It’s not my intention to show you photos of Iceland piece meal, however, they are super appropriate for Eye Candy Friday and I don’t have anything else nearly as lovely in my portfolio right now. This one was taken right in front of our AirBnb. Yes, the scenery in Iceland is gorgeous and breathtaking.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I haven’t forgotten about Ask Me Anything, all evidence to the contrary. Today, in a catch-all sort of way, I’m going to answer 3 questions from the original AMA post I wrote back in May.
Sarah asked: will you please tell us more about what you do at your job?
I am a Library Director in a small town in Southeastern MA. I’ve had this job for almost exactly 22 years, I started on 9/19/1999. Most of what I do is management . . . submitting payroll, processing bills, staff scheduling and keeping the Board of Library Trustees informed about things at the library. I attend Department Head meetings and network meetings (I’m the President of our network this year) and I hold staff meetings. I schedule passport application appointments, I deal with patrons who have problems, I handle performance reviews and I catalog the magazines. I print out and pull the holds list (books that people have requested, some that stay at our library but most that go out in delivery) every morning, I sometimes work at the circulation desk and create flyers and newsletters (not as often as I should) and emails to entice people to attend library events. I love my job because I get to work in a beautiful place with really great people and I’m surrounded by stories.
Bonny asked: what do you enjoy (and not enjoy) about being a selectman:
I’ve served on the Board of Selectman in my town since April, 2019. I enjoy almost all aspects of this role, from attending meetings to contract negotiations, to problem solving with my colleagues on the board. I like working with our Department Heads and helping them be successful, not just for themselves but for the town overall. I like being . . . in the know and making decisions on behalf of the people who trusted me by putting me in this position. I think the only thing I don’t like is that sometimes I can’t tell people why we did something because it’s related to a personnel matter or a lawsuit or executive session. It can be really frustrating to see people on social media speculating (or blaming) us for something and I just want to say, listen! this is why! But out attorneys won’t let me, hahaha!
Kym asked: what do you consider to be your main superpower?
I’m good in a crisis. Like, really good. I don’t fall apart, I am able to assess what needs to be done and either do it or assign it to someone else, and I generally know the right thing to say. Case in point, when Dale got hit by a car last year, I was calm and held it together. Inside I was terrified and shaken to the core but on the outside I was calm, thanking everyone for what they were doing, calming down my kids and assuring them that everything would be fine, and asking questions and writing down the answers. I might fall apart after things settle down but in the moment . . . I’m the one you want. The sad truth is that this stems from childhood trauma and chaos but it has served me well as an adult.
And those are my answers for this week – I hope you learned something new about me.
If you wrote a post for today, please include your link below. Thanks, as ever, for hanging with me on Thursdays.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
We are three quarters of the way through 2021 and I think it’s a good idea to check in on how I’m doing with my 21 in 2021 list. Because, let’s face it, it’s becoming do or die time.
Alright. I’m prioritizing the bag of socks, the puzzles, and the stuffed artichokes! Wish me luck!
Ready to talk about Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller? I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like I read this book a lifetime ago. You too? Or maybe not. But either way, today is discussion day, not just here but over at Bonny’s and Kym’s, too.
I have two questions with regards to this discussion.
How did the novel encourage you to explore how humanity deals with people who live on the edge of society?
As I was reading the book, I often had to remind myself that it was set during the present time. Something about the cottage and the garden and maybe even the setting in general felt old world to me. Did you have that same impression? Discuss whether you did or did not.
I look forward to your comments. And don’t forget, we’re doing a zoom session tonight at 7pm EST to discuss things . . . errr . . . face to face. Okay, not really, but you know what I mean. I hope to see many of you later!
Before I get to what’s on my mind today, I want to remind you that tomorrow is discussion day for the Read With Us summer book selection, Unsettled Ground. Bonny and Kym and I will be posting questions on our blogs and then holding a zoom meet up at 7pm EST to discuss the book with anyone interested. It’s not too late to join us, just leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll make sure you get an invite.
Okay. Onward.
I went for a haircut on Friday and had to wait a few minutes for my stylist. While I was sitting there, a young woman was brought over to sit under the hair dryer. Her stylist made a point of telling her, “if you’re on your phone, make sure you hold it up at eye level so you aren’t looking down at it, otherwise the front of your hair won’t be getting enough heat.” Made perfect sense to me but I didn’t think too much of it at the time.
Then, last night, Dale and I were watching the Patriot’s game and every time they scanned the crowd I was struck by how many spectators were looking at their phones. I’d guess it was 1 in 4 that was looking down at a cell phone . . . while at a major (and rather expensive) sporting event.
Now. I’m probably shouldn’t judge, as I have an iPhone that I’m very attached to and I enjoy time on Facebook and Instagram and (lately anyway) TikTok. But, I like to think, and I’m aware that I could be very wrong about this, that I’m pretty cognizant of putting down the phone and . . . you know . . . living my life. Being present. Engaging with the people and things happening around me. I can absolutely tell you that I wouldn’t be looking down at a phone while attending a Pat’s game.
I think it’s safe to say that cell phones and devices are here to stay and an accepted part of our daily lives. At the same time, though, I think we have to be very careful about just how much we’re engaging with these devices and how much we might actually be missing by not putting down the phone and looking around. Phones are a great tool for so may things (remind me to tell you about the great meal planning app I just started using) and I have a lot of apps that I use that are not related to social media at all . . . Spotify and podcasts and Audible and so much more. And none of it is wrong. But some of it . . . well . . . maybe it’s too much.
I’m making a promise to myself, and I’m telling all of you so that I don’t forget, to engage more with people I am with and not so much with those on the screen. To save the social media stuff for when I’m alone. To be fully present.
I’m a firm believer in you-do-you, so please don’t take this as me lecturing you on your personal cell phone habits. But if you’ve got a little voice telling you that you’re maybe on TikTok too much (raises hand) then perhaps you’d like to reconsider how you spend your time, too.
And that’s what’s on my mind this Monday.