(no subject)
Boston is awaiting its first big storm of the season (friends on the prairies, insert scoffing here, and know that I do feel your pain) and F and I are counting down the days till we flee for Mazatlan. In the meantime, I will try to restrain my shopping cravings and maybe even get some work done.
Working on a paper in preparation for an upcoming conference (with Spoo!) in Baltimore. Everything I know about Baltimore I learned from watching HBO's The Wire, so I am expecting crack dealers, failing industry, hot men, and high murder rates. Throw a bunch of academics into the mix (because obviously Spoo and I will attend the conference with full rigor and not just blow off panels in order to hang out together) and the result? Magic. Ooooooooh yeah.
Yesterday I made an important discovery: I found the section of the Boston Public Library that is
a) old & gorgeous, with arched ceilings and marble stairways and big wood tables and green reading lamps
b) quiet and obviously meant for actual work
c) seemingly free of homeless people
Note: I do not begrudge the homeless people of Boston their access to the Library; it's certainly a much nicer place to spend the day than the sidewalk. The very publicness of the Library is part of what I love about it, as opposed to certain private institutions that always make me feel like an interloper. Moreover, homeless people like reading too. But homeless people also smell bad, and I find that, shall we say, distracting.
Yay me for finding the nice part of the Library. Did you know that the Boston Public Library is the oldest public library in North America? Did you know that I am (more than) enough of a geek to be kinda thrilled by that?
Working on a paper in preparation for an upcoming conference (with Spoo!) in Baltimore. Everything I know about Baltimore I learned from watching HBO's The Wire, so I am expecting crack dealers, failing industry, hot men, and high murder rates. Throw a bunch of academics into the mix (because obviously Spoo and I will attend the conference with full rigor and not just blow off panels in order to hang out together) and the result? Magic. Ooooooooh yeah.
Yesterday I made an important discovery: I found the section of the Boston Public Library that is
a) old & gorgeous, with arched ceilings and marble stairways and big wood tables and green reading lamps
b) quiet and obviously meant for actual work
c) seemingly free of homeless people
Note: I do not begrudge the homeless people of Boston their access to the Library; it's certainly a much nicer place to spend the day than the sidewalk. The very publicness of the Library is part of what I love about it, as opposed to certain private institutions that always make me feel like an interloper. Moreover, homeless people like reading too. But homeless people also smell bad, and I find that, shall we say, distracting.
Yay me for finding the nice part of the Library. Did you know that the Boston Public Library is the oldest public library in North America? Did you know that I am (more than) enough of a geek to be kinda thrilled by that?