Day 5 - Friends

In hindsight I should have staggered out these parents, siblings, friends, family, and pets entries out a bit more because, quite frankly, they are all going to be long and leave me pretty much drained after typing (more time for Skins!). Of all those posts I figure that this one will end up being the longest, though also the most directly relevant for most of the readers of the site. My friends have been a huge part of my life for about as long as I have breathed on this massive planet we refer to as the Earth.

The best place to start is with who was, essentially, my very first friend. When I was just a baby I met Mike T, a baby of my mom's friend, slightly older than me. While Mike lives about half an hour or so away from me, we spent a lot of time in the summers hanging out, whether on family vacations together or at one another's house. From him I met a ton of other great people who lived in Marlton and had some great times in that area. And then there were the camping trips that we all took every year. I don't much care for camping, but having someone to chill with around the fire or while kyaking made the outdoors a lot more enjoyable than they have any right to be on their own. We don't talk so often any more, that is life taking its course I guess, but I really should make more of an effort because going over to his house for Christmas or cookouts are some of my favorite times of the year and I always look forward to them. I guess we aren't the closest of friends, but I imagine my life would be radically different without all the great times we had growing up.

Growing up I spent a lot of my days at my grandparents' house because both of my parents worked, so many of the friends I made were also from that area. Next door Jenny and Kelly lived, and when we were all a lot younger I think the two of them were probably my best friends. They were both older than I was, which was pretty cool, and we all loved Nickelodeon. My memory of my youth, I suppose, is clouded by both nostalgia and age, but I do remember walking home from the bus stops, playing on the swing set, and basically always having a great time. Great friends.

As I continued my years throughout school I formed another solid group of friends who I am sure that I will remember for the rest of my life, even if we do not really hang around too much any more. Each day after school we would all go down to the local reservoir and play pick up games of football, a time that I looked forward to from just about the third grade until high school or so. Of this group of friends I was closest to Bret and Carmen, the three of us were basically the Three Muskateers. We spent nearly each day together, we had our own spots back in the woods, did stuff on Friday nights, and talked about everything. We had other friends as well, Jon, Jamie, Mike, Dom, Billy, and some other people I am probably forgetting, and I am probably a bit closer to these people I just listed now than I am currently with Bret and Carmen, but at the time we were practically inseparable. I look back and I see myself now, mostly stagnant, unsure how I existed in a life where I always seemed to have something planned, to be doing something, and I yearn for that excitement again. Maybe I just want to play more football.

At some point we all sort of drifted apart, and in high school, in middle school actually, I really started integrating myself with the group of friends who I still am closest with to this day. The easiest way to document this is by going back the farthest, which coincidentally lines up with my best friend. If memory serves, and I suppose it does, I met Steve when we were in fifth grade. I'm not exactly sure when, though we were in the same classes, but I do know that we were both about equally good at rough on the basketball court each recess. I also know that the two points dance was the dankest of the dank. We shared most of the same classes in high school and I can still, for the most part, recount all the extraneous adventures that we had during those years and beyond. It was good to have someone who got me, interests, jokes, hobbies, and have talks about all that stuff. Lately, for me, it feels like we hit a bit of a rough patch, I might have changed, maybe, but we still hang out and talk, and that's great, and thick or thin I still count Steve as, easily, my best friend.

Through him I also met a few of my other closest friends, Ian and John. In high school we hung out in groups, but it probably was not until college that we spent too much time with each other outside of these groups, and that is a damn shame because these are two great guys as well. I probably never would have considered going to a gym (I still don't consider this, though the idea of exercising is different) if it was not for this past summer yaking with Don John. Ian is a blast to hang out with too because he always has so much energy, which works well because it lets me indulge in my own pent up energy or be balanced out depending on my mood. Also I started talking with Alex because of him, and Alex is also a completely cool guy who knows his music. No one better to have a Pitchfork centered conversation with than Alex.

