A Beautiful Day at the Cloisters

Today marked our last art adventure. Kathy met us at the hotel and after our usual pep talk, we ventured uptown.

Our destination: 190th Street and the Cloisters.

The Cloisters is actually an extension of the Met and holds a collection of art and architecture from medieval Europe. Around the area is a really nice park. The group explored some walking trails and had a picnic lunch. Everyone was getting along really well and it was such a beautiful day outside, everyone couldn't help but be happy.

Then it was into the museum. There were some beautiful tapestries and Christian relics. It reminded me a lot of museums, castles, and cathedrals I have been to in France. With the high vaulted ceilings and stone walls and pillars, I just wanted to be back in France, visiting castles and learning about the kings that once lived there.

Kathy let us off the hook today for responses; as long as we chatted with her about a piece, we didn't need to write a response. Gives me time to get in those final moments in the city and finish up our final projects (more on that later).

I'll add more photos when I nab them from other group members.

Research, Research, Research!

I'm a little embarassed to admit, but although I've been working at the Mid-Manhattan Library for three months, I've spent little time in the Schwarzman Building (aka the ones with the lions).

But...with my thesis research slowly starting, I finally had a reason!

I found several good books located in the Rose Reading Room. It's the reading room that is (pretty) recognizable.

Look familiar? 

It's a beautiful room and very quite. It's a great place to study.

When I walk in, I head toward the center of the room to request my books. Librarians actually grab the books I would like to use. I submit a paper slip with the book title, author, and call number and then twenty minutes later, VOLIA, the book appears.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy studying in a library (it's been a while!). And Mary Robinson is a fascinating woman. While not many people know about her, she made a large impact (in my opinion) on the literary world. I won't go into my speech about how awesome she is (I'll save that for another blog post during the summer) but starting this project in the Rose Room seems so appropriate. And perfect. 

Here's some photos of my studying because I felt the need to document it:

I'm hoping to spend a few more days in the library reading as much as I can before I leave. It seems like every day I add more and more things to my list of things to accomplish before I leave the city!

The Music of Motown

Every term, the group gets to attend one musical. It's sort of funny that I started my time in NYC with a musical (The Newsies) and now am sort of ending the term with Motown: The Musical. We saw it on Tuesday night.

Also, at the beginning of the term, I might have been a little disappointed about not seeing more musicals. I remember musicals being an important part of my high school experience. Our HUGE fall event in high school was a musical. I was a proud chorus member of Oklahoma (that's why I'm so good at spelling it [insert sarcasm here]) and then played clarinet in the pit for Bye, Bye Birdie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Beauty and the Beast. I also have a soft spot for The Music Man and Guys and Dolls.

Anywho, I'm getting WAY off topic. Where was I? Oh yes, musicals. Before becoming a semi-permanent New Yorker, I thought musicals were a big deal.

Not true.

Susan has taken us to some AMAZING theater and I've realized musicals are mainly just for tourists. Nothing wrong with musicals, I still love them, but I'm now craving theater much, much more.

But back to Motown. This musical was still in previews and was pretty high energy. It follows the story of the founder of Motown (the record company for those who don't know) Berry Gordy. The show is pushed forward by the music and these songs are ones everyone knows. There ended up being very little dialogue and more song and dance.

I also can't write this blog post without including some songs from the Motown era. Here are my two favorites....

First off, the Jackson's Five I Want You Back



And then Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered



Guess who will be listening to Motown the next couple of weeks? This girl.

So a successful musical for the trip. Now just have to wrap that energy into a response!

Fourth (and probably final) blog post for NYPL

Tada! Another blog post:

This one is all about the Veteran Oral History project. It seems appropriate that this post is being published right now. Today, I finished up the final resource page for the ten veteran oral histories that are currently online. It was a big project and one that I learned so much from.

It was a bittersweet moment when I finished the last page today. I have been working on this project since my first day at NYPL. Just like the project has grown, I've also grown over the past several months.

Okay, I'll stop being so sappy.

But since I only have a week left in the city and three days left at NYPL, I think this was my last blog post from NYPL's account. So so so glad I could be a guest blogger :)

Signed Up!

This morning I came to work early so I could register for fall classes.

Easiest registration of my life because everything was open. So many perks of being a soon-to-be-senior :)

Also, I only had to register for three classes because, assuming my thesis proposal is approved, that will be my fourth class. It will be an independent study, but I know it will be a large workload.

Good thing I'm excited about it.

Along with my thesis I'm taking an English seminar, a rhetoric class for my writing minor, and astronomy. In order to graduate I need a lab science so I figured it would be good to take it now, don't you think? I'm also hoping to find a way to squeeze French in since I only need one more class for my minor!

So it's happening, my senior year that is. I'm excited but also a little nervous. So so so hard to believe three years have gone by!