the second compact disc i ever bought.

was this gem right here:

favorite tunes included "if it wasn't for you," "love is not like this" and of course the (un)classic, "castles on quicksand."

my childhood saturday mornings regularly consisted of waking up at 9:55 a.m., rolling downstairs to the tv (shocker), turning on saved by the bell and then staying with tnbc through california dreams/hang time/guys next door/nba inside stuff. then i would turn to fox at noon for an hour of wwf, followed by one hour of american gladiators.

you're probably horrified for me. but honestly, it was a BRILLIANT childhood. i feel like it taught me versatility or diversity or something important like that. the wwf montage link above really took me back - it's been more than a decade since i've thought about the big boss man or tito santana. MAN, those were the days. nineties tv might be my favorite tv of all time. except veronica mars. and he-man, master of the universe. and 30 rock. it's so hard to pick just one. how do you pick a favorite child? cause this decision is just like that.

anyway, this was all brought on by this teaser:



yippee!

(my first cd? "everything i do (i do it for you)". i know, i know. but for some reason i really liked kevin costner when i was 11. no, seriously.)

why cnn is so awesome.

the headline juggernaut second life affair ends in divorce has been on the front page for at least two full days now. and not even buried in the technology section. or europe. good thing, because IT IS THE BEST NEWS STORY EVER.

to recap:


these charmers got married after meeting in an internet chatroom in 2003. in second life, the dude (on the left) is this dude (on the right):

on top of that, he named his avatar DAVE BARMY. i couldn't find a picture of laura skye (her avatar and DAVE BARMY's now ex-wife) but never fear, time magazine describes her as follows:

Online, Laura Skye works as a club DJ and is 6 feet tall, weighs 112 lb. and has a penchant for skin-tight cowgirl outfits. In reality, [Amy] Taylor, an unemployed former waitress, is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 224 lb. and prefers T shirts and leggings.

solid burn, time mag!

anyway, he blames her for the break-up, despite DAVE BARMY being caught having sex with a second life ho (the pink haired, blue turtlenecked lady above):

Amy never did anything around the house. She just played World of Warcraft all the time.

all's well that ends well though:

[Amy] Taylor is now in a new relationship with a man she met in the online roleplaying game World of Warcraft.

you go girl?

something is in the air.

or the water.

on the subway ride home today, i swear i saw TWO guys sporting perms. one was gelled for that totally practical and always believable soaking-wet-all-day look. i know two is just a coincidence and three is a trend, but... really?

also, you would be surprised at how many pictures come up under "guy perm".

dear childhood.

please stop batter-ramming my proverbial front door. i like my nostalgic excitement in small, regularly dispensed doses. however, today i found out that:

a) there is a 90210 ipod in the market now. seriously. i always wished i could stare at a brooding dylan mckay while cursing the dying, irreplaceable battery of my ipod. i wonder how many of the 2000 limited edition ipods will have "donna martin graduates!" engraved on the bottom. my guess is 1999 of them. there's always a broody rebel in the bunch.

b) so then i find out that i can now download some of the best shows on nickelodeon (EVER) on my new ironically nostalgic ipod because they released HEY DUDE and CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL on itunes. i know christine taylor is a big shot actress now, but i remember her days as melody hanson, working for mr. ernst and watching a girl named brad flirt-fight with ted (btw whatever happened to david lascher?). but we all know it was her turn as marcia in the various brady bunch movie resurrections that truly skyrocketed her to fame. ben stiller be damned.

c) finally, a new new kids (heh) collaboration with neyo will drop on august 12. it's not the catchiest thing i've ever heard, but it'll do. JON I LOVE YOU

gotta run. celine's all by myself is belting out of my tv right now.

really, the happiest i've ever been?

so i'm sitting here, pretty much the happiest i've been all week because:

a) so you think you can dance is on and they're finally down to the top 10, and
b) i am eating delicious indian takeout, and
c) my testosteroney roommates are nowhere to be found, so
d) i don't have to watch sports/sportscenter/any variant of espn, and
e) they made them dance to HERO by enrique AND OPEN ARMS AND CANNED HEAT, so
f) i am ecstatic. there is no sarcasm here.

for once.

my new (second) favorite hobby.

this is just plummy as wordart. don't worry, i am also shocked that the words "tv," "television," "reality" and "awesome" are not featured prominently.

the next two represent papers i wrote for a management course on (surprise!) innovation:


and my personal pride and joy (on so MANY levels) - a paper i wrote for an economics course on the hollywood writer's strike of 2007-08:

so in conclusion:

+ rehashing my own pointless writing
+ diverse font selection
+ various color palettes
= FULL of WIN.

create your own word clouds (honestly, what else are you going to do with all of those grad school papers?) here.

{source}

fratty mcfratterson versus the death stare.

here's a story told entirely in pictures.



dumbass.

{source}

this is not america's next top best friend.

i just finished hauling my life's possessions (i.e., not even half of budget truck's mini movers) to my new place. i got the 360-degree moving-to-nyc experience, parking ticket, "deaf" policeperson-who-couldn't-hear-our-protests and all. awesome. i didn't think i would be laughing today, but some genius compiled the best. montage. ever.



it somehow perfectly captures the spirit of today.

