Ooh. It's Etsy!

I fully intended to follow the instructions for this NetTrek unit. I’d browse the list of Web 2.0 award winners, select a single site to explore, play for a bit, and then dutifully post my thoughts here on my blog. However, once I saw that list of really cool web sites and applications, I got a temporary case of ADD and got a little click-happy. Etsy for handmade Christmas gifts! Minti for parenting advice so I can perhaps get more than 6 hours of sleep at night! Farecast so I can know the best time to purchase plane tickets for my family’s planned trip to Oregon next year! Urbanspoon because I’m always hungry! Hmm. Too much sugar.

It is commonly said that you should go with your first instinct, so I decided to take a closer look at the site I first clicked to: Etsy, “your place to buy and sell all things handmade.” What I like in general about this site is that it feels like more than an online store – it is a community. The sellers are like-minded folks who fancy themselves artisans (or knitters or craftsmen or scavengers) catering to shoppers that prefer to purchase art, odd objects, letterpress papers, and clothing from the people who made these items. Visitors can shop by category (including geography for those committed to shopping locally) or browse staff-compiled gift guides. You can also request custom items if you, say, have your heart set on giving your kid a plush pachycephalosaurus for his birthday. (This is an actual request from a shopper on the site.) Sellers can get support from other sellers – critiques of their online stores – and attend online chats or webinars about using Etsy successfully. You can create a “mini Etsy,” using a widget to show off Etsy items on your personal web site.

As far as using this site in a library setting, I can’t really think of how the library itself could use Etsy’s resources. But I can see staff referring patrons to this site when they get questions about online selling or establishing a small business. Etsy’s blog has all sorts of how-to advice, lifestyle articles, and more features than I had time to explore on my first visit. I’ll be back, however. I still have Christmas shopping to do.

Look! I made my own Etsy mini with items from Columbia, MO sellers!

Etsy Buy Handmade lzwilli

favorites list

Inspired by our most recent NetTrek assignment, here is a list of my favorite things, in no particular order.

• The movie "Annie Hall" by Woody Allen
• Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting
• Newsy Christmas cards
  
• Sparky's peanut butter chocolate ice cream
• Peppermint mochas
• "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls
• Baking
• Billy Collins' poetry
  
• Sunday morning pancakes
• Grand Mesa in western Colorado
• The Oregon coast
• Peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches
  
• Annie's smile
• Ella's art
• Spencer's cooking
• That new book smell
• Farmer's markets
  
• Christmas stockings
  

Hugo Cabret

I'm currently enrolled in a course about library materials for children, and I just picked up "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznik. My first thought was, "Crap. This is huge." (I am a mama of two in addition to being a full-time library employee and a part-time student, so my reading time is limited and usually done when I probably should be sleeping.) Then I opened the book, and my second thought was, "This is amazing."

This book is a hybrid of sorts, part graphic novel, part traditional novel, part flip book, part picture book. It is somehow all and none of these things. The detailed pencil drawings propel the story forward and show action that is not described in the text. Some of the pictures closely mimic flickering black and white images as they might appear on a movie screen. The main character is an orphan. (Naturally - aren't most stories for children about orphans? "James and the Giant Peach," "Harry Potter," "The Boxcar Children," etc. What's up with that? The subject for another post, I guess.) He lives in secret behind the walls of a Paris train station. The year is 1931. He is the son of a clock maker, and he is desperate to repair the mechanical man his father was working to restore at the time of his death.

I highly recommend this Caldecott Medal winner, not just for children, but for adult readers as well. Ask for it at your local library! (*wink*) Read more about Hugo Cabret here: http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm

Playing to Learn / Going for the Goal

I love to learn. I've taken pottery classes, joined knitting circles, and read about the history of oranges just for fun. I view learning as play, and I like to "push buttons and see what happens." My problem is doing something with what I've learned. I don't often goal set. I learn for learning's sake without much purpose. Perhaps this is why I have 1 and 3/4 master's degrees but have just wandered around in office jobs instead of pursuing a definite career path. I'm a perpetual student. Or at least I have been. I'm currently seven months away from completing my MA in information science and learning technology with an emphasis in library science (whew - say that five times fast), and I plan to actually USE my degree as a professional librarian!