...I plan on reading a lot this summer.

So here's book #1. I've already read a few of Chuck's works (Choke and Lullaby), and I'm about halfway through with Diary. I've enjoyed it thus far. It's strange: I didn't know a thing about it, and once I started reading it began to paint a somewhat familiar setting. It takes place in a place not too different from Chautauqua: a quaint island town (maybe on the East Coast?) that is comprised of old moneyed families who have become resentful of waves of tourism that have riddled their pristine home. To some extent I could see a similarity in native Chautauquans. Though the season hasn't officially started (we still have about a week), it's my understanding that the grounds will swell with people and that a controlled chaos overwhelms this sleepy village. If you don't believe me, just look at the program guide and note how many events will take place over the next few months. So far, I have been treated with the utmost respect and kindness from people in town. Let's hope that attitude remains when things start to pick up.

...this is my humble abode.

This is Aqua Casa #3, my temporary home for the summer. I live with three other female interns, and four male interns live next door. Though I have a laundry list of problems concerning our Chautauquan chateau, I really can't complain. It's about a mile away from the Institution grounds, which is a quick bike-ride for me. And we have our own dock at the end of our street (see below). I suppose if I had some sort of water-craft, I could get to work that way. Perhaps I shall look into renting a kayak. 

There are already several running jokes about our accommodations, such as the fact that last year's interns couldn't decide if they were more like cabins or cottages (or doublewide trailers), so they combined the two and called them "cabbages." Or how the other night, we dubbed them the "Aqua Dumps" after one intern's catch-phrase for pooping in the lake. Another fun name I came up with is "Club Casa," but that's just wishful thinking. 

If you ever get the urge to send me some snail mail (which isn't a bad idea since I can't check e-mails compulsively), please send it to this address:

Lindsey Burrows

c/o The Chautauquan Daily

PO Box 1095

Chautauqua, NY 14722

Please send packages to this one (again, with the wishful thinking):

Lindsey Burrows

1 Ames Ave

Chautauqua, NY 14722

...this is where I'll be all summer.

Welcome to Chautauqua, a place that is, well, indescribable. But I'll give it a shot anyway. Over the past few months when people would ask me what I'd be doing/where I'd be over the summer, the first part was easy to answer: I'm a designer for a daily newspaper in western New York. Though I never fancied myself a newspaper gal (magazines are my forte), this one's different. The Chautauquan Daily covers the Chautauqua Institution, which comes off as a sort of utopian community set in a scenic lake setting. Sometimes it was simplest for me to humor acquaintances at school with the response, "It's like college for old people." Certainly, that reply doesn't do Chautauqua justice. Looking at some of the resources, it appears to be a resort: tennis courts, golf courses, boat houses, well-manicured lawns and gardens. But it's so much more than a vacation spot. Many families have houses on the grounds that have been passed down from generation to generation--it definitely has an old money feel--but it is viewed as a place of learning and renewal, rather than indulgence and indolence. A place that has something to offer to every age, it is an "experience rather than a vacation," as its website states. 

The four pillars of the Institution are arts, education, religion and recreation. Throughout the summer it hosts plays, operas, musical concerts, dance recitals, sermons, lectures and a range of classes and courses. The newspaper I work for covers these events and happenings, making it more like an arts and culture newsletter than a hard-hitting paper. In that respect, it's right up my alley. But in general, I'm looking forward to experiencing all that I can while I'm here. First on the list is attending my first opera. After all, as a staff member of the Daily I get to go to dress rehearsals for free!

The Athenaeum Hotel, built in 1881, is the only hotel on the grounds that is run by the Institution. Guests have ranged from Bill Clinton to Thomas Edison (who married Chautauqua co-founder Lewis Miller's daughter). 

 

The Chautauqua Amphitheater. Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his iconic "I hate war" speech here in 1936. Allegedly, it hosts the world's largest outdoor organ. 

The Lewis Miller Memorial Bell Tower looms behind the Pier Building on Chautauqua Lake. 

Another view of the lake.

...I haven't put up any photos because I don't have my camera cord.

No worries though. Lots of photos to come as soon as I get my cord from Michael. :-)

...Michael is visiting today!

Huzzah and hooray! I'm terribly excited about this. Michael is stopping in Chautauqua for the night before heading to our nation's capitol. Needless to say, I will miss him this summer. But I am thankful to have one last night with him before he embarks on his incredible internship adventure. If you haven't congratulated him yet, you should do so. He'll be working downtown for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

...my mother is at a Chautauqua of her own.

Go figure. My first week working at the Chautauqua Institution is the one time of the year that my mom spends a few days at Lakeside, Ohio, the Chautauqua on Lake Erie. According to good ol' Wikipedia, "Chautauqua" is an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America."

Lakeside hosts the East Ohio Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, for which my mother is a sort of delegate. I don't really understand a lot of the politics behind the church, nor do I want to. But I went to the conference once when I was in high school. As an aspiring journalist, I tagged along and hung out in the communications trailer, immersing myself in the hubbub and buzz of reporters and editors. And now, here I am, in the original Chautauqua and in the heart of communications: the newsroom itself. It's like deja vu all over again.

...I don't have Internet access at my house.

It's sad but true. I've been frantically checking e-mails and updating statuses this morning since I've been at work. Turns out my grand plan to keep a blog (to keep people informed and me from being too bored in the evenings) has changed a wee bit. I'm still going to try to keep this blog up even though it may not be as frequently as I'd like it. Oh, well. On the bright side, I hung out with my new roommates last night on our dock, drinking beers and getting to know one another. It was everything I imagined it would be. On the slightly darker side, our delightful cottage is more like a crappy shed with water that smells and taste like sulfur and a toilet that refuses to work. Huzzah! Stay tuned for more.