Northline Walking Blog #4

My final walk was in and around the UNR campus. I decided to take a break from Allison’s perspective and consider Dan Mahony’s instead. His incident on the UNR campus left him out of work for quite some time, and badly scarred his hand and eye. Dan does not reveal exactly what route he took when he was traversing the campus at three in the morning, so I took my own route on Sierra Street and through some parts of the southern end of campus. For some reason, when I read his story, I pictured Dan near Sierra and University, so I made sure to wander around this area as Dan might have been doing. I didn’t do this at three in the morning, but I have been around this area late at night before, so I could imagine Dan there.  

                Dan’s story is on page 163 and 164 in Northline. Dan describes the situation as confusing—he didn’t know what was going to happen to him, and he didn’t expect the men to jump out at him like they did. His situation then went from confusing to hopeless as the men brutally beat him, and he thought he was going to die. This event changed Dan’s entire life—he could no longer be a plumber, and he had to go through intensive psychological repair to return to a healthy mental state of mind.

                This inspired me to think about time and our complete ignorance of the future. Dan didn’t wake up the day he was beaten and expect anything like that to happen to him. To me, it seems that tragic events never seem possible until they happen—we hear about them, but I get stuck in the mindset that they always happen to other people. It’s difficult to imagine that you could be killed or seriously injured in a car accident or a shooting or something of that nature; in fact, I would venture to say that these possibilities do not occur to us very often. This is perhaps why Dan’s experience was such a monumental event in his life—he had his future planned around the assumption that he would be in good health, that nothing like this would ever happen to him. When it did, he was thrown for a loop and had to deal with heavy physical and emotional stress.

                However, I also considered how this event changed Dan for the better. He was forced to become strong enough to fight against his fears, and to shift his life in a different direction. He may not have fulfilled his dream of taking over his uncle’s plumbing business, but he learned quite a bit from working at the VA. Not to mention, he met Allison, who made him extremely happy. Without learning and growing from his situation, he never would have ended up in the place he did. 

Link to a map of where I walked:

file:///C:/Users/Kyla/Pictures/Walking%20Blog/sierra%20and%20university%20-%20Google%20Maps.htm

Northline Walking Blog #3

As many of my fellow students probably did, I took a walk to the Little Nugget, aka home of the Awful Awful hamburger. When Allison went to the Little Nugget with Penny, she left the vacuum office on Second and walked from there. Since I was close, I walked past the Nugget and ventured along the river for a while, and then headed from Second Street up to the Nugget again. I couldn’t stomach a burger of my own at the time, but the memories I have of eating there definitely sufficed. It’s hard to forget a meal like an Awful Awful.

                I tried to focus on Allison’s friendship with Penny during my walk to the Nugget. Penny was a guiding force in Allison’s life in Reno. Penny was very encouraging toward Allison—she was always complimenting her on her voice and sales abilities, telling her she was smart enough to go to college, taking her around to her favorite places in town, and nudging her to open up about her life experiences. Penny was often the catalyst to Allison’s stories—the audience learned quite a bit about Allison through her conversations with Penny. I think this was because of Penny’s soft approach to her questions; she made it clear to Allison that she didn’t have to talk about things if she didn’t want to, and was very non-judgmental when Allison did decide to open up. During their conversation at the Nugget, the audience learns of Penny’s problems with her husband, and Allison tells Penny about her first boyfriend Roger. What is perhaps most significant about this conversation, though, is that Allison brings up Paul Newman in regards to her definition of love. This is the first time Allison brings Newman up in conversation with anyone other than her mom. She says “Love seems nice…like in the movies, like with Paul Newman” (122). This is extremely important because Newman is such a driving force in Allison’s life—her revelation of him shows that she trusts Penny, perhaps more than anyone else in her life.

                This led me to think about the importance of having solid relationships in our lives. I love having girl talk over an Awful Awful, although with my friends it’s more like a coffee. There is something so satisfying about sharing yourself with people you love and trust, and having them share things with you. I think Allison and Penny developed a bond like this, even if they didn’t tell each other everything. Allison’s experience in Reno greatly benefitted from knowing Penny for this reason. Penny was a reminder that even though Allison had gone through difficult experiences, she didn’t have to be ashamed of them. 

