Animoto Video

Greetings from one o' them "I" states

Scott and I left Boston out of Back Bay at around 12noon. On the train. As in Amtrak.

---

Lovely boarding platform, eh?

---

There were only 2 cars and I couldn't sit with Scott on the 5 hour trip to Albany, NY. Not really my idea of a fun ride. Scott met a nice kid from Tufts that was taking the train all the way back to MONTANA. Weirdo.

---

Scott and Quincy watching the rest of "Good Fellas" during the lay-over in Albany.

---

The next train was bigger (ie. more cars), had a dining car, lounge car, and more leg room. That didn't make the next 16 hours suck any less however. We did meet 2 guys from Sweden that were pretty cool and ended up sharing a table at dinner. They were making their way over to the west coast. Dinner was the end of the festivities for Jessica however. Sleeping sitting up has never been in my arsenal of cool abilities, and it sure could have come in handy on this trip.

---

Indiana. Maybe?

---

Finally! Chicago, Union Station.

---

We did lots of different stuff while we were there like spend time with Scott's family and take a little day trip.


I saw my first soft shelled turtle at a Nature Center we stopped to check out. I like to call him Edwardo.

---

Now for the money shots.


Hallway O' Card Catalogs at University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. What is the (supposed) number 1 LIS school in the country doing with all these card catalogs?!?


They were everywhere!

---

This is the real reason why we came however.


The Underground Undergrad Library. It's hard to tell, but that building is really just a door into an entry way with an elevator and a stairwell. Both go down.


Cool court yard in the center of the library. Two stories...down.

There is a reason, however for building their Undergrad Library Underground. They didn't want it to cast shade on a corn field. Shit you not.


It's a VERY important corn field.

---

The other really cool place we visited was The Field Museum in Chicago.




I saw Sue. She's a T Rex. In fact, she's the most complete T Rex in the WORLD. That they found in South Dakota. Go figure.


And a pretty view of Navy Pier for good measure.

---

Besides our trip to Gino's East for some spectacular deep dish pizza that's the bulk of our trip. It was fun.

I will never take a train for more than 10 hours TOPS again. Ever. I don't care. You can't make me. And what the hell's with the NO WIFI?!?! Bastards. Uncivilized I tell you.

As requested

As my friend Emilie (who needs to update her blog) requested, here is an "after" picture to the previous post. Damn do they smell nice.

Lilac Love

I suspect the reason I didn't see many Lilacs down in North Carolina is because it's too fucking hot for them. I could be wrong. Maybe people just don't realize how beautiful they are...



These babies are going to be awesome when they pop. Happiness.

Qualify as a Groupie?

How many times do you have to see an artist or a band before you become a "groupie"? Do you have to follow them around the country or is it sufficient just to see them whenever they are within a reasonable radius for driving? On that same note is it a negative or a positive to be a "groupie"? I can't help but think of "Almost Famous" when I think of groupies and that's not what I'm talking about. The reason I ask this is because last night I saw Shawn Mullins for the third time. It was a phenomenal show, as expected. I blogged about the last show here, where you will also find my disclaimer on country music. He played TWO SETS last night which was awesome. More stories about how the songs came about than before as well. I think that this show was ALMOST as good as the show at the Grey Eagle in Asheville. Definitely better than the show at the HardRock Cafe, which doesn't surprise me since he's not a corporate boy in any which way. The show was at Johnny D's in Somerville. Nice place with yummy sweet potato fries :) He's an unbelievable story teller and I would highly recommend checking him out no matter what your views on country music ('cause he's not really country, I swear).

Super Fan

I always joke that I'm my brother's number one fan. Dorky but probably true. The band he performs with, Heloise & the Savoir Faire, were the musical guests on BBC4's "Friday Night Project" last night. They start at about 1:24 into the clip:



And, in case you missed it, last year(?), they were the musical guests on the Graham Norton show (I think that one is on BBC2 but I could be wrong).

Libraries can learn from Museums

What NOT to do.

http://tinyurl.com/6jtf2p

As I was reading this post I was thinking, I know it's hard, but, they're kids! We want them to come to the museum/library, right? Well, parents aren't going to bring them and kids aren't going to want to go if staff and guards are jumping down their throats the minute they walk in the door. Part of me wants to borrow someone's kids so that I can take them to a museum... 'cause I like to start trouble like that. It directly relates to what's going on in libraries right now what with all the banning of social networking sites and all. Stupid people. It's not fixing anything. It's just making your life easier and wait, that's right I forgot, it's all about you isn't it.