People have accused me of being overly cynical. True to my cynical self, my personal blog is a mix of sass and satire, a forum in which I file complaints to world and poke fun at things that I find silly in everyday life. However, truth be told, I do have a bit of puppy, rainbow, unicorn-fairy dust in my veins when it comes to the place I call home now: Lansing.
The Background
I am not a Lansing-naive. In fact, I spent my time floating around the East-side of the state since birth. I do not have a saga or great insight to offer about other parts of the world. I have only been on this Earth for 23 years and like most people my age, I think I know everything (not really). I was born in Ann Arbor and migrated with my family to the suburbs of Detroit. I have a few connections to the area--my brother and lovely nieces are East Lansing residents. I, myself, am not even an official Lansing resident as I haven't found the time to change the address on my driver's license to reflect my new home (I'll get around to it, I promise). I have been in the area for a little over a year. Before that, I spent time in the area for my job and lived here for a summer as an intern.When it came time to pick a place to live post-college, I selected Lansing. My new job was in East Lansing and my roommate was to attend MSU medical school, so we could have really picked anywhere in the vicinity to lug our Ikea furniture and hopes and dreams. My reasons for choosing Lansing over East Lansing or the surrounding areas were not very sophisticated:
- I could get more for my money.
- There were fewer worries about people puking on my doorstep.
- I didn't want to wallpaper my apartment with beer boxes.
- I no longer considered empty half gallons room decor.
- My roommate wanted some place quiet due to the fact she would be attending MSU medical school (We can't even hear the train anymore.)
- I thought living in a "loft" sounded cool.
- I wanted to feel like a grown-up.
- Shag carpet isn't and will never be my thing.
My parents were frightened when I told them I was setting up shop in Lansing. "OMG! You'll be murdered!" The fact that my apartment is feet away from a police station didn't provide piece of mind for my Mother. When my parents helped me move in to my first grown-up apartment, they noted the several homeless men scavenging the nearby dumpster for cans and pointed out the massive amount of auto-parts shops ("Isn't that where people go to sell off parts of cars they stole?!") Like I said, I am from the suburbs of Detroit. If I told you the specific suburb, you'd stop reading now, but let's suffice to say, that everyone was a bit skeptical of our choice to live here. When we gave directions to friends, depending on what direction they were coming from, we'd get phone calls like, "Uhm, are you sure I was supposed to turn left? Where am I?"
So, over a year later, I am happy to say, "I told you so!". I am also happy to report that I feel safe and sound. I've never been robbed or even close to it. I never feel like I'm going to get shot when I make the trek on foot to Old Town, the River Trail, and back. I've accidentally left my sunroof open for 48 hours and my valuables were still there when I returned. (This might have something to do with the close proximity of the previously mentioned police station) I am writing this after making our weekly journey back from Tavern on the Square by cutting across Riverfront Park. The buddy system has served my roomie and I well.
I have been a few places in the area. I haven't really made that many friends outside my social circle from home and college. When I'm not at work, I mainly spend time with my roommate and friend from college, both of whom will be helping with with my blog.
The Mission
Inspired by the Hashtag on Twitter, this blog will be where I log my experiences as a young professional living in Lansing. Like I've openly proclaimed, I haven't been here long and I'm not originally from here, but I plan on being in and around this area for a while. I see the potential that Lansing and Michigan in general hold. I find myself defending Lansing all the time and becoming easily irked by the ill-spirited comments made on housing forums, by outsiders, and in the media about Lansing being unsafe and having nothing to offer young professionals. If someone as admittedly cynical as I can find reasons to celebrate Lansing, then we all can.
Because I've lived here almost a year and haven't even begun to scratch the surface more, I invite you on my journey to discover and rediscover Lansing. For the next 3 months, I'll be posting things or places I like or have attempted to have a like-affair with in Lansing. I figure if I can get out an unlimited amount of likes to my friends' random ramblings on Facebook, that this task should be a breeze. I'll try to keep the sass to a minimum. Also, I'll be dragging my lovely roommate JHop, my friend McStruggles, and loyal puppy, Phoebe along for the adventure. Hopefully, I'd be able to coax them into writing a few posts as well.
I also need to give McStruggles credit for conceiving the premise of this blog. She is continually urging me to get out and to do something new everyday. This is partly sparked by the fact she recently quit smoking and needs to be occupied every moment of the day, but also because she is a go-getter. Hats off to McStruggles for the inspiration.
