Smells Like Teen Spirit

The picture that begins this post is of local legend: "Uncle Wilbur," an animatronic fountain that, on Saturdays and Sundays, plays music and launches water on the hour.

It's Saturday in blog-time and I'm at the Colorado Springs Public Library. It's a small building, constructed in the style of Kresge- that is, done in the 70's-style architecture which is undoubtedly the product of architects of the 70's attending college in the 60's. Everything is angular and flourescent. In any given room the walls are made up of either 90% windows or contain none at all, with no comfortable middle ground.

As I sat outside of the library this morning waiting for it to open, I wondered why I had left my house at 9am, knowing that the library wouldn't open until 10. I realized that I wanted to be here early because of the interesting crowd that opens the library every day. It's a pretty even mix of stay-at-home moms and their young children, trenchcoat-wearing 30 year-olds living in their parent's basement who just come for the free internet usage, and homeless people looking to spend the day in the law library or reading 'O' magazine. A client who can and desires to read is a notable exception.

Today I decided to settle in for the long-haul. I brought a bag full of school work to grade, a couple books to read and even a sack lunch. Of course, since I walked the mile from my house, I forgot the three items most necessary to my getting anything done today, but I'll make the most of my time here, maybe eat lunch in a park and after I get my fix of the internet, I'll head home.

Update: Turns out a human can only exist in the sub-zero temperatures of a public library (without wearing three flannel coats) for about 2 and 1/2 hours. I bailed out at lunchtime, ate in the park, and headed home. After about four hours of grading (yikes!) I decided to have some me-time.

Me-time, since I have no friends and no hobbies, looks a lot like me wandering around CSprings waiting for something to happen to me, and that's pretty much what it is. I charge up the ol' ipod, pump up the jams and wander around downtown looking like a low-class college student, or a bum who stole an ipod. I noticed last night that when I can't hear the world around me, I tend to smell it. From cheap perfume, to the garlicy-wine scent of a group of businessmen, to flowery teenage girl smells, to rancid B.O. and everything in between, CSprings really has it going on - odiferously at least.

Also, I realized midway through my walk that if I was actually smelling people then I was no longer under the tyranny of the first cold of the year. WooT!

This week marks my first session of RCIA, so y'all will recieve a full report on that come Wednesday. Also, I'll be trying to cook up something from The Joy of Cooking and something from No More Mac and Cheese this week. So, two more bachelor-tested, blog-approved recipes coming soon.

Anyone tried man-nachos yet?