Time Is Fake (But Geek Culture Makes It Make Sense)
Welcome to GT Radio on the Geek Therapy Network. Here at Geek Therapy, we believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. My name is Josué Cardona. I am joined by Marc Cuiriz. Yo.
Josué:And Lara Taylor. Hey. Lara, you're up. What what is this week's topic?
Lara:Something that is both very real and also absolutely fake.
Josué:What?
Lara:Time.
Josué:Oh, it's not that that makes sense.
Lara:Yeah. It's time.
Josué:Made up. Is it? What is time?
Lara:It's made up. I still- listen. It's a fuss My brain still thinks that it's 2020. We'll not move past that point, even very well knowing that it's 2024.
Josué:Had an interview the other day, and I kept talking about the year 2000. And he was like, 2000? You mean 2020? I was like, yes. 2020.
Josué:The one with the zero at the end. Mhmm.
Lara:It's one of and I I think, even today, I think I had at least three conversations with clients about time, and how time is weird and wibbly wobbly, and Mhmm. It can feel like, I don't know, Being a therapist, I didn't talk about this with them. Being a therapist, one hour can feel like eight, or it can feel like twenty minutes, depending on how it's going. And that's I mean, life in general can be like that. But time I think I've paid more attention to time.
Josué:Since you turned No.
Lara:Since becoming a becoming an outpatient therapist. I measure Got it. My time in fifty minutes. Yeah. I measure my weeks by and the day it is by who is in my office or on my screen.
Lara:I went on a vacation around New Year's and I had to move clients around. And I had no idea what day of the week it was because my Monday and Tuesday clients I was seeing on Wednesday and Thursday and it was different times of the day and it felt really weird to me. But what really brought up the topic is thinking about how we measure time through our geeky interests. I've had clients who and myself too, I'll think about, oh, what version of what Wow expansion was I playing at that time of my life? Like, thinking about, I know that my friend and I were do had this argument about this big thing and this falling out because that was when the Mists of Pandaria expansion came out.
Lara:Or other ones that have been important are like what Legend of Zelda game was the one that they were playing at that time, whether it's when that game came out or what they were playing. But I've had several of these conversations over the past few years, but I've had a few more recently that have come up and thinking about like, how do we measure time? I think I've heard from both of you and Link talking about like our brains hurting, thinking about how much time has passed between a thing. Oh, that just came out, like, a couple years ago. Oh, no.
Lara:That came out a long time ago. Things like that. So, yeah, the topic is time and how fake and real it is and how we can relate to and measure our time based on the things we love.
Josué:There's the first thing that came to mind when you brought up this topic was I'll tell you a story. So my mom my mom was really sick for the last couple years, and she died last year. And the she was one of the last times that she was at the hospital, she put she put a movie there's a on the the screen at the hospital. They were giving Police Academy, the first one. And we'd seen that movie a lot when when when I was when I was little, all of them.
Josué:It was just, you know, I mean, it was on TV all the time. I'm pretty sure we had them on VHS. It was something we enjoyed. And so I wasn't there with my mom at the hospital when this happened. My older sister was.
Josué:But my mom was watching the movie, and she was laughing so much that my sister recorded her laughing. And she was just like and even my mom was saying it. She was like, I haven't laughed this hard in so long. Like, this movie is so stupid. Like, this movie is so funny.
Josué:Mhmm. And she's just laughing and laughing again, like, the middle of the hospital knowing she's gonna die in a few months. Just like, she looked so happy and just laughing, and it was such a good memory. So fast forward, like, three or four months after that, and my mom died. And I think it was a few days later when we when she was cremated, we all came home and we're like, let's let's do something in honor of mom.
Josué:So let's let's watch Police Academy because she was laughing so hard about it. Right? So we put the movie on, and I didn't remember this at all about the movie. The moment that it starts, the opening scene actually has some text on the screen, and it talks about how the the mayor of the city like, there's a lot of crime, and he's opening up the police to to anybody to come through. It's so funny to watch that, like, now, like, in in the
Lara:In the context of today.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The idea of the movie, right, is that there's all these people who would have never gotten into the police supposedly back then.
Josué:We're, like, we're lowering the standards is the idea. And so, actually, so when the movie starts, the first thing that comes on the screen, it says, one day on March 4, and my mom died on March 4. And we watched it a few days later. When that came on, we just paused it. We were all like, what the fuck?
Josué:Holy shit. Ew. I will it's so funny because I don't like, I don't remember. Oh, my mom died on March 4. I have to think about Police Academy to the like, I literally did that before we watched today.
Josué:I was like, I don't remember what day it was. So I queued up Police Academy, and, like, three seconds in, it shows that I'm like, oh, that's when mom died on March 4. It's just it's just one of those things, right, where this piece of media took on like, it'd be it was meaningful, not only because we watched it as a family earlier, but, like, towards the end of her life, it was one of, like, one of the the the happiest moments. Right? Like, seeing her laughing.
Josué:And then, like, like, some kind of weird practical joke after she died. Yeah. Right? She's like
Lara:Listen, Josue. That's a ghost wink from when
Marc:we talked about ghost winks.
Lara:A while back. Yeah.
Josué:Yep. Mhmm. Yep. So so that's the first example that came to mind. And again, I just I just did it.
