Walking with the Ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis

The Duckmaster feeds the ducks at the Peabody fountain.

People know about the Peabody ducks. I was headed to Memphis for the Distance Library Services Conference taking place at the Peabody Hotel. "Oh! Is that the place with the ducks?!" Why, yes it is! You have to get in place about an hour before the ducks walk in order to see them on their red carpet. They live in a penthouse on the hotel's roof and ride the elevatior down to the red carpet leading to their lobby fountain everyday at 11:00am, and they return to their posh digs at 5:00pm.

The five Peabody Ducks live in a posh penthouse which features a replica Peabody duck bedroom.

The Duckmaster (only the fifth to hold the title since the duck tradition started in 1940) greets the crowd and tells the history of the ducks: after a hunting trip in 1940, the hotel manager and his friend put their decoy ducks in the fountain, and the ducks stayed there all night. Seventy-plus years ago, hotel guests thought the ducks were really cool, and by the looks of this crowd, they still do!



There's the current Duckmaster addressing the huge crowed assembled to watch the ducks.

Here come the ducks!


The Peabody Hotel has become my favorite-ever hotel. It's fancy but comfortable and welcoming, and I'm not just saying that because my bathroom had a TV. Since our whole conference happened in this hotel, we were always running into friendly Distance Learning librarians to chat with about learning modlues, assessment, and the best restaurants. The lobby with its beautiful fountain, comfy furniture, constant piano music, and the DUCKS was a wonderful place to meet with friends and colleagues. The Peabody is still a center for Memphis nightlife--you should have seen the outfits (and SHOES) standing in line to go up to the weekly roof party on Thursday night! We got to go up there in more sensible shoes for our conference's opening reception just in time for sunset on Wednesday evening.

The Peabody sign atop the Peabody roof.

Everywhere we looked we saw artifacts of the Peabody Hotel's enchanting history.

"One ringy-dingy..."



Bill and Brian place some private calls...collect!

New York's Garment District: Sticking to My List

Today I took a mental health day and went to New York City to shop for fabric and trims. I was headed to Mood, the fabric store featured on the TV show Project Runway, plus a couple of other shops nearby that sell trims and ribbons. These stores and many more sources of fabric, buttons, ribbons, and beads are in New York's famous Midtown Garment District concentrated on 37th and 38th Streets between 6th and 7th. The actual Garment District is bigger than that; Parsons School of Design and scores of sample shops that sell to retail stores are here, too. Delicious, fashion-forward window shopping.

The huge M&J Trimming on 6th Avenue

I focused on selecting some supplies for a crazy quilt--you know, those heavily embroidered Victorian silk and velvet quilts. The Tinsel Trading Company on 37th Street is full of ribbon, tassels, buttons, beads, fringe, beaded fringe, beaded appliques and generally cool stuff. Tinsel Trading has an interesting history specializing in metallic trims and threads. I scored a bag full of various metallic trim remnants.  My other stop today was Hyman Hendler and Sons, a 38th Street shop full of exquisite imported ribbons. I kept to my list here as the ribbons are quite expensive.

 I've been sewing since the Nixon administration, and I made most of my own clothes from difficult Vogue patterns when I started working full-time during the Reagan administration. During Bush II and Obama I have sewn sporadically, but I have always found the activity of attaching fabric parts with tiny machine or hand stitches an effective way to relax. One thing I've learned in all my years of sewing is that I must have a shopping list when I enter a fabric store or else I tend to lose control a little. My list for Mood, my main destination, was carefully composed the night before. Plan A was to find some heavyweight red silk for a skirt, but I had Plans B, C, D, and E ready.



Fabric at Mood is stored on
 cardboard rolls.

Each roll has a tag like this
 stuffed in the end showing price
and fabric content.

