Thoughts about today's peer review

I'm not sure what everyone elses thoughts were, but I figured the peer review went well.

There we were, frantically reading, trying to give the writer some help to boost their paper from that Average to Good rating, when I had an epiphany. Okay not really, I guess it was more of a brain fart.

Initially, I paused and rethought what I was doing in terms of how to go about the review. This caused me to be partly irritated because I wanted to try and at least finish one review before class finished and the clock was ticking.

I found that it's very difficult, for myself, not to be too biased about my critique about someone's paper. The entire time I was reading it, I figured, "Yeah, that's ok, and so is that, but I would have done it a little differently. I would have done it like that. Why is it this way?" Everyone writes differently, but I suppose it's your dissenting opinion that helps them forge a better paper?

I assume for most of the class period I was more worried about providing accurate and well-thought responses than I should have been. One thing that I think everyone should realize when performing these reviews is to not force something to appear that you see wrong. If you go into the paper trying to find something wrong, chances are, all you'll see is something you disagree with. That's where my bias began to kick in. I went in thinking, "Alright, find something good that you can comment on, where is it, it's here somewhere." Thinking like that doesn't exactly exercise strong critical analysis. It should just be something that stands out to you, the neutral reader.

After my brief mental lapse in the middle of class, I tried to start over and elaborate on some of the key points that I was trying to make instead of flying all over the place. I think that clear and concise opinions will benefit the writer more than some of the jumbled thoughts I was writing at first.

Hopefully, I'll make it easier for myself next time. Oh well.

Driving Woes

I suppose winter has finally hit myself until just recently.

Driving is a pain to get anywhere and everyone is extremely slow like they've never seen snow before. Here I was enjoying the 40 degree Michigan winter. So far, this recent addition of white has increased my commute by about 15 minutes, which isn't too bad I guess.

I actually got rear-ended the other day while to the i-696 entrance ramp heading to Dearborn. Luckily for me, my car took no damage to it because the guy somehow managed to hit me square on the trailer-hitch. When I got out, I couldn't figure out what happened because the back of my Explorer was perfectly fine and this guy's pickup truck had it's bumper barely hanging on.

I wonder how much longer I'll remain lucky.

New knowledge for myself via my topic

Well, apparently in my absence of the area during my stay at college, I've overlooked a few things. Living in Ann Arbor and commuting to Dearborn, I never really have to go north too often to Hall Road. However, talking to a friend of mine who lives out that way, they informed me that a new mall is going in. It's plan is to be developed in the next few years.

The first thing I asked myself was, what? It seemed a little strange, considering Lakeside Mall is basically 2 and a half streets to the west. Putting big complexes like these so close to each other just didn't seem to make sense.

Oh well, I suppose adding more commericialism to the eastern side now will lessen the overall choke point that is between Hayes and Schoenherr. This will make travel a little more difficult, though, to most of the locations I travel to.

Some progress on the research

I haven't actually begun to type my paper yet, but, I feel myself coming closer and closer to putting what I want to conceptualize in a concrete format.

Since my subject on Hall Road seemed to be a fairly popular and used location, I figured I should get a few more opinions than just the two required. I think I mentioned before in class that I was looking for a broader spectrum of drivers/local residents than just one group of younger or older.

So far, though, most of the opinions I'm receiving about the road has been negative, so maybe my spin on it should be about the good aspects of it, to try and be original...

Jiving with Java

I have never seen the point to coffeehouses. I doubt I ever will.

Reading this small bit made me laugh as I recalled the few times I ever stepped foot into one of these places. Going in the door, I felt as though I was aware of most of the stereotypes that some label for frequent cafe visitors. I told even told myself, beforehand, always struggling to be an on-going skeptic to popular views, that I would try to not specifically look for the stereotypes while I was in there because it would solidify and degrade my opinion of coffeehouses forever. Unfortunately, the stereotypes won.

As soon as I entered, I looked around and saw two businessmen pounding down whatever they ordered, one guy becoming frustrated with his laptop, and one man reading the Wallstreet Journal. Let us not forget the creepy people-watchers who do nothing except slowly sip on their coffee and stare at everyone who walks in and out of the store. Now, I wasn't in there because I wanted coffee. I was in there because a friend wanted to stop in and buy some before we headed out. This made the situation slightly more awkward as I became the center of attention for the guy with nothing better to do.

Sarcasm and fun aside, I can't say I ever really saw the point. Was this location some sort of means to show off? Did this setting increase your chances of random encounters with someone you don't know? I'd rather go to a park or public event than idle around inside a forcibly-modern location.

