Thanks to Allison for coming up with a hilarious list of "ation" words from LEEP 14.1's boot camp experiences... feel free to add your own in the comments. :)
LEEP-ations...
1. Libation
2. Deprivation
3. Carpal Tunnel-ation
4. Overweightation
5. Shower Shoe-ation
6. Caffeination
7. Frustration
8. Shermanation
9. Second Class-ation (for all the school media specialists in the hizz-ouse)
10. Sign-ation
11. Facebook-ation
12. Urination
13. Estabrookation
14. Discussionation
15. MOODLE-ation
16. Ellumination
17. Team Awesomeation
18. Swearation
19. SHARE-ATION
20. Over-ation
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
So, technically I'm done...
It's 12:36 am and technically speaking, I'm done.
Mill... done.
Tracking paper... done.
Group presentation... done.
Group Process paper... done.
Final exam questions... mostly... done.
Participation... almost done - one more lecture in the morning.
I set out to blog this experience each day, but it just wasn't possible. It would appear (and this is seriously news to me) that I am a slow and deliberate writer; when I've written in public here, I am ALWAYS the last one done. Didn't leave a lot of time for leisure writing, you know what I mean?
I understand that some people have been sending their spouses here... their siblings and friends, too. All I can say is that this experience is not something you'll ever be able to understand (well, unless your LEEP'er is a bit more "chill" than I am) and it's best to let them bring it up when all the feelings come rushing to the surface.
For now, I'll leave you with more pictures and captions from the stay and promise that I'll be back for LIS 501 in the fall.
Liz :)
The Creative Commons pizza makes its debut on the Quad...
...where apparently there are some co-eds who just need to see the rules in pink-and-concrete.
My husband and I lived on campus when one of the early Toyota Priuses (Priui?) was being driven around here. I seriously hope that the Twike doesn't take off in quite the same way.
Yogurt with the ladies... so glad Garcia's pizza was forced out to make room for this deliciousness.
Mill... done.
Tracking paper... done.
Group presentation... done.
Group Process paper... done.
Final exam questions... mostly... done.
Participation... almost done - one more lecture in the morning.
I set out to blog this experience each day, but it just wasn't possible. It would appear (and this is seriously news to me) that I am a slow and deliberate writer; when I've written in public here, I am ALWAYS the last one done. Didn't leave a lot of time for leisure writing, you know what I mean?
I understand that some people have been sending their spouses here... their siblings and friends, too. All I can say is that this experience is not something you'll ever be able to understand (well, unless your LEEP'er is a bit more "chill" than I am) and it's best to let them bring it up when all the feelings come rushing to the surface.
For now, I'll leave you with more pictures and captions from the stay and promise that I'll be back for LIS 501 in the fall.
Liz :)
The Creative Commons pizza makes its debut on the Quad...
...where apparently there are some co-eds who just need to see the rules in pink-and-concrete.
My husband and I lived on campus when one of the early Toyota Priuses (Priui?) was being driven around here. I seriously hope that the Twike doesn't take off in quite the same way.
Yogurt with the ladies... so glad Garcia's pizza was forced out to make room for this deliciousness.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Heeeeeeerrrrrree's Blankenship!
"Things I Learned in Boot Camp"
by L.M. Blankenship
by L.M. Blankenship
- No one should stay in a dorm room past the age of 21.
- European hostels have better bathrooms than Sherman Hall
- The syllabus is a living document
- Tracking paper = the most time you’ve ever spent on 6 pages
- There are a whole lot of ations
- You must engage the text!
- It all goes back to Mill
- Four-eyes are better than two
- Post it on the Moodle
- Boogle = Google Books
- Foogle = F*ck Google
- We are part of the On-LLINI
- Jill, Karla and Matt really are Team Awesome
- A 31st birthday is better known as the 10th Anniversary of your 21st
- Not only is strawberry vodka terrible, but you can’t drink it in the lobby
- Air conditioners must stay on so you can be cryogenically frozen at night
- Diagonal crosswalks are all the rage
- By day 3 your eyes become a permanent shade of pink
- I’m scrappy
- The toilet paper at U of I has the unique dual qualities of being transparent and as rough as sandpaper.
- Assignments are not assigned – they’re revealed
- Group projects can be awesome – especially when felt is involved
- Gang signs are for librarians
- My best resource for getting a job is rubbing a nose
- Since I haven’t committed suicide or dropped out, I must be doing ok
Slacker...
Hey... how's it going? Good, good.
Hey, look. I'm REALLY sorry about not showing up for the last couple of days - I've been *really* busy, I swear.
