my margaret yang

It's near impossible to be struck by something so obvious, such a memorable piece of my youth, the behemoths that have disappeared from our lives. It's a strange combination of the unbelievable and the wholly acceptable that catches us off guard: Nebraska passing the football, Cubs winning the World Series, a Londoner smiling. Now I'm digging in the dictionary for a word better than impossible...things CAN happen. The new central Seattle Public Library is nothing short of amazing (into the thesaurus). The leadership required to get the job done is something so lacking across the American landscape. Who, in their right mind, goes to city leadership and puts forth an idea to build a library that encompasses a city block...in DOWNTOWN Seattle? In this day and age? Who? We have computers, we have the internet, we have TiVo and DISH Network, what more could be need? We have GOOGLE. A library? Are you kidding me? When you back up a step and realize that computers do nothing more than the grunt work of our lives, you realize how vital community interaction and actual words and pictures can be; something more than 1s and 0s on a flatscreen. Christine and I found ourselves touring the library...touring! tourists! at a library. Taking pictures and buying t-shirts. The insanity of having a central location for research, quiet study, a repository of knowledge seems so foreign these days. It felt like being back in Mr. Crampton's Chemistry and Biochemistry classes at Westside High School...the place bursting with knowledge. Blogs, emails, IM chat and text messages be damned...I'd rather meet at the library and hang around talking about the issues of the day. After, we can amble down to Elliot Bay Bookstore and have coffee. After that down to the Irish Pub on First St. Bring your book bag, it'll be a gas...