you're living in manhattan. where you're really from, have you forgotten?

the salty smell of buttered popcorn overwhelmed me almost as much as the suburban preps and punks littering the theater as i walked into mega movies.  it was a friday night in central jersey, and i couldn't help but reminisce about a time when being at the movies (without your parents, how COOL are you?!?!)  was the social highlight of the week.  "liK omGgz, u wRnT at the mOviEz frI niTe?!!"  i felt decently ancient as i wondered if i truly was one of these silly over eager pre-teens once upon a time ago.

my mind's introspective trip into the past was brought back into real time when i saw jessie.  our first weekend home, and who do we hang out with?  each other =P (before you roll your eyes, she had free tickets ok! haha).  jessie is the sole existing link between my home life and school life.  if it weren't for her, they might as well be two completely different worlds.  everything that happens at school seems so ridiculously unreal if i think about it while i'm like grocery shopping with my mom or something.  jessie is the the unifier.  it is nice having someone to compare and contrast old bridge and new york with.  growing up, i was aware i lived in a suburban town and knew the stereotypes associated with such.  however, i wasn't able to candidly observe and wholly register them until i left.  i am obsessed with experiencing as much as i can, in part just to shed new light on what i already [think i] know.

with everyone at college, the nothingness to do in old bridge only becomes more apparent.  i think my brain compensated for this lack of stimulation by craving ice cream.  i mentioned that i was kind of in the mood for some frozen dessert to my brother later that night.  funny thing - for some reason, when two people who both sorta want ice cream mention this whim to one another, it instantaneously metamorphasizes from a "sorta craving" to an insatiable desire.  suddenly, you NEED that ice cream.  i inhaled a reeses peanut butter cup dasher sundae from carvel and he wolved down a birthday cake remix from coldstone.  yea, so we went to both - cravings will make you do crazy things!  then we rented a movie and sat on our gelatinous behinds and watched it.  well... he watched it, i fell asleep.  besides stuffing myself silly, i manage to accomplish little more during weekends home other than spend quality time with my bed.  i always bring some school work back with me - its kind of sad that i always believe i'll actually do something productive that particular weekend.

coming back to old bridge every so often keeps me grounded.  living in the city, life moves at warp speed, and you don't have much time to absorb it all.  its very boom boom bam.  coming home reminds me where i came from (duh), and it allows me to take in everything that has happened in the city and discern how i've changed in a more real way.  it's so easy to get lost in city life and forget you weren't always a manhattanite.  so for that, i am thankful to see stretches of turnpike, wal-mart, diners, and suburbians every few fridays.