Ten Random Things: the Bonus Round.

1) I played in a few rock bands in my dissolute youth (the 80s, that is). The bands were of varying quality, but it was fun and a real learning experience. We got a local government noise ordinance changed in the first band I was in (we were a bit loud).

2) I was a bird-watcher for about 10 years. I enjoyed tramping across woods and fields to get a glimpse of a bird I hadn't seen before. A birdwatcher's secret: you usually identify birds by hearing their songs, not by actually seeing them.

3) I was a member of the All-Ohio Youth Choir in high school. Nothing like singing the theme to 'Happy Days' in 4-part harmony! I enjoyed singing.

4) Italian food is awesome. It can't be beat. There is no such thing as too much Italian food.

5) I've read The Lord of the Rings 13 times. I used to read it yearly back in the day.

6) I was a classical music fan in my youth until Simon & Garfunkel lured me into pop music. Styx turned me into a rock fan. The theme song for Homecoming my senior year was Come Sail Away.

7) I taught myself how to play guitar. I started out just listening to songs and playing them back on an acoustic guitar without understanding the concept of standard tuning. It was rather creative until I learned how to play properly (that sounded bad).

8) When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut or an astronomer. I stayed up late and saw the first step taken on the moon by my astronaut hero Neil Armstrong. I took pictures of the TV screen to document the event.

9) I met Jesse Owens when I was a young kid. He was signing autographs at a car dealership if I remember right, a promotional thing. My dad took me up to him and told me what a famous man he was. He signed a poster for me.

10) When I was really young I carried around a yellow blanket, sort of like Linus on Peanuts. It got really ragged and my mom threw it out one day. I went on a crying binge until they bought me a new blanket- it was blue, it wasn't quite the same, but I carried it around a while. Then I decided the whole blanket scene wasn't cool.

Learn & Play: The Retrospective!

Well, it's been an interesting few months. Learn and Play at CML has expanded my 2.0 horizons, and I'm not new to the concept. It familiarized me with several things that I'd had virtually no experience with. This is a great way to continue lifelong learning.

I'd have to say my favorite exercises were learning about RSS feeds through Blogines, and tweeting through Twitter. Being able to subscribe to web sites that you frequently browse, and to do mini-blogging by tweeting were both worthwhile 2.0 experiences that I shall continue to engage in.

I was pleasantly surprised that the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon was deeper than I realized at first. Not only is there user-created content to see, but the users are communicating in much more non-traditional ways than even email, which is not that old a communication medium.

I would do another discovery program like this in a heartbeat. Perhaps one exercise a week would be plenty; it was easy to fall behind with normal workloads on top of Learn & Play. But count me in for any more programs! :)

MOLDI looks like the future of libraries.

MOLDI- the Mid-Ohio Library Digital Initiative- is a step towards what the future of libraries will be.

MOLDI gives you, the library user, the capability to check out online books, films, music, and audio books, right from your PC at home. Or perhaps your PDA, wherever you are.

This is the future of libraries, folks. Easy to access from anywhere; no having to go to a physical location to check out and return items; in fact, no items to lose or to owe fines on; all still for free. Just like public internet computers are now the major draw to libraries across the country, once everyone has an internet PC at home, libraries will evolve to serve customers anytime, anywhere.

I looked through the ebook offerings on MOLDI- and found an interesting biography about Alexander the Great. I will be looking at more selections with the eye towards downloading them at home.

I love libraries 2.0! :)