Lessons from cycling

1. Take any opportunity to get out into a beautiful sunny afternoon 
2. Barossa 'Valley' should offer some hints about the terrain 
3. Flat to a car and flat to a bicycle are not the same thing
4. Turns out the climb with the greatest altitude gain might be the shallowest
5. Sometimes given exhaustion and an opportunity to give up I keep going anyway
6. It is okay to get off and walk if you need to but...
7. When you do get to the top of the hill the sense of accomplishment is wonderful 
8. When you look back and realise you achieved more than you thought you were capable of the feeling is pretty good too
9. Sometimes you may have to brake for livestock and wildlife 
10. Bicycle mechanics are amazing, as is the difference when you add 30psi and don't have a brake jammed against the wheel
11. If you stop cycling for several months, whatever your reasoning, walking and climbing the stairs at work will not make up for it

By the end of Autumn I will substantially improve my time and reduce the number of hills requiring contact between shoes and path.

Found Alphabet - R

If I regret anything about this letter, it's not having it found and photographed for International Talk Like a Pirate day. Because... ARRR!

I visited Port Pirie last weekend for a fundraising dinner and also went hiking with my sister at Mount Remarkable National Park where she spotted this R - really nicely defined. I'd love another chance to take this shot - maybe when wearing a fly net. The walk was lovely but that particular national park appears to have taken delivery of several cubic metres of flies. Standing still for more than a couple seconds dramatically increased the risk of inhaling a fly. *shudder*

The other R was spotted in Brisbane a while back - I do like it but wanted something taken more recently.

I'd suggest this should be the last difficult letter to find but I really want to avoid jinxing myself...

Twilight Sparkle colour scheme bracelet

Something new to show you today - this bracelet is the first of a set I'm making using colour schemes from My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic as a theme. I've been wanting to do some themed work and with such bold colour combinations I thought this might be a good candidate. While basic colours/themes are used I'm not trying to make these a highly accurate, just having a bit of fun with them.

This one uses the colour scheme of Twilight Sparkle.

I have a few other themes I'd like to work with too but I haven't really developed the ideas for those yet.

Now back to the workbench...

The perks of walking to work

I have been walking to work wherever possible in my current job - there are the usual reasons - it's all of fifteen minutes and there's a fabulous coffee shop along the way. I save petrol, don't have to deal with traffic and as a bonus I even get some exercise.

One of the best parts of the walk is crossing the bridge over a linear park - it's been amazing to watch it change through the seasons, and sometimes there are extra perks like this Kookaburra - I was so glad to have a good camera with me so that I could catch this shot.

With luck I'll be back to my usual posts soon.

Public Libraries SA Con Report - Day 1, afternoon session

Contiuing from the previous post on the same topic, more of my personal highlights and things-to-think-on from Public Libraries SA Conference 2013. I'll update it with links to the presentation files when they're made available and post to let you know it's happened. In the meantime I want to capture as much of this as I can while it's still relatively fresh in my mind.

Patti Manolis, CEO of Geelong Regional Library, was the first speaker for the afternoon. Her library is in an area going through rapid transformational change - they are planning ahead for this. Previously the library service was significantly underfunded according to national standards, now it is much improved. Their new library is designed to be the cultural centrepiece of the region. It will aim for about 1/3 collection space, 2/3 people space to help them engage with information and each other in a variety of ways - the new central library will have more space, not less. It will also have a café - these are part of every major cultural instituation. I think I'll have to schedule a trip when this library is completed. It looks amazing.
Patti explained that culture eats strategy for breakfast - strategy without a culture of change is difficult to enact - you must utilise champions and minimise the effects of blockers. Internal and external customer service and communication are critical. To do this a strong business case for return on investment to funding bodies is critical.
This talk had some thoughts on collection development too - thoughts I noted were that libraries are looking for bang for buck (especially as circulation and circulation per item are statistics used) so frequently focus on popularity vs. breadth and depth in the collection. Usage based funding and acquisitions can be limiting and don't show what your collection is missing.

Mandi Wicks, Director of Audio and Language Content, SBS spoke about cultural change at SBS Radio that allowed the delivery of a better service that matched the changed cultural mix of Australia today.
She observed that change is the only constant - and in deciding change and direction their charter was central. SBS Radio examined how their reason to exist connected with today's world, not just how they applied the charter in the past. Everything they did was examined relative to their purpose.
SBS Radio faced a massive increase in competition and had to make sure they served the community of now, not just the community they had always served in order to reflect modern Australia.
Being where the customer is is important - social media is a resource to find others in a community over a large area.
To sum up it is important to have a clear purpose and face your challenges, be audience driven or risk becoming irrelevant, to embrace technology and create links with those who have a common purpose and serve the same groups.
In this talk I began to get a lot of ideas on forming partnerships rather than attempting to be everything on a limited budget and also makes me want to pin up a statement of purpose somewhere I see it all the time - something to use as a frame of reference.

