A Top 40 Turn Of Events
The following is a retelling of actual events. I am currently kicking myself because I can't find the actual transcription of some of this story.:(
When I was in college, I spent a hefty amount of time keeping in touch with my high school friends who were scattered across the country. I found, like many, that the cheapest and easiest way to do this was through email. So I had my school account, spending many afternoons banging away at the keyboards in the labs. But these were also back in the days when I used AOL as a source of keeping in touch with friends on campus when I was home. What can I say? I liked to keep abreast of any changes that weren't happening.
Growing up, I also always prided myself on finding new music before anyone else. It's not like I always set out to do it, usually it just happened. One of the musicians I loved was a man named Jude Cole. For those of you who don't know Jude (and who am I kidding, that's probably most of you) simply imagine a singer/songwriter whose along the lines of John Mayer before John Mayer was doing John Mayer and there you have Jude.
Anyone who has ever used AOL knows that the cornerstone of AOL's addictive nature is it's IMING feature. While I don't miss AOL itself, I do miss the member search and the ability to call up a list of people with random, common interests in less than 30 seconds. You wanted to find someone who collected Barry Manilow 45's and who lived in the tri state area? Consider it done. I know there are places that offer similar services these days, but none have managed to capture the good ol' days with AOL.
But just as it was easy to find other people with common interests, they could just as easily find you. Most of the people who "found" you were probably people you'd rather stay lost, but for every crappy height/age/weight request you got, you would receive one that managed to make you smile.
One day, I received an email complimenting me on my member profile. My member profile on AOL was a lot like my profile for Blogger, only with slightly different tidbits given that time, unfortunately does march on, though not as many changes as you'd expect give that time DID march on. This person went to tell me that I had "great taste" and that he had to contact me because not only did he feel we shared said great taste, but that we also in fact, shared a birthday. This person then signed their email as none other, than Mr. Jude. Cole.
Of course, when I read this, I assumed it was a fake. Why would Jude Cole be emailing me? I mean come on! He's a semi-famous singer/songwriter who must have so much going on that emailing a random 19 year old would be out of the question. So I responded, cautiously asking why, if he was really Jude Cole, would he be emailing yours truly.
His answers were honest, and convincing. He said that while he was flattered that I saw him as a "star" that he was far from being that well known. He said that he was bored one night and admittedly, the narcissist within got the best of him and he decided to search for himself in the member profiles. He came across me and was intrigued because we also had the same birthday.
As if that wasn't enough, he was further intrigued by the fact that I was a fan of the actor Ethan Embry. Not only did he know who Ethan Embry was, he knew Ethan Embry! Since Jude was an obscure, middle aged singer and Ethan was an obscure, teeange actor, he was amazed there was someone out there who actually liked both of them, at the same time. He even told Ethan about this, which, hello? blew my mind. To imagine Jude and Ethan sitting, somewhere discussing ME was, as The Black Crowes once said, too hard to handle.
Still, all of this alone wasn't prove, right? I mean he could still be a she with a penchant for playing with random, teenage girls minds. It didn't seem likely, but never say never. So he went on to further prove his identity. He explained his screen name, for one (it traced back to an obscure liner note on one of his albums) and then, admist our correspondence, he told me he also had recently found a real live letter, from me.
(Cue flashback within a flashback)
A few years before I had been in high school, working on a project. I had this cool, hippyesque English teacher who let us do whatever we wanted in the name of "art". So I started a research project of sorts on rock n' roll. Naive enough to believe it would work, I sent out letters contacting random artists, asking for their contributions to an earnest high school girl's rinky dink project. Amazingly, no one responded, at least not directly.
Here it was, a few years later, and I had come across this chance meeting with the may be Jude. He tells me that when I sent the letter, he was in the middle of a move. A lot of mail got lost in the shuffle and stayed on the backburner for sometime. He only happened to come across my letter around the same time he came across me. By this point, we were both sufficiently freaked out.
Jude and I went on to talk off and on many times over the course of a few years. No we never met or eloped in Vegas or anything like that. Sorry but this is not THAT type of story. Then, somewhere along the line, we lost touch. While on one level I was just another fan that connected with Jude and his poignant lyrics, I was lucky enough to be able to actually connect with the man behind the lyrics. Overnight, an admiration for an artist I never thought I'd meet turned into some semblance of friendship. He said he liked talking to me because he saw me as "an old soul". I liked talking to him because well, I was talking to Jude Cole.
I haven't heard from Jude in sometime, personally or professionally. If you're out there Jude, I'd love to hear from ya. I mean, it happened once, which, in my opinion, was the really strange part. So, it could happen again, right?
