Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Every time we try to identify God, we are sure to identify what he is — what she is certainly not. And the genius of God to dwell where we would least likely look, within the depths of our own being, our own shallowness, our own darkness, our own humanity. --Martin Sheen My friend Pamerama was kind enough to share this great, On Being, podcast interview of Martin Sheen. I chose to read the podcast interview transcript instead, to I might better process Sheen's statements. I too am Catholic, but you don't need to be to enjoy. Sheen examines his return journey to faith and spirituality, and it's just wonderful. A great read before New Years revelry. Happiest New Years' Eve to you and yours! Be safe, be merry, be young tonight!

I am awaiting Board approval as to whether or not I can hire another Circ person in January--originally the plan was hire them in October, so there's overlap between them and the next retirement, to happen in Dec. '15. My hope is to go back up to having 4 part-time staff, never having replaced the one who retired a year ago, as I've given the college try for a year, and realize that it would be easier with a 4th on board again. That would also alleviate the need for our Page position. So, again I've begun the dreaded reading of lots of articles that are supposed to help me understand what to look for in interviewees, and make me feel less stressed. Stumbled across this Quartz article , which lead me to this other Quartz article, "Five errors that immediately get your resume rejected at Google." Also, found these things of note: WSJ, "Now Hiring? Tips for Conducting Interviews" Forbes , "9 Tips on Conducting Great Interviews" NPR, ...

A few things about interviewing I've learned from being on the hiring end of things. 10 INTERVIEW TIPS: Really prepare for an interview by reading over sample interview questions (Google). If you're really an overachiever, have your friends drill you so that you can work on your responses. If you have a phone interview have notes that you can refer to, the interviewer can't see those, so really go to town! Come prepared. Look at the company's website, read newspaper articles about that organization. Find a way to show that you know what that company represents and how they've made an impact in their profession and in the community! Bring samples of your work with you, or offer to send along a Powerpoint or other notes, anything that came up during the interview which seemed to peak their interests. Shoot your interviewer these things as soon as possible after the interview. DO NOT BLOW UP THEIR INBOX! I interviewed one woman who sent 3 emails after the int...

Crazy, wonderful weekend! My brother A3 (one of my favorite people in the whole world!) went car shopping with me on Saturday--he used to be a mechanic so he knows what to look and listen for--and after one shady car dealership, we moved on and found my baby! I love Saturns, and since getting rid of Harry in September I've been missing that sturdy, little car! This car's a 2006 Saturn Ion, a wonderful indigo blue and has thus been dubbed, "Inigo Montoya." I hope I have loads of roadtrips in this little car! While at A3 & Dayna's this weekend, I also got to see my Savannah Banana taking steps! She has taken a few, but just this weekend she tottered from one side of the room to the other amid cheers! So special. I love that kid and I can't believe she's turning 1yrs. old in less than a month! And work this week is sure to be crazy too! Among storytimes, a movie showing, school visits, a Board Meeting, a FRIENDS of the Library meeting, and more Summe...

Interview Wednesday morning went well. I interviewed for another Children’s/YA Librarian position. I am so tired of and bored with the interview process. Upon sharing this fact with a former boss and friend, Flava Flav, he began talking about how the interview process and all of these interviews are good practice for that one interview which will lead to your dream job. While I appreciate any advice that is free for the most part, that still doesn’t change the fact that I hate interviews. While preparing for the usual, repetitive and altogether uncreative questions my mind wanders to all of the highly inappropriate responses I could use. That is why I love my dearest friends…they help me come up with some good ones too. Upon sharing my interview frustrations with my friend Amos the other night, we came up with some new responses. Q: “What are your weaknesses?” A: “Well, my weaknesses include cottage cheese, dark chocolate and men over 40.” (My roommate M added an open bottle of Vo...

On my way out the door to an interview. It is for a part-time Children's position at a library @ 25 mins from my house. I hope they don't ask me why I want to work at their library--I always get that question--I might have to respond, "Well, I am really looking for a full time position that has benefits and where I might work at something that I am actually interested in, but I really need to pay the bills so I applied here." EVIL. Wish me luck!

3 States 2 Countries 1 Continent I feel as though I have been so far removed from blogger-dom that I have to explain where I have been. Life has been so crazy busy as of late. I have had between 3-4 papers due every week for the past month+ and so much reading. Last week was especially bad, one of those "I am going to quit right now...I don't need this degree" kinda weeks. I turned in a 9 page paper on the history and literary comparisons (of 7 different versions) of The Emperor's New Clothes, which interestingly enough, may not have been originally written by Hans Christian Andersen ; but may have come from a varied versions of a tale told centuries before in Italy and Spain. I turned in a "Book talk" and "Notecard" for All quiet on the Western Front . And most horrible of horrible, I had to give a presentation of my research proposal (this is the big final paper I have to write--though only 10 pages in length--and it sucks because what is the poi...