I got to see both Joe and Brent this weekend, which I said, not really joking, made it one of my most social weekends in a long time!

It started with retrieving a stranded Joe from the bus stop on Thursday night, hearing all about his visit to Berkeley, and then driving home from his house with the window down, playing “Change,” because it remains the most perfectly apropos song.

 Friday, work was ridiculously quiet, as it was an official holiday in most places. Friday night Joe rescued me from absolute boredom for diner-ing, because what else is there to do in suburban Jersey? Anyway, talking with Joe about his grad school plans and having him listen to me babble (for the hundredth time) about job hunting, and laughing over ridiculous things, made me realize how much I am going to miss him. He’s been a really good friend to me these past few years. I could not have asked for a better person to be stuck in Jersey with.

 Saturday the weather was beautiful, which I kind of hate, because I am NOT an outdoorsy person. I am an indoor person, through and through, and nice weather makes me feel guilty for not going out and “enjoying the weather.” I like walking around the city in nice weather, but I don’t like hiking or most other outdoor activities. Instead I found myself cute, high heeled, strappy sandals THAT I CAN ACTUALLY WALK IN. This is a major achievement. Many years of dismal failures, and to think, I found summer footware salvation at Old Navy.

Anyway, Brent was home for Easter, and was very bored so I cajoled him into going to 7-11 with me around 10 on Saturday night (again, because what else is there to do in suburban Jersey?) and then went for an un-wacky drive. But it was nice. It was also the first time we have hung out one on one in over three years.

Sunday morning my Facebook status read “You are the one(s) who kne(o)w me better, than anyone ever will again.” Because it’s true.

Now I’m playing hurry up and wait. Both for a project to finish and on a plan to make.

May 30, 2005: Tomorrow begins my insane job interview schedule.  And that is all I have to say. When I get in this, forgive the term, mindset, I’m too busy acting to think.

And with that I took a few weeks off of LJ for The Great NYC Job and Apartment search. I found the apartment first, in late June, and then HWSNBN ended things officially, and I kept going on interviw after interview (mostly with temp agencies) for lousy receptionist and administrative positions, mostly at finance places. One place blended in to the next. I didn’t write about it and an interview in and of itself was nothing to mention, because I had scads of them, 99%of which I walked out of knowing that there was no chance of getting the job.

I don’t want to write about job hunting anymore. I don’t want to write about my frustrations, and my moments of hope and plans that may or may not be foiled by circumstances out of my control.

Right now, I’m pretty resigned. I’m pretty much Here for the long-haul. I’m going to stop wasting my time with federal job applications, because right now I don’t have the time or energy to put into crafting the time of answers you need to get your application looked at. When I’m unemployed, with nothing but time, then I’ll dedicate the hours each one of those takes.

Right now, I’m kind of ok with that. I’ll focus my attention on the good things about Jersey. I’ll enjoy the last few months of Joe being around before he heads off the California. I’ll participate in our efforts to rally for another friend. I’ll go to the CFL meeting tomorrow night (maybe…it’s all the way at the eastern edge of the county, which is about as far away from my house as you can get, plus I’d be coming from work.)

I reserve the right to write an entry completely the opposite of this one any time in the next 24 hours to 30 days, because as a woman, I reserve the right to change my mind, and as I mildly angsty almost late-20s something, I reserve the right to turn everything into an existential crises.

I have this long, sappy post that I wrote Friday morning while on the train down to DC, that I’ll probably post (and backdate) later. I spent Thursday night with (most of) my favorite people on the planet, playing trivia. None of this would mean anything without them, so I was very happy we were all able to get together.

Friday, I took the train into the city and as usual, had time to kill before my train to DC. I was walking around Penn Station, having my usual internal freak out about how the city still feels like home, and I have this deep, visceral love for it that can’t be put into words, and why am I trying so hard for DC when NYC is home? I can’t describe it, but even in the blocks around Penn Station, where no respectable native would find themselves for any longer than necessary, there is just something that feels right.

