perpetual memory loss

Here I am living in Washington DC.  If you asked me 6 months ago what my life would be like I would have told you that I would still be living in NY working some crummy job to make ends meet.  However things didn’t work out that way and instead of working a crummy job to support myself in NY I now live in crummy DC (it’s not really that crummy) and have a good job (albeit I don’t work enough).   So what have I learned this past month, well quite a few things actually.

1. DC has the worst subway system ever (well maybe not the worst but it still kind of blows).  I think it was designed by a bunch of people who had no idea how to design a subway, and didn’t believe in the need to design with an eye towards future needs (more on this later though in an upcoming pet peeves post).

2. Holy shit it’s humid as fuck here and this is a mild (MILD they said hah!) summer.

3.  The transition from student to working stiff has been painless and (gasp!) I actually like my job and look forward to going to work (double gasp!).  For the last four plus years I have done nothing but go to school, drink, do homework, drink, and at times sleep.  It’s was rough but work (or the real world as some people call it) is so much easier.  I work my shift then I’m off to do whatever I want (drink) without worrying about some paper I have to write.  It’s fantastic.  For the first time in years my free time is actually my free time.

4.  The Natinals stink.

5. My new neighborhood (Capitol Hill) is one of the coolest neighborhoods I have ever lived in.  There are a shit ton of bars, restaurants, and I’m close to everything.  There’s 4 parks nearby and the neighborhoods are gorgeous and everything is within walking distance.  The only thing that could make this neighborhood better is if it was in NY or Mr. Burns built his little sun blocking thing-a-majig here–because it’s hot as fuck here.

6. Just like people in NY, people in DC liberally sprinkle the word “literally” throughout their conversations constantly even though it’s not needed.  Example: “I went to the grocery store and there were literally dozens of different kinds of cereal on the shelves.”  Because if you just told me there were dozens of different kinds of cereal at the grocery store I totally wouldn’t believe you unless you added in literally.

7. People are very courteous here.  The first time I rode the subway I was flabbergasted that people actually waited for other people to exit the subway cars before they entered. WTF I am so not used to that.  I am used to fighting my way onto a train whilst others are fighting their way off, and then being punked by a spunky latin mom and her stroller.  Now whilst the courtesy thing looks orderly and seems nice I don’t think it is more effective than everyone just scrambling in and out like roaches when the lights come on.

8. Living a mile away from the Capitol and two miles from the White House is not as cool as it sounds.

9. I have a lot of work ahead of me.  So far I have noticed that there are not a whole lot of Coors Light drinkers here in DC.  That means it time for me to get my hands dirty preaching the good work and converting all these lost sheep roaming the hills of the Capitol.  I’ve done it before and as Pete Coors is my witness I will do it again.

10. This city is growing on me like a fungus.  I am really starting to like it here, but I still miss NY.  And I think I always will because it was the only place I have ever lived that I didn’t want to leave and, since I was a little chitlin living at home, it was the only place that has felt like home to me in a long, long time.

So that’s just a quick summary of a few things that I have learned (or in the case of the Natinals has been brutally reinforced) since I have moved to DC.  New posts should be coming along fairly regularly now since I have started settling and the worst part of moving is now over.  Look forward to random posts, nerdy posts, and drunken posts in the not too distant future.

I have some big changes coming up in my life over the next few months and I have been planning it all out trying to make sure that my transition from school to the job market goes as smoothly as possible in this crazy economic climate.  However, things are quickly unraveling.  Today, for example, was my big comprehensive final that I need to pass in order to graduate.  Well I did a little research found out all the ins & outs and created a strategy.  I decided to pick the three classes that went together–Colonial America 1600-1690, Colonial America 1690-1765, and American Revolution.  I figured I would study for those three classes write one enormous essay split it into three parts and then BAM! I’d be pretty much done.  Sounds like a good idea right?  Nope total fail.  You see even though they told me I would have a choice from all the classes I had taken they lied.  They threw me a nasty 12-6 curve ball and gave me a partial list of classes.  Once I read the questions and saw that my plan had gone awry my mind went blank and I stared at the computer blinking for the next 10 minutes.  I then looked to see if any of my current classes were on there since they were still fresh in my mind–negative on that point too.  (Funny thing was that the other person from the history department that took the test at the same time had all three of the questions that we had studied for plus questions from all his current classes.)   In anguish I looked over the list of questions again and saw that there were two questions I had studied for and the rest I hadn’t.  Most of the remaining questions were terrible and way too ambitious–on the teachers part–for me to answer cogently in an essay with the limited time I had.  So I decided to answer the Civil War question even though I really don’t remember much from the class.  Well to make a long story less long I somehow grinded out an essay (not very good ones mind you) for each question.  Some of you may say well that’s your fault for not studying for all of your classes, but while that may be true, I had a good strategy and the thought of studying for 10 classes over the last 2 years didn’t sound very appealing or a productive use of my time.  I figured better to know a few really well than all of them not very well at all.  Oh well I’ll find out soon enough it I scraped by.  So that was the first plan that went wrong.

