I'm in Berlin!

The trip went fine. Missed my connection in Paris---grumble, annoying---but otherwise things have been great. It's cloudy here, and chilly, but there are lots of dogs and little children bundled up in a lot of clothing. FN and I went shopping yesterday. We didn't buy much, but did lots of browsing. I am totally digging the flat tall boots everyone wears here. Amazing. (It's hard to wear heels on the stone sidewalks.) I all kinds of want these boots; they are exactly what I was looking for in Toronto but could not find.

C'town adventures in pictures.

I am now safely back in Toronto. I had a nice time in Charlottetown with my dad and Xena, our dog. [To the left is a photo of my parents' house. Yes, it's bright yellow with dark blue trim. So cute.] Although I wasn't feeling the best, we still got up to some fun adventures. We walked all over the town, found foxes at my dad's golf course, picked apples in the country, strolled along a boardwalk and a windy beach, and spotted tourists just off an enormous cruise ship checking out "the birthplace of Confederation." Here are a whole bunch of photos, many of them featuring the best looking member of our family ;-).

Xena, barking at me to stop taking her photo and start petting her.The weather was gorgeous the first few days I was there. Here I am walking through a park on Thursday afternoon.We were entertained by this car, owned by www.peipestcontrol.com. Haha!

Government House, where the lieutenant governor for the island lives.We played in Victoria Park. Xena loves chasing after sticks.One of many lovely vantage points. The town is to the left.Later that day my dad and I drove over to his golf course to, um, look for foxes. And we found some. It's sad that a few of them are so tame that people can get up close to them. But I can't help being a little happy about it, because they are the cutest things ever. Ever. To wit:

On Friday we drove to the country to pick apples. But, more importantly, we met a nice dog at the orchard. His name is Wraith.And then to Brackley Beach. Xena went swimming. Her humans did not.On Saturday I wasn't feeling too well, but we did make it out to the University of Prince Edward Island---not much happening there---and then home to a yummy pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We ended the evening with "Ghostbusters." Such a good movie.

C'town.

I'm writing this from the Charlottetown public library. There's no internet at my home, so this is just a short post to let you know everything's a-OK. Having a good time so far. Dad and dog are lovely, and the weather is fantastic. I'll be back in the big city on Sunday.

This is a photo I snapped when the plane was coming into Charlottetown. If not for trees, you could see my parents' house.

Back home.

I'm home! My flight landed this morning at about 6:10am. And although I took a nap or three on the plane, I recently woke up from a proper sleep.

Yesterday I finished my work at the archives. I managed to look at everything I had marked out ahead of time as most useful, and even at a few collections I figured there wouldn't be much in. Once I was done, my researcher friend and I went for a coffee/iced tea on campus. It was a nice way to end a research trip. I took one last walk around campus and up to the Palo Alto bus station, went home to pack, then back to the station to catch the train to the airport. Lots of travelling! But I scored three free bus rides because of "Spare the Air" day, and successfully bought a train ticket . . . good thing, too, because our tickets were checked this time.

While I was sitting in the reading room looking at documents, I got a bit of a sense of what it would be like to work in an archives (as a job). And I think it's not for me. In fact, I'm pretty sure working in any kind of office where I'm not in charge would drive me crazy. Anyways, I'm not complaining about the archives---it's a great facility---but let's just hope for everyone's sake that I don't find myself in a regular job one day.

I'm happy to be back home. (My bed is SO MUCH more comfortable than the futon I was sleeping on in Palo Alto.) But it's a little sad that I can no longer hang out while all the cute men I met in California! ;-)

Second last day at the archives.

I've been going through material a bit more quickly than I anticipated, and things are looking good for getting pretty much everything done tomorrow before I leave. There are of course collections that just might have something interesting, but one can't look at absolutely everything that's potentially even remotely connected to one's research if one hopes to ever finish a dissertation. So, with that in mind, I'm happy with what I've been able to do here. This may mean that I won't have to come back, which---while good---is also sad, because here is so awesome!