(For the record, even if NYC is home, it’s home in an entirely different way than Jersey is. )

And then I got to DC, and the weather was beautiful, and I spent Saturday evening walking around the Capitol Hill north district with Michael, and I thought “Well…I guess I could do this too.”

I like to project, in case you hadn’t noticed.

Anyway, the weekend was quite nice and it was very good to get out of Jersey for the weekend, even though getting back on Sunday was a hassle. Now I’m back at work and it’s rainy, and I hate the federal government. Basically, they’ve taken all the worst aspects of the U.S. Healthcare system and found a way to make them worse in one ridiculous, ineffectual bill. My prediction is that anyone who currently has issues affording healthcare will still have issues affording healthcare 5 years from now. Also, if the rhetoric-realism chasm is too deep and allows for Sarah Palin to step in and win in 2012 I…well, I’ don’t know what I’ll do. Probably write an outraged blog entry about it.

Grawrl. I’m conflicted on who to side with. Just reading facebook statuses from both sides of the argument last night was frustrating.  I don’t believe health care/insurance is a fundamental right, but I also don’t believe that the Obamacare is shades of socialism. But I don’t think it’s anything to celebrate, regardless of which side of the issue you fall on.

Bon Jovi has been the talk of morning show of 95.5, because he’s just come out with a new CD and when Giant Stadium re-opens, he will play the first show. I’ve had his song “The Distance” in my head on and off. I have no idea why – it’s not one of his well known song, it’s off of “Bounce” which is neither critically or fan acclaimed. That CD came out October of my Sophomore year of college. I was in Saratoga, having transferred to Skidmore. That song puts me in the car on Route 50 in Wilton on the way back to campus.

Basically the only time I listen to music is when I’m driving, or if I’m in the city, on the subway. I haven’t driven since March and so I’ve listened to even less music then usual this year. I don’t have a “Soundtrack” to remind me of these long, long months but I also don’t have any events that needed music as a background. I used to write Soundtracks at the end of the year. I don’t think I’ve written one since 2006.

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m sitting half in my pajamas, listening to music that reminds me of a period in my life that I thought was unhappy at the time, but would go back to, given the chance. And ironically (and I know this a misuse of ironic, but I can’t think of any other way to put it) during the period of my life, when Bounce came out, I was fervently wishing to be back in a time two years before that.

And. (And) The title of the new Bon Jovi CD is “The Circle.” As in, this entry, (and my life) have come full circle. I am being faceticious and it somewhat amuses me that I can even manage to think like such a teenager, but, at the end of the entry, I AM thinking like at teenager.

But I just wrote a thematic Bon Jovi entry. How Jersey is that?

So election day has passed, which means an end to the hilarious ad campaign between Jon Corzine and Chris Christie. HATE WASTE SPEND FAIL DEBT POOR LOSS CORZINE vs CHRIS CHRISTIE THROWING HIS WEIGHT AROUND (Christie is rather overweight) Stay classy Jersey!

I think Obama will lose in 2012. Just a hunch. You heard it here first. In terms of the conditions he’s inheriting, he has some things in common with Bush The First. My political email buddy agrees that it is certainly a possibility because people would rather be screwed over than a GOPist than deal with a Dem trying to (but ultimately unable) to break the system.

I agreed with him for a minute, but this goes back to my post on the general wussiness of Democrats. If Obama were to lose in 2012 it would be his own damn fault. I am no fan of most of the initiatives he campaigned on, but given that the Dems have a majority, there is no excuse for their general pussy footing failure. Obama simply isn’t decisive enough. He over polls (shades of early Bill Clinton style) His party is in power, and while bi-partisanship is a nice idea (and working together) seriously, fuck that noise, stand up for your pet issue, and PUSH IT THROUGH.

Then again, the main reason I thought Obama would be better than McCain was on foreign policy and he looks like he’s going to totally fail on that one too.