(source)

remember when mtv's 10 spot used to be really dirty?

i remember it as My College Years. my roommates and i used to gather 'round the tv every night like our forefathers clustered around the hearth in the winter and watch undressed/celebrity deathmatch/daria/jackass/real world/road rules/spyder games before we flipped over to upn and the wb for blind date/elimidate/cheaters/5th wheel.

gosh, those were the days.

anyway, some AMAZING person in his/her INFINITE wisdom decided to post season one of mtv's undressed online, seeing as how mtv is c@#kblocking us via dvd. bitches. don't they know that this is gen-y's basic cable version of the red shoe diaries/skinemax? it is also adam brody's true claim to fame:



undressed really reshaped the way i view... canadian tv production. enjoy yourself here. just don't crash it ignoring your friends/family while watching all of the episodes in a row during your last week of freedom before moving to nyc and returning to the working world. i mean, if that's applicable. or whatever.

(image source)

holy crap, i LOVE this show.

i humbly present the best routine of the night (read: season). it's the whole shebang from the human interest intro to the teary reaction from crazy mary. you're welcome.



summer = ciao bella + fireflies + so you think you can dance

i don't even know what to say.

l.a.'s version of the trojan horse, perhaps?

(source)

rock-em, sock-em grandmas.

does one of the following grannies belong to you? if so, you've got the COOLEST, thug life grandma of all time. i envy you for coming from such fine breeding stock. no, seriously.



(source)

i am a lazytard.

that is what best week ever branded the target consumer for the slanket. which i declared i was five months ago. which was only renewed after seeing this forbes feature:



comments at the source are also gems in and of themselves, including my personal fave: "it kind of makes the person look like they have given up on life".

summer has officially arrived.

so you think you can dance commenced competition phase last night. wednesday and thursday evenings are now spoken for through mid-august. wet your whistle with clips from season two below.





what can i say? i ♥ choreographed dances set to top 40. i blame it on paula abdul and mc skat kat.

(image via visualpanic)

breaking news (!).

apparently danny wood (of nkotb fame, obvi) managed to score halle berry. in 1989.


no seriously, here's another picture for proof. and please keep in mind that these were taken before the days of photoshop. plus, nobody cares about danny wood (except halle, apparently) enough to doctor 20-year-old pics of him.


i just blew your mind, right? you're welcome. also, I JUST BOUGHT TIX FOR NEW KIDS AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ON OCTOBER 27th (!!!!1!!). excuse me while i go dig out my nkotb watch, trading cards and throw pillow.

there is nothing about that last sentence that is not 100% true.

(pic source)

life just divided itself into b.t. & a.t.

i finally got around to watching the transformers movie today. wow. i REALLY regret not seeing that in an actual theater. afterwards, it was difficult to walk around and not imagine that each car on the street could a) transform into a giant robot and b) side with either the autobots or decepticons. in case you were wondering, subaru bajas and pontiac azteks are definitely out to destroy mankind.

i am a nerd. it's ok, i learned to live with it long ago during my mighty morphin power rangers phase. like eight months ago.

also, is there an official name for crushes on giant robots? because i definitely ♥ optimus prime. maybe even more than megazord.

living the dream.

margaret cho just fulfilled my lifelong asian-american game show fantasy:

her summary of the experience is exactly how i would have described it too:

We all did celebrity Family Feud yesterday and we kicked ass! We didn't win, but we made a very respectable showing. We played against Corbin Bernsen and his family, who were very nice and good opponents. They ended up winning and going up against the American Chopper dudes who were super cool!

I was really proud of my parents because they didn't know what Family Feud was. The only thing they have that is similar in Korea was the war. They did remarkably well and my dad even razzed host Al Roker a little. It was awesome. We did just as good as any white family would have!

so in conclusion, you go girl.

OMFG.

i'm super psyched because i just figured out what i'm doing this weekend:

that's right, i'm devoting myself to watching all five installments of this show on vh1. i'm already "liveblogging", if you will, from #21-40 right now. so far, i am like eleven for eleven on owning all of the songs mentioned. seriously. it's like reliving the music that defined my life throughout my various trials and tribulations as a burgeoning jersey girl.

btw m is already tired of me shouting "YESSSSSS!" as each new song comes on. either that, or my rampant headbanging, fist pumping and out of tune singing. i don't know. it's a toss up, really.

can you feel it?

nkotb mania is subtly infecting the 25-50 year old teenyboppers of the world.

exhibit a:



exhibit b (taken from the best nkotb analysis of the 00's):

and of course, exhibit c.

plus, with sweet, soul-searing lyrics like,

remember when we said girl please don't go
and how i'd be loving you foreeeeeeeever
taught you 'bout hangin' tough
as long as you've got the right stuff
didn't we girls? ooooooooooooh
didn't we girls? aaaaaaaaaaaah

i know you're just as psyched as i am (scarily enough, i definitely just transcribed that from the pure power of my tiger beat memory). anyway, it's finally time to resurrect those six-inch diameter nkotb pins!

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

this is pretty much genius.

mike sacks, i salute you and your commitment to capturing great moments of american tv with your digital camera.