“Hello, you fool, I love you – Come on join the Joyride!” Admit it….when you hear it on the radio, you sing along. “Joyride” by Roxette was tearing up the radio airwaves in 1991 with rocking guitar riffs and “whistling a private tune.” Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle eased their way onto the radio scene with their smooth voices and sexy spiky hairdos. Roxette enjoyed international success from the mid 1980′s through 1990s. Their first US hit was “It Must Have Been Love” on the Pretty Woman soundtrack in 1990. Their album “Joyride” was released the next summer, and quickly became the song I was always singing to myself.

The Swedish pop duo Roxette became my favorite band when I decided it was not cool to like New Kids On The Block anymore. I was so obsessed, that I actually did my 6th grade country report on Sweden. I remember walking all the way (over a mile!) to Fred Meyer, with my stonewashed denim purse, to buy the Joyride cassette (with my babysitting money, of course) I was thrilled when the cassette inside was bright blue, instead of the usual white, clear, or black casings.The “Joyride” music video was so fun! It made me want to ride on the back of a red Corvette with carnival-esqe leggings and a black leather corset. My favorite song on the album was actually “Fading Like a Flower,” but it never got as popular as “Joyride.” Did you love Roxette too?

I never thought I would get so nostalgic turning 30 this week…on Friday I’ll be just another 30-something. I feel so young at heart…and have so many great memories of my youth. Recently I’ve been going through boxes of pictures. And when I say BOXES, I mean literally thousands and thousands of pictures from the last 30 years. The awkward chubby phases, the dated hairstyles, the embarrassing dates, the classic family portraits. I just posted a my favorites into an album on Facebook, which you can view here.

I’ve been getting things together for a totally RAD Birthday party on Friday…old retro toys, original Nintendo games, cassette tapes of Roxette, Color Me Badd, New Kids on the Block, MC Hammer; Saved By The Bell posters….basically the finest in pop culture from my 3 decades of life. Fondue, Friends, Family, and Fun…I can’t wait. Want to come? Email me for details.

Musical Groups/Singers I Like (in no particular order) 1992

Boyz II Men, Color Me Badd, Arrested Development, Extreme, Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Shai, Michael W. Smith, Jon Secada, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Amy Grant, M C Hammer, They Might Be Giants, Michael Bolton, Roxette, Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, House of Pain, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Guns and Roses, Rom Cochrane, Paula Abdul, Bobby Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, TLC, En Vogue, Kris Fross, Def Leppard, Queen, Ugly Kid Joe, Janet Jackson, Shanice, Michael Jackson, Marky-Mark and the Funky Bunch, Madonna, Bonnie Raitt, NKOTB, Mr. Big, Jodeci, Luther Vandross, Don Henley, Patty Smythe, The Beach Boys, Hi Five, Elton John, George Michael, Nirvana, Weird Al Yankovic, Dire Straits Annie Lennox, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wreckx in Effect, Utah Saints, KWS, Tevin Campbell, Genesis, Pearl Jam, Debbie Gibson, Shakespear’s Sister, Snap, Jade, The Spin Doctors, INXS, The Heights, Depeche Mode, Berlin, Eurythmics, Boomtown Rats, k.d.Lang, Celine Dion, Peabo Bryson, The Cure, Firehouse, Snow, Regina Bell, Modern English, The Lemonheads, Soup Dragons, Stereo MC’s

(Recovered from a box of elementary school papers this morning. Peoof that I made crazy lists like this way back then)

During my Junior year at Murray High School, I was a part of the school’s television production crew, SpartanVision (aka SVTV). Each morning we had to be in Mr. Pond’s room at 6:30 am to prepare for the broadcast at the end of 1st period. We had rotating responsibilities each week: camera, editing, script writing, commercials, footage, and talent (aka host, on-camera personality, anchor) My favorite part was when I was on talent, being the bright and smiling face of MHS, before and after Channel 1.

While I was in HS, I was OBSESSED with the Beatles. It was the mid-90′s and The Beatles released their three-part Anthology. I knew all their songs, incorporated song lyrics within my normal daily conversation, watched “Help!” at least once a month, and learned many of their songs on piano and guitar. My nickname was the “Beatles Guru” and I always made sure to request a Beatles song at stomps and stake dances.

In the summer before my Junior year, the SVTV crew spent a week at the school getting acquainted with the production equipment. I had come up with an idea to make a Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band intro, but to replace the heads of the people in the picture to students and teachers from MHS. I had talked to some other people on the crew about it, but nobody seemed very excited. This was in the very early days of Photoshop, which I had no idea how to make it happen electronically. I was, however, an major scrapbooker. I used my dad’s archaic copy machine, made numerous photo prints at Costco, copied, pasted, and tried to make a replica worth sharing.
It ended up being a big waste of time, and I eventually gave it up (despite my many hours of valiant effort.) My senior year, I decided to become involved in MHS’s handbell choir, which meant that I had to take early morning seminary. Early morning seminary meant no Spartanvision. I was really bummed, but c’est la vie.

