Thursday, January 30, 2014

My Love/Hate Relationship with Full House

It's been weird on the internet, lately. The guys of Full House have reunited, bringing back memories of live studio audience "awwww"s, the Olsen twins, and Uncle Jesse's hair. I'll be honest, as a kid, I hated this show. I also loved this show.

TGIF was a staple, for me. Every Friday night I got Family Matters (hell yeah, Steve), Step By Step, Boy Meets World, and Full House. The shows rotated a bit, at some point Clueless and some other forgettable shows were thrown in there, but for the most part, all these comedies were family and kid-friendly. Sitcoms that anyone could enjoy, especially if you were a middle class white family. As someone who isn't white (and arguably middle class.. I never went to Disney World, but I did go to Europe?), I still loved these shows, and even today I'm not exactly certain why. I had nothing in common with any of the protagonists, besides being female and American. I'm not white (or black) and my environment wasn't this white-washed American place where I could ride my bike to the comic book store and back.

But maybe that's why I loved these shows; the hope that these places existed. I actually resented the Tanner girls. Here were three gorgeous blondes who never worried about being constantly bullied, who had great friends, who, at the worst, would have these insignificant problems that made me angry. Like, remember the time DJ thought she was fat? All I could think was "but you're perfect! I wish I looked like you!", because I was teased as being the fat kid in class and didn't realize that actually, I did look a lot like DJ. Except DJ was an actress and they made her lose weight and by the time she was a teenager, she was thin and hot (like the other Tanners). I wasn't so lucky. All that crushing defeatist "I'm gonna be fat and ugly my whole life" thinking (in addition to my mom's high-carb cooking) made me put on weight in high school, so I just hated the TGIF crew even more. In the 90's, thin was in, and every time I watch Full House reunions I remember how much I hated the Tanner girls and how much I wished I could be the Tanner girls.

Seriously, Michelle got to go horseback riding as a hobby. You know what my hobby was? Letting my mom take me to auditions I probably had no business being at because we weren't rich and I never had formal training. But if I were a Tanner girl, I would have had voice lessons, horses, a wise-cracking uncle, some guy living under my stairs... well, Full House was a fantasy land that I envied. That's what I'm getting at.

Boy Meets World was, however, my favorite show on TGIF so I eagerly await Girl Meets World and pray it's not a shit-show. Disney has a tendency to have nauseating sitcoms. Please don't screw this up for me.

Friday, January 17, 2014

I'm 30!

Well, I tried Kinja......aaaand I didn't like it. It was too weird to use. I did like that people could login to comment using their Facebook profile, but that was pretty much it.

Anyhoo, I turned 30 this Tuesday and I have surprisingly not begun decaying (yet). So far, I feel the same way I felt in my 20's. No creaky bones, no arthritis, no weird pain (other than my constant neck/back pain from car accidents) and besides the dry skin that accompanies showering daily my skin is still the same. What gives? I thought 30 was supposed to be some kind of milestone? Maybe that's 40, now?

Blaze taught me the art of invisible orbs.
Well I'm not complaining. I'm looking forward to being me for another seventy years. Last night I was in the studio to finish vocals on The Lesser Key of Solomon and I was able to hit higher and clearer than ever. My singing and performing has only improved with time, so I'm happy to no longer be in my awkward early 20's while I was still trying to figure out what to do with my hands. I'm also happy that I've figured out where I want to go with music and that my tastes haven't changed; I'm still into cheesy heavy metal. Not that all our metal is cheesy, but man, I'm looking forward to hearing what people think about this new album. There's gonna be some strange moments in there, that's for sure.

I'm also happy to currently work in a place where I don't constantly feel anxiety. It's strange to work somewhere where the rules are constantly changing (and never in your favor) and I like being able to come into a place where my coworkers (and especially boss) are kind, thoughtful, and appreciative of my effort. I didn't think it would take me so long to get to a place where people actually appreciate me. Plus there's a gym!

Oh the gym. I have a love/hate relationship with working out. I love how I feel after, and I hate actually doing it. People give me tips on workouts all the time, but to be honest, I just don't have the time to do anything but the workouts my gym can provide me with. It's small but I'm doing free weights. Maybe this is why I'm not having any bone pain in my (lol) "old age"? Strength training is supposed to be good for women, and I do it every day. Right now I'm working on lifting heavier without breaking my wrists, so lets see how far I can go with that.

Strangely enough, 20-25 seemed kind of uneventful for me. It was 20-25 where things really got a push, from joining A Sound of Thunder to getting married to buying a condo. I've been pretty happy, maybe increasingly happy, especially with where our band is going. So I'm saying goodbye to my 20's with no anger or regret. It was a good 10 years, and I don't think I'm done being arrested in a mini-skirt yet.
Oh officer, please be gentle?