I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad

There are some things that, at 2 am the night before I leave, hold a huge level of curiousity over me. Right now? Behind my dresser in my room at home. A space seemingly long forgotten, a graveyard of artifacts that have tumbled into dusty obscurity. And while packing tonight I remembered my need to look back. So, armed with bare hands and a fear of reaching into a spider's home, I pushed back a set of drawers to explore behind the dresser.

And oh, did I find a lot of dust. I may have developed a dust allergy just from the time I spent back there. But I found a lot of things. Two notes passed between my best friend of the time and myself, noting jokes I still remember and crushes so terrible I must have blocked them out from my memory. I found a necklace given to me by another former best friend and actually remember opening up the oyster (which smelled terrible) to get the pearl. Two bobbleheads - Christian Guzman (whose head won't stay on) and Doug Mientkiewicz - both players during the Twins heyday, no longer with them, but signs of good times that were not really that long ago. A signed The Academy Is... poster, now hanging on my wall. I may not be the hugest TAI fan, but it was pretty awesome when I got it. That show, Something Corporate at the Quest my sophomore year of high school, was entirely fantastic. Almost like a relic from high school days, the club doesn't even exist anymore. The cast from when I broke my wrist in the 8th grade. Despite the ew factor, it's iteresting - signed by everyone I was friends with then, a lot of whom I'm not anymore. And by the people who worked in the Buckle - the store we frequented weekly, almost to a stalker point that year. Signal the nostalgia and pondering now. A souvenir cup from the bat mitzvah of a girl I haven't spoken to in at least 2 years, more Express tags than I knew I had clothes, a penny key chain from San Francisco and tons more.

I left the dresser for my bookshelf. Beyond the basics there are books from my childhool, bringing back memories of reading by the hallway light when I was definitely supposed to be asleep. My siddurim from Wheels and Pilgrimage, a copy of Are You My Mother? from my IGB overseer, a handmade scrapbook from an old friend who I definitely should get back in touch with. I always find it interesting to look back - not just to wax nostalgic, but to actually see the change. Hopefully it's for the better.

It's a metaphor, fool

Today was like a montage of all the things I actually like in Minneapolis: food, friends, family and shopping. I started off with lunch at Crossroads with my mom, grandma, aunt and great aunt, which was basically like eating with a giant ego boost. Never at one meal have I been told so many times about my good skin, my great hair and how pretty I am. It was great, really. Especially because (as my mom pointed out), most of them are old - so they compliment me, forget they've done so, and do it again. Phenomenal!

I followed lunch with an afternoon with Krista, a friend from high school. I had my first experience at the Hopkins Antique Mall - my new favorite place ever, basically. They definitely don't have anything like it in Boston. They have literally everything - mannequins, telephones, postcards, shotglasses, furniture and (my favorite) jewelry. I left with three rings, a shotglass (with a bird on it - says "Just a Swallow," haha) and a necklace. For $10. Again, phenomenal. We went downtown and wandered the skyway for awhile. Tragically, everything in downtown Minneapolis closes around 5 or 6 because that's when all the businesspeople leave, but Target was still open! An hour of playing in Target (my other favorite place, also not in Boston) and then off to Pizza Luce - my favorite pizza place in Minneapolis, with good food and atmosphere. It's been a long time since I've been there and I forgot how close it is to what used to be the Quest - the venue of my high school years... lots of good memories in that area. We had a guy stop by our table to invite us to his show later - we would have gone if it weren't for the fact that it was 21+. Tragedy. He was very intent on letting us know that even though he was from Tennessee his music was definitely not country. I checked out his music though - it seems worthy of a listen. Because we couldn't go to his show, we drove around for awhile musically reminiscing with Say Anything, an awesome band whose old music I love fully and whose newest album was just unfortunate. We ended up at the Tea Garden - really good tea and a place I wouldn't mind being a regular, if it didn't mean living in Minnesota.

So maybe this place isn't so bad. It has its ups - my family, some good friends and some good times - but I think it's just a place to visit from now on. Being here for more than a month would probably drive me crazy.