My Dreams…

Perhaps I am unusual in that I don’t have only one dream, and that my dreams have changed over the years. While growing up, all I ever wanted was to live in Southern California where it’s warm and sunny year round and you can hang out with celebrities or go to the beach. Today I am a little less star-struck, and not as big a fan of the beach, but still wouldn’t mind spending my summers near Venice Beach. It looks as exciting a place to be as anywhere with its vibrant and colorful boardwalk not to mention the eccentric characters that frequent it. At least this is the impression I get from seeing it on television. However, I would definitely not want to drive in the city knowing how horrific the traffic is, not to mention all the smog created in part by the many cars on the road.

Being that the weather is a little more pleasant up north and there’s more to do culturally, I wouldn’t mind having one of the “painted ladies” to live in while I perhaps have a job at a place like the City Lights bookstore. At least one room in my house (like the dining room just off the kitchen) needs to be an exposed brick wall, because I just love the look. I would also require one room set aside as a library complete with a ladder and a chaise lounge on which to stretch out and read.

At the heart of it, I think I am really more of an East Coast girl preferring to be closer to Europe. Also, I quite like experiencing different seasons. If I had to choose where to live on the East Coast it would be New York City hands down. However, having visited there, I can appreciate how manic the city is and how tight living quarters are. But, this being a dream, I would want to live in a spacious (with perhaps 3 bedrooms) apartment with a view of Central Park. I would also want enough money to be able to see at least one Broadway play a month if I wanted. Dream job – either a successful author or work in publishing proofreading manuscripts.

I also sometimes dream of life as a college English literature professor at somewhere like Princeton or Yale where I have a brood of children and we live in a nice big house in Connecticut. The children grow up and have families of their own and come back to visit me like in the movies “The Family Stone,” “Dan in Real Life” or “Bed of Roses.”

Having lived in England after getting married, sometimes I dream about retiring there. I like the idea of living in a small village and knowing your neighbors, but it would have to be somewhere where there’s a decent bus service since I probably wouldn’t be driving. Among other things, I think I would enjoy having a small garden and going to work in a charity shop where I have first dibs on peoples’ old cast-offs. Of course I would pay for everything, but it’s still fun getting to have a first look.

I also think it would be nice to have an apartment on the South Bank (London) where you’re close to the National Film Theatre and a short walk to the Millennium Bridge and over to the Tate Modern. However, like in NYC, I don’t fancy the crowds and rush hour on the tube, but in my ideal world I wouldn’t have to work at peak hours.