HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CLEAN YOUR DESK

For several weeks now, in the intense heat and humidityof this L.A. summer, I've been going through boxes and boxes of books, papers, notebooks, and other forms of print materials. All of this is so that I can organize them into some sort of coherent order and get cracking on my dissertation proposal.

Meanwhile, here is a serendipitous find I must share with you. I don't know who the author was. I wish it had been me.

DUSTING

"A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture." (There's plenty of love in my house, then! :-)

I can't tell you how many countless hours that I have spent CLEANING! I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect -- "in case someone came over." Then I realized one day that no one came over. They were all out living life and having fun!

Now, when people visit, I find no need to explain the "condition" of my home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away, living life and having fun [read: doing the things I'm passionate about]. If you haven't figure this out yet, please heed the following advice:

"Life is short. Enjoy it!

DUST IF YOU MUST, but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake a cake or plant a see, ponder the difference betwwen want and need?

DUST IF YOU MUST, but there's not much time--with rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, dominoes [read: solitaire, backgammon] to play, friends to cherish and life to lead.

DUST IF YOU MUST, but the world's out there--with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around again.

DUST IF YOU MUST, but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. And when you go -- and go you must -- you, yourself will make more dust!

Share this will all the wonderful women in your life!

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Sylva Natalie Manoogian received the John Ames Humphry / OCLC / Forest Press Award during the International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Chair’s Program on June 26, 2006, at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The award, given for significant contributions to international librarianship, was established in 1987 in honor of Mr. Humphry, the executive director of Forest Press* from 1977 to 1985.
Ms. Manoogian was recognized for her tireless efforts to rebuild the Gulbenkian Library of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, her contributions as a consultant to libraries and librarians in Armenia, and the cooperative spirit she has fostered among librarians from the nations of the Caucasus.

Ms. Manoogian retired as Principal Librarian from the Los Angeles Public Library in 1999, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. In the attached picture, Ms. Manoogian (far right) is seen receiving her award standing next to Jeannette Pierce (middle), IRRT Chair and Librarian for History, Political Science, and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and me [Joan Mitchell](far left).

*Forest Press, the former publisher of the Dewey Decimal Classification, became a division of OCLC in 1988. OCLC retired the Forest Press imprint in 2002.
Posted by Joan at 01:57 PM in DDC in the conference hall

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN...

A full month has passed since my last post. One would think I had vanished from the face of the earth. In reality, I've been so busy that the days have flown by and melded one into the other.

June 14: I went to UCLA and LAPL Central Libraries, where I found a number of books by and about Carmen Sylva, my namesake and the non de plume of Elizabeth I, queen of Romania (1843-1916). My father admired her greatly and wrote an essay about her in the early 1900's. Those of you who receive e-mails from me will notice a few of her quotes in my signature.

June 15: Representing the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, I attended a training workshop given by the City of Los Angeles "Rescue & Restore" Anti-Human-Trafficking Coalition.

June 16: In the evening, the Armenian librarians who work at Los Angeles Public Library got together for dinner. I remember when there was only one Armenian librarian at LAPL (me). Today, we can proudly report a 1,000% increase!

June 17: Janet Kayaa, one of the PhD students in Information Studies at UCLA received her doctoral hood. We can now call her Dr. Janet and feted her accomplishment at a dinner in her honor.

June 18: A day of rest, although I began sorting through the many boxes and papers that occupy every nook and cranny and flat surface in our house, in preparation for the forthcoming American Library Association annual meeting in New Orleans.....

June 19: Building Blocks meeting at the Lark Musical Society in its new home in Glendale.

To be continued