From the vaults.
ihatesnard realized the other day that she's been on LJ for 7 years. That caused a few of us check how long we've been on here, and it looks like we all jumped on board around the same time. The second half of 2001 was a crazy time, when this "Live Journal" thing was exotic and new. But some of us had "journals" before LJ. Remember pitas? Lindsey had one of those. I had a Diaryland that I'd forgotten all about until Daniel mentioned he had one too. So I looked mine up and LULZED (and cringed) for days. No one needs to read all of that crap, but here are some CHOICE CUTS with present-day commentary. I wish I could go back in time and tell 19/20-year-old me to chill the hell out.

...

8/31/2000: Today is Thursday, otherwise known as my only day to have fun. There's this 'club' in hollywood every week called Cafe Bleu where they play all kinds of brit pop, 60s soul, etc. I love dancing, not to say i'm good or anything (but i think i am). I've met 2 really swell girls there. Maybe someday i'll explain how we met, but for now, all you need to know is Martina just dumped me (one week ago today) and i'm back on the 'prowl'. [I can't believe I wrote "back on the prowl" and put prowl in quotations. Anyway, Martina was a girl I met at Cafe Bleu. We went out for a couple of months and then she blew me off with the ol' "I don't want a boyfriend" line. But she got me into Smile, which came in handy later on.]

9/2/2000: My summer concert schedule is shaping up nicely. I've got Jets to Brazil, Saint Etienne and Travis in the next 5 weeks. And who knows who else will be coming to town.... [I miss Jets To Brazil!]

9/5/2000: Slept in till 11. Got up. Drove around Los Angeles. Went home. Read old newspapers that had been piling up in the corner. Listened to some cds. Watched TV. Tried to go to sleep. Had insomnia. Then, had a nightmare. Woke up this morning slightly less than refreshed. [Wasn't my life FASCINATING?? Oddly enough, this was actually written two months ago.]

9/9/2000: I've been thinking. A little too much. I've noticed how i'm slowly going insane. Well, maybe not insane, but i don't like the road i'm headed down. If i'm this neurotic at 19, imagine when i'm in my 60s. I think i need to seek professional help to 'de-program' the way my brain works. [Rad emo ramblings!]

9/9/2000: Yesterday i got a page from a girl who i used to know. Actually, no, i didn't know her. She's someone that i knew for a while, but then couldn't run fast enough away from.

I met Stephanie late last year/early this year, when i was taking the bus to work. We took the same bus and transferred at the same place. I thought she was sorta cute (from afar). I mean, the catholic schoolgirl uniform does it for me every time. One day she came up to me and we started talking. I didn't mind. I had some time to kill while waiting for my bus. I thought she was alright. Not really my type (a little too immature) but i nonetheless gave her my pager number, unaware that i would be making a great mistake.

She started asking me really personal questions (do you like sex? do you think about sex?, etc.) The nail in the coffin was when she wrote me a letter saying that she wanted to get married really young and have lots of kids. It was implied that she wanted ME to have these kids with her. How creepy is that?

Thanks to her, i purchased a car a little sooner than i would have, had i not had a stalker. With my car, i could now avoid taking the bus, and thus, avoid this seriously creepy girl. [The thing I take away from this story is that I'd almost forgotten I had a pager. Also, I can't emphasize how creepy that girl was.]

9/11/2000: I'm now car-pooling with a girl here at work. When i picked her up this morning, she told me the story of how her dad found my pager number next to the phone and didn't know who this "michael" character was. So he pages me and hears my outgoing message. I have primal scream's "swastica eyes" playing in the background and i go "heyyy it's Mike, leave me a message"... i admit, i sound a little stoned, or tired. Anyway, he asks her who "michael" is and she says it's just the guy i work with. Her dad then said, "ok, but otherwise i really wouldn't want you hanging around with this kid"... [Hahaha, I would pay good money to hear that outgoing message on my pager. "Swastica Eyes" = still a jam! Oh, and I also forgot that I tried to pass myself off as "Mike" for a while. That phase lasted about three seconds.]

9/29/2000: Since by now i know all the songs, i can incorporate my own little moves. My dancing inspiration is Beck. [BECK though! I've never even seen him in concert, but I guess I got it in my mind that I danced like him? What the fuck was I talking about?]

7/24/2008: Today I realized the Internet will never let you forget what a tool you once were. Well played, Internet.