The nighttime escapades of Mr. Hido, seem to glimpse at the "not-so-nice" snapshots of the suburbs. It doesn't seem to be the welcoming community that one likes to think of in a family-type setting. As a matter of fact, it seems that if you are doing something out of the ordinary, you are looked at as an imposter, someone to look out for.
The dingy night views of the suburbs, perhaps give a more telling tale of what it is really like to live there. Day-to-day with no exciting things to do, than bother the man outside taking a picture of the houses in the neighborhood. Not really caring what he is using it for, but just basically telling him to get lost; saying "we don't want you "city-types" here."
This different view of the suburbs seem to tell a different side, than the "goody-two-shoes" most associate with the 'burbs. Is it the real face of the suburbs? Or just some grumpy guy who is a driveway Natzi?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
"Suburbia" by Bill Owens
The collection of pictures that Bill Owens has put together is a lovely work of art. I believe that he encompasses all that is wanted, by a move to the Suburbs. The snapshots of people building their homes, some designed especially for them, it's a dream that many Americans would like to be part of.
The BBQ that the whole community comes and joins, contributing potato salad, chicken and who knows what else. It's the idea of a perfect lifestyle. Maybe even to perfect. Some place that your children can play without having to worry about who is your next door neighbor, or if his name is on some god-forsaken list.
The collection of pictures gives it the whole "Leave it to Beaver" feel, and you could even hear the music in the background playing that all-knowing tune. Mom's in the kitchen, taking care of the babies, as Dad's and older kids play outside or lounge around the house waiting for the next TV program or meal that takes them away from the day-to-day living in the suburbs.
How many of us would really like to live there? In some ways, it's just a society that may be a bit too perfect for many of us these days. I think we as a people now, are looking for more action, than the "wave to your neighbor good morning"-type days. Or maybe, we just need to get back to the simple way of living, and truly enjoy everything that we are truly blessed to have in our lives.
The BBQ that the whole community comes and joins, contributing potato salad, chicken and who knows what else. It's the idea of a perfect lifestyle. Maybe even to perfect. Some place that your children can play without having to worry about who is your next door neighbor, or if his name is on some god-forsaken list.
The collection of pictures gives it the whole "Leave it to Beaver" feel, and you could even hear the music in the background playing that all-knowing tune. Mom's in the kitchen, taking care of the babies, as Dad's and older kids play outside or lounge around the house waiting for the next TV program or meal that takes them away from the day-to-day living in the suburbs.
How many of us would really like to live there? In some ways, it's just a society that may be a bit too perfect for many of us these days. I think we as a people now, are looking for more action, than the "wave to your neighbor good morning"-type days. Or maybe, we just need to get back to the simple way of living, and truly enjoy everything that we are truly blessed to have in our lives.
"Slowly, Calling the Burbs Home" by Patricia Lahrmer
The way that Patricia describes her vision of the suburbs, reminds me of the way I might view it. Not quite feeling total comfort living there, but letting it kind of grow on you. I like to live in a place that has some excitement to it. Maybe it's because I have always lived that way, or maybe it's just because I want to live in a place that has a more "homey" feel to it.
Patricia has kind of given in to her life in the "burbs" and is just content to living where she feels most comfortable. She thinks about the reasons why her and her husband stay where they have lived for 20 years and is just takes comfort in knowing that she only has to walk a short distance for her favorite kind of coffee and books. The sites, the smells and the neighbors all make her realize that no matter how much she thought she wasn't a part of this community, she actually is a very big part of it.
When telling someone about the events that happens very rarely in the suburbs, she finds herself irritated for sharing, because many people have this vision of the suburbs being boring, and she doesn't like being categorized as a suburban family, for one reason or another.
After sitting there (I assume in her attic) writing this article, she seems to have realized that she will probably never leave the suburbs because they have become home, more than she has ever realized, and possibly wanted.
