Ain't Nobody Out Here Playing Cans But Us
To explain the subtitle:
In 1988, a go-go supergroup called the Go-Go Posse (composed of Chuck Brown and members of EU, Rare Essence, Lil' Benny and the All-Stars, and various other go-go glitterati) released a single and an album, both called "DC Don't Stand For Dodge City." At the time there was a lot of violence on the go-go scene, and the song was part of a concerted effort by both bands and fans to make the scene about the music again, rather than about neighborhood beefs. (If you want more: an amazing oral history or this site, which has always tickled my fancy, as well as Big Mike's Go Go Joint which has dope music available).
I like that it references an old Western and I like that it is anti-violence, and I like that it refers to my hometown as DC rather than Washington (the DCeiver gives good rant about the DC vs Washington thing in light of the recent baseball blah blah -- scroll down to "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Baseball").
The thing is that DC really does stand for Dodge City. In two ways:
1) DC per-capita murder rates are still among the highest in the USA (thanks for trying to repeal the gun ban, House of Reps! and thanks for letting the measure die, Senate! how about letting me get a vote in Congress?)
2) I've been back here for almost a year (eeep!) and I still feel as if I am dodging -- not bullets, thankfully, but Real Life. Bear with me for a moment -- I know that "Real Life," as a concept, is a massive mindfuck. I feel as if I and almost everyone around me -- a pretty homogenous group, I'll admit, given that it's composed almost entirely of college-educated lefties in their early/mid twenties -- lives in an almost-constant state of low-level freakout about direction (or lack thereof) in our lives. Call it Quarter Life Crisis or whatever (although I've always thought that QLC is a bit too pat).
I know this feeling is not limited to DC. What is limited to DC (in my opinion) is the ubiquitous presence of what my dear friend R has termed "striving strivers striving to succeed" -- members of the aforementioned group who Have Plans and Goals, who are Climbing The Ladder (be it the ladder of wonk-dom or the ladder of ngo-dom). These people are the ones that bring on the Dodge in the rest of us. There's only so much Strive available in DC. Someone has to pick up the Slack. I feel the difference when I leave DC and find myself among the same subgroup of folks -- in NYC, in London, in Galway, in Madison, WI -- and all of a sudden, I feel less stressed. Sure, people are freaking out ("you mean people sit in offices for the rest of their lives? hell, no!") but there is a sense of perspective, an acknowledgement that we will find our way eventually. Meanwhile, we non-strivers, unaware of other identities, feel we must dodge and dodge fast, otherwise, before we know it, we'll have been waitressing for 15 years. As if. We avoid the Strive, thereby bringing on the slacker stress, and then we dodge, because let's face it, the constant questioning and wondering and second-guessing is exhausting.
Am I mixing my metaphors? Better stop now. Comments/ideas welcome.
PS. look here. Nice touch, no?
In 1988, a go-go supergroup called the Go-Go Posse (composed of Chuck Brown and members of EU, Rare Essence, Lil' Benny and the All-Stars, and various other go-go glitterati) released a single and an album, both called "DC Don't Stand For Dodge City." At the time there was a lot of violence on the go-go scene, and the song was part of a concerted effort by both bands and fans to make the scene about the music again, rather than about neighborhood beefs. (If you want more: an amazing oral history or this site, which has always tickled my fancy, as well as Big Mike's Go Go Joint which has dope music available).
I like that it references an old Western and I like that it is anti-violence, and I like that it refers to my hometown as DC rather than Washington (the DCeiver gives good rant about the DC vs Washington thing in light of the recent baseball blah blah -- scroll down to "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Baseball").
The thing is that DC really does stand for Dodge City. In two ways:
1) DC per-capita murder rates are still among the highest in the USA (thanks for trying to repeal the gun ban, House of Reps! and thanks for letting the measure die, Senate! how about letting me get a vote in Congress?)
2) I've been back here for almost a year (eeep!) and I still feel as if I am dodging -- not bullets, thankfully, but Real Life. Bear with me for a moment -- I know that "Real Life," as a concept, is a massive mindfuck. I feel as if I and almost everyone around me -- a pretty homogenous group, I'll admit, given that it's composed almost entirely of college-educated lefties in their early/mid twenties -- lives in an almost-constant state of low-level freakout about direction (or lack thereof) in our lives. Call it Quarter Life Crisis or whatever (although I've always thought that QLC is a bit too pat).
I know this feeling is not limited to DC. What is limited to DC (in my opinion) is the ubiquitous presence of what my dear friend R has termed "striving strivers striving to succeed" -- members of the aforementioned group who Have Plans and Goals, who are Climbing The Ladder (be it the ladder of wonk-dom or the ladder of ngo-dom). These people are the ones that bring on the Dodge in the rest of us. There's only so much Strive available in DC. Someone has to pick up the Slack. I feel the difference when I leave DC and find myself among the same subgroup of folks -- in NYC, in London, in Galway, in Madison, WI -- and all of a sudden, I feel less stressed. Sure, people are freaking out ("you mean people sit in offices for the rest of their lives? hell, no!") but there is a sense of perspective, an acknowledgement that we will find our way eventually. Meanwhile, we non-strivers, unaware of other identities, feel we must dodge and dodge fast, otherwise, before we know it, we'll have been waitressing for 15 years. As if. We avoid the Strive, thereby bringing on the slacker stress, and then we dodge, because let's face it, the constant questioning and wondering and second-guessing is exhausting.
Am I mixing my metaphors? Better stop now. Comments/ideas welcome.
PS. look here. Nice touch, no?
posted by Hannah at 1:08 PM
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