muchtooarrogant | Idol Inspiration

LJ Idol, Week Eighteen

It's funny what you remember about people, isn't it? For me, memories are often tied to words. Not so much what people say, although some of those exchanges can stick with me too if they're shouted loud enough, but words that are written down in letters, e-mails, and other kinds of messages often have a much longer shelf life.

One of the first conversations I remember having with this particular online friend was concerning a meme. It was that one where you were supposed to create a fictional memory about you and the other person.

Hey, I came across the funniest picture today. Do you remember that time when both of us were in San Francisco over July 4? We were wandering around, and found this place called the Fortune Cookie Factory where you could buy flat round wafers that hadn't yet been folded into cookies. Later, just before they started setting off fireworks, we were standing on Peer 39 trying to see who could make like a discus thrower and fling their wafer the farthest. LOL I have this great shot of you poised to throw, with your right arm as far back as you could get it. Who won that contest anyway?

Fun times!

Dan

Then my friend responded with her own made up memory.

We've been pen pals since the 7th grade - exchanging correspondence almost weekly since we were 12. Back in the summer of 1987, we decided, in honor of us both graduating from our respective high schools that we would finally take the plunge and meet in person! You flew up to Montreal, and we waited outside the Forum ALL NIGHT for front row tickets to see The Cure! BEST. CONCERT. EVER. Afterwards, my mom picked us up and drove us home. We were both supposed to stay in my room, but she thought that Dan was short for Danielle, not Daniel, so instead, you had to stay in my sister's old room. But once both my parents were asleep, I snuck in with a big bottle of milk and a box of cookies, and we talked all night.

That was the best grad present I ever got.

For me, those two snippets are a perfect example of LJ at its best. When we wrote them, back in 2008,

sarcasmoqueen and I had just added each other as friends, and probably didn't know much more than what was written in our user profiles. Still, in just a few brief sentences, we created alternate universes in which we had been best friends for years.

As time passed, I got to know more about my friend. I learned that she enjoyed playing softball in her spare time, was fond of singing karaoke, frequently watched hockey, and, for several months each year, helped to choreograph, rehearse, and perform in a show for charity called Becket. It wasn't a complete picture of course, but I still fell into that old trap, the one where you start assuming you know everything about a person.

Then she totally surprised me.

October 17, 2011

Giving it a shot
So I have finally decided to give therealljidol a shot - I will be competing this year for the first time! If you like to write, you should give it a try too!
http://ljidol.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/lji.s8.signup.jpg

Wish me luck! And I hope you read!

This was very exciting! I had known for some time that

sarcasmoqueen was a great writer, but I had no idea that she'd be interested in participating in a competition like

therealljidol. Here was an LJ community I'd been periodically browsing for years, and suddenly one of the people on my Flist was joining up for its next to last season.

Should I take her advice? Should I give it a try too?

I will always be grateful to

sarcasmoqueen, not only for letting me know that sign ups for Season 8 of

therealljidol had begun, but also for providing me with the inspiration to compete as well.

Thanks, Candy! It's been a great ride so far!

Dan