Happy 2012, dear readers! I hope you had a lovely holiday and are ready to dig into this new year. I had a nice break and can’t believe that we are already a week into 2012. Where does the time go? I thought to get us started, I’d offer up a few tips and a bit of fun as we make our way into this new year.

But first, I wanted to thank the readers of this blog for last year. The number of hits increased dramatically, which is great. I’m glad that this blog is continuing to be useful and readable for you, dear readers. It is fun to write and always great to receive feedback via comments.

Secondly not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I am excited so I wanted to share that I was selected as this week’s ACRL Member of the Week. So thanks ACRL! It’s fun to share why I enjoy academic librarianship so much.

Okay, now on to the tips and technology.

Lifehacker always does such nice end-of-the-year lists that I had to share another one: Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2011. To get you into Lifehacker’s lists for the new year, check out the article on the Best Time to Buy Anything in 2012. Who doesn’t like saving some money? This would be great to share with your patrons who I’m sure wouldn’t mind saving some money, too.

Also in the technology realm, I thought I’d share some information from Lifehacker on how you can Learn to Code with Free Weekly Lessons from Codeacademy this year. Go ahead and sign up, lessons start next week. I signed up and am excited about learning from Codeacademy. It never hurts to expand your tech skills (and help out your library and archives in the process).

Now let’s have a bit of fun before getting back to work!

If the post-holiday, back-to-work grind has gotten you stressed out, check out Lifehacker’s great article on Giving Better Massages. Messages are great for relieving stress and tension, plus the article gives tips at the end on self-massage which is great for when you can’t get someone to give you a massage.

Also, I’m happy to share that two of my very awesome friends (Hanna and Anna) have started a joint blog, the corner of your eye. Go on over, subscribe, and get your twice weekly dose of arts and culture reviews.

Anyone else extremely excited about The Hobbit coming out in December? I might be just a tiny bit excited (understatement of the year, thus far). So for my fellow fans, check out this lovely image from Beautiful Portals Tumblr:

I hope 2012 is going well for you and that you have a fantastic weekend planned. Read a good book, relax with a cup of tea, get a massage, and then get ready to take on this new year. See you next week with more good stuff. Allons-y!