like a piece of you has been taken

As I have been reflecting on the past ten years I remembered the good (see the previous post) and the bad.  One of the bad things that comes to mind was when my roommate and I had our apartment broken into not even 6 months after I got out of school. 

I will never forget that feeling of walking into my apartment building to see all the doors kicked in.  The whole place was a mess and everything had been turned upside down.  They hadn't even taken that much of monetary value and no one was home when this happened which are both good.  However, what was taken were items of great sentimental value (for my roommate) and I felt like a piece of me was lost that day.  Looking back on the event in the aftermath I feel like it was hard to trust society and not have a jaded outlook.  One of the greatest losses was my newly acquired SLR camera which I was particularly excited about using.  I vividly remember thinking that it didn't matter to me if someone wanted it and were actually going to use it...then they could have it.  However, I knew all to well in our neighborhood that that camera was not going to be used by anyone and would more likely fund an addiction. 

Several years after this occurred a friend of mine was telling me that someone had told her about a "great deal" on a car stereo.  When she told me how much it was I knew immediately that the stereo must have been hot.  I told her that she shouldn't buy it because it was hot.   Justifiably so her argument was so what?  Until one experiences something like this it's difficult to convey to them why they shouldn't do their part to propagate this "industry".

10 yrs ago

In one week I will be turning 30 and it has given me cause to think back on who I was and what was going on in my life 10 years ago. 

10 years ago I almost exclusively listened to heavy metal and classic rock.  I wore glasses and had only started wearing contacts 6 months before my 20th birthday.  I did not own a cell phone and in fact was thrilled to just have a pager (courtesy of my job at Motorola).  10 years ago I would be commuting to a job at Motorola, which had me taking the same exit off of the highway that I now take to drive to my in-laws house.  I did not enjoy dancing.  I had never salsa danced.  I had never lived in an apartment on my own.  I certainly did not know how to cook.  Though I had visited India numerous times I had not yet truly appreciated Indian culture.  For the first time in my life I was truly living on my own as my parents had been living overseas for almost a year.  I had not discovered my passion for service work.  I had never meditated.  I had not found my creative outlet.  I had not developed a taste for beer (or any alcohol).  These are all things that have come to change and evolve over 10 years.

However, there are still some things that have remained unchanged.  I still love Cheerios.  As my love of music has diversified my appreciation of rock has grown deeper.  When in San Francisco I appreciate Atlanta more and while in Atlanta I appreciate San Francisco more.  I still enjoy movies and books as much as ever.  I would take a trail run in the summer rain over a urban run in the dry weather any day. 

And so the list goes on.  I wonder where I will be in another 10 years.  Here's to the start of the next list. 

Goodbye Solo

I heard from a friend that a friend of his directed a new movie, Goodbye Solo, which was dedicated to an amazing woman whom the HyWy and I helped tag several years ago.  The story of that tag and the woman cannot be done justice in a simple blog post so for that you will have to hunt me down and ask me in person:).  That said this post is about the movie.

Goodbye Solo like Blindness, which I already posted about, is not about reasons or the story so much as it is about the characters and relationships.  I'm not going to tell you the ending, but in my mind I could and the movie would still be just as compelling.  The story follows the unlikely friendship and bond between a young Sengalese cab driver and an older white customer whom he picks up one night over a week or so.  The two main characters, Solo (the cab driver) and William (the customer), are what propels this movie.  Solo is such a likeable, simple, and genuine person you can't help feeling what he goes through.  He has the kind of infectious smile and unflinching approach to life that I wish I always had.  William is the polar opposite.  An individual with a cold exterior who may reluctantly let you a tiny way into his life to begin to understand him.  Solo has a stepdaughter whose combination of innocence and maturity made me think of what the HyWy might have been like as a little girl.  One of the best parts of the film was that when a character frantically looks for something instead of focusing on all the places they looked the camera simply follows their eyes.  So much of this story was told through the actors eyes and expressions, which did far more than any dialogue could have done.  I definitely recommend going to see Goodbye Solo. 

What is this garbage I listen to?

The other day on the way home from work I decided to start listening to CDs again.  I was thumbing through my CD book in the car and I came across a burned CD that had no name written on it.  I've never not written the album/artist information so I was confused, but the CD was the brand we have at home so I knew I must have done it.  Inquisitively I popped the CD in the player and listened.  I went through every song and I couldn't figure out 1) what is this horrendous music? 2) what could possibly have possessed me to burn this?  I often will burn a CD for one song so I desparately skipped through tracks searching in vain for that one song to no avail.  As I listened to snippets of each song I was able to glean a few key pieces of information: the band was British, the production style set it in the mid 60s, the production style even felt vaguely like the Beatles early work, and the band was no one that I could easily recognize from early 60s Britain (ie the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, etc.).  Today in the office I brought the CD in for the moment of discovery as I would determine what this mystery CD was.  The answer: Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd.  Funny enough this album is very highly regarded and considered by some to be visionary.  I was impressed that I was able to nail the time period and country.  Even more impressive to me was that I was able to pick out that the producer was the original recording engineer for the Beatles for all their albums until Rubber Soul.  Now I know why I burned this album and I guess I'll give it another shot. 

