(43-274) Back In The Day...

Lately I've been spending a lot of time looking at old high school yearbooks.  Not mine, but those of Arizona high schools that could be potential reunion clients.  I've been to various school district offices and high schools; and I still have several more to visit.  I'm currently looking through yearbooks of the 1982, 1992, and 2002 classes; and it is everything from amusing to provocative.  The layouts range from impossible to impressive.  The comments vary from intelligent to insane and yet they all manage to capture the very best of that high school's experience.

Today I was in the library at a high school in Scottsdale, and all of a sudden I heard "In A Big Country" coming from somewhere, followed by another 80's tune that escapes me right now; and I thought it was really unusual to be hearing music, let alone songs from the 80's.  Nonetheless, being on campus, looking at the yearbooks and hearing 80's music, made me reflect on some of my favorite songs from when I was in high school.  So tonight I'm going to share five of my fave tunes from back in the day. 

I was a big Yaz fan, and  to this day I still enjoy "Upstairs at Eric's.  The song I liked best on this album was and is, "Midnight."   LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

Who didn't like Tears for Fears?  To this day "Shout" still gets a lot of play; but I preferred "Everybody wants to rule the world."

For some reason, I don't think that Go West's "We close our eyes" was actually very popular; but there was something about it that I always liked.

I heard "This little girl is mine" by Gary U.S. Bonds, one Saturday, on American Bandstand and flipped for it.  What can I say, my taste in music is nothing if not eclectic.

There's absolutely no way that I can pay tribute to my fave tunes from back in the day without including a Rick Springfield song.  I was GAGA for Rick before GAGA was born this way, and "I've Done Everything For You," was a song that gave me great listening pleasure.  I hope it has been for you too.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

You Asked For It...

Oh how my cup runneth over. I potentially had 3 different blogs that I could do tonight; which I must say is HIGHLY unusual for me. For topic #1, I was waiting for a piece of information . Yes, sometimes, I actually do gather information before I go typing away. And just in case said information did not arrive in time; I had a back up plan. Then at dinner, idea #3 presented itself; and just as I was ready to go with #2 or 3, I found that piece of information that I was waiting for when I got home; and hence I'm going with my original idea. Never fear, #2 and 3 will not be long to follow; and thus begins our Bumpy Ride.

Previously I have advised in disclaimers that this is not becoming an all scrapbooking blog, or not becoming an all political blog; and tonight I will follow those disclaimers with: This is not becoming an all Guy Collura blog; and yes BL, I have his complete and total permission to use his name; as THAT was the piece of information that I was waiting for.

Now, not to rehash this story OVER and OVER again, but I would like to just give my version of a "Reader's Digest" version of the whole story; just in case by some chance you've forgotten where we left off; OR if you happen to be joining me for the first time (WELCOME!)

In June of 2007, I posted a blog about meeting Maksim Chmerkovskiy from "Dancing With The Stars;" and I wrote about how I was SO nervous to meet him; and I likened it to how I felt about Guy Collura in high school; as I had this "crippling" crush on him etc. etc. Then a few months ago, I received a comment from Guy in regards to this blog; so I became painfully aware that he in fact had read all of my confessions about the crush. In his comment, Guy said that he noticed that I had taken a picture with Maks, but never with him. To which I replied; "I couldn't even say hello to you; let alone get close enough to take a picture." Well, after writing my blog entitled "Forty one candles" and exposing how utterly embarrassed I was that Guy had seen the blog; he again left me a comment or two; OK three, telling me not to be embarrassed; which I must say, was very kind, very gracious and very sweet; however, due to the conditions in which the comments (now deleted) were received; I was suspicious that perhaps it wasn't Guy who wrote the comments after all, but someone else; without as honorable intentions; and this forced me to go from being mortified to being to being courageous; and I found his number and called him. Yes, Yes, I know that if you've been following the blog, you've heard all this before. And you're probably thinking my god, what's #2 and 3. And if we're personally friends, you've heard it before ad nausea um; BUT if you're new to "TBR" let me assure you that reading each of the original posts will be FAR better than the synopsis that I am providing now; and yet, I REALLY do have a point.

When I spoke to Guy, one of the things that we discussed was how the comment section really picked up once he got involved. You see, Guy had made a comment inferring that there were naked pictures of him, floating around the Internet and this aroused the curiosity of many of my readers. The ladies commented that they would like to see pictures of Guy, (not naked; just pictures;) and he agreed to oblige them.

