Friday in a Flash!

My heavens! Where did this week go? Seriously, y'all, I woke up and it's Friday already. So, what's shaking you ask?

• Estella Society is in full swing with goodies lined up through September.
• North and South Read-a-long (#nsread) is in full swing with two installments left!
• Work is in full swing with prep for an upcoming conference at the beginning of September
• I took some time out to socialize last night! It was Rocketgirl's 16th BIRTHDAY so we enjoyed a b-day dinner AND I met up with friends from Old Job for Happy Hour.

What else is in full swing? Online classes start Monday, and I'M TEACHING FOUR (and pray for my soul), and they are NOT set up yet. Ahem! *badme* *mustgetafterit*

Oh, and there's this...

Oprah talked me into it. I swear! I was minding my own business, looking through some O 2.0 recs, and this little bitty goody jumped into my Nook. This is a collection of "columns" from The Rumpus wherein Cheryl Strayed wrote under the name Sugar and gave honest advice. Beautiful, thoughtful, painful, heart-bursting, personal, TMI types of advice. And it is STUNNING. I love it already and it seriously needs to be stashed away so I can finish North and South. Need catharsis! Look right here!

What are you up to? 

Friday in a Flash!

My heavens! Where did this week go? Seriously, y'all, I woke up and it's Friday already. So, what's shaking you ask?

• Estella Society is in full swing with goodies lined up through September.
• North and South Read-a-long (#nsread) is in full swing with two installments left!
• Work is in full swing with prep for an upcoming conference at the beginning of September
• I took some time out to socialize last night! It was Rocketgirl's 16th BIRTHDAY so we enjoyed a b-day dinner AND I met up with friends from Old Job for Happy Hour.

What else is in full swing? Online classes start Monday, and I'M TEACHING FOUR (and pray for my soul), and they are NOT set up yet. Ahem! *badme* *mustgetafterit*

Oh, and there's this...

Oprah talked me into it. I swear! I was minding my own business, looking through some O 2.0 recs, and this little bitty goody jumped into my Nook. This is a collection of "columns" from The Rumpus wherein Cheryl Strayed wrote under the name Sugar and gave honest advice. Beautiful, thoughtful, painful, heart-bursting, personal, TMI types of advice. And it is STUNNING. I love it already and it seriously needs to be stashed away so I can finish North and South. Need catharsis! Look right here!

What are you up to? 

Blargg and YAY! Estella Society and More!

Wow. This week. Blarrrg.

We're coming up on an extremely busy time of year at work, and this being my first year with the company, it has been super stressful. Things are falling into a groove, though, so hopefully more pleasant days are on the horizon. That's why I've been out of pocket for a few when I really wanted to be here bloggin'!

It looks like the North and South Read-Along is off to a rousing start! Seems like a Twitter conversation breaks out about it every night between 7 and 8:30 Central time. If you want to jump in, feel free to find us at the official read-along hashtag: #NSread. Check in with your questions, comments, or progress. Or you can stop in and heckle us. That works, too.

In other news, I'm reading my second selection for the Estella Society "Genre Cage Match." This one is Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller. I won't give too much away, because you'll really want to see these buggers go head-to-head, but it's my first time reading Miller and at my buddy Shannon's recommendation. I'll let ya know how it all shakes out.

On that note, Heather and I have decided to shoot for an August 15th launch of The Estella Society!!! We have about half of the content we need, so if you have ideas you've been pondering, get to writing! Send your reviews of "under the radar" or backlist books, ideas for readalongs and readathons, one-time bookish musings, "book snob" pieces, pics or readerly artwork. We're pretty open to anything you want to share! This is a readerly playground so it should be fun, informative, and freeing to share your thoughts.

We're also plotting some launch giveaways and stuff like that. *nudge nudge*

That's about all that's going on in my world. It seems like I have a growing list of "to be read NOW" books. Partially because of my new book club and in part because there's just a lot of good books circling right now. I'll be back with more about those tomorrow.

What's on your wishlist at the moment?

Blargg and YAY! Estella Society and More!

Wow. This week. Blarrrg.

We're coming up on an extremely busy time of year at work, and this being my first year with the company, it has been super stressful. Things are falling into a groove, though, so hopefully more pleasant days are on the horizon. That's why I've been out of pocket for a few when I really wanted to be here bloggin'!

It looks like the North and South Read-Along is off to a rousing start! Seems like a Twitter conversation breaks out about it every night between 7 and 8:30 Central time. If you want to jump in, feel free to find us at the official read-along hashtag: #NSread. Check in with your questions, comments, or progress. Or you can stop in and heckle us. That works, too.