Patricia has kind of given in to her life in the "burbs" and is just content to living where she feels most comfortable. She thinks about the reasons why her and her husband stay where they have lived for 20 years and is just takes comfort in knowing that she only has to walk a short distance for her favorite kind of coffee and books. The sites, the smells and the neighbors all make her realize that no matter how much she thought she wasn't a part of this community, she actually is a very big part of it.
When telling someone about the events that happens very rarely in the suburbs, she finds herself irritated for sharing, because many people have this vision of the suburbs being boring, and she doesn't like being categorized as a suburban family, for one reason or another.
After sitting there (I assume in her attic) writing this article, she seems to have realized that she will probably never leave the suburbs because they have become home, more than she has ever realized, and possibly wanted.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
"Criteria for a Healthy Landscape" by Paul Groth
In Paul Groth's "Criteria for a Healthy Landscape", he brings forth a problem that we may face in reading others' writings on American Landscape. He says that a lot of what others write are based on the writers perception of a previous article has stated, and biasedly. To interpret his "ideas" he states that there are seven criteria for healthy landscapes that one should follow in order to be precise in their views and writings.
Groth lets us know that we have to be in touch with our own selves and our surroundings before we can be open to the landscape around us. In the first criteria he tells us that we need to be more involved in the world, to make our "mark". In the second we need to be open and willing to accept everyone no matter what our imparements, handicaps or looks may be. We need to interact with one another, which is social survival.
In all seven of the criteria that Groth states we should follow, I find that the 6th is the most important. In it, Groth states that "A healthy landscape connects itself to OTHER parts of nature." I find that this is the most important because it mixes nature and the human aspect of nature in it. He states that the western culture has a problem with this criteria, by separating ourselves from nature. We look at nature as trees, and tree-huggers, etc. Everything around us is nature, we have made it so as humans. Groth brings in the fact that nature isn't always pleasant. This is the type of nature that we, modern day humans, have created.
I do find however, that one cannot write a piece without being biased in any way. Anytime we are reading something that someone else has written and respond to it, we in turn are interpreting in varying degrees of definitions. The same goes for Groth. I believe even his writing is biased in some way, because he is expressing his opinions.
Groth lets us know that we have to be in touch with our own selves and our surroundings before we can be open to the landscape around us. In the first criteria he tells us that we need to be more involved in the world, to make our "mark". In the second we need to be open and willing to accept everyone no matter what our imparements, handicaps or looks may be. We need to interact with one another, which is social survival.
In all seven of the criteria that Groth states we should follow, I find that the 6th is the most important. In it, Groth states that "A healthy landscape connects itself to OTHER parts of nature." I find that this is the most important because it mixes nature and the human aspect of nature in it. He states that the western culture has a problem with this criteria, by separating ourselves from nature. We look at nature as trees, and tree-huggers, etc. Everything around us is nature, we have made it so as humans. Groth brings in the fact that nature isn't always pleasant. This is the type of nature that we, modern day humans, have created.
I do find however, that one cannot write a piece without being biased in any way. Anytime we are reading something that someone else has written and respond to it, we in turn are interpreting in varying degrees of definitions. The same goes for Groth. I believe even his writing is biased in some way, because he is expressing his opinions.
Friday, January 30, 2009
"24 Hours at The Golden Apple"
"24 Hours at The Golden Apple", was a great example of American Landscape. I really enjoyed listening to everyone's story and liked hearing the everyday life of others. This 24 hour shift of interviews really gives us an insight of how other people live their lives; something that we see and dismiss. Taking the time and listening to the stories, you can just visualize these people going about their everyday lives, day after day.
In the recording you hear of a waitress named Donna that has been on the night shift at the Golden Apple for 26 years. You hear her story of being a single parent of 3 children and deciding to work the night shift, so she can be there for her kids during the day; and she isn't even a night person. She started out doing this because it was her duty for her children, and she has grown to feel it is her duty as a waitress to her regular customers and the nighttime patrons of the diner. Her working the night shift has turned into a life for herself. She has seen plays, she has gone to see musicians play and she has seen artwork, all by patrons of the graveyard shift.
