Thursday, August 27, 2009

The view from the throne

One of the great things about having an office is the library is arriving early: there's no one in the building except me and the custodians, no sounds except the books murmuring to one another in the stacks. That's when I get things done.

I've also enjoyed discovering the library's hidden secrets. Yesterday I went wandering around looking for a paper cutter, but the people I would normally ask were otherwise occupied. So I asked myself, "If I were a paper cutter, where would I be?" That's exactly where I went, and there it was.

The round shape of the building results in some odd little corners tucked away here and there, like the wedge-shaped workroom near my office and the reading room with the fireplace and curved wall. The most unusual, though, is the handicapped stall in the women's rest room near my office: it's like any other rest-room stall except for its size (huge) and view. Yes, there's a large window inside the stall. The view from the throne features a stretch of the campus mall where people are always milling about, and anyone sitting there would naturally wonder, "If I can see them, does that mean they can see me?" I hope the window blind proves opaque to outside viewers. After all, if all secrets are revealed, where's the mystery?

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