Tonight after New Community I was driving home and it dawned on me that it had been a long time since I'd spoken with some of my closest friends from the past.
First I called Mandi, who I was a naturalist with at Wildlife Prairie State Park for 4 years. She is now the outreach director for the Great Lakes Science Center with a $145,000 budget and an overnight camp counselor at the Cleveland Zoo. She has got it made and is in two positions that could not be any more perfectly designed for her personality! (i'm pretty jealous).
Then I spoke with my high school best friend, Jeff, who is an aborist (tree doctor) in Chicago. We speak more frequently, so we mostly discussed Microsoft Vista (because we're nerds like that).
Then Jason, who was the third "J" along with Jeff and I for JX3 Productions (our early college years video production attempt) returned my previous call. Jason has since moved on to bigger and better things. He is definitely the most famous Mendota-an, as he now appears on TV in 160 countries around the world on a little program called "American Chopper." He is the concept artist/designer for Orange County Choppers. Between the stories of world travel (he flew to Australia for the weekend and if taking a private jet to Colorado tomorrow) and celebrities (Bill Murray, Billy Joel, etc), we shared hunting stories and talked about our girlfriends and families. It is just so awesome to me that with all the fame and fortune (which he won't admit), that Jason is still the same crazy kid I grew up with. I can't wait to get out there and meet all the guys in the shop!
It's comforting that no matter how far away your friends go, they never really leave (and I can watch Jason on Discovery Channel or TLC whenever I turn on the TV)!
1 comment:
So cool that you have a friend that works at OCC!!! i used to watch that show all the time, i doesn't really fit into my schedule anymore.
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