Josué:I'm like, I don't remember what day it was and boom. That's that's how I do it. So forever, the movie Police Academy will be will be tied to the day that my mom died to me. And that is something I never thought I would say. Mhmm.
Josué:But that's but that's how time works in geek culture. Yeah.
Lara:Yeah. No. It's interesting because I also have a mom story. Like, it's a little different, but I I know a lot of random Disney trivia, but I know what year most of the nineties movies came out because the last Disney movie my mom saw was The Lion King. Came out in '94.
Lara:She died in '95. She never got to see Pocahontas, so I know that came out in '95. Like, it's a whole thing. But I I also kind of have to do the backwards the backwards math. Like, okay, this came out this year.
Lara:That's right. So Lion King came out in '94. My mom died in '95. My nephew was born in '96. And and doing the math that way.
Lara:Yeah. Otherwise, I will never remember how old my nephew is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Lara:Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. No. I get it. I get it completely.
Lara:Oh, and then my niece was born in '97. So yeah. Same idea. I will never remember how old they are unless I think about Lion King, then mom, then yeah.
Josué:I've I've moved around a lot my entire life. And the other day, I received I received the what? I don't remember. I think it was like I don't think it was like a memory, like, one of those memories that come up in a photo album, you know, where, like, the the app reminds you of a particular day. I think that's what it was.
Josué:Point is, I was thinking how, like, where was I living ten years ago? Like, I couldn't remember where I lived ten years ago. So so I went into Amazon, right, to see, like, what did I buy ten years ago? Let me go back to 2014. And it was it was so funny that the one of the first things that came up was Star Wars Angry Birds on the PS four.
Josué:And it was delivered to my address in North Carolina. And I'm like, oh, okay. Cool. I lived in North Carolina at that time. And it was just it was just like it it could have been, I don't know, like an appliance or, like, underwear or something else.
Josué:Right? But it was like that. Like, that will help me remember in the future. Now I'll always know. And I do have memories like that too.
Josué:Like, I have, like, a really happy memory, and I think I brought it up a bunch that has to do with my mom and Ocarina of Time. And so it's like, oh, that was '98 because that's when Ocarina of Time came out. Like, I can there's there's something there's a there's a level of nerd. Right? Right?
Josué:Like, like, that whole idea of geek culture of, like, knowing something so well. Sometimes you just know the years where things came out. And then that's why we can make those ties. Right? It's it's very much connected to that.
Josué:Actually, I'm gonna I'm gonna test you, Mark. Oh, goodness. Yeah. When, like, when did the first Assassin's Creed come out?
Marc:The first Assassin's Creed came out in 2007.
Lara:Okay. Okay.
Marc:And then I think it was Why do you
Josué:remember that?
Marc:So believe it or not, I remember the year that the first Assassin's Creed came out when I was putting together the codex. Mhmm. Because I wanted to, like I I was doing more research into, like, remembering when games are released because when by the time I jumped into Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed two had already been out. Right. Right.
Marc:So and so I played two first. And I think that that was in I think it was, like, early two thousand nine is when I picked it up for the first time, which is my little story of like how I got like, I remember this time period of my life with it being just rather difficult with a lot of changes that were happening with my mom and my dad being divorced. You know, we had to move from a three bedroom house, multi leveled house to a one bedroom condo. But I remember that, like, when but when I started playing Assassin's Creed and I actually started really getting into the game and, like, falling in love with it, that's what was, like, helping me get through all of that. Yeah.
Marc:So like for me, it's like, damn, like when was that? Like if I try to remember like when when we moved to the condo and how long we were in the condo, I think about I I go back to two and I'm like, okay. Well, I started playing it there and I remember playing it in the bedroom. I remember playing Brotherhood at that condo. And then by the time Revelations came out, we were we were out of there.
Marc:So, like, that that's like for me, like, my life is time stamped by when I played Assassin's Creed games.
Lara:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Josué:Otherwise, how could you possibly remember? Like because
Marc:there's no way.
Josué:Time doesn't make sense.
Marc:No. It doesn't, You
Lara:know? No. It it doesn't make sense No. At
Marc:It just it's just a completely made up thing. It's an illusion, and the only way I'm ever able to make some sense out of the illusion is I take a look at a lot of the main series that, like, I've I've really grown to enjoy and appreciate from Assassin's Creed to Percy Jackson to I mean, when I was younger, was Harry Potter. Like, all these things that, like, I've I've really dove into and I came to really enjoy, a lot of those have been the timestamps of, like, where was I at at those points in my life and what was going on at those and at those times. Like, even getting into League of Legends or or Minecraft for the very first time. Like, I remember being in the house and playing on this rinky dink computer and just completely falling in love with it.
Marc:And also, like, that's this is when I was, like, figuring out who I was as an individual
Josué:still. I
Marc:don't have a mom story. I'm sorry. Not yet. It's fine.
Lara:It's fine. I mean, it doesn't even have to do with, like, just years. Right? Like, I figured out when Nina and I moved into our condo, we ended up being, like, exactly I think it was, like, five years before we moved into this new house because we watched I remember watching the Prince of Egypt when we moved into our new place because it was Passover. But I remember that was like the one of the first movies we watched there.
Lara:And then we moved on Easter into this house, and those two are are pretty close together. So it's like just these coincidences, but like, yeah. Wow. That, Okay. I remember sitting on the couch, the new couch in our new house, or our new condo, watching Prince of Egypt before before Passover.