(NJ Politics Time)

NJ had gone blue in every Presidential Election since 1992, the governorship has gone back and forth. I remember seeing the “Dump Florio” stickers when I was growing up. Then there was Christie Todd Whitman. My fourth grade teacher told me that I should be supporting Whitman. (‘because you’re a girl, and you like politics, so you should automatically support a female running for office type of argument) I told him that I certainly WOULD NOT support Whitman, as she was a Republican. And there was Jim McGreevy, the most famous gay govenor in the land, who also turned out to be a really not-so-nice guy.

So compared to that, Corzine is boring.

What’s Corzine’s record? He has none. No appointing ellicit lovers to important offices here (AFAIK). This is demonstrated by how he opened his campaign with a GOP-style attack on Christie’s “values.”

Christie’s record is similarly none.  Sure he was a prosecutor but what relevance does that really have? His  proposals are vague catchphrases and cliches, and his campaign is like 2004 Kerry.. it’s basically ”I’m not Corzine”.

You can’t put that much blame on Corzine for the state of things in Jersey anyway; a lot of that falls on the legislature, which seems to be completely incapable of correcting the systematic problems

I still maintain that one of the biggest problems with NJ is too many  municipalities.  There are some 500 municipalities and each of them have their own school districts, fire departments, police departments, etc. It’s very inefficient. The problem is no one wants to lose their little fiefdom, so anytime the solution to merge towns is raised, it is shouted down.

CK and I have always had fun together, and despite our insistence for many months that we are not friends, we’ve really become close since we bonded at my birthday party. And to be honest, looking back on over a year in the city, and it has always been CK, listening to be talk when I was cry over a boy last August, toasting to the Transit Strike in December, letting me cry over ANOTHER boy in March, bonding with me on my birthday,  and finally this summer, taking me out and toasting. And that is not to mention all the monologues, political babble, and just plain hilarity.

I was exhausted last night from lack of sleep and my ear hurting, but I wanted to rally. I told CK about how I totally got the guy who put the “black hole of despair” thing in the suggestion box, about how I was honest in my interview, and my boss’s reaction to my World’s Worst Receptionist” t-shirt (that I wore all afternoon). “I underestimated you,” CK admitted. “I thought you’d go out with a whimper, but you went out with a bang. I’m really proud of you.” (Bonus for use of TS Eliot)

It’s funny because at work he always tells me to go away, and I always insult him and so for some reason, nice things from him mean more. Also, I like that he now knows me well enough that he can laugh at me and point out that I’m doing “that Rachel thing where you try to impress me.” I mean, he was totally right, but I can call him out on similar things.

At the end of dinner, he raised his vodka and said “To the best drinking buddy I know, the best friend I have in the city, the most brilliant receptionist ever, and if you start crying I will punch you in the face.” So instead I laughed and we clinked glasses and I said “Screw it, I don’t want to go home. Let’s find an Irish pub and get a beer.”

So we went to The Irish Pub across from my office, and it was my turn to tell him how I think he’s way too fucking smart for his job, and he is awesome and he needs to go do something other than giving into this existential bullshit, because it’s true. “I’ll have my MA in a year, and I might be back in the city. If you’re still at the same job I will kick your fucking ass.”

Sometimes, when CK talks, it drives me crazy because I know I’ve heard the same sentence come out of my own mouth. Sure, I’m more emotional and he’s more cynical (because he’s older, hehe) and yeah, he pisses me off when he calls me out of my self-affirmation bullshit, but we are very, very similar. I have never met someone with views (not just political) are so aligned to mine. We have nearly identical outlooks on life. I mentioned this and he smiled “It’s a Jersey thing.”

We talked about rock bottom, and plans, and relationships, and burning bridges. “That’s kind of what you’re doing,” he said. “You’re saying ‘fuck you, I’m going to Chicago.’ He stumbled on to exactly why I’m so sad to leave. Because I have everything here; I have great friends, and acquintences, and social circles, and an apartment, and a life I love, and I have to take the chance that I’m not going to have all those things in Chicago.

