A Day in Philly with Dad...

I bet none of you knew that the ALA (American Library Association) had its mid-winter meeting in Philadelphia the 2nd week of January...



Some of you probably did know that my father, in addition to being an intrepid navigator of the Great Fresh Water Inland Seas ( which could conceivably now be supporting a breeding population of Bull Sharks)...



...and a fearless explorer of the wild, both lands upon the mountains and....



...upon the waters...



....and a former party animal and member of the counter culture movement...



...who is now a loving husband...



...father of 8...



...and grandfather of 6, soon to be 9...



...yes my father, Tom is all these things, but did you know that he is also

AN INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIAN of MYSTERY?



( I snapped this picture of him as he was stealthfully making his get away from the ALA mid-winter meeting through this darkened hallway)

You guys, Libraries are BIG BUSINESS! This mid-winter "meeting" filled the Philadelphia Conference Center:

(which is huge---this is just the ceiling of the atrium)


So Dad's official title is:

Collection Development Coordinator and Materials & Acquisitions Chair

at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University

(I don't think this is classified information--its written on the card he was slipping all those database and information system pushers who were vying for his attention)


At any rate, before I left for Ohio, I took the train down to Philly for the day to observe a day in the life of this International Librarian of Mystery...
and to see some stuff with Dad...

It was a lot of fun...


I'd never spent anytime in Philadelphia...




This is Benjamin Franklin all made out of keys...



This is a dark Old World-looking alley where some multi-million dollar database deal went down... (I wasn't allowed to film faces...)



...and we got to see the Liberty Bell.




It is always good to spend time with Dad and to learn about what he does down in the basement of the HBLL...

Thanks DAD!

Trips...

I was in Minneapolis last week-end.

This is a picture taken from the plane--either during the flight to Minneapolis from Columbus, Ohio or during the flight from New York to Columbus(I will explain why I am in Columbus presently)....I don't always have a clear memory after flights these days. The xanax has allowed me to become quite comfortable with flying--even to the point of peacefully enjoying the views the experience at 30,000 ft. provides--but I don't always remember that experience SUPER clearly. I love flying now. I love to be able to be somewhere so new so fast and I love seeing the world like that...I particularly love seeing the large cities as we land--I'd like to take pictures of those cities, but the cities are generally in such proximity to the airports that by the time the city is in view from my 3"x 5" window the head flight attendant has announced that "ALL electronic devices must now be placed in the off position." ALL electronic devices! I was trying to take a great shot of the Chicago skyline with my beloved Lake Michigan beyond as we descended into O'Hare when the otherwise pleasant blonde attendant snapped "Sir, you HAVE to turn that off NOW!"
GEEESH! (Maybe my memory is pretty clear)
So, here is one shot...more a little later

So, I flew to Minneapolis!

It was VERY cold. But being there was really fantastic. Its been nearly 8 years since I've been to "the cities", as Mpls/St. Paul were always referred to in my northern Minnesotan youth.

As you may know, I began working with a very exciting theatre company, known as the TEAM, as an Artistic Associate (writer/collaborator) last year. And ostensibly, it was work with the TEAM that brought me to "the cities". The TEAM's latest show was having a run at the new Walker Arts Center Theatre and we were also taking the opportunity to spend some time working on the current, in development, play ARCHITECTING, which I am helping to write and so blah blah blah....I came to Minneapolis (most of you who are reading don't really care much about the specifics of my writing career--just that I am doing it, right? If I am wrong, please let me know and I will explain further about the exciting things happening)

So, I came to Minneapolis. It was very cold, and I was so often concerned with keeping my extremities from this cold, that I too often did not take my camera out... I am much more disappointed in my self than you are in me...

At any rate--I stayed with our great friends, Linda and Deb (of Old Mission, Michigan fame) who live in south Minneapolis. They, and their two daughters, Kylie and Allie, were SO helpful and generous. It was great to see them and spend time with them. They picked me up from the airport, let me stay in the topmost room of their beautiful home, even let me use their mini-van on Saturday night to go see my best friend from the Crosby-Ironton Jr. High days, Maggie! Or, more accurately and currently, Dr. Maglina Lubovich, Visiting Assistant Professor of English Lit. at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

I got to see her parents, Barb and Steve again. It was a great visit--always laughs with the Lubovichs...



