malls are a disgrace to humanity

dkmon202

i went to the Discover Mills mall today to buy some sandals, and the violence of my disgust at the whole experience surprised me. it wasn't just the usual aversion i feel toward commercial centers for the distasteful and idle consumption it encourages...i think it was how offensively garish and expansive it was, a sprawling, 1.2 million square foot land of trashy tv ads on repeat.

Menlo Park mall was not so obnoxious, as I remember...probably because it didn't try be a carnival, desperate to keep you transfixed by the b-side rides, poorly maintained outlet stores, gimmicky restaurants (they have a huge Medieval Times attached, gah!), exotic Asian/"nature" trinket stores, etc. Menlo Park was elegant in design, much more compact with two levels and a straightforward linear layout, lots of natural light, and seating amid the trees in the cafeteria. Discover Mills is...just too big. And not tall big, just wide big. It could be half the size if they only built UP! Much more accessible, less stagnant....

That's probably what I take most offense at down here in the south...that man takes up so much SPACE with ugly, unnatural buildings and things. Yeah, I get it, there's more space to work with, but is it necessary to fill it all? The way construction down here spreads its legs is vulgar. How many shopping centers does an area need? None of them are ever at max capacity, there are acres of empty parking lots because there's too much supply, the demand has a hard time keeping up...and with everything spread out, it takes that much longer to GET anywhere you need to go. This might sound like I'm concerned with the detrimental impact of suburban sprawl on the environment, and I guess I am...but perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that it's the inefficiency of everything here that really pisses me off. What a Waste Land.

WikiNotables #1

dkmon199

thought train:
1. that's a pensive look
2. the possibilities of what a pensive looking person might be thinking is infinite
3. god i wish i can read minds
4. wasn't there a story of some malicious woman who read the thoughts of kids?
5. probably a kids' book
6. ooh, something involving an ear...oh gross yeah an extra ear in the back of the head or something strange like that?
7. malicious woman with power over kids, what kind of relationship is that...like, a teacher?
8. AH! WAYSIDE SCHOOL gets a little stranger!
9. duh, should've done a Google search earlier...let's see what kind of Wikilegacy it left behind
10. answer: an inspiring one! (though apparently one of questionable quality)

Louis Sachar, the author, on how he came to write the Wayside School series:

I returned to college, this time to the University of California at Berkeley where I majored in economics. On campus one day, I saw the unlikely sight of an elementary school girl handing out flyers. I took one from her. It said: "Help. We need teachers aides at our school. Earn three units of credit." I thought it over and decided it was a pretty good deal. College credits, no homework, no term papers, no tests, all I had to do was help out in a second/third grade class at Hillside Elementary School. Besides helping out in a classroom, I also became the Noontime Supervisor, or "Louis the Yard Teacher" as I was known to the kids. It became my favorite college class, and a life changing experience. When I graduated in 1976 I decided to try to write a children's book, which eventually became Sideways Stories From Wayside School. All the kids at Wayside School were based on the kids I knew at Hillside. It took me about nine months to write the book. I wrote in the evenings. In the daytime I had a job at a sweater warehouse in Connecticut. After about a year, I was fired (my enthusiasm for sweaters was insufficient), and I decided to go to law school. Sideways Stories from Wayside School was accepted by a publisher during my first week at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

this is the kind of story that reminds me that there is only so much life planning one can do, that so much of our lives are influenced by factors beyond our control and that there's really no need to stress out about the future...you just need to open yourself up to all the possibilities out there and follow those which suit your tastes. it's like those Choose Your Own Adventure books, except for real.

man, it seems like children's books have got it all figured out!
(to do: reread The Little Prince)