In other news, I'm reading my second selection for the Estella Society "Genre Cage Match." This one is Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller. I won't give too much away, because you'll really want to see these buggers go head-to-head, but it's my first time reading Miller and at my buddy Shannon's recommendation. I'll let ya know how it all shakes out.

On that note, Heather and I have decided to shoot for an August 15th launch of The Estella Society!!! We have about half of the content we need, so if you have ideas you've been pondering, get to writing! Send your reviews of "under the radar" or backlist books, ideas for readalongs and readathons, one-time bookish musings, "book snob" pieces, pics or readerly artwork. We're pretty open to anything you want to share! This is a readerly playground so it should be fun, informative, and freeing to share your thoughts.

We're also plotting some launch giveaways and stuff like that. *nudge nudge*

That's about all that's going on in my world. It seems like I have a growing list of "to be read NOW" books. Partially because of my new book club and in part because there's just a lot of good books circling right now. I'll be back with more about those tomorrow.

What's on your wishlist at the moment?

The Sunday Salon - The Week That Tried To Kill Me with Awesomeness

This week was not all awesomeness. It began early Monday morning with Greyson sick. I stayed home with him half a day on Monday, then passed him over to my mom for the latter half of the day so I could make an appearance at work. He was feeling better and went to daycare on Tuesday, but he came home with a fever. Took the day off on Wednesday to take him to the doc, and just as I'd suspected: two ear infections and a sore throat (didn't expect the sore throat part).

This is decidedly not awesome as the boy has had chronic ear infections since he was born. Next step: ear, nose, and throat specialist. I see tubes in our future, and I'm ready for 'em!

In the midst of all this, the awesome happened. I was looking for another book to keep me engaged after I finished up A Discovery of Witches, and boy did I find the motherload in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This is not my official review, because I'm getting my thoughts together on how exactly I want to gush about it. BUT, I will say that it's supremely gushworthy, and I knocked off all 700+ pages in a week. Pretty impressive for someone with no attention span, eh?

In fact, I sat around for a couple of hours after I finished the book yesterday, trying to decide what to attempt next, and the answer was clear. The next book in the series! So I'm currently reading Dragonfly in Amber and while it's ripping my heart out, I will endure and probably polish this one off just as quickly as the first.

This is one of those series that Heather and my other trusty book buddies have been telling me to read since my Yahoo! Groups days back in 2001. Why in heaven's name did I wait so long?! I don't even know. Madness.

The other series my book peeps have been telling me to read is A Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin. Tammy, I'm gonna read it soon. I swear. I've learned my lesson. I should just shut up and listen to you all because we all share a big communal brain.

The rest of my Sunday will consist of grading a truckload of essays and exams. There are a couple of weeks left in the semester, and I'm READY FOR IT TO BE OVER. As much as I like having a teaching outlet left to get that "fix," I'm just tired. Ready for a break. One summer online class is so much better than four regular semester online classes.

With that, I'm off to jump into the grading. Be well, y'all! Have any other recommendations for books that will grab me by the hair and knock me off my feet? Keep 'em coming.

The Sunday Salon - The Week That Tried To Kill Me with Awesomeness

This week was not all awesomeness. It began early Monday morning with Greyson sick. I stayed home with him half a day on Monday, then passed him over to my mom for the latter half of the day so I could make an appearance at work. He was feeling better and went to daycare on Tuesday, but he came home with a fever. Took the day off on Wednesday to take him to the doc, and just as I'd suspected: two ear infections and a sore throat (didn't expect the sore throat part).

This is decidedly not awesome as the boy has had chronic ear infections since he was born. Next step: ear, nose, and throat specialist. I see tubes in our future, and I'm ready for 'em!

In the midst of all this, the awesome happened. I was looking for another book to keep me engaged after I finished up A Discovery of Witches, and boy did I find the motherload in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This is not my official review, because I'm getting my thoughts together on how exactly I want to gush about it. BUT, I will say that it's supremely gushworthy, and I knocked off all 700+ pages in a week. Pretty impressive for someone with no attention span, eh?

In fact, I sat around for a couple of hours after I finished the book yesterday, trying to decide what to attempt next, and the answer was clear. The next book in the series! So I'm currently reading Dragonfly in Amber and while it's ripping my heart out, I will endure and probably polish this one off just as quickly as the first.

This is one of those series that Heather and my other trusty book buddies have been telling me to read since my Yahoo! Groups days back in 2001. Why in heaven's name did I wait so long?! I don't even know. Madness.

The other series my book peeps have been telling me to read is A Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin. Tammy, I'm gonna read it soon. I swear. I've learned my lesson. I should just shut up and listen to you all because we all share a big communal brain.

The rest of my Sunday will consist of grading a truckload of essays and exams. There are a couple of weeks left in the semester, and I'm READY FOR IT TO BE OVER. As much as I like having a teaching outlet left to get that "fix," I'm just tired. Ready for a break. One summer online class is so much better than four regular semester online classes.

