Sweet Flypaper of Life

uchicagoadmissions: Indiana Jones Mystery Package We don’t...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:41:22 -0800

Indiana Jones Mystery Package

We don’t really even know how to start this post. Yesterday we received a package addressed to “Henry Walton Jones, Jr.”. We sort-of shrugged it off and put it in our bin of mail for student workers to sort and deliver to the right faculty member— we get the wrong mail a lot.

Little did we know what we were looking at. When our student mail worker snapped out of his finals-tired haze and realized who Dr. Jones was, we were sort of in luck: this package wasn’t meant for a random professor in the Stat department. It is addressed to “Indiana” Jones.

What we know: The package contained an incredibly detailed replica of “University of Chicago Professor” Abner Ravenwood’s journal from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It looks only sort of like this one, but almost exactly like this one, so much so that we thought it might have been the one that was for sale on Ebay had we not seen some telling inconsistencies in cover color and “Ex Libris” page (and distinct lack of sword). The book itself is a bit dusty, and the cover is teal fabric with a red velvet spine, with weathered inserts and many postcards/pictures of Marion Ravenwood (and some cool old replica money) included. It’s clear that it is mostly, but not completely handmade, as although the included paper is weathered all of the “handwriting” and calligraphy lacks the telltale pressure marks of actual handwriting.

What we don’t know: Why this came to us. The package does not actually have real stamps on it— the outside of the package was crinkly and dirty as if it came through the mail, but the stamps themselves are pasted on and look like they have been photocopied. There is no US postage on the package, but we did receive it in a bin of mail, and it is addressed to the physical address of our building, Rosenwald Hall, which has a distinctly different address from any other buildings where it might be appropriate to send it (Haskell Hall or the Oriental Institute Museum). However, although now home to the Econ department and College Admissions, Rosenwald Hall used to be the home to our departments of geology and geography.

If you’re an applicant and sent this to us: Why? How? Did you make it? Why so awesome? If you’re a member of the University community and this belongs to you or you’ve gotten one like it before, PLEASE tell us how you acquired it, and whether or not yours came with a description— or if we’re making a big deal out of the fact that you accidentally slipped a gift for a friend in to the inter-university mail system. If you are an Indiana Jones enthusiast and have any idea who may have sent this to us or who made it, let us know that, too.

We know this sounds like a joke/hoax… it’s not (at least, from our end). Any hints, ideas, thoughts, or explanations are appreciated. We’ve been completely baffled as to why this was sent to us, in mostly a good way, but it’s clear this is a neat thing that either belongs somewhere else— or belongs in the halls of UChicago admissions history.

Internet: help us out. If you’re on Reddit (we’re not) or any other nerdly social media sites where we might get information about this, feel free to post far and wide and e-mail any answers, clues, ideas, thoughts, or musings to indianajonesjournal@uchicago.edu (yes, we did set up an email account just to deal with this thing).

Love this!

"Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found..."

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:02:44 -0800

“Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay. In the modern state there are very few sites where this is possible. The only others that come readily to my mind require belief in an omnipotent creator as a condition for membership. It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’ definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on. Nor can the experience of library life be recreated online. It’s not just a matter of free books. A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal.”

- Zadie Smith, in the New York Review of Books. (via thebronzemedal)
So true!

What do you do all day?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:56:18 -0800

What do you do all day?

Getting Ready for Baby: Maternity Gear

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:10:21 -0800

I’m so excited that a couple of my friends are expecting, and I’ve been thinking about what

stores and items I really loved when pregnant. One thing you’re not prepared for is how sensitive your breasts get. You don’t want anything touching them, so it’s hard to sleep sometimes. I loved these maternity/nursing tanks from Cantaloop because the material was really soft. It also provided coverage and stretched over my huge belly. It’s also been great now that I’m nursing. They were on sale on zulily, so I didn’t have to pay full price for them, which was even better. Cantaloop also made a great support belt that I wore like a belly band. It helped keep my pants up and made my belly feel a bit less heavy.

