Chuck Klosterman IV is rife with meme fodder. The Klostermeme series will feature these questions, my answers, my speculations on how Klosterman would answer and an invitation to the reader to answer these questions in the comments! It will also challenge my recollection Roman numerals.
And so…
At the age of 30, you suffer a blow to the skull. The head trauma leaves you with a rare form of partial amnesia – though you are otherwise fine, you’re completely missing 5 years from your life. You have no memory of anything that happened between the ages of 23 and 28. That period of your life is completely gone; you have no recollection of anything that occurred during that 5 year gap.
You are told by friends and family that – when you were 25 – you (supposedly) became friends with someone you met on the street. You possess numerous photos of you and this person, and everyone in your life insists that this individual was your best friend for over 2 years. You were (allegedly) inseparable. In fact, you find several old letters and emails from this person that vaguely indicate you may have even shared a brief romantic relationship. But something happened between you and this individual when you were 27, and the friendship abruptly ended (and apparently you never told anyone what caused this schism, so it remains a mystery to all). The friend moved away soon after the incident, wholly disappearing from your day-to-day life. But you have no memory of any of this. Within the context of your own mind, this person never even existed. There is tangible proof that you deeply loved this friend, but – whenever you look at their photograph – all you see is a stranger.
Six weeks after your accident, you are informed that this person has suddenly died.
How sad do you feel?
My Answer: Probably pretty sad but I’m mourning the loss of my memory more than I am my dead friend whom I don’t remember. I imagine losing those years would take quite an emotional toll on me. I do so love to remember the past. Of course, then my unshakable Catholic Guilt would kick in and I would mourn not mourning my friend enough. It’s a vicious spiral.
Klosterman Theory: Not sad at all.
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Effed by the Wind 
I would not feel sad. Just weird.