Boston
The T and Me
Posted September 22, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
I’m sure that this has happened to everyone at least once. Picture this: It’s a school day and you have class at 9am. It’s 8:15am, and you have just rushed out of your apartment, running as fast as you possibly can to the T with high hopes that it will be pulling in just as you arrive. Instead though, the T is just leaving, the passengers all turning to watch you as the train leaves you behind in its dust. Now its 8:30am and the next train has finally pulled in. Hallelujah! But with only 30 minutes left and a number of T stops to go AND a lengthy walk separating you from the T stop and your classroom, the question remains: will you make it to class on time? Well when the above scenario happened to me, I ended up making it to class with ten minutes to spare. Yes, I was out of breath and somewhat half crazed from worry, but I had made it to class on time. As I boarded the T back home later…
Making the Most of Autumn
Posted September 17, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
I am originally from the Midwest and moved out to Boston for the graduate opportunities out here. One of the best things about Boston is that there is so much to do, and with autumn rolling around I can’t think of a better time to explore some history the Boston area has to offer! These recommendations aren’t the “traditional” places to visit, and are often overlooked. For us Bostonians, however, they provide a wonderful opportunity to explore without tourists! Walden Pond http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Pond Long known for the place where Ralph Waldo Emerson owned land that Henry David Thoreau lived on for two years while writing Walden, Walden Pond is separately a beautiful location that is only made more breathtaking by the changing of the trees. If you’re interested in the movement of transcendentalism, or even just want a peaceful place to ponder your navel, Walden Pond is a great place for you. The downside is that it’s difficult to get to if you don’t have a car – it’s in Concord, Mass – but if you…
Autumn in Boston
Posted September 14, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
Why does cold weather feel collegiate? Walking into school yesterday was preposterous. It’s September. There’s a reason people fall for the “Back to School” sales at the mall. Autumnal wind, the smell of crisp leaves and the feel of a brand new notebook beneath my fingers is infectious. Don’t you just want to sharpen some pencils? I’ve gotten into the habit of arriving at my classes 15 minutes early, mainly because I like to people watch. I like to observe my new GSLIS cohorts lay out their new pens, write their name on the top left hand corner of their new composition notebook, and stack their textbooks underneath their chair. There’s something comforting about getting it just right on the first day even though, full disclosure, you don’t need any of these things for your first class. You need to come with an open mind and the capacity to listen to others. And yet, is there anything more refreshing than walking to class with the crisp morning air brushing your cheek, know that your backpack…
Exploring Your Neighborhood
Posted August 13, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
For the first time in seven years, I am so happy that this coming September 1, my husband and I will not be moving. I will be excluded from the uHaul hassle, the security deposits, the shady landlords, and dealing with the fact that dishwashers are still a sought-after commodity despite our foray into the twenty-first century. In the past year, knowing that we wouldn’t be moving in September, we have made our little apartment a true home (rental-style) – temporarily replacing the dim lighting fixtures, accruing beautiful (if eclectic) art and photographs, even adopting a puppy for our pet-friendly pad! But one of the things that we have admittedly slacked on is learning our area. When my husband randomly plugged our address into Walkscore.com and a 97 popped up, his friend asked what great coffee shops, bars, parks, and restaurants were in the area to inflate our score so much – sadly, we had no idea. It wasn’t until very recently that we actually made exploring our area a priority – and we have…
Preserving Morris Dancing
Posted July 16, 2013 by lazylibrarian
For the last two months I have been enmeshed in a collection about Morris Dancing. Until two months ago, I did not know such a thing existed. So imagine my great surprise Friday night when I ran into multiple Morris Dancer groups performing on the Common in conjunction with Shakespeare on the Common! I wasn’t even supposed to be there at that time but had absentmindedly gotten off at the wrong T stop and ran into the very people my collection documented! As I stood watching, a woman came up to me and said, “Has anyone told you what this is yet?” She seemed used to having to explain it to passersby. “It’s Morris Dancing!” I said excitedly and she looked at me as if I were the one jumping in the common with bells tied to my shins. Yes! I do know what it is! This led me to a wonderful opportunity to not only talk with her about Morris Dancing and how she came to be involved with it but also about how…
GSLIS is great, and everything. But let’s talk about Community.
