Back to School (sans blues)

Back at Vassar

I started my day out with donuts, blueberry, tres leches, square jelly

I should have figured today was going to be great

any day that starts out with a right-angled pastry

is guaranteed to be epic

I've discovered a guy who has a pet peacock named Kevin

another girl who is thinking of joining a circus troupe after graduation

another girl who had a bag full of fresh organic tomatoes,

right from her garden

and I had a whole, juicy, yellow tomato as a late night snack

I've got my subway map hanging above my desk

my last meal was pad thai with mock duck

I just dropped nearly 400 bucks on books

it smells like summer: fresh cut grass

my bed is two and a half feet above the ground,

I feel like a queen

I'm not gonna lie,

it feels good to be back.

Savor it While it Lasts

Vassar is fast approaching

and my days of working an internship and a job will soon be over

so will be the days of restaurant hopping in Hell's Kitchen,

hanging out in Chipotle on those sweltering hundred degree days,

just for the refillable soda with the lemon twist

real ice cream cones will be long gone, and I'll be stuck eating fro-yo from wafer cones

my dog won't wander in to my room late at night

air conditioning will be a thing of the past

so I have to bask in the things I love, for the next three weeks

My devotion to Cafe Bustelo & Pilon will never falter,

Spanish coffee all day everyday, con leche and lots of sugar

just the way my mom makes it every single morning

heating the milk in a separate pot, it becomes my job to make sure it doesn't boil over

and boy, that sure is a lot of responsibility

I appreciate our cabinet shelves, lined with assorted Goya products so much more now

my mom & Goya really make magic together

The best thing is being able to travel to any continent,

from the comfort of the East Village

First Avenue takes me to India, with all the lights

and celebration of a festival

not to mention deliciously addictive cheese naan

(think a match made in grill cheese-Desi fusion heaven)

At work I can revel in both Japanese & Afghan cuisine
Even Ukraine isn't out of reach, I gotta love authentic pierogies

even though I think at Vassar they do them pretty well,

my roommate would always look forward to pierogie night

the one night of the month she would decide to emerge from

the cave that was our room, and when she didn't

I would smuggle ziplock bags and tupperwares of them

so she could freeze them and have real dinner (ie not cereal) for days

she's the one thing that I don't have while I'm at home,

and I miss her & her Midwestern charm

but most of all, I miss her stressed out habit

of making turbans out of scarfs

she'd don them at night, while struggling with chemistry chapters

My (few) days of being a home-cook were awesome

I'll have to give that up in the communal dorm kitchens

which frequently are missing key things, like spatulas

I'll have to trade in the tastes of my childhood

I remember sitting in small Puerto Rican restaurants

waiting on my pernil & tostones, sipping Coco Rico coconut soda,

light and refreshing

Kola Champagne to accompany my rice & beans,

its not the same having Diet Coke out of soda machines

The last thing I must savor in these last 3 weeks

are beautiful mountains of ice cream

my heart breaks at the thought of being without the creamy goodness.

Hi Summer, I promise to cherish you.

To make a long story short

let's just say, I finally got my life back

and thank god because I recently suffered a rude awakening

when I received a picture message from my brother

of a Vassar bug that had come to wreak havoc in my apartment

with its long, spindly, abundant legs

rapid movements, and general fear inducing grossness

technology never fails to (literally) disgust me

and it took me back to those nights where whilst I screamed & cowered

my roommate would calmly attempt to trap these horrific bugs and get rid of them

and sadly I remembered the night one of the creatures fell into my bed,

never to be found

how this monstrosity ended up in my apartment, hours away from Poughkeepsie

still baffles me

but it was an omen, that bug said "oh hey gurrrrl,

your summer is flying by"

Sophmore year is soon approaching, love life while you can"

I'm quite thankful for the bug (I never got to actually witness it)

