In Lawrence, things are vaguely familiar but undeniably altered.
The fitted sheet in my new queen-size bed linens set is larger than queen but smaller than king. I fold the top sheet in half to prevent it dragging on the floor. The set contains six pillow cases.
As part of a summer youth program at the mental health center, I led an 8-week theater arts curriculum. I asked several times to meet with the staff beforehand to coordinate my offering with their program objectives but received no response. At the end of the program, no one but the kids said thanks or goodbye. I requested a debriefing meeting to get some feedback on my debut professional effort in Lawrence. It's been a month; my request was neither granted nor acknowledged.
Public transportation stops around sundown and doesn't run at all on Sunday in a town that brags about being more "woke" than the rest of the state.
Things sorta look familiar here but they feel different. They don't quite fit.
I still say it was a mistake to move here but some of the most important lessons of my life have been learned through mistakes.
I'm waking up now it seems. Two weeks ago I sold the car. After two years of paying enough in gas, repairs, registration and insurance to "buy" the car three times over every year, I decided to stop shooting myself in the foot.
Two or three months ago it dawned on me: if I'd applied for subsidized housing when I first arrived, I would be at the top of the two-year waiting list now. With better-late-than-never optimism, I completed an application Amazingly, it took less than three months to rise to the top of the waiting list. This week I move into a top floor apartment at Babcock Place where rent and utilities will cost one-third of what I've been paying.
I never read Alice Through the Looking Glass. Does she make it through and out? Does she learn something along the way?
For awhile, Unity Church hired me every other month for a gig. Eventually I chafed under the "no instrumentals" rule. Prayers and sermon and announcements from the pulpit...song lyrics projected onto the big screen...guest musician singing to you. At Unity your thoughts are always guided by someone saying or singing something.
The fitted sheet in my new queen-size bed linens set is larger than queen but smaller than king. I fold the top sheet in half to prevent it dragging on the floor. The set contains six pillow cases.
As part of a summer youth program at the mental health center, I led an 8-week theater arts curriculum. I asked several times to meet with the staff beforehand to coordinate my offering with their program objectives but received no response. At the end of the program, no one but the kids said thanks or goodbye. I requested a debriefing meeting to get some feedback on my debut professional effort in Lawrence. It's been a month; my request was neither granted nor acknowledged.
Public transportation stops around sundown and doesn't run at all on Sunday in a town that brags about being more "woke" than the rest of the state.
Things sorta look familiar here but they feel different. They don't quite fit.
I still say it was a mistake to move here but some of the most important lessons of my life have been learned through mistakes.
I'm waking up now it seems. Two weeks ago I sold the car. After two years of paying enough in gas, repairs, registration and insurance to "buy" the car three times over every year, I decided to stop shooting myself in the foot.
Two or three months ago it dawned on me: if I'd applied for subsidized housing when I first arrived, I would be at the top of the two-year waiting list now. With better-late-than-never optimism, I completed an application Amazingly, it took less than three months to rise to the top of the waiting list. This week I move into a top floor apartment at Babcock Place where rent and utilities will cost one-third of what I've been paying.I never read Alice Through the Looking Glass. Does she make it through and out? Does she learn something along the way?
