On the subject of daffodils Friday, Mar 21 2008 

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed–and gazed–but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

– William Wordsworth

From Rice University

Spring is here at last! Thursday, Mar 20 2008 

DaffodilsGreetings all! It is a lovely day in the nation’s capital. The sun is shining, birds are singing, the sky is a beautiful blue and there are puffy white clouds overhead. There’s still a bit of chill in the air, but the pear and plum trees are blooming, the daffodils popping up everywhere, in short - it is Spring!

So much is going on besides. Washington is preparing for the first baseball game at the new Nationals Stadium and that will shortly be followed by a visit from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

Into the mix of that is LexisNexis Library Week Government Librarian Breakfast Seminar on Wednesday April 2. That is always a good event.

Following that is the Computers in Libraries Conference on April 7-9. That always brings in a crowd of librarians.

I’m sure I’ll see many of my colleagues at both events!

Attaining a goal Monday, Mar 17 2008 

Greetings all - Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In addition, today marks two anniversaries for me. I started working in Washington, DC 23 years ago, and 22 years ago I began my federal career. So yea!!!

Now - the really fun news.

Several years ago I learned about the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. They have a huge catalog of old radio and television programs. On one of my trips to NYC I decided to spend an afternoon inside watching some old television programs - namely something that was impossible to see anywhere else.

I selected the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella. I grew up watching the production with Lesley Anne Warren and Stuart Damon. At some point I learned of an earlier production starring Julie Andrews, Ilka Chase as the Step Mother and Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley as the Step Sisters.

Well they had it complete with some of the original commercials! What a riot.

I fell in love with the place and thought to myself - “They want me to work here.” The practical side of me knew they’d never hire someone who lived so far away so I’d need to find a way to get acquainted. After many years I finally accomplished just that.

For the past two weeks I was working as an intern at the museum, now the Paley Center for Media. I mostly worked on tagging newspaper articles for the research department.

It was a great experience. I worked with a wonderful researcher who really knows her stuff. I met some great people and I had the fun of living in New York City for two weeks! In my evenings I went to see some great theatre. It was such a blast!!!

I don’t expect it to turn into any kind of a job offer, and that is okay - I’m just really happy to have finally done something that I had been thinking about for so many years!