12.15.2004
coffee
I've come to the conclusion that I drink a lot of coffee. I mean, not as much as some of the coffee fiends out there, and certainly not as much as this guy, but still a lot.
I went to Tisch library at Tufts yesterday to get a jump on this paper I'm supposed to be "thinking about" over the break. Honestly - there was no security. Not a member of the Tufts student body? No problem! Want to bring in donuts? Come on in! Dangerous chemicals in your bag? Hey, it's not like we're checking anyway! And they're open 24-hours a day! If Oxford worked like this, I'd have no problems doing my work at odd hours. And a plus over Princeton: parking is ample and free. What a concept. It's also nice to roam stacks and to pick random books off of the shelf. You can sort of do that at the Sackler Library at Oxford, and to a much more limited degree at Keble Library, but nothing as extensive as a major research institution. I miss it.
Speaking of Oxford's libraries, good for Google! They'll be scanning (how, they're not sure) the entirety of the Stanford and U of Michigan libraries, and supplementing those with bits of Harvard, Oxford, and New York Public Libraries. I am excited, but also a bit apprehensive. It certainly will be nice to be able to read books from home, but then there's the question of possibly directing people to a location online to buy a book if it's not available (or yet out of copyright): how will retailers bid for the 'right' to sell or advertise a book on Google? And does that make it a less unbiased site? Finally, how will copyright laws react to this? Heady times indeed...
Had a wonderful dinner last night with Diana and caught up on quite a lot. It's good to reconnect with old friends - I have so many great stories from Oxford. Anyone who fancies a story, just email me and I'll pick a nice juicy one. :)
Ooh! Finally, had a nice surprise on Monday. E.S. from the P. school was up in Boston, sitting in on my choral rehearsal. Her father is a composer, and we're doing one of his works, A Christmas Carol, with the Boston Pops this year. So he was up at the hall to oversee the first orchestra rehearsal, and he brought his daughter. It was good to see her. A bit out of context, to be certain, but good all the same.
I went to Tisch library at Tufts yesterday to get a jump on this paper I'm supposed to be "thinking about" over the break. Honestly - there was no security. Not a member of the Tufts student body? No problem! Want to bring in donuts? Come on in! Dangerous chemicals in your bag? Hey, it's not like we're checking anyway! And they're open 24-hours a day! If Oxford worked like this, I'd have no problems doing my work at odd hours. And a plus over Princeton: parking is ample and free. What a concept. It's also nice to roam stacks and to pick random books off of the shelf. You can sort of do that at the Sackler Library at Oxford, and to a much more limited degree at Keble Library, but nothing as extensive as a major research institution. I miss it.
Speaking of Oxford's libraries, good for Google! They'll be scanning (how, they're not sure) the entirety of the Stanford and U of Michigan libraries, and supplementing those with bits of Harvard, Oxford, and New York Public Libraries. I am excited, but also a bit apprehensive. It certainly will be nice to be able to read books from home, but then there's the question of possibly directing people to a location online to buy a book if it's not available (or yet out of copyright): how will retailers bid for the 'right' to sell or advertise a book on Google? And does that make it a less unbiased site? Finally, how will copyright laws react to this? Heady times indeed...
Had a wonderful dinner last night with Diana and caught up on quite a lot. It's good to reconnect with old friends - I have so many great stories from Oxford. Anyone who fancies a story, just email me and I'll pick a nice juicy one. :)
Ooh! Finally, had a nice surprise on Monday. E.S. from the P. school was up in Boston, sitting in on my choral rehearsal. Her father is a composer, and we're doing one of his works, A Christmas Carol, with the Boston Pops this year. So he was up at the hall to oversee the first orchestra rehearsal, and he brought his daughter. It was good to see her. A bit out of context, to be certain, but good all the same.
