Relaxing
Boston By Foot
Posted April 23, 2016 by Amy Wilson
One of my goals for 2016 was, as soon as the weather was nice enough, I would walk to work. From my house, it’s only 2.7 miles, which takes me about an hour. Normally, if I am taking public transit, I need to leave by 8:15 to ge to work for 9am; walking the same route only adds 15-20 minutes to my commute (which doesn’t say much for our transit system). One of the top women runners at the Marathon Attending the Boston Marathon on Monday inspired me to step it up (pun intended). After the marathon, I walked to Simmons to do some homework. Unfortunately, the computer lab was closed, so then I decided to walk home across the Charles (I live in somerville). My 3.5 miles was definitely no marathon, but I felt proud of myself because normally it wouldn’t even corss my mind to walk. View after crossing the Charles I think it’s easy to forget what a small city Boston is when you take public transit, because it can take so…
Ode to Brunch
Posted April 15, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I have just recently become a regular bruncher (forgive the pretentiousness, but I don’t know what else to call it). Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day, but the whole concept of meeting your pals on a weekend for some hearty breakfast food and acceptable morning alcohol (ie mimosas) isn’t something I encountered much in the Midwest. But since coming to Boston, my eyes have been opened to the great variety of possibilities that this mid-morning timeslot can hold. “What’s so great about brunch?” The food!!! Pancakes, eggs, hash, bagels, burritos, fruit…and the list goes on. And since you are technically combining two meals into one sitting, feel free to go wild with your ordering. Chocolate milk and coffee? French toast and bacon? SURE! The time slot. I consider myself a morning person, but even I can appreciate the gloriousness that is sleeping in past 8:00am. Brunch is the perfect excuse to sleep in and still feel like you’ve accomplished something with your day. The breakfast-y food tricks your brain into thinking…
I Wish the Weather Would Make Up Its Mind
Posted April 8, 2016 by Katie Caskey
If you live anywhere in the Boston area, your Facebook feed has undoubtedly been filled with posts about the snow this last week. Either you are an incredulous new-comer to the unpredictability of New England springs or you are a hardened Bostonian, saddened by the reality of snow in April. But now, as I look outside, it’s pouring down rain. The snow is mostly melted, and I am seeing flowers and buds again. Later this week it’s supposed to be sunny and almost 60 degrees…before next weekend’s potential for snow again. However you feel about the weather, I think we can all agree that Boston needs to get it together and make up its mind! I could even get behind snow if I knew it was going to be around for a set amount of time and then be done! I just don’t like all this switching…it’s messing up my outfit planning, my reading selections, even my Panera ordering. After all, who wants to eat a salad when it’s 20 degrees outside? So, to help…
Playing the Waiting Game
Posted April 1, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I have good news and bad news. The (very very) good news is that I am graduating in less than 7 weeks! Done! Finished with school! And while I have absolutely loved my time at Simmons, and in academia in general, I am very ready to begin the next (paper- and homework-free) season of life…which brings me to the bad news. As I am learning, this next season may be aptly titled “The Waiting Game.” I’ve been applying to internships and job positions since late January, and so far, no nibbles. The hardest part is that with the company I’m applying to, I can track my application progress on their website. So while I can see that my application is being considered, I have no way of knowing how long that might last or how serious that consideration is. So, I’m having to re-learn the art of patience that was drilled into me by my kindergarten teacher. This is enough to drive a planner like me crazy, by the way. So I’ve decided that I’m…
Ice Cream: The Only Good Thing About a Warm Winter
Posted February 5, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I don’t know about all of you, but I am NOT happy about this crazy warm “winter” we’ve been having this year. I want snow, and hot chocolate, and ice skating, and cold cheeks and noses! I do NOT want to walk out of my house in a spring jacket and be sweating from the humidity before I reach the train station. Last night, in particular, I was really feeling steamed about this heat wave. So, I decided to make myself chilly, even if it was 50-some degrees outside. (I should explain that I’m from Minnesota, so the cold is in my blood…it’s a part of me…I need it). Anyway, I headed to the freezer, dug out a carton of cookie dough ice cream, and prepared to make my own winter experience. As I settled onto the couch and started munching, my brain began to wander, as it does, and I got to thinking about ice cream. It’s just the most wonderful treat, and it’s so customizable! You can make it fruity, chocolatey, hard, soft,…
Happy Halloween!
