Still Settling In

It's weird getting back to apartment life. And this is not your quirky urban apartment building; this is a full-on apartment complex, with not much of anything you'd call personality. To add to my mild sense of dislocation, Cockeysville is a suburb cut in the classic style. We're right off Cranbrook Road, which wends its way through at least a couple of miles of apartment complexes, mostly identical and many owned by the same management company. Our cross-street is lined with brick ranch houses and a middle school, which is populated in the morning by flocks of SUVs dropping off flocks of kids. I am an urban dweller by choice and inclination, and I have said goodbye to my preferred environment for a while.

On the other hand, it's a nicely spacious apartment, and it's got a dishwasher and a washer/dryer pair in the apartment. Totally hot. I can catch a bus to work right across the lawn, and the bus drops me right in front of my building, so there's that. Also, good food: the Indian place nearby is good, the Chinese place nearby is OK, there's a top-notch comic book store with a good mainstream RPG selection within walking distance...

The weird thing for me is that if I do walk to the comic book store, it's not unusual for me to be the only person in sight who's walking. Suburbs! It's not like there are way fewer of the things I love to do around here. Hm. I miss having indie/art house movies within spitting distance, and I miss having game stores with play space easily accessible. But other than that, I'm totally good for the things I like to have in my life. It's just that most stuff is driving distance rather than walking distance.

It is awfully warm down here. I was mildly horrified to realize that for the first time in my life, I'm living south of the Mason-Dixon line. As a Yankee, I should probably burst into flame or something. I know, hyperbole -- it's not actually all that different. The immediate neighborhood is a tad bland but that's more the suburban than it is the state. Baltimore seems like a pretty cool city.

We have given into temptation and Ikea-fied the apartment. It has a certain style going for it. I should wander around and take videos and post them or something. I am remarkably happy with our dining table; we got a nice one that is just right for a couple but it expands out to be a perfect gaming table for six people. We also have big clunky square bookshelves next to the table, which hold gaming books and michele_blue's collection of glasses. It is a highly pleasing blend of geeky and classy.

There's a walk-in closet. I thought I wouldn't care but it turns out to be the coolest thing in the world, because there is room to hang everything. And T-shirts go up on the shelf. And undergarments go in the dresser next to the bed. Why did nobody tell me about this? Alternately, why did I completely ignore the accoutrements of modern living for so long?

The job looks superb. I actually knew I was in the right sort of place when I walked in the door and there was a seven foot tall character statue in the lobby. Aw yeah, gaming. Working in middleware just wasn't the same.

I think we're sort of open for visitors. We need to get bookshelves. We also need to get a day bed for the guest room. But visits work out, and there's always the couch!

I am trying to get some Living Forgotten Realms kicked off. Little interest so far but we've got a week or so to build. Hrm. I wonder if there's a Baltimore gaming LJ community? I found the Facebook one, I hit the LFR mailing lists... I'll have to look. Possibly I should also hit the usual forums.