Alright, I've been gone for awhile - so here's the standard spiel - I've been busy (work, community theatre, and now roller derby!), I promise I will be better about updating (well....probably not, but I'll try, possibly), and I have so many ideas about things to post (well, I do, but I never seem to actually post them).
Anyway....I've always been a bit overly sensitive. This week has just been a bit nuts, though, even for me. Here's a list of the things I've cried about this week:
I read this article and 1) realized that I have cried during most of the moments mentioned in the comments (Tod and Copper in The Fox and The Hound, the death of Littlefoot's Mom in The Land Before Time, the Baby Mine scene in Dumbo), and 2) just reading about those moments made me sob.
I went through of fit of nostalgia this week, and discovered The Chipmunk Adventure on You Tube, which I loved when I was six. It has fifty kajillion plot holes and cheesy musical numbers. However this scene:
made me realize that all the poor Chipettes were orphans and didn't have their mother anymore, and it made me cry for them. Seriously??
Mike Isabella's stories about his grandmother made me get all choked up on Top Chef, and I greatly dislike Mike Isabella.
And the most embarrassing thing - when Ondrei broke down during the acting challenge this week on ANTM, I cried too!
Did I mention that I'm on a roller derby team, and I am supposed to be bad ass now? Well, hmm...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Scene from the Theater
When I found out one of my roles in Play It Again, Sam, I was quite excited. I will get to be in this scene:
How could I not be giddy? I get to perform dialogue that is quoted on IMDB!
Needless to say, this role will be a stretch. At rehearsal tonight:
The Director: "You need to be more monotone."
MRT: "I thought I was being monotone!"
However, I can do this. I can be artsy, faux-deep and nihilistic. I will be monotone, and my inflections will be subdued! It will happen!
How could I not be giddy? I get to perform dialogue that is quoted on IMDB!
Needless to say, this role will be a stretch. At rehearsal tonight:
The Director: "You need to be more monotone."
MRT: "I thought I was being monotone!"
However, I can do this. I can be artsy, faux-deep and nihilistic. I will be monotone, and my inflections will be subdued! It will happen!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Billy Corgan is as deep as a kiddie pool
I think I need to text Sis RoyalTurkey about this.
I love it when I'm vindicated.
However to be fair to B. Corgs, I did like a few Smashing Pumpkins songs. However, I still attribute my appreciation of these songs to James Iha, D'Arcy, and the drummer the Smashing Pumpkins had at the time. Here's the angstiest song I like.
Yet, when I confessed to Sis RoyalTurkey that I liked this song, this is how the conversation went.
MRT: I actually like "Rat in the Cage."
SRT: (rolls eyes) Sigh...It's called "Bullet With Butterfly Wings."
There really is no hope for me.
I love it when I'm vindicated.
However to be fair to B. Corgs, I did like a few Smashing Pumpkins songs. However, I still attribute my appreciation of these songs to James Iha, D'Arcy, and the drummer the Smashing Pumpkins had at the time. Here's the angstiest song I like.
Yet, when I confessed to Sis RoyalTurkey that I liked this song, this is how the conversation went.
MRT: I actually like "Rat in the Cage."
SRT: (rolls eyes) Sigh...It's called "Bullet With Butterfly Wings."
There really is no hope for me.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Lather, rinse, repeat
Tragically, I've had all these topics to write about lately, but no time to write them. I promise, though, once I eventually have time to blog, these entries will be funny and ranty with lots of parenthetical asides (do you expect any less?).
However, I've noticed that when I talk to people I frequently discuss things that I've already discussed in my blog. At Seussical rehearsal I whined to one of the Bird Girls about college hippies with no outdoor living skills. One time on a cast outing at Chili's I ranted to the waitress about my hatred for Rent, and then proceeded to discuss every single reason why I hated that musical so much. And I've discussed this hatred on my blog twice!
Are there really only a finite number of things I can whine about? Am I becoming one of those little old men who tells the same stories over and over again? I'm only 26! And I'm a woman! Oh dear... Thank goodness I haven't become a blogging superstar who has agents offering me publishing contracts and representation, then whenever I would talk to people, they would probably already tell me that they read it in my blog already.
I promise though, my future entries will be about new topics, that only a few people have heard about before. I hope. Otherwise maybe I should start looking into retirement communities.
However, I've noticed that when I talk to people I frequently discuss things that I've already discussed in my blog. At Seussical rehearsal I whined to one of the Bird Girls about college hippies with no outdoor living skills. One time on a cast outing at Chili's I ranted to the waitress about my hatred for Rent, and then proceeded to discuss every single reason why I hated that musical so much. And I've discussed this hatred on my blog twice!
Are there really only a finite number of things I can whine about? Am I becoming one of those little old men who tells the same stories over and over again? I'm only 26! And I'm a woman! Oh dear... Thank goodness I haven't become a blogging superstar who has agents offering me publishing contracts and representation, then whenever I would talk to people, they would probably already tell me that they read it in my blog already.
I promise though, my future entries will be about new topics, that only a few people have heard about before. I hope. Otherwise maybe I should start looking into retirement communities.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Gauche and Unsophisticated List: Now with musicals!
Right now I'm watching the Tony Awards, and in keeping with my gauche and unsophisticated taste, I keep tuning out during the focus on the plays and hope they show another colorful musical number soon. Also, now I totally even want to see Rock of Ages even though I'm sure theater snobs will roll their eyes and moan about how the modern musical is merely an mish-mash of past pop songs, and that nobody writes original music anymore. But...Don't Stop Believing is one of the numbers! If I get to New York soon, I will be elbowing the little old ladies and gay tourists in the TKTS line for tickets to this and 9 to 5. But, I have no interest in seeing Next to Normal. None! Is it so wrong that I don't want to watch a musical about manic depression? This, combined with my great dislike of Rent (ugh - the entitlement, Maureen's twittiness (poor Joanne), the whining - and for all its claims to modernity it certainly seems to still contain every musical stock character and every tedious cliche ever, sigh....), probably will cause me to be shunned by all musical aficionados. However, even I rolled my eyes when Poison came out during the Rock of Ages opening number. This is the Tony's...not a hasbeen's last gasp (after the attempted country music career and three dating shows on VH-1 - that I have not watched) at relevance!
For the past two months, I haven't been watching as much terrible TV, reading cheesy, everything-is-resolved-at-the-end-of-the-book, mystery novels, watching ridiculous romantic comedies because I was in this little production.
However, Urinetown is over now (and some of my fellow cast members have been cast in a Peoria community production of Rent - I hope they forgive the above rant.), and I have discovered new shameful shows and movies.
I have actually been to the movie theater quite a bit this spring. This non-Trekkie (such a non-Trekkie that growing up I gently mocked my poor neighbor GoodKevGuy about his adoration over Star Trek: The Next Generation, sorry Kev!) adored the reboot of Star Trek, and today I bawled through Up (I think I may have scared the many children at the matinee) . However, a month ago I went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and I loved it, despite the fact that it was predictable. I did not understand all the vitrol that critics and other bloggers had about this movie. It was an adorable, fluffy cupcake of a movie, it made me feel warm and fuzzy, and I will own it on DVD.
Currently my DVR is filled with shows on which I need to catch up. I claim to adore both Pushing Daisies and Ugly Betty on my Facebook profile, but I still have not watched the last three episodes of Ugly Betty even though it's season ended four weeks ago, and I haven't watched the latest two episodes of the Pushing Daisies burn off. However, I have kept up with Wipeout and Greek. And I've found time to become addicted to two more shows.
Big Break: Prince Edward Island: This is a reality show on the golf channel about up and coming golfers competing for $100,000. It is refreshing how most of the show focuses on the golfers competing in challenges, and there is very little reality show drama. Normally, I hate golf, and I do not understand how anyone could be entertained by it on TV. I'm also terrible at golf - the grip is uncomfortable, I cannot drive, the one time I played with my fellow PPE majors I did not make par on one hole, and the best part of that day was the free Chipotle lunch. Somehow though, this show is compelling, and I relate to how all of the golfers keep yelling (well it's more a yell whisper) at the ball to SIT! I also talk to inanimate objects (especially my computer at work), so I can relate. Also there are some great compelling characters such as delusional Brian with his overwrought metaphors, and snarky Brenda. I want to be friends with snarky Brenda. I'll even play18 holes of golf with snarky Brenda, and she'll mock me, but I'll have a fabulous time anyway.
McLeod's Daughters: So this Australian soap opera ended over a year ago, and it's first season was back in 2001, and the show stopped running on the WE network in the US in 2006, but I now just started watching the show on cough..YouTube...cough. This show is about about two sisters who are reunited after twenty years when they both inherit their father's ranch, Drovers Run. Claire grew up with her father on the ranch, and her half-sister Tess was taken away from the ranch when she was very young, and grew up in "the city." The ranch is struggling, so Tess decides to stay on and help Claire work the ranch. They also have help from housekeeper/mother-figure Meg, her spoiled daughter Jodi, and Becky, who is seeking refuge at the ranch after a traumatic experience. Of course next door, there is Killarney, run by the Ryan family, headed by bastard with a heart of gold, Harry, and snobby, Liz, with their two handsome, flirtatious, so-obviously-the-love-interests, sons Alex and Nick, and in early seasons Killarney has the ranch hand Brick, whose only flaw is his mullet, and Terry who is having a secret (only to Jodi) relationship with Meg. The early seasons are glorious. Love triangles! Wacky hijinks to catch a rapist! Having to put down sick ranch animals with great significance to the family! Babies on doorsteps! Melodramatic affairs! Strippers getting stranded at the ranch! Running away! A one-armed mailman! The cutest love story ever between Becky and Brick! Yet, despite the cheesy, cliched storylines, the character actually have more depth than this show deserves, and occasionally there seems to be some realistic depiction of ranch life. Go, go watch it now, so I can have someone else to talk about it with.
Unfortunately, it started to go off the rails in season three. SPOILERS, THESE ARE SPOILERS, DON'T WHINE AT ME IF YOU READ THEM AND THEN ARE ANNOYED THAT I GAVE AWAY PLOT POINTS ...they killed Brick and tried to replace him with Jake the secret millionaire who was not interesting, wrote off Liz Ryan and added the uber lame Sandra Kinsella, and killed Claire, and eventually by the end of the series all the original characters have left the ranch and either moved to Argentina or died. So I've only watched a few post season three episodes that were really conclusions to plot points that began to established in earlier seasons...I mean I had to see Nick and Tess get married. SPOILERS OVER NOW.
But I have rewatched numerous episodes from seasons one and two. This show is quite addictive in the early years, and I promise it's actually compelling. However, the theme song is so cheesy that you would need bread pieces for the fondue. Behold:
Now, I have been cast in Seussical: The Musical, so I might be unable to watch as much bad summer TV as normal. Hopefully my fellow Seussical cast members will forgive my grave hatred of Rent and disinterest in Next to Normal and not shun me from all cast outings.
For the past two months, I haven't been watching as much terrible TV, reading cheesy, everything-is-resolved-at-the-end-of-the-book, mystery novels, watching ridiculous romantic comedies because I was in this little production.
However, Urinetown is over now (and some of my fellow cast members have been cast in a Peoria community production of Rent - I hope they forgive the above rant.), and I have discovered new shameful shows and movies.
I have actually been to the movie theater quite a bit this spring. This non-Trekkie (such a non-Trekkie that growing up I gently mocked my poor neighbor GoodKevGuy about his adoration over Star Trek: The Next Generation, sorry Kev!) adored the reboot of Star Trek, and today I bawled through Up (I think I may have scared the many children at the matinee) . However, a month ago I went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and I loved it, despite the fact that it was predictable. I did not understand all the vitrol that critics and other bloggers had about this movie. It was an adorable, fluffy cupcake of a movie, it made me feel warm and fuzzy, and I will own it on DVD.