There are people that come in, just because they are lonely and looking for conversation. There are people there that come because it is a place they can just sit and relax, while not being alone. There are children that have grown up to bring their children there, just to get the forbidden Mickey Mouse pancakes, that every child knows about who lives in the area.
There are ex-daters, best friends, police officers, retired people and many more who walk through that door every day. Stopping in to say "hi" to each other, and to the owners, Pete, Nick and Tom. We even hear a story about a woman on her way to a viewing of a friend at the church across the street. Her name is Katie "Keen" and she is 75 years old. Katie has lived in the neighborhood her whole life; even after her family moved to the suburbs. She tells us of another landmark that sat in that exact spot when she was in high school. A pharmacy stood in that same wedge shaped piece of land, and was the hangout for high school kids while she was younger.
The most profound thing that stands out in my mind about The Golden Apple is that there are no locks and no keys. No one is turned away at anytime of the day or night. The diner stands there open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just like it is telling the outside world "come on in, sit down, and tell us your story."
In the recording you hear of a waitress named Donna that has been on the night shift at the Golden Apple for 26 years. You hear her story of being a single parent of 3 children and deciding to work the night shift, so she can be there for her kids during the day; and she isn't even a night person. She started out doing this because it was her duty for her children, and she has grown to feel it is her duty as a waitress to her regular customers and the nighttime patrons of the diner. Her working the night shift has turned into a life for herself. She has seen plays, she has gone to see musicians play and she has seen artwork, all by patrons of the graveyard shift.
There are people that come in, just because they are lonely and looking for conversation. There are people there that come because it is a place they can just sit and relax, while not being alone. There are children that have grown up to bring their children there, just to get the forbidden Mickey Mouse pancakes, that every child knows about who lives in the area.
There are ex-daters, best friends, police officers, retired people and many more who walk through that door every day. Stopping in to say "hi" to each other, and to the owners, Pete, Nick and Tom. We even hear a story about a woman on her way to a viewing of a friend at the church across the street. Her name is Katie "Keen" and she is 75 years old. Katie has lived in the neighborhood her whole life; even after her family moved to the suburbs. She tells us of another landmark that sat in that exact spot when she was in high school. A pharmacy stood in that same wedge shaped piece of land, and was the hangout for high school kids while she was younger.
The most profound thing that stands out in my mind about The Golden Apple is that there are no locks and no keys. No one is turned away at anytime of the day or night. The diner stands there open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just like it is telling the outside world "come on in, sit down, and tell us your story."
Thursday, January 29, 2009
"K'Mart Has a Loveable Disorder" by Hank Stuever
"K'Mart Has a Loveable Disorder" by Hank Stuever is an entertaining, and true account of the way that people in our generation know K'Mart. His description of what happens in one of the stores, just reminds me of what I have seen when I have to visit one. Where I currently live, K'Mart is the closest thing that I have to any department store within 40 minutes. I cringe when I think about walking into a K'Mart, it reminds me of a "ritzy trailor park", if that makes any sense what-so-ever.
I can walk into a K'Mart and see a parent berating their kid for something, and see that same kid five minutes later riding a skateboard around the aisles screaming wildly about how they don't need to go to the bathroom because they went at home (a true account, I assure you). Even after everything that has happened while in a K'Mart, there is some draw for everyone to go at one time or another.
Mr. Stuever states that "It (K'Mart) has lipstick on its teeth and those days where it feels, you know, not-so-fresh?" This is a statement that cracks me up. It is so true. When I don't feel like getting dressed up enough for Target or Wal-Mart (oh I know), I know that K'Mart will be there for me. If I don't want to brush my hair and wear ratty sweats and holy t-shirt, K'Mart and its patrons do not judge me. It has a classy "white trash" feel to it. You can buy stale popcorn from its food court, and Martha Stewart's latest cookbook (on sale of course) all from the same place. Crazy enough as it is, the cost of items at K'Mart is typically more expensive than I could find at Wal-Mart.
