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Walkers in the city and everywhere

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51–55 of 55 posts

Re: Walkers in the city and everywhere

#51
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whatever it is on your phone, it'll wait. Whatever's happening in front of you: that will not wait, and it'll never come again. Just because something is unique and ephemeral doesn't mean it's worth your attention.

You: I don't need to watch this sunset, there'll be better ones. Reaper: Not for you, though. Come with me, please. No need to bring anything.

That's missing my point.

I don't need to look at this bowl movement because I get no aesthetic pleasure from looking at bowl movements, even though each one is unique and I'll never get a chance to see that one again.

Re: Walkers in the city and everywhere

#52
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You: I don't need to watch this sunset, there'll be better ones. Reaper: Not for you, though. Come with me, please. No need to bring anything.

That's missing my point. I don't need to look at this bowl movement because I get no aesthetic pleasure from looking at bowl movements, even though each one is unique and I'll never get a chance to see that one again.

I think if you can't even spell the word, we're done here.

Re: Walkers in the city and everywhere

#53
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's missing my point. I don't need to look at this bowl movement because I get no aesthetic pleasure from looking at bowl movements, even though each one is unique and I'll never get a chance to see that one again.

I think if you can't even spell the word, we're done here.

Autocorrect?

Re: Walkers in the city and everywhere

#54

I don't get it. A bunch of paragraphs on going for a walk?

Not only that, but half of the paragraphs reference at least one social justice trope, including, ironically, redlining, which supposedly disproportionately urbanized minority populations by keeping them out of newer suburban developments--but those newer suburban developments were inherently less walkable, weren't they? https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history...

Re: Walkers in the city and everywhere

#55
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm... the fact that the flaneur is an archetype of the industrial city, and he only got a name 150 years ago, is pretty interesting, and worthy of further elaboration. Add to this the odd state of affairs that in America, most do not even live in an environment where the flaneur could even exist makes it even more noteworthy.

I grew up on the prairie of North Dakota. I would spend all day wandering around fields, dry creek beds, railroad tracks, shelter belts. Just looking to see what there was. The occasional abandoned farm house to explore was always risky but fun. Farmers usually have storage buildings near the abandoned houses, so you never know when someone might be coming through. When I got older and I moved to a small city and the…

> Anyway, most everyone likes to walk around and explore whatever environment they're in.

I know a lot of people who never walk anywhere, never really "wander", think it's weird at best, unsafe at worst. They will on vacation, in an environment branded for it. think cutesy town, think Disneyland.

What you're doing is maybe not exceptional, but it _is_ noteworthy that it's not universal.

Wandering in nature isn't really the sort of urban wandering the "flaneur" does either. That only exist in the industrialized city. It requires some anonymity, since it's a little voyeuristic. It requires leisure time, wealth, it's consumptive, since the flaneur and cafe culture are complementary. The city needs to be large enough to discover new experiences.

I don't think we're disagreeing overall, more maybe in our assessment how widespread it is.

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