Posted October 28, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
Grab your pumpkins and copious bags of candy ’cause Halloween is right around the corner! This year the holiday fortunately falls on a weekend which means that us students do not have to deal with the epic struggle of deciding whether or not to attend class dressed in full costume. While I will certainly support anyone who has/would do it, I sadly have never really had the opportunity to do so. Life just has a way of messing with my plans. Oh well. In preparation of All Hallows Eve I’ve been binge watching and reading anything and everything that reminds me of my favorite autumn holiday. From watching Let’s Plays of survival horror video games to reading a horror novel set within a store reminiscent of IKEA, I know that come November 1st, I am definitely going to need a year to recover from my apparent Halloween overdose. But until then, the parade of all things spooky, creepy, and nightmare-tastic will keep marching on. While I sadly could not make a visit to Salem, MA this…
Happy Birthday Trebek: An Ode to Trivia
Posted July 23, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
Wednesday, July 22nd was a very important day because it concerns a very important man… at least for me. It is the day that Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy, turned 75 years old. The first person I knew who was also named Alex, I grew up watching him host Jeopardy. To this day, I love that show and become glued to the TV if I stumble upon it. I have been tempted to buy cable solely so that I could watch Jeopardy every night at 7:30pm. Alex Trebek and Jeopardy are most likely the reason for my love of knowledge and trivia, which itself is most likely the reason why I am pursuing library science. A general knowledge of everything tends to come in handy in this line of work! And doesn’t Mr. Trebek look amazing for 75? But to return to the subject at hand: trivia. Now, when I say I love trivia, I don’t think you really understand. I LOVE trivia. It makes me so excited. If I know I’m going to trivia…
Summer Laziness
Posted July 15, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
How is it already halfway through July? I thought summer was going to be less busy than the school year, but between my internship and the classes I was taking, I feel like it’s been really busy. Maybe it’s also the fact that it’s summer. Summer, to me, means lounging. It means reading. It means going to movies and hanging out in places with AC on the hot-hot days. I went to a concert last week which was fun. I want to go to a baseball game. Summer means a lot of things, but maybe being productive isn’t necessarily one of them. I’ve been trying to work on my novel this month (for Camp Nanowrimo), but it’s hard work when it’s sunny out and it’s hot in my apartment. It’s easier to read things other people have written. It’s easier to see one of the so-called blockbusters in a cool theater. The best part about being a future librarian? Even the things I use to be un-productive are weirdly productive. It’s important for me to…
The Funny and the Serious
Posted June 16, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
Happy Summer! Two links today, one to make you laugh and one to make you think. Laugh: Librarian Problems. My favorite might be “watching patrons try to find things in the collection after shifting,” especially the comment “watching the rest of the staff after you shifted.” Um, yes, that was me. Think: The Library News. A great collection of articles. Unsurprisingly, several of these have appeared in my Facebook feed from other sources, and it’s nice to have them all in one place. Enjoy!
Summer Fun: Musical Mondays
Posted June 11, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
In recent years I have come to realize something about myself: I absolutely love traditions. Defined by Merriam-Webster as being a “a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time,” traditions are something that anyone and everyone has. At the same time, traditions can be anything that one or many people want them to be. From family traditions such as always stopping at a specific spot on a road-trip to more sacred and religiously symbolic traditions such as attending Easter Mass, lighting the Sabbath candles, or by marking the end of Ramadan by celebrating Eid al-Fitr, traditions are practices that unite individuals together in unique and special ways. And then there are silly traditions; the kind that you have with your close friends, that ones that just sort of started out of nowhere but have since become something sort-of special. Within my apartment, we have a tradition. We call it Musical Mondays. What started one Monday night a few weeks…