"We are but three similar and divided Americas: Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.", says Hank Stuever. I am more of a Wal-Mart person myself, and I think I always will be. Like Mr. Stuever says, we like to think ourselves as a Target person, but most of us just aren't. We will always have a love/hate relationship with K'Mart, because there is a little part of us all that just wants to say "screw it" on some days.
I can walk into a K'Mart and see a parent berating their kid for something, and see that same kid five minutes later riding a skateboard around the aisles screaming wildly about how they don't need to go to the bathroom because they went at home (a true account, I assure you). Even after everything that has happened while in a K'Mart, there is some draw for everyone to go at one time or another.
Mr. Stuever states that "It (K'Mart) has lipstick on its teeth and those days where it feels, you know, not-so-fresh?" This is a statement that cracks me up. It is so true. When I don't feel like getting dressed up enough for Target or Wal-Mart (oh I know), I know that K'Mart will be there for me. If I don't want to brush my hair and wear ratty sweats and holy t-shirt, K'Mart and its patrons do not judge me. It has a classy "white trash" feel to it. You can buy stale popcorn from its food court, and Martha Stewart's latest cookbook (on sale of course) all from the same place. Crazy enough as it is, the cost of items at K'Mart is typically more expensive than I could find at Wal-Mart.
"We are but three similar and divided Americas: Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.", says Hank Stuever. I am more of a Wal-Mart person myself, and I think I always will be. Like Mr. Stuever says, we like to think ourselves as a Target person, but most of us just aren't. We will always have a love/hate relationship with K'Mart, because there is a little part of us all that just wants to say "screw it" on some days.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Monument and the Bungalow by Pierce Lewis
“The Monument and the Bungalow” by Pierce Lewis is an eye opening read. It is a rare time that I have actually looked at a building and wondered the history behind it. As an every day citizen of society, I take these things for granted. Mr. Lewis' Geographical review is a stop and smell the roses type of writing. He takes the reader that may be disinterested and draws them in. He writes that there are two basic precepts that students need to develop before becoming landscape readers.
The first of the two precepts is a basic concept. Mr. Lewis states, “Students need to develop and cultivate the habit of using their eyes and asking nonjudgmental questions about familiar, commonplace things.” (qtd. Lewis) This made me stop and think about what this meant. I cam to my own conclusion and thought about times that I have just stopped and read the landscape that I could see. The most prominent thing I could think of was seeing land from the air. The way that the land is divided. Why is it divided that way? Is it because it is boundaries of property? Or is it a farm that has a specific purpose for its squared shape? I came to the conclusion that I do this task without even thinking about it.
The second precept is acquiring vocabulary. In this definition, Mr. Lewis says, “Students have to learn the habit of using their eyes of paying attention to the commonplace things that they rarely notice.” (qtd. Lewis) From this precept, it is my understanding that in order for us to be able to really see the landscape and be able to describe what we are seeing, we need to have the knowledge of what it is we are seeing. Mr. Lewis uses a plant as an example, saying “In plant ecology, certain species of plants are signals of indicators of ecological change – but one has to recognize and identify the plants before one can begin to speculate about what is happening.” (qtd. Lewis) He uses the plants to compare thoughts about the background of something that we need to know the history on.
Buildings are our biggest, most prominent visual proof of history. We live our day-to-day lives in and around our proof that there was a history here before us. Take the Capital Building (examiner.com) in Washington D.C. For example. How many people 100 years from now are going to look back and remember that that is where the first African-American President was sworn in on January 20th, 2009? That is a piece of history that might just be the biggest event since Lincoln became President; yet in the future we will take that for granted as well. I am sure that the people that live and work in Washington D.C. Pass all of those things every day without even thinking about what they stand for, and why they are there. As a young student in Junior High, I was lucky enough to go to D.C. and visit those places. They are larger than life. The idea that someone could have such an impact on society that they build a huge memorial of him (Lincoln) is breathtaking.
If we were all to take the time, and slow down a bit to remember the way that we came to be; and to take an excerpt from Mr. Lewis' writing, “In sum, landscape is a historic document that tells a story – nay, multiple stories – about the people who
created the landscape – and the cultural context in which that landscape was founded.” (qtd. Lewis) We need to, in effect, stop and smell the roses, appreciate what we have and how we got it, before we are beyond repair.
