Sunday, September 24, 2006

I eliminated that last sentence of that last post, yes I did. Why? Because it embarrasses me that I asked ya’ll if I should keep writing here - “Like, guuuys, does my hair look, like, ugly like this?” Let’s put it like this: Sometimes people just get lonely in new towns and want all their old friends back at once.

Or, another way of looking at it: Because I can, that’s why. Moving on.

Two Things About the Wide World Around Us
1. The elevator music changes from state to state. Yes and Muzak and Homogenized Culture Blah, but: I have heard more Counting Crows and Blues Traveler at the damn Harrises Teeter and Food Lionses than ever played down at the Kroger and Publix of my previous peanut-butter purchasing days. And it’s been a really long time since I’ve heard either one of those groups anywhere, period.

I guess the music at the Atlanta stores probably had its weird little quirks, too. Maybe this: Maybe the Preprogrammed Music Gods are so savvy, they’ve not only figured out what makes people shop faster and buy more, but moreover: they’ve figured out what works for people in specific regions of the land. So though I never noticed the elev’ music back in Atalanta, it was because I wasn’t supposed to. It was designed for me…me, and my inevitable kind. (God, I even remember singing aloud to the tunes at the Publix on Briarcliff. In earnest. They had me pegged, didn’t they?) I’d better watch how long I stay in this new place. Sorry, Blues Traveler fans…You’re nice people; I just don’t want to groove like that.

2. There are Hardees here. At least two of them are simultaneously advertising new sandwiches and jobs. The result? Signs that read:

“New Jalapeno Thickburger Now Accepting All Applications”
and
“We Have Beef Breakfast Wraps Seeking Manager Positions”

So I guess the food really does come first there.

That’s all, right now.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Still here.
Just not, well, here. I'm alive and well here in Beach Town. I'm busy as all get out, meeting good folkses, working my tail off.

Here's the thing: I'm not sure how to reconcile the Spending Every Waking Moment sleeping, breathing and critiquing (forever and ever and ever the critiquing) writing, with doing it here in WebLand. Or whether to continue doing both. Really, the larger issue is the smaller community here in Beach Town. You know: colleges. They're um, not very big, when it comes down to it. It's harder to be as anonymous as one might like than in the Big Zippy City. I'm teaching, too, and don't particularly relish the notion of my young charges finding me on the Great Information SuperSpazzway. So, I don't really know. I get the urges, still. Right now it's wait 'n see-like.