So, in case you were wondering, the Dan Zone is a term that was penned by my partner Danny. It’s in reference to the fact that he seems to think that I ‘zone out’ in the middle of life’s daily business and go into my own internal world. There were times when he would be talking to me and feel like my attention was wandering (or more often, witness me running around the house doing chores as he chased me through the rooms trying to finish even a single sentence), and would say, “Focus on what I’m saying. You’re like in the Dan Zone or something.” It took him years to really understand that I HAD to do other things while he was talking to me in order to focus. See, I’m an original MTV Gen-Xer, so splitting my focus is key to my comprehension. I would tell him, “if you make me stand here and listen to you, my eyes will cloud over and I won’t hear a word you say.” It took him the longest time to see the truth…to prove my point, I had to start reciting back everything he’d just told me when he would accuse me of being in the Dan Zone.
You’d think he would have the same talent, since he grew up in the 80s just like me. But this is the killer for me. He missed out on every experience that made us Gen-Xers who we are. He never had MTV. Never had cable. Never had Atari!!! Can you imagine the damage this deprivation must have done to his psyche??? He never even saw a Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elmstreet film! So you can imagine my frustration in 96 when I dragged him to see Scream in the theaters and had to spend every second whispering explanations of all the references to other horror movies in his ear. Okay. In actuality, I totally got off on it…