The first of the two precepts is a basic concept. Mr. Lewis states, “Students need to develop and cultivate the habit of using their eyes and asking nonjudgmental questions about familiar, commonplace things.” (qtd. Lewis) This made me stop and think about what this meant. I cam to my own conclusion and thought about times that I have just stopped and read the landscape that I could see. The most prominent thing I could think of was seeing land from the air. The way that the land is divided. Why is it divided that way? Is it because it is boundaries of property? Or is it a farm that has a specific purpose for its squared shape? I came to the conclusion that I do this task without even thinking about it.
The second precept is acquiring vocabulary. In this definition, Mr. Lewis says, “Students have to learn the habit of using their eyes of paying attention to the commonplace things that they rarely notice.” (qtd. Lewis) From this precept, it is my understanding that in order for us to be able to really see the landscape and be able to describe what we are seeing, we need to have the knowledge of what it is we are seeing. Mr. Lewis uses a plant as an example, saying “In plant ecology, certain species of plants are signals of indicators of ecological change – but one has to recognize and identify the plants before one can begin to speculate about what is happening.” (qtd. Lewis) He uses the plants to compare thoughts about the background of something that we need to know the history on.
Buildings are our biggest, most prominent visual proof of history. We live our day-to-day lives in and around our proof that there was a history here before us. Take the Capital Building (examiner.com) in Washington D.C. For example. How many people 100 years from now are going to look back and remember that that is where the first African-American President was sworn in on January 20th, 2009? That is a piece of history that might just be the biggest event since Lincoln became President; yet in the future we will take that for granted as well. I am sure that the people that live and work in Washington D.C. Pass all of those things every day without even thinking about what they stand for, and why they are there. As a young student in Junior High, I was lucky enough to go to D.C. and visit those places. They are larger than life. The idea that someone could have such an impact on society that they build a huge memorial of him (Lincoln) is breathtaking.
If we were all to take the time, and slow down a bit to remember the way that we came to be; and to take an excerpt from Mr. Lewis' writing, “In sum, landscape is a historic document that tells a story – nay, multiple stories – about the people who
created the landscape – and the cultural context in which that landscape was founded.” (qtd. Lewis) We need to, in effect, stop and smell the roses, appreciate what we have and how we got it, before we are beyond repair.
Friday, January 16, 2009
This is me
Hello everyone and thank you for reading my blog.
I just wanted to tell you a bit about myself before I start on the assignments. My name is Charmaine and I am 32 years old. I am married with 2 boys (ages 10 and 23 months). Recently, my family and I have moved up here from southern California (LA area). Currently my family and I are living in Lake County (with the in-laws) until we are established with jobs, etc.
I always enjoy taking online courses (I have 5 this semester... yes... 5), it gives me the freedom to do work when I find I am able to. I have already received my AA degree in Accounting (May, 2002) and I am working on transferring to SSU within the next semester or two.
I love to go to the movies, read and am an overall easy-going person. I have always enjoyed English, but have found it a bit easier to write now that I am older and have more experience in the business world with communications.
I hope that everyone has a great semester and good luck! :)
Charmaine
I just wanted to tell you a bit about myself before I start on the assignments. My name is Charmaine and I am 32 years old. I am married with 2 boys (ages 10 and 23 months). Recently, my family and I have moved up here from southern California (LA area). Currently my family and I are living in Lake County (with the in-laws) until we are established with jobs, etc.
I always enjoy taking online courses (I have 5 this semester... yes... 5), it gives me the freedom to do work when I find I am able to. I have already received my AA degree in Accounting (May, 2002) and I am working on transferring to SSU within the next semester or two.
I love to go to the movies, read and am an overall easy-going person. I have always enjoyed English, but have found it a bit easier to write now that I am older and have more experience in the business world with communications.
I hope that everyone has a great semester and good luck! :)
Charmaine
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