I know I've been a real slacker, I'm on semester break right now, so I am going to catch up as best I can.
It was my birthday on Monday. People were EXTREMELY cool about it. I thought (initially) that it was really funny to think of it as the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday - but then I realized that I didn't want to think of my 21st birthday as been a full DECADE behind me now.
Going to Murphy's and grabbing a burger with these guys did ease the pain a bit.
(l-r... Laura, Ted, Arpi, & Allison)
***
Since it WAS my birthday and I seem to be on a gastronomical tour of this town anyways, Laura & Allison also accompanied me out for dinner at an old favorite on Prospect Ave...
It was yummy - especially the Xena, Warrior Princess cake
that Allison picked out for me.
(The menu said Xanga... I thought Xena... it was DELICIOUS)
Dessert fit for a Warrior princess...
Best part of dinner? TIE.
1) Being carded after ordering a margarita on my 31st birthday...
and
2) Allison's phone slipping into a blackhole in her car where we could HEAR it ringing, but could not for the LIFE OF US figure out what direction it was coming from or how to retrieve it.
Blankenship looking PRE-TTY jazzed about the search for Cabaj's phone.
Photographic evidence that it took me calling the phone SEVEN times
for us to figure out where in the funk it had gotten to.
***
After dinner, trip down memory lane...
Ya missing something?
Don't worry. UIUC has a GIANT one you can borrow.
Getting a Masters' degree in LIS...
with no intention of EVER returning to a school...
ah, the time and energy (and money)
I wasted in this building. :)
I think some of the out-of-towner LEEP'ers thought we were kidding....
... but we got MAD love for the Morrow Plots, yo.
We don't cast a shadow on this corn, no sir.
Last, but not least...
It's pronounced LIB-rary... like LIB-eral, right?
Hey, look. I'm REALLY sorry about not showing up for the last couple of days - I've been *really* busy, I swear.
I know I've been a real slacker, I'm on semester break right now, so I am going to catch up as best I can.
It was my birthday on Monday. People were EXTREMELY cool about it. I thought (initially) that it was really funny to think of it as the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday - but then I realized that I didn't want to think of my 21st birthday as been a full DECADE behind me now.
Going to Murphy's and grabbing a burger with these guys did ease the pain a bit.
(l-r... Laura, Ted, Arpi, & Allison)
***
Since it WAS my birthday and I seem to be on a gastronomical tour of this town anyways, Laura & Allison also accompanied me out for dinner at an old favorite on Prospect Ave...
It was yummy - especially the Xena, Warrior Princess cake
that Allison picked out for me.
(The menu said Xanga... I thought Xena... it was DELICIOUS)
Dessert fit for a Warrior princess...
Best part of dinner? TIE.
1) Being carded after ordering a margarita on my 31st birthday...
and
2) Allison's phone slipping into a blackhole in her car where we could HEAR it ringing, but could not for the LIFE OF US figure out what direction it was coming from or how to retrieve it.
Blankenship looking PRE-TTY jazzed about the search for Cabaj's phone.
Photographic evidence that it took me calling the phone SEVEN times
for us to figure out where in the funk it had gotten to.
***
After dinner, trip down memory lane...
Oh, hey little guy...
Ya missing something?
Don't worry. UIUC has a GIANT one you can borrow.
Getting a Masters' degree in LIS...
with no intention of EVER returning to a school...
ah, the time and energy (and money)
I wasted in this building. :)
I think some of the out-of-towner LEEP'ers thought we were kidding....
... but we got MAD love for the Morrow Plots, yo.
We don't cast a shadow on this corn, no sir.
Last, but not least...
It's pronounced LIB-rary... like LIB-eral, right?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Fallen Brother
My mother and father, having both been born and raised in Ireland and Irish Catholic households of 8 and 13 children respectively, had a good deal of respect for Frank McCourt and his book, Angela's Ashes.
"It was, of course, a miserable childhood: The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."
Rest in peace, now, Teacher Man.
"It was, of course, a miserable childhood: The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."Rest in peace, now, Teacher Man.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
My Kingdom for some Marriott Points....
Sensing a theme here - my posts will be a day late and a dollar short. :)
Day 3 was another LONG day of LEEPin', but I didn't take any photos of the day's activites. I don't really dig text-only posts, so I've decided to take you on a tour of my prison cel... I mean, dorm room.