I miss the summers when jobs didn't matter

and on my little street in Astoria someone would open the fire hydrant

sending a gush of frigid water that all the kids on the block

could run through, cooling down, filling up empty Poland Spring bottles

to spray at each other

and kids from other blocks would come

excited by the impromptu & illegal sprinkler

we would block traffic, squirting water guns and screaming

and on the days where the sprinklers didn't come to us

the days were filled with big boxes of sidewalk chalk,

hand-scrawled hopscotch boards with pebbles sprinkled on the numbered squares

while eating italian ices, that never failed to drip cherry red all over our t-shirts

there were the countless hours spent riding my Yaak scooter

(Razors were just too expensive)

rolling down the small grassy hills of Astoria Park and

playing with my Skip-It, watching the numbers on the dial

hundreds of revolutions, and I would be worn out

I can't find my Skip-It, so now, a decade later

I settle for sweet picnics,

I abandon the age old pb&js for brick oven pizza,

the frozen Capri Sun pouches for Arnold Palmer Arizona

letting the smell of the grass, and the cherry juice that stains my fingertips

incite my nostalgia.

Home Sweet Home

I got home yesterday

and let me tell you, the LES is looking beautiful

I've really learned my lesson

I promise to pack lighter next year

maybe I"ll bring only 20 pairs of shoes next time

but, this morning

I woke up in a room, alone

and it felt good

I could hear all the traffic on the Williamsburg bridge

and right outside my room door

was a patiently waiting pup

just dying to play fetch and lay on the couch

I had my mom's Spanish coffee

right out of my Hello Kitty mug

(college coffee is so nasty)

and a mom-let

with yellow american cheese on white bread

my classic favorite food

there was Spongebob

and lots of revolutionary things happened

Spongebob got round pants, and a booty

Patrick turned into a sexy woman complete with blond pigtails and red lipstick

I must say, he was a hottie

it feels so good to be home

where everyone wears shoes at all times

each street smells like a different type of food

halal is always the most tantalizing

and sometimes you run into a street fair (which made me oh so happy)

thai spring rolls, nom

and you don't see the same face,

or the same college sweatshirt or

ethnic print harem pants (oddly popular at Vassar) twice

I was just speechless as I walked around

I forgot how beautiful Essex Street is, it's an acquired taste type of beautiful

but lovely, and welcoming all the same

I got reacquainted with my non-edible-double-decker love Forever

I was on the L train and I had the fleeting worry

"oh my god, I have so much reading to do tonight"

I forget that those are the worries of the past,

goodbye Art History flash cards

(they really got to my head, I was working in the library the other day

and as I scanned out some books for a girl,

instead of telling her the due date, May 21,

I handed back the book and said 1921)

but, the triumph of the day was the noms

vegan Pizza from Vinnie's in WillyB

Barbeque chicken slice with vegan cheese

I load on the hot sauce and parmesan cheese and I'm just in heaven

granted, when I eat spicy food I feel like my lips swell

but it hurts so good

and who doesn't like a lil added lusciousness.

Formula for the Perfect Day

At Vassar, the Leprechaun bus is the quintessential symbol of escapism

the mall, the train station, Stop & Shop

are the basic adventures that Leprechaun will make possible

and most of the time, that's just fine with me

because I usually just get my kicks from food shopping and browsing at H&M

but on Saturday, the Leprechaun bus came in jumbo size

with TVs that broadcasted Zoolander to take me to Six Flags

and so my perfect day began:

One super sized Leprechaun (or any available charter bus)

