Throwback Thursday Bandwagon

Heard an interview with the new owner of MySpace talking about the relaunch of the largely shelved social network. There were a lot of high hopes involved. Best of luck.

Anyway, he was talking about this weird anomaly where their usage quadrupled on Thursdays and it took a month before they realized that there's this fad called "Throwback Thursdays" where people will post old photos of themselves and their friends on Instagram/Facebook/Tumblr, and where else to mine old photos than the forgotten storage bin that is Myspace?

And, of course, I thought if everyone else can do it, well, so can I.

I told my wife about it and she already knew. (This from a girl who hasn't been active on Facebook for even a year yet.)

Note: Key to a man's success in life, is a wife who is way ahead of him.

Note II: Even more key is if he listens to her the first time.

So, in a cunning display of foresight, the universe instructed me to clean out an old briefcase where fell out this photo.

That's not a filter, children, that's analogue.

Date stamped on the back, "Dec 1988" which makes me twelve years old and my father almost exactly the same age as I am now. He's thinner than I am, but I have a better haircut.

I have no recollection of ever seeing this photo, nor do I even remember it being taken. I'm sure Dad will correct me at some point, but I can only assume for the time being, that this is a wedding, considering the Baby's Breath on both of our lapels and the grey pinstriped Brooks Brothers suit that I'm pretty sure is the only suit my father ever owned.

I still have the vest, but the jacket and the pants fell apart a decade ago.

I'm pretty sure it's the only suit I ever owned as well, even if it was stolen out of my father's closet.

The guitar, an Ovation 12-String, too, was stolen, in the fall of 1990, out of the back of my father's truck in a movie theater parking lot. We were seeing Godfather III, so suffice it to say, it was a very disappointing evening.

The rainbow guitar strap must have been in the guitar case when it was stolen. Pity. I totally would have stolen and rocked that.

Twelve. That was a terrible time to be in my head. That little dude right there was a mess, and he was a mess really, for no other reason than that he was twelve. Happened to me, happened to my big guy, will most likely happen to my little guy. Pity.

It'll be another five years before that little dude in the picture feels right again.

But MTV still played videos.

So he's got that going for him.