To clarify my position...

I most certainly do not COWER in the suburbs.  I respect Detroit.  I maintain a polite distance.  I have a Kroger, a Target AND a Lowes less than a mile from my house, and dammit, that is convenient. I'm not apologizing for it.

It's true about the getting old part though, this is the last summer of my 20s.  It's also true that Summer used to mean something.  Granted, for me it's always been more likely to mean a stack of library books and a hammock in the shade than going out and partying until dawn, even when I wasn't quite so old.  I don't regret that at all, but I do find myself a little shorter on authentic real-life experiences than I had thought I'd be by now.  This Monday will be the longest day of the year.  In a few months when the snow is flying and it's getting dark at 6 pm, I would like to be able to curl up with a blanket and my book, satisfied in the knowledge that I made the most of the summer of 2010.