The summer months at work are often filled with projects; nothing that needs to be done yesterday (too often, the pace of the rest of the year), but things that allow one to plan and process and maybe implement a newly-learned thing along the way. It’s the last part that often leads me to stumble across lots of interesting – even if unrelated – things. Looking for one thing, I find another and another and another. Serendipity. The best. So here are a few of late. Maybe you’ll enjoy them, too.
Showing off at the SLA NE booth in Phoenix.
A couple weeks back, I wrote a piece for SLA New England’s blog on different perspectives gained from stretching one’s self in different situations. You can read it here.
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Being on a journey, stretching, growing – be it in one’s career or one’s life – anyone who reads my blog and/or knows me knows that this is the subject that intrigues me the most. I’m fascinated by the idea that life is a journey. I’m inspired by anyone who lives his/her life in such a way. I love the ideas of life-long learning, of following new interests, of seeking new paths. Ann Telnaes, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post is a favorite of mine. In an interview with CTNexpo she says, “Have a plan, but be open because sometimes that’s not your destiny. Sometimes it’s something else.” Yup! That’s it in a nutshell.
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As an evaluator and a sports fan, I absolutely loved the article “Analyze This” by Sue Bird, a future Hall of Famer for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. It’s just a perfect piece on the importance of data collection, data storytelling, and … the never-ending gender gap in everything sports-related.
Data helps drive conversations, strategy, decision making. But data on its own isn’t terribly interesting. It needs context. It needs a storyteller. Data helps tell the story of a player, a team, an entire career.
There’s a need to value data in the WNBA because there’s a need to value the stories of our league. Think about baseball, for example, or men’s basketball. Fans, players, executives and media value stats and information because it helps to tell a story that many are already invested in. And if they’re not already invested, then it gives them a reason to be. It helps GMs make decisions. It informs contract negotiations. It enables player development.
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Just for fun, here’s the Definitive Guide to Typography and Fonts – in one, handy infographic! Who doesn’t need this?
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My Little Free Library
Finally, let’s do a quick summer reading list. We’ll call it, Sally’s Summer Reading List, since that’s what it is. Here are the books I’ve read and/or am reading of late:
Early in the summer, I read both Hope in the Dark and Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. I came across her via an article she penned for The Guardian and am now a devoted fan. Both are examples of brilliant, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous writing.
Last month, Washington Post film critic, Ann Hornaday, published a wonderful guide to watching movies entitled, Talking Pictures. Not only does Ann provide a rich understanding of the different aspects of movie-making, but she teaches the reader how to enjoy movies with a critical eye. What makes a scene work? Why do you remember some movies forever and others are forgotten before you’ve left the theater parking lot? How do all of the pieces fit together – or not? It’s a terrific guide complete with suggestions, at the end of each chapter, of films to watch to accompany the lessons learned. It’s perfect preparation for the chilly months that will be here soon enough, those that find us in front of the fireplace, seeking a good movie for a Saturday evening.
If you’re looking for a page-turner with a point, you might want to read Jodi Picoult’s latest, Small Great Things. An unexpected death and the story that follows examine the issues of race relations, prejudice, and justice from the differing perspectives of the characters involved. I picked it as the book for an Action Book Club that I’m trying to get started in my community. It’s a good choice for that, as well as an excellent read.
Finally, I’m sure it’s no surprise to any of my regular readers that I pre-ordered Amy Dickinson’s latest memoir, Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things, about a year before it came out. It arrived in my mailbox on publishing day and I read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. True enough, that was in the spring and thus not a summer read, BUT I did purchase the Audible version this summer, just so that Amy could read it to me again. It’s Amy as good as ever (true, despite any bias I may have). Read it and enjoy.
We need a new photo.
Along with a good murder mystery, I’ve also been reading Yochai Benkler’s, 
I began James Rebanks’ memoir, 
A Librarian by Any Other Name 