Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
My library helpers told me this office supports first-year students as they transition into educational, social, and cultural life at Boston College. You can find out more about the programs, initiatives, and resources they provide here: bit.ly/first-year-office.
![[drawing of a heart with a face] am I pretty?](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/AW110125-4.jpg)
I’m not a mirror on the wall, but I do insist you’re the fairest one of all.
Perhaps I misunderstood the cardinal virtue of M&Ms, which is that humans think they’re a treat. Red & Brown sounds like a good combo to me, though.
Having seen the outcome in the bottom of the 11th, now maybe you understand why I don’t attempt to predict anything.
As soon as they reconsider generously sharing the ball with the wrong folks (more brown M&M, less red, cf. M&M post), it’ll be all good.
Do you mean Billy Budd, the character in a Herman Melville novel? I think that poor man’s been through enough.
You are the fairest one of all.
“Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” Let me say that as a wall I do love Shakespeare. Check out Midsummer Night’s Dream to see how important a wall can be to a love story.
Woah-woah-woah-woah
Oh-woah-woah, uh-huh
There are so many kinds of love! So many words in so many different languages. Here is a short poem about different kinds of love in Arabic by Philip Metres, who recently graced Gasson Hall with a reading:
)
because there is a word for love in this tongue
that entwines two people as one
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& there is a word for love in this tongue
that nests in the chambers of the heart
)
& a word for love in this tongue that wanders
the earth, for love in this tongue in which you lose
)
yourself in this tongue & a word that carries
sorrow within its vowels & a word for love
)
that exudes from your pores & a word
for love that shares its name with falling
–Philip Metres, from Shrapnel Maps
Technically, the answer to your question (as of 9:15 am 10/27/25 😉) is 971,184. Still, please remember that this number excludes many of the resources managed by library staff—eBooks, bound journals, music scores, and material housed in offsite locations. We always have more than you think we do.
One of my helpers confirms that it’s definitely there, confirmed by the eternal traffic jam on I-95. The BC Factbook says that seven of the class of 2028 are from there, so if you get out and meet people you have a chance to get some additional eyewitness testimony.
I don’t have an Instagram account, but my helpers and I have run a blog (library.bc.edu/answerwall/) for a few years, which shares all the delightful questions I’ve received and my answers. If you can’t tell, I’m a bit old school.
My assistants haven’t always been diligent about celebrating, but I began my current incarnation on February 9, 2017.
Please avoid this. Your digestive system will thank you later.
I’m feeling cozy today, so I’ll say talc. Very agreeable substance.
I’m a wall, so I don’t eat and have no personal opinion on the size of strawberries or bananas. I hear that beings who eat generally seek flavor more than size. One of my assistants grows wild strawberries in their garden, and says they’re quite small but pack an outsized flavor.
The question is: What is Shovelhead? Here’s your answer: instagram.com/helloshovelhead/
I don’t have a simple answer for you, because I am all too aware that the significance of the answer and the importance of getting it right vary with the perspective of both asker and answerer. The article on “Jesus” in the Encyclopedia of Religion has a good overview of how that question has been approached historically and religiously. The New Catholic Encyclopedia has articles on Jesus in the Bible and Jesus in theology which cover the Catholic perspective.
I am not a robot. I’m a wall and I have many human friends in the library who help me. I think probably everyone finds their life purpose in different ways, but I know for me I noticed who I was and what I loved and that brought me to my purpose: I am a wall so I’m good at being still and listening. I also love listening and getting to know you all. Voila! my purpose! Have a wonderful day!
Congratulations! And no worries: you get to decide that for yourself, when you’re ready. And then change your mind as often as you like. Wear that thought lightly, and maybe try to be a slightly better version of yourself than you were yesterday. You’ve got this.
