Hello New York Public Library...

...we meet again! :)

Hi Library Lovers! It's Tarra, and I'm back with library adventures at the New York Public Library! YAY! You know you're excited too! ;)

Since I completed one of my internships on Monday, I have time to get back to the job search in one of my favorite places - you guessed it, the library!  The library keeps me more focused when it comes to getting stuff done as well as provides the proper seating area and hard surface to set up my work station.  Yes Rick, as I mentioned before, these tables are good for dancing on! haha

Man...taking pictures in the library is kinda awkward. haha Definitely more comfortable when you're at the UP library!

ANYWAY, it's time to get some work done. The library closes at 8 p.m. EDT, which means it really closes at 7:45 p.m. What?!

Hope you have a great Wednesday! Happy Hump Day! Woot! ;)

This Day in HISTORY...

In 1842, the Croton Reservoir opened on the corner of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, the location of the New York Public Library. 

Yeah I know the reservoir really has nothing to do with the library now, but hey! It's still in the same location. Can you believe that?  Instead of a library, there was a fortress of stored water. Hmm...interesting!

Since I'm here talking about the New York Public Library, let me show you the room that I'm in.  It's pretty fantastic! :)

It's pretty, but it makes me wonder where all the other books are.  Also, I was looking at some older pictures of this room, and the chairs and tables are set up the exact same way they were done in the 1920s. The furniture even looked the same. I don't know if the furniture is from the 1920s but what if it is?!

Leaving this room, there is a great mural on the ceiling. You'd think we were in the Sistine Chapel or something. But no...it's just a library! ;)

Er...I think I might have taken the picture upside down. Sorry about that.

I miss going to the library to apply for jobs and such because I'm so busy going to work and doing my internship, but at least I have a job now, right?  I'm definitely going to try to stop by to continue the job search!

Well, hope you're all doing well!  I know this blog hasn't been kept updated regularly, but there might be some crazy changes in the next couple weeks. You never know as we venture past our first 100 posts.

GOOD LUCK with midterms and have a FANTASTIC fall break! :)

So many rules...

Found the main reading room at the New York Public Library.  It's really spacious. Tons of spots for laptops and what not, but who would have thought there would be so many rules about where you can and can not have a laptop or earphones for that matter?!

I asked the information desk for some help, and she insisted I go to the North Hall.  Got all settled in and everything, and then one of the security guards gave me a slip of paper. I thought he was going to tell me I can't be on Facebook or something. But no, it said you can't wear headphones because the area is strictly used for research and study.  I'm pretty sure my music wasn't even that loud. 

So I migrated over to the South Hall because you can wear head phones there.  I found a good spot, but then there was a sign that says no laptop docking here. Moving again...I was heading to the last tables but no, no laptop docking there either.  Finally, found a spot under the AC. It's so cold right here, but at least I have power for my laptop and music - the essentials to applying for jobs online. ;)

Rick & Madison or any of our followers - Are there any rules like that at the UP library?  Just curious.

NYC Public Library!

After a couple days without Internet, I finally found a place with Internet! Thanks goodness because I was going crazy without it!

If you haven't been keeping with me, check out my personal blog, titled "POST GRAD life."

I've been on a whirlwind trip to New York City, and being in desperate need to find a job, I needed to find a place to find Internet access.

So...

Thank GOD for the New York Public Library!

I'm sure you knew that I would depend on the library...just so I could write on here! Haha! Well, as much as cozy as a coffee shop, which would probably be Starbucks here, I honestly have to say that I'm more comfortable in a library.  After all those hours in the UP library, it just became a part of me.  So look forward to my adventures from the NYPL while Rick and Madison keep it real at the UP library! ;) 

For today's adventure, I started a little late.  Next time I'm going to wake up and go straight to the library. I really need to figure out my NYC schedule. But yeah, after doing the usual Facebook, Twitter, blog, email routine, it's back to the job applications. I have the resumes and cover letters all ready. Just a matter of emailing them! Woo...! 

Well, I'll add a picture in a bit or next time. Hope you all are doing fantastic!

P.S. Look out for Rick and Madison's blog about the first week of school...

Libraries in Colorado!

It's been a while since I've posted on here, but hey! I'm still here! Well, not at UP here, but I think you catch my drift.  Anyway, I hope summer has been treating everyone well! I know mine has had its ups and downs, but I've enjoyed it for the most part. You can find out more on my blog...

So library adventures in Colorado?
How does that happen, right?  I wasn't even planning on having library adventures as I headed to this Rocky Mountain state in July, but it happened.  

For starters, my hotel had a library in it!  I didn't get a chance to visit it because people were always in it when I passed by, but it was right next to the elevators so I saw it frequently.  It was just a small room filled with books and a few computers. I just didn't know that a library was an amenity at a hotel.  Different, eh?

The whole purpose for the trip to Colorado was to attend my cousin's wedding.  Best wishes to the bride and groom! While we were outside of the church to see the newlyweds drive off in a limo, I noticed the library across the street! haha I wasn't the only one that noticed either; my cousin's girlfriend asked if it was open. Classic!

Could you imagine having a wedding IN A LIBRARY?  The Today show was talking about unconventional ways to have a wedding, and people were getting married at stores, amusement parks, underwater, and dressed up as their favorite comic book or movie.  Crazy! Just makes me wonder if a library has ever been a place to hold a wedding ceremony...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Before the close of our trip, we visited Manitou Springs, which is around the Colorado Springs area.  Checked out a couple points of interests, like Pike's Peak, Cliff Dwellings, and Cave of the Winds.  Driving through town, I found the public library of Manitou Springs.  Yes, again, I did not go inside.  We were sitting in traffic when I took this picture.

