“Does it Show on My Face, I’m Sick of This Place"

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been in this area for too long. I think one of the key things that keep me here are friends and the sense of safety and familiarity. Of course, sometimes I wonder how much longer I will live here, and where would I go from here. For instance, it’s one of my goals to live abroad, even if it’s only for a short time period – though increasingly I feel the U.S. has little to offer me. And yet, here I am close to my friends and family and there’s something to be said for that, too.

I guess I was thinking about this, oddly enough, when I finished reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I picked up with a ton of other books from a used bookstore on 22nd St. I had seen the movie ages ago, and as is almost always the case, the book is far more interesting than the movie. My mother is in love with the city of Savannah, where the novel takes place, and she always talks about retiring there one day. I briefly remember visiting there as a child, but I remember my mom recalling stories old graveyards, taverns frequented by pirates, haunted houses, and a local form of Voodoo that is very prevalent. So I picked up the book hoping to see what it was about the city that fascinates so many people. It does, truly, sound like an intriguing place.

But the style of writing made me think about my own life here in an equally strange city (albeit for different reasons); Washington. I really think over the last 9 years I have enough material to write at least one novel, of not more. I’ve had some friends encourage me to do so in the past, but my problem always seems that I wouldn’t know where to start. So much has happened, and over the years I’ve befriended so many intriguing people; (formerly) homeless people, recovering drug addicts (and some sadly who never did), prostitutes, a drag queen, a comedian, a philosophy professor, alcoholics, shop owners, a singer, strippers, a Vietnamese transsexual, politicians, a murderer (remind me to tell you that story!), a painter, “power gays,” and so many others... So many characters and so many stories. And that, maybe, is a key to why I’ve stayed here as long as I have…