I recently entered a contest on a website that I frequent. It's to win free make up, so don't get too excited.
Funnily enough, I rarely participate in these contests, so I actually submitted for LAST WEEK's contest. I'm a huge dork.
Regardless, the memories made me laugh and I want to remember them forever. So, I'm BLOGGING, which I don't do enough and I hate people that have blogs and never blog.
I hate myself.
Here's my story.
It was the summer of 1987. I was spending a few weeks at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin on some lake in Alabama.
It was an important year for me, musically. I was 11, heading into the 6th grade and music was my life. I brought my "jam box" and some cassette tapes with me to Alabama that summer. Debbie Gibson's "Out of the Blue" is the album I played over and over. Even though I haven't heard the sound in years, I can still remember the clack-clack-clack that the cassette tape made indicating it was time for me to hit eject and flip that baby around.
I sang along and I sang loud. I wouldn't discover until years later how terrible of a singer I actually am.
... but, you see, the summer wasn't all about Debbie Gibson. I was at a crossroads in my life both musically and romantically. I was hearing bands like Def Leppard and Guns 'n Roses on the radio and MTV. I was falling in love with the long haired rock 'n rollers. I was anxious for the release of Def Leppard's Hysteria in just a few shorts weeks.
Then I saw them. The two boys at the cabin next door. They had long hair... and guitars... and I was IN LOVE. I would linger outside all day just to catch a glimpse of them. They would always walk side-by-side with their guitars over their back, long hair glistening in the sun.
I longed to be cool enough to be invited to hang out, but I was an 11 year old chubby kid from Indiana with red, wild natural curls. These boys were older, wiser, more mature. I have no idea how old they were and I didn't care.
... but we had a connection. Music! I just KNEW these guys would LOVE me if I had that gosh darn Def Leppard album. I just KNEW that they would be totally enamored with me if I were blasting "Pour Some Sugar On Me" on my little black Emerson jam box instead of "Shake Your Love!"
Frantically looking through my tiny suitcase style cassette holder, I longed to find something cool enough to play. I had to get their attention! Bangles. Tiffany. Michael Jackson. Richard Marx.
I knew I didn't have a chance. I just spent the summer getting as close to them as I could as often as I could. My aunt knew what was up. She knew I was experiencing some serious unrequited love. Summer came and went and so did I. I left the lake before the boys and my Aunt later wrote me a letter saying that they started playing their guitars and singing outside in the evenings.
It was a good thing I had returned to Indiana. I probably would have just died.
My summer hits:
"Shake Your Love" Debbie Gibson
"Heaven is a Place on Earth" Belinda Carlisle
"I Think We're Along Now" Tiffany
"Faith" George Michael
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" Def Leppard
