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I've always been amazed at how at the epicenter of a large city or event there are many normal looking things that contribute subtly or inadvertently to the ove

I've always been amazed at how at the epicenter of a large city or event there are many normal looking things that contribute subtly or inadvertently to the overall awe. It's not like everything in Times Square is magical, yet the sum of them is. I wonder how many of these more ordinary objects or store fronts you could remove and still keep the aesthetic wonder of the place. Take out the garbage cans, the street lights, the cross walks, bring the buildings a little closer together or father apart. At what point does it's quality simply change?

harperlee 8y ago
> This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation... but is this not the nine hundred-year-old axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe, y'know. Pretty good. Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant (Discworld, #24; City Watch, #5)