Home of the Soul Cookie

I wish I had enough moolah to buy this! (Go check out the link! Go now!)

Found out that the bassist for Linkin Park, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, is the younger brother of a classmate of mine from high school, Joe Farrell, and went to school with the blogmistress.

That’s what kind of got me on the whole hazy shade/reunion vibe there: Thinking about the people I knew in high school, and how few of them I’ve ever actually talked to (including the time when I was in high school).

Take Joe Farrell, for instance. Really great guy; smart, funny. Could be a ham in front of a videocamera (I have video footage to prove it). Co-created a comedic political ideology called “Farvelism” that was so pervasive in our high school’s Model United Nations program that it spawned a counter movement (called, of course, “Anti-Farvelism”). Planned to go to Duke or to Georgetown or to somewhere equally impressive.

I wonder what’s become of him.

I wonder what’s become of Becky Girardin. I always had fun hanging out with her. The first time I went to a ren faire I went with Becky and Tom. The three of us cranked called a couple of times (and even remotely changed some woman’s answering machine’s outgoing message one time). I wonder if she ever knew I liked her liked her.

I wonder what’s become of Vernon Dolan, a kid from Ireland that lived in the area for a year or two during high school. He and another kid named Garrett were responsible for catalyzing my love affair with comic books that still exists today. Vern and his older brother Aaron would tell tales of life in and around Dublin. He moved away before graduation. He called me once, like a year after graduation, to say that he was in town, and would I like to stop by and say hi? Stupid, flaky, dumbass me never made the effort to drive the three miles and talk to him. I wonder how he’s doing.

So many people touch our lives in so many rich and varied ways. How unfortunate that contact and continuity drifts away, lost in the ebb and flow of meetings and soccer games and drunken karaoke like so much temporal flotsam.

The thought of going to my high school reunion next year pretty much terrifies me.

<irrationality>

I’ll go, and people will ask where I ended up going to college. Umm… Saddleback (a little bit), I’ll reply. I’m up to 15 units now, though!

They’ll fidget uncomfortably and ask me what I’ve been doing with myself. I got married. Congratulations, they’ll say. And then I got divorced.

(Quick, change the subject!) And work? Well, I worked in retail for almost 5 years. And I’ve been doing web design work for the last three years. But I’m gonna make a living as a professional writer… someday. And what have I written? Nothing of substance or import. Just some whining in a weblog that almost no one reads.

</irrationality>

By the Goddess, I have got that whining thing down, haven’t I?

My expectations for myself exist in a fantasy world aside time, space, and reality: You know those high school reunion movies where the geek comes back and is übersuccessful and megarich? Somewhere in the back of my mind, that was me.

News flash: didn’t happen!

I’m only just now starting to figure out and come to terms with who I am; I don’t feel “ready” to meet my former classmates, like it’s a test that I could pass if I just had one… more… day… to study and prepare.

The journey continues…

Time, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities
I was so hard to please

Look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Sometimes I feel like the oldest damn 27-year old on the planet.

I reminisce about the past.

And I have to remind myself that there are still plenty of days ahead.

Check out the artwork I made for my ersatz-soundtrack to “Once More, with Feeling,” and let me know what you think!

Okay, sing it with me now:

Joss Rocks!

Last night’s Buffy episode, the musical episode written by series creator Joss Whedon kicked ass! Kudos to Joss for a spectacular effort, and special mention goes to UPN for letting the show run long in its initial airing so that all the Joss-y musical goodness could come out!

We’ll late see how well they hold up to repeat viewing (and listening), but here are my top three songs after last night’s viewing:

3. “I’ll Never Tell” (duet between Xander and Anya): Proof the Joss knows musicals. As so many articles have commented, their banter is definitely in the spirit of the old Hollywood musicals, but still with those touches that place it firmly in the Buffyverse (”in her tight… embrace!”).

2. “Under Your Spell” (Tara’s love song to Willow): Wow. Amber, you can sing! Absolutely charming.

It may have just been me, but I think there was definite “dirty mind” material in this song: A verse about Tara being under her “Willow tree,” plus the odd intonation of “complete” at the end (when the two are in bed) as “you make me COME-plete.” I’m betting that these were intentionally wicked constructions by Joss. Coooool.

1. Giles’ song to Buffy (don’t know/remember its title): A heartfelt, minor-chord song performed by Tony Head in a spendidly aching manner. And it sets up and reflects upon all sorts of things: the Giles/Buffy father/daughter relationship; the need for Buffy to stand on her own; Giles’ departure; and the grief that said departure will bring to all concerned.

“Ick” moment of the night: The off-key dissonance of “HEA-ven” in Buffy’s “I was in heaven” song (doubt that was the actual title).

“Woo hoo” moment of the night: Anya’s “Bunnies are EVIL!” interlude in the group’s “what’s going on?” song.

“Told you so” moment of the night: The final scene. You know the one.

And now, Iwantiwantiwant the CD! Gimmegimmegimme!

What were your most/least favorite songs and moments of last night’s episode? Comment and let me know!

Okay, so “tomorrow” turned into a bit later. So sue me.

Let’s do the time warp…

So I was out on one of the video shoots last month and was sitting in the office of a high school, waiting for the principal to escort the camera guy and me to the classrooms where we were to film.

As classes are about to start, a teacher exiting the office did a double-take and came back in, asking me if I was a new student and if I needed some help.

Needless to say, she was a bit embarrassed when I explained that no, I had actually been out of high school for nearly a decade. (I believe the principal later described her as “mortified.”) Nice lady. Funny little moment.

Halloween blah

Halloween, my favorite holiday, was decidedly uneventful this year. Whereas I entered October fully intending to come up with a kick-ass concept and costume, I actually did, well, nothing. I didn’t even drag out the devil horns from last year. Jason and Kris took Amber trick-or-treating, but that was about it for Halloween-style stuff. We didn’t even have anybody come into the shop to trick-or-treat.

Memo to my future self:Look into some sort of crazed Bacchanalia for Halloween 2002.

TV Junkie Strikes Again

Since I have apparently run out of interesting things about myself to discuss, I’ll mention a little about the new TV season:

Buffy: She’s back! (Knew she would be!) Willow seems to be going the way of Dark Phoenix. I’m sure you remember my thoughts on the good girl going bad.

Enterprise: Retro-Star Trek. Cool. Started off strong, seems to have slowed a little bit. I am apparently the only one that likes the show’s theme song.

Angel: Fred’s a welcome offbeat addition to the crew. Love Lyla’s new do! Wanna see more Host-iness (but sans the “Pylea Trailer Trash” getup). Good to see Cordy continue to use her bitch-ness for the forces of good.

West Wing: The show that continues to amaze. Must have more Josh and Donna! (And where the heck is Ainsley? One scene is not Ainsley-worthy!) Brad Whitford very much deserves his Emmy.

Smallville: I believe that a teen can fly! (Or will fly, eventually.) Solid show, with consistently solid performances from the three leads (Clark/Lana/Lex - don’t have the actors’ names memorized yet). The actress who plays Lana is amazingly cute.