Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

See the rainbow I requested!? My ride home My ride home My ride home My ride home My ride home Remember when I asked for a rainbow instead of the rain ? Well, it did rain on us in NYC yesterday (and at the Farm and everywhere in between too!), but it was worth it. I DID get the rainbow and a lovely, very cool drive home!

View from the Battery Park ferry over to Liberty Island NYC from the ferry Heading toward the Statue of Liberty From the ferry Heading toward the museum and monument Looking up Looking up Ellis Island "Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name, Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"  --Emma Lazarus

World Trade Center Memorial building budding up through Manhattan NY Stock Exchange remembers 9/11 View down Wall St. looking towards Trinity Church Washington watching over NY (Site of his Presidential Inauguration) "The Sphere," a sculpture by Fritz Koenig which stood at the World Trade Center as a symbol of world peace, was relocated to Battery Park on March 11, 2002, approx. six months after 9/11. The new memorial also includes an eternal flame (lit 9/11/0 2), "in honor of all those who were lost," says an explanatory plaque, "an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country." View of the World Trade Center Memorial building from Battery Park, NYC View of the World Trade Center Memorial building from Battery Park, NYC I went into the City to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, to eat dumplings, maybe go to a museum, have good coffee; I did most of those things and in the process was overwhe...

Here is a quick video of NYC--looking in at Battery Park and the Financial District (if I'm not mistaken you can see the World Trade Center Memorial at 7 seconds?)--taken while I was riding over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Praying for rainbows tomorrow, but the weather report is calling for rain in the Big Apple. Heading into NYC EARLY for a day alone, spent wandering--never done it before, so excited at the possibilities. Just one day. Will be back at the Farm tomorrow night. Hoping for: Statue of Liberty sighting, Ellis Island, a museum, dumplings, good coffee. Wish me luck. Ahh...the start of a 3 day weekend. Pics to follow. Ingrid Michaelson - "Somewhere over the rainbow" cover

I jones to be in a city sometimes. Sometimes I am jonesing to go to the City. Especially after I hear this song: "Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z, Alicia Keys. I am feeling like a trip to NYC is in my near-ish future.

What I learned about Patience and Fortitude (the NYC Library Lions): Will be celebrating their 100th bday this month Made by sculptor Edward Clark Potter Patience and Fortitude are based on African lions The lions original names were Leo Astor and Leo Lenox (named after library founders John Jacob Astor and James Lenox). During the Depression Mayor LaGuardia renamed them Fortitude and Patience for qualities he said would get NYers through the bad times For these facts and more check out this NYTimes article . Photo found here . Dear Detroit Library , I am a little ashamed of you. Renovations I can understand, but the food budget!?

This week Mummy and I were able to sneak away for an overnight in NYC; Mummy had a conference and I just wound up tagging along.We left Tuesday afternoon and headed into the city, driving, which was still new to me, having only ever done it with once before. We farmers traditionally drive to the train station and take a train into the city. The drive to Astoria, where we stayed with Sarah & Joel (at their great apartment), took less time than the entire train process (driving to station, waiting for train, taking train in, catching subway) and provided us with lots of time to chat. Driving in we encountered some rain, but it managed to hold out enough so that Mummy, Sarah, her Mom (who was also visiting) and I could go for a walk through Astoria Park, where we were able to admire the Triborough and Hellgate Bridges (I think those are the right names...?) Met up with Joel and went to a fun place for dinner where we all tried different things, sharing our food; felt l...

This morning, spilling into the afternoon, was like a Simon and Garfunkel song; I sat on a train, on this rainy day, and watched as New York City slid away from me. I reentered the outlying cities, looking out over sleepy little cities and towns, traveling over waterways on little bridges made to rock our train back and forth, lulling me to sleep. Everything about leaving the City was unlike how I’d entered it. This morning we woke up early so we could go have a breakfast in the West Village (Manhattan) where my cousin works. It was one of those wonderful successes; trying out a restaurant that my cousin passes every day en route to work, one which she had often wondered about. The restaurant is Grey Dog and a better breakfast place in town I can’t imagine I’d find. Everything about the restaurant was great, from the décor (random pictures and signs, snowboards—many things featuring dogs); to the tables themselves, which had hand painted maps of various areas around the U.S. on them...

It is possible to go to New York multiple times and never retrace your steps. I am sure yesterday was that kind of day. I saw only things that I had never looked on before. We began the day at the Morgan Library where we had planned to see the exhibit on Jane Austen, and upon showing up I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Library also had an exhibit on William Blake’s illustrations from a variety of projects--as an English major I was most familiar with his illustrations for the Book of Urizen, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Jessi and I wandered through the galleries, looking at (among many things) some of Jane Austen’s letters to her beloved sister Cassandra. It was quite wonderful to see writing in Austen’s own hand, to see the handwritten letters which referenced some of my most beloved stories; letters which talked about the possibilities that lie open for Austen’s antagonists and heroines. Magical. The exhibit on Blake was nice, less interesting to me, since he...

I am sitting in my cousin's apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NYC. Yesterday after work I got in the car and drove over an hour to catch a Metro North train into NYC. From Wassaic, NY I took a train in, transfering once, to Grand Central Station. As I was pushed forward with the swelling crowds--trying to act like I knew where I was going to catch my next train--I marveled at the beautiful architechture of the builiding and the famous image of the building came into my head; the image of the interior of the building with the light streaming in through the ceiling windows. The trip into the city isn't complete without seeing Grand Central; all its people rushing through going to jobs, homes, lovers; such a gathering up of people only to push them out again into the cool November streets. Two hours and three trains later (after getting seriously confused) my cousin Jessi and I found each other at the West 4th Street stop, and another couple of trains and we were walking down the ...