The final speaker of day one was Ross Duncan (second biography down) from the Sunshine Coast Libraries, his topic was 'How libraries change the world'. If you want to hear him speak you can listen to a radio interview with the ABC. His presentation, interestingly, had quite a few parallels with Mandi Wicks' presentation. I found some really useful practical approaches in this presentation.
Libraries cannot afford to be the next Kodak - who invented the digital camera but then failed to ride the 'digital wave' and were left behind to perish. Playing it safe is no longer an option - that just gives our compeititon the chance to overtake us.
Loans are not necessarily the statistic to show our relevance. Overall loans are down, but visits are not. We are in the business of customer service, not the business of circulation.
We have to work out what business we are in - keywords were education, inclusion, awareness, information and experience. We must also see how this lines up with the vision of our councils.
We should understand the population of our areas and how they compare to library membership. If there are large differences we need to know why. Our existing customers can be our champions to help us reach the rest of the community.
Partnerships are valuable - perhaps Apple would run workshops, or a local gardening centre, perhaps other community experts? There are mutual benefits in these partnerships and they help engage more of the community. In these partnerships and in working with organisations such as Centrelink to give them a stigma-free meeting place we move from being organisers to facilitators and are able to offer more to the community without increasing the load on staff. We can also assist other areas of council - we have high engagement so are an excellent way to share information and seek feedback. This makes us a powerful tool for council to deliver on objectives - and not just those which primarily concern the library.
Staff can be excellent change leaders, we must leverage the ideas of staff at all levels for the benefit of all.

I'll be back with day two soon!

Found Alphabet - Q

I interrupt your conference review coverage because it's high time that this found alphabet got back on track if it's to have any hope of being finished this year...

This Q was found in Brisbane - a selective angle-and-crop of a statue of a rope knot in the general vicinity of Southbank. I've been trying to find another Q since but nothing half as good has popped up. About the next best is the anthill-and-stick formation I found on a walk at Kaiserstuhl Conservation Park a couple of weeks back. A lovely walk, if lacking in Qs. Hopefully R is not so elusive!

Public Libraries SA Con Report - Day 1, Morning session

I have wanted to attend a professional conference for a long time - this week I had my chance with Public Libraries SA Conference 2013. The speaker line-up was stellar and included Todd Sampson, Michelle Prak and Bernard Salt. If that was not enough the topic 'Libraries: Culture of Change' encompasses many important and interesting topics.

Chloe Fox opened the conference and asked us what our collective noun was as a ssssh of librarians is now outdated. She also reinforced that we are social hubs - something I am sure most of us know, but it is good to know that others are realising we are so much more than our collections

Todd Sampson was the first major speaker. His address, 'The Power of Creativity', was not library industry focused - the points he had to make were far more universal. He believes that creativity is undervalued and critical and that it is the last competitive advantage - fear frequently gets in its way. To overcome this it is not necessary to be braver than others, just to be brave a little longer. Also that if we choose to use social media we should be in constant beta mode - always trying new things. We must find out what the nature of our community's love for libraries is and give it a new face.

This video introduces the presentation. The video below contains an excerpt. Todd's presentation was inspiring - it set the tone for the rest of the conference. If there was a phrase that defined the conference it was 'be brave for five minutes longer'.

The next speaker was Bill Macnaught, National Librarian of the National Library of New Zealand talking about how the libraries of New Zealand, particularly the National Library, are moving into the future. He covered many topics so I am only including a few highlights.

Again creativity came to the front - creativity is the most important skill set for prosperity in the knowledge economy, it is not exclusively the domain of the arts (innovation is just creativity by another name) and it can be taught.

Digital literacy is currently on everyone's mind but it cannot exist without basic literacy. The library has a powerful role to play here - we are well placed to reach young children who school cannot yet reach. Libraries need to question if they are doing enough to serve these customers.

New Zealand is doing really fantastic things with digital preservation - Digital NZ is making New Zealand's documentary heritage available - it collects, connects and allows co-creation. You really should check this out - you can see the connections others have drawn or create your own 'sets' and share them onward. The sets can be serious and historical or whimsical - like this set of historic hula-hoopers.

I'll share more of my conference experiences soon!

Five book reviews for the price of one!

Spellbound is the second book in the Spell trilogy by Blake Charlton. I recently read the first book, Spellwright which was seriously impressive. This was still a good book - it opened very strongly and was rather hard to put down, but it didn't quite have the edge the first did. It also used one of my least favourite tropes, but I'd rather not spoiler it for you, and in connection with said trope, something that was stated to be impossible naturally happened and despite the predictability it was presented as a major reveal. Despite some flaws it still comes highly recommended to those who enjoy original high fantasy.
No release date has been given for book three yet. I hope it isn't too far off!

