So I was thinking this morning about some of the more interesting friends I've had over the years, and wondering how it was I met a few of them. So to fulfill my self-absorbed blogging tendencies, I present to you a series a stories (to be updated whenever I feel like it) of how I met the most interesting people in my life. Family members not included of course (hey when you're born knowing people, you tend to know those stories).
Chronologically speaking, let's start with some one I met back in middle school and still know today.
Brian.
So its hard to remember how I first met Brian. There are two big introductions. The first I believe was when my mother, picking up from school, suddenly stopped in the middle of traffic and began chanting some strange, mystical, chant to the effect of "ROOOOOOCK CHAAAAAALK..." at another woman picking up her son. I remember seeing what was probably the same confused and scared look on the other Jayhawk-Son's face that was on mine. It didn't help that they were holding up traffic in front of every other kid in the school. But I guess the ties that behind Jayhawks are stronger than an elementary school mothers' shame. This other boy, was Brian.
Later on that year, I met Brian through a mutual friend we had, and we immediately hated each other: as young boys sometimes do. We then threatened to beat each other up (very mature words that I'm sure we picked up from Bruce Willis movies were exchanged), and set a time and a place after school. We both of course promptly forgot about it, but one of the parents heard the exchange and reported it to the school counsellor. We were both called out of class about a week and a half later and told to "Shake hands, and respect each other." We soon bonded over our mutual disrespect for the counsellor (the enemy of my enemy?), and the fact that we were into the same nerdy stuff. X-Files, Aliens mvoies, Predator movies, Sci-Fi books, comics... nothing brings elementary age kids together like cheap sci-fi and horror.
Our mutual friend drifted away from us in middle school, and we were pretty much in our own little tight-knit clique of nerds in a middle-class white protestant christian private school. Brian and I always seemed to be more on the same wavelength than our friends. One of our friends was the kid who got made fun of for being very into science, and very defensive (succesffuly too) of evolution in science classes (he carried around what was disparagingly referred to as the "big black atheist book"- a very exhaustive and well writtne science book on astronomy, the big bang, physics, and chemistry. Very little on evolution actually, but that doesn't stop kids from taunting people who are different). The other friend we had was a huge Three Stooges fan, and basically included that in everything he talked about. Have to admit, he even creeped me out sometimes, but he was a good guy, and I can put up with 20 "Moe-Impressions" a day. Later on a few more joined our geek-posse with different nerd-pop obsessions (video game, Star Trek, Star Wars, what-have-you). Brian and I were pretty much the TV show, book, and comic book junkies/experts. Needless to say, we were the weirdos of a our school. Whether us getting picked on and singled out was an inflated perception of the usual elementary/middle school crap that every kid goes through, or if we really were shunned, we forged a strong friendship through the feeling of "us vs. them". (To note, Brian did say that school got better -socially- after I left. People just started leaving each other alone more, I suppose).
Brian and I hung out for most of middle school until I changed schools in 8th grade. We kept in touch through the Methodist church, and then later the Charismatic church we went to. I left the charismatic church around my junior year of high school, and kept somewhat in contact through phone and e-mail up through most of my college years.
He started playing bass a little before I did, and was instrumental in me choosing my first bass to buy. A nice, cheap, Yamaha which I still have today (and which still works, even with a slight crack in the wood). He was more dedicated to it than I was though, branching out before I did into jazz and other more technique-demanding styles. I just enjoyed playing the straight rock patterns, until getting into jazz in high school, and what little classical I could keep up with in college. He is still today a much more dedicated player than I am.
We met up again in Dallas while I was getting my Master's, and I moved in with him for most of my second year. At the time he was working as a freelance photographer and at a web page design firm. He introduced me to the wonders of "red-neck karaoke" and cigars while in Dallas. Always good to have a friend who introduces you to the healthy and hygenic pleasure of life. Also, never sing karaoke to songs you're not quite sure what the lyrics are about. Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" is probably not the best thing to sing in front of your friend's church group. Or a bunch of drunken Arlington residents. They found it funny though. They shouldn't laugh though. They were the ones' in kilts. We found that we were both still nerds, but about different things. Music, books, comic books. Wait... no. They were the same things.
Due to Katrina, and the flood of New Orleans artists that moved to Dallas afterwards he lost work as a freelance, and the web page design firm gig wasn't working out as well as he'd thought. So he moved back up to Tulsa, and I moved into a smaller place. We still keep in touch through phone calls.
Next up: Ben. Those of you who want dirt on me should probably stay tuned for this one.
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