Liza's blog

My Home in Connecticut

This summer, I’ll be home, hopefully with a summer job. I think it will be strange for me to go home now, a place like Waldie described in “Holy Land.” It’s interesting to me, having two very different places I consider my home. I feel almost like a different person in each place. In Connecticut, I feel more dependent on people. I think this comes from not having my license. I rely on my sisters to drive me places, consequently, I really don’t have much of a choice about where I go. Although this is frustrating at times, I have to admit it can be nice to have decisions made for you.  In the city, I feel independent, like I can do anything. This is scary, however, because there are so many options and paths to take; sometimes, it is stressful and difficult to make a decision. For me, the thing that makes home, home, is having the people I love most by my side, namely, my family and friends. And I think the best thing is that in both New York City and Connecticut I have both family and friends around me.  Even though my routines are different, I still have this sense of consistency to fall back on if I ever feel disconnected.

Through taking this course I have really been able to analyze all the places I have lived in, made my home, and to which I’ve traveled. Through this, I have learned a lot about myself , most importantly, what I need in order to feel at home. I feel that this is valuable information that will stay with me. Taking this class while transitioning to a new school and creating my own sense of place in the city was perfect for me.

Q: Wow, Eliza you have great style! Do you really only shop at bargain stores, like your book suggests?

A: Oh thank you, you’re so sweet. I really do only shop for bargains. I cannot afford anything else, believe it or not. I know I look fantastic but that’s because I have a great eye for bargains and I know where to shop. With my book you’ll be able to do just this.

Q: I heard that you used Yi Fu Tuan’s, Space and Place as inspiration. How did you do this?

A: Well Yi Fu Tuan and I are great friends and I truly admire him. I used his ideas of how we create a place from a space. A place is a pause, it answers certain social needs, and is a repository of memories and dreams . I wanted to show readers how to turn a space, like a clothing store, into their own place. He says, “An object or place achieves concrete reality when our experience of it is total, that is, through all the sense as well as with the active and reflective mind. “ I wanted to show my readers how to achieve this experience and create ant intimate place.

Q: Where did you get the inspiration to create this book?

A: I always shop for inexpensive clothing and I felt that now was a great time for other people to learn this art. Also I was shopping with my sister, searching for bargains of course, and she was so overwhelmed and stressed. That’s when I realized this is a major problem that must be addressed. People should not feel stressed while shopping. Shopping is a leisurely activity; therefore people should feel at ease and at home, just like I do.

Q: What is your favorite store that you discussed in your book?

A: That’s such a tough question! If I had to choose I would say Buffalo Exchange. I find really great things for me every time I shop there. However, I really love all the shops.

Q: Did you enjoy writing this book?

A: Of course I did. I love shopping and if I can help people love it as much as me, I’m happy.

Q: Will you continue writing books like this one?

A: Although I thoroughly enjoyed writing this, I think I want to move onto something different. Perhaps a book of creative short stories. I’m still unsure. I do know, however, that I will always continue my search for great thrift stores.

  The day after I read the chapter entitled “Rain” in Whiteheads, “The Colossus of New York” it was raining. Usually if it’s rainy on the weekend I can just stay cozy and dry inside for most of the day. This particular day, however, I had to go look at the “Lipstick Building” on 54th and 3rd, so I had to take the subway and walk there. Reading this essay before hand, just made me think about the experience even more and also made me just a little bit more miserable. Adding to my misery, realizing I got off at the wrong subway stop and had to walk pretty far in the cold, windy weather, with my cheap umbrella.

      I thought about the essay as I considered taking a cab, “Everybody just wants to get home, so they make calculations and jockey. What’s a better block for a cab. East or West, up a street or down. Schemes multiply and divide the longer you stand there.” (64) I decided to stay strong and keep walking. After being pushed around by the wind and finding out that I am the perfect height for bumping people with my umbrella, I finally got to the “Lipstick Building.” Once there I realized it was pretty much impossible for me to take notes and hold my umbrella. So after trekking all the way there I decided it would be better to go back another day for my research. All in all I was pretty bummed.

      This chapter really captured this feeling. I think Whitehead tells it how it is, he doesn’t romanticize New York City like many other authors who write about it. Its true, rain in the city can really, really suck. I did feel, however, that this book was a little pessimistic. After all, it is the rain that allows me to appreciate all the bright, sunny days. It is also the rain that makes me appreciate having a cozy, warm place to come home to, and hide away in.

