What else changed our lives?

If you want to share some events in your life or thoughts about life in general with other MSCL fans or if you just want post a rant to let some steam off - this is the place.
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dTheater
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Re: What else changed our lives?

Post by dTheater » Apr 15th 2002, 1:14 am

>< May I ask - you are the first person I have 'met' that rated the film Magnolia with seemingly positive comments...What exactly did you like about it?? The bit I liked was the raining frogs scene because most people don't know it can really happen! ><

It really was one of those movies you either loved or hated. But trust me, there are a large amount of people who would consider that their favorite movie.

From a purely technical standpoint - because I'm a technical film nerd having studied acting and directing and whatnot - it was the best ensemble performance I've ever seen in a movie, Tom Cruise in particular. The directing sucked me in as well. Paul Thomas Anderson does things with the camera that you've never seen before, never more prevelant than in this movie.

Emotionally, though, it was a movie that I connected with in many ways and a movie that set off a variety of emotions and feelings. Like the numb feeling in my butt after it was over. :-) It was long, but that was it's only flaw.

And that ending. Best ending I've ever seen, whether it made sense or not. I laughed, I marvelled, I was frightened, I wondered "What the hell?!" Like you explained, it is possible with tornados and such, but obviously that's not what was really going on here. There were definite biblical references. There are many interpretations to get out of it. But I always judge how much I like a movie by how much I think about it after seeing it, and I couldn't get this movie out of my mind. I don't know, it was just one of those movies that was so well-done and so enjoyable to me that I constantly kept finding myself uncontrollably smiling at it. Even when it was really sad, it was just so good and so capable of making you feel something - whether it be be happiness or sorrow - that I couldn't help but smile.

- jim

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Re: What else changed our lives?

Post by Joanna » Apr 15th 2002, 2:42 pm

Hhhmmm, that is a very interesting question :0)

Do I consider MSCL to be a feminist show??

Well, I don't think it is out right 'burn-your-bra' in-your-face feminism but I do think it is very clever in the way it portrays women.....in relationships - such as daughters/mothers, between friends, male/female. MSCL shows all of its female characters as strong independent women (they all know what they are doing better than their male counterparts) - every single one no matter what their age - whether it be Patty's mum or Danielle, Amber or Delia....they all have something incredible to offer as women. The way they care for each other, offer advice, support and strength (shown well in the relationship bond between Sharon and her mum) - and I think this comes across extremely well in the show. The strengths women have (that make men sexist) are praised in this show - the men, well...as Graham points out 'it's kinda hard to figure out how to be a man'. Women always know how to be women - our role, to always work things out and look after people, is an unconcious one and men don't have a clue (excluding Rickie). I think, in that sense, the show is definitely 'feminine' as opposed to 'feminist'. To try and make my point I like the way that all of the women are such strong individual characters and that each of their strengths shines through no matter who they are - this is true in real life. Men are pretty useless ;0) The world would stop without us women!!!

Sorry to all the guys out there - but this is girl-talk!!!!!

"And dance by the light of the moon!"

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Re: What else changed our lives?

Post by Guest » Apr 15th 2002, 11:22 pm

Hi, Yes this show changed my life in the fact that I have never related too deeply to any tv show except for a few good ones such as MSCL & Party of Five. Yeah sure I have watched alot of shows but never got into the characters as much as these.

But MSCL really got me into Claire Danes acting. Once I saw her in this show I just had to collect her work. It's weird cause I can watch Little Women but I can still see Angela inside her. Then I can watch Romeo & Juliet & again I see little bit of Angela, the same with To Gillian.

But getting back to the topic. For a guy, I'm glad that this forum is here cause now I realize that I am not the only guy who is hooked on MSCL and I'm glad to see some fans here are my age. :)

I can't imagine life without My So Called Life!!!

R

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Re: What else changed our lives?

Post by kenickie » Apr 16th 2002, 3:19 pm

Well, now it's my turn..... things that have changed my life...