With that, I'm off to jump into the grading. Be well, y'all! Have any other recommendations for books that will grab me by the hair and knock me off my feet? Keep 'em coming.

The Sunday Salon - Of Parties and Books and a Tantrum

What the HECK IS GOING ON HERE!!! Note: if you'd rather skip my Sunday morning rant and the recap of G's bday party I totally respect that. Skip on down to "here are the books." 

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, here are the deets:

It's Sunday, I'm working today (yay). I'm kicked out at Starbucks with my laptop for several hours (slated 9am-2pm). Have already finished a round of bi-weekly reports for Day Job. Now I'm grading a gazillion papers for my remaining online classes. A bit ago, a huge, loud, ridiculous family came in and pulled up the three tables to my right and proceeded to be obnoxious for an hour. *hisssss* I realize it's a public place and all, but none of the other talkers in the joint have felt the need to be quite so oblivious.

Anywho, I get over the Starbucks-loud-family fiasco and I'm faced with a brand new BLOGGER INTERFACE!!! Change + me = temper tantrums. I'll probably eventually love it, but today is just not the day to whip out a new look on me, Blogger.  It seems I now have to scroll a page down to actually see my dashboard, but I can quickly and easily change my interface language to Bengali. SWEET! *sarcasm....dripping sarcasm*

Moving on.

Yesterday was a most successful birthday party for Mr. G. We had family and friends come out to a rather large, impressive park nearby. There was a splash area, a lake with a fishing dock, plenty of room to fly kites, and a balance of shade and sunshine. We had cake and some other munchies and generally enjoyed ourselves. And easy clean up. Very important!

HERE ARE THE BOOKS!

While I was absolutely zonked last night, I managed to make some time to knock off another 50 pages or so of A Discovery of Witches. I read some more this morning before I came out to grade, too, so I feel sure I'll finish today barring any weird incidents (knock on wood). The action is really picking up in this last section, and I'm loving it! The book is not without some annoyances, but we'll talk about that later.

I think a big chunky paranormal romancey novel was just what I needed to bust the slump. Hopefully, I'm gonna keep this roll going with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon next. I've never tried it, but I think now is the time.

I feel much better now that I've vented. What are you reading today? 

The Sunday Salon - Of Parties and Books and a Tantrum

What the HECK IS GOING ON HERE!!! Note: if you'd rather skip my Sunday morning rant and the recap of G's bday party I totally respect that. Skip on down to "here are the books." 

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, here are the deets:

It's Sunday, I'm working today (yay). I'm kicked out at Starbucks with my laptop for several hours (slated 9am-2pm). Have already finished a round of bi-weekly reports for Day Job. Now I'm grading a gazillion papers for my remaining online classes. A bit ago, a huge, loud, ridiculous family came in and pulled up the three tables to my right and proceeded to be obnoxious for an hour. *hisssss* I realize it's a public place and all, but none of the other talkers in the joint have felt the need to be quite so oblivious.

Anywho, I get over the Starbucks-loud-family fiasco and I'm faced with a brand new BLOGGER INTERFACE!!! Change + me = temper tantrums. I'll probably eventually love it, but today is just not the day to whip out a new look on me, Blogger.  It seems I now have to scroll a page down to actually see my dashboard, but I can quickly and easily change my interface language to Bengali. SWEET! *sarcasm....dripping sarcasm*

Moving on.

Yesterday was a most successful birthday party for Mr. G. We had family and friends come out to a rather large, impressive park nearby. There was a splash area, a lake with a fishing dock, plenty of room to fly kites, and a balance of shade and sunshine. We had cake and some other munchies and generally enjoyed ourselves. And easy clean up. Very important!

HERE ARE THE BOOKS!

While I was absolutely zonked last night, I managed to make some time to knock off another 50 pages or so of A Discovery of Witches. I read some more this morning before I came out to grade, too, so I feel sure I'll finish today barring any weird incidents (knock on wood). The action is really picking up in this last section, and I'm loving it! The book is not without some annoyances, but we'll talk about that later.

I think a big chunky paranormal romancey novel was just what I needed to bust the slump. Hopefully, I'm gonna keep this roll going with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon next. I've never tried it, but I think now is the time.

I feel much better now that I've vented. What are you reading today? 

Remember Me? I Like Books and Cupcakes.

I bet y'all thought I was eaten by a desert creature in Phoenix, eh??? Not quite.

The new job is off to a rollicking good start. Much to do, much to do. I really like the people I work with, and while it will be challenging to come up with strategies that work with a diverse bunch of ventures, I can't wait to dig in even further than I already have.