Lara:Yeah. Time is weird.
Josué:Do do you guys remember, like, the first I I don't know. I mean, I remember I think it was technically my first date with with, like, my ex partner, and we went to see a movie. It was it was Dracula 2000. So I know we first dated in 2000. I
Lara:I've had that. I think it's it's
Josué:interesting
Lara:No
Josué:one's easy because it's in the title.
Lara:I kind of will do like a backwards cert like, instead of thinking of like, this year, this like like, with the Lion King thing, I know the year because of when my mom died, and I can remember that. But like, this is like, I can Google. I know when I was dating this person because we went to go see this movie, and I can look up when that movie came out.
Josué:So Yeah.
Lara:There was someone that I was dating that we went to go see Captain America First Avenger. And so that was a while ago. He's old now. Yeah. I can't.
Lara:But then it starts to get we I can't remember what one of the first movies Nina and I went well. We did go see Hunger Games, I think was one of the first ones we went to go see together. But another one that I made her go to when we first started dating was when it was before Disney bought Lucasfilm, and it was the three d the three d Phantom Menace. I remember that.
Josué:Best arm of the film according to me.
Lara:According to you. Specifically in three d?
Josué:Of course. Yes. Especially in three d.
Marc:It has to be in three d.
Josué:Mhmm. I never saw
Marc:it in
Josué:three d.
Lara:We did a lot of three d movies then, because I also made her go see the three d Titanic with me for the anniversary of that, which also broke my brain, because it's an anniversary movie.
Marc:For me, for me and my and my wife, I remember it was '20 like, was 2016. So, like, the way our anniversary date, like, when we, like, decided to be official about it, it's pretty simple just with the numbers. So that's how I remember it. But I I remember the first movie we went to go see it because it
Lara:was
Marc:very divisive. Because it was Captain America Civil War. And so I see what you're doing. I I was team Ironman and she was team captain.
Lara:I'm with her.
Marc:Thank you. So but I I remember, like, this is like this was like our first, like, official date because, like, we had gone out for dinner.
Josué:First official fight. Basically.
Marc:I remember like like beforehand, like, we we had gotten sushi and like, I remember from the sushi place, like, because her and I both really love sushi. So, like, I can remember, like, yes, I remember our first date being that, and then this is the first movie movie we went to go see. And, yes, the first fight, first argument about, like, no, actually team Iron Man, but, you know, that's neither here nor there. So for me, like, I mean, it's still, I guess, would you say it's still technically, like, new ish? I mean, it's it's been almost ten years.
Marc:It's like eight years old. It's not not that old yet. Right?
Josué:Time doesn't make sense. That's that's the whole point, Mark. I don't know. What's old? What's new?
Josué:What's young? What's old?
Lara:Mhmm. Mhmm. It's It's really almost a decade old.
Josué:I know. It's almost four.
Marc:Oh, I can remember also the first movie that I watched on when Disney plus launched. When was that again? When did Disney plus That
Lara:was during that was
Marc:That was during the
Lara:Pandemic. Right?
Marc:Yeah. No. It was pre No.
Lara:It was before was right before.
Marc:Yeah. Because I I remember I was I remember I I was still working at Banana Republic. And when it first launched, I the first movie I watched on it because of nostalgia was Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mhmm. That that was a trip of a movie, and I still love that movie.
Marc:But I remember me working at Banana Republic. I remember sitting in the break room watching it on my phone because I'm like, I I have to watch this movie, like and then I'll start watching Star Wars. And then a few months later, then I I get laid off because of COVID.
Lara:Yeah. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Josué:I it's it's funny because I'm I couldn't remember. Yeah. I mean, the moment you said that, was like, oh, yeah. No. There was a few months before before COVID that Lauren and I recorded an episode about the launch of of Disney plus.
Josué:So I was able to do that math and be like, oh, no. It's 2019 for sure.
Lara:Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I will always remember that PS five launched in 2020 because it was the pandemic and saved me.
Marc:And I remember working overnight at Target and spending two hours after I had unloaded a whole truck searching desperately online to find one to pre order. And I did. And it was Mhmm. Glorious. And I was saved.
Lara:Yeah. Yeah. And I also remember my friends had, gone out of town on for like a air go on an Airbnb or something away. And I they're like, our PS five is being delivered. Can you make sure to bring it in the house?
Lara:Cause I don't want anyone to steal it. And can you make sure it's actually in the box? Like yeah. So Yeah.
Josué:When it's funny. But when the Xbox three sixty came out, I remember very clearly because I had graduated college, and I had like my first real job, and I had moved to Philadelphia. And it was also the first time I had like money in my life. So when the Xbox three sixty came out, there was, like, I didn't even have furniture. Like, there were I had priorities.
Josué:Like, I got a nice TV, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get this console on day one with all the games and whatever. Like, Amazon did bundles back then because it was so hard to get consoles. So I got, like, a $700 bundle or something like that at the time. It had a whole bunch of games I didn't care for. But I was like, no, I'm gonna get it.
Josué:And so, like, I know that was 2005 because that was, like, the year that I had my freedom for the first time in my life when I was able to live on my own. But it like, I wouldn't remember if it weren't if those things weren't weren't as tied together. Right? Like, I remember both, thanks to the other. They're they're they are very it's an intricate web that reinforces one and the other.
