web 2.0

I checked out the travel pages, specifically boo.com, to look up prices on travel to Chicago and Scotland. This site is new to me and it seems to be very user-friendly and organized well. Some of the information is similar to more popular, well-known sites such as Expedia or Yahoo Travel, but it did have a more comprehensive offering of (especially) lodging options for the international searches. I'll probably return to this site again soon.

my scooter obsession

When I was twelve years old I saw my first Italian motorscooter. My dad's office was in the Tiger Hotel downtown and there was an old Vespa often parked outside, presumably belonging to a student. A lifelong obsession with vintage motorscooters began the first time I saw that rather beat-up, faded blue beast; I knew I had to have one of my own. There were several near attempts to obtain one over the years, but other things interfered until I began to despair of ever having my "two-stroke smoke" dreams come true. Finally, as my second marriage ended, I decided that having devoted my entire adult life to caring for the wants and whims of my partners it was now time to indulge myself for a change. At the ripe young age of 43 I became the proud owner of my beautiful red Stella motorscooter. Better than an old scooter that would require maintenance and care I'm probably not capable of performing, Stellas are a brand new version of the 1970's P-series Vespa with all the sweet lines and chrome-y flash of the vintage original, but with the dependability I need since I'm not very mechanically-inclined. (Although I'm learning!) "Sophie" is all steel with a unibody design, so she's SOLID! And heavy, so don't be surprised when you see me struggling to get her up on her stands when I ride to work. I park close to the window by the Info desk so I can peek at her when I'm out front at Circulation. She makes me smile!

habits

4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner

I have never had a lot of self-confidence and looking back on my life I now realize how much that has affected my personal and educational choices, especially during my college years. I made decisions that probably weren't in my own best interest because I doubted my abilities and let other peoples' opinions influence me. This held me back from accomplishing the educational goals I had set for myself when I was a teenager, and even now that I'm older I often let that seed of doubt creep into my consciousness when contemplating my goals and plans for the future.

7. teach/mentor others

This is an area where I actually do feel quite confident about my abilities. If there is a topic or issue or project I'm familiar with and I'm asked to present it to, or discuss it with, my friends or coworkers I usually really enjoy the opportunity and the interaction it involves. While normally quite shy, this is one situation where I surprise even myself at how self-assured I can be! Considering I changed my mind about being a high school English teacher because my shyness (especially in college) was so crippling that I couldn't even take a Speech class, it's apparent to me that over the years I've mostly conquered that problem. My work in Social Services has also involved a lot of teaching and mentoring over the years and definitely improved those skills.