Echoes.

Things we do, watch, listen to and say stick with us over the years. Things that are important to us ingrain themselves into our memory no matter how long ago the memories are from.

Eric Matthews, a musician, just released a new album in a long time, and it's very good. I then ordered the album of his that I remember from 1995, about 11 years ago, on Amazon.com. It was my brother's and I borrowed it and listened to it endlessly. So I received it yesterday (it would have been a few days earlier, but Amy forgot to give me the little note that said our mail carrier tried to deliver it but no one was home), and, driving around, I slid it into my car CD player. The tunes and melodies were instant in my mind, and as I suddenly found myself singing along, it occurred to me that I haven't listened to or thought about this album in over 7 years. But there I was, singing along.

I went to Best Buy to buy a copy of Mission: Impossible III. Shut up. It's a good movie. There was another sale going on there and I decided to pick up Memento and Enter The Dragon. Later that evening, while watching Enter The Dragon, a movie a watched a lot when I was a kid because my parents are Bruce Lee fans, a lot of the scenes and lines recalled themselves instantly again, even though I haven't seen that movie in a number of years.

My parents are action/adventure fans, so we tended to watch a lot of those movies. And those movies are older movies - movies that were big then, but no one really remembers that much now, at least not in the same regard when they were released. I can't tell you how many times I watched Ghostbusters during my childhood, nor Star Wars. And seriously - who has actually seen The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai? I have.

Another movie that comes to mind that I watched a lot with my parents but haven't seen in years is Big Trouble in Little China. I'm willing to bet that, if I ran out and got a copy of it, brought it home and put it in my DVD player, I would instantly begin to remember various scenes throughout the movie.

People can't escape this sort of thing. I bet that if, right now, you started to think about a movie or album or a book or a TV show that you haven't thought about in years, went out and found it and took it in you would know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like going back in time. It's like communicating with yourself from years ago.