One of my favorite things is to roll back the clock, reach back in time, and pull myself from the past forward to feel his wonderment at the world in which I now find myself.
I have a lovely time with that little trick of the mind. And tonight, after a long evening next to a bonfire, looking up at the stars and clouds together in a perfect spring sky, I came home feeling very good about the world. And then I saw the phrase "setlock feels."
And it got a little better.
The me from ten years ago would have been baffled by those words -- "setlock feels." He was busy trying to tie a local WWE Smackdown taping to something Sherlockian just for his weekly blog content. In his late forties, that version of me was still one of the younger people at many a Sherlockian event, which was a tad worrisome. And there were no "setlock feels."
Why? You know why.
There was no set. No Sherlockian productions of major note were being filmed in 2006, much less one exciting enough to get a Sherlock Holmes fan to track down where they were filming.
We had Porlock, yes, but that was just another Canonical character. Nobody was mashing up other words with "Sherlock" yet. No Johnlock, no Tunalock, and, again, no setlock.
And we definitely didn't have "feels" back in 2006. "Feels" is that kind of slang that evokes Clockwork Orange or street urchins or those kids from the classic Star Trek episode "Miri." That kind of slang that young people come up with. Young people. Because in 2006, we didn't have enough of those to rub two together and get slang.
Not a big fan of following setlock myself, as I'd rather wait and be surprised. (Though I'm sure playing the "puzzle out what's coming from visual clues" thing is some fun detectivework, and I kind of wish I had a separate brain to partake.) But, you know what?
Still a big fan of the fact that setlock is out there, and "setlock feels" is a thing. Even if it also makes me feel slightly like an old geezer who'll never fully get these kids today and their rappin' Hamilton. (Though I do get that -- the bits I've heard are pretty good.) Old geezers still get to be proud of the grandkids and happy to see them playing, even if they can't keep up any more.
And boy, is it hard to keep up these days!
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
2006: We had what we had and, maybe, if you were visiting London you stopped by in Baker Street because it'd be special to stand for a moment and feel the connection with it. Get the 'feels', know that you are are part of the history, that countless people have made that journey from consumer to participant, that you were not the first and will not be the last. 2010: We got Sherlock. We got a young Sherlock, one who uses the familiar tools of our everyday lives like he was born with them in his hands, the mobile phone, the laptop. Also John the one finger typer, the one to whom blogging is alien, the one who didn't own a mobile phone. Some may think that the older of us are all the grandparents shaking our heads and muttering into a cup of tea. We could be the grandparents, sitting in the armchair, loathing nursing an aching leg, but sitting enjoying watching this enthusiastic younger generation at play. You might think like John though and when the question comes "Wanna see some more?" reply "Oh, God, yes."
ReplyDeleteread your blog - still don't know what 'setlock feels' means. guess that is o.k. since I am an old geezer.
ReplyDelete