There is something to be said for being trapped in a library for hours on end. It can lead to agonizing forms of procrastination and exquisitely OCD behavioral patterns. Whenever I arrive in the pristine art & architecture library, I retrieve my stack of enormous books from my shelf, spread them across an empty table, lay out my various pens and highlighters, arrange my Blackberry, iPod, laptop, gum, planner, sheets of various inspirational notes, then I open my computer, and proceed to write a blog, because, well, it is quite fast-moving in comparison to my senior thesis.

Gauche Things to do in the Library:

1. Wearing leggings in garish colors instead of pants, and tromping around loudly in fierce winter boots as you search for your books in the stacks. The leggings can have a dizzying effect upon the other, more focused, students.

2. Typing on your laptop while sending and receiving text messages every 90 seconds. You may not think that the vibrations of your phone irritate those around you, but the fact that you have a raging social life (while they are married to their book on “Ancient Oriental Tea Caddies”) may upset them more than the disturbance itself.

3. Picking up men. Men are here to work, not to respond to flirting.

4. Picking up women. Women are here to study, not to be publicly embarrassed by your inability to flirt while pretending to be in the process of thinking “really important things.”

5. Blogging, while pretending to be in the process of thinking “really important things.”

The above picture is of the sinister Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park. Right now it’s surrounded by bare winter tree branches and a frozen artificial pond.

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