Then there is Steve L., someone I have known since about sixth grade as well. We were kind of friends back then, but as the years went on we became better friends since we had mutual pals. In many ways I can relate to Steve because he is the most directly like me person that I hang out with, I think. Connected, at least tangentially, to Steve L. are my friends Kevin and King Brian. Kevin's a great guy as well, one of the most genuinely funny people that I know, always ready with a comeback or a joke. That takes wit. King Brian is going to be a doctor, preferably one that opens up crocodiles' heads. Seriously though, Brian not only has a work ethic that I can admire, I wish that I was half as chilled out as he seems to be almost all of the time. It's crazy. We all need to have a poker game again.

And in this poker game we also need to invite Jeff, a friend I met through John, Steve L, and Kevin. He goes to college with them, and lives with two of them right now. I'm not really sure how I became seemingly good friends with Jeff, but I'm not really going to question it all that much either. One of these guesses, I suppose, is that he listens to me go on about Disney and Skins with few objections. Regardless, I have already had a great number of times with him and am sure there will be many more. Also, completely dank family cookouts. I love family cookouts.

I have other friends from high school, namely Justin and Tom, who are two really cool people as well, though I have not seen them too much since starting college, which does kind of suck. The internet is an amazing thing though, I should make an attempt to reconnect.

Now is the point where I fail to come up with a witty transition that makes mention of how we all make new friends when we go off to college. I am no exception, and over my four years at TCNJ I actually have made new and different friends each year, which I think adds up to a pretty successful social stint at my university considering that I tend to have social struggles. Freshman year on T-5 was great, and on that floor I met nearly all of my closest friends from TCNJ. Figuring out how to tackle this is difficult because I will, inevitably, leave people off if I try to list my relationship with each and every person. So instead I'll just concentrate, further, in letting my mind do most of the writing.

In freshman year I spent a lot of my free time, as I did the next year as well, hanging out with my friends Jeff and Bill. We had the same Freshman seminar class, but it actually took a few weeks for me to start making friends with most people. For some reason we all just kind of clicked. It probably helps that both of them are really friendly. Also, I was able to talk all kinds of sports with them, which is fantastic. Jeff's roommate Alex is also another T-5 alumni who is also a blast to spend time with, talk sports and games, generally just chill. Speaking of chill, I also met Jesper that year, and he has to be the most relaxed, jovial person I have ever known. Over these last few weeks we need to have beers or something again.

Sophomore year I met Nicco, Sean, Eric, and Lou. Nicco and Sean are both really cool in their own unique ways as well. Actually, I lived with Sean for one year and Nicco for two. Interesting times. I have not really spent too much time hanging out with Lou or Eric either, though they both live somewhat close to my actual house I think, but they did make sophomore year incredibly memorable. Both of these guys are probably at least ten times more cultured than I can ever hope to be, and I am really luck to be friends with them. What stands out the most is that I think I have actually had some of my more open conversations with the two of them that sophomore year. A recurring theme with people I call my friends is that I can trust them, and Lou and Eric were two of the fastest people I felt I could trust.

And then in junior year I became friends with three more great people. At this point in time I was starting to get some field experience teaching. During my JFE I co-taught/co-designed a lesson with Caroline. It was so helpful to have someone to go through each day with, and the creativity and passion that Caroline brought to each class was so inspiring. Also in my education class that went along with the JFE I met Nicole and Kristen. Kristen is always bright and happy when I see her, even when we were student teaching and everyone was completely stressed out. I can't fathom being able to project that much positivity, but it always does cheer me up. And Nicole is always fantastic to talk with and ever reliable. She's well spoken and so intelligent, and has been a great friend since I met her. I always feel like I have sometime to talk with with her, and I'm really thankful for that.