Currently my DVR is filled with shows on which I need to catch up. I claim to adore both Pushing Daisies and Ugly Betty on my Facebook profile, but I still have not watched the last three episodes of Ugly Betty even though it's season ended four weeks ago, and I haven't watched the latest two episodes of the Pushing Daisies burn off. However, I have kept up with Wipeout and Greek. And I've found time to become addicted to two more shows.
Big Break: Prince Edward Island: This is a reality show on the golf channel about up and coming golfers competing for $100,000. It is refreshing how most of the show focuses on the golfers competing in challenges, and there is very little reality show drama. Normally, I hate golf, and I do not understand how anyone could be entertained by it on TV. I'm also terrible at golf - the grip is uncomfortable, I cannot drive, the one time I played with my fellow PPE majors I did not make par on one hole, and the best part of that day was the free Chipotle lunch. Somehow though, this show is compelling, and I relate to how all of the golfers keep yelling (well it's more a yell whisper) at the ball to SIT! I also talk to inanimate objects (especially my computer at work), so I can relate. Also there are some great compelling characters such as delusional Brian with his overwrought metaphors, and snarky Brenda. I want to be friends with snarky Brenda. I'll even play18 holes of golf with snarky Brenda, and she'll mock me, but I'll have a fabulous time anyway.
McLeod's Daughters: So this Australian soap opera ended over a year ago, and it's first season was back in 2001, and the show stopped running on the WE network in the US in 2006, but I now just started watching the show on cough..YouTube...cough. This show is about about two sisters who are reunited after twenty years when they both inherit their father's ranch, Drovers Run. Claire grew up with her father on the ranch, and her half-sister Tess was taken away from the ranch when she was very young, and grew up in "the city." The ranch is struggling, so Tess decides to stay on and help Claire work the ranch. They also have help from housekeeper/mother-figure Meg, her spoiled daughter Jodi, and Becky, who is seeking refuge at the ranch after a traumatic experience. Of course next door, there is Killarney, run by the Ryan family, headed by bastard with a heart of gold, Harry, and snobby, Liz, with their two handsome, flirtatious, so-obviously-the-love-interests, sons Alex and Nick, and in early seasons Killarney has the ranch hand Brick, whose only flaw is his mullet, and Terry who is having a secret (only to Jodi) relationship with Meg. The early seasons are glorious. Love triangles! Wacky hijinks to catch a rapist! Having to put down sick ranch animals with great significance to the family! Babies on doorsteps! Melodramatic affairs! Strippers getting stranded at the ranch! Running away! A one-armed mailman! The cutest love story ever between Becky and Brick! Yet, despite the cheesy, cliched storylines, the character actually have more depth than this show deserves, and occasionally there seems to be some realistic depiction of ranch life. Go, go watch it now, so I can have someone else to talk about it with.
Unfortunately, it started to go off the rails in season three. SPOILERS, THESE ARE SPOILERS, DON'T WHINE AT ME IF YOU READ THEM AND THEN ARE ANNOYED THAT I GAVE AWAY PLOT POINTS ...they killed Brick and tried to replace him with Jake the secret millionaire who was not interesting, wrote off Liz Ryan and added the uber lame Sandra Kinsella, and killed Claire, and eventually by the end of the series all the original characters have left the ranch and either moved to Argentina or died. So I've only watched a few post season three episodes that were really conclusions to plot points that began to established in earlier seasons...I mean I had to see Nick and Tess get married. SPOILERS OVER NOW.
But I have rewatched numerous episodes from seasons one and two. This show is quite addictive in the early years, and I promise it's actually compelling. However, the theme song is so cheesy that you would need bread pieces for the fondue. Behold:
Now, I have been cast in Seussical: The Musical, so I might be unable to watch as much bad summer TV as normal. Hopefully my fellow Seussical cast members will forgive my grave hatred of Rent and disinterest in Next to Normal and not shun me from all cast outings.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Neener, neener...Billy Corgan is not that deep after all!
Reading about this news filled me with such joy! I no longer need to feel guilty about not understanding Billy Corgan's pain. All he needed to do to not feel like a rat in the cage is to date an MTV famewhore who cannot sing.
Of course, I was tempted to call Sis RoyalTurkey and brag. Unfortunately, I then remembered that I would have to explain to her who Tila Tequila was. (Now, I do have some standards, and the only reason I know who she is, is because I saw previews to her dating show when I watched the RW/RR Extreme Challenge.) Damn it!
Of course, I was tempted to call Sis RoyalTurkey and brag. Unfortunately, I then remembered that I would have to explain to her who Tila Tequila was. (Now, I do have some standards, and the only reason I know who she is, is because I saw previews to her dating show when I watched the RW/RR Extreme Challenge.) Damn it!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Gauche and Unsophisticated List: Such a refined palate!
In my everyday, non-blogging, life I do try to maintain some pretentions of good taste when it comes to food. I ranted about how the hot sauce in Boston could have been consumed by me when I was two. I discussed how I adored tapas, and that squid in ink is acutally quite delicious. Now that I live in the midwest I hesitate to eat the seafood because there is no ocean nearby and therefore that means the seafood is frozen (gasp!). I proclaimed my love for dim sum, even though I've actually only gone for dim sum twice in my life. I watch Top Chef and mock the cheftestants when they use canned crab (but then again Hosea won that season - ugh!) or frozen scallops (thank goodness Spike Asshat was finally eliminated that episode). I know what a CSA is.
Despite my claims to good taste and my willingness to be adventurous, however, let's take a look at what I order when I go to all these different restaurants that I'm so open and willing to try.
* Thai - Pad Thai (2.5 stars)
* Chinese - Sweet and Sour Pork or General Tso's Chicken, or Orange Chicken when I go to Panda Express
* Mexican - Steak Fajitas
* Indian - Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan
* Italian - Cheese Ravioli
* Seafood - the fried seafood platter, or seafood drenched in butter lemon sauce
* Greek - Kebabs or Gyros
* Sushi - the California roll, a tempura roll, or the spicy shrimp roll with cooked shrimp
Drink of choice wherever I go - Coca Cola!
I think that about says it all.
Despite my claims to good taste and my willingness to be adventurous, however, let's take a look at what I order when I go to all these different restaurants that I'm so open and willing to try.
* Thai - Pad Thai (2.5 stars)
* Chinese - Sweet and Sour Pork or General Tso's Chicken, or Orange Chicken when I go to Panda Express
* Mexican - Steak Fajitas
* Indian - Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan
* Italian - Cheese Ravioli
* Seafood - the fried seafood platter, or seafood drenched in butter lemon sauce
* Greek - Kebabs or Gyros
* Sushi - the California roll, a tempura roll, or the spicy shrimp roll with cooked shrimp
Drink of choice wherever I go - Coca Cola!
I think that about says it all.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
I've discovered indie, edgy Canadian musicians!
Unfortunately the only reason I know these songs and these artists is because I heard the songs on episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation, and then either went to the Degrassi.tv page or looked up the lyrics on Google. Though I have given up Degrassi for the most part, I have watched a few episodes this season because amazingly most of the new characters for season eight are actually good (and KC and Claire's nerd crushing is adorable, but I'm sure the Degrassi writers will destroy it somehow). Whenever I watch a few season eight episodes though I just pretend that the characters that had terrible write offs - Alex, Ashley, Craig, Sean, Terri - are actually leading happy and productive lives. And this happy Degrassi alternate universe has better writing.
Anyway, on to my great musical discoveries. And video clips because they're indie artists and actually let you imbed videos.
First is "Beautiful House" by Leeroy Stagger. This played during at the beginning of Our Lips Are Sealed, Part Two, where annoying Emma Nelson is struggling with her two episode eating disorder and unable to open up to her mother Spike (the teenage mom from the first Degrassi series). This clip was filmed at some cafe somewhere, and I would wait for it to load and then start playing it about a minute in because there's a lot of banter.
Then after that glorious discovery. I then also fell in love with the song Carol.
Then on the most recent episode of Degrassi: TNG (in Canada - the US is a few episodes behind), that I watched on YouTube (I will not contribute to its US ratings!); Jane Says, Part 2, I heard Sleeping Sickness by City and Colour. This song played when Jane had to sleep on a park bench because her traumatic childhood memories were returning, and she didn't have anyone to turn to. And there's actually a music video.
Enjoy! I will revel in my one moment of music sophistication where I've discovered indie groups. 4-HMike would be so proud!
Anyway, on to my great musical discoveries. And video clips because they're indie artists and actually let you imbed videos.
First is "Beautiful House" by Leeroy Stagger. This played during at the beginning of Our Lips Are Sealed, Part Two, where annoying Emma Nelson is struggling with her two episode eating disorder and unable to open up to her mother Spike (the teenage mom from the first Degrassi series). This clip was filmed at some cafe somewhere, and I would wait for it to load and then start playing it about a minute in because there's a lot of banter.
Then after that glorious discovery. I then also fell in love with the song Carol.
Then on the most recent episode of Degrassi: TNG (in Canada - the US is a few episodes behind), that I watched on YouTube (I will not contribute to its US ratings!); Jane Says, Part 2, I heard Sleeping Sickness by City and Colour. This song played when Jane had to sleep on a park bench because her traumatic childhood memories were returning, and she didn't have anyone to turn to. And there's actually a music video.
Enjoy! I will revel in my one moment of music sophistication where I've discovered indie groups. 4-HMike would be so proud!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Law school did so much for my earning potential!
While I was driving home from work after a hellaciously looong day at work (I didn't get out of the office until 8:00 pm), I passed the B-N Family Video store. On its sign, it was advertising manager jobs at the store. The salary range? 30-50K! So yes, that means that experienced managers at the Family Video do have a higher salary than my salary. And they probably only have to work 5 days a week, every week. While I am working another Saturday. Good to know my public interest work is so valued.
Must remember that my work is important and rewarding! Really! It is! And I can afford my rent, gas, loan payments and the occassional splurge at Old Navy, so my salary is fine. Moving on now.
Must remember that my work is important and rewarding! Really! It is! And I can afford my rent, gas, loan payments and the occassional splurge at Old Navy, so my salary is fine. Moving on now.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Comfort me with books! Anne of Green Gables
I figured here at COAGUBL, it was time to introduce a new list category - Comfort Me With...! Yes, I realize I'm aping the title of Ruth Reichl's memoir Comfort Me With Apples. But I doubt the phrase "comfort me with" if copyrighted. Heck, I'm not even sure if that phrase could be copyrighted. It's at times like this that I wish that I took Copyright Law in law school, but the 8:15 start time was a bit of a deterrent. Like with my other entries, this entry will likely devolve into many anecdotes and overuse of parentheses (I'm the next William Goldman!). I decided I shall start with books. There may be some overlap with my guilty pleasures list, but my comfort entertainment is usually at least middle-brow.
Like with guilty pleasures, I tend to seek out comfort things more than I probably should. Furthermore, many people I know, have more high brow comfort books. My college friend Hacquecita (yes, I realize the blog I linked to is over three years old, but her insights are interesting!) once listed in her Facebook profile that she rereads Henry James (I think??) once a year. When things got too stressful for my college roommate Shy Violet, she would whip out her hardcover edition of Pride and Prejudice and get utterly absorbed in the lives of the Bennett sisters (SV was APPALLLED when I told her that I had never finished the book and that I thought it was "wordy and boring." I'm sure she'll continue to be disappointed that I still haven't read it past page 50.) And then there's the books I read...
