The Famous Dr. Warnick

On Saturday I had the fortunate privilege of spending time with one Dr. Bryan Warnick. Bryan is one of my oldest friends dating back to when we were in seventh grade at Bonneville Junior High. I haven't seen much of him the last 8 years as school and careers have taken us in different directions, but I still consider him to be one of my greatest friends.

So it was with much happiness that I headed into Cambridge to pick him up for a few hours of touring Boston the surrounding area. Bryan has already posted about when I picked him up. It was pretty funny listening to the admiring colleague. I have not had that experience. I am generally the one seeking out the giants in the field, annoying them, and keeping them from doing what they want. Once the praise was done, one bow-tie wearing Dr. Warnick hopped into my car and I gave him the brief auto-tour of Boston.

We had a good time seeing the sights and catching up. I didn't even mind that he was wearing a bow-tie. Despite the bow-tie, the fan club, the soon to be released book, and the PhD, I still think of Bryan as the guy who I met at 1 PM every day during the summer to play a little basketball. He has moved on to bigger and better pastures, but I still have many fond memories from Junior High, High School, and college.

Bryan did make one comment how it seemed weird that from our group of friends in high school that two of us have PhD and work for big name universities. He also made a comment disparaging himself and his degree and job. While I don't really think that I have amounted to much with my PhD, I do think that Bryan is going places. I'm not really surprised by it either. One of the things I most admired about Bryan was that not only was he smart and talented, but perhaps more importantly he had passion (something I think that I lack). While that passion was arguable misplaced in high school, he probably focused and channeled it once he got into college. I personally think that this is what led him into philosophy and an advanced degree.

I still admire Bryan. I still sense his passion and I was grateful to share a day with him. Hopefully some of that rubbed off on me. Congrats Bryan. I'm part of that aspiring fan club.