1. The show (obviously). This was the only thing I had to hold on to when I was going through my teenager years.
2. Dubstar. A truly fantastic band who broke my heart with every single song. Sadly now split up. But they remain one of my favorite bands ever.
3. Kenickie. Another band who made outstanding glitter-stomp anthems for the cider generation. Only 16/17 when they got signed they sang about going out till late, getting drunk in parks, horrible boys. Another truly fantastic band who are sadly no more.
4. "Coming out". Yes boys and girls I am gay. Growing up knowing that you are and then being kicked out of home (something which I saw a couple of years earlier on MSCL) are quite big things to go through. I have managed to turn my life around, but it's taking time, slowly but surely.
5. Becoming an Uncle :)) I love being able to spoil someone. And although she is only five, we have so much in common.
Anyway, I have gone on long enough. No doubt there will be more. ;)



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But it's hard, when the world knows your name.

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Post by pgh kenny » Sep 24th 2002, 8:05 pm

I'm burned out from reading the dvd forum, this question on the other hand is fun to answer:

things that changed my life, not in any order:

1. mtv's 120 minutes (now shown on mtv2)
2. violent femmes
3. the movie office space :D
4. the tv show undeclared
5. the tv show party of five
6. bumping into my future wife on a penn state street corner
7. working in nyc as a result of 9-11-01
8. the tv show that 70's show
9. the band throwing muses
10. the band soul asylum
11. the song i'll stop the world and melt with you by modern english
12. living in tucson, arizona
13. the artist tori amos

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Post by dTheater » Sep 24th 2002, 10:27 pm

I've noticed a lot of Tori references on the forum lately. I've heard a good part of her new album which comes out late October I believe. Best thing she's done since Little Earthquakes.
- Jim

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Post by Debs » Sep 25th 2002, 8:27 am

Ok. I like this thread. I haven't posted here because I tend to be quite dark. But today I think, what the hell, this is me!! So here we go; a list of things that have effected me are as follows:

* At 6, having my best friend (and whole world) leave and move to another place. She was the first person ever to break my heart. I thought about Elaine my whole life and I'm now 30! I tracked her down last year via Friends Reunited. We are now emailing regularly. It's like we never lost contact. It's great. I love the internet!

* At 15, finding out my father was living a double life. He always worked abroad so growing up without him around was normal. He used to visit for a week or so every few months and fix up the house... And that was it, not play in the snow or read us books, just fix up the damn house. One day, while he was 'home' visiting, I caught him in a public phone box making a call. (*The scenes where Angela becomes suspicious of Graham really speak to me*) ... I can still remember the guilty look on my dad's face as he hung up the receiver... I was so naive. Even then, it didn't occur to me that his heart was in another place. Turns out that he was phoning his real home - the one he'd been sharing with his other woman for two years. And Mum knew - and that's the reason why I'd find her crying in the bath when I got home from school... When my brother and I were told, it all came out - how he'd been cheating on mum from when I was born. I spent the next ten years in my own world really, just thinking about what I thought was real actually wasn't. He still never said sorry or even tried to talk to me about it. He still lives with 'her' and phones here every week, you know, to talk about the weather and get the football results. Mum crosses the street to avoid people who may ask about her life. She never got that divorce and still wears her wedding ring. My family is a farce.

* At 16, seeing The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink and other 80s teen films. I loved Desperately Seeking Susan. I wanted to BE Susan, wandering America without any ties. And she looked so damn funky too.

* At 17, becoming intoxicated by someone who didn't know I existed and not having the communication skills to do anything about it. I was 19 when I last saw him and I think I'd still blush like a teenager if I ever bumped into him, even now!

* At 20, moving to Maryland USA to live and work for a year. Moving away from our unhealthy house was the best thing I could have done. I made many friends and had a wonderful time travelling around and making the most of it. I went on a trek on the west coast - the sceneary there is still etched on my mind. It's breathtaking. During my year in America I watched MTV for the first time and became passionate about Aerosmith - a band who doesn't get much air time over here in England. British music didn't excite me anymore... Aerosmith made me feel alive!

* At 22, discovering My So-Called life. It captivated me. I was a little older than Angela but through her I realized it was ok to feel the way that I did.

* At 23, being the first in my family to go to university. I wasn't very academic at school and didn't do well in my GCSEs - Hmmm, I wonder why! My higher education was as much of a surprise as it was a gift.

* At 24, Seeing Singles and aspiring to write like Cameron Crowe. And Winnie H of course. Now that lady can touch people xx

* At 26, graduating from uni with a 2.1 in "Scriptwriting for Film & Television". Now I had a focus.

* At 27, realizing a whole decade had passed me by and I had grown from a moody teenager into a bitter and hateful young woman. I realized I wasn't doing myself any favours - I had to let go and learn to forgive. This was also the year I stopped wearing black!

