Photos

We participated in a competition called AIR Houston aimed at altering or rebuilding websites to make them accessible for those with disabilities. We were Team McGnomed and we created a new website for the Stage Presence Performing Arts Studio. We even came in 2nd place! For more information about AIR Houston and Knowbility, please see www.knowbility.org/air-houston/

Michele Reilly and I were in Ausitn for the Texas Conference on Digital Libraries, and on the way home, we stopped in Brenham for a scoop of Blue Bell.

This is it! Enjoy the pics. The contents are of the seller. I won't be moving in until the end of August.

My trip to the country's largest ren fair.

Picks from my visit to the aquarium in Houston. I went with my friend Ani. Our trip was a bit of a disappointment.

Pics of me packing, my tons of stuff, and my new apartment in Houston! I lived in this apartment from October 2007 to August 31, 2008.

My friend Rich Storrick came to visit me in Nashville Thursday, July 5 through Monday, July 9th, 2007. We did a lot of things, many of which weren't captured by picture. But here are the pics from our trip to the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, pics from Short Springs State Natural Area near Shelbyville, and pics from the Fall Creek Falls area south of Sparta.

These are pictures of my empty fish tank in the town home I bought in September 2008. It apparently was a built in bar in the living room, and the previous owners turned it into a big fish tank! It's approximately 140 gallons, and we need to stock it. I think we are going to go with freshwater fish. Marine fish and reefs are beautiful but too complicated for us fish newbs. The folks at The Fish Gallery (http://www.thefishgallery.com) here in Houston are going to help us get it set up!

There are pics here from me walking around taking pictures of the town, pics from the Emerging Leaders program I participated in, The Top Tech Trends, The LITA Open House, the BIGWIG Social Software Showcase, the OCLC Blog Salon, and from various sessions, dinners, and meetings throughout the conference. All pics have titles, and most have captions, so you'll miss out if you just do the slideshow. Enjoy! I've been asked how the trip was. Here is my response: I'm back. Presented a poster. Emerged as a leader. Gave advice. Received advice. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Met inspirational people. Listened intently. Caught up with friends. Talked with future ALA presidents. Drank with bloggers. Stayed up late. Got up early. Networked, networked, networked. Learned new things. Blogged events. Almost missed flight home. Swamped with work. Full of ideas. Feeling empowered. Energized. Sleep deprived.

I visited my relatives just outside of Houston, Texas in mid June, 2007. My cousin Kristen Vacek married Jess Fitzgerald on Saturday June 16th. The wedding was held at the Holy Cross Catholic Church in East Bernard (population of 2000), and the reception was at the Safari Texas Ranch, about 30 miles closer into town. We also went to a Houston Astro's baseball game on Sunday (Father's Day). On Monday, we did some sight-seeing, shopping, visiting relatives, and went to Aunt Betty and Uncle Richard's house in Sugar Land for a cookout and some Texas Hold 'Em poker.

I arrived in Seattle on Wednesday, January 17th for the American Library Association Midwinter Conference. On Thursday, I visited Pike Place Market, a friendly doctor named Lee Furgeson at Virginia Mason Medical Center, the very first Starbucks, and more! On Friday I participated in the Emerging Leaders Program at the beautiful Seattle Public Library, followed by receptions and the LITA Happy Hour. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were also full of discussions, committee meetings, networking opportunities, meeting the reps and vendors at the exhibits, and of course, more receptions! Tuesday I saw lots more of the town, and Wednesday, I flew back home to Nashville. I believe this was the most optimistic and productive ALA I have attended to date. woot!

Twenty-five years ago, the Walker Management Library moved into the wonderful new Owen Graduate School of Management building. On April 19th 2007, from 12:50 to 2 pm, Owen faculty, staff, students, Heard Library staff, and former WML staff took few moments to celebrate the Library and the people who make the Library a place for research, study, and reflection. We had cake and champagne to recognize the last 25 years and to look forward to the future. Owen's Dean Bradford, Walker Library Director Flo Wilson, Professor Germain Boer, and Professor Dewey Dane spoke about the library's impact on the school. I personally had a big part in helping with the celebration. I created the logos that were engraved on the champagne flutes and the leather bean bag paper weights. I created electronic and print versions of the the invitation. Brent Tenpenny and I worked with the Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives to identify pictures of the school and staff from the early 1980s for a presentation during the celebration. The slideshow that I put together (Brent did most of the captions) had over 100 images from the early construction, the library staff when the library first opened, and pictures of current staff, but from 1982. Then I assembled everything, including an mp3 of the remarks from the event, to be burned on CDs. Elaine sent packages to those who came to the event. These pictures are from the celebration on the 19th, taken by Rachel Vacek and Henry Shipman of the University Archives. Enjoy!

