Nostalgia intrudes at strange times. In a train car, while speeding past the crowded fields and freeways of America, Nostalgia took the empty seat beside me. It didn’t even ask if the seat was taken, it just sat down and began to ask questions. Questions with words, questions that lead somewhere.
I gritted my teeth and adjusted my headphones. I fiddled with the volume. I coughed significantly and typed expressively on the laptop to make a point. It persisted regardless.
From Nostalgia the scent of summers past slowly wafted. Sunscreen, waves, barbeque. It hummed a little tune, a hit from the summer of ’97. Dada-da da da da deh-dey. Insidiously catchy. I began to join in when I realized what was going on.
I moved some files from my desktop in a rebellious motion. The week had been long. A weekend trip was the wrong time for sentiment.
Nostalgia didn’t care. It continued to sit and ask, “Do you remember when?”
The train trips? How many were there? Was it really that much? Didn’t so-and-so think such-and-such was happening? Whatever happened to so-and-so anyway? And what happened before that? And before that? The beginning, was it terrible? Really? After all that, how did you end up here again?
Then I found a folder that had lain dormant on my hard drive for almost three years. It was titled “Classic,” nothing more, and contained the bare bones of the old blog. They were the most popular posts. And they were hilarious.
For the remainder of the train ride I was lost to the words of several years ago, a time when the next ten years were intricately planned, when I was accustomed to being kicked out of the library because it was time to close. Back then I had a laminated Periodic Table and only slept on holidays. On weekends I traveled by bus and listened mostly to Death Cab for Cutie and bands that sang songs about robots.
This was the era of the first iPod. I was deeply bitter about the state of everything, especially that the pizza in my new home tasted terrible. Leaving was a constant threat; I almost went to Japan, but backed out at the last second for an incredibly stupid reason.
The files follow several themes near and dear to this very Dork Blog: science, philosophy, words, and music. As such, they will be a new feature. You can thank Nostalgia.
Hey I love reading your blog. Please become a professional writer.
My nostalgia is so lame compared to yours. I also miss having my life perfectly planned out. I hate to think about how old I’ll be in 10 years.
@ Matt: Hey thanks. Perhaps the future will be rife with book deals and car commercials?
@ kt: In ten years I will be so old that I will talk fondly about my iPod and younger people will be embarrassed and say, “Bluh, we don’t have those any more. It’s called the Google Brainchip. ” My mail will be shipped via Planet Express; it will be interstellar.