My Other Secret: Boy Bands

I love listening to music and pride myself on having very eclectic tastes. Ask any of my friends - if you take me out to a sing-along piano bar (such as my favorite: Howl at the Moon), I'm almost as likely to know the lyrics to oldies as I am to classic rock, hip hop, showtunes, pop, and even a smattering of country.

But my secret musical guilty pleasure? "Boy bands."

Why you may ask?

Well, I'm not really sure, but I think that if I go back to the days when my musical tastes were just beginning to develop, it all starts to make sense.

My parents, as I grew up, listened to two types of music - "oldies" (we're talking 1950s/early 60s) and showtunes. This is what I listened to, exclusively, for the first 11 or 12 years of my life. It was what we sang along to in the car or at home. In the 5th or 6th grade, when we had a talent show and my friends sang catchy current songs, I sang a song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

There was, however, one exception to my oldies/showtunes childhood.....

Oh Joey McIntire...

I loved New Kids on the Block. I had the big picture book of the band, a tshirt and even had the (why were these ever popular) oversized Donnie Wahlberg button. I also dreamed about Jordan knight and Joey McIntire and owned the cassette tape with the cover pictured above. I used to know all of the words to all of the songs (ok, maybe I still know most of the lyrics to "Hangin' Tough" and "(You Got It) The Right Stuff" and, my personal favorite "Popsicle").

Eventually my NKOTB obsession faded in to the background and I started to listen to more current music. It was slow goings (at least two of the songs I remember being played at my Bat Mitzvah in 1994 were Beach Boys songs). I purchased the Columbia House "buy 12 cds for a penny" deal and started picking out my own music ( Pearl Jam, En Vogue, Green Day, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Ugly Kid Joe and some showtunes and oldies thrown in for good measure).

But then came the one true "Boy Band Era".

I was the late 1990s and if you were a teenage girl, chances are you loved a boy band. For most, alliances fell with either NSYNC or Backstreet Boys (BSB for short). 

From an outsider's perspective, the boy bands were all the same. Four or five young, (reasonably) good looking, (moderately) talented guys who came together (read: were brought together by that creepy guy in Florida) to bust out some tunes and some sick dance moves.

They were all relatively the same when it boiled down to it. Each guy had a role to play.

The Leader: 

 

The Young (Hot) One:

The Shy Guy

The Older Brother

The Rebel

But their songs were innocent (sounding), the boys were dreamy, and they made you want to scream.

Sure, I think deep down we all knew that they were cheesy. The carefully manicured images, the overly-produced songs, it was all part of the show, but that didn't stop us from loving them any less. I saw NSYNC in concert TWICE. Once I paid for the ticket and sat in the nose bleed seats with my friend Kristina, and the second time I was given a free floor seat by my friends Ben and Robin who had won the tickets (I even skipped out on the second half of a double I was working at a restaurant to go). They were amazing concerts, and I remembered seeing Pink (before she got really big) when she opened for NSYNC at that first concert.

My sophomore year college roommate, Jamie, also shared my love. She was a HUGE fan of O-Town and we would have moments in our dorm that we would bust out singing some of the greatest hits of all of the boy bands.

In fact, my love for boy bands spilled over in to the realm of "fake" boy bands:

• Did anyone else watch/love the MTV movie/tv show "2ge+her"? I was reminded of my love for this "group" recently by Jamie, and immediately went to YouTube to watch some of the videos. They produced such great hits as "You + Me = Us (I Know My Calculus)".
• In grad school I heard about this off-Broadway musical about a fake Christian boy band Altar Boyz. I saw it once in NYC and once on tour, and both times it was amazing.

I can't help it. I have been known to rock out to some NSYNC and BSB when they come on my ipod.

I really just love boy bands. Don't Judge.

You know you had a favorite. Leave your favorite boy band or song by a boy band in the comments!

Like, Ha Ha Funny?

You know what I love?

Funny people. And funny blogs. And funny people who write funny blogs.

It's true, I do enjoy the mom blogs that are less funny and more sentimental, and also the fashion blogs that require few words but a good camera. But nothing moves my morning (or hell, day) along like a good laugh.

Last night my friend Jess Mann and I were sitting in the train station bar (who knew these existed?) drinking some wine while we waited for her train and discussing what blogs we read. Surprisingly, we didn't have any overlapping blogs. Considering that we have the same sense of humor and appreciation for humorous writing, this was definitely something we needed to fix. When we made it homes to our respective residents, we exchanged emails with long lists of those bloggers we thought were worth passing on. (Editor's note: just because your blog may not be listed below, it doesn't mean you were not passed on.)