Finding Mood was an adventure. I had the address, 225 West 37th Street, but there was no sign. You have to know where the store is, and you have to know to enter what looks like an office building lobby. Then, you have to know to venture up the stairs with the fire extinguishers at the base, and climb up to the third floor. Thousands of fabric rolls wait inside, grouped by fabric content and fabric type. I was after silks, remember, but so were a lot of other shoppers. I took this opportunity to explore the rest of the store, three floors of high-end designer fabrics, buttons, trims, and the famous Swatch the Dog. I enjoyed pretending to consider $50-per-yard designer silks and brocades, and ultimately found a nice piece of red silk/wool blend for a skirt. The salespeople were friendly and helpful, and as I waited in line, Swatch the dog, frequently seen on Project Runway, came right over to me to make friends.



Swatch

After about four hours in the Garment District, I had gathered enough supplies, ideas, and inspiration to keep me going for awhile, and I window-shopped my way back to an express train boarding on Track 7. It was a good day of city-walking, train-reading, and fabric-shopping. I needed that!

Jeeps, Leipzig and Aesthetics: Remembering My Mentor Dr. Carrow

A few years ago, at an intensive workshop that had to do with teaching and libraries and stuff, we participants were asked to write a few sentences on our favorite teacher of all time. I was so moved by this experience that I expanded the tiny essay into a larger one for a contest. I tied for first place! I use this ice breaker exercise in my own workshops, (a new one starts on Monday), and I thought you might like to read my expanded essay about Dr. Carrow:

I sat at a table with seven other mid-career college librarians. Our exercise was to write a short essay about our favorite teacher ever and then share with the group. Ultimately we were to discover what made these teachers successful and incorporate those techniques into our own teaching.

Dr. Carrow in the 1980s

I wrote about Dr. Stimson Carrow, a Music Theory professor with whom I studied as an undergraduate and graduate student at Temple University. He was everyone’s favorite, really, after they got over the shock of having to come to class prepared. He was tough on us undergraduates, drilling us on scales, chords and key signatures (the language of Music Theory) until as he said, we’d be able to recite all of the key signatures “in the middle of the night at the point of a gun.” He addressed us by Mr., Miss or Mrs. And our last name. No other professors did that. He took the time to learn all of our names and the correct pronunciation.

In graduate school he relaxed a bit and frequently took us on wild tangents that put his passion for music in context and helped us understand Dr. Carrow as a real person. He told us about the time he “borrowed” an army Jeep in Germany so he could go visit J.S. Bach’s grave in Leipzig. When I visited Leipzig on a recent tour of Germany, Dr. Carrow was as much on my mind as J.S. Bach. He also told us about the time he was locked up (I don’t remember why) and taught the other prisoners in his cell Music Theory. No one doubted that story. Dr. Carrow also taught the eye-opening Aesthetics course which somehow helped us appreciate music, art, literature and history and tied them all together. That course changed the way I think about arts and culture, so important in my life.

As I read my essay years later at the librarians’ conference, I began to weep. My neighbor had to finish reading for me. The other people at the table were touched and shed tears, too. How odd. No one was more surprised by this than me. It was at this moment that I realized all the things I do when teaching that are unconsciously modeled on Dr. Carrow. My stories aren’t as interesting as Dr. Carrow’s, but I try to put the students at ease: everyone is new to the library at some time or another. I’ve learned to respect each and every student because I’ll never know their whole story or what makes them tick. And whenever I’m speaking, whether it’s to students, faculty, conference participants or whoever, I strive to make my content interesting and relevant. I imagine them asking, “What’s in it for me?’ and then I tell them. It works: I’m even invited to speak about library topics now.

Dr. Carrow has been gone for some time now, so I’ll never be able to tell him how much his Music Theory and Aesthetics classes made me a better librarian. If I had thought to ask, “What’s in it for me?” back in Dr. Carrow’s classes, the answer would have gone something like this: a thorough knowledge of Music Theory, a new appreciation for all of the arts, and an ability to put listeners at ease and even make them laugh. Dr. Carrow was a man of faith and dreamed of sitting beside J.S. Bach on the organ bench in heaven to turn his music pages. Maybe I’ll catch up with him there, although I’m not sure J.S. Bach needs printed music!

