liadanslyre

borrowed from this guy...

fun, free and forgotten
good things about columbus:
~ by maureen

well- this is an odd post i find myself writing. see- for a number of years; i've made fun of columbus. i've made fun of columbus because the truth is- i can be a haughty jerk sometimes. don't tell anybody.

so- i could comment how my beloved grandview is on the verge of being taken from local shop owners and sold to the proverbial devil of capitalist pig owned chains- but i won't. i won't b/c the truth is- i love capitalist pigs. really. don't tell anybody.

anyhoo- columbus isn't too bad actually. i think everyone goes through a 'this town sucks!' phase w/ where they grew up. especially if they've lived outside of the state of ohio. i remember; my first summer home after moving back from nyc; i worked at the ohio state fair- and i really thought i might die. i didn't die of course- but it was a warp speed transition that is not for the faint of heart.

so- my post about my favorite forgotten and free things about columbus. i’ve tried to keep them w/in the cheap to free category b/c these are factors that determine my now- this is a participatory exercise. please share your own tips. and on the slight chance that a friend from nyc is reading this- please don't steal my thunder and write about how you're going to the moma for free on thursday or how you took a picnic to bryant park for tuesday night movies. and don't you dare write about the chelsea flea market. i might throw myself against the wall.

so- now- really my post about my favorite forgotten and free things about columbus.

wosu 89.7: is a rarity in the public radio scene. i like classical music a lot. tchaikovsky, brahms, vivaldi ; chamber, coral, symphony; cantata, movement, suite. all that stuff is on there. i just looked up all that stuff on the internet to sound like i know what i’m talking about- but i don’t

the chalk festival in the short north: what made me think of this event (that happens in the autumn) is that i went to comfest a couple of weekends ago. i’m not so into the comfest anymore. too dark and too much cannibis for me. i really like the festival season in the late spring through early fall here in columbus- but the highlight for me is the chalk festival. it’s my favorite b/c it is unpretentious creativity at it’s best. it’s not all profound and shishi. it’s just fun and you should go.

inniswood gardens: this is in westerville and it is gorgeous. i have gotten into gardening the last couple years. which i’ve been told means- i’m aging or i’m a geek. or i’m a aging geek. i dunno. but i love love love this garden space.

the dollar theater: i mean- come on. i can’t write about columbus and not mention the dollar theater (it’s not actually a buck by the way- but the dollar fifity theater takes longer to say). it is a perk. especially when you’re newly married and poor. or single and poor.

restoration: this is a double edged sword. there have been some restoration projects that have gone really well and sparked commerce rather than put it w/ odds w/ preserving historic building in columbus.

it’s a double edged sword b/c it is not the most common approach in columbus to preserve/ restore a building. usually, people just tear down old structures. recently, there are a number of projects and building that have gotten new tenants and owners have put a little love into the buildings. it seems to me that the love has paid off.

the old highway patrol building is now home to the health department.

m/i homes hasn’t taken out the entire enclave of olde town east. instead it is a diverse neighborhood w/ lots of refurb homes.

the old central high school now houses cosi. i don’t have kids yet; but i loved going to cosi as a wee lass and i love to take my nephews and neices. it’s on the river front and i like that it has programs that are accessible for underserved kids too.

hawk galleries made a gusty move downtown to a redone building away from the security of the short north.

i also just want to say that i think mayor coleman has done some really good things for columbus and revitalization efforts.

i felt like i should write about the music scene in columbus. but the truth is i don’t know much about it. but it seems to be pretty easy to hear decent live music w/ a pretty good variety to boot. i’ll leave comments on that to the experts.

i know that there are a lot of other things that are cool about columbus- but these are things/ events/ places/ opportunities that seem to be fairly unique for a city our size. we seem to be on the cusp of being too big to have some of the smaller town amenities; and too small/ young to retain some of the niceties of a bigger city as well. if i missed some please feel free to add them or give feedback in the comments.