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
The very first song I downloaded from the iTunes
store onto my new iPod was that remix of “Milkshake” by Kelis.
I enjoyed that one Kelis jam from a few years ago where she’d wail “I
hate you so much right now!” - Who can’t relate to that? - but
I really love this new song tons! It’s so... weird. Somehow it playfully
manages to be both hard-edged and bittersweet, nasty and nice, R&B and
electro, super sexy yet totally hilarious. Blender magazine
calls it “pure
sci-fi soul”.
I love so much that image of her atop a giant fountain soda! Actually, I think
that’s what sealed the deal for me and my latest crush. As a kid I was
kinda obsessed with drawing milkshakes and other delicious ice cream treats.
To an 8-yr old sweet tooth, they’re super fun to sketch!
I have another cuckoo reason for being crushed out on Kelis. That same issue
of Blender features
a pic of her wearing cherry earrings made by our friend Cody. We were so excited when she showed us
that we all screamed! Cody’s
so awesome and we’re thrilled for her success. Hey girl! Lemme buy you
a milkshake and we’ll celebrate!