Today, I will be discussing Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
The Basic Plotline: A plucky redheaded orphan, Anne Shirley, is mistakenly sent to live with spinster brother and sister pair, Marilla and Matthew Cuthburt, at Green Gables in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, even though they asked the orphanage to send them a boy. Anne quickly charms Matthew who wants keep her even though she's not a boy, and she even convinces crusty Marilla to let her stay. Anne then spends her time being brilliant in school, letting her imagination run away with her, and getting into trouble. In this book she also becomes "bosom friends" with Diana Berry, and gets into a three year long spat with Gilbert Blythe, who she may also have a crush on.
My Thoughts: I first tried to read this book over the summer between second and third grade. I received the box set of the eight Anne of Avonlea books from my Aunt Squeezer when I was in the second grade, and throughout the year I would try to read the book. But then I kept getting side tracked by the wonders of Judy Blume (Poor Peter Hatcher! But why does he have to be so mean to Sheila?), Beverly Clearly (Why didn't she write more books about Beezus? Why is it always the younger sisters that get all the attention?), The Baby-Sitters Club, and Sweet Valley Twins. However on the family roadtrip to Denver, Colorado to visit my Uncle ArmyMan, Aunt DogLover, and cousins Deborah (who is going to graduate from college this year!) and BabySarah (now she's a senior in high school -- crazy!), I actually made quite a bit of progress in the book. Then came the scene that so offended me that when we were taking a day trip in Thermopolis, Wyoming, I slammed the book down on the dashboard of my Aunt Squeezer's Toyota truck in disgust. I was outraged that Diana's mother would not let Anne and Diana hang out anymore because Anne inadvertantly got Diana drunk at the tea party when Anne mistakenly gave Diana currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. I was so angry by the injustice of it all that I declared to my entire family that I was not going to read the rest of the book because of such unfairness. My ever patient mother said okay dear, now stop ranting and eat your lunch.
I wound up later watching both mini-series and enjoying them quite a bit. (This will be later discussed in Comfort me with movies!). Shy Violet was also slightly disconcerted that I had never read the books, though she was slightly appeased when I told her that I loved the movies. In college I did plan on reading Anne of Green Gables because I felt it was time to let my outrage go. But then the Claremont Library did not have the book. (I think my family finally gave away my unread boxed set.) They had all the Betsy-Tacy books because the author was from the city, but not one copy of Anne of Green Gables. Ridiculous! Does Claremont have something against Canadian authors? Anyway, it was weird, and so I never read it then either.
Then finally when I was in my first year of law school in BU, I finally found a copy of AofGG at a thrift store in Allston, and then I FINALLY read the book, and I loved it. Now when life gets frustrating I reread certain parts of it, such as The Story Club chapter when Anne and her friends form a creative writing club and write melodramatic stories much to the consternation of Marilla and the amusement of the local minister and his wife, and Diana's Great Aunt Josephine (the fact that Kevin Sullivan left this out of the first movie should have been a sign that he was going to do his best to destroy the series in his later movies! To me the third and fourth movies don't exist!) or the first day of school when Anne breaks the slate over Gilbert's head because he called her "carrots" (oh young love!).
However, I am still hesitant about reading the later books because by the end of this book Anne was getting to be a bit practically perfect. First in her class! Foresakes college to teach in Avonlea and run Green Gables! Grows into her looks and is now beautiful! Has become so mature and calm! So I think the later books may be a bit tedious since Anne is still the brightest creature in all the land, but now she has matured so much that she doesn't get into much trouble to balance it out. However, I can reread Anne's story about the tragic friendship of Cornelia and Geraldine and always feel better. However, whenever I reread I always skip the part when Marilla falsely accused Anne of losing her amythest broach. It's just too painful, and I cannot deal. At least I have been able to deal with Diana and Anne being forced to be apart for about twenty pages.
Like with guilty pleasures, I tend to seek out comfort things more than I probably should. Furthermore, many people I know, have more high brow comfort books. My college friend Hacquecita (yes, I realize the blog I linked to is over three years old, but her insights are interesting!) once listed in her Facebook profile that she rereads Henry James (I think??) once a year. When things got too stressful for my college roommate Shy Violet, she would whip out her hardcover edition of Pride and Prejudice and get utterly absorbed in the lives of the Bennett sisters (SV was APPALLLED when I told her that I had never finished the book and that I thought it was "wordy and boring." I'm sure she'll continue to be disappointed that I still haven't read it past page 50.) And then there's the books I read...
Today, I will be discussing Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
The Basic Plotline: A plucky redheaded orphan, Anne Shirley, is mistakenly sent to live with spinster brother and sister pair, Marilla and Matthew Cuthburt, at Green Gables in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, even though they asked the orphanage to send them a boy. Anne quickly charms Matthew who wants keep her even though she's not a boy, and she even convinces crusty Marilla to let her stay. Anne then spends her time being brilliant in school, letting her imagination run away with her, and getting into trouble. In this book she also becomes "bosom friends" with Diana Berry, and gets into a three year long spat with Gilbert Blythe, who she may also have a crush on.
My Thoughts: I first tried to read this book over the summer between second and third grade. I received the box set of the eight Anne of Avonlea books from my Aunt Squeezer when I was in the second grade, and throughout the year I would try to read the book. But then I kept getting side tracked by the wonders of Judy Blume (Poor Peter Hatcher! But why does he have to be so mean to Sheila?), Beverly Clearly (Why didn't she write more books about Beezus? Why is it always the younger sisters that get all the attention?), The Baby-Sitters Club, and Sweet Valley Twins. However on the family roadtrip to Denver, Colorado to visit my Uncle ArmyMan, Aunt DogLover, and cousins Deborah (who is going to graduate from college this year!) and BabySarah (now she's a senior in high school -- crazy!), I actually made quite a bit of progress in the book. Then came the scene that so offended me that when we were taking a day trip in Thermopolis, Wyoming, I slammed the book down on the dashboard of my Aunt Squeezer's Toyota truck in disgust. I was outraged that Diana's mother would not let Anne and Diana hang out anymore because Anne inadvertantly got Diana drunk at the tea party when Anne mistakenly gave Diana currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. I was so angry by the injustice of it all that I declared to my entire family that I was not going to read the rest of the book because of such unfairness. My ever patient mother said okay dear, now stop ranting and eat your lunch.
I wound up later watching both mini-series and enjoying them quite a bit. (This will be later discussed in Comfort me with movies!). Shy Violet was also slightly disconcerted that I had never read the books, though she was slightly appeased when I told her that I loved the movies. In college I did plan on reading Anne of Green Gables because I felt it was time to let my outrage go. But then the Claremont Library did not have the book. (I think my family finally gave away my unread boxed set.) They had all the Betsy-Tacy books because the author was from the city, but not one copy of Anne of Green Gables. Ridiculous! Does Claremont have something against Canadian authors? Anyway, it was weird, and so I never read it then either.
Then finally when I was in my first year of law school in BU, I finally found a copy of AofGG at a thrift store in Allston, and then I FINALLY read the book, and I loved it. Now when life gets frustrating I reread certain parts of it, such as The Story Club chapter when Anne and her friends form a creative writing club and write melodramatic stories much to the consternation of Marilla and the amusement of the local minister and his wife, and Diana's Great Aunt Josephine (the fact that Kevin Sullivan left this out of the first movie should have been a sign that he was going to do his best to destroy the series in his later movies! To me the third and fourth movies don't exist!) or the first day of school when Anne breaks the slate over Gilbert's head because he called her "carrots" (oh young love!).
However, I am still hesitant about reading the later books because by the end of this book Anne was getting to be a bit practically perfect. First in her class! Foresakes college to teach in Avonlea and run Green Gables! Grows into her looks and is now beautiful! Has become so mature and calm! So I think the later books may be a bit tedious since Anne is still the brightest creature in all the land, but now she has matured so much that she doesn't get into much trouble to balance it out. However, I can reread Anne's story about the tragic friendship of Cornelia and Geraldine and always feel better. However, whenever I reread I always skip the part when Marilla falsely accused Anne of losing her amythest broach. It's just too painful, and I cannot deal. At least I have been able to deal with Diana and Anne being forced to be apart for about twenty pages.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Gauche and Unsophisticated List: Classic Tween Shows (and by classic I mean from the year 2000) and Cheesy Music Videos
One day I was musing to myself about my TV addiction and generally bad taste (when I really should be thinking about solutions to world problems), and I discovered that could not remember which cheesy shows I was addicted to in high school. I know I must have watched some, but I can't really remember what the shows were.
Then again, during high school, I was busy being a crazy overacheiver and demonstrating that I was "well rounded", so I could get into an excellent out-of-state college and get out of Ferndale. Getting out of Ferndale was my main goal during my high school years. So in high school I took seven A.P. classes my senior year (they were just introduced that year, so I couldn't really space them out, and I had to show colleges that I was a serious smarty pants), wrote scathing editorials for the high school newspaper -The Eagle Eye, participated in team sports even though my atheletic skills are laughable, acted in three high school musicals (I sometimes even got lines and solos!), acted in community murder mystery dinner theater productions (I played Rosie the dance-hall girl and possible murderess and I wore a heinous aqua dress), showed goats in 4-H, and I was a member of Knowledge Bowl, Model UN (I got a speaker award for being a very mouthy representative from Honduras on the UNDP), FBLA (1st place at regionals for Business Law and Economics), Human Relations Council, and heck I even participated in two Math Team Competitions for the extra credit (my poor showing at those demonstrated that after Calculus I, I had no future in math). Anyway, in high school I was Tracey Flick, so I probably did not have that much time for fickle entertainment. Looking back, I wonder why more people did not find me to be a tedious, goody-goody, know-it-all. Well...I'm sure many did, but I was pretty caught up in my goal of getting out of Ferndale, so I did not notice.
Despite this, I know I did watch Caitlin's Way on Nickelodeon whenever I could catch it on a Sunday night. Now, in this show Caitlin, a girl with issues, moves to Montana to live with distant relatives and tries to leave behind her bad-girl past and learn to trust again, and of course to do this she must move to the country and get a horse of her own. Of course, I was already too old for the show when it first aired, but I could not help myself. I remembered that I enjoyed this show, so of course I was overjoyed when I discovered that The-N was reairing episodes at 5 am. Thanks to DVR, I got addicted all over again.
Oh I love this show so! I cannot help but get sucked in to Caitlin's and her second season love interest Will's drama - where he encourages her to skip summer school, but then tutors her in math and they dance in the town diner. Edgy! A definite sign that Caitlin is reverting to her old ways. But then she feels he is "pulling her into his darkness" after they make a crop circle in Eric's (Caitlin's nemesis with whom she also feels chemistry!) dad's cornfield. Oh those crazy kids! Also many of residents of Fall River, Montana have Canadian accents. This must be a special part of Montana that I've never visited. Then there's the characters that randomly appear and disappear without explanation, Caitlin frequently running away, Griffin's (Caitlin's cousin) inane subplots, and Caitlin's really lame insults (she called snobby Taylor, Pinkahontas, yes Caitlin, I'm sure Taylor was so wounded by that one). But, still I'm genuinely touched when Caitlin begins to bond with and love her new family who does genuinely care about her, giddy when Caitlin and Will finally get beyond the crop circle of darkness and are get together in the finale, and feel the love-hate chemistry between Caitlin and Eric. Sadly the Caitlin-Eric-Will triangle is one of the few love triangles on TV where I have been genuinely conflicted about what the resolution should be, and it wasn't even that well developed. Though Caitlin's Way uses every single troubled teen moves to the country cliche; I am giddy when my DVR records a new episode.
