Hello? Hi? Is Anybody There?

Golly, when did the wallpaper get changed to this very innocuous light blue fluff? At least I fixed the text so it's black on white. More readable and all that, you know. I've learned a little about writing with accessibility on the Web.

So I've been paying a lot of attention to that daily time-stealing, friend-conversing, mainly-used-by-my-generation face thing. A lot of attention, as in, several years' worth of attention. One lonely blog post here last year. Yikes. I'm sorry! I think often about blogging, but it takes so much time and energy to write up and edit (and edit, and re-edit) multiple paragraphs here. Meanwhile, on that other platform, there are pretty pictures and greetings from friends and more pictures, and I can scroll through a hundred short pieces in an hour and feel as though I've caught up with my people.

But this blog thing has value. Sure, the posts really are short, and they're not deeply personal, but I can pretend that hundreds of kind strangers (or no one at all) will read and nod in understanding. Is there still a place for blogs any more? My, how quickly things change.

I'm blogging for work, though only occasionally. I'm supposed to be able to post book suggestions -- not reviews, exactly, because I don't think I should say that something is so awful that no one should pick it up. I wanted to do this because it's writing, and I'm a writer. (Being a writer, in this case, does not necessarily mean that anyone will choose to read my writings. But I like to write.) Once I got all trained and instructed in the professional aspects of writing for work, I did a few posts... and lost my motivation. Crickets.

Recently, however, I re-discovered my muse and became re-energized to blog again. My alter ego, my writer-side, was right there in front of me all the time. I just hadn't been looking to him for help, because this was supposed to be professional, you know, for my career, writing. This muse of mine, you see, has a sweet face, a black and pink mottled nose, and a long wagging tail. It's Polo. It's so much easier to imagine my dog's responses to things than to write my own highly edited thoughts. Polo is straightforward, honest, and only a little bit cynical about human nature. He's kind and witty. And he uses a simpler vocabulary than I can muster. (Another rule about writing for the work blog is to keep it very readable for English language learners. I don't mean to sound high-falutin' -- it just happens to be how the words fly off my fingers.)

So, I'm taking my dog to work these days, hoping he can get away with writing book stuff for me. We'll see how it goes. At least 30% of the blog posts on our website are read by fellow staff members, and everything is carefully reviewed as soon as it's published. If Polo isn't allowed on that blog, at least he can come back here to lend a paw regularly.

Thanks for checking in. I'll try to get back here more often. Mostly, I'll try to write. Somewhere. Like this guy on the side of a building at the University of Washington. Because he's been at it a long time, and he isn't finished yet.

Exploring a Reference Source

Polo is quite interested in the five-volume Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. I explained to him that it contains articles that its articles focus on "the traditions, living conditions, and personalities of many of the world's people groups. Further, this resource provides information in twenty different headings -- everything from language and location of origin to folklore, religion, sports, interpersonal relations, foods, and living conditions. Not that Polo pup intends to travel, but if he did, he'd certainly want to know what to expect. For example, does a particular people group eat anything really interesting? Does their style of communication involve lots of wild gestures? How many people live in one house, and do they sleep on soft beds that he could share?

Poor Polo would really like for me to bring these books home so he could learn more, but they are intended for use in the library only. He'll have to come to them, and prepare to settle in for a long session of discovery.

Exponential Information

Polo has three basic means of gathering information: what he sees, what he hears, and (most importantly) what he smells. In normal daily life, these methods are totally adequate for accumulating the news he needs to know. Occasionally, however, he encounters different surroundings and is bombarded by a Pandora's box-full of new sights/sounds/smells. The poor guy's brain goes into overdrive to process all this stuff!

Many people are likewise pretty comfortable most of the time with their usual means of accumulating information. Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and Facebook are easily accessed and familiar sources of lots of news.

Sometimes, though, a person might find himself/herself in a unique situation that offers a boatload of information or a cascade of unanswered questions. Help is needed! There's way too much info available, and I can't sort it out on my own!

That's where a library might come in handy. Not only are there print sources for bits of knowledge on everything from soup to nuts, but also online sources leading either to more thorough Internet-available data or back to print.

If young Polo could thumb through a book on his own, or if he could type words into a search engine, he'd be way ahead of the pack in information-gathering. Alas, he can neither manipulate paper pages nor utilize Google. He'll have to listen to Mom and keep his nose to the ground... or, in this case, wherever there's something he needs to investigate.

checking out cheap-o homemade bird feeder project

Changing Gears

Way, way back in '07, the dogs and I started this blog as part of a class at work. This was a great way to process my (our) responses to various Web tools and activities. From there, we just kept writing and taking photos because it was a good thing to do.

Enter 2013 and a new class at work. I'm studying to become a Public Service Assistant (PSA), and have decided that it would be beneficial  to enlist the help of one Polo pup to help me ponder this new material. In a nutshell, I'll be learning how to answer library patrons' questions and meet their needs for information. I feel a little overwhelmed, so it'll be a great comfort to have my dog along for the ride.

Wise dog in the library, indeed. Polo has not set paw in a library or any other public building in more than two years. His contact with people outside of our family is severely limited especially since Jon fixed all the loose places in the fence. He does perform a core set of services with excellence: our yard will have NO crows in it, we will always know if anyone is walking down the street, no coyote will howl unanswered, and there is never a crumb left on the kitchen floor.

So, with this post begins a new series in the Wise Dogs' blog. PSA reflections and ramblings. Here we go, Polo! What do you think, boy?