The Collective

My first memory of "liking" a boy was the third grade (or maybe sooner). Alistar was my mom's best friend's son and was the in the same year as me. We were totally BFF, but I don't think it veered into crush territory until Family Camp when adults started meddling. One of my clearest memories of this phase of my life was sitting on the toilet in our cabin at camp, going twosies, and my dad coming to the door to tell me that Alistar was here to get me. His voice was suggestive, I told him to tell Alistar that I would just meet him at the lake, and then he jokingly asked if maybe he should tell Alistar what I was doing. I was so embarrassed and worried that he might actually do it. I think that's when it becomes a crush. Later that week there was a square dance. Alistar and I danced and our photos were taken. People tittered about how cute we were.

Our moms didn't stay friends for long (turns out his mom was kind of an asshole), and we moved to a different city. I faced the pressure of finding a new boy to like at my new school and totally forgot about Alistar. I'm hardly ever jealous of children, but I'm jealous about that part: they can forget crushes instantly. They don't have to whimper about it, they don't have to watch him flirt with another girl and feel like dying, they don't have to obsessively wonder. They just get to forget.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can intimately connected with many of my former crushes via a little social networking site called Facebook. I have several rules about who I will and won't be Facebook friends with, but I tend to only apply those restrictions to people in my "current life." This means that I won't accept your friend request if we met once while I was working, but if I ever knew you pre-2002, I will totally accept. I want to know what you're doing now! I'm so curious.

I also like to play a little game called, "Could We Ever Date Now??" Don't tell me you don't do that. Let's journey into Alistar's Facebook and see if we can answer that question.

Interests include: cubs baseball, the train, banana bread, the lake, and garlic

HOT.

Favorite music includes: The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Spoon, The National, Frightened Rabbit, etc., etc.

HOT.

Favorite movies include: Annie Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Rushmore, Y Tu Mamá También, The Big Lebowski, Trainspotting, Swingers, The Blues Brothers, Lost in Translation, Little Children, There Will Be Blood

Okay, so i haven't actually seen any of those movies, but I can appreciate an appreciator of them.

Favorite books include: Collected Flannery O'Connor, The Coast of Chicago, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, EB White's essays, Amy Hempel's stories

HOT. Plus, I've even written about Hempel on this blog!

Could we ever date now?? I'm going to go ahead and say that yes we could. Unfortunately, he's not single at the moment: he's been dating the same girl since college. However, her name is Abigail. I'd say things bode well.