I miss Miami.
I loved living in Miami. My god, when I lived in housing at FIU on North Miami Beach.. I was having the time of my life. When I went to visit home, I would feel agitated, irritable, and very anxious to get back to Miami. I was never homesick for "home," but I sure got homesick for Miami.
I don't know what it is about Miami, but I knew I wanted to stay. The absolute pleasure of just living there would bring Bjork's words to my head, "This is where I'm staying.. This is my home."
When you're driving in to North Miami on I-75, there's this wealth of roads and ramps everywhere, y'know where there's like 5 layers of ramps on top of each other.. I love that.. and when you get off the last off-ramp exit from 826 to North Miami Beach.. And there was that big Coppertone billboard, been there for years, with the girl, and the dog pulling on her underpants or swimsuit or whatever it is. It's just so classic.. and I loved seeing it everytime.
And I miss it..
I miss the bridge that takes you over to South Beach, which is lit up with purple lights underneath at night. Driving over it one night with some people, one person noted it and said, "Only in Miami.." That just stuck with me.. I miss I-95 and driving on it through downtown Miami. As you did, you would see the metro-rail running through the city, and, again, lit up with glowing lights, purple and pink and stuff like that, at night.
There was Lincoln Road Mall, a beautiful outdoor area to walk around in on South Beach. And Aventura Mall.
In Miami, it's like you're living in a city and living on the beach at the same time. Best of both worlds. And Key West was just a couple hours away. You could take a vacation every weekend. A vacation right in your backyard.
And there's so much culture in Miami. It's like a different world down there. There's Little Havana and Little Haiti and Little whatever else..
Miami was just inspiring to me. Not South Miami, mind you.. but North Miami. I shouldn't have left. I was only beginning to explore the city..
But.. I wanna live in a place that people sing about. Obviously, Miami is one of those places. Or there's New York, or Chicago, or New Orleans.. I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere.. and that's where I feel like, living in Orlando. Everybody thinks, "Ooo, Disney.." and all that, but, really.. Orlando is in the middle of nowhere. I keep looking and looking for some kind of inspiration in this city, but.. I can't find any. Over on the west side of Orlando, it's much too touristy and gimicky over there. Here, on the east side, there's just a lot of nothingness. I mean, take a drive on the eastern stretch of Curry Ford. It's fucking scary to drive through at night, you can't see a dang thing while you're in the middle of nowhere.
But Orlando is a baby city. It looks like they're in the middle of some massive developing. New stores are popping up everywhere, as well as new homes. And some of those new homes.. my god, what's up with this boxy, flat, pastel-look that they're designing. What's wrong with the designers in Orlando? Have they no taste? And I thought that art deco style in Miami was bad.. sheesh..
I won't even mention anymore what an eyesore the UCF campus is.
And I'm sorry if my eyes desire beauty.. and inspiration..
Aaron and I talked about moving to New York after this. That, I would look forward to. Living in a flat in the city. He, finally back to working in film.. It sounds like a beautiful future.. Living in New York.. Mmm.. I've always loved New York..
LJ