Calling on all Claudia-Wannabes

Museums are complicated places, aren’t they?  Filled with cool objects they can transport us to other places and times.  There are big museums and small ones. Old museums and new ones. Imaginary ones.  Lost ones. And undefinable ones like this one.

Because museums are places we go or are taken to as kids, filled with objects and ideas that are new and exciting and strange, they are featured frequently in stories for children.  Say a dramatic moment at the British Museum early on in Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid.  Or how about Barbara Lehman’s Museum Trip where a boy ends up in a work of art? Don’t want to spoil anything, but the one in Liam Tanner’s forthcoming fantasy Museum of Thieves is pretty amazing.  Arguably one of the most well-known of these is the classic, E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler.  Could anyone top Claudia and Jamie’s baths in the (now sadly long gone) pool in the museum cafeteria?

Actually maybe YOU could!  Because the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago is offering one lucky person a truly remarkable chance to do what Claudia and Jamie did — live in their museum.  And not only live in it, but live to write about it.  Here’s their invite:

The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago is looking for “you.” And by “you,” we mean an adventurous, outgoing person with a strong interest in learning about science and the world around her or him, plus the ability to write very well about your experiences. Ideally, you’re also the web-savvy sort who can keep your thumb out of frame when taking photographs. If that “you” sounds like you, or if you are simply curious about this intriguing endeavor, then you should read on.

We’re looking for someone to take on a once-in-a-lifetime assignment: spend a Month at the Museum, to live and breathe science 24/7 for 30 days. From October 20 to November 18, 2010, this person’s mission will be to experience all the fun and education that fits in this historic 14-acre building, living here full-time and reporting your findings to the outside world.

Sure, it’s a commitment. But if you are chosen and can successfully complete the Month at the Museum, you’ll walk away with a prize of $10,000, a package of tech gadgets, an honorary lifetime membership to MSI, and new knowledge and experiences that may just transform you.

Sounds pretty darn amazing to me.  Grown-up Claudias, Jamies, and anyone else who always dreamed of living in a museum go here for the details.  (Thanks to Karen Gooze Ulric for the link.)