Bitchin' Miata, Bro

New Brunswick, New Jersey 

I've not gone far into Jersey, and granted I haven't seen Atlantic or Jersey City, but it doesn't seem so bad.  I mean, I get it, there's a lot of urban sprawl, but good Christ, for the collective shit people take on Jersey you'd think it wholly composed of rapists.  Parts are pretty and parts are poor, but on the whole I see little difference between it here and any other state.  I understand it's not the best, but she ain't so bad.

My friend grew up in this town.  The people here are either Hispanic, or hate cyclists, or both.  I don't realize I can stay with my friend's family until I've arrived at my host's house.  The host and her roommate express themselves through internet memes and loud 90s pop music.  It's intolerable, but they're nice enough.  I go to bed early, sober, and having no great desire to spend more time with those giving me shelter.

Nostalgia 

Hurray!

For my hosts, these banal 90s hits are humorous and attractive.  It recalls for them a time less predominated by responsibilities or obligations.  No one in the house was past middle school when these songs were released.  It's not the songs themselves but the feeling of nostalgia that comes with listening to them.  I'd like to say it's ironic but I think it's more infantile.

Before heading to Tampa to live, I sat in my Oldsmobile in an old chiefing spot in Orlando and smoked   It had been years, and I'm not up to date on the latest state dependent memory research, but not long after partaking I was overcome with intense nostalgia and a sense of deja vu.  My nostalgia wasn't limited to the thoughts and feelings of the previous times spent there, but to the nostalgia I felt at those times too.  It was less about the emotions I felt each time than the similarity between them at different instances.  It's an enjoyment about how at different points individual characteristics vary, but in essence I'm the same nostalgic stoned dude in the same spot I had been before.

The difference between my hosts and I is that I'm aware of the comforting role nostalgia plays in my thought process.  They think playing Destiny's Child and N'SYNC at the same decibel level as a jet fighter is legitimately entertaining in it's own right.  The comfort here is in recalling a more childish, less responsible period.  I get it: you guys like shitty pop music, but simply alluding to something doesn't make it funny, and remembering your childhood won't make your current responsibilities disappear, you fucking babies.

New Jersey Kill Count 

Bunny: 1

Chipmunk: 2

Dog: 1

Mouse: 1

Opossum: 1

Skunk: 1

Small Bird: 5

Squirrel: 2

Turtle: 1

Unknown: 7