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I say everyone here at the office is a lil’ obsessive. Lulu will stay up until 2 am on a school night rereading Nancy Drew mysteries, Chris will see some Old Navy commercial, then turn to me and say, “Put your shoes on. We’re going to buy Performance Fleece NOW!!!” and me, well, it seems each week I’ve got a new crush. On Tuesday I can’t stop talking about Vinnie and his tampon cases and then by Sunday I suddenly must know everything about Claire Grogan of 80’s band Altered Images. Whatever did we do before Google? Actually, I remember. When I was a kid I would go to the library each week and carry out mini research projects. I’d scroll through the microfiche to learn all I possibly could about Doug and Suzie Tompkins of Esprit or check out back issues of any magazine that mentioned the CK model Josie Borain. But I’d also have these weird fascinations with people in my every day life, like Alice the lunchlady who had the word “Elvis” inscribed in her gold tooth. Those subjects were more difficult to discover, but not really. I’d simply interview them for my zine “Hurricane.” We’d talk up a storm! Turns out working at a high school is the perfect set-up for Elvis fans. This way you’ve got summers off and never miss your yearly pilgrimage to Graceland to honor the King on August 16th, the day of his untimely passing... Point is, you can learn a lot from a crush. Best case scenario, your life will completely be changed. Try to remember that the next time you see some cute boy or girl on the bus and then let shyness get the best of you. I’m living proof! I met Chris and Lulu at a birthday party in 1996 and now can’t imagine what I would be doing without them. There would be no fredflare.com, that’s for sure. This year for my birthday those two gave me my very own column which you are reading right now! (Thanks, guys.) This is where you’ll learn about some of my all-time fave people as well as a few new discoveries. I’m actually pretty shy myself but here you’ll find me to be a real people person! I’ll give raves, I’ll gush and every coupla weeks I’ll tell you a secret crush... Email me anytime at keith@fredflare.com and tell me yours. I’d love to hear from you! Xoxox, Keith |
December was super duper busy here at fredflare.com. Each night, Chris and I would stumble home exhausted and each night we’d watch an episode or two of Alias on DVD. I guess you could say we got a lil’ obsessed... We started noticing the little details, like how they’d often show Sidney Bristow, the character played by Jen Garn, drinking red wine at home after a hard day on the job as a double agent. Then the nice people at the laundromat gave us two bottles of red wine as a Christmas gift. Sidney, Chris and I soon became drinking buddies. On Christmas Eve we found ourselves with practically no plans. The holiday season had simply whipped past us so we decided to just relax, watch the last few episodes of Alias, grab cheeseburgers at Florent and go see a movie. Always a sucka for a chick flick, I begged Chris to take me to see Julia’s retro romp in Mona Lisa Smile. So we’re sitting there and all of a sudden Jennifer Garner is up on screen in a preview for this movie 13 Going On 30 where she plays a 13-year-old who suddenly finds herself in the body of a 30-year-old, something I can totally relate to. She says the cutest cutest things and I start to cry, I just love her so much. I turn to Chris and say, “We’re going to meet Jennifer Garner in 2004.” This is going to be a great year. Happy New Year everyone! Xoxoxo, Keith 01/01/04 |
