Touching a Neuron

Like many Americans tonight, Lance and I watched American Idol. When I was single, I watched Seasons 3 & 4, but not fanatically and I really didn't care if I missed an episode. Now American Idol is DVRed. Watching it as a married couple is a lot more fun for me. I don't know why. Maybe because Lance is a captive audience for whatever comments come out of my mouth as we watch it. Or maybe because we "draft" contestants at the beginning and bet a cookie on the outcome.

Watching tonight's episode, I started thinking about the first time I watched American Idol which then led to thinking about the first time I saw one of the Season Finales. My "boss" often uses the phrase "touching a neuron." And although I'm not really using it in the same context as she does, I think the phrase still applies to what I was feeling tonight. As I heard the familiar theme song tonight, it was like "bing!" and my mind immediately went to Cheree and my memory of her insisting that we take a study break to watch the show. And then I heard the theme song again and it was like "bing!" and my mind wandered back to the first time that I ever saw a season finale for the show. We had just arrived at one of the Vegas hotels on our post-grad school trip and Cheree had insisted that we watch the finale in our hotel room before we went to get dinner. Isn't life interesting? All of our experiences either touch a neuron and connect us to our memories or they are neurons waiting to be touched in the future.

On a side note, I really rooting for Lakisha and Melinda.