Wednesday, April 02, 2008

What I Learned from the Teevee : Family Film Edition

How does it feel to win the Uh Huh Her SXSW Fan Video Contest? Well, after a long day of fielding press requests and receiving Edible Arrangements, I can say: I feel like a pineapple in the shape of a flower. That's how I feel. Speaking of flowers: I am the flower and I want you to know how thankful I am that you helped me to grow. I once was a seed so deep in a pot, but with sunshine and rain, I grew up a lot, I sprouted these petals, so fragrant and GAY, to garden your hearts, and brighten your day.

B. asks: "Did you have any, you know, prior interest? In China?"

"Actually YES," I reply, "I've been interested in China ever since I saw Big Bird Goes to China, one of my favorite movies of all time. I watched that movie like twenty times, when I wasn't watching my other favorite movie The Wizard of Oz. OMG Snuffalupagus!"

I believe that Big Bird Goes to China was a television event rather than a traditional "film," but its quality exceeds the inherent limitations of its format. The performances are so strong, the narrative so engaging, that even were one to watch it on a Zune, it'd feel like IMAX. I feel I could drink milk off this child's skin, and it would be sweeter than normal milk and it wouldn't be weird that I wanted to do that instead of using a cup or a glass.

My childhood fascination with China originated in the following feelings: 50% Big Bird, 50% Sweet & Sour Chicken. Clearly as a pup I hadn't yet experienced the horrors of food poisoning, which're now so near & dear to me that I no longer eat meat from Chinese restaurants. Nor had I grown up and discovered that Big Bird isn't real, just like how Tinkerbell and democracy aren't real, either.

Furthermore, On Sunday I was thinking about how it's entirely possible that my formative desire to one day seek the bright lights of NYC was 50% Broadway, 50% Muppets Take Manhattan. Although I wasn't allowed to watch teevee, we had a VCR and often went to the movies with our Fig Newtons & juice boxes, and I'm 90% sure that most of my ideas about life come from kids movies. Thus today's special topic: "What I Learned [About How to Live my Life] from the Teevee: Family Film Edition."

The original mission of this segment, rambled on about in its first installment, (covering West Wing and The L Word) was somehow related to whatever I thought I was talking about when I "wrote" this paragraph of excellence:
I think the best television writers are also artists/educators, not just comedians/entertainers. Usually they're smarter than their shows imply [unless it is Alan Ball, Aaron Sorkin or Jim Henson, they have smart shows]. That's why TV writers're always dropping allusions to high art, to remind us of their literacy. Nietzsche must've done a triple-somersault in his grave, Mary Lou Retton style, when Jenny Schecter announced on The L Word that her story, "Thus Spoke Sara Schuster" had been published in The Best American Short Stories [Totally impossible, unless the guest editor was Ryan Seacrest or a chimpanzee.] Later, this became just one element of the glory which is Jenny's on-screen literary career, which is one of many reasons why I heart The L Word and it's strange little world of magic and make-believe.
Um, okay. I also did a Second Istallment focusing on the educational merits of The Real World, My So-Called Life, and Queer as Folk.

-----

Androgyny Rocks!
The Labyrinth frightened me on many levels. Howevs, David Bowie's androgyny wasn't scary at all, it was like "ground control to Ree-Ree!" I think my desire to date boyish girls isn't really David Bowie's fault though, it's probably more related to my deep affinity to Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. JK, she was like, 10 or something:


Riese, Scout (L to R)
[Actually, there's much better combos of me/scout photos that exist to prove my point, but I don't feel like looking through my photos right now, 'cause I'm trying to be efficient, like a Chinese person, to get practice.]
*
The Best Solution to any serious problem is to read a book, 'cause then you'll get sucked into the story and save Fantasia, etc.
I love that writers -- by nature, 'cause they're always readers themselves -- write about nerdy kids who get to crawl into books to escape their life of outcast-hood (See also: A Princess Bride). I still try crawling into books now, except I don't wanna play in 'em anymore, 'cause I'd probs crawl into a lot of tense relationship moments between: 1) Lesbians, 2) Sad/anxious people in cities, 3) Sad/contemplative/drinking heavily people in the midwest, 4)Sad/demented people in the suburbs, 5)Sad/Soulless/Money-worshipping people in L.A., 5)Straight girls and a lesbians, 6) Nate & Blair, 7) Mr. Wind-Up Bird and May Kashara. Obvs, I'd still like to believe that at any moment, if I hitch onto the right story, I could possibly save the world -- that flying begins with a pull, proceeds with a push, and breaks into smooth blue trailsmoke, leaving a momentary but dramatic impact on the sky.
*
Being an Orphan and/or Stranded on a Desert Island is endless amounts of ass-kicking, treehouse-building, limb-climbing fun: Swiss Family Robinson, Apple Dumpling Gang
*
I spoke of Disneyworld, Swiss Family Robinson house, yes?

