Westward ho!!!!!!!!!!
7/2/2008
Hello, dears!
I've got July for study before I go off to Seattle's Academy of Baroque Opera in August. I depart on the fifth, nearly ten days early, so I can have a vacation and really get to spend some time with family. I will shortly have no blood relatives remaining on this coast, and once in a while, it's nice to actually see people who share your gene pool and have the same laugh and twitch their eyebrows the same way and understand why the truth should never interfere with a good story and can sing in tune and harmonize at the drop of a hat and argue about poetry and eschatalogical issues and obscure song lyrics. Ah. Well, actually, that's mostly my mom. Okay, so I miss my mom. Shoot me.
I miss the city, too. I can't deny that New York City (neighboring metropolis of choice) is pretty hard to beat, but there's just something about the place you grew up, and Seattle is so delightfully quirky. For one thing, it is so absurdly steep. It's built on seven hills (like Rome -- yeah, not so much), and I do mean HILLS. I've gotten soft living out here in all this old geography and now think a rolling hill's a mountain and wow, like, really steep!
I also must remember to moderate my tones when I order coffee. Here it's perfectly acceptable to charge in and order post-haste and bullet-fire if you follow it up with a smile and a "thank you!" as you move away (at least that's what I do), but on the West Coast if you don't precede an order with a nice slow "hi, could I get a" people look at you like, "why are you so mad?"
And oh, my Lord, as good as the rough-and-tumble closeness of the East Coast culture has been for me, Street Close in New York and Small Town Close in New England -- wouldn't trade either for the world but I must say it will be nice being back in the land of personal space. Two feet minimum. OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!
:)