I owe Jeff a meme, for being so nasty about the last one. Besides, I think this one is kind of interesting. I have a terrible memory, so this is really hard for me. I can barely remember what I was doing 20 minutes ago.

Where was I one year ago?

In April 2005 I turned 24. Laura and I had been dating for 8 months (to date, my longest relationship ever). My best friend, who I’d shared a town with since kindergarten was about to graduate and move away. I was letting the blog slide, in favor of spending long sunny days in the park. Laura and I found Lucy (and lost her and found her again), and got evicted from my apartment for keeping her. I went to SXSW music and met Laura’s parents for the first time on the way. I used a 12” Powerbook G4, which later died a horrible death after water got poured on the keyboard. I was listening to Blonde Redhead, Devendra Banhart and Iron & Wine. I was reading Dostoevsky and Lorrie Moore. I was playing Halo 2 on an Xbox. I had wireless internet.

Where was I five years ago?

In April 2001 I turned 20. I was a college sophomore at KU in Lawrence, KS. I had recently changed my major from design to journalism, with the idea that I would work in advertising (yeah, right). I was finishing up my internship at PilgrimPage, a design and ad firm in Lawrence where I would start full time that summer. I was living with Rob at Meadowbrook. I was designing web pages with Dreamweaver and playing Unreal Tournament using a Blue and White G3. I was listening to Ryan Adams and U2. I had a cable modem.

Where was I ten years ago?

In April 1996 I turned 15. I was a high school sophomore in Wichita, KS. I looked like this. I drove a 1997 Chevy Caprice I inherited from my grandfather who died of cancer the year before. I was playing guitar and writing sappy songs about girls who weren’t interested in me (see picture above). I was experimenting with graphic design on PowerMac 8100 my dad bought from a friend of mine (I got my first internship the next year designing websites for a local print designer). I ran for student council president because I thought it would be fun to design the posters. I won, and my administration was a disaster. I had just downloaded a copy of Adobe PageMill to play with. I was playing Marathon: Infinity on a Mac. I had dialup (maybe 28.8?).

I’m going to turn this one over to Rob, Naz (who will ignore it) and Mike (where it will die). I’m also hoping Rob and Laura will chime in in the comments with all the things about my recent and distant past that I’ve mercifully forgotten (or supressed).