This is Where The Swiss Family Robinson once lived.

One day, they'll make The Boxcar Children into a movie (I'm sure they already have, but obvs it wasn't good enough for me to know about it) and then you're all gonna have serious fantasies about totally terrible tragedies that enable you to move to the trees, like Julia Butterfly, who I've also mentioned before. She is the girl that lived in the tree so they wouldn't cut it down, which I think is always a good solution to keep something around: move into it and build bridges and beds inside of it, then it can't leave you without breaking more things than you think can be broken. The results of this strategy have been, throughout time; mixed.
*
Decision to move to New York filled with big dreams about making it there & consequently everywhere, etc. The Muppets Take Manhattan
No post-college ennui film (it's its own genre now) comes close to matching The Muppets Take Manhattan's accuracy: its bright-eyed idealism and complicated self-justifications, its shitty jobs & traffic accidents & broken dreams & dysfunctional relationships & the angst, oh, the angst of all its thwarted shots at fame! The naivite -- did they really think a Broadway producer would suddenly pick up their hometown hit musical Manhattan Melodies, without even a connection? We've all got our own Manhattan Melodies, you know, whether it be a book or a dream job, and so our hearts yearn for the troop when they bust into the agent's office, sans-appointment, belting out their opening number.

Any NYC Apartment search veteran does the math when the gang holes up in Grand Central's lockers (25 cents an hour, times 24 hours, times seven days ... midtown, shared bath, not too much crack ... best deal EVER!)
*

"Saying Goodbye," though I doubt it touched me then, makes me cry now -- the lyrics really hit home, like a good Ani DiFranco tune. JK! (I mean, that's true, for me, but not for most other grown women not existing in a 1996 time-warp like I am)
*

Then Kermie goes to the top of a super tall building, I think, right? And looks out over the city, tries to remember why he came. But he misses everyone a whole bunch. On youtube this sequence is in Portuguese, one of a handful of languages I'm not fluent in.
Miss Piggy's mugged in central park and snaps like we've all snapped -- becomes a monster on roller skates, anxious to retrieve her bag of discarded jewelery, makeup and pantyhose. People would ask if I worried about getting mugged in Spanish Harlem but I wasn't. What would they take? Lip gloss? I was broke with no money in the bank, or in my wallet, my credit cards were maxed out, my ID wouldn't even get you a rental car (I had three moving violations) and I doubt it'd be a viable fake for anyone liable to mug me in the first place.

Kermit's first restaurant job -- the one he accepts, regretfully, while waiting to make it -- again, so relatable. We know his bright-eyed coworker, she's the typified young actress, struggling through school and smiling like a critterish little milkmaid (she's defo got a spot on Top 100 Critters) while she makes bacon for people with real jobs.

And the letter montage! When all the friends split up 'cause they're all out of cash, they need cheaper rents & resume-boosting jobs? And then they all write to Kermit, who's sitting in the diner probs thinking "Sheesh, it's not easy being green." While he's reading, we see each character in his actual environment which of course bears no resemblance whatsoever to their normal lives. E.g., a minimum-wage ticket-taking job at a movie theater becomes a "Hollywood position." 'Cause they should all just tell each other the truth: this isn't going how I planned it, either. Forgive me, I dream the impossible dream, when I close my eyes it's all very clear and when I open them I run into a wall. Literally, metaphorically, all of it.
Then Kermie sells out, obvs, 'cause he got amnesia from getting hit by a car (SPOILER ALERT!), and he becomes like everyone else who dress the same and even all have the same names.
*
I don't remember the next part but obviously they all reunite and they get the show on stage and they are a smash success and then Kermit and Miss Piggy (who're basically like the Bette and Tina of the Muppets) fall in love, pick up Angelica from Playgroup and get married, a ceremony I've cited in the past as being much like my wedding might be if I decided to throw a wedding as a joke or something. (Or if someone gets suckered into spending forevs & evs with me.)

