Messy desks healthy?

Any of my colleagues will tell you that viewing the surface of my desk is a rare occurrence. Usually it gets cleared off just in time for me to go on holidays or before family come to visit. A new book, "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder" is now on my reading list. The authors suggest that a clean desk might not be an indicator of work efficiency. In fact, "A messy desk is an amazingly effective work-flow system. You keep the stuff that's most important toward the front of the desk and on the top of piles, and the stuff that's less important ends up farther back and at the bottom," has become my new favourite statement. I might make the first sentence a new mantra.

Aging conventioneer

Well following a very cool (temperature not tone) conference in Seattle I can safely report that the importance of one's conference bed is directly related to how well they are feeling. I stayed at a lovely hotel in a slightly sketchy area of Seattle but my primary concern is usually how comfortable is the bed. A good conference bed can make or break a conference. One of my most favouritest beds ever was in Minneapolis at a Doubletree hotel. The conference presentations I don't really remember but the bed is a fond memory. It was like falling asleep in a cloud.

I had one of the most miserable colds that I can remember while in Seattle. My mood was matched by the weather, damp and gloomy. It is really hard to enjoy yourself (or not make others miserable) when you just don't feel right. So this is my blanket apology to anyone that I may have been short with, or that I just didn't treat properly. Apparently my Canadian tendency to apologize for things outside my control continues. According to my roommate I apologized every time I woke up coughing. I am very thankful for comfy beds and roommates who are excessively tolerant.

In any case I have good memories of Seattle as well. Getting to see friends from far away and meeting new people make the conference experience enjoyable. 8:00AM meetings, not so much.

Motivation

I am a horrible procrastinator. I have a hard time chastising students who are doing research the day before their papers are due because I have been there. In the library, the night before, trying to find anything that could possibly be useful. Graduate school forced me to alter my modus operandi at least a little bit. Lately I have been realizing that I have transferred my poor study habits to my exercise habits. Next week, next month, I keep promising myself I will get serious.

So reflecting on previous periods of regular exercise I realized that I am extrinsically motivated when it comes to exerting myself. Three years ago I participated in a 5K in San Antonio and I was exercising at least 4-5 times a week preparing. Two years ago I participated in the Houston Rodeo Run and yes I picked up my exercise schedule to prepare. So brilliant researcher I am, I found some local 5K runs over the next couple of months and selected one to enter. On March 3, I will be participating in the Spring Fever 5K Fun/Run Walk in the Woodlands, Texas. Hopefully this will provide me with some motivation to pick up a healthier workout routine. I will beat my 39 minute record yet.

When Librarians get bored......

Last night, we created a fort for our colleague, Miranda. Miranda innocently said before leaving last night, "That box would make a cool fort." Ask and you shall receive Miranda.

"Only in Canada you say...."

For the non-Canadian readers the quote above is from a cheesy early 80's Canadian tea commercial. What I really wanted to point out was that Canada's national broadcaster CBC has produced a new show called "Little Mosque on the Prairie." What? Have the ubertolerant Canadians run amok? Judge for yourselves, here is a short article about the new tv series.


Apologies for reposting this so many times. I had no problem accessing the article but apparently it does require a subscription. Found another article on the New York Times website that addresses its controversial aspects.

Not sure about this test.

Feel free to see for yourself, Which Star Wars Character Are You?
My next highest character was Chewbacca so perhaps I was little emphatic on the loyalty questions.
You are Han Solo

Even though you've been described as
reckless, selfish and cocky, you're the
type of person others love to be around.
People like you because you're a scoundrel.

So true

There was an interesting post on A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette today. It addressed the length of time incurred while hiring an academic librarian. While academia in general moves excruciatingly slowly, libraries seem to enjoy making the process even longer. As a frequent observer of the search process I am amazed that any of our applicants are still unemployed by the time we get around to making an offer.

The students in my course are bemused when I explain the multiple steps that we need to go through to first get approval, then advertise, then sort through the myriad and mystifying applicants before we even get to the interview stage. The time taken between the interview and candidate notification is another process that evades understanding. Apparently a blood oath is required from the candidate before their name can even be released as the new hire.

Driving at night

What is it about driving at night? Last night a good friend and I drove back to Calgary from Edmonton in moonlight. The snowy fields were brilliant white and the individual trees were visible in the glow. Music playing, desultory conversation, and the road clear and straight made for a meditative environment. I found myself reflecting on where my life was heading and how I want to direct my energies.

While some of my future possibilities are out of my control, others aren't. I need to take responsibility for where I am headed and begin thinking longer term than next year. I have already gotten this speech from older, wiser, friends and relatives but it is too easy to dismiss sage advice when you are feeling scattered. I am looking forward to the next year and all of the possibilities that it brings.