Let's rejoice in the simple fact that I now have another camera and that I can be as real with you all as humanly possible. I am so relieved that I have this camera in my possession. I promise that I am going to treat it like it is a firstborn. Now I am going to tell you the topic of my first blog with pictures in a couple months- travel.
I always say that I am a traveler but I have not been out of the United States. Well, I can tell you that within the next year, I will acquire a passport and leave this country to experience another country. For now, I will have to settle with the familiar environment of Cleveland and what it and its suburbs have to offer, not that I mind. I know that I can not be ignorant of other countries so the only way to truly experience another country is to totally immerse yourself into the culture of that country.
Anyway, I travel to work every morning without the hint to snap a couple of pictures. The skyline in the morning in Cleveland is beautiful. In the evening when I finish my job day, I am inspired to travel and take photos of random things that may have some kind of symbolism either to myself or the surrounding area. This week, I took pictures in the Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights areas. For Shaker Heights:
I wanted to be rather simplistic in an area that is well rather simplistic. I took this photo a couple of minutes after 8:00 p.m. when the activity in Shaker Heights started to die down. The road is bare and the picture looks tranquil. This is a city at rest waiting for the next big event to happen. I think the picture is pretty straightforward. The symbolism may or may not be more powerful to those who live there so the interpretation may be a bit different according to their daily standards. I like the picture, though.
For Cleveland Heights:
Here is a picture of the Cedar-Lee movie theater. I believe it is the only one in Cleveland Heights and it seems to attract a lot of people especially since downtown Cleveland Heights is like Cleveland in the way that everyone walks to their destination, no matter how far they work or live. Check out Cleveland Heights at 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. where the town becomes lively. I enjoy being in that area around this time. The Cedar-Lee movie theater is popular because it is different from most movie theaters. The movies that are shown there are often independent or specially released films. In most places, only the brand named movies with the brand named stars are shown. At Cedar-Lee, there are films that do not have brand named stars or if they do, the film is not a brand named one in which most of the movie goers have never seen or heard of. Nevertheless, the movie go great with a exquisite dinner; in Cleveland Heights, there are many, many restaurants that have different cuisines such as Mongolian, Thai, Chinese, and of course, your All-American hamburger and hot dogs places. Cleveland Heights is extravagantly diverse and I just took a picture of just one area. I have not had time to travel to other areas like that of Coventry, Severance, or Fairmount to take pictures of the scenery. Believe me, the scenery is totally different for each place despite the fact that they all reside under Cleveland Heights.
In Downtown Cleveland,
I decided that on Fridays, I would treat myself to a day by myself for several hours. Just some quality me time for the soul. Usually, I wind up in the Beachwood area or the downtown area. Downtown, I split my time in Tower City and the Entertainment that consist of the House of Blues and other venues that welcome all forms of entertainment. Briefly, I stop to take pictures of the guitars that were painted by local artists. The five guitars shown at the top of this blog indicate different styles that eventually culminate into the source of rock and roll. One guitar has a lady's head on it, representating the immersion of oriental cultures. Another guitar, the one at the very bottom, represents more like hard rock with the broken pieces of the guitar. Once again, the painting of these guitars can be left up to interpretation but I thought that the display of these guitars and their representation to fulfilling rock and roll was pretty cool. I also learned a lot of history by looking at a description of what the painting means to the artist. Now I want to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before I leave Cleveland in a month.
In University Circle area near Case Western Reserve University,
Let me backtrack to an area I visited before heading towards downtown Cleveland. In University Circle, there are areas that are not easily covered on foot or car. These areas are only accessible by taking the Red Line train, which happens to go to Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport. By ridinig the train through University Circle en route to downtown Cleveland, I saw an amazing amount of graffiti on abandoned building and passageways. In the third picture, this graffiti is very intricate; most of the graffiti represents some kind of message. In the one I captured, it says "Prayer."- something everyone needs to do and have in their lives. I don't do graffiti but sometimes, you have to look at the graffiti and say "Wow." I'm serious... I do not feel graffiti is bad; it is a simple form of expression done to express a person's state of mind. Most graffiti I have seen is not in plain view but in areas where most people would not be able to access upon an everyday encounter. I know some people are thinking "Oh, graffiti is flat out wrong and should be banned!" That is simply their opinion which I have no control over. Ya dig?
On Tarkington in Cleveland,
My home. Well, I took a picture of the new sign of Kerruish Park- the fourth picture. To me, this is a powerful picture because of what the park is doing to revitalize the youth of my neighborhood. In all my years of staying on Tarkington, I have never seen a monument stating that this is Kerruish Park. The economy in my area seems to be on the upswing. Despite a shooting that happened in my area which I'm sure most of Cleveland is on alert now because of it, I am thrilled to be living in an area on the upswing. I just want to give a shout out to my Ward 1 councilwoman, Ms. Nina Turner for utilizing your power to bring my neighborhood back from the dead and to stand up in the face of adversity. I can say I am proud to be a citizen from Ward 1 in Cleveland.
Well, there you have it. This confirms that I am back and that I am here to stay on as a Ohio Wesleyan Blogger. I hope you enjoy my commentary and my new found pictures. I have a month until I am back on campus but until then, I will be bringing a slew of pictures from a bunch of different places in Cleveland and beyond.
Take care,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
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