Four Degrees of Separation

Apparantly, I’m related to the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco. He’s my second cousin on my dad’s side. Mary has told me this before, at our family New Year’s party, but it didn’t register until she told me again a few days ago. Brendon Urie is Nina’s kid; I gave her my current epic to read. She still remembers it. This makes me blush for several reasons: First, she’s gorgeous. And being remembered by a gorgeous woman feels flattering. Second, the story wasn’t all that good, and yet someone thinks it’s memorable.

I sat down with Brendon at another reunion on the steps of the kiva (madamemama, you know where I’m talking about; at the SUU cabin). It was a serendipidous moment: he’d gotten out his guitar to practice because he was bored and needed a quiet place to sit. Another cousin of mine, whose name is also Kate, was talking with me on the couch in the corner of the room by the door. She was feeling bouncy when he started to play, and sat down next to him and gave him a request. I didn’t recognize it, but he played something that sounded pretty good, even though he didn’t know all the words. She goggled at it, and then requested “A Tribute” by Tenacious D.

Even though he only had an acoustic guitar, I recognized the song and recognized that I loved it. I laughed as he recited the lyrics word for word and as Kate sang along. He stopped at the nonsense words and at the point where the instrumental kicked in, but I’d heard enough to write the title down and request it time after time on my local university radio station.

The lead singer of Panic! at the Disco made me fall in love with Tenacious D. Steven would love my grandma Mary; they’ve both got that same instinct. Thus, this is a Steven Schmidt moment; he’s often finding connections between people that are otherwise unknown. Steven blogs with his brothers over at Blogspot, and the eldest, Jason, has got a fascinating article up. Brought to you by SchmiBrosBlog. The Good Boys Bounce Off Rooftops, Economics, and Rope Bridges.