Then again, perhaps my disdain for coffeehouses stems from my lack of interest in coffee itself. Never drank it on a regular basis or even on those rare occasions when you have to work extra hard for a greater amount of time. I'm definately not a morning person, yet, I don't find myself yearning for that extra kick many others need to just get themselves through the day.

So...actually talking about the reading, one thing I wanted to point out was the author's view on coffeehouses as a step UP from places like bars, moving away from cigarettes and alcohol. I hope I'm not the only one who sees this as hypocritical as caffeine, commonly abused, can also have negative effects on your body. Granted, not everyone is addicted to lattes like it's crack. It just seems like a milder approach to those "bad" things. Since our last addiction has been labeled as not good for us, let's find something new to overconsume and love. Oh well.

Why people believe Americans are Stupid!

Just testing out the YouTube thing. I found this funny... and depressing.

Some things about Detroit Funk

As discussed, Detroit Funk was definately the more interesting of the two blogs we were able to read.

One thing that jumped out to me was the amount of pictures he took and what type. Most of his pictures and dark, giving in to the allusion of being forgotten. One of his posts certainly portrayed this feeling by taking photos of an abandoned school. Take note that the pictures are vibrant in color. All we see, though, is everything left behind.

What's intriguing are his captions for his pictures. He gives small observations, some quick and funny, others short and to the point.

My favorite post on this blog is the one about the Macomb County Building. It's attention catching and fascinating to see such sculptures in and around our neighborhood. The plaques, along with the author, seem to tell their own story.

So, about that trip around the neighborhood...

I feel as though I should have posted this a lot sooner, however, I only started to look recently at some interesting things to write about. Dr. DeGenaro said to take a walk, however, due to the extremely great walking weather, I decided I'd drive around. Sorry!

The first thing that caught my eye was... well hard to miss. One of my neighbors happens to have a monster truck parked in his driveway, which I suppose he gets good use out of now with snow on the ground. I'm 6'5", so measuring in terms of eyesight gave me a bit of a clue as to how large the tires were, which I would venture to guess around 4.5~5 feet. It's a shame they aren't spinning.

A few houses down, one guy is probably kicking himself for not taking down his Christmas lights. It seemed like the opportune time to do it since we had 45 degree weather even after New Years Day.

When you reach the end of my road, it connects to the "larger" road, which leads to the entrace/exit of the subdivision. Now, there's something unique about this road. Half of it is paved and half of it is dirt. It has been this way the entire thirteen years I've lived at that house. People have tried to get that road paved, only to be denied by the residents living on that side of the road. They complain that the job would take too long and it would be right out in front of there house. Honestly, who cares? It becomes irritating because people don't want to dirty up there car and everyone is driving on the paved side, meaning wrong side.

I suppose the last interesting thing that sparked my attention driving around the block would be the lawn-job one guy received. His house is positioned at the corner lot of two roads in the neighborhood, apparently increasing his risk of sliders. I can't say whether or not it was intentional, but I'd assume someone accelerated into that turn and well... took a big chunk out of that guy's property. He got in there pretty deep, too, which I'd say about ten feet before the tip of the parabolic shape. I probably shouldn't have laughed at his misfortune...

Homeplace

I was split in terms of agreement when it came to this piece of reading. I enjoyed reading some of the insights she gave us in terms of who creates the homeplace and for what purpose it served.

The homeplace was a necessity in order to maintain the inhabitants sanity. The homeplace and its goals were brought to fruition via the female figure of the household. I felt as though I got the whole picture as to what the homeplace should be when she quoted the vietnamese Buddhist monk and relayed his message as the homeplace being resistance. The resistance was going against the change that was occurring and going somewhere where you can regain yourself. The way it is implied is almost that you lose yourself when outside of your self-maintained resistance, and returning to that haven is the only way to remain the individual you once were. To me, this was the most enlightening section of the reading; giving a view as to how black families were able to perservere in a very ignorant and unforgiving time.

However, I disagreed with many of her views on sexism. She seemed upset that the duty of the caretaker of the homeplace was forcefully and innately pushed upon women. Why? When I write this, I hope I don't have some lack of comprehending women's views of societal expectations upon them. If I recall correctly, females are biologically and psychologically more prone to be the caregiver, provider of life and comfort, etc., when it comes to children and families. I personally don't feel as though the men of those societies purposely pushed those responsibilites upon them, but that they happened that way for a greater reason. If those women at that time didn't follow their feelings to provide a safe and welcoming environment, then who would have? bell hooks wished for the greater participation against racism involving women, however, in my eyes, the repercussions of neglecting the maintenance of the "resistance" would have been far worse.

I'm still leaning on the fence a bit for this one.