But I've posted enough jobby jobness lately, so let's talk about books!!! This weekend will be the first time I've had an opportunity to read for fun in the last several weeks, so I am almost beside myself with joy! What I'll pick up next is the hard part. With far too many obligations on my plate, I'm not trying to hold myself to any sort of plan. Any reading is good reading!

Right now my choice is a toss-up between Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas and The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry. They're both wildly different books, so it just depends on what grabs me.

If I were a bettin' woman (which I totally am), I would side with Paris, My Sweet. I've been in something of a confectionery mood. Maybe it's the stress, but I've been obsessed with sweets. Not indulging so much, but lusting after sweets of each and every kind. With this in mind, Chuck and I had lunch next door to The Cupcakery's uptown Dallas location yesterday. Our office is literally right down the street. It was my first trip to The Cupcakery, and it was pure heaven. Of all the great, decadent flavors, I chose "The Wizard" a butterbeer cupcake!!! And it was a-mazing. Butterscotchy, vanilla, cream soda magic. Seriously delicious. When the counter attendant asked if I wanted a to-go box I actually said, "No, I'm just gonna snork this down before I go back to work." Class-ay.

I couldn't find a pic of "The Wizard" but this will likely be my next Cupcakery adventure--the Kir Royale--"moist raspberry cake drenched in a bubbly champagne frosting." Whoa-yeah.  

But back to my bookish discussion...I like sweets. I need lightish reading. Paris, My Sweet sounds like just the ticket.

I've missed you all horribly and will be trying to catch up on some of my blog reading tonight and tomorrow. I hope you're all well and swimming in books!!!

Watch for upcoming posts on the new books that have landed in my house since I logged in last. AND a very impassioned discussion of authors who are using social media to their best advantage with a human touch. :) "Click to buy" need not apply!

Remember Me? I Like Books and Cupcakes.

I bet y'all thought I was eaten by a desert creature in Phoenix, eh??? Not quite.

The new job is off to a rollicking good start. Much to do, much to do. I really like the people I work with, and while it will be challenging to come up with strategies that work with a diverse bunch of ventures, I can't wait to dig in even further than I already have.

But I've posted enough jobby jobness lately, so let's talk about books!!! This weekend will be the first time I've had an opportunity to read for fun in the last several weeks, so I am almost beside myself with joy! What I'll pick up next is the hard part. With far too many obligations on my plate, I'm not trying to hold myself to any sort of plan. Any reading is good reading!

Right now my choice is a toss-up between Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas and The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry. They're both wildly different books, so it just depends on what grabs me.

If I were a bettin' woman (which I totally am), I would side with Paris, My Sweet. I've been in something of a confectionery mood. Maybe it's the stress, but I've been obsessed with sweets. Not indulging so much, but lusting after sweets of each and every kind. With this in mind, Chuck and I had lunch next door to The Cupcakery's uptown Dallas location yesterday. Our office is literally right down the street. It was my first trip to The Cupcakery, and it was pure heaven. Of all the great, decadent flavors, I chose "The Wizard" a butterbeer cupcake!!! And it was a-mazing. Butterscotchy, vanilla, cream soda magic. Seriously delicious. When the counter attendant asked if I wanted a to-go box I actually said, "No, I'm just gonna snork this down before I go back to work." Class-ay.

I couldn't find a pic of "The Wizard" but this will likely be my next Cupcakery adventure--the Kir Royale--"moist raspberry cake drenched in a bubbly champagne frosting." Whoa-yeah.  

But back to my bookish discussion...I like sweets. I need lightish reading. Paris, My Sweet sounds like just the ticket.

I've missed you all horribly and will be trying to catch up on some of my blog reading tonight and tomorrow. I hope you're all well and swimming in books!!!

Watch for upcoming posts on the new books that have landed in my house since I logged in last. AND a very impassioned discussion of authors who are using social media to their best advantage with a human touch. :) "Click to buy" need not apply!

Personally: One More Milestone

And just that quick, my office at the college is packed up. I've spent this past week scrambling to square away administrative tasks to make life easier for my colleagues after I'm gone. I've shredded my weight in paper. I've given and received a lot of hugs.

It certainly is odd to be leaving here after three years of chasing students, chasing faculty. There was a cake this week, cards, gifts from colleagues and students. There's been a lot of reflecting. I was offered an opportunity to grow up professionally here. So much good advice and mentoring.

While I can't believe I'm done with my journey here with these wonderful co-workers, I am undoubtedly excited to be doing something new that's so close to my heart. And in many ways I'll be carrying on what I started here -- helping new institutions engage with students and professionals via the social Web, ferreting out new ways to learn and new ways to do business.

Bittersweet as it is, I think I'm ready to go. Good things await.

