So early I missed the grease trucks

I've said before, one of the benefits of being in NJ is being able to use the libraries of my various alma maters. This morning, I returned a few loans to a main branch of the Rutgers University Libraries on College Avenue. I didn't use the Alexander Library too much during my undergraduate days over on Cook Campus. However, when I began taking education classes I as an non-matriculted masters student during my public school teaching days I began to get acquainted with it. It's still highly relevant to my research and work in Christian Education. Ironically, the books I borrow directly from Alexander would have to be secured via inter-library loan if I was still residing on the campus in Virginia. So all things considered, it works pretty nicely to my advantage that I have the Alexander Library at my disposal - plus it's rather conveniently located within my Central Jersey jaunts. And an added bonus benefit is that my occasional trips to College Avenue allow me to reminisce at the RU "grease trucks" and get a cup of cocoa or a cheesesteak! But alas, this morning, I was on campus so early AND it was semester break that the grease trucks weren't even open yet that I didn't bother to stop and photograph them....so I passed on by, forced to stick to any New Year's resolutions I made about eating healthier.

Call Numbers

I don't blog much about my thesis/dissertation and I can't decide if that is a good or a bad thing. Really it just is. Regardless, today I spent the day making a list of call numbers of books and texts that I want to check out of the school's library while I make a visit to campus this week. I've secured some texts through my alumni privileges here at local university and seminary libraries but these are texts I want for longer borrowing times which comes with my current student status. Also as a current doctoral student I can check out more books than most normal people ever even want to check out of the library. Yes, individuals at the upper end of graduate studies and beyond have personal neurosis that are intricately weird and defy explanation. Maybe that is a reason why I don't blog very much about my dissertation work.

the best laid plans

were derailed this afternoon and all I got recorded on the camera was this shot of an inscribed block on the outside of the Princeton Public Library. Until I get back there and more shots, you can be as perplexed as I often am by the random words - even if all you get is this glimpse!

best acoustics anywhere

So, today is my long day in Princeton tutoring students. This afternoon, as I sat in the lobby between appointments I realized there was an inordinate amount of activity occurring. It didn't take long to realize by the instruments and sound equipment being lugged around that a concert was planned for the evening. I guessed by the number of teens all wearing the same t-shirt in a variety of colors that it was a civic group of some sort. (Unfortunately, I never found out exactly what group it was)
While I was sitting there, distracted from my own book by the activity, I took the liberty of doing some people watching. I noticed a few boys come in, recognize one another and 'clump together' before I thought I heard some humming coming from their 'man clump'. I also couldn't help but notice a few girls walk in wearing their little black dresses, a few even wearing high heels that I would kick off my own feet long before any dancing at a wedding reception even started. While I did think these girls in particular were a little over dressed for an outdoor concert, I didn't give it too much thought; styles come and go and the girls were behaving well within the norms of teen-agers - checking out the boys and flocking in and out of the ladies' rest room.

I finally decided to get a picture of the gathering crowd and realized the boys were a part of an acapella group and waiting to be cued before their performance. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang around to hear them sing as I needed to use the ladies' before meeting my next student....

....and that's when I discovered that the girls in their little black dresses were part of a female acapella group warming up in the rest room. They were in the middle of a piece when I walked in, and even though they parted to let me move past them, I retrieved my camera out of my bag and they obliged me to squeeze together and pose for a quick picture - all without missing a single note of the number they were practicing. Talk about talent! I don't know when I last enjoyed a public restroom experience so melodious!

Alumni Privilages

My one year degree from Princeton Theological Seminary gives me life time alumni borrowing privileges from the library. Not a bad deal. These days, I often camp out here at the Speer Library on the corner of Mercer Street and Library Place to do my own reading between tutoring sessions. However, I am actually uploading today's blog from the public library as I wait to meet a student this evening. The public library has a food court where I can eat my dinner so my tummy isn't rumbling while tutoring physics.

Miller Chapel and Stuart Hall

Nothing against PTS, but of the three seminaries I have attended, it has nothing to try to preserve any sense of cohesiveness with regards to campus architecture.