After yesterday’s class discussion on Certeau, I was rather excited by this idea of spatial stories. I especially like the descriptive language he used when discussing the “grasp of the city” and it is only when one escapes said grasp can we appreciate and understand the workings of the city as we experience it every day. Because we are so entrenched in the routine of everyday life, unlike the Flaneur, we don’t have the pleasure of really observing the complex workings that come together to create the space that we know as the city. Only when one is taken out of the routine of everyday life, and witnessing it from a different perspective, are we able to get a glimpse into the complexities that we have become so familiar with. This discussion of viewing the ordinary as foreign, reminds me of the ‘Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner--https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html?pagewanted=al. The article seeks to make the reader view these rituals as strange, when in reality it describes the everyday activities of a typical American. This reminded me of the perspective one must get from merely looking at or watching a city in action versus being a part of that action.  Only when we escape the ‘grasp’ do we allow ourselves the ability to analyze and interpret.