Today one of my school books came in the mail for my Theories of Writing class, Cross Talk In Comp Theory, a rather large, boring textbook on different… well, theories in writing. Not the sort of reading you do while relaxing on the beach, I can tell you that much. Alas, the plight of the grad student.

There are few things I hate more than politics. Very few. So when I opened my book, delivered from Alibris.com, I was shocked at the bookmark waiting for me inside, fresh from Blessed By Books out in California.

How lovely! A Ron Paul bookmark to call my own. Ron Paul for President 2008. Just what I wanted. A man who claims to be pro-life, but won’t ban abortion and is against gun control.

Well, thank you Blessed By Books!

You’ve just blessed my garbage can.

One of the great things about living in Philadelphia is the absolute wealth of history that surrounds me everyday. I can walk five blocks down the street and find myself at the Liberty Bell. A block further, Independence Hall. Ben Franklin’s grave is six blocks away, where dumb people throw pennies on it. The man said “a penny saved is a penny earned”. SAVE your pennies, stop throwing them on him. Plus Abe Lincoln is on the penny. Want to do him justice? Throw some hundred dollah bills on him. K? Thnx.

This weekend I went to New Jersey to spend time with good friends from my former college. My pal Jon happens to live in Haddonfield, and will be moving to Philadelphia in September. The great thing about Haddonfield, is that a TON of New Jersey history resides there.

The Indian King Tavern is where, in 1777, New Jersey officially became a state. While the state’s capital, Trenton, was full of battling troops, the Council and General Assembly ratified the state’s constitution. The site happens to be the very first official historic site in New Jersey. Check out the sweet plaque on the front door and the sign hanging outside…

They were missing the U’s when the sign was made. Good thing they noticed the similiar shapes between V and U. If things got really bad, they also could have replaced S with 5.

However, hidden within the town of Haddonfield, lies another important historical discovery, that unfortunately gets overlooked by most passerbys.

The very first dinosaur discovered in North America was found here in New Jersey. The monument is pretty weak, just that little sign and a rock with a plaque describing the dinosaur (a Hadrosaurus). You can see this beast on display at Philadelphia’s Academy of Arts & Sciences (I’ll be hitting that up tomorrow). Despite how lame the monument may be, it is certainly endearing, due to the little display put on by the town’s children…

These toy dinos sit all lined up on a bench near the monument. Aw.

Read up some more on New Jersey history in your local library on Wikipedia. I will mention that Billy Crystal’s character Harry from When Harry Met Sally happens to be from Haddonfield, NJ. Awesome.

Haddonfield, NJ / Indian King Tavern