Since we were unable to hold our traditional Secret Santa gift exchange and pot-luck party in December 2006, we held a Secret Valentine Celebration instead on February 14, 2007. The festivities began a week prior to Valentine's Day, culminating in a pot-luck luncheon complete with games. Names were drawn out of a hat, and each person was tasked to perform random acts of kindness for the person they picked. The food was wonderful and it was a great opportunity to take a break mid-term. Rachel and Laura planned the event. Photos by Rachel.

Vanderbilt University Librarians, past and present, meet in New Orleans during the 2006 ALA Annual Conference.

I went to San Luis Obispo, CA to visit my good friends Shannon and Bob VanKirk. While I was there, we went to some wineries, an olive ranch where they make olive oil, Morrow Rock, several beaches, saw a movie, and saw lots of beautiful scenery. I had so much fun there with them and their cats, Buster and Eloise. They have since moved on to a different state since my visit with them.

The Owen Spring Fling took place in April 2006. A fun time was had by all! Each group, club, department in Owen sponsored a booth, with Spring as the theme, and knowing that families and little kids would be attending. As you can clearly tell from the photos, we gave out candy and large Helium balloons.

In 2005, the staff of the Walker Management Library held a Pot-luck party with a Secret Santa leading up to it. For 2 weeks prior to the party, we did random acts of kindness, wrote notes, hints, put candy or tiny gifts in one another's mailboxes. Gifts were exchanged and Secret Santas revealed at the party. Owen IT was invited and Christmas movie trivia games were played.

The Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN had a Halloween costume party in 2004 in the General Library Building Staff Lounge.

In April 2004, I was going on lots of interviews all over the country in order to find the right job. One really cool job was in Phoenix at Arizona State University, on their West Campus. Unfortunately, I didn't get the job, but I had never been to this part of the country before, and I had an extra day to do some sightseeing. After the day and a half interview, I rented a car and drove up to Sedona. This was the most breathtaking, beautiful place I have ever been. I hope to someday go back out there.

I was in Chicago in 2004 for an interview at Northwestern. I spent a couple extra days there sightseeing. I have been to Chicago numerous times before, and once since. ALA's Annual Conference is there quite often.

I was in Minneapolis in early 2004 for a job interview, and even though I was offered the job, I turned them down. I was very impressed with them, as well as the town. Minneapolis was a very cool city, and St. Paul reminded me a lof of Cincinnati, Ohio. It's a clean, beautiful place to live. But I was there in the spring, so I may not have said that if I had visited in the heart of winter. Cool place!

On July 19th, 2003, I went to the Dayton Air Show with several friends: Cindy Mader (whom I worked with at Miami Univeristy), Rich Storrick (college friend), and Jeff Randall (my boyfriend at the time). It was terribly hot that day, and we all got sunburned. But the planes were amazing, the crowd huge, and we all had a lot of fun.

In 2001 while I was still in Library School at the University of Pittsburgh, I went to my first conference. It was the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA. It was also my first time in California. Jeff Randall, my boyfriend at the time, went with me. It was a great (if not overwhelming) conference, and I had a wonderful time seeing San Francisco. I can't wait to go back there again!

I spent a month in Ireland in my junior year of college. I went there with about 30 other University of Dayton undergrads and 2 faculty. We stayed at Trinity College in Dublin, and on the weekends, I traveled around the country, occasionally hitchhiking, but always meeting meeting new people and having the time of my life. This is only a handful of the pictures I took. I absolutely loved Ireland and want to return someday.

In this set you'll find pictures of all kinds of stuff.

This set includes pictures of staff, buildings, events, etc. that Rachel Vacek has taken part in at Vanderbilt University, the Owen Graduate School of Management and of Walker Management Library, the library where she worked. Enjoy!

Rowan is a cuddly 23 lb. orange tabby. Lucky is a 13 lb. gray tabby who would have been put down for being feral if I hadn't taken him in. Rowan is his best friend - they go everywhere together. Cara is my 9 lb. petite black cat. She has the sweetest meow. I got them in 2002 in Ohio, and they are only 3 months apart in age.