February 2017

In no particular order:

1. It was the subject of a song my dad used to sing to me as a joke when I was little. I have never been able to identify the actual song. I imagine it was from a TV show sketch or something.
2. It’s the place where Bugs Bunny should’ve made that left turn.
3. It is the home town of Ethel Mertz (a/k/a “Ethel Mae Potter. We never forgot her.”)
4. It’s the only place I’ve ever been pulled over by a police officer who subsequently apologized to me for doing so.
5. I have to go there the first week in April for a conference. For the record, I will not be taking the itinerary below.

I’d think this was pretty cool, but:

• I’m no longer in my 40s.
• I no longer live in Winston-Salem.
• I’m so very not looking for love.

That said, it ties in with something I was thinking about this morning. I could never love anyone who:

• Makes a line of cars wait while he backs his monster SUV into a small space in the parking garage.
• Shoots video using his phone in the vertical (portrait) mode.
• Could ever justify supporting the Trump regime for any reason whatsoever.
• Does not understand when to use “your” rather than “you’re” or vice versa.
• Owns no books.
• Thinks he has the right to listen to the Eagles (or Nickelback, or Twenty One Pilots) in my presence.

I think this will be enough bullet lists for one Wednesday.

I really find Lynchburg kind of intriguing. It’s a shame it carries all that Jerry Falwell/Liberty University baggage that makes me (and I imagine much of America) reluctant to visit. It has very much a small-scale Pittsburgh vibe, from the topography to the impossibly large Victorian mansions in Rivermont. It’s apparent there was a lot of money there a hundred years or so back. There’s some great architecture, and the view from the park on the other side of the river is really nice.

I think a lot of people expect Virginia to be very southern and pastoral and bucolic, and there is certainly that aspect of it, but most of urban Virginia — not just the western cities of Roanoke and Lynchburg but also places like Richmond, Hampton, and Newport News — feels considerably more Rust Belt than Sun Belt.

Maybe a full weekend soon. Given two days in Lynchburg, I should finally be able to find at least one decent place to eat there, right?

Prerogative of being middle-aged and single with no dependents (human or otherwise): after discussing the idea for 30 seconds with a friend at dinner, I just decided to have a long weekend in New York in about three weeks. I will visit friends, buy books, and see this. I got a great deal on a room in a very nice hotel centrally located between two subway lines. From decision to execution took all of 30 minutes.

Another prerogative: I can change my mind just as easily as I made the decision in the first place, with no repercussions or arguments whatsoever.

La vie c’est bon!