Josué:And because, like, those are those are meaningful moments. Right? Like, mean, they don't always have to be meaningful moments, but the ones that come easily are the ones where it's like, oh, nope. I remember this. I remember when when I read this.
Josué:And sometimes it's like, like, that one where, like, Mark, like you were saying, you didn't come into Assassin's Creed until later. So, you know, like, it makes more sense that you're like, oh, I do know that number two came out in 2009 because that's when I played it. But once you became a fan, like, you can still you can start doing That's that's
Marc:when the time you
Josué:have a calendar. Yeah. Yeah.
Marc:Yeah. Like, my I feel like my life's broken up from before Assassin's Creed and after Assassin's Creed. That's like the prehistoric times. Like, nothing's documented. I don't know what happens.
Marc:Anything could have happened. I don't I don't know. But after Assassin's Creed, now I I I clearly know these these pivotal moments in my life.
Josué:But really, in your case, it's BE and AE. It's before Ezio and after Ezio.
Marc:Yeah. Basically.
Lara:I know.
Josué:I know. Like, Altaira, like, he's there before, but technically for you, it's it's before and after Ezio.
Marc:Yeah. Because Altaira, he he came after. I I played one after I played two.
Josué:Exactly. Exactly. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Marc:But I I'm I also you guys are making me think back to now 2009. And I remember when I actually felt started, like, getting connected to, like, a lot of the people, like, kids at my school when Call of Duty Modern Warfare two came out. When that game came out, the amount of all nighters I had to sneak in to play with my friends online, And like, we were all collectively like, this what we did. That's like one of those awesome moments where like, I started actually feeling connected because I was still new ish to the community, to the peer groups, circles, all of that because I had moved to the neighborhood or to the city really like a couple years prior. So I was still figuring things out.
Marc:But this game was what allowed me to connect with a bunch of different people at my school. And then we all became like a little group that when we came home from school, we were playing Call of Duty for literally the entire rest of the afternoon, evening, night until we got yelled at to go to bed.
Josué:Memories.
Marc:Time, man.
Josué:There's it yeah. I mean, it is it is interesting to me how hard it is to remember stuff and how to make like, I have this situation constantly where I don't remember like I said, I don't I couldn't remember where I lived ten years ago. But I also have these these moments where I don't I don't remember what the apartments look like, or the place I was living in looked like. Like, it's all kind of a blur. And I'm sure I've said this before, but human memory is garbage, and it's untrustworthy.
Josué:And there's a lot of research that supports that. There's really interesting studies that have been done where they'll have like, they'll ask people about the same events over over the course of multiple years, and they document how the stories change. Right? And so but to us, the story is the same. Right?
Josué:Like, we don't realize that the story is changing.
Lara:It's different. Mhmm.
Josué:We don't realize that that that things happen differently. And that was one of my favorite things about, like, working with couples and families. It's like, the stories don't align. And it's like, I of of course, they don't. Like, that's really, really hard to to to just, like, get your memories straight.
Josué:But stuff like this that is, like, solidified, like, they have a release date.
Lara:A game came out in this year. I know that I was in high school when Ocarina of Time came out because my friends and I played it in high school. And when I hear clients tell me how old they were when Ocarina came out, it makes me
Josué:Well, that their parents were in high school.
Lara:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Josué:Like, you have you have things that are again, like, I couldn't remember the day my mom died exactly, like, the date. I'm terrible at dates in general. But it wasn't like like, you guys have had weddings. You know? Like, there was an event.
Josué:There are photographic records. Right? There are all these things. It was a it was a big deal. Right?
Josué:So that that's like, that's how it's cemented in time. But there are so many just day to day things, and and those moments that you don't expect to happen. Right? Those memories that that just get kinda re that can get reinforced with this. And, yeah, I think I think it's cool that, you know, these things that are meaningful to us, they do have a moment in time.
Josué:And we don't usually talk about how how the memories that surround it kind of, like, again, like this positioning, this timeline that we can create, how we could, in a way, time travel because thanks to this stuff. Like, I don't need a reminder of, like, when I was in Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria hit. I'm very clear that that was 2017. So here, it's it's kinda backwards. Like, I know that Mario Odyssey and Stardew Valley hit the Switch in October 2017 because that was the only thing I did.
Josué:Like, it was it was what I was looking forward to, and I was able to get them. That was just that was just weeks after Maria. Right? So, like, there was no electricity. There wasn't much to do.
Josué:And I can't say that it, like, saved my life, but, like, it saved my mind from Mhmm. From going crazy and being depressed while I was there. And so, like, I have extremely fond memories of those two games. And sure, it's tied with this, like, horrible experience, but, like, I'll never forget when those games came out. Like, I always remember that it was 2017.
Josué:And, yeah, I don't I don't know. I don't remember much else about that time. I think Star Trek I think Star Trek Discovery came out during that time too. Because I remember being pissed that I couldn't watch the I couldn't watch it when it premiered. I did though.
Josué:It was, I mean, like, three seconds at a time, like, on my phone.
Lara:That's torturous.
Josué:It was awful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the memory.
Josué:That's the memory. So, like, those are those those three things are pretty much what I remember from from that time. Now, so I I have another memory and then I have a question for you. So there was a time when I was when I was a teenager when my father and I didn't speak. I'm not sure how for how long we didn't speak.
