Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Arlington - The Real A - Town

Well I am back in Arlington Virginia, have been for almost a week now. Things haven't changed much at home, but the city itself is always different. Buildings go up where parking lots once stood. Teachers leave and new students come in. The general look of things tough remains the same. Rossyln has its retro, idealistic urban planning fee, the park near me is still filled with more fallen trees than standing ones, the Metro is still distopian, and Balston continues to look as though it was designed by Will Wright at the team at Sim City 3000.

Energy-wise things have changed for me. New York was so fast and Arlington is so laid back by comparison. Of course when it comes to all things political, Arlington is always ready for a fight, but otherwise they take things much slower. They probably have to because of the humidity down here and the traffic. One of the things I have to get used to down here is that the pedestrian is but a peasant next to the majesty that is the SUV.

Yet there is an odd burst of creative energy I am feeling now. I'm not sure that if it is because I am home, or because I have mroe free time now that school is out, or rather because Arlington provides less distractions, I am getting serious work done. Already I have written two short stories (one about the IHOP in Ballston) and finished my play based on Oedipus Rex. Arlington seems to make things get done, although it doesn't seem to inspire the spark of genius that is the seed and root of each work. I guess it is analgous to the way it works with politics, obessed with the system and the departments and elections more than the ideologies themselves (though Arlington is a one party state)

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