Looks so tranquil, hidden beneath green trees in the summer sunshine! Ah...! I wish I could have gone inside the libraries I saw on this trip.

It's cool that Rick and I are checking out or at least seeing different libraries around the country.  I definitely think this segment should continue.  It would be awesome if we even visited libraries around the world!

Madison and I were discussing how libraries are such a central place for knowledge with all the books.  It's truly fascinating, and I think that's what I really enjoy about libraries.  You can get lost in a book and uncovering a multitude of facts from cover to cover.  It's one of the best feelings to gain new interesting information. :)

PART ONE: Other libraries.

So I made it to my public library, and OMG! This new place is amazing!  They just moved it to a new, larger facility down the street from the original location, and I got to admit that the new building is fantastic! It even still has that new building smell! I'll definitely have to explore after writing this long awaited blog.

As Rick mentioned in his blog about his public library, it definitely feels weird being here and probably being the only college student graduate here (parents and the librarians don't count).  The high school students just got out of school within the past hour and a bunch of them are here homeworkin' it.  They've got about a week of school left.

I'm also like the only one with a laptop, which is totally different from UP since everyone brought their laptop with them. Sometimes the whole top balcony you could just see heads peering over laptops. It was always funny when Rick and I would notice a whole row of Macs...haha!  Kinda like this:

That was taken that one night with the dirt cups...hahahaha good time! ;)

Alright...so wow! Just noticed the stained glass windows here, and the image is books! How cool! I swear this library just got a whole lot cooler by moving to this new location...






So to start off this finale, let's glance at some other libraries locally (Portland area) and around the country...then bring it back to UP.

Remember when I kept going to the Multnomah County Library to do research for my capstone?  I really enjoyed going to that library and looking at magazines from the 1940s.  I know Rick really wanted to come with me for a field trip to this library, but we never got the chance.  One day buddy...you'll see the County Library.  It's really easy to get to, even from the Max - Bus 35 to Red, stop at like 10th.  Something like that.  Anyway, most of the time I drove down there (thanks Colin!).  Thank goodness there was a parking garage only a block away.  So here's the library:

Other libraries that I've seen include...

1. Harvard University - Widener Library
That one had a real interesting story, combining it with the Titanic. Crazy huh?  Didn't get to see the inside of that, but it was just cool being there.





2. Boston Public Library
Didn't get a chance to go inside this one either, but when I was in Boston for NACA Nationals, we passed by it a couple of times. It looked like a huge library! Looks pretty magnificent at night, eh? I'm not sure how it comes with the next one on this list...




3. New York Public Library
I didn't go to New York this year, but I did go to the New York Public Library when I was there during Spring Break 2009.  It was amazing!  They have a mini-museum, where my cousins and I learned about Art Deco, an art style that was particularly popular in the 1920s and 1930s.  You can see Art Deco all over NYC, especially in the Empire State Building and Rockefeller, since those skyscrapers were established during that time period.  Ah! LOVE HISTORY...guess that's why I was a history minor! Anywho...it was neat being there too!

4. McGill University in Montreal, Canada
During the summer of 2009, I studied abroad in Montreal, and sometimes my friends and I would head over to the library to hold some legit study groups.  I only went into one room in this library because it was HUGE, and I couldn't find the other rooms.  Anyway, this room had a study room in the MIDDLE of the room. It was blocked off with sound proof glass!  My friends and I liked to quote Anchorman when we were in there. hahaha Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the library. :(

5. UCSD
I forget which library I was in, but there was a TON of places for people to sit and do there homework.  Since I came to visit the week before finals, the place was CROWDED. Seriously. Every spot was practically filled.  I wonder if people who didn't even know each other were sitting at the same table...? Anyway, there were these cubbies with computers and were like the only spaces open, so I busted out my homework there.  Seemed more like a gigantic study area rather than a library. Where were all the books?

So of all these libraries, none of them had the same community feeling that the library at the University of Portland had.  Sure, our library wasn't top of the line like some libraries, but it was good enough for what it was.  It became like a second home to me, especially during my final semester at UP. 

I ended up spending more time there in one semester than any of my previous semesters at UP. I can't even fathom how many hours I've spent in the library.  It's so crazy, but nevertheless, I've really enjoyed it.  :)

This is the beginning of my closing posts to The Adventures of Rick and Tarra. Stay tuned for the next part.

CLOSED on Sundays

My public library is closed on Sundays.  

At UP, I could spend my whole Sunday in the library if I wanted to, but it was pretty typical to find me there after mass till closing.  Ah...you know those Study Sundays when you attempt to do all the homework you had to do over the weekend. Bah...I hated those.

Anywho, the Elk Grove Library opens at noon tomorrow, which is perfect because I can head over there after my morning run! Woot! ;)

I'm sorry for this delay. As mentioned before, things have been really busy since I've returned home. 

TOMORROW!!!

Get ready for the finale!  Well, at least my finale (for now).

Rick has summer school, starting tomorrow, and he wanted to give his two cents about being back on campus and in the library. So the adventures continue...kinda.

Guess you never know what to expect on The Adventures of Rick and Tarra.

Ciao! ;)

P.S. I did see Iron Man 2 on Friday, hence why I didn't write then. Btw...if you haven't seen that movie, you should go see it. LOVED IT! Then for Saturday, I was doing some more cleaning and organizing and some more movie watching. Ah...it's summer! Keep your shorts on...the blog is coming.

P.P.S. The picture was taken in the bonus room in my house. We have lots of bookshelves lining one wall, like a library! haha My brother, Kyle, joined me. :)