Party in the USA

Miley Cyrus has a little song you might have heard of, called "Party In the USA." If you've never heard it you can listen to it here. Catchy, right?

Most people mock the song for its horrible pop-ness, but I've really come to appreciate it for its deeper, more subtle meanings. The song came out last year, right as I was packing up to move to New Jersey. Beneath the silly lyrics about rocking kicks and Nashville parties (whatever those are), the song is really about how much of an obstacle homesickness can be when pursuing your dreams. Miley is jetting off to LA to become a big music star, feeling a little wary about being so far from her hometown, when she hears her favorite song on the radio. Despite being thousands of miles from Nashville, and all of the comfort and familiarity that that entails, she realizes she is still "home," in this mighty country called the United States of America, where people in LA are rocking out to the same songs as people in Nashville (or New Jersey, or Omaha, or DC).

There is a bar not too far from my house here in DC called the Union Pub where, every Saturday, Husker fans from across the city gather to yell and scream at the TV and drink pitchers of Elk Creek. The bar gets so packed with people the bouncer has to turn people away at the door, and every single patron is sporting Husker gear. That, my dear friends, is what Miley Cyrus is singing about in "Party in the USA." Thousands of miles away, in a strange and unfamiliar city, I have found a little piece of home to get me through.

X-STREAM

I need you to promise me something right now. If anyone, and I mean ANYONE, ever invites you to go whitewater tubing with them, you must promise me that you will go. By far one of the most fun experiences I have had, and it was only $35!

DC was pretty empty this Labor Day weekend. Apparently there was supposed to be a hurricane, or something, so everyone fled, though I'm not sure as to where. A few of my friends and I decided to drive to West Virginia to float in tubes in Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah and the Potomac meet to make beautiful things happen. After an hour of listening to "Country Road" by John Denver on repeat to get us pumped up, we arrived. We had two choices, flatwater tubing, a lazy river-esque experience, or whitewater tubing, which they assured us was actually rather difficult, especially with the headwind rolling in to blow us off course into dangerous and shallow waters, and not at all the relaxing river ride we'd anticipated. But of course we've never been ones to listen to naysayers so we packed our cooler full of Modelo's and hit the open rapids.


The beginning, I'll admit, was pretty difficult. They dropped us off on the left side of the river, and then informed us we had to "aggressively paddle" our little selves against the current to the other side of the (rather wide, mind you) Potomac River.


Shortly after reaching the other side we hit a rocky patch and encountered our first rapids. They were small, only Class I and II (and for one brief and shining moment Class III!), but don't underestimate the pure thrill of conquering Class II rapids in a tiny tube.


Four hours of brief adrenaline thrills and lulls of lazy river lounging bliss later, we "aggressively paddled" our way back over to the left side of the river to the pick up point and left the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia river behind. Exhausted and half-starved, we scoured Harpers Ferry for barbecue (isn't that what you eat in West Virginia?) and finally found a place with pulled pork sandwiches and curly fries for $16. Refreshed from nature and packing several pecks of peaches from a fruit stand, we returned to the city with the rest of the masses, trying not to think of the "Terrible Traffic Tuesday" we would face in the morning.

In conclusion, whitewater tubing is something I recommend for everyone in the entire world. Because if everyone went whitewater tubing, I'm pretty sure there'd be a lot less war, and a lot more good times.

DC!

Well folks, I yet again find myself in an entirely new place with next to no plan. Yet again I decided to go through the agonizing pre-move jitters, to spend 18 hours of staring down the interstate wondering what in the hell I was doing, and to experience that first night in a strange, empty bedroom, so incredibly far away from anything familiar or friendly (well, except for Obie, of course).

I now live in a rowhouse in the Atlas District of DC, a block north of the bustling H St Corridor. "Up and coming" is the term the realtor used for our neighborhood, but what she really meant was "increasingly white." Popping up next to barber shops and soul food restaurants are hip, expensive coffee shops and swanky wine bars. Gentrification at its finest.



The greatest part about DC so far? Friends. Kenyon has blessed me with an incredible network of people already set up in this unfamiliar city, only a few Metro stops away. Even with the hustle and bustle of moving finally slowing down, I still have a full smorgasbord of things to do, which is exactly what I wanted, and exactly what I hope to start sharing with you here.

