A Literary Atlas: Cal Neva

Cal Neva:

     I have to say that the Cal Neva was probably the most fun part of the trip and definitely the most interesting.

     I have to say that the Cal Neva is probably one of the smaller casinos I have ever been in and because of that it added a strange aura, not a bad aura, but a unique one. It seemed both friendly and sketchy at the same time, especially when we took this old elevator to the top floor. The staff there were very nice to us and even asked if we were there for a school project - evidently someone else got there before us. I can imagine The Girl (Allison) working in this place, she would fit in. 

     We were lucky enough to find our way to the Top Deck restaurant and look around a bit and for the most part I was able to imagine Allison doing her job here late at night. Even the history of the Cal Neva was interesting. They had little bits of information everywhere in the casino and it was cool being able to stop and read them and learn about the story behind the casino.

A Literary Atlas: Harold's Club

Harold's Club:

     The Harold's Club is the ending of the book and the beginning of Allison Johnson's new life but when we visited the place, I didn't feel anything special about it. It was just an empty square. So obviously the Harold's Club is no longer standing so I did a bit of background research into it to find as to where it used to stand. 

     The location wasn't anything too special, I mean it was right in front of the Reno Arch  but thats always been there. It might be that I am jaded from living here for so long and that these little tidbits don't excite me as much as someone else might be but whatever. Thinking about it, I do think it is cool that it's right in front of the arch because one could look at it in the sense that as one passes under the arch, we enter a new place and with the new place comes new experiences, hardships, friends, challenges, victories, etc. So maybe the location of the has-been Harold's Club is more instrumental to the development of Allison than we know/think. 

But, I don't know, I felt that the square where Harold's Club used to stand is just a sad, open, empty place now and it is not being used for anything.

A Literary Atlas: Bus Station

Bus Station:

     Throughout the book The Girl (Allison Johnson), uses the bus for transportation to and from places and even visits the actual bus station in Reno. While the bus station we visited was recently remodeled, it was still similar to the actual bus station The Girl was at.  

     It was a unique experience going to the bus station. I have never been on a public bus before and while some characters in the book say the bus system is for drunks and old ladies, I know several people that fall into neither of those categories that ride the buses. My friends say the buses are actually okay and not as bad  as some are led to believe. I think its just this idea we have that buses are dirty, gross, and a blight on society and yet we find a really nice bus station with really nice buses right here in Reno. 

A Literary Atlas: Eldarado

     So a pre-warning, the following blog post will be a bit lengthy but on the bright side they will contain photos ( YAAAAAAY ), so stick around. I am also putting these up right around the same time because I wanted them to be similar to like a chapter book. Anway....

Eldarado:

     More specifically the Eldarado Buffet. The Eldarado was our first stop on our little adventure. Once inside, we got slightly turned around and lost with a side of confusion but in the end we were able to make our way through the Eldarado and to the desert buffet The Girl in Willy Vlautin's North Line visited. 

Even though I am a local here in Reno, I very rarely visit the casinos and this experience was something interesting for me as I was trying to place my self in The Girl's shoes and I think I was close. I felt slightly overwhelmed by all the lights and people, it was PURE CHAOS, not really but it was fun to say that. I couldn't experience how she felt exactly because of everything that has happened to her before that but I could touch on how she felt in that moment. possibly touch on it. Its kind of hard to tell. 

      I think this is the right Buffet, it was the only one we could find and it did have a dessert bar but we're still not a 100% sure it was the same or not. Still, it was fun and interesting to visit/find the place and wander aimlessly through the Eldarado. 

The Unknown

     With such an unusual prompt I decided to talk about an unusual topic.

     I recently stumbled across a really fascinating quote that goes something like this: "There exists two possibilities; either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." This quote is by Arthur C. Clarke and it made me start thinking. Thinking about what another race/being/life form/species (I list here because I pause at what the correct term would be) would be like. Not only how different they would be - they could be - but more importantly, how similar they could be. I digress briefly here to return to the quote that sparked this thought.

