Friday, March 24, 2006

The Spot

I found one.

A spot. You know, one of those places where you feel like you belong? I asked the Laine-ster last week where her spot was. Neither of us really had one here, but today I found one.

I was purusing around the campus this afternoon. I came across a pretty incredible place. It's one of those places that's buried and probably not very many people ever find it.

Clements library. You should go there. It's on S. University across from the Law Quad, right next to the president's house. I stumbled into this place because a campus day tour was outside, and I had some time to waste so I decided to go inside this infamous building that, I seem to have never heard of outside of my own campus day tour.

I was greeted by a man, middle aged, wearing a sweater and adorning spectacles. He wasn't old, he was experienced I suppose you could say. I asked him what this place was. He proceeded to tell me.

This place is one of the best collections of primary source documents of American History in the world- third best he said. They have ridiculous documents inside. A delegate's draft with notes, from the constitutional convention. All the maps of America from the 1820's and back (with the exception of five, don't worry they have pictures of the missing ones), and more rare books you could probably imagine.

This place was like walking into the best American History textbook you could ever imagine.

This Clements guy was pretty cool too. He was an alum of the 'U', graduating in the 1880's. Engineering guy. He made a ton of money in Bay City making steam shovels and cranes that they used on the Panama Canal and the New York skyline and such. He seems to have had an affininty for primary source documents, and he cut a deal with the University to house his collection.

This guy who was a mutual friend with Clements and Henry Ford- the guy was an architect or something- built this library, and apparently it's one of the best examples of Italian Rennisance Architecture in the nation. So there's all these books there.

If you like history at all, you should go. It's quaint and calm. It's peaceful, and it invigorates this emotion that makes you feel connected to the past. It's unlike any library I've ever been in. I sat down and talked with this guy for a good half hour.

Go there.

But anyway, this wasn't my spot.
I found one in the law quad. In a tree.
I like the law quad, it makes me feel like i'm excellent. I think it's good to go places like that, because it inspires you to get there.
The people passing through were really nice. One guy asked me how I found myself up there. I told him that I saw a quarter in the tree, and I figured that I should probably go get it.
He liked my answer. He had a really welcoming smile. It's like he approved that I was there. Which was nice, because the Law Quad isn't exactly my stomping ground.

I have never climbed a tree. Before today I mean. It was worth it. I thought of Michael Steen. He's always encouraged me to climb trees. I'll have to show it to him the next time he's here.

I hope I have a place of my own someday. A place that I can make. A place that I can establish, like it was insignificant before I was there. I think about that place. Every. Single. Day.

I get really lonely thinking about it. Cause places like that, I feel like you need help getting there. Actually not, you probably could get there by yourself. But, why would you ever want to stake out a place by yourself? I wouldn't. That'd be absurd.

I miss home. But lately I've been trying to figure out exactly where home is. I think I know where it is, but i'm not so sure that I want to tell anyone. It's a secret.

Shhhhhhh.

Dance Marathon is this weekend.

I wish you a life that is unriddled by such things that you do not wish for.
Time to eat. Good afternoon.

I love you.