(no subject)

[phineasjones]

hi, kittens!

i have missed you greatly in these days of spotty internet connections and crazy unpacking madness. so i thought i'd steal a little time for catching up this morning.

first thing first - a rec. i linked this with no explanation the other day, so in case you missed it, on this short day of frost and sun is jjtaylor's latest. it's dark is rising/hp - remus/bran. and it's gorgeous and breath-stopping. i love it. i love her. i am a happy girl.

now, let's see. what do i have to tell you about colorado?

weather. i love it. i love it so much, i think i'll marry it. and we'll have beautiful little dry, sunny babies with curly hair. truly, it is gorgeous. there's been one over-the-top hot day since we've been here. and that was rough, yes, but i can take it. two days ago, it was cloudy and in the 60s. yesterday and today feel like late september in massachusetts - dry, warm, sunny, breezy... beautiful. i have never loved july like this. i didn't know i could.

people. yep, it's true. people are nicer when you get out of the northeast. not on the close, personal friend level (that i know of anyway), we're talking strangers here. neighbors have introduced themselves to us. sadly, that never happened in mass. every single supermarket cashier has been chatty and cheerful. people look you in the face and smile when they walk by. they ask 'how're you doing?' when you pass them on the street. it's pretty frickin' weird. nice, most of the time. though i suspect the new englander in me will crave a comfortable level of anonymity at times. we'll see.

unpacking. oh my good lord, can we please be done now? yesterday we made significant, visible progress. it's nice that i have a clear desktop and the floors are mostly empty. but there are still huge piles of stuff everywhere and the second floor is a complete disaster. oy. i'm just tired of this. i want to snap my fingers and have everything leap into place. damn this muggle thing.

time zones. it is weird to be on mountain time. i never thought about it before - what it would feel like not to be on the same time as new york city and washington dc - the places where big stuff happens. it makes the distance feel more significant. it makes me feel snobbish about being from the east. it's strange, but i suppose i'll get used to it.

friends. yesterday was nice. rach's friend ben who lives in broomfield (between denver and boulder) came by in the afternoon. he helped us bundle up boxes while his dog ran around our yard and pooped (he cleaned it up, i'm happy to say). and then in the evening, we picked up dan and laura from the airport and brought them here to see the house and we all went out for drinks and dinner at a nearby place (yummy drinks, we'll go there again). and then they borrowed a car to head up to the mountains. we're going to meet them up there tomorrow afternoon and spend a night in their cabin. and then we'll come back on saturday and hang out in denver.

it was so nice to have casual hang out time with people we know and are comfortable with. i know i haven't been away from my family and friends all that long... and i haven't been moping around missing people too much. but this just reminded me of what i'm missing. which is a lot. i know we'll make new friends and yada yada. but man, the friends i already have are so fantastically great. i wish they were all here with us. wah.

Comments

[antheia.livejournal.com]

thought i suspect the new englander in me will crave a comfortable level of anonymity at times. we'll see.

when we first lived upstate, my mom was wholly unsettled the day she went to the bank and the teller complimented her on her roses. it threw her for a massive loop that this stranger knew where she lived.


i'm so glad you're doing okay and are settling in alright!

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

ok, yeah, that would be totally freaky. at least i'm still in a biggish city.

and thanks, man. ::hugs::

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Our time zones are much better. Really. (But then, I can't imagine why anyone would want to live in the east when they could live in the west where it's clearly so much better. We all have our snobbishness, apparently. *g*)

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

yes, i think that must be true about having our own snobbishnesses. i never understood east coast snobbery until suddenly i was expressing it. that's no good, though, it's what everyone thinks east coasters do! i must hide it. :) and i'll trust you that these are better times zones and wait and see.

<3

[camillafarfalla.livejournal.com]

They're NOT better time zones! ::stamps foot::

um. Yeah, hi, East Coast Elitist here.

Isn't that east coast snobbery weird? Though I might welcome an opportunity for straight-up East COast snobbery, which would soothe my constant place-contingent NYC vs. New England snobbery conflict.

Snobbery? Snobbishness? What a weird word.

[hominidj.livejournal.com]

what i've noticed about places that aren't the east coast is that although the people are friendlier they're cities and towns are more primitive and rudimentary. for example, if you want to find a good hanging pot in columbus, ohio you can forget about it, whereas if you want to find one in the boston area, you can go to any one of dozens of gardening stores. i can't think of any other examples right now, but i'm irrationally confident that many exist.

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

primitive and rudimentary? you have been to vermont, right? :)

ok, i really can't believe this about the hanging pot. that makes no sense!

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

yeah, being at this distance, nyc and new england snobbery (yes, i suppose that would be the actual word. whatever.) meld into one. i mean, i don't have much personal nyc snobbery obviously, but i'm find there's a certain amount that comes with having been close to it when i am now so far away.

[margorand.livejournal.com]

Yeah, people are really friendly here. Which sometimes is great, like when salespeople actually give a shit about helping you, or you have to stop and ask for directions and people smile and are happy to explain where to go. Contrast this with New England, where I once locked myself out of my car at a gas station, having just filled my tank, and the gas station people wouldn't let me use their damn phone to call AAA. It was early March, my coat was in the car, along with my cell phone, and I had to walk two blocks to a pay phone. Fuckers.

On the other hand, sometimes the uber-friendly thing can be too much. Like when some woman is telling you all about her daughter's Irish step-dancing lessons, a completely unsolicited story, instead of taking your burrito order. And you're like, I'm just want my cheap-ass pseudo-Mexican food and to be on my way, you clearly have other customers, why the hell are you even telling me this?

I guess it really comes down to the inner battle between my native Western roots and my adopted Masshole tendencies. And whether or not they are keeping me from food and/or caffeine.

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, sometimes the uber-friendly thing can be too much.

i hear that. i think i have a similar conflict between my native masshole tendencies and my appreciation of friendly helpfulness. we had a safeway cashier who spent about 10 minutes getting us safeway cards and translating the whole application form because they only had them in spanish. it was incredibly nice of her - and would never have happened in MA - but i couldn't help but think the other people in line probably weren't too excited.

what mostly borders on uncomfortable for me is how hard it is to pretend you're alone here. if that makes sense. i mean, i'm so used to being able to be in a store or out walking and have people pretend i don't exist. sometimes that can be annoying but sometimes it's exactly what i want. it seems a lot less likely here.

it's nice to meet you, btw. i'll send an e-mail soon and maybe we can actually meet in person. :)

[margorand.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sometimes it is nice to be able to go out and assume a certain level of anonymity. Especially when you look like shit, it's great to think, "Well, at least people aren't paying attention to me."

And yeah, it'd be fun to meet up in person :)