The lobby was beautifully decorated for Christmas with lights, trees and garland. All of my pictures turned out blurry so I don't have any of the inside to share. We went to see a Charles Dickens exhibit that was very informative and interesting. There was another exhibit that was lighter and focused on the evolution of lunch. Yes, the meal we eat in the middle of the day. I wasn't sure how interesting it would be, but I should not have been skeptical. It was a walk through time looking at the development of the school lunch program, the beginning production of sliced bread and recipes considered appropriate for women of 50's households to serve to guests. There was a hands on exhibit where you could assemble plates of food by the cost of items to get a feel for food costs of the time. I was very impressed with an exhibit that quite honestly I thought would be a time waster.
I've always loved libraries, even going back to my childhood when I would visit the public library with my friend Valerie and return home with stacks of Sweet Valley Twins and Babysitter's Club books. More than once my parents caught me with a flashlight and book under my covers when I was supposed to be sleeping. To this day I spend countless hours that I should be sleeping devouring novels. More often than not I re-read books that I've read before, I love finding more parts of a story the second and third time I read it. If I want to relax I pull a book I've read before because I don't have to pay very close attention to the details to enjoy the story.
One of the highlights of the trip to the New York Public Library was the stop in the gift shop. This is a book lovers gift shop. Certainly it includes a book selection that reflects the location, but also other gifts and items book lovers love to own. The purchase of the day, and if I'm being honest, the purchase of the trip was a journal that both my sister and I bought, Q and A a day.
I've told you before that I'm not a goal setter and that I have a hard time keeping a journal. That lack of goal setting extends to New Year's Resolutions, I can't keep them so I don't set them. My journal writing has improved with this blog, but still isn't great by any means. Part of the reason I have a hard time writing in a journal every day is that I'm not quite sure what to say. What do you put on an empty page that no one else will read? What is so valuable that I need to record it, so that I can go back and re-read it and question why I valued that enough at the time to write it down? I've found that sharing with my audience, in the form of a blog, however small that audience may be, causes me to be more thoughtful about myself, my day and my life. All of that being said, it is my goal to use this book as a journal for the next five years.
What I like about this book is that on each page there is a question with no more than four lines on which to write a response. I cannot get wordy. I cannot look at the blank lines struggling to think of things to fill them. There are only four lines because the other lines on the page are designated for other years. The book is set up to be a five year journal. There are specific questions to answer on each page, which will allow me to compare my responses from year to year. I am exciting about trying to do this. It not only records my thoughts and feelings about things, but also will document other things going on in society. Some of the pages ask for the top news story of the day or latest book or movie that's out. Hopefully I can stick to it, because I think this is a really cool thing to do!
If you'd like to try it yourself you can buy the book from any major retailer.
