Opening shots
Hello from DC. I figured it was time to start talking about myself and my life as if anyone out there cared since... well... everyone else seems to do it, and I'm such a conformist by nature.
Anyhow, it's more of a case of the technology existing, so why not do something with it...
I've now been in DC for a month. I started my new job at America Abroad Media on August 6. This is the first time I have "permanently" moved outside of Boston. I went to college in Bethlehem, PA, and that certainly wasn't going to be my home. I did six months in LA back in 1996, and that was a feeble attempt to "make it" in the music business. And, last summer I spent two months working in Dubai, but I knew that was a short-term gig before I started.
So, I finally took off the training wheels and dove into a new city for a new adventure. Plenty of motivation behind that, but no need to go there. Let's just say that at the end of the day, it was time to embark on a new adventure, and I found the ideal job opportunity for this point in my career.
After a month of apartment sitting, I finally signed a lease--I move in on September 15. The rental market is brutal here. Granted, I was pretty picky about my location and what I want in an apartment, and I finally found one that was well above my budget, but I can learn to love $6 wine from Trader Joe's in order to afford the rent. Can't really beat the location. 15-minute walk to work; 6-8-minute walk to Dupont Circle, and a 4-minute walk to U Street. Plus, I'm a couple of blocks from a Whole Foods, so I'm pretty much set.
Anyhow... here are some of the highlights of my time here so far, and a few random thoughts about my new life in the district.
Things here are definitely on a different pace. Everything is slower here, and considering I sometimes felt Boston was slow, that means I'm struggling to adjust to a very different pace. Granted, in my work things are pretty peppy, but everywhere else around town, the tempo is several BPM behind where I operate. Certainly the summer heat is an explanation. Who wants to move quickly in 90 degree weather with dripping humidity? This brings up an important detail. Things worked out that I had to start working in the beginning of August--the worst month in DC. Last August I was in Boston, and for many reasons it was the best August I ever experienced. This August... a bit of a change. The weather was pretty nasty, and I was getting used to a new life.
I did find a pretty cool jogging route around the Mall. This was a function of my apartment sitting gig on Capitol Hill. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I move into my apartment--I'll be surrounded by urban life on all sides and won't have clear access to anything like the Mall or my Charles River route in Boston.
Driving here is slow. Not much risk of speeding tickets since no one seems to speed, and traffic lights are so poorly timed (from a driver's standpoint) that is seems rare to go more than one block without having to stop.
Favorite places so far: Cafe Citron, Sushi Go Round, Jaleo, Zaytinya, Kramer Books, any place on the water in Georgetown, and I have to say I like the Hawk and Dove--especially because they have Reyka vodka.
Memorable moments: The Brazilian dancer on the bar at Cafe Citron, kayaking on the Potomac with a Syrian journalist who was dressed in bebe gear and looking like she was going out on Newbury Street or to a Beirut night club, seeing Alison Krauss at the Merriweather Pavillion in MD, jogging around the Mall in the evening, attending the welcome party for the Humphrey Fellows at UMD in the apartment downstairs from the one I've been sitting, signing a lease!
Anyhow, much more to come, but I at least wanted to prime the pump and also set the bar low so future entries will seem far more compelling.