This morning before the archives opened I got a tea and drank it on a bench by a fountain. There was no one around, and it was lovely. Part of my view is to the left. I then looked around the Hoover Tower building for a few minutes, reading all the names on the wall and soaking up all the Hooverness of it all. For lunch I met up with GCC at the back of Memorial Church and we had a good California-style lunch on a picnic table. He showed me around campus a bit more, and then we decided to hit up the tower part of the Hoover Tower. And . . . wow! At 250 feet up, Stanford's campus and surrounding area is even more beautiful, if that's possible. Great view. You all definitely need to come visit this part of the world if you can. I had a really nice couple of hours with GCC. It's kinda sad that I have to leave soon. I've had an awesome time with FN's Waterloo friends (Googler JR, TF, and AMcG) and the other guys I hung out with here.

But Toronto awaits, and there's lots of socializing coming up. Oh, and school starts soon. Eek. I totally have things to do before then. Crap. Reality awaits.

Back at Hoover.

After my weekend of fun, I was back at the archives today, bright and early. In fact, I was on campus at 8am, which is 15 minutes before the archives even opens. I've been a very early riser the past week. (Though I did take a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon.) I suppose most people would go grab a coffee if they were early for work; I wandered to another part of campus and took pictures! Because I am obsessed with taking photos! I still can't get over the gorgeousness of Stanford. It's seriously the nicest place.

Thursday and Friday I sat beside the same woman at the archives, and---this now being a thing---we sat together this morning too. We chatted a bit about our projects before going in, and decided to have lunch together. Yay! An archives friend. Those are always great. (I have fond memories of MK from the US National Archives and Columbia, and the prof. I hung out with at the UK National Archives.) Looks like today was the first day of school for the undergrads here, because campus was much fuller than it was last week. And, perhaps fittingly, we ate lunch outside the cafeteria. Please avoid this place. The cafe I was getting lunch from last week is much better. At least now I know. After lunch we had a drink outside one of the libraries, and then it was back to work.

Looks like I will get through almost everything I wanted to on this trip. There's one collection that's gone missing, so I can't see that, and a couple others that are unexpectedly enormous. Otherwise, I should get it all done. And, heck, there are worse places to have to come back to, eh?

The pic is of me (clearly) in the arcade of Encina Commons.

California adventures with Canucks, a Scot, and an Aussie.

Wow, super fun times the last few days! Because it's now late and I need to head to bed ASAP, I'll give you a quick run-down.

Thursday I worked in the archives, had an awesome lunch in a gorgeous spot at Stanford, and then took pics of campus once my work-day was done. For dinner I met up with that guy I met on the plane and one of his friends. They both work in the Bay area and did their degrees at Waterloo. We had sushi at a place in downtown Palo Alto, and then hit up a local bar for beer and darts. Although this was really not something I've ever done before---and, heck, I didn't even really talk to the guy much on the plane, since we weren't sitting beside each other---it was great! They guys were fun and cool and I would totally hang out with them again if I lived here.

The next day I packed up my things for a weekend in San Fran, and after spending the day at the archives, met up with my new Stanford friends, AMcG and GCC, with whom I hung out Wednesday evening at the postdoc BBQ, to drive into the city. We took the scenic route to avoid heavy traffic, so I got to take in some lovely nature-y sights. The countryside around here reminds me of parts of Israel, especially the area around Jerusalem.

I left the 'burbs on Friday night because the Aussie roommate---the only roommate I hadn't met before in Toronto---was having his going-away party. So I got to join in the festivities and meet a couple more Waterloo guys that FN knows. After hanging out at the awesome Haight St. apartment, we headed off to a nearby bar for drinks. The bar was ok, but extremely preppy. Like what happens when frat boys get office jobs and decide to drink US$9 mojitos. Ok, fine, it wasn't that bad. But it's certainly not like the dive/hipster bars I tend to frequent. Not at all. The evening ended back in the living room. Perfect, since I was pretty tired by this point, and so was everyone else.

