options

The Dream: New York City, Brooklyn, in particular. The high-profile internship has flown the coop, but I could (presumably) make the jump as a starving artist and build my life from nothing. For this, I would need to convince myself that I am, in fact, an artist. Otherwise, I'd just be starving.

Hope: Chicago. I was in love with this city six months ago. But when said high-profile internship moved from the Windy City to the more elitist realms of NYC, I more or less forgot about it. Q: Where to start? Who do I know? A: Nowhere; No one.

Realistic: Cleveland Heights. Jobless, I take a much safer (is it?) leap away from Kent, college, burnt bridges. I'll be living in a high-profile (is it?) neighborhood with a bunch of kids my age. In comparison to the first two, this is a cop-out, but not as much as the next two.

Cop-outs: Tampa/Bradenton area, Florida. Free place to stay. I'd have my old retail job. I'd bike to work every day. Basically, I'd re-live my life from the summer of '04. Except I'd be an adult, not a college kid saving money for the school year. And then there's the family. . .

Youngstown, OH. My dad and stepmom tried to sell me on the idea of moving back home and saving money. I can't do it, for I know that I'd be working as a busser at the Boardman Chilis, sleeping on a futon in the family room (or basement), and searching unsuccessfully for the 8 creative people that live in Youngstown. Make that 7, as one of them is in Kent.

Out of the question: Kent, OH. Although the Kent scene has been very good to me these last few years, I need to move on. The jump away will be hard, but time shakes everything out. I'll miss the place. I'll miss her. But Cleve-O isn't that far away at all.