Personally: One More Milestone

And just that quick, my office at the college is packed up. I've spent this past week scrambling to square away administrative tasks to make life easier for my colleagues after I'm gone. I've shredded my weight in paper. I've given and received a lot of hugs.

It certainly is odd to be leaving here after three years of chasing students, chasing faculty. There was a cake this week, cards, gifts from colleagues and students. There's been a lot of reflecting. I was offered an opportunity to grow up professionally here. So much good advice and mentoring.

While I can't believe I'm done with my journey here with these wonderful co-workers, I am undoubtedly excited to be doing something new that's so close to my heart. And in many ways I'll be carrying on what I started here -- helping new institutions engage with students and professionals via the social Web, ferreting out new ways to learn and new ways to do business.

Bittersweet as it is, I think I'm ready to go. Good things await.

The Sunday Salon - On Information Hoarding

Everyone has some specific ways they respond to stress, and for many of the readers and librarians I know, it involves information hoarding. 

I am an information hoarder. This is a little of what that looks like.

1. When I feel unseated I tend to read EVERYTHING I can get my hands on about a topic.

2. I tend to start writing copious notes I'll have to go back through later and decipher for myself and anyone else who cares.

3. I tend to observe others who are doing the same thing I'm hoarding about or a community at large that can help me feel more grounded.

Check, check, check! 

I am REALLY not trying to drive you all crazy with new-job-talk, but it is sending out such drastic, resonating shockwaves through my life, it's really hard to avoid! And I need to vent. So there! It's really a trifecta of crazy. Let's analyze...

1. Old Job Crazy - This past week I've been finishing up my duties at the college and getting the t's crossed and the i's dotted to pass my materials along to our Dean since she'll be absorbing a lot of my current duties. My last day at the college is Friday, March 9th, which coincides with the last day of the academic term, so I've also been grading papers and getting those grades ready to post. Busy, stupid, crazy.

2. Online Job Crazy - Five online classes are kicking my tail. Given, I inherited three new classes several weeks into the semester. I am so so so glad to have the extra  income, but the grading is a nightmare. I've been trying to catch up this weekend with mild success. It just always takes SO MUCH LONGER to grade papers online. 

3. New Job Crazy - I am just astounded by the amount of work there is to be done. Like so many companies, social media has been something of an afterthought with a bunch of other irons on the fire. The process of cleaning up, doing lots of "listening" and research, and ultimately building the social media strategy into something doable for a bunch of different brands is going to be a huge challenge. Right now I'm getting a handle on what each brand needs, what's being said (or not said) on the web about those brands, and laying down an infrastructure for the department. I'll be diving into this gig head on with travel plans to Phoenix next Sunday and Monday.

See why all the info hoarding??? 

One of the better hoarding decisions I've made this past week was to download a copy of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen. This came as a recommendation from a good buddy at work and was confirmed by some good buddies online. 

Kerpen owns a successful social media consulting firm and has a lot of great advice. Is it all brand new advice? No. If you've been in social media in some capacity--blogger, Twitter, Facebook user, marketer--you'll already know a lot of the tactics in this book. However, it does provide some pretty interesting and heartening statistics about building a following on Facebook and Twitter to increase sales, brand recognition, and overall presence in the market. It also synthesizes some of the more innovative and successful efforts undertaken by other brands that have given me some ideas. Take what works and do it better!!! That's my goal. 

The number one goal of this book? BE LIKEABLE and helpful. More companies should live by that rule.

This book has really confirmed what I want to do in my new job and given me a few new ideas to throw into my bag of tricks. That's probably the most valuable thing I could have right now -- a sense of calm and knowing. Confirmation that I do know what to do with the challenge even though my head is spinning. 

Another side effect of gaining a job in social media?!...

A desire to keep this blog TOTALLY SEPARATE from my work. Obviously I'm not doing a very good job of it at the moment, but I think when some of the twirliness passes, I'll be able to settle back into my happy place here. You won't see me doing a lot of things differently here. I don't want to use this blog as a petri dish for my work. Just good reading, a lot of honest reality, and snark.

So that's my Sunday! Posts will still be slow here in the next couple of weeks until I get settled but I am thinking of my bloggy peeps, wishing for more reading time, more posting time, and more commenting around the blogosphere. Twitter has been an especially helpful connection to my bloggy peeps the last couple of weeks since it doesn't require more than 140 characters of thought at a time. And Pinterest! Lots of pinning going on.

The Sunday Salon - On Information Hoarding

Everyone has some specific ways they respond to stress, and for many of the readers and librarians I know, it involves information hoarding. 

I am an information hoarder. This is a little of what that looks like.

1. When I feel unseated I tend to read EVERYTHING I can get my hands on about a topic.

2. I tend to start writing copious notes I'll have to go back through later and decipher for myself and anyone else who cares.

