Episode 18: Existential Quandary (or: GoldenEye is Cool and has Tanks)

I had what is known throughout history as an "identity crisis," only mine was of monumental proportions. But, I can not start this story here. Come along, gentle reader, and take a trip back in time with me... back, to a different time; a time of happiness, a time of laughter, a time... of joy...

It was yesterday afternoon and my friend Aaron and I had decided that we would head over to Blues on Grand to see Frank Bang (awesome blues guitarist) instead of doing the other things we had eached planned to do individually (Aaron: Nothing/Skyler: More Nothing). Rest assured, jokes were made, good times were had, and the concert was a blast (seriously, the guitarist, Frank Bang... fantastical. He did a really good live cover of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks," although since it was a concert, I suppose you already knew it would be a live cover. Wow, I must come off assuming everyone is stupid...). We came back, at some quick food, made some more jokes and ran into some people here or there, and then we went to bed.

I had made plans for Saturday night, but decided to try to change them to see this show, so instead of an all-night World of Warcraft run (yes, I play. Leave a comment and call me a nerd. Try to be creative, though. I've pretty much heard it all by this point...), I was going to get up early to have me some Horde adventures.

My clock went off at 7AM and I shot right up. And this, dear friend, is when my... bizarre occurence... eh, occured (Talk about redundancy... I'm a great English major, huh?).

Sitting up, I was so out of it from such a heavy night cram-packed with blues, that I could only think about one overly grand concept: One's identity. Only, it was more... like a question, as in... "Am I really Skyler Bartels, and what are the ramifications of being me?"

I really don't remember much, as I was so dazed upon waking up, aside from having my barely-active mind blown at the thought of being Skyler Bartels. Not in an awe-stricken sense... well, yes. In an awe-stricken sense. But rather than "YEAH! I'M AWESOME!" it was more or a seriously-toned "How does one have an identity?!"

The only thing I really remember doing about these vauge thoughts was getting out of bed, saying aloud to myself "Who am I?!" and shutting my alarm clock off. Then going back to bed.

I don't really remember much else, aside from that. Later I played about 5-6 hours of World of Warcraft, ate some dinner, did some homework, and watched GoldenEye on DVD. So, I will leave you with two questions:

1) How does one deal with the topic of who he is based on self-inspection and discovery? Can a man ever truely understand his identity and his self?

2) How did James Bond, who was in a tank behind a fast-moving train, manage to be in front of the train in said tank, dozens of miles down the rails, if the train was moving its standard speed and the tank was going at a snail's crawl?!