We'll begin at the beginning. These are my keys. The orange card is a swipe card that gets me into Sherman after they lock the doors in the evening for security reasons. I love it because I can never get to it without some sort of struggle, mainly because I refuse to wear things with pockets (or at least it would appear that way). The gold key you see here opens the door to my prison cel... I mean, dorm room and the adjacent bathroom. It's also awesome because it has the added security feature of having my room number printed right on it; you know, in case I drop it and some shady character would like to deliver it directly to me. While I'm asleep in my bed.
Using that lovely key, you open the door onto this magical kingdom.
I believe the dimensions are 3'x5'...
The spacious closet is lost on me, with the exception of the obscene number of shoes I brought. Apparently I wanted to repeat the wearing of my footwear only ONCE during this 10-day stay.
The other side of the closet houses a pair of shoes I didn't think I'd ever have to own after I graduated in 2001 - the shower sandals. I don't wear them because *I* have any foot fungi and I hope not to offend my bathroom buddy, Julie, by wearing them because I doubt *she* has any foot fungi, but I'll say it again - "Good shower sandals make good bathroom buddies".
Speaking of the bathroom, check it out. It's pretty utilitarian, but it gets the job(s) done.
Eww. Sorry about that.
I couldn't get the picture I desired to demonstrate just HOW small this shower stall is - mainly because I couldn't get far enough away from it to get a better angle. As I write, it's 12:24am - and I don't know how happy Julie would be if I knocked to ask if I could stand inside her cell to get a better picture.
In case you were worried.
No storage in the bathroom means that this gets housed above my desk. It takes a lot to keep me looking... well, decent enough to show my face and hair in public.
Day 3 was another LONG day of LEEPin', but I didn't take any photos of the day's activites. I don't really dig text-only posts, so I've decided to take you on a tour of my prison cel... I mean, dorm room.
We'll begin at the beginning. These are my keys. The orange card is a swipe card that gets me into Sherman after they lock the doors in the evening for security reasons. I love it because I can never get to it without some sort of struggle, mainly because I refuse to wear things with pockets (or at least it would appear that way). The gold key you see here opens the door to my prison cel... I mean, dorm room and the adjacent bathroom. It's also awesome because it has the added security feature of having my room number printed right on it; you know, in case I drop it and some shady character would like to deliver it directly to me. While I'm asleep in my bed.
Using that lovely key, you open the door onto this magical kingdom.I believe the dimensions are 3'x5'...
The spacious closet is lost on me, with the exception of the obscene number of shoes I brought. Apparently I wanted to repeat the wearing of my footwear only ONCE during this 10-day stay.
The other side of the closet houses a pair of shoes I didn't think I'd ever have to own after I graduated in 2001 - the shower sandals. I don't wear them because *I* have any foot fungi and I hope not to offend my bathroom buddy, Julie, by wearing them because I doubt *she* has any foot fungi, but I'll say it again - "Good shower sandals make good bathroom buddies".
Speaking of the bathroom, check it out. It's pretty utilitarian, but it gets the job(s) done.Eww. Sorry about that.
I couldn't get the picture I desired to demonstrate just HOW small this shower stall is - mainly because I couldn't get far enough away from it to get a better angle. As I write, it's 12:24am - and I don't know how happy Julie would be if I knocked to ask if I could stand inside her cell to get a better picture.
In case you were worried.
No storage in the bathroom means that this gets housed above my desk. It takes a lot to keep me looking... well, decent enough to show my face and hair in public.
Located directly above that, you'll find my academic/recreation shelf. Those two binders house all the readings for 502 (single sided) separated by color coded tab. I've had some pretty hilarious reactions to the binders, but that's just how I roll... TA Chris says I'm no archivist. :)
I did say that this was my academic/recreation shelf. Here's what I brought with me in the event that Leigh and the TAs lost their minds and didn't assign any work. What part of "Most past students said they were most surprised by the amount of work they did" did I not understand?
Below those shelf is my desk. This is completely staged. Don't get me wrong, I use the computer, the highlighters, the pen, the readings, all that jazz - just not at the same time... and also not in a complete Illini color-scheme. (Why, yes, that IS a LaBamba's cup).
Next to my desk is the kitchen. I have the pictures I drew and words I wrote for my son on my legal pad before I left hung up on the fridge... helps me feel like I brought a piece of him with me.
Inside the fridge you will discover how I keepin my current shape (round).
Last, but not least, is a very important piece of furniture - the bed. Looks all sweet and innocent there, with my favorite flannel pillowcase from home and one of the fleece blankets I made when I was feeling all crafty...
