flaneurs | Recent Entries

Greetings, all! Flânerie for me has always been associated not just to exploring the city but also to what thoughts or memories a given location inspires. That's why I hope the following isn’t too “abstract” a post for this comm, also because I’m not comfortable in giving out concrete details about where I am. Let me know :)

Seeking silence in the city gets hard when we go out for a walk during rush hour but sometimes it's best to just embrace the circumstances. Little flowers still find a way to bloom from in between the cracks in the pavement and if no one else will look at them in their haste that need not forbid us from the pleasure.

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ysabetwordsmith

Today we went up to Champaign-Urbana for the Middlefork Markets event Middlefork at the Mall at Lincoln Square Mall. This is our favorite flea market, born from the ruins of Gordyville, which fills most of the wide aisles at the mall. The market runs Sunday too, but not as late in the day.

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Current Mood: busy

radiokomorebi

I should add a disclaimer that this is not just one day's walk but across a few days, that being said this is my usual route.

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It upsets me how much the 'metro construction' takes over a public space like this.

incidentally, i ran into this game about going out on a walk!

Watch on YouTube

radiokomorebi

I found an excuse to walk up to a nearby restaurant to order some takeaway to have along with my rice and rasam (a type of stew).

I love sitting around and waiting for my order as it's a little used detour by the otherwise busy traffic and it's a calm pocket in the locality.
A few of my clicks while I was waiting around:
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spiralsheep

Cymru, recent notes at my journal. Enjoy!

ysabetwordsmith

This is the second part of the Tuscola Winter Window Walk. Begin with Part 1.

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Monday we visited Tuscola so I could take pictures of the holiday window paintings. These were done by Libby Neathery of Libby Jo Art Studio and there are 22 in this year's batch. I did not find quite all of them but I came close. Despite changing the camera batteries right before we left home, I barely got through the two sides of the block with Flesor's Candy Kitchen before the batteries died, so we had to stop and get new ones. I did manage to finish photographing the rest of the windows we found. I love seeing local artists do things like this, because it encourages people to get out and look for them. A little slice of Terramagne! (Continue with Part 2.)

( Walk with me ... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the Autumn Fest in Marshall. It was an evening event, and the day had cooled off considerably, so it was quite pleasant. We were lucky to miss the rain there -- it rained a bit at home and we drove through several showers. This event continues on Saturday and Sunday if you want to catch it, and it is well worth attending if you're in Illinois this weekend looking for something to do.

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the Broomcorn Festival in Arcola, Illinois. This is a big harvest festival, well worth catching, and it runs the whole weekend if you want to check it out. The weather was beautiful, cloudy and mild, couldn't ask for better weather.

Arcola is a nice town with several favorite shops that we like to visit. The old buildings are colorful with beautiful architecture. Most of the streets along the festival are still brick. There are benches along the sidewalks. Several places had picnic tables set up for the event, too.

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Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the Tuscola Family Fun Day and the Arthur Amish Country Cheese Festival.

Amusingly, I'm wearing a goldenrod-yellow T-shirt with a corncob and the caption "This is my crop top." (It's full length.) I got at least half a dozen compliments on it. :D I bought it earlier this year at another event, definitely a good choice for fall festivals.

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Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we visited several places in Tuscola, Illinois.

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went out to Mattoon, Illinois in search of evening farmer's markets.

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Current Mood: busy

spiralsheep

I walked first left turn then second right turn then first left &c [not June challenge III. (d) ], beginning from the highest and most landward gate of Conwy's medieval town walls: flanage report at my journal, with architecture and edification, and a bonus quick guide to Conwy.

"DEUWCH O'R NEILLTU, Y MAE I CHWI CROESO,
YR IEUANC I DDYSGU, A'R HEN I ORFFWYSO."

spiralsheep

June challenge III.(c), part two: flanage report at my journal again, to a bridge via an Oblique Strategy and a giant raccoon. How could you possibly resist? Enjoy!

spiralsheep

June challenge III.(c): flanage report at my journal, with a list of grey things and links to antique wall art. How could you possibly resist? Enjoy!

Current Location: Living in the past

spiralsheep

Anybody else planning to squeeze in a June challenge attempt before the end of this month? Or later? Or perhaps you calmly and coolly thought ahead and have already completed a flan that you can't wait to share with us?

spiralsheep

I also did a walk based on the instructions generated by

squirmelia from the novel Finnegan's Wake. I was under starter's orders at The Greyhound pub in Worcester. Report here:

https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/643773.html

Well the hare she led on just as swift as the wind
He was sometimes before her and sometimes behind,
He jumped on her back and held up his ould paw -
'Long live the Republic', says Master McGrath.

squirmelia

I decided to use Finnegans Wake by James Joyce to lead me on a walk. I extracted all the lines in Finnegans Wake that had “left” or “right” in them to use as a basis for the walk. If in the text the next line had “left” I would take the next left and if “right”, I'd take the next right.

I ate a croll in the most dangerous street in London, found the location of a bunker where there is now an orchard, ate Christmas cannoli ice-cream, walked up Bob Marley Way, and discovered a video tape in the little free library that had "old Top of the Pops video" written on it.

Full write up and photos here: https://squirmelia.dreamwidth.org/595502.html

spiralsheep

If anyone is looking for a venue for an August walk then Worcester will have a penguins trail through the mostly pedestrianised city centre and along the river (which has pedestrian footbridges). The canal towpaths are also, of course, pedestrianised and meet both the river and the city centre. A very walkable small city and not expensive by UK standards. /I don't actually work for the local tourist board, honest

Penguins: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51ngvklj5no

Current Location: A hypothetical future Worcester

spiralsheep

Having had to switch days, and towns, due to this year's first attempt being nobbled by balloonists, it will come as no surprise when I reveal that I partially failed again. This time it was due to the new cafe, chosen by the person I was meeting, being closed on Mondays, lol.

Report at my journal.