that "you know you're from..." meme

[salixbabylon]

I took me forever to find one that was my hometown that was a list, not a blog (couldn't find one for Northern California). Not that you were waiting, but it bugged me. So:

1.) Go to google and type in "You know you're from [your location] when..."
2.) Cut and paste the list
3.) Bold or italicize items that apply to you.



You are a true SC local if:

You know The Pink Umbrella Man by name and you've waved/ had a conversation with him.

Sandals/ bare feet are acceptable in any season.

(It is actually COLD and RAINY for 4 months!)

You have been to a movie at the Rio or Del Mar theatre.

You're parents YOU still refer to "Downtown" as the "Pacific Garden Mall".

You have been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk a billion times and its still fun to ride The Giant Dipper.

You know that 'The Big Dipper', as everyone calls it, is actually called 'The Giant Dipper'.

You have worked at the Boardwalk (and if you haven't, you probably will at some point).

(Lots of friends, but not me.)

You know where the "cookie outlet" is and you wouldn't dare tell a soul... especially not an out-of-towner.

You have been to, have seen bumper stickers for, or live next to 'The Mystery Spot'.

You know the date of the National Pot Smoking day.

You've played in the tide pools.

You go away for college and get cabin fever from not being able to hear the ocean at night.

(I came here for college and stayed)

You know that The Catalyst has nothing to do with Chemistry and you have been there or at least have walked by it.

You buy your books at Bookshop Santa Cruz or Logos.

You have attended the Greek Festival that appears every year by the Santa Cruz Public Library.

The term "fish hook" has nothing to do with fishing.

You've been hanging out at and climbing on the grey whale since you were 5 years old and continue to sometimes. You have even taken a picture with it… for some with their 1st grade class.

(It's still on my to-do list)

You know that parking/ driving downtown is a bitch.

You know where all the free parking lots are by heart and drive through them multiple times so you don't have to pay for parking.

You avoid driving around the boardwalk during the summer months in fear of getting caught in hours of traffic.

You love that rock on Seabright by the cave. Yeah, you know the one. The ROCK.

(???)

You know what I'm talking about when I say "The big red ball thing that's kinda by the only museum that is downtown that is fun to play on."

You are extremely entertained just by walking around downtown Santa Cruz and observing. It is clearly a productive way to spend your time.

You have attended at leased one show or performance by Cabrillo theatre/ UCSC/ Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

You have waited in line for the midnight movie at the Del Mar.

You use your beach cruiser as a main form of transportation.

(???)

You go to the beach to relax during your breaks.

When tourists ask you where the beach is...you tell them kindly to take highway 1 north then merge onto 17 north… You can't miss it. (Not nice, but at some points necessary.)

(OK, she's a kid *and* a bitch)

You know there is WAY better coffee out there than Starbucks could ever provide you with.

You notice there are separate garbages for paper, plastic, aluminum, glass and normal garbage inside restaurants.

When away, you get withdrawal symptoms from the food of the Bagelry, Vallarta, Chill out, Pleasure Pizza, and other Santa Cruz favs.

At every restaurant there is a vegetarian, vegan, and/or organic part of the menu.

You walk into a shop not wearing shoes or a bra. Or at least have seen someone else do this.

You have bought an entire outfit or at least an article of clothing that is made of hemp.

You have bought an entire outfit or at least an article of clothing from one of the fine thrift stores Downtown.

You buy your cds and other music needs at Streetlight Records.

You have been Disc Golfing.

(???)

You have been to Tacos Moreno... PERIOD!

You know the Accordion Man and have seen his plethora of spandex outfits.

You know you can almost set your watch by the fog breaking before 1 pm.

You know you are from Santa Cruz (and you're kinda old) if you used to hang out at the Cooper House and listen to music.

You have had your fortune told by one of the fortune tellers that sometimes offer their services on the Pacific Garden Mall.

You see people walking around in complete tie-dye and don't even think twice about it.

You know who Oscar is.

You have been inside the Bookshop Santa Cruz and have bought something there.

