Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Moving

Published on June 29, 2008 in DailyGrind, England and Travel. 0 Comments

I don’t think I’ve written anything about what’s going on re: Les’s move to London.

We spent two weekends in London, looking at apartments. Les has been looking to rent a room in someone’s existing household rather than trying to find a one bedroom for himself. It had been really difficult because he needed to find space for him and Xena and most places didn’t want to take a dog.

He eventually found a really nice room in the Lewisham district of London, which is way out in the south eastern part of the city. The place is a great big room that looks out onto a wonderful overgrown garden. The household has a dog and teenagers who would be keen on picking up spending money dog sitting Xena while Les is at school or traveling for a gig.

A few days after getting that place, Les’s friend Paula called with a lead on a one bedroom in her apartment complex. The guy living there is moving to Scotland for a year or two and is looking to rent the place out while he’s gone. Paula lives a few blocks from the Tower Bridge. A one bedroom in her complex will be a pretty good size and she managed to talk the guy into being willing to rent it out for what Les is paying for the room in Lewisham.

Les is sort of torn about where to live because Lewisham includes on-site dog sitting *and* the utilities are includes in the rent there and not in the one bedroom. The Tower of London place also has some logistical issues that make moving a pain. However, living in the central London is pretty rad. Les is in London today looking at the place and trying to figure out where he wants to live.

I’m in Birmingham, helping with the final bits of packing-and-cleaning. I’ve mostly been cleaning the apartment. Les’s two other housemates are moving out as well and so the whole place needs to be cleaned. Neither of the other two people seem to have any intention of actually picking up a sponge so I’ve been going around cleaning room by room. So far this week I’ve cleaned a bathroom from top to bottom, spent a couple of hours sweeping up 9 months worth of leaves from the backyard, and spent like 4 hours today cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. After I finish posting this, I’m going to start wiping down surfaces and hoovering Les’s bedroom.

I’ve been oscillating between being really annoyed and happy to help. I figure it is my duty as a significant other to help out Les with anything I can. He’s helped me move twice, although his involvement has been less extensive in both cases. So really, I don’t feel put-out or anything. I just wish my time here was more vacation-y than it has been. Hopefully once we get moved on Monday the last two weeks of my visit will be a tad bit more relaxed and fun.

Which class would you take?

Published on June 20, 2008 in 10th, 13th, Library School, Paris, Photo, PostsWithPictures and Travel. 0 Comments

I’m having a bit of a dilemma.

I signed up for classes this week. One of the classes that I wanted to take was full, so I got on the wait-list for the full class and picked a different one from the list of classes I wanted to take.

I just got noticed that I got into my wait-listed class. Now I don’t know which class I should actually take. I think y’all should give me your opinions.

Here’s the deal:
I’m planning on taking 3 classes this semester.
I’ve finished the program’s core classes so now I’m mostly planning on focusing on Archival Studies. Eventually I’d like to work at a University archive, at a museum, or for some kind of arts organization. I’d also be interested in working for a government organization.
The archives track includes classes in collection management, preservation, and cataloging.
The class I got wait-listed for is in this track, as is one of my other choices. The third choice isn’t in my rotation, really, but sounds really interesting.

This is the class that I know for sure I want to take:

LIBR 256. Archives and Manuscripts
An introduction to the theory and practice of managing archival documents, such as personal papers, institutional records, photographs, electronic records, and other unpublished material. Topics covered include manuscript and records acquisition and appraisal, arrangement and description, conservation and preservation, reference and access.

It meets on the UC Berkeley campus on Saturdays every other week.

These are my other choices:

  • LIBR 248. Beginning Cataloging and Classification
    Theory and practice of bibliographic control including the study of representative cataloging using AACR2, machine-based representation using MARC formats and other standards, subject analysis and classification using LCSH, Dewey and LCC with application to books, non-book materials and serials.

    This meets every Thursday at the UC Berkeley campus.

  • LIBR 259. Preservation Management
    An introduction to the philosophies and techniques used to preserve manuscript, printed, and electronic materials. Examination of different preservation techniques, and their attendant philosophies, used over the ages, from chaining materials to desks to the current practice of digital imaging.

    This meets a few times (about every 2 or 3 weeks) at the SJSU campus.

