Who is this? Who is this Stacey girl posting – she wasn’t introduced as a new writer!!

Alas, because I’m not new, because I’ve been out of the loop, out of the District world, out of my own world, for the last two months. But I’m BACK to criticize the Metro (read: be a public transport snob), pile on about good shopping opportunities (read: try to feel less guilty about wasting money), be as life-style conservative and Midwestern about my outings and goings-on as humanly and annoyingly possible.

Where have I been? Well, I’m not a world traveler like some of us, but I’ve been traveling a fair amount for work (and for real life) the last few months. I’ve run the grounds of Nashville, Texas, Milwaukee, Delaware, the Chesapeake Bay, Cleveland, and the always-loved Detroit of course. And I think New York was in there accompanied by St. Louis.

No, none of them exotic, none of them running freely off anyone’s lips after the words “I really want to visit…” But all the same, they all made me think. Aside from New York, most of these places and cities have their own feel, their own flavor, if you will. Of course there are exceptions, but you generally could take most of the places I’ve visited in the last few months and sum them up in two to three sentences – and that’s cool. I like places like that. I want to retire to a place like that.

But maybe also a little less interesting for some anyway – it’s up for you to decide. A thought, however, is that it’s reasonably impossible to sum up DC life, DC culture in a sentence or two, or a thought or two. What would you say? I sat here just trying and you could get a few sentences and then need five more – quite possibly entirely different topics – additions that you would virtually need to add in order to accurately describe the city and its culture.

That’s nice. That’s comforting in some strange way. Maybe because I wouldn’t like if people thought in fact that they could describe ME in two sentences. If you had only two sentences to describe the “real” DC – life DC, not tourist DC – to someone who has never been here, what would you say?…

Well regardless, I’m back, I’d like to say “better than ever,” but that would break two personal rules: 1. no use of clichés unless stating its use for irony and 2. no lying. See you in future posts.