The City vs. Suburbia

In a heavyweight sumo mudwrestling match between The City and Suburbia, who would win?

Let's talk about Suburbia for a minute - I have to drive (with gas over $4 a gallon) to and from work 35 minutes every day. Sometimes there's traffic (roadwork, accidents, idiots...you know, the norm) which is obviously aggravating. After work, I often stop at the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner. I have major issues finding produce, let alone healthy-looking, organic produce. Or anything whole grain, whole wheat, unprocessed without a ton of sugar and salt and chemicals in it. I make dinner in a house with no one to eat it and tell me how good it is because all my friends are in The City. Since all the music and art and culture and people are in town, I usually go there at night for a show or plans. Hello to another 35 minute drive (did I mention gas is over $4 a gallon). Then I can't stay too late because I have to drive back home to get to bed to start it all over again.

In The City (and I'm generally referencing cities, but I'm thinking mostly of NYC), I walk to work - or take the subway. Never any traffic or gas prices. I can walk a block or two to a bodega at any time and they are littered with healthy, unprocessed, fresh food - lots of local & organic. Then, the there are usually at least 10 things to do every night and they're usually within your neighborhood. Sure, it's dirtier and things like food are more expensive, but when you think about how much gas money you're saving - it makes it all worth it. Sure, it's nice to have a big kitchen, in a rent-free house (thanks Mom) with central air, a dishwasher, OnDemand and a washer/dryer - but the isolation from everything and gas expense kills it all.

Ok Suburbia, I've had enough of you. Get a grip.
I vote City! Luckily, I'll be up in NYC three weekends in a row starting this weekend. This weekend is The Bloodsugars at Pianos & Siren Music Festival to see Ra Ra Riot & Broken Social Scene! See you there!

GREAT THING 002: Yelp.com, My Yelp
Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great (and not so great) in your world. You already know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants, dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Yelp makes it fast and easy by collecting and organizing your friends' recommendations in one convenient place.

And I almost love this town when I'm by your side

Close your eyes and think about a song that moves you, a song that really means something to you. Think about where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with (isn't this always the most important part?) the first time you heard it. The song starts there and is born. Through time, it develops a character, a life, a history with you. These songs become the connecting thread between you and that moment in time. These relationships are some of the strongest and are rarely broken, even though the relationship with that time, place or person probably has been. Obviously closing your eyes would've been completely detrimental to the reading of this paragraph, but I hope you gave the thought sincere effort.

If a song has never touched you this way and you can't relate, this blog is probably not for you. Don't get me wrong: I would love for everyone to find a home in the words here. But the reality is, I am a creative. Just like that National album never had a chance when your first love played it for you - it was born into making you feel warm and content inside - so to are creatives born into a life of passion. Indulgence, intensity, free spirited action, attention to detail, disregard for the reasonable, and so on.

I work in the music business and it has been easy for me to forget how it feels to really be moved by a song, but I remembered yesterday:

You woke me from a long sleep
And I'm almost back
Closer than ever
To finding the hidden track
If I told you the truth
You wouldn't like what I said I almost believed I was dead
There'll be no more waiting
You're gonna melt all the ice
In my head
There'll be no more crying
You're gonna make it all better instead.

Killian's Red by Nada Surf. The "you" in that passage, for me, is music. And I need to show my gratitude to it for teaching me how to love, giving me strength when it all fell apart, sedating me when I was in pergatory and bringing me back to life when it was the right time.

So this blog is my thank you note to music and art and the things that make life worth sticking around for, because it's too easy to forget...

There are so many great things around these days that I get obsessed with and love to play with. I will try to post one of these things each time:

GREAT THING 001: Muxtape.com, My Muxtape
Muxtape is a website that allows users to upload playlists of MP3s, based on the idea of a mixtape. It was created by Justin Oullette in March of 2008. (Wiki)