Saturday morning jack-hammering woke us all up---me later than the rest of the crew, it seems---and then TF (in whose room I was staying) and I went out for breakfast at this great place just down the street. I had a breakfast burrito. Oh my. Where can I get this in Toronto? In the afternoon I took the bus to the Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and walked around a bit in a touristy/shopping area. The weather was gorgeous. And the museum was great! Thanks for suggesting it, EW! There's a Matisse exhibit on now which consists mainly of sculptures. It's really well done, and a nice follow-up to my Rodin tour a few days earlier at Stanford. I also loved the photography exhibits, which surprised me. The museum doesn't have a whole lot of super famous artwork, but it's a really lovely space. I went on a guided tour of the Matisse stuff, then spent a few hours looking at the rest of the gallery and listening to the audio-guide. To the left is a photo of part of the lobby.

Back outside and ready to do more exploring, I found City Hall---where a couple had just gotten married---and walked along the United Nations Plaza. I eventually found my way back to the Googlers' apartment.

I got back just in time to head out with the Aussie to pick up some dinner, so we could quickly eat before . . . wait for it . . . going to the Beastie Boys' concert at Berkeley! I had a great time with the guys---the Aussie (yes, that is what I'm going to call him), Googler JR, and TF---on the drive over and walking through the gorgeous Berkeley campus, and then at the concert itself in this amazing outdoor venue. Although I don't really know the Beastie Boys, and the frat-boy crowd isn't really my thing, it was, well, a thing, so well worth it. FUN. I went to bed late after chatting in the living room with the Aussie.

Today, Sunday, got off to another awesome start. TF and I went shopping to pick up some stuff for him for Burning Man---most of the people I met this weekend are either there now or headed there in a couple days---and have another yummy breakfast. (TF refused to let me pay for my breakfasts.) Back in the apartment, I took a long nap, and then went for a late lunch with a bunch of the Burning Man people. Food is good in San Francisco. Or, that's what my very limited experience of it tells me. After lunch I went shopping with the women in Upper Haight, this awesome area of town just up the street from the apartment. I loved it. And I even bought myself a shirt at one of the vintage clothing stores. The area was kinda like the indie-hipster area of Queen West, but with more (homeless/hippie) people and a less corporate vibe. And more of it.

I'm now back in Palo Alto after leaving all those lovely people back at the apartment, packing up a van. I took a streetcar and then hopped on the Caltrain to the suburbs. I got a glimpse of more of the city; I definitely need to come back to be a proper tourist some day. I boarded the train without a ticket because the streetcar ran a bit late, and then the ticket machines wouldn't take my credit card! But thankfully I was never asked to show my ticket. Another free ride in California. Excellent.

Bed time. The archives await.

Research and fun.

This morning I was off to an early start. Alarm woke me up at 6am, which gave me lots of time to get ready and have breakfast and be out the door by 7:30am to catch the free shuttle to the train station. And then I transferred onto one of Stanford's free shuttle buses to get to campus, and was at the archives just a few minutes after it opened. Awesome.

I found some good material today, but spent a long time looking through boxes that contained nothing of interest. It's how it goes sometimes. I'm pretty sure now that I won't be able to get everything done before I fly home next week, but, again, it's how it goes. At least I will know what's here. This way, I'll have an excuse to come back! It's really a nice place to be this time of year. It's warm and bright and relatively empty. (The undergrads don't get back until late September.)

In the afternoon I took a break from researching to go to the campus museum---the Cantor Arts Center. Every Wednesday at 2pm there's a free tour of the center's Rodin collection. It was fun, and I even learned some interesting things. I'm glad I did that, though it did take me away from my work for an hour and a half. Oops.

Once the archives closed, I headed off to discover a bit more of the campus and eventually made my way to the postdoc BBQ that a friend of mine organized. She invited me along . . . and thanks to free wireless in the archives (and all over campus, I believe), I got her e-mail about it. And it was fun! The night ended with a drive home. Seriously, this research trip has been awesome so far. Free transportation, free food and drink, good company! And there's only more fun times to come, I'm sure of it.

Here's more images from the museum. It's lovely. You should go if you're ever at Stanford.Detail above the main doors.Part of the lobby.Deborah Butterfield, untitled, 1999. I saw a similar horse at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.Rodin's "The Kiss" and part of my tour group.

