Sept.27th First Excursion.. Metal Scrap Yard

My first Chicago walk was very interesting. I went to a metal scrap yard on September 27th at 2:00 pm on North street near Clyborn. This site is used to crush metal and then it is melted down and sold to steel mills. This place was suggested by a guy named Jeremy who goes to this metal scrap yard on his lunch breaks. At first I thought I wouldnt be able to enter the site because there was a sign that said "Dangerous do not enter" but a construction guy let me in after I told him I was doing a documentary on scrap yard sites in Chicago.I entered the site with a microphone, video camera and my still camera and took lots of footage and sat on a dirty ledge and watched on one side the construction workers fixing the bridge on north to my left and cars and metal being crushed to my right.I sat there for about half an hour and then started to walk around the giant metal sculptures. I had been there for about 45 minutes when I was approached by the construction manager of the scrap yard who told me in an aggressive way "I wouldnt just walk into your living room" and I responded calmly "but the door was open and I didnt realize it was private property and im doing a documentary on scrap yards" and blah blah blah. We soon became friends and I was kindly excorted out by him and other employees, one who looked quite hot in overalls but I was unable to document them.Overall it was a great experience and adventure. I love this project because it sets me out on a journey through the city and allows for different interactions that are out of my control.I met a woman on the way to the scrap yard that also told me her favorite place in Chicago and also met someone on my way home from the site who told me their favorite place. I read this reading about performances and rituals and paying attention to the gathering performing and leaving rituals that surround a performance. So unconsciously the performance for me started before I even arrived at the scrap yard and continued until I go home. I was able to document the people I met before and after the trip though. I have great pictures of this location which I will post in one hour as soon as my batteries charge. I realize this project is about creating connections for myself and trying to find a place of comfort in Chicago. By asking others what their favorite place to go is I am seeking out my own favorite place or sense of comfort in the city. Everyone has a different favorite place and for example I would never go to a metal scrap yard but experiencing this other experience gave me a sense of the person in a strange way. I am asking questions like where do they sit when they go to their favorite site and for how long and what are they thinking of? As I try to inhabit this public space made personal through each persons description I will document my own moments of comfort or discomfort.I must admitt I have been unattentive to my blog and need to write in it everyday. From this point on I will always write something in my blog or at least update it.Grad school is time consuming and takes me away from my adventures in Chicago but im back and here and have lots of amazing new suggestions from many people.