But another angle reveals the ugly truth.Since I didn't bring my pole vaulting equipment and they ran out of step stools at the front desk (SERIOUSLY), I have to grab the far side of my "mattress" and use all my upper body strength (please stop laughing) to haul myself up onto the bed. Once I'm there, I usually immediately start crying because I realize I have to get down and repeat the process because I've left the lights on.
Well, that's all, kids. It took longer than I thought it would, but thanks for coming. I'm going to haul myself up into that bed now because I have to meet up with the LEEP'ers at 9:30 tomorr... I mean *this* morning.I hope I'll remember to turn off the lights the FIRST time...
One of the Lucky 40%...
Day 2 was... well, technically it was yesterday. :)
Woke up at 7:10, got ready and hustled over to the lab at GSLIS for Moodle/Elluminate training. Met Matt Beth, professed Potter/Hobbit/Twitter-phobe, and learned about "whispering" in the world of distance learning, all while sitting behind these lovely ladies.
Also took a "big important quiz". See why I *heart* the Help Desk? If you answered a question "incorrectly", the quiz would chastise you with, "Rick Astley would *never* do that to you!" - which was AWESOME. I could seriously hang out with "Team Awesome" all day... wondering if that's some sign I should be paying attention to with regards to the future of my career?Back to Sherman to drop off some weight (namely, other people's laptops) and check out how the other half live - at least the ones who live in the other building... in triples... on the 10th floor. Good views, I have to say...
Back to the Undergrad to learn more about conducting research via the online catalog - so cool to learn that we'll be able to order books and have them delivered to our homes/offices AND that we can basically keep them for the rest of our graduate careers!!! (highly discouraged)
Ran to Jimmy John's for lunch to gobble up a sandwich before hitting the first of many optional sessions I will be attending - this one on finding articles through LISA, Lib Lit, and LISTA. Had the unfortunate experience of having to sit on the floor for this one, but definitely felt that I was "among my people" when a session on finding scholarly articles was a standing room only event.
Had 30 minutes to kill before the first 502 lecture and spent them wrestling with Chip, the printer in the lab in GSLIS. Wanted a set of slides to take notes on... took me more time than I wanted to spend and probably more printing quota than I wanted to spend, either, but I got sweet printouts thanks to the slides being in Keynote as opposed to PowerPoint.
First lecture was... not what I expected. Began with some ponderables about how we were presenting ourselves in this unusual social situation (i.e. being thrown together by LEEP). Leigh's sociology background definitely shone through here. :) No discussion on Mill (you get no complaints from me) but rather a broad overview of the course and its origins.
Once the lecture was done, TAs took over. Questions were asked, questions were answered. I'm not sure I followed. :/On my way out of the lecture hall, got recruited into a presentation group - very happy about this as I suffer from that "last kid picked for dodgeball" syndrome. Back to Sherman, put on a sweatshirt (apparently Chambana didn't get the "IT'S JULY" memo, either) and went out to Murphy's for a quick bite. No camera... which is just making it more and more obvious to ME that I desperately need an iPhone. :D Tonight was "Bacon Cheeseburger w/ fries for $5" night - memories.
Walked back to Sherman and encountered LOTS of folks hanging in the lounge. Retrieved some Puppy Chow from the freezer, left my camera in my room (sensing a theme here??) and had a GREAT time laughing it up with my LEEP peeps. Conversation was varied and sometimes raunchy (thanks, teachers!) but it was not to be missed.
When I got back to my prison cel.... I mean, ROOM, realized the Moodle had been on FIRE while I was snarfin' snacks and giggling with my pals. WHOA.
Sleeping in tomor - er, today... first session at 10:30. New stressor - policy tracking paper.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Welcome to LEEP Day One... Don't Blink!
Hole-y donuts... that was a day for the record books. I don't think I've been that "productive" since... ever. The day started with my cellphone going off at 6:50... and me hitting "snooze" so many times that the alarm just turned off. I woke with a start at 7:10, slid off my bunk, and walked hesitantly to my shared bathroom door. I slowly pulled open the door to find...
Julie slowly pulling open the door! Turns out my "bathroom buddy" (we can hardly call one another "roommates" as we only share the bathroom) had just arrived this morning and was checking out the "digs". She went to unpacking as I hopped in the shower (with barely any room to turn around) and got ready for the day.
First stop - GSLIS. Located directly across the street from our dorm, the travel time was great. :) We walked up to the office, picked up spiffy nametags, filled in our I-Card applications (surprised Apple hasn't sued about this name yet), and headed up to the GSLIS Tech Help Desk. Super friendly staff helped us mount printers (which is not as dirty as it sounds) and answered all sorts of various and sundry techie-type questions.