From my Temple University Alumni Magazine: Dr. Carrow in 1962

The Philadelphia "Guide" Post

Welcome to my blog, and welcome to Philadelphia if you are visiting. With this "guide" post I hope to give you some links to my Philadelphia-themed posts so that you don't have to slog through the blog to find them efficiently. I write about places mostly, so please explore my blog for my take on the places I visit. I try to tell the story of my experience in each, with lots of pictures and some history.

If you haven't been to Philadelphia before, you MUST visit some historical spots! There are so many you might not know where to start, but I suggest you start by reading my blog on the topic for ideas. Ben Franklin must be Philadelphia's all-time favorite son so you might want to focus on his life. Check out his legacy here.

One of the most fascinating places I've even been in Philadelphia is Eastern State Penitentiary. It's about four blocks north of the Art Museum and easily within walking distance from the Convention Center.

For a quiet, meditative space, visit Washington Square, just east of Center City and south of the Convention Center.

For something completely unique, head to South Street (tons of restaurants and bars) where you'll find Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. Bring thy camera.

The Convention Center blooms every year with the famous Philadelphia Flower Show. I blogged about it in 2010 and in 2009 (part one and part two). The famous flowers will be blooming while the Innovations 2012 conference is going on...just in case you haven't heard.

You may have heard of the Mummers' Parade on New Year's Day. I'll take you there on a warm day in 2012, and a very cold day in 2009.

Here is my take on the ships of Philadelphia's waterfront, Penn's Landing.

I lived in and explored this city in the 1980s as a graduate student in Music. One day, 25 or so years later, I set out to retrace my steps and visit my old haunts.

You may be interested in accompanying me to Bucks County:

Washington's Crossing (actually I'm standing on the New Jersey side),
Ringing Rocks Park,
Moravian Tile Works, and,
Pearl S. Buck's House,

or Longwood Gardens in Chester County.

Smash Books: Got a Notebook? Try It!

Have you heard of Smash books? Most people I talk to have not. I hadn't until I saw them at a craft store displayed with all of their snazzy accessories. At first I wrote them off as a trend that would soon evaporate, meant for teens and 'tweens. I continued to consider the concept. The official Smash books (that's a brand-name with a capital 'S') are spiral-bound books similar to a scrapbook . Most of the pages are already decorated with colors, patterns, or drawings on a theme such as flowers, doodles, travels, etc. The Smash book creator is encouraged to add notes and drawings of their own with the pen that comes with the book, and to glue-in photos and other memorabilia with the glue stick at the opposite side of the pen. The Smash book creator is also encouraged to be messy and just get the ideas into the book any old way.

It was this last sentence that stuck in my mind, and I came to see the smash book idea (that's the concept with a small 's') as a great way to organize thoughts. So, low on cash, I decided to make my own smash book with a hard-cover spiral notebook. Evening after evening, I sat with my smash-notebook and jotted down notes about places I would like to go or return to. I clipped photos from old travel catalogs, and maps (some showing tours like the Christmas cruise on the Danube below), and I raided my scrapbooking supplies for stickers and papers.

Wouldn't you love to cruise the Danube at Christmastime, stopping at Christmas markets in Europe's great cities?

I was determined not to make my smash book fussy and fancy like my scrapbooks are supposed to be--those showcase my photos of places I've been. This smash book is supposed to be messy, capturing the dreams and imaginations I hold in my head about these places. The pages came out looking like a teen or 'tween had created them, but that's what I wanted. How often do we adults exercise our unbridled imagination in such a way? I may never visit all of these places, but if the opportunity arises, I will be ready. I included some pages on desired travel gear, too. As I explored the popular site Pinterest, I found more ideas for Smash or smash books. I created my own Pinterest smash book idea board .

