Relaxing
First Fridays
Posted March 15, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon
My friends and I have a sort of tradition, though I don’t know if that’s really the proper word. Maybe it’s habit or ritual or pattern. Anyway, I’m talking about how we always congregate monthly at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) for its “First Fridays” event, which happens on the evening of –you guessed it– the first Friday of every month. We do this for many reasons. First of all, the MFA is beautiful, and it’s a completely different experience seeing it lit up at night. It’s also only about two blocks from the main campus, so the location is convenient. Additionally, we all get in for free with our Simmons student IDs. (This is also true at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is literally right next door.) Just to reiterate: We have an amazing museum nearby open late with plenty to explore and free admission. If those aren’t enough reasons to go, the event also sells drinks for a reasonable price (rare in Boston) and has a tasty assortment of light snacks….
Productivity and the Spring
Posted January 22, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
How is it already Spring semester? I feel like the break just flew by, and to be honest, I didn’t even really do that much! I volunteered a couple of times. I had my book club meet. I read ten books or so. I watched a lot of movies. I watched an entire season of Scandal, and Cousins on Call. (I watch an honestly embarrassing amount of television shows.) But I didn’t really do that much. I have the hardest time compelling myself to do things if I’m not busy. If I have a whole bunch of things happening, I manage to get a whole lot of things done. But if I’m completely free all day–I do absolutely nothing. Well, I don’t stare at the wall. I read stuff online. I spend a lot of time on Tumblr or twitter. I watch a lot of TV. But I feel like once the semester starts again, I’m more productive. Of course, there’s always the initial confusion of trying to get back into the swing of things,…
Holiday in Summary and a Return to Boston
Posted January 10, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon
This year was my first Christmas at my family’s home in Florida while in library school. Holidays are about more than gifts, but I am going to talk about them anyway, because I was surprised by how many were book-themed. There were book ornaments, books drawn on PJs, book-print socks, a mug with lines from famous books, actual books (of course), and more. It’s strange having this new identity, which I don’t mind, but it’s definitely odd. I’m the same person I’ve always been. I’ve always loved books. No one gave me anything book-related when I majored in English literature for my undergraduate degree, and that actually had a lot more to do with books. I guess people are always happy to find another way to relate to someone as a way of showing love and support, and libraries and books are something everyone understands and has experienced. Beyond being slightly puzzled, I’m grateful that my family seems genuinely happy to see me start a new part of my life and cares enough to bond…
2015 Reading Challenge
Posted January 5, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
It’s a brand new year! And while a lot of people enjoy making new year’s resolutions, I’m not really one of them. I try to always keep certain resolutions in mind (eat healthy, exercise as much as I can, love myself more), but one of the few resolutions which I love and keep up with is reading challenges. Last year, I wanted to read 100 books in a year, and I made it to 140. This year, I’m aiming for 150 books, and I stumbled across this challenge which will be a great way to make a dent. There’s 50 categories here which will end up with 52 books (one challenge is to read a trilogy). I’d love to hear if anyone is going to attempt this challenge too! I am so excited for this challenge, and I will be keeping track of this book on my goodreads account under my popsugar challenge tag. Happy 2015! -Hayley
Movie Time
Posted December 19, 2014 by Hayley Botnen
For today, I wanted to do something a little bit different. Now that the semester is over, I have time to pursue some of my other interests, and if you’ve looked at my profile, you know that one of the things I’ve been trying to do for the last few years is watch through Empire Magazine’s 500 Greatest Films. So here’s my own take on the handful of films I’ve watched since the semester finished. 312. Suspiria 1977 Terrible. Truly. The music that accompanied this film gave both me and my roommate a headache within the first five minutes. I think if it hadn’t been for the terrible sound-editing, it may have been an okay movie. However, even the special effect sounds were obnoxious. I literally wanted to sit in absolute silence after this movie was over so my ears could recover. 142. Almost Famous 2000 I had no idea how many well-known actors were in this! Also it starts with the Chipmunk’s Christmas song and a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird,…
Free Time
Posted December 15, 2014 by Samantha Quiñon
This week was blissfully uneventful. Mostly, I stuck to my routine. I had class (for the last time this year), volunteered in the library at the Boston Arts Academy, and finished my internship. Things happened that were outside of my routine too. I interviewed for jobs and internships for the new year, which was both stressful and exciting. (I won’t tell you which ones, because I don’t want to jinx it.) I also went to a holiday party at my friend Meaghan’s apartment and went to the movies and out for dinner with my roommate to celebrate the end of the school year. On a more productive note, with all my newfound free time, I ran dozens of errands I’ve been procrastinating, so my eyebrows now don’t resemble Frida Kahlo’s and my wardrobe is newly expanded with clothes I finally got dry-cleaned. On top of that, I checked out a lot of books from Beatley Library (Simmons College Library) to read over the break. Currently, I’m in the middle of The Night Circus, a fantasy…
It’s Pumpkin Time!
