Jump!

Remember that Carl's Jr/Hardee's cow shake commercial that I was obsessed with for such a long time? I used to go to the Hardee's website whenever I needed a boost, a pick-me-up, a jolt in the pants, a happy pill. Like, whenever I was feeling down, the cow shake commercial was my drug of choice--it was 30 seconds of bliss that was bound to make me feel good for the rest of the day. Do you remember that?

Well, I found a new drug.

My friend Jared. Okay, he's not the drug exactly. I don't even know Jared very well, but the first time we met, we instantly bonded and I feel like I know him way better than I really do.

It was the end of my semester in London. I was getting ready to return home. My friend Sian had already gone home. She and I were practically inseparable for the four months while we were in school and I was definitely Siansick (as in homesick for Sian) (as in I missed her). And then Sian called me and gave me a mission (a purpose): "My friend Jared is in London," she told me. "He thinks I'm still there. He left a message at my parents house saying that he was trying to get in touch with me. He said he was staying at (such-and-such) hostel. I have no phone number, no way to reach him. I'm not even sure if he's still at that hostel or not. Do you think you could try to get in touch with him to let him know that I'm not there anymore, so he doesn't think I flaked on seeing him? If you find him, you'll love him. Find him!"

I had heard lots about Jared from Sian and Sian had told Jared lots about me in letters and I was determined to find him and be a surrogate Sian for the night so that I could ensure that he had an amazing time in London. It was the least I could do.

Well, Jared wasn't at the (such-and-such) hostel Sian had mentioned. But I left a note for him at the desk, in case he came back for whatever reason, and miraculously, somehow, he got my note. He called me.

We ended up having an incredible night--drinking Russian vodka (Jared had just been in Russia and he had the strong stuff and I remember we did a series of shots to health and family and friends and love and peace and about a dozen other things that Russians do shots to) and then going out to dinner and talking about theater and dancing and then eating some more and then sobering up and then dancing some more and then getting drunk again and then being denied entrance to another dance club because the bouncer thought we were too drunk and then eating some more and talking about theater some more and walking through the streets of London and trying to cram years of "getting to know you" into one night. Because we had faith in Sian's taste and we knew that getting to know each other would be worth it.

That night was eight years ago. We've never lived within 500 miles of each other, so we've met each other maybe four times since that night.

Jared lives in Berlin now and he's part of this amazing theater group called dorkypark and I just got a really amazing email from him (and Jared, if you're reading this, I will respond to the email soon, I wanted to post this first, because I'm currently more addicted to blogging than I am addicted to returning emails) (it's a sickness) and I was just looking at the dorkypark website and Jared has this video on the website that is my new favorite thing--it is my new drug--and I want you to go watch it right now. It will make you happy.

Go to www.dorkypark.org. When you get to their website, you will see two beer bottles. Click on the one to your right (when you hold your cursor over the beer bottle, you should see the word "dorks"). Then you'll see a series of names--click your mouse on "Jared" and then Jared's little box will pop up. Click on "JUMP VIDEO" and enjoy.

Go. Now.

(Photo credits: The dorkypark picture is by Paul Keller.)