Community

In “Gone to New York,” Frazier provides his personal stories and experiences of living in New York City. He beautifully represents New York City on a very human level, describing everyday events, allowing readers to relate to him and to each other. One of my favorite stories in this collection was, “Take the F.” This story describes events Frazier has experienced on the F train, as well things that have happened in his Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins by describing a particular day on the F train when a crab was in the car. Everyone in his car became so engrossed in watching this crab, that when a little boy lifted his foot to stomp on it everyone stopped him. These quirky, spontaneous events make me love New York even more. The subway unites people of so many different backgrounds, and for a brief time unites them in a contained, swiftly moving space. Even though sometimes I really hate getting on the crowded subway, I always enjoy looking around at all the different people and thinking for that moment how we are all connected. This story shows how this event with the crab brought everyone together; now, they all share this odd story and memory.

I also love this essay because his sense of place, his happiness, and the love he has for his community really shine through when he describes his home in Brooklyn. Frazier successfully conveys the sense that everyone is an integral part of the neighborhood, and not only do they cherish their community, they also cherish and out for each other. I love this idea that everyone is united in their desire and commitment to protect and care for each other. I feel that this is essential for a community’s well-being, as well as being a strong and accurate indication of home . When I think about the place where I felt most at home I think about the house I lived in from when I was two until I was eight in Hamden, Connecticut. It was there, in a neighborhood connected by sidewalks, where the lots were fairly small and we were able to walk to school and shops, that I felt a connection and protection with my neighbors and surrounding area. The sense of belonging to a greater whole made my sense of home and place expand beyond the boundaries of our house, and into the neighborhood, which I perceived as a closely united, genuinely caring environment.

 In the opening of “The City of Glass” the author describes how Quinn enjoys aimlessly wandering around the city. By doing this, “all places became equal, and it no longer mattered where he was. On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to be nowhere.” (Auster 9) Although Quinn longed for this sense of nowhere, the certainty of having a home to return to allowed him to feel this sense of nowhere. Throughout the novel, however, Quinn is transforming himself, and constantly moving away from his home, closer to this nowhere, until he has finally lost it.

       After Quinn decides to take on the detective role as Paul Aster and begins to follow Stillman around, he returns home to discover he is no longer a part of it. “He sat down in his living room and looked at the walls. They had once been white he remembered, but now they had turned a curious shade of yellow. Perhaps one day they would drift further into dinginess, lapsing into gray, or even brown, like some piece of aging fruit.”(Auster 160) It is as if the change in himself causes him to become a stranger, displaced in his home. In losing himself, he loses his sense of place.

      By the end of the novel he drifts further and further from his sense of self. He becomes completely enthralled in the Stillman case.  He lives in an alley for a couple of months, and has managed to adapt his lifestyle and himself to this uncomfortable space. When he finally returns to his home he finds that someone else has moved in. “It was gone, he was gone, everything was gone.” (Auster 191) Quinn is completely transformed. He longed for this nowhere. The more deeply he becomes involved in the case, the more profoundly placeless he becomes. He achieves this nowhere, but at the expense of losing himself. “The City of Glass” made me realize how important having a sense of place is to one’s sense of self. One does not have to be rooted, but one requires the comfort of knowing they have a home, a place to return to. Without that, like Quinn, one is lost.

Home is Where the Heart Is

 In the second half of the Tuan reading I was really interested in his chapter entitled, “Intimate Experiences of Place.” In this chapter Tuan discusses home as an intimate place.  Home is a place one feels an attachment to, and In which one harbors memories.  Most importantly, he describes home as  “a place where the sick and the injured can recover under solicitous care.” (137) Tuan elaborates upon this idea of home as a haven saying, “To the young child the parent is his primary place. The caring adult is for him a source of nurture and haven of stability.” (138

This idea was extremely interesting to me, not only because this sense of home as a haven is unique to humans, but also because most of the time people think of home, they think of it as a specific place. Rarely does one think of a person or people as being "home". After reading this I realized home, for me, is shaped by the people I love, not by environment. I remember feeling really homesick my first year at college at Sarah Lawrence. Almost every weekend I would visit one of my sisters or brother in the city. I could visit my sister in her dorm room, or stay at my older brother or sisters apartment, or even just go to a café. No matter where I was, when I was with them I would immediately feel at home. I am very fortunate have many of my family members living in New York City. Reading this chapter showed me that home is so much more than a place. It is people, feelings and memories.

Annoying girl on cellphone

When reading the chapter, Spaciousness and Crowding in Tuan’s, Space and Place I started to think about the impact of technology, particularly cell phones have on one’s experience of exploring space. “To be open and free is to be exposed and vulnerable. Open space has no trodden paths and signposts. It has no fixed pattern of established human meaning; it is like a blank sheet on which meaning may be imposed.” (Tuan, 54) I wondered if this is still true today? Although there are new and open spaces that one can explore, we are so dependent on technology; today we really never have to be alone. I know if I am in a new place and feel uncomfortable I can just pick up the phone and call a friend. It’s so weird now to be completely disconnected. I lost my phone recently and I felt so alone, which is really stupid. I realized how dependent I am on technology and always being connected to familiarity.