You consider a 10 minute drive to get to a party is considered a barge.

(???)

You have gone to the Chocolat (Bookshop Santa Cruz Café) and have shared a large chocolate orgy with your friends. : )

You know that Marianne's is the best ice cream place in town!

You have stared at Marianne's wall paper and have noticed there are little black bubble encircling the cows that have lips, sneakers, hats, and sunglasses (often times a microphone).

You have signed a petition just to get the petitioner to stop hassling you.

You know that the pedestrians have the ride away and take that to your advantage.

You know you're from Santa Cruz when "right of way" is so meaningless to you that you call it "ride away".

(Sometimes my eyes bleed from grammar decay)

Cross walks? Naw, you know you can cross anywhere you want.

You've gone to Saturn cafe for dessert sometime between 12 and 2 in the morning.

You know what and where Paula's is, and have had the basic breakfast.

You have sat on, given a flower to, and/or have gotten your picture taken with the statue of Tom Scribbner in front of Book Shop Santa Cruz.

You have seen 'The Mystery Machine' driving around.

You used to know the guy who spoke to the clock tower.

You have gone to see the sea lions at the wharf.

You have attended, seen, or walked in the Gay Pride Parade.

You know that surf bowl was a million times better than stupid boardwalk bowl.

You have come to realize that nude people are just a part of life... nothing peculiar.

You have been blessed by a bum.

You want to "Keep Santa Cruz Weird".

I do, really. I LOVE my crazy, wacky, weird town full of hippies and freaks. :)

I fit right in.

Comments

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

You are definitely gonna have to share some of this with me!!

Also this: Cross walks? Naw, you know you can cross anywhere you want. TOTALLY reminds me of Gainesville!

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

Okay, I went and found one for Gainesville. There were WAY too many on here to put in a comment, so I'm just gonna post the ones that I would otherwise bold...

*Wearing a buckeye or seminole t-shirt is equal to suicide
*Homecoming week brings a wave of orange and blue
*Everyone who is anyone knows exactly whether or not Billy Donovan is staying in Gville
*You listen to Kiss 105.3 even though they overplay every song
*The only high schools you have really ever heard of are GHS, EHS, and BHS [and SFHS and Newberry sorry]
*You understand that feeling when people ask you if you are out every summer night (they never stop to think about mosquitos)
*During the summer, you will spend a record amount of 15 minutes outside every day because it is just too hot out
*Going to UF or SFCC isn't one possibility. It's the only option
*You're options when going somewhere around town stop and end at: bowling, movies, or the mall
*At least half of all the people you've ever met live in Haile Plantation
*You refer to people from the UF football team by first name
*You know at least 3 people with Tim Tebow's picture taped up in their locker
*During Football season...all people talk about on Sundays is the outcome of Saturday's game
*It is perfectly normal/reasonable for 50,000 gator fans to come watch a scrimmage (aka orange and blue game)
-you eat at the swamp or CJ's after every game the gators win (psh...a real gator parties when they don't win too....not that that happens often)
-You truly understand the meaning of Gator Bait and you know who is and isnt
- You anticipate the BHS vs GHS game and you choose which team is going to win
-you speed up really fast during the 100 feet between stoplights and then slam on your brakes beacause you think it gets you there faster.
-if you have painted the wall
-you go out of town and someone asks you where youre from, you say "gainesville florida, home of the florida gators"
-youvve seen a play at the hippodrome
-you've been on a date to the mall or the movies, and thats pretty much it.
-If someone says the gators did pretty well last year you laugh at them.
-If you never need the directory at the mall.
-you can remember the hobos downtown by name.
-the word FCAT maked you groan
-you automatically think of kids who go to oak hall as brats.
-going to publix is the most interesting thing in your day.
-you've been tubing on the itchitucknee.
-orange and blue are your favorite colors.
-you have soulja boy on your ipod.
-you refer to g-ville as Title Town
-when if you ever go to any other city you think EVERYONE is ugly.
Gainesville has some freakin beautiful people.
-You know where Tom Petty went to school
-At your local publix the wall says something like We Arnt Trying TO Be Champions The Gators Already Are.
-You have been to Payne's Prairie how many times?
-You have over 10 plastic gator cups in your cabinet from at least five different years.
-If you can point to a store/ restaraunt on University and identify the last three things that were there before that store.
-At least once in your life you've seen the two goofy juggling guys who were always at the Spring Arts Festival.
-You remember when the science and history museum was actually ON museum road and not a next to the harn!
-You know you are from Gainesville, when you remember when there was only ONE wal-mart and it wasn't open 24 hours haha
...oh and you remember the PRE-Spurrier Gators and can actually NAME players!
...and you REALLLLLLY know you're from Gainesville when a loved one dies and you inherit their football & basketball season tickets!
-You know you are from Gainesville, when you can say you have eaten at the FIRST Sonny's and know where its located without asking someone!
-You remember when Butler Plaza was nothing more than Publix and Carvel Ice Cream.
-You have a "Secret Parking Spot" for football and basketball games.
-if You have ever eaten an entire basket of Leo's rolls in one sitting.
-You see fireworks two or three times a semester for no particular reason.
-You have a buddy who knows where to get free food every night of the week.
-You ever wandered up to a party where you didn't know anyone and ended up staying all night.
-You expect to see women in bikini tops and shirts at Wal-mart.

