A Visit to the High Line, Section 2

Section 2 of the High Line opened in June, and Paul and I wasted no time in getting a look.

The High Line -- a park constructed stories about the streets on old train tracks -- opened to much acclaim in 2009. (You can read about our initial visit to the High Line that summer.) Section 2 doubles the length of the park to about 20 blocks.

We visited on a warm Saturday evening , along with hundreds (if not thousands) of others. The crowds made the High Line not as pleasant as I'm sure it normally would be, but it was still as interesting.

The greenery isn't as prevalent as in, say, Central Park. However, the grasses and flowers are woven into interesting architectural details, like benches, frames and hideaways almost -- but not quite -- hidden from view. Here are some of the highlights:

A full curved bench

A reverse billboard that frames the street below

Taking a rest

New age bird feeders ...

... up close

A Decade of Paul ... and Sushi

I had my first date with Paul and my first taste of sushi 10 years ago today.

It's cliche to say that time flies, but it nevertheless does. A decade ago I had just started my summer job as a page at the Ohio Statehouse, and Paul was just ending his three-year tenure. We overlapped by just two or three weeks, but that was enough time for him to notice I was reading "Catch-22," his favorite book.

Our conversation about books turned into a conversation about his summer living in Ireland and backpacking through Europe. Next up: food. He couldn't believe I had never been to the Waffle House, and he said he was going to take me there. When he called later that night, however, he changed the location of our first date to Haiku, a really nice sushi place that we still enjoy, located in the Short North neighborhood of Columbus.

Two years and two months later, we celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary at Haiku as well.

My 8 Favorite Books: Happy Birthday to Me

Months -- years, I think -- before I turned 25, the Columbus Dispatch ran a list of the 25 books you should read before you turn 25.

I dutifully clipped the list and hung it on the refrigerator. I had already read about half of the books, and I finished the remainder weeks before I celebrated the appropriate birthday.

I love a reading challenge.

And so here we are five years later, in the month of my 30th birthday. I never came across nor looked for a list of 30 books to read before you turn 30, and so I'm doing something a little different:

I'm reading what I consider my eight favorite books to see if they're still my favorite. In all honesty, I'm finishing what I consider my eight favorite books this month -- I've already started no. 8

8. "The Prime Minister" by Anthony Trollope
7. "Persuasion" by Jane Austen
6. "Cass Timberlane" by Sinclair Lewis
5. "Emma" by Jane Austen
4. "Middlemarch" by George Eliot
3. "Anne of the Island" by L.M. Montgomery
2. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
1. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

I've had this project in mind all year, and I came up with the list a couple of months ago. It was more difficult than I expected. At least one -- "Middlemarch" -- I read about a decade ago. I barely remember the characters' names, let alone the plot. But I remember thinking then that it was one of my favorite books. Will it still hold up?

Two of the books on the list are part of a multi-book series. "Anne of the Island" has always been my favorite of the "Anne of Green Gables" series and was probably my favorite book before I was introduced to Jane Austen when I was 16. "The Prime Minister" was the most difficult choice on the list. When you consider entire bodies of work, Trollope is my second or third favorite author, and every book in the Palliser series is terrific. I chose this as a representative sample.

I've read eight books a month for years -- usually a combination of popular novels, classics and informative (and occasionally boring) non-fiction. I won't be bored this month. I consider that my birthday present to myself.