About
This About page has probably been the largest stumbling block to actually beginning and regularly posting to this blog. I've paid for Write.As hosting for three years now, and all of my best-laid intentions about writing more and getting my thoughts out there have failed to come to fruition simply because I both feel compelled to attempt to describe what my vision for this space is before I say anything else, and because I can't manage to do so. I'm positive there's a writing school of thought that would argue that if I can't do something so simple, I shouldn't bother at all—but there's also most certainly a writing philosophy that argues the exact opposite.
I don't really want to say much about myself, but there's no avoiding some of it. I'm a public librarian in Minnesota, a couple of years removed from earning my Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS). In the summer of 2020, when I was still in my MLIS program, I was diagnosed with autism, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (the latter of which has probably not helped me in kicking this blog off). I was in my mid-thirties at the time, part of a cohort of adult millennials finally getting insight into the underlying causes for their struggles to adapt and cope with the world.
The post-diagnosis journey has not been the easiest, to say the absolute least, but it did help me to begin to chart my course as a librarian. I started graduate school without a very clear sense of where I wanted to wind up in the library field (fun fact: it's not enough to simply say, “I want to be a librarian”—who knew?); my diagnoses, however, crystallized that part of me drawn to the profession as a means of helping others. If I was open and honest about my own challenges, I figured it could be a starting point towards doing what I can to help erase stigmas and break down barriers to access within the library world. As a front-facing public librarian, I can advocate for both my fellow neurodivergent library people and our neurodiverse patrons.
So if you're reading this, expect plenty of library talk, as well as discussions on neurodiversity and mental health. However, a quirk of how my brain works is that my autistic special interests and hyperfixations are diverse and usually cyclical. Limiting the scope of what I write about would not end well (I specifically chose not to pursue a doctorate in history because I didn't want to devote myself to a single topic area). Expect posts on retrocomputers and vintage tech, books I'm currently reading, my fandoms, and pictures I've recently taken—and don't be surprised if I go down rabbit holes related to history (my undergraduate major) and women's studies (the minor I didn't pursue, but wish I had). I'm also a fan of soccer (hereafter referred to as football for this blog's purposes) and baseball (Chicago Cubs supporter here), so sports may also make an appearance. In short: expect a lot of variety.
Bottom line: this blog is a work in progress, just like my brain. Please excuse the mess, and I'll try to bear with it.