100 things: Quatre (Y'all thought I forgot about this, dontcha?)
This post will be a double-hitter for the 100 things about me! Sometimes I am like a walking advertisement for Madison, despite the fact that we may not be here for the long haul. This is because:
31. I like living in a place where people complain about the heat when it hits 80 degrees. I grew up in the South, so 80 is merely pleasantly warm to me.
32. I like living in a place where recycling is mandatory.
33. I like living in a place where nobody looks at you twice for breastfeeding in public.
34. I like living in a place where two lesbian couples live on your block and no one thinks it's unusual or in any way wrong.
35. I like living in a place where you can grow vegetables in your front yard and hang your underwear on the clothesline outside and your next door neighbors do the same thing.
36. I like living in a place where having a next-door neighbor with so many tacky lawn ornaments it looks like Disneyland for squirrels is unusual. This is obviously the other next door neighbor.
37. I like living in a place where there are so many farmers' markets that no matter where you live, you're within a 10-minute drive of one.
38. I like living in a place where there are at least 4 public parks within a half-mile of my house.
39. I like living in a place where there is actually a fuel pump that distributes bio-diesel. This would matter more to me if I actually drove a car that runs on diesel.
40. Even though I rarely go to bars nowadays, I like living in a place where you can't smoke in bars. Keep that shit in your own lungs and away from mine, I say.
41. I like living in a place where you can bike just about anywhere.
42. I like living in a place where people truly appreciate good beer.
43. I like living in a place where every yard sale has skis for sale. I don't ski, actually. I just think it's funny that everyone's trying to off-load them around here.
44. I like living in a place where even the little local butcher shop down the road sells organic eggs and soy ice cream.
45. I like living in a place where the city will pick up your formerly roach-infested microwave from the curb and recycle it (even if you have to pay for it).
46. I like living in a place that has enough clients to support a cloth diaper service.
47. I like living in a place where there are so many people riding bicycles that the traffic is accomodating.
48. I like living in a place that supports not just one, but many churches who openly welcome and affirm gay and lesbian members and will marry them, the law be damned.
49. I like living in a place where the city sells composters at a good discount every spring.
50. Unfortunately, lots and lots of other people like living here too, which makes it hard for someone like me to find a decent job, which I will want eventually, so who knows if we can stay? We better enjoy it while we can.
31. I like living in a place where people complain about the heat when it hits 80 degrees. I grew up in the South, so 80 is merely pleasantly warm to me.
32. I like living in a place where recycling is mandatory.
33. I like living in a place where nobody looks at you twice for breastfeeding in public.
34. I like living in a place where two lesbian couples live on your block and no one thinks it's unusual or in any way wrong.
35. I like living in a place where you can grow vegetables in your front yard and hang your underwear on the clothesline outside and your next door neighbors do the same thing.
36. I like living in a place where having a next-door neighbor with so many tacky lawn ornaments it looks like Disneyland for squirrels is unusual. This is obviously the other next door neighbor.
37. I like living in a place where there are so many farmers' markets that no matter where you live, you're within a 10-minute drive of one.
38. I like living in a place where there are at least 4 public parks within a half-mile of my house.
39. I like living in a place where there is actually a fuel pump that distributes bio-diesel. This would matter more to me if I actually drove a car that runs on diesel.
40. Even though I rarely go to bars nowadays, I like living in a place where you can't smoke in bars. Keep that shit in your own lungs and away from mine, I say.
41. I like living in a place where you can bike just about anywhere.
42. I like living in a place where people truly appreciate good beer.
43. I like living in a place where every yard sale has skis for sale. I don't ski, actually. I just think it's funny that everyone's trying to off-load them around here.
44. I like living in a place where even the little local butcher shop down the road sells organic eggs and soy ice cream.
45. I like living in a place where the city will pick up your formerly roach-infested microwave from the curb and recycle it (even if you have to pay for it).
46. I like living in a place that has enough clients to support a cloth diaper service.
47. I like living in a place where there are so many people riding bicycles that the traffic is accomodating.
48. I like living in a place that supports not just one, but many churches who openly welcome and affirm gay and lesbian members and will marry them, the law be damned.
49. I like living in a place where the city sells composters at a good discount every spring.
50. Unfortunately, lots and lots of other people like living here too, which makes it hard for someone like me to find a decent job, which I will want eventually, so who knows if we can stay? We better enjoy it while we can.
Comments
there's great demand for your email address round here. i'd like to ask you some stuff...got some questions you might be able to help me answer (as related to this post).
mine is a hotmail account, and is my first, maiden, and last name, nothing fancy in between (what a mystery...). pretty sure you can figure it out.
Love ya both. I like the new look of your blog, Suze. And I'm sure Joel will like that he can post to it! (Of course, who knows when he'll show up again. You know Joel, he gets around to it when he can).
Hugs and kisses!
It has a very low crime rates, but housing looks a bit expensive compared to the average salary. And it looks as if it isn't terribly diverse. Do you have any latino lesbian neighbors?
madison is a progressive city and for being in the upper midwest, it's diverse. which means that we have a substantial asian population because of the university (chinese, taiwanese, indian, pakistani, korean), some latinos and some blacks. nothing like you see in the south or in big cities, of course.
housing is expensive. affordable housing is actually a big issue here. property taxes are high. natural gas is expensive, making heating costs very high. plus, lots of people want to live here, which drives up the housing costs because it's competitive. we were really, really lucky to find a house in our price range. stuart's brother, for example, has a house with at least 1 1/2 times the square footage of ours and paid 2/3 of what we did, plus his property taxes are a small fraction of ours (he lives in NC). but we think it's worth it, considering the perks. plus, the schools here are excellent.
what would you say would be the first action one should take in becoming more environment-friendly?
2. Drive your car less (or get a hybrid, bio-diesel or ethanol E85 car)
3. Ride your bike more (if you won't get smooshed on the streets)
But I would add to that:
Buy local produce, organic if you can. Most of our food travels more than 1000 miles to get to our plates, which uses tons of fuel unnecessarily.
On great thing about when we visit the Cape--farmer's markets and small seafood shops galore! One can walk down to the market each day or two for what's needed, not take massive shopping trips to buy processed food that will last for a week.
just one thing--i was checking out your links, browsing around, and the daily show link went to microsoft's homepage.
i apologize if you already knew that!