More...

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

-You've ever gone through an enourmous pile of discarded furniture/clothing/ Cd's outside of the dorms at the end of the semester.
-You've gone to see a free speaker who was really famous three years before the lecture.
-You never heard of a "Buckeye" until a couple of years ago.
-You think the cheer "Two Bits" should only be done by a white haired guy blowing a whistle and wearing a tie.
-You have ever seen an alligator in a ditch, swimming pool, parking lot, or golf course.
-You still dream about Skeeter's and the "Asher Special".
-if you've hugged Albert & Alberta at least once in your life-time
-You know you are from Gainesville Florida if someone writes you a letter adressed to Titletown Floridia and you get it.
-you know that nothing compares to TCBY
-you've gone to see cinderella, the little match girl, the nutcracker, and or the wiz that the dance companies put on
-you lose track of the number of banks in 2 blocks
-you remember when Video For All existed
-the alachua county fair songs gets stuck in your head constantly (DEAR LORD!! IT'S STUCK IN MY HEAD NOW!!)
-you laugh at every other city in the world because they have to go to school when we have off for gator homecoming
-you drive to ocala just to get gas because its so damn expensive in gville
-you know all the words to the song Gator Bait by the Pearly Whites
-you go to butler plaza to see movies purely because they have better candy
-you can say our greatest accomplishment is Tom Petty
-you know the exact start and end to the schedule to most Gators sports
-you call the football stadium Florida Field.
-you lived in Flavet Village (Well, my grandparents did)
-you know to steer clear of Archer Road after a football game.
-you remember the Gator Getters wearing their orange cowboy hats
-you can remember hiking down Devils Millhopper before it was a state park.
-you were on the Maas Brother's teen board.
-you remember the square downtown.
-you know the administrative building downtown with the clock was the courthouse.
-when you can sing and sway while singing We Are The Boys (DUH)
-you would get a swirl icecream from Doug's dairy twirl. (DDT!!! LOVE!!)
-you know who Ken Block is and you've seen him at least once
-you remember when Iveys was also a department store at the Oaks Mall, and not just the restaurant that Stephanie & Rick own.
-you know all the names of restaurant owners in town.
-you remember when Chestnuts was on the corner of Main and University.
-you loved the fried rice at Chinee Takee Outee
-you remember when the Oaks Mall had huge oak trees beside it instead of the Oaks Mall Plaza
-you remember the old Pic N Saves
-you remember the beautiful old movie theatre on 13th street where Office Max/Applebees is now. (I'm sad that they didn't put it's name...it was the Center Theater)
-you remember when "Litchfield" theatre opened at Butler Plaza, and it was a HUGE deal.

Last one...