Oh, and P.S. Ottawa is apparently "the San Francisco of eastern Canada."

Day one at the archives.

Good, productive day. It started off a bit late, since I couldn't bare to wake up as early as I should have, but I was still out the door by 9am, so not too shabby. At the bus stop round the corner, a shuttle came just as I walked up. It wasn't the bus I was expecting---I was a few minutes early according to the scheduled time---but I asked the driver, and it turned out to be a free bus (the Palo Alto Shuttle) that would take me where I wanted to go. So, I saved myself $1.75, and then hopped on another free shuttle (Stanford's Marguerite) to campus. The trip was a bit long, but I got to the archives no problem. I think I'll do the same trip tomorrow, but hopefully earlier in the day. Must maximize my time at the archives, especially since I might skip out for an hour or two for a free tour at the campus museum Wednesday afternoon . . . .

The archives are less impressive than I imagined they would be. The holdings are fantastic for me, and the staff helpful. But the campus is so gorgeous, that it's a bit incongruous to find the archives hidden away in a basement. I will deal. I left the basement for an early lunch---got a recommendation on where to go from the campus visitor's centre, which I stumbled upon in a nearby building. So far, so good. (Cob salad: mmmmm.) Back at the archives after feeding myself, I got some good work done. Lots more to do, but I'm happy with what I've got so far. Oh, and one of the other researchers is a British professor whom I heard speak at the SHAFR conference in Chantilly, VA, back in June. No idea what her name is, of course, but still.

Once the archives closed for the day, I decided to snap a few pics and take the scenic route back to the Palo Alto Trasit Station. The walk was a bit longer than I thought, but I got a look at some of Stanford's amazing campus. Wow. The bright sunlight and hot weather only added to the effect. I made a beeline for Palm Drive, the main entrance into campus, and walked along tall palm trees. It felt good to do something touristy. But doing so meant I missed the last free shuttle home, so I had to pay that $1.75.

I've arrived in California.

Today was such a long day. I spent 10.5 hours travelling---the self-portrait is how I was faring 3/4 of the way through. (Exhausted and with disastrous hair, but energetic enough to get out my camera to capture me waiting for the BART train.) Since I had an early flight, I didn't end up sleeping at all Sunday night. I just packed and organized and lazed about.

Here's a run-down of all the modes of public transportation I was on today. I was out the door before 6:30am and soon was on the subway. Took two of those. Then the bus to the airport. Escalators and movators don't count as public transportation, right?

The lineup at the newish terminal 1 at Pearson was enormous! It was fairly fast-moving, but partly because me and a couple other people got pulled ahead a few times. Seems we didn't get to the airport as early as some other people did. In the end we got on the plane in time, but others didn't, so our departure was delayed by a few minutes. Some people got left behind because they didn't manage to get through customs on time. Craziness. I think it's something about Monday morning travelling. I was at Pearson more than an hour ahead of time. While waiting in line I chatted with a woman on my flight who works as a sommelier and was off to tour the wine country . . . for work! Nice.

The flight was fine. I slept through much of it. About 30 minutes before landing, I opened up the window, and discovered that the view was absolutely amazing. We were flying over the Nevada desert, and then some mountains, and then could see the Pacific. Wow. Too bad I was so exhausted that I really couldn't stay awake to sightsee. The landing views were pretty neat, too. San Francisco is certainly not Toronto, as one of the kids in the row behind me pointed out! I'm now sad that I'll be leaving on a red-eye.

One of my seat-mates on the flight was a young guy from Waterloo who works in the tech industry and lives in Palo Alto. We decided (at my suggestion) to take the train out to the 'burbs together, but then he got called away to work so that didn't end up happening. I almost had my very own Ethan Hawke, FN! He was totally cute, too, in a 21st century hippie kind of way. We had matching shoes and thinness. He went to the Comic Arts fest in Toronto; I went to a Trek fest. Anyways, he was a nice guy. Oh, and he had a great 'fro. ;-)

The trip out to Palo Alto was totally uneventful. I think I've now travelled on enough public transportation systems that they don't phase me in the slightest. Three trains later, on three different systems, and I was in downtown Palo Alto. A friendly woman pointed me in the right direction once I got off the Caltrain, and I found the bus stop a few blocks away without any difficulty. What I saw of downtown was nice, if much richer and cleaner than I'm used to. The bus was late, but it came eventually and before long I was at my new home. It did take me about 2 hours to get here from the airport, but it was cheap and meant I got a bit of a feel for the place. This way I will be much less nervous about going out to the archives early tomorrow morning.

