I got a blast from the past yesterday, a college friend emailed me. She was looking up something on Google and "I don't know what made me think of you. I was searching for something on Google and your name popped into my head."Her email caught me out of the blue. I've shared with some people and a little in this blog that things are changing in interesting ways for me. Then to hear from someone -- a dear, close friend who saw me through some difficult times in college -- wow!
We just talked on the phone for about an hour. It was good to hear her voice. She has the same laugh. We're both older. We both think of each other the way we knew each other. She remembered a bathrobe I had that was missing an arm. I remembered where she worked through college and down the years. We lost touch because our lives moved in very different directions.
God, I feel like Harry Chapin's Taxi and Sequel.
(no idea where I'm going with this, just enjoying the ride right now)
She remembered calling me to help an educational foundation she worked at. Their TRS-80 wouldn't start. I remember getting it working, no idea what I did.
I remembered having a 300baud modem and a CRT on a coffee table in a house I was sharing.
I remembered one of her roommates making this incredible party snack of mini-hotdogs, grape jelly and catsup. He told me what was in it and laughed at the face I made.
She remembered working in real estate.
I remembered her reading the first things I ever wrote for publication and her teaching me "There's 'A RAT' in 'SEPARATE', Joseph."
I think where I'm going with this has to do with all of NextStage's recent research into social networks.
Viral campaigns (as we know them today) exist pretty much in internet time. They tend to be quick (compared to the time scales are lives move in).
But there are some viral campaigns that span space and time, that propagate throughout the cosmos and come back again, spreading their bread upon the waters and watching it return seven-fold.
Spread that message WOMmically, Visa.
Build a business: hard work and long hours.
Gain an international reputation: more hard work and lots of clients.
Become recognized as an authority if half-a-dozen fields: publish like crazy and research, research, research.
Have a long lost friend contact you out of the blue so you can become a flirting college kid again? Priceless!
Good post, Joseph. It must have been very satisfying to be able to shoot the breeze with an old friend, newly rediscovered. Facebook and other sites provide the same kind of occasional nostalgia and rekindling for me and many others these days. It's amazing to live in this age of connection.
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | June 22, 2007 8:54 AM | Permalink to Comment