I’m going to really miss CK, and he admitted he would miss me too. We had the same conversation we’ve had several times, and the conclusion was the same, and that also sucks. (“You need to find yourself a decent boyfriend,” he told me. I rolled my eyes) We hugged good-bye and promised to keep in touch. And hugged good-bye again (we were both pretty drunk.)

And yeah, we’ll keep in touch. But it’s never going to be the way it is right now.  I know this whole long good-byes thing is bringing out my penchant for drama, but damn….I’m going to miss him.

It’s morning. I couldn’t sleep last night. My parent’s house is big and suburbia is too quiet and creepy, and I’ve never liked staying there by myself. This is very silly.

My outrageous cats woke me up, and I can’t fall back asleep,. I turned on the TV and one of those Early Morning shows and it was these two plasticized women making juice and it burned my eyes. So instead I’m watching Saved by the Bell: The College Years.

I seem to have forgotten how to drive. I haven’t done any really driving since maybe October? I was on 208 last night, in the right lane, and freaked out over someone poorly merging in at Ewing. I need to practice driving if before I make the drive to Chicago.

Today’s agenda includes driving to the mall to buy summer clothes (yay no tax on clothing), going to B&N to see my old boss, and Trivial Pursuit with Brenty. There will probably be a wacky drive, and then a diner trip. Brent and I have become picky about which diner we go to in our old age – we have several diners we’ve eliminated due to bad experiences there. Like the Empress in Fair Lawn – we won’t go there, especially since we once said “We’re never going to here again” and then we DID go there again, and were reminded why we never want to go there. Brent won’t go to Stateline, because he doesn’t like the parking spaces. Neither of us like the Wayne Hills.

Usually at some point, one of us will say “Screw it, let’s just go to Hillside.” And then we skulk in there, being “That Guy” and play with the sugar centerpiece that holds ads that haven’t changed in two decades.

We’re way too old to go to Hillside, but I suppose I could say it’s supporting local, hometown business, and is thus acceptable.

Time to go bring the garbage cans in and make coffee. It’s not even 9 AM.

I need a Jersey pride LJ icon, but I dont’ feel like looking for one to steal right now, but Jon Stewart is from Jersey and also hot, so he will do.  Edited to add, that while he was not being a very fair host, Jon Stewart was awesome when he completely smacked down Bill Bennett. He’s seriously the best.

It’s a bit odd to go about my commute, knowing that I am in the last days of having to take the PATH.

I’ve only lived in Jersey City for 6 months, not enough time to form a long-lasting bond with the place, but I’m attached, in little ways. Saturday afternoon, I needed a few groceries. Normally, I go to Shop-Rite, because they have better prices and better food, but I just didn’t feel like making that particular trek. I went to A&P, in the opposite direction, where the aisles are blissfully un-crowded.

It was gorgeous on Saturday, so much so that I had the first line of a Sophie B. Hawkins song in my head “It feels like springtime, on this February morning” even though it’s still January. New York City is so close that from here it looks like a toy. The view can’t properly be called a skyline, because it fills the onlooker’s field of vision.

I cut through the parking lot of Target, but up 14^th Street, traffic exits the Holland Tunnel before the merge onto 78. Rundown, empty buildings border the non-pedestrian side of the street, in sharp contrast to the luxury high rises of Newport. There is still much evidence of the old Jersey City in the lots that haven’t yet been developed. This was mostly useless waterfront until about twenty years ago.

I’ve not ventured to the Journal Square area since I moved here, another place peppered with empty parking lots, but the blocks that stand between the Grove Street PATH Station and Newport mall, as well as the Van Vorst Park area, are perfectly sub-urban. 

I’m on the train to work, and my God do I need more sleep, and I’m writing this in my head, and in my head I like the rhythm of what I’m about to say.

I need an auto-complete; still haven’t found an apartment, written my Dallas essay, or cleaned my room.

I spent Sunday night laying about, reading the first four books of the Little House on the Prairie set and eating sushi. 