I sent her the likes of The Bloggess, Jen Lancaster, and Kelly Oxford. She sent back Barefoot Foodie, who may just be one of the funniest women I've ever read. However, what I noticed about the four of these blogs is that all four are women (surprise, surprise) but that they also have similar senses of humor and almost identical voices (esp The Bloggess and Barefoot Foodie). It explained a whole lot about why Jess and I get along.

I have spent the better part of my free time today (I take little breaks every hour to break up the monotony) catching up on Barefoot Foodie, and I am absolutely loving it.


I also enjoy statements taken out of context, like this one that I just send my co-worker Holly:

Me: are you doing better with Jose Saramago now that he died?

or this one:

BfF: the last thing I want for Christmas is a geyser shooting out of my vagina.

I don't know why, but it's the littlest things that make me the happiest.

Woohoo!!! Valentine's Day!!!

Forgive me, but this entry is just a slightly edited version of an editorial I wrote in college for the school paper.

Maybe I'm a big weirdo, but I really like Valentine's Day. Scratch that, I LOVE Valentine's Day. It's definitely my favorite holiday.


I haven't always liked Valentines Day either. Until I started dating my boyfriend, I had spent every Valentine's Day alone. Every February 14th, I would "celebrate" another holiday - Singles Awareness Day (S. A. D.) - by wearing all black or wearing grubby clothes, and then watching horror movies where the couple dies. I'd sit in my room, either with friends or alone, and eat ice cream. I would have my own personal pity party, bemoaning the fact that I was single and cursing at all the couples of the world.

Since college though, I've developed this strange love for V-Day. Seriously! Look at it this way . . .If you're in a relationship, or have a date, you get to spend this day with someone you really care about. It's a day full of potential romance. Public Displays of Affection can occur with out people making gagging noises or telling you to "get a room."

As great as it is to be in a relationship for this holiday, being single on Valentines is a lot of tun too. Who doesn't enjoy the candy? Think about all the chocolate or the little conversation hearts - "fax me," "email me," "page me." Then there is my personal favorite candy that emerges this time of year - SweetTart Hearts.

If you feel like being bitter that you're single on the 14th, go ahead! BE bitter! This is the one day a year where people who aren't bitter can't give you a hard time, or tell you to "get over it."

Here's the recipe for a great Valentines Day: if you want to get valentines, send them to your friends. Go to CVS or Target, and buy Harry Potter or Barbie, and give it to your friends, believe me, they'll appreciate it.
Take V-Day and literally a "pity party" into a real party. Spend time with your boys. Spend time with the girls. Revel in the name of all that is red and pink!

If you feel that Valentines Day isn't complete without flowers, there is a simple solution. GO BUY YOURSELF SOME. There is no rule that says that you can't treat yourself to some roses and be your own valentine.

People always say that Valentines Day is just a waste of time and that it's a holiday created by Hallmark or the flower industry.

I don't know.

All I do know is that on February 14th, if you see me, come wish me a Happy Valentines Day - maybe I'll give you a valentine!

I Love the Internet (Links I Love!)

While I was unemployed for a period of time this summer (almost four months) I found myself with a lot of time on my hands.

Even though I spent time at the gym or hanging out with a friend who was teaching summer school, that left a lot of hours of alone time. I did spent at least two hours a day applying for jobs, but that still left me with an exorbitant amount of "free time." I plowed through a new book almost every day, got obsessed with Mafia Wars on Facebook, discovered Twitter, and then mostly trolled the internet for interesting things to read.

I always started my internet meanderings with CNN.com, and one day I came across this article and literally found myself clicking through each and every site.

My top two from this list are:

This Is Why You're Fat
Awkward Family Photos

I also love (though it's not on that list) Passive Aggressive Notes - because we've all had that roommate....

But one day a friend took a Facebook quiz entitled "Ben and Jerry's Flavor or Pottery Barn Paint Color" and I said to myself "Hmm... that's interesting. I should check out that website."

Well, that took me to the wonderful world known as MentalFloss.com

Billed as a site where "Knowledge Junkies get their fix" this is an entire website (blog, trivia, quizes, etc) dedicated to random tidbits of information. Want to know the background on the State of the Union Address? What about the men behind the alcohol (Jim, Jose, and Jack to name a few), Take a quiz entitled "Ben and Jerry's Flavor or Band I found on Myspace?" or "Doogie Howser's Diary Entry or Random Twitter Update?"

