I can’t point to a specific TV show, movie, book, or video game, but somewhere along the line I became convinced that a happy life ought to include car chases and jumping out of planes. I built my early life around the theory that exciting is better. There were sports, and DJ gigs, and crazy parties. I watched a friend drive his car up the school steps. I got mugged for a quarter, mugged again for a skateboard, and shoplifted more candy than I care to remember. I made out with a perfect stranger on a Greyhound bus. I tipped a cow. I watched two friends battle for a girls hand and honor in a cornfield. I drove a car at 100 MPHÂ from the passenger’s seat while the driver hung his butt out the window to moon everyone we zipped by. Every moment of it was exciting, but the best part was always after when I sat with friends and retold the story. Looking back on it, the telling wasn’t what made things great. It was the time with friends that mattered.
I make friends easily, but keeping them is another matter entirely. I tend to lack a filter, which is a problem in most social settings, and tell people exactly how I feel, which is a problem everywhere. The more I gain (and lose) friendships I’m struck by their importance in my life. It occurs to me now that it was always that way, and I always managed to have a handful of people who I was extremely close to (read: could tolerate me in manageable doses).
I’m at a point in my life where close local friendships are at the lowest number they’ve been, and it reminds me how important those things are to me. We deem to define ourselves by our talents and position but we are and always will be defined by my associations. I tend to live by my associations, meaning who I am around directly effects my quality of life. and right now, though the herd is thin, the herd is good.
Some Thoughts:
- J.H. Whyman was smoking that PhillipK. Dick stuff when he came up with Almost Human. It plays like Blade Runner meets Fringe, and is slowly growing on me. Like I really need another show. On the other hand, it further proves that the world is ready for a Shadowrun TV show.