The Self Propel Movement: Welcome to Miami, Bienblabludo a Miami

I recently took an Amtrak train from Ohio up to New York to see James. I'm in the process of trying to figure out where I want to live so I wanted to head down to Miami to see if I'd like it. James wanted to go too so I headed up to see his hometown first. The little shit was at work when I got in at 8 AM so I walked two miles to a mall near the train station. Normally that's no big deal but it was about 15 degrees out with really strong winds and snow. Plus the sidewalks were covered in ice and I'd only brought Miami clothes. Actually, I kind of liked it. I wrapped a t-shirt around my face, lowered my shoulders, and pushed through. I then spent the entire day at the mall until he could pick me up. If you've never pulled a 9 to 5 as a non-worker at the mall before, you should try it. It's not that bad.

On the face of it, Miami doesn't seem like a "self propel" town and I guess it's probably not. It's kind of the embodiment of excessive consumption. When an Acura is the "shit car", you know you're in a whole different kind of town. It's a city about looks, no doubt about it. The people are beautiful, the cars are beautiful, the houses are beautiful. As James said in reference to some gaudy waterfront mansion, "That's just opulance," and that about sums it up. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have substance. I'm not exactly sure where that substance is, but it's there somewhere.

We took a couple days to walk and bike around the city. We stayed in Little Havana and walked all over the place. It's like a Latin food and coffee heaven. We biked through South Beach and walked around Key Biscaine, which is excess followed by more excess. Listen, I'm not saying I don't want the same amount of money that people have there but I would definately do different things with it. The idea of a massive house and expensive cars doesn't appeal to me. In fact, I think I'd be stressed about the insurance payments and constantly worried about wrecking it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. If you're rich enough to drive around in a Ferrari, you can afford the insurance. Doesn't matter. I'd still be stressed out of my mind about it.

Truth be told, my dream home is much closer to a little shack or, better yet, what I can carry on my back. And if I could buy any vehicle at the moment, it would be a kayak. That sounds a lot more fun than a car. The funny thing is, I think it's just as hard to de-aquire as it is to aquire. I'm sure it's incredibly hard to get a Ferrari but, in a lot of ways, I think it's just as hard to get rid of the MP3 player. I'm close but still not there (my cousin gave me an old one he wasn't using anymore). I really like to be able to listen to Pearl Jam where I want, when I want. And you know, you hear these reports about what happens to the workers who make ipods and ipads and iphones and all those other electronic gadgets, and I can't help but think that I'd rather live in a world that didn't have those things than one where workers' hands are burned off over time from acid.

But I digress. Miami is a cool city and I could definately see myself living there. It has a lot to offer. So, yeah, I think I'll keep looking for jobs there.