f i v e t h i n g s; what’s up with that?*

yesterday in class, we discussed the concept of mythic power and whether it was something inherent within a particular object or if it was something that is bestowed upon an object.

i find myself on the side that believes that mythic power is something that is given or placed upon on object and i think this is reflected in Todd Babiak’s The Garneau Block. the novel itself captures the connection between the past and the present and ultimately, the local and the universal. i’d like to think that this is the concept behind “mythic power” – it has the ability to link together the personal with the collective.

with that concept in mind, it is difficult for me to choose five things to archive about Edmonton. throughout this course, i’ve developed this sense of the city as being a meshwork of different things: objects, places, symbols, etc... that are all layered onto one another. how can i choose what is more significant than the other? and if i do, it is signficant because the object is attached to a personal memory or a memory of edmonton on its own? or both?

*after thursday, i just HAD to make this my title :P

welcome to the city.

i think the photograph above pretty much summarizes my thought process in regards to this blog prompt ;P

initially, i thought that attempting to see Edmonton as a tourist wouldn’t be that difficult for me since i know very little of the city, other than my neighbourhood and the university campus (and i guess, High Street and part of downtown, thanks to the map assignment we did). and after reading A Tourist’s Guide to Glengarry, i figured that i could probably do a tour of a small area of Edmonton and just add a lot of fun anecdotes to make it a little more fun and engaging.

however, as i thought more about it, i realized that it would actually be rather difficult. which points or areas of the city would i – or should i for that matter – include on my tour guide? do i include the “tourist attractions” that the city always promotes or simply the points of the city that i find interesting? it was a similar thought process as i was configuring my map assignment – what points do i include and what should i write/say here?

it’s kind of funny though because as a child, i used to give my parents and their friends a “tour” of the house (i apparently was a very precocious and attention-seeking child) and i don’t remember even considering what points would be attractive in the house or whether people would actually want to know about this particular object or area i would point out. it’s interesting because i think as a child, everything seems interesting because you are exploring the space around you and you want to share that experience regardless of the audience thinks. as a tour guide, you are not only presenting a shared experience, but you also want to engage your audience in a way that not only makes them comfortable but gives them a good impression of yourself and of the city you are representing.

nature-esque.

when i first read the blog prompt for this week, i actually laughed aloud.

why? because for the last few weeks, mother nature decided to be cruel and treat us to an abnormally cold winter.

-35oC and mountains of snow aside, i do love appreciate nature (to an extent.)

how can you not appreciate this:



edmonton, as a larger urban city, has done a decent job of maintaining its balance with nature and increased infrastructure. however, sometimes i feel that other than the river valley, nature in the city doesn’t really get any attention...from anybody. and after reading mike davis’ piece, i feel as though there is either a) lack of awareness on our aggressive impact on nature in the city or b) we are aware of it, but simply don’t care.

for me, nature in the city appears to be just a part of background – on the periphery if you will. i don’t really pay too much attention to it nowadays, but i do remember when i was a child, going outside and to the park was the most important thing to me. i remember walking around my neighbourhood, counting all the trees and begging my dad to let me camp in the backyard or to build me a treehouse so i could live outside instead.

it makes me wonder, what happened to my love of the outdoors? why did it dissipate in the way that it did?

fruits of my labour.

for my map assignment, i chose to explore High Street (124th Street & Area). originally, this started out as a google map but somehow it took a life of its own and became this:

i don't know exactly how it happened; it kind of just did.

at each of the points, i have a little blurb about the significance of each location in regards to how it affected or made me think about my movement within that area. the pictures in between are interesting images/views i saw as i was travelling from point to point. not necessarily places you need to stop at, but just to provide a bit of perspective into what i noticed (or in some cases, what my partner pointed out to me) as i discovered an area.

i wanted to make it more about the walk itself rather than reaching certain points. thus, i wanted to make my map appear to be more of a "photowalk" and because googlemaps was not particularly useful in that aspect, since it's more focused on the point itself, this diorama (?) came to life.

while i was working on this assignment, i found that i was constantly changing my ideas on how i wanted this map to be presented. eventually, this was the final end product, although i'm not exactly sure as to how i feel about it. i'm proud of the work i did but i still feel like i need to add more - that it's not yet complete. its similar to what i feel i've learned in 380 so far - i enjoy the class and i love the fact that it's more conceptually based (as a science major, this is a rather welcomed change) but i feel as there's still more to it, both literally and figuratively speaking.