I spontaneously took the train to Ridgewood on Saturday and went to see Brenty. We went to Hillside for ‘quality time’. Our wacky drive was a creative way to Jersey City (Last exit off of Route 4, and then drove through Fort Lee, Edgewater, Weehawken, etc. I believe it’s the Weehawken area where things get creepy; it’s ALL condos and little Sim City enclosed communities along the Hudson. I am sure they are outrageously expensive. Also, that is where Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr dueled. (Note to the younger-wiser-sibling: It is unclear whether they were dualists.)

I am reading “Inventing Japan: 1853-1964” because it is only about 200 pages, and I hope it will make up for the fact that I never, ever paid attention or did the reading for the Japan part of “Comparative Politics of India and Japan” two years ago. I remember lots of stuff about India, (SHINING INDIA) but nothing about Japan other than never mix sake with any other alcohol and, regarding the Jews “you guys are alright, but…”

I really, really hope to find an apartment tonight, because I want to go out for Czech food with my co-workers tomorrow. Mmm, Czech food. And Czech beer. I adore Eastern Europe! Blah, blah, blah, debate about whether the Czech Republic is still “Eastern Europe.” You can’t take the Government major out of the girl. Which is why I’m going to grad school, for which I should be writing an essay. …and full circle!

I think I must’ve overdosed on the Sudafed yesterday, because I was all buzzing and out of it, and in retrospect, the drugs were probably hurting more than they were helping. It was a “I’m having trouble forming sentences” kind of day.

Anyway. Tuesday was supposed to be an unofficial work X-Mas Party/Celebration of the “Shock and Awe” of CK’s one year anniversary here. Almost everyone who was supposed to go skipped work, and those who made it in had long commutes home ahead of them, so it wound up being just CK and I. We of course toasted to Jersey, and  to the Libertarian Revolution.

CK has really become my favorite co-worker, and some of it really is a “It’s a Jersey thing. You wouldn’t understand.” But Tuesday was good for conversation about politics, relationships, work/school, travel, and drunken adventures. His girlfriend dislikes me immensely, because she doesn’t like her boyfriend getting along with girls, and the way this has unfolded has been very amusing. It’s very junior high-ish. Office politics are silly. Anyway, Tuesday night was one of those times when you have a conversation with someone and realize that you’ve become friends, which was nice.

I was supposed to go to The Boy’s last night, especially since there are now cats at his place, but he had to work late, and I didn’t feel well, so I went home, did laundry, and crashed. I really need to start packing up the apartment and getting ready to move, which is a hassle.

Other than that, I am simply looking forward to a four-day weekend. It doesn’t feel like Christmas; I guess I’m bombarded with all the X-Mas stuff so much everyday that I just don’t see it. I will be thankful, however, that I am not working at B&N café.

CK just sauntered into work — on time for once — and raised his fist in a show of Jersey solidarity. We wished each other a Happy Transit Strike; “man, I know this must suck for most New Yorkers, but if you’re from Jersey, it feels like a Holiday!”

I was coming in from Bloomfield this morning, and my train to Penn Station was late. Penn Station was a mess, and there were swarms of people on the street. And then I hit Times Square and it was like ‘Where did all the people go?’ I think a lot of people stayed home, maybe, or are just late, because the streets seemed pretty quiet north of Times Square. It could stand to be a few degrees warmer and I wish I didn’t have a cold, but it is indeed a very Happy Transit Strike.

CK and I are both ridiculously smug about our unaffected commutes, because there is much bitching and moaning at the office. Even if NJ Transit were to strike, there’s private competition in Jersey and still would be ways of getting to work. Jersey is the best. NYC liberalism + common sense conservatism. I am so, so sad that I am going to be moving

CK just sauntered into work — on time for once — and raised his fist in a show of Jersey solidarity. We wished each other a Happy Transit Strike; “man, I know this must suck for most New Yorkers, but if you’re from Jersey, it feels like a Holiday!”

I was coming in from Bloomfield this morning, and my train to Penn Station was late. Penn Station was a mess, and there were swarms of people on the street. And then I hit Times Square and it was like ‘Where did all the people go?’ I think a lot of people stayed home, maybe, or are just late, because the streets seemed pretty quiet north of Times Square. It could stand to be a few degrees warmer and I wish I didn’t have a cold, but it is indeed a very Happy Transit Strike.

