Monday, January 30, 2006
DC Reflections
Despite plenty of DC detractors, and in light of my recent weekend trip to NYC, I've come to realize something: DC is my home and joy, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. This in response to DLR's observation that he saw himself perpetually in transition for years to come.
First, let me be clear that NYC is better to live-in rather than visit. Its vibrant and chaotic world is best navigated in small doses over an extended stay. I wouldn't trade my three years there, and I'd jump at the opportunity to return for a year or two if work were to take me. But it lacks what I love about DC--people and events that fit my interests. Most of the people I still know from New York, god love them, are worlds different from me. In contract, DC fills my time with civil servants, non-profit hipsters, and indie scene groupies, plus free museums, intellectual town hall meetings, and twenty-something gays as far as the eye can see. All of this is in NYC, to be sure, but I lost what little connection I may have had with it, and instead return to upscale lounges and corporate high rollers.
This leads me to point out that if given the opportunity, there are half a dozen cities I'd take a work detail to for six months, just for a change of scenery: New York, Boston, Philly, Chicago, San Fran, Seattle. I'd jump at the opportunity to go abroad as well, although ideally it would be as part of a program, so that I could have a potential group to socialize with--Budapest taught me all to well how isolating a foreign city can be without friends. And for a significant career advance, I'd go just about anywhere for a time, from the Green Zone to even Omaha.
But in the interim, I'm happy to be here. And despite offers and intentions to visit NYC more often, just about every weekend (and weeknight) here in the District is packed with concerts, exhibits, national museums to explore, new bars to try, new social scenes to infiltrate, and exiting new people to get to know. My platonic crush of the week is on a hot engaged straight couple I just met--attorney transplants from Oakland by way of Manhattan--who are cultured, inquisitive, have similar full-back tattoos, and decided to ask wedding guests to give to Lambda Legal (who is fighting for gay marriage rights) rather than gifts. What's not to love!?
With my family, closest friends old and new, affordable living, vibrant city life, and that hot new boyfriend I'm sure to meet this weekend ALL in one city, how could I possibly consider leaving?
First, let me be clear that NYC is better to live-in rather than visit. Its vibrant and chaotic world is best navigated in small doses over an extended stay. I wouldn't trade my three years there, and I'd jump at the opportunity to return for a year or two if work were to take me. But it lacks what I love about DC--people and events that fit my interests. Most of the people I still know from New York, god love them, are worlds different from me. In contract, DC fills my time with civil servants, non-profit hipsters, and indie scene groupies, plus free museums, intellectual town hall meetings, and twenty-something gays as far as the eye can see. All of this is in NYC, to be sure, but I lost what little connection I may have had with it, and instead return to upscale lounges and corporate high rollers.
This leads me to point out that if given the opportunity, there are half a dozen cities I'd take a work detail to for six months, just for a change of scenery: New York, Boston, Philly, Chicago, San Fran, Seattle. I'd jump at the opportunity to go abroad as well, although ideally it would be as part of a program, so that I could have a potential group to socialize with--Budapest taught me all to well how isolating a foreign city can be without friends. And for a significant career advance, I'd go just about anywhere for a time, from the Green Zone to even Omaha.
But in the interim, I'm happy to be here. And despite offers and intentions to visit NYC more often, just about every weekend (and weeknight) here in the District is packed with concerts, exhibits, national museums to explore, new bars to try, new social scenes to infiltrate, and exiting new people to get to know. My platonic crush of the week is on a hot engaged straight couple I just met--attorney transplants from Oakland by way of Manhattan--who are cultured, inquisitive, have similar full-back tattoos, and decided to ask wedding guests to give to Lambda Legal (who is fighting for gay marriage rights) rather than gifts. What's not to love!?
With my family, closest friends old and new, affordable living, vibrant city life, and that hot new boyfriend I'm sure to meet this weekend ALL in one city, how could I possibly consider leaving?