Blindness

The HyWy and I saw a movie on Sunday night called Blindness starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, and Danny Glover. 

What a movie it was.  It was an incredibly intense movie that takes a long and hard look at the presence or lack of morality and compassion in people particularly in times of despair.  The root plot was similar to 28 Days Later, I Am Legend, or Children of Men where a global epidemic causes mass panic.  However, there were subtle yet significant differences as this movie did not focus on the ailment (blindness in this case), cause, or search for a cure.  Instead it focuses on the lives of afflicted who have been relegated to a former mental hospital, because the disease is contagious.  What unfolds really reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment mostly because it showed how an individual's morality can really be pushed.  At one point the HyWy said that what made this movie so difficult was that there was no hope, but I disagreed.  I drew hope from the fact that despite the tremendous evils put forth by many of those in captivity, the rest of the society, and the government there were some in captivity whose ethical code was unwavering.  The movie also did a good job of showing how relationships can blossom or suffer in trying times.  Julianne Moore's character for whatever reason was immune to the disease, but she went along with her husband to the internment camp pretending to be blind.  In the camp it quickly became apparent that her inability to relate to his suffering and his inability to relate to her own suffering distanced them in their relationship.  Most of all I felt for Julianne Moore's character, because she could see the pain people were going through.  As people realized she could see she was somewhat unwillingly thrown into a leadership position or even that of a messiah.  What scared me most though about the movie was not that people could shift their morality, but rather that inhumanity and lack of compassion of the government is very reminiscent of real life today. 

From the Bay to the A

Well we are back in Bay after spending a week in the A.  I think this is one of the more relaxing trips to the A I have had in probably 2-3 years.  Most of the trips over the past few years have been with an agenda of some sort (weddings, wedding planning, etc.).  The agenda for this trip was simple: kick with fam and friends.  I can't believe how much the A has changed in the 5 years I have been gone.  I almost feel like the charm and the soul of the city that I loved so much is being sucked out slowly.  Don't get me wrong I still love the city, but it's different. 

It makes me sad to drive through neighborhoods that exuded a local feel and now have an enormous shopping mall with Target and Ross in them.  For example, I used to love going to Little Five Points when I lived in the A because it reminded me of the Haight in San Francisco.  It was a small area of 2 dozen stores and restaurants all of which were strange and quirky in their own way.  Now if you drive about 5 min past that little 'hood you find a shopping center that is filled with at least 3 haircut salons (3!), Ross, Barnes and Noble, and Target.  A friend who works at Barnes and Noble even confessed that she knows they are putting a lot of small bookstores out of business.  I understand that with development comes the need for more retail, but it is scary how soulless these retail plazas are.  I never imagined there would be a day when I could stand in a plaza in Little Five and not feel any different from being in Alpharetta (compare: stand in the Haight but feel like you are in Danville).  This style of building without character transcends just shopping plazas into even homes.  I lost track of the housing/condo developments we drove by where every single unit looked the same from the outside.  I apologize if anyone reading this has a home in one of those subdivisions, but I tend to appreciate it more when there is something to distinguish my home from the next on the outside.  Now the only way to have a unique home is to, god forbid, not buy a brand new home.  I would venture to guess that there is definitely a housing surplus in Atlanta, because I couldn't drive 5 min without seeing a new development.  I wonder how many of these developments will move forward and how many are on ice. 

The looks weren't the only thing different I saw in the A.  Maybe I'm the one who has changed, but at least one of my favorite joints failed me.  Back in the day I used to go to a burrito shop, Willy's, for great burritos.  We stopped in one day for lunch and I was very excited to have their burrito agaiin.  As I remembered the ingredients were extremely fresh, but there was definitely something missing: flavor.  I'm told that their quality has gone down, but I think that my experience was compounded by the fact that we get some awesome burritos in the Bay.  I'm not even going to attempt to put the Bay to the comparison on the soul food, because the A would win hands down. 

One thing that hasn't changed is my favorite burger and brew spot: the Vortex.  Their menu hasn't changed and nothing beats going there for a burger and a pint of Sweetwater 420.  I could drink 420 all day every day I was in the A, but alas that was not the case.  However, there is a Sweetwater drafthouse at the airport, which after some convincing from the HyWy I visited for a quick pint prior to our flight. 

At the end of the day I found that the A has changed.  I have changed.  However, some things still remain the same and it is still a great city.