Montana n: A state of the northwest United States bordering on Canada. Admitted as the 41st state in 1889. The fourth largest state in the union, it includes vast prairies and numerous majestic mountain ranges.
Syn: Treasure State, Big Sky Country, Last Best Place.
Jones n: slang. An addiction or very deep craving.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Things I miss
Things I miss most from the previous address.
Ethnic food.
Okay, I really haven't been here long enough to do an appropriate quest for all the good restaurants, but my immediate neck of the woods is sorely lacking. I am accustomed to having my pick from a variety of Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Sushi, Thai, BBQ, and assorted American all within a stones throw. I have found some of these flavors in some of the towns around here, but nothing that resembles a huge selection and I hate having to drive out of town to find them.
Live Music.
Since I have been here I have gone out of my way to see some bands in Whitefish and Missoula. I understand the Clumsy Lovers are playing Helena soon. But it all involves lots of driving and the selection is pretty weak. Previous Address had music somewhere close at hand pretty much every night of the week, and on weekends I was actually inundated with choices. Folk, Regge, Ska, Rockabilly, Metal, Hip Hop, Techno, Jazz. Around here you are lucky to find a band that deviates from classic rock or country.
Craigslist.
Now I don't mean craigslist specifically, I lurked but never posted. But any sort of centralized community oriented bulletin board want ads list website thingy would do just fine. Where do people go to figure out what there is to do around here? I'm not sure if Montana has a large enough internet using population (heck, scratch 'internet using' from that sentence) to support such a website. I see a lot of push back and ignorance about computers and internet around here. Besides, I doubt the 'rants and raves' from Montana could possibly rival a metro area for sheer bizarre entertainment value.
Ultimate Frisbee.
Ultimate Frisbee is the only team sport I have ever been able to play with any success. The game can't be beat for a cardio workout. When I used to train marathons I could go running for an hour or more at a stretch, but ten minutes of ultimate could still kick my ass and leave me choking for air. At the previous address I had available to me not one but two weekly pickup games I could join. Plus there were leagues three times a year. If I knew how good I had it I would have taken more advantage. I have heard unconfirmed rumors that Missoula has a pickup game on the campus somewhere, but there we go with the driving again.
My friends.
Okay, they were lazy bastards, didn't get out much, smoked, drank, encouraged bad habits, were generally incorrigible, argumentative, had poor hygiene, and were constantly broke. But dammit they backed me up when I needed backing, slapped me down when I needed that, they picked me up when I was down, they could beat me at Risk, and they could turn a package of bratwurst and a case of beer into the finest of afternoons. These guys would never consider dropping their lives and moving to Montana to take on a business venture, but when I told them what I was going to do they supported me. 100%. They always wanted me to be successful and were completely unselfish with their encouragement, their advice and their love. I miss you guys.
If you want to make the drive and see the Clumsy Lovers, the group I am going with would love to have you join. Saturday the 30th at Millers Crossing.
As for the Ultimate Frisbee, I've never played but am always willing to learn something new.
It is rough to move away and miss friends but we are a friendly bunch once you get to know us. My IM and email are on my profile if you ever want to chat.
Traffic, road construction, and you will hear sirens every single day. People will be everywhere. After work just take a hike or ride a bicycle or learn to garden.
Find somebody to eat with, it doesn't matter who, people are very transitional around here. They move or work two jobs or spend all their time shuffling the kids off to lessons or do community service.
There will be occasional live music at the Roost and I think Martin City sometimes has a band but I've never been there.
There is live music in Bigfork every weekend, isn't there live music in Whitefish every weekend? There is also music at Scotty's in Kalispell--I just don't like to go there, the crowd is way young, not mixed like it iis in Bigfork and Whitefish.
I guess there is live music in Columbia Falls on occasion, too. I used to know a kid who had a garage band and they played somewhere...
The coolest stuff goes on in the summer. There are concerts in the park every week in Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Bigfork, that's where you see the best mix of people.
I love those events where every age group shows up, it makes me feel happy to see my community kick back and dance and visit and eat. It's always an adventure for me to see who will be there.
It is really easy to get compartmentalized and cliqueish-only hanging out with the neighbors or church groups or co-workers.
I recommend Kayak, bicycle, dog. The rest will work out on its own. Good luck.
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There is more Jones in the archives: February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 December 2009 January 2010 May 2014
