Man have I gotten old.
"Biggie biggie biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.
And I just love your flashy ways,
Guess that's why they're broke
And your so paid."
There is one huge benefit to working in a research lab. For the most part, I can listen to anything I want. I can blast Biggie, play some Mozart, and spin some Paul van Dyk anytime I want to. Rediscovering some of my favorite songs in lab has been a great benefit of research!
So this past weekend, I went to Best Buy to pick up some CD's I had been meaning to add to my collection for awhile. For some reason, I had never bought this album, although I loved the songs on it. And yes, I buy my music in CD form. I like to see the CD cover, read the liners, and see a disc spinning. Call me old fashioned. Go ahead, I dare you.
Anyways, if you haven't figured it out yet, I bought "Life After Death" by the Notorious B.I.G. The words above are the chorus from that album's first (and very successful single) "Hypnotize." Today, I started spinning the disc in the lab. The first few bass notes brought me immediately back to 1997, Senior year at the University of Minnesota - when everything was so so good. I closed my eyes for a few moments, remembering one of the best times of my life. I was headed to medical school, I had great friends, I was leaving my house for good, and I was in love with my wife (yes I was in love with her before I even dated her). I swear it was only a few years ago!
"Who sings that?!"
(PUFF POP PUFF - I'm trying to illustrate in words the bubble above my head and closed eyes that conatined my daydream)
"What'd you say?"
"Man, who's that? Sounds like a pretty good song!" Exlaimed the exubarant, smart but very 18 year old Andrew (doing some research in the lab).
"DUDE!!! It's a classic! How do you not know?"
And with that opening volley, I embarked in an hour long musical diatribe, covering Dr Dre, Clearance Clearwater Revival, Mozart, Tiesto, and Guns N Roses. Of course, Andrew was introduced into the teen pop boom of the late 90s and early 2000's, which means that anything with edge causes him to shudder somewhat. But that's okay, he'll learn.
It's hard to explain how wierd this seems, but to put it in perspective, Andrew was 10 and in 5th grade when I was an exuberant collegiate Senior.
TEN
I can't get over it. How did life pass me by so quickly? I mean, i'm definitely lucky to have gotten where I am, but it seems so close - those lazy spring/summer days of doing whatever I pleased (within monetary reason of course). So many good memories: those days playing basketball until the neighbors complained; collegiate women walking on campus with little on (due to heat of course); listening to music as much as I wanted; travelling to various cities in the US to interview for med school; and knowing that my adult life was about to formally start.
But have I became an adult?
True, I am responsible for lives in my line of work. But does my yearning to return to younger simplicity imply my lack of maturity or the development of maturity? How can I retain naive exuberance in the face of overpowering, attrition-style cynicism? Most importantly, does growing up necessarily equate to the loss of the kid inside?
In the end, I don't think so, I think the kid is still there, just to remind me how wonderful it all was, is, and can be.
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.
And I just love your flashy ways,
Guess that's why they're broke
And your so paid."
There is one huge benefit to working in a research lab. For the most part, I can listen to anything I want. I can blast Biggie, play some Mozart, and spin some Paul van Dyk anytime I want to. Rediscovering some of my favorite songs in lab has been a great benefit of research!
So this past weekend, I went to Best Buy to pick up some CD's I had been meaning to add to my collection for awhile. For some reason, I had never bought this album, although I loved the songs on it. And yes, I buy my music in CD form. I like to see the CD cover, read the liners, and see a disc spinning. Call me old fashioned. Go ahead, I dare you.
Anyways, if you haven't figured it out yet, I bought "Life After Death" by the Notorious B.I.G. The words above are the chorus from that album's first (and very successful single) "Hypnotize." Today, I started spinning the disc in the lab. The first few bass notes brought me immediately back to 1997, Senior year at the University of Minnesota - when everything was so so good. I closed my eyes for a few moments, remembering one of the best times of my life. I was headed to medical school, I had great friends, I was leaving my house for good, and I was in love with my wife (yes I was in love with her before I even dated her). I swear it was only a few years ago!
"Who sings that?!"
(PUFF POP PUFF - I'm trying to illustrate in words the bubble above my head and closed eyes that conatined my daydream)
"What'd you say?"
"Man, who's that? Sounds like a pretty good song!" Exlaimed the exubarant, smart but very 18 year old Andrew (doing some research in the lab).
"DUDE!!! It's a classic! How do you not know?"
And with that opening volley, I embarked in an hour long musical diatribe, covering Dr Dre, Clearance Clearwater Revival, Mozart, Tiesto, and Guns N Roses. Of course, Andrew was introduced into the teen pop boom of the late 90s and early 2000's, which means that anything with edge causes him to shudder somewhat. But that's okay, he'll learn.
It's hard to explain how wierd this seems, but to put it in perspective, Andrew was 10 and in 5th grade when I was an exuberant collegiate Senior.
TEN
I can't get over it. How did life pass me by so quickly? I mean, i'm definitely lucky to have gotten where I am, but it seems so close - those lazy spring/summer days of doing whatever I pleased (within monetary reason of course). So many good memories: those days playing basketball until the neighbors complained; collegiate women walking on campus with little on (due to heat of course); listening to music as much as I wanted; travelling to various cities in the US to interview for med school; and knowing that my adult life was about to formally start.
But have I became an adult?
True, I am responsible for lives in my line of work. But does my yearning to return to younger simplicity imply my lack of maturity or the development of maturity? How can I retain naive exuberance in the face of overpowering, attrition-style cynicism? Most importantly, does growing up necessarily equate to the loss of the kid inside?
In the end, I don't think so, I think the kid is still there, just to remind me how wonderful it all was, is, and can be.
posted by Richard at 4:41 PM
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