The obsession with death continues...

Apparently I have some twisted fascination with ex-things, like people who used to be alive (see previous post), and now, abandoned stations of the New York City Subway.

Check out this very well-researched and photo-documented site.

Each page has the history of the station, its construction, photographs, and any subways maps in which the station appeared. The Cortland St. ones are particularly eerie (the station that closed after 9/11).

It reminds me of the metro stations in Moscow that double as underground bomb shelters, or used to, rather. In some of the stations, you can still see the massive sliding metal doors that block off the entire entrance in front of the escalators.

Let's see if I can find a photo of said phenomenon. I know it exists because a UCSB professor of Art and Photography made a book about abandoned bomb shelters. Ahh, yes, it's called Waiting for the End of the World. You can see the photos if you go to his publications page and then click on the photo of the shelter. The one that stuck in my mind is (yanno, because I've been there and all):


(P.S. - amateur blogger wants to know if she is getting too link-happy)

Finally ... The Unveiling

I always smack myself for not reading enough news. Now that I hold an office job, I constantly keep up with my to-the-minute Google Reader updates. Thusly, I am made jealous and now want my own blog.

We'll see how long this lasts, how opinionated I actually am, and whether or not there's room for another amateur on the blogosphere.

First link:

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice maintains a list of all executed offenders, complete with their last statement. Absolutely fascinating, upsetting, etc. It seems very much like people script these, maybe even read them from a sheet while anticipating the injection or electrocution. And most of the white people are very forgiving and accepting of their fate (frequently mentioning religion), while many of the people of color criticize the unjust system before their death. Check it out.

Well, entry #1, officially over. w00t.