Anyhow they all achieve their dreams obvs, just like I will, and also, so will all my friends.
*
A bowl cut (w/hoodie and/or t-shirt, sneakers, jeans) never goes out of style: E.T., Flight of the Navigator, The Neverending Story, etc
I'm not lying, lately when I look in the mirror I think "I have 80's sci-fi children's movie lead male protagonist hair." My number two feeling is usually Ringo Starr.

*
Developing Close Relationships with Stuffed Animals:
Toy Story, Indian in the Cupboard, Babes in Toyland
As the entire world knows since WE WON THE FUCKING UH HUH HER CONTEST SO ROVE ON ROVERMOM, ROVE ON!!!, Tinkerbell is not a real dog. Honestly though, having Tinkerbell makes me really wish I had a real dog, 'cause she's so cute. You should see her cute little face in the morning when she wants to play. JK, I haven't totally lost my mind. I have a lot of ideas about art as life and the difference between characters and real people and how we turn people into characters and what it means to have a cyber-personality and a real one and what real is and what truth is and what art is and so on so and somehow the existence of Tinkerbell is related to something profound I've yet to reveal/discover. But also I'm 35% positive she'll be coming to life, and then we can go on adventures. We are going to be Best in Show. Clearly Tinkerbell is excited to go China, she's already learned the word for "dinosaur."

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I love when people remind me of wonderful things from childhood! Big Bird Goes to China was excellent, and I still remember the song about "Ohio means good morning, that's my favorite one." But I have to say that I think Big Bird Goes to Japan was slightly superior. It actually had a slightly sad story line and an absolutely beautiful Japanese woman. Even to this day when I argue that Japanese people are attractive and Chinese people are not, I base my argument on those two movies.

Did you ever see Follow That Bird? Another installment in that spate of Big Bird movies from the (late 80s?)

Also, "Saying Goodbye" makes me cry too.

Bourbon said...

Anyone who can take a muppet movie and spin something so smart and entertaining out of it is clearly a genius in my book. Congrats on the Uh Huh Her win, it would've been a joke if it turned out any other way.

Also, I dunno if I've mentioned this before but Tinkerbell totally looks like my mom's dog. I'll post a pic one day.

Also, also. Kermit and Miss Piggy as Bette and Tina made me el-oh-el

DH said...

Tiger, "ground control to Ree-Ree!" made me Laugh Out Loud, for real. You have no idea how bad the act of LOL-ing hurts right now, but it was totally worth it.

You know what else was totally worth it?? Going to SxSW to stalk Uh Huh Her. Obvs knowing Rovermom will be disappointed has only sweetened the victory.

frank said...

i can't believe how similar i am in most of my tastes to a lesbian girl from michigan. although while we both clearly love asian girls, i am not willing to go to china to get them.

dorothy said...

I'm confused. Not everyone wanted to disappear into a book or live in the Muppets Take Manhattan when they were little? I sometimes spend a good deal of time trying to separate what is reality and what I think reality should be based on what I have read and seen.
And. . . when I meet people named Phil I am still tempted to introduce my friends Bill, Gil, and Jill- which interestingly happens more often than you would expect.

Anonymous said...

There's a great exhibit called "The Agency of the Orphan" by Anna Craycroft about the phenomenon of identification with the orphan in entertainment:

http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/exhibition/19276/5830/115209/anna-craycroft-the-agency-of-the-/

So extensive and good!

Congrats again on the win!!

Psyched about the reading,
Stephanie

green said...

ok, i know, i think, that you're going to china[?]. what i don't know, is why/when/how. is this a blogger exchange program? do we get a chinese girl? i am so confused.

here's the survey that i didn't fill out 3 days ago and post in the appropriate comment box:
1. since you posted a link to your recaps on the planet forum. i almost moderated your comment [b/c i was seething with authority back then, and you posted as a guest...], but elka came in @ the last minute and saved you.
1/a. yes, most of them. i've skimmed you. you've been skimmed.
2. "When you're here, you're in a word cocoon. It's pleasant."
3. i like to google myself and my internet friends. other than that, gossip blogs [b/c i really do care what happens to britney. also, there are usually pics of hot girls in bikinis.] and ourchart! jk.
4. assistant manager?
5. chopped into tiny pieces, hidden in alice's hall closet.
6. Top Ten Things I Think About Right Before I Have An Orgasm
7. thank YOU
8. no! i love this blog. stop being so self-conscious. are you wearing socks? socks put me in a grumpy, self-loathing mood sometimes. take the socks off.
18. i know a 9-yr old [where does the hyphen go in that phrase? too lazy to google it] who, every time i wear my "Rly Papi Rly" tee, informs me "that doesn't make any sense.", which makes my heart sing. thought you'd like to know.