Link to a map of where I walked:

file:///C:/Users/Kyla/Pictures/Walking%20Blog/Wingfield%20Park%20to%20233%20N%20Virginia%20St,%20Reno,%20NV%2089501%20-%20Google%20Maps.htm

Northline Walking Blog #2

After Allison ran into Dan Mahony on Second Street, she went to get a cup of coffee with him at the downstairs lunch counter in the Cal Neva. So, at the end of my walk, I made sure I walked along Second Street and back up to the Cal Neva. While I didn’t get a coffee at the lunch counter downstairs, I tried to consider the themes of the novel as I walked back, especially those prevalent at that point. Allison and Dan walked back in silence—while this may not seem significant, I thought it went well with the idea of gender roles. I think Allison was hesitant to reveal herself to Dan because of her past experiences with men. She expected Dan to be dominant and controlling—as he naturally isn’t this way, the conversation was lacking. Allison was too timid to contribute anything about herself, and Dan was trying to let her have the opportunity to do so. Dan was distancing himself from the typical male role, at least in Allison’s mind, and she was uncomfortable because of this.               

                This was further expressed when they sat down at the restaurant and Allison stated that “She knew the cook, and felt better that he was there” (page 145). Her desire for a familiar figure explicitly demonstrates Allison’s need for protection. She was afraid, in a way, of Dan—not because he had done anything to suggest that he would hurt her, but because of her past with men who had pursued her. Allison only knew how to react to a certain type of male role—Dan did not fit this type, so Allison closed up.

                As I walked back to the Cal Neva, I thought about the prevalence of these gender roles in our society today. I definitely think they still exist—my best guy friends have made too many “women jokes” around me for me to believe otherwise. I think that this is the case because as long as men and women are different, there will be a natural “role” that each tends to uphold. This idea has never particularly bothered me, and this was reaffirmed as I studied the men and women I passed on my walk. In my opinion, women and men complement one another, as long as neither takes their so called role to the extreme. This happened to Allison, which partly why she had such a skewed view of herself. However, I like to think that her coffee date with Dan was when things began to look up for her. And all it took was one walk. 

Link to a map of where I walked:

file:///C:/Users/Kyla/Pictures/Walking%20Blog/W%202nd%20St,%20Reno,%20NV%20to%20Club%20Cal%20Neva%20-%20Google%20Maps.htm

Northline Walking Blog #1

The first walk I went on was to Second Street. Allison’s walk is mentioned on page 144: “The morning was cold and she left the casino and went down Second Street as the sun began to come up over the mountains.” Allison does this after her night shift at the Cal Neva, so I decided to walk from the Cal Neva down Second Street. Although I didn’t go on this walk as the sun rose (even though I would have liked to), I could still imagine Allison making her way down the street after a long night of work.

                This was a unique experience for me, as I have traversed these streets before, but never from the perspective of a fictional character. I have never put myself in the shoes of a waitress on the graveyard shift at a casino before, or tried to picture what this same walk would be like if that were me. This catalyzed a novel way of thinking: How do my personal experiences cause me to view my surroundings? How do these differ for others? It is fascinating to consider that two people can live in the same city on the surface, but it can be two completely different worlds to each of them.

                As I completed this walk, I thought about how Allison would feel. Relieved, probably, that her work was over. Grateful, perhaps, that she didn’t have to sleep alone in her apartment. Maybe she was admiring the serenity of the sunrise. The most blatant emotion I could think of was a sense of peace and relief that she was alone. Allison was, in my opinion at least, by far the most introverted characters in the novel, and she loved to be alone. In fact, I couldn’t really picture her enjoying a walk on Second Street at any other time of day because of this.

                Shortly after her walk began, Allison ran into Dan Mahony, the man who always ate breakfast during her shift. She was hesitant to talk to him, and hoped he wouldn’t notice her. As I walked, I observed the people I passed—any one of them could have been a Dan Mahony, or an Allison, and I would never know. This helped me to consider the complexity of people—each one of us has deeply personal experiences, yet we pass each other by every day and often forget to consider this. Maybe I walked past a man yesterday who had once gotten mugged on the street, or a woman who was abused by her boyfriend. I will probably never know. Even so, it is valuable to consider this when we encounter people in our everyday lives. 

Link to a map of where I walked: file:///C:/Users/Kyla/Pictures/Walking%20Blog/W%202nd%20St,%20Reno,%20NV%20to%20Club%20Cal%20Neva%20-%20Google%20Maps.htm

Macaroni

One of my favorite things about running is that I think about everything and nothing at the same time. This is why I find running highly therapeutic at times—I realize when I finish that I had essentially thought about nothing the entire time, yet I feel like I have processed a great deal of information as well. I cannot usually recall a conscious thought, but the world always seems to make a little more sense than it did when I started. I guess you could call this conscious dreaming, in a way.