Posted April 23, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
There have been a lot of events going on at the main Simmons Campus this week. On April 15, Boston experienced two bombs that rocked the famous Boston Marathon. Then, just this past Thursday and Friday, there was a city – district? – wide manhunt for the two suspects. I personally live in the Cambridge area, very near MIT. My husband works at the Whitehead Building, only a block away from where the valiant MIT Police Officer, Sean Collier, lost his life. I was terrified – my husband was still at work when MIT was put on lockdown – and I felt helpless and confused. Of course, eventually the manhunt was relocated to Watertown with a whole other set of terrors. But you all know the story of what went down recently – I want to talk about all of Boston’s reaction to it, and more specifically how Simmons reacted. Community is a strong word. Community, in my mind, evokes thoughts about people holding hands and having a strong bond tied to a location or…
Boston Strong
Posted April 22, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I am neither eloquent nor competent enough to put into words the thoughts, fears, feelings, and emotions that I experienced last week during and in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt. It is unfortunate that sometimes it takes something this tragic and senseless to bring out the best in people, but Boston responded with the heart and spirit of a city that will not let this tragedy define one of its greatest traditions. If anything, the marathon will come back stronger next year. Boston Strong(er).
Information Overload
Posted April 21, 2013 by lazylibrarian
The whole world knows what happened in Boston this past week. I don’t wish to ruminate on the agonies, rather focus on the lessons. As common with tragedies, there are many. One that I came across, that might seem minor in the scheme of human suffering this week, nevertheless is the one I want to focus on because of its tie-in to library science. There has been much media coverage over the “social media aspect” of the Boston Marathon Bombing and in the horrific misidentification of the suspects in the New York Post but even before the New York Post coverpage there were thousands of people on Reddit and other websites trying to solve the crime like amateur Sherlock Holmes. I do believe their intentions were good but more and more I saw links to the supposed Twitter of the suspects, their Facebook, statements such as “if this is the same so and so then they worked here” or “if this is the same guy he won this award in the year X”. We’ve already…
Marathon Monday
Posted April 15, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Forgive me for writing about sports for a second consecutive week, but the Boston Marathon is kind of a big deal. The Boston Athletic Association claims that in terms of media coverage, the Boston Marathon ranks behind only the Super Bowl as the largest single day sporting event in the world. Yowzer. As I wrote at this time last year, I love watching the marathon, and it is another unique Boston experience. Simmons is about a mile from Mile 25 of the marathon, where Beacon Street and Commonwealth Ave will be absolutely packed with people cheering for runners as they gut out the last few miles through Brookline and Boston. Today is Patriots’ Day, which is only a holiday in Massachusetts and Maine (although for some reason in Maine they move the apostrophe and call it Patriot’s Day), so many people either have or take the day off to witness thousands of people running. Watching people run sounds fairly boring, but the emotion and camaraderie are palpable. You have to be there. This is not…
Being Frank About Fenway
Posted April 8, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Today is opening day at Fenway Park. Granted, the Red Sox have already played six games on the road to start the season, but baseball doesn’t really seem official until the boys of summer suit up within the confines of friendly Fenway. I am not a huge Sox fan, and they aren’t even supposed to be very good this year, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter. Baseball has started, which means that spring is here and having a few afternoon beers is excusable in the name of watching “tha Sawcks.” (“Tha Sawcks” = “the Sox” with a Boston accent.) Boston sports teams have more or less of a cult following that can be borderline offensive to the uninitiated. For the next six months, many Bostonians will be living and dying with each and every pitch of the remaining 155 regular season games. I can guarantee you that people will come out of the woodwork to be in the Fenway area this afternoon, and I plan to be one of them. I think that “Red…