Cory at 39

I used to watch a lot of TV as a kid. I loved "Mr. Ed," "Batman," "The Brady Bunch," and "Welcome Back, Kotter." I remember how excited I got, waiting in anticipation for the start of "Mr. Ed." I used to walk around in circles, singing the theme song: "A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one could talk to a horse, of course, unless that talking horse, of course, is the famous Mr. Ed..." I'd get dizzy, and walk funny toward the couch.

My favorite part of "Batman" was when the caped crusaders got into a fight. The creators of the show were smart. They could simulate the violence by cutting in with the cartoon "POW!" "SOCK!" and "WHAM!" I'm not sure I didn't realize that real fighting didn't magically emit cartoon balloons when criminals fought with the law.

I was also a big fan of commercials. Tivo and DVR's were a thing of the future, so we had to sit through them all. I was always reciting the jingles, and seemed to gravitate toward the food and beverage industry: "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun..." or "Big Mac, Fillet o' Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries, Icy Coke, Thick Shake, Sundaes, and Apple Pies..." "Have a Coke and a smile...makes you feel good..." Years later, I would find myself walking down Illinois Avenue toward the Red Line "L" stop, arm in arm with my old roommate, Dave Barrios. It was a Friday night, and we had spent the evening at a North Avenue Bar drinking Bud Light. We were hammered, and could not consider walking a straight line. We kept walking, and singing, "Rattle, Rattle, thunder, clatter, boom, boom boom." We thought it was hysterical. I haven't seen or heard from Dave Barrios in close to 20 years.

As I got older, I used to watch TV with my parents. We didn't really have any restrictions on the shows we watched with them. I think, partly, because there were not as many choices, and families only had one TV in the main entertaining room. We watched all of the popular shows together: "MASH," "Dynasty," "Dallas," "Quincy," "Hill St. Blues." It was kind of our thing; the thing we looked forward to doing together.

For some reason, the show, "James at 15" popped into my head today. It was as simple as hearing the name, "James," and I remembered that show. The shows premise (as I remember it) was there was this kid, James, who was 15 (duh), and who liked to daydream. James would drift off into a dream, and we would get to see what he was thinking about. It wasn't on very long, but I remember wanting to be James. His imagination was so vivid and clear. I used to love to daydream, as well, so I made a connection with the character and the show.

I still daydream. Nothing unusual there, probably. My daydreams today are nothing like they were during the James at 15 period of my life. Then, I dreamed mostly of girls, and being an adult. Now, my daydreams are filled with visions of being on a book tour, or watching my children mature, and my wife and I grow old together.

Maybe that's logical. James and I used to have daydreams of things impossible. Maybe as you get older, your daydreams turn into the possible.