Monday, July 12, 2010

yesterday in santa cruz, siena turned one


we love you siena - very, very much.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

front yard tomatoes (and siena!)


(click pic for larger size)

Monday, June 28, 2010

summer reading list

each year, roy christopher collects summer reading lists from a few friends and publishes them on his blog. this year's a dandy. here's my contribution.

***

for as long as i can remember, nixon-related books have occupied the highest shelf on my parents' book collection - books like john dean's blind ambition and woodward and bernstein's all the president's men and the final days. a few weeks, while visiting my mom, i reached up to the top shelf and plucked down the final days (simon & schuster, 1976). it's the story of a criminal, crooked, crazed, paranoid, and totally incompetent president and the final months, weeks, and days of his reign. great summer reading!


a few months ago, at moe's books in berkeley, i traded three brand new academic books about digital media for one used copy of edward espe brown's the complete tassajara cookbook: recipes, techniques, and reflections from the famed zen kitchen (shambhala, 2009). what a great deal! i started reading and cooking from this book in late spring and will continue through summer and beyond.


as its title suggests, pam peirce's golden gate gardening: the complete guide to year-round food gardening in the san francisco bay area and coastal california (sasquatch books, 2010) tells northern californians what to plant, why, how, and when. it's my bible - especially in summer. i'm also reading gayla trail's grow great grub: organic food from small spaces (clarkson potter, 2010) for some wonderful and creative tricks and techniques.


this summer, i'm working on a new freshmen seminar called "golden gate park" which, if approved, will run next spring. to generate ideas and stimulate the old noggin, i'm reading, skimming, and scanning all kinds of wonderful books like raymond h. clary’s making of golden gate park: the early years: 1865-1906 (don’t call it frisco press, 1984); chris pollock and erica katz’s san francisco's golden gate park: a thousand and seventeen acres of stories (westwinds press, 2001); sally b. woodbridge, john m. woodbridge, and chuck byrne’s san francisco architecture: an illustrated guide to the outstanding buildings, public art works, and parks in the bay area of california (ten speed press, 2005); christopher pollock’s golden gate park: san francisco's urban oasis in vintage postcards (arcadia publishing, 2003); and hosea and nellie a. blair’s monuments and memories of san francisco: golden gate park (calmar printing company, 1955).


most of my summer reading, i suspect, will be read out loud, to siena, our 11-month old daughter, and revolve around stories about clever animals, being kind and curious, and going to sleep.

Monday, April 26, 2010

social media research assistantships (2)

Are you a USF student? Are you social media savvy? Do you want to use your social media skills to reach a wide audience?

We are looking for 2 paid summer undergraduate research assistants to broaden participation in The September Project, a grassroots effort to encourage events about freedom at all libraries in all countries throughout the month of September. Students will be expected to work about 5 hours a week from May 24 - August 24. Pay is based on USF student worker pay scale.


Responsibilities include:

* brainstorming and writing blog posts about participating libraries and librarians (blog);
* maintaining and extending our twitter stream (@septproject);
* maintaining and extending our google map of participants (map); and
* performing general research about local, national, and international libraries and librarians.

Successful candidates will not only have skills and experience with the kinds of social media the September Project currently uses, but also will have creative ideas for and curiosity about new ways to help the project grow and succeed.

To apply:

Submit a resume and cover letter outlining your skills and motivations for applying for this position. Please also include a URL that points to a blog post or other use of social media that you crafted and of which you are particularly proud. Send your application - no later than Monday, May 3rd - to Professor David Silver at the email found on this page. Decisions will be made by May 10.

These social media research assistantships are made possible by USF's Faculty Development Funds (FDF).

Thursday, April 22, 2010

getting students' bodies and ideas into libraries: a talk for minnesotan librarians

tomorrow, i'm giving the opening talk at ARLD Day, sponsored by the academic & research libraries division of the minnesota library association. the title of my talk is "getting students' bodies and ideas into libraries." i plan to limit my talk to a particular nook of gleeson library and what university of san francisco students and librarians do with and within it.


exhibit 1: good food (designed by USF librarian sherise kimura)





exhibit 2: get graphic (designed by USF librarians debbie benrubi and kathy woo)






exhibit 3: election exhibit (designed by students enrolled in two sections of david silver's introduction to media studies in fall 2008)







exhibit 4: the reading fort (designed by students enrolled in david silver's digital literacy class in spring 2008)


exhibit 5: our dinner table (currently being designed by students enrolled in david silver's green media in spring 2010)




Monday, April 19, 2010

two summer paid research assistantships with the garden project

The USF Garden Project is currently seeking two garden research assistants for Summer 2010 (May 24- August 24)


Garden research assistants will be responsible for caring for all Garden Project gardens, including the campus garden and Booker T. Washington garden. Care includes: watering, mulching, weeding, seed saving, harvesting and distributing vegetables; tending to the orchard and fruit vines; managing compost; and hosting any visitors to the garden, which includes scheduling and overseeing a once a week garden workday. 10 hours a week will be split between the two assistants based on their schedules. Pay is based on USF student worker pay scale.


If interested please email David Silver (dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu) and/or Melinda Stone (stone [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu) stating your interest by April 26. Please provide either a narrative and/or resume that reflects your experience related to this position. Decisions will be made by April 30.