Middlebrow had another litmus test for me. "We're all going bowling tonight - Are you in?" "I think I'll pass. I want to finish my origami project..." "Ori-ga-what??? Are you talking jibberish?" "No - just one of my hobbies..." Look immediately for the furrowed brow, followed by quizzical look, following by gaping mouthful of derision. I might as well be talking backwards. "Okay - well, don't forget about that summer block-buster film next week You can find time for that at least with your busy schedule?" "You mean the one with all the super-heroes taking on the space aliens?" "Yeah - you're aware that this is the third sequel that everyone's been talking about - and lining up to see for months on end..." "I would go... except that there's this Schubert sonata that I've been trying to finish...I think I may finally be able to get it up to tempo..." Get ready for that slight turn of the head that let's me know I'm a certifiable weirdo...Middlebrow will not be denied...
I have spent much of my early life in the suburbs and after a brief stint in the big city - with its noise, crowding and cramped spaces, I find myself immersed again in this familiar realm - an environment that seems part of my destiny. I've always thoughts of the suburbs as a place meant for children - where children can feel safe and protected - with non-busy streets and clean sidewalks - room to ride one's bike or go door-to-door selling cookies. To consider how many of our early impressions and sensations were spawned by this largely artificial world...How different such a milieu is from other places on earth, war zones, rain forests, Siberian outposts, tiny mountaintop villages or large sprawling mazes of high rise apartments in vertically-inclined mega metropolises...The suburbs are a place where a definite order and routine can be imposed...where regularity is king... lawns get mowed on time, shrubs are trimmed, garbage bins are placed at the curb and returned to thei...
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