Next up - Illini Union Bookstore to get an I-Card.
I actually had to turn in my I-Card from my undergrad years *SNIFF!* - they cut it up and gave me the picture back (gee, thanks). I have to say, I am MUCH happier with the new pic, but there is something sad about giving up an ID I've had since 1996...
Back to GSLIS for a whirlwind morning of introductions and overviews. I have to say, this is a group of VERY funny folks... lots of members of "English Majors Anonymous". Part of my introduction was revealing that one of my LEEP classmates was also one of my junior high classmates. We didn't run in the same circles at all back then, but she looks SO similar to her junior high self (and believe me, this is a compliment) that there was no mistaking her. She, however, has not figured out that I was referring to her yet... stay tuned...
At lunch, met some more LEEP'ers and headed to Zorba's. YUM. I did, however, smell like a gyro for the rest of the day.
The session back at GSLIS after lunch was PAINFUL. Not because the content was so bad (we got spend some QT with Jill & Karla from tech - so funny), but I needed a NAP.
Somewhere in this time I also discovered that I am sorta tardy in applying for financial aid. Ooops.
Walked downstairs to do tech stuff (surf the web, check email, update Facebook/Twitter because I'd done the mounting already). :)
Back upstairs for "LEEP Unplugged" - a panel of current and former GSLIS students answering our burning questions. I couldn't even ask mine out of sheer embarrassment ("How hard should we work on this 500 word Mill paper?") - but hear great questions and answers about how the LEEP'ers past had discovered their LIS calling, where they see LIS headed, and how they went about designing their own courses of study.
Ended the day eating pizza and bemoaning the fact that I still had 400 words left to write on how the tenets of Mill's "On Liberty Chapter 2" applied to a contemporary issue in LIS.
Our rooms are like jail cells, so here I sit, in the lobby of Sherman Hall, where I finally finished my Mill paper only minutes ago. Wanted to get as much of this day typed out as I could before it was lost to my memory... due to the space being needed for readings.
Julie slowly pulling open the door! Turns out my "bathroom buddy" (we can hardly call one another "roommates" as we only share the bathroom) had just arrived this morning and was checking out the "digs". She went to unpacking as I hopped in the shower (with barely any room to turn around) and got ready for the day.
First stop - GSLIS. Located directly across the street from our dorm, the travel time was great. :) We walked up to the office, picked up spiffy nametags, filled in our I-Card applications (surprised Apple hasn't sued about this name yet), and headed up to the GSLIS Tech Help Desk. Super friendly staff helped us mount printers (which is not as dirty as it sounds) and answered all sorts of various and sundry techie-type questions.Next up - Illini Union Bookstore to get an I-Card.
I actually had to turn in my I-Card from my undergrad years *SNIFF!* - they cut it up and gave me the picture back (gee, thanks). I have to say, I am MUCH happier with the new pic, but there is something sad about giving up an ID I've had since 1996...Back to GSLIS for a whirlwind morning of introductions and overviews. I have to say, this is a group of VERY funny folks... lots of members of "English Majors Anonymous". Part of my introduction was revealing that one of my LEEP classmates was also one of my junior high classmates. We didn't run in the same circles at all back then, but she looks SO similar to her junior high self (and believe me, this is a compliment) that there was no mistaking her. She, however, has not figured out that I was referring to her yet... stay tuned...
At lunch, met some more LEEP'ers and headed to Zorba's. YUM. I did, however, smell like a gyro for the rest of the day.
The session back at GSLIS after lunch was PAINFUL. Not because the content was so bad (we got spend some QT with Jill & Karla from tech - so funny), but I needed a NAP.
Somewhere in this time I also discovered that I am sorta tardy in applying for financial aid. Ooops.
Walked downstairs to do tech stuff (surf the web, check email, update Facebook/Twitter because I'd done the mounting already). :)
Back upstairs for "LEEP Unplugged" - a panel of current and former GSLIS students answering our burning questions. I couldn't even ask mine out of sheer embarrassment ("How hard should we work on this 500 word Mill paper?") - but hear great questions and answers about how the LEEP'ers past had discovered their LIS calling, where they see LIS headed, and how they went about designing their own courses of study.
Ended the day eating pizza and bemoaning the fact that I still had 400 words left to write on how the tenets of Mill's "On Liberty Chapter 2" applied to a contemporary issue in LIS.Our rooms are like jail cells, so here I sit, in the lobby of Sherman Hall, where I finally finished my Mill paper only minutes ago. Wanted to get as much of this day typed out as I could before it was lost to my memory... due to the space being needed for readings.
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