A REINTRODUCTION: The Washington Oculus

As you can see, the Oculus has a new look. After six months of blogging, the intense orange was getting to me. It will be under construction for awhile (especially since I'm still in the middle of getting settled in a new apartment), but I think I have a fairly decent template now that's easy to use. (And you can add your comments.) I didn't want to move to Movable Type or something radically new, because I don't have an interest in doing graphics (and blur the lines of copyright regulations, etc.) or multi-layered archiving. I like to write and that is what I do.

Granted, a lot of what I write is done late at night and can sometimes be confusing and perhaps overly detailed, but I consider myself a blogger who focuses on writing, instead of digesting the media, finding a link and quickly posting for the whole world to see. There are many blogs that I love who do that, but that isn't exactly me.

So Who Is the Oculus? I am a 24-year-old pseudo local who came to Washington in search of work after college. Though I grew up in Michigan, a good chunk of my family has roots in the District. Unlike most transplants, I have a history here. My father's family grew up in Foggy Bottom before the undergraduates took over. My mother's side of the family is from Latvia. I'm a strange mix, I know.

A colleague describes me as someone with an "intense love for the arcane." True. I know to much worthless trivia. And that is why I blog, to make my coffers of random facts and knowledge available to all.

A Friendster testimonial describes me in Zagat form:
Our favorite local "Geography Bee Champ" puts up a "brilliant front" as a "mild-mannered copy chief," but that's simply the "cover story." In reality, M.G. is formulating a plan to "take over the world" using his "vast and cavernous knowledge" of "bizarre street formations," "living with women aged 80+," "D.C. bus lines" and "W.M.D. manufacturing." Get in his way and incur a "wrath holier and deadlier than any earthly force."

(For the record, I used to live with my now-85-year-old great aunt in the Palisades. I just moved out of Glover Park for McLean Gardens.)

Social geography governs everything, it's just that very few study it, or for that matter, write about it. And in the capital city, social geography dictates living -- political living to be more precise -- more than most cities. Washington is such a transient city that it lacks so many characteristics that makes a city a city. It's an interesting dynamic. And I intend to document it ... in excruciating detail.

What I Intend to Do. First, I try to avoid politics. There are plenty of people in this city who have all their time and mental capacity invested in digesting and regurgitating politics. I'll leave the policy debates to the countless political blogs and most of the gossip to Wonkette and Swamp City. But that doesn't mean I won't explore the art of political living, where the politics meets the personal. And while I may write about things only townies care about, it's to inform the greater populous of what is going on in the capital city, a deeply misunderstood place in the country. And I hope that you'll gain a greater understanding of this odd place.