Hooooooo. Not a new year’s resolutions kind of guy. It’s certainly not due to a lack of faults and shortcomings, though. I blame society (also my unrelenting cynicism).
For 2012, I want to get a job, so I can pay back this debt and stop feeling like I’m worth more dead than alive. I also want my kitty Sparkle to love me more, but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal.
I really like this question. If I could have written any book, it probably would be Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. There are (not many) books that I like more, but I don’t know if there’s another book that was so good at depicting the futility of unrequited love, the disappointment of dreams fulfilled, the emptiness of depression, the soothing relief of a woman’s arms — it locked in to a very specific section of my soul. It locked in to a section of my soul that I protect with vigor due to its vulnerability. Wanting, needing, having, and losing all rolled up into the uncertainty and arrogance of young adulthood.
Hm. I guess I’d have to ask you to define your terms. Do I believe that you just become nothing after you die? No, I don’t. Do I believe in a heaven in the clouds with a God with a big bushy white beard? Not really. I guess the simplest way to put it is that I believe in souls, and I believe that those souls have an energy that we are currently incapable of defining or measuring. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, so something happens at death that we can’t explain — at least, not now. I’m definitely not big on organized religion, despite my nominal Catholicism. As a wise man once said, “Life is suffering. Anyone who tells you different is selling something.”
Well, I definitely want to see Prince while he’s still here. There was a show tentatively scheduled for last week that I had planned to go to — Janelle Monae was supposed to be the supporting act — but it was never officially announced and tickets were never offered, so I need to figure out when I should go. Cibo Matto, of course. Kid Cudi is coming later this summer and I was thinking about going to that, even though live hip-hop shows are almost always disappointing. Likewise, the Cool Kids are playing up the street from me on Friday. Basement Jaxx is scheduled in October I think? and I’m definitely going to that. A classmate told me Arcade Fire and Portishead were touring together this summer, but I haven’t seen any information on that, so I’m not holding my breath. If it does happen, though, I’m there.
Oh wow. Great question. Hope I have enough room.
1) Honolulu, HI
Upside: beautiful weather, beautiful women, ethnically diverse, super laid-back and relaxed.
Downside: incredibly high living expenses, nepotism and cronyism rule, more of a small town feel than I’d like.
2 - tie) Atlanta, GA
Upside: near my mother and my brother, delicious Southern food readily available at all times, low cost of living.
Downside: near my mother (who views me as free labor), hot summers, terrible traffic means going anywhere is a task.
2 - tie) Washington, DC - Upside: public transportation in general and the Metro specifically, vibrant nightlife, pretty good food. Downside: hot summers AND cold winters, horrible traffic, logistical headaches when dealing with two different states and the District.
4) Gunnison, CO
Upside: rose-colored childhood memories, unimaginably safe small town, lots of outdoorsy stuff to do including skiing and free climbing.
Downside: tiny town in the Rocky Mountains, virtually no other non-white people, ice cold winters, reality never matches memories.
5) Aurora, CO
Upside: More great childhood memories, great camping and skiing within driving distance, also very safe, reasonable cost of living.
Downside: public transportation sucks outside of the city center, ice cold winters, still not very many non-white people
6) Seattle, WA
Upside: very progressive city, lots of live music all the time, decent food, especially if you like hole-in-the-wall teriyaki joints, skiing within driving distance, lots of pretty girls walking the street.
Downside: very unfriendly to newcomers, none of those girls will actually talk to you, rainy, depressing winters, harder to find a decent job than expected.
7) Jackson, MS
Upside: Traffic really isn’t that bad, decent food, especially if you like barbecue, plenty of black people around.
Downside: ignorant city in an ignorant state, oppressively hot summers, not much to do besides watch television and drink, girls are not that attractive at all.
8) Mobile, AL
Upside: fresh seafood from the Gulf, cheap as dirt living expenses, some of the Azelea Trail Maids can get it.
Downside: my father lives there, nothing to do except watch television, drink, and fish, economy is in the toilet, city layout was designed by a blind man drunk off absinthe.
Not ranked: Los Angeles, CA (not enough time to make a fair appraisal), Paris, France (not fair to compare to brutish, uncouth American cities.)