I got back on AIM again, sent two IMs, then it quit on me again. I think I'm gonna give up for now.

No problem. I figured that you probably weren't receiving my messages.

me too, vw

I like both dresses, but A a little more than B.

I used to list Walnut Creek as my birthlace because that's where the hospital was, but Martinez is my hometown. I don't know any place inside and out, though - maybe Chico, where I did grad school, but it never had a homey feeling.

I think the necklace and the sash really make dress A, so if you would have those, cool. Otherwise I'd pick B.

All of these are good points. Thanks all!

do other people not have a hometown?

I do. Not that I fit in there very well, but I love the surrounding farmland very much. As much as I hate the small-mindedness of the place, the physical presence is very much a part of my heart. My parents still live in the house I grew up in so it's a comfortable place for me. All of my sisters live within 10 miles of my folks so that makes it nice for me, too.

I've really only lived in three other towns/cities besides that so I don't have any other place I'm rooted to.

I guess I'd say Hartford, CT is where I grew up. But we moved at 13, to a suburb, and that's where my parents still live, so Vernon is what I scorned and where I schemed to escape as a teenager.

I have fond memories of Hartford (a city girl even then) but hated/still hate Vernon. Boring, boring stupid ass suburb.

But last year, I moved to a house that is less than 1 mile away from the hospital where my mother was born, and I now travel in her old routes. Sometime I pass the house she grew up in (in Hamilton) without even meaning to. So Salem has a historical pull for me, which frankly, freaks me the fuck out. It's like this town being my home was programmed in my genes.

What a weird weekend. I can't believe I start my new job tomorrow. I mean, I know it will be fine, but it makes me nervous to know that I'm going to go to work tomorrow and not know what I'm doing!

My hometown (and where I was born) is Edinburgh, Scotland. My visit there at the end of May was like putting on a favourite shirt. I was instantly comfortable.

I don't have a place like this, or the way ita feels going back to Jamaica.

I've lived in San Francisco far longer than any place else in my life, and I do love it and it is home. But it's not hometown. It's the place where I became my adult self.

My child self places were all blown away in Hurricane Andrew.

insent to Ple.

Skipped about five brazillian messages to say that I am home, time in Michigan was wonderful, I am somewhat tanned, and am now acatchin' up on life before starting my new job tomorrow.