#311 (of 365) "Seven" Sunny Day Real Estate

Back in 1994, I had graduated college, but for a several months period, didn't have a real job. As such, I didn't have any money, and I moved back in with my parents for the first extended period since I left for Rutgers at 18. It was, um, not fun. I know it's much more common today, with exorbitant housing and rental prices that recent graduates are unable to afford on their own, and there doesn't seem to be as much stigma maybe, as there once was, but man, did I hate that period of my life. The sense of accomplishment (4 high-achieving years of college followed by another year of grad school) just spit on by hiring managers looking for experience I didn't have in fields I no longer wanted to be employed in, while my parents became increasingly disappointed in my not trying hard enough to find a job in a career I no longer wanted to pursue. This lasted some 6 months or so, before I got hired in Woodbridge, NJ, over an hour from where my parents lived, so I packed up my stuff, slept on my friends' couch in New Brunswick, where I went to college, and a few months of salary later, could afford my own apartment and never looked back. I'm still in that shitty career I no longer wanted to pursue, now nearly 30 years later, but I have made time to get 2 novels published and the career allowed me to enjoy a financially stable life despite the rocky post-collegiate start. But when I was living at my parents' house for those shitty six months at age 23, the only highlight I can truly remember is watching late night television after they had gone to sleep--Dave Letterman primarily, but also a new late-night talk show  hosted by a young comedian named Jon Stewart, and I still to this day remember when a band named Sunny Day Real Estate played the first track off their first album and I fell in love instantly.

It's weird the things we remember. "Seven" is maybe my only good thought of Deptford, NJ, after high school. But boy what a song.

NOTE: The YouTube video capturing this performance cuts out halfway through but then the full performance does come after that. So like fast forward to the 3 minute mark or so.

"Seven" - Sunny Day Real Estate // Diary (1994)