Every year, my mom would take my cousin and I to the mall to see Santa and Archie. It was usually a pretty big day. Knowing it was selfish for us to sit there and ask Santa for a lot of things, we would discuss what was really important. Santa was a busy guy, after all. It was important for us to hit him with the thing we wanted most. We could just tell our moms what other things we wanted later. The benefit of having Archie (a 20 foot talking snowman for those who don't live in Akron) around the mall was that we could ask Santa for one thing, and Archie for another. We could ask for something really outlandish (like a big screen TV) and just ask for the real things later in a letter. Sometimes, if we wanted something really bad, we would ask both. I usually asked for things like American Girl Dolls and Barbies. Santa was usually really awesome to me. I usually got a lot of overalls and Beanie Babies. However, after our strategic Santa asking, there were three things he never brought.
3 Comments
Well folks, it is Tuesday again and you know what that means? A new episode of GLEE! It all began in the Spring of 2009, we were introduced to a high school glee club made up of misfits AND popular kids. Each character had some quirk that made them likable even when they were annoying the crap out of you (cough*Rachel*cough). If they didn't seem like a good person from the beginning, they usually won you over with their singing or a really moving storyline (i.e. Santana's bitchary is usually outweighed by her adorable love for Brittany and her fantastic singing voice). So many 90s kids sit down every Tuesday (or Wednesday morning on their computer) to watch the new episode of Glee. They sing along to the soundtracks in the car and it has sparked a whole new fad of acapella groups and cover songs on Youtube. Since most of us are past high school age, it makes me wonder, what is it that draws us into a show like Glee? It's been a Boy Meets World filled week for me, watching episode after episode while I do homework and research the rest of my life. Patsy has already touched on some essential boy meets world topics & I have discussed things like "Eric wasn't always an idiot" in a previous blog (if you haven't read it -- do it now). But because I have watched SO much Boy Meets World in a 5 day period, it seemed necessary to discuss it with you now. Boy Meets World is such a big part of my childhood and who I am. It taught me a lot about life, loss, and friendship. Many of the situations weren't realistic and the characters were nothing like anyone I ever met in my life. However, they were all so different yet were friends in spite of these differences. In the final episodes (that I am currently watching and getting all emotional about) we get to see flashbacks about times of great friendship, of overcoming the challenges that life throws our way. Boy Meets World was unique in a way that it had the same characters, same actors, for the entirety of the series (with exception of changes in Topanga's parents and addition of characters from senior year to college). It could use flashbacks because the characters really had gone through all of this stuff together, they didn't have to hire new actors to reassemble storylines discussed but never seen. I (somewhat) recently moved to Western North Carolina to attend graduate school. Moving from the coastal city of West Palm Beach to the mountain town of Dillsboro, NC has been an adjustment. The towns here are very spread out and I have to take a winding highway if I want to get anywhere. The closest city is only 45 minutes away but it pretty much shuts down by 9pm on any given day. I should also mention that this city is home to the closest shopping mall, Target, and chain restaurant that is not fast food. "Welcome to the South" is all anyone says when I complain about these things or the lack of a decent chinese restaurant. Don't get me wrong, I love it out here. It's beautiful and ridiculously peaceful. However, there are days when I wonder, am I stuck in 1998?
Boy Meets World is my favorite show. I take it really personally when someone tells me it wasn't quality television. The night that the final episode aired, I had a ballet recital. I had to tape all of TGIF because we didn't have a VCR with a timer. Backstage at the recital, all I talked about was Boy Meets World, but my friends didn't care as much as I did. Luckily, there were enough people who cared about Boy Meets World that the lives of Corey, Shawn and Topanga will live on in reruns. As a kid, and even as a teenager, I always thought Corey's life was pretty realistic. Now that I am an adult, these inaccuracies are pretty obvious. Do I care? Not even a little bit. But let's analyze them just for fun. The first video is to give you an idea of what Rock-a-Doodle is about. The second is to explain the name "Chanticleer". This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. The parts with the owls scared me. The worst part is when the farm floods and there is mud everywhere but that is a whole different story. I am sharing this with you because I decided that "Chanticleer" is an acceptable substitute exclamation so that you do not use real curse words. Stub your toe? CHANTICLEEER!! Forgot to do your homework? CHANTICLEER! Missed your flight? OOOOHH (%*$&%*$&^ CHANTICLEER! Enjoy. And use responsibly. Gold Diggers was not a super popular movie but it was one of my favorites. In the time of Now & Then and My Girl (1&2), Christina Ricci and Anna Chlumsky were at the top of their games. Christina Ricci, much like Alex Mack, was every tom boy's role model. Like many shows and movies in the 90s, it is set in the early 80s. I appreciated the "outsider" theme of this movie in particular. Beth and Jody become friends after Beth moves into town from L.A. with her mom, an author of children's books. Jody is an outcast kid who all of the other girls dislike. They warn Beth about her every chance they get. Jody has an alcoholic mom and a douche bag step father. They bond over their love for Winnie the Pooh books. The whole premise of the story is that Jody is in search of legendary treasure inside of Bear Mountain. She recruits Beth to help her when she hides out in the mountain from the police, who she thinks will blame her for her step father's death. Beth is skeptical about the danger of going inside the mountain and worries for her friend. She wants to help Jody in her home life but Jody doesn't trust anyone but Beth. Everyone should watch this video & be this girl's friend. |
90s Quote of the Week"I can handle this. "Handle" is my middle name. Actually, "handle" is the middle of my first name."
-Chandler, Friends Archives
February 2016
Categories
All
|