So now it seems that we've come full circle. I went from writing about a crush (and I never in a million years would have expected the crush to read it;) to actually being friends with him. And yah, I think we're friends. We've emailed a few times so that he could send me the pictures that I'm going to share; but hmm, now that I have them, perhaps I won't be hearing from him. I did suggest that he join Facebook, and we're "friends" there; so yah, I think it's safe to say that we're friends and after all these years; that is just mind blowing to me. Trust me when I tell you that if you would have told me back in 1980whatever that in 2009 Guy Collura and I would be emailing each other; I would have said "what the hell is email?" HAHAHA, OK, just kidding, I would not have believed it of course. But hey TRUTH really is stranger than fiction; ESPECIALLY in my life.

Funny, but I'm actually not embarrassed anymore. In a way, I'm actually thankful because after all of these years, I finally got to talk to the guy that I thought was so terrific; (really just based on what he looked like,) and it seems that he also looks good on the inside too.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

Forty One Candles

Although I am not a fan of music on blogs; I am seriously considering adding my new theme song to "TBR" so that when you open it up, you'll hear "Oops I did it again," by Britney Spears - LOL. OK, OK, I'm totally NOT going to do that - but you get the picture. Maybe I should just consider changing that to the name of the blog - either that or I've got to check myself before I wreck myself. So you know this is a big one with an opener like that - right?

A couple of weeks a go I posted a blog about the lesson the dreaded, blogging lurker taught me (don't use people's names.) Well, I guess that I learned this lesson a little too late to save me from one of the most mortifying experiences of my life. Let's just say that if I get the hiccups, I now have a NEW, most embarrassing moment to think of.

Last Thursday night I arrived home and sat down at my computer, and much to my delight I found a comment waiting for my approval. You see ever since the unpleasant comments left a few weeks ago by the BL, I now have to approve the comments before they are published; sorry. Anyway, there was a comment on my blog that was entitled "what's in a name;" which ironically enough is the blog where I disclosed my real name and those of my family members. The comment was left by 85Dutchmen. Well, I graduated High School in 85 and our football team was called the Dutchmen; so I thought "Now this is getting interesting."
The comment said "I read post from July 07...I was mentioned in this post with Maks, and noticed you took a picture with him, but not with me. I guess I was only good from a far." GC

OK, now panic set in. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach because if I had posted the picture of me and Maks (from "Dancing with the Stars",) then this comment had to be left by none other than the guy that I had a crush on throughout high school.
A "Crippling crush," to quote that particular blog. - Oh yes, I put it all out there for all the world to see (never imagining that they would.) No, I didn't hold back a a thing. I described to you, how the crush was so bad that I couldn't even say hello to him when I saw him in the hallway, because I just liked him THAT MUCH. I wrote that I was overwhelmed by my feelings for him; and now,the unthinkable has happened; HE has read the blog!

Oh at first I thought it was Big V playing a joke on me; but she has assured me that she has not; and I won't go into greater detail, but suffice it to say that I am PRETTY sure that it's him and not a prank. Well Michelle (...) K can tell you; I was freakin the _____ out. I was trembling, I was giddy, I was EMBARRASSED. It's as if he read my diary; and oh yah - I handed it right to him!! I mean never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined that he would come across my blog - but HE did. I don't know if he was Googling himself or if someone else Googled him (like god forbid his wife,) but regardless of how; the bottom line is - HE READ IT; and that in a nutshell is the utter craziness that is my life. I haven't said this in a long while - but you know you're going to say it with me; "Who could make this stuff up?" I swear, I feel like Molly Ringwald in "Sixteen Candles" when she found out that her friend's brother paid to see her underwear. Or Andrew McCarthy in "St. Elmo's Fire" when Ally Sheedy found his box with all the pictures of her and realizes that he has been in love with her - OY, My life is a teeneage angst movie and I'm 41. Well, not when it happened anyway, so I guess I should cut myself some slack; but we all know that if I did, I wouldn't be the Queen of BERATING HERSELF; the Queen of BEATING HERSELF UP. Damn I could sell tickets to a boxing match just me against myself, LOL

My friend Jessica has been trying to convince me that I shouldn't feel humiliated but instead proud; because I probably made him feel so good when he read about how amazing I thought he was. I would LOVE to believe that this is true and make some lemonade out of my HUMONGOUS lemon; so perhaps he'll leave another comment and let me know.

In the meantime I'll take pleasure in knowing that this is just another unforgettable tale in the saga that is my life.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING