What I want to know is: how did people find things before the Internet? Probably some secret person-to-person pipeline that has long since disappeared. Like the Undergound Railroad or something. Except of restaurant recommendations and doctors’ office numbers.
There are a lot of review sites out there, but nothing has covered the scope and scale of my needs in life like Yelp. Not only because it’s a for-real grassroots source of business information, but also because it is such a terrific outlet for one’s ENTHUSIASM about anything and everything.
I’ve found restaurants, bars, thrift stores (a wholllle other enthusiasm post!) and veterinarians on Yelp and I have it on good authority that you can actually find a good gynecologist and dentist there, too. The anonymous posters don’t usually lie – they have no incentive to unless there is a professional beef that needs addressing. And that’s pretty good to know, too…
The next time you’re home sick or you break your fifth left metatarsal (try not to do that), I highly recommend that you watch the N. Most of the programming on the N falls into the fabulous category of “so bad its good.” Having said that, I am ridiculously excited that teen girls have the N to watch because of its incredibly progressive views on social issues. When I was 13 I had My So-Called Life for about 5 minutes, and then of course 90210 for the 10 thousand years that it was on. I have much love for 90210 (so bad its good), as stated in previous blogs. Having said that, 90210 had much disdain for the issues of the 90s.* Easy examples of this include every episode where someone was raped. Re-watching 90210, it was positively rape-tastic. Funny enough, every time someone was raped or accused of rape on 90210 the girl was somehow at fault. Remember when Val was drugged with roofies and Noah had sex with her? Totally not his fault as he was not the one that drugged her…y’know, even though he had sex with an unconscious girl.
I draw your attention now to several examples of progressiveness on the N.
Yes its cheesy. Its a PSA so it should be. Wanda Sykes is in another one. It is still amazing. Was anyone telling you that you shouldn’t call things gay when you were 12? Me neither.
South of Nowhere.
A show that aired for 4 years and portrayed a teenage girl coming out, and her very intense relationship with her girlfriend. I never really watched this so I don’t have anything enlightening to say. I think just the fact that this show existed is pretty amazing.
My love for Degrassi will need a future blog. Other names for this show: “Boy those girls are fertile!” or “We will hit you over the head with a lesson.” On Degrassi, someone will run past some oily rags and an adult will yell “stop that you’ll start a fire!” The school burns down at the end of the episode of course. And don’t you even think of having sex without a condom, or having oral sex in the ravine to earn a bracelet (you’ll get pregnant and/or gonorrhea respectively). Having said that there was an amazing episode this season that, in the most heavy handed way ever, taught teenage GIRLS that masturbation is okay. Two girls find a vibrator and bring it to school. One of the girls gets caught (it vibrates in her bag and her teacher thinks its a cell phone–Heeeelarious), but the girls don’t get in any trouble and it just generates conversation with one of the girl’s super conservative religious mom. Other lessons learned from Degrassi:
its okay to be gay or have a learning disability
your mom will forgive you if you get gonorrhea
whoever