Curiouser and Curiouser

Wow. For a librarian, I don't talk about books much here, do I? Well, I read a book that I thought was a sweet story with lovely illustrations, but I was amazed to find that it was actually based on a true story. The Curious Gardenby Peter Brown is about a little boy who lives in a gray, dreary city with no greenery whatsoever. Most people stay indoors, but the boy loves to be outside and as such, happens upon an elevated railway that nature has started to reclaim. When the little boy decides to help it along by caring for the "garden," it grows until it takes over the length of the railway and greenery begins to grow (hang, drape) over the side.

There really is a curious garden, though I don't know if anyone in particular began to cultivate it. It exists in Manhattan, which, contrary to my husband's belief, is actually not a gray, dreary (he would also say dirty) city with no greenery, but whatever -- it works for a picture book (gotta have well-defined contrasts pre-"problem" and post-"problem"). Anyway, I was just amazed to see it. Here's a 2003 picture of the High Line, which, according to Forgotten NY Subways and Trains (http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Tenth Ave trestle/Tenth.html), was an "attempt to alleviate the congestion on West Street by taking all rail and road [freight] traffic off of it."
(Forgotten-NY.com)

I wish the children's book had said something about the fact that at one point, the high line actually went though buildings. I'm not sure why, but it's cool.
(Again, from Forgotten-NY.com)

I guess at one point, the city of NY did not see the potential beauty in it and it was slated for demolition. I don't know who decided to spruce it up, but now, in 2009, it's well on its way to becoming a beautiful park and a real tourist attraction. (Well, I want to go visit it, anyway.) (from New York Times, June 6, 2009)

You Wanna Be Starting Somethin'?

So there's this new show called Bridezillas, and like many reality TV shows, it's basically documenting a bunch of train wrecks.

It pisses me off, though, because even though these women were probably high maintenance before, our society tells girls that their wedding day should be a fairy tale, the most perfect and beautiful day of their lives. Like with most things in this country, there's a whole industry making sure we never forget it, and making lots and lots of money in the bargain. Like with pregnancy and childbirth, which, I hear, is only just now becoming so idealized that people like me, who ended up having to have Cesareans, feel like failures after trying to do everything right. If you have been told forever that you must have this beautiful wedding day of your dreams, and you get stressed out during the course of planning it because, of course, nothing is perfect, then of course, there is something wrong with YOU, and not with the culture that has basically made you crazed telling you that you needed to achieve perfection in the first place. I have a problem with that.

Of course, these women on the show are particularly out of control, but I had a "friend" call me a bridezilla before my wedding, and honestly, in hindsight, the only thing that stuck out for me in my treatment of her was that I didn't cater to her as I had throughout our friendship. So for once, it wasn't all about her and her constant and ongoing drama, which continues to this day, and is another long, boring story.

So Whatcha Sayin'?

A co-worker of mine took this picture in Illinois, and I just had to post it. I was wondering if maybe they were trying to imply something with the sign for the cemetery and for the library pointing in the same direction, but my boss said that's probably just where all the weeded books are buried.

I so want to do this and put it on my girl's wall. But until I can, here you go.