Adventures in the Haymarket

Throughout the summer, I have spent several evening taking walks and Pokémon hunting (yes some people still do this). Since most of the Pokestops are in the downtown area, that is usually where I go, strolling through the streets of the Haymarket or up and down P Street. Last night, I decided to go to the UNL campus for my walk. At one point, I looked up from my phone and realized I had no idea where I was at. This is coming from me, whose campus job for three entire years was a tour guide. I knew every back staircase and piece of art on campus and suddenly, only three years later, it looked completely foreign to me. Luckily, I eventually found my way back to my car and tonight I stuck to the Haymarket for my walk. I may not know campus anymore, but my favorite place to be is the Haymarket. Even when I don't see anyone I know (which rarely happens-I always run into someone), everyone and every place feels familiar. I can't really explain why I like this area so much, but I think I can give you a glimpse into one of my night adventures....

I park outside of Hopcat. There are always a lot of people there, even on a Wednesday, so my car doesn't seem so lonely. The music blaring out of the speakers is inexplicitly "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. Going for a melancholy vibe I guess. I swing by the Amtrak station and then wave at the attendant in Parking Garage #1. Her station filled with a bouquet of flowers and unicorn figurines is by far the homiest in all of Lincoln. The Jimmy John's guy almost runs into me as he rushes out to his car. They are serious about this "Freaky Fast" stuff.

Most restaurants are closed now. It is 10:00. One couple remains at Hiro 88, holding hands over the table. The Railyard big screen is still blinding everyone on the street with white light. As I approach the corner of 7th and Q, an aroma of bacon fills my nostrils. Always at this corner. Where does it come from? The jogger that passes me stops at the intersection and I see her sniffing the air too. At least it's not just me. A man with a neon yellow shirt and baggy tye-dye pants walks on the sidewalk toward me. He wears Beats around his neck. "Have a lighter?"he asks as I get closer. I apologetically shake my head. He smiles. "No worries. Have a nice night."

I have definitely worn the wrong shoes. I can now feel the blisters building on the sides of my feet. I could head back to my car...but I have at least 3,000 steps left today on my Fitbit. And my phone says there's a Grimer Pokémon nearby. I'm not about to miss that. I tug my shoes off and stick them under my arm. I walk by a group of boys with skateboards, all leaning against buildings and not actually using their boards, but man do they look cool. The group of men outside Brewsky's may be a little drunk. A group of women head to Starlite for what looks like "girl's night out." None of these groups of people take any notice of the barefoot girl carrying her shoes in one hand and swiping for Pokémon with the other. Lots of waiters and waitresses now shuffle out of buildings. I understand the slumped shoulders and drained look in their eyes. I've been there. Across the street, a girl in all black and heavy eyeliner comes out of Longwell's and sits down on a bench. She grabs a cigarette from her pocket and then groans. She calls to me for a lighter. I shrug my shoulder and yell "sorry" back. I should bring some next time. Might be a good business venture, walking around and selling lighters to the desperate late-night smokers.

When I approach Ivanna Cone, I decide to head down the adjacent alley. The colored lights act as a welcome sign. Wow, the art here is amazing. I have to stop and take pictures. Why haven't I been down this way before?

 

I turn to my right...and three sets of eyes are turned looking at me. It seems that I have accidently wandered into a photo shoot. A couple and their photographer stare but none of us say a word. They are probably a little weirded out by a girl with no shoes taking pictures of the wall in the background of their photos. Understandable. I'm still trying to figure out how I missed an entire photo shoot. They even have props like a ladder and umbrella lights. Now the only problem is there's no easier way out of the alley. I either have to go past them (which would be ideal for me since my car is closer to that side) or I have to back out the way I came. I hesitantly choose the latter and hurry away. Not really how I wanted the night to end, but then my Fitbit buzzes. I've made 10,000 steps, so I'm calling it a successful night.

The Art of Solo-tasking

I often hear people bragging that they are "great at multi-tasking." I think this is a skill we believe should be rewarded. We are more efficient because we can do more than one thing at a time. The problem is, we are all multi-taskers. In 2017, everyone is doing more than one thing at a time. People are alternating focus between three electronic devices at once. We have 12 tabs open on their computer. We can't even wait to get to our destination before answering an email on our phone while driving. You might think this is usually a good thing because are more productive people. You may be right. But what I have found is that I may be great at multi-tasking, but I am TERRIBLE at solo-tasking.

Let me give you an example. I first noticed this several months back when I started getting into audiobooks. I put my headphones in one evening and sat down on my couch to listen to a chapter. My phone lit up and I read the text message. I remembered I needed something at the grocery store so I made myself a note. I saw some trash across the room and went and cleaned it up. I decided I was hungry and wandered into the kitchen. 20 minutes had gone by and I couldn't remember anything that happened in the story.

You may think the story must have been bad if it didn't keep my attention, but I have listened to many different books, many very good and still struggle every time. I have to walk on my treadmill or doodle in my notebook just to maintain focus on the words coming out of my headphones. I just can't sit in one spot and listen. Isn't that terrible?

So I've been working on being better at this by creating spaces and activities that allow for only one task at a time. When I do homework, I do it in a room without a television and I leave my phone somewhere else. When I go hiking, I purposefully drain my phone battery to about 30% just so I'm not tempted to open up Facebook or Spotify as often and I just focus on the sounds of nature and the act of walking, one foot in front of the other. Today, I went for ice cream. I sat by myself outside in the sun and just ate ice cream for like 15 minutes while watching people walk by. For someone who usually plans lessons or does homework while cramming food down my mouth at lunch, a person who would be in and out of the dining hall in college in 10 minutes at times, this was a big deal. I go to movies at the theater by myself because I am forced to only watch the movie for a 2 hour block (Sidebar: People act like it is sad to go to the theater alone, but are you actually talking to someone while you watch a movie? Movies aren't social events, so I don't understand...but that's a subject for another blog). Last night I even made it through 30 minutes of my audiobook without losing focus. One step at a time.