Daydreams

So I sit at work and at home and even at rugby practice continuing to think about will I or will I not get to be the lucky person to live a Month at the Museum. During all that daydreaming, I keep thinking up all of the fantastical things I might discover in the depths of the 117 year old, 400,000 square foot building. Here are just some items I thought up:

1. Al Capone's REAL safe

2. The drain to Lake Michigan (don't touch!)

3. a giant model of the Columbian Exposition

4. old science exhibits that clearly are not science anymore ("the wonders of radon!", "smoking and it's benefits for your health!", "asbestos scuba tanks!", "The Earth is Flat, Get Used to It", "We are the Center of the Universe")

5. Oprah's robotic chamber

6. Cash Reserves for the City of Chicago

7. the second Hadron Collider (why build one hadron collider when we can build 2!)

8. All of the original art works housed in the Pavillion during the Columbian Exposition, only to find out the items returned to their museums were elaborate fakes

9. Documents detailing that the Manhattan Project was really just a bar mixology experiment gone awry.

So those are some of the silly things I have been thinking of, I guess I wont know what really is in that place until I get access to it all!

Phone Interviews are the week of August 25, fingers crossed!

With you,

C

A month at the Museum (of Science and Industry...)

Way back when, during the planning of the Great Columbian Exposition, when Charles Atwood began to design the Palace of Fine Arts - a 400,000 square foot facility to house a collection of the world's finest pieces of art to showcase at the Fair - he probably didn't know that his building would be the only legacy left of the Columbia Exposition. Today his building sits solidly at 57th Street, teeming with activity inside and out, but it's not art lovers that come pay homage to the building that flanked the north side of the Columbian Exposition.

Today, this building is the Museum of Science and Industry. 400,000 square feet of interactive displays to help children and adults alike to understand the science of the world. It is a museum that at first glance might seem like a tourist trap, but having been a visitor to this museum ever since a little kid I can say it's truly a place to let a kid's (and an adult's) imagination soar.

Combining science principles with industry related topics (the principle of flight and lift is taught through an exhibit of airplanes for instance), MSI exposes children and adults to science in a more approachable manner. Now, the museum staff have now come up with an interesting contest. For 30 days, one lucky person will be able to live in the museum. They will be able to share this experience with the world, and I want to be that person.

I have a deep personal connection with the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI). This building led me on a path to be the person I am today. Rambling through a U-boat as a kid, I was more interested in knowing how the thing worked than why it was even there. But as an adult, seeing that U-boat again i was curious about it's history, sure I knew how the device functioned but I wanted to know how a German boat ended up in an underground vault on the south side of Chicago.

And there in lies the amazing aspect of the Museum of Science and Industry. It is a museum that allows it's visitors to experience the same exhibit in totally different ways. It is a museum that can change you. Sure you might go to see the U-boat, but in the meantime you learn about some WWII History and how a submarine works.

The Museum is what you make of it, and I hope to spend 30 days to really discover it's character and mine in a whole new way. I never would of thought that an exciting adventure would be just steps from my own house... who am I kidding this is chicago, every day is an adventure!

Now the plug.

Visit my facebook fan page (and click "LIKE" if you would please!)

Watch my Submission Video

I will post more about the competition when I hear more.

With you,

CDS