Since I have been watching so much late night TV on The-N, I've also been catching the music videos that the channel airs during commercial breaks. Sadly, this means I've discovered Miranda Cosgrove's About You Now, and I actually like it, and when it pops up at the end of a Caitlin's Way episode, I'm actually happy to see it. Some of the lyrics of this masterpiece are "I was wrong, I was dumb, I let you down." Deep! Also, I really like Miranda's outfit during the mall frolicking and reminscing scenes. That pink and black checker print dress is adorable. I would not wear the knee socks, though, those are way too youthful. If I could find the dress though - I think I would consider buying it and wearing it. It turns out that Miranda is also the star of the latest Nickelodeon tween show sensation ICarly, but I at least have some standards and only watch older, more classic, tween shows.
Now, I must go and rewatch the episode where Caitlin faces her fears and goes to the eighth grade dance and makes new friends (who disappear in the next episode).
Then again, during high school, I was busy being a crazy overacheiver and demonstrating that I was "well rounded", so I could get into an excellent out-of-state college and get out of Ferndale. Getting out of Ferndale was my main goal during my high school years. So in high school I took seven A.P. classes my senior year (they were just introduced that year, so I couldn't really space them out, and I had to show colleges that I was a serious smarty pants), wrote scathing editorials for the high school newspaper -The Eagle Eye, participated in team sports even though my atheletic skills are laughable, acted in three high school musicals (I sometimes even got lines and solos!), acted in community murder mystery dinner theater productions (I played Rosie the dance-hall girl and possible murderess and I wore a heinous aqua dress), showed goats in 4-H, and I was a member of Knowledge Bowl, Model UN (I got a speaker award for being a very mouthy representative from Honduras on the UNDP), FBLA (1st place at regionals for Business Law and Economics), Human Relations Council, and heck I even participated in two Math Team Competitions for the extra credit (my poor showing at those demonstrated that after Calculus I, I had no future in math). Anyway, in high school I was Tracey Flick, so I probably did not have that much time for fickle entertainment. Looking back, I wonder why more people did not find me to be a tedious, goody-goody, know-it-all. Well...I'm sure many did, but I was pretty caught up in my goal of getting out of Ferndale, so I did not notice.
Despite this, I know I did watch Caitlin's Way on Nickelodeon whenever I could catch it on a Sunday night. Now, in this show Caitlin, a girl with issues, moves to Montana to live with distant relatives and tries to leave behind her bad-girl past and learn to trust again, and of course to do this she must move to the country and get a horse of her own. Of course, I was already too old for the show when it first aired, but I could not help myself. I remembered that I enjoyed this show, so of course I was overjoyed when I discovered that The-N was reairing episodes at 5 am. Thanks to DVR, I got addicted all over again.
Oh I love this show so! I cannot help but get sucked in to Caitlin's and her second season love interest Will's drama - where he encourages her to skip summer school, but then tutors her in math and they dance in the town diner. Edgy! A definite sign that Caitlin is reverting to her old ways. But then she feels he is "pulling her into his darkness" after they make a crop circle in Eric's (Caitlin's nemesis with whom she also feels chemistry!) dad's cornfield. Oh those crazy kids! Also many of residents of Fall River, Montana have Canadian accents. This must be a special part of Montana that I've never visited. Then there's the characters that randomly appear and disappear without explanation, Caitlin frequently running away, Griffin's (Caitlin's cousin) inane subplots, and Caitlin's really lame insults (she called snobby Taylor, Pinkahontas, yes Caitlin, I'm sure Taylor was so wounded by that one). But, still I'm genuinely touched when Caitlin begins to bond with and love her new family who does genuinely care about her, giddy when Caitlin and Will finally get beyond the crop circle of darkness and are get together in the finale, and feel the love-hate chemistry between Caitlin and Eric. Sadly the Caitlin-Eric-Will triangle is one of the few love triangles on TV where I have been genuinely conflicted about what the resolution should be, and it wasn't even that well developed. Though Caitlin's Way uses every single troubled teen moves to the country cliche; I am giddy when my DVR records a new episode.
Since I have been watching so much late night TV on The-N, I've also been catching the music videos that the channel airs during commercial breaks. Sadly, this means I've discovered Miranda Cosgrove's About You Now, and I actually like it, and when it pops up at the end of a Caitlin's Way episode, I'm actually happy to see it. Some of the lyrics of this masterpiece are "I was wrong, I was dumb, I let you down." Deep! Also, I really like Miranda's outfit during the mall frolicking and reminscing scenes. That pink and black checker print dress is adorable. I would not wear the knee socks, though, those are way too youthful. If I could find the dress though - I think I would consider buying it and wearing it. It turns out that Miranda is also the star of the latest Nickelodeon tween show sensation ICarly, but I at least have some standards and only watch older, more classic, tween shows.
Now, I must go and rewatch the episode where Caitlin faces her fears and goes to the eighth grade dance and makes new friends (who disappear in the next episode).
Los Veinticinco, well...Veintiseis
The current craze on Facebook has been writing a list of 25 things about oneself and posting it as a note and tagging people. So of course, I posted it there and tagged people like I was supposed to. However, then I started thinking of my dear readers who don't have Facebook accounts, who will not get the opportunity to read these delightful facts about me, so I've posted them here as well. I'm such a giving person.
1. I had a horrifically traumatic and awful experience learning to drive and getting my driver's license. The first time I ever drove, I crashed through the fence in my front yard. I was told I was one of the top five worst drivers ever by my driver's ed teacher on my first class drive sophomore year. I had a heck of a time getting my drivers license. My driver's ed teacher loved telling following classes about my driving ineptitude. (He was an ass!) Because of this earlier humiliation, I still really don't like driving others around because I feel like they are judging me. I also never learned how to drive a stick shift because I never wanted to have to go through learning to drive again. I swear, though, that I am a decent driver.
2. I loved working at Camp Killoqua, and I worked there for four years and a few weeks during other summers. My favorite position there was working as the Unit Coordinator for Salishan, the unit of 9 - 11 year old girls. That age group is so much fun because they loved to do activities, and I always thought it was adorable that the girls loved singing their unit songs all around camp. That said, even though I never had a problem singing the Salishan songs, and of course I taught the girls the songs on the first day, my favorite camp unit songs were from Gypsy, the 9 - 11 year old boys. However, I could never be a counselor for Gypsy because my inner ten year old would always think - "OMG those boys are so immature!"
3. Speaking of camp, although I enjoy the work that I do as a lawyer now, I do sometimes wish I had deferred a year before I started law school to work the outdoor education season at camp (even though besides fire building, my outdoor living skills are slightly lacking), and then worked that summer as the UC of Salishan again. Also then I would have finally received my five year patch!
4. I HATED Twilight. HATED. I made it to page 70 before I slammed the book down in disgust. Bella was a smug, unlikeable wish-fulfillment device of the author, and Edward was a creepy, passive agressive stalker. Ugh! However, I'm sure I would have loved the book and thought it was so romantic when I was sixteen. I actually did enjoy the movie, though, since the director made Bella much more likeable, and Edward much less creepy. That said, I don't think that this book will utterly destroy the lives of the people that read it, and make them utterly incapable of having healthy relationships, like some other hyperbolic Twilight haters think.
5. I am disgusted by the fact that Chuck Bass, the two-time attempted rapist, is someone we are supposed to root for on Gossip Girl. Once the writers decided to make him more of a protaganist, which they decided before the pilot even aired, they should have just edited out the attempted rape scenes. After the episode where Blair slept with him, knowing that he did that, I was done with the show for good. As I've said before - it's offensive and it rips off daytime soap opera plot lines.
6. One day I hope to own a bulldog or bullmastiff. I want to name him Rufus.
7. I have the titles and teasers to a "cozy" mystery series saved on my computer. Someday I will actually start writing the books. However, when I was younger, I started writing many novels, but I never finished one. So we'll see how this goes.
8. Speaking of my writing career, when I was in sixth grade, I went on an RL Stein reading binge one weekend. Not Goosebumps, but the more "mature" young adult horror novels. This then inspired me to write horror stories for my sixth grade class newsletter - complete with gushing blood. When the teachers pulled the stories from the newsletter because of parent complaints, I cried about the cruel censorship of the newsletter. Then my teachers referred me to the school psychologist - who lied to me and told me she was meeting with everyone - which was so not true! But once I told the psychologist about my reading binge, she realized that I was just emulating a writing style and not actually deranged, so she never insisted on seeing me again.
9. I am still very close with my best friends from high school - Joooan! and RToo. And they always let me drag them to cheesy romantic comedies, though Joooan! always publically complains. I am so glad that we are still such close friends although we lead very different lives now. (Aww cheesy -- anyone want some crackers?)
10. I was cut from three high school sports teams - tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch. Luckily the swim team and the track team thought there was power in numbers, so I was never cut from those teams. Also, although I was cut from fastpitch, I went on to play on my law school slowpitch softball team (and I played second base, not right field!).
11. I have a very large head. During my year on the C-Team Fastpitch team, they had to special order me an XXL batting helmet.
12. I was the tallest person in my class until the fifth grade.
13. I was in 4-H throughout high school. I showed pygmy and dairy goats, and I was not very good. Yet for some reason, I figured this would be an interesting thing to talk about when I met people on my WOA trip at CMC. Of course then all my WOA tripmates thought I was quite urbane and sophisticated.
14. I twirl my hair when I get nervous.
15. I used to love to read, and I still love going to bookstores and libraries, but I find I am not reading as many books as I used to. This worries me.
16. When I go out and drink, I also want to do some activity -- compete in bar trivia, dance, play drinking games, play pool (though I'm embarrassingly terrible), or shoot darts.
17. I have wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was nine. However, I was not inspired by any great historical lawyers, I was inspired by Jessi Spano on "Saved By The Bell."
18. Sometimes I still dream about being a star of Broadway musicals.
19. When I was younger I wanted to be an Olympic Gymnast or Figure Skater. I even imagined how all the sports commentators would talk about my amazing rise to elite status even though I started training when I was nine or eleven respectively. Also, I was already 4'10" by the time I was nine, so sometimes my dreams could be a tad bit delusional.
20. I wrote my senior thesis in Spanish.
21. I never liked P.E., since I was never a great athelete. The only thing I excelled at was the sit and reach. 51 cm! Beat that jocks! (Sorry that I stole your idea Lucky!)
22. I tried out for cheerleading twice in high school. The first time I tried out, at the end of my individual cheer - my kicks were out of rhythm, so I yelled "oh crap." I was so shocked that I was mute during my closing rally. Needless to say, I did not make the team. I didn't make the team the next year either, probably for "whooping" during the rally, which is not the cheerleader way!
23. I was nominated for Prom Queen my senior year of college. Yes, my college had a prom themed party. But then I skipped that prom to go to Coachella. And Jeff Simonetti beat me for the Prom Queen title anyway.
24. I have been sunburned every summer of my life that I can remember.
25. I've studied Spanish since the eighth grade, but I still can't roll my Rs, unless I'm speaking very, very quickly.
26. I still have a stuffed rabbit named Bosley that I've had since my first Easter.
1. I had a horrifically traumatic and awful experience learning to drive and getting my driver's license. The first time I ever drove, I crashed through the fence in my front yard. I was told I was one of the top five worst drivers ever by my driver's ed teacher on my first class drive sophomore year. I had a heck of a time getting my drivers license. My driver's ed teacher loved telling following classes about my driving ineptitude. (He was an ass!) Because of this earlier humiliation, I still really don't like driving others around because I feel like they are judging me. I also never learned how to drive a stick shift because I never wanted to have to go through learning to drive again. I swear, though, that I am a decent driver.
