Surprising Things I Miss About School:
1. The food. How bizarre is that? I complained about that shit all the time, but what I would give for a Turkey Club or Chicken Salad Sandwich. The meal I will definitely be having if/when I go back for a visit: grilled chicken with cheese sandwich with spicy fries and cranberry juice. That was my usual.
2. Not having friends within walking distance. Since school's been over, I've seen Jay once. Not that we saw each other all the time but still. She's just across two rivers. Alex is across the ocean. Tino's across the country. Everyone else is just scattered about. Gotta love the power of the net though for keeping us in contact.
3. Learning. I'm beginning to feel like my brain is atrophying. There's a lot of information passing across my eyes in NYC, but most of it is of the common sense or "people do the strangest things" variety. I really miss reading interesting things and talking about it -- or not so interesting things and marvelling about the sheer amount of bullshit that fell out of people's mouths. The classroom when it was on was always an experience.
Surprising Things That Have Happened To Me Since I've Been Back In Town:
1. Social claustrophobia. I think I've reached the oversaturation point with a lot of places and things. I'll admit that in a way I limited myself by deciding that I was most interested in hanging out below St. Marks and 2nd Avenue yet above Delancey and Essex with occasionally jaunts to the far West 13th and 14th Streets. I figured at the time there are literally hundreds of places within that area, how could I possibly get bored? Very easily. I naturally expanded that area and at times simply found something better to do than going out, but I'm definitely sick of seeing a lot of people and I don't even know them. But, there is the flip side to that...
2. Social currency just for being a familiar face. That's how I made my Sapph Friendsters actually, by being the quietish girl who always showed up and slowly became a part of the crowd. Saturday night hanging out with Hani, I convinced him to go with me to 416 since I've been spending way too much time there spending all my freaking money. We got to the door where the list girl and the bouncer were double-teaming everyone standing there to turn them away. I found myself getting sorta nervous. I mean, who the hell I am? Some kid, so I figured I was about to get embarrassed. Instead, the girl turned to me with a smile and said, "come right in" because she knows my face. And I gotta admit I was mad gassed. Score for me!
3. Occasionally being in the right place at the right time. I'll admit I'm a random magnet. Apparently I give out that vibe to people that whatever they can throw out there isn't that surprising and they're usually right. I've been on a serious roll in the past couple of months. There was getting involved with The Closet literally the day after I hit town or the start of my media "career." Discovering Man Man! Meeting Rissa and apparently knocking myself into Shady's orbit (unfortunately). And not to mention all the swag I've gotten. The spoils include concert tickets, TV show tapings, a designer bag, makeup, CDs, t-shirts, magazines, headphones, money, and the ego boost is always nice. Sometimes it's good to be me.
Why I Love The Internet:
1. I don't know how I would've survived two extra months in Middletown or even the truly jobless months here in NYC without it. Naturally, I could've gone off and pounded the pavement or whatever, but it's so much more enjoyable procrastinating/being depressed in your PJs in the comfort of your own home.
2. Friendster made my life a whole lot more interesting. Through cold bookmarking/messaging and friend of friends connections, I met Farmer, Grandmastah H and Jenny while also reconnecting with folks I had lost touch with. It totally transformed my social life along with...
3. The blog. It's about 7 months old now, though I've had a web site in one form or another for about 3 years. It's amazing to me all the time that people are interested in what I have to say and I love some of the tentative friendships I've made with this. In a lot of ways, I still intend it as something for me and my friends to read and comment on and it's always cool when someone who doesn't even know me can appreciate it. It's growing and developing all the time partially because I always feel so inspired by what other people are doing. The blogs I link are those I read all the time. People out there are doing some really great stuff. I'm really just a nerd, man. It doesn't take much for me to sit here at my computer all the time and post shit. I'm just glad you like me to go all Sally Field. Thanks for reading!
the world wide web loves ya!
Posted by: jenny at December 30, 2003 01:49 PM