The Joys of the Library

The idea of a "library" may conjure images of dusty bookshelves, and a mean old lady yelling at you to "Be Quiet" just for opening up a gum wrapper. But I feel like the local library may have gotten a bad-wrap ;), so to speak...

Libraries are excellent places these days!  

I don't think of libraries like that anymore. 

Libraries are fundamentally a place where I get to do work (in my own quiet space), and hook up to the Internet for free! But not only that, Libraries are where you can solve mysteries, explore far-fetched philosophies, and even be a space cadet. Some Libraries even have padded rooms where you can practice a musical instrument, without hurting your neighbors' ears. 

The Joseph Regenstein Library

Let's start with the basics. Libraries are by-and-large designed as a place to solve mysteries. Do you need to write a book report on ancient Egypt? Do you need to learn how "Amyloid plaques" impact elderly people who may be susceptible to Alzheimer's disease? The Library is your place! 

Even the smallest library, in a small town, is probably networked with other libraries nearby. So whatever mystery you're solving, the good librarians at your local locations should be able to order in a book or a document that covers everything you need to you know. 

Some older Libraries are beautifully designed. Even if you don't need to solve a mystery, they are beautiful places to explore, or just eat your lunch in!

On my lunches, at the prestigious University of Chicago, I'd often visit the Regenstein Library just to walk around. And I eventually found the Regenstein Library to be just the place to explore far-fetched philosophies! 

My eccentric girlfriend (at-the-time) recommended Georges Bataille's "The Accursed Share Vol. 1". Well that was a weird and wonderful French Language, philosophy book... But, I wanted the sequel, "Volume 2". But, even on Amazon, Volume 2, was like $50.00... That was a bit too much.

But, The Regenstein Library at the prestigious University of Chicago had it. I even got to find it in the stacks. It was pretty fun, searching that library. I got to search many floors, and many selves, and feel like a real philosopher while I was doing it.  

The Kent Free Library

And lastly, a Library is a place where you can be an honest-to-god Space Cadet! I remember being a kid dressed up in a full-blown Star Trek outfit. I was an Ensign, in the Engineering Division, on a Star Fleet Space Ship! 

I never had more fun in my life! 

We even made protector-boxes, to protect eggs, while we threw them off a ledge...

All of the eggs stayed safe. Because we were doing an experiment, and we were very experienced Star Fleet Space Cadets. We knew how to protect those eggs from a fall.

And that was all thanks to the wonderful people at the Kent Free Library.

Berlin: Reflecting on The Topographies of Terror

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Germany this past May, which may account for why I haven't posted on here for a few weeks. Like Chicago, Paris or New York, Berlin is a city unto itself, so I thought my first post since my return should focus on one aspect of Berlin's past. 

One man refuses to salute Hitler

I haven't traveled overseas since I was a kid. I did spend a lovely three-day weekend in Mexico City (on Cinco de Mayo, no less!), and also visited Quebec (the part of Canada where they speak French!), so I have used my passport before. But this... was a big one. 

So, why Germany? And of all cities, Berlin? The sexy tourist spots are typically elsewhere... Italy, Paris, or the the Mediterranean coast. Within Germany itself, most would pick Munich or a charming Castle-clad village in Bavaria that looks like a Renaissance festival. And, I might want to visit a place like that in the future too! 

But, while castles, mountains and beaches seamed nice, the Spy in me said Berlin... 

When you board an international flight to London or Paris, everyone knows you're just a tourist. When you say your destination is Berlin, people might think you're a spy, an important businessman, or both. 

Due to it's history, and location, in the flat river plains on northern Europe, Berlin is kind-of considered a typical "big city." It's not super stylish, and a-bit dreary and boring. 

Its a political and business center that was bombed-to-hell during World War Two, then walled-in by the Soviet Union during the cold war. 

Anyways... Most photographs of Berlin before 1991 make it look like it sucked. 

But, Berlin's history is what made me want to visit! 

To be honest, I didn't want to go on vacation and be sad about all of the terrible things humans have done to one another in the past. But, at the same time, I didn't want pass up the opportunity to reflect on important pieces of history as well. 

Our teachers and schools in Kent, Ohio did a remarkably good job in educating us youngsters about the The Holocaust: the systematic murder of more than 6 millions Jews, and thousands more ethnic minorities, disabled people, LGBTQ people, and political dissidents. We read the Diary of Anne Frank and learned about the terrors and injustices. 

I myself studied aspects of these events in graduate school, and honestly cried myself to sleep some nights after learning what had happened at the hands of the Nazi regime. So, I didn't really want to spend my vacation re-visiting such terrors. 

But, I did want to respect the history of Berlin and what happened. I figured I'd go to the Topography of Terrors exhibit to get the "Sad Part" over-with on my first full day in Berlin.   

The Topography of Terrors museum is in a unique location that really enhances the experience. It's indoor gallery is built atop the remains of the Nazi regime's SS headquarters, and outside is one of the only remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. Of course,"The Wall" is simply there for posterity, and you can walk right around it now, if you wish. 

