Brains!

I've attempted to write about 500 times the past couple weeks, and finally today is the day.

I've just finished Bryson's a Walk in the Woods, you know about his attempting the Appalachian Trail. It was disappointing, mostly because I have some sort of idealistic notion of what walking 2000 miles is supposed to be like, and Bryson's trek just doesn't fit in. I mean he's witty in his almost obnoxious and extremely condescending way, but past that I really got no sense of the Appalachian Trail. In fact I came away with very negative feelings about the whole thing.

It was just surprisingly easy, driving across the country. Pretty much after Flagstaff the landscape flattens out and it's just boring all the way to Memphis. I mean there are parts of that eastern side of NM that are pretty, but only because it's crazy big sky open desert. Once you get to OK things take a turn for the worst. The roads are awful for one thing...but there is literally nothing there, it's a terrible lonely feeling. Even in OK city I felt completely disengaged by the personality-less buildings. I was astonished to find normal people tucked away in the northwest corner of AR, right after we crossed over the OK/AR border. I am grateful to them for letting us crash there, good people can be found in strange places. The next day, we fucked up and drove through the Ozarks, through 35 mile per hour speed zones to drop back down to 40. Everyone in AR looks the same, the trucks are scary, and although the country side is somewhat appealing I'd never want to vacation here. We got lost on account of trusting your GPS, damn thing! Well technically it's our fault for not reading the manual before using it. When we finally crossed the Mississippi into Memphis I could tell it felt more like Tennessee, in fact there is a Tennessee feel. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but there's some kind of vibe here. I don't know if that vibe is some how influenced by my perceptions, which must clearly have been influenced by Drew.

Overall does it feel like I drove 2000 miles? No. Do I feel like I've made some sort of life altering move yet? No. Do I feel like I actually live in Nashville? No. I think some of these things will come overtime, with getting a job, and a place to live. But honestly all of the places I've lived in I knew I wasn't going to be there all my life. I wonder if there will ever be a place, that I'll feel rooted to? Where I'll be able to say, this is my permanent home.

Interestingly something I've noticed is that Tennessean's (and some others) consistently talk about crime rates, "Oh Memphis is no. 2" and "Our zipcode is second most dangerous" and "I heard burger king got robbed last night". So I've been trying to research actual studies, and statistics. They vary wildly depending on what they factor in (violent crime, traffic fatalities, robberies) then different studies factor in population and space. Isn't geography wonderful! Cities that appear on these 'dangerous' lists end up being ones related to drug trafficking, or poverty...isn't that always the way?

The thing about this East Side of Nashville (which is made up of 10 or so neighborhoods) is that it's one of the oldest neighborhoods, many of the buildings are historic. And up until 10 years ago it was pretty much awful. Urban professionals are attracted to its proximity to downtown, while still maintaining a quaint small community feeling. Property is still cheap as heck houses, and some of the neighborhoods are still 'the hood' and indeed quite dangerous, but there are all sorts of 'alternative' and 'green' shops and bars. I have to say this is exactly why I loved the place when I visited. Many of the houses are Victorian style (including craftsman, queen anne, bungalow, eastlake, and american four square. All of which can be found in NorCal, so it's no wonder I loved it. East Nashville's gentrification is very much like what Venice Beach has been going through the past 20 or so years. Property value here is going to continue to grow and whoever was smart enough to buy a house (Drewfus's mum) is going to probably triple it's value. There are all sorts of city plans in the works for continuing city beautification and Gallatin (a hideously ugly version of Venice's Lincoln Blvd) is going to be revamped, Shelby bottoms is going to be extended, they're even building a 'funland' right across the Cumberland river from LP field (hopefully I'll have moved before that).

I guess when I think about places to live, there are some that just fit magically and you say 'yes I could see myself living here, if I had a push to do it'. Sydney is like that, Austin is like that...and East Nash too. But there are some places that just make you want to move instantaneously, and it depends person to person, but Humboldt and Asheville are both on that list. They pull me right in.

That's about all I've got for right now.