Boston: Close to Home

Last Monday taught me was that my job puts me in a black hole for the day. While most office jobs have people sitting in front a computer, my job puts me in a dance studio, no Internet, no phones. I talk to few adults throughout the day, so often the biggest news I hear in class is about all the birthday parties and swim lessons that happened this weekend.

When I got off work on Monday evening at 7.30, I was shocked by the text messages I'd received. I had to ask a coworker if my texts were telling me the truth or if it was some weird joke my friend was playing on me. I couldn't believe it when I heard about the Boston Marathon; and I quickly texted all of my lovely Bostonians (hours late) to see if they were still safe.

Since then, like every other runner (newbie or otherwise), I've been diligently wearing my blue and yellow, my race shirts; and like every other person, I've been struggling through my week.

I have a lot of stuff I'd like to say about Boston, about my friends, about Americans, etc.; but I'm a little unsure where to begin. So I will just write this: Bostonians are in my thoughts and prayers, I hope everyone is taking time to appreciate their days everyday, and we're all going to keep moving.

Love to all!

My week of Sunrises

Sunrise at National Cathedral, Washington, DC

It's been a crazy week, that's for sure. At work, I've encountered a lot of tears, a batch of stress, and even a few strategically-placed expletives this week from customers and co-workers alike. At home, I've been crawling right into bed almost as soon a I walk in the door each night. I managed to watch a couple of Netflix movies I had stacked up in a pile on my desk. I also managed to put away have of te clothing that was behaving more like a carpet in my bedroom.

Now, I could never have been this busy if I hadn't kept waking up at sunrise everyday (sometimes earlier). I've enjoyed all the beautiful and different sunrises I've seen this week. Thought I'd share :)

Getting to work an hour early on Saturday morning to set up for the day... still pretty though.

Driving a parkway during sunrise one morning... not a bad view

But I think my week of glorious sunrises has finally ended this morning...

But perhaps it also means the crazy, silly, stressful workweek has ended. Here's hoping!

Finding Urbia in Suburbia

The suburbs are bland. No, perhaps bland is a little too nondescript. The burbs are boring. By their very nature, they are meant to be living spaces and not much else. People commute to work, to the cities and offices and nightlife. The suburbs are perhaps meant to be boring.

Now I won't deny that the country beats the suburbs in bore factor sometimes. But the country tends to have something the suburbs do not. The country's got culture. Listen to any Garth Brooks or Lynyrd Skynyrd song. But even more than that, listen to any traditional music from "ruralities", such as rural Ghana or rural Ireland. Yes, the musics of Spain and India are built around populated areas, but the cultural wealth of some places are directly related to their rurality.

The point of all this rambling is that the burbs have no culture. They are neither city nor country; they are neither workplace nor nightlife. They are the desolate places people move to for solace and instead find stupor.

I am here and determined to find the culture.

Because, believe it or not, there are people who live out here because they have to, and these people have built a culture around the suburbs. They have brought the urbia into suburbia. Maybe they're here because of rent prices. Maybe they grew up here and never left. Maybe they're still in high school and live with their families. Maybe they're regular Suburban Joneses who really want to live here but secretly rap in their spare time. But there is culture here. Just have to hunt a little for it.

Got any ideas or examples of urbia in suburbia? I'd love to hear from you!!