3. I tend to observe others who are doing the same thing I'm hoarding about or a community at large that can help me feel more grounded.

Check, check, check! 

I am REALLY not trying to drive you all crazy with new-job-talk, but it is sending out such drastic, resonating shockwaves through my life, it's really hard to avoid! And I need to vent. So there! It's really a trifecta of crazy. Let's analyze...

1. Old Job Crazy - This past week I've been finishing up my duties at the college and getting the t's crossed and the i's dotted to pass my materials along to our Dean since she'll be absorbing a lot of my current duties. My last day at the college is Friday, March 9th, which coincides with the last day of the academic term, so I've also been grading papers and getting those grades ready to post. Busy, stupid, crazy.

2. Online Job Crazy - Five online classes are kicking my tail. Given, I inherited three new classes several weeks into the semester. I am so so so glad to have the extra  income, but the grading is a nightmare. I've been trying to catch up this weekend with mild success. It just always takes SO MUCH LONGER to grade papers online. 

3. New Job Crazy - I am just astounded by the amount of work there is to be done. Like so many companies, social media has been something of an afterthought with a bunch of other irons on the fire. The process of cleaning up, doing lots of "listening" and research, and ultimately building the social media strategy into something doable for a bunch of different brands is going to be a huge challenge. Right now I'm getting a handle on what each brand needs, what's being said (or not said) on the web about those brands, and laying down an infrastructure for the department. I'll be diving into this gig head on with travel plans to Phoenix next Sunday and Monday.

See why all the info hoarding??? 

One of the better hoarding decisions I've made this past week was to download a copy of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen. This came as a recommendation from a good buddy at work and was confirmed by some good buddies online. 

Kerpen owns a successful social media consulting firm and has a lot of great advice. Is it all brand new advice? No. If you've been in social media in some capacity--blogger, Twitter, Facebook user, marketer--you'll already know a lot of the tactics in this book. However, it does provide some pretty interesting and heartening statistics about building a following on Facebook and Twitter to increase sales, brand recognition, and overall presence in the market. It also synthesizes some of the more innovative and successful efforts undertaken by other brands that have given me some ideas. Take what works and do it better!!! That's my goal. 

The number one goal of this book? BE LIKEABLE and helpful. More companies should live by that rule.

This book has really confirmed what I want to do in my new job and given me a few new ideas to throw into my bag of tricks. That's probably the most valuable thing I could have right now -- a sense of calm and knowing. Confirmation that I do know what to do with the challenge even though my head is spinning. 

Another side effect of gaining a job in social media?!...

A desire to keep this blog TOTALLY SEPARATE from my work. Obviously I'm not doing a very good job of it at the moment, but I think when some of the twirliness passes, I'll be able to settle back into my happy place here. You won't see me doing a lot of things differently here. I don't want to use this blog as a petri dish for my work. Just good reading, a lot of honest reality, and snark.

So that's my Sunday! Posts will still be slow here in the next couple of weeks until I get settled but I am thinking of my bloggy peeps, wishing for more reading time, more posting time, and more commenting around the blogosphere. Twitter has been an especially helpful connection to my bloggy peeps the last couple of weeks since it doesn't require more than 140 characters of thought at a time. And Pinterest! Lots of pinning going on.

Tasks, Tasks Everywhere!

Reading what??? Books? Yeah, no.

I have had a hard time digging into my reading the last week or so because of all the HAPPENINGS. Not surprising at all, I'm sure. I laid aside Teju Cole's Open City. It was a gorgeous book, and I'm certain I'll come back to it, but I just cannot do a meandering plot right now.

I started on Cinder earlier in the week and it's admittedly not sucking me in immediately. I think I'm still in the mood for something more adult-fictiony but not overly cerebral. SO, I dove into Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child last night, and I think it's going to do the trick. The writing is lovely and I'm already feeling the tug of wanting to read further.

From the opening pages...

Mabel had known there would be silence. That was the point after all. No infants cooing or wailing. No neighbor children playfully hollering down the lane. No pad of small feet on wooden stairs worn smooth by generations, or clackety-clack of toys along the kitchen floor. All those sounds of her failure and regret would be left behind and in their place there would be silence. (3)

In other news, I turned in my resignation letter to my existing job just yesterday, and while I'm excited for my future, it's bittersweet to be leaving the students and my team of instructors and my fellow PCs that I love so much. I'll be drafting an announcement to the instructors and breaking the news to some of my students today, in fact. I see lots of hugging in my near future.

That's what's shaking around here. The weekend will be low key -- catching up on some grading for my online classes and getting those squared away before more madness at work next week.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Tasks, Tasks Everywhere!

