It's near the end of classes -- in fact, we're in finals week -- and I always like to go around campus taking pictures of students -- which I can then use for the UIC OAR website. Here I am on the West Side in the Medical District -- looking for someone, anyone, in scrubs or a white jacket.
The annual UIC Urban Forum took place today. Mayor Daley spoke at the opener and then took part in one of the panel discussions later on. Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel also was there -- participating in a lively discussion along with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Motorola CEO Greg Brown and moderator Judy Woodruff.
Discussion at these things tends to lead to platitudes ("collaboration", "shared resources" -- and considering the venue -- "more support for education"). My favorite moment came when Woodruff went on and on about people's "anger" and Rahm pointed out that it might have something to do with the economic situation. "But why does the press focus on it then," Woodruff asked. Rahm looked at her and smiled: "that's the subject for another panel".*
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* Quoted from memory.
So we got this enormous plant for the reference desk which looks like it came from the "Little Shop of Horror". It's looking at me all the time and I know it's probably eaten a student or two when my back was turned. So naturally I'm taking a poll among my colleagues to see what we should call it: "Harvey or Irene?"
At this point it's a tie.
An old colleague from NYU, Jen Schwartz, just started at DePaul. It's a small world.
With an early voting location at the CPL branch at Lincoln Park -- just across the street from DePaul -- you can't get any more convenient. Not surprisingly, for a (February) Primary, traffic was light. I walked right in, no waiting, no line.
Meanwhile in other news...
Today was my first day back at Library Reference at DePaul. Winter Session starts on Monday.
I was in Berlin when the Wall came down. In fact I had been living there since 1984.
I had just woken up from an early evening nap when one of the people from the Wohngemeinschaft where I was living told me the Wall had come down.
This seemed strange since it looked perfectly intact only an hour before when I had gone to sleep.
Of course my room-mate was exaggerating. In fact, the Wall hadn't come down -- it had simply opened up. That's an important distinction which I'll get back to in a moment but at that point it really didn't matter. I like everyone rushed out to welcome the incoming East Germans at Checkpoint Charlie, buying a bottle of Sekt (German sparkling wine) along the way.
So the email goes out: "pumpkin nut/raisin bread" in the Reference Workroom.
Sounds nice, huh? So what's left when the Saturday crew finally shows up? You're looking at it.
Outrageous!
The sticker reads, "I Got My Flu Vaccine! Did You?"
Normally I don't bother but this year, it seems like there's a heightened awareness. Judging by the larger crowd even at 10 in the morning, I'd say a lot of people were feeling the same way.
Over the weekend, we went to German Day in Lincoln Square in Chicago. I've been going to this thing since I was old enough to slip into a pair of lederhosen (obligatory photo of Leo as a toddler with the first Mayor Daley).
The music and entertainment have remained consistent down through the ages. Oddly enough, the only music I heard when I was actually in Deutschland in the mid-to-late Eighties was punk and electronica. So these annual events in Chicago are almost my only exposure to the um-pa-pa way of life. Anyway, a good time was had by all.
Current Readings around Town...
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