Beantown or Bust

I tell people I'm from Orlando. All of us do. The second the word "Celebration" escapes your lips you start to raise some serious questions. Yes, Celebration, Florida is a real place. Yes, I grew up on Disney property. No, I am not Animatronic.

 I'd probably be better off if I was.

 I moved to Celebration when I was 11, right as the school was being built and Walt Disney's picture was still up on the wall. Celebration was designed to be the real EPCOT--an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, where everyone could work, eat, sleep, and die all in the same place without ever leaving. We had white picket fences and field trips to the theme parks. We had a graduating class of 60-something, most of whom I know well and still see when I visit. I am pushing 24, but sometimes I feel like I grew up in the 1950's. I remember leaving campus to get glass Coke bottles from the grocery store on the corner. I could sit out by the lake at night without being worried.

And then I moved to Somerville.

I decided I needed to get out and experience the world during grad school. I'd always wanted to come to Boston. Mainly, I blame Celebration's Town Tavern, which was the only place in town to hang out once you turned 21. The Tavern was like a home away from home, with Celtics and Red Sox gear on the walls and the "Boston Garden" patio. It seemed so great, but I forgot to take two factors into account. 1) I was always drunk when I was there. 2) We had the heat lamps on once it reached 60 degrees. So did I know what I was in for? No. Not really. Definitely no.

But there are always parts of my new place that will remind me of home.

My new apartment in Somerville is a lot like a real world version of Fantasia, mainly because it involves a lot of flooding and oversized rodents. And I can always go to Johnnie's Foodmaster and buy a pizza shaped like Mickey. It's a lot like the Mickey-shaped ice cream bars from the theme park, except it tastes like s**t.

Overall, my reaction to being here is a lot like your reaction would be to pulling up on Celebration Avenue.

Where the hell am I?