Oout and Aboout

For the first time in ages I went downtown during workaday hours, and - lo! - there were people out and about! Some were even smartly dressed. I picked up T and we scooted back west a bit for lunch a Chez Fushee. I observed that work was being done to the Miller & Rhoades building, "at last, after, like 15 years," I said, making the left, then the right onto Grace St. "No, no, I exaggerate." T laughed: "not by much."

Also on Broad, I noted the courts(?) building appears to be done. It faces the street squarely, but the back end of it is a big arc. It breaks the grid up with curves -- and not in the pleasing way. The Schwarzschild building now houses this legal-help group, it seems. The streets seemed full, and busy -- maybe because Broad Street has taken a turn for a better (speaking in the 30-year time frame), or maybe because ongoing construction of all sorts has pushed all the activity into just a few spaces. T says that when people come to the museum, they gripe and gripe about being stuck in construction traffic.


Missed a 5th birthday, I see.

Reading: Extras, by Scott Westerfeld. Even more like Ghost in the Shell than the Uglies trilogy -- because it's set in Japan? Because of the part the feed plays? He's also got some fascinating stuff going on about popularity and trend-setting: cool-hunting. Bringing me back to the first book of his I read, So Yesterday -- which I so loved. Just as figuring out if being Special was worse or better than being Pretty, it'll be interesting to see whether being the first to finger the fad (or story; the reporter parallel is there, too) will lead to glory or suffering.

and "Three Smart Things You Should Know About Leap Years," at Wired.