Josué:I think it was a few years. Like, I just didn't wanna talk to him, so we just did not talk. And then I saw a trailer for a new show coming on a WB called Smallville. And my dad was a huge Superman fan. And, like, comic books and superheroes were always our thing.
Josué:Right? Like, he was it's something that we could talk about. And to this day, it's still something that we could talk about. But I remember seeing that commercial for Smallville and getting so sad that I couldn't share it with my dad. And so after years of not having talked to him, I reached out and told him, like, hey, there's this there's a new Superman show coming out.
Josué:It's called Smallville. It's about when he's younger. That was, like, my in to be able to like, that was my in to talk to him again. And it worked. And that show went on for ten years.
Lara:Mhmm.
Josué:And we took we basically use that show as, like, an anchor for years as a part of our relationship. Like, we would talk after after the episodes. Right? Like, was in high school, college, and moved out and moved to and moved out of out of Puerto Rico all throughout my I mean, I moved was in in Puerto Rico. I moved to Puerto Rico, left Puerto Rico, high school, college, all of that during the run of Smallville.
Josué:And up until the end, it was still something that my dad and I could connect with. And again, like, I don't remember when we stopped talking. There's a part of me that wants to remember that whole exchange a little better.
Lara:But you can remember exactly when you started talking again.
Josué:I can remember when it ended. Mhmm. Because I have that we have that show. Right? Like, so when the trailer came out, when the show started, is when we were able to, like, rekindle that relationship.
Josué:I kinda feel like I'm missing the first part, and I don't have I mean, I can't kind of the point of what we're talking about here is and and I don't know how common this is, but because because we're geeks, this is kinda like our timestamps. Right? Like, how we can actually like, because these things are meaningful to us, they help reinforce those memories of of other things that are meaningful to us. I know I've told that story before about Smallville a lot, but I never thought about it in terms of, oh, that was this particular year. I was living in New Jersey at the time.
Josué:I was in that was 2001. So we were in middle school? Depends. 2001, I started high school. Right?
Josué:No. No. No. No. No.
Josué:Not high school. I graduated. Yeah. Graduated Yes. In 2000 Yes.
Josué:Right. Right. Graduating college was 2001, 2005. Right. So wrapping up high school.
Lara:Mhmm. Yeah. I
Josué:don't remember how long it was that I didn't talk to my dad.
Lara:Shit.
Josué:And I'll never know because I don't have there wasn't a geeky piece of media that I really cared about that was part of our our falling out.
Lara:That's unfortunate.
Josué:So I had a question for you guys. Now, I don't remember what it was.
Lara:Oh, no. I know.
Josué:Where do you guys go? Once I get the once it comes back to me, I'll I'll bring it up. It was really good.
Lara:It was probably gonna be really good.
Marc:Yeah. It's probably really gonna make us, like, be very insightful, contemplative.
Josué:That's like the whole
Lara:It was gonna make the episode.
Josué:In twenty minutes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Lara:Mhmm. Mhmm. Damn. Now I have no thoughts.
Marc:I you know, when when you were talking about, like, your dad and, like, that whole time period of, like, not having you know, not really talking to him, it kinda got me thinking about, like, my dad a little bit. Because I there have been time periods when that I have gone without talking to him. Nothing that like that I would say necessarily would be considered long. And the thing is is that there was never really like a piece of media that we ever really connected to just because my dad wasn't really media kind of person. He's very much more into sports and stuff.
Marc:But I always remembered that the one thing that would usually anchor us and like have us be able to at least enjoy our time together was usually when we would go bowling. Because there was like a bowling alley that was in town and that was the place that we would would go to. And I remember when it closed, like, we were both, like, really, really upset because that was our place. And when it closed down, then, there wasn't a whole lot for my dad and I to really do or talk about, like, just because there isn't a whole lot that we really connect on. But I I can't even remember when the place closed down.
Marc:It's it's been a while. And even then, like, there are still there were still times when my dad and I went without talking.
Josué:I don't take for granted the fact that I was able to share common interests with both of my parents. And I mean, even, I mean, almost every day, I find a way to connect with my my my dad and my little sister specifically through games. Like, we play mobile games, and we and we and we we have each other on leaderboards, and we write to each other about our scores and our progress and things like that. And I am very intentional in that. Like, I have it for like, I mean, we like, I play Wordle with my sister now every day.
Josué:That's the that's the one thing that we do. So we'll remind each other and we'll do it and we have a chat going through. And every single day, at the very least, that's how we connect. And with my dad, there's this game called Disney Emoji Blitz. We've been playing it for years.
Josué:There was a there was for a while, my mom, my dad divorced, you know, over, like, twenty years. We're we're friends on Facebook just so they could be on the same leaderboard. So it's like my dad, my sister, and my mom, we'd all be playing the same game. And it's even though it's something small, but it's a way to, like, be connected. And that's why, like, that's how I do.
Josué:That's how I know. That's how I build relationships. This episode makes it very clear that this is how I build memories is around the media that I care about. It's always been that way. And so, yeah, like what you're saying with your dad, I maybe if you were more into sports, right, maybe there's it's easier.
Josué:But also with I don't know. Again, I'm not as into sports as I as I used to be. But, like, you can remember, like, a memorable game. Right? But, like, how often is there, like, that historic game that everybody remembers that specific date?
