Mmmmm... tastes like New Jersey...

And NO, New Jersey does NOT taste like sewer water and petroleum products... I swear, trying to convince people that the "New Jersey is nothing but concrete and oil refineries" stereotype is untrue and unfair is almost as difficult as trying to convince people that the "Republicans are all a bunch of hateful, racist, violent, rednecks" stereotype is untrue and unfair. I guess in both cases, people just believe whatever they're fed through the magic box with the little moving pictures inside it... if the TV tells you so, it must be true... never mind critical thinking or open-mindedness... (Sorry, but it's been a ridiculous week with the media -- I could definitely go on another rant, but I'll try to restrain myself for now... :))

No, no -- New Jersey, for those who are truly interested, tastes like Dunkin Donuts hazelnut coffee with milk and sugar. Yuuuum. Okay, I'm sure different people associate different tastes with the Garden State, but for me, the one thing that immediately takes me back to our awesome house with the huge picture windows and the purple-carpeted media room is Dunkin Donuts hazelnut coffee. Back when we lived there, we used to frequent the Dunkin Donuts in the Exxon station down the street -- we were a good half hour away from a Starbucks. (And that's if we wanted to chance going to the one in the Albertson's grocery store, which was NOT a "real" Starbucks... in fact, Rick once hated his Albertson's Starbucks coffee so much he literally spit it out onto the sidewalk... Sadly, he was with my dad at the time, not me, so I was not a witness to this event... but I have relished the oft-repeated tale and laughed in amusement many times... I'm sure Rick was NOT amused when it happened, but c'mon, it's funny NOW... :))

So in lieu of our favorite frou frou coffee shop, Dunkin Donuts was an excellent back up. We would always stop in and say hello to the sweet Indian family who ran the shop, and they'd have our coffee ready before we even got to the counter. And my mom would always require my presence if she went into the store, because apparently for some reason I'm really good at understanding heavily-accented English?? I don't know what that's about... Although I suspect it has something to do with being a quiet person... seriously -- because as a quiet person, I'm much more attuned to non-verbal communication than most people. Sometimes you can tell what someone is trying to say just by paying attention to the situation and the surroundings, and then matching it up with whatever sounds you happen to hear. For instance, if you're in a restaurant, and you've just been seated, and a waiter comes over and gestures in an inquisitive way and says, "I have a kite and some ink," well, you can probably be pretty certain that you heard wrong. BUT, you COULD probably figure out that he asked if "you'd like something to drink," because, well, that's almost always the first thing waiters ask when you sit down at a table.

Wow... I have no idea where I was going with that. (This is one of those posts that really lives up to my "random tangets" blog title... :)) I think my original point was that yesterday, while Rick and I were out and about, we decided to eschew our usual cappuccinos at Starbucks and hit up a Dunkin Donuts. I got my old standby -- hazelnut with milk and sugar -- and as soon as I took one sip, I was momentarily transported back to New Jersey. And occasionally, I really DO miss New Jersey -- especially this time of year, when baseball is about to start again. Next week (next week?!?) is opening day, and tonight is our hastily scheduled, impromptu, online fantasy baseball draft. (Things are a little unorganized this year...)

So I'm off to make a quick dinner and then head upstairs with my laptop to scrape up some semblance of a fantasy team... I don't have high hopes for this year, but who knows. The important thing is -- baseball is back!!! :)