i had a lovely chat about edmonton and city and space and flexible cities and well, the entire contents of this course without so much discussing the course, with le parents over coffee. really awfully strong coffee. fantastic coffee though! it dawned on me in that moment that i might even like edmonton. what? no! never! was it the coffee?!
it is growing on me. the way a growth grows on you. the kind of growth that you don't regard as that scary until it keeps growing and you realize it might be questionable. but you learn to live with it and you look at that growth almost fondly. jane fondly.
the point is is that cynicism is bad for you. or at least me. i considered cynicism a fantastic trait until i started hearing people i admire discuss it negatively and i had to recognize that it is indeed cynicism which is causing me to regard this city so negatively. by walking it and engaging it i am not only more comfortable with the city itself but my own skin, my body, the way i move through the city, winter, and accessibility to certain city areas. most importantly, by being forced (though i hesitate to use this word) to take part in the city i find it more accessible during winter and certain areas are no longer marked as "bleh" in my mind because a sort of curiosity is starting to push the cynicism out.
now before engaging with other cities i think it would be useful and AWESOME to use edmonton as a type of training ground. too often i have entered a city and failed to actually engage it because i didn't know where to start. even though i had walked through a city i didn't know what exactly to look for or exactly how to walk it.
plus parkour. parkour in edmonton. AND THEN EVERYWHERE. think about it. how awesome would that be?
instead of "GO FORTH CHILDREN AND WALK THE CITIES OF THIS GRAND EARTH" it would be more like "GO FORTH BADASSES AND PARKOUR THE SHIT OUTTA THIS PLACE!" though i dunno how grammatically correct it is to use parkour as a verb. hrm.
(you've no idea how many times i had to go back and delete swears. i apologize for my potty mouth.)
(i wrote while listening to a friend's suggestion of an album that "revolves around a single riff" by a band that "started out as a black sabbath worshiping doom band". if that helps to explain why there's absolutely no coherence here. it is one song and it is literally an hour and three minutes long. it's surprisingly good. F'REAL!)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
fuckin' henry rollins
distracting me from my daily obligations. because let's just be honest right here and stress the fact that the man is awesome and is a far better "DON'T DO IT" motivational speaker than any counselor on campus. speaking from personal experience too. hur hur hur. bet that makes things awkward.
do i move with the city?
absolutely.
yes.
oh-hooooo yes.
i am bound by the roads, the transit, the very walk of the people. hub mall is a perfect example of this in which you are chastised for moving against the current. it's such a large city that if you don't fall in line you end up mud-splattered on the end of some highway. edmonton is not a walking city so you use the parts of it meant for walking or driving the way they ought to be used.
this can be depressing but...well, not so awful.
take a look at the high level bridge. there is reason and coherence in moving southward while you're in a car. sometimes i've seen expensive motorcycles or luxury cars cross it. i've even heard them honk at me as i've walked in the opposite direction. but despite their flagrant difference they move in the same direction, the same speed, the same style as the ghetto beater car.
there's something about following this current that allows for easy accessibility to the parts of the city. you become one of the locals, a part of the city by joining its rivers. and what are roads other than concrete, asphalt rivers?
moving against the current of the city can be retroactively progressive yet it can cause problems if you want to truly know the city and accept it for what it is as it is. to know the city you must be part of its flow.
do i move with the city?
absolutely.
yes.
oh-hooooo yes.
i am bound by the roads, the transit, the very walk of the people. hub mall is a perfect example of this in which you are chastised for moving against the current. it's such a large city that if you don't fall in line you end up mud-splattered on the end of some highway. edmonton is not a walking city so you use the parts of it meant for walking or driving the way they ought to be used.
this can be depressing but...well, not so awful.
take a look at the high level bridge. there is reason and coherence in moving southward while you're in a car. sometimes i've seen expensive motorcycles or luxury cars cross it. i've even heard them honk at me as i've walked in the opposite direction. but despite their flagrant difference they move in the same direction, the same speed, the same style as the ghetto beater car.
there's something about following this current that allows for easy accessibility to the parts of the city. you become one of the locals, a part of the city by joining its rivers. and what are roads other than concrete, asphalt rivers?
moving against the current of the city can be retroactively progressive yet it can cause problems if you want to truly know the city and accept it for what it is as it is. to know the city you must be part of its flow.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
as i'm doing these blog evaluations
i started thinking about how much people hate the mall. not people in our class specifically, but i will hear this from a lot of edmontonians. i mean they hate the mall. or at least they say they do for various reasons none of which i'm going to suggest are just signifiers of a certain militant anti-consumerist image that has to be upheld. by god, why would i do that? hur hur hur hur, NEVER!
hate is a strong word. it starts with the sound of you clearing the phlegm, the evil, from your throat and it ends with the snapping down of your teeth. like a deep throating experience gone terribly terribly wrong. (oh yes, i went there. don't even!) this has nothing to do with anything really. nothing about our assignment or a comment on anyone's writing and it's not driven by drugs or alcohol (though i'm not sure i don't regret that last part).
but jesus christ people, when it's -33 and i need me some cheap new duds, and need to spend my day somewhere where i can shop, watch a movie, get tanked, hang out late at night when it gets dark, it's really not that bad.