I took a nap later in the afternoon, and eventually dragged myself out of the house to get some groceries. Again, super easy. I know I'm anal about planning things ahead of time, but this is why I do it. So that when I'm exhausted and carrying heavy bags around a strange place I don't have to use up a lot of brain power worrying about how to get where I want to go. I fully recommend taking advantage of trip planners on public transportation websites. They are seriously a great, great thing. The TTC website will be getting one soon, I hear. About time!

Well, speaking of trip planning, I should figure out how I'm getting to the archives in the morning.

I promise to take and post pictures at some point. Was too out of it to take any today. But anticipate palm trees and terracotta-coloured buildings.

I hate packing.

I really, really, really hate packing. I just don't want to do it. Partly it's because I'm indecisive about things and like to be organized; the uncertainty that comes with going to another place and not quite knowing what I'll find once I get there makes me slightly crazy. It's quite ridiculous, I know, especially since I'm flying into San Francisco and renting a room in a house in Palo Alto, where Stanford University is. The weather is going to be approximately the same as here, except hotter. And hopefully drier. If I forget something, it will be no problem to get a replacement. And if I don't bring enough clothing, I can do laundry. Easy peasy. And yet I procrastinate because I don't want to deal with figuring things out.

If all my previous trips are any indication, this one should be all kinds of awesome, and I'll get some great stuff at the archive I'll be working at. I can't take pictures with my digital camera this time around, so I need to remember to leave a bit of room in my suitcase to pack photocopies. All of which is quite annoying, since . . . [insert rant about the damage done to one-of-a-kind historical material by photocopying, and extreme idiocy of no photographing policies because the whole point of an archive is to preserve historical documents for future use]. Grrrrr. Maddening!

But I promise to take photos outside the archives.

And now I really should go pack. Or at least start packing. Sigh.

Back in T.O.

After successfully spectating at the US foreign relations history conference on the weekend (Thurs.-Sat.) I spent Sunday in DC proper with E. We took in a Nats game---a nice way to ease out of conference exhaustion. And, I survived my night in a hostel. It was totally fine. And last night, on the plane ride back to Toronto, I got an awesome view of Niagara Falls. Beautiful.

This is a disjointed post. Oh well.

Anyways, the conference was pretty good. The venue sucked rocks, though---suburban Virginia, in a faux fancy hotel-conference centre, far away from downtown. I have no idea what the organizers were thinking. I know they did their best under the circumstances, but hopefully this won't happen again. It would have been so much better if the conference had been held at a university or downtown DC. That way, there would have been things to do and places to eat after hours. This way, we were pretty much stuck. Good thing lots of Americans have cars and could drive us out to places if we asked them nicely!

It was nice to hang out with HD outside Toronto, get to know E a lot better, and meet grad students from other places who work on similar(ish) topics. There were some people I met last year who I caught up with, and profs I reminded of my existence. It's hard to listen to papers, but all in all, I think it was a useful venture for me. I quite like this crowd, grad students and profs alike, though obviously not everyone is marvelous. Next year's conference will be at The Ohio State University (yes, with a "The") in Columbus. I'm looking forward to it!

Many thoughts on the weekend, but I'll mull over them to myself for now. I do want to point out that out of the 7 people from U of T (5 grad students and 2 profs) there was only one man; the rest of us were female. This was quite remarkable considering the nature of this subfield, which is dominated by men. It's totally an old boy's club, but not necessarily in a bad way . . . I hope.

Should get back to work on my dissertation at some point tonight. It will be nice to reacquaint myself with my dead guys. ;-)

Well, I'm back in Toronto once again. This time I'm not leaving for another three whole weeks! Ya-hoo. It was really nice to do nothing for four or five days in Ottawa. I'm nearly recovered from my nasty cold, and looking forward to a weekend of fun in the big city.

