11 June 2010

my new town

i've moved to a swamp with overpriced and undersized housing. with traffic worse than LA's, douchebaggery galore, people who overdress for everything, and intellectual snobbery i cannot even describe (yet). and haysoos is it hot, sticky, and uncomfortable!

but i have never been any place (save perhaps paris) that feels more like my town. i love it here. i love walking the streets alone, knowing where i am and where i'm going, mastering the metro, savoring the smells, snarking off to taxi drivers, and feeling the vibrant energy at every corner. this city is so alive, so full of enthusiasm, and so welcoming and embracing of all that's new and old.

i love DC. i love it in places and in ways i could never've loved LA. i love how small it is, how easy it is to maneuver, how useless a car would be here, how much this place loves dogs, and how much i know miss scarlet will love it here. i love that no one is from here, and no one plans to stay (myself included), but that everyone embraces the transient nature of the place, loves it whilst here, and loves to leave her in the end.

though this isn't my end all be all town, it's my home for now, my stepping stone for what lies ahead, and there's no place i'd rather be right now (even if trying to find a place to live is the bane of my week and my greatest weekend fear). i have no idea what's next, am making no plans, and am rolling with whatever DC has to offer, whenever she's ready to make the offer.

though our time together will most certainly be short, and whatever her surprises are welcome, DC and i are going to love and be loved, like no girl and her city ever has...

~k

08 June 2010

the joys of moving

after my girl zip exchanged her vows sunday, and a long night of fun to the nth came to an end, i hopped a flight to my new town. where, um, madness abounds.

first of all, i'm in a new job. the office isn't new. the company isn't new. the people aren't new. but the job is new. the city is new. the commute is new. the hours are new (i am used to rolling in around 9:30 or 10:00, but on this coast, meetings start anywhere from 7:30-8:30 (wtf is up with these early birds!?)). and the life is new. right now, whilst in the throes of limbo, i am homeless, my shit is strewn about two coasts, my dog is at camp, my car is in an airport parking lot, my settings on everything from email to phones to alerts are set to different time zones. and i don't know whether to scratch my hair or brush my butt. fer reals.

and home-hunting lies pretty close to the bottom of the list of "fun" i associate with this relocation. and i am a picky mo-fo when it comes to that place i'll hang my hat. i mean, my new place is going to have to match up to the magic of the music box steps, and that's not going to be an easy feat.

the good news is that i've limited my search to three neighborhoods (this may also equate to bad news) and i have a pretty liberal rent budget. the real bad news is that i won't live with carpet, there must be a DC following the comma (all you virginia and maryland lovers really should stop wasting your time trying to convince me otherwise cuz i'm a tried, true, and tenacious city girl), i need parking within a block or two, the place must love dogs and have an in-unit washer and dryer, and i have to have easy public trans access. oh, and whilst i want a little bit of ghetto in my neighborhood, i don't want to be dodging bullets to and fro my metro stop.

so please wish me luck because i won't rest or sign on the line till i can find the DC version of my music box steps...

~k