Hum Drum

The past few nights I've been digging through some old web stuff and archiving it. I go through these moments periodically. My internal Time Machine must be set to Februrary -- as that's when I've generally been doing it the past few years. I download old photos or videos, put them on Flickr or Vimeo, and then update the main site that references where everything is.

I can't believe it's been ten years.

Some people look way different. Most everyone gained a little weight. Fashion sense is all over the place. Right after high school, George and I used to have a special place in our friendship hierarchy for people we'd known for ten years or more. Most of those people could have been counted on two hands. Now if I applied that rule, it's everyone I left college with. Actually, looking at these photos, almost across the board I've become way better friends with these people than compared to a decade ago. Back then we were friends who danced together; now we're friends who meet up to go dancing.

Also, I was reading through my first website. The bio was a thousand words about my life up to that point. I don't remember writing it at all. Hopefully my writing tone has changed since then, but otherwise it could have almost been written today.

"Ok, my name is Jon. I just finished four years at the University of Michigan: Ann Arbor (although I'm not done yet to be painfully honest). I have been in New York City since July-ish, looking for a career path. At Michigan, I was a philosophy major so that didn't directly translate into anything career-wise. My interests sort of divulged into the world of entertainment, as far as films and production. I also have varied career interests in marketing and business and in graphic design. To put it another way, I'm lost."

Looking through the guestbook entries and messages afterwards was interesting too. I guess it was the Facebook wall before the Facebook wall. Or more accurately, the Friendster testimonial. There's one message in there from a person who I thought was the absolute coolest in college. I was semi-thrilled when she left a comment and it stayed with me awhile. Nowadays, we're actually friends and I can call her or hang out whenever. Ain't life grand?

On the verge of moving out of Brooklyn, I've found out over the past few months that my college crush -- easily the majorest crush I've ever had in life -- lives around here. Plus, the girl who got me into building websites and introduced me to Ayn Rand possibly lives within a few blocks of me. In both cases I'm hesitant to contact them even though it would literally be possible with the touch of a button. A few years ago I would have done it to try to rekindle something lost, and to see how they are now. But older me has now come to terms with the idea that sometimes things are best left in the moment.

Curiosity kills me though. Absolutely kills me.

I am on my last few pairs of Chucks that I bought almost four years ago -- for seven bucks each. I don't even know if I've worn much of anything else aside from them. If pressed to think about it, I've probably only bought two pairs of casual shoes since. Hum, I think I better start a shoe diary in case I start purchasing footwear again.