CK and I are both ridiculously smug about our unaffected commutes, because there is much bitching and moaning at the office. Even if NJ Transit were to strike, there’s private competition in Jersey and still would be ways of getting to work. Jersey is the best. NYC liberalism + common sense conservatism. I am so, so sad that I am going to be moving out of JC.

It’s the day that all December applications are due, and all of mine are officially in. I do have to offer up a giant “Fuck You” to Columbia University for their asinine policy of not holding themselves responsible for a huge problem with their online application that froze the recommendation pages, so professors couldn’t upload their recommendations. (This was discovered on Monday. Their basic answer for me was “Well it should have been in already” I am ALL for sending things in early, but if the deadline is December 15, submitting something on the 12th is perfectly acceptable. They didn’t do anything to inform applicants that the system wasn’t working, nor are they accepting documents that get their late as a result. When I checked this mornign, the problem still hadn’t been fixed. (This has apparently been a problem since last Wednesday. I found out about it on Monday. This is plenty of time for them to have informed people to send things by regular mail) So, fuck you Columbia. You should be using Embark like ALL THE OTHER SCHOOLS USE FOR ONLINE APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Grrrr. Anyway. The applications are in. They are out of my hands. Cross your fingers for me.

I’ve just finished Ignorance by Milan Kundera. It was a lovely little novella. What I adore about Kundera is the way in which he seamlessly blends philosophy into his narrative. He is nothing short of lyrical. He uses very little dialogue. He captures a train of thought

This guy I used to know was mildly befuddled by the way my mind worked. The way it was never quiet, keeping me away as it delved deeply into each topic is jumped to – because his mind worked so differently. So one night, when I couldn’t sleep, I just wrote down a train of thought. I used a lot of parenthesis for the asides, in many cases double sets of parenthesis. There’s no way I could explain to someone the way I think. I had to show it by writing down what I was thinking. That’s what Kundera does. There’s very little action, and even less conversation. But you understand so well what’s going on, and why the characters are doing things, because you’ve read their thoughts. This isn’t a unique device, but the way in which he wields it is so insanely…evocative. I don’t necessarily remember the characters names, or the details of the plot, but I remember the asides.

I can’t say I try to emulate him, because I was writing in a long-winded, descriptive style long before I read my first Kundera novel (The Incredible Lightness of Being, which is simply beautiful) but it’s always nice to find an author who has perfected the art of the overwrought. Kundera has also “literary zinged” me, hardcore.

Zing! (Of the Literary Variety)

I wasn’t planning on even considering a move until September. I had my cushy temp job, that paid me well, and was allowing me to save. And then I realized how doable it was. I decided that, if I was going to do stupid secretarial work, I might as well do it in New York. And I might as well move there. Plus HWSNBN has been telling me for months that I should move there.

So with very little knowledge of NYC neighborhoods, I set out to hunt for an apartment. I ignored Manhattan completely, thinking I could never afford it as I did not want to live above 125th street. (I have several friends who are Manhattan snobs who attest “Manhattan ends at 125th street”…one purist insists “Anything above 96th street is the Bronx.”).

Just Rachel 129: you live in brooklyn heights now, right?
asterphage: yeah, but this place is for chumps
Just Rachel 129: why is that?
asterphage: this housing place sucks more over time
asterphage: and rich folks areas are never any good
asterphage: the restaurants are mild and overly classy, the stores are uninteresting
Just Rachel 129: what’s a non-chump neighborhood in brookyln?
asterphage: i don’t really know
asterphage: practically anywhere is decent
Just Rachel 129: i mean, i’d love to live on the lower east side, but i’m not a rich trust fundie
asterphage: also it’s unbearable down there
asterphage: i wouldn’t want to live over by the shitty little overpriced designer shops and expensive little cafes and crap
Just Rachel 129: upper manhattan seems like it sucks
asterphage: why would you even look at uptown? even if you could afford it? uptown is for middle aged professionals who are afraid of things outside their life, and for people who are raising families

With a bit of research I found Park Slope and Williamsburg were considered cool places to live in Brooklyn, and Astoria in Queens was also quite nice (I never did get out to Astoria, I probably should have).

