Attack of the Teen Idols - Fun Monday

Before we jump into Fun Monday, I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who stopped by over the weekend to offer words of support after I announced that I lost my job on Friday. THANK YOU. I posted a more detailed account of the whole situation yesterday, if you're curious.

Okay, now, to:

Fun Monday this week is being hosted by Jo Beaufoix. The challenge we were issued couldn't have come at a more apropos time. The challenge?

"I want to know about your first ‘celebrity’ crush. You know, the one you fancied from that band, or that film, or who read the news, or who won Gold at the Olympics.Did you have their pictures on your wall or in your locker? Did you dress like them, style or colour your hair like them, follow them, meet them, marry them? (It could happen.) Photos of THEM would be good, photos of YOU at the time you liked them would be even better. Also, if you have time, I’d like to know whether they had any influence over your life, the person you became, or if they were just an embarrassing blip you would kind of rather forget about.”

Well, if you read my blog at all, then it should come as no surprise that I could have gone one of two ways with this. I could have waxed poetic about my love for Corey Haim, who was my first real celebrity crush. But I've already devoted at least two posts to my dear Corey.

Or, I could have gone with my other crush, the one that last through my most impressionable teen years, and the one I've n0t-so-secretly kept into adulthood. The one I was telling you about just last week. Yes, we'll go with that one. None other, of course, than Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block fame.

Donnie then:Donnie now (ish):

Yep, still hot.

I was a faithful Donnie fan from day one, and never wavered from my choice of the band's resident bad boy as my favorite member of the original boy band. Once the band split up, and they all went their own ways, my love for Donnie never disappeared, it just went into hibernation for a bit. But when Mr. Wahlberg entered the world of acting my dedication to him returned, and I've watched practically everything he's been in, except for those creepy "Saw" movies...Even Donnie can't get me to watch those. Well, you know...unless he wants to watch them with me..uh...WHAT? It could happen.

Back to reality here folks...I want to answer some more of Jo's questions, she asked if we dressed like them: No, but we "Blockheads" had our uniforms of t-shirts, buttons, and denim jackets with their names and pictures stitched right into them. Followed them: No, because I did not have the means, but, along with my two cousins PM and M&M, we created our own fan club for them, we had 100's of pen pals with whom we exchanged photos and posters and stories about them, and I even met other NKOTB fans from as far as Germany, all because of our love for the boys. Met them? Not then, and I have never had the chance to meet Donnie, but I did meet Joey McIntyre about 10 years ago, when he was doing the play "Tic Tic Boom", and he was a very pleasant and gracious.

Did he have an influence over my life or on the person I became? I could say no, because in a general sense, no, he didn't. But in a smaller sense, yes, he and the rest of the New Kids absolutely did. The height of their fame was during a prime time in my life, therefore, a lot fo my most powerful memories from that time include them in some way or another. I have fantastic memories of people I met, places I went, and experiences I lived that happened solely because of my love for The New Kids...so without a doubt that shaped me. In another small way, Donnie influenced me in a way I realized only recently...being the "bad boy" of the band, he was my first "bad boy". He wasn't the last. This propensity to fall for the "bad boy" could definitely explain why I'm still single, so one could say it's all his fault. Or not.

Jo also wantes us to share photos of "US" at that time...I've actually shared these before, and really, should be too ashamed to share them again, but....how could I not, she asked so nicely...

(That would be yours truly in the hammer pants, some boy whose face I've sort of disguised because I no longer know him, and my cousins M&M and PM, with my "wall o' New Kids" behind us. You know you're jealous).

So there you have it, my celebrity crush. Oh, and in case you're wondering, unlike Jo, I have no shame about this crush, and I DO plan on going to see them perform live now that they have reunited. Call it what you want, but just the feeling of nostalgia that seeing the five of them together again has brought up in me is worth it. I leave you with this:




Go to Jo's to check out what other Teen Idols had the Fun Mondayers dreaming of their wedding days.

And be sure to visit the Nekked Lizards, they are hosting next week.