Reading old wall-to-walls, aside from serving as a complete waste of the very little time I have to get a whole bunch of things done, has caused me to come to a couple realizations:
1. Why is it that I can see my conversation with someone back to three years ago when we first met and began talking? Why is it that I had such poor grammar back then?
2. We are going to be really different as a generation for this reason exactly: we can see everything. We're the new shtetl, except without the goats and cows and other "If I Were a Rich Man" details.
3. When I'm forty, I might still be able to trace back to this exact conversation: one that lasted for hundreds of posts and began a real friendship. That's my other realization: we begin friendships through zeros and ones, even if (actually, especially if) we know that person in real life. Being a high school student with a keyboard is like being a knight with an extra arm made out of steel: you can reach over your shield and feel nothing if you lose a finger or two.
4. Wall-to-walls are the new home videos. They are like looking at pictures of yourself when you were a little fat kid. It's awkward and a little painful, because you can see every tiny flaw. Like that time you said "bad grammar" or "lmaozzzz" (both of which can, upon re-reading, unfortunately lead to cringes so fierce that your bones ignite). These priceless moments are frozen, and can be unlocked with just a few clicks...if you're weird enough.
5. My final epiphany: love is real. And it's all over the internet.
