August 16, 2005
Shopping on the internet for another life
I do that sometimes. Hell, everyone does that sometimes. The internet makes it easy. You sit at your desk and you click through possible job openings in related fields and, with a click of a button, you apply for jobs in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles and Chicago. All places you don't really want to live in, mind you, but they kind of have to be far away to qualify for other life status. A move to a far away place is an integral requirement for this out of current life fantasy.
Or you think, gee, what happens if the money actually comes in from whatever (inheritance, some big case, lottery, or that old mine you bought so many years ago when the price of that mineral was at next to nothing), where would you move to? And you click on real estate listings in whatever city catches your interest at that particular moment.
Today, that was New Orleans, the city of some of my mis-spent youth. I played around with the real estate listings, knowing all the while that I would really have to be out of my head completely if I decided to ever move back there or own property there. Seriously, all the mature indicia augur against any such decision. In short, it would be stupid.
But then you allow the domestic architecture to seduce you. You realize you could own a 130 year old house with a staircase that looks like this:
And you think to yourself, maybe it wouldn't be so bad living back down there. I mean, that house is gorgeous, isn't it?
I have never lived in a city as house proud as New Orleans. I used to love, just love, driving around and looking. To my great fortune, I was friends with some very socially prominent people down there and thus invited into some of the grander houses for Mardi Gras house parties. To see these houses was a real privilege.
I miss the houses. I miss the city. I seriously doubt I could ever live there again, no matter how much I want to fantasize about it.
My wife is so patient with me when I get like this. I’m a lucky guy.
Still, that wanderlust is rising. . .
Posted by Random Penseur at August 16, 2005 04:03 PM | TrackBackTo some extent I believe that reading blogs is a way to try on another life. How else can you listen in on someone else's thoughts and see life through their eyes?
Posted by: Angie at August 16, 2005 04:48 PMI married a woman who not only put up with those moods, but went along with it when I finally quit my job, told Southern California to kiss my ass, and moved back home to Oregon. Neither of us regrets it.
Posted by: Brian B at August 16, 2005 05:52 PMAh, but the wonderful thing about New Orleans? It's a fabulous place to visit. Well, and often.
Thank you for all of the great tips and information. The city? She stole my heart, I'm afraid...
Posted by: Jennifer at August 16, 2005 07:35 PMTo live in New Orleans the way I would like to live in New Orleans, I would have to be fabulously wealthy and have the option of working.
I love that place.
That house looks fab, too!
Posted by: Christina at August 17, 2005 10:04 AMGeez, if you don't want it I wonder if I could afford that staircase.
You only live once...
Posted by: Jessica at August 17, 2005 10:43 AMI think Angie hit it on the head. Reading is a vicarious thrill. To some extent we are all beneficient parasites to each others lives.
And I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way. :-)
Posted by: Jim at August 30, 2005 06:04 AM