More Denver Ruminations
It's odd I have so much to write about in Denver, yet almost nothing when I was in India. Of course I spent most of my time in India being in a pissy mood for multiple reasons, the friends, the place, even the family. Though in my often cynical line of thinking, I am beginning to wonder if I went there with the wrong mindset in the first place. I'd know that if I knew what the wrong mindset was to begin with.
But that is yet to happen here. Friends or no friends, Denver is invigorating for the senses. Don't know if its the fresh spring mountain air, the beautiful girls who dress like it's California (MOST Muncie girls need to take a cue or ten from the girls here about dressing up....or rather down), the fact that most things here haven't changed in a year; I know that I am HOME. Funny to call some place home in a foreign, in sharp contrast to calling some place foreign in your homeland. As yet, I have hit all but two of my favorite joints....Pita Jungle (oh the hummus!) and the 24-hr Starbucks on Colorado Blvd (there is a God after all....and he smiles upon us nocturnals!) But that will be remedied over the weekend.
Oh, I forgot to mention this in the last post. I think my worst fear is coming true...Muncie is growing on me....which it isn't...it...it isn't.....it isn't...really...really....it....isn't (It's like the Borg are saying "Resistance is futile!). And how do I know this? It's because Kansas wasn't as insufferable to drive through this time as it was before. The crops seemed to have made me a part of them. :) Oh well, NY isn't too far now.
Anyway, coming back to Denver. Yesterday I went out for a couple of walks around campus. The first was through the construction zones. It's the most annoying thing ever... finding your way through a maze of these zones to get to a building....any building. Never in my 6 years at DU have I seen so many holes in the ground. Would it kill them to keep the university standing without breaking down everything in sight? For a beautification drive, these guys spend an incredible amount of time looking ugly. Went around and met the old gang...mobile computing, the helpdesk, etc. It was nice to see some of the old, forgettable faces...nicer to know they were now in my past. But one place still reeks of the same old stench that made it SO inviting for the last 5 years. Happy to know I don't stink of it any more.
The second walk was around the eastern side of campus through the residential area. Honestly, I had forgotten how beautiful this city actually is. Granted, its picture perfect exterior can be a tad nauseating at times, but it's all good. This area is a little suburban heaven in the heart of the city. This is perhaps where my peeve against suburbia comes into conflict. But I think suburbia is more than just a pack of walls stacked against each other. It is a completely ignorant, snooty, self-reliant but self-centered, artificial, white (and probably republican??!!) establishment that is repulsive to a fault.
But this area around DU (which itself is definitely corporate and seemingly Republican), much like Washington Park is a combination of off-campus student housing, plus university employees, white-collar downtown workers, but largely liberal-minded folks. Most of the houses are on average half a century old, which just adds so much more to the beauty (and the pricetag!). The lush, green Observatory park is an added bonus. To spend an afternoon lying on the grass in the cover of a slightly overcast, 70 degree, breezy late afternoon is a pleasure like few others.
Some day, I'd like to make this city my home again (even part-time will do) and I would do everything in my power to make that come true. But for now, my bigger concern is....when will I come next?
But that is yet to happen here. Friends or no friends, Denver is invigorating for the senses. Don't know if its the fresh spring mountain air, the beautiful girls who dress like it's California (MOST Muncie girls need to take a cue or ten from the girls here about dressing up....or rather down), the fact that most things here haven't changed in a year; I know that I am HOME. Funny to call some place home in a foreign, in sharp contrast to calling some place foreign in your homeland. As yet, I have hit all but two of my favorite joints....Pita Jungle (oh the hummus!) and the 24-hr Starbucks on Colorado Blvd (there is a God after all....and he smiles upon us nocturnals!) But that will be remedied over the weekend.
Oh, I forgot to mention this in the last post. I think my worst fear is coming true...Muncie is growing on me....which it isn't...it...it isn't.....it isn't...really...really....it....isn't (It's like the Borg are saying "Resistance is futile!). And how do I know this? It's because Kansas wasn't as insufferable to drive through this time as it was before. The crops seemed to have made me a part of them. :) Oh well, NY isn't too far now.
Anyway, coming back to Denver. Yesterday I went out for a couple of walks around campus. The first was through the construction zones. It's the most annoying thing ever... finding your way through a maze of these zones to get to a building....any building. Never in my 6 years at DU have I seen so many holes in the ground. Would it kill them to keep the university standing without breaking down everything in sight? For a beautification drive, these guys spend an incredible amount of time looking ugly. Went around and met the old gang...mobile computing, the helpdesk, etc. It was nice to see some of the old, forgettable faces...nicer to know they were now in my past. But one place still reeks of the same old stench that made it SO inviting for the last 5 years. Happy to know I don't stink of it any more.
The second walk was around the eastern side of campus through the residential area. Honestly, I had forgotten how beautiful this city actually is. Granted, its picture perfect exterior can be a tad nauseating at times, but it's all good. This area is a little suburban heaven in the heart of the city. This is perhaps where my peeve against suburbia comes into conflict. But I think suburbia is more than just a pack of walls stacked against each other. It is a completely ignorant, snooty, self-reliant but self-centered, artificial, white (and probably republican??!!) establishment that is repulsive to a fault.
But this area around DU (which itself is definitely corporate and seemingly Republican), much like Washington Park is a combination of off-campus student housing, plus university employees, white-collar downtown workers, but largely liberal-minded folks. Most of the houses are on average half a century old, which just adds so much more to the beauty (and the pricetag!). The lush, green Observatory park is an added bonus. To spend an afternoon lying on the grass in the cover of a slightly overcast, 70 degree, breezy late afternoon is a pleasure like few others.
Some day, I'd like to make this city my home again (even part-time will do) and I would do everything in my power to make that come true. But for now, my bigger concern is....when will I come next?