                As you can probably guess, I ran instead of walked for this walking blog. I went to Rancho once again. You guys are probably getting tired of me mentioning this park every other walking blog, but I can’t help but go back when I have the time. I tried to stay slightly more aware of my thoughts during this run, although this was rather difficult because they bounce around so much. I was reminded of a game I used to play with my best friend in high school called Macaroni. When we became bored (this occurred with an unusually high frequency in our freshman geometry class), one of us would flip to a fresh page in a notebook and write down a word at the top of the page. Then the other would write the first word they thought of when they read the first, and the other would respond to that word, and so on. It could be pretty entertaining, let me tell you. We named the game Macaroni after a particularly funny game that ended with that word. Anyways, as I ran, I equated my thoughts to a game of Macaroni—flowing naturally from one topic to the next.

                I thought about autumn, trees, weddings, my old friends, airsoft games, dogs, my ex-boyfriend, camelbacks, relationships in general, the fact that I had only written the introduction of my argument paper, the changes in my life since college started, water, my own breathing, time, pathways, music. Oh, and my hatred for hills, but that was only when I was running up one. I’m sure there were plenty of other topics that I can’t remember. Some of these were inspired by my environment—autumn, the trees, dogs, water, pathways. Many others were about people and the things they like and their effects on my life, which is one of my favorite things to think about. Music is another big one. I love to listen and think about the lyrics. I feel like music turns my surroundings and my life into a moving, breathing poem. It’s a reminder that the world is beautiful.

                When I finished the run, I got the “back-to-reality” feeling. This wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but I realized this has been the best walking blog so far. I know I’ve had a truly successful break from routine when I don’t want to go back in the slightest.  

                

Architecture

The architecture of the university and the surrounding area is one of my favorite things about living on campus. I absolutely adore the brick buildings and antique structures. Many of the buildings on campus are older and seem to breathe history; those buildings that are newer, such as the LLC, still maintain this character. Although I am not knowledgeable on the specific style of architecture, I certainly appreciate it.

                On my walk, some of the most notable buildings I passed were Morrill Hall and the Davidson at the south end of campus, Lincoln Hall, and of course the Student Union and the Knowledge Center. I felt this displayed the development of the university as a whole—the older buildings such as Morrill and Lincoln represented the origins of the school, while the newer buildings show its growth and development. I love how the architecture here does this—I think it’s amazing when growth is evident with connection and maintenance of origin. This is also a value that is reflected in our society—we are always changing and moving forward, yet each of the steps before is necessary and important.

                The architecture here is a refreshing and stark change from my previous neighborhood, which was newly built five years ago. The houses are highly modern, with innovative designs and decorations on both the exterior and interior. I do enjoy this architecture as well, but I like the character that accompanies the history of the buildings on campus. So many students have passed through, and now it’s my turn to follow in their footsteps.  

UNR for the Wynn

I went to Las Vegas for the first time this weekend, and took my walk on the strip. Well, technically this was my second time—the first was in fourth grade, but all I remember about that trip was being fried like a lobster after swimming nonstop for a day at a hotel pool. So I’m counting this as my first real time.         

                The strip was—I don’t think there is any other way to put it—dazzling. I was finally in the place I had seen in all the movies, with the sparkling lights and giant hotels and showy shops. This, in itself, made me feel like I was somewhere notable. How many significant people have seen the very same places I visited? Ridden the New York New York roller coaster? Walked past the Trump hotel? Las Vegas, although it may not give off the historical vibe, is actually a location rich with history and significance. It actually took this walking blog prompt to put me in the right mindset to realize it.

                One of the facts I learned that was most fascinating to me was that the light on the top of the Luxor is one of three landmarks that can be seen from space, along with the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China. Knowing that I was standing in a spot that could be seen from above the Earth felt pretty cool, I must say. Or maybe I was still on a high from beating UNLV. Who knows. We also went to the Wynn, a famous casino/resort in Vegas. I researched this resort and discovered it was once a golf course—while this may not sound significant, it was interesting to consider that such a huge development had once been a dirt lot. I guess everything has to start somewhere. Enjoy the pictures below!