Walking Journal: Following the “Guide to Getting Lost”
Monday September 19th at 1:00 I left my dorm, Belden Racine Hall and began walking down N Racine Avenue. I decided to listen to the podcast “Guide to Getting Lost” and follow the narrator’s directions as closely as possible.
I encountered my first “landmark” at 1:10. It was Saint Mary’s home Helen Kellogg Center, little sister of the poor. I wondered if this was a nuns home, or just a church itself. At 1:13 I passed a ghost or a record of the past. I encountered a little park called Father Grassi Community park.
This park had a sign that stood outside of it and read “In memory of John D. Schanmier” and the park was seemingly sponsored by the St. Josaphat Parish. The park had a little fountain with benches surrounding it and some nice shade provided by small trees above. In the park there were a couple people and one golden retriever who were taking advantage of the shade on this sunny day. It was at 1:17 when I passed by an auto shop. The back of the shop butted up against N Greenview Avenue. I was walking in a residential area at this point so I thought it was odd to see an auto repair shop right next to someone’s home.
At 1:18 I passed a home that I was drawn to. It was towards the end of N Greenview Avenue and compared to the homes around it it was bright and colorful so my eyes naturally gravitated towards it. In Response to seeing this house I thought “I would love to see who lives there.” because in my head I imagine the owner to be dressed in clothing just as colorful as their home is.
At 1:20 I was walking along Fullerton Avenue when a police car and an ambulance sped by. Much like the cars on the road I stopped to watch it pass by. Something I was drawn to while walking down Fullerton Avenue was some graffiti on a road sign. This was just one minute after the emergency vehicles had passed and I stopped to take a picture.
Veering off the busy road at 1:24 I turned into and walked through an alleyway. At 1:26 I turned out of the alleyway and was walking in a residential area on W Altgeld Street.
I eventually turned into another alleyway at 1:28. Once I reached the end of this ally I realized this was the same alleyway I walked though at 1:24. They alleyways ended up being connected to each other.
Turning out onto a residential street and walking straight for a while it wasn’t until 1:34 when I turned to walk through another alleyway. This one was much longer than the ones before and had more things I found interesting. For example on my right there were a lot of doorways leading into some buildings.
I could tell that on the right side of the alleyway was the back of a busier or industrialized road. Compared to my left side where I could tell it was more residential because there were garages, garbage cans, and even a basketball hoop.
It was 1:36 when I turned out of the alleyway and to my surprise I was back on N racine Avenue. It was at this point where the narrator had told me that this is where my walk is over.
From here it was very easy to find my way back. I was pleasantly surprised to turn and see a DePaul University sign at the intersection of N Racine Avenue and Fullerton Ave. Because I walk through that intersection daily I had no issue finding my dorm. At the end of the podcast she said we should end up where we started and that is partially true in my case. I ended up on the same street I began on but not in the exact same spot. I ended up less than a block away from my starting point.
Reading Response: “Paris, or Botanzing the Asphalt”
Losing yourself is not actually not being able to find your way around. The best way I can describe what Benjamin means by “losing oneself in the city,” is getting caught up in the moment. It is like the saying time flies when you are having fun. You completely lose yourself in the moment. It is like when you put all your focus and attention into something, you forget about all other things that are not that one point of focus. I can recall one time this summer where I lost myself in this sense. I remember I was with my friend Emily and we were hanging out at my house. We were watching TV in my basement trying to figure out what to watch and we couldn’t agree on anything so we decided to play Minecraft. Next thing we know it’s 4:00 AM. After reading “Paris, or Botanzing the Asphalt” one thing I can take away from that experience is that it is so easy to lose oneself playing video games. (173)
