strip malls

You know, whenever I travel to the city, I like to stick to the tried and true -  the large shopping malls, like Kingsway and West Ed, or a leisurely stroll down Whyte Avenue.  It was different,though, when I actually lived in the city.  Quite a lot of shopping was done then at the closest little strip mall - with its convenience store, small grocery store, drug mart, and fast food outlet(s), and maybe a couple of other little places.  In fact, I would  often prefer these to the louder, trendier spots .But, away from the city, I think I shop more like a tourist again.  However, Whyte Ave has changed quite a bit, so that I think I am tempted to go to the newer strip malls now; to seek out the cool little stores that were part of the Whyte Ave scene before.  Now so much of it is just pubs and restaurants and clothing stores.
I mean, I can always go buy the same sorts of things at the same old big box or big mall stores - seasonal clothes, cosmetics, knick-knacks - but the other, the more unique - where is it that hiding?  Anthropologie is the Emperor's New Clothes. I've been around long enough to see that the quality of the stuff is inferior even if it is trying to be different.  You can buy the flash, but it doesn't last. Shopping was much more fun even ten years ago. Maybe I just don't know where to look anymore.
I was thinking of the novel by Hollingshead, Spin Dry, where Rachel is alienated from her life in the 'burbs.  Nothing can be relied on, not even her own memories.  I love how the characters from the old readers, which she likely read as an elementary student, inhabit her actual world.  (That's probable, isn't it?)   I know of at least a few people who seem to live the life that existed in my primary readers - and I find that actually really kind of scary, and alienating.  How can I be so different?
Well, Rachel does escape the townhouse, but would it have happened if Leon hadn't lost his job and then messed around?  At least she has the initiative to find out what happened in her past, and to try and locate her missing father.  The novel has a happy ending, in that Rachel finds love and a baby.  I guess that's as happy an ending as you can get.
So what was the connection between the shopping and the novel?  Well, the novel is kind of about strip malls - the psychologist has his business in one, and there is a very interesting new mall that is being built. Some kind of suburban utopia.  A brave new world.
However, it turns out that nothing about suburbia is really appealing to Rachel, although I think one of the Dick and Jane characters ends up living in the new mall. I can't remember exactly.  I'll have to go back and reread the novel  this summer.
Anyway, maybe I'll try wandering back into the downtown area this time,  something I really have not done for ages.

“On the one hand, Sylvie loves the feeling of being like everybody else... on the other hand when she feels most like a freak is when shes getting away with not being one.”             Barbara Gowdy

Definitely. Trying to be that normal person can be very surreal.

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