Friday QuoteDay

“Why do people say ‘grow some balls’? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you really want to get tough, grow a vagina. Those things take a pounding.”

— Betty White, American actress

In Which I Gush Over Early 90's Teen Dreams

Won't You Join Me?

Last month, Hairpin has an awe-inspiring collection of poems and diary entries written to Johnathan Taylor Thomas, circa 1995, all of which are hilarious and concurrently heart-breaking and heart-warming.

One of the comments?

"Maybe it's cause I wasn't fourteen until 2007, but who the hell is JTT?"

I don't know how to wrap my 90's-girl head around this question.

Granted, JTT was not "my" boyfriend; he belonged solely to my best friend Stephanie. Once her relationship with JTT was established, I never gave him a glance. My early-90s boyfriend was the far superior Rider Strong.

 Why? Glad you asked.

Rider Strong, ladies.

1.) Because his name is RIDER STRONG. Ride. Her. Strong.
His name is the single greatest pick-up line dream of hipsters everywhere.

2.) Because his favorite song (according to Tiger Beat) was Pachelbel's Canon in D minor.  Internet friends, believe me when I tell you that I already loved that piece of music prior to reading it as his fav in my teeny-bopper mag. The real kicker was how it was all so very deep and meaningful to 12-year-old me; Rider liking it (or his publicist claiming he liked it) separated him from the pack and shunned anything modern that played on The Edge 95.1 FM every single day. Any stupid boy could claim Nirvana as their favorite music, because, hello, Nirvana in the early 90s. But Rider? Rider was DEEP and SOULFUL. He liked classical music.

3.) On the way to school every morning our carpool would pass the van rental company Ryder, which was an utter sign from God that only I could interpret that Rider was waiting for me to be my forever boyfriend, who would totally slow dance with me in the school cafeteria on dance night and maybe fly in on a magic carpet and I dunno what else, but it would make everyone else super jealous in ways no one had ever been jealous before.

Logical reasons. He was also on a telly show called Boy Meets World, but that's beside the point.

As for JTT,  random-Internet-commenter-who-really-didn't-ask-me, he was the little beat-off from the misogynist-mother-load Home Improvement with really bouncy blond hair. (And The Lion King's Simba, but only talking Simba. Singing Simba was Jason Weaver, or J-Weav.)

JTT. You're welcome, Stephanie.

Other contenders for my Imaginary Boyfriends circa the early 90s were: Will Smith, Tommy Page, Jonathan Brandis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jared Leto and Keanu Reeves. (My attraction to men older than me is a habit that seems to have held over into adulthood.)

So, who was your Imaginary Significant Other? No worries, if you call dibs, I'll keep my hands off.

Weekly Flâneur: Hot Spot

A Facebook friend recently posted a link to the Top Ten Literary Watering Holes on Away.com. The headline image is of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, an awesome pub on Fleet Street. It is the haunt of several writers, through its history and today, and with November being National Novel Writing Month (have you worked on your NaNoWriMo project this year?) I thought it appropriate to feature a street shot of the pub for the Weekly Flâneur photo.

For more info, check out Ashley's review of the place on Yelp. (The Southern friend wary of English mac'n'cheese she mentions in her piece happens to be your favorite flâneur.)

Sunset on London, Fleet Street. Click to enlarge.

Keep an eye out for demon barbers, and you'll be fine.

London, UK.

Some Random Observations

• People used to talk to me about their cats. Now they talk to me about their kids.

• I always overestimate my ability to remember what I need at the grocery store. Upon entering, I become amnesic.

• Ability to retain my In-University-in-2002-gained talent of singing "Hot in Herre," by Nelly word-for-word alone in the car surprises me.  

• "Christopher Eccleston. 11th." -- A note written to myself when drunk with Sharsta.
  
  I think it means I'm supposed to watch Christopher Eccleston as the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who, which would be a very clever trick since he is the ninth incarnation of the Doctor. Or I'm meeting Christopher Eccleston for clandestine time-travel on the 11th on November. Or possibly the 11th of October, which means I am very late. Sorry, Doctor.  (But you know, you time travel, so just come by the house and pick me up, no big deal.)

We are not amused. 

Friday QuoteDay

Image in the carpet of the Gungahlin Public Library in Australia.

Weekly Flâneur: Reading Comprehension

Abandoned sofa next to a No Dumping sign. Click to enlarge.

Someone needs to pay attention.
Seen in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Happy Halloween!

(The Internet gave me this comic, and like most things the Internet gives, it has no author or illustrator credited. If you know who made this, lemme know so credit can be given where credit is due. Until then, enjoy this comic and play nice tricks tonight!)

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #6

Via juliettetang.com.

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #5

If you made this, let me know! It's lovely. 

"Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most."

Thanks, Y'all

Truth.

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #4

If you made this, let me know! Found on WeHeartIt, sans credit.

Believe in Yourself.

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #3

"Sex will always be an exciting mystery to children, they’ll always want to know about it. And they’ll learn about it, inevitably, from scary porn and all those barmy urban myths that circulate playgrounds. As a counter to that, shouldn’t responsible kids’ telly at least try to right the balance? Shouldn’t there be someone out there (apart from your boring parents and your boring teachers, who cares what they say) saying that sex is a natural, sometimes funny, sometimes wonderful thing, that decent, kind, nice people do with other decent, kind, nice people? Rather than a sleazy forbidden horror whispered about behind the bike shed. You can’t stop kids finding out about sex. You can at least make sure some of what they hear is sane and reasonable."

 —Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #2

"Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men. Lesbians and gay men are expected to educate the heterosexual world. The oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their own actions. There is a constant drain of energy which might be better used in redefining ourselves and devising realistic scenarios for altering the present and constructing the future." 

— Audre Lorde, Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist

Super Friday QuoteDay Post #1

Via idea-obscura.

Guess who's been slacking when it comes to Friday QuoteDay?
To make up for it, here's SUPER Friday QuoteDay. It tastes like chicken. Which Gandhi would never eat. Which makes sense (shutupyesitdoes), because the above image isn't actually a quote but really super cool. SUPER! Enjoy.

Weekly Flâneur: Enlightened

Cups, mugs, teapots and knickknacks arranged in a light fixture. Click to enlarge.

The entry chandelier in Habitat for Humanity's Julia's Coffee and Books, Charlotte, N.C. 

Go visit!

 

From their site:

"Julia's Coffee is a division of Habitat for Humanity Charlotte. Julia's exists not only to support Habitat, but also to create a place where the community can get a sustainable, conscientious cup of delicious coffee."

Let's All...

Go read this, shall we?

Fannie's take-down of the sexual and racial b.s. behind North Carolina's anti-gay marriage amendment.

Grrr. Argh.

Found via inspiredartjunkie.

Who's ready for Halloween?