"Going Down"

As a girl who likes to read her daily Express newspaper in person and on the web, I’ve encountered a minor issue since I’ve moved to Woodley Park. (other than all the white people. I’m not used to y’all yet. As my friend said: “don’t look them in the eye, they don’t like confrontation.” So if you live in the area and see a white girl walking down Conn Ave with her head down whenever another white person walks by but smiling and engaging in conversation with a “minority” say hi, it’s probability me.)

I often take the elevator to the metro instead of the escalator, mostly to save time, but partially ‘cause I’m lazy and because, in case you didn’t know, it’s freakin’ hot here in DC. But anyway, there isn’t a friendly yellow-vested-Express-giver outer at the elevator, only the escalator which means I get on the train without my daily news fix, which is only remedied if some friendly commuter (read: sloppy) leaves behind their paper in the crack between the seat and the wall that I can grab and enjoy until my stop on the yellow line.

I hate coming to work without a handle on what is going on in the world, without knowing what stupid thing Bush did yesterday or what my horoscope is for the day. Heck, I’m even getting addicted to the comic strips. And bloglines, can’t live without that either. The problem is I’m not sure how to fix this problem, I have no desire to take the escalator when it’s actually a longer walk and then I have to backtrack (sorta) to the train platform itself. Do I just suck it up and hope that someone will leave their paper behind? Do I come to work uninformed and read the paper online?

Now before you start saying:
“C$ you could watch the morning news to get your fix”
Or
“C$ you could get the full WaPo delivered to your door for pennies and then read that on the metro.”
Or
“C$ you could read something else.”

There is a perfectly logical* reason why none of those solutions will help.

I have been without cable for almost 3 years. No Project Runway, no Sopranos or Sports Center for me. I’ve sent 3 years watching network TV which means that every morning I had my choice among 5 different morning shows, all carrying very similar stories and morning personalities (unless I was going to work late and could watch the 7:30 airing of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on the WB which, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to start the day. Topped only by doing something that isn’t shown on network TV). But now that I have (free) cable, I have over 100 channels to choose from during my morning routine and I’ve got a lot of popular culture to catch up on, which of course means watching MTV and VH1 in the morning while I’m drying my hair or trying to look somewhat presentable for the office. Since I’ve moved in, I’ve woken up to Rhinna or Farrell instead of Matt Lauer or Harry Smith—cable is a beautiful thing. So instead of being an informed yuppie that can carry her own at the water cooler, I’ve turned into someone that hopes to perfect the booty shake sooner rather than later.

Secondly, although I enjoy reading the full WaPo on the weekends, it has no appeal to me on the weekdays. All that text. All that reading. And no funny Eye Openers to, well open my eyes. That’s why I love the Express. Everything I need to know to carry on a somewhat intelligent conversation is complied and condensed to one handy paper. No section A B and C for this girl. Plus, I love the Friday BIO (By Invitation Only) wedding part they put in the weekend guide. It’s like the poor man’s New York Sunday Times wedding section.

I like to think that every day is a new day to do something great. It’s the optimist in me. And I like to think that “maybe this is my day.” The day when I’ll think great big ideas that will change the world. That I will come up with a way to solve all of these problems or come up with some great invention. With that being said, starting out my day by reading The Devil Wears Prada or some other chick-lit material doesn’t help with my take on the world mentality. It either makes me bitter (bad boss or lack of a boy toy), sad or any other emotion other than awake. And reading anything heavier than chick lit at 7:30 in the morning does not appeal to me. At all. So stop there. That’s why the Express is perfect: a little mix of humor, gossip, fashion, and yes, news.

SO there you have it. I don’t have any suggestions on how to solve my problem other than to just walk the extra block(ish) to get the Express or resort to reading it online. Any one else have any ideas?

And just so you know, today hasn’t shaped up to be the day in which I take on the world. Instead, I think I’ll just stick to my air conditioned office and read blogs.


*logical in my own head. Might not be to you, but eh, this is my blog.

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Side note: if anyone wants tickets to either of these upcoming games email me at theboublog at gmail.com

Washington Nationals vs. NY Mets Aug 13 1:05 pm tickets $5
Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Red Sox Sept 14 7:05 pm tickets $10