Altilab2005 - Distance Education Blog

So yesterday I was all prepared to be organized. I got my list together for everything I’m working on (at work, there is no organization to my life) and decided to tackle a project, one of my yearly goals, that involved doing some research on different type of “distance education” tools. Well these tools are very…well, varied. And all of them tackle the same task in vastly different ways. So different, that they seemed foreign to me.

Now I hate talking about this because it makes me seem so egotistical (which I know I don’t come off that way, but that’s how my brain works. I don’t take compliments well and can’t even fathom giving myself one…but here goes), but when it comes to software, it always makes sense to me. It may take me a little bit of googling before I find the right answer or the right no-nonsense person to explain it to me, but I usually figure it out. Well yesterday, that was NOT the case, and I got frustrated beyond belief. It was like eating too much ice cream and getting the brain freeze.

Well a forced break came in the way of a meeting with Pattye and Amanda about Amanda’s upcoming poster session in Chicago for ALA (American Library Association…I think) and how we were going to all put it together. Well Bobbie (co-worker, and one of our main project “leaders”) was out sick (surprise) so I became the “point person,” as Pattye said. So, we talked about the ideas and how every thing should flow and I went back to my desk and began working.

My brain totally thawed. I opened Adobe Illustrator and just went to town on it. For those of you who don’t know, a Poster Session usually involves a huge vacant space, in this case 4′ by 8′, that you fill in with bits of information and pictures and charts and graphs about a project you are working on in order to share with those who walk by and show some interest (or make eye contact). Think of a science fair for adults. I filled and organized this space in 3 hours. From beginning to completion, I dove into this project head first and didn’t have the slightest hint of  brain freezing.

I discovered something about myself at the end of the day. I am somehow on the cusp of everything in my life. My birthday is June 21, so I’m right at the cusp of Cancer and Gemini (I tend to be more Cancer like, just ask my friends, but I’d rather be a Gemini…I think it’s cooler) and I think this has somehow shaped my life.

I’m introverted and extroverted.

I’m dominant and submissive.

I’m artistic/creative and analytical.

I’m emotional and rational.

But I’m always one or the other. It’s a veritable grab bag of me’s. Yesterday I was introverted, dominant, creative, and rational…and I NEVER saw that coming. It’s not my usual combination. I got so focused it was scary. If I was always that focused there’s no telling what I could accomplish…

Then I had a cocktail.