am i a jersey girl?

so i'm finally back in manhattan. i'm staying at skinny's for the week. for the record, she's no longer with that 70's show star. she's very happy with a boy here in new york. i'm still homeless and have not heard from the hoboken girls with the nice apartment. i'm going to keep looking and hope for the chance that i hear from the girl when she gets back from vacation.

some reflections from my time in hoboken...

at first, i was amazed by all the hot guys here. i used to think i liked preppy guys. note my use of past tense. we spent a lot of time in the bars out here. i started to notice something. EVERYBODY here is white. and not only are they white, but they all look the same. alex and jessie have noticed what they call the "hoboken outfit." jeans and a button-down striped shirt. and i'd say that 85% of the guys out are wearing exactly that. it's sickening actually. most the girls are fake blonds and they annoyingly get dressed to the hilt to hang out at the sports bars. i'm so over putting in that kind of effort to sit around with a beer. this is a college town but without a college and i don't think i like it.

the only time i was hooted/hollered at was walking down the street one afternoon and i heard a "yo baby, you're fine...." i turned around and saw nothing. until i looked down to see a 10 year old. part of me wanted to laugh. the other part of me wanted to say something like, "does your mother know you're out here harassing women? you're three feet tall. go home." so, needless to say, i felt safer out here. i walked with my head up and it felt nice. this does, however, take us back to the total whiteness of this place which, unfortunately, probably corresponds to the fact that everybody here has a lot of money.

the restaurants here are awful. the food is bad and the service is even worse. there are a couple diamonds in the rough.

the bars are either sports bars or "trendy" ones. the sports bars are fine, but filled with all the "hoboken outfitted" guys. the "trendy" ones are lame. they've convinced themselves they are as good as the bars in manhattan and it's actually quite pathetic. there is one "club" that charges $20 to get in, fee not waived for pretty girls. i do not, i repeat, DO NOT pay to get into clubs. this, my friends, is usually not a problem. women never have to wait in line at new york clubs, and there is seldom a club that i can't talk myself into without a comped admission. out here, all the bouncers and bar guys are on power trips. several times i wanted to say, "see that over there across the river? that's new york city...we're in new jersey here! get over yourself!"

in the past, i haven't always gotten along with alex's roommate jessie. we come from very different backgrounds (i.e. she had money, i didn't). we don't always agree and i'm not always silent about it. sooner or later people had the impression we were mortal enemies. i've gotten to spend a lot of time with jessie, and though i know she's got her faults (don't we all?) we got along fabulously. we had tons of fun so hopefully we can play more.

i love the path train. it's what takes you into the city (you can also take the bus). BUT the path train is only $1.50 (the subway is $2). i have to remember that i can take the path between certain manhattan spots and save myself some money.

i hate that you can smoke in the bars in new jersey. it may be the sole reason for not living there. every bar you go to is filled with a cloud of cigar and cigarette smoke that you can barely see through. it is disgusting.

i love the park on the river. it has the best view ever (the manhattan skyline) and it's sans all the creepy homeless people that peep out the sunbathers at central park.

in conclusion: i'm not sure i'd like this place too much if alex and jessie weren't here to play with. their presence makes the difference between a kinda crappy town and a livable one. so no, i have no desire to become a jersey girl. don't worry!

....coming soon to a blog near you:

a library adonis status update.