Bad Caitlin

Apparently, I haven't posted in a whole two months. I would go ahead and defend myself, but for much of that time, I was at home among my primary readership (aka Mom & Dad). Updates will be coming soon, but first I need to think/do something newsworthy.

Since my last post I...

• Went home for Thanksgiving,
• Went tobogganing at Pokagon with Andrew,
  
• Came back from Thanksgiving,
• Survived my first finals season in grad school,
• Earned a 3.89, much better than expected!
• Finally started getting more of a social life in Austin (albeit slowly)
• Went home for Christmas & celebrated with my family and my puppies,
• Got to see Tiffany, Jenna, Evelyn, Emily, Vicky, Allison, & Rachel for the first time in a very long time,
• Celebrated New Years with Andrew, Skip, & Lauren (where's that Italy blog? huh?),
  
• Saw *SNOW* again!
• Went with Andy to his family Christmas at Camp Fish Tales,
• Got puked on by Jake,
• Spent 6 days in Seattle with Andrew,
• Returned to Austin,
• Started Classes.

So, as you can see, there's not a whole lot going on. Please direct any questions you may have about these events to the "comments" section of this blog site. I promise I'll come up with something at least a little interesting for you in the next few days.

Missing Meechigan

Almost daily, I’m surprised to wake up in Texas and not Michigan. If you had asked me four years ago if I’d ever live anywhere but Michigan, I would have said, “Definitely not! Are you kidding? I love Michigan!” (Well, actually, it would've come out more like, "Psh! Tchyeah Right!") But, the urge to have an adventure, no matter how small and mundane (and involving library school, of all things!), has pulled me down to Texas and I couldn’t be happier. And yet, I’m also surprised by how homesick I can manage to be.

While I miss my home, and my family and friends (and dogs), it’s actually the weather that drives it all home for me. When they’re playing Christmas themed commercials on TV, and I walk out the door into 85-degree heat, there’s no ignoring that I’m not in Kansas (or Michigan) anymore, Toto. I actually have all this weather-related angst. When it’s cool (below 70), and everyone is wearing scarves and sweaters, I’ll purposely wear flip flops and talk about how nice the weather is. And don’t even talk to me when it’s above 80! Nothing makes a northern girl grumpy like above 80 in November.

Another thing that’s changed is my attitude about Michigan. Before, there was nothing especially great about Michigan; I could take it or leave it. Now, I love to meet other Michiganders and talk about home, something we have in common that nobody else does. All of a sudden, finding somebody with a 248 area code brings on this rush of camaraderie only rivaled by that rap battle scene in Eight Mile: ‘“313!” “810!” “313!” “810!”’ I also used to hate my nasal Michigan “ayaccent.” Now, I love being identified as someone not from around here. I don’t even care that people think I’m from Wisconsin ; I’ll take it - at least they’ve got Lake Michigan. I drink my pop, eat my ayapple, and carry my byackpyack, all with pride.

But, for now, all I can do is to try and get some schoolwork done and count down the days (6!). Oh, and while I’m at it, wear my Maize and Blue all week to further label myself as the proud outsider I really am. And on Saturday, I’ll get to hate Ohio State in a bar full of fellow Wolverines, and feel a little more at home while still being 1396 miles away (not that I'm counting). Gosh, nothing brings people together better than the biggest rivalry in college football. And you know, Mr. Carr, a win for Michigan just might cure me entirely.

So much more learning to do...

I didn't realize until tonight that it was possible to receive comments. I promise I'm not ignoring all of you. Thanks to Lauren for pointing this out to me. As a scholar of information technology, you'd think I'd understand the most basic blog by now. I guess you learn something new every day!

Thanks for all of your comments! I miss you all, and love hearing from you!

So What is Information???

So I bet many of you are wondering what in the world I'm going to graduate school for. You've all heard me say "Information," but what the heck is that? Well, here's my best shot at 'splainin' myself:
[Disclaimer: I don't yet know everything there is to know about Information, so I've tried to simplify this as much as possible. Some things written here may not be exactly correct to the tiniest detail.]

So, the discipline now called "Information Studies" used to be called "Library Science," and then "Library and Information Science." What?! Being a librarian requires a masters degree?! Indeed it does, and has since Library Science was established as an academic discipline at the University of Chicago in 1930s. Librarianship isn't just about stamping books and shushing people - it's about the organization of information and providing its access to users. But Information is not only about libraries. Especially since computers and the internet have become major tools for finding and organizing information, Information has expanded to include information architecture (think web design), information organization (think Google), and pretty much every way possible to use and access information within today's technology.