NOW! re: this actual post [longest comment made by me EVARRR. sorry! not really] i learned, via The Labyrinth, that having selfish thoughts/feelings could lead to people/puppets in peril. i think this is a valuable lesson.

also, orphans: yes. if i get right down to it, my favorite movies/cartoons/characters involved an orphan of some kind. punky, rainbow brite. and what about implied abandonment? puff the magic dragon, for example. even strawberry shortcake didn't have parents. did she sprout from a strawberry patch? omg, cabbage patch kids! and pound puppies!! ORPHANS EVERYWHERE.

huge fat congratulations for the uhh victory! once again proving that following the rules is not only expected, but appreciated. and that having more internet friends than other people is fun. more fun than being a cunt. :)

cheers!

Anonymous said...

That flying begins with a pull, proceeds with a push, and breaks into smooth blue trailsmoke, a momentary impact on the sky.

Oh, lovely riese. I heart that tug too.

asher said...

okay. so i wasn't able to read the whole post because i have yet to see muppets take manhattan. i know. but i didn't want to read your spoilers. because you've convinced me to track it down and watch the damn thing. i think i stopped at kermit goes to the top of a building, and picked back up at y'all winning the uh huh her? video schmideo contest.

so...(that was a long disclaimer, damn)
1)"Sad/anxious people in cities" is my favorite genre. please suggest away.
2)i love that you called out rovermom. haha. love it. rove on.
3)i don't remember what 3 was going to be, or any number here on out, so i'll improvise - the picture of you in the red hoodie may possibly be the cutest ever.
4)i'm in a coffee shop and the 'new' (released last year) shout out louds song 'impossible' was just playing and it's really good and you should check it out.

i think that's enough for now. rove on.

asher said...

ooh! i remember number 3!
i smoked some drugs last night and wouldn't stop talking about Fantasia. i think that is was created by and for someone on hallucinogens. i remember they made us watch that a lot in elementary school, and all the other disney movies we were subjected to had a plot that i can recall. but with fantasia all i remember is like a red violet portal and unicorns and shit. i mean wtf?

a. said...

Good to see the Muppets on there.
There was another one - Big Bird Gets Lost. I supposedly neeever made it to the end of that one. As soon as Big Bird got lost I'd start bawling and make my mom turn it off. He, of course, was found and lessons were learned.
This maaay be why I bail in the middle of relationships.
I think a therapist would have something to say.

I finally wrote in my blog.

-The poster formerly known as Alicia


Side note - Fantasia is up there with Willy Wonka in terms of movies I still find terrifying

eric mathew said...

i loved this. so great and so many memories. i had the shitiest day so you made me happy.

i learned about being an orphan from annie. annie also taught me that big musical numbers change lives, having carol burnett as your "owner" is amazing and that having a sugar daddy buy you the world is all that matters...i miss those days.

tinkerbell is really improving on her chinese. did you get her a cd or is she purely using freetranslation.com?

i have been having the "i need a cocktail" feeling like a lot this weekend. so hopefully i get on that.

p.s. either lozo is getting kinda gay or my eyes need to be checked....

Admin said...

playing The Boxcar Children was once my very phuckin favourite thing to do. that was my world!

oh, and Big Bird should give acting classes. like for lots of money, because the dude can act!

Admin said...

p.s. do you watch Mad Men????

riese said...

hello karen sosa: firstly, did i ever see Follow that Bird? Only a million times! The part when Big Bird is blue and singing always brings a tear to my eye. I think it touched on a lot of grown up issues. I could probably cite that movie scene-by-scene, far better than I could remember Big Bird Goes to China.

hello razia: I would like to see your Mom's dog. Tinkerbell is in a relationship but does like to look at herself, Cait says that Tink looks just like Uh Huh Her's dog. The thing is that if it had turned out any other way, it would've felt like a joke but also, like, a joke/obvs/just our luck!

hello crystal: You know what else was worth it? Waiting until 10 o'clock for their show to start, and, you know what else this means? That we just had our talk with Uh Huh Her about tardiness, basically.

lozo: we could go to Chinatown and walk around and pretend if you want.