I went to dinner with Maggie and her husband, Beau--a great guy from Duluth, who was born in Hibbing, Minnesota--for all you Dylan fans... in fact, Beau's grandma used to play bingo with Bob Dylan's grandma--or mom? At any rate, there's a connection there.
I say I went to dinner, but Beau and Maggie TOOK me to dinner. At a Russian restaraunt named "Moscow" and the food was reasonably authentic I must say. I had some great pelmini---


The food was good, but, of course the GREAT joy was spending the time with Maggie, Beau and their friend and neighbor, Lisa (?)--I feel like an ass for not remembering her name (your name if you're reading this) because we had some great laughs!



Its hard to explain just HOW good it was to see Maggie, so I won't try too hard.
Here's a stab at it:
I am always a little unsure of what to say when people ask me where I grew up. I spent my childhood and Jr. High years in Crosby, MN and spent my High School years and the next few in Utah...
So, seeing Maggie--doing all that laughing and recalling all those memories, albeit rather foggily--like coming off of xanax a little--helps me feel more confident about including Minnesota when I am asked about where I come from. Its not just that I have a past there and that Maggie reminds me of that. That is part of it, yes. But more so, its that being there with her, sharing bits and pieces of our lives, seeing the beautiful woman she has become, laughing with her parents and listening to their advice and genuinely getting to re-know Maggie a little allowed me to re-see myself as I was 16 years ago in the context of who I am today...
I did a lot of changing and growing when we moved to Utah, and thankfully so, but who I am and who I have become has so much to do with those years in Crosby...some of the best of which were spent with Maggie as my best friend!


The rest of these pictures are, conclusively, from my flights from Minneapolis through Chicago and back to Columbus.... see these last two are of the southern Lake Michigan shoreline--all blue and white with icy flows...
oh and I remember taking that first photo now--I flew LGA to Kansas City and then to Columbus on the way here--that first photo is from that trip (yeah, Kansas City, MO...now there's a cool skyline, y'all)


And lastly, the view I see right now as I finish off this blog from the 2nd floor window of an old restored farmhouse in Gambier, OH, where I am assisting my good friend, Molly Rice, who is also a Visiting Assistant Professor, but of Theatre and at Kenyon College...which is in Gambier, Ohio....which is where I am...right now!

The Academics

As some of you know, for the past three years I have lived a bit of a double life.
Back in the winter and spring of 2006 I became Bernard, the nerdy-maybe gay-English professor and keyboardist for the Academics, once or twice a week...
Along with fellow professors Oliver and Jules on the guitars, we rocked our fans in NYC and made them laugh with our sincere attempts at creating intellectual and witty music...

After a bit of hiatus, the Academics got together, perhaps for the last time, last month at a loft in Brooklyn to play for some of our most devoted fans!




HAPPY NEW YEAR to all! And look for a smashing photo essay of all of the holiday fun we've had this season in a few days!

Mice, The Former Capital of the Confederate States of America, the Kidlies and Chesapeake Bay at 6:30 am

The blog title says it all--no need to explain these pictures now, is there?

Sorry it has been 2 days short of a month since my last post.... I just got back from Northern Europe and Russia and was instantaneously consumed in the busy life that awaited me back in NYC. (yeah, yeah, yeah--and I'm lazy)

Enjoy, and I vow to post some pictures of my band "The Academics' " last gig....

but for now: its just Travis taking care of the rodent problem in our apartment, Richmond in all its post-Confederate glory, my favorite New York under-five-ers and the view from 30,000ft over the Chesapeake at 6:30 in the morning!

Oslo and the Viking Ship Musuem

So, after that raucous and irreverent descent into narcissistic revelry, I thought I'd briefly return to my recent trip to the Northern Nations and post a few pictures of my last stop. Oslo, Norway....this is for you Timand the Vikingskipshuset (Viking Ship Musuem) and the Forskningsparken (which I have to call the Naked Statue Park because I don't know exactly how it is in English... The Forsking Park? Tim?)

I really liked Oslo alot. I wish I had had more time to spend there--I was only there two days and I'm sure the city has a great deal to offer. But, right now, besides the Viking Ship Musuem and the Naked People Park all I really tell people about Oslo is how EXPENSIVE it was!--and how many prostitutes approached me every night on Karl Johhan's Gate (The main street in Oslo that runs from the train station to the Royal Palace--

Oh--also Henrik Ibsen, very significant to the development of modern theatrical form, is from Norway and has a street named after him just west of the Royal Palace.... Henrik Ibsen's Gate (Gate means street, right?)