Essentially, Information includes public librarianship, academic librarianship, school librarianship, special libraries (law and medical libraries), informatics (information structure and access), records management (corporate files and records), digital librarianship, conservation, preservation, archives (my favorite), and any other application of the organization and access of information that technology comes up with.

My personal focus is archives, which essentially means the organization and care of archival materials, being the records (of organizations) and papers (of individuals) after they've left the purpose for which they were originally created. I know, it sounds a little dull, but if you know me, you know I love "old stuff," and archives are just full of old dusty bits of paper, like letters, clippings, maps, photos, and postcards. What I love is seeing the little ways in which people leave their mark on the world long after they're gone, kind of like what I love about archaeology. And, of course, I'm obligated as a member of the Society of American Archivists to say that I'm all about providing users access to these records for their personal research purposes (like history and genealogy), at least that's what I'll be getting paid the big (a.k.a. little) bucks for.

So, this has been your crash course on Information, what my education is all about! Did I really have to come all the way to Texas just for that, you ask? Well, no - that's the Excellent Adventure part of it!

Ants!

First of all, I'll start off by apologizing for not writing in a while (assuming that there's somebody out there who reads my blog). I left the last entry on a pest invasion cliffhanger, thinking the story was going to get more interesting. However, fortunately for me, and unfortunately for the interestingness of my life, my ant story quickly came to an end.

Over the past several weeks, I had noticed a few ants here or there around my apartment, generally when I'd made the mistake of leaving food out for a long period of time. They weren't too much of a pest, but I soon noticed that they were biters. They weren't all that vicious, but I was still living among biting insects, so I wasn't entirely pleased with that living situation. Well, all of a sudden one day, I realized that I had a full infestation on my hands. They were congregating around both of my sinks and walking paths along my walls. There would be times when I could see probably 50 little red ants around my bathroom sink alone. And the weirdest thing of all - they loved my bar of soap! Their path led directly to the soap, which they chewed up, leaving piles of soapdust on my soap dish. How bizarre! They didn't even seem interested in food!

Well, I thought that story would go on and on and the ants would take over my apartment and force me to live on the streets and all sorts of excitingness. But, alas, the exterminator came last Thursday morning, and the ants were all gone within 24 hours. What a lackluster ending to an entirely lackluster story. I promise you - it can't be very long before I have a more interesting debacle to write about. Until then, be glad I'm not posting about homework alone.

What I've Learned About Food

Living on my own and relying on my own wits to feed myself has been the best education possible in the area of home economics. I can be instructed time and time again, but I'll never learn until I suffer for my mistakes. So, here's a list of things that my time in Texas has taught me so far about food:

• There's a point where a banana stops getting browner, but keeps getting squishier. It is unwise to assume that when you finally make an attempt to pick it up, that it will all come in one piece.
  
• When you slave away for hours at cooking yourself a week's worth of chicken, you must be very conscientious and remember to refrigerate it before going to bed. It will be dead in the morning, no matter what it looks like. However, it's OK just to hold onto it for a few days if only to make yourself feel better about wasting it.
• Buying organic chicken is definitely not worth the extra $2. Especially if you leave it out overnight.
• Girl cannot live on beverage alone.
  
• IKEA cooking utensils are cheap for a reason. Even though they're allegedly "dishwasher safe," that specification does not necessarily apply to the screws which hold the handles on.
• It's hard to cook in a pot without a handle.
• When it's 90 degrees outside, the refrigerator is your friend. You can always feel free to refrigerate food items that are not served cold. In fact, it's a good idea.
• "Bakery" rolls mold much faster than commercial ones.
  
• Don't assume you can eat a bread product in the dark in complete safety. Mold is hard to see in the dark, and hard to taste over the flavor or BBQ sauce.
  
• Consumed mold will not hesitate to seek quick and painful revenge.
• When the girl at Taco Bell knows your order better than you do, it's time to change your habits. Change is scary, but so is that much Taco Bell.
  
• It takes a very special person to eat an entire batch of cupcakes before they start going bad. I'm not that kind of person, and that's OK.
• Aluminum foil is not insect-proof.
  

Heat

So, today I was talking to Andy on the phone, and he kept complaining about how hot it was in Seattle today. How hot was it? 60 degrees! Well, let me tell you something about heat: today was the first day in the entire month I've been in Texas that it didn't reach 90. And I think the high was 89. I'm getting just about sick of the local weather guy leading me on about this alleged "cold front," meaning 2 or more straight days below 80, that was supposed to happen but never did. The sooner it cools down here, the better, because my body's just about to quit on me. I just keep telling myself, "Wait till January, it'll be worth it then." It does feel good knowing that it was hotter in Detroit today than in Austin, but, knowing Michigan, it'll snow on Thursday anyhow. That Michigan weather, always keeping us guessing!