Long time no talk!

What do you do when you run into a person you haven’t talked to in a really long time?

“Oh, it’s so great to see you!” “How have you been?” Fake hugs, fake smiles, fake interest in each other’s lives.

When you talk to someone you talk to every day, even multiple times a
day, there are infinite things to talk about. “Did you see that man on
the street who looked just like our English teacher from 2nd grade?” “I
couldn’t believe that it turned out
pink.” “By that time, I was so sick of restarting the computer, I just
took the hammer and smashed it to pieces! Needless to say, my file was
not recovered.”

You’d think that the longer the time between talkings, the more there is to talk about.

You’d think wrong.

For people like that, the “really-long-time-no-talk” people–the
people you haven’t talked to in months or years–the questions become
very broad.

“What’s up?” “How’s life?” “What have you been up to?”

The answers are vague.

“Oh, not much.” “Life’s been pretty good.” “I’ve kept myself busy.”

It’s especially hard when these are people who, at one point in your
life, were at the previously mentioned stage of your talkingship where
you never ran out of things to talk about.

These conversations deeply sadden me. I want to reconnect with these
long-lost friends, but it’s so hard, with nothing (or really, way too
much) to discuss.

What’s the solution? Is there a cure?

My extensive research on these situations have produced the following result.

Potential conversation:
Betty: Oh my goodness, Veronica, is that you?
Veronica: Betty, you look great! How are you? How’s life?
Betty: Oh, it’s pretty good. How about you?
Veronica: Yeah, same here.
Betty: Yeah.
[extremely awkward pause]
Veronica: So, um, is that Archie over there?

STOP. Rewind. Here’s how this conversation should have gone.
Betty: Oh my goodness, Veronica, is that you? I haven’t seen you in three years!
Veronica: Betty, you look great! How are you? How’s life?
Betty: Thanks, I actually went tanning last week, and I got my hair cut
too. Life’s been alright, except for the weird dreams I’ve been having.
Veronica: Oh yeah?
Betty: I keep having dreams that I meet famous people! Like last night, I dreamt I met James Earl Jones.
Veronica: James Earl Jones! Oh my gosh! He’s like my biggest hero.
Betty: No way! Did you see that one Simpsons episode…
Veronica: With the “You’ve made an old jazz man happy, Lisa,”
“Kimba…I mean, Simba,” “Luke, I am your father,” and “This is
CNN”…!!
Betty: That reminds me…have you talked to Jughead recently? I hear he’s on a diet!
Veronica: No way!
Etc, etc, etc.

So, therefore, the morals of the story.

1. When conversations lead you to the “oh, not much, how are you”
discussions, find a really random topic to discuss. If it’s a good
topic for the two of you, a good conversation will ensue. If it’s not,
you’ll merely be at the same place you started. If it’s so bizarre
that the other person thinks you’re really strange, and thank goodness
they haven’t kept in touch with you, and maybe they’ll just walk away now,
then good, at least they’re gone.

2. If you see someone who will bring about a potential conversation
like the aforementioned one, run in the other direction. If you must walk
by her, become really interested in something around you, like the freckle on your
index finger or the crack on the sidewalk that has an uncanny resemblance to the shape of your township.

3. Don’t ever lose touch with anyone. It’s better to keep an unwanted friendship than have to face an awkward conversation.

Obsessed with movies?

I have a problem.

I think I’ve become obsessed with movies.

Ever since I’ve made that movie website,
all I’ve been able to do with myself is watch movies. And it’s not only
that I enjoy watching the movies (believe me, I do)–it’s really the
joy I get in updating my website, like showing the world: “Ha! I am doing something productive!”

I’m trying not to do two things this summer: 1) Spend a lot of money,
and 2) Get fat. (So of course, tonight, I went to Coldstone and bought
ice cream.) There’s not a whole lot I can do that don’t fit either
category, so watching movies (I’ve got unlimited rentals at
Blockbuster, so that’s practically free) is one of the few options I
have. (If anyone has any other suggestions for cheap things that don’t
involve eating junk food, let me know.)

So…who wants to see a movie with me next week?

Fun with Photoshop

Michael wasn’t there when we visited Grandmother a few weeks ago…

…or was he?

104

Yesterday, we helped Michael (my brother) move out of his dorm.

The house smelled like a combination of “wet dog” and “boy.”

Mmmmm.

Hats and water bottles!

I’ve been on way too many trips and camp programs sponsored by Jewish people.

Earlier today, I went outside to read in the backyard–it was a really nice day outside. (Secretly, though, I really just wanted to not be albino anymore.)

I wore shorts and a strapless tank top, propped up my legs against another chair, and took out my The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which, by the way, is awesome). I opened up the book, but quickly began to feel really guilty.

I ran inside and got my bandanna, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Seriously. I am that much of a loser. I put my bandanna over my hair, put on the sunglasses, and lathered on the sunscreen. No water bottle, but I was ready for the heat.

My favorite quotes this summer from one of my staff members in Israel was: “You guys need to be really careful about wearing sunscreen and hats. The sun in Israel is different than the sun in America.”

What the flip?

I finally saw Napoleon Dynamite.
What a quality film, so intellectually stimulating. It just really
makes you think about life in a new perspective. For my full review
(and reviews of other movies I’ve seen recently), go here.

I’m working on making my Book List (a companion site to the Movie
List). If you have good books, let me know. I don’t have time to read
bad books, long books, boring books, or stupid books. Just give me the
good ones.

In other news, I attended a luncheon today with my dad for the
Publicity Club of Chicago, full of PR people from various organizations
in the area. I’d say about 90% of the people there had two X
chromosomes. I guess this field is the future for women (most of the
women there were under 40, many under 30).

After the luncheon (at the Maggiano’s downtown near the Rainforest Cafe
and the McDonald’s formerly known as the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s), I
took lots of fun public transportation home. I take the “L” often, but
today wasn’t my normal Red Line to Michigan Avenue route. I walked into
the Loop, got on the Brown Line, transferred to the Red Line at
Fullerton, transferred to the Yellow Line at Howard, then got off at
the Skokie Swift. Then, took the 54A Cicero bus to a block away from my
house, and walked home from there. Sometimes I like to pretend that I’m
not as suburban as I look.

The last of the lasts

The past few weeks, all I’ve done is had “lasts”–the last USY program, the last issue of West Word, the last day of school, the last band concert, etc.

Last Wednesday was graduation. I’ve gone to a few graduation parties,
and then yesterday was the last of the graduation parties. Yesterday
morning was the West Word banquet, so the last of the newspaper activities. The last day of lasts.

Of course, my thoughts are flying towards the future (I still need to
decide where I’m living next year), but I’ve taken a lot of time to
reflect on my time at Niles West.

I enjoyed my time at West a lot. I’ve made some friends. I’ve met
people from so many different cultures, and it’s been very educational
for me.

I got to be really close with a particular group of friends starting at
the end of last year, and even more this year. I love you guys, and I’m
so glad we’re so close.

The summer before freshman year, I took one semester (so three weeks)
of summer school. I met a lot of my current friends there, got used to
the school, etc. The class was stupid, but it was cool being there and
getting to know how high school would be.

I can’t complain much about my classes. The teachers have been mostly
good, and though the material was often difficult, it was pretty
enjoyable.

Senior year was harder than I thought it would be. Second semester of
senior year was much harder than I thought it would be. I was
disappointed.

High school was pretty fun. Thanks to everyone who made that possible.

Time for college, kids! And pretty soon, it will be time for the first of the firsts.