2. I loved working at Camp Killoqua, and I worked there for four years and a few weeks during other summers. My favorite position there was working as the Unit Coordinator for Salishan, the unit of 9 - 11 year old girls. That age group is so much fun because they loved to do activities, and I always thought it was adorable that the girls loved singing their unit songs all around camp. That said, even though I never had a problem singing the Salishan songs, and of course I taught the girls the songs on the first day, my favorite camp unit songs were from Gypsy, the 9 - 11 year old boys. However, I could never be a counselor for Gypsy because my inner ten year old would always think - "OMG those boys are so immature!"
3. Speaking of camp, although I enjoy the work that I do as a lawyer now, I do sometimes wish I had deferred a year before I started law school to work the outdoor education season at camp (even though besides fire building, my outdoor living skills are slightly lacking), and then worked that summer as the UC of Salishan again. Also then I would have finally received my five year patch!
4. I HATED Twilight. HATED. I made it to page 70 before I slammed the book down in disgust. Bella was a smug, unlikeable wish-fulfillment device of the author, and Edward was a creepy, passive agressive stalker. Ugh! However, I'm sure I would have loved the book and thought it was so romantic when I was sixteen. I actually did enjoy the movie, though, since the director made Bella much more likeable, and Edward much less creepy. That said, I don't think that this book will utterly destroy the lives of the people that read it, and make them utterly incapable of having healthy relationships, like some other hyperbolic Twilight haters think.
5. I am disgusted by the fact that Chuck Bass, the two-time attempted rapist, is someone we are supposed to root for on Gossip Girl. Once the writers decided to make him more of a protaganist, which they decided before the pilot even aired, they should have just edited out the attempted rape scenes. After the episode where Blair slept with him, knowing that he did that, I was done with the show for good. As I've said before - it's offensive and it rips off daytime soap opera plot lines.
6. One day I hope to own a bulldog or bullmastiff. I want to name him Rufus.
7. I have the titles and teasers to a "cozy" mystery series saved on my computer. Someday I will actually start writing the books. However, when I was younger, I started writing many novels, but I never finished one. So we'll see how this goes.
8. Speaking of my writing career, when I was in sixth grade, I went on an RL Stein reading binge one weekend. Not Goosebumps, but the more "mature" young adult horror novels. This then inspired me to write horror stories for my sixth grade class newsletter - complete with gushing blood. When the teachers pulled the stories from the newsletter because of parent complaints, I cried about the cruel censorship of the newsletter. Then my teachers referred me to the school psychologist - who lied to me and told me she was meeting with everyone - which was so not true! But once I told the psychologist about my reading binge, she realized that I was just emulating a writing style and not actually deranged, so she never insisted on seeing me again.
9. I am still very close with my best friends from high school - Joooan! and RToo. And they always let me drag them to cheesy romantic comedies, though Joooan! always publically complains. I am so glad that we are still such close friends although we lead very different lives now. (Aww cheesy -- anyone want some crackers?)
10. I was cut from three high school sports teams - tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch. Luckily the swim team and the track team thought there was power in numbers, so I was never cut from those teams. Also, although I was cut from fastpitch, I went on to play on my law school slowpitch softball team (and I played second base, not right field!).
11. I have a very large head. During my year on the C-Team Fastpitch team, they had to special order me an XXL batting helmet.
12. I was the tallest person in my class until the fifth grade.
13. I was in 4-H throughout high school. I showed pygmy and dairy goats, and I was not very good. Yet for some reason, I figured this would be an interesting thing to talk about when I met people on my WOA trip at CMC. Of course then all my WOA tripmates thought I was quite urbane and sophisticated.
14. I twirl my hair when I get nervous.
15. I used to love to read, and I still love going to bookstores and libraries, but I find I am not reading as many books as I used to. This worries me.
16. When I go out and drink, I also want to do some activity -- compete in bar trivia, dance, play drinking games, play pool (though I'm embarrassingly terrible), or shoot darts.
17. I have wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was nine. However, I was not inspired by any great historical lawyers, I was inspired by Jessi Spano on "Saved By The Bell."
18. Sometimes I still dream about being a star of Broadway musicals.
19. When I was younger I wanted to be an Olympic Gymnast or Figure Skater. I even imagined how all the sports commentators would talk about my amazing rise to elite status even though I started training when I was nine or eleven respectively. Also, I was already 4'10" by the time I was nine, so sometimes my dreams could be a tad bit delusional.
20. I wrote my senior thesis in Spanish.
21. I never liked P.E., since I was never a great athelete. The only thing I excelled at was the sit and reach. 51 cm! Beat that jocks! (Sorry that I stole your idea Lucky!)
22. I tried out for cheerleading twice in high school. The first time I tried out, at the end of my individual cheer - my kicks were out of rhythm, so I yelled "oh crap." I was so shocked that I was mute during my closing rally. Needless to say, I did not make the team. I didn't make the team the next year either, probably for "whooping" during the rally, which is not the cheerleader way!
23. I was nominated for Prom Queen my senior year of college. Yes, my college had a prom themed party. But then I skipped that prom to go to Coachella. And Jeff Simonetti beat me for the Prom Queen title anyway.
24. I have been sunburned every summer of my life that I can remember.
25. I've studied Spanish since the eighth grade, but I still can't roll my Rs, unless I'm speaking very, very quickly.
26. I still have a stuffed rabbit named Bosley that I've had since my first Easter.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Gauche and Unsophisticated List: The Early Years
Sadly I had a deprived childhood. Despite my warm loving family, inspirational speeches, stylish back to school wardrobe, and lack of curfew during my teenage years (however I was the perennial good girl, I stayed out late because I was hanging out with Joooan!, RToo, and Weather Girl and playing Trivial Pursuit), I always felt that something was missing. That something was a subscription to the Disney Channel.
When I was very young, and my family still lived in the booming metropolis of Concord, California; we did have the Disney Channel Subscription, and I lived for Kids Incorporated. So when we finally moved to Washington state, I was heartbroken when my cruel, cruel parents refused to subscribe again. So that means I lived, lived for the Winter and Spring Preview weekends, where I would watch all the great shows that I could not watch normally. And I was addicted to both Kids Incorporated and The New Mickey Mouse Club (or MMC).
Some of my earliest TV memories are watching Kids Incorporated, and when I was three and four Martika (she later went on to sing Toy Soldiers) was my favorite. Here's the intro: behold the fabulous Martika applying blush and Fergie (yes, the little blonde Stacy Ferguson playing jacks grew up to be the infamous Fergie) before she had any street cred. Also for more interesting, and probably well known by now, trivia -- Renee and Stacy were in the short lived group Wild Orchid together. Ahh the bonds of Kids Incorporated.
I'm not going to lie - the theme song is still damn catchy. And I still maintain that the seasons from 1985 - 1989 were the best (they rerunned those seasons all the time). Jennifer Love Hewitt and Eric Balfour could not compare. See what I mean?
Amazingly Eric's character, named Eric, did not die, and Kids Incorporated went on for two more seasons.
Anyway, during preview weekends, I also discovered the wonders of the MMC. Now the media made a big ole hoopla about J.C., Britney, Christina, Justin, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling being Musketeers, but I was there from the beginning when Tiffini was the coolest and when they formed the rockin band The Party. Jennifer and Lindsey were my favorites from the show, and they were on all seven seasons, so whenever preview weekend came it was always comforting to know they were still there.
However, I had totally forgotten about Video Jam! If you had thought that early 1990s power ballad videos were too gritty, edgy, and inappropriate - no worries, the MMC was there for you with the cheesiest, most sanitized videos ever - safe for even the most sheltered of youth. Here are my favorites!
Watch a bunch of MMC hotties frolicking in open fields covering Toad the Wet Sprocket.
There's frolicking, twirling and rainbows! Draw your own conclusions.
And Disney even thought Amy Grant was too edgy for its audience and needed to be more innocent. And what's more innocent than flirting on bicycles?
I would have coveted Terra's purple leggings when I was ten.
So thank you You Tube for allowing me to relive my childhood. And I don't even need a Disney Channel subscription (though now it is included on extended basic cable on Comcast). However, Disney Channel does not show these gems anymore. Hannah Montana does not compare.
When I was very young, and my family still lived in the booming metropolis of Concord, California; we did have the Disney Channel Subscription, and I lived for Kids Incorporated. So when we finally moved to Washington state, I was heartbroken when my cruel, cruel parents refused to subscribe again. So that means I lived, lived for the Winter and Spring Preview weekends, where I would watch all the great shows that I could not watch normally. And I was addicted to both Kids Incorporated and The New Mickey Mouse Club (or MMC).
Some of my earliest TV memories are watching Kids Incorporated, and when I was three and four Martika (she later went on to sing Toy Soldiers) was my favorite. Here's the intro: behold the fabulous Martika applying blush and Fergie (yes, the little blonde Stacy Ferguson playing jacks grew up to be the infamous Fergie) before she had any street cred. Also for more interesting, and probably well known by now, trivia -- Renee and Stacy were in the short lived group Wild Orchid together. Ahh the bonds of Kids Incorporated.
I'm not going to lie - the theme song is still damn catchy. And I still maintain that the seasons from 1985 - 1989 were the best (they rerunned those seasons all the time). Jennifer Love Hewitt and Eric Balfour could not compare. See what I mean?
Amazingly Eric's character, named Eric, did not die, and Kids Incorporated went on for two more seasons.
Anyway, during preview weekends, I also discovered the wonders of the MMC. Now the media made a big ole hoopla about J.C., Britney, Christina, Justin, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling being Musketeers, but I was there from the beginning when Tiffini was the coolest and when they formed the rockin band The Party. Jennifer and Lindsey were my favorites from the show, and they were on all seven seasons, so whenever preview weekend came it was always comforting to know they were still there.
However, I had totally forgotten about Video Jam! If you had thought that early 1990s power ballad videos were too gritty, edgy, and inappropriate - no worries, the MMC was there for you with the cheesiest, most sanitized videos ever - safe for even the most sheltered of youth. Here are my favorites!
Watch a bunch of MMC hotties frolicking in open fields covering Toad the Wet Sprocket.
There's frolicking, twirling and rainbows! Draw your own conclusions.
And Disney even thought Amy Grant was too edgy for its audience and needed to be more innocent. And what's more innocent than flirting on bicycles?
I would have coveted Terra's purple leggings when I was ten.
So thank you You Tube for allowing me to relive my childhood. And I don't even need a Disney Channel subscription (though now it is included on extended basic cable on Comcast). However, Disney Channel does not show these gems anymore. Hannah Montana does not compare.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Gauche and Unsophisticated Potpurri
Oh, I have sunk to new lows during the past few weeks. Let's just get to it, shall we?
Good Thing I'm Not a Celebrity:
Otherwise my picture would be posted on Go Fug Yourself....
After lamenting the rise of the leggings since 2006, I finally succumbed and bought two pairs (brown and black, depending on what I want my outfit's neutral to be). I'm so ashamed!
Back when I was in elementary school I lived in leggings. I had a fun lace trimmed pair in second grade. In third grade I was all about the paisley and floral prints. In the fifth grade I discovered the wonderful plaid. Finally in sixth grade, I discovered the wonders of solids. In fact I was sad when the middle school dress code stated no spandex, and my mom told me, I would not be wearing leggings. Thanks Mom for saving me from middle school fashion humiliation. (Instead I started wearing overalls, and I had the hottest red Mickey Mouse sweatshirt - I was the envy of all of Vista Middle School). However after sixth grade, I realized that leggings were such a bad idea.
