One of the cool things about the Internet is that, sometimes, you run across old friends. I guess it’s probably easier if your domain is your name, like geofffox.com (though people are uncomfortable with those 3 “f”s in a row.
Anyway, that’s what happened yesterday when I got an email from my friend Ralph.
Ralph and I hung out together in high school, mostly with our friend Tony. After college, we all went our own ways and though we have gotten together a few times, it’s been more away than together.
Ralph was very smart. He taught himself to speak Russian. Of course he wasn’t smart enough to realize that learning Russian would be me worth a whole lot less after the end of the cold and the dissolution of the USSR.
Ralph also had an amazing skill, seldom seen anymore. He could recite the alphabet while burping! I’m not sure if that’s a skill that needs to be practiced, or if it’s like riding a bike in that you never forget.
It’s more likely he can still do the alphabet trick than speak fluent Russian.