I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, if not open with, the therapeutic value of wandering, which is my translation of what a flaneur was up to, observing Paris (say), as it underwent metamorphosis. Or as London underwent industrialization in the age of steam, and then electrification. Or as the Global Village experienced illumination, by means of spectral social media, beginning with radio.
Not that morphing per se is the only phenomenon worth marveling at, awesome though turnover undoubtedly is. Details matter.
In the case, details of my trip were as follows:
I began with a quick trip down memory lane (figuratively speaking) delving into the courtyard and parking lot area for Cedarhurst Apartments. I used to come here often, for years, as Glenn Stockton (Global Matrix) and Steve Holden (Open Bastion) used to have their respective corner apartments on different floors, each near a respective staircase. Open Bastion also had its own apartment offices for a spell.
I hadn’t planned to make the detour, but a principle of wandering is to keep it semi-unplanned. Have objectives but give yourself permission to change these objectives rather fluidly. Focus on each one as it arises. Some of them will likely be accomplished. Others will prove fleeting.
For example, I started out expecting to make a loop, which I did. Likewise started with a strong expectation I’d have lunch at that Hollywood sushi conveyor belt place on my return from St. John’s yet that’s not what happened. I changed my mind.
Right at the outset, the 75 passed me by, and just seconds before I’d’ve made it to the stop, but that was all unplanned as I wasn’t trying for a specific bus. I’d consulted no schedule.
So, having just missed a bus, I had some time before the next one. So I ventured into Glenn’s and Steve’s old place. I believe Paul is still there.
I left by that tunnel I used to frequent, while making a mental note to query about the Hawthorne Theater later, to get more clear on its Masonic past.
Here’s where I made another impromptu decision: with 8 or so minutes before the next 75 was to arrive, per the bus stop display, I chose to leave the stop and venture into Fred Meyer in search of gum or something, I didn’t even know what. I ended up with some nuts n stuff.
Half way back to the bus stop, I realize I was sans my binder. No, it wasn’t at the bus stop bench. I must’ve left it at Fred’s after our interesting conversation. Yep. Some running was involved in this segment, to both recover the binder and to not miss the 75.
Running is good for me, just not too much. Walking is also therapeutic.
I recommend exploring your environs as a pass time, an activity you’re more likely to have time for if facing old codger-hood, or likewise if enjoying being a teen and cultivating a skillset, such as navigating around town using a mix of public transportation and exercising one’s skills as a pedestrian.
You may mix in important errands, along with study (bus and train reading). You may reap rewards.
I boarded with the objective of visiting St. John’s, it’s own place north of Portland. But then why not explore NE Alberta instead. I got off at NE 42nd around NE Alberta and walked along it, due west, towards its business section. For a lotta blocks, it’s still residential along both sides.
Alberta starts getting busy around 30th and I enjoyed walking along it, imagining eating here and there, before boarding a 72, and skipping ahead to MLK but while making mental notes of places I’d like to return to, and photograph (I’m taking pictures the whole time).
Later, waiting for the 6 along MLK is when I noticed The Portland Observer seemed to have gone out of business. But as Gemini later clarified, it had not. That business had simply moved but left some old signage behind.
Again, upon boarding the 6 I had what proved a fleeting objective: to head to Goose Hollow, maybe catch the Max back to the sushi place in Hollywood.
But then it didn’t take long for me to realize that if riding the Max train were my objective, then I should get off at the Oregon Convention Center, saving a lot of time. A green line Max was just arriving.
I was back in Hollywood in short order, yet found myself deciding against grabbing sushi as the 75 stop was right there, next to the Trader Joe’s (which I imagined entering, but then did not). I was enjoying studying and drawing diagrams.
OK, that’s a lot of detail, and yet I’m skipping over many objectives (many around eating) that I entertained but then dropped. I think of this process as “being tickled by temptations” (possibilities) but then usually not getting sidetracked.
But then what’s the main track vs a side track? I keep deciding that, remaining open to cues, to intuitions..
That’s what I mean by “unplanned”. My friend Ray Simon from Jersey City days is an influence on my practice.
The overall objective, to have an adventure, is pretty much a given.
To have an adventure and to study. The point of the binder was to do bus reading of Terry’s and DAF’s papers (an excellent combo) and to draw diagrams on blank white sheets already 3-hole-punched for that purpose.
I’ll have other journal entries focusing more on these more metaphysical cogitations.
