Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Connections

Since November of last year I've reconnected with a bunch of old friends via The FacceBoooooook (that's Italian for Facebook), and boy it's been fun. Really. Both K and I have been lucky to have had the experience in life of growing up in multiple places (that was the hook that got me and K talking when I first met her) since our dads both worked for the US Govt (military and Foreign Service). So besides my cousins who are all over the world now, I've got friends from 2 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools, college, grad school (the failed attempt), the bike shops, architecture school (the successful attempt), the career, my riding buddies, my neighborhood friends, and the friends that we have come to know by what our kids do (and where they are schooled) who are all, in some way, back in touch via FB. Pretty amazing, and the memories have been flowing.

The old fashioned (that is, e-mail) way of communicating, however, yielded an interesting exchange this last week. My packrat freshman year in college hallmates started sending out scans of pictures, missives, screeds, and other such gimcrackery to a select few of us, just to stir up the old recollections and for a few yuks. Two weeks ago, totally unrelated, one of my hallmates when I was an R.A. in college started commenting anonymously on my blog, making reference to some people and stories that made me realize it wasn't spam. The guessing game began, and it was fun for a while, but I figured that since these comments happened on the same weekend as Homecoming, there may be a connection. A quick conversation with my sister in law, who was also AT homecoming, yielded the answer, and just for fun I posted one of the pics that my friends had sent me last month.

Turns out that some guy who raced at DCCX with me (though I didn't see him, since he passed me once in the first lap and lapped me somewhere near the end, though I must have seen him twice, from behind) recognized the pic as the BROTHER OF SOMEONE HE WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH. Some quick email correspondence confirmed this, and I'm still shaking my head at the coincidental events that yielded me:

1. A reconnection with a couple of college friends that went beyond the "friending" process on FB.

2. A new acquaintance who I will now see every coupla weeks in the fall at CX races.

3. One more person who reads this blog, for a total of 3 readers!

When I was a kid I watched this BBC show called Connections. Not that this is nearly that complex, but still...

8 comments:

Uncle Louie said...

Hedabuta hedabuta. Don't kid yourself we're not readers, just posters.

John(ny) said...

Or poseurs. Get on FaceBook already!

schirm said...

Hey, count me as another reader :P

Uncle Louie said...

Hedabuta hedabuta. Join Facebook? Well, let's see, for starters I'm a 42 year old ADULT. I'm also not really interested in reading posts like "John(ny) just shaved his legs in preparation for another bike race". Captivating?? I think not.

Speaking of shaving legs, you and your biker buds have never really provided a great reason for why you indulge in this ritual. Your answer years ago that it "decreases drag" seems flawed as a guy with shaved legs would only seem to increase his "drag" potential. Come clean. We all know that after you finish a ride that you quickly change into shoes with a heel at the other end of the shoe.

John(ny) said...

I think I NEVER used the drag reason, rather the "road rash heals more quickly" and "it's easier on the post race massage".

It's vanity, really. You forgot to mention the skirts we wear, post ride. GET IT RIGHT!

Regarding FB, everybody's doin' it. C'mon, your ex roomie, Fizz, GB, etc are all catching up on my shaving habits.

Bill Davis said...

Hello boys! I gotta tip I'd find you here...agree with Uncle Louie, Facebook is for people with way too much time on their hands...typically there's a reason why you haven't spoken to someone in 20 years...and those are the ones that find you, and seem to have all the time in the world. Anyone care for a slice of Domino's?

Uncle Louie said...

Hedabuta.

Bill, thanks for joining the conversation. I’ll only take you up on the pizza offer if it is free…gratis. Now, back to John(ny).

A little too defensive in your previous comment. The lady (with shaved legs) doth protest too much, methinks. Between the shaved legs and the spandex biker shorts you have many of us wondering if you are going the opposite direction of Chastity Bono. Should we call you Anti-Chaz?? Will your next step be turning your spandex camel tail into a camel toe?? Will you move to South Africa and become a track specialist in the 800 meter race??

John(ny) said...

You stole my free (gratis) line. Damn you. Need to be quicker on the draw. In my own blog.

Anyway, quit trying to read between the lines. I don't think I can be any more ironic if I tried.

Gotta get back to my Bic. Stubble, ya know.