Reading what??? Books? Yeah, no.

I have had a hard time digging into my reading the last week or so because of all the HAPPENINGS. Not surprising at all, I'm sure. I laid aside Teju Cole's Open City. It was a gorgeous book, and I'm certain I'll come back to it, but I just cannot do a meandering plot right now.

I started on Cinder earlier in the week and it's admittedly not sucking me in immediately. I think I'm still in the mood for something more adult-fictiony but not overly cerebral. SO, I dove into Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child last night, and I think it's going to do the trick. The writing is lovely and I'm already feeling the tug of wanting to read further.

From the opening pages...

Mabel had known there would be silence. That was the point after all. No infants cooing or wailing. No neighbor children playfully hollering down the lane. No pad of small feet on wooden stairs worn smooth by generations, or clackety-clack of toys along the kitchen floor. All those sounds of her failure and regret would be left behind and in their place there would be silence. (3)

In other news, I turned in my resignation letter to my existing job just yesterday, and while I'm excited for my future, it's bittersweet to be leaving the students and my team of instructors and my fellow PCs that I love so much. I'll be drafting an announcement to the instructors and breaking the news to some of my students today, in fact. I see lots of hugging in my near future.

That's what's shaking around here. The weekend will be low key -- catching up on some grading for my online classes and getting those squared away before more madness at work next week.

What are your plans for the weekend?

The Sunday Salon - A Mixed Bag Week

Happy Sunday morning, everyone! I have a breakfast casserole in the oven, a cup of coffee beside me, and a book open on the bed. I stayed up entirely too late finishing Ann Patchett's State of Wonder for my 2012 Tournament of Books personal reading challenge. I did have the luxury of sleeping until almost 9:00 this morning, and I almost never do that. I'm rested and ready for the day. I'll take some more time to read books and blog posts after I post assignments for my online classes. Fun fun fun. While today is slated to be relaxing, the earlier part of the week was not so great.

This past week was the most stressful I've had in a while. I mentioned in a blog post a while back that my job will eventually be going away. With that in mind, we had some very important visitors on campus one day this week, and while I do not have blood pressure problems in the least, their visit alone made my head feel like it was going to explode. Long story. Not a story for the blog, but it was suitably heavy to make me glad to see the end of the week.

My job is still secure for now--every day is business as usual--but it was still enough to take a toll on my writing and reading habits this week. The good news is that I've been poking around online, and there are some interesting prospects posted here and there. Not a ton of jobs, but a few that excite me.  I would like to get into a more significant position in the online education sector. If I could work from home I would soil myself with glee. Seriously. Cross your fingers.

The weekend has been much better. In fact, yesterday was super bookish. I met up with my former graduate school colleague and good buddy, TheOtherFeminist, for Chinese food and book talk. I pulled up at the restaurant a touch early and got a table for some reading. Fem came in a few minutes late. All told, we got the party started around noon and the next thing we knew we'd talked until 4:00!!! Any time we get together we have scads to discuss, and much of it is related to teaching and reading and literary theory and all that awesome stuff.

We started brainstorming a new anthology of short stories we're affectionately calling The Kickass, Bookgasmic Anthology of Undersung Short Stories. You'd buy it, right?! The whole idea is that most of the anthologies for teaching literature (and simply reading!) have the same old stuff in them. We started a list of lesser-known stories we think would blow professors' and students' skirts up. We also have a penchant for the twisted, FYI. *wink*

We also talked about what we've been reading lately and what's on the docket for later. And of course, there were recommendations, and iPhone e-mailing of recommendations. You know how it goes when book nuts gather. It's rare that I get to indulge in heavy book talk with a face-to-face buddy. We have plans to get together at a Real Bookstore soon and do it all again!

While the week started out rocky, it certainly ended strong. This coming week should be much more even keel (knock on wood). I hope your weekend is wrapping up right and you'll be off to a good start tomorrow.

What are you reading today?


**If you're interested in joining in The Sunday Salon, visit the Facebook page!

The Sunday Salon - A Mixed Bag Week

Happy Sunday morning, everyone! I have a breakfast casserole in the oven, a cup of coffee beside me, and a book open on the bed. I stayed up entirely too late finishing Ann Patchett's State of Wonder for my 2012 Tournament of Books personal reading challenge. I did have the luxury of sleeping until almost 9:00 this morning, and I almost never do that. I'm rested and ready for the day. I'll take some more time to read books and blog posts after I post assignments for my online classes. Fun fun fun. While today is slated to be relaxing, the earlier part of the week was not so great.

This past week was the most stressful I've had in a while. I mentioned in a blog post a while back that my job will eventually be going away. With that in mind, we had some very important visitors on campus one day this week, and while I do not have blood pressure problems in the least, their visit alone made my head feel like it was going to explode. Long story. Not a story for the blog, but it was suitably heavy to make me glad to see the end of the week.

