My best friend (and musical collaborator) here in Japan is from Baltimore (well, he was here until he up and took his family to NYC for filthy lucre--a teaching gig to support his family that I understand but find hard to forgive, missing them all dearly).
I've also been fascinated by how many neighborhood scenes in Homicide and The Wire look like they could have been shot in Halifax (NS).
FWIW, I've never really been interested in owning a house either, but best of luck in the new digs!
Good luck, hon. As a Bawlmoron from the white flight 'burbs, I both do and do not miss the place. But I was back for a wedding a few weeks ago and, with all apologies to Dorothy, I think she missed a word because in my experience "There is no place that smells like home". Nostalgia for days. Enjoy the next chapter.
Best of luck to you Roy! As a single woman in my late fifties, I've never taken the home ownership plunge myself. I've lived in a housing cooperative for the last 17 years which is as close as I've come. I wish you all good things ❤️
I usually make my way to Baltimore 2-3 times per year, either for a baseball game or for duckpin. I am enamored with Fells Point, probably the nicest part of the city (and much better than the touristy Inner Harbor). I have friends that moved from DC to Baltimore about 5 years ago (they live near Mobtown Brewing), not too far from the old Natty Boh factory. While the city is both poor and corrupt, I have found it charming (maybe if I'm ever mugged, I'll have a different tale). Check out the Patterson Park pagoda when your chaos settles and you need some quiet zen.
As a bookish person, I suggest Alain de Botton's "The Architecture of Happiness" which got me through the first two years of owning and rehabbing an old house. That guy knows style, for sure.
Try Philly. It’s got everything a Roy could ever want. Mural Capital of the World….even in the rundown areas, sports fans crazier than shithouse rats, the food & restaurant scene has become world renowned, and colloquialisms & accents as obnoxious as NYC….in some cases even more. There will never be another NYC, (is that good?..), but Philly still has loads of that grungy style you and I crave, and yet it’s a manageable joint.
Great to hear, hon. Hope it goes well. I recently moved back to Philly when my wife got a new gig. After 20 years in DC and, earlier, 15 in the East Village and Brooklyn, it feels surprisingly good to be back home. When I lived in Greenpoint in the 90s, the Poles ruled the streets, and I couldn’t call their collective style glam. But I know what you mean, the Manhattan sparkle rubbed off. Philly has come along way since I Iast lived here and there’s money around, but it’s still poor compared with DC. And the casual gun violence and walking wounded of the opiod crisis is all-too real. But I dig the daily glimpses of style more than the spotlight. At my age that’s enough.
Well, look at you with the fancy-schmancy U-Haul™ brand boxes! I marked my transition to middle class the first time I actually BOUGHT boxes for a move instead of hitting all the liquor stores in town. Now I feel like I'm being noble, leaving the free boxes for the college students who need 'em more.
I'm still living out of boxes to some extent; I'm still working on getting bookshelves and 90% of my stuff is in the garage in quarantine so's I don't bring any lil' friends with me from the old place. But I can now put my clothes away in a chest of drawers and hang shirts in my closets, and I finally have a damn CHAIR I can sit in and relax with my feet up, and I should have a fucking table in the kitchen soon that I can eat dinner on like a damn human. And the street is lined with trees and I'm within walking distance of my favorite part of the city, with bookstores and boutiques and restaurants. I don't hate coming home from work. "Ah, my iron lung's working again!"
I’ve been to Balmer a couple of times. I had a love interest there (I was crazy about her but she only liked me, but liked me enough to give me hope) who showed me around the city. (She also took me to Bertha’s Mussels, somewhere outside of Baltimore — yum yum!) Went to an Orioles game at the old stadium (Memorial, I think it was called, the one before the one at Camden Yards), from which I remember 3 things: Eddie Murray’s 8th inning home run that won the game for the O’s (after the crowd chanted “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” before each pitch; the San Diego Chicken mascot was subbing as the Orioles’ mascot, and he (she?) gleefully tore apart an effigy of a Mariner player, the Os’ opponents that day; and in the section next
to ours, someone was wearing a Mariners cap and when he was walking to the aisle to get snacks or use the can someone who noticed the enemy insignia stood up and pointed at the fellow and started another chant of “ugly hat! ugly hat!” (apparently people there are big on impromptu chants!). The “victim” took that in good humor and was laughing through it all, as it was obvious that the hometeam fans weren’t expressing malice or hostility — unlike some other more glamorous MLB cities’ fans, like NYC or (shudder, Boston) might have.
I think this may comport with Roy’s assessment of Baltimoreans. I hope you enjoy your stay there, Roy, however long that is.
Whee!
Real Estate.
Dawn hid behind the lucite because otherwise people be all cleanin' up birds 'n stuff...
My best friend (and musical collaborator) here in Japan is from Baltimore (well, he was here until he up and took his family to NYC for filthy lucre--a teaching gig to support his family that I understand but find hard to forgive, missing them all dearly).
I've also been fascinated by how many neighborhood scenes in Homicide and The Wire look like they could have been shot in Halifax (NS).
