Vicarious Rocky

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny this morning was a test run for an upcoming trip to Disney World. We wanted to see if he ran shrieking from men dressed as giant animals. The test was passed with flying colors!!

You have to know this kid to understand my amazement. He's shy, he's cautious, he likes to stand back and watch how other kids do things, and he's 2 1/2. All “recipe for disaster” stuff with a giant stuffed animal -- or so I thought.

He was the FIRST and, for a while, the only kid following this bunny around. He was Bunny paparazzi. He hugged him, waved at him, gave him 8000 high fives, and then sat in front of him and watched him like the dude was a show while the other kids came up for their Bunny moment. Crazy!

Tomorrow they're opening a Chipotle that is a 5 minute walk from my house. I love Chipotle. The food rocks, but I especially love that people think it's healthy and the tortilla alone is 340 calories w/ 9g of fat. I also love that people who don't eat McDonalds due to their "principles" will eat at Chipotle. That stainless steel decor is compelling.

This particular Chipotle opening is great news for me, however, because it indicates “urban renewal” in my neighborhood. I live in a small city in what is probably the “hippest” part of town – meaning that the professors, artists, and gay people all live over here. But like all good hip urban areas, ours borders the crime-riddled areas and people get mugged a lot and whatnot.

So Chipotle is a shining beacon of hope for stability. It’s what politicians refer too as “business development to sustain a neighborhood and rehabilitate housing.” A few years back a business associate I know in Chicago was all jazzed that a Starbucks popped up across the street from her new high rise condo. One she’d bought but been pretty afraid to leave. She looked visibly relieved and said without sarcasm, “Now I know everything’s going to be OK.”

I remember thinking that was weird as hell, but now I get it. Desired business development in an urban area does not refer to Diane’s Spaghetti House renting the old Moose Lodge. It needs to be branded retail or dining associated with upper middle class and young people. Evidentially, that’s the poor people and thug kryptonite we yuppies are all looking for in our hip new neighborhoods.

This kind of commentary begs the question of where will those people go if they’re not welcome on Chipotle’s new stainless steel adorned patio. Well, they’ll probably go hang out at the nearby business development establishments thrown up for the 1977 neighborhood renewal project. You know, the part of town with the Big K and the dine-in Pizza Hut.

But I can’t worry about things like this tomorrow. I have to figure out how to get the lunch I want to order under 1000 calories.

I started a blog because in the last two months I have been experiencing an inordinate amount of joy from reading personal blogs. I am fascinated by the minuscule details of the lives of people -- people I know well, people I sort of know, people I used to know, and the occasional stranger.

I have always been a huge fan of vicarious living. I encourage my single girlfriends to date voraciously; I tell people to eat too much of the delicious things I won’t eat; I applaud those who drink lots and arrive home at 3am with no recollection of how they got there. I love to hear about people that buy multiple pets, $100 shoes, and $200 haircuts. And if you ask me if you should get the leather seats and the moon roof on your new, already-too-expensive car, I’m right there with my resounding, “Yes, Yes, Yes!”

Of course, it’s all because I am too timid or pragmatic to live my own life in these ways. I am married and was barely ever single, diet constantly, have essentially given up partying, couldn’t handle owning a dog (long story), don’t pay more than $50 for shoes, and let my mother cut my hair twice a year. I’m also interested in buying a used Hyundai station wagon.

So the blog title is a little tongue and cheek. But who knows? Maybe someone will be entertained with a little Vicarious Rocky every now and then.