* At 28, moving to a new town on my own and living there for a year. I thought I could become a new person, the kind of person I was in my head - but the reality was very different; I didn't make any friends, I loathed my job, my flatmate just wanted me there for the rent and I cried myself to sleep every night. I become so isolated that it made me actually *want* to come back home to the place I grew up. And I did.

* At 29, I put it all on paper and had my first short drama script accepted by the Northern Production Fund and Tyne Tees Television!! The characters I had created were brought to life and I'll never forget seeing it filmed. I've not had anything else accepted since but it is a good start and I hope to one day make it as a real writer and live a rich and rewarding life!!

* September the 11th 2002 - my 30th birthday. That dreadful day a year ago will come back again and again. While I cry a lot for those who were lost, I refuse to watch the television because this is also my day too. And while the world was mourning ... I had a time xx :oops:

Ok, so it's more of an essay than a list. But I'm just putting it out there, casting it to the wind... Feels good x
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Post by socalledfan » Sep 25th 2002, 2:27 pm

Debs, thank you for sharing so much. You sound like a very strong woman and I admire you for surviving it all and achieving your writing dreams too.

Here are my answers to this great question. Things/events that have shaped my so-called life (not necessarily in order):


* first and foremost... losing my father when I was 17. He passed away suddenly and it devastated me to the core. I fell into a deep depression and so did my mother. It has taken both of us 10 years to feel semi-normal again.

* Getting through high school in one piece. Angela was right. School really is a battlefield for your heart.

* really delving into my writing and finding my voice as a poet. This has given me pride and has saved my life through some tough times.

* getting my heart broken badly, more than once. Guys really scarred me there for a while...

* Realizing which friends from the past were going to be around FOREVER, and which ones were unhealthy relationships that I needed to let go of.

* Going to college and meeting the best friends of my life. They're all like sisters to me now.

* realizing that I'm a feminist and learning what that means to me.

* overcoming my fear of speaking up when I need to.

* meeting the love of my life in a twist-of-fate type situation. We are now married.

* my wedding day. The happiest day of my life and I felt like a princess for the very first time in my life. I felt alive.

* MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC. I am obsessed with music...the soundtrack of my life is quite eclectic. But every album, nearly every song, has meaning for me because of a time in my life or an emotion that I have felt. Tori gets mentioned a lot on this forum, I know, but her album Little Earthquakes is my "life metamorphosis" album. Depeche Mode is a favorite of mine. I love the Beatles especially the most beautiful song ever written, "Blackbird"..I also really dig Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Motown groups, etc.... Radiohead/Thom Yorke ranks high on my list too. The album OK Computer takes me to another dimension and reminds me of early times with my now-husband.

* Great movies and television shows that really speak to me or entertain me. Off the top of my head, tv shows: MSCL, Felicity, The Wonder Years, and Seinfeld. Movies: Say Anything, all the John Hughes teen films, Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Rings, Amelie, Breakfast at Tiffany's....so many, many more.

* Giving up smoking. It was a nasty social habit for many, many years. I always did enjoy "sparking up" with my friends....but it was a terrible thing to do to my body and I am now tobacco free.

* finding the self-confidence that has been eluding me all my life. I am 27 and am just now feeling great and loving myself (not in a conceited way). I liken this self-realization to the end of the MSCL episode "The Zit" where Angela realizes that she IS worthy, she IS a beautiful woman and she DOES like herself. It took me years to let go of my low self-esteem. Our society really teaches women to be down on themselves...to think they are not good enough. Well, I am done with that. So, I'm not a size 4 anorexic model. But I love who I am and I don't care if my curves don't conform to the warped ideal of beauty in our culture. (gals, who can relate to this?)


There's probably more I could say but that's enough for now! :? This is a great topic, people...please keep it going.

Peace,
SCF
"You're sooo beautiful, it HURTS to look at you."

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Post by Megs » Sep 25th 2002, 7:01 pm

pgh_kenny wrote:6. bumping into my future wife on a penn state street corner
Hey! My husband and I are PSU grads. What corner was that?
"I have all these dreams where I know exactly what to say. And you tell me, you know, that you forgive me."

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Post by Megs » Sep 25th 2002, 7:23 pm

I'll try to tackle this.

