Anyways, now that I have made some sad version of an apology to my 3 FOLLOWERS (Hay, I love you guys), it's time to update my life, lessons learned and fantastic recipes. Where to begin...
Life Lessons!
9. Just because I go to "library school" doesn't mean I'm a "librarian". To many of you this isn't a life lesson at all, IT'S OBVIOUS. I don't take ANY (repeat - ANY) library courses. My course plan for this year:
Semester 1: Information and Society, Information System Design, Archival Principles & Practices and Records Management.
Semester 2: Information Agency Management, Research Principles, Preservation Management and Archival Arrangement & Description.
GEE FOLKS, what's missing!? It is absolutely infuriating to talk to people about what I'm in school for. Generally I'll say "Archival studies and records management", which garners a confusing nod from most people. Then, flustered, I try and simplify it further - "I'm doing a Master of Library and Information Studies, I study information in all forms - however, I specialize in information that is at a semi-active or inactive stage, generally contained in archives" OH GOD. PANDORA'S BOX. "so... YOU'RE A LIBRARIAN. YOU STUDY BOOKS THAT NO ONE READS, YES." From this point, it is necessary to give up. Forever. I have no idea how the Knowledge Management stream explains what they do to their family members.
The moral of this lesson: We should really stop calling it "library school". I mean, it's cool when you're talking about it with other people in "library school" (because they realize that there are those in library school who wish to become something other than librarians), but to the outside world, they think that it's crazy that you have to do a Master's degree to shelf a book. One... two... *EYE ROLL*.
10. Acclimatizing sure is hard work! There are days in Montreal where I am still wandering around in a T-shirt. I still open all of the windows in my apartment during the day. I'm always warm, no matter what. The few times where I have felt like I'm dressing like everyone else in the city have been the nights where it dips to 0 or below 0. I'm wearing a coat! Just like everyone else... Not stripping in the streets looking like a crackhead.
Recipes!
I'm not sure if I've come up with anything amazing myself in the last 2 months. For serious. I've been stealing a lot of other peoples recipes, for sure. I have made an excellent mayo dip for fries/yam fries/potato wedges, but it's fairly obvious/simple:
INGREEGAMENTS:
Mayo, Chipotles (in a can, with adobo sauce), Lime Juice, Garlic.
Ensure that you put your chipotles through a food processor OR just chop it up really well. Make sure to add some adobo sauce to the mayo. Combine all those ingredients to taste. Tex-mex chipotle mayo! It is delish.
All of my other recipes have been plays on my original quesadilla recipe. Pour example: Cheesy rice. The best. shit. ever.
INGREEGAMENTS:
Some type of flavoured parboiled rice of your choosing. My favourite so far has been Uncle Ben's tomato and basil. You'll need some butter to make it.
Assorted vegetables: I use green peppers, sometimes red peppers, corn, carrot and onion. If you want spicy cheesy rice, add a hot pepper.
Oil: A splash in the pan for frying.
Salsa of your choosing
Cheese: generally the key for cheesy rice. I use a medium cheddar, but any melting cheese works fine.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Make your rice as per the instructions on the back of the package. I usually make 1 cup of rice (which fills up pretty much the entire pot, just a warning).
2. Cut your veggies up to a fairly small "chop". Like you would for a salad. Heat your skillet (make sure it's fairly large) with the oil in it to medium heat. Add onion and any frozen vegetables you've decided to use (I always use frozen corn). I generally add carrot right away too since it takes so long to cook. After a few minutes add the remaining vegetables. Keep frying them while your rice is cooking. 3. When you think you've fried your vegetables enough, add some salsa! Enough to let it simmer until your rice is totally done.
4. When the rice is done, add it to the frying pan mixture and mix until the vegetables and mixed throughout.
5. Put some of the rice on a plate and shred some cheese on that baby. Microwave for 40 seconds or until the cheese is melted.
VOILA. It sounds disgusting but it is SO GOOD.
My Life: Currently dubbed "The Library Crisis"
Unlike most undergraduate programs, course selection and where you want to go with your career is paramount to figure out while you're doing your graduate degree. For a lot of people, this is not an issue. They've had time to live their lives, figure out what they don't want to do etc. However, for me it's a major issue. There are some days where I feel I would be happy being an archivist or a records manager. I quite like the work and I'm a natural classifer.
But some days I think that I'm destined for something a bit different. At first, I thought this meant that I should stay in academia: Finish my M.L.I.S. and head straight into a doctoral program. As the semester wears on, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for research at this level or in this discipline. I started to look at other options. Firstly, I considered finishing this degree and doing an M.A. in my previous discipline, history. I'm still considering this. I really miss my historical research and my research area was (and still is) extremely understudied. So I started looking into M.A. programs at UWO and USaskatchewan, which both have at least one Great Plains specialist.
Other days, I think that I am cut out for research in this discipline, although not in what I originally intended to pursue. Although audio libraries and holdings are a big part of my "research soul", I'm more and more interested in records management and applied diplomatics (the basis for UBC's INTERPARES projects). I think this is also a nice segue into studying both history and archival studies concurrently within a PhD program. I also think the school that would be most apt to let me have this type of freedom is... *gulp*... UBC (my undergraduate alma mater). The gulp is not for the school itself, more than it is for the worry of doing two degrees at the same school. However, my undergraduate degree and my potential PhD have relatively nothing in common, so it may not be an issue necessarily.
My last idea/combination of ideas was to graduate with my M.L.I.S. and work for a year or two on contract jobs and get an idea of how workplaces use the concepts I've learned within my graduate studies to fuel some creativity into my future research. A big complaint I've had since I've been here is that I'm not writing anything crazy or unique (something I was notorious for in my undergrad), because I really don't have the mindset to do so. A new discipline requires a whole new lit review process that can be intimidating and daunting (and really, I have a lot of assignments so time is a major consideration). Anyways, I feel strongly that some work experience would greatly benefit my academic research and experience and it may be a somewhat "refreshing" experience to be away from school for a while (by the time I'm finished my Masters, it will be 6 years, no break). And hey, if I fall in love with a career and decide that I don't need to go back and do my doctorate, so be it. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing.
However, this does not help me in picking my courses for next year. Doing a PhD right out of this degree requires a lot of research intensive work. So I would be doing a six-credit research project, 3 credits of statistics and 3 credits of advanced research methods. That would leave me with only 12 credits of electives; hardly enough to help me develop some of the professional skills I would like.At this point I'm not even sure if I want to do a research project or if I want to save my research ideas for when I can better articulate them down the road, when I'm less stressed about this "library crisis" (as I've come to call it). Instead, perhaps I should do a 3 credit lit review. It's so hard to say. If I come up with anything golden over Xmas break, I may go my original path. We shall see.
STRESS AND A HALF.
