ANTICIPATION

So, did you see the Sopranos finale? It's been talked about a little bit recently. And the one thing I noticed about everyone's review of it: Nobody said it was satisfying. Loads of people HATED it, and many people thought it was BRILLIANT and the rest were simply perplexed. But nobody said they were satisfied. Nobody felt a sense of completion. I'm not arguing that that's right or wrong, I'm simply examining the concept of anticipation.
If I've learned anything in this life...and that's a BIG if...it's that it's far better to want something than it is to get it. Everybody loved waiting for the Sopranos to end, but much fewer loved it ending.
At the end of July, the final Harry Potter book is coming out and I'm not above saying that I am SO excited! My wife and I are shipping the kids off to the grandparents' for the weekend so we can sit at home and do nothing but read the books. Part of the reason for this is so we can just soak, uninterrupted in Harry Potter's final epic story. The other reason is so that we won't be unwittingly assaulted with spoilers. People just love to give away the ending. They ruin the anticipation. Several years ago, when Regis Philbin still hosted Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire, we used to watch it religiously. One morning, I read in the paper that on tonight's episode, the contestant's special "phone-a-friend" guest would be none other than Rosie O'Donnell! Not that I'm huge fan of Rosie, but I was robbed of the surprise that the friend was not the guy's father-in-law, not his college roomate, not his little sister, but a celebrity. OK, granted, it's a little weak as far as shockeroo moments go, but it was the principle of the thing. I wrote to Newsday and complained. They published my letter under the title: NEWSDAY SPOILED HIS FUN. I admit the headline shamed me a little, but I still stand by my point of view.
Another anticipitory event going on right now is Apple's iPhone. People are lined up like crazy to shell out over $600 for a gadget. Luckily I have Apple stock, so I'm watching in anticipation of the stock surging! But why would you buy the first ones out of the gate? Let them get the bugs out, expand the memory and drop the price. The ipod started out as a 5gb, black and white-screened music player. Now, it's 80gb, plays movies, TV shows, podcasts and music in full color, for basically the same price as it was when it started 5 years ago. Imagine how incredible the iphone will be in 5 years.
My generation grew up with Sesame Street, Electric Company and Schoolhouse Rock. It was part of our collective DNA, just from growing up in the 70s with a TV in the house. I remember having this part of my brain reserved for fond memories of Sesame Street when it was great, and all these other shows, including The Magic Garden. All of these memories were only in my mind, becuase there were no VHS tapes or DVDs or reruns of any of these classic old shows. But thanks to new DVDs and Youtube, I've rewatched all my old memories in the context of my adult life. The idea of being able to watch an Electric Company episode again made me very escited. I couldn't wait until the DVDs came out. I followed every step of the process, from aonnouncement to cover art release to the actual DVD. I admit that I loved watching the episodes again, but I am now robbed of the childhood associations I once had with these shows. I still love for my kids to watch them because they are miles better than anything on TV now, but it's not a special part of who I am anymore.
There was a Simpsons episode many years back, in which a character bids on an item at an auction and then, upon winning it, says, "I have-a the buyer's remorse." I remember that was the first time I ever heard that phrase, "buyer's remorse," but I knew exactly what it was. How many times have I been driven insane with the desire to buy something, only to hold it in my hands afterwards and go, "...oh...." You get caught up in the wanting, but the getting rarely pays off. The wanting is a deliciious ache in your belly that is telling your brain that "this isn't over yet, there's more to come!" Once the event arrives, the path is closed. So it becomes time to anticipate something else.
My wife was searching and searching for an addition to our china pattern; some slicer or something. She finally found it online and couldn't believe it! She waited for the package to arrive and last week she got it! She opened it up and held it and went, "...oh...It's not that pretty." This is what I'm talking about.
Just think about how lame this blog post is. Then think about how insane you were going that I hadn't poisted in months! See? Even I will let you down if you want me bad enough! By the way, this is post 100. Whee!