However, I think exploring a new space alone is very important, “Human beings require both space and place. Compared to space, place is a calm center of established values. Human lives are a dialectical movement between shelter and venture, attachment and freedom.” (Tuan, 54) If one is always comfortable in their surroundings they will lose appreciation for this comfort. I think it is important at some point to be alone, completely disconnected. Not only will this allow one to reflect privately, but it will also increase one’s appreciation of social connection.

Brooklyn BridgeHudson River

Being a triplet and living in a family of six kids, ever since I was born I’ve had to share, from clothes, to toys, and even my room. It was not until I went away to college that I got something that I considered my own space. The problem, however, was that I absolutely hated my own space at Sarah Lawrence College. I felt trapped, alone, and uninspired. Even though I finally had this place of my own, it was not any place I wanted to be. I knew from the first time I set foot in New York City when I was six years old that this was where I not only wanted, but had to be. I would watch Saturday Night Live with my best friend when I was eight and we’d both dream of going to NYU and eventually winding up stars on Saturday Night Live. Although my dreams have changed, the city still represents a place where dreams come true for people. When I would tell my family that all I needed was to be in the city and I would be happy, they would tell me that I romanticized New York and that I had to change as a person in order to be happy. I knew, however, that I just needed this amazing, big city with all its opportunities. This would inspire me to change and become the person I wanted to be.      

Neon SignAfter reading Jackson’s essay, “Other-Directed Houses” I was struck by his ability to defend this hideous form of landscape. He does admit that most of it is bad, but “it is creating a dream environment for our leisure that is totally unlike the dream environment of a generation ago. It is creating and at the same time reflecting a new public taste.” One distinct characteristic of this environment being, “Neon lights, floodlights, fluorescent lights, spotlights, moving and changing lights of every strength and color-these constitute one of the most original and potentially creative elements in the other-directed style.” (Jackson)

      It is true that these bright lights and signs do lead us places as we travel through unfamiliar vacation spots. When my family and I went on vacation in Redondo Beach, we arrived from our flight at midnight and we were all starving. We drove around for about an hour when we came across a big, flashing, red-neon sign that read “Nancy’s Diner.” I absolutely love diners and after being in the car starving for an hour, seeing this sign was like destiny was calling us saying eat at Nancy’s! This feeling proved to be very false. The food was pretty much inedible and I lost my appetite as I watched Nancy cook my omelette, without gloves and white crusty crap on her lips. The whole time she was cooking she was talking and spitting and wasn’t paying attention to the food. However, she was a very kind and engaging person and I’m really glad my family and I went there. We now have a great story to tell about Nancy’s Diner, and we always get a kick out of talking about it.

If it weren’t for the flashing neon sign, we probably wouldn’t have found Nancy’s. But that being said, these signs are ugly and I completely disagree with Jackson when he calls them original and creative. I mean, I don’t think it takes a genius to come up with the idea of putting a big, flashing, sign to advertise their business. What could attract more attention than that? What if we do away with these obnoxious signs completely and in their place put signs that are attractive and still act as a label and draw traffic to that place. Also this will be more of a surprise and enjoyment when we find restaurants or stores we like.

17th century home

I found the essay “The Westward Moving House” extremely interesting. It was fascinating how Jackson showed that as social values and construction techniques changed, the function of the home changed as well. Jackson begins the essay discussing Nehemiah Tinkham, a farmer in New England. Nehemiah was very religious and family-oriented. His home and meeting house were both equally as important to him, “not because he had helped build it with his own hands not because he thought it beautiful, but because it was an essential part of his life.” (85) Although his life was difficult and he ran into many challenges with farming, Nehemia spent his whole life in the same house. His house was bland and graceless, but it protected him and his family and it provided them with everything they needed. He was “satisfied until his latest breath that two things at least were permanent: his own identity and the indestructible, unalterable house which he bequeathed to his widow, Submit.” (87)

Jackson ends the essay in 1953 with Ray and Shirley Tinkham, who are in the process of building their house for themselves and two sons. Their house will be located twelve minutes away from their farm, therefore Ray will be able to drive his pick up truck there. There is no meeting house, like Nehemiah had and things such as schooling, discipline, and food are provided elsewhere. The most important aspect of their home is the appearance and convenience, rather than permanence. Ray, unlike Nehemiah, is unsure of himself. He does not want to be forced to label himself with a single, restrictive identity. Reading about these two distant family members made me think a lot about identity and how a home shapes a person. We look at our homes in a completely different way than our ancestors did in the past. We are not as attached to them because we don’t need to be. Perhaps this means we do not completely know who we are. Certainly, most of us are not required to adhere to only one identity. I know I feel like two different people at home and in New York City.