Meme about places we've lived
Also picking this up, because I've seen a few peoples' and it's interesting. Also, neat to have to remember what all I did with my life, and double neat that I've had this journal for ten of these years. Makes my time references more reliable.
2011
I live in Somerville, MA, a suburb of Boston apparently designated as third best place to try to date a geek in some recent Match.com survey of sorts. I live in walking distance of Davis Square (which makes me super happy) and not far at all from my workplace by Alewife. I've lived here for long enough (sixish years) to be thoroughly comfortable navigating all of the city and much of its suburbs, and I have a number of favourite places, both stereotypical and not so, around the area.
2001
I was in my junior/senior year of college (depending on if we're in spring or fall semester), so alternating between living in Fredonia, NY during college and theoretically Syosset, NY, my hometown, except that this is the year that I spent half my summer in Payson, Utah, living with my sister (and working at KMart in Spanish Fork, UT) so this year gets three separate places.
Fredonia had its ups and downs, and definitely by the end of my four years there I had favourite parts, though as a tour guide I think I was pretty negative about the place on the whole, and I won't ever go back.
Payson was alien to me, and though I was there long enough to have an adventure or two, it's in no way endeared itself to me. I was glad to spend whatever time with my sister, though.
1991
This would put me in sixth grade, living in Syosset, NY full time, at our house about three or four blocks from the Long Island Rail Road station.
That wasn't really a good time in my life, and I wasn't especially fond of that house. I was too young to be able to really escape my parents' problems or have anywhere to go, and sixth grade was probably the low point of ... well, my entire life, actually, in terms of having any damned friends at all, in terms of stability in home life... I don't think there were many positives in my life at this point.
I've never much cared for either the house or the town where I spent these days, and when I go back to visit my mother there, I'm not particularly any fonder.
1981
Depending on time of year, I'm not yet 1 year, or have made it slightly past. I'm living in Syosset, NY full time at the other house, the one about four or five blocks from the library. We returned there later on when I hit high school, and I like this house somewhat better, though at this time in my life I'm sure I had very little opinion on matters.
Stuff missed by these ten year jumps:
Queens, NY (Bayside)
Didn't really live here, just spent as much time as I could while my sister was there for a summer (in 1998, summer before I left for college). Also spent a non-trivial amount of time there because it's where my grandmother lived. My continuing impression of NYC is that it's got an amazing amount of awesome to trawl through, but it's extremely frenetic, overwhelming and not a comfort zone.
Washington D.C. - twice.
I lived here for a summer in 2000 and came back and lived here for a year and a half from 2002 until the beginning of 2004. In many ways I love DC. It was the first city in which I was independent. It's where I had my first apartment, where I first really got to explore a city on my own. DC will always be special to me, and when I go back, knowing how to navigate around Arlington and the DC area always makes me really happy.
Chicago, IL
I lived here for nine months, from the beginning of 2004 through September. Chicago was interesting, and there were bits of it that I enjoyed, but it was never really home to me, and I wasn't in a very good headspace while living there. I don't mind going back and visiting, and there are some cool places I'd found that I'd enjoy seeing again, but it just isn't my city.
I feel a bit weird about how settled I am in Boston, to be honest, but also feel happy enough about living here that I can't imagine giving it up in favour of moving stress in order to restart my life elsewhere. Boston is comfortable in all the best ways, but still engaging and interesting. <3
2011
I live in Somerville, MA, a suburb of Boston apparently designated as third best place to try to date a geek in some recent Match.com survey of sorts. I live in walking distance of Davis Square (which makes me super happy) and not far at all from my workplace by Alewife. I've lived here for long enough (sixish years) to be thoroughly comfortable navigating all of the city and much of its suburbs, and I have a number of favourite places, both stereotypical and not so, around the area.
2001
I was in my junior/senior year of college (depending on if we're in spring or fall semester), so alternating between living in Fredonia, NY during college and theoretically Syosset, NY, my hometown, except that this is the year that I spent half my summer in Payson, Utah, living with my sister (and working at KMart in Spanish Fork, UT) so this year gets three separate places.
Fredonia had its ups and downs, and definitely by the end of my four years there I had favourite parts, though as a tour guide I think I was pretty negative about the place on the whole, and I won't ever go back.
Payson was alien to me, and though I was there long enough to have an adventure or two, it's in no way endeared itself to me. I was glad to spend whatever time with my sister, though.
1991
This would put me in sixth grade, living in Syosset, NY full time, at our house about three or four blocks from the Long Island Rail Road station.
That wasn't really a good time in my life, and I wasn't especially fond of that house. I was too young to be able to really escape my parents' problems or have anywhere to go, and sixth grade was probably the low point of ... well, my entire life, actually, in terms of having any damned friends at all, in terms of stability in home life... I don't think there were many positives in my life at this point.
I've never much cared for either the house or the town where I spent these days, and when I go back to visit my mother there, I'm not particularly any fonder.
1981
Depending on time of year, I'm not yet 1 year, or have made it slightly past. I'm living in Syosset, NY full time at the other house, the one about four or five blocks from the library. We returned there later on when I hit high school, and I like this house somewhat better, though at this time in my life I'm sure I had very little opinion on matters.
Stuff missed by these ten year jumps:
Queens, NY (Bayside)
Didn't really live here, just spent as much time as I could while my sister was there for a summer (in 1998, summer before I left for college). Also spent a non-trivial amount of time there because it's where my grandmother lived. My continuing impression of NYC is that it's got an amazing amount of awesome to trawl through, but it's extremely frenetic, overwhelming and not a comfort zone.
Washington D.C. - twice.
I lived here for a summer in 2000 and came back and lived here for a year and a half from 2002 until the beginning of 2004. In many ways I love DC. It was the first city in which I was independent. It's where I had my first apartment, where I first really got to explore a city on my own. DC will always be special to me, and when I go back, knowing how to navigate around Arlington and the DC area always makes me really happy.
Chicago, IL
I lived here for nine months, from the beginning of 2004 through September. Chicago was interesting, and there were bits of it that I enjoyed, but it was never really home to me, and I wasn't in a very good headspace while living there. I don't mind going back and visiting, and there are some cool places I'd found that I'd enjoy seeing again, but it just isn't my city.
I feel a bit weird about how settled I am in Boston, to be honest, but also feel happy enough about living here that I can't imagine giving it up in favour of moving stress in order to restart my life elsewhere. Boston is comfortable in all the best ways, but still engaging and interesting. <3