OLD WORLD UNDERGROUND, I NEVER KNEW YOU

there are just over three miles between the gutted and rebuilt main library at the university and the gutted and rebuilt main branch of the metropolitan library system downtown. the coffee roasters, the custom cosmeticians, the gourmet ice cream parlors, the salons, the taprooms. (past the barnes and noble on high street that bought the street sign from what was once the university's largest independent text book vendor, not a single book store between the libraries.) the "upscale" thrift store and the one not afraid to charge even more to call itself vintage. taprooms and taprooms coming soon. the boutiques and, of course, the bike shops. (the boutiques.) if the people who have been moving to the short north wanted to be a pantomime of portland five years ago, why didn't they just move five years ago to portland and become mimes while there was still american money to be had in street performance? (the ice cream is, we all know, moving to portland now.) and with the third wave, the trashier bars of the homo ghetto (which, of course, the new new wavers call an arts district) are gone.

"it's an unmistakable part of the same trend that has been taking hold across urban America for years," writes jonathan mahler about the anarchist spirit of the occupy oakland movement in "the world capital of anti-capitalism," which ran in the new york times magazine this past sunday. "there is," his sentence begins, however, "a distinctly oakland character to many of these businesses." outside of the ice cream, which, it's only fair to admit, does certainly have its special local flavors, commentators here should find it hard to say the same. the sad looking occupy columbus half-tent in front of the ohio statehouse appears to be unoccupied. and it's ironic -- or exactly not -- because it's not far from the statue of william mckinley, the ohio grown export to washington who was the american president actually assassinated by an anarchist.

and it's insult to injury (or another irony?) at the main branch of the metropolitan library where, after removing the hold on my library card, i not only have to put my own hold on "flag wars" and for an email telling me when a copy of the dvd has been returned, but i also find out from the millions that i should probably have migrated to tumblr some years ago. there's no one can stop giving that platform book deals. and it's probably going to be days until i find out about that dvd (although the millions doesn't need to tell me that i could get netflix). i search for a half dozen other titles, and they're all in the system...but wouldn't you know? they're all far away from downtown at branches in the suburbs.