What is Nostalgic to me…

What makes you feel nostalgic?

The smell of freshly cut Green Grass that reminds me of a time, or a place from my childhood.

When I step outside and immediately smell that there is a fire burning somewhere, however there is no visible smoke giving way to it’s location.

When I’m walking past a group of people who I do not know and I catch the oh so familial scent of Acqua Di Gio, by Giorgio Armani. I’m brought back to my high school boyfriend.

When I hear a song that was overplayed in the early 2000’s.

When I hear “Candy Shop” by 50 cent, I think of 2 places in my history.

The First, being in my childhood friend Cady’s basement in 2003. We had the Boom Box Blasting my new 50 cent CD while we straightened our hair with the iron her mother ironed her Fancy clothes with. We had Gatorade bottles filled with Smirnoff Vodka and Coke bottles filled to the rim with 151 and coke. Her Prank call voice changer phone on the side table, off of its dock.

The second was in or around 2005. It was a very snowy time of year. Maybe even a week of blizzards. We had been snowed in for at least 3 days at this point. Getting ready in my basement bedroom. One at a time we would lay directly on my floor flat on our backs, hair fanned out onto a bathroom towel, while the other ironed the hair as if we were creasing our Jeans. ( Weathervane and Hollister Jeans did not need creases, no they were the coolest just as they were; super low rise, tight fitted and ripped to shreds at the knees). Getting ready for our friends David, Kev, & Andrew to come pick us up in their dads cool, loud, Monster Pick Up Truck. They pulled into my parking lot and without a beat, came barreling toward us in donuts and fishtails. My friends & I climbed up into the enormous monster Truck and before we shut the door behind us, we were already mid-circle. Around and around this monster truck spun. Driving through the town’s center we fishtailed nearly the whole way, like it was perfectly normal to do. We were laughing so hard. A ride that was normally 7 minutes, took us 45 minutes. Then we’d jump out at their house, go inside to our already made already mixed 100 proof drinks. My temperature would rise so fast that before anyone could notice, I’d sneak out the front porch door and plop myself right into a bushel of snow.. cooling off, trying not to be found. Inside I could hear 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” starting to play over the speakers, and before the beat dropped, I was being carried into the front room, placed directly in front of a burning fire place. I remember feeling afraid, but there was no reason why… not one that I can remember anyways. I remember leaving someone a message, prank dialing, drunk dialing, all of these phone numbers, just to cause a distraction. All of that somehow led us to a drunken, angry, violent ride to Weymouth, and we weren’t listening to 50 cent anymore. No this wasn’t Pitbull, or Fat Joe or even Lloyd Banks… this was some other Spanish or Mexican Pappii who was going HARD…and even though I did not know what he was saying.. I knew he was getting us amped up for a fight.

That is nostalgia. That is impressive. It’s impressive that one song can bring back such a vivid, powerful, memory.

“In da Club” by 50 cent also reminds me of this time. More so, it reminds me of my best friend at the time, Candi.

“Hey Ya”, and “Ms. Jackson”, by Outkast both bring me back to my friend Courtney’s pool parties.

Snoop’s “Drop it like its hot”, brings me back to high school parties at Kara’s. Not the party parties, but the “Crew’s” parties that took place between both of the bedrooms at the top of the narrow stairs. The ones with the pee pot tucked into the large, 7 minutes in heaven, walk-in closet that seemed big enough to hold everyone’s secrets.

” Grindin’ “, and pretty much anything else Clipse, brings me back to the hotel parties. The one’s we would advertise go around the high school cafeteria collecting left over lunch money ‘, brings me back to the hotel parties. The one’s we would advertise by going around the high school cafeteria lunch tables collecting left over lunch money and change to throw down.

Although these songs may not have been released during these times, they were much over played at the time, and whenever I hear even just a small bit of lyrics or a beat, I am brought back to those moments.

That, is nostalgia.