My posting remains lackluster, and in an effort to inspire myself, I have broken down and decided to find, of all things A THEME (gasp). In taking the advice of, well, everyone ever, I’ll continue to write what I know (also because my attempts at writing anything else turn out rather dreadfully).

My theme is generally “getting by in america”. This morning I was listening to Barbara Kingsolver on The Ethics of Eating. I have been a fan of Kingsolver’s since I read The Bean Trees in middle school, and one of her essays “Lily’s Chickens” has inspired me in many of the ways I have chosen to live my life over the past few years. The interview I was listening to elaborated on the essay; Kingsolver recently wrote a book about the year she spent with her family living primarily off of food they grew and harvested themselves.

I long for a life in which I can sustain myself and remain a member of a small and closely knit community. My dreams are simple, a house, a family, and some land on which I can grow my own food. Why does my dream feel so desperately unattainable? Well, for starters, I live in a country where a significant amount of the population will inexplicably (to me) vote for a man who believes that people who make less than $5 million a year are middle class.

I make a little less than twice the minimum wage, and I have no children. I live in a city with overwhelming poverty, and yet some of the highest rental rates in the country.

So this is my new blog. Maybe someone out there is interested in the challenges of getting by in America (the success of Nickel and Dimed indicates that someone must find the topic compelling), while remaining thoughtful, and without becoming whiney. Perhaps some people out there can relate, and hopefully some people out there have tips.