'Remember When'

For someone in their mid-20s who's job involves the day-to-day, current events of the world, I'm intensely concerned with the past. Sue me — I was a history major.
But the one thing I've recently come to enjoy is playing 'Remember When,' in which I have reconnected with a number of my old friends and regale them with tales of Las Vegas, marriage, sometimes both simultaneously.
I've never been one to keep in close contact with the people I know but with whom I don't live under the same roof. Moving to Germany at sixth grade limited contact with relatives and friends to occasional phone calls, letters and even audio tapes. But I don't blame my moving around as an Army brat for that — I am the one who rarely keeps in touch.
Heck, I bet if you ask my folks about the issue, they'll likely respond, "Chris?!? He's alive!!?!?" (Don't worry, Mom and Dad — we'll be home for Thanksgiving).
It's not for lack of a venue. No one has an excuse these days with e-mail, iPhones and whatever else you can purchase to make avoiding contact with other human beings completely impossible.
I'm even on two social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace) in addition to this blog and my phone and e-mail, but I don't think I use those sites of social networking so much as amusing myself by posting Halloween pictures and adding cool songs and photos to my profiles.
Really, the social networking aspect of those social networking sites, for me at least, is for my friends to contact me.
I've reconnected with a number of college friends recently, and I can't imagine any 10-, 20- or 30-year reunion could be as fun. The memories of what I've done recently are still quite fresh in my mind... will I remember being electrocuted in the kitchen of my townhome 10 years from now? Come to think of it, do I remember any of it right now?
I'm showing my age when I say that 2001 to 2004 were "the good ole days" — they're certainly not that bit of the Roarin' Twenties as pictured at the top of this post.
But I'm starting to realize that the years I've spent since graduating from college have been just as good (for the most part) as those spent roaming around campus for almost four years.
A recent exchange with a friend revealed to yours truly some cool moments in my life as of late: Moving to Colorado, vacationing in Vegas and the Caribbean, getting married, having Prince play my bachelor party (kinda, sorta), and discovering I'm the Best Uncle Ever.
All this said, maybe I'm waiting to reconnect with my friends until I have stories worth telling them, making sure they're entertained with the recollections of my time on this plane of existence.
So get off my back! I'll call you back someday, but right now I'm living.