post mortem

And just like that…one post published and one saved as a draft and that new year’s resolution energy had dried up. 

Actually, not quite.  I did have more notes on my phone from other days:

1/3 - Took MLK to movie theater - felt unfamiliar after all these years, with all the new development. Then actually took wrong turns, so unfamiliar indeed.

1/4 - Back roads to Alivia’s

1/5 - Northgate Park neighborhood roads to get to work

And then I stopped taking notes. though I did try to stay with the spirit of the month. I went to Wheels Skating Rink for a Caltrop show (two drummers) - a part of town I rarely go to (though I didn’t drive) on 1/9, and to a friend’s party in Northern Durham on completely unfamiliar roads in 1/10.  

I didn’t end up going to Baton Rouge as planned, so that took some of the fun from the idea of January being unfamiliar roads, and there are lots of days that I only went to work and back home, and didn’t feel like wasting gas/time on an extra trip.  

But I did take the back way to/from work daily, exploring Northgate Park and really learning that neighborhood for the first time.  I also took lots of the less-traveled streets through Trinity Park and Watts Hillandale throughout the month.

And I also revisited the spirit of the month later in the year - seizing on opportunities to go to towns like Pittsboro and Sanford  and Siler City that I’ve never visited.  And my newfound knowledge of Northgate Park helped later in the year as I started walking to work from time to time.  All in all, I thought this was a good experimonth that I’d like to try again sometime.

On January 2nd, I decided to drive around the streets near Duke’s East Campus that I rarely see.  Actually, I started out with an empty gas tank so I went to the gas station on the corner of Club  Blvd and N. Buchanan.  Leaving the gas station, I turned right on Buchanan and realized that I rarely drive that portion of it, and certainly haven’t driven it slowly while actually taking note of my surroundings. My first thoughts were of a conversation I had on New Year’s Eve about how Durham has lots of little hills and vallleys and traditionally all the wealth has been at the higher ground. Turned right on Lancaster and saw new investment emanates from Duke but eventually there are boarded up homes. Tiny little section across Club Blvd that ends at Northgate stripmall seems an afterthought. Repeated on Onslow, Berkeley, Sedgefield and Clarendon. View high resolution

On January 2nd, I decided to drive around the streets near Duke’s East Campus that I rarely see.  Actually, I started out with an empty gas tank so I went to the gas station on the corner of Club  Blvd and N. Buchanan.  Leaving the gas station, I turned right on Buchanan and realized that I rarely drive that portion of it, and certainly haven’t driven it slowly while actually taking note of my surroundings.

My first thoughts were of a conversation I had on New Year’s Eve about how Durham has lots of little hills and vallleys and traditionally all the wealth has been at the higher ground. Turned right on Lancaster and saw new investment emanates from Duke but eventually there are boarded up homes. Tiny little section across Club Blvd that ends at Northgate stripmall seems an afterthought.

Repeated on Onslow, Berkeley, Sedgefield and Clarendon.

Today I left the house thinking I’d just start driving until I was inspired.  I turned left from Demerius to Ruffin, and pretty immediately saw W. Knox and thought “I really don’t know that I’ve ever been down Knox to the right” and turned right.  I saw the entrance to the American Tobacco Trail, and realized that it was pretty cool that I’ve walked this way from home before but I’ve never driven this way.  I wanted to take note of my surroundings, so I was driving below the speed limit.  There was someone behind me, so I figured I’d take a left onto Arbor. Arbor ended with a forced right onto a little gravel road.  That little gravel road turned out to be Englewood, or a short portion of it.  I turned right onto Washington and then looped back around and took the picture above of a cool looking house with big porch and admired a little green house on the other side of the street. Sitting there, I got a “places like this are one of the reasons I love Durham” feeling.  I also thought about first driving around Durham and being totally frustrated at this kind of thing (streets that end somewhere and start again a few blocks away).  I’ve always associated Englewood with the 9th St/Broad St area, so it was cool to see that it continues and goes on to Duke Park. While out, I was psyched to catch #s 12 and 11 on the 102Jamz top 102 of the decade.  I agree with the DJ that Drop it Like it’s Hot may have the beat of the decade, and hearing Plies’ Shawty made me feel good for all the time I’ve spent thinking about him this year. View high resolution

Today I left the house thinking I’d just start driving until I was inspired.  I turned left from Demerius to Ruffin, and pretty immediately saw W. Knox and thought “I really don’t know that I’ve ever been down Knox to the right” and turned right.  I saw the entrance to the American Tobacco Trail, and realized that it was pretty cool that I’ve walked this way from home before but I’ve never driven this way.  I wanted to take note of my surroundings, so I was driving below the speed limit.  There was someone behind me, so I figured I’d take a left onto Arbor.

Arbor ended with a forced right onto a little gravel road.  That little gravel road turned out to be Englewood, or a short portion of it.  I turned right onto Washington and then looped back around and took the picture above of a cool looking house with big porch and admired a little green house on the other side of the street. Sitting there, I got a “places like this are one of the reasons I love Durham” feeling.  I also thought about first driving around Durham and being totally frustrated at this kind of thing (streets that end somewhere and start again a few blocks away).  I’ve always associated Englewood with the 9th St/Broad St area, so it was cool to see that it continues and goes on to Duke Park.

While out, I was psyched to catch #s 12 and 11 on the 102Jamz top 102 of the decade.  I agree with the DJ that Drop it Like it’s Hot may have the beat of the decade, and hearing Plies’ Shawty made me feel good for all the time I’ve spent thinking about him this year.