Brooklyn Heights #50, 12/20/06

Oh my god, so yesterday, I was in line at the post office, and I had to wait like FOREVER!!! It was soooooo lame...just kidding. Aren't you glad it isn't one of those kinds of blogs? But seriously, back to libraries.

Yesterday I received something in the mail that I need to make copies of...what it is is of no importance. And I don't know any local copy places, and I refuse to go to FedEx Kinko's, because the one in Burnsville, Minnesota ripped me off to the tune of about a dollar. And then, suddenly, it hit me! Holy shit! Libraries have copy machines! Can life get any sweeter!??!?! Probably not.

Last night I finished Founding Brothers, and it was very good, though I don't think I'd say excellent. I really enjoyed learning more about the personalities of Franklin, Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and the rest, but it seemed like Ellis had somewhat of a bias for certain figures (Adams, Washington) and against others (Jefferson, Madison). He also seemed to let them off too easy on the issues of slavery and the Native Americans, essentially saying "Yes, those things were regrettable, but what else could the founding 'brothers' have done? They didn't want to split up the nation! Revolutionary ideals and such!" Overall though, the book had some good insights, and the way it focused on certain key events in the early days of the republic was very interesting. I just have a feeling I would differ politically from the guy.

Branch: Brooklyn Heights
Location: 280 Cadman Plaza West at Tillary St.
Transport: bicycle
Books: Shutting Out the Sun by Michael Zielenziger; The Quitter by Harvey Pekar
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2006

So this morning I woke up around 10, loaded up the backpack, and headed over to the Brooklyn Heights Branch. It's a gorgeous sunny day (I really should've written this tonight rather than waste it, but oh well) and the bike ride over was very enjoyable. I went up 3rd Ave., cut across the Gowanus Canal on 9th St., and went up Clinton St. the rest of the way there.

The library is great, really big and well laid out, and it looks nice from the outside too. There was a water fountain right when I went in which is a big plus. The first floor is just the business library, so I headed up to the second. On the way there is a hallway set up by some sort of Doll Museum, with a bunch of fancy dolls in glass cases. It was pretty neat. They also have a stuffed animal type version of a globe, only it isn't an animal and I totally used to have it. The books themselves are very intuitively laid out, and it was easy to head right over to the biography section.

I was initially looking for the book Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller (based on a customer's recommendation back at the old B&N), and they were supposed to have it, so I checked, but to no avail. The woman at the information desk told me it was in the biography section, but when I said I knew, she couldn't give me any more information. Which was weird, because she was under a giant sign that said information. Oh well, she was nice enough.

Then I was panicked, I wandered from section to section, wondering what to read, having no ideas. It's like being in a music store and suddenly getting the odd feeling that you don't like music and you never did. Too much choice! Eventually I remembered there was some book about a Japanese "Lost Generation" called Setting Suns or Sons or something like that. Armed with no real information, I headed to the new in non-fiction area and sure enough, there it was. I also picked up The Quitter because I just reread my two American Splendor anthologies and really enjoyed them. This one is about Harvey Pekar growing up, and fighting people. Seems cool enough. Also I figured I can read a comic quickly, where the book on Japan might take awhile. Plus I still have The Plot Against America. Which I will read, really. I started it last night too. It's cool.

Getting copies was kind of a trip. I asked the info lady where the copy machine was, and she told me, so I headed over there. There was nowhere to insert money on it, just a place to swipe my card, so I did. It immediately told me that my balance of $0.00 was not enough to pay for a 15 cent copy. I then wandered around aimlessly until I found a kiosk where I could add money to my card, which was a bizarrely elaborate process. After finishing up, the guy behind me who was waiting to use the thing said, "It even gave you a receipt!" I had added 30 cents to the stupid thing, and I got a receipt. "Seems a little unnecessary," I replied. To quote Mitch Hedberg, I just needed two copies. We don't need to bring paper and ink into this transaction. Uh, that is, except for the copies themselves. You know what I mean, right? RIGHT???

The bike ride home was sweet, took Court to Union back over the Canal and the went down 3rd, and most of those streets have bike paths. I had a sweet game of cat and mouse going with a bus for a while, which I feel I eventually won. Then it was back up here to shower all the sweat off and write this delightful entry!

And that's all she wrote. Here are some photos.



This was the first part I saw. I thought it was a nice quotation, whatever it's from.








Some of the buildings in the area...



The front, with some neat engravings that I'm not sure are legible in this picture.








And, the whole building in two chunks.

That's it for me, and as for my many fans who enjoyed this daily update schedule for two days, I'm going to St. Louis for Christmas on Friday, so I can't go to any Brooklyn Libraries until I get back, which means no updates. But don't despair, I promise to update before the new year, so check in if you're interested, and thanks for reading.