Now. Don't even get me started on the time I "met" Michael Ian Black.:)
When I was in college, I spent a hefty amount of time keeping in touch with my high school friends who were scattered across the country. I found, like many, that the cheapest and easiest way to do this was through email. So I had my school account, spending many afternoons banging away at the keyboards in the labs. But these were also back in the days when I used AOL as a source of keeping in touch with friends on campus when I was home. What can I say? I liked to keep abreast of any changes that weren't happening.
Growing up, I also always prided myself on finding new music before anyone else. It's not like I always set out to do it, usually it just happened. One of the musicians I loved was a man named Jude Cole. For those of you who don't know Jude (and who am I kidding, that's probably most of you) simply imagine a singer/songwriter whose along the lines of John Mayer before John Mayer was doing John Mayer and there you have Jude.
Anyone who has ever used AOL knows that the cornerstone of AOL's addictive nature is it's IMING feature. While I don't miss AOL itself, I do miss the member search and the ability to call up a list of people with random, common interests in less than 30 seconds. You wanted to find someone who collected Barry Manilow 45's and who lived in the tri state area? Consider it done. I know there are places that offer similar services these days, but none have managed to capture the good ol' days with AOL.
But just as it was easy to find other people with common interests, they could just as easily find you. Most of the people who "found" you were probably people you'd rather stay lost, but for every crappy height/age/weight request you got, you would receive one that managed to make you smile.
One day, I received an email complimenting me on my member profile. My member profile on AOL was a lot like my profile for Blogger, only with slightly different tidbits given that time, unfortunately does march on, though not as many changes as you'd expect give that time DID march on. This person went to tell me that I had "great taste" and that he had to contact me because not only did he feel we shared said great taste, but that we also in fact, shared a birthday. This person then signed their email as none other, than Mr. Jude. Cole.
Of course, when I read this, I assumed it was a fake. Why would Jude Cole be emailing me? I mean come on! He's a semi-famous singer/songwriter who must have so much going on that emailing a random 19 year old would be out of the question. So I responded, cautiously asking why, if he was really Jude Cole, would he be emailing yours truly.
His answers were honest, and convincing. He said that while he was flattered that I saw him as a "star" that he was far from being that well known. He said that he was bored one night and admittedly, the narcissist within got the best of him and he decided to search for himself in the member profiles. He came across me and was intrigued because we also had the same birthday.
As if that wasn't enough, he was further intrigued by the fact that I was a fan of the actor Ethan Embry. Not only did he know who Ethan Embry was, he knew Ethan Embry! Since Jude was an obscure, middle aged singer and Ethan was an obscure, teeange actor, he was amazed there was someone out there who actually liked both of them, at the same time. He even told Ethan about this, which, hello? blew my mind. To imagine Jude and Ethan sitting, somewhere discussing ME was, as The Black Crowes once said, too hard to handle.
Still, all of this alone wasn't prove, right? I mean he could still be a she with a penchant for playing with random, teenage girls minds. It didn't seem likely, but never say never. So he went on to further prove his identity. He explained his screen name, for one (it traced back to an obscure liner note on one of his albums) and then, admist our correspondence, he told me he also had recently found a real live letter, from me.
(Cue flashback within a flashback)
A few years before I had been in high school, working on a project. I had this cool, hippyesque English teacher who let us do whatever we wanted in the name of "art". So I started a research project of sorts on rock n' roll. Naive enough to believe it would work, I sent out letters contacting random artists, asking for their contributions to an earnest high school girl's rinky dink project. Amazingly, no one responded, at least not directly.
Here it was, a few years later, and I had come across this chance meeting with the may be Jude. He tells me that when I sent the letter, he was in the middle of a move. A lot of mail got lost in the shuffle and stayed on the backburner for sometime. He only happened to come across my letter around the same time he came across me. By this point, we were both sufficiently freaked out.
Jude and I went on to talk off and on many times over the course of a few years. No we never met or eloped in Vegas or anything like that. Sorry but this is not THAT type of story. Then, somewhere along the line, we lost touch. While on one level I was just another fan that connected with Jude and his poignant lyrics, I was lucky enough to be able to actually connect with the man behind the lyrics. Overnight, an admiration for an artist I never thought I'd meet turned into some semblance of friendship. He said he liked talking to me because he saw me as "an old soul". I liked talking to him because well, I was talking to Jude Cole.
I haven't heard from Jude in sometime, personally or professionally. If you're out there Jude, I'd love to hear from ya. I mean, it happened once, which, in my opinion, was the really strange part. So, it could happen again, right?
Now. Don't even get me started on the time I "met" Michael Ian Black.:)
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