This site is updated several times a day, but be warned, once you get on the site, you will find yourself clicking through to read more and more.

Plus, they have a store with some of the funniest T-Shirts I've seen.

In fact, I've been working on a mailing at work that requires me to HAND FEED envelopes through our printer, but since i have to feed an envelope every twenty seconds or so, I can't really accomplish any other work. What do I do? I go on Mental Floss and read and read while my left hand feeds the printer. That's what I call multi-tasking.

What are some of your favorite time wasting links?

Four (Other) Things

Taking a page from Diana's book, I too shall write a short passage about the four things that are making me geek out major right now.

1. Vintage/Retro Clothing
Much like my counterpart, I love dresses. And skirts. And cute shoes. I have a sick obsession with the website, ModCloth. So sick, in fact, that over the span of 2.5 months this past fall, I spent over $1000 on it. Yes folks, that's how much I geeked out. However, it resulted in me getting gems such as these:



Lovely, aren't they? I won't show anymore now, you'll have to wait until I geek out about the site later.

2. Cambridge Culinary School
I'm not geeking out about the school as much as the Back-to-Basics course that I am taking there. The class is six weeks long, once a week, for fourish hours. We study things such as knife skills, eggs, entrees, soups, etc. My teacher's name is Dave, and he's pretty easy on the eyes, and therefore I get to combine pretty boys with cooking. I'm enjoying it a lot. Plus, I am gaining great skills to assist with my dream of becoming an amateur chef.

3. Coffee
Yes, I know. But coffee is so, so, so, so, soooooooooooo good. I am currently looking into buying a grinder and a big ol' french press, but moolas is tight. My little brother got me coffee for Christmas, a pound of the best smelling coffee EVER called "Hair Bender". I am drooling in anticipation of drinking said coffee. I'll let you know how it goes.

4. The Gym
I might write an entire entry about this, but I am truly obsessed with my new gym. I go to Healthworks, a Boston-based women only gym. It's right around the corner from work, and has a sauna and a hot tub. SOLD. Plus, I got two free personal training sessions just by signing up. I've worked with Shauna twice, and am excited to start my regime so I can look like this:

Except I don't tan.

There are so many other things I am geeking out about, such as: my friend Leyla, book club, books in general, nachos, etc etc. I'll write about them later (well maybe not Leyla, cause that'll probably creep her out.)

These Are Two of My Favorite Things

Eggs Benedict:
Nachos:

Great, now I'm hungry.

Four Things

So as my first post, I thought I'd write a short post about four things that make me geek out right now.

1. Dresses with pockets.
Right now I LOVE these things so hard. Do I own a dress with pockets right now? Nope. Do I want one (or five)? YES! I don't know what it is about a cute girly dress with pockets, but I covet.

Take, for example, these dresses (Mori Lee and modcloth respectively)

Aren't they awesome? There is something that is so simple and comforting about having pockets on a dress! In fact, I was wedding dress shopping with a friend when we even came across a wedding dress with pockets at David's Bridal. Amazing.

2. Glee
Ok, I know it's on hiatus until April, but this show is stuck in my brain. I have downloaded the songs on to my iPod, and I even follow @gleeks on Twitter. This show is everything that the drama nerd inside of me loves. Music! Choreography! Geeks triumphing over evil! If you like any of these things, you should be watching this show. CATCH UP!

3. Jen Lancaster
I am sure that Emily will agree with me that Jen Lancaster is amazing. She is a high powered exec turned unemployed broke person turned successful author. Her memoirs "Bitter is the New Black," "Such a Pretty Fat," Bright Lights, Big Ass," and "Pretty in Plaid" are funny and poignant and she feels the exact same way I do about Rachel Ray*! I find myself laughing out loud at everything she writes on her blog, on twitter, and in her books. Buy them. You won't be sorry.

4. Meatless Monday
Every few years I seriously debate turning vegetarian. Then I get a craving for a hamburger or some chicken and that's over. I've got a few friends that are vegetarian (and some that are even vegan, but that's a whole other level) So as part of my "resolutions" for 2010, I've decided to institute one meat-free day a week. Did you know that going meatless one day a week can help out not only your own health but the environment as well? Check out MeatlessMonday.com for more details. For me, I'm LOVING getting to try to eat new things. I even made (from scratch) baked falafel and pita bread for dinner last night.






*I am not someone that "hates" a lot of things, but Rachel Ray is up there. Right next to pickles (sorry Snooki).