minus Vassar

plus awesome roller coasters

I love roller coasters almost more than anything else

a bit less than I love ice cream

but thats a whole lotta love

the more apprehensive I am to put my hands up,

the steeper the drops,

and the more terror involved

the better

what can I say? I'm just a simple thrill seeker

and that's why I love wooden roller coasters

they are the best because every second you feel like

some bolts and screws are going to loosen

and crash the little cart will go

plus Cookies & Cream Dippin Dots

I've said this a thousand times

but Dippin Dots are just to delish

and love them

over and over again forever

om nom nom

I told the girl working in the little Dippin Dots booth

that she had my dream job

and because it was 90 degrees

and she was wearing long khakis and a neon yellow polo

whilst working in a small box

she must have thought I was mocking her

I wasn't

plus Johnny Rockets onion rings

which are definitely the best I've ever had

especially because they come with ranch dipping sauce

and extra crunch

and they are never especially fat, gross slices of onions

at Six Flags the ranch came in packets and not in a small plastic cup

and at first I was disappointed

but! I realized they had many other condiments available

and I seriously love condiments

I literally had a condiment buffet with a side of onion rings

ranch, honey mustard, barbeque, sweet&sour

it was blissful

plus a large watermelon icee

which really speaks for itself

when its 90 degrees outside

and you've been waiting on lines for hours

plus a sweet dinner at an outdoor table

at Babycakes, its the best thing to eat outside at night

and let me tell you, the lemon thyme vinaigrette on some baby greens

is out of this world

and lastly, add Tom Poppa & The Marriage Ref

Tom Poppa has great suits, and an annoying laugh

its always funny to watch couples arguing about country line dancing,

not having enough sex, and odd home furnishings

plus, he does a great puppy impression

and that all equals a best day, and a very happy me.

Learning to Drive & Escaping Avant- Garde Torture

So there I was, sitting in the

art history lecture hall

watching odd avant garde films,

think race cars, scrotums,

claustrophobic uteran imagery,

a tap dancing satyr, and ambiguous

asexual creatures with pink wigs and drag queen makeup (seriously)

which is basically the most

disturbing thing

that could possibly be happening

to a fragile girl

who still needed to do the footnotes

on her Dutch art history research paper,

a sad, poor girl who did not know just how long making footnotes actually takes

we were confined to that room,

for 3 whole hours

a fate my friend just couldn't deal with

so she utters these magic words, "I'll take you to Cold Stone"

(basically, with these words anyone could get me to fall at their feet,

and be at their every whim like:

oh haiiii, will you wash the dishes?,

and mind you I do not wash dishes, but I'd gladly comply

oh, will you rub my feet? yessir! what scent of lotion would you like?

clearly I'm a sucker)

specifically she said "If we leave, I'll take you to Coldstone"

with that sentence, the bells and whistles went off in my head

and we broke out only an hour into the torture

under the piercing gaze of our banshee-esque professor

off to Cold Stone we went, to get Birthday Cake Remix

it felt so good to finally have real ice cream

that wasn't being squeezed out of a machine in the Deec

real, creamy, nom ice cream, it was heavenly to experience

brownies, sprinkles and cake batter ice cream all over again

I don't think there's any better food than ice cream

spaghetti, pad thai and omelets are almost as good

anyhow, after the ice cream my friend suggests that I get into the drivers seat

of her nice, shiny, new car

mind you, I have never sat in the driver's seat of a car

and even more importantly, have never put my hands on a steering wheel

she is crazy, but she tried to teach me how to drive

and dammit! it was difficult, I'm surprised most people

can think about that many things at once

look to the left, look to the right, check the mirrors, gas pedal, brake, merge into a turn

I also never knew that a car moves without you pressing the gas

which honestly was quite off putting and a bit troubling to me

and the steering wheel can be turned all the way around

it was a whole new world

my gosh, it was overwhelming

and sometimes my feet had trouble finding the gas

and I apparently have a British tendency to drive in the left lane

but nonetheless I drove, learned not how to break violently

and didn't crash into Men's Warehouse

I wasn't blasting My Humps

but at this rate, that dream is becoming a possibility.