FWIW, I've never really been interested in owning a house either, but best of luck in the new digs!
Congratulations! May you and Kia be very happy in your new place!
Moving is a big deal!And so soon after
surgery! You're a badass Roy - never change.
"they float past like life preservers from a wrecked ship."
A great phrase that I'm sure I will use
often!
If we ask, how many folks here would lie
and say they didn't have to look up "cynosure."
Do you have a yard? I cannot envision you doing yard work. Of course , I couldn't picture you with a cat or listening to the Grateful Dead.
Where do we send the housewarming gifts?
Good luck, hon. As a Bawlmoron from the white flight 'burbs, I both do and do not miss the place. But I was back for a wedding a few weeks ago and, with all apologies to Dorothy, I think she missed a word because in my experience "There is no place that smells like home". Nostalgia for days. Enjoy the next chapter.
Best of luck to you Roy! As a single woman in my late fifties, I've never taken the home ownership plunge myself. I've lived in a housing cooperative for the last 17 years which is as close as I've come. I wish you all good things ❤️
I usually make my way to Baltimore 2-3 times per year, either for a baseball game or for duckpin. I am enamored with Fells Point, probably the nicest part of the city (and much better than the touristy Inner Harbor). I have friends that moved from DC to Baltimore about 5 years ago (they live near Mobtown Brewing), not too far from the old Natty Boh factory. While the city is both poor and corrupt, I have found it charming (maybe if I'm ever mugged, I'll have a different tale). Check out the Patterson Park pagoda when your chaos settles and you need some quiet zen.
In the midst of all those boxes, you can pretend you’re in the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
As a bookish person, I suggest Alain de Botton's "The Architecture of Happiness" which got me through the first two years of owning and rehabbing an old house. That guy knows style, for sure.
Try Philly. It’s got everything a Roy could ever want. Mural Capital of the World….even in the rundown areas, sports fans crazier than shithouse rats, the food & restaurant scene has become world renowned, and colloquialisms & accents as obnoxious as NYC….in some cases even more. There will never be another NYC, (is that good?..), but Philly still has loads of that grungy style you and I crave, and yet it’s a manageable joint.
Money is something you don't have to worry about as a homeowner; your house will make sure you never have any. Congratulations, I guess.
Great to hear, hon. Hope it goes well. I recently moved back to Philly when my wife got a new gig. After 20 years in DC and, earlier, 15 in the East Village and Brooklyn, it feels surprisingly good to be back home. When I lived in Greenpoint in the 90s, the Poles ruled the streets, and I couldn’t call their collective style glam. But I know what you mean, the Manhattan sparkle rubbed off. Philly has come along way since I Iast lived here and there’s money around, but it’s still poor compared with DC. And the casual gun violence and walking wounded of the opiod crisis is all-too real. But I dig the daily glimpses of style more than the spotlight. At my age that’s enough.
Loved this column. Assuming you found Ciroc! Looking forward to learning about Baltimore. To a great time in your new city!
Well, look at you with the fancy-schmancy U-Haul™ brand boxes! I marked my transition to middle class the first time I actually BOUGHT boxes for a move instead of hitting all the liquor stores in town. Now I feel like I'm being noble, leaving the free boxes for the college students who need 'em more.
I'm still living out of boxes to some extent; I'm still working on getting bookshelves and 90% of my stuff is in the garage in quarantine so's I don't bring any lil' friends with me from the old place. But I can now put my clothes away in a chest of drawers and hang shirts in my closets, and I finally have a damn CHAIR I can sit in and relax with my feet up, and I should have a fucking table in the kitchen soon that I can eat dinner on like a damn human. And the street is lined with trees and I'm within walking distance of my favorite part of the city, with bookstores and boutiques and restaurants. I don't hate coming home from work. "Ah, my iron lung's working again!"
I’ve been to Balmer a couple of times. I had a love interest there (I was crazy about her but she only liked me, but liked me enough to give me hope) who showed me around the city. (She also took me to Bertha’s Mussels, somewhere outside of Baltimore — yum yum!) Went to an Orioles game at the old stadium (Memorial, I think it was called, the one before the one at Camden Yards), from which I remember 3 things: Eddie Murray’s 8th inning home run that won the game for the O’s (after the crowd chanted “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” before each pitch; the San Diego Chicken mascot was subbing as the Orioles’ mascot, and he (she?) gleefully tore apart an effigy of a Mariner player, the Os’ opponents that day; and in the section next
to ours, someone was wearing a Mariners cap and when he was walking to the aisle to get snacks or use the can someone who noticed the enemy insignia stood up and pointed at the fellow and started another chant of “ugly hat! ugly hat!” (apparently people there are big on impromptu chants!). The “victim” took that in good humor and was laughing through it all, as it was obvious that the hometeam fans weren’t expressing malice or hostility — unlike some other more glamorous MLB cities’ fans, like NYC or (shudder, Boston) might have.
I think this may comport with Roy’s assessment of Baltimoreans. I hope you enjoy your stay there, Roy, however long that is.