I was raised, reared, and educated in Philadelphia, but I had to leave. I had been there a long time, absorbing the good (tendency to declare independence), the bad (tendency to wallow in self-pity at the end of football season), and the ugly (tendency to shoot each other, all the time, over anything). After graduating from Saint Joseph’s University in 2007, I packed up and left for Chicago. It’s my first stop.
I have an anxiety attack every time I think about the concept of “going home”.
I’ve relocated to Chicago’s South Side. I’m happy to be in a city where jazz and blues is not just a museum exhibit. It’s upsetting that America’s two greatest cultural contributions are essentially enduring hospice now. The differences between the east coast the and midwest are subtle and surreal. Seeing the contrast really helps one appreciate the various pieces of the puzzle that make up America, and how unique and indispensable each of those pieces is. Also, sitting next to Lake Michigan gives one a keen sense of the underrated importance of geography. Them some great lakes alright.
I’m volunteering at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School where I not only teach freshmen and sophomores, but also drive a fleet of vehicles under 16,000 pounds, but big enough to require earning a CDL endorsement on my license. No one ever makes comments about it when they see it, which is upsetting. I think that means I look like a truck driver.
It’s very strange teaching. I was yelled at a lot in school for not paying attention, but I was paying attention, just not to the teacher. Thankfully, a college degree in English has legitimized this tendency towards daydreaming. That’s a powerful piece of paper. Getting on the other side of the classroom, however, has proved to be worth a lot more than all the cash I lost on that other thing.
I make no proclamations about the purpose of this blog, or any greater blanket statement about the evolution of the media on the internet, the progress of personal opinion, or the championship of the individual through filterless publishing. I think the internet, blogs especially, would make Thoreau puke, and I’m just going to leave it at that.
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