greetings from d.c...no, i have not fallen off the face of the planet or been mugged or gotten lost on the metro. i am, for the time being, simply without internet access at home (the horror of horrors for me, one would think, but i'm handling it remarkably well, i'd like to think). today is my first day at work and i'm getting used to things and figuring out what the routine is--and growing accustomed to my "professional" wardrobe (i'll admit it, i still almost do a doubletake when i catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror or a reflection). a few thoughts about the past days:

- roommates are cool, room is cool, apartment is cool.
- the cheesecake factory: the second coming of carbur's. the menu has ADVERTISEMENTS IN IT.
- like the legions of other d.c.-area types, i'm running every other day. stop laughing.
- i have everything i could possibly need as far as resources within a walking distance of my place. this is very odd to me, but i like it. a lot.
- dupont circle: fuuuun on a saturday night.

i'm enjoying myself well enough, but it's hard to be away from everyone. my cell phone doesn't work in my apartment (not yet, anyway, and not to mention that i can't find my phone charger--grrrr) and, after i do something or see something or come home, i expect my family to be around or my friends to be a short distance away. it takes a moment for me to realize that they're not--and it's very bittersweet. i've always thought that life is supposed to completely consume you--there's always supposed to be something going on, some adventure or, at least, some burden to deal with. i'm already realizing that this isn't always the case--there's downtime and times where you don't have things pressing on you.

now me? i like keeping busy (i know, surprise surprise) and knowing that i have things to do because that way i'm constantly stimulated. and involved with people and interacting. so i think that i'm going to be looking for things to do in the coming weeks--maybe a weekend job that's fun or volunteer work--i don't know, just something. but then again, i don't know exactly what's coming up for me--meeting new people and whatnot--so i can't do that right away.

yet i feel like there's this big ol' city in front of me, filled with all of these people, and i'm wondering how on earth i'm going to track down some of those people to call my own. it's not as if it's like college, when we were all together in this little community and we couldn't NOT get to know each other because we were falling all over each other. here i feel as if i'm supposed to do something to find people...but i'm not sure of exactly what. so, for right now, i'm going to just keep what i'm doing and hope that i'm doing it right. what else can i really do? after all, i've only been here a few days...

so yeah...d.c. is a bit intimidating, a bit frightening, but exhilerating as well. this morning i packed my lunch, grabbed my carryall bag and bought a copy of the post to read while i rode into the city on the metro. it was my first experience as a full-fledged commuter. definitely a change of pace and made me realize (as if i hadn't already, but you know what i mean) that i'm officially a city-dweller. how crazy is this?!?