I’m going to a university event at the Webster House this afternoon, and since there’s a fancy-pants website, I thought I’d link to it.

As Heidi and BlogKC point out, the new downtown library opens tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. I’m pretty darned excited:

• Beautiful, historic building
• Free wireless
• Opens at 7:00 a.m.
• Cafe
• Rooftop terrace
• 5-minute walk from my apartment

I’ve never lived this close to a library before, much less one as grand as this. I know where I’ll be spending a lot of time this summer. Oh, and this just cements my belief that development in downtown Kansas City is going to explode in the next decade or so. If you can afford to buy a condo, do so now.

I’ve just learned that not only does Kansas City have an annual Mardi Gras parade, however modest, but at this year’s shindig the neopsychedelic experimental noise pop band the Flaming Lips will be given a key to the city. What’s the connection? I’m not sure. The Lips are from Oklahoma City, which, like KC, is in the midwest. Beyond that, though, I’m stumped. L’s pronouncement: “I think you just file this under news of the weird.”

We had a significant snowfall on Thursday, causing the university to cancel classes for the afternoon. As luck would have it, I had already driven in to work. Meanwhile, the snow had piled up outside, making the drive home tricky. The temperature has not risen above freezing in several days, and those places that do not get any sun, like the alley behind our apartment building, are now covered in about six inches of solid ice. It still looks pretty, though. Heidi has posted some more pictures of KC snow, this time from just a block or two away from the apartment. The second and fourth pictures are of a giant needle, thread, and button that commemorate the fact that this part of town was “the garment district” back in the day.

A couple of KC blogs feature photographs of the results of today’s (and tonight’s) snowfall. Nothing as dramatic as what fell on Washington, D.C. and other parts east, I’m sure. This view is close to where I live. I don’t know where this is. I did a quick browse through the blogs listed at KC Bloggers but did not find more. Perhaps Heidi will post some pix, too.

Update: Yup. There they are.