Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Be "Somebody"

As you work on various projects, sooner or later your determination will cause other people to say, "Hey, who do you think you ARE?"

Reply: "You know how people are always saying, 'Somebody ought to do something about that!" ...? Well, I'm Somebody."

We live in a culture that often discourages people from making big changes and grand adventures. Use your common sense to plan ahead and take suitable safety precautions. Beyond that, ignore the naysayers. Trust your instincts. Aim for greatness.
Tags: life lessons
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  • 17 comments
elfinpoet

elfinpoet

July 23 2008, 17:30:49 UTC 12 years ago

Amen to that!!

:)
minor_architect

minor_architect

July 23 2008, 18:35:42 UTC 12 years ago

I once made the mistake of telling my fiance's parents about the type of nonprofit I'd love to run one day - a library that caters specifically to other workers in the nonprofit sector. We'd collect materials on the history of philanthropy, nonprofit management, ethics, grant writing, etc. Almost as one, they dismissed my idea by saying, "Oh, you can't make any money doing that," and immediately turned the conversation to other topics.

(The supreme irony of this incident is that his father was once a member of the Peace Corps. o.O )

Little do they know that their remarks are a minor reason why I decided to earn a certificate in nonprofit management. My next class is in August. >;)
dulcinbradbury

dulcinbradbury

July 23 2008, 18:52:49 UTC 12 years ago

Need a librarian for this gig? I like the idea. ;)
dulcinbradbury

dulcinbradbury

July 23 2008, 18:55:01 UTC 12 years ago

Er... judging by your bio that should be "another librarian". ;)
minor_architect

minor_architect

July 23 2008, 19:55:14 UTC 12 years ago

You're a librarian, too? Awesome. What type of library do you work for? (I'm currently in an academic one.)

And if my idea ever gets off the ground, I'll let you know! (Heck, you'll probably hear me squee-ing for joy all the way out in New York. ;-)
ysabetwordsmith

Go for it!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2008, 04:36:50 UTC 12 years ago

That sounds like a great theme-library to me. You might try asking various universities -- it's often easier to piggyback a special collection into a campus array of libraries than to start one from scratch.

If you ever get this ball rolling, please let me know. I'll help somehow if I can. It's a perennial interest of mine since so much of the Pagan world runs on volunteer or near-volunteer power.

My house contains massive collections of Pagan/New Age and speculative fiction titles. I'd love to launch an official library someday. If we can ever afford it, we want to start by installing a house trailer here and moving most of the books over there, the ones we don't use constantly. Because they're taking up a LOT of room currently, and we bring in new ones faster than we take out extraneous ones.
minor_architect

minor_architect

July 24 2008, 15:29:04 UTC 12 years ago

If you ever get this ball rolling, please let me know. I'll help somehow if I can.

I will, thank you. You're very kind. :)
I have the librarian's skills to back up this type of venture but know very little about managing my own nonprofit. That's where the certificate comes in. So I wouldn't be able to get really serious about this until I've earned my 50 credit hours and made a nonprofit "business" plan. After my next class in August, though, I'll have only 33 more hours left!

My house contains massive collections of Pagan/New Age and speculative fiction titles. I'd love to launch an official library someday.

Hmm. If you ever get that ball rolling, perhaps I could help you start building your catalog? I'm actually a reference librarian but I did create a home-grown card catalog for a church's collection of sheet music once. Or I could try connecting you with a real cataloger who'd be interested in volunteering. ;) Just let me know!
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you...

ysabetwordsmith

12 years ago

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ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2008, 04:26:31 UTC 12 years ago

"One thing I would love to do - get real recognition of speculative poetry amongst literary circles. It might not change the world, but I truly believe it would change the literary field for the better."

I'm keen on promoting speculative poetry, civic poetry, and poetry in general. To anyone who doesn't escape fast enough. Or can be dragged back and made a captive audience. Or enticed into an event.

*ponder* People do pajama parties for erotica. Maybe we should try a bikini poetry reading?
browngirl

browngirl

July 23 2008, 19:49:50 UTC 12 years ago

I will definetely remember this. *makes note*
ideealisme

ideealisme

July 23 2008, 22:09:18 UTC 12 years ago

I already had that when I bought a piano - my youngest sister said I was showing off, making a big deal about it.

Newsflash: biological accident does not give you a free pass to be an asshole.

I think family members can be the worst.
ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2008, 03:48:29 UTC 12 years ago

Yes, it depends a lot on family culture -- whether you're mocked for trying new things, or encouraged to develop diverse skills and projects.
anamacha

anamacha

July 27 2008, 23:48:01 UTC 12 years ago

that would be great if my ambition wasn't like a shriveled worm with barely a spark of life in it.
ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

July 27 2008, 23:50:16 UTC 12 years ago

Well, that's what community support is for! You have some good ideas. With friends to cheer you on, maybe over time you'll get more confident about developing those.
anamacha

anamacha

August 27 2008, 07:25:56 UTC 12 years ago

yeah, taht is a possibility. however, my initial forays into things -- art, writing, and so on -- have been warmly met, but not really ... encouraging to the point of making me want to continue. I guess I want a community of artists, somewhere I can get feedback and encouragement.
ysabetwordsmith

Try this...

ysabetwordsmith

12 years ago

  • New comment
anamacha

Re: Try this...

anamacha

12 years ago

  • New comment

  • A Little Slice of Terramagne: YardMap

    Sadly the main program is dormant, but the YardMap concept is awesome, and many of its informative articles remain. YardMap was a citizen science…

  • Goldenrod Gall Contents

    Apparently all kinds of things go on inside goldenrod galls, beyond the caterpillars who make them. Fascinating. I've seen the galls but haven't…

  • Science and Spirituality

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