The first thing I will list, something that is on my mind pretty much all the time, is:
DENVER. I love this city, and I don't even like cities. there really isn't any place like it, anywhere. I know people hear and say and sing all kinds of awesome things about Chicago, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Las Vegas . . . but in my mind, nothing can match the relaxed-yet-productive energy of Denver. Nowhere else will you find tree huggers and businessmen sharing coffee, nowhere else will you find a constant reminder of nature's dominance over a city skyline with the ever-present Rocky Mountains to the west, nowhere else will you find so many independent art projects and glorious, gaudy architecture from the "city beautiful" era standing strong and blending in with the stark and crumbling low-income urban homes, nowhere else will you find the unsinkable spirit of Molly Brown permeating every endeavor. You can keep Chicago and New York, you can keep your precious coastlines. If I have to live in an urban setting, there is no other candidate.
My next thing is also a place, also a city. This one isn't home, but it felt close.
Dublin, Ireland. I loved this city when I went, and the country will always be the gem of my heart. we'll get to the rant about Ireland if I ever get around to the letter I. Dublin is a beautiful place, full of old buildings with new purposes, chain-smoking schoolboys and grannies, and some really kind and fun people. What I loved the most about this place was the mere culture - the people of Dublin work their asses off all week and relax at home or in a pub on weeknights; the city is quiet Sunday through Thursday. Come Friday night, the energy shifts completely; it turns into an environment close to the revelry and general drunkenness of Las Vegas, then Sunday, the streets are cleared, the churches are full, and the city is quiet again. I love that philosophy: Work hard - it's fine to have a good lunch and a pint to make it bearable; Go home - relax when the day is done, eat, drink, and laugh; Celebrate - When the work week is done, let loose with your friends, be as loud and merry as possible; Pray - No matter how hard you partied the night before, get to church/mass, God will forgive all, and wipe you clean just like the sidewalks. I often yearn to return to Ireland and learn more from observation, and I try to carry myself with the same easy and driven attitude that Dubliners do, but I forget and move back into my American frantic pace all too often. I love Dublin because it taught me a lot about life in a few days, and I haven't been the same since I left it.
That's all I have right now, might add more later if I am so moved. Do I still have readers? How are you?