Posted October 8, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
A long time ago, in a state not too far away, my elementary school arranged a special surprise for its fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes. It was October 2001, and to lift the spirits of the students still reeling from 9/11, the school board somehow managed to secure one pumpkin for each student (this was not a particularly large elementary school) and brought in someone to teach us how to ‘carve’ Jack O’Lanterns. Over the course of three days, each class was given an hour, a small pumpkin, and some paint while a master pumpkin carver showed everyone how to carve a spooktacular Jack O’Lantern. Pictures were taken, jokes were made, and a pumpkin contest was held to decide which student painted the best pumpkin. Although the annual Christmas Classroom Door contest was usually regarded as the best school-wide event, that year, nothing could compare to my elementary school’s pumpkin fest. And I missed the whole thing. Indeed, that year, my normally decent immune system betrayed me and on the day that my fifth…
Literary Librarians
Posted August 19, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
It’s August and summer classes have finally ended, which means I have another two weeks of relative freedom before fall classes start in September. I’ve been spending a lot of time catching up on television (I know people told me Orphan Black was good, but it is so good, you guys) and the lengthy list of books I’ve wanted to read. People who choose to study the library sciences do tend to be big readers, and the size of my To Read pile definitely means I’m no exception. Because I’m graduating in less than six months (!!!), most of my focus is on job hunting and my future career, and I’ve been spending my time reading about fictional librarians and their work for inspiration. The problem with fictional librarians is that a lot of the time they seem to be the stereotypical shhhing librarians who hate fun – even the librarian action figure has sensible shoes and “amazing shushing action.” Luckily, there are a load of awesome literary librarians to help balance the picture of…
Fenway Flag Ceremony
Posted June 5, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
I am not a sports person, as I’ve mentioned, but I always seem to become friendly with massive sports fans who try to cure my sports apathy with huge infusions of exciting sports… stuff. Well, exciting for them. Mostly incomprehensible to me. I spend a lot of time struggling to look like I care, if you know what I mean. One of my friends is a huge – and I mean huge – Red Sox fan. As a way to try to inspire a similar love for the team in my cold, dead heart, she invited me to go to Fenway to help with the giant flag that unfurls from the top of the Green Monster before the game. (Here’s an image of the flag (not from that day), for other non-Fenway go-ers. We’re the people who are actually behind it, who you can only see from the knees down.) Basically, we got to Fenway about two hours before the game started, before the gates were open to ticket holders, and got to walk around…
Five Reasons Why it Needs to be Spring
Posted April 1, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
Although spring technically started about ten days ago, it sure does not feel like it. In fact, while I was out running errands today, I realized that the rain turned into hail. Now I am an total fan of winter but even I know when enough is enough. Unless this seemingly endless winter is a curse accidentally placed on us by Queen Elsa from Frozen, starting tomorrow, it better start feeling like spring. Now, I know its been a while since it has even come close to feeling like spring so I’ve composed a list of five reasons why its time to open up the windows and enjoy the fresh spring air. 1. Warmer weather. Think how wonderful it will be when we no longer need to go outside bundled up in winter wear? Rather than having to wear extra socks on my feet, I cannot wait to bust out my t-shirts and flip flops. 2. The rebirth of nature. One thing that I absolutely love about spring is how everything seemingly comes alive again. Flowers bloom, trees sprout leaves, and butterflies are everywhere. Yea there are those pesky…