Also--on the train from Bergen to Oslo I met three awesome young ladies who are studying for an semester at the University of Oslo--Frouke and Leida who are from Amsterdam and Kirsi from.....FINLAND!!!!

We went to dinner that evening and I got a burger for 108 kroner (1 US Dollar=5.1 Kroner....you do the math...okay, I'll do it--yes that's $21.00...and no, it wasn't an upscale restaraunt--just a little pubby place)


All the money issues aside, it was WORTH it to visit the Viking Ship Musuem and, of course, just to be in Norway--I've always been fascinated by the Viking period and the image of the beautifuly restored Oseberg ship resting in this elegant light filled white hall was something I'd seen in so many books--it was really moving to be there in that room....

There are actually three restored ships in the musuem in three adjoined halls, as well as displays of artifacts and items from the period found along with the ships....

Here are a few pictures from the Naked Statues Park

And getting ready to board Finair (the second safest airline in the world) Airbus home to New York.

I've been TAGGED!

THE ABC'S of ME!!!

for Allison Dawn Green Moschetti and for those of you who are not blogger freaks--this is a little tag game that's being played through out blogdom...

someone tags someone else and they have to complete this ABC's of me thing...which is an opportunity to talk profusely about one's self and all the singular things that make one so...singular...

Allison tagged me and now I am doing it and am going to tag others, but you won't know who those others are unless you read through this alphabetical list of things about ME!

ATTACHED OR SINGLE?

Attached to Travis and A LOT of debt for the infinitely useful MFA degree I'm about to recieve from Columbia University....(so much in fact that its the first thing that came to my mind when answering this question and NOT Travis...this is sad, right? Why am I worrying about money above all else? Hmmmm....) Anyway-- Travis and Me!

BEST FRIEND...

Well, this is quite hard because I have never been able to honestly answer this question with out really listing like 15 people... yes, I am that luckly and tolerated by that many....

so here is the list in no particular order with explanations

(if you didn't make the list...I'm not sure what that means....ah, who am I kidding? Like 4 people read this)

Heather ( I live across the street from her and Matt and their children and see her almost everyday and have known her and Matt since I was 15)

Matt (above's husband)

My Dad ( he is the most like me...see the bit about worrying about $$$)

My Mom (she is the most unlike me...so we get along well)

Travis (of course)

Allison ( because she alone can pop zits in places that....its not appropriate for blogger land) (from what we are wearing in this picture you might think it was the mid to late 90's, but no....you'd be wrong...it was last year....)


Martha (my big sister because she actually calls me regularly and seems genuinely interested)

Matt Chappina ( my favorite Italian American from Massapequa, LI and a damn fine playwright and human being)

Cassandra Purricelli Chappina (above's wife and a better person and Italian American)

and a better picture of Cassandra because I want you all to see how beautiful Casey is, and not just how crazy she is AND it was another chance to post a picture of ME!


Heather Riggs ( also has known and tolerated me since I was 15)

all my brothers and sisters, who I will name later

and sincerely alot more and I am sure I have left someone off, but naming BEST friends makes me a little ill because there are soooo many who I am soo grateful for!

(please note that in most of these pictures, in addition to seeing an image of one of my BEST friends, you were also able to see another image of ME!!!)

CAKE OR PIE?

Are you kidding? Anyone who knows me knows I'll eat ANYTHING, particularly cake AND pie and if they have representatives from BOTH of these factions I WILL eat BOTH of them....at the same time...and it is quite possible that I will eat ALL of them... BUT if I had to be pinned down to ONE of them I would and could eat THE CAKE OF NUTTY GOODNESS as prepared by Heather Anna Corrigan Herrick for the rest of my days....
'tis a pity I have not a picture of this sweet sweet fantasy dessert...

DAY OF CHOICE

I've always liked Fridays....

ESSENTIAL ITEM

My legs and a pair of good running shoes...

this is ME!!! beating someone at the end of the Cherry Festival a couple years ago....

FAVORITE COLORS

Blue and Orange TOGETHER... last night I was playing with Mags and Cole and Margaret wanted to make fake pies (mmmmm) and this of course meant using the "pies" and "pieces" of pie from the Trivial Pursuit game... I made my tasty "fake pie" all blue and orange.... it was pretty!

