{"id":40152,"date":"2026-05-07T17:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/?p=40152"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:07:09","slug":"finding-my-way-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/visualization\/finding-my-way-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding My Way Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I first moved to New York, I sold my car, a Toyota Corolla that was painted Golden Girls worthy taupe-gold. For the first time, I walked like never before and I used Google Maps like my life depended on it. My sense of direction is abysmal on a good day, let alone add uptown, downtown, local and express, basic questions such as Brooklyn or Queens,\u00a0 and a maze of streets that felt like a pile of spaghetti left for me to untangle daily on my way home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, this felt jarring, my quiet, comfortable beige cocoon was now a cacophony of chaos- mariachi bands, people doing backflips on the poles, little kids crying, dogs, young and old – all people with somewhere to be just like me. My comfort went from predictable to chaotic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple of months and many weeks of traveling enough to exceed the fare cap, my sense of comfort is still in progress – the subway will likely never be as peaceful as a quiet car, but it\u2019s also more entertaining & interesting. Would I ever have had a live three piece band of a Double Bass, a Guitar and an Accordion in my car? Probably not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My work below expresses some of it – there\u2019s a sense of a tangled web, because it still can feel like that. I also wanted it to reflect the rigidity and an \u201cif, then-ness\u201d to the subway. If you\u2019re at 14th on a local in Manhattan, you will almost inevitably end up at 23rd street stop. Some days I really the comfort of my car – my peace and quiet, before the world of chaos. But I\u2019ve come to experience moments of comfort and sparks of joy. There\u2019s some type of thrill when you see \u201c1 Minute\u201d and you actually make the train.  The adrenaline is unmatched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n