“Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phœnix.”Happy International Zombie Day, everybody, and a Tasteful Associated Chocolate Party! Somehow, I didn’t find the time to blog regularly during this Group Study Exchange. I am impressed how Nick managed to write as often as he did.— Christina Baldwin
Let me go back a few weeks.
One word comes to mind when describing Durham. Durham is a town that has grown and decayed because of the growth and the the decay of the tobacco industry. But that is in the past. At present, I think of one word: rebirth. It is truly amazing how the town has reinvented itself: the old tobacco factories and warehouses get renovated; small start-up businesses are moving in town; the baseball team is doing great; the town comes back to live.
Don’t let the atmosphere fool you: everybody acts very cool and laid down, but Things Get Done. There is even a stampede were start-ups get some free shared office space for a few months, just to get things started.
On the first day, we enjoyed a nice trip around the town. A brief note to set the record straight to my fellow GSE’ers: the Sarah P. Duke gardens do not commemorate Sarah Palin Duke, but Sarah Pearson Angier Duke.
During the next few days, I've visited small companies like Bronto, as well as a larger one in the Research Triangle: SAS. From a professional point of view, the highlight was Duke University, both its Computer Science department and the tour of its campus.
Duke's library was an impressive place on its own; I can imagine it is a fabulous place to work. We saw some great and innovative use of modern technology, and practical designed library space to have meetings and do research. (Yes, I'm a bit jealous.) We also got to see the digitalization process: both recent and historic works are carefully photographed to make them universally digitally accessible.
Earlier, we visited the Golden Belt historic textile mill campus, which is now a unique creative arts hub. Several artists have their own cubicle to practice their art. There we met a printer with an authentic mechanical movable type printing press. I held some Helvetica type in my hand: "real type, not the idea of type", as the print-artist stressed.
The antithesis between the mechanical printing press and the Internet-savvy, digitalizing and WiFi-offering university library may be an allegory for all of Durham: old industry buildings, in which new technologies, new ideas and new energy thrive.
On Thursday, we saw the opening game of the Durham Bulls. The baseball game itself was rather boring (the Bulls won from the start, had one home run); but the food was deliciously trashy; and the atmosphere and animation were great.
Many thanks to Alliance architects John and Vandana Warasila-Dake. Not only did they contribute their professional bit in reinventing Durham, they were also excellent hosts.
Oh, one more all-American experience: in Durham, I got carded for the first time.
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