When headed to the SG ATL meeting the other day, I kind of got to thinking.
I hate this state.
...Ok, I think that a lot. I went to one of the worst High Schools in the state. You know in movies, where people talk about being stuck in a town, being born there, growing up, and dying there? Yeah, thats Fairburn GA. Fuck this dump.
The money on the north side never trickles down to these parts, and it shows. The north side is nice, upscale, good schools, huge houses, wealth abounding.
On the other hand, I live beside a place dubbed "Lightning". I was once told that it got the name, because it used to be a hotspot for Moonshine brewing during prohibition. Now, its a nice place to get shot by crackheads. I hear gunshots often, police are always riding through the area. Six year olds try to break into the small comic shop around the corner. Small children roam the streets, their parents most likely too high to care.
Atlanta is a mess of shitty roads, fools that shouldnt be within 20 yards of an automobile driving on those shitty roads, and some of the worst traffic in the country. South Fulton county, is a desert of wasted lives. (Guess where I've been all my life.
)
Every time I leave my house, I pass a Circle K and a liquor store. I never could go to that Circle K, without being accosted by drunks begging for money.
Sometimes though, through all the urban decay in Atlanta, something hits me like a brick to the face. Well, actually, knowing this place, it probably is an actual brick to the face...anyway. This city, through all the flith and garbage, through all the potholes and people, is beautiful. This brick hit me when pulling up to Lennys the other night. There are a lot of really kick ass places here. No trip to Atlanta from an outsider should be without a visit to the Masquerade (R.I.P.
) or the Ten High. All the old houses in Midtown. The big ass neon Discount Caskets sign on MLK. Some of the amzing graffiti, and crumbling brick walls covered in old faded concert flyers. I should spend more time in L5P before it gets overrun by commercialism.
The things that are supposed to be flashy wonderful places, just don't do it for me. World of Coca Cola, Turner Field, Phillips Arena, Olympic Park...you can keep all that shit. (Though, give me back the Omni and Fulton County Stadium, and we'll call it even.)
At first glance, Atlanta is a writhing hell, and frankly, I wonder how on earth we ever landed the '96 Olympics. Now surely, I wouldnt mind living where GenghisX mentioned he's from the other night, but I think living down here in the dirt, below the poverty line for most of my life changed me a bit. We were dirt poor when I was growing up, and just now, my parents are catching up, and not having to scrape by every month. They deserved this much sooner in life.
As much as I hate the southside, I do see a lot of beauty in crumbling old barns, and ancient houses. Mr. Smiths gas station up the road from my parents house in "Downtown" Rico, that was run by his father before him. (Downtown Rico being Mr. Smiths gas station.) The ride down State Hwy. 70 into Newnan is absolutely lovely.
I do believe I'm going to start a photojournal of the area though, as soon as I can afford a decent camera. The music, the filth, the seedyness, the crazy people on MARTA, the bums sleeping in the bus station, the urban decay, the graffiti...Everything but that goddamn fucking awful traffic.
I love to hate this city, or I hate to love this city. Take your choice.
I hate this state.
...Ok, I think that a lot. I went to one of the worst High Schools in the state. You know in movies, where people talk about being stuck in a town, being born there, growing up, and dying there? Yeah, thats Fairburn GA. Fuck this dump.
The money on the north side never trickles down to these parts, and it shows. The north side is nice, upscale, good schools, huge houses, wealth abounding.
On the other hand, I live beside a place dubbed "Lightning". I was once told that it got the name, because it used to be a hotspot for Moonshine brewing during prohibition. Now, its a nice place to get shot by crackheads. I hear gunshots often, police are always riding through the area. Six year olds try to break into the small comic shop around the corner. Small children roam the streets, their parents most likely too high to care.
Atlanta is a mess of shitty roads, fools that shouldnt be within 20 yards of an automobile driving on those shitty roads, and some of the worst traffic in the country. South Fulton county, is a desert of wasted lives. (Guess where I've been all my life.
)
Every time I leave my house, I pass a Circle K and a liquor store. I never could go to that Circle K, without being accosted by drunks begging for money.
Sometimes though, through all the urban decay in Atlanta, something hits me like a brick to the face. Well, actually, knowing this place, it probably is an actual brick to the face...anyway. This city, through all the flith and garbage, through all the potholes and people, is beautiful. This brick hit me when pulling up to Lennys the other night. There are a lot of really kick ass places here. No trip to Atlanta from an outsider should be without a visit to the Masquerade (R.I.P.
) or the Ten High. All the old houses in Midtown. The big ass neon Discount Caskets sign on MLK. Some of the amzing graffiti, and crumbling brick walls covered in old faded concert flyers. I should spend more time in L5P before it gets overrun by commercialism.
The things that are supposed to be flashy wonderful places, just don't do it for me. World of Coca Cola, Turner Field, Phillips Arena, Olympic Park...you can keep all that shit. (Though, give me back the Omni and Fulton County Stadium, and we'll call it even.)
At first glance, Atlanta is a writhing hell, and frankly, I wonder how on earth we ever landed the '96 Olympics. Now surely, I wouldnt mind living where GenghisX mentioned he's from the other night, but I think living down here in the dirt, below the poverty line for most of my life changed me a bit. We were dirt poor when I was growing up, and just now, my parents are catching up, and not having to scrape by every month. They deserved this much sooner in life.
As much as I hate the southside, I do see a lot of beauty in crumbling old barns, and ancient houses. Mr. Smiths gas station up the road from my parents house in "Downtown" Rico, that was run by his father before him. (Downtown Rico being Mr. Smiths gas station.) The ride down State Hwy. 70 into Newnan is absolutely lovely.
I do believe I'm going to start a photojournal of the area though, as soon as I can afford a decent camera. The music, the filth, the seedyness, the crazy people on MARTA, the bums sleeping in the bus station, the urban decay, the graffiti...Everything but that goddamn fucking awful traffic.
I love to hate this city, or I hate to love this city. Take your choice.
And thank you for not lumping all the military in with him. Sorry you can't move to Tibet like you wanted to, but hey, it couldn't possibly be better than america. Because NO PLACE EVER COULD!!! WOOOHOOO!!!1! USA! USA! ALL YOU OTHER COUNTRIES FUCK OFF!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!
(just kidding)
[Edited on Apr 01, 2005 7:21PM]
I haven't been out to Athens, but I hear it's the same way.
In Gainesville, it was incredibly difficult to make a decent wage/salary unless you worked for the university, and those jobs were few and far between. The good thing about college towns is that, even if you're not a university student, you can still take advantage of cheap rent, good bars, museums, free lectures, etc.
If you have a reliable friend you can roommate with, you can get by pretty easily by splitting rent and utilities. Avoid living beyond your means, though. My wife and I learned that the hard way when we ended up paying for everything with credit cards.
My wife and I moved to Atlanta towards the end of 2000. We didn't know where the jobs/money were, and we picked our apartment by searching online for a place that fit our meager budget and would accept our dog.
We were also $10K in debt, creditors were calling us all day long, and we had just enough cash to cover the bare necessities for a month or two. We had no jobs lined up, I hadn't finished my Bachelor's degree (still haven't!
Anyhow, the change of location was exactly what we needed. Yeah...it was extremely painful trying to adjust and pay bills for about a year. My wife and I even split up for a month or two after the stress I was going through brought me to brink of suicide.
To make a long story short, after a difficult adjustment period, my wife and I are doing quite well. The biggest lesson I learned is that help is almost always available. You just have to know who, when, where, and how to ask for it.
-GX