The Oversharing Meme

I haven’t created a meme of my own in quite some time. As a matter of fact, you may have noticed I’ve been pretty good about not even succumbing to others’ memes too often these days (it’s because I’m too busy reading books for all the challenges I’m doing). Anyway, I think it’s about high time for a Queen o’ Memes meme. Otherwise, I might have to abdicate my throne.

In the spirit of last week’s NYT’s Magazine cover story, which was all about another Emily (Gould) and oversharing on her blog, I’ve decided to create The Ultimate Oversharing Meme. A word of warning here: this meme is not for the faint of heart. If you decide to tackle it on your own blog, don’t come crying to me when you get comments like, “How could you?” or “Really? I thought I respected you until now.” However, you can find comfort in the fact that your answers, quite possibly, might not be as embarrassing as mine. And since I’m the one who’s jump-starting the whole thing, well, maybe I get to claim the Gold Medal in Stupidity (or is it bravery when one is willing to “overshare” this much information? I’ll let you be the judge).

So let’s get started:

1. Name the singer/band/performer you are most embarrassed to admit you actually paid good money to see in concert.
Kansas. I didn’t really want to go, but my best friend insisted, and, well, I did happen to like the song Dust in the Wind. It could be worse, though. A couple of years earlier, this same friend begged me to go see Shaun Cassidy with her, but I pretended my mother wouldn’t allow me to go to a concert (I think I even managed to get my mother to agree to the lie).

2. Which reality TV show have you watched more than once (come on. I don't believe you if you say "none," unless you don't own a TV)?
Not only did I watch it more than once, I was completely hooked on the entire first season of Temptation Island. Does it get much worse than that? I mean, really? That’s like saying, “I don’t just read porn; I subscribe to Hustler.” However, I was dying to know if these couples would stick together and had to watch it to the end to satisfy my curiosity. They all stayed together that first season, and I decided it was too much of a commitment to watch such shows and have stayed away from all reality shows since then (although I will occasionally watch Dancing with the Stars. I have to skip the end, though, because I hate seeing people get voted off).

3. Which complete trash novelist have you not only read but enjoyed enough to read more than one book of his/hers?
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss . But I was only in tenth grade. And I haven’t read her since then (although I’ve often thought of doing so, just to see what attracted me -- she admits, blushing like an innocent heroine in a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel).

4. What sappy musical could you watch over and over and over again?
The better question for me, really, is which one couldn’t I watch over and over? You see, I’m a complete sucker for sappy musicals. Here are just a few, to answer the question:
Daddy Long Legs (I really ought to buy a copy)
The King and I (completely politically incorrect, I know, but I just love Yul Brynner. Ian and I saw him on stage in this in London)
My Fair Lady (Sigh! I know, it’s horribly, horribly sexist and classist – aren’t most musicals? – but, still, sigh!)
The Sound of Music (yes, really. It was the first one I ever saw, and I blame it completely for my addiction)

5. Who was your first celebrity crush?
Mr. Green Jeans. Seriously. I dare you to beat that one! He was closely followed by Bob on Sesame Street. Then I graduated to Bobby Sherman, because my sisters liked him.

6. Who is the most embarrassing celebrity on whom you have a slight crush today?
I think I may have mentioned this somewhere before on this blog (is that over-oversharing?), but it’s Drew Carey. Don’t ask me why. He’s overweight. He’s nerdy-looking. He’s a libertarian who has supported Republican candidates I despise. But he’s sometimes just laugh-out-loud funny. And he can dance. Which just goes to show, looks and politics must not be everything. (Full disclosure: I have not watched The Price is Right since he took over. Maybe that would be enough to get rid of this crush.)

7. What movie that everyone else and his cousin and even his dog has seen have you never seen?
The Godfather. All references to it are completely lost on me, but I pretend to understand them, because, well, you know, I don’t want people to feel awkward.

8. What were you drinking the first time you ever got drunk?
Sherry. I was offered a glass at age 15 when we were visiting some village neighbors in England, and I thought I was very sophisticated to have graduated from shandy (beer and lemonade, which was often offered to the younger teens in our village) to sherry. I drank it quite fast, because I didn’t particularly like the taste, and when I stood up to offer to help the hostess set the table, I nearly fell over.

9. Which old re-run will you still pause to watch if you’re flicking through the channels and see that it’s on?
The Brady Bunch. Yes, pathetic as it is, I can quote, verbatim, lines from some of the episodes. A close second would be Gilligan’s Island. (When we were kids, they came on back-to-back in re-runs in the afternoons after school.)

10. What book/movie/t.v. show that only a fifteen-year-old would think is funny makes you laugh?
Meet the Parents. So, so sophomoric, but it still gets me laughing. I even liked the sequel, which I hardly ever do.

All right, that’s it. You’re tagged if you’re brave enough to overshare.