Friday, November 16, 2007

One for the knitters

After a couple of hours in front of a microfilm reader in the windowless archives at Buffalo State College on Wednesday, I needed to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I went out to the rooftop courtyard to have a look at the "Pot-Bellied Buffalo," created by ceramics students at the school:


Then I noticed a brick wall that had been partially covered in writing -- words had been written on individual bricks, in white chalk. I finally noticed a title at the top: "The Greats of Life."


Many were inspiring, positive words, like simplicity, knowledge, acceptance, and spontaneity; others were concrete nouns like sky, castles, and honey. Aside from the obvious "greats," there were some that were less obvious, like exits and speckles (?). Anyway, I knew right away what I had to do, and fortunately there were a few little chalk stubs on the ground.


My work there was done, and I headed back inside.

19 comments:

stephanie said...

how cool...i did my undergraduate work there but havent been back on the campus (which i hear is under some pretty heavy construction) in ages.

Anonymous said...

this is awesome. i wish i knew of a place near me where i could start a wall!

i love it!

canknitian said...

This is awesome! I want to start one here!

Mia said...

The buffalo is nice but your word is much more inspiring.

Veronique said...

Well done!

aandjblog said...

Whoa! Amazing! I love this.

monica said...

Good job!!

amanda said...

You are fantastic.

Anonymous said...

This is why we love you.

Seanna Lea said...

That is great! One of the subway stations (Davis Square) in Boston has text written on the brick in the floor. I will sometimes stand there and read it out loud.

Chris said...

Go, you!

Steph said...

Yay Knitting!

What a great idea. I wonder where...

Barbara-Kay said...

Thanks for writing on our behalf - you KNOW it had to be there!

Leslie said...

So sad that I missed your posts the past few days. I'm a long-time lurker who lives blocks from Buff State. Would've loved to show you around and commiserate with a fellow grad student. I'm finishing a PhD in Brit lit at the Univ at Buffalo and have been buried under work and away from blogs. I'm guessing you're gone, but if you're ever back doing research, let me know and we can do coffee and a yarn shop or two.

Minty Fresh said...

What an awesome piece of public art!

Ellen said...

A little late, but last night I saw "Lars and the Real Girl."
What a sweet movie; DH and I both loved it. BTW, you didn't mention all the handknit items in the movie, especially the baby blanket/scarf.

Stacey said...

what a neat public art piece! and your contribution was perfect! :)

Laura said...

I love this wall! Cleveland needs a wall like this.

And thanks for representing! :)

Anonymous said...

A badge well earned!

Love the wall, I'm totally unsurprised by a cool wall of chalky graffiti being somewhere in the vicinity of a ceramics department....