More Urban Underground

Even though I've never tried it myself, I am fascinated with urban exploration.  This is particuarly true of forgotten underground areas, which is what I found so captivating about Downsiders by Neal Shusterman.  Many people actually explore the underground areas of New York that are used fictionally in that book.  Meet a few of them in this amazing article from NPR, then check out the website of one of the explorers.  I'm not sure I'd be up for visiting sewers, but I think abandoned subway stations and underground waterways would be cool.

A Real-Life Downsiders Moment

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love abandoned places, so books and movies that take place in the forgotten layers of cities are right up my alley.  Recently, I read Downsiders by Neal Shusterman, which draws heavily on the real-life forgotten underground parts of New York City.  However, I didn't really do any actual research on the places he mentioned.  Then, a few days ago, Sara A. posted a really interesting link on Facebook about a spectacular abandoned subway station and I realized that it features prominently in Downsiders!

The station is the old City Hall Station, which was closed when they redesigned the train cars and stations in the 1940s because the curved exit platform caused a dangerous gap.  (Click on that link for a nice slideshow of pictures.)  In Downsiders, this location is called the "Hall of Action" and is used for large, important gatherings of the population.  The history of the City Hall Station is described quite nicely on pages 172-3 of the book. 

There are many abandoned stations all over New York City, and there are even some in Philly!

Don't Try This at Sellers, Either...

A movie theater in England has banned its customers from kissing their cardboard cutout of Robert Pattinson! They smacked a sign across his lips telling movie-goers it would help stop the spread of seasonal flu. Read the news article here.

Since Robert is currently lurking behind our circulation desk in a Santa hat, I think you are safe from disease. Still, I don't want to see anyone leaping the desk to get at him, mmmkay?

Real-Life Frindle

In the children's book Frindle by Andrew Clements, a boy invents and popularizes the word frindle as a substitute for pen. He is at odds with his teacher, who goes to great lengths to stamp out the word. Of course, this only makes it more popular with the kids at his school and beyond.

So, it cracked me up to read about a high school in Connecticut that has banned the use of the word meep. This is a totally made up word, used by Beaker, Road Runner, and sometimes appearing as an expression in manga. Apparently, students at the school were uttering disruptive "meeps" and planning a "mass-meep" using Facebook. If the lesson of Frindle holds true in real life, someday we'll see meep in the dictionary!

Read the local news article, or listen to an NPR interview.

Teen Outsmarts Doctors

This is a great story of science class ingenuity! Basically, this girl took it upon herself to investigate her illness in her AP class because, despite years of suffering, her doctors hadn't been able to figure it out!!