Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about where you're at.

THE PROMPT: "Tell us about the area you live in."

Good evening everyone! Before I get started, I want to thank Thundersbeard 30DBC JULY HOST for the Computers MB he awarded me for the entry about 3-D printers...I appreciate it, sir! Now, onto today's prompt...

A few "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" s back we were asked to write a similar entry (in fact, I think I was asked to come up with it...back when we were assigned days to come up with the prompt). I wrote about the great city of Buffalo, NY, where I was born. I chose Buffalo for a few reasons. I never tell people from other places that I'm from New York, because they always assume New York City. Well, I couldn't be further away from NYC and still be in New York, really. Unless I ended up in Lake Erie...no thank you. The second reason is that Buffalo's got some notoriety around the states, so people have a slight bit of familiarity. At one time, it was I believe the 4th largest city in the U.S., if you can believe that. Of course, there may not have also been 50 states at the time, but who's counting?

So while being born in Buffalo is great and all, I'm a straight-up suburban kid. I grew up and spent about half my life in Cheektowaga, a first-ring suburb 10 minutes from the city line. From there I moved to the village of Depew, which is actually located in parts of Cheektowaga and where I currently live, which is in Lancaster. But it's still Western New York, and this ring of suburbs will still be Buffalo to me.

So let's talk about Lancaster. There's the village of Lancaster, and the town of Lancaster. I'm in the village, and have been for about two years. I can't say I know it like the back of my hand yet, but maybe someday. The differences between the town and the village? Easy. Let me break it down like this:

TOWN: It used to be more rural, but now it's mostly newer sub-divisions. More stretched out. Roads have faster speed limits. There's less to do, in my opinion. And it's further away from the city.

VILLAGE: It definitely has an older feel to it. There are real neighborhoods with old houses that people still take pride in, as opposed to cookie-cutter subdivisions. The main strip in the village, Central Ave., looks almost the same as it probably did 40 or 60 years ago, but has a few more abandoned storefronts these days. Back in the day there was a department store even, but that's long gone. But there's still shops, boutiques, delicatessens and fun things to do with family.

And there's always fun things in the summer...the Fourth of July carnival and festivities, The Taste of Lancaster (where local shops sell samples of their menu and compete for awards), the annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, the Farmers' Market every weekend in the summer, and more. But I'd venture to say the biggest week in the village might be Homecoming Week at the high school. Shops deck themselves out in the school's colors (red and black) and kids do their sprit week traditions in school, leading up to the big football game with crosstown rival, Depew.

It's one of the maybe three or four biggest rivalries in the area. And it's one of the longest-running too. I've been to a couple of the games, and no matter how the teams are doing that year, they're always intense...some of the most intense I've ever seen. But I never picked a side, even when I was lucky enough to have dated a few lucky ladies at each school (and justjessica1 herself is a Lancaster girl). Why couldn't I pick a side, the Lancaster Redskins or the Depew Wildcats (where a lot of my extended family wore blue and white)? Because I still bleed maroon and gold for my Cheektowaga Warriors, almost 20 years after graduating.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I could totally relate to this. It brings me back to parts of my life I'll never forget. Can't wait to see them live for the first time...a week and a half to go! Two songs in one video...and both speak to their respective hometown.

VITAL STATS:

Ahhh, retail hell...not quite today, but I doubt there's a retail heaven somewhere in this twisted existence of employment. Had to walk home from work due to a scheduling change and some miscommunication, and it wasn't so bad. 'Bout halfway home one of the kids texted me and asked me if I was home, which, obviously, I wasn't, but he offered to have his girlfriend pick me up. Good thing...as soon as I got in the car there was a beautiful sunshower that would've had me drenched by the time I got home, even if it was a quick one.

And that's all I'm gonna bleed out today...I'll save the rest for myself in other areas because, well, my plate's full and I wouldn't know where to begin. So peace, love each other, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!