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

-you remember when there were multiple dollar movie theatres in town
-you've been to Dance Alive performances, or taken lessons at Pofahls
- you've gotten towed by Elite Towing(pricks)
- you see a GPD Motorcyle speed trap, you call and text everyone to Be on the look out.-you know the all of the jingles for Leonardo's Pizza!
-you laugh when people say "Me so Hooongry!!!"
-you wish that they hadn't ruined the ghetto.
-you know what happened with a taser
-every time you come back to town, you pitstop at Leonardo's By the Slice because you've been waiting for it for SO long. you also pitstop at The Swamp, the Salty Dog and the Oaks Malls, because memories and nostalgia are key.
-you went to Skeeters for the "Asher Special"
-you fondly remember blowing off school and hanging at Maas Brothers in the old Gainesville Mall
-You remember when Chaucers burned down
-You remember seeing the "Running Man" go by almost every day in EVERY PART of Gainesville in the mid-90's (and still see him and possibly honk at him)
-You played youth soccer in the field where the Butler Plaza WalMart is now.
-You remember going to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire at the Thomas Center.
-You carved your name on a table at the original Sonny's
-You couldn't understand how the rest of the US lived without a Publix when you traveled.
-You loved winter and summer breaks 'cause you could drive across town in 15 minutes or less.
-royal 16 is the best
-you know how many seats are in the stadium
-you think alley katz rocks and reitz union does not compare
-you can name 3 different parts of haile plantation
-your pets name is albert (not quite but close)
-You know where the 'french fries' are on campus.
-You can remember when N.W. 43rd Street stopped at N.W. 8th Avenue.
-You know what Road Turkey is.
-You can drive to Micanopy and pick out the exact buildings where 'Doc Hollywood' was filmed.
-You know why UF Football jersey #22 is important in UF history.
-You can name all 5 of the people on the "permanent memorial" on the 34th street wall, you get pissed when some "newbie" paints over it, and you have helped restore it when that happens.
-you were not surprised by the tazing
-you spend more time at the Springs or Lakes than at a beach.
-If you recognized most of the locations in Less Than Jake's "Gainesville Rock City" music video.
-if you've seen at least one sachel's bumper sticker a day
-if you have ever had a "Jerry Lee Lewis" at Maude's
-You know what a L'il Asher is.
-You got confused when you went to towns whose streets actually had names instead of numbers--how are you supposed to know where anything is if it's not in a grid? (OMG...totally true...lived in Jax for 3 years now and I still can't get around)
-You may leave but deep down you always want to move back
- You've eaten $1 lunch from the Hare Krishna's at least once.
- You know where "The Ghetto" is.
- Gainesville Green brings back memories.
- You've spent game days "tailgating" at random people's houses in The Ghetto for the many kegs...
- you remember exactly where and what you were doing when you found out about the 1990 murders
-you grew up jumping off the dock at Blue Springs and got in for 50 cents.
-you spent your summer days swimming at the Westside pool...before the slide was around!!
-you remember when the low riders in High School cruised the Wal-Mart parking lot (late 80's,early 90's)
-when you make fun of the Alachua County Fair jingle on the radio--while singing with it at the same time!!

The Alachua County Fair jingle...

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

They've been playing this for at least 20 years. EVERYONE in Gainesville knows this damn thing...

Re: Last one...

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

DAmn, woman! Long list. :P You'll have to show me the good stuff when I visit. ;)

Re: Last one...

[ladykatiewench.livejournal.com]

We have fun here!!

Okay...trying to think of things to show...
1) Food: Sonny's, Leonardo's, Satchel's
2) Places: Paynes Prairie, Lake Alice, Itchetucknee
3) UF:...everything.
4) Wandering on University Ave.
5) Oooh!! We'll have a night where we hit Dragonfly, then the Hippodrome, then Maude's. Mmmmm.
6) We will definitely have to go to The Wall.

[gladsomemind.livejournal.com]

Not to be picky but some of these apply to me!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

That's becuase you visit often enough to be an honorary local. ;)