Good people at Pandora.../ Birchmere

My husband really loves all kinds of music...rock, reggae, blues. Irish punk rock, Irish folk rock, jazz, opera, contemporary Hawaiian, Jahwaiian, Zydeco, classic...and on and on to generate about 80 stations on Pandora. All this led him to an email back n' forth with one of the listener advocates at Pandora. I didn't realize all this was going on. In one very nice email they offered us our choice of several Pandora logo gifts. Thanks Pandora. I like my new bag and thanks for Brian's "Fidel" hat. FYI...my list of stations is fairly short. I lean towards things that fill in the background like alternative or instrumental New Age or jazz etc. to listen to while I work The station generated by the movie "Once" was really addictive. All I could do was listen.

Wednesday night I made my first trip to the Birchmere and saw The Saw Doctors. So far this year, we've caught the Saw Doctor's once in New York and twice at the Ram's Head on Stage. I would have twittered that I bumped into the Gov again, but my cell phone is a very uncool cheep utilitarian thing. I wish I could have taken a picture. According to the W.P. I was part of the raucous crowd (Reliable source, Style, page 3). The Saw doc's were great. (2 1/2 hr set) It was was a lot of fun and the Birchmere was not at all what I expected. It was like an old-fashioned warehouse behind a tire store. The best part is that you can be very close and move around. I had expected something like the Ram's Head live or the Norva in Norfolk.

Wrapping up and moving on

I was not anxious to jump into Web 2.0. It was just serendipity that the arrival of a new laptop coincided with a project that had to be tackled sooner or later.
Setting up a blog was simple, and I soon realized that I could have the same results as several of the blogs I followed. It was easy to be creative, and the possibilities seemed unlimited. What I'd most like to pass on to people who shared my previous misconceptions and prejudices is that the creators of Web 2.0 have made the process very simple. Mistakes are easy to correct. With a little bit of trial and error, or a friend's help, it's easy to add all the bells and whistles. Linking one application to another was simpler than I imagined. The most important points for me have been:

1. Ease of use.
2. I enjoyed the sharing of information along the way. One discovery often led to another. An upgrade to another's blog or twitter account often led me to a "how did they do that?"
3. Several of the tools could be used to personalize the library's homepage, make it more timely, highlight programming, promote library resources, and in general, pass along information to our patrons. A static homepage is boring...Updating with photographs, feeds, etc. will have the patron coming back to see what's new.
4. I've been introduced to a Wiki at one branch, and it seems to be a great tool that allows each staff member to check in and update their areas of responsibility, plan programming, and keep everyone on the same page.
5. Knowledge of business applications on the web is important to our patrons. In my position at work I do not need these applications, but I can pass the information on to our patrons.
6. I enjoyed having this style of guided learning available. It was always available during the slow times.
7. My only negative is that I signed up for so many things; the only exception being Facebook (one step too far for me). I logged onto everything with my work email. I imagine the system has much better filters and entire ISS staff to deal with any mischief I may have stirred up. Sorry....

Though I've finished the nine explorations, I realize I've only just begun to look at all the possibilities. My view of what was out there was pretty narrow and I couldn't understand how people could just sit in front of a computer for hours. Now I actually lose track of time because I'm more involved in doing than reading.