December 29, 2006
From the desk of Jane Galt:The eagle has landed
My sister and I have just completed the move to her new digs (and mine, for the next few months) in Silver Spring, MD. And by "just", I mean that the moving guys left about half an hour ago. I am about to find out what this suburban living thing is about--why, already I'm in a Panera Bread, eating a fuji apple chicken salad and onion soup combo, drinking a large skim milk cappuccino,and taking advantage of free wireless. By next week, I expect to be complaining about the local school board and pricing lawn gnomes.
Anyway, that, and a gruelling travel schedule, explain why you haven't heard from me--in person/email, if you know me, and on this blog, if not. This weekend I head up to Philly to experience some of their raucous New Years fun, and then I'm in Chicago for the AEA. Then I will settle back to teh old blogging routine. Promise.
Incidentally, if you will be at AEA, or hey, just in Chicago, the 4th-9th, please let me know; it's possible I'll organise some sort of meetup.
Meanwhile, I see that Dan Drezner has tagged me with this "5 things you don't know about me" meme. Unfortunately, I wasn't the 1985 Snohomish County Tap Dancing Champion or anything. My life is pretty much an open book, albeit one that should probably be banned. However, I am meditating on the question, and hopefully will come up with something this weekend, in between unpacking and accumulating a crushing hangover. Meanwhile, here's one to tide you over:
I'm afraid of the dark.
Not all the time, of course. But let there be a scary movie, a local break in, or hey, rumours of killer raccoons stalking the Upper West Side, and you will find me sleeping with the lights on. Just thinking about something frightening as I tumble off to sleep can set off a heart-hammering, adrenalin pumping panicked need to turn the lights back on. Or a nightmare. Last time I found a cockroach in my apartment, I slept with the lights on for almost two weeks. (In my defense, roaches *do* hate light).
It's not that I don't know the fear is ridiculous; in my rational mind, I do. The fear isn't even of some named thing. Which may be why I can't challenge it. If it were a single thing I were afraid of, I could chase it away with improbabilities. But what I am afraid of is all the hungry and terrible things which live in the primordial night, and who's to say that one of them didn't crawl through the window or ooze under the door.
Nonetheless, unlike a child, I know the fear is irrational even when it is happening. It's just that knowing doesn't make any difference. I can sit there all I want and say to myself "Jane, this is ridiculous. There is nothing out there, and even if there was something, a 60 watt lightbulb wouldn't chase it away." But the panic still rises, and after a few seconds, I have to turn on the light.
It only happens when I'm alone, though. Whenever I've had a roommate or sibling sleeping in the same room, the fear of the dark has vanished.
All this, as you might imagine, makes me rather sympathetic to people with various sorts of psychological problems. Rationality will take you pretty far in this world, but there's a point where it stops abruptly--and if you don't use a little magic, it's straight over the cliff.
Luckily for me, lamps are cheap.
Posted by Jane Galt at December 29, 2006 2:24 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksEnjoy Silver Spring-- it's changed quite a bit since I lived in the area, but back in the day it had a surprising number of urban amentities (funky ethnic restaurants, indie record stores, etc.) The Tastee Diner is one local landmark not to be missed.
The invitation to come shooting still stands. I'm only 2 hours away now by car.
I lived in Silver Spring from Jan. 1995 to May 1996 when I attended graduate school. (I lived in a studio in a building on Roeder Road down the block from its famous mall.) The Metro (the subway) wasn't too far. (I should add the mall in the nearby town of Wheaton has a better selection of goods and services.)
It's a nice little city, which seems to get really quiet when everybody goes home in the evening.
Be sure to take a drive to Georgetown in D.C. (via the East-West Highway to Bethesda and then Wisconsin Ave) and enjoy the pleasure of the Third Edition saloon on Wisconsin Avenue.
Then there's the Georgetown Tobacco Shop on M Street . . . .
Ah, the memories of my mid-20s . . . .
I lived in Silver Spring for two years before moving back to the Midwest in October. It's a very nice place to live. Are you north or south of the Beltway?
You don't need to go to Georgetown or Bethesda to enjoy yourself--there's plenty of good places to go in town. The new downtown is full of well-run chains, and the old downtown--which for the most part runs up and down Georgia Ave--has a lot of cheap reliable places. I'll specifically recommend Mayorga as a really good coffee bar.
If you venture north up Georgia Ave., you'll run into Wheaton, which has every ethnic restaurant under the sun.
Actually, perhaps part of the problem is that your fears aren't totally irrational. There is a positive probability that someone or something might otherwise hurt you, but that either it will decide to look elsewhere or you'll at least be warned of the danger because the light was on. It's a very, very low probability, but it's not quite zero. And when you're frightened, highly unlikely just isn't the same as impossible.
If having some light makes you feel better, why not? Maybe you just need a fairly bright night light.
But what you said about psychological problems makes me think of how John Nash described controlling his through strict application of logic. Impressive!
If you're here in Philly for New Years you MUST witness at least some small part of the Mummers parade. If, as a Manhattanite, you don't already feel superior to us Philadelphians this event will give you limitless reasons to do so.
You must try Oriental East, near the intersection of Colesville and East-West Highway. The dim sum on Sunday is fantastic. Make sure you arrive no later than 10:40, though, or you'll be stuck waiting for the 2nd round of tables.
I have an irrational fear also.
I expect that gas stoves are likely to cause my sleeves to catch fire. Intellecutally I know that electric stoves are just as hot and take approximately the same amount of exposure to ignite clothing, but I find myself gingerly fending sleeves as far as humanly possible from a gas stove and treat electric ones rather cavalierly.
Fear of the dark might just be general anxiety and a lack of faith in your non-visual senses. Try meditating, and reading up auditory perception. I've been reading Anne Karpf on the human voice. Not directly related, but helps develop an understanding of what our senses are capable of and how they develop.
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