Belinda

In an effort to combat boredom, I took Belinda out on her inaugural tour of St. Louis. I found myself in a very foreign part of St. Louis; incredibly run-down, poor, predominantly black. I was, at once, taken by the anxiety that grips most upper-middle-class white kids when in such areas, while feeling the urge to photograph the area. I felt, like many economically-sound lost souls feel, the desire to have an experience as authentic and hardening as living in a bad area. Though my windows were rolled up and I checked the door locks frequently, I thought to myself how great it would be if I could know what it was like to be disadvantaged. The grass is always greener, even when the lawn is poorly kept and strewn with cans and cigarette butts and hypodermic needles.

Oh sigh, the burdens of having no real problems in life.

I'm comforted by the knowledge that everyone must sleep, and so, in sleeping, I am more like the unfortunate souls whom I misguidedly envy than I will ever be in wakefulness.

-Alan