When I have extra time, which comes infrequently but in spurts, I like to go to the public library and read magazines. I’ve got some time right now, as evidenced by the fact that I’m finally able to update this blog – lately I’ve been too busy to write but also too busy to have any thoughts, which I could subsequently write about, so it’s worked out. I took some pictures and had more than 140 characters to say about them, so here we are. It’s a quick and lazy way to get back in action with the blog. Sorry if it looks like a tumblr, but I do what I want.
A couple of years ago I got stuck in a study carrel at the Bentonville Public Library. I had been locked in somehow and was debating whether to start banging on the door and making a spectacle of myself screaming “Help! I’m trapped in the study!” I got the number for the library though and called them, to discreetly let them know I needed a maintenance guy or someone to come open the door, and they said “Um, push it.”
I found this sign yesterday and I’m wondering if I should feel vindicated because these instructions are clearly needed for all carrel patrons, or dumb all over again because these signs are generally only posted for idiots.
The library has been really crowded lately, because it’s summertime. I’m really loyal to libraries and I know I should be happy to see them swelling with patrons, but I find the summertime crowds loud and germy. So I left.
I went for a walk around the square in Bentonville, because waiting out my dad while he’s at the hospital gym takes like forever. My favorite store (maybe) is this supply store for teachers and their ilk. They have the best stickers. I think I’m going to take my niece there this week, because she just turned six and needs a gift, but really because I want an excuse to buy things there.
They have all the signs teachers need for classrooms.
But they also have things for home schoolers.
They have a ton of cool pencils.
And Pizza Fractions!
This sign reminds me of Mike Birbiglia’s Simple Pizza Mathematics, which is an important read.
I was excited because I thought I found a snow cone stand across from the farmers’ market at the water park. Then I realized it was a crepe cart, and that is so stupid. I like crepes as much as the next guy, but who eats hot fruit when it’s 95 degrees outside? Get over yourselves.
There’s a good amount of running water in downtown Bentonville. Makes me think of my friend Megan, who works in Community Development in Chapel Hill - she gets all excited about running water in public places where children can congregate in the summertime. I search for places with air conditioning; children seek out water. Bentonville may be a bunch of uppity snobs, but if you can ride a bike around with your kids in the summer, and play at a water fountain, and get some crepes, and stop by the library, maybe it’s not such a bad place to be.
