Halloween!

"Trick-or-Treat! Trick-or-Treat! Give me something good to eat!"

As a child, one of the many days I'm sure all of us looked forward to (aside from Christmas) was Halloween. It was the one day out of the year we could dress up, run amuck, and eat candy until we bled chocolate. Well my friends, that day is today. Halloween day.

And where might you ask am I on this fantastical day? Well the library of course, on the second floor balcony, over looking the parking lot. But don't be down, I have a wonderful view. One of the many great aspects about the University of Portland is its involvement with the St. John's community. Every year, UP invites families to bring their children to trick-or-treat in the dorms, providing a safe, fun environment on Halloween. Sitting in this spot, I have a great view of all of the families and their "G-Hosts" escorting the kids to the varying dorms. I've seen all kinds of costumes, from iron man, to Cinderella, to adorable pumpkins, and the faces of the children remind me of the excitement I felt at that age on this evening.

However, I then see the kinds of outfits college students, especially females, wear on halloween, and the first thing to pop into my head is the quote from mean girls:

"In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. The hard-core girls just wear lingerie and some form of animal ears."

Now, this is is not to say I disapprove of the outfit choices because judging only seems to make matters worse, I just feel some have lost the real fun of dressing up for Halloween.

So! I propose the question:

What was your favorite costume as a child?

Mine was my first grade year. My mom made me the best unicorn costume I could have asked for. She was really into making our costumes and I appreciate her deeply, even if the butt she made me hung over the chair by about 2 feet.

Hope you are all staying safe, making good choices, and most of all, having a great Halloween!

Own it!

Madison Blake

Welcome to the Balcony

As a longtime library adventures follower, the lack of posts has truly decreased the amount of joy in my usual internet rounds.. So, I have decided to post, and post well, and post consistently. This blog will be transformed into an electronic medium in which lives will be changed. If this blog truly is life changing, I will be surprised, but I hope that our posts will be a welcome study break to our followers and hopefully it allows you to chuckle or giggle, whatever your preference.

I will not be able to do this alone, so my awesome friend Madison Blake and I will be rocking this blog all year long. We will be doing our thing and communicating the happens of the library, uploading sweet pics, and hopefully have an awesome time in the mecca of learning on the University of Portland campus.

Rick and Tarra, thanks for your work last year, it was awesome, and I hope that we can carry the torch to bigger and better heights!

So friends, welcome to the second half of first semester, its going to be a busy one... I hope that you will enjoy the revival of the blog and that you will come and visit Madison and I on the second floor balcony looking at the parking lot. And if you come up to the second floor and we aren't there, save seats, because we will probably be there soon.

Keep it real. Own it. Choose Love. For Days.

Peace and Love,

Zack

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! :)

100! 100! 100! (and ready for 100 more!)

Can you believe it?! 

This is our 100th post!

Library blog writers on an adventure! :)

 I remember back in elementary school when we would do activities to celebrate the 100th day of school or when the benefactor of our school turned 100 years old.  I made a necklace with 100 beads and another necklace of 100 plastic caps from those little Sunny Delight juice bottles (yeah...promoting recycling!).  I think my sister collected 100 pennies (woo! a dollar!), while my brother made a paperclip chain with 100 paperclips.  It was just a matter of collecting 100 items to visually conceptualize what 100 looks like.  So how shall we celebrate the 100th post of The Library Adventures*?

* Yes, we had to change the title (in case you haven't noticed) because Madison joined our writing crew...

If I was at school, I'd probably bring in 100 cupcakes or 100 cookies to the library and share it with all our fantastic followers (you know who you are)!  The Library Adventures wouldn't be anything without them, as I have stated so many times in my closing statements over the summer. 

Well, I'm sure Rick and Madison will figure out something to celebrate this momentous moment - 100 posts!

So what direction is the blog going to go in for its next 100 posts?  Only time will tell, but good times for sure...

From our start in February of this year, the Library Adventures has definitely grown from their original concept of just recording our adventures in the UP library.  While Rick and Madison are still living up the adventures at UP, I graduated and moved to NYC, recording my adventures at the public library here.   

Although we are miles apart and 100 posts down, 

the adventures still continue!

We've added segments that focus on different aspects of the library, adding some variety to our adventures.  Some of these segments include: Books in the Library and Library Travels.  

As Rick, Madison and other UP students continue into the core of the fall semester at UP and beyond, the adventures will start to get back to some of the antics as the end of last year, but you know with new faces and some new places in the library, you never know what to expect!

I'm excited to see what will happen in the next 100 posts, and I hope you are too and join us on our upcoming adventures!!

Now a word from Rick about 100! :)
----------------------------------------
It's Rick now!! :D

I'm pretty sure Tarra covered what I wanted to say about the momentous event of ours in this here blog. 100 posts ago I definitely wouldn't have thought that the blog would have evolved the way it did. It really did start out merely as just a way to record our adventures. To see where it's come from then amazes me and even makes me chuckle a bit.

Seriously?

- Who would have thought of celebrating birthdays in the library?

- Who would have thought finding different kinds of books in the library would be fun?*
*By the way, keep an eye on that because I have recently found some pretty cool books

- Who would have thought hanging out in the library would have been the cool thing to do?

Most importantly: Who would have thought of making this blog about the library? (haha)

Anyways, I guess I should write something that has a direction as to where this blog is going. As Tarra mentioned, there have been some changes to the blog. One of them has definitely been the addition of Madison to posting.

With Madison posting now, we feel like the blog has a totally different dimension that it never had last year. What I mean by this is Madison might be writing, every now and then, a behind the scenes kind of look at the library. You know? Give us the low down on what's going on in the library that the students, like myself, don't know.

I hope that by adding in this section of the blog it will give the reader's a more in depth look. You know!? bahaha.

As for the posting I'll be doing, it won't change. It'll still stay along the lines of what Tarra and I recorded in the last semester. I should mention that I will really have to work on getting to the library this year and staying there late. Not just for the sake of the blog, but because I really haven't been to the library all that much this year.

Take my word though that I will be a better presence in the library and that blogging will continue and it'll be like old times.

If there's one thing Tarra and I have decided on, it's the fact that we want YOU, yes you the reader, to be involved with our adventures this year. By this we mean that we want you to not just be part of the adventure, but even let people know about your own adventure.

This is your opportunity to add to the blog. Just simply drop me a blog post to my email (baleros13@up.edu) as well as a picture of you taken while in the library and it'll get put up along with other posts. I really hope that you guys take advantage of this because it'll be fun to hear what other people experience in the library!

Again, it'll give a different dimension to the blog. It'll be just more than my perspective and Madison's perspective. Seriously, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!!

I'm signing out now from the library balcony ;)

Be sure to keep an eye out for future postings. (Postings that hopefully will come more frequently!)

It's been TOO long.

Do you guys recognize my background? If you don't it's definitely been too long since you've last seen a picture of the library.

Trust me, it really has been a long time for myself since I've been in the library.

I mean, I've been going to the library periodically since school started, but I never really spent a good amount of time there. Even yesterday night, I was just there for an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I know it'll take some good time to get used to going back there so late.

Also, with it only having been the 2nd week of school, the library has been kind of dead at night. I'm pretty sure the library is getting more action during the day than it has been during the night. That will change as the semester goes on though ...

As for now this is all I'm going to write seeing as I'm working on Calculus problems.

Just hang in there, post will be more frequent as the semester gets more and more demanding. For now though this will have to do. I'll be sure to make a note of some of the changes in the library as I write more.

Love you guys. Thanks for continuing to follow this blog as the adventures take a sharp turn to the left.

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...