If You'd Told Me Ten Years Ago....

... that I'd be meeting a friend from high school for dinner in New York City, during which we'd discuss her having just received a verbal offer from a major record label to do A & R, I'd have thought you were completely insane.

But I did just this last night! My friend N from high school, who lies on the correct side of the gay marriange debate, was in town yesterday for a job interview. I haven't seen N in over a year and a half, so I was thrilled to not only see her but to celebrate with her!

Barring any paperwork or political fiascos, N will have one of the coolest jobs on the planet. Her job will be to listen to music. She will have the ability to change the lives of artists and to change all of our lives by discovering the next big thing.

It was lovely to see her, and to see just how far we've both come. We talked a lot about how many of the people we attended high school with are in my home town, drinking at the only bar in town with people they've known for a million years, making babies with each other, living a life of familiarity and comfort. There's nothing wrong with babies and houses and security and lawns and living a block from your parents.

It would, however, be entirely wrong for me, and I wonder why, given the same upbringing as these people, I chose a life so different from their lives, from my parents' lives, from the rural suburban dream. Granted, I just left my comfort zone of Boston, but I left. I wonder if it ever occurred to the kids from my graduating class to leave. Did they want to and just couldn't? Or did they stay because they really didn't want anything else?

I guess its just hard to shake the suburban dream. Like I said, if you told me when I was 15 that I'd be working in New York City, I probably would have collapsed into a fit of anxiety. Back then, Boston was too large to comprehend.

And now I am hanging out in NYC with old friends. We're so different now in our city clothes and better hair. We still talk about music but its different now because we're in it. We no longer look at it, and the rest of life, from a distance. I am so psyched I triumped over my suburban upbringing!!! But, I do miss trees and soft surfaces.

Nevertheless, being a grownup rules. As does hanging out with N.

Trivia question: Does anyone who isn't N, without looking it up, know what A & R stands for? I thought I knew, but apparently never did, because when she told me it was completely and utterly foreign.