Since Eric Ginsburg’s column began bursting Guilford’s collective bubble in last year’s Guilfordian issues, students have come to expect a weekly column that opens their eyes to nearby attractions – coffee shops, parks, and the like.I’m afraid that the suggestions I offer have no such common thread, except that they have each been crucial in my development. I should add the disclaimer that all I can give you is my personal preference. I have opted to author this week’s column without comparison, but rather with openness and eagerness that you will explore the greater Greensboro area and beyond. I encourage adventurers to come to directly experience the example sites used here, so that they may decide for themselves if there is indeed any value to be drawn from them.

Be aware that in choosing the first of these sites, I have decided, with the same vein of thought in mind that compelled me not to write a comparative column, to include a site which has a religious affiliation, but that is not my reason for listing it.

– Wat Greensboro Buddhist Centre, 2809 Liberty Rd. This is a favorite place of mine to discuss all and nothing of both individual and collective reality, and the birthplace of many personal revelations. Open at all hours, but if you wish to converse with the resident English-speaking Bhikkhu (fully ordained male monk), you must adhere to his strict schedule, in which he is open mostly during midday.

– Boutique Hypnotica, 908 Spring Garden Street #B. Not only is Hypnotica my preferred local head shop; here, I’ve met some of the most interesting characters that I’ve yet found outside of Guilford. Also an excellent resource for local venues that don’t receive much attention otherwise, but nonetheless shouldn’t be missed.

– This one has no title, as it isn’t an establishment, but it is rather the lack of both that lends this place such beauty. On the northwest corner of the intersection of West Friendly Avenue and North Cedar Street, behind two parallel apartment buildings, lies a mass of concrete and infrastructure, which, in my eyes, epitomizes fallout beauty. An excellent spot to read or simply catch some orange rays of Autumn sun.

Now, my friends, I come to you requesting your participation. I ask that you step past the permeable membrane that is our campus and engage in new experiences. Do so, and you too may find places that inspire you, guide you, or even revolt you. In any event, you will undoubtedly burst your bubble.