9-02-10!

First, let's all wish Caitie a happy birthday!  Welcome to 29, Cait.  It's bitchin'.  You'll love it.

Now, today is special for another reason, too.  (And I'm so jealous that Caitie gets to share a birthday with such a momentous occasion.)  Today, friends, is 9-02-10.  Oh yes.  As in, Beverly Hills 90210.  You know, the greatest show to ever grace television. 



I was in the fifth grade when 90210 premiered.  It aired on Thursday nights, and, full of angst and nervous delight, I would wait all week for a new episode.  Now, I wasn't allowed to watch 90210.  My parents believed that watching such a marvelous show would turn me into some roofie-inhaling skank, so they forbade me from watching it.  As you might guess, this was during their fundamentalist Christian phase, when they sent me to Baptist school and we went to church multiple times per week.  Fortunately for me, my parents went to a Bible study on Thursday nights, so I could watch it without them knowing.  Praise Jesus! 

Omigod it was so awesome.  The clothes, the drama, the premarital sex, the sideburns, the cars, the accidental gun deaths, the blind piano tutors, the affairs, the trips to Mexico, the music, the bangs! 

Some of my favorite 90210 moments include:

• When Kelly and Brenda wore the same dress to prom
• When Brenda got into the car accident in Brandon's car and thought she had given that old woman whiplash, only to discover later that the woman was a con artist
• The Peach Pit.  I love Nat. 
• That time that Dylan cheated on Brenda with Kelly while Brenda was in Paris, and Brenda kept listening to "Losing My Religion" and when Brandon asked why she said that that was the song that was playing the first time that she and Dylan broke up, and she thought that was the worst that she'd ever feel, except that now that they were broken up a second time she'd give anything to feel that way again. Watch it. It'll make your day.

• That time that the nerdy boy Scott accidentally killed himself with a gun on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack

• That time that Donna caught her mom cheating on her dad and Kelly brought Color Me Bad to sing to her at the Peach Pit so that she would cheer up.  (Oh, the hair!  Oh, the jewelry!)

• That time that Donna got drunk before prom and then wasn't allowed to participate in graduation activities.  DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES!
• That time Dylan's dad exploded.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

• And, last but not least, the musical stylings of a Mr. David Silver

Oh, what a glorious show!  I am, of course, forgetting about a million other clips of awesomeness.  What's your favorite 90210 moment? 

(ALSO, Matt's favorite sports writer and 90210 nut, Bill Simmons, is devoting an entire podcast to the show today.  You should be able to download the podcast here.)

Halloweens Past

Some of my fondest Halloween memories come from my college years. We had good parties, bobbing for apples, and great costumes.

Oh, and also, I was actually ALLOWED TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN.

You see, when I was between the ages of 9 and 14, my parents were in their fundamentalist Christian phase, and decreed that my brother and I were not allowed to celebrate Halloween because it was SATAN'S HOLIDAY.

No joke.

One particular Halloween--I believe I was in the fifth grade, prime trick-or-treating age--Halloween fell on a Wednesday. Wednesday was, duh, a church night for us, so we were not out in costume trick-or-treating with our peers (and Satan). Instead, we were learning about church.

Wonderful.

My mom and her friend Sue, feeling bad for all of the kids who were denied the fun of trick-or-treating, bought us a pinata to ease the pain.

(Our pinata was shaped like a donkey or something, but I thought this one was much funnier.)

We kids jumped up and down in excitement--the kind of excitement you experience before the age of 13, when you're somewhat innocent and happy and don't have to pay bills.

And we started clubbing away at that pinata.

Clubbing. . .

Clubbing. . .

Clubbing. . .

Broken. . .

Newspaper?

More newspaper?

Yes, Susan and Susan didn't realize that one must fill the pinata with candy. Pinatas don't come filled with candy. In their infinite wisdom (the same kind of wisdom that tells you that kids can't trick-or-treat lest they be worshipping Satan), they bought a pinata believing that it would already contain candy. Yep. They sure did.

Talk about disappointment. Disillusionment. Resentment. (This happened almost twenty years ago, and I still get mad when I think about it.)

While my schoolmates (who, by the way, also attended Christian school, but somehow were allowed to celebrate Satan's holiday) enjoyed this--

--I just got more angry. But I did get to learn about Jesus!

I was denied the true joyful experience of Halloween, and I've attempted to compensate for it in adulthood. One way of compensation is to have kickass costumes.

Which brings me to this year's Halloween costume. I'm torn between Werewolf Bar/Bas Mitzvah and Edward Scissorhands.

What shall it be?

What are you being for Halloween?