Abbey Road: SVTV Style

Don’t wanna wait ’til tomorrow, why put it off another day?
One by one, little problems build up and stand in our way. Oh!

One step ahead, one step behind it
Now ya gotta run to get even
Make future plans I’ll dream about yesterday, hey!
Come on turn, turn this thing around

(Right now) Hey! It’s your tomorrow
(Right now) Come on, it’s everything
(Right now) Catch your magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything

Miss a beat, you lose a rhythm and nothin’ falls into place. No!
Only missed by a fraction
Slipped a little off your pace. Oh!

The more things you get, the more you want
Just trade in one for another
Workin’ so hard to make it easy
Whoa, got to turn. Come on, turn this thing around

Did anyone else love this song? It was my pubescent theme song, empowering me until I discovered alternative music, and delved into Depeche Mode, The Cure, TMBG, INXS, U2, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and all those other bands I obsessed over. (I still considered it my theme song until I heard Cake’s “The Distance.”)

I typically fill up my 16 gallon gas tank every two weeks. My commute is 19 miles each way, and my Camry averages around 27 miles per gallon. Here’s a comparison of my last few fill-ups:

4/16 $3.48/gal = $55.19 (15.8 gal)
5/1 $3.59/gal = $56.88 (15.8 gal)
5/15 $3.95/gal = $65.01 (16.4 gal)
6/2 $3.98/gal = $62.44 (15.6 gal)

I luckily timed my fill-ups well, because I missed the weekend where gas was consistently $4.08 – $4.19 per gallon. Waiting just a few extra days saved me up to $6 on one tank.

I get nostalgic thinking about the time I bought gas at the Willard Flying J in 1998 for $.79 per gallon, and I filled up my gas tank for less than $8 on my way up to Rexburg. Those were the days…

Yesterday I started my orientation with UofM Medical Center. Yesterday was a full day of patient safety, corporate culture, medication error reporting, HIPAA and JCAHO regulations, customer service videos, and all the other junk you’re required to review upon hire at a hospital. This morning was a little better…ID badges, benefits, retirement, and parking. They let us leave at 11 am, so I spent the afternoon with Taylor unpacking. Yes, we’ve lived in our apartment for two months now…but with all the travel, we still had a lot to do. We cleared out about 15 boxes, organized our bedroom, spent 2 hours on Rosie’s bedroom hurricane, and put up a few pictures on the wall. I start my job for real tomorrow.

My teeth have been hurting so bad lately. I’m not even sure it’s my teeth, more like the nerves to my teeth. I had so much dental work done in November and December (over $3000 out of pocket after insurance) and I’ve never felt back to “normal.” The left side’s bite still feels wrong after two adjustments on trips to Cali, and the nerve flare ups have been occasional, but never less frequent than a few times a week. Since I got back from Utah, it’s been constant pain on both sides. My new dental plan was in effect as of yesterday…and for the first time ever I have dual coverage. I need to talk to my new supervisor and see how soon I can take time off to see a dentist.

I’m so geeked for the NKOTB reuniting on Friday morning. If only I started work next week, I would SO be there…I’d fly out to Rockefeller Square and hold up my big sign while screaming till my lungs gave out. Yesterday, Taylor found a Russian legal download site where we found the whole NKOTB library for 10 cents per song. I downloaded about 30 songs. Unfortunately, my Ipod is on the fritz. The night before I left for Utah, my iTunes crashed, and I lost EVERYTHING. I had to do some mad file transferring to get it back, but I lost about 8 of my 25 GB of music. It’s been syncing for 3 hours now…

Oh, and I got a call from Becky Anderson, the guidance counselor from MHS. I was having terrible luck getting anyone to call me back about renting MHS for the reunion, but she called me back (the day after Robin got the info). We chatted for about 10 minutes…she ended the call with “Glad to hear that you’ve turned out to be such a success.” I smiled.

ATTENTION NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK FANS

THE TIME: FRIDAY APRIL 4th, 2008

7AM EST

THE EVENT: BE THERE IF YOU ARE READY…

www.nkotb.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10389876151

I just started a Class of 1998 Murray High School Reunion group on Facebook. Whether you are on Facebook or not, this is the place to get info and details on the reunion whose planning is in it’s infancy. If you want to give you opinion on what you want to do…hop onto the site and leave a comment. Can you believe it’s been 10 years?