When leggings returned to the scene, I was appalled. I did not want to relive my horrible fashion moments. However then I found three very cute sweater dresses and one cute sundress, with very flattering necklines, but they were a wee bit short. Hence the leggings. However, I will only wear them with said dresses, and not with tunic tops, oversized t-shirts, or even regular sized t-shirts like a BU undergrad, and brown and black will be the only two colors I ever own. There will be no paisley, plaid, lace trim or flowers. I mean it! Nope!
Hopefully Heather and Jessica will forgive me!
Helen Hunt's Best Movie Role Ever:
I wish I could be Lynn Stone...
When I was at Target about two weeks ago, I found the dance epic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on sale for $5. This 80's movie starred Sarah Jessica Parker, as a Catholic school girl who loves to dance and just wants to star on Dance TV; Lee Montgomery, as her 5'5" "rebel" dance partner in the dance contest (though he is slightly more threatening that Adrien Zmed); Shannen Doherty, as his little sister who tries to be more grown up by dressing "punk," and Jonathan Silverman, as "the rebel's" dorky best friend with a budding career in selling knock-off goods. But the best character was Helen Hunt as Lynn Stone, who created awesome fashion creations out of her Catholic School uniform, sang Calypso music in choir so SJP could sneak out to dance practice with Pocket Rebel, and had the brilliant idea of inviting a bunch of punks and outcasts to evil, rich girl's debutante party. I haven't like Helen Hunt as much in any other roles she's ever played. Lynn Stone is the best, and honestly if the movie was about her and her exploits, the movie would have been much more entertaining, though I do love the movie so.
Seriously, though, this movie was so low budget that they did not even use Cyndi Lauper's "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun" for the soundtrack, instead it's a terrible cover with shouting "hey, hey!" and clapping. The plotline is so incredibly cliched with good girl discovers herself through dance and brings around her strict parents, while falling in love with a not-very-threatening rebel. Then this team of opposites wins the dance competition with their tumbling passes and backflips (that's where Neil from So You Think You Can Dance got his solo strategy!) and find love. However, I must say that SJP's character here in this movie is much, much, MUCH more tolerable than Carrie from Sex and the City.
One Tree Hill is influencing my music choices
Like many of my favorites songs during the summer months, I always enjoy the exit song from So You Think You Can Dance. This past season it was, "It's Only Life" by Kate Vogele. This song also was frequently used in numerous movie trailers (and I also enjoy the pop music used in movie trailers as well - what can I say? I'm plebian). Anyway, so I finally bought her CD. Then I learned that she played a character on One Tree Hill. It was a small point of pride for me that I never watched OTH (hey let me cling to small claims to having decent taste in very few situations), yet here I am indirectly supporting one of their stars. Sigh...
Tis the Season...
One of my favorite things about December is the great number of cheesy Christmas movies. If the movie is a Christmas Carol remake/modernization/retelling, the main character discovers the importance of family/small towns, the main character finds true love with the small town boy she loved many years ago, or the son or daughter of Santa Claus discovers the true meaning of Christmas, then I will be sitting in front of the TV on my couch with my feet on the coffee table, with a cup of hot chocolate.
Speaking of Cheesy Movies....
Many people watch Lifetime Women In Peril movies as guilty pleasures. But I take those movies way too seriously and cannot deal. However, I do love their romantic comedies. I cheered on Tara from BTVS when she decided to do the 7 things on her list (that she wrote when she was 12) before she turned 30, and of course this led to self-discovery, true love, a fulfilling job, and a wedding. I quite enjoyed Janeane Garafolo's road trip with her mom's dog which led her to figure out all her commitment issues. Of course, by watching these movies I keep Canadian movie production companies in business, and since I grew up in Whatcom County which is right on the border with Canada, I'm really indirecing supporting the Whatcom County economy. Plus, Degrassi guest stars always seem to be in them, so it always exciting to see pervy Mr. Oleander as a romantic lead who loves Tara just the way she is, or Tracker, Sean's responsible, yet troubled brother, as Janeane's one true love. (Yes, I realize I need to let Degrassi go already, but I did love that show once!)
Until next time...
Good Thing I'm Not a Celebrity:
Otherwise my picture would be posted on Go Fug Yourself....
After lamenting the rise of the leggings since 2006, I finally succumbed and bought two pairs (brown and black, depending on what I want my outfit's neutral to be). I'm so ashamed!
Back when I was in elementary school I lived in leggings. I had a fun lace trimmed pair in second grade. In third grade I was all about the paisley and floral prints. In the fifth grade I discovered the wonderful plaid. Finally in sixth grade, I discovered the wonders of solids. In fact I was sad when the middle school dress code stated no spandex, and my mom told me, I would not be wearing leggings. Thanks Mom for saving me from middle school fashion humiliation. (Instead I started wearing overalls, and I had the hottest red Mickey Mouse sweatshirt - I was the envy of all of Vista Middle School). However after sixth grade, I realized that leggings were such a bad idea.
When leggings returned to the scene, I was appalled. I did not want to relive my horrible fashion moments. However then I found three very cute sweater dresses and one cute sundress, with very flattering necklines, but they were a wee bit short. Hence the leggings. However, I will only wear them with said dresses, and not with tunic tops, oversized t-shirts, or even regular sized t-shirts like a BU undergrad, and brown and black will be the only two colors I ever own. There will be no paisley, plaid, lace trim or flowers. I mean it! Nope!
Hopefully Heather and Jessica will forgive me!
Helen Hunt's Best Movie Role Ever:
I wish I could be Lynn Stone...
When I was at Target about two weeks ago, I found the dance epic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on sale for $5. This 80's movie starred Sarah Jessica Parker, as a Catholic school girl who loves to dance and just wants to star on Dance TV; Lee Montgomery, as her 5'5" "rebel" dance partner in the dance contest (though he is slightly more threatening that Adrien Zmed); Shannen Doherty, as his little sister who tries to be more grown up by dressing "punk," and Jonathan Silverman, as "the rebel's" dorky best friend with a budding career in selling knock-off goods. But the best character was Helen Hunt as Lynn Stone, who created awesome fashion creations out of her Catholic School uniform, sang Calypso music in choir so SJP could sneak out to dance practice with Pocket Rebel, and had the brilliant idea of inviting a bunch of punks and outcasts to evil, rich girl's debutante party. I haven't like Helen Hunt as much in any other roles she's ever played. Lynn Stone is the best, and honestly if the movie was about her and her exploits, the movie would have been much more entertaining, though I do love the movie so.
Seriously, though, this movie was so low budget that they did not even use Cyndi Lauper's "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun" for the soundtrack, instead it's a terrible cover with shouting "hey, hey!" and clapping. The plotline is so incredibly cliched with good girl discovers herself through dance and brings around her strict parents, while falling in love with a not-very-threatening rebel. Then this team of opposites wins the dance competition with their tumbling passes and backflips (that's where Neil from So You Think You Can Dance got his solo strategy!) and find love. However, I must say that SJP's character here in this movie is much, much, MUCH more tolerable than Carrie from Sex and the City.
One Tree Hill is influencing my music choices
Like many of my favorites songs during the summer months, I always enjoy the exit song from So You Think You Can Dance. This past season it was, "It's Only Life" by Kate Vogele. This song also was frequently used in numerous movie trailers (and I also enjoy the pop music used in movie trailers as well - what can I say? I'm plebian). Anyway, so I finally bought her CD. Then I learned that she played a character on One Tree Hill. It was a small point of pride for me that I never watched OTH (hey let me cling to small claims to having decent taste in very few situations), yet here I am indirectly supporting one of their stars. Sigh...
Tis the Season...
One of my favorite things about December is the great number of cheesy Christmas movies. If the movie is a Christmas Carol remake/modernization/retelling, the main character discovers the importance of family/small towns, the main character finds true love with the small town boy she loved many years ago, or the son or daughter of Santa Claus discovers the true meaning of Christmas, then I will be sitting in front of the TV on my couch with my feet on the coffee table, with a cup of hot chocolate.
Speaking of Cheesy Movies....
Many people watch Lifetime Women In Peril movies as guilty pleasures. But I take those movies way too seriously and cannot deal. However, I do love their romantic comedies. I cheered on Tara from BTVS when she decided to do the 7 things on her list (that she wrote when she was 12) before she turned 30, and of course this led to self-discovery, true love, a fulfilling job, and a wedding. I quite enjoyed Janeane Garafolo's road trip with her mom's dog which led her to figure out all her commitment issues. Of course, by watching these movies I keep Canadian movie production companies in business, and since I grew up in Whatcom County which is right on the border with Canada, I'm really indirecing supporting the Whatcom County economy. Plus, Degrassi guest stars always seem to be in them, so it always exciting to see pervy Mr. Oleander as a romantic lead who loves Tara just the way she is, or Tracker, Sean's responsible, yet troubled brother, as Janeane's one true love. (Yes, I realize I need to let Degrassi go already, but I did love that show once!)
Until next time...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Blog Personality Test
My friend Patti, with whom I spent my middle school and high school years debating about many social issues of the day - including a rolicking debate about school vouchers at KeeleyMarie's 17th's birthday party (however we both hate novels about tedious suburban angst), has linked to the Typealyzer on her blog. Supposedly, this program reads your blog and tells you what Myers-Briggs Personality Type you are. Since, I'm such a woman of mystery, and all you dear readers have NO IDEA what I'm like, I sure you'll find the results fascinating.
They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.
One would think that with all my whining about college hippies and Barbara Kingsolver novels, the computer would have found me to be more judging rather than perceiving, and I don't think I'm particularly quiet. Also who knew that overuse of the word totally, blatant reference to the reading audience, and comma splices would be signals for gentility and compassion?
ISFP - The Artists
The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.
One would think that with all my whining about college hippies and Barbara Kingsolver novels, the computer would have found me to be more judging rather than perceiving, and I don't think I'm particularly quiet. Also who knew that overuse of the word totally, blatant reference to the reading audience, and comma splices would be signals for gentility and compassion?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Maybe not so apathetic after all...
I may have been apathetic all election season, but when I watched the election coverage on Tuesday and found out that Obama won Ohio, I did herky jumps in my living room that totally would have put me on the FHS cheerleading squad back in high school. And I cheered obnoxiously. My poor downstairs neighbors.
However, boo California, boo! Unfortunately, I think many of my family members in California (the ones that called me a Communist when they found I was a Democrat and the ones that think I'm a heathen for swearing during the annual Thanksgiving Poker Game - I really should never play poker against my relatives - they're ruthless) may have contributed to the success of Proposition 8. And since I'm no longer in California, I can't lecture them about it during Thanksgiving at Grandma's.
However, boo California, boo! Unfortunately, I think many of my family members in California (the ones that called me a Communist when they found I was a Democrat and the ones that think I'm a heathen for swearing during the annual Thanksgiving Poker Game - I really should never play poker against my relatives - they're ruthless) may have contributed to the success of Proposition 8. And since I'm no longer in California, I can't lecture them about it during Thanksgiving at Grandma's.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Gauche and Unsophisticated List: More Bad TV!
After the three week hiatus, 90210 is now losing its luster. When will the showrunners realize that Annie, Ethan, and Naomi are not that interesting, and stop writing episodes that focus on their tedious love triangle? Argh...even bad TV should at least focus on the more interesting characters!
