stimulate me

[danger03]

"This is the problem with LJ -- we all think we are so close, and we know nothing about each other. I'm going to rectify it. I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you

Comments

Question(s)

[anonymous]

How much of a culture shock has it been to go north and live? or are you cushioned from it by being in school and dorm (associating mostly with people from all over in the same situation)? I don't just mean the weather, though that obviously is part of it.

I also want to say I enjoy your Blog, not as a window into your head, but because you are a damn fine writer. I stumbled across you one day while on Wheeler's site and was sucked in by your clear, anecdotal writing. Even if you had the dullest life on earth, you made it interesting. Your descriptions make the people interesting. I know you may be a great musician, but you have a rare gift for words. Most of the musicians I know can barely read, much less write (okay, I am prejudiced because I once proofed (& and re-typed thesis (theses?)) for Masters candidates and I swear I had to totally re-write them because despite the content (everything you ever wanted to know about flute vibrato, for instance) it was like 7th graders had written them. Maybe just a coincidence...I just figured good=music, bad=writing skills.

I'm sorry you're bummed about your blog, but it is GOOD.

--Friend of Wheeler & Shalin & another Daniel (just graduated)

Re: Question(s)

[danger03]

There is a culture shock and there isn't. I'll start with the differences between the good ol' South and Chicago first, because differences are usually the most interesting.

The first thing that always hits me when I go to Chicago is the accent. The funniest thing is when Chicagolanders insist they don't have one. "Do I have an e-ccent?" they ask. It's just the short A vowel sound that's weird. I always got a kick out of whenever Chazz on my floor said the words, e-ctually, e-pple, Chic-e-go, or e-ss. Sadly, I don't really have a southern accent to entertain the northerns. Neither does Andrea, from Jonesboro, GA, who's majoring in flute performance. When people ask her why she doesn't have a southern accent, she simply says, "I fought it my whole life." I actually began to miss hearing Southerner's mellifluous, molasses drawl. The other day we got a message from my dentist's office in Atlanta: "Hea-loe. This is to cun-FIRRM David's [sic]ap-POE-innt-mi-ent..." I smiled when I heard that.

The next big difference is in the landscape. Looking out on Chicago is like watching Atlanta's hills being steam-rolled flat and all its roads being unknotted and straightened out. Gone are its beloved pines, oaks, and magnolias, except for a line of them planted equidistant from each other along the sidewalks. There is not a Waffle House or Kroger in sight. The street lights are all placed next to the road rather than overhead, which drives me nuts even though I don't drive there. I was ecstatic when a CVS opened up in Evanston; having grown up next to a CVS, I consider it a little reminder of home.

As far as school goes, the only thing that's really missing is the black people. I see them in downtown Evanston sometimes, but very rarely on the way to class. After 5 years at Chamblee, I miss them; it's quieter when they're gone.

One thing Chicago has that Atlanta doesn't is the most amazing light pollution you ever saw. At night the most glorous aura drifts up from the thousands and thousands of street lamps. Looking out my dorm window at night, the sky is orange as far as you can see. In the spring I used to stare out of it during late lightning storms watching the eerily beautiful interplay of blue and orange light.

It turns out though, that many things are surprisingly the same. I was severely disappointed at the Chicago networks' late-night commercials. You still hear "Have YOU been injured in a car accident?" and the car commercials are exactly the same except instead of "Come visit your metro-Atlanta Ford dealer TODAY!" it's "Come visit your Chicagoland Ford dealer today!". The majority of lower paid workers still tend to be minorities. And you still have the shopping malls and freeways. There's still Burger King and Taco Bell for junk food. And cell phones. Heck, there's even a Six Flags.

Many NU students coming from the south--and there aren't many-- seem to consider themselves exiles: They hate iced tea, or think southern hospitality is fake, or even refer to their hometown as a 'prison.' But I like to think that I'll always have some foothold in Atlanta. For all its problems, I think Atlanta has great potential, and for that reason I will always have some personal stake in it.

Re: Question(s)

[danger03]

Thanks for the compliment. :)

If my chicken-scratch is really that good, it's because I spend so much time on every little detail. If I wrote a novel it would take me 3,000 years. I angst over every sentence. I spent five minutes just coming up with the word 'molasses' that occurs in the comment below. On top of that, I still have a little ADD in me; I frequently lose my train of thought while I'm writing. Part of my problem with this journal is that I want to write about something but then get lazy and don't do it because I know how long it will take.