This entry is cross-posted on my friend Chris’ site Geek Force Five. It’s a veritable cornucopia of high geekery, and just about the only place I can get published chock full of obsessive fun. Go and have a look around!
There are a lot of ways to get to know people that take time, involve boundaries and labor, and generally allow for each participant to set their own pace. Pfft, I say! I’m a twentieth-century digital boy (which means, as we’ll see, that I’m using an analog-digital converter and have set my channel to 3). If I like you, for whatever reason, then I’m not going to wait. I have a great gut, and it tells me everything I need to know. So, chances are that when I’ve met someone new that I feel I’d like to know better, I’m going to ask: “Hey, do you want me to make you a tape?” It’s a reflex that despite changes in time and social norms I will never lose. And it’s also the quickest way to see whether you’re going to be taking any long car trips in the near future. Shallow? Maybe. Ephemeral? Absolutely. Practical? Quite possibly. Now, granted, I am most likely going to deliver that “tape” in CD format or on one of these adorable things. Still, for reasons that I’ll try and lay out for you, I just can’t bring myself to shake the habit of calling it a “tape,” or relying on its Magic-8-ball-esque utility.