The beginning...

July 1, 2005

The sweetest gift was given to me from my friend and co-worker Catherine Rohland on Friday. She gave me a ring with a picture of Judy Garland from the Wizard of Oz, so I will remember that "There's No Place Like Home." It is truly very special to me.

Towards the end of my workday on Friday a big thunderstorm rolled through Philadelphia. I finished some tasks and then finally left the office about 6:15. As I walked out the door and to the corner, I saw the most amazing thing...a full rainbow over Philadelphia. It was so beautiful. I wish I had my camera. Contrary to popular belief I do not carry one of my cameras everywhere I go.

My evening then started off right with a Cracker Barrel dinner with my sisters Patti and Chris. Cracker Barrel gets known for being home style while your on the road. I know I will probably stop at some along the way as I go, but it was nice to have dinner with some of my family. Then we picked up a couple things for the trip and headed home. I needed a chill night before all the forthcoming activity.

July 2nd

Live 8 - Yeah!

I love to go to concerts. I love it even more when they are free and benefit a good cause. It seems like more could have been done to benefit this cause from the attendees, but it was not a concert to try and get money from people directly. There was a petition that could be signed by sending a text message or logging on to an aol site. I sent a text message. The official Live 8 tables should have had more smaller shirts. I know they lost sales by underestimating the popularity of the sizes. I would have bought a shirt if I didn't think I would be swimming in it.

Anyway, it was a great experience to be at Live 8. Many people I spoke with expressed fears, but in my experience it was pretty calm. Carrie K., a friend and co-worker at PALINET, texted me early in the morning and we decided to try to meet up. Yep...how were we going to try and find each other among 1 million people?...Well, we did. :) Carrie, Mark and Chris got a pretty decent spot on the lawn area in view of the art museum and a screen. It was virtually impossible to get to the stage. My sister Chris attended the show with us and we had a blast hanging out. Chris and I headed back a little early and we ran into my friend Bob from the Well Fed Artists Gallery and also my friend Chris Boyd from high school. It was great to see them both.

The train station was packed and made it difficult for us to try and get back home so I could get my car and go to New Hope for dinner with Chris K. and Kevin. Ok, yes there are a lot of people named Chris around me. If you follow there have been 4 today. So Chris and I grabbed Starbucks and then tried to catch the bus...with my attitude in tact, we walked into the middle of the street and I knocked on the bus door to let us in. Luckily, the driver did. I know, it's risky, but, well, it worked. I eventually made it to dinner and had a great time with Chris and Kevin. Since Kevin is a professor, I decided to ask him about his take on Institutional Repositories and it seems like faculty and libraries may have to come to a compromise to fulfill both needs. Above all, I think that mutual education will help both libraries and faculty if they decide to take on the project of an institutional or digital repository. Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled program...The stars were so beautiful walking around New Hope. I also saw a buck on my way home and that always makes me smile too.