I haven't done much of any school work in the past three weeks, which is totally excusable considering my travelling and sickness, but still. I must get back to it.

Well, with that in mind, I best be off . . . .

Here's a shot of downtown Toronto from my plane this evening.

Not feeling like it.

I'm not particularly feeling the urge to write about my daily life on this blog. Maybe because I'm just back from a whirlwind of activities half-way around the world and there's no way I can do any of it justice here. Or maybe because I'm feeling kinda ill. My ears feel funny. Like all the shifting of air pressure---whether on airplanes or on land---over the past couple weeks has messed with them. Annoying.

Ok, so maybe I will blog.

At the moment I'm chillin' in Ottawa at my parents' house. Thursday evening I went to my old high school with my parents. The junior school boys were putting on my dad's play/musical. (He taught grade 7 there before retiring a year ago.) It was cute, and my dad was very happy with it, so good. He's a clever one, dad. I spoke for a bit with one of my high school history teachers and saw some of the major changes to the school building. So strange.

Yesterday I spent hours---hours---uploading photos of my Israel trip to facebook. You can check them out there. There are some nice shots, though most of my pictures are of my travel companions. I also have some good ones of our bodyguard, for whom I have love. Anyways, back to the present.

I found out recently that my grandmother (mom's mom) has Alzheimer's. She's been in steady decline for a couple years already, but this sucks indeed. The worst part is that she could live for years more in this state. It's a seriously sucky state. She would never, ever have wanted to end her days like this. Depressing. Please, when I get senile and unable to function as a person, end it for me, ok? She can barely hold a conversation, can't do anything mechanical (like use the phone), nor can she read, watch TV, or tell the time. She must be so frustrated to the extent that she is aware of her situation because she used to be very much a matriarch. (In a good way.) My father's father died with Alzheimer's disease too.

In other, happier, news, my dog is great, if still chubby and in need of a serious brushing. :-)

Off to Israel shortly.

I've had a busy few days what with shopping for the trip, hanging out with historians, and general life things. At the moment I'm taking a break from packing, but will get back to that shortly. I'm really looking forward to the trip, but I'll feel even better once I'm mostly set and can get a few hours sleep.

Highlights of the past couple days: Our student society had our annual BBQ on Friday afternoon at JDS and TC's condo. It was much fun, and a lovely day. On Saturday EC came shopping with me along Bloor St. and at the Eaton Centre. Thank goodness she was there, because I was totally not prepared for the trip, and didn't know where to start with some of the things I needed to get.

I probably won't be able to check my e-mail until I get back to Toronto on the evening of 23 May. And I won't be updating this blog until that time either. I hope everyone has a good week-and-a-bit while I'm away!

Dissertating and other activities.

On Saturday I didn't leave the house---yes, I know, but I don't care what you think!---and worked on my dissertation. By which I mean I read part of a book related to my first chapter, took some notes on an article also related to my first chapter, and went through some notes. Yay me!

Sunday was a day of no work. Instead, FN and I met up with EC, AG, and YT for yummy dim sum at our favourite place in Chinatown. It was especially good that day, though I was less enamoured of the steamed BBQ pork buns than I usually am. The glutinous dumplings, however, were delish. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping in Kensington Market and then headed off home. EC and I then walked back south to meet up with some Massey kids and go to the Bloor Cinema. We saw (for free, thanks to the host of The Green Majority) "Everything's Cool," a documentary being shown as part of the Hot Docs festival. The film follows a few climate change activists---broadly defined---around for a while as they try to bridge the gap between public and scientific belief on the issue in the United States. It was quite entertaining and a little educational. It's not about the debate or the science, per se, but it was good for what it was. For dinner, EC came over and cooked up a lovely vegetarian pasta.

Yesterday I ran some errands at school. My supervisor gave me some books related to my dissertation. More books for my shelves! It just so happened that she was soon going to be meeting with a Russian historian friend of hers while I was around, so I got to hang around and meet him too. I've read his book (about the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05), and he had some good things to say to me. So that was nice of my supervisor, and lucky of me. In ended the afternoon sitting in the Massey common room reading a book and enjoying the sunshine. How nice.

