2008
you got 8 points when you broke my heart
maura @ 9:16 pm
Last weekend we here at team mauraweb! decamped to parts south. The boys hung out with my mom while I headed into Philadelphia for the American Library Association meetings. Over 10,000 library nerds in one place! It was pretty cool.
The meetings are enormously huge, much bigger than any of the anthropology or archaeology conferences I went to in my former life. I met up with some library school and work friends which was a nice balance between lurking in the back of the room at sessions in Anonymous New Librarian persona. Some of the discussions and programs were really excellent, totally right on, and I do feel more connected + inspired than before (if still pretty exhausted).
It’s always wonderful + sad to go to Philadelphia. We lived in + around there until I was 12, so I have a strange childhood memory map of it in my head from before buildings could be taller than city hall. In high school when we lived in Delaware my friends + I drove up to hang out in a real city as often as we could, and it was strange + heartwarming to hear the advice to “go to South Street for funky alternatives” given in the new members meeting.
I love trains, and the train ride into Center City was excellent. There is some fantastic graffiti along the walls + abandoned warehouses in North Philly. The city makes me sad, too — it’s having some hard times, increasing crime + poverty. But I think I saw a big community garden behind some houses near the train tracks, with compost bins and picnic tables and barbecues too, which cheered me up.
I wish I’d had more time to walk around the city, but after a whirlwind 1.5 day tour of the convention center and surrounding hotels it was time to go home. I missed the boys, anyway (even though they had ice cream BEFORE lunch so they clearly didn’t miss me!).
4 comments on “you got 8 points when you broke my heart”
Wait, why? The airport is kind of annoying, I agree. I remember flying to Ireland from there in high school — the international terminal was just this big weird barn.
Silly, I don’t know *why*, only that they (esp. the airport) must have a mug shot of me, underneath which is written “make her life harder!”
The historic downtown area, otoh, reminds me of W’burg! They wear the same damn tricorn hats, same everything but more of that bell (which, btw, is broken).
Yeah, I had to go see that dang bell practically every single year in grade school! I think I’d like visiting all of those colonial things more now that I’m a grownup with more of an appreciation for historic architecture. I bet the Betsy Ross house is pretty cool.
Philly hates me! Esp. the airport!