Boppie (or MG) called me on Saturday, literally yelling about how spectacular the new Star Trek movie was. She was on her way home from seeing it on a first date ("How was the date?" I asked later. "He can only benefit from being associated with the experience," she replied.) and thought I was the only person who would appreciate the significance of how satisfying it was to see that JJ Abrams had not screwed it up...
And so we talked about Star Trek a bit (in fairness, I hadn't recalled that MG was that interested in Trek... I'm sure we saw ST:IV (yeah, the one with the whales) in high school -- I may have even made her suffer through ST:V, but it was one of the things I'd forgotten). And then we started talking about other things, jobs, careers, health, migraines, life, existentialism, our youth, growing up, specific bits from classes, the way they shouldn't teach math, our families, pets, blogs, and on and on. Two+ hours later we needed to go before her cellphone battery cut out.
I should mention, for those that don't know from earlier posts, that I have known MG since... we're actually not sure... either age 9 or 10. She is the person I am not related to that I have known the longest that I still talk to (unless Bonnie or Laura Wagner suddenly pop back into my life...) And sometimes, like any other relationship I have, I fall out of touch, but somehow we always manage to get back in touch even if it takes some doing. And when that happens, we are back in touch -- not in that Facebook way (not that there's anything wrong with that), but we can talk about things as if no time had passed.
Considering MG and I "met" or came to know one another so early in life was a tad peculiar since we attending different grammar schools (West Milford is a vast township and there were... 6 or 7 primary schools at the time, I think, not counting private schools). We were, however, both in the Township's "Gifted & Talented" program (which was later changed to "Learning Unlimited," because, in an early bout of PC language revisionism it was decided that one might be gifted or talented in other areas beyond, um, learning stuff, I guess...) So once a week, for about half of the day, they would take us out of our classes and ship us to a decommissioned school building to learn other things (art, science, logic, magic, biology, history, science, technology, etc.)
MG describes it as how we were "culled from the herd" once a week and "placed on the short bus" (it was, in fact, a school van in most cases), and we talked a bit in this call about the emotional and sociological ramifications of this. (I don't know if you've noticed, but kids do, in fact, notice little differences like when one is removed from the classroom for half a day once a week...) I don't think either of us would trade that time in "L.U." (and trust me I could do a whole post or two on just that), but in talking with MG I was reminded just how much it shaped our early years (though she seems more aware of it that I did...)
And I remember how if she asked a question in math class or in Chemistry, things were about to get interesting (MG did (and I expect does) not suffer fools gladly). And how we didn't go to my Junior Prom together (I blame Stypinski... it's easier that way...) and various Halloween parties, and so on and so on.
It was so much... fun talking with her. It was great to stumble down the same avenues of shared recollection, in some cases, things I hadn't thought about in decades, and then suddenly have bits and pieces come floating back. And yet at the same time to be able to talk about things we feel or experience now (like attitudes about jobs) and find that even though our shared background diverged years before we entered the workforce, we both have similar "takes" on things.
But mostly, it was nice to be reminded that people sometimes are thinking of me and are inclined reach out and let me know that. Sometimes I feel like traffic only goes in the other direction. Selfish of me? Yes, but then you are reading my blog, aren't you...
Well, enough of my ravings (on this, anyway); I owe MG a message on what I thought of Trek...
* * *
Which brings me to Part Two of this post, in which I explain my relationship with Star Trek.
I can't tell you when I first saw Star Trek...
Funny story, I once asked me Dad what he was doing when I was born -- this was back in the day when fathers waited in -- you guessed it -- waiting rooms (Kids, check out the I Love Lucy episode where Little Ricky was born -- it was like that but with less smoking and in color...) He told me he was sitting in the Waiting Room watching TV. Naturally, I asked him, "Well, what were you watching?" He said, "I'm not sure, I think it was an old episode of Star Trek." At the time (when he told me, not at my birth...) "I remember thinking, well, that would have been on WPIX (Channel 11) out of New York... I wonder if they keep their broadcast logs that far back... could I possibly find out what episode was playing...?" Yeah, it's like that. Or it was.