Until next time, I leave you with Obie's opinion on this whole moving business:

Conversations about LOST

WARNING: IF YOU'RE A LOST FAN, POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT. HOWEVER, NONE OF US REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON, SO MAYBE NOT

For 4 years my friends and I both received a college education and got hooked on ABC's LOST (ever heard of it?). Now that we're apart, we meet on gmail immediately following each episode to trade theories. This could be stupid. Or it could be genius. I'll let you know.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 2010

10:21 PM me: HELLO

10:23 PM lexie: okay

and go

me: haha

WHERE DO YOU START

lexie: from the end

work our way backward

sayid

me: richard was a slave on the black rock!

lexie: alive? or is that the man in black

WHAT? how'd you get that

me: OR is it jacob reincarnated?

MIB referenced chains@

10:24 PM and richard being in chains

10:25 PM lexie: got it

interestingggggg

me: what elssssse

um knew it with the smoke monster = that guy

10:26 PM lexie: yes

definitely

me: also now it makes sense about the ash

around jacob's cabin

smoke monster can't get through it

lexie: aaaahhhhhhh

10:27 PM right

so whats with the parallel lives

me: ugh i don't even want to get into that haha

10:28 PM i don't understaaaaand

lexie: me either

:(

10:30 PM me: i think that's something that's not going to make sense for a while

lexie: probs not

me: so i'm filing it away for later

10:26 PM Kate: theories???????

10:27 PM me: richard was a slave on the black rock

Kate: yesssss

into it

obvs sayid = not sayid

me: sayid = jacob?

Kate: no sayid = guy who killed jacob?

or possibly jacob i guess

me: i think he's jacob

Kate: since the other guy is already john lock

e

10:28 PM me: yeah

10:29 PM Kate: ahhh so confusing

so good

i want answers

10:30 PM me: i knooooow

Kate: poor juliette

:-(

10:31 PM we thought that was kinda unnecessarily sad

me: yeah that seemed pointless

haha

i mean she is the star of a new TV show

Kate: now sawyer is just SO ANGRY

me: it makes sense why she's not in it

Kate: yeah

me: but did we really have to full on kill her again

10:32 PM Kate: yeah

and "it worked"???

she knew there was an alternate universe?

wtfffffff

me: yeah

that doesn't make sense

10:33 PM Kate: also

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

wtf

ahhhh i forgot how mad this show made me when you can't watch 5 seasons consecutively in two weeks lol

me: hahaa

i know

FEBRUARY 9TH, 2010

9:03 PM me: say WHAAAAAT

Kate: WHAAAAAT

ETHAN

CLAIRE

WHAAAAAAAA

9:05 PM me: do you think claire actually died when that house exploded that she was in

way back in season 4

before she disappeared

Kate: i don't knowwwwww

9:06 PM are they all just going to get taken over by the evil force guy?

9:07 PM me: noooo

not hurley

Kate: booooo

9:08 PM i like that kate and claire are still friends in the alter universe

me: haha i know

9:09 PM although what the hell claire

that woman just held you up at gun point

is everyone super naive in this alter-verse

Kate: haha

a

apparently

9:11 PM me: ok what else

i'm getting really sick of the intrigue from temple guy

Kate: haha yeah

wtf

me: "we'll tell you everything you need to know"

NOPE

JK JK LOLZZZ

Kate: SPEAK ENGLISH

me: OR GIT OOOOUT

9:12 PM Kate: haha

9:13 PM me: jack seems so different now

9:14 PM Kate: yeah

9:15 PM traumatized

he doesn't know what to believe

doesn't trust himself

me: he's lost his leader pizazz

9:22 PM Kate: why did kate choose sawyer

goddddd

me: I KNOOOOOOW

i am getting so sick of that

also COME ON KATE

HE JUST BURIED JULIETTE

9:23 PM LEAVE IT ALONE FOR MAYBE AN AFTERNOON

Kate: oh you're grieving for your gf? wanna di?

9:26 PM lexie: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH CLARE

not everyone can be evil?

me: i think she died when her house exploded back in season 4

9:27 PM and then became "infected" and disappeared

lexie: what is this infection?!?!

me: i don't knoooow

lexie: is it like rouso's group of guys

me: i think so

because they go down into the temple

9:28 PM and come back "totally changed" or whatever that japanese guy said

lexie: HMMMMM

9:29 PM me: DO YOU THINK THAT WAS CLAIRE'S TRAP

is she the new rousseau

lexie: OH SNAP

yes

9:30 PM me: i guess they do have similar life stories

island baby

stolen

lexie: makes senseee