Environment

Around this time last year, I lived in a city.
It was fast and diverse and dangerous, and for all those reasons, beautiful.

Now I live in...well, it's still technically called a "city", but by my personal standards I think of it as more of a "large town". Anyway, the point is that it is vastly different than where I was last winter. Things here move a bit more slowly, and for certain stretches of time the day-to-day sameness is almost suffocating. However, this sameness found on the activity level of things is, for me at least, overshadowed by the insane amount of change that can be found in the sky, along the rivers and streams, and even on the ground. 

It might sound cliche; a city girl suddenly noticing the wonders of nature. But I'd like to think that I've always had a sense of the non-material world around me. And besides, what I'm really enthralled by is the conjuncture of nature, the elements, and the human life amongst it all. 

Interaction at any level is beautiful. I am most fascinated not by the exchange of politics or religion by groups, but how these groups built their culture and everything included in it around the beauty and danger of their environment.

What I really sat down to right about was the feeling I get when I go out on my own with my camera. I may not be a studied photographer, but I have a 20 year trained eye. Walking around yesterday reminded me why I had chosen to live here in the first place. Perhaps I did alright for myself in the glittering city of opportunity, but for the time being I am well adjusted to life in the clockwork town of natural beauty.

Here is my walk:








I haven't felt this alive in a long, long time.

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Snow-musings.

"Oh, I thought a Meadowlark was a tree."


Seems legit.

But, I digress.
You know the sound of a steady snowfall in the morning? Not quite pure silence...more like watching your favorite movie on mute. You can hear every key line in your head, but on the outside, its all just movement. I was doing that this morning (watching snow fall steadily, not Cool Runnings on mute) before begrudgingly getting ready for my 9am class, and thinking about how there are moments of absolute beauty in EVERYTHING. Rain storms with lightning across the sky, heat waves in their brilliant and hazy sunrises, and snow covered trees as you walk (slowly...awkwardly...) to class.
 

His favorite movie is Cool Runnings, too.

Going to college in a town that is braced for blizzards every November-February is like watching your friends go trick-or-treating through the window the year you got grounded. Too obscure? All my friends have had back to back snow days, and I'm still sitting through math class and reading about the relative population in different parts of China. I don't want to pout or anything, but this isn't the most awesome thing in the world.

Speaking of things that are annoying. SOPA. Okay, I don't really want to go there to the point of no return, but, come on guys. I totally understand that we are in danger of losing our "rights" to the free and uncensored Internet. This is a HUGE deal. I'm saying this in all seriousness, because my after-college career will probably mostly depend on the Internet...but it's not like the government is looking to screw you over. Really, we screwed ourselves. Pirating movies, games, music, etc., has created a need for action. I'm not saying this is the best course of action, by any means, just trying to put things into perspective before we grab our keyboards and old monitors and beat down officials with them in angry rage.
Maybe I can talk about this without much fear because I am part of the last generation to remember life before the Internet takeover? I remember getting our first home computer. My grandmother used it for her work. I think I was eight or nine before I got an email address.

Anyway, that's all I want to say about that.

Sorry I don't have much else to write about. I just need to get back into the practice of posting regularly. Here's my cat:

Next time, we can chat about Australia. I have a lot more to say about that.

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The beginning.

Up to this point in my life (which, obviously, is not long enough to mean much, yet) I can attribute four things to my creativity:

1) My darling, devious little sister. My viewing of her triumphs (and shortcomings), as well as her never-ending personal "f-you" to the societal norm has shaped my idea of what it means to be yourself.

2) The similarities and differences I have experienced in going from living in a big, roaring city to a quiet college town. This includes the people I have crossed paths with in both situations.

3) My fiance. Say what you will, but this exceptional a**hole of a best friend has taught me a whole lot about self-expression and acceptance in a shorter time than most people I have been influenced by my entire life.

4) My ability to get things out of my head and on to paper...or blogs.

Writing is one of those things that makes me more than just a person. When I sit down to write or type my daily events, past or future, I am instantly soothed by the clean lines and certainty of the checklist. When I am penning a note to a friend, the mere act of putting words together into sweet or entertaining sentences makes me feel like I have the infinite ability to love and be loved.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really like to write. In fact, most of the time, I like watching and listening to people, and writing down my thoughts, more than I like the actual interaction. That's probably a really terrible thing. But if I'm crazy, then reading what I have to say should be all the more fun for you. Aren't we all a little curious now and then about how the "other people" see things? If not about that, then about the world around us in general? What is out there and how is it experienced by people, everyday?


Ultimately, I wish to experience those experiences. Be among those people in their mini-vans or mountain huts...Beijing, Sydney, Iowa, Nepal...

this is where I write about it all. This is my project.

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