Ah, youth.

I've spent the day feeling very nostalgic for days gone by. And by "days gone by" I mean my early twenties, when I had almost no responsibility and took too many drugs and went out most nights, and somehow through all of it I trucked through school. This feeling was brought on last night by VH1. Yes, yes I am totally lame, thanks for asking. Actually, it was VH1 Classic Alternative that did it. I was flipping through the channels, and was amazed to see Sonic Youth (100%, if you're interested) on the TV, and when that was over, on comes PJ Harvey (Sheela Na Gig), and then, as if that weren't enough, The Church (Reptile) came on. And really, that's all it took to throw me back ten years, to my funky, amazing, insanely cheap apartment in Pittsburgh, where I lived with three of my closest friends, all of who were crazy artists and filmmakers and photographers. There was literally never a dull moment in those years. We were always out, seeing music, mostly, or going to a gallery to see a friend's art, or some happening around town. We were all in school and had menial jobs, and we all managed to do quite a bit of experimenting in the drug department while maintaining some semblance of reality. There was always, always music on (I don't even think we owned a TV for quite a while), and took many trips to Jerry's in Oakland, or Paul's in Bloomfield to procure even more music. All four of us loved to cook, so we would get a little high and cook, cook, cook. Or bake, sometimes. I probably made 5 zillion mile high lemon meringue pies in those days, and they were always gone by the next morning (maybe that's how I ended up needing to go to the gym every blessed day now). Those days ended when I transferred from Pitt to George Washington, but not in a bad way. Just different. DC had such a different vibe than Pittsburgh, and I was living in a dorm for the first time in my life. I made some new, equally amazing friends, and was still obsessed with music, but in addition to Sonic Youth and PJ and Sebadoh, there were The Roots, and Jurassic 5 and DJ Shadow. I still love music, but it doesn't define me and dictate my social life the way it did when I was younger. I watch a lot more TV now, and spend more time eating in yummy restaurants than I do in smoky bars (smoking in bars? was there ever such a time??) watching some band. Funny how a little benign VH1 can stir up so many memories.