Sunday, February 29, 2004
A Day in the Life of D. James Marcinkus --
I've realized lately that this blog is getting more and more out there, which is cool and all, but has less and less to do with me -- my day to day life.
First, when I wake up I walk to the Metro. Not a long walk, 10 minutes, and nice, lots of well-maintained row houses and doggies. When I was in Ireland, I had a similar walk distance-wise, the only real difference was the unrelenting rain that soaked me to my underwear every day. It's also worth noting that in Ireland dogs are nasty. If you see a dog in America, it's generally a safe bet that you can pet him without worry of losing a finger. In Ireland, dogs are mangy, smelly, and unpredictable (say, I wonder where they get it from?).
In New York, I didn't have a walk at all to get to the train, but my commute was also a full hour longer each way. In D.C. I leave my apartment at 8:15 and have left as late as 8:25 without being late -- in NYC I had to leave by 7:15 or I was fucked.
Speaking of my apartment, I live in an English basement, which is to say, a basement. Why they gas it up by calling it English is anybody's guess. It's nice, though, mainly because I had no say in the decoration. We live in a nice neighborhood, despite what my mother thinks, and I think it's a very nice place to live. Very similar to where I grew up in New York in that there is a real neighborhood feel -- families, neighborhood stores, parks.
Not like Northern Virginia, which I joked/but wasn't really joking is what the world would look like if America had won the Cold War.
By the way, by "we" I mean my girlfriend Beth and my roommate Anne. Anne and Beth go to school together. I moved here for Beth.
It's amazing to me now how reckless I was in moving here with no job prospects to speak of and just enough money for two-maybe-three months rent plus expenses. Luckily, it worked out as well as it could have if I had written the script myself -- just enough hardship to learn a valuable lesson, but then a perfect solution before the situation became too dire.
I like it here -- the pace is slower, which is a plus, but it's not New York. Anybody who has lived in New York their entire life really is spoiled; they have no idea that the rest of the world just doesn't match up.
I went to college in Boston. Boston is a legit big city, a fun college town (sort of), but by no stretch of the imagination whatsoever can it even dream of matching up to New York.
DC has illusions of hipness but is too yuppified -- way too many generic blonde girls from the South or God knows where else working on the Hill to have any real depth to its character -- AND, on the flipside, way too depressing and dangerous if you're a have-not. If you live in Harlem, there is still a vibrant public life open to you that you can tap and make your own just as much as if you lived in the Upper East Side. If you live in Anacostia, you life sucks hard dick.
Dublin's a town full of drunk donkies and literary ghosts.
London I think can take a crack at New York but I wasn't there long enough to really say and is way too expensive.
Edinburgh was the bomb shit but it rained there too. It's small but has a real distinct character -- it's what I thought Dublin was going to be. Plus the thought of the University of Edinburgh gives me such a philosophy-boner.
That's the story.
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I've realized lately that this blog is getting more and more out there, which is cool and all, but has less and less to do with me -- my day to day life.
First, when I wake up I walk to the Metro. Not a long walk, 10 minutes, and nice, lots of well-maintained row houses and doggies. When I was in Ireland, I had a similar walk distance-wise, the only real difference was the unrelenting rain that soaked me to my underwear every day. It's also worth noting that in Ireland dogs are nasty. If you see a dog in America, it's generally a safe bet that you can pet him without worry of losing a finger. In Ireland, dogs are mangy, smelly, and unpredictable (say, I wonder where they get it from?).
In New York, I didn't have a walk at all to get to the train, but my commute was also a full hour longer each way. In D.C. I leave my apartment at 8:15 and have left as late as 8:25 without being late -- in NYC I had to leave by 7:15 or I was fucked.
Speaking of my apartment, I live in an English basement, which is to say, a basement. Why they gas it up by calling it English is anybody's guess. It's nice, though, mainly because I had no say in the decoration. We live in a nice neighborhood, despite what my mother thinks, and I think it's a very nice place to live. Very similar to where I grew up in New York in that there is a real neighborhood feel -- families, neighborhood stores, parks.
Not like Northern Virginia, which I joked/but wasn't really joking is what the world would look like if America had won the Cold War.
By the way, by "we" I mean my girlfriend Beth and my roommate Anne. Anne and Beth go to school together. I moved here for Beth.
It's amazing to me now how reckless I was in moving here with no job prospects to speak of and just enough money for two-maybe-three months rent plus expenses. Luckily, it worked out as well as it could have if I had written the script myself -- just enough hardship to learn a valuable lesson, but then a perfect solution before the situation became too dire.
I like it here -- the pace is slower, which is a plus, but it's not New York. Anybody who has lived in New York their entire life really is spoiled; they have no idea that the rest of the world just doesn't match up.
I went to college in Boston. Boston is a legit big city, a fun college town (sort of), but by no stretch of the imagination whatsoever can it even dream of matching up to New York.
DC has illusions of hipness but is too yuppified -- way too many generic blonde girls from the South or God knows where else working on the Hill to have any real depth to its character -- AND, on the flipside, way too depressing and dangerous if you're a have-not. If you live in Harlem, there is still a vibrant public life open to you that you can tap and make your own just as much as if you lived in the Upper East Side. If you live in Anacostia, you life sucks hard dick.
Dublin's a town full of drunk donkies and literary ghosts.
London I think can take a crack at New York but I wasn't there long enough to really say and is way too expensive.
Edinburgh was the bomb shit but it rained there too. It's small but has a real distinct character -- it's what I thought Dublin was going to be. Plus the thought of the University of Edinburgh gives me such a philosophy-boner.
That's the story.
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