dorothy: Can you do the bill gil and jill voice!? That would be amazing. I still harbor these dreams as adults, I think, I'm not sure if everyone else does.

stephanie w: waa that link didn't work, but I'm very interested.
Also psyched about the reading,
Riese

hello green: Yes, I have lead everyone including myself to believe that I'm going to China, but that all changed today, which I'm figuring out how to talk about. anyhow, I'm sure there must be a way to get a Chinese exchange blogger too. I'd respond to your survey, but that'd be unfair to all the other children who posted it in the other post I said I wouldn't comment on. I think the thing is that orphans get to have adventures 'cause their parents aren't all up in their bizness. Like Little Orphan Annie!

having more internet friends than other people is: more fun than being a cunt, roving.

hello lain: *blush*

hello asher: that's totally acceptable, but you must rent it now. don't watch the clips on youtube, as I said, very confusing w/r/t linguistic issues. My Mom made me watch Fantasia I think to learn about classical music, and I feel like in Disneyworld there is a lot of emphasis on it since they're still mad they lost money on it with these fancy theaters and things.

hello a. : Big Bird Gets LOST???! Are you sure it wasn't "Follow That Bird?" I can't believe Big Bird gets lost more than once as a plot device that makes me really worried for snuffy. Willy Wonka was one of my favorite movies ever that I also watched 1,000 times, 'cause he's like "you can do whatevs if you imagine it!" look forward to checking out your blog.

hello eric mathew: lozo is a full on lesbian now, it's really serious, he loves spooning and eating ice cream and Uh Huh Her and stuff. I feel like I have a whole new appreciation for Annie since McArdle let us fondle her ass on the cruise and then had us jump into bed with her husband to see if it'd freak him out to have a bunch of lesbians in his bed. Nevertheless ... la-la-love it, obvs. Also believe sun'll come out tomorrow, etc. You too, kiddooooo Mommy needs a drink.

hello vesper de vil: I totally know what you mean about playing Boxcar Children, I mean,it's a legit game, I think, and I've never seen Mad Men ...

Anonymous said...

democracy isn't real- love this
what languages are you fluent in?
you have a cyber personality? if so that's a disappointment

Oo Lynnie oO said...

Ohhh The Labyrinth. Ohhh David Bowie...i wanted so badly to have one of his nifty crystal balls. And by balls i mean...

Good stuff...that plus movies such as The Never Ending Story, Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, The Dark Crystal (am i alone here?)..etc. I watched many a fucked up movie in my childhood...it's nice though because i don't think i can be completely creeped out due to the fact that I've been watching creepy movies for so long. Maybe I'm just creepy without a good excuse? Alot of my friends are seriously scared of these cinematic adventures. Tis a shame since they are brill.

As far as the muppets go, i was always a fan of the Muppet Christmas Carol. :]

frank said...

ADORABLE response, rieseycakes.

now if you'll excuse me, i have to get back to watching Bravo. what's better? blow out or work out? i know i can't choose!

eric mathew said...

um insane. andrea seems crazy but in a good way. that was the best response ever. umm btw lozo workout does not start until 15 and blow out has not been on for like 2 years. but you can switch over to mtv for the best of the real world awards bash. i do hope they show the slap heard round the world...aka seattle.

Chrissy said...

Re: Andrea McArdle - I'm so glad someone besides myself and my best friend know the extent of her awesomeness. Edd's too. That man likes to live it up!

I totes had a love for orphaned characters, still do. Annie, Oliver Twist, Madeline, you name it, I was obsessed with it at some point in my childhood.

"uhh" is the first part of my word veri! =]

jenn said...

well i must have had my childhood in a bomb shelter?...big bird made films? i feel i have missed out.
big bird is a legend with myself and friends well not realy a legend it is what we call overly sized ladies i dont mean heavy ladies we are not heavyist just ladies who look like they have giant-itis? its an added bonus when they talk crap realy fast then they get upgraded to become a whatnip(the sound alice the goon made in the popeye cartoons?)...
totally off track now..
erm my fave childhood films arnt family ones they are stand by me, lost boys,cocktail,labrynth.
so im off to find me some big bird movies!!
great blog by the way!

Chloe said...

princess bride = life.

and also, my number two feeling is ocasionally ringo starr too. my parents took me to his concert when i was 6...i had an interesting childhood.

a. said...

