{"id":20950,"date":"2010-07-09T17:45:39","date_gmt":"2010-07-10T01:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=20950"},"modified":"2010-07-11T08:57:14","modified_gmt":"2010-07-11T16:57:14","slug":"mad-max","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=20950","title":{"rendered":"Mad Max"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent my morning with Josh Alan Friedman<\/a>. We’ve walked a similar career path. He’s ten years older than me. What he says about his life today, I figure that’s going to be me in a few years.<\/p>\n

In 1986, Josh published his classic Tales of Times Square. I’ve never published a classic.<\/p>\n

I just finished watching the movie Mad Max<\/a>, an Australian classic.<\/p>\n

I first saw it in the fall of 1988 at UCLA with Sung, a tall cute Asian girl who knew my roommate. She was a good Christian girl and she was majoring in the sciences. I was really taken by her.<\/p>\n

I was an atheist at the time and free to act on my desires.<\/p>\n

I asked her out to the Australian film festival playing at UCLA. She said yes. <\/p>\n

We both liked Mad Max<\/a> and then we walked a mile back to our dorm, Rieber Hall.<\/p>\n

It was near 11 p.m. There was the scent of star jasmine in the air. It was October. Our conversation flowed easily. So much seemed possible. I figured I’d spent a lifetime on university campuses and I’d marry a great girl like Sung.<\/p>\n

Later that night, I got real sick. When Sung visited my room a couple of days later, I said some things that were rather forward and I never had a chance with her again.<\/p>\n

All I had was that one glorious evening sharing with her an Australian film, basking in the 1988 coolness of Australia in America, and I thought I could be happy.<\/p>\n

In February of that year, I’d gotten a bad flu that had never gone away. I came to UCLA a month before classes started so I could see an endocrinologist in Santa Ana, Dr. Norman Beals.<\/p>\n

My parents and I had high hopes he could make me well with his prescription of various vitamin and hormone supplements.<\/p>\n

I was filled with testosterone and hope that fall at UCLA. It was my first time enrolled at a university. I believed I was going to be an academia star. I was away from my parents. I had great grades. I had knuckled down to my studies at long last. I had learned calculus. Everything seemed possible.<\/p>\n

Sure, the quarter started off badly when I sprained my ankle playing touch football and I had to go around on crutches for a week, missing a lot of classes. Then there was the expensive rehab.<\/p>\n

I had dreams that I was going to be well again. That the mysterious virus dragging me down would loosen its hold.<\/p>\n

I had a part-time job at the magazine desk of the University Research Library.<\/p>\n

I met a lot of girls that way. One in particular fascinated me. <\/p>\n

I met her just the once.<\/p>\n

I was working behind the magazine desk. She seemed French or something. Her top was loose and I could see inside. She wore a string around her wrist. <\/p>\n

She liked my accent. We talked easily. I asked her for her phone number and she gave it to me.<\/p>\n

I could totally nail this girl!<\/p>\n

I’d never been with anyone like her. She was exotic and olive-skinned and fast.<\/p>\n

And if I could only build up my strength, I would call her.<\/p>\n

I never did build up my strength that quarter. I ended up quitting my job. I dropped all of my classes but one. I gave up on my doctor. I gave up on calling the exotic chick. <\/p>\n

By June 1989, I had to give up UCLA and I would never return to university. <\/p>\n

My time in the sun was brief. I had only the intimation of the things I had long dreamed of achieving. I had only a taste and then they were taken away. <\/p>\n

So I watch Mad Max<\/a> tonight and I remember when I dated great girls and felt my whole life was ahead of me. I remember the olive-skinned number at the URL magazine desk and how she’d given me her phone number and intimated she would give me much more. I remember that last gasp of youth when I thought I could throw away my unhappy childhood and make myself over as something wonderful. <\/p>\n

I haven’t stayed in touch with anyone from UCLA that year. I spent most of it on my sick bed. People thought I was a quitter and they didn’t take much notice of me.<\/p>\n

I wonder what happened to the girl. Did she age gracefully? I’ve dated 40 year old women who look like older versions of her, but I never got any of them when they were at their prime. Or when I was at mine.<\/p>\n

Robert emails: “Luke why don’t you try this transition?<\/a>”<\/p>\n

Khunrum emails: “Rob, if you’ve ever seen Luke and Rabbi Rabbs (the Laurel and Hardy of Torah) on Luke’s spy cam, you’d know that no further training is needed in the clown department.”<\/p>\n

In his book Tell The Truth Until They Bleed<\/a>, Josh Alan Friedman has a great chapter on dating Ronnie Spector<\/a> of Be My Baby<\/a> fame. “For every kiss you give me, I’ll give you three.”<\/p>\n

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I spent my morning with Josh Alan Friedman. We’ve walked a similar career path. He’s ten years older than me. What he says about his life today, I figure that’s going to be me in a few years. In 1986, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9961],"tags":[22815,22811,22814,22813,36228,22812],"class_list":["post-20950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-ucla","tag-christian-girl","tag-cute-asian-girl","tag-glorious-evening","tag-hormone-supplements","tag-josh-alan-friedman","tag-star-jasmine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t