Markers
Amazingly enough, I actually stayed up late (for me) and watched all of the last Letterman show last night. I went through ups and downs with Letterman over the years...sometimes I found his seeming contempt for people unnerving, yet of course he could be genuinely, and even hysterically funny at other times. And more than whether I merely liked him or indeed loved him, it's a marker of sorts.
I remember when Johnny Carson retired, watching his last show in our apartment in Chicago. It felt like the end of an era. For me, Johnny Carson was my childhood. I remember getting up in what seemed like the middle of the night and trudging out to the family room, finding my parents watching Carson on a black and white tv. It seemed so exotic. So when his show ended it indeed felt like the end of something for me, representing the end of my childhood I suppose.
Letterman though? Letterman represents the adult me. The young adult, the mmm well....middle-aged adult....so it again feels like the end of an era.
I rarely watch any of the other late night shows. What will mark this next era in my life?