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A sense memory.
Apr. 5th, 2007 08:47 pmChili Fries.
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs' Chili Fries.
I was re-admitted to my studies at Columbia as a sophomore, after a year off to get my head together. There were a few stipulations to my return, though. I would be on academic probation, and I wouldn't be allowed to live in the dorms. Columbia guarantees housing for all four years of undergrad.... unless you leave in the middle.
The end result? I commuted from my parents' place on Long Island. 75 minutes each way with one or two train changes, depending on timing. Over that year, I settled into a routine which would usually see me at Penn Station at around 7:50pm, 30 minutes before my train home. This was enough time to grab dinner, browse a newsstand or two, and spend 5 minutes craning my neck to look at the track board like everyone else who was wondering where their train was.
What was dinner? Ah, yes. Dinner in Penn Station. So many different kinds of things that were very filling and really weren't all that good for you, but what did I care? I was 19 years old and still had a metabolism. Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs still has the best french fries in the world, to my mind. They're the steak fries that are flash-fried in really hot oil so when they come out they're still mostly potato-like. Throw a bit of salt on those, and you have this starchy-earthy-salty-tasty treat. Then raise it a level by throwing on a heap of meat-and-bean chili concoction for texture, meatiness, and enough sodium to kill a big thing. $2.59 + tax.
It was dinner. It was warm. It was routine. It was one of the small comforts that kept me from going completely mad during the second half of the two loneliest years of my life.
...and it was damn tasty.
Assignment: Your turn. Write about a particularly vivid sense memory, and its context.
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs' Chili Fries.
I was re-admitted to my studies at Columbia as a sophomore, after a year off to get my head together. There were a few stipulations to my return, though. I would be on academic probation, and I wouldn't be allowed to live in the dorms. Columbia guarantees housing for all four years of undergrad.... unless you leave in the middle.
The end result? I commuted from my parents' place on Long Island. 75 minutes each way with one or two train changes, depending on timing. Over that year, I settled into a routine which would usually see me at Penn Station at around 7:50pm, 30 minutes before my train home. This was enough time to grab dinner, browse a newsstand or two, and spend 5 minutes craning my neck to look at the track board like everyone else who was wondering where their train was.
What was dinner? Ah, yes. Dinner in Penn Station. So many different kinds of things that were very filling and really weren't all that good for you, but what did I care? I was 19 years old and still had a metabolism. Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs still has the best french fries in the world, to my mind. They're the steak fries that are flash-fried in really hot oil so when they come out they're still mostly potato-like. Throw a bit of salt on those, and you have this starchy-earthy-salty-tasty treat. Then raise it a level by throwing on a heap of meat-and-bean chili concoction for texture, meatiness, and enough sodium to kill a big thing. $2.59 + tax.
It was dinner. It was warm. It was routine. It was one of the small comforts that kept me from going completely mad during the second half of the two loneliest years of my life.
...and it was damn tasty.
Assignment: Your turn. Write about a particularly vivid sense memory, and its context.
