By the next work week, I’ll be driving either to work or to the Park & Ride. I can’t decide which is better, because I have come to love my time on the train. It’s basically the only social interaction I get that I truly enjoy. These orange-juice-glass deep relationships are fun, because I get to talk to someone for a few minutes and then switch to the Orange Line and start all over. Driving to Silver Spring station will still give me at least 45 minutes off my commute, because then I won’t have to wait for the bus. I’ll also be able to return to Starbucks easier, because the store is actually connected to one of the Metro entrances. Other days, I know I’ll choose to sleep in and take the freeway. I’m counter-flow traffic, so 20 minutes is not that bad. I can leave my house by 8:30 and still be there in plenty of time. I’m also excited about getting Maryland license plates, because honestly, I think they’re cooler than Virginia. I really want DC, but I don’t live there. The license plates in DC (at least some of them) actually No Taxation Without Representation, the rallying cry for DC… plus, I love the flag.
One of the tattoos I really want is the logo for Sticky Fingers bakery, because instead of bars under the stars, it’s a rolling pin and a spoon. As a former line cook, it speaks to me more than just about any DC symbol I’ve ever seen. But there are more important tattoos I want to get, first. I want a small dragon encircling my dragonfly, with fire singing every part of it until it’s as black as my heart where that tattoo is concerned. In fact, I had a designer draw it up, but I’ve changed my mind as to the look. I want it to be circular, kind of like the Firefox/Thunderbird logo.
I doubt I will actually get it, but I also thought about great tattoos for my ankles. Check it out- one for all four sides- an old school Mac computer, the Windows 3.1 logo, Tux, and the BSD devil. Is that not fantastic? I’d probably do it as a charm bracelet on one ankle if that kind of tattoo wasn’t so terribly cliche. It’s the ankle bracelet and the tramp stamp, the white girl dyad… but especially the Mac tattoo, an ancient SE. That was my computer in late high school/college, because I needed a word processor without ANY way to connect to the Internet. I mean, really. What writer can go five minutes now without checking Facebook… especially now that Chrome has introduced those ridiculous desktop notifications. I’ve blocked them, because they’re just too distracting.
But back to the whole tattoo thing. I get them because they are the best conversation starters EVAH. Especially with my $1.83 tattoo, people *love* that story and sometimes people tear up when I get to the part about Bill emptying his pockets. I’ve also decided that after my dragon tattoo, I’m probably not going to add anything to my back, because I enjoy looking at them just as much as everyone else. I need to get my quill cleaned up, and maybe I’ll do that first, because it’s the cheapest. I just want some white added to soften it up, and the blood red has faded over time.
I also have a lot of quotes that would be good, but I don’t trust tattoo artists with fonts. I know you can’t imagine why. I would be paranoid the entire time that the kerning wouldn’t be right, the artist would have no idea how much fonts matter, etc. If I *did* get a quote, it would probably be from Doctor Who- “we’re all stories in the end… make it a good one.” I might be paraphrasing, but you get the general idea.
I am actually writing on the train with my Bluetooth keyboard and it feels so good. It’s the first time I’ve ever done it, and I have no idea why I never thought of it before. Mostly because normally the train is so full that I don’t have room to pull it out. However, if I get to the train a little before 8:00, the train is usually not jam-packed the way it is at 8:30…. another reason to only drive to the Park & Ride. Getting my writing time in before work is still important to me, and if I don’t have time to make it to SBUX, this is a great alternative. Plus, my gas will last so much longer. Just not sure how much it would cost to double up on my transporation budget. I need to run the numbers. However, transportation, soda, and sandwiches are really the only thing I ever spend money on, except for the few gifts I’ve bought for friends lately (BRYN, I STILL NEED YOUR ADDRESS!). Amazon is just too easy. I have my Smile account set to donate to Doctors Without Borders, so not only do my friends get presents, so does my favorite non-profit on earth.
You can set your Smile account to several non-profits if Medicin Sans Frontieres (sp?) isn’t your thing, but it’s mine. If I’d become a doctor or a nurse, there’s a large chance I would have just taken off with them. I want adventure in my life, because I feel like now I’m ready to broaden my horizons.
That will happen in March when my friend Scott comes to visit. I am getting SO excited to pick him up at the airport, because I am sure it will be a mixture of going out for socializing and meeting “famous” people…. even if they are Republicans. 😛 Just because I’m a yellow-dog Democrat doesn’t mean I am immune to wanting to meet people that influence politics, whether they’re right or wrong. Because you know what I’ll do. I’ll smile and be charming in front of them, and then come home and tell you every little bit of dirt I remember.
The only time I’ve ever been “caught” writing about politics was on my old blog, Clever Title Goes Here, when I wrote a scathing review of the Democratic Party, including the words “Harry Reid needs to step the fuck up.” I got a comment from the DNCC saying, “we will take your observations under consideration.” I freaked the fuck out, because it was the best and the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It’s always intimidating to run into people you’ve talked smack about on a national level. Maybe that’s why I shy away from politics now. If I write about my friends, I have the chane to make amends or I don’t… they just walk away because they know that if they are a part of my life, they are a part of my writing. It’s just who I am, and I cannot take anything back. I can only try to present them as the three-dimensional characters that they are… the love and the difficulties, real love, painful and true, honest and real.
If I ever picked a fight with someone in politics, intelligence, etc., I might end up on a radar that never ends. I don’t want to end up on some kind of shitty list I can’t get off of because one offense leads to being watched, and I’m not interested. Getting sued is not my bag, baby. I don’t mean any harm. I’m just telling my story and hoping that it resonates with people. I have friends in the hacker community who have gotten on that radar, and their stories are cautionary tales.
And this tale is now finished, because I’m at my stop. 🙂
Stories That Are All True 