Josué:You know? Like, there's way more there's more Assassin's Creed that come out every year than there are. So it is it is it's something that has always worked for me. And I think also because, like, moving around and stuff, like, I always feel like that's just a way to connect with people. Right?
Josué:Like, again, this can be anything that you care about. If it is sports, right, it could be sports. But there's yeah, I don't I don't know if people I've never been like this with music, for example. Like, oh, this album came out in this year, but some people are.
Lara:Some some people are.
Josué:Some people definitely
Lara:many are Taylor Swift fans that Yeah. Are doing that. Yep.
Josué:Yeah. It's like, oh, this is the day that the Target exclusive version came out. This is the day the original came out. Mhmm. The rerelease in three d in theaters of the eras tour hasn't happened yet.
Josué:If you're listening to this soon after we publish it, but it it probably will eventually.
Marc:That's called foreshadowing everybody.
Lara:It's gonna be a it's gonna be a virtual reality experience.
Josué:Yeah. I can't believe that on Apple TV, she released, like, like, additional scenes or something like it's like a deluxe of course. It's different than the version in theaters.
Marc:It actually shows the performance of every single surprise song from Mhmm. All the tour dates.
Josué:Taylor Swift. When are we doing that episode?
Lara:We already did a Taylor
Marc:Swift episode.
Josué:Alright. So so my question from before that I that I forgot was related to how, like, I don't remember when my dad and I had a falling out, and I don't remember why even at this point as much. I'm not really sure why. But is there any are there any memories? Like, is there any period in your life or any memory that you wish, like, that's missing that component that would have make it easier for you to remember.
Josué:Like, that you don't have that kind of anchor. Like, for for for the for the younger listeners, cameras used to right? Like, you get you get your film developed and not always. Right? But, like, you would take it to the pharmacy or a photo store, and and they would print out the photo, and it would and not everybody did this, but there was the date would be printed on the back
Lara:Mhmm.
Josué:Of when you developed it. I don't know. I think some cameras were able to imprint when it was taken, if they were fancy enough.
Lara:I think so.
Marc:Yeah. Some had like the timestamp.
Josué:Yeah. And it would do it like on the edge of the film, and then that would be printed. Right? So like, you could you could have that. And now, of course, that's way easier.
Josué:Because, again, like, Facebook reminds you, if you posted a photo, you can look back, you can
Lara:Metadata on your photos. You can see exactly when something was
Josué:Yep.
Lara:Taken or edited. Yep. Yeah.
Josué:But still, that's really sometimes it's still hard for me to find. Because I'm like, I don't know. I remember I was wearing a green shirt that day, so then I'm looking for green. Like Yeah. Like, and it's like, I don't know.
Josué:The photo isn't like, it's just not coming up because there isn't enough data there for for Google Photos to help me actually find find what I'm looking for. But then, you know, I can narrow it down through through some of these things. So is are there any, like, gaps or things in that you wish were more clear that, you know, you could remember that would have benefited from something like this?
Marc:I I think for me, it's a lot of, like, middle childhood, like, seven till 10, like that three year time span. I I remember bits and pieces of things going on and things happening, but a lot of it is very like fuzzy. Like I it's blurry. It's it's not really clear, like what was going on? What what was I doing at those time periods?
Marc:Because this is when I I was just kinda coming into, like, understanding video games and, like, playing the Pokemon games for the first time. But even then, like, even with that, everything kinda gets weird for me. Like, I can't really remember it. And I sometimes I think about, like, damn, like, what was I doing? Because there were some I know I see pictures and then, like, I I can remember things.
Marc:But without, like, the the solid anchor of, like, a particular movie or a show or a game that I was playing at that time, like, it's so hard for me to think about what was I doing? What was going on? It only starts getting more clear roughly around ten, but that's trauma and that's a whole different story.
Lara:Mhmm.
Marc:But like from that, like I think like that that three year time span just kinda feels like a like like limbo almost. Where like I can pull out bits and pieces, I can remember some things like I remember do it like going to see this particular movie or I remember going to like the zoo maybe and and looking at the monkeys for the first time. But aside from that, like, there's not really a whole lot there.
Josué:This is fascinating. I also have a big gap in my memory between six and ten. Maybe a little maybe a little
Marc:Most people do.
Josué:Yeah. But it's it's different. Like, I remember a lot of stuff earlier than than that. And right? It's it's because my life was more fucked up during that time.
Josué:Yeah. It's because a bunch of terrible things happened, and I don't remember. And so it could be I mean, I'm just I just think it's interesting that it's, like, similar similar age range. But I have never this thought of going back to those years and looking at the media that was there so that I can kinda position some of that stuff. Because it's very possible that I do have like, I'm unable to put the memories in order or position them in there.
Josué:Mhmm. Like like what you're saying, like, could if I look at the movies that came out during that time, I would probably be able to start I I can probably start building some of the like, filling in some of the gaps. Something like, oh, I remember I went to this movie with these people, and I did this. And, like, we saw it here and this happened and this came out and I and and I can start tying those memories together. But I've never tried to do that.
Josué:Shit. I'm sure that this isn't something new. I'm sure that there's a name for this kind of
Lara:of Building some kind of scaffolding.