GUMMIE BEARS or WORMS

See above expanation on cake or pie.... except I loved that Disney cartoon about Gummie Bears...well not so much the cartoon but the theme song.... "Gummie Bears bouncing here and there and everywhere, High Adventure thats beyond compare, They are the Gummie Bears!" You know you liked the tune, too.

INDULGENCES

(that's all you need to know about my indulgent side)

JANUARY or JULY

I'm very egalitarian and am able to see the merits of both these fine months...I love to snowboard and to swim.... (yes that's me in the Superman Speedo..... and Andy my bro, too....)

KIDS


My own-no. But I sure do love these two and spend a lot of time with them! They are leaving for Utah tomorrow for Thanksgiving and I just got back from Europe so I'm a little sad!

LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT...

Love.

(This is called the Triangular Theory of Love and it is complicated and I don't know what it means--I found it when I image searched "love")

I like this theory of love alot more...


MARRIAGE DATES

....in Sweden or Canada or Finland or Massachussetts or somewhere someday...

NUMBER OF SYBLINGS

7! 4 brothers and 3 sisters! Martha, me, Andy, Sarah, Cathern, Bobby, Timmy and Peter... (now this IS the 90's...the Black Hills of South Dakota...1990 to be exact)

ORANGES or APPLES

It's sixes of the one, half a dozen of the other...it's a slippery slope...teach a man to fish and there's no i in team...

BUT I love OJ! I love orange JUICE alot more than I like apple juice!

PHOBIAS OR FEARS

This is the Airbus A380--the largest airplane in the world...it can seat over 500 people--it terrifies me...

but thanks to this----I may be able to fly on it someday!!!!

QUOTES

Love one another as I have loved you...

REASON TO SMILE

So so so so so many....all of the things listed above and below make me smile...but recently this place made me smile the most...
FINLAND!!

This is ME!!! in Helsinki, Finland


SEASON, SPRING or FALL

FALL!!!

I!!! (ME!!!) I was born in late August just in time to welcome the fall on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay...


TAG 3

Heather Anna Herrick, Heather Anna Riggs and Kelly Jo Horner Worth! (Now you can stop reading because I've got to the tagging part)

UNKOWN FACT

Everyone knows everything about me--I can't stop talking about ME!!!!

WORST HABIT

Besides being very prone to procrastination and very prone to spend money on things that are only gratifying and not investment-based and being very prone to spend the day exercising or cooking instead of writing like a good playwright I am far to prone to talk about ME!!!

X-RAY or ULTRASOUND

I had an x-ray when I was about 13 or 14 when Bobby (my borther of 5 at the time) tripped me and I broke my thumb....my mother, a very fine nurse, was convinced it was only dislocated and only took me to get it x-rayed when it became really painful (I may be exagerating--she probably took me right away)....it was broken and I got a cast...

YOUR FAVORITE FOOD

Once again...refer to the cake or pie question... I literally will eat anything and enjoy it... but lately I'm really into getting a bowl and putting raw almonds, walnuts, raisons, a little raw instant oatmeal, honey and some milk in it and eating it!

ZODIAC

Virgo the virgin...yes... (hey it kinda looks like Mariah...my indulgence) I just read that Virgos are supposed to be the critics of the Zodiac....that may be true but there is one thing I will never criticize....

ME!!!


So, those are the ABC's of me...and what is the lesson learned?

Never Nudge Nathan toward an opportuntiy to talk about himself, especially in a forum such as this where photographs are involved!

I look forward to reading and seeing the ABC's of those I tagged!

Bergen, Norway...

Okay--so I actually am on at the Oslo Airport and I am posting the rest of the pictures from Bergen...amazing isn't it? Look at that view!

The city of Bergen is nestled right up against the walls of this fjiord and the homes just go up and up and then above them the trees, and rocks and lakes and waterfalls just go up and up ...
I started out early-like 8am Sunday morning--and just kept going up and up....through moss covered forests floors and watery runs full of enormous boulders grown over by pine trees and then the clear perfect lakes began and then incredible vistas opening up further and further--other fjiords north and south until you could see the North Sea beyond them...amazing

The city itself, down there on the shores of the fjord, was really beautiful and full of great archicture and things worth seeing.

Over all Bergen was a much more stunning, and considering the RIDICULOUS prices, worth the money! Very beautiful city....
( I will, very shortly, post some pics of Oslo and the couple of days I spent there...)