Day 3 of my and Aisha's NY Pride weekend vacation was largely dedicated to books -- hurray! After playing some Jenga in Bryant Park, we went to the New York Public Library. While I had intended to mostly geek out over the library itself, my favorite part turned out to be an exhibition called "You Say You Want a Revolution: Remembering the 60s." It featured a multitude of curated artifacts focused on 1960s counterculture topics such as communal living, gay rights, Black Power, drug experimentation, Vietnam War protest, and more. The exhibit was set up in a rounded room that invited exploration in getting lost, and I was living for all of it.  

My favorite pieces in the exhibition were the original writings of authors influential to the movements, such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and even Thoreau. I also really enjoyed the music area, which invited patrons to browse and listen to playlists of songs curated around different 1960s topics. 

Outside the 60s exhibition, I was excited to also see the original stuffed animals that inspired A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. I had to check that the real Eeyore has a removable tail (he does! it's stuck on with a pin). OG Winnie is a lot slimmer than his current animated portrayal. 

After the NYPL, Aisha and I went to the famed Strand Bookstore which was like my Instagram feed IRL.