Josué:Yeah. Like yeah. And piecing together gaps in your memory and in your history. But shit, I never thought of doing that. Like, I'm I'm excited to to do that now.
Lara:Well, I've seen plenty of examples, mostly in media, but it is an actual practice of, like like, when you're going into some kind of memory, like, sitting and trying to think about the things you smell or tasted or what you could feel, what you could hear. For geeks, maybe it's like, what kind of movie was on? Yeah. Like, what what toys were you playing with?
Josué:Yeah. That kind of thing. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
Josué:Was that an interturtle phase? I was gonna bring
Lara:like, I was gonna bring up I didn't I I know, my shitty human memory is like a steel trap for the most part in that, like, I know what I remember. Right? It's not necessarily all fact. Right? But it's what I remember.
Josué:What do you mean?
Lara:It's weird. Like, like, I do remember a lot of random things, but it's not like my memory is eyewitness memory is gonna be better than anyone else's necessarily. Like, my memory is still garbage, but I do know what I know. And when I was thinking about you guys talking about, like, ages, like, six to 10 or seven to 10, I can remember things like going through the family photo album and like, oh, that's my seventh birthday because it was when I was in the dinosaurs and we had the dinosaur cake. Yeah.
Lara:That's my ninth birthday because that was the Ninja Turtle phase. And we did Ninja Turtle party. Like, I had the themes for the parties and, like, that was the years that I was into those things. I can remember looking at, oh, that photo must be without even taking the photo out and looking at the back where it had the date it was printed. That was when I was seven because I was wearing that bright pink windbreaker jacket in Disneyland.
Lara:And that was the trip where I tried to force my dad to take me on the Matterhorn because I refused to go on Thunder Mountain and I cried. And then I started going on the Matterhorn and I cried like a little baby. And I didn't go on that ride for, like, fifteen years. So
Josué:And and what you're illustrating is, like, the the like, our recall ability. Yeah. Like like, the eat the the more pieces we have to a memory, the strong like, the easier it is to recall that information.
Lara:And there are certain things where I'm like, yes, I remember specifically that piece of clothing. So it had to be and I'm filling in the gaps. Right? Like, I remember that jacket that jacket, I was seven. So that must be that trip to Disneyland and following the trail back.
Lara:Yeah. Yeah.
Josué:And again, like, Disneyland is like a whole, like
Lara:It's a whole thing. It's it's That I could mark my could mark many things just by Disneyland.
Josué:You were in Six Flags. Be like, shit. Don't know. Don't remember that. Garbage, whatever.
Lara:Maybe maybe not well, I guess it is a Six Flags now. But in the San Francisco Bay Area, have Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which used to be Marine World Africa USA, which was more focused on animals, less on rides. And I have memories specifically, same kind of thing with Disneyland because we used to go all the time and it was a thing my mom was a member and we had those same things. Oh, that's the year that they put in. I can't remember the year now, but like, that's the year they put that shark experience in.
Lara:And that was right. But I think it was right before she died, like a year or two. So having those kind of markers.
Josué:Yeah. It's funny that you bring
Marc:up Six Flags because you just you just fart a memory for me when I was in fifth grade and we took a field trip to Six Flags. And I remember this field trip because I remember it was towards the end of the day, we were picking our last ride to go on. And one of the rides at the Six Flags Great America here in Illinois, it's called the Raging Bull. And it it was like one that had like this, you know, really steep drop and the group of friends that I was with, we get on it and I remember this kid, his name was Jake. I don't know what I I moved after this, so I have no idea what happened with him after that.
Marc:But I remember when we get on this ride and, like, it the way the the drop goes is, like, it has, like, a little dip. It goes up a little bit, and then the main drop happens. So when we were on it, we were all gung hoes, like, you know, fifth grade boys were like, yeah, we got this. The first drip drop happens. I guess he was trying to take a breath, and then the main drop happens.
Marc:So, like, the wind got knocked right out of him. And I remember when we got off of it, he was saying how, like, he never wanted to go on that ride again. He felt like he couldn't breathe the whole time. And we were all like, dude, what are you talking about? But I that's how, like, I remember that field trip specifically because of that one event.
Marc:Or I remember that event because I was like, oh, yeah. It's it's great America. Like, this is this is the the amusement park to to go to. I think it's really the only one to go to in Illinois.
Josué:When when my mom was was like, in the last days that my mom was alive, we had a party for her. And there was a coworker, an old coworker of hers, who reached out to me on Facebook. And his name was Edgar. He was like, I don't know if you remember me. Right?
Josué:So he he'd like, I hadn't seen him since I was very little. Like, shit. Like, super little. I don't I don't know. I don't know.
Josué:Very, very, very young. Right? Like, over thirty years ago. And he's like, oh, hey, Uswed. Do you remember me?
Josué:I worked with your mom. I don't I doubt you'll remember me, but I worked with your mom and your dad. And I'm like, oh, yeah. I definitely remember you. I actually I actually, like, talk about you often.
Josué:And one of the things, like, the connection that I have with this person is that he sold my dad a Sega Master System. So, like, it was the first, like, video games that we were or, like, some of the early video games that my dad and I played together. But that, like, one of the best memories that I have about that is that about him is that my dad and I went to his house to see WrestleMania, the year that Hulk Hogan fought the ultimate warrior. Now I'm I'm a little kid, and these are like titans. These are gods fighting right in the arena.