*special thanks to my friend Diana who braved the cold weather to walk this map with me and helped take photos :)

mapping language.

as i was working on this map assignment, i happened to stumble upon this wonderful blog filled with an extensive collection of creative maps: http://creativemapping.blogspot.com/



London Map Project - "The Knowledge - Land of Achievement & Land of Wisdom"

as i looked through all the different maps, what really struck me was the various forms of maps created. some were paintings, others were embroidery. my favorite creative cartographer though has to be any work done by Agnes Poitevin-Navarre. her pieces, as seen in the picture posted above, deals largely with coupling language alongside maps, which is an interesting concept to explore. maps ultimately help us all to discover and understand the space surrounding us; however, i think sometimes we don’t always consider the role the language plays in our movement within the city.

mapping of dreams.

as i looked through all of her pieces, i couldn't help but wonder about what it means to actually map language. it had seemed so conceptually foreign me that i was quite amazed at how she managed to take words and associate them to movement. i know that language travels with a person, but it was interesting for me to see this on a more concrete/tangible manner.

if you ever get a chance to, check out her website for more of her work at her website:

http://www.agnespnavarre.com/

wanderer at heart.

i’ve always found myself attracted to idea of simply taking my time and walking around everywhere (mother nature apparently does not agree; or at least, wanted it to be as difficult of a process as it could be). i’m an ETS person – not by personal choice, believe me – but after taking this course, the notion of walking around the city became more and more alluring.

i’ve always wondered how differently i would see the city if i were to walk a good portion of it rather than be stuck in a moving vehicle. so when it came down to map assignment, i was rather excited to get started. although the walk didn’t go as smoothly as i had wanted to be, i found myself enjoying being outside and not necessarily being confined to a particular space. i drifted off a bit from the original street i was intending to explore and found little shops and bistros, even art galleries, that i never even knew about. it was interesting as well, to notice the little shops that had either a distinct smell or feeling when you stepped inside. i actually overheard the FUNNIEST conversation between two people (and their stones!) when i walking behind them.

walking gave me time to not only observe my surroundings but gave me a new way think about how i move within the city. by walking around with a camera (and a friend to talk to about what we see) and snapping shots, i went home and saw different...characteristics of the points i visited. it made me realize that by taking a simple walk, i can get fresh perspective of the spaces i inhabit. maybe the mundane isn't as mundane as i thought it was.

giving edmonton a voice

“so quiet out, city lights sentinels and a chorus of stars above, yelling their whispers at us, talking up dreams we forgot we had.” – Page 47, The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust.

yesterday, Malcolm Azania, or Minister Faust, spoke about his love for creating characters that have distinct voices. his novel, as i’ve quoted from above, is unique in having multi-narrators - 11 or so, if i’m not mistaken. even as he was reading excerpts from his novel, you could see how he created different voices for each of the characters he read out loud. this lead me to re-read most of the novel in order to characterize each character’s voice. however, as i was reading, i found that i was beginning to note more on how the setting of the story was becoming a character in itself.

maybe it’s because i’m from edmonton and every little reference mentioned about the city made me feel giddy inside that the city I grew up in was getting some exposure (at least in a way that didn’t mention how edmonton was going to be a “world class” city). faust anatomizes edmonton in a way that makes the city seem more...”exotic” – even to someone whose grown up there. he gave the city voice that i didn’t know it had – a place that’s not as completely dead as i think it is. and while i know that it is a work of fiction, it did make be re-look at edmonton in a different way – which is what english380 has done for me so far.

