Dirty Dancing in the Catskills

Today my boyfriend and I drove home in separate matching '86 white Volvo sedans from Western Massachusetts. I followed him or he followed me for four hours, and it was a lovely trip. Nothing makes you feel more free than the open road. Especially when you can sing as loud and off key as you want, and no one will care. Why did we have matching cars? Long story, too boring for the blog.

I discovered this weekend that the Catskill Mountains were like this Jewish version of the Hamptons (I use the past tense because hopefully, the Jews are allowed in the Hamptons now.) And that Dirty Dancing, which took place there, was pretty much dead-on. Josh's father worked at one of those hotels, and he attests to the authenticity of the movie. Additionally, the more time Josh and I spend with his parents, the more I realize how much I have to learn about Jewish culture. We had an entire conversation in the car, Josh, his parents and myself, about circumcision. The first penis I've ever had "relations" with was uncircumcised, and I pretty much forgot about that nightmare and the fold about short while after. This was, of course, information that I did not disclose, seeing as though Josh technically only half a Jew and circumcised.

Meanwhile, on the 80's Coming of Age Movie Soundtrack mix, I've rediscovered the awesomeness of Love is Strange. I, like I'm sure most girls my age, watched Dirty Dancing a hundred thousand times when it came out, and the songs will forever be burned in my brain. This came up before Josh and I started dating and he included Be My Baby on a mixtape he made for me. At this point, he had done absolutely nothing to make me think that he liked me. Except force me to answer questions for his documentary for three or four times a week, and include a song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the mix. It drove me absolutely insane for weeks, spending more time analysing weather or not the inclusion of that song meant he wanted me or not than on the relationship I was in at the time! Clearly, it meant he wanted me.

Anyway, Love is Strange is a great song from the soundtrack that you don't hear at all outside of the soundtrack. The opposite of Stand by Me, from Stand by Me.

Spending the majority of my weekend with his parents was great- they, like many of my other friend's parents, are extremely easy to be around, and very loving. I got spoiled hearing Josh talk about me to his parents, "Amanda does all of my first edits," and "Amanda is very sensitive about how friendly the service is." We opted against our better judgement to fool around while his parents were two doors down, and probably drank too much at dinner. Later, after we crossed the glorious Piscatiqua River bridge and eventually arrived in Portland, we slow danced in his office, just like when we first met.

Hopefully this doesn't become a blog about my relationship... Coming Soon: a tentative playlist for the 80's mix, and details about the awesome 80's party we'll throw to celebrate it.