Back Then

I love Sitemeter. This is a recent discovery for me. I've read several blog entries over the last year, people talking about the search terms used to find their blog. How do they do that? Answer: digging around in Sitemeter. How cool.

Back on October of '05, I wrote a couple posts about pledging the Fiji fraternity. I broke several rules by doing so. They fancy themselves as being super duper trifecta top secret, but it's all a bunch of bull, even to those who eventually come to embrace it. But now my blog, having been around for so long I suppose, gets top billing sometimes for Google searches, Yahoo and Ask.com too. Two days ago, I got an email from a young man thinking about pledging Fiji as WSU. He was concerned about joining. To him, the guys at the fraternity today seem like a bunch of cool guys, but my stories were unflattering. How long ago did you attend, he asked me.

Back when I was at WSU, David Lee Roth was still the lead singer of Van Halen. Jump was number one. I know, Van who? It's embarrassing to admit, but we danced in basements to Karma Chameleon Time after Time. I was the Owner of a Lonely Heart, but What's Love Got To Do With It anyway? But Let's Hear it for the Boy, because Against All Odds I made it through.

An unknown actor called Kevin Bacon starred in his first role called Footloose. Ever even heard of it? Eddie Murphy was actually funny back then. I know, I know, but it's true. He could do no wrong after his smash success that year with Beverly Hills Cop. Harrison Ford was in his prime in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And who could forget Dr. Venkman who never studied in Ghostbusters? Ralph Machio was a household name, as was Mr. Miagi. Back then Police Academy needed no suffix.

People were watching Dynasty and Dallas, The Cosby Show and Family Ties. A lot of shooting and explosions rocked the world of A-Team, but nobody got killed. The shows we watched can only be found in obscure DVD collections and Nick at Nite.

What am I trying to say? Things change. Like I told him, these are the best years of your life. Live them to the fullest.