Twix Bars and Bus Stop Angels

One day I was standing on

14th street waiting for the 14A bus

it was probably following an after school

trip to Taco Bell (nom) & Forever

after sharing my quesadilla and

cheesy bean & rice burrito, I was still

craving something else

(if you can't tell, I'm so hungry right now,

I don't even remember what a burrito tastes like)

anyhow, my bus was just not coming

and the Avenue D buses continued to pass

1,2,3,4 D's and still no A's (my eternal strife)

in my frustration, I turned to my friends

and said "I really wish I had a Twix right now"

then I heard the voice of angel,

the woman standing next to me took

a cute, fun size Twix bar out of her purse

and handed it to me, she smiled

like all she wanted to do was gift Twix bars

to make teenage girls happy

I love that mystery woman

then my bus came,

and I sat in the back nomming my tiny Twix

eating the chocolate and caramel off first

then savoring the wafer

it was beautiful, and people think New Yorkers aren't nice

untrue is what I say,

most people in the city smile back

no one smiles back here,

or gives me Twix bars.

College, J.LO, & the like.

I really wish I had a frozen lemonade right now

or a big pitcher of the limeade my mom makes for me at home

I also wish I had time for recreational reading

the kind of reading that comes after browsing the library

not in search of some elusive book with a call number

as long as the entire alphabet

the kind of reading I would do when I was 6

in the first grade all that really mattered was

Cam Jansen, the mysterious books about the girl

with the photographic memory, who we all wanted to be

I actually still want to be her

or Amelia Bedelia, the crazy maid

who would make sponge cake with real sponges

and couldn't quite grasp the English language

those were the days before obscure philosophical readings,

manifesto after manifesto

and Hemingway

I would go to my school's library

which was literally a small classroom with some bookshelves

and take out all the books available

on Princess Diana,

I was obsessed with her (so was my roommate)

maybe it was because she was a real life princess

but right after I read every single book I could get my small

magic marker stained hands on

she died, it was a tragedy

I had already lost my first hero, Selena

when I was about 3,

and yes as a 3 year old, she was my everything

and I remember standing in front of my grandma's TV

weeping while watching Univision, maybe Telemundo

she gave me Bidi Bidi Bom Bom

before I could tie my own shoes

I listened to my Selena cassette tape on loop

with my little walkman, and once the first 4 songs were over,

I would have to flip the tape

I miss that

then Princess Diana died,

I healed eventually, when I discovered Egypt

all little kids become obsessed with Egpyt,

pyramids, mummies, the underworld

it's so odd

and the Holocaust at around age 10, but maybe that's just girls

but when I was 10, I couldn't get enough of it

and now, I have no time to read a short story for enjoyment

oh the woes of college

These were my favorite women,

but I must say that now,

my favorite woman, hands down

is Jennifer Lopez,

I might be alone in that

but thats ok, shes the best

and I'm running to the movie theatre

to catch my matinee of The Back Up Plan

while blasting Waiting For Tonight in my Jeep

through the streets of PK (in my dreams).

Midnight Bedtime.

I find that in college it has become

increasingly hard

to get a decent amount of sleep

when the obscure art history and

Dada readings pile up

my poor roommate usually falls asleep in chemistry class

every Monday, Wednesday and Friday

and has to drink caffeinated tea to stay awake

which makes her act worse than drunk

mint tea is like vodka for this girl

as she plows through her English readings

even though at one point in my life

I had to wake up in the early morning darkness

for zero period gym class that was at 7:30 am

(that was the bane of my existence)

who wants to do yoga that early in the morning?!

yes, downward dogs, baby cobras when the toothpaste taste

was still fresh on my tongue

and my eyes had not fully become accustomed to the light

it seems like we all find it difficult to wake up for our 9am classes

I guess its just harder to have to leave your room

and probably wander to the cold bathroom

to just sit in someone else's pee (yucks)

in the city I would have to actually commute

and sleepily take the subway instead of walking for 5 minutes to class

maybe the proximity of everything is not a luxury after all

alls I know is that a midnight bedtime is a blessing

even when some people are playing

aggressive house music

till the wee hours of the morning

and screaming on the quad

me and my roommate are old ladies

and like to catch our zzzs

a midnight bedtime is optimistic,

but what can I say, I'm a dreamer.