2010.12.28 Text 2 notes

  1. Anatomy of a space cadet

    I’m A.J. Kazlouski, and I was born in some town in New Jersey. I always forget its name. I do remember that it’s the same town that Carrot Top was born in, though.

    But I’d much rather say I was born in Philadelphia, because that’s where I was raised in my initial years of awareness. I read Amelia Bedelia books with my grandmother, played Pokémon games with my friends, and dreamed of being a Power Ranger, defending the world from various vicious robots that were clearly an issue in the 90s. Around when President Bush was first elected, my parents, my dogs, and I moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. My dad was in the Air Force at the time, and we were told to go West. I was almost nine years old.

    Between our arrival in Colorado Springs, and my moving to Boulder, Colorado for college, I’ve grown into a strange little being. I started here in fourth grade, falling in love with Roald Dahl books and Shel Silverstein poems—they weren’t quite as cool as The Phantom Tollbooth, though. I played lots of video games, Mario and Pikachu further cementing themselves as my cultural touchstones. I had a crush on my best friend at the time, despite my frequent denials. I got the first Harry Potter book and realized it was totally worth the hype. My parents split up and it was rough for me, but it’s okay.

    Then I developed a keen and much more specific taste in both music and people. When middle school started I made friends who I still have to this day. I would not be opposed to affixing the title of “best friend” to a couple of them. I was hopelessly awkward, but I found niches in the school band and the art club. I was a pretty good euphonium player, but I was never much of an artist. I tried, though.

    I tried “dating” around then. My current constant worrying about women was probably all spurred by a small group of teenage girls who spun me around until I was too dizzy to see that my life was going to change more than I could have ever guessed once I stumbled into high school.

    When I spun back in the opposite direction, I was a freshman and still socially hopeless. I was in a band and we really only practiced once a week. I was a pretty mediocre bass player, but I wrote the songs most of the time and sang the silly songs. We weren’t awful. We only played one show, in my garage. It was cool.

    Then a girl named Rebecca and a newspaper named The Sentinel came into my life, both in the strangest of ways. One, because of a sudden move and my ability to be charming in a really dumb way, the other because…well, because I signed up sort of on a whim. Both made me more confident, stronger, more aware of the world around me. Plus, both helped make me the cultural snob I am today. Without either, this blog would surely not exist, or at least not be written quite as well. I know what I want to do with my life because of The Sentinel, and I have something of an idea of who the hell I am mostly because of Rebecca. On graduation day I watched Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog for the first time, and then I had one of the best Summer vacations ever.

    Now I’m sitting around watching Back to the Future Part III on a Tuesday afternoon during my Christmas break after my very first semester of college. I’m obsessed with Scott Pilgrim, Dave Barry, They Might Be Giants, The Dead Milkmen, and all-female Canadian pop-punk bands. I write in a journal every day, but it isn’t a diary (and I’m not just referencing Doug here). My friends are all amazing and I go to sleep at ungodly hours of the morning. Rebecca and I are still close, but in a different way, and The Sentinel is in new hands.

    I’m eighteen and I lost my mind somewhere along the way. This is my search to find it.

    I’m A.J. Kazlouski, and I’m going to go drink another cup of coffee and ponder my future while Marty McFly goes back to his.