This museum focuses on the everyday people who were swept up into Nazism, and ultimately betrayed their fellow humans by helping to commit the largest mass murder in history. SS officers, prison guards, executioners, and functionaries of Hitler are pictured and documented here... lest anyone forget that people just like you and I are capable of horrible things. 

A model of Berlin during the war

My most memorable encounter was seeing the model of Berlin during World War Two. Hitler and the Nazi's were in charge of Germany for a decade before war broke out and used the opportunity to completely rebuild Berlin into the capital city of a "Thousand Year Reich". I was standing right in the middle of what, before the war, would've been a fantastically modern city capital. Naturally, being the center of the Nazi Regime, this entire city center (similar to Washington DC's National Mall) was, bombed into oblivion, and will never be seen again. In the photo of the model above, the clear sections are buildings that were completely destroyed during the war, giving you an idea of the price Berlin paid for the crimes of the Nazi Reich. 

Something about that had an impact on me. This was once a campus of beautifully designed and planned public structures. Now, I am standing in a Museum that showcases how and why they were all destroyed. 

I was not far from the the "Führerbunker," the last hideout for Hitler and many more of his loyal followers, who, rather than walk up to the surface and face surrender to the Allies, shot themselves or ingested poison. 

Did they do that because they regretted what they did, or because they feared the punishment? Either way, it was a hard thing to think about.  

Perhaps the best photo I saw at the Topography of Terror was of one man who refused to salute Hitler.               

The Joys of Ice Hockey

When I was a schoolboy, I had a particularly crabby English teacher. If she wasn't giving long-winded lectures on topics unrelated to the books she assigned, she would sit at her desk and observe us while we read the book ourselves.

During one of these "reading" periods, I happened to fall asleep at my desk. I woke to that teacher slamming a hardcover book on the desk... the desk on which my head was resting. 

"I'm sorry" I said,"I had a hockey game last night, and I'm kinda tired." 

She snapped, "What's more important to you, Stephen? School or Hockey!" 

"Do you really want to know the answer?" was my reply. 

It was, of course, hockey.

That day, I made an enemy of that teacher. But, I made a classroom of friends (most of them were at that game). 

It seems like ice hockey was in my blood from a young age. Even though my parents didn't play themselves, they took me to Kent State NCAA Division-I hockey games as a kid, because we happened to live very near an ice rink in Kent, Ohio. My father actually got to be an extra in the film Slapshot which was filmed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I played in a tournament in that same rink more than a decade later.

I could go on at length about my hockey stories... Meeting the legendary Czech, and hall-of-fame Pittsburgh Penguin, Jaromir Jagr; Billeting in Embro, Ontario for a US-Canada Hockey exchange; and playing on the ice of Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. But, I digress.... 

Basically, in my younger years, I was a pretty good hockey player. Not great, but good. I believe my peak was going to the Mid-American USA Hockey Development Camp tryouts. It was a big deal. I even got to skip two days of school to travel to Toledo, Ohio to participate. I didn't really have any goals in-mind other than to do the best I could, and get some extra skating time in. Yet, I found myself skating, and competing with the best hockey players of my age-group. They towered over me and out-weighed me. I knew I was not going to be selected from the first minute I stepped on the ice. But, I participated, and I actually made some good plays -enough to get a nice pat on the shin pads from my bench-mates, and a slap on the helmet from a few coaches. 

I didn't get selected. Afterwards, I was more tired than I have been my entire life. I was glad I did my best, and I skated with future NHL and AHL players. I could share the same rink with them, and get their acknowledgements when I did make a (rare) nice play. And, when I went back to playing high school hockey, I played like I was on fast-forward, and the rest of the players were on slow-motion. It was one of the best learning experiences I've ever had in any subject, professional or otherwise.

When we valiantly bowed out of the OHSAA playoff to a far-superior team my Senior year, I was more relieved than sad. There was college and marching band to look forward too; but mostly, I was grateful that I never had to do another practice, sprint or conditioning drill ever again. With my evenings free, there lay ahead of me a multitude of possibilities: jobs, colleges, girls, partying, golf? They all seemed a lot better than watering the ice rink with my sweat. So, that was it, I gave-up hockey.

Wish me luck, boys.

Yet, I miss the salty smell of sweat on my fingers. It lingers after games and practices, even when you've showered and and scrubbed with soap. I miss the smell of the rink, and the flavor your car gets after hauling hockey pads around all week. I miss the calluses that build up on your palms from tightening your skate laces each night. And, I miss the boys. My teammates. 

Apparently, hockey is, in-fact, in my blood. Because, in-spite of all logic, at 38 years of age,  I have signed up for an upper-level men's league hockey team. According to my doctor, I'm overweight and have high blood pressure. I'm pretty sure I can't jog a mile without stopping, and I have aches and pains that happen randomly whether or not I workout. 

Could hockey really be the answer? Could it really be better than eating healthy, taking my doctor's prescriptions, and having a brisk walk every morning? 

Do you really want to know to the answer? 

I'll let you know after our first game.