Museum of Science and Industry

I miss walking on grass.

There, I said it. As random as it sounds, it's true. After 20 days, I'm not craving any certain foods and I don't even care that much about getting into some non-yellow-tee wardrobe. I, of course, miss the special peeps in my life but I know they're thinking of me (and I of them). But my feet/shins/hips are much less understanding. They are in serious need of some grass. 

The floors here at MSI are hard. Even the carpet is thin and unforgiving. And unlike my typical...

As part of "Food Day" I spoke with Jeff Potter, author of Cooking for Geeks. His book analyzes why people cook the way they do (I say "they" since I wouldn't call what I do "cooking") and highlights the chemistry behind preparing meals. And when I say "chemistry" I'm not just talking about things like Monosodium Glutamate or Red Dye #40. I'm talking about grilling a steak or sautéing...

A couple nights ago, the Super-6 (Motoko, Katie, Mike, Dave, Dale and me - the six of us who were finalists for MATM2) were reunited under one (gigantic) roof for some good old fashioned flashlight fun. We busted out our batteries and LEDs and set out to cover as much of the museum as possible. Well... at least the parts that were dark and didn't have slumbering middle-schoolers (there was a huge group from Kentucky who were staying the night). We went from top (rotunda dome) to bottom (coal...

Ever since I read Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, I've always been curious about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. And certainly once I found out that I'd be living here my interest grew exponentially. If you didn't know, the Museum of Science and Industry is housed in the original Palace of Fine Arts building. While the other buildings of the World's Fair (held to commemorate Columbus's arrival in the New World) were built to be temporary structures, the Palace of Fine Arts was...

As part of my visit to University of Chicago's Mansueto Library (field trip!), I stopped at Special Collections to meet with Alice Schreyer, Director of the Special Collections Research Center. Having just emerged from the underground robotic spectacle that is the automated storage and retrieval system (you owe it to yourself to