I just got back from driving the car to Ziebart with my mom. Better now than 7AM in the morning, which was the alternative since she'd forgotten all about it. On the way back I played Amon Tobin for her, we got donuts, and she talked about a patch of trees on Pickett that she can look at every day as spring comes and see it almost like time-lapse photography. She described how the colors change and the Bradford pears' flowers come, and how it makes her think of her father and Lisa, makes her think of how they can't see the colors change anymore. The image struck me, and I asked if she ever gets the urge to write about that sort of thing. She said she doesn't, not like I do, and mentioned a former student of hers that journaled through two marriages (now on her third) and recently gave it up. The student told Mom she doesn't have the energy to record and relive anymore. Most of the time I don't either, but tonight in the bathroom at the movies, staring in the mirror, it bubbled up in me again.
My [numerous] excuse notes for my tardy work (amazed that I slid by as easily as I did)Everything from Driver's Ed bit it (why did I save that?). I chucked nearly everything from Pre-Calc, AP Bio, Robotics, AP Gov, and AP Psych. I kept nearly everything from AP Lit (looking back I can see a turning point in my appreciation for writing and literary criticism there -- I reread my paper on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and was actually incredulous at the notion that I'd written that over two years ago), and kept everything from World Civ (probably the hardest class in high school that I ever took, and it was in 10th grade), and AP Compsci (I figure it'll be amusing to see my first programs some day). When I looked at the bulk of paper I was ready to recycle (and it was not nearly as painful to toss the stuff as I thought it would be -- I don't know if that's "surprising" or not), all I could think of was how much effort was put into getting the symbols and letters and graphs to appear, how much graphite was laid down on how much notebook paper in how many hours and days and classes. And pretty soon it'll all be pulped and spat out into toilet paper and egg cartons. What am I supposed to take away from that?
I mentioned before that Dan had called me; I bumped us back from Friday to Saturday, and he bumped us back from Saturday to Sunday. So I came over to his house for tacos, and I hadn't seen his family in a long time. I probably should have hugged his mom but I wasn't certain if that would be appropriate after this absence of mine. I met his girlfriend Sarah (whose name I will assume is spelled with an 'H' but I don't know) and saw his brother, who has turned into a buff little sophomore. I mean, I remember playing "Gunstar Heroes" on Genesis with this kid. Dan's brother had my freshman core teacher group of McFaden/Randall/Nelson. Sounds as if they are the same as when I had 'em. Natch.
Dan and I went and saw The Replacements, which was a solid spot of fun. The head cheerleader (Brooke Langton) is this pretty cross between Lauren Holly and Joey Lauren Adams with a great haircut. Yeah, the movie itself was enjoyable, too -- pretty much in step with the "I can't believe this, but it was definitely better than I thought it had a right to be" sentiment reviewers seem to be expressing. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it has Rhys Ifans, either, that "wyr-ee" fucker. There was a lot of smalltalk at dinner (mostly on my end), but on the way to the picture Dan dropped it on me that he has become a serious, full-believing Christian, inspired by Sarah's faith. Said that he was always impressed with her candor and firm beliefs about her religion and eventually took up a Bible without her knowledge, and -- to his surprise -- found things clicking. So he test-drove it for a week, and I think that was the clincher. That's a pretty big change from atheism, which is where he stood before. We only had so much time, so he was compacting the story for me, but it's things like that that make me feel older. Dan's going and finding God and a serious girlfriend at the very end of the school year; Jordan [G.] is thinking of marrying Charlotte (saw him earlier in the week). Dan told me G.J. and Andrea are still a couple. I saw Kristy and Evan at the back of the theater as we exited. I said "Hi," and they were surprised, and I kept walking, and that was it. What else was there to say?
(Another strange one at the movie: I saw a kid named Mike who graduated a year or two ahead of me and who I think I visited when I checked out Harvey Mudd, but I'm not even sure about that second part. Anyway, I didn't say anything to him, but he tutored Dan's younger brother, so Dan knew his name.)
I think the story with Evan is that his parents were high school sweethearts so now it seems he is following in their footsteps (right up to the divorce?), not even letting the distance between New Haven, CT and Fredericksburg, VA seperate him from his beloved. (Extraneous details on said beloved: I'd gone to school with Kristy since at least second grade -- probably even earlier -- but I'd essentially completely lost touch with her by sixth. Yearbook signature from sixth grade (capitalization not intact): "You're a really funny guy. Have fun working for Mad Magazine. Have a cool summer. [heart] ya! Kristy". What I find funniest about that is that I still remember how she was very intent on signing my yearbook -- it was the last day, school had let out, and she was holding me up, I think -- and making sure we were on good terms since this was The End and all of that, but I was dumbfounded at this outpouring of emotion since we'd be in middle school together and weren't really friends anyway.) Well, back to Evan: did I need to add that his parents are divorced? Probably not. But somehow I suppose it plays up to the cynic in me. Who told me all of this I don't quite recall. It may have been Jane, because she [miserably] sold Cutco with Kristy last summer.
The grapevine is still strong -- somehow Praveen knew where I was working this summer and asked his future roommate (who works a floor below me) about me. I'm guessing Dan told him where I was, but I asked Dave to find out -- really out of curiosity, but it just goes to show you how much people talk even if you don't think there's much for them to discuss about you. Funny how we don't close that gap though. Just like with Evan ("Hey, you got a crew cut," doesn't seem like good choice for a starter) or Kristy. Similarly, Praveen probably has very little to say to me. It's like we all took a step away from a point, but we keep looking back at the spot we left a footprint on -- just in case. Just in case what? And, of course, in going through my papers, I ran across my draft of my submission for graduation speaker, which addressed this right in the opening quote:
"A chord, stronger or weaker, is snapped asunder in every parting, and time's busy fingers are not practised in re-splicing broken ties. Meet again you may; will it be the same way? with the same sympathies? with the same sentiments? Will the souls, hurrying on in diverse paths, unite once more, as if the interval had been a dream? Rarely, rarely!" -- Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (a 19th century English novelist)
So similar, so different. Rarely, indeed.
Yet again I made a delayed post to photoplay.
last five [im]personal journal entries: