Currently at the Farchadis' kitchen table. I decided to spend part of today moving my possessions all over the house. Arash––their other male roommate––is coming back from his business trip tomorrow, so I am moving out of his room. So, I am now staring at a disheveled pile of stuff: a "Buddha Board", a 1-inch thick stack of comedy sketches (most of them not mine), an electric shaver, several slips of paper surmising a very recent sketch idea, dental floss, a phone-charge pack, and a sock. As usual, all of the important things were given to me by somebody else, and all of the rest I should have probably thrown away by now. Including ideas.
Most of the ideas contained therein were actually throwaways in the first place. I've latched onto them, however, thinking that they will culminate into something that someone will want to have. The description of why I've held onto them is as vague as the original presupposition for keeping them. In essence, I have latched onto a vague idea.
This isn't altogether without analogy to my decision to take this bicycle trip. There was no clear purpose or agenda outlined; just kind of, "Yeah, I'll go here...then here...and uh...here looks good...." Not a strong decision-maker, my sub-conscience. All it knew was that it wanted to leave. And do some form of comedy somewhere. And "make it big." So far, that part's fruition is fairly inconceivable, but I do like living in D.C.
The People: Mostly, I can only relate my experiences with either friends or people in the Improv and stand-up comedy scene. One of my improv teachers once described D.C. as a "smart" city. That resonated with me immediately, in that I am still thinking about what it really means for a city to be that. At first, it just sounded like an attempt to categorize D.C. "as opposed to" other places, rather than "along with" other places. Really, that's what D.C. residents love to do more than anything: categorize. They love to take things that they don't understand and put them into a format. I was sort of taken aback by my realization of this at first, because my goal is comedic expression, and that didn't sound like "expression" to me. That sounded like "science". "Sounded like." Meaning, I didn't really think about it. Philosophically, I've been used to thinking that to dissect means to kill. The more I've played around with everybody, though, the more I see that this (pardon the pun) categorical imperative they abide by is really just a filtration system towards a more purely unique expression. And that's fucking awesome! Better to take that out in an artistic medium than in governance. Plus, D.C.'s history of political correctness gives everyone a solid backdrop against which to form their own opinions, without being slaughtered for them. At least, this is what I see happening on the surface. Below the surface, I don't really care to find out unless (and I hate to borrow one of my mom's phrases) I get royally screwed over by somebody and then I have to do some digging as to why it happened. That hasn't happened. Not really. Not yet. At least there's been no royal screwing.
The Environment: It's a city, but it's less "angular" than a New York or San Francisco. That being said, D.C. is very tidy and well-organized in certain areas. A number of areas are very rich and well-manicured, while others are clearly poorer, although not necessarily more ramshackle. SOME parts are VERY ramshackle, and I think D.C. has a history of municipal corruption to thank for that. Today, gentrification is happening alarmingly quickly, but to my understanding a great many programs are having a hard time keeping the poor from being marginalized. But anyway, the parks are nice. I see a lot of homeless people hanging out in them. Sorry, I can't seem to get off of the topic of socio-economic distortions, and I realize that it's not funny.
What's funny around here?
