renee swung by clerkenwell last night for drinks but mostly just to chill for a bit. she was in london this week with her dad but unfortunately this was all i got to see of her thanks to my putting in about 15 hours of research for a mid-term bibliography that will hopefully bolster my grade a bit. the big kick in the balls, of course, is that it's still not done, and i literally have found nothing. stupid databases, or maybe stupid world of scholars for apparently deciding to never ever write about whitechapel for any reason.
officially, though, it must be the apocalypse as this is the first time i've seen renee on two seperate occasions in one year since 2003. we went to the printworks because it was still open late and mysteriously deserted. the bouncer suspiciously eyed my cut-offs but let me in anyways, probably because i wasn't wearing trainers too (and he said he liked my hair).
hanging out with renee made me start thinking hardcore about the tier-system my friends occupy in my mind, based not on relative closeness so much as era. and damned if i haven't been thinking about eras a lot lately.
renee, for example, is from the "japan-and-immediate-aftermath era", which is probably better named the post-japan era or whatever. i met her when i was abroad back in 2002 and we've stayed in touch, though in our early days as returnees we were astronomically closer. that's why it was interesting talking to her about my currently estranged (?) girlfriend, because renee knows me, but definately doesn't know her and all truth be told knew very little about her to begin with. it's like a strange sort of time travel, i get to talk to people from my past about my present and they can give me opinions based mostly on how they remember me from a few years ago.
this trip seems to be having its fair share of that. the only era that lacks representation right now is 2004-05 and last fall, but that's because the key players in those are floating are all elsewhere. so for this relatively momentous event that is dragging itself out, i'm getting a pretty broad spectrum of my past's advice. i've got sean, who i've known since preschool (learning motherfucking co-op...17 years!), the aformentioned renee, julia (if she comes) from the post-japan pre-colgate dreadlocked badass epoch, sun from my freshman year (whose presence in london has been so much more important to me than anyone else's), and no physical people from the last two class years, though i've been in touch with tim a lot in the past two weeks.
i'm glad i hold on so well to people i am especially fond of, and that the people i am fond of can hold on to me, too.
officially, though, it must be the apocalypse as this is the first time i've seen renee on two seperate occasions in one year since 2003. we went to the printworks because it was still open late and mysteriously deserted. the bouncer suspiciously eyed my cut-offs but let me in anyways, probably because i wasn't wearing trainers too (and he said he liked my hair).
hanging out with renee made me start thinking hardcore about the tier-system my friends occupy in my mind, based not on relative closeness so much as era. and damned if i haven't been thinking about eras a lot lately.
renee, for example, is from the "japan-and-immediate-aftermath era", which is probably better named the post-japan era or whatever. i met her when i was abroad back in 2002 and we've stayed in touch, though in our early days as returnees we were astronomically closer. that's why it was interesting talking to her about my currently estranged (?) girlfriend, because renee knows me, but definately doesn't know her and all truth be told knew very little about her to begin with. it's like a strange sort of time travel, i get to talk to people from my past about my present and they can give me opinions based mostly on how they remember me from a few years ago.
this trip seems to be having its fair share of that. the only era that lacks representation right now is 2004-05 and last fall, but that's because the key players in those are floating are all elsewhere. so for this relatively momentous event that is dragging itself out, i'm getting a pretty broad spectrum of my past's advice. i've got sean, who i've known since preschool (learning motherfucking co-op...17 years!), the aformentioned renee, julia (if she comes) from the post-japan pre-colgate dreadlocked badass epoch, sun from my freshman year (whose presence in london has been so much more important to me than anyone else's), and no physical people from the last two class years, though i've been in touch with tim a lot in the past two weeks.
i'm glad i hold on so well to people i am especially fond of, and that the people i am fond of can hold on to me, too.