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Bad Stuff that just FEELS so Good
Because I got all wrapped up in him, I didn't take the appropriate time to expound upon how pleased I was to hear "Sweet Caroline" flow from the speakers at the local karaoke bar last Friday night. Not just Neil Diamond, folks, but my very FAVORITE Neil Diamond song of all time (um, right after "Forever in Blue Jeans"). I know it's not cool to love something so mainstream, but me? I just love what I love. And don't tell me that you don't sing along every time you hear it. It's impossible. Based on my ever-so-slightly overly enthusiastic reaction to hearing my crusty boyfriend blaring out of the speakers at me on Friday night, I had some 'splainin' to do. I forget that the people I hang out with now have not hung out with me much over the last 4 years. They (with the exception of Bear who is the only friend who managed to stay in super regular touch with me in spite of our geographical distance) missed the whole metamorphosis of who I was and who I am now - brought on by a particularly ugly break up with the first boy I ever slept with and then nurtured by the friendship of one of the only women I have ever met who is more quirky than I - Jennifer. Because Craig ripped me apart, limb from limb - and then Jennifer helped pick me up and put me back on my feet almost everything about me now as opposed to me 5 years ago...is at least slightly altered. Jennifer & I would get sloppy drunk and listen to Styx. We would spend Saturdays at the Flea Market where she would talk me out of buying a new puppy and I would talk her out of buying the light up Jesus mirror. Jen introduced me to drinking & to pot - and that sounds horrible now because I'm older and wiser, but it was what I needed then. I needed to be crazy. I needed to get drunk on cheap wine every night and have her boyfriend make me french toast. I needed to get high with her and steal all the oatmeal cream pies from everyone else at the party and eat them with her, huddled over like the fugitives we were in the parking lot of my apartment. I needed her to move herself, her brother, her dog, her new boyfriend & Adam (who would become my boyfriend) into my teensy one bedroom apartment where we lived like hippy's for 6 weeks before we could get into the 3 bedroom apartment we were waiting for. I needed her appreciation for completely random things (she had a Christopher Walken shrine. Christopher Walken! And she collected books she never read...) to pull me out of the deepest chasm of loneliness and misery that I have ever known. Because of that, because of her, and because of that time that we knew each other - everything about me is different and I'm not ashamed of the things I used to be. In particular - my love for really really bad things (movies & music in particular), and my dislike for things that are supposed to be deep but are cleverly disguised and are therefore trendy. I remember being out with Jen & her friend Steve one night. We were eating dinner and they were talking about Rushmore, a movie that they both worshipped. When they finally asked me something about it - I shrugged and said I didn't really like it that much. I didn't know what the big deal was. At this Steve slammed his hands on the table and shrieked "What the hell is the matter with you Shelly? You don't like good funny movies?" Yes. Yes, that's exactly it people. I DON'T like good funny movies. Boo to good funny movies! Down with all things good and funny! The truth is though that - no. Actually, I don't like "good" "funny" movies. Not if by "good" and "funny" you mean...well...dumb. I didn't like "Rushmore", I didn't like "Election", I didn't like "Welcome to the Dollhouse". I DID like Joe Dirt (MULLET's dude! How can that not be funny?!), and Wet Hot American Summer (Janeane Garofolo is my first & favorite girlfriend) and I love ALL of the goofy sappy teeny bopper romance movies that have come out ever - starting with Say Anything, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, Can't Buy Me Love & including 10 Things I Hate About You, Bring it On, She's All That, Serendipity (okay, all John Cusack movies EVER), & ending with Two Weeks Notice & Maid in Manhattan. Bad? YES! Do I love them more for it? ABSOLUTELY! Music? Sign me up for some Styx, REO Speedwagon, JOURNEY!, Neil Diamond, The Partridge Family, ABBA, and regardless of how much I disrespect some of her most major life decisions and therefore know that we would never EVER get along in real life and regardless of whether or not she's Jenny from the Bronx I'd be forced to kick her skinny bougie ass all over the place just for fun - I have been known to burn a J. Lo song or two onto my CD's. It's BAD! I LOVE it! Of course, I also like some less mainstream artists - Kristen Hall & Storyhill (formerly known as Chris & Johnny), Guster (my fave FAVE FAVE) and whatnot. I actually take great pleasure out of discovering the music of a newer (or lesser known) artist. I'm actually addicted to new music. And yet, it would not be unusual to find me crusin' down the highway with Lionel Richie blasting from my car speakers. I LOVE that shit man! LOVE it! So I'll get excited when Neil Diamond comes on in a bar. I'll do a little dance and probably bust into song every time the chorus comes around, whether I'm in mid-conversation or not. I might randomly start talking about how much I adore the movie "Grease 2" even though I know it's horrible. It's so bad it's good. And you know that if you gave it a chance you'd love it too, and you're just scared of that kind of love. I'm telling you - the last video store I worked in, I would pick "Gidget" every time it was my turn to pick the movie. Everyone gave me shit about it for a long time until one day I came in for my shift and the BOY who'd been working the shift before me had Gidget in. I rest my case. Bad stuff is good. The end. |
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