Tag Archives: Memories

What's with these homies dissin my bill?

In High school I was a nerd, a VERY HAPPY nerd. Not an angsty nerd with low self-esteem. A HAPPY nerd who could’ve cared less about my innate geekiness. I embrace it. Still do, always will but I digress. Nerds and Model U.N go together like peanutbutter and chocolate so obviously I was in Model U.N. But no, I couldn’t just be in Model UN I had to be extra geeky and think that Model UN was the BESTHINGEVER! And honestly, it was, it was so much fun!

You know what else I loved in high school? Weezer. (Trust me I’m going somewhere). And guess who was the UN Secretary General when I was in Model U.N. Boutrus-Boutrus Ghali! The man so nice they named him twice! (Don’t worry I’m still on track) And guess what Weezer song perfectly lent itself to a Model UN paroady song?

Ding ding Ding! Buddy Holly….. oooh eeeee oooh I like Boutrus-Boutrus Ghali. Oh oh and your Adlai Stevenson. I don’t care what they say about our policy. I don’t care about that! Bang bang gavel on the floor. Fight broke out 20 delegates dead! Oh no! What do I do… Yeah, there are numerous verse and a bridge but I’ll spare you the details. Just suffice it to say that I am totally willing to sing it at social functions.

Actually just a few weeks ago I sang it for Dahlia’s astonished husband Mark who apparently did not previously realize that Model UN is SERIOUS BUSINESS! I think he thought Dahl named their cat Boutrus for her Egyptian roots. The look of disbelief on his face as we belted out the third stanza was priceless. Fresh off this triumph I could not resist taking this picture at the UN in NY last month. Here you go my high school friends and fellow nerds. This one is for you!

Happy 30th Birthday Justy!

1999 UCD Homecoming Game

I love you like Peanut-butter loves Jelly!

The circle of Life

Last night we went to see the Lion King. The scenery and costume design were amazing. I think the first five minutes were the most thrilling moments of any musical I’ve ever seen. As a kid I saw the Lion King when it came out in the movie theater and I remember so clearly how magical the opening sequence seemed with that resounding Timpani Drum under the Opening credit. The musical totally brought me back to that summer night at the movies with my family.

90s Flashback

When I was a kid I used to listen to KWOD 106.5 which is a Sac radio station. Weird, right? I mean because I lived in the East Bay, not in Sac. Anyways yesterday I flipped the radio for a little alternative nostalgia and got way more than I bargained for. Apparently KWOD went out of business and is now an all 90s station called The Buzz. I cannot believe that it has been so long since the 90s that it is now it’s own format. The radio tags say things like “If you remember having a picture of Luke Perry in your Trapper Keeper, this is your station.”

Obviously, I’m hooked.

Now I understand why my GAD is stuck in the 60s there is something about how the music from your formative years takes you back… I am now immersed in the 90s all the time. I’ll break out my flannel shirt, converse and wide leg jeans tomorrow.

On today’s commute I listed to…

1) Ain’t nothin but a G Thang – Snoop Dogg (strangely I noticed that this song has safe sex references “ain’t no loving good enough to get burned while I’m up in it” – who knew Snoop was a public health advocate?)

2) Ready or Not – Fugees (Did you know one of the lyrics is “I’ll defecate on your Mic” rapped by Lauryn Hill)

3) Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers (I love this emo stuff. Perfect to sit in the car and sob too after some teen angst)

Gotta go now… I think I hear the beginning strains of Regulators… Mount up!

Before-school Special

When I was a kid I went to my Grandma’s house everyday before and after school. One year because of my parents commuting schedule we ended up spending more than two hours there every morning. Time with Grandma was awesome because she let us watch a movie EVERY MORNING! One year my brother Nate and I watched three different movies, every day, for an entire school year. Those movies were:

1) Wayne’s World (Grandma got it for $5 at McDonald’s)
2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Again, so awesome)
3) Star Trek IV -The one with the whales

So even though I do not consider myself a Trekkie (I’ve never even seen the other movies) I have watched A LOT of Star Trek IV. Then of course there was all the regular Star Trek I watched with my family.

One day, I like to think of this as “Best. Day. Ever.” we watched Star Trek for like 5-6 hours and then my parents decided we should go see a Star Trek movie at the theater. 5-6 hours of TV and then the MOVIES! I died and went to heaven. Which Star Trek movie did we see?

Need you even ask?

Panama

Two months ago I was living the high life, traveling with my family/entourage in Panama. In case I didn’t mention this previously we went to make a documentary about my Grandmother’s childhood growing up in the Canal Zone. My great-grandfather was one of the engineers at the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. V. cool. But I digress… lest you think my family does things half-ass, I’ll just explain that we had not one but two extremely experienced family photographers on the trip.

The pic above is of the Balboa Union Church which my Grandmother attended as a teenage girl. Throughout my childhood my grandmother would get a canal zone calendar each year which had a picture of this church. When it arrived we would flip through it together and she would tell me stories of Panama. In my mind it was always the symbol of what Panama looked like and when we drove past it our first day of the trip, I felt the same way I did when I saw the Great Wall of China. It was like a fairy tale come to life.