Josué:Like, I love this stuff. And so I have those memories, and they're they're just so tied to to him in particular. And so all these years later, I still remember him. Haven't talked to him. Haven't seen him, but I remembered him very well.
Josué:And I I think the pattern that I'm seeing from the stuff that we're talking about in this episode, even though only while we have mentioned negative trauma, right, everything we're talking about is is like, when I talk about when I try to explain trauma to people, I I don't know if this is the best way to explain it. I'm like, it's like a like a imprint on your brain. Right? It's like a stamp, like somebody just stamped your head with this with this experience. But for us, like, we get so excited and the the this media is so meaningful to us.
Josué:Like, we care so much about it, that it creates it, like, it stamps our our our brains in a way that we're able to have those memories. And in a way, again, I don't I don't know if there's what's the word for, like, a positive traumatic event? Right? Like, positive emotional trauma. But it's like, it's such a good moment.
Josué:Right? Like, and of course, there are those big moments that people think about your wedding day, your graduation day, birthday, you know, like, literally when someone was born, you know, things like that really happy events and memories. But for us, it's like, shit, there's a new Marvel movie, you know, like, and if we really like it, we're excited, like, that's something like when this new game came out, like, it's a whole thing. Like, we went to the midnight opening. Right?
Josué:We stayed up until six in the morning playing together. Like, we did this whole thing. And it means so much to us that that it kind of yeah. It's helping us remember. And if it feels like very similar to negative trauma.
Josué:Right? Where it's like, oh, yeah. No. I remember very well when that happened. But we have so many of positive examples.
Josué:I think that's a big like, it shows the power of geek culture and why the stuff that we're talking about here, like, the fact that it's so meaningful to us, all of the different ways that we can use that for for good in our lives, even if it's just for for remembering, which is actually really important and and is great to be able to do.
Lara:And sometimes will break your brain when you realize how long it's been since something comes out. And you're like, oh, no. That was just yesterday. But it's still a wonderful thing. Because there's always gonna be new things coming out.
Lara:Yep.
Josué:Get used to it, old person. It's gonna happen more and more. It's gonna get harder. Thankfully, we have Wikipedia
Lara:Mhmm.
Josué:To help us find release dates, stuff like that.
Lara:Yep.
Josué:Alright. Any closing thoughts, Lara?
Lara:No. I think this is a great conversation. Just it's great to hear your guys' stories and geek out about time and things. I knew Mark was gonna bring up Assassin's Creed.
Josué:I brought up Assassin's Creed.
Marc:Yeah. It wasn't me
Lara:this Technically, did, Josue, but yeah. Yeah.
Josué:Lara, starting 2024 off with with with a good one. Hope the rest of the year, we're all as creative. And because we were kinda repeating some some topics last year pretending we weren't, but
Lara:Some topics are are worth repeating. Mhmm. Yep. Yeah. Yep.
Lara:But it's always good to have a new thing.
Josué:Almost 400 episodes in. It's okay. It's allowed now. It's okay. Yeah.
Josué:We'll hit 400 this year. Mark, any any closing thoughts?
Marc:No. I think, I mean, I'm kind of in the the same boat as Lara. This was a really great conversation. It really kinda pushed me to kinda think about things that so I I actually was trying to not think of anything or try to think of stuff that was not related to Assassin's Creed or Percy Jackson. Mhmm.
Marc:Because I know that they're they had such pivotal, like, timestamps. I was like, What else is there to anchor onto aside from those things considering my life is literally consumed by these two fandoms? And you proved that there's nothing. It's it's it's these two are nothing at this point in my life, and that's okay. That's fine.
Josué:You didn't watch Star Wars until a few years ago. Like Yeah. There's a lot of there's a lot of gaps in your
Marc:There's a lot of gaps in my memory.
Josué:Your good history.
Lara:Mhmm. Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. You're getting better though. It'll be alright. No. I'm getting there.
Josué:Yeah. Do anything about the past. Moving forward, we're we're doing alright. We're doing alright. Mhmm.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. No. And last thing I said, just this stuff matters to us. Right?
Josué:And it matters to our clients and to the students and to so many of us. And it's so important. Like, if there's if there's I think this is one of the best arguments for showing how meaningful it is and how important it is to not dismiss how important these things are to us, how how how they make us feel. And yeah. I mean, they're a part of our lives to the point where we can measure our lives and the passing of time through through them.
Lara:So literally had a client apologize to me about, like, sorry that I'm telling you about this thing that happened in my life in relation to when x Zelda game came out. And I'm like, no. Because that puts things into context for me as well. Right?
Josué:Don't yeah. Don't apologize for that. I mean, it's how your brain works. It's how our brains work. It's fine.
Lara:Everybody's brains are different.
Josué:That positive trauma traumatic stamping. It's great. Mhmm. Please listeners, let us know what you think of what we're talking about. Do agree?
Josué:Disagree? What what memories are solidified in your history because of the geeky media that you consumed and the experiences around it? Let us know in our community spaces, which you can find in the show notes. For more geek therapy, visit geektherapy.org. Remember to geek out and do good.
Josué:We'll be back next week. Bye. Geek Therapy is a five zero one c three nonprofit organization dedicated to making the world a better place through geek culture. To learn more about our mission and become a supporter, visit geektherapy.org.
