Fall '09 LEEP Weekend Redux -- Day 2

Up and at 'em at 6:40 for one of the most precise showering schedules I've ever been a part of:

Allison - 6:00-6:20
Laura - 6:20-6:40
Liz - 6:40-7:00... err... 7:07 (DUDES, I was the ONLY ONE with straight hair that needed to be dried and managed with a flat iron)
Meredith - 7:07-7:20

We hit the FREE BREAKFAST in the lobby and headed out to the 501 meeting in the Psych building with Meredith trying to steel herself against what the rest of us thought was a balmy Midwestern morning.

We were among the first to arrive and got our white envelopes with graded papers (for those of you who have not had the great privilege of serving society as educators and grading the written work of students, allow me to enlighten you to the fact that Linda Smith is FRICKIN' AMAZING for getting THAT many papers back to THAT many people THAT quickly). I was also impressed with the "Liz" on my nametag since my Elluminate self is "Elizabeth".

Sat NEXT TO Meredith (people who know me know that I am not usually a sit next to sorta gal) and listened to some awesome presentations by archivists and conservationists - JUST KIDDING! Everyone (now) knows that conservationists save trees; CONSERVATORS save information. Quote of the panel? Referring to the instrument collection at the Old Town School of Folk Music:

"Those instruments are in JAIL!"

Yes. Yes, they are. It's about ACCESS, people.

Followed the rest of the locusts over to GSLIS to grab a sandwich, stuff it in my face, and run over to the Main Stacks to swoon... I MEAN get material for our final project in 501. Okay, seriously. Is there a topic UIUC's Main Stacks DOESN'T have a bajillion books on? After a quick refresher on how to navigate through the call numbers, we were running around the East and West stacks, cellphones in hand (because WE TEXTED THE CALL NUMBERS TO OURSELVES -- AWESOME) grabbing pamphlets, books, reports -- and cracking ourselves up along the way with references to Being John Malkovich and the masochism that must have accompanied studying in the dungeon style "cage carols" throughout the building. And get a load of the awesome new lockers!

Class ended for the day at 4pm and I headed over to GSLIS to discover than Academic Libraries *may* not be for me. Not that the presenters (including Meg Edwards' DAD!!) weren't fabulous... I just don't know if academia is the place for me.

Dinner at the "Y" was served at 6pm and the locusts struck again. Allison, who was now aware of Baby LEEP's desire for red sauce ended up getting a piece of the last piece of lasagna by the grace of Devin. I grabbed us a seat next to a familiar face with a "Here's someone who looks like she could use some friends!" - figured she was in one of my classes... until she started to be joined by her friends and they started to look familiar, too... FROM THE UPPER LEFTHAND CORNER OF THE GSLIS HOMEPAGE. Turns out I was suggesting to Dr. Carol Tilley that she "could use some friends". AWESOME. Open mouth, insert foot.

So who *couldn't* use a drink after something like that? Headed out to Legends on Green St. and met up with a ton of 14.1... hilarity ensued. What sort of hilarity? I'll give you two awesome examples.

1. Laura does the "jerk" - to the amusement of the undergrads sitting behind us...
"It's just skipping backward... in place."

2. Daylily insists we all gather together, head over to Murphy's and challenge 14.2 to a dance off.
She is serious.
She wants us to be "The Jets".
Yes.
Westside Story-style.
With snapping.

Called it a night at 10pm - because we are old now, our meter was expiring, and we wanted Bambas.

We did a LOT of living on Day 2 (or Day 12, depending on how you're counting) of LEEP.