My smash book no longer closes, but it's going to get thicker.

If I had stopped right there, this still would have been a fun exercise, but I began to think of people who had visited these places already. Why not ask them what they remember most fondly and keep those memories with my notes? So I asked friends about Italy and India, and included notes from a colleague's talk about a trip to Greece and Turkey. My smash book pages were getting full, so I had to insert these on folded bits of paper like a pop-up book.

My Greece spread with sites to see, notes, pictures, stickers, movie titles, and impressions from another traveler on a yellow pop-up

This is a great way to organize ideas. I finally sprung for a brand-name Smash book and decided to devote 2-page spreads to ideas for future articles. I already have recorded possible sources, drawings, ideas for interviews, quotes, and possible angles and organization strategies for the actual writing. This little 'tween/teen activity has become a great visual organizing tool! Got a notebook? Try it.

The Franklin Tour: Ben There, Done That

James Peniston's nine-foot bronze Franklin (2007)

 Ben Franklin's legacy saturates the city of Philadelphia. There's the bridge, the institute, the court, the square, and the stove that bear his name, plus other inventions and institutions for which he gets less credit. Did you know he invented bifocals? Swim fins? A musical instrument called the glass armonica? This man had a lot of interests, the time to pursue them, and the patience to write about them. I have the patience to write about my favorite BF sites and facts, but for a thorough study I recommend his famous autobiography. This slender tome is well worth the time--he describes his interesting life and shares his thoughts.

Franklin was a character, and my favorite story is when he talks about the virtues. He organized this group in Philadelphia called the Junto, and identified thirteen virtues that they would work on individually and then report back to the group on their progress. During one of Franklin's reports, a member pointed out that he forgot humility. Franklin retorted that humility was not a virtue he could boast about. Slippery stuff, that humility; if you claim you have it, you probably don't.

Franklin Court

Ben Franklin wasn't born in Philadelphia. He came from Boston as a young man, seeking refuge from a really bad printer's apprentice situation with his brother. He learned the trade, though, and started his own shop in Philadelphia. Franklin Court, on Market Street between 3rd and 4th Streets, is open every day and shows what Franklin's shop looked like along with his post office (which still functions as a U.S. Post Office). Behind the shops is a white steel-frame of what historians think Franklin's house was shaped like, and underground there is a museum showing Franklins's multifaceted life as a printer, inventor, writer, and diplomat. (At this writing, the museum is closed for renovation.)

Pennsylvania Hospital

Franklin created, planned, or helped organize many of the Philadelphia institutions of his time: Pennsylvania Hospital, the Library Company, the American Philosophical Company, Philadelphia Union Fire Company, and he spearheaded fundraising efforts for the Christ Church steeple. He spent 1757 to 1775 in England as a diplomat representing Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Massachusetts, but left when he got fed up with corruption there. From 1776 through 1783, he lived in Paris where he was involved in working out the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Paris. On top of all this, he was an elder statesman immersed in planning for our new country back home in Philadelphia.

So many things are named for him in this region that those of us from here don't always notice!  Philadelphia's tree- and museum-lined boulevard modeled after Paris's Champs-Elysées and leading up to the Museum of Art's Rocky steps is called the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. One of Philadelphia's five original squares, the northeast one, is named for Franklin and has a great view of the iconic Lightning Bolt statue (1984) commemorating Franklin's famous electricity experiment with a key, a kite, and a lightning bolt. Just beyond is the two-mile-long Benjamin Franklin Bridge connecting Philadelphia with Camden, New Jersey.

The Lightning Bolt (Isamu Noguchi) with the Ben Franklin Bridge behind

The Franklin Institute at Logan Circle is a premier science museum with awesome interactive exhibits and an IMAX theater. Kids around the region still talk about the Giant Heart exhibit that people can walk through, and it opened in 1954!

A common sight: school buses parked in front of the Franklin Institute.