My job is still secure for now--every day is business as usual--but it was still enough to take a toll on my writing and reading habits this week. The good news is that I've been poking around online, and there are some interesting prospects posted here and there. Not a ton of jobs, but a few that excite me.  I would like to get into a more significant position in the online education sector. If I could work from home I would soil myself with glee. Seriously. Cross your fingers.

The weekend has been much better. In fact, yesterday was super bookish. I met up with my former graduate school colleague and good buddy, TheOtherFeminist, for Chinese food and book talk. I pulled up at the restaurant a touch early and got a table for some reading. Fem came in a few minutes late. All told, we got the party started around noon and the next thing we knew we'd talked until 4:00!!! Any time we get together we have scads to discuss, and much of it is related to teaching and reading and literary theory and all that awesome stuff.

We started brainstorming a new anthology of short stories we're affectionately calling The Kickass, Bookgasmic Anthology of Undersung Short Stories. You'd buy it, right?! The whole idea is that most of the anthologies for teaching literature (and simply reading!) have the same old stuff in them. We started a list of lesser-known stories we think would blow professors' and students' skirts up. We also have a penchant for the twisted, FYI. *wink*

We also talked about what we've been reading lately and what's on the docket for later. And of course, there were recommendations, and iPhone e-mailing of recommendations. You know how it goes when book nuts gather. It's rare that I get to indulge in heavy book talk with a face-to-face buddy. We have plans to get together at a Real Bookstore soon and do it all again!

While the week started out rocky, it certainly ended strong. This coming week should be much more even keel (knock on wood). I hope your weekend is wrapping up right and you'll be off to a good start tomorrow.

What are you reading today?


**If you're interested in joining in The Sunday Salon, visit the Facebook page!

Post-Birthday Wrap-Up and Bookish Miscellany

Word.

I survived my birthday and my birthday weekend! My actual birthday was a plethora of work-related frivolity. My boss brought me a Starbucks skinny caramel macchiato in the morning and bought me a Chinese lunch. Our registrar brought me a miniature cake covered in scads of frosting and a surprise birthday balloon. The group (5 Program Chairs and the Librarian), surprised me with another cake AND flowers at our afternoon meeting. Oh, AND they gave me the most wonderful, work-inappropriate card and a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card!

And did I mention we all went out for drinks after work??? There are pics of myself in a handmade paper birthday crown posing with a Scotch egg (boiled egg covered in sausage and deep fried, served with spicy mustard and relish). And the egg had a candle in it. Ahem! Much fun was had by all, and I can't even tell you how much I appreciated their efforts. Talk about feeling wonderful at work!

Thanks to ALL of the wonderful folks who wished me a happy birthday on Facebook or here on the blog. I was most definitely feeling the love!!!



The weekend was low key: some time with Greyson, some time spent with my mom with cake and goodies, some minimal class grading, some reading.

Which leads me to my current books!!! After I finished up Bad Marie, I started Everything is Going to Be Great by Rachel Shukert. While she's a lovely, deranged individual, the book just isn't clicking form me. I'm having much better luck with You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. More on that one to come!

What are you reading? And would you consume a be-candled Scotch egg? Or a regular one, at that?!

Post-Birthday Wrap-Up and Bookish Miscellany

Word.

I survived my birthday and my birthday weekend! My actual birthday was a plethora of work-related frivolity. My boss brought me a Starbucks skinny caramel macchiato in the morning and bought me a Chinese lunch. Our registrar brought me a miniature cake covered in scads of frosting and a surprise birthday balloon. The group (5 Program Chairs and the Librarian), surprised me with another cake AND flowers at our afternoon meeting. Oh, AND they gave me the most wonderful, work-inappropriate card and a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card!

And did I mention we all went out for drinks after work??? There are pics of myself in a handmade paper birthday crown posing with a Scotch egg (boiled egg covered in sausage and deep fried, served with spicy mustard and relish). And the egg had a candle in it. Ahem! Much fun was had by all, and I can't even tell you how much I appreciated their efforts. Talk about feeling wonderful at work!

Thanks to ALL of the wonderful folks who wished me a happy birthday on Facebook or here on the blog. I was most definitely feeling the love!!!



The weekend was low key: some time with Greyson, some time spent with my mom with cake and goodies, some minimal class grading, some reading.

Which leads me to my current books!!! After I finished up Bad Marie, I started Everything is Going to Be Great by Rachel Shukert. While she's a lovely, deranged individual, the book just isn't clicking form me. I'm having much better luck with You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. More on that one to come!

What are you reading? And would you consume a be-candled Scotch egg? Or a regular one, at that?!