Prom Part 2: The Promenade

Please see Part 1: Prom Preparation before reading this.

After the debacle inside, I grabbed Allen and ran to the limo as fast as my high heeled shoes would carry me. But I was stopped by The Kapu.

The Kapu ("gate" in Hungarian) is the front gate to our home. This gate remains locked at all times to "guard the fortress," despite the fact that my family lives in a 1920's 435 square foot, 1-bedroom house next to a ton of brand-new bi-levels and colonial homes. Coming to and leaving the house has been an issue my whole life because of The Kapu. Mom said it was to protect us from “crazy psycho killers.” The way I see it, crazy psycho serial killers are probably good at three things: psycho killing, gym class, and hoping fences. Why bother?

So as usual, I had to wait for Nagymama to come out with her key to unlock the fence as my entire prom party watched from the parked limousine. I started getting anxious; I was sure that the sight of two young adults in formal-wear getting locked...
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Velcome Back to Piscataway

Part 2 of the exploration of my former New Jersey abode. Please watch Part 1 first :)

Thank you to my family who, despite not quite understanding the whole "filmmaking thing," has a good sense-of-humor and deals with me!

Thank you to Cameraman Matt for his assistance with capturing our family events on film (and braving our "little castle," as my mom likes to call it.)

Songs used:

J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

Elvis Presley: "Jail House Rock"

Mannheim Steamroller: X-Files Theme Song

Prom Part 1: Prom Preparation

I was thrilled one day when my friend Allen, a Senior at the time, asked me to go to the prom with him. But there was an issue with getting a prom dress. I didn't come from a ton of money, so the idea of spending between $100-$250 on a dress you would never wear again was ridiculous. But my aunt was the queen of savings and a great seamstress, so we figured we could just find a discount gown and she would "make it work."

I probably tried on about 500 fuchsia-sequin encrusted-lace-imbibed dresses before I found "The Black Dress." The dress actually reached to my ankles (which was a difficult feat, being 5'11") and had amazing rhinestone spaghetti straps. And it was on clearance $19.95. I had struck gold!

Somehow, my aunt convinced me to buy it a few sizes too big because I was "still growing," and I had six months before the prom. She assured me that she would alter the dress on the night before the prom so I could have a perfect fit.

Unfortunately, my aunt sewed couch cushions, not dresses, and business...
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Nagymama Featured on MySpace

So, I was sitting at my computer, during lunch, stuffing my face with oatmeal raisin cookies, when I went to send a friend a "Happy Birthday" message because MySpace, being the life saver that it is sometimes, reminded me that I am a horrible friend and missed a birthday. And I was a little surprised to see a TON of messages on my account. I was confused. Did people on YouTube "google" me and find my Myspace?

And then I actually used the eyeballs in my freakin' head and looked two inches to the right. This is what I saw:



Let me tell you, I uploaded this video on there about a year ago, with NO TAGS, NO DESCRIPTION - I think a friend from my mom's church wanted to see it and the easiest way I could get it to her was through MySpace. So, I forgot I even had it up there! I guess someone noticed!

You know, originally, I was going to make my personal MySpace the only place on the internet where I would have "friends only," i.e. people I actually knew...because who the heck would really want to read me ranting about bad drivers or...
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The Lake House (vs. The Doll House)

(Please see Part 1, The Doll House, before reading this entry).

My aunt’s lake house in North Jersey was always the highlight of my summers. On the way down, we would always stop at this cute little homemade ice cream shop at the side of the road. Despite my mother’s protests, my aunt always ordered me a two-scoop Black Raspberry ice cream on a sugar cone. Normally, mom usually wouldn’t let me get “red colored” ice cream or italian ice because she was afraid I would stain my clothes, and she wouldn’t allow me to get sugar or waffle cones because she was afraid they would break my teeth. Needless to say, I still hate vanilla ice cream and “cake cones” to this day.

On this particular afternoon, I wolfed down the ice cream as fast as I could, and between brain freezes, I begged my family to get back in the car.

My mother rolled her eyes. “Vait vait, don’t vorry, you’ll get to play the Candyland soon.”

Normally, I was thrilled to go to the lake house because I got to...
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