Franklin, his wife Deborah, and his son Francis, are buried in the Christ Church Burial Ground at 5th and Arch Streets. Theirs are the graves with the pennies on them, tossed for good luck by visitors.

BTW, thanks to Brian Johnstone for this post's clever subtitle!

Historic Philadelphia: Retracing the Footsteps of our Country's Parents

Christ Church

Growing up a short schoolbus ride from Philadelphia, we visited the important historical sites to reinforce the American history we learned in school. It was fourth grade if I'm not mistaken, that we took a class trip to the city to visit Independence Hall, Elfreth's Alley, and the Betsy Ross House. We saw the Liberty Bell, too, and we were even allowed to put our little-kid fingers into the famous crack. These days there's no touching the Bell, as I suppose we are more aware of how the oils and God-knows-what left behind by our fingers damage the relic. The Bell is in its second new home since I touched it many moons ago, but the rest of the sites have remained the same. The historic area and Old City are delightful, at the same time park-like and populated.

That's Independence Hall on the left, and the Liberty Bell's building to the right. Check out the line to see the Bell!

Elfreth's Alley

Elfreth's Alley best illustrates my point. I remember visiting this little in fourth grade, and the teachers explained that it is the longest continuously inhabited residential street in the country. That is to say that the buildings date back to the 1730s, but older homes now gone were built in 1713. There are a total of 33 homes there now, and aside from the museum and gift shop occupying two, they are lived-in. Imagine living in one of those old houses with throngs of tourists walking up and down the cobblestone street which is probably too narrow for even the smallest car. (How do you unload your groceries? How do you get furniture delivered? Do you have to wear a costume when you go outside?) This is living history, isn't it? It's easy to imagine what this street was like when the country was born because it is essentially the same now. Elfreth's Alley is between Arch and Race Streets, connecting 2nd to Front Street.

Organ Pipes and 1740 Chandelier of Christ Church

I don't remember visiting Christ Church in fourth grade, so I made a special point of visiting it on my recent Old City photo tour. This church, at 2nd and Market Streets, is where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, Benjamin Rush and other big names of the time worshiped. It's a beautifully preserved Georgian building and open every day with historians on-hand to answer questions. It was started in 1727, and the famous white steeple made the church the tallest building in the colonies for decades. Benjamin Franklin actually led the fundraising to build the steeple! The baptismal font dates from 14th-century London, and it the very one in which a baby William Penn was baptized in London. The Christ Church burial Ground is a couple blocks away at 5th and Arch Streets--its most famous resident is Benjamin Franklin.

The Betsy Ross House

The Betsy Ross House is in this Old City neighborhood, too, at 239 Arch Street. Ms. Ross was an upholsterer who also made flags, and her husband's uncle George Ross, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, hooked her up with the famous flagmaking gig we've all heard about. Historians aren't entirely sure she made THE first flag, or that she lived in this very house, but even the spurious parts of her tale are not unlikely. The thrice-widowed Betsy is buried in the adjacent Atwater Kent Park with her third husband John Claypoole.


The brightest star of a visitor's tour of Philadelphia would have to be Independence Hall on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets. It was built between 1732 and 1756 and intended to be the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania. This is where the colonial delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the federal Constitution. Did you know Abraham Lincoln lied here in state after his 1865 assassination? Tours are available every day, but they are very popular (VERY popular) and must be picked up at the spiffy Visitor Center between Independence Hall and the Constitution Center. The Liberty Bell Center is there, too, and the modern National Constitution Center. Connecting these buildings is an expansive lawn, necessary to accommodate the energetic kids, photo-snappers, dog walkers, and everyone drawn to this historic place. The clock tower looks shiny and new after its recent makeover, doesn't it? On the day this photo was taken, the National Park Service was preparing for an event to celebrate the unveiling of the recently restored tower--that's the yellowish green bit in the center of the photo.

Independence Hall