Ashley Harrell

Quite strange leaving a city you have lived in for five years. Yesterday I packed up the car and drove north. You know that stretch just past Pismo, the last time you see the Pacific? As I curved around the highway, I kept craning my neck to take one… last… glimpse. It was right as the sun was beginning to go down – simply beautiful. Well, the “Santa Barbara Years” (part one, at least) are now officially over. I’m back in my childhood room in lovely Alamo, CA. Today was quite crazy as my NYC housemates began the dreadful “apartment search.” UGGGGHHHH…. This topic drives me absolutely insane. Basically, they found a GEM of an apartment on the Upper West Side (well, the easternmost section – right above Central Park) – but we didn’t all agree that it was the winning choice. How crazy is that to find a great place on your first day of searching? I think it’s a little like Blackjack. You get a Queen followed by a seven, but you’re inclined to ask for another card. Will you sink or swim? Now we’re all second guessing each others’ intentions. [Insert four-letter word here.] It’s so stressful not being in the midst of it all – I wish we were all there together. Now I’m just spending every waking moment on Craigslist – trying to find that exact apartment in a more “hip” neighborhood…. Call me pessimistic, call me a downer – it’s reality and I’m a realist. We should settle with the Queen and the seven. On a completely unrelated note – check out the new EP “Is Is” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.