If you’re a fan of this site then it should come
as no surprise when
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
I am so crushed out on Jennifer Garner.
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