And it wouldn't be college if I didn't have roommates of my own. I have heard people tell nightmare stories of their roommates, but I was incredibly lucky with my roommates. Freshman year I had probably the best roommate that I could have asked for. Dom is also an English/Education major at TCNJ, and before going to college we did not know each other. Dom is confident, talented, and pretty much just a concentration of joy. Someone to look up to. And he's also a really down to earth guy. He made efforts to relate to me, to communicate with me, and while I might not have made it easy for him (this is becoming a recurring theme with these posts) I think we did have a pretty great freshman year. Like I said, just a fantastic guy and a stellar roommate. Sophomore year I lived with my friend Mark, and things went really well that year as well I think. We had floor Smash Brothers matches, Rock Band nights, and Moral Orel watchings. We had a lot in common, and sophomore year was also pretty damn dank. I've already talked about the people I shared a house with junior year (Jesper, Sean, and Nicco), but we also got a new housemate, Tom, halfway through the year. Had many a good talk with him about games, he knows his shit, and also someone to watch Community each week with, which was great. Now I'm sharing a room with my friend Jim, also a T-5 freshman year member, and it's once again excellent. Jim is absolutely hysterical, what a wonderful sense of humor. But it's more than that, Jim is also just great to talk with because he can have a conversation about anything, offering such insight. What I really admire about Jim is how aware he seems to be, he has an apparent knowledge of who he is. Some people, myself included, spend years trying to figure out who they are, and I think Jim knows. And that's damn impressive. Hoping to keep making these last few months of our lease some of the best.

And then somewhere beyond the tangible world I have friends as well. Most of my online friends come from the Filmspotting Forum, literally the greatest community of people on the internet ever. It's not just a place to talk about movies, it's a great sized community to discuss everything. I talked about Adam, the poster who came up with the idea for this challenge, but there are so many other intelligent individuals there. It would take too long to list everyone, as it would with any of my other friends, so I'll just give a quick rundown. Holding the forums together is pixote, a mystery to the world, but also one of the most fascinating people I have ever encountered. Sam was one of the first friends I made on the forum, I think, and it makes sense because sam and I have pretty similar sensibilities (probably a scary thought). Also hailing form the same area of the map is roujin, one of the masterminds behind kaboochi.com, but also the most knowledgeable cinema-watcher in the world. roujin is around the same age as myself, but he's so much more well versed, and I suppose well written, in the art of film. One day I will learn what makes him so insightful, until then I can only hope to emulate such greatness. Bondo and 1SO are also two killer guys from those parts, as is stevekimes. It's mutual respect, kindred spirits or something. And then there's also gman, a poster much younger than myself, but one who also I am very respectful of, gives a damn fine name to the Irish. And FroHam and Junior, two interesting guys who I rarely am on the same page with, but who do back up what they post. Then there are the master voices of worm, sean, oad, and duder. flieger is quickly becoming part of this group as well. :au:. So many more people I am forgetting, this post is sort of becoming a Filmspot acceptance speech. I like these people, I love these people, because no matter how vocal I have been, how out there some of my opinions are, they don't question my sincerity, they understand and listen, and that's the community I love.

Some crossovers as well. My first non-forum encounter with a filmspotter was with fellow writer faceboy, Michael, who happens to live in the same vicinity as myself. It's a damn small world. A year or so ago we met up and went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus at the Ritz, then we went to Tunes afterward where I bought 5 VHS tapes (haven't watched them yet though). It was a Hell of an experience, and even though I haven't talked to him in a long time, he's busy being a super facedad now, he's a stand up guy who I would hang out with again at the drop of a hat. Also in this exclusive category is iKeith!, who I met up with when he had an extra ticket to an advanced screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World over the summer. Once again, a damn knowledgeable guy with a fantastic personality. The film was a great time, and even though I had to run shortly after to get back home I can't wait for an eventual Philadelphia Filmspotting Meet Up because iKeith! is a damn cool guy.

And with that I think I'm done. This post was probably a lot more surface detail than deep reflection, though I think the reflection is buried in there. Like I said, I am leaving so much out. People, details, probably other things as well. But all the people listed I cherish, and I trust them, and for my friends I'd go to the end of the world. These are the people who have made me, in one way or another. And you know what, I don't think I could ask for much better. I didn't really put it all in perspective like this, but damn I have known some fantastic people, and in some manner I love each and every one of you, and am so grateful, even for those I left out (sorry!).

Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow's Entry - Family

Rich