RANT RANT RANT.
hate is a strong word. it starts with the sound of you clearing the phlegm, the evil, from your throat and it ends with the snapping down of your teeth. like a deep throating experience gone terribly terribly wrong. (oh yes, i went there. don't even!) this has nothing to do with anything really. nothing about our assignment or a comment on anyone's writing and it's not driven by drugs or alcohol (though i'm not sure i don't regret that last part).
but jesus christ people, when it's -33 and i need me some cheap new duds, and need to spend my day somewhere where i can shop, watch a movie, get tanked, hang out late at night when it gets dark, it's really not that bad.
RANT RANT RANT.
Friday, February 11, 2011
the greatest of apologies for posting later than 5pm (and if it says 4:something, then yes, sure, I POSTED ON TIME)
i just got off work after a fairly hectic week--first week of work, a paper, a presentation, and trying to catch up from the week before due to having to finish a paper from last semester. plus my feet are killing me cause i've been crawling up and down the bookshelves in hooker heels. yup. mia's been a busy bee.
i never quite expected 380 to be as fun as it is. i kept telling samantha i might drop it because i realized i didn't need it but thanks to her sweet persuasion and a lovely prof (really, i'm not trying to kiss butt) and a slew of interesting reading material i decided to stay for this class. i'm glad i did. it is really helping open up my perspectives on edmonton and its people.
i thought this class would be all about discussing the scenery or talking about the wonderful array of historic monuments we have (which aren't many and which aren't that interesting). i thought it would be about as bland and boring but inoffensive as a hotel painting.
but it's not.
i really thought i knew everything there was to know about edmonton and that which i didn't know i thought i knew well enough to not be interested. however, this city seems to hide some very fascinating people. that is to say, the city does a very good job of showcasing them but my lack of interest and apathy create the fog which blinds me to them. apathy is not substanceless, it is not a recognition and conscious decision to not take part. it's a conscious decision before the recognition can occur and thus it never does.
this class forces me to confront my apathy and holds me responsible. if i'm bored by this city it's because i'm not doing it right.
i never quite expected 380 to be as fun as it is. i kept telling samantha i might drop it because i realized i didn't need it but thanks to her sweet persuasion and a lovely prof (really, i'm not trying to kiss butt) and a slew of interesting reading material i decided to stay for this class. i'm glad i did. it is really helping open up my perspectives on edmonton and its people.
i thought this class would be all about discussing the scenery or talking about the wonderful array of historic monuments we have (which aren't many and which aren't that interesting). i thought it would be about as bland and boring but inoffensive as a hotel painting.
but it's not.
i really thought i knew everything there was to know about edmonton and that which i didn't know i thought i knew well enough to not be interested. however, this city seems to hide some very fascinating people. that is to say, the city does a very good job of showcasing them but my lack of interest and apathy create the fog which blinds me to them. apathy is not substanceless, it is not a recognition and conscious decision to not take part. it's a conscious decision before the recognition can occur and thus it never does.
this class forces me to confront my apathy and holds me responsible. if i'm bored by this city it's because i'm not doing it right.
Friday, February 4, 2011
the year of the rabbit
yesterday was the first day of the year of the rabbit. somehow i feel like this ties in well with the idea of "minorities". why? rabbits are tiny but sometimes they fight back because they're DYNAMITE! (i really just wanted an excuse to post this.)
it can be terribly alienating being a minority. i can't exactly speak from any experience except that i was singled out for my accent and funny last name for a lot of the years i spent in school. so i understand the compulsion to try and blend in with the majority and be "normal", but there is also this inability to turn your back on things that are essentially yours and that define you. no, i can't say i can identify with anyone who is a visible minority but there are moments that can allow you a glimpse into that world of being "the odd one out".
there are places in edmonton that you can go to to get that sensation. whether it be gay bars (which are fantastic on new years' eves), a bubble tea place known in the chinese community for the best bubble tea EVER, or going to a bollywood film on the south side. i know there are places in edmonton "owned" my various communities. actually think of any place that isn't dominated by at least one group, whether majority or minority. someone is always the odd one out. i think it's great and necessary to give that sensation a try. just like traveling, you gotta get out of the city and out of your comfort zone to know more about your city and more about yourself.
how's that for romantic views on multiculturalism?
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