     I stand behind the thought that there ARE other forms of life out there, other species, because the universe is infinitely huge and just by looking at the night sky , we see countless stars in the heavens and just like our star, the Sun, each could have several if not dozens of planets orbiting them. Some believe there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on earth and by the way things are looking, I think they're right. Now, if there are an infinitely large number of stars and each star has, on average 9 planets (like our solar system [Pluto is a planet, albeit a rather small planet]) then there would be an enormous sum of planets that intelligent life could  take place on. Now we also have to take into account the 'sweet spot' of planets - planets that are just the right distance from their sun so they are neither too hot or too cold, this makes it ideal for life to occur - this factor would greatly reduce the number of planets that satisfy the requirements for life but the number is still quiet huge. There ARE other life forms, we just haven't had contact with them yet.

     Of course this is just going off Carbon-based life forms that are extremely similar to us. Any variation, ANY, would vastly change the planets possible for them. But getting back to the point, how would are cultures be similar/different. Would they share the pursuit of knowledge that we experience? Would they have schools and places of learning. Maybe they would have a hive mind or knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation. Maybe they would experience colors differently then us or hearing. The possibilities are endless. Maybe their society would be a simple reflection of our own in almost every possible way. Just something to think about...

Link to the Historic Past

      SO our Mission (should we choose to accept) was to do some research about historic Reno and then do some in-person visitation along with some imaginary time travel. I decided to travel a little further than our other walks and visit the Court House, just past the river.

      Alright, history time! So the original courthouse was built in 1871-1873 in an attempt for Reno to take the County seat from Washoe City (20 miles south). In 1909, Frederic DeLongchamps redesigned the courthouse and built it how it is today (same thing as over 100 years ago). DeLongchamps used a type classical revival and Beaux art influence that is seen in a majority of legal buildings all across the nation.

     When I arrived on the spot, I visioned what it would be like 100 years ago in this spot, and like most people, I imagined the Wild West, which I realized is probably too far back so I imaginarily fast-forwarded to 1912. The area was more built up, less horse and more buildings; I had to see the area differently, what it would have been 100 years ago and yet this building in front of me would have still been here, probably looking really close to what it looks like today. Certain things would have been the same as they are now, the bridge over the river, several of the really old hotels and casinos, but I think the roads would be almost exactly the same, well all the main roads that is. It was truly fascinating to think that the building right in front of me had been there for close to 100 years (waaaaaay older than I am, easily). It changed my perspective; made me think and realize that we have tons of historic things around in Reno and everyone takes them for granted. We never really appreciate what we have, probably because we don't take the time to learn about them. But if we did, I am sure others would be just as impressed as I am about our history.

The Structure of the Neighborhood

     So this prompt was in consider the architecture in our neighborhood. Since the majority of us live on campus we have a mixture of two different types of architecture, casino/gambling and university, but its a bit more deep than just that, because each of those categories is made up of several different groups of past architecture.
   
     I'll start with the architecture of the university. First, I thought about the architecture of our university and then I started noticing patterns between our current university architecture as well as the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome - which is to be expected because that is what we think about when prompted with questions of philosophy and higher thinking. This effort to strive to be like the great philosophers of old has leeched into everything about our campus, the buildings, the way professors teach, maybe even into home we structure our day. It's all been done before in the time of Aristotle and Socrates. The architecture of our neighborhood is just a modern reflection of ancient Greece.

     The other hand being the Casino's and their architecture. I thought the casino's architecture slightly difficult to understand. Each on is different and yet same in some way. They're all unique and all similar. Its weird because where the university pulled some design from The Ancients, casinos usually set up a theme and pull from that, take The Atlantis for example. One thing they do all have in common though is usually their height; huge structure that tower over the other settlements nearby, minus other casinos that is. Well, all the big name brand casinos that is. I suppose a lot of the casinos pull from the average architecture of a skyscraper and then just make the first couple of floors all casino-y and tourist attractions.

     The way these separate types of architecture reflect our town and neighborhood is an interesting one, especially because of the close proximity to each other. I would have to say that these two architectures are two sides of the same coin. They are both similar but opposite. One is the knowledge we strive to achieve and the other is an escape from past troubles, also a place to pretty much throw money away. It is interesting that these things come together in such a close space they way they do