My next plan was to spend this next week holed up in my hovel working on homework in an attempt to get ahead on my semesters workload–I have three research essays that I don’t have topics for never mind the books.  Novel idea for me since I always procrastinate and end up slammed at the end of the semester and well that is starting to get really old.  Besides along with my regular workload I have extra research work to do for teachers, I have to find a job, and a new place to live.  So it would definitely be a good idea to take this break to get ahead on everything so I’m not living in a box in a few months.  Well as luck would have it JetBlue was having some kind of blow out on tickets to Vegas.  I found a round trip ticket for $225 (how crazy cheap is that?) and decided to take advantage of it.  So there goes my plan of not procrastinating and putting my nose to the grindstone and getting some much needed work done.  Now I guess I can look forward to a long stressful last couple months of this semester.  I’m sure this will be an epic week in Vegas, and it’s a break that I do need, but keep your fingers crossed that it all works out and you don’t see me teaming up with a midget and dancing to Thriller in the subway.

Last night I finally got to see Jimmy Eat World live in concert.  After all these years of being a fan of them, and constantly missing out on their shows, I finally made one.  First off I will always be grateful to neverbesocial for introducing me to Jimmy Eat World back in those halcyon Phoenix days.  (Actually I have to thank him for introducing me to quite a few of my favorite bands.  He has been a sort of musical Gandalf guiding me through the perilous path of new music.  Although I still can’t stand Mates of State or Portugal the Man, but hey whatever I can’t be expected to like everything he does.)  Anyways I got to the show earlier than I did for The Black Keys a few weeks ago, but despite that, there was still a huge line–over a block long–by the time I got there.  The people at Terminal 5, however, kept the line moving quickly and I was able to get inside before I froze completely to death.

Once inside I went back up to my spot on the third floor railing, grabbed an empanada, a couple beers, and got ready for the show.  I can’t tell you how excited I was for this show.  I have been looking forward to seeing JEW for a long time now and the fact that my first concert was going to be the Clarity tour only added to my exhilaration–as Clarity is one of my all-time favorite albums.  So I suffered through the opening act–they actually were not that bad, but I just didn’t feel like waiting any longer to see JEW.  A little bit after 9:00 JEW came out to the rousing cheers of the crowd and commenced to playing Clarity in it’s entirety–including Goodbye Sky Harbor.  It was a fantastic show and they sounded great, and considering this was their first show on the tour, I expect that as the tour rolls on they will tighten up their sound even more.  After they finished playing Clarity they left so they could take part in the obligatory encore–bands really need to stop doing that as it’s pretty contrived–and then they came back out and played some of their b-sides and then finished off the show with Work, Pain, The Middle, and Sweetness.  The crowd went absolutely ape-shit for Sweetness and it really is the best song to finish the show to as everyone left completely pumped after that song.  Well there is not really much more for me to say that the pics and videos can’t say on their own.  So enjoy the pics and videos.  (By the way Jimmy Eat World if you all are upset about me posting these pics and videos online just twitter me to take it down.  No need to release the hounds.)

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It only took me a year and a half but I finally made it to MoMA.  I got there an hour and a half before closing time so it was a condensed visit, but it was worth the $12 entry fee.  We were told to hit up Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave special exhibit so we went to the 6th floor to check her out first–especially since we were told she was controversial.  I have to say I really enjoyed her exhibit.  To sum it up her work is dark and sexual.  She likes painting bushy vagina’s, women spreading their ass cheeks, fucked up looking babies, death, and head shots.  Some of my faves were a sequence of paintings she did with people being hung, a portrait she did of a snake, and a dead lady.  Her exhibit ends on February 16 so if you are going to be in NY between now and then you should check it out.

Here is a video of her exhibit.  If you don’t want to watch the whole thing here are some good spots to check out: crazy babies 1:40 and 5:10, weird pregnant lady 2:15, snake portrait 6:00, and pron shot 6:40.  Unfortunately, they didn’t show the paintings of the hanging which for some odd reason were my favorites.

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