Transitions

Here I sit, in the spare room of a dear friend's home, staying up late with my thoughts (when I really should be sleeping).

Last week, I made the move from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I have lived for the past four years, to "home," the small town in Southern Maryland where I grew up. Technically, though, I'm homeless. I will be for a few more weeks, until I move into my new place in Baltimore to start my work with Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Until then, my friend is letting me stay with her.

Since I am homeless and jobless (albeit temporarily), I have a lot of alone time, while my friend and her family are at their 9-5 jobs. The last few days have been filled with phone calls, researching Baltimore, reading up on some pre-job-training literature, sewing, and being really, really inspired.

Here's a quick list of some current inspirations:
1. Defiance, Ohio. They're a folk-punk band from Ohio (kind of obvious), and they offer free downloads of all of their albums on their website (which I *just* discovered this week). They've been on my radar for over a year, since I saw them at a show in Braddock, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. They... rock my world, for lack of better words. Every verse of every song blows my mind.
2. Outclassed. I also saw them live at that show in Pittsburgh last summer. They're local to the Burgh, and they're way underrated. Incredibly passionate.
3. The Simple Way. This is an awesome community in Philadelphia that I have been following for a couple of years now. I see a lot of similarities between Philly and Baltimore, so I think I'm going to draw a lot of encouragement from this community throughout the next year.
4. Bamboo fiber. This sounds silly, but I've been on the market for new bedsheets (since my college ones are meant for dorm beds, which are a funky size), and I'm convinced that bamboo is the fiber of the future. It's super-sustainable, breathes better than most fabrics (great for regulating body temperature during the night-time!), and it has natural anti-microbial properties!

Just a few things that have kept my thoughts swirling around like crazy these days...