That said...I am addicted to two more reality TV shows. These shows appeal to my love of "try-out" competition shows.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team: This show really should offend everything I stand for. "Young ladies" try out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad where they have the honor of being paid $50 per game and wearing heinous puffy sleeved blouses. The director Kelli McGonigall Finglass pokes at the auditionee's non-existent fat and very seriously says that if they don't look right in the uniform they will be cut. The fitness director lectures the girls that their body fat percentage must be between 11-15%, which is about the equivelent BF % of marathon runners. These poor women have to do ridiculous fitness challenges, get make overs with big Texas hair, get humiliated during "etiquette training," get publicly lectured by the sanctimonious Kelli and choreographer Judy, and go through all this agony while smiling, except when they are hysterically crying when they get cut. Yet, I have watched every season, and I am even happy for the poor girls when they finally do make the squad.
Scream Queens: In this VH-1 show, 10 struggling actresses are all vying for a "break out role" in Saw 6. So far they have had to seductively eat fruit, get attacked by a snake while in the bath-tub, get chased by a doll, and pose for ridiculously titled movie posters. Of course along with the ridiculous challenges that are supposed to show that they are prepared to be leading ladies, there is the requiste sniping, crying, and bitchy confessionals. Of course I have my favorites! I am rooting for either Lindsay, the former child star (she was Caitlin on "Caitlin's Way" and I loved that show), Tanedra, who has had no formal training, or Sarah, the talented yet "ugly" one. Of course my favorites never win. I am still bitter that stealth bitch Bailey beat awesome Autumn on Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods, so now I am incredibly happy that the show did nothing for the musical's sagging ticket sales and it wound up closing. But I sincerely hope that Lindsay, Tanedra, and Sarah will at least get some exposure from this show and be cast as characters with actual names in either movies or TV .
Why do I get so invested in stupid TV? Why?
That said...I am addicted to two more reality TV shows. These shows appeal to my love of "try-out" competition shows.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team: This show really should offend everything I stand for. "Young ladies" try out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad where they have the honor of being paid $50 per game and wearing heinous puffy sleeved blouses. The director Kelli McGonigall Finglass pokes at the auditionee's non-existent fat and very seriously says that if they don't look right in the uniform they will be cut. The fitness director lectures the girls that their body fat percentage must be between 11-15%, which is about the equivelent BF % of marathon runners. These poor women have to do ridiculous fitness challenges, get make overs with big Texas hair, get humiliated during "etiquette training," get publicly lectured by the sanctimonious Kelli and choreographer Judy, and go through all this agony while smiling, except when they are hysterically crying when they get cut. Yet, I have watched every season, and I am even happy for the poor girls when they finally do make the squad.
Scream Queens: In this VH-1 show, 10 struggling actresses are all vying for a "break out role" in Saw 6. So far they have had to seductively eat fruit, get attacked by a snake while in the bath-tub, get chased by a doll, and pose for ridiculously titled movie posters. Of course along with the ridiculous challenges that are supposed to show that they are prepared to be leading ladies, there is the requiste sniping, crying, and bitchy confessionals. Of course I have my favorites! I am rooting for either Lindsay, the former child star (she was Caitlin on "Caitlin's Way" and I loved that show), Tanedra, who has had no formal training, or Sarah, the talented yet "ugly" one. Of course my favorites never win. I am still bitter that stealth bitch Bailey beat awesome Autumn on Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods, so now I am incredibly happy that the show did nothing for the musical's sagging ticket sales and it wound up closing. But I sincerely hope that Lindsay, Tanedra, and Sarah will at least get some exposure from this show and be cast as characters with actual names in either movies or TV .
Why do I get so invested in stupid TV? Why?
Bad Liberal List: Election 2008! Where I was apathetic, but judgmental.
So this election season, both during the primaries and the general election, I felt nothing but apathy. Which is odd. And my inner teenager would be very, very ashamed of me right now.
Before I could legally vote, I loved politics and was fascinated by the presidents. Sis RoyalTurkey and I made up a game, called the President's Initial Game when we were about seven and eight respectively. She would turn to the Presidents section of our 1984 Funk and Wagnell's Encyclopedia and then give me a president's inititals and then I would guess who that president was! It was very exciting I tell you. During the 1992 Presidential election, I loved the Presidents unit in the fourth grade, and I learned many, many facts and myths about them. I was super excited about the collected biographies of Presidents and First Ladies that I received in the fifth grade for my eleventh birthday. I lectured my elementary school classmates about many political issues that I had very little knowledge about. I was heartbroken in 1996 when the Republicans took back Congress (ugh!), and I ranted and raved for days about Rick White beating Maria Cantwell for her House of Representatives seat (even though she was not in my district!). My senior year of high school, I so wanted to vote, even though my birthday was on Inauguration Day and therefore I would not be old enough to vote in the 2000 election. I threatened to move to France if Dubya got elected. My mother told me to calm down and stop exaggerating, and my AP Government teacher Ms. Kubic suggested that Finland might be a better option since they have an excellent socialized medicine program.
Then I went to college, and the obsession continued. I went to CMC because the school was proud of its Government program. I loved my U.S. President Class, not only because I learned many interesting things about Presidential history and political strategy, but also because now I am able to list all of the presidents in order (except I can never remember the 11th president). In that class, after learning about the Reagan backlash in 1986, I wished I had stronger political memories of 1986 so I could remember the Borking and general Democratic Congressional Dominance. (All I actually remember about 1986 was that I played with Barbies, started preschool, and bobbed for apples and unsuccessfully tried to hit a pinata at one of my many cousins' birthday parties back when I lived in California.) I stayed at the Ath for four hours with a bunch of my college classmates as we watched the 2004 election returns come in, and then I paced around my college apartment ranting and raving about those returns. All-in-all, I was a your garden variety political dork, surrounded by many others at good ole CMC. In fact I was one of the less politically active - since I was not an active member of the Claremont Democrats, I did not phone bank, and I did not prescinct walk. Maybe that was a sign of thing to come.
Here's a list of my shameful behavior and thoughts this election season:
I did not vote in the Democratic Primary. For some reason after I moved to Boston, I never got around to registering to vote in my district. Shameful, lazy, a disgrace to CMC grads everywhere, I know! Further, I did not have a strong opinion one way or the other about Obama or Clinton. They both had similar voting records and experience in the Senate. Also, for all of the hoopla about Obama being against the war in Iraq, once he got to the Senate he certainly voted for many of Bush's reccommended National Security bills including the renewal of the Patriot Act, just like Clinton! So really, we had two rather moderate democrats who had more charisma than past Democratic primary candidates. Further, the complaints about Clinton's "electibility" rubbed me the wrong way. The gist of the argument seemed to be that many people thought Clinton was a bitch and that was the reason they did not vote for her, and nobody would be saying that if a man had Clinton's personality. Also, I had no problem with Clinton fighting the primary as long as she did. The vote was pretty damn close, and I would have fought too. But that said, I was not really amazed by Clinton or Obama, and I could not decide.
I did not watch political coverage during the primary. This was supposedly one of the most heated primaries of all time, and I did not particularly care. What will I tell my grandchildren?
I did not watch the political conventions. In the battle between watching self-congratulatory fanfare of both parties and bad summer television, bad summer television won.
I did not watch one political debate. Then again, I always hated watching political debates, even back when I was a budding political wonk in elementary and middle school. The debates always seemed to be repetition of the same points, and then whining about small things, such as the hoopla over Bill Clinton not calling Bush 1, Mr. President, during the 1992 debates, during the 1996 debates. Also, by the time the primary season was over, I already knew I was going to be voting for Obama, so what was the point of watching? Especially since Project Runway was airing at the same time.
Both parties pandered to the public with their VP choices. And pandering has been a political strategy for centuries, so I did not understand the outcry.
When Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running-mate, many people in the media and bloggers ranted about how the Republicans were pandering to the moderate women who were upset that Clinton was not picked as Obama's running mate. First of all, of course they were pandering to people, politicians do that all the time. However, it was not a very effective pander, since Sarah Palin ran counter to all of John McCain's campaign slogans of being an experienced maverick. Since McCain is the oldest or one of the older presidential candidates of all time, I thought it might be a good idea to have a more moderate running mate, since many are afraid he'll die and might worry about a more conservative VP becoming President, and there is no major conservative third party threat. But he did not do that. He actually had a shot of getting the moderate vote before naming his running mate, but he certainly shot that all to hell. And managed to aliente some of the elites in his own party. Good going!
However Democrats pandered too! Their pick of Joe Biden basically reassured their more traditional base and some moderates, that not to worry, the Democrats have an old white man on their Presidential team too! I also thought that it definitely proved that Obama was going to pick Edwards before he got caught with pants down. Therefore, he had to go with the second best old white man who suffers from both asshole tone (more traditionally known as having a condescending, defensive tone of voice or sounding like a prick) and foot-in-mouth disease.
But, although I was apathetic, yet judgmental, all election season. I finally registered to vote here in good ole Central Illinois, and I will be voting for Obama at the B-N YMCA on Tuesday. Happy voting everyone! Avoid hanging and dimpled chads! Goodness, I was so apathetic this election season, I'm even using dated voting jokes. Sigh....
P.S. Since I'm getting political anyway: If you are registered to vote in California please vote "No" on Proposition 8 on Tuesday. There are good conservative and liberal arguments against it, so there's even a rationale for everyone! Everyone should have a right to get married to the person they choose and should have those benefits of being a married couple in the eyes of the law.
Before I could legally vote, I loved politics and was fascinated by the presidents. Sis RoyalTurkey and I made up a game, called the President's Initial Game when we were about seven and eight respectively. She would turn to the Presidents section of our 1984 Funk and Wagnell's Encyclopedia and then give me a president's inititals and then I would guess who that president was! It was very exciting I tell you. During the 1992 Presidential election, I loved the Presidents unit in the fourth grade, and I learned many, many facts and myths about them. I was super excited about the collected biographies of Presidents and First Ladies that I received in the fifth grade for my eleventh birthday. I lectured my elementary school classmates about many political issues that I had very little knowledge about. I was heartbroken in 1996 when the Republicans took back Congress (ugh!), and I ranted and raved for days about Rick White beating Maria Cantwell for her House of Representatives seat (even though she was not in my district!). My senior year of high school, I so wanted to vote, even though my birthday was on Inauguration Day and therefore I would not be old enough to vote in the 2000 election. I threatened to move to France if Dubya got elected. My mother told me to calm down and stop exaggerating, and my AP Government teacher Ms. Kubic suggested that Finland might be a better option since they have an excellent socialized medicine program.
Then I went to college, and the obsession continued. I went to CMC because the school was proud of its Government program. I loved my U.S. President Class, not only because I learned many interesting things about Presidential history and political strategy, but also because now I am able to list all of the presidents in order (except I can never remember the 11th president). In that class, after learning about the Reagan backlash in 1986, I wished I had stronger political memories of 1986 so I could remember the Borking and general Democratic Congressional Dominance. (All I actually remember about 1986 was that I played with Barbies, started preschool, and bobbed for apples and unsuccessfully tried to hit a pinata at one of my many cousins' birthday parties back when I lived in California.) I stayed at the Ath for four hours with a bunch of my college classmates as we watched the 2004 election returns come in, and then I paced around my college apartment ranting and raving about those returns. All-in-all, I was a your garden variety political dork, surrounded by many others at good ole CMC. In fact I was one of the less politically active - since I was not an active member of the Claremont Democrats, I did not phone bank, and I did not prescinct walk. Maybe that was a sign of thing to come.
