Commonalities

You know how sometimes you hear something random, and then something links that random reference or whatever again soon. You know like, you hear a really odd cultural reference on a show or something, and then someone brings up that same random cultural reference in conversation that is completely unrelated, or you read a news article that also references it. I guess I should explain in much more detail what I'm talking about since the previous two sentences didn't make any sense (which is about par for the course in my writings ha ha ha). I was watching 'Califonication' on Monday and during the show Fox Mulder's character made a reference to Harry Chapin's famous song "Cat's in the Cradle" about the cycle of father son relationships and how there is a common error in that father's don't spend enough time with their sons until it is too late. Anyway I saw that reference and then this week 'The Onion' had this article: http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/if_only_someone_had_written_a Kinda odd coincidence perhaps. But on Tuesday someone at work was telling me about how fast his kid was growing up and he said something about Harry Chapin being right. It's likely that all three of these events are completely unrelated since I doubt the folks at 'The Onion' knew that a episode of some TV show would make a similar reference as they did since they were probably made so far apart, and I'm not discounting that this co-worker might have seen either of these, it's just unlikely that he would, especially given that they are somewhat obscure media outlets.

It's odd that I would hear about that song 3 times in a week, kinda creepy in a way. But that is the way of people, I think your mind can hang on to little reminders or things that have risen to the forefront of your mind. Maybe if I hadn't of recognized or seen 'Californication' I wouldn't have picked up on the other two references. Maybe I would have moved any thoughts of that song to the back of my head never to think about them again until I heard the song on the radio or something, and who knows maybe I would get like 5 or six random tie ins to that song when that would happen. I guess what I'm trying to say (poorly) is that sometimes random things can bring buried memories back to life. And once those things are brought back you begin to notice them more, or pay attention to them more when they were in plain sight to begin with. Which is why I'm going to start thinking about space lazers, and maybe by random coincidence I'll somehow learn to make said lazers, and shoot them at people's cars when I need a parking spot.

The other common theme of this week was people I haven't talked to in forever asking me if I was flying back to Pennsylvania for the big Lehigh/Lafayette game. I don't talk to many folks from Lehigh, partly because I'm terrible at staying in touch, but partly because I was extremely disliked (for good reasons) while I went there. So it's somewhat odd to me that suddenly I get a couple phone calls and a bunch of e-mail asking if I'm coming back. It's not that I've had no fun the last couple times I went back, which is now over a year ago. It's just that, at this point all the people who were with me at school have graduated now, my sister who started the year after I left is a senior! So weird. But I'm not sure if I went back what it would be like, would it be cool or would I just feel kinda like a dork. Although maybe if I was seeing old friends it would be kinda cool, the problem is that I've really changed quite a bit from when I was in school, and for the most part that's not what people see. People see the 20-22 year old Martin who was a different person. It's somewhat tough to react to roles and things that no longer suit you, I don't really like it, but I also don't spend enough time talking to or hanging out with people so they can see how I've changed. I think I just need to wear a space suit the next time I go to one of these things. I've been dwelling a bit on space…hmm

Instead of going to the ole alma mater, I'll be meeting a bunch of strangers at a bar near my house for some Alumni get together on Saturday morning. Should be interesting, but I'm curious as to why I feel a bit nervous about it. I shouldn't, heck I graduated (barely) it shouldn't be cause for nervousness right?