Spring Break Ruminations

Every once in a while, when you least expect it, you get a taste of your past... not in the nostalgic sense, like that bittersweet feeling you get when you visit your old high school or when you order a happy meal from the McDonalds menu; but a real taste, in its true form, unadulterated, and just as you remember it. Of course we all want to feel like over the months and years, we've grown and matured. I know I would like to think that I've moved on to bigger and better things, and yet sometimes I look back at my past and think, what was so wrong with the way I was? I was happy. At some point in time, before abandoning my life in LA in search of the promise of new beginnings, I was truly happy.

After my trip home during Christmas, I was convinced that my life, as I'd known it no longer existed. It felt as if everyone had moved on, and that I had too. So I returned to Durham ready to accept that I would never again hand a tardy slip to my 1st period teacher, and that a happy meal, despite its name, did not have the ability to elevate my mood, nor was it by any stretch of the imagination a "meal".

And then Spring Break happened. The stars aligned and what resulted was strangely compatible blend of my new life and my old life.

Recapping from notable moments, and though there were many, these stand out the most:

Going to watch In Bruges and Juno *a must see* with my mom… I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie in the theater with my mom, mainly attributed to her contempt for the rise in movie ticket prices. She would refuse to go watch movies in the theater as she noted, "The script isn't going to change in transition from the theater to DVD."

Breakfast with Gloria at Ocean Diner... Quite possibly one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life, which I blame solely on my brother who in moment of drunken clarity at a college frat party, thought it would be a great idea to take a puppy home; a puppy he was ill-equipped to care for. Five years later I'm still paying for his mistake, this time with my dignity. As other dogs sat outside enjoying the sun and the people, my canis familiaris apparently accustomed to French dining laws, spent the better part of our meal wailing to be let in, and would not be silenced despite our repeated attempts as well as those of the pitying passersby. Needless to say, our meal was cut short. "Check please!"

Catching up with an old friend... There are people who you meet in life, who you'd be okay with never seeing again. And then are those who, though you'd probably be okay with never seeing again, you'd like to see again. My last night in LA, I ran into someone from my "I'd like to see again" list, and that was pretty nice, except for the fact that now I have that Moldy Peaches song stuck in my head. "Here is the church, and here is the steeple..."

During my spring break, I had a taste of my past, and what I realized was that some of the things I loved the most aren't quite ready for "past" status yet. Which is good, cause as the pile up tardy slips from my high school years will show, I'm in no hurry. :)