i’ve learned about local authors, about a growing “underground” culture, and most importantly, i’ve been given a new perspective on edmonton. that the city was more than just a place i grew up and live in. it has a character hidden within it – one that i need to find and discover for myself.

on the edge of the margin.

meeting Darrin Hagen and reading his novel, The Edmonton Queen, this past week has led to a lot of firsts for me. i got to learn about this whole piece of edmonton that i never even knew existed (at least, not in such a grand fashion) and i got to meet and speak to a person who not only uncovers queer history in edmonton, but was – and continues to be – at the forefront of the drag community in the city.

not to take any significance away from Darrin and his novel, but this whole experience has made me think about my own culture and where my community can be placed in edmonton. i too am a part of a minority – albeit one that is met with less resistance from society for its existence. interestingly enough, today is actually one of the most important days for my culture/minority: it’s lunar new year. being Buddhist, there were numerous traditions that needed to be carried out and of course, attending the new year’s ceremony last night at the local monastery was a must. during the entire ceremony, i couldn’t help but look around and see the large congregation that had come together in celebration.

it was then that i realized that i’ve never really thought of myself as a part of a “minority.” i mean, i obviously knew that i was, but i guess it’s never registered in my mind what being a “minority” actually entailed. does being a minority necessarily mean having a smaller sense of place within the city? while i don't think minorities "own" certain areas of the city, i do think that there are particular places where they conglomerate.

hi-to-to-ki.

“She looked up at me between a mass of tangled arms, knotted browns and apathetic expressions of uncomfortable misery.” - Stephen Ledger-Lomas on Highbury & Islington tube platform, Islington (London, England)

while hitotoki 2.0 was a bit of a misfire for me (i found it rather overwhelming), it’s hard not to appreciate the beauty that classic hitotoki offers.

just look at the snippet above (taken from classic hitotoki). an everyday moment is captured and documented by an observer. however, the minute you click on a phrase, you’re led not only to a simple narrative but to an experience as well.

“then our eyes flicked back together again, and a tear was gathering on her cheek...

‘...are you okay?’
‘yes, i’m fine.’

she was lying.
i left.”
- Stephen Ledger-Lomas on Highbury & Islington tube platform, Islington (London, England)


classic hitotoki, i think, presents us with a more shared experience; that it’s not just about capturing and documenting a particular moment but also about the responses these images incite - the influx of senses that arise and the associations we make in relation to these observations.

and to think, the discovery of classic hitotoki was only a click away...

where you at, edmonton?

edmonton, ab. the city of champions. oil country. these are all terms that attempt to describe the city i inhabit and yet my identifier for the city, as you may have surmised from my blog title, is deadmonton.

i can’t exactly remember when i was first introduced to the term deadmonton (or even the first time it slipped across my lips in conversation) but for some reason, it has always stuck. why? i’m not exactly sure myself. maybe it’s because i’ve grown up in this city that i find it uninteresting; the ritualistic routes i take every day that have exhausted any and all enthusiasm i once had for the city. home. school. home. work. home. occasionally, the mall if i’m up to it. i used to blame my disinterest on a lack of variety in the city but sitting here, munching on a cheese croissant and sipping my peppermint tea, i can’t help but overhear people telling one another about the great time they had at this place and did they know about this part of the city. it makes me wish that i knew something more about the city, that i was somehow more invested in this surrounding space.

this reminds me of a discussion in my english class the other day where we attempted to differentiate betweenspace and place. we all agreed that place was something more subjective; that we develop a sense of place from our experiences within a particular space. therefore, maybe my detachment from the city can be rectified by me simply exploring the different crevices of the city that i don’t see every day. maybe, in order to take ownership and call it “my edmonton,” i need to experience more of the city for myself.