After almost an entire month of dead air, I'm sure many of you have tuned out, but please check back soon.  I have so many updates to post about.  Coming up:

My Trip to Hong Kong

Our Move to the Suburbs

Fourth of July in Kentucky

It's already June!  How does this happen?

I leave for Hong Kong on Friday.  I've been nervous about this trip for some time, and now that the AIR FRANCE plane has gone down over the ocean, I am out of my mind.

Check back before I leave, I have a post in the making.

Also, I hope to be posting from HK.

I was walking downtown last week and I saw a hospital gown discarded on the side of the road. That really made me curious.

On June 5th I leave for Hong Kong. Though the flight is still a long one:  2 hours to Chicago, and then 15 hours and 30 minutes to Hong Kong, this is actually a full 8 hours shorter than the flight to Singapore.

I am excited. But this time, I am also nervous.  I will be traveling alone and I will not be meeting anyone there.  

However, no matter how nervous I am for this trip, I just can't imagine how big the butterflies are in the stomachs of those headed to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

I think I have established the fact that we have many unique individuals in our fair capital. For the record, a man about 35 years old was walking through the metro station this morning wearing sweatpants freshly soaked with his own urine. (And you are worried about me catching swine flu on the metro?!  A simple case of  H1N1 would be the best case scenario!) But these characters that dodge the social norms aren't all unique-awkward or unique-scary.

Rule Breaker #3 was an inspiration.

Standing in the center of a crowded train one night, I was squeezed aside by a girl making her way to the center of the train. She took the only available seat, asking the man who was sprawled across two seats to make room for her. He didn't look well. His head hung very long, his shoulders were slouched. I am sure this was partly why no one had asked him to move, despite the crowded car.

He moved to the window, crouching down, as he had been earlier, as if he was trying to get into an upright fetal position. A typical reaction to this atypical behavior is too remain still and look straight ahead. Most people wouldn't want to know what was up with this guy. Heck, most people wouldn't even share a seat with him.  But his new seat mate was not typical. She turned to him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if everything was all right. He looked up at about the same time my head swung around to make sure I'd heard her right. She repeated herself "Are you OK?" He smiled, yes yes, he's ok.

I was so taken with her.  I wanted to tell her at that very moment that she was incredible. It was the most simple act of kindness and it really moved me.

Rule Breaker #2

About a month ago I was standing on the platform waiting for the metro. It was after rush hour and trains weren't running so frequently.  Slowly, the platform filled with those of us in office attire, clearly working late, dog-tired and ready to get home. I was standing close to the edge, nose in a book. From behind me I hear the click of heels as another approaches the platform to wait.

It took me a minute or so to realize that the clicking of heels never really stopped, they simply turned into more erratic footsteps.  Without turning around to stare, I turned slightly to get a glimpse of the woman behind me.  She was a white woman in her mid-thirties, wearing black pumps, nylons, pencil-skirt, and a button-down shirt. She had ear buds in; an ipod in one hand and a blackberry in the other. Aside from her fancy footwork, she looked like just another government worker.

But no. She wasn't just another drone. She was a dancer! Despite the crowded platform and, oh yeah, the proper metro etiquette, this woman was getting down... and getting awfully close to the quickly gathering commuters.

It was hilarious. After a couple of stolen glances, I just turned around to watch. I think the best part was that she was so involved in her blackberry that she didn't have any idea that she was making a minor scene. 

Since living in a city and crossing paths with many people that one may not encounter in a small town, I have become much more aware of breached social norms.  

The most obvious offenders are the mentally-ill, typically homeless individuals who rarely turn my head, but instead stir the unanswered questions:  Who is looking out for you? Do you have any family? Why aren't we, as a society, providing for you?  

There are those that I see everyday who tug hard at my heart-strings, like the old woman at Metro Center and the gruff, clearly schizophrenic man, near Dupont Circle. I forge unlikely and completely fantastical relationships with them, planning the conversations we would have if I had the guts to talk to them; picking the hotel room I would rent for their hot shower and comfortable night's rest. But there are others for which I feel less sympathetic. Like the guy I pass almost every night after work that asks me for money. Maybe I should give up the grudge, but one night last summer when I lightly shook my head for lack of spare change, he yelled after me that I was a bitch and that my ass was big.

I don't stare, laugh, or shake my head at these individuals as they shatter social etiquette, I am sure many of them are simply unaware of these rules. But I do have to hold up my jaw or stifle a giggle when seemingly normal people completely disregard accepted behavior.

Rule Breaker #1

There is a girl in my neighborhood that frequently walks her dog down the street just outside our building. She is a twenty-something white girl who dons a ponytail, a beagle, and ear buds. My first encounter with her was from our third floor window. Ryan called me over to gape. Oblivious to the world, she walks her dog while belting out whatever song she is listening to. The hilarious part is 1. She is so loud we can hear her from our third floor window and 2. She is a terrible singer. Terrible.

I have seen her on other occasions, accessorized the same way (ponytail, dog, ear buds.) I've actually walked right by her. And she sing sing sings.

Check back soon for Rule Breaker #2.