Here's a list of my shameful behavior and thoughts this election season:
I did not vote in the Democratic Primary. For some reason after I moved to Boston, I never got around to registering to vote in my district. Shameful, lazy, a disgrace to CMC grads everywhere, I know! Further, I did not have a strong opinion one way or the other about Obama or Clinton. They both had similar voting records and experience in the Senate. Also, for all of the hoopla about Obama being against the war in Iraq, once he got to the Senate he certainly voted for many of Bush's reccommended National Security bills including the renewal of the Patriot Act, just like Clinton! So really, we had two rather moderate democrats who had more charisma than past Democratic primary candidates. Further, the complaints about Clinton's "electibility" rubbed me the wrong way. The gist of the argument seemed to be that many people thought Clinton was a bitch and that was the reason they did not vote for her, and nobody would be saying that if a man had Clinton's personality. Also, I had no problem with Clinton fighting the primary as long as she did. The vote was pretty damn close, and I would have fought too. But that said, I was not really amazed by Clinton or Obama, and I could not decide.
I did not watch political coverage during the primary. This was supposedly one of the most heated primaries of all time, and I did not particularly care. What will I tell my grandchildren?
I did not watch the political conventions. In the battle between watching self-congratulatory fanfare of both parties and bad summer television, bad summer television won.
I did not watch one political debate. Then again, I always hated watching political debates, even back when I was a budding political wonk in elementary and middle school. The debates always seemed to be repetition of the same points, and then whining about small things, such as the hoopla over Bill Clinton not calling Bush 1, Mr. President, during the 1992 debates, during the 1996 debates. Also, by the time the primary season was over, I already knew I was going to be voting for Obama, so what was the point of watching? Especially since Project Runway was airing at the same time.
Both parties pandered to the public with their VP choices. And pandering has been a political strategy for centuries, so I did not understand the outcry.
When Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running-mate, many people in the media and bloggers ranted about how the Republicans were pandering to the moderate women who were upset that Clinton was not picked as Obama's running mate. First of all, of course they were pandering to people, politicians do that all the time. However, it was not a very effective pander, since Sarah Palin ran counter to all of John McCain's campaign slogans of being an experienced maverick. Since McCain is the oldest or one of the older presidential candidates of all time, I thought it might be a good idea to have a more moderate running mate, since many are afraid he'll die and might worry about a more conservative VP becoming President, and there is no major conservative third party threat. But he did not do that. He actually had a shot of getting the moderate vote before naming his running mate, but he certainly shot that all to hell. And managed to aliente some of the elites in his own party. Good going!
However Democrats pandered too! Their pick of Joe Biden basically reassured their more traditional base and some moderates, that not to worry, the Democrats have an old white man on their Presidential team too! I also thought that it definitely proved that Obama was going to pick Edwards before he got caught with pants down. Therefore, he had to go with the second best old white man who suffers from both asshole tone (more traditionally known as having a condescending, defensive tone of voice or sounding like a prick) and foot-in-mouth disease.
But, although I was apathetic, yet judgmental, all election season. I finally registered to vote here in good ole Central Illinois, and I will be voting for Obama at the B-N YMCA on Tuesday. Happy voting everyone! Avoid hanging and dimpled chads! Goodness, I was so apathetic this election season, I'm even using dated voting jokes. Sigh....
P.S. Since I'm getting political anyway: If you are registered to vote in California please vote "No" on Proposition 8 on Tuesday. There are good conservative and liberal arguments against it, so there's even a rationale for everyone! Everyone should have a right to get married to the person they choose and should have those benefits of being a married couple in the eyes of the law.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Gauche and Unsophisticated List: Redemption and New Lows
So I disappeared again, and I really have no excuse, since I spent the last month or so lounging around and having my mom do my laundry. However, now I am an officially an adult and an actual lawyer (weird!) with my own one-bedroom apartment in the midwest and an actual job with a contract that is longer than the summer. Since I have only worked two days at the grown up job, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this adulthood stuff yet.
Enough about my real life though, time for more confessions about my tragically bad taste.
First some good news!
After the horrible Mr. Boston bullying debacle I did not watch another episode of "I Love Money." Okay, so I watched about 15 minutes of the next episode. However, I found that after the bar exam that these contestants were awful, horrible, no good little twerps, and I could not root for any of them. Plus, a show watching them do nothing but form alliances and hissy fits, is dull. Yay, I have some standards! They may be low, but they are still there!
Now, the bad....
Since I had quit watching Degrassi: The Next Generation and Gossip Girl I had not been watching any cheesy teen dramas or teen dramas that rip off plot lines from 1970s storylines of Soap Operas. Then came the new, hip 90210 (because putting the city name in front of the zip code is so 1990s).
When I was in the fourth and fifth grade, I loved Beverly Hills 90210. My mom refused to let me watch the show until halfway through the fourth grade, but then I was hooked. I was glued in front of my tv set during the "Donna Martin Graduates" rally in season three. I was honestly concerned that Donna Martin would not be able to graduate because of her drunken shenanigans at prom, and I thought the school board was being totally unfair!
However, my favorite character on that show was Brenda. I thought she and Dylan were the best couple ever. When my friend LV and I would discuss 90210 in Mrs. Scheck's fourth grade class (right before Mrs. Scheck sent me to the quiet corner for being too chatty), he would always rant about what a bitch Kelly Taylor was for stealing Dylan away from Brenda and that if Brenda was able to go to Dylan's party, Dylan would have chosen her. After gently admonishing LV about swearing in class, I would agree with his general sentiment. (Somehow though, I was still shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, when LV came out senior year of high school. Sadly, I did not hone my oversensitive gaydar until college.) And in the season 4 finale when Brenda and Dylan kissed before she went to London, I was giddy. Of course then Brenda never came back and the writers decided that Kelly and Dylan were soulmates and the show got lame. So halfway through season 5, I gave it up. I think it was the first guilty pleasure show that I quit watching. Valerie would never live up to Brenda!
When I first heard about this spin off, I did not care one bit. Kelly Taylor as the guidance counselor? Lame! What was she going to do? Teach students how to steal their best friends boyfriends while being condescending and sanctimonious? However, then the showrunners managed to get Shannen Doherty, the awesome Brenda!, to return and then I was in.
I have watched every single poorly written episode. Objectively this show is not good. The interesting storylines move too fast (i.e. Silver, Kelly Taylor's much cooler sister, dealing with her mother's, Jackie Taylor - fashion show cokehead!, alcoholism). The really tedious, annoying storylines drag (i.e. Naomi, supposedly the bitch, tries to save her parents marriage and scrunches her face to show she has layers!). The lead female character, Annie Wilson, is such a "Mary Sue" (seriously students were applauding her in the hallway) and really needs some flaws and for other characters to call her on her crap already.
Somehow though I am invested already. I love Dixon and Silver! They are the new Brenda and Dylan. They are so flirty, and cute, and Dixon punched out the sleazy, inappropriate agent that was hitting on Silver, and Silver called out Dixon for presuming that making out would lead to sex. Hopefully the writers don't screw this up.
Also Brenda is back and was so-o past the high school drama, even when I thought she totally should have called Kelly on her crap in the last episode. It was glorious when she told boy toy teacher that he dodged a huge bullet by not having a relationship with Kelly, and then flounced off with him. Glorious!
I actually even like most of the new characters on this show, even Annie has her moments. If the writers would have Ethan the cardboard, yet sensitive, jock stop mooning over Annie and their summer relationship from two years ago, and give him storylines about dealing with his autistic brother and school and sports and balancing it all, then he would even be interesting. However, there is no hope for Naomi, and she should just be sent to boarding school.
Despite this, I faithfully DVR the show every Tuesday, and then watch it after Greek, so I can fast forward through all the commercials and Naomi's scenes.
At least I have a new teen show to watch, but knowing my track record with teen shows, my relationship with 90210 will probably only last about two seasons. Of course by then I will have fallen in love with another cheesy show that I will blog about.
Enough about my real life though, time for more confessions about my tragically bad taste.
First some good news!
After the horrible Mr. Boston bullying debacle I did not watch another episode of "I Love Money." Okay, so I watched about 15 minutes of the next episode. However, I found that after the bar exam that these contestants were awful, horrible, no good little twerps, and I could not root for any of them. Plus, a show watching them do nothing but form alliances and hissy fits, is dull. Yay, I have some standards! They may be low, but they are still there!
Now, the bad....
Since I had quit watching Degrassi: The Next Generation and Gossip Girl I had not been watching any cheesy teen dramas or teen dramas that rip off plot lines from 1970s storylines of Soap Operas. Then came the new, hip 90210 (because putting the city name in front of the zip code is so 1990s).
When I was in the fourth and fifth grade, I loved Beverly Hills 90210. My mom refused to let me watch the show until halfway through the fourth grade, but then I was hooked. I was glued in front of my tv set during the "Donna Martin Graduates" rally in season three. I was honestly concerned that Donna Martin would not be able to graduate because of her drunken shenanigans at prom, and I thought the school board was being totally unfair!
However, my favorite character on that show was Brenda. I thought she and Dylan were the best couple ever. When my friend LV and I would discuss 90210 in Mrs. Scheck's fourth grade class (right before Mrs. Scheck sent me to the quiet corner for being too chatty), he would always rant about what a bitch Kelly Taylor was for stealing Dylan away from Brenda and that if Brenda was able to go to Dylan's party, Dylan would have chosen her. After gently admonishing LV about swearing in class, I would agree with his general sentiment. (Somehow though, I was still shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, when LV came out senior year of high school. Sadly, I did not hone my oversensitive gaydar until college.) And in the season 4 finale when Brenda and Dylan kissed before she went to London, I was giddy. Of course then Brenda never came back and the writers decided that Kelly and Dylan were soulmates and the show got lame. So halfway through season 5, I gave it up. I think it was the first guilty pleasure show that I quit watching. Valerie would never live up to Brenda!
When I first heard about this spin off, I did not care one bit. Kelly Taylor as the guidance counselor? Lame! What was she going to do? Teach students how to steal their best friends boyfriends while being condescending and sanctimonious? However, then the showrunners managed to get Shannen Doherty, the awesome Brenda!, to return and then I was in.
I have watched every single poorly written episode. Objectively this show is not good. The interesting storylines move too fast (i.e. Silver, Kelly Taylor's much cooler sister, dealing with her mother's, Jackie Taylor - fashion show cokehead!, alcoholism). The really tedious, annoying storylines drag (i.e. Naomi, supposedly the bitch, tries to save her parents marriage and scrunches her face to show she has layers!). The lead female character, Annie Wilson, is such a "Mary Sue" (seriously students were applauding her in the hallway) and really needs some flaws and for other characters to call her on her crap already.
Somehow though I am invested already. I love Dixon and Silver! They are the new Brenda and Dylan. They are so flirty, and cute, and Dixon punched out the sleazy, inappropriate agent that was hitting on Silver, and Silver called out Dixon for presuming that making out would lead to sex. Hopefully the writers don't screw this up.
Also Brenda is back and was so-o past the high school drama, even when I thought she totally should have called Kelly on her crap in the last episode. It was glorious when she told boy toy teacher that he dodged a huge bullet by not having a relationship with Kelly, and then flounced off with him. Glorious!
I actually even like most of the new characters on this show, even Annie has her moments. If the writers would have Ethan the cardboard, yet sensitive, jock stop mooning over Annie and their summer relationship from two years ago, and give him storylines about dealing with his autistic brother and school and sports and balancing it all, then he would even be interesting. However, there is no hope for Naomi, and she should just be sent to boarding school.
Despite this, I faithfully DVR the show every Tuesday, and then watch it after Greek, so I can fast forward through all the commercials and Naomi's scenes.
At least I have a new teen show to watch, but knowing my track record with teen shows, my relationship with 90210 will probably only last about two seasons. Of course by then I will have fallen in love with another cheesy show that I will blog about.
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