Herkie the Dog's World Musings
Google Me Now and I'll Remember You Forever...Or Something Like That.
This may become the newest pastime for the 21st century. Think of a name from your past and do a Google search on them. Not only is it a quick and easy trip down Nostalgia Lane, but it also solves the problem of wondering whatever happened to someone in the time it takes to press the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.
One night, Lisa and I had literally spent a couple of hours coming up with people we remembered from our pasts and just threw their names through the ol' search engine. I have to be honest. All I really concentrated on were the people I came up with. Old friends...people I hadn't seen since college or high school. Of the names I came up with, I hit it big three times.
The first was an ex-girlfriend. That's right...don't you try to tell me that when you eventually do these Google searches, you won't look up an ex of your own. The question "Whatever happened to?" was invented by people wondering what happened to their former flames.
Anyway...it was an interesting time then. The only detail pertinent to this was that she was driven very hard to perfection by her parents. Straight A's were not good enough. They had to be A+'s. And the battles she had...the yelling matches over whether it was good enough...it was just not a comfortable position to have to watch that.
I knew from a good friend that she went on to Medical School as they had a few courses together. So whatever happened to her? A practicing OB/GYN...apparently with some form of call in radio show at one time. Good for her.
The second was someone I knew in high school. She was always one of the leads if not the lead in the school plays. Amazingly talented...blessed with a beautiful voice, but very down to earth, personable and just a ton of fun to be with. She had a gift and we always would say that she was destined for stardom-the most likely person ever in our school to end up on Broadway. I kept in touch with her for a little bit in our first year of college, but being in two completely different fields-art vs. science-our paths were bound to diverge.
Through the years, I always had wondered if she ever "made it." Did she ever achieve the level of performing excellence that we thought she was destined for and deserving of? If I thought about it, I might scan for her name every once in a while if I came across some form of information or article about professional musical theatre. I never found anything, but then along came Google.
Did she get there? I'm happy to report that she did, but not in a musical theatre capacity, although I realize it was my ignorance that was responsible for thinking that was the only path in front of her. She has become a very respected soprano, perfroming in operas across the country. I'd like to think that maybe someday I could contact her to congratulate her on acheiving what she has.
And finallly an old friend...someone with whom I had a bond with through grade school and high school. Back then, you always thought you'd be forever friends. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way as your chosen paths take you elsewhere. But a simple Google search then turns up a website...a virtual scrapbook of family memories put together by his older brother.
I went through the site with great curiosity and nostalgia, finding pictures of mutual friends. The rush of memories I thought I lost through time came back in a torrent. There was their cocker spaniel, the coolest dog ever until we met Herkie. There were games on the Apple II, Superman for the Atari 2600, shooting pool in the basement, the first time I ever saw a Laserdisc player. All the pictures of their house and their friends just opened a vault I thought locked along time ago. And then, one mouse click later, there it was. Or more accurately, there I was.
My youthful self was preserved in the corner of a picture, probably unknowingly, by the older brother's digital picture gallery. It was a picture of friends that I can still remember during a birthday party I can't recall. I wondered if he thought about me, or at least my image, when he scanned the picture into his computer. Did he remember who I was? Or was I just a face without a name to him, vaguely familiar but thrown into the grouping of "my little brother's friends." Or maybe I wasn't even given a thought at all.
This revelation demanded that an e-mail be sent, that contact be made. Unfortunately, that was not to be because nowhere on the site was an e-mail address. All I could do was wait for him to someday update the site and hope he puts a link there.
There was one more interesting picture he had put in his digital scrapbook. It was from the program of a high school production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" in which he was the leading man. He was pictured with the two leading ladies flanking him. The one on the left was someone whose name I recognized but couldn't say I really knew. The one on the right...well, she's a professional opera singer now, and apparently a very good one!
One night, Lisa and I had literally spent a couple of hours coming up with people we remembered from our pasts and just threw their names through the ol' search engine. I have to be honest. All I really concentrated on were the people I came up with. Old friends...people I hadn't seen since college or high school. Of the names I came up with, I hit it big three times.
The first was an ex-girlfriend. That's right...don't you try to tell me that when you eventually do these Google searches, you won't look up an ex of your own. The question "Whatever happened to?" was invented by people wondering what happened to their former flames.
Anyway...it was an interesting time then. The only detail pertinent to this was that she was driven very hard to perfection by her parents. Straight A's were not good enough. They had to be A+'s. And the battles she had...the yelling matches over whether it was good enough...it was just not a comfortable position to have to watch that.
I knew from a good friend that she went on to Medical School as they had a few courses together. So whatever happened to her? A practicing OB/GYN...apparently with some form of call in radio show at one time. Good for her.
The second was someone I knew in high school. She was always one of the leads if not the lead in the school plays. Amazingly talented...blessed with a beautiful voice, but very down to earth, personable and just a ton of fun to be with. She had a gift and we always would say that she was destined for stardom-the most likely person ever in our school to end up on Broadway. I kept in touch with her for a little bit in our first year of college, but being in two completely different fields-art vs. science-our paths were bound to diverge.
Through the years, I always had wondered if she ever "made it." Did she ever achieve the level of performing excellence that we thought she was destined for and deserving of? If I thought about it, I might scan for her name every once in a while if I came across some form of information or article about professional musical theatre. I never found anything, but then along came Google.
Did she get there? I'm happy to report that she did, but not in a musical theatre capacity, although I realize it was my ignorance that was responsible for thinking that was the only path in front of her. She has become a very respected soprano, perfroming in operas across the country. I'd like to think that maybe someday I could contact her to congratulate her on acheiving what she has.
And finallly an old friend...someone with whom I had a bond with through grade school and high school. Back then, you always thought you'd be forever friends. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way as your chosen paths take you elsewhere. But a simple Google search then turns up a website...a virtual scrapbook of family memories put together by his older brother.
I went through the site with great curiosity and nostalgia, finding pictures of mutual friends. The rush of memories I thought I lost through time came back in a torrent. There was their cocker spaniel, the coolest dog ever until we met Herkie. There were games on the Apple II, Superman for the Atari 2600, shooting pool in the basement, the first time I ever saw a Laserdisc player. All the pictures of their house and their friends just opened a vault I thought locked along time ago. And then, one mouse click later, there it was. Or more accurately, there I was.
My youthful self was preserved in the corner of a picture, probably unknowingly, by the older brother's digital picture gallery. It was a picture of friends that I can still remember during a birthday party I can't recall. I wondered if he thought about me, or at least my image, when he scanned the picture into his computer. Did he remember who I was? Or was I just a face without a name to him, vaguely familiar but thrown into the grouping of "my little brother's friends." Or maybe I wasn't even given a thought at all.
This revelation demanded that an e-mail be sent, that contact be made. Unfortunately, that was not to be because nowhere on the site was an e-mail address. All I could do was wait for him to someday update the site and hope he puts a link there.
There was one more interesting picture he had put in his digital scrapbook. It was from the program of a high school production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" in which he was the leading man. He was pictured with the two leading ladies flanking him. The one on the left was someone whose name I recognized but couldn't say I really knew. The one on the right...well, she's a professional opera singer now, and apparently a very good one!
posted by Jon at
3:09 AM
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