Just Rachel 129: i’ve been going to a lot of roommate interviews. they are incredibly depressing
Just Rachel 129: picture a job interview, only more like middle school
asterphage: wow, that sucks
Just Rachel 129: i’ve been to a few cattle call style open houses, and several others where i was interviewed and given the “tell us about yourself” thing
asterphage: that’s really fucked up, the cattle calls
asterphage: the interviews are fairly reasonable i guess
Just Rachel 129: i think they are, except when they’re mean to you
Just Rachel 129: “why do you think we should want you to live with us”
Just Rachel 129: and then they smirk at each other
Just Rachel 129: and then you know they’re making fun of you the second you leave
asterphage: if that happened
asterphage: i would be like “go fuck yourself, this place isn’t nice enough for me to deal with smug assholes.”
Just Rachel 129: right, i should be more confrontational
asterphage: i mean jesus, what kind of people are these? lower east side pretentious hipsters?
Just Rachel 129: all in park slope, so far

This went on for about three weeks. I looked in Park Slope, and Williamsburg, Beford L-stop. Williamsburg seemed great – it’s on the water and most of the buildings have roof access so you get pretty views.

But again, the people were total assholes

asterphage: this is why anything that is cool sucks
Just Rachel 129: like, my attitude is, these are the neighborhoods i might like to live in so i’m searching there. if i find roommates i can hang out with sometimes, great. if not, we’re all adults and we can be civil to each other.
asterphage: right, at some point though, does it start to seem like maybe the people in these neighborhoods are not the kind of people you want to be around?
Just Rachel 129: it does
Just Rachel 129: i love williamsburg, bedford stop, it’s on the water, it’s so nice. but everyone has been a total asshole
asterphage: did i not tell you that hipster neighborhoods are so not cool
asterphage: williamsburg = fuck dat

So I went back to what had been my plan last February, before I was even seriously considering a city move. I would look in Jersey City. The apartments in the Jersey City financial district are new, and clean, and have normal people living in them. It’s not NYC, but it’s on the PATH. It’s on the river for good walking at night.

Just Rachel 129: i’m looking at apartments in jersey city, because i’m not hipster enough for brooklyn
Just Rachel 129: brooklyn = lots of people like hampshire students
ZGoTenksZ: hippies
Just Rachel 129: hip-sters
ZGoTenksZ: what’s the difference?
Just Rachel 129: hipsters shower
Just Rachel 129: i’ll probably wind up remaining true to my jersey roots & move to Jersey City
ZGoTenksZ: so? you’ll get a bigger place for same money
Just Rachel 129: i don’t know. i want an NYC zip code, cuz i’m shallow
Just Rachel 129: but jersey city is probably better for me than brooklyn
ZGoTenksZ: why?
Just Rachel 129: the people there are professionals and not hipsters
ZGoTenksZ: so…go to jersey city then
ZGoTenksZ: you pay less tax

(and we all know how I feel about tax!)

And then Saturday morning, I stumbled upon the perfect apartment. A small room on the third floor, with a normal roommate. He just wants to find a quiet, sane person, because his good friend from college is moving into his spot in late August, and she wants a female roommate. “I got hundreds of replies to my ad,” he told me on the phone. “And yours is one of the only one’s that I’m answering.”

Sitting in Starbucks, taking that call on Friday, I was pretty sure this was going to be the apartment.

Just Rachel 129: i’m moving to jersey city in august. It’s not manhattan, but you can’t beat the commute, and I can stay true to my jersey roots
Five tenn: hell yeah…and babe, you are a jersey girl.

Yes. Yes I am.

“NJ Transit sucks, just like everything else in this awful state.”

:: Reconsiders going to grad school in Dallas or California and getting the hell out of Jersey ::