-eriffic

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii. (my aunt lives there!)
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. (hellz ya) (to current employer: i mean, NEVER)
24. Built a snow fort. (i live in montreal. our country place is an igloo.)
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. (well, i was working, but i was on it.)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (been to ireland and england. still have to hit scotland.)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.(taught myself to read hebrew.)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (this is a weird one.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke. (just not at IL2008.)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.(when i was 8 i was an extra in Street Smart.)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper. (once for being part of a stamp club [pic of me holding a stamp with a rugby player on it - i was 7], then again at 18 for playing rugby!)
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

phew!

well that was awesome and terrifying.

my first presentation at Internet Librarian. i think it went pretty well. i know i spoke way too fast but i was worried that we wouldn’t have enough time.

click here to go to my list of presentations and check out our slides.

many thanks to erik and jaap of the shanachies who were on the same panel, and the wonderful mary auckland for organizing the whole enchilada.

thank you sirexkat

i know i’ve said it before, but i’ll say it again. twitter has rocked my world when it comes to professional development.

one of the prime examples is the AWESOME Kathryn Greenhill who blogs at librarians matter. i felt like i was a bit in a bubble in terms of my second lifeness, and was unsure how non-US librarians were doing tech stuffs in academia. and then Kathryn introduced herself and was nine kinds of welcoming to me.

since that moment, oh so long ago (maybe 9 months), Kathryn has continued to support me in my craziness and encourage me to keep pushing the LIS envelope.

so i would love to take her for coffee (okay, pints).
and would love to take her for a kick-ass meal.

BUT

she lives in western australia.

so though i think she rawks the kasbah, me and my measley aeroplan points will not get me to oz anytime soon to thank her.

so, to Kathryn, a big SMOOCH to you. and many many thanks for encouraging a library school student to go with what she knows.

akoha Rawks

got my akoha cards tonight care of the always rockin’ Patrick who got to go to PodCampMontreal while i was working (yay work but BOO schedules).

srsly, check out Akoha

get ready to play it forward, peeps.

fun thing: akoha

i love games
i love meeting new people
i love doing things for people i believe in
and
i love montreal.

akoha fits the bill for all of these.

check it out and sign up for the beta release. or if you bump into me (and i’ve received my cards – hint hint akoha peeps!) i’ll invite you to play!

create your own READ poster

i gotta start getting my beloved CLA to do some of these fun things!

wicked easy to do – click here to start.

my friends are better than yours

i kid, i kid.

but i just want to publicly thank a bunch of people without whom my degree would NEVER have been possible.

first, naturellement, to my hubby™ who loved me when i had no idea what i wanted to do with my life (and was doing very little), and who continues to support me now that i think the world is my frickin’ oyster and i am invincible. (i even have a superhero – you should too!)

second, to my bestest ever friend, who will remain an online-enigma, save to say that if Alexander McQueen ever went straight, she would be first in line to marry him. and he’d be one lucky dude to have someone so intelligent and creative at his side. velouria FTW!

third, to my rugby posse. who tonight surprised me not only with sushi and molson export (YAY!), but earrings from the Frank Gehry collection at Tiffany (love me some Frank) to celebrate my graduation. the card read:

with so much love & pride.
congratulations on everything amy.
love cathy, shelly, gij, susy and jess

given the accomplishments (leaving their rugby achievements aside) of these women (anyone need an accountant, social worker, teacher, graphic design firm owner, or philosophy professor?  just holler) i can’t believe they have the time to look out for me – but i know they always have my back.

and to my online network of librarians and ed tech folks. [i was thinking of linking each of your blogs to a word in the following paragraph - but i don't have enough words to thank everyone...] you played a significant role in my success in library school. i couldn’t find all the components of the professional network that i wanted to create from the peeps i knew in Montreal/at McGill, and all of you have managed to answer questions, lend support, tell me when i’m doing something stoopid, and share your lives. you are all part of one of my fundamental beliefs, that knowledge requires collaboration.

finally, there are many folks from grad school who made academia WAY more fun – you know who you are, JJaCL. the day-to-day would have been excruciating without you. i am forever in your debt.

fun thing: wordle (aka as “amy likes bandwagons”)

since a whole whack o’folks are Wordle-ing their del.icio.us tags or blogs or CVs or books (see Meredith, John, Walt, Sarah, and Amanda), i thought i would too.

i really don’t use that many del.icio.us tags for my sites. hmmm. think this stems from my poor grades in cataloguing class?

time for a name change?

when i started this blog i really thought i would be blogging about library-related matters in Second Life. i have, and i will again, but i don’t think calling this blog “informing MUVEs” is entirely accurate.

since my motto/mantra/catchphrase/thing i like to write is “knowledge requires collaboration” maybe i should try and incorporate that. but how, without it seeming awkward.

and after chatting with Jill, i also like keeping the whole “informing” angle. but that seems a bit daunting – does that mean i have to always inform when i blog?

what about in.forming ? thoughts?