Whitaker Art Walkin'

"There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . . And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . . So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."- Part of Hunter S. Thompson's 'Wave Speech'

I've always felt connected to the West Coast, specifically the Pacific Northwest. I can LIVE here. This place is still wild. We are new. There is a romantic notion that sometimes only proves itself true in spirit- that the West is the land of prosperity, unbridled freedom, and progressiveness. It's much more complicated in reality, but it is tough not to see the spirit of this freedom all around us.

I've often wondered if I would fit in better on the East Coast. My new friend, Anne, is from Philadelphia. She is awesome, elegant, and I find that we have many subsurface qualities in common. I dig her. Which coast do you identify with?

Sean, Dr., Anne and I meandered through the streets of Whitaker, awake to the sounds of drunk bohemians screaming about art and champagne. After an hour long conversation with Anne over wine, we went to the Blair Street Housing Co-Op. The co-opers were putting on a show of enjoyable Cuban drum beats with a Japanese singer.

I've been considering this thought recently, spurred by 'Revolutionary Road'---the idea that 'maturity' translates to settling in, down, and becoming comfortable. To actually live, take chances, travel, experience culture on a moment-by-moment basis is considered 'flighty'. What say you?