I used to love wearing spanx pre-pregnancy to smooth away all the lines and bumps under clothes, but I didn’t want to squeeze my poor baby. I was happy when I found maternity “spanx” from Motherhood Maternity. They were less expensive than the actual spanx brand, and they worked just as well. Even better than smoothing out lines, it also gave me much needed support when I was wearing dresses. Without these, I often felt like my belly was dragging downwards during my third trimester.

Speaking of dresses, these were the most comfortable things to wear, especially during the summer when my belly was huge. I found that a lot of the empire waist and wrap dresses that were already a part of my wardrobe worked just fine. For example, none of the outfit below was maternity - except maybe my tights. Since the weather in the Pacific Northwest is mild, and my third trimester wasn’t until the summer, I also got away without buying a new winter coat. Instead, I wore my regular coat unzipper and/or wore sweater coats like one below, also undone.

My propensity for empire waist clothing, also paid off when it came to tops. Believe it or not, the top below is from Anthropologie (as many of the tops I wore while pregnant were), and managed to stretch out and accommodate baby quite well, even towards the end.

I did buy quite a few maternity items though, particularly pants (like the grey jeans above). I found that full maternity panel, skinny jeans worked best. Some of my friends managed to wear a belly band with their regular pants throughout their pregnancy, but this only worked for me through part of the second trimester. After that, I tried the low rise and knit/stretch panel pants, but these did not work so well because they just don’t stay up. This is also why I favored the skinny jeans. In addition, it is impossible to find petite maternity clothes, and skinny jeans were easier to avoid hemming. Instead, I just scrunched them or folded them up.

I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on clothes I’d be wearing for just a few months, so my favorite places to shop were Old Navy, Gap, Target, and H&M, which all sell maternity clothes in some of their locations. (I only bought a couple things online, as trying them on was important, since my body kept changing.) Old Navy had great basics. I got one of my favorite pair of jeans there as well as some tops and summer dresses. Gap was a bit pricey, so I only bought things on sale here. However, this was a good place for more work-appropriate clothes. I found a great black wrap dress here, as well as the grey jeans I was wearing above.

I love Liz Lange’s line at Target. I also shopped here the most frequently because every store carries maternity. I got some great dresses and tops here, like the one above - I can’t believe I was that big towards the end! I also found really comfortable maternity tank tops which were nice for layering. I also got a cute bathing suit here, although Old Navy’s are definitely lower priced. H&M’s maternity line is called Mama, and they carry some cool and stylish options. I loved their jeans, but they didn’t work fit me as well as Old Navy’s, but the price was not that much higher. It’s also harder to find a store that carries it, so I more often bought regular tops that worked with the belly, at my local, non-maternity carrying H&M. I was interested in checking out Forever 21’s maternity line as well, but none of my local stores carry it. (I read somewhere, that it’s only carried in states with high teenage pregnancy rates, so I guess Washington isn’t one of those states?)

Towards the end, my foot swelled up and I could no longer fit in my regular shoes. I am so grateful it was summer by then and that school was out, because it meant I was able to live in flip-flops. I also had more dressy and supportive sandals, similar to the ones above, that I wore whenever I needed to leave the house.

cupandpenny: WASHCLOTHS FROM TOWEL SCRAPSI’ve posted about...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:16:31 -0800

washcloth detail

washcloths

cupandpenny:

WASHCLOTHS FROM TOWEL SCRAPS

I’ve posted about sewing my own washcloths before (here), with a tutorial on how to use bias tape for a nice border. For this latest batch, I was really just trying to use up some old towel scraps. I didn’t have any bias tape this time around, so I just folded the sides 1/4”, pressed, folded again 1/4” and pressed again, then pinned, then stitched all the way around, back-stitching at beginning and end.

I don’t even need any more washcloths! I’m just trying to get rid of all the scraps in my stash. Should I just throw them all away? Stitchers, what do you do with your remnants? I’m bursting at the seams here.

I’d love some of your towel scraps!