Thursday, June 08, 2006

Rock Star

Watching my friends get older (I have my doubts some will ever grow up) is occasionally an interesting and amusing experience. Some twists and turns are easy to see. Some are a surprise.

But watching Kirsten become a rock star is proving to be one of the most unexpected, amusing and genuinely cool twists in my circle.

Confession time here. Myself and Kirsten went out for two years back in the early 90s. However, we've been friends for far longer and actually talking about that part of our relationship feels mildly weird now. The fact that we stayed friends should come as a surprise to no one who knows me well at all, as I have a real God given ability to remains friends with women who either have no romantic interest in me or after we break up.

"I like you, but let's just be friends" can still give me cold sweats.

Anyway, that Kirsten is a computer genius doesn't surprise me. She was a whiz back at MUN, working on 8488's and other things that wouldn't power a calculator these days. She introduced me to e-mail, the internet and gave me the heads up that this really cool thing called mosaic (basically an early version of Netscape Navigator, I believe) was going to revolutionize the Internet. By the way, Cathy would like to have a few words with you about introducing me to all that Kirsten.

And she was always good with musical instruments and could sing. But she was shy. She came out of her shell the more time she spent at MUN, but I never thought she would ever get into performance.

Goes to show what I know. For those of you in Southern Ontario this weekend, or hitting a few shows at during the North by NorthEast (NXNE) event, catch Kirsten playing bass in the band Arctic. And hell, if you're out in Vancouver, track them down at some point.

I'd love to go. I know people who are musicians, but they were that way when I found them. It's different with Kirsten. She was a friend who later discovered she wanted to be a musician. She was willing to take that chance at a point where many people who have been chasing that dream for years have given up and are settling down.

I just find it quite cool and the best kind of surprise. Best of luck and knock them dead in Toronto.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Aw gosh gee. *blush* Thanks.

Some part of me did want to be a musician my whole life, but I'd always written it off as too impractical. I think I had to get older and realize that it was something I couldn't ignore, that someday I'd have all these "I shoulda" regrets if I didn't try it. I'm awfully lucky and grateful to be able to have done so much so quickly...