Selections From My Virtual Library: June/July 2014

I am officially a slacker. During finals in June, I completely fell off my reading schedule. And once I began teaching again with Golden Apple, life was made of lesson plans and excessive carb consumption. But, I have still cultivated plenty to read even if it is heavy on the July side. Again, italicized articles are my top recommendations.

NPR

Life After 'Life': Aging Inmates Struggle For Redemption
The One Thing Obama Didn't Say About Student Loan Repayment
Why NYC Is Afraid Of Free Lunch For All
A Campus Dilemma: Sure, 'No' Means 'No,' But Exactly What Means 'Yes'?
Is Collecting Animals For Science A Noble Mission Or A Threat?
Tackling Sexual Assault On Campus With Comedy
What We Talk About When We Talk About Violence In Chicago
The Good Listener: Has The Term 'Indie Rock' Lost All Meaning?

The New Yorker

The Teen Whisperer
Ghosts in the Stacks
Literature and Life
The Black Market for Dinosaurs
Why Students Aren't Fighting Forever 21
Wrong Answer
Lisa Elmaleh’s Folk Portraits

The Atlantic

The Morbid Fascination With the Death of the Humanities
The Elusive Specificity of Reparations
Ta-Nehisi Coates on Not Knowing How Much You Don't Know
On Teen Sexting: Same Sexism, Different Technology
How Cities Use Design to Drive Homeless People Away
The Sociology of Sorry
Why Kids Care More About Achievement Than Helping Others
Millennials' Political Views Don't Make Any Sense
What's in a Name? Everything.
Where Confiscated Wildlife Ends Up
Don't Write for the Barbarians

Medium

We Killed the Music Industry
Wikipedia Mining Algorithm Reveals The Most Influential People In 35 Centuries Of Human History
Creative People Say No

BBC

The many faces of British poverty in France
Pablo Escobar’s hippos: A growing problem

The New York Times

What Writers Can Learn From ‘Goodnight Moon’

McSweeney's

Lost Scenes From Generic Hipster Indie Romance Films Found in 2076 During a Museum Restoration of an Old Macbook Air And Subsequently Adapted For the Stage During Heritage Week at a Camp for 7th and 8th Graders Later That Summer.

Words To Make Your Poetry Legit

The Suburbs' City v. "My" City

As everyone starts to straggle home from their designated universities and winter break begins, I realize that in about a week everyone will be bored of their suburban bubble and start to crave doing something "different."The lightbulbs will turn on simultaneously as "THE CITY" pops into their heads.

Don't get me wrong, going to "The City" is fun. But, after experiencing "The City" for ten weeks, "The City" doesn't seem so enticing. 

You see, "The City" is a fictional place. It is made up of: Michigan Avenue, State Street, Millenium Park (or really just The Bean), and every so often, museum campus. And though I used to be one in the population of "The City," the past 10 weeks I've spent at school have given a sense of disdain for the place. It's always crowded, full of tourists, and there's nothing cheap or non-franchised. It's basically a large outdoor mall with a park next door. 

I understand the appeal: popular shops, decent food, lots of holiday spirit all in walking distance off a few stops on the El. It's easy to get to and relatively safe. But, "The City" is not a true representative of the city. 

Yes, 10 weeks is not a lot of time, but it's enough to understand that "The City" creates such a poor picture of the city. So, instead of me talking further about how the suburban kids (including me) need to explore, I've decided to include a few photos of my version of the city. Hopefully they'll make you rethink your winter adventures. 

The Metro - Wrigleyville. My favorite venue. 

Grant Park - far south end.

Urban farm in Bridgeport

Riot Fest - Humboldt Park 

Old Town

View from campus

My parking garage

Boystown on Halloween

Molly's Cupcakes - Lincoln Park

Ravenswood Used Books - Lincoln Square

Panes Bread Cafe - Lakeview

Museum campus view