You completely made me doubt myself. I called my mom to get to the bottom of it, and after a long discussion, and having to re-watch some things on youtube... you and I were both wrong.
It was "Christmas Eve On Sesame Street" where Big Bird ends up by himself on the roof of the apartment in the snow waiting for Santa.
No one knows where he is, they're all freaked out and it's heartbreaking etc etc...(You're Jewish, so uh...the whole Santa thing wouldn't bother you as much, obvs.)

Buuut...in trying to prove myself right, I discovered that there actually was another one where he gets lost called "Big Bird Gets Lost".
I looked it up just to make sure:

"Oscar winner Frances McDormand guest stars as a store employee who takes Big Bird under her wing when he wanders away from his friend Maria while shopping at the ABCD Mart."

THATS RIGHT. Frances McDormand! Kids these days with their Academy Award winning actresses...

In conclusion, for such a big Muppet he sure does get lost a lot.

-Alicia

riese said...

anonymous: I have a very rudimentary grasp of English. My cyber-personality has claimed Hebrew fluency and a flair for Espanol, but she says a lot of crazy things.

oo lynnie oo: I admit I am scared of The Dark Crystal. These things scarred me as a child, but again, I was easily scarred. Although perhaps I could've been won over by nifty crystal balls.

lozo: Hands down totes Work Out. It's so refreshing to see a nice show about a hardworking, steely abbed lesbian and all her dramatic girlfriends, I think you'll find it VERY relatable!!

eric mathew: Thank you for clarifiyng the Bravo reality show conundrum for Lozocakes. Speaking of insane, Irene is one of my secret heroes, 'cause the real reason she wanted off the show was 'cause she thought it was retarded how they asked her all these leading questions and tried to create drama. I like a woman who stands up for herself almost as much as I like Andrea's ass.

chrissy: Oh! Oliver Twist! Was my favorite. I think I still pepper everyday conversation with "please sir, can i have some more? Please sir, can I have some .... moorrreeeeee?" in that little accent. Oh, sigh.

jenn: Oh did Big Bird EVER make some films! You should check them out. However, speaking of brids, my favorite part of your comment is that you cite "Cocktail" as a favorite childhood movie. I definitely wasn't allowed to see that, wasn't it rated R? Omg.

chloe: seeing the quiet beatle live in concert = I am jealous.

a. First of all, I'm super glad you did the research so I didn't have to. Secondly, I got really sad thinking about Big Bird on the roof waiting for Santa Claus. Though I'm Jewish, I still beleived in Santa Claus (I'll believe in just about anything, that's why Heroes freaks me out) so it was kind a big deal when I found out about it too, 'cause we celebrated Xmas in ohio with my christian side of the family. Frances McD, that sounds like an Oscar-worthy film and I will have to check it out. The moral of the story, absolutely, is "for such a big Muppet, he sure does get lost a lot."

Anonymous said...

"Where does today meet yesterday?"

---

Don't Eat the Pictures. Perhaps, a slightly more obscure muppet movie. If you haven't seen it... well, you must. Head explosion, promise. Combines several of your aforementioned theories:

1) Muppets (obviously)
2-4) An androgynous, bowl-cut-sporting orphan (Egyptian prince Sahu is pretty glammed up and rockin' a jet black chin length haircut. Plus he's been stranded in the Met for 4,000 years and all he wants to do is solve Osirus's riddle and return to his parents' stars in the sky)
5) "The best solution is to read a book" (or, perhaps, contemplate art... that's all I'm sayin')

-Mers (will eventually open a Google/Blogger/OpenID account... but not now)

GIsen said...

Congrats on winning! Rove the fuck on is right.

mpod said...

Wow. A complete deconstruction of The Muppets Take Manhattan may be pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I myself am not looking forward to the same post-college combination of excitement and dysphoria... but hey, if it ends in a musical it can't all be that bad, right?

riese said...

Mers: Oh! Did I EVER love "Don't Eat the Pictures"! It was like The Mixed Up Files of Ms. Basil E. Frankwiler, one of my favorite YA novels of all time. I think though, after you bring it up, that I must see it again. Especially for the andro orphan, which I probs missed/subconsciously yearned for at the time.

latane_blue: Thanks!!! Yeah! Rove on!

mpod: Exactly. That's why in the end of my own personal Lez Girls, everyone will burst into song! I'm thinking something sort of pop-ish, but with a little bit of a showtuney feel to it to really make it you know I have no idea what I'm talking about. Doo doo doo.