Nothing, I think, will quite compare to

hopping in "my" car on an unseasonably warm spring day and driving from Westlake in the general direction of downtown Cleveland. There are nostalgic bits about high school, but that's a rather big one.

Before I go on, understand that "nothing compares to" doesn't mean "nothing is better than." They're just different. You don't have to rank all of your experiences in a numerical order (this is something I have yet to fully appreciate, but I'm working on it).

Point is, driving around in high school. I mean, of course, you've got the basic "OMG I have my driver's license!" sort of nonsense, and everyone gets that a little bit, and for good reason. There's some grand sort of independence there, even moreso for those of us who were lucky enough to have a car available (geez! a family of 4 with 3 cars! I've always thought that was a little excessive. But ultimately, I think it was worth it, because if you live in the suburbs, you can't get anywhere without driving.) Anyway, whenever I get in a car (granted, now it's a 2000 green Toyota Corolla, not a 1994 silver Pontiac Grand Am) and drive around, with the radio on 88.3 WBWC (which kind of sucks a lot now) I'm back in junior year, driving to my friends' houses (usually about 30-45 minutes away...), Circus Company shows, or filming my Spanish video.

Speaking of which, I have such great memories of making that Spanish video- along with Ed, Jose, and marginally Jeff- mostly Ed and Jose. We drove all over Cleveland, filming "Don Quixote en Cleveland", featuring a scene where I was "jousting" with some 20-foot high stone statues on a highway, as well as a scene where Ed walks into a McDonald's wearing a mask that looks like our Spanish teacher- it was priceless. Of course we won first prize- the $50 prize just paid for all the dumb crap we bought for it. That, and I incurred the disapproval of one of my best friends' parents by assuming we could borrow their video camera without really asking. Whatever. Of all the things I did in high school, that's one of the ones I'm most proud of.

I really expected a "nostalgia blast" entry. Course, I was waiting until I could go back and visit my high school, which I didn't get a chance to do this week (no car, etc). Oh well, enjoy this little slice of my nostalgia pie, this little peek into what's in the "good memories" section of my mind.