The difference.
It's funny how I never post about the things that are going well, or the wishes I've made in past entries that have been fulfilled.
Things are going really well! It's crazy good. Things are so different than they were in Richmond. No one in Richmond can even understand. By moving 2000 miles, we broke how many molds of life? Old habits are gone!
And all the things I've wished for (except maybe a car) have been provided. Jobs, friends, family, places to hang out, things to do, money in the right places at the right times, a place of our own that always has it's arms open for us.
Makes us wonder what was going wrong in Richmond. Was it just the place in general? Why did it take me 7 years in Richmond to find a friend who'd miss me enough to still call when I left, and a month and a half in Texas? Why did it take me 7 years in Richmond to find a group of friends, and a month and a half in Texas? Why did I never fit in, in Richmond, but people here can't believe I'm not a Texan for generations? Why can I move within the people here so comfortably, when I never could in Richmond? Is there something about the weather? The water? What makes it so different?
Did you know that Texas has something like 68% less debt than Virginia? (Thank you Time Magazine... but what purpose does a statistic like that really hold?)
Why are people more generous, yet richer for it here? And jealousy seems like it doesn't really play a part in any plot lines. Yeah, so Real Housewives of Dallas on Bravo was supposed to be everyone acted like Barbie ... except they never aired the whole season because it was *too boring*? I supposed because everyone got along? Crazy. Real Housewives of Richmond would be awesome. I mean, if you like lying, backstabbing people. I know I do. But it's not just the rich people, anywhere.
Big hair in Texas is everywhere. Tanned blondes (but it's always uneven enough that you know it's natural). Red convertibles (I'd own one too if you can convertible weather 10 months out of the year...). But just because you are a pale brunette with pigtails in a 12-year-old pickup, doesn't mean they think you're any different than they are. They still help you pick something up if you drop it, or give you directions if you're lost... I've never been snubbed at once. It's honestly unsettling! I thought snubbing people was the norm. Silly Richmond. Silly me?
Even our goth scene is different. I thought goth scenes had a few basic key elements. People who assumed they were better because they were around in the 80s. People who assumed they were better because they only listened to what's current now. People who assumed they were better because they did (or did not) shop at Hot Topic. People who assumed they were better because their wardrobes matched those of the vampires in the Buffy. People who assumed they were better because they were slutty in a way that other girl wasn't. People who assumed they were better because they were taking the slutty girl home that night. People who assumed they were better because they listened to screaming instead of singing. People who assumed they were better because their music had no words at all. People who assumed they were better because they could take up a 5'x5' space all to themselves on a dance floor 7'x7'. People who assumed they were better because they came on theme nights, in costume, every time. People who assumed they were better because they never dressed up for a theme night - once. People who assumed they were better because everyone knew their name. People who assumed they were better because they never used their real name.
And The Church, here in Dallas, people are almost ... shy. They assume everyone else is better than them. There's such a strange environment of learning. People say "hi" instead of sitting in corners. You can barely tell it's a "goth" club because of so many different ways people are dressed! It's more of a "be yourself" place than a "get dressed up to stand out and fit in" ... it's downright bizarre. And yeah, we have to pay cover fees now, the bartenders are men without pirate hats, but you meet people who aren't just "club" friends. They drive you to the Verizon store the next day, because they needed to go to. They wear jeans and a t-shirt, even though they have skulls on their cat seat covers. So we lack kilts. But gained so many pieces of bondage furniture it isn't funny. And we'll get Jim a kilt. And then we'll have kilts. And he won't have to be in the Shelter posse to wear it. Then again, the distinction between goth people and BDSM people here in Dallas is so hard to find, I didn't think about it until now.
I guess the reason I never blog about the good things because they're so mind boggling. Everything I thought was good in Richmond, is just normal here. Everything that's good here, wouldn't exist in Richmond. Yeah, I know, stilly honeymoon phase and all with the new place. But I don't believe things here could even really fall back to the "standard" we had in Richmond.
And it's not the people I know there or know here, it's the people I don't know that make the difference. I hope I can be the difference to someone I don't know.
