Wednesday, June 8, 2005

The moment I caught the mouse pointer edging toward my precious trove of links, slyly urging me to outsource tonight’s diversions, I took a brisk walk and vowed to make things right, for your sake as well as mine. Gone, hopefully, are the technical issues we’ve had, and by the same token those luxurious folds into which I could hide and make excuses have likewise disappeared. That means it’s time to talk.

I’ve been trying to figure out this idea of place, parsing and probing it until I’ve gone in infuriating circles, when it suddenly occurred to me I wouldn’t form any airtight conclusions this week, let alone this month. Maybe not even this decade. A year ago I would’ve told you–I seem to recall I actually said something to this effect–that Evanston was the place. I had spent six years in the crown jewel of the Midwest and I could spend a dozen more, or some similar nonsense, but all the poppycock melted as soon as the hateful wintry mix arrived.

Does geography have a say in the matter? Not really. In the end, there are only so many variations available to you: city, suburb, warm suburb, cold city, swamp. You live in a one-horse town? Then move to a three-horse village. Surely you don’t want to wake in a moist sump on consecutive days, two or three mornings more than suffice, but do you see my point? Assuming you don’t commit to a timeshare in the Balkans when, in fact, you wanted to stay somewhere warm, there’s only so much sway your surroundings can exert, right?

What about people? Again, I’d say there are only so many choices on the menu. I wouldn’t claim this as incontestable truth, but New Yorkers are hurried. Hectic. For Long Islanders, driving like dicks is a veritable custom. Wilmette? Snobby. These vivid generalities materialize after you stay long enough, and it shouldn’t require too much effort to pump other people for them. Of course generalizations are full of holes, so eventually you surround yourself with people who thwart and comply with these sweeping statements in the proportions you favor. If you try hard enough, couldn’t this happen in most places?

I’m not exactly sure where this leaves us. My pair of pants that endows me with definitive answers? I think I lost them, lost them good.