Now, what I've left out of my Monday adventures is that I kept running into people I hadn't seen in a while. I love this about campus---I can rarely go there without having to stop and chat. But this is of course also kinda annoying, since I am usually trying to get things done! But you can't keep me away from a conversation, so I love it. It was nice to see and chat with PM, BB, VM, and BB2 (hadn't seen her in months and months!). And at Massey I hung out with some of the guys, including SM, handsome guy, and the coolest guy. Good times. Not conducive to getting much work done, however.

The reason I was at Massey was not just to hang out but to go to a pre-departure meeting for my upcoming trip to Israel. There are 15 of us Masseyites going, and we got to meet our contact guy who will be coming with us, as well as have our questions answered. The trip should be amazing in several different ways. We're not going to do everything that we might potentially have done, but I'm ok with this because there's only so much one can do and expect to do in such a situation. The trip will be nearly free for us, and we leave on 13 May. Exciting. I just hope I can get along with the other 14 people. I think it should be fine though I may try to sensor my behaviour around at least one of the people, since she strikes me as the sensitive type. (I wish people were cooler, but maybe they equally wish people were less annoying.)

Ok, I spent way too much time updating this blog (which no one reads anyways), so I better get back to my day.

Back to Toronto.

When the plane landed at Pearson Monday afternoon a huge grin was to be seen upon my face. Home! Toronto! Yay!

Sunday afternoon I went off on my own in New York. I took the subway over to the Met, sampled some of it, walked around Central Park and then down Fifth Ave., and eventually made my way back to Brooklyn for dinner and hanging out with DN and JA. Good day. Although I saw almost nothing in New York and didn't really finish my research, I'm happy with how things went. It was great to hang out with DN---he's better than a museum or art gallery any day. And this way I have an excuse to go back to the city. I should go with my mom or something. That'd be fun.

Here are a couple shots of the park. It was a gorgeous day, and lots of people were out. Dogs and children and locals and tourists.Early Monday morning I packed up and headed off to JFK airport for my flight back to Toronto. On the AirTrain, one stop from the airport, I realized that I was going to the wrong airport!! Crap! I stupidly assumed that I was flying out of the same airport I flew into. But no. So after pondering what I should do, I decided to take a cab to LaGuardia and hope for the best. Good thing I was at the first airport 2 hours ahead of my flight, so I got to the second one with plenty of time to spare. Plus, LaGuardia is small, so it was really quick going through everything. On the cab ride over I even got to see---from the Van Wyck Expressway---parts of the city I hadn't seen: the flying saucers and that big globe thing from the old world's fair at Flushing Meadows, and Shea Stadium. All's well that ends well, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Never assume and always double-check that you're going to the right airport!

The flight itself was uneventful and on the same little regional jet that I flew over on. (Less than 40 seats.) I was clever (and lucky) and picked a single seat, to avoid having to sit beside someone who would take up all my space, like what happened on the way over. The plane flew right over Manhattan and so I got to see the island and some of the other boroughs from the air. It was awesome. The big buildings and Central Park really stand out, as does the brown ickyness that is the East River. And then as we approached Pearson I got a fantastic view of the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara, and pretty much the whole of Toronto. Amazing stuff, and maybe even makes me feel a little better about having paid too much (in my mind) for the flight.

New York is great but it's really a shame that the city is so polluted. My nose was stuffed up the entire time I was there, and one day back in Toronto and everything's all cleared up. Washington Heights (in northern Manhattan) and DN's neighbourhood in Brooklyn both smelled like dirt, and I'm sure this is the smell of pollution. It was kinda gross. (Central Park didn't have this smell.) After nearly two years in the city, DN still loves it, but is tired of all the people, the noise, and the pollution.

Until I get my act together and do a real posting.

This is what you get. From Terminal C at LaGuardia airport.

An historian in the big city.