My high school sweetheart. He changed me in so many ways, both good and bd... He dumped me in my parent's driveway on the night of our Senior Prom. Then I went away to the beach for a week for "Senior Week" and realized all that I had to offer to someone. I got back together with him a few weeks later. That fall I started taking classes at the local college. I cringe when I think about this, but I cheated on him. Repeatedly. Once I realized how moronic I was being, I re-devoted myself to him and our relationship. I will never cheat on anyone again. I can't tell you how much that experience changed me. That was my first experience with karma coming back and kicking me in the ass. He dumped me again a year later and I was devasted. I was depressed. He went away to Europe for a few weeks and in that time, I stupidly thought that I was over him. Until he called me when he returned and I slipped back into that depression. We are still friends. I don't believe that you can share something so deep with someone and not stay connected. We talk every few months and its like we just saw each other.

Falling in love with my husband. We grew up less than 10 miles from each other and attended the same grade school and high school. We knew "of" each other, but we never knew each other. We "met" in college (a satellite campus of Penn State) and quickly fell in love at the age of 19. Been together (with two brief separations) ever since.

Second indication of karma kicking me in the ass. My husband (then boyfriend) cheating on me (he kissed some girl when he went on vacation). I can't even talk about that. Second instance of devastation. And depression.

Graduating from college and moving two states away to be with my boyfriend. I knew no one else. I still get homesick.

Marrying the love of my life, my cutie. Such a beautiful day in October of 2000. I will never forget it.

9/11/2001.

Those few songs that knock you off your feet, they are so realistic. The kind that makes you wonder how the song writer snuck into your head at night and watched and listened to your dreams, your hopes, your fears...

That's all for now. Got to go do something for Mr. Megs.
"I have all these dreams where I know exactly what to say. And you tell me, you know, that you forgive me."

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Post by Guest » Sep 26th 2002, 11:21 am

Megs wrote:
We "met" in college (a satellite campus of Penn State) and quickly fell in love at the age of 19.
You asked about where I met my wife at Penn State.... I guess I might as well also explain how I met her. Warning, this is a long story - but it is some of the story behind the things I listed above as changing my life.

When I was in college at Cornell University, I started dating a girl that I had noticed earlier in the semester. Over the summer break, I went home to Meadville, Pennsylvania and she returned to Phoenix, Arizona. Over the summer, she started cheating on me, but failed to inform me that she wanted to break up. When we returned to college she didn't actually break up with me or tell me she had met someone else, she just lied and said she felt differently. Her friend told me what really happened. So I was real mad and I didn't talk to her for a year. I did some mean things - like write in chaulk all over the cornell campus sidewalks the phrase "wah wah" with a big crying face along with some other choice stuff directed at her.

Then we became friends again our senior year after I was in a theatrical production, and being a guy, I thought that we would get back together if we got to be good friends. At the end of my senior year, still hopeful that we'd be getting back together soon, I moved to Tucson, AZ to go to engineering grad school; she was going to medical school. Well then, this guy she had been seeing 3 years ago during the summer comes back into her life, and she doesn't know that I know what had happened. I quit talking to her again still bitter about what happened in college.

I ended up meeting great people in Tucson, and hanging out in a really cool bar called the Airport Lounge. After a year, however, my grad school advisor asks me to move to Pennsylvania with him, since he accepted a job at Penn State. I didn't want to leave Tucson, but I didn't want to start my research over, either! And I'm thinking "what the hell is going on, I moved to Arizona to get away from Pennsylvania and New York". But in the end, I moved. I was depressed. I was sad that I would have to make friends all over again in State College.

The second week I was living in State College, I found myself sitting on the sofa, wasting my life away watching bad TV. I said to myself, Ken, you are never going to improve your life sitting on a sofa. So I went for a stroll and went to a bar. The bar was boring so then I went for another stroll. As I am approaching the corner of college and allen (at the allen street grill, which has the slogan, "meet you at the corner") I notice a hot girl walking towards me. But I was shy and I couldn't think of anything to say. Plus, I didn't think she'd be into me because that particular night I was dressed like this: "ohhhhhhhh I am robert smith from the cure, I am soooooooo depressed".

