Follow me on Twitter at @teacode.
I’ve never been very good at these biographies; usually I opt for something like how much I like to plan garage sales or how I recently discovered how good scones are. However, for this time, I will explain the basics: I am a 20-something named Dana who moved from Berkeley, California to Madison, Wisconsin in the summer of 2011 to begin attending a program in Library Science! My flame, Derek, moved with me. :) This is our first time living outside of California, besides my short 6-month study abroad stint in London. I spend most of my time around school-related things, but I also love podcasts, NPR, socializing, the New Yorker, Project Runway & fashion, eating out, cocktails and champagne, putting on chapstick, going through my Google Reader, emptying my Inbox, cooking, and trying to fit in reading books. ;)
A lot of changes are ahead and I plan to document them all, which is something I’m wont to do. I have thankfully grown up from saving every playbill that touched my hands, but I still save more than others. I’m attempting many things at the same time: slimming down my waist, my spending, my space, my clutter, and in general, my life! I strive for more simplicity, more self-sufficiency, and constant learning. I’m extremely excited to start a very new chapter of my life studying everything I can about the time-honored institution of libraries and archives, and learn a lot about family, friends, strangers, and myself along the way.
From my first post (I am already quoting myself!):
So, this is what I want this blog for: to document the changes. To organize my thoughts. To form better-crafted opinions. And most of all, to connect. I want to stay connected with my friends and family back in California, hopefully make lots of new friends in Madison (and I found out I have family in Madison too!), and make new friends in the blogosphere.
I plan to write more about my library studies in a thoughtful way, examining my assignments and the future of the libraries. In that way, this blog is a professional one. Some folks I spoke to recommended keeping professional and personal extremely separated. I understand that very well, but after a long think, decided that I can’t just separate my personal life from my professional one. I do not take off a Work Costume when I enter my house. I do not put on a mask when I enter the workplace. They are completely intertwined. If I hated my field and wasn’t passionate about it, then yes, I could separate the two, but I cannot with something like archives and libraries.
And so, in that way, this blog is also a personal one. Learning about Madison is going to be as thrilling of a process as learning about librarianship. I’m at a point in my life when I can gather all I’ve known and done, and evaluate it, and see a future that I can shape. Being an undergraduate in college was great, and fun, and stressful, but it was also one of those steps in my life I just knew I’d do since I was very young (thanks to my parents high expectations). Moving forward with Derek to Madison for library school is something I determined myself, and want to keep up with that.
I love a new friend and conversation. Please feel free to contact me!: onwardmadison@gmail.com.
