Trite Social Commentary

I love the people I see out at Houston cafés (I’m in Artiste now). It’s definitely a yuppie hang, but perhaps not in the same way as it would be in some supposedly more sophisticated cities. Maybe it’s because some of the pretense of living in midtown (Montrose) is taken away … this neighborhood actually IS a haven from a very conservative/industrial area in a very red state … and it’s also still affordable for drop-outs and artists and folks who ride bikes by necessity, even if the yuppie element (including myself, undoubtedly) is definitely present. And for some (like gays) living here can be less of a choice to be geographically one with the community than a necessity to not be surrounded by hostility.

So it seems weird that I should love the alternative midtown ghettos in red states (like Houston or Memphis). For one, it’s a very privileged kind of ghetto … one of capable -- often professional or artistic-- people who may be quite modest but are rarely impoverished. For another, I am not necessarily a person who takes refuge here … I’m not running from persecution personally, though I can tell a difference in my happiness and emotional health whenever I find myself in an area or a workplace that is not generally liberal/ progressive.

Furthermore, these havens have their own prejudices … often age-ism, or coolness … and can be fiercely critical of the rural/suburban/un-cultured/boring other. And there is a kind of fascism in that too. We of the midtown havens do not cruise or go 5-star; we shoestring travel. We consider hummus & pita to be comfort food, not Fritos & bean dip. And although we’re not into buying status-symbol SUVs, we live by our own variety of one-upmanship: for example, knowing more local bands or out-of-the-way dive bars than someone else.

Though we might permit ourselves many a luxury, goat cheese or Belgian beer, we are less Bobos (bourgeois bohemians) that Boas (bourgeois ascetics), as we deprive ourselves of comfort in order to stay young and hip: we live with roommates and keep small appliances, even when we can afford more. It’s a nice, seemingly modest lifestyle, though it can be just as status-seeking.

Anyway, I don’t know how I got off on that. The point is, I like my “blue dot” in the red sea, and I’ll miss it come fall. I also like that people aren’t quite as together as they might be in New York or San Francisco … you still see a lot of folks trying for a certain image and just not achieving it … In some ways it’s more real. Very few are actually achieving the latest style, which in some ways makes everyone more genuinely individual ... We all fail in our own unique way. Even the yuppies often fail at that look. And the weather (at least at this time of year) means everyone’s hair-do has fallen apart and they have stain spots under their arms.

So … not much new in my life. In the aftermath of my wreck (see prior entry) I’ve been seeing some doctors, getting some car repairs, and collecting some insurance checks. I was *this close* to calling a lawyer in order to (as one woman who I asked put it to me) “get you real paid,” but I decided against it. I’m busy with my little jobs and tutoring and would rather spend the time getting ready for my (now official!) trip to Mexico from July 6th to 27th. Before that I’ll also be taking a trip to Philly for a conference at Haverford and a little road trip down to Montreat, NC, where my family vacations (June 16th-25th). So in the meantime I gotta get some stuff done that I have promised (and in some cases have been paid for) but haven’t started.

Last week was short … somehow every night got eaten up … either with a doctor or a mechanic or with packing my stuff to move out of the Bolsover house (FINALLY finished moving to my new temporary digs at Jose’s Tuesday). Thursday I went out with Candice, who was the French intern at Rice, before she went back (permanently) to her native Normandy to start studying for the French teachers’ exam. Then over the weekend Lu and I went to Memphis where we had a great time with my family … and where I caught up with Tim Haupt (from Haverford, currently of the Cornell German PhD program). Saturday we had breakfast at Brother Junipers, wandered downtown with Elizabeth for a spell, had an afternoon hi-ball, and went to Leonard’s for BBQ dinner. Sunday we did First Congo, saw Annabeth’s new apartment, then I went with Tim to Elise’s wedding and reception (the former very traditional and the latter very lavish). That night we went out to the Hi-Tone and the Lamplighter … and finally (perhaps the most important part of the trip) Time & Lu & I found ourselves at CK’s in the wee hours of the morning. Whoa, it had been a while.

Monday morning we had breakfast at home and then lounged around for way too long before beginning the long trip back to Houston late in the afternoon. This was maybe the most relaxing visit in a while. Lu gets along fabulously with my family … this has never really happened with a girlfriend before. It’s like she knows instinctively how to chill out Memphis-style and feel at home with my family, maybe better than I do.

Speaking of Lu’s news, she just today decided to do Law School at GW in DC. She’s up there for the weekend with her dad talking to school people and doing paperwork and looking for a place to live. I think she’ll get a hell of a lot out of it … she’s been in the Houston area for something like 12 years so she’s really enthusiastic and positive and non-jaded about exploring a new place.

I also got news recently that Tim Walls (from Memphis, lifelong friend of Wilson’s) got into the Public Health school at Drexel, so we’ll likely be roommates in Philly. I’m very “stoked” about this “sweet” development.