The girl's friend said HEY LORI THERE'S A HOT GUY WHY DON"T YOU SAY HI TO HIM" At that point I had an excuse to talk to her, and I said, is there anything to do here? And then we went to The Diner. She kept talking about canoeing. I hate the water; I don't swim. But I was into her, so I pretended to be a world class water guy. The next day she calls and says, let's go canoeing. I bluffed and said sure. We went canoeing. I was scared to death. Two guys near us saw us from behind and said "hey ladies why don't you come over here" (I had very long hair at the time).

Nine months later, she proposed to me, I accepted and we've been married for three years. When she proposed she was 19 and I was 24. We won a major battle and convinced our parents to let us have a vegetarian wedding. But we gave in and got married in a church.

When we met, she wasn't going to the main campus of Penn State; she was going to a satellite campus at Du Bois. Needless to say, I learned to drive the I-80 route between State College and Du Bois in my sleep. After the first year, she transferred to Pitt, and I moved with her to go to Carnegie Mellon for a Ph.D. However, being poor sucks, so I dropped out of Ph.D. school and got a job. Pittsburgh is a great place to land. We have highways that only the bus can use called busways. We bought a nice house less than 3 miles from downtown for less than $75,000.

After this event, my life has been forever changed. I now believe in fate. I believe in love at first sight - within 1 week of meeting lori, I knew that she was going to be my wife. I suffered 3 years of angst hanging with the ex-girlfriend, but that is the reason that I met the person that I was really meant to be with. For me, what is really interesting is that I can point to several life events that happened to me that prepared me to meet lori. I'll spare everyone those details.

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Post by pgh kenny » Sep 26th 2002, 11:31 am

opps that previous post was mine. guess i forgot to login.

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Post by Megs » Sep 26th 2002, 11:48 am

pgh_kenny wrote:opps that previous post was mine. guess i forgot to login.
Wow. All these memories flooding back at the mention of old PSU landmarks! The Diner! The Corner Room! What a wonderful story, Ken. So romantic.

My husband and I went to PSU - Schuylkill in Eastern PA, and transferred to State College in 1996 and 1997. Maybe we were there at the same time. Did you ever grow to love State College? I haven't been back there since I graduated in 1999, and I think that I miss it. When you mentioned all of those things, it made me homesick for PSU! How great that you met your wife on the corner of Allen and College Ave. Perfect.

And I do believe in fate. Very much so. My husband and I grew up miles from each other, and didn't get together until college. We actually went to the same middle and high schools, and then the same college... I think someone was trying to tell us something, b/c I did not want to go to PSU. Nope. Not at all. But I did, and I got a kick ass husband and best friend out of the deal! (Thanks, Dad for not letting me go to that private, all girls school!) It is wonderful, because our parents live 10 minutes from each other so the horrible annual "holiday fights" about who we are going to spend them with never happen. We now live in Northern VA in a suburb of DC, but I miss Pennsylvania very much.

Samll world. :)
"I have all these dreams where I know exactly what to say. And you tell me, you know, that you forgive me."

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Post by StrawberryGirl » Sep 26th 2002, 12:22 pm

Megs wrote:My husband and I grew up miles from each other, and didn't get together until college. We actually went to the same middle and high schools, and then the same college...
Me too! My husband actually grew up right down the street from me. We knew of each other, but I don't think we ever even spoke. Until 1999, when he showed up at my house, looking for a friend of his, whose car he though was parked in our driveway. A year later, we got married. Isn't it awesome, marrying someone who basically has the same life as you? I mean, as far as knowing the same places, the same schools, same memories. It's the best. :)

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Post by pgh kenny » Sep 26th 2002, 12:37 pm

Megs wrote:
Maybe we were there at the same time. Did you ever grow to love State College?
We miss State College a lot. I lived there Fall '97 and Spring '98 at Lion's Gate apartments. Actually, I always told myself I would never set foot on the Penn State campus when I was looking at colleges in 90-91. It turned out I loved the place. My wife transferred to Pitt because Penn State was giving her grief about transferring to main campus. Prior to starting at Penn State Du Bois, Lori almost went to a private all girl's school, too. I'm really glad she didn't!

I have some great memories of Penn State. Do you remember the retired physics professor who decided that once a week he'd smoke a marijuanna joint at the main gate to the university to make a point about his political beliefs? I remember the summer art's festival - and the summer art's festival riot. I used to enjoy having dinner at the Allen Street Grill - that's where I'd always go if I had a few extra dollars laying around. Oh I feel so old!

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