Why Live In The City (Atlanta)...

If all you're going to do is drive?




An assumption I made 10 years ago when I moved out of my parent's home & moved to Midtown was that the car was an irrelevant part of city life. That living in the city would provide a relative safe haven from the car obsessed suburban life that I grew tired of after 5 years in Roswell. Living in the city meant there were many other like minded transit snobs that despised carchitecture, development design that provides the automobile a hospitable home. I thought that the city meant a truly organic design developed decades in the past in a time when urbanity was intended for human beings.

But I realized how many drove, they drove to work a few miles from downtown, they drove to the grocery store a mile away, they drove to the video rental store 4 blocks away. They parked on the sidewalks, in their front lawns, wherever it was physically possible to squeeze an SUV. Hardly anyone at work I knew took MARTA, very few had ever taken MARTA, and most complained about the bus's. Also most complained about the difficulties of finding parking & the neccessity of moving to other residences for the sake of their car.

So - my question, is it in my head - or is it ironic that so many are moving into the city to be part of the human scaled urbanity & walkable communities despite their continuing reliance on the car? I understand there are a number of extraneous issues that explain this - suburban edge cities, subpar bus service, limited retail options, etc. But I say bull shit - stop being so lazy & get your ass out of the car & onto the sidewalk. It may take a little longer to get to work, it may mean carrying bags several city blocks & it may mean experiencing the results of commuter's & city resident's gas fixations. But it would mean that you are deciding to join the city that you live in, it might also even mean future developments will have the humans in mind rather than the cars.

Life Incomplete

A popular theme in film, music, & literature is the dull bored person unhappy with their life. They regret lost opportunities, experiences they will never know, a life they feel that should have been.

How about the person that has completed incredible obstacles, had a fulfilling life, did everything beyond what was expected from them. Maybe they regret climbing that mountain, writing that great book, or having sex with those Japanese teen lesbians - wondering, what if I went to TGI Fridays instead, or went on a date with the nice girl, or bought that mini van. Their life could have been more complete, more real...

Transit Usage

Source: 2000 Census data / Commuting to Work table - transit is based on Subway, Bus, Rail, & Streetcar fields. All maps are to the same scale.

I Got A Bad Taste In My Mouth

And that would be shrimp cooked in Velveta from a crock pot & served over ice cream. Yep, I have that in my mind & I can't stop thinking about it - I'm mesmerized & disturbed by how horrible this would taste. So much so, that I feel like I have to make this myself. I have to know if this would taste as horrible as it sounds like.

Me - The Perfect Entity

I am the perfect being. My thoughts are pure, my body chipped from the same stone as Aphrodite, my soul is a aura of gold, my life experiences are longer than all history books. How did I achieve such a perfect life? It had little to do with 'achievement' or through empowerment - but by existing perfectly. By making the most out of everything I do in life. That doesn't mean I climbed Mount Everest or had sex with teenage Japanese lesbians - but it does mean I farted as eloquently as a Shakesperean sonnet.

It is only through making every breath the fullest breath possible, have I managed perfection. I goof off at work as if it was my last shot of heroin. I received a GPA after 8 years of college of 2.3, not because I am a genius, but because I didn't give a shit. It is only through my total complete apathy have I managed to achieve a zen like state. No, not achieve, because you can never achieve such perfection - but I just happened across it.

Don't confuse this with being relative. I don't think 'everyone is perfect', in fact I think you most likely are an empty human shell. It's nothing personal, but the liklihood is slim - there are only few perfect beings. And I just happen to be one of them :P.

So how can you 'happen across' my perfectness? If you fuck up enough will you be able to have visions of great warriors & sugar plum fairies? No, probably not. No one can be as perfect as me.

So go ahead & snowboard Mt McKinly, write your boring 'great American story', find peace in the Middle East or become a millionare. I most likely will never experience a fraction of those accomplishments - go to Europe? nah, have children? maybe, pay off my credit card bills? ha! Not that I don't want those things, but those accomplishments won't improve my life. Because my life is what I choose to experience right now - & I think I'm going to play some XBox & drink some Vodka right now.