My most memorable days in the cities I've visited on research trips this year are the days I spent walking around. I am a fan of art galleries and museums, but they just can't beat people- and place-watching. And so that's what I did yesterday with DN and JA in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

But first, let me back up. On Friday I finished up my research at the library. I didn't get to see everything and may have to come back, but I'm happy with what I got accomplished. For lunch I met up with a Columbia grad student who is writing her dissertation on the American Red Cross. (She's good friends with the woman with whom I stayed Sunday-Thursday.) We ate Middle Eastern sandwiches in a park near the university. It was great to talk with someone who knows about the organization.

At the end of the day I started chatting with another of the researchers as we both left the library. Turns out he's also friends with the woman I was staying with! Small world.

I then headed north to Washington Heights to pack up my stuff, snap a few pics of the local cats, and then head over to the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn to move in with DN for the last few nights of my trip. The subway ride across town took a long, long time, but it was easy to do. Once I got there dinner was almost ready, so he and his gorgeous g/f JA and I ate a yummy vegan dinner. After eating our fill we watched "Donnie Darko"---good!---and ate vegan chocolate cake. SO GOOD.

Saturday afternoon after breakfast/lunch the three of us walked to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. After a week of rain and cold, it seemed like everyone else in the city was glad for spring too---it was crowded everywhere outside! We spent a couple hours in the gardens, strolling around and generally having a good time. JA taught me how to do a cartwheel. Once we'd had our fill of nature it was time to go into town and see the East Village. We crammed into a busy subway car and endured the long ride in. A TV actress walked passed us on St. Mark's Place, a street with a bunch of counter-culture (or whatever) shops on it. We waited while JA picked out a stud for her ear hole.

A bit later we walked by an enormous used book store that my former NY host/housemate had told me about, and so of course I made us go in. I quickly found the Russian history section, and came away with 3 books to add to my dissertation collection. Yay! We tried to take a peek into some churches on Fifth Ave., but there were too many weddings happening so we only got a quick look at one once the ceremony ended and the bagpiper left. The afternoon ended with us sitting on a bench in the dog park at Washington Square Park at the end of Fifth Avenue. Dogs are awesome. This was definitely the best part of the day!

JA cooked us a great meal for dinner back in Brooklyn and she and DN marvelled at my appetite. Those of us in our late twenties were totally wiped out by now and had no intention of heading back into the city to party with DN's friends. So the three of us watched "Velvet Goldmine" instead. Much better, I say.

It is now late Sunday morning. I was woken up again this morning by music coming from upstairs. It should seriously be illegal to play loud music at 9am on a weekend. Geez. That, and one of DN's roommates got up early and made a bunch of noise in the kitchen. Did the dishwasher really have to be emptied at 8am? Annoying.

This city is cool (obviously), but it's crowded and polluted. I'm having a good time, but it will be good to go home tomorrow. I'll have to come back and do more touristy things. The city's not going anywhere, though, so there's no rush. My next trip will take me to Israel!

Just another day at work.

This morning I had an 11am appointment at the New-York Historical Society's Print Room. The society is in a lovely building on Central Park West (at 77th) right near the American Museum of Natural History. I was late running out the door (of course) but made good time so was hardly late at all. I looked at a bunch of photographs and took my own photographs of an interesting little collection. At this archives researchers pay $15 a day to take digital pictures, which I was happy to do.

I finished my work there just shy of 1:30pm and then headed back to the subway to go to Columbia. As soon as I got on the subway I wondered whether it was the right one, and upon getting off at my stop, sure enough I realized it wasn't! It's the same street as the one I wanted, but several blocks west (in Harlem). But I soon figured out where I was and walked over to Columbia through Morningside Park. I'm getting pretty good at this single historian in the big city thing.

The archivist at Columbia let me take a few more pics today, which was nice of her. Especially since it saved me a bunch of time. (I've been reading a diary, handwritten in pencil, which is proving to be a great source for me, but it took a LONG time to read through it all.) I've only got a day of research left, which I really don't think is enough time to go through everything I wanted to see, but such is life. I can always come back to the city for a couple days another year. No biggie.

Tonight I'm chilling at home. Tomorrow after the library closes I'll head back here and pack my things to move in with DN for a few nights.