I remember growing up I had Star Trek toys. Little 9" Mego dolls (this was before "action figures") and the whole bridge playset. They've remade both of these set-ups for nostaligic people my age, who didn't keep the originals like I did (even if every phaser belt broke...) I had a phaser that made noise and projected silhouetted flash light beams on the wall (so you could show the enterprise or a Klingon battlecruiser and whatnot) -- they make better ones now, of course. And I remember (as a child now, don't forget), regretting never getting the Star Trek utility belt I would sometimes stare at on trips to Child World (yeah, you can look that one up too...) And I'm sure it was something we played "in pretend" growing up (though I was too young to think to imitate Shatner's cadence of speech).
It was somewhere around age 12 or 13 that I really started to go over the deep end about Star Trek. I just "really got into it" -- I don't remember why (it certainly couldn't have had anything to do with my OCD tendencies...) WPIX (yep, them again... or more accurately still...) had the syndication rights in NY (and NJ is in the NY market). And they were showing them every night at 11 or 11:30 pm. And we now had a VCR. And yes, I taped them all. And watched them all. And discovered I had favorite episodes. And learned minutia about them. And that might have been enough... remember, this was all pre-Web, pre-Internet (well, for me anyway, I didn't get online until '89...)
But then I went to a convention. My dad was nice enough (did I ask? I really don't remember...) to get me tickets for Xmas one year to "the Spock Family" convention in NYC. Leonard Nimoy, Mark Leonard, and Jane Wyatt were all going to be there. It was... an experience, some of which I was prepared for ("Wow! Model phasers!" and "Oh, look! Those guys are dressed as Klingons! Crazy!") and some of which I was not ("Wow, my old toys are worth hundreds of dollars?!" and "Hmm, this vendor seems to have drawn pen-and-ink sketches of Kirk and Spock... with long hair... embracing... but why would they?" -- again, this was before the Internet -- I hadn't heard of slash fan-fiction yet (and that was OK by me...))
And that would not be the last convention. No, there were many others. I read all the novels. I started playing the roleplaying game (not terribly odd, as I liked roleplaying and I liked Trek, it made sense to me, and I had friends that were into both at the time). And I suppose I could have gone further still, but for some reason, I think I was pulled back from the brink. I developed other interests (girls, for one), and I seem to recall a trip to Europe or two, getting a job, and learning to drive somewhere in there.
And suddenly, Star Trek was just another interest. I remember by the time we decided to add the TV to the room in college, that I brought all my trek tapes with me (what else to keep in the bottom drawer of my desk than a gazillion video tapes), and Geoff and I would on occasion (the wild and crazy guys we were) watch an episode or two. It was also when I got into Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) which I wasn't really enamored of when it first started one or two years earlier.
But trek was always there. I remember gathering after the '94 Drew graduation and watching the series finale of ST:TNG. Throughout the other series DS9 and yeah, even parts of Voyager (though that's when my interest started to lag) I could always stop back in and see how things were going in the Trek universe.
But ultimately for me, Star Trek would always be the original series and the original cast. In a sense, I thought of them as old friends too, after a fashion... the teaser trailer for Star Trek VI (in 1991 --or the last movie made with the whole original cast) really summed it up nicely for me. For those who don't want to roll the video, let me quote:
For one quarter of a century they have thrilled us with their adventures, amazed us with their discoveries, and inspired us with their courage. Their ship has journeyed beyond imagination. Her name has become legend. Her crew, the finest ever assembled. We have traveled beside them from one corner of the galaxy to the other. They have been our guides, our protectors, and our friends...Corny? Yeah, a bit. But moving at the same time. Pause for a moment and think about how much Trek has influenced the world we live in today. Shatner hosted a show not that long ago on Discovery (I think) called William Shatner Invented the Universe (or words to that effect) that traced how most of the stuff we take for granted today (cellphones, anyone?) were inspired by Star Trek...
Long story, long, it was a tough act to follow. Big shoes to fill. The notion of someone else playing Captain James T. Kirk? The mind rebels. Shatner's got his own church for gods sakes...
On the other hand, JJ Abrams knows his stuff. Alias? LOVED IT. LOST? Spectacular (even back when I sorta understood it). Fringe? Weird, but sure do like it. I even loved Mission Impossible III (and this was while Mr. Cruise was losing it...) So if anyone stood a chance...
Great googily moogily this has gotten long. I know this is the kiss of death, but I think I need to finish this later. Stand by for the thrilling conclusion...