Project thoughts

I've had some hard times coming up with ideas for this project, mainly because most of the public areas and items that I interact with are all in surrounding cities/townships. My first thought that I came up with was the large mall nearby where I live, Lakeside. However, Lakeside resides in Sterling Heights. Clinton Township is basically just a residential area with some stores, so there's not too many significant locations here for me, personally.

After some thought, I believe I've decided to choose Hall Road as my topic of interest. Why a road? I feel as though this is the main road that runs through the township, and I know for a fact that it is the most used and abused. Hall Road goes by other names as you head East or West, mainly M-59, or 20 mile road if you enjoy counting.

I feel as though I can use this material for my paper due to the way I feel about it. Whenever I have to use that road, I loathe it and avoid it like the Lions avoid the playoffs. It's 4-lanes wide and attracts way too much bad driving and cops. I suppose a good thing about it is that it scares away old people.

01/11 Discussion

Today's discussion was slightly... enlightening, I suppose.

The only major thing that I took away from all the opinions today had to be when we focused on the image of the city.

So, this begs to ask the question, "Was covering up Detroit's true colors for the Super Bowl beneficial or detrimental?"

I can see both sides of this argument, however, I still lean towards the whole thing eventually doing good for the city.

Basically, what I want to convey is the fact that if you don't act at all, how can change occur?

If slightly misleading the visitors who came during the Super Bowl was able to provoke some sort of intervention in the general consensus of the city, it has the potential to lead to some higher views. Sure, they might get pissed off the next time they come back, expecting the same highlights and falling very far from it. Maybe that short glimpse of 'what could be' may alter their opinion, giving it a more positive spin than just some ghetto where riots, murders, or muggings occur. Eliminate the detrimental presuppositions people inevitably have about the city, let them visit again with high hopes, and go from there. Doing nothing at all just leaves everything right where it is, and at this point in time, the current status is not something to be ignored.

Niki's Window

If there has to be one concrete message that I gathered from reading this piece, it would have to be the last line written by author Jerry Herron.
"For the same reason, however, it is also the city that becomes finally, the hardest to know."

There were so many things written in here that caught my attention, but, ultimately, I began to disagree with as I continued to read on.

Whether or not it's my incorrect interpretation, however, I felt that throughout the reading, I was viewing the rant of an older man seemingly displeased with the current state of our city history. I agree and disagree with this statement.

His recurring talk about the history of the buildings, which stand in the area now known as Greektown, was the core of his rant. The Dodge brothers initially had their first building there before moving on to a grander establishment. The author carefully points this little fact out to us as though it were some grave travesty that has forever soiled the name of Detroit; that this historical landmark was not being put on display for all to know and worship for being a part of the beginning of automobiles.

The first argument that popped into my mind after my first glance through is the importance of history and/or historical items. When you ask yourself, "What makes something historic?", do you get the same view as the author? For some reason, I don't.

One line that made me laugh in this piece had to be his quick insert about other famous historical cities.
"...residents pride themselves on being genuinely historical: Boston, New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, Philadelphia. They've all got neighborhoods like Greektown..."
He seems rather irritated that the city of Detroit is not on the same level as many other cities in terms of preserving the past. My question is that are these things so integral to Detroit's history? Sure, the automotive industry has very well put Detroit in the big picture nationally and globally, however, the preservation of a few lesser known buildings does not impact that thought very much. Even if every automotive-related building was shut down, demolished, and forgotten about, the dent left in Detroit's history will forever be there. The automotive capital. That is what history is to me.

Even watching the news earlier this morning, I see what I think is more important history to our city than what he was describing. History doesn't have to be funneled into the category of being several hundreds of years ago. History has to be something that left or will leave an impact for the city. Turn to any news station and what do you see? The Detroit International Auto Show. Not exactly monumental in terms of length in years, however, that is history. To be more specific, that has made history and will continue to. I pride that event in being our genuine history. Forget this horse carriage, cobble-stone street, declaration signing crap that all the other original 13 states' capitals boast.

The last thing I feel as though I should address would be the title. Where out of all of this that I've talked about does the title fit into? Niki's window is, as the name implies, a window in one of the restaurants that currently reside in Greektown. The connection that Herron was trying to establish with his title is the forgotten memories now encompassed by the bustling enterprises of Greek food and entertainment. Apparently the owner has no reason for calling his establishment Niki's, which seemed to shock the author. No historical meaning? No ties to his heritage? Oh no! Not everything needs to be deeply woven into a person's background in order to be understood. A name is a name, and what you do with from the time you create it until it's inevitable end is what makes history.

Maybe it's the new age thought, maybe it's my irritation or predisposition to the author's writing style. Finding something for myself to rant about this piece of literature seemed all too easy.