Stat!

See this photo? That's me in the tropics, friends. Flatlining. I'm positively starved for some stimulation. Sometimes I feel like if one more person tells me how much they envy me living here, I'm gonna scream. I understand and think back to a time when I would have said the same thing. Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it's relaxing. Yes, the beaches are world-class. Yes, it's warm every single day. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. But, jeezalou, a girl's gotta have a little substance once in awhile--at least this girl does. Which isn't to say that it doesn't scares the bejezus out of me in certain moments to think about going back to 'the real world.' Last night we were watching "60 Minutes" and there was a shot of a NYC sidewalk. I sat open-mouthed and said to the boyfriend, "Look...at...all...the...people." And I love New York! And it's not like we'll be stepping off a plane and living in a city. We'll be setting up camp initially in a 'burb or smallish town, so the culture shock's not gonna be that extreme. Later in the show they had a Sean Penn interview, and there was a shot of Sean and Charlie Rose walking into Cafe Tosca. And I thought, "Oh, Tosca...(sigh)...I love Tosca. And North Beach...(sigh)..." Yes, I'm a lucky barefoot beach girl. But god I miss coffee shops and bookstores and jazz clubs and thrift shops and un-limp produce and art house cinemas and hip clothing stores and even, dare I say, freakin' Target. Still, it's hard to give up our 'secret' lifestyle here. We're both extremely private people, and it appeals to our sensibilities to be living out of the mainstream and under the radar. The good news is, we can always come back. All it would take is a few phone calls and we'd be dialed. But in the meantime, this girl needs an injection of culture and an IV drip of stimulation...stat!