Things are going really well! It's crazy good. Things are so different than they were in Richmond. No one in Richmond can even understand. By moving 2000 miles, we broke how many molds of life? Old habits are gone!
And all the things I've wished for (except maybe a car) have been provided. Jobs, friends, family, places to hang out, things to do, money in the right places at the right times, a place of our own that always has it's arms open for us.
Makes us wonder what was going wrong in Richmond. Was it just the place in general? Why did it take me 7 years in Richmond to find a friend who'd miss me enough to still call when I left, and a month and a half in Texas? Why did it take me 7 years in Richmond to find a group of friends, and a month and a half in Texas? Why did I never fit in, in Richmond, but people here can't believe I'm not a Texan for generations? Why can I move within the people here so comfortably, when I never could in Richmond? Is there something about the weather? The water? What makes it so different?
Did you know that Texas has something like 68% less debt than Virginia? (Thank you Time Magazine... but what purpose does a statistic like that really hold?)
Why are people more generous, yet richer for it here? And jealousy seems like it doesn't really play a part in any plot lines. Yeah, so Real Housewives of Dallas on Bravo was supposed to be everyone acted like Barbie ... except they never aired the whole season because it was *too boring*? I supposed because everyone got along? Crazy. Real Housewives of Richmond would be awesome. I mean, if you like lying, backstabbing people. I know I do. But it's not just the rich people, anywhere.
Big hair in Texas is everywhere. Tanned blondes (but it's always uneven enough that you know it's natural). Red convertibles (I'd own one too if you can convertible weather 10 months out of the year...). But just because you are a pale brunette with pigtails in a 12-year-old pickup, doesn't mean they think you're any different than they are. They still help you pick something up if you drop it, or give you directions if you're lost... I've never been snubbed at once. It's honestly unsettling! I thought snubbing people was the norm. Silly Richmond. Silly me?
Even our goth scene is different. I thought goth scenes had a few basic key elements. People who assumed they were better because they were around in the 80s. People who assumed they were better because they only listened to what's current now. People who assumed they were better because they did (or did not) shop at Hot Topic. People who assumed they were better because their wardrobes matched those of the vampires in the Buffy. People who assumed they were better because they were slutty in a way that other girl wasn't. People who assumed they were better because they were taking the slutty girl home that night. People who assumed they were better because they listened to screaming instead of singing. People who assumed they were better because their music had no words at all. People who assumed they were better because they could take up a 5'x5' space all to themselves on a dance floor 7'x7'. People who assumed they were better because they came on theme nights, in costume, every time. People who assumed they were better because they never dressed up for a theme night - once. People who assumed they were better because everyone knew their name. People who assumed they were better because they never used their real name.
And The Church, here in Dallas, people are almost ... shy. They assume everyone else is better than them. There's such a strange environment of learning. People say "hi" instead of sitting in corners. You can barely tell it's a "goth" club because of so many different ways people are dressed! It's more of a "be yourself" place than a "get dressed up to stand out and fit in" ... it's downright bizarre. And yeah, we have to pay cover fees now, the bartenders are men without pirate hats, but you meet people who aren't just "club" friends. They drive you to the Verizon store the next day, because they needed to go to. They wear jeans and a t-shirt, even though they have skulls on their cat seat covers. So we lack kilts. But gained so many pieces of bondage furniture it isn't funny. And we'll get Jim a kilt. And then we'll have kilts. And he won't have to be in the Shelter posse to wear it. Then again, the distinction between goth people and BDSM people here in Dallas is so hard to find, I didn't think about it until now.
I guess the reason I never blog about the good things because they're so mind boggling. Everything I thought was good in Richmond, is just normal here. Everything that's good here, wouldn't exist in Richmond. Yeah, I know, stilly honeymoon phase and all with the new place. But I don't believe things here could even really fall back to the "standard" we had in Richmond.
And it's not the people I know there or know here, it's the people I don't know that make the difference. I hope I can be the difference to someone I don't know.