Watch this quick, before my mom makes me take it down! CENSORSHIP IS IMMINENT!
And yes, it seems I only take videos while in the car. At least in this one, we're parked. At a Borders. And we won't get out of the car until the song ends.
Ohhh, college. If you don't think this video is funny, it can only be because you're not watching it.
It's from three years ago, in our old college newsroom. Because I had not yet ascended to the ranks of the cool (read: editors), I don't appear in this video (it's a budget meeting - woo!), though one of my best friends, another lowly reporter, does - she's the girl at the end in the striped sweater putting the banana on his shoulder. She brings on the best part of Ben's banana-crazed reaction, anyway.
Sure, the song is annoying & the videography is blurry, but darn, it's fun - so fun, in fact, that back in the day, a local alt paper wrote about it. I've been a wee bit cranky for the past few days, & I got a little emo last night reading through a bunch of my old Xanga & Myspace posts (don't judge, everyone's gotta start someplace) - but amongst my old posts, I found this amazing piece of Daily Kent Stater history, & I couldn't resist reviving it to share with anyone who's interested in a little bizarro fruit comedy. It made my day & induced the elusive actual LOL.
Also, this just in: Would you judge me if I admitted that I miss college? A lot?
Back when I was living in my beloved Cleveland Park (oh, how I miss it), I joined the Cleveland Park Listserv, which bills itself as the largest neighborhood listserv in the country. I don't know who's out there measuring the size of neighborhood listservs, but this feels like a mildly impressive statement, right? When I moved, I stayed on the list to stay in the loop because I'm nosy like that.
I get way too many emails per day. Seriously, sometimes I get 50 emails a day about absolutely nothing - neighbors in search of chiropractors & leaf blowers & babysitters, neighbors giving away furniture & coupons & packing supplies. But every once in awhile, I get a true gem, one that makes me day & makes being on this crazy, overly chatty listserv incredibly worth it.
Yesterday, I got this:
Hi Neighbors,
I am moving and have the following items up for grabs if anyone is interested.
various shot glasses (25 or so) Asian style hat Various Photo Frames Peacock Feathers Pageant Trophy "Birthday Wishes" ceramic Jar (like a piggy bank) Decorative Philippino Wallhang Lobster Table cloth weights Hanging japanese lanterns Small Japanese Fans Jar of Ink cartridges for fountainpen
If you're able to take all of these things, all the better!
So who wants to get in on this with me? We can make headbands with those feathers, & we can drink a LOT of liquor out of those 25 shot glasses while wearing that Asian-style hat, & then we can, um, laugh really hard at anyone actually owning lobster tablecloth weights. Sounds like a party! I'll decorate my apartment with those Japanese lanterns to celebrate!
I'm just too tired to post. I spent five days in Toronto, & then I spent at least 28 hours asleep (over the course of 48) recovering. I'm emotionally exhausted & absolutely lacking in the creative energy needed to write or be the slightest bit amusing or interesting.
But it's autumn, & autumn is Dave season. You remember my talking about him, right? So I have a guest post, if you will, one from his Xanga site from October 23, 2004 - five years ago, a month & change before he turned 20.
It hurts to read now, but the words fit well. It's a pretty overdramatic statement - that was his thing - but hey, I'm too underdramatic right now to write anything. And it does say he wants to be quoted... so I'm happy to oblige.
Thanks to all of you for bearing with my pre-Halloween bitchery. The result? Last Saturday marked the most minimal-effort Halloween costume I've ever donned. We tried to be witty, sort of. Really, we did - just a little last-minute. Can you guess what we are?
We're "ships passing in the night," obviously, our favorite cliche! Wait... What do you mean, you couldn't tell?! Come on, that's good. And no, of course I didn't find little gold stars stuck to every surface of my apartment for the rest of the night. And no, three didn't fall out of my hair in the shower this morning. And no, I didn't rip the seat of my favorite black pants while getting low to Flo-Rida.
The good news (?) is that I never left my apartment. When our party plans were canceled, my roommates & I opted to throw our own impromptu All Hallows Eve soiree. We bought a bunch of orange food in honor of Halloween (mac & cheese, Doritos, Cheetos, Reese's), burned a quick holiday mix (though "Jeepers Creepers" is actually an oddly cheerful ditty), & grabbed a couple of cases of cold ones.
Sadly, our collective costumes were not all that creative or mind-blowing. My roommate Jason, for example, pinned socks to his shirt forming "RE." He was either "Sacre bleu!" or Socrates, depending on how you looked at it. Get it? GET IT? Yeah, neither did anyone, but he was proud. And joyful, as evidenced below - good enough for me!
My out-of-towner friend Micaela & her college buds were singing holiday cards. The truth is that I've never seen a Fourth of July card, much less a singing one, but it was still a clever costuming choice. When opened, Micaela sang "America the Beautiful" (usually) & Kristin mostly sang "Jingle Bells" (first line only, sometimes interspersed with N*Sync's Christmas album). Caitlin miraculously got away with never being opened, so she got out of singing.
Other friends came as world peace, "Party in the USA," a Stepford wife, Dexter (khakis & a waffle shirt are not a costume!), scarlet fever & the four elements. Much dancing occurred. And while the event was intended to be a pre-gaming shindig before everyone went their separate partying ways... well, no one did. About 15 of us pseudo-partied at our place until quarter past midnight, & then... I went to bed.
In short? We were low on creativity but, ultimately, high on fun. And, in the end, I concede that that's what does, in fact, matter most.
PS: If you want to see something crazy-impressive, check out my good friend Jill as the zombie cheerleader with the Thrilla Guerillas taking the French Quarter by storm. How's THAT for Halloween spirit? Thanks for letting me live vicariously, Jill!