After becoming aware of the male-protagonist-dominated nature of my paranormal detective reading I've been looking for a good paranormal detective series with a female protagonist that doesn't rapidly head down the erotica or maiden in distress route for a long time.
Greywalker by Kat Richardson is the most promising I've sound so far. I like that the protagonist takes some time to get used to her abilities and that this is not done in too twee or convenient a manner - she takes time to start to control her new abilities and by the end of the book she's still got some way to go - a good thing as this is the beginning of an ongoing series. I like that she's got some useful skills but recognises the ability of others and uses the variety of skills that her friends and aquaintances have rather than being a one person solution to the ills of the world. I was briefly worried that it was taking a turn down the erotica route that so many have before but thankfully Greywalker proved me wrong.
Perfect? No. Looking foward to reading book two? Yes. Recommended? Also yes.

'Monday 17 April 8st 13, alcohol units 6 (drowning sorrows), cigarettes 19 (fumigating sorrows), calories 3983 (suffocating sorrows with fat-duvet), positive thoughts 1 (vg)

Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary is one of the very few chick lit books (and movies) that I really enjoy. It's really not my genre, but this stuff is really funny and, reading it (again) as a single nearly-thirty, at times it's absolutely nails things - the quote above isn't one of those things, thankfully. I found this on a market stall while on holiday in Brisbane when I was nearly out of reading matter. With a third book due in October it was well worth the time. I'll have to find the second before the new book is out!

“If you’re brave enough to try, you might be able to catch a train from UnLondon to Parisn’t, or No York, or Helsunki, or Lost Angeles, or Sans Francisco, or Hong Gone, or Romeless…”

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is another re-read from my Brisbane trip. I loved this book and I'm sure I'll read it plenty more times. Don't be put off by the recommended age of the book - it's great for adults too. A wonderful surreal world that evokes a feeling of wonder. A story that takes the tropes, runs with them for a bit and then turns them upside down to make something beautiful. Absolutely recommended.

When interviewed by Erin Morgenstern Neil Gaiman explained 'I told my publishers there was a novella on the way, but then I did a word count at the end, and realized I just wrote a novel by accident!' (source)

I was excited to hear that a Neil Gaiman novel was coming and I was not disappointed. I picked this up at the Queensland State Library bookshop when I was about to run out of holiday reading (again). The ocean at the end of the lane delivers a very different and dark fantasy based on places and events from Gaiman's childhood. Just go read it. Really.

Review: The Solitaire Mystery - Jostein Gaarder

I have several reviews to catch up with courtesy of my holiday reading but I've chosen to do this one first because this is a book that just might have changed my life.

I first discovered The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder in my high school library when I was about 14. It is a deeply philosophical novel that I realised I didn't fully understand. I enjoyed it, but I knew there was more that I couldn't see. I firmly resolved to read it again when I was older.

This was a resolution I promptly forgot until I was in a second hand bookshop in Darwin last September. I came across this and decided it was definitely time to see if I could comprehend the book better - my first reading was now half a lifetime ago.

A couple days later I was in Alice Springs walking around in a daze as I compared the messages of The Solitaire Mystery to the place my life had got to - it pointed out to me that in many ways I'd settled for something that was comfortable and easy and had just accepted the place I'd landed in rather than striving onward as I'd promised myself years ago when I chose to change careers. Where I found myself in work and home life wasn't what I'd wanted, exactly, but in my mind I was conscious I'd decided that it was good enough. That reading of The Solitaire Mystery might just have been the wake up call I needed.

Ten months later my life is in a very different place. A lot has changed and I realised earlier in the year that I'd achieved enough of my long-term goals that I needed to go looking for more - I can't give The Solitaire Mystery credit for all of it but I think it helped get me moving again. I though I should read it a third time while I was away in Brisbane and see what revelations it might have for me this time. I enjoyed it again but it didn't have the impact it did last time. Maybe the twists in the plot were too fresh in my mind, maybe I was happier with the image in the mirror this book presented me with. It was still time well spent.

I would absolutely recommend this book, it's somewhat quirky and different with a strong surreal element but the philosophy is wonderful and the themes are really intriguing. Maybe the ideas and concepts might give you one of those fantastic revelatory moments that a good book can bring. It's well worth finding out.

Found Alphabet - P

I just spent four wonderful and very relaxing days in Brisbane. I thought it would be a good chance to get this alphabet back on track. I've not found much to inspire a P post - at first I was just too busy, then I just couldn't find anything I liked. I think the holiday was very much needed... I feel refreshed and renewed, if somewhat tired from the late flights that I took in order to maximise holiday length.

The final choice is part of a sculpture near the Queensland State Library - found on my last day in Brisbane, the only one that wasn't blue-skied and sunny. It was nice not to be cold for a few days! The internet tells me the sculpture this is from is Approaching Equilibrium by Anthony Pryor.

The second below is also from a sculpture, this one in the Queensland Art Gallery - Elvira Madigan by Ron Robertson-Swann. This was the first of the images I found and after some weeks of feeling a bit disconnected from this project I suddenly had to scoot back to the cloak room to grab my camera. Hopefully this new rush of energy for the alpha-hunt continues.

I also did a lot of reading. I told you about Spellwright by Blake Charlton but read another four books too. That's a story for another post.