I recently moved from Portland, OR to Baltimore, MD.
I recently moved from self-consciousness to routine.
I recently moved from consciousness to apathy and I miss consciousness.

I miss Portland where it's a given that the human population needs to eats less meat and take care of the Earth.
Where it's understood, for the most part, that George Bush is an asshole.
Where I can buy a "Higher Taste" breakfast wrap at 5 or 6 different stores in biking distance.
Where people bike to work in the rain.
And there's fabulous parks that you can walk in at night without fear of being raped or killed.

I used to feel depressed about things like TV and work, George Bush and "anarchists" wreaking havoc at "peace" rallys. So I would leave the city and walk through the gorge, or sleep near Bagby Hot Springs. I could be alone in the woods and think. I'd watch animals and talk to trees.
I'd take my dog to Mt. Tabor at 3 in the morning and there was always someone around who felt like going for a walk at that time.

Now I'm in Baltimore. I've been here for one month. People work too much and drink bad beer.
The city is big and dirty and dangerous.
There is consciousness, but not enough.
There's no Mirror Pond or Fred Meyer.
More frat boys and less hippies.
People don't understand
or they don't care.

Don't get me wrong, I was happy to leave Portland.
The "hippies" pissed me off, drinking Grey Goose and Red Bull at MMW shows at the Crystal, driving SUV's and smelling like shit...like all it takes to be a hippy is to smell like shit.
The black-faced rabble-rousers at what was supposed to be a peace rally always pissed me off. I thought, "Protest MacDonalds at your own rally." I agree with most of your sentiment but you pick some fucked up places to display it.
The rain got to me after a while, albeit one of the most wonderful things in the world.
But I didn't think the east coast was going to be this disgusting.

Aah, whatever. There's no eutopia in this world, certainly not in this country. I guess I could come back to Portland and live with the Earth. I could come back to Portland where the far-left pisses me off or stay in Baltimore where the far-right and the ignoramus' do the same.

I guess I'll stay here in Baltimore for a while. Maybe teach a few apathetic litterbugs what it means to be self-aware and Earth-friendly.

It's harder here.
When you leave the city you have to drive farther to get to a river you can swim in and when you get there there's about 5 million other people there, fighting over limited parking and "on a schedule".
The roads suck and drivers are mean so it's hard to bike around.
Matter of fact, lot's of people are mean...even if they don't mean to be. They don't look at you when you walk past them on the sidewalk and if they do, it's not to smile, it's to show you that they're "hard" and you shouldn't fuck with them.

You know what?
Baltimore needs more love...needs more people who care about the simpler things in life. Baltimore needs more people like me. People who would be happier in Portland but wanna make everywhere more like Portland.

So why don't y'all tree-hugging motherf*ckers come here and keep me company. We can teach more people to compost and put stickers on SUV's...the roads are like SUV parking lots....it's insane!
This is where the laws are being made. This is where white-people have been vegetating for more than 2 centuries. This place needs to be shaken up a little bit, waken up a little bit.

Anyway. That's what I'm thinking. I'll make it work. I'll be the best person I can be and contribute positively to my community. It's the least I can do.