  • LIBR 281 Information Secrecy and Freedom of Information
    This course examines the political, legal, regulatory, historical, and social dimensions of secrecy and its relationship to freedom of information in the United States. Topics covered in this class will include the growth of the U.S. secrecy system, security classification of information, federal information policy, and attempts to control public, scientific, and technical information sources. Consideration will also be given to the homeland security issues that surround information access in libraries.

    This is all online. This class is an “advanced seminar” and this topic was last taught in Spring 2007.

So yeah. Do I drop Information Secrecy because it isn’t really part of my rotation? Do I keep it because it sounds interesting and I may not have a chance to take it later? If I keep 281, do I drop Cataloging because it isn’t an absolute core class in my specialization? Do I drop Preservation Management because it is slightly less convenient than the other classes?

Scheduling issues:

  • Archives and Manuscripts and Preservation Management conflict once during the semester. They meet on the same day, one in the morning and then the other right afterwards in the afternoon. This would be fine except that one is in San Jose and the other is in Berkeley.
  • I’d been thinking of taking a trip in October for my birthday. If I take a class that meets every Thursday, I won’t be able to do that.
  • 248 and 259 get taught every semester. I *think* that they’re even taught in this same format (in person meetings) with the same profs.

What do you think?

London

Published on June 14, 2008 in DailyGrind, England, ResidentHipster and Travel. 0 Comments

Les is looking to move to London. The rental agreement on the Birmingham apartment is up at the end of the month and while this city is nice and all, London is much more exciting. Apparently, Les only needs to be on campus once a week, so commuting isn’t a huge deal.

So we’re heading to London this weekend to go apartment hunting.

Cross your fingers.

I’m in England.

Published on June 11, 2008 in England, ResidentHipster and Travel. 1 Comment

I feel like there’s some kind of interesting story here, but I’m not really sure that I have a lot to say. I flew out on Sunday afternoon. My flight was pleasant enough. I flew Virgin Atlantic into Heathrow. From there I took the Tube into London and then took a train from London to Birmingham.

I’m a pretty experienced traveller so managing all the connections between the airport and Birmingham on like 3 or 4 hours of broken sleep wasn’t much an issue. I was lucky that my ATM card worked on at the Underground ticket machines and then again at the train station since the one ATM I found between Heathrow and Birmingham wouldn’t work with my card. Being cashless in a foreign country can be a bit stressful, you know?

Once I got to Birmingham, I hung out at the train station waiting for Les to meet me. He was supposed to meet me at 3pm, but due to some transit snafus of his own involving missing boats from The Netherlands and having to spend the night in London, he was really late meeting me. I sat in the train station, trying to figure out what to do about being abandoned without any cash, a really uncomfortable bag, and no idea about where a pay phone might be located.

Here’s the thing about British pay phones – they hide them inside big red boxes. Its the weirdest thing. There were two pay phones right next to the exit for the train platforms. I walked right by them without noticing them. And then I sat on a bench i the train station, looking at them for at least 15 or 20 minutes before I realized that those dusty looking abandoned boxes actually contained working telephonic technologies that I could use to contact Les.

I was really tried at this point.

So at around 4, I took my bike out of the bag I was dragging around and locked it to a fence. This lightened my load enough that I could actually walk around town and find an ATM. Then I went back to the train station and called Les. He eventually met me at the station at around 4:30 or 5.

Then we got to his place and I fell asleep. I spent all of yesterday napping as well. Today I’m loafing about. I think I should maybe have some tea.

I’ll be in the UK until the middle of July. I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing. Les needs to finish working on his piece that he’s playing with Polly Moller at the end of July and he’s also looking for a new apartment. All this means that I might end up not getting to do much of anything besides take Xena for walks in the park while I’m here. Les is holding out hope that all his business will be taken care of with enough time to actually take a bike trip somewhere. I am not as optimistic.

Oh, and lastly, I really want to talk about the English and how they name things totally inappropriately. How is it acceptable to name an Underground station “Cockfosters”? It’s not, that’s how. It’s even less acceptable that they decided to make that station an ending point for the train line that goes to Heathrow. I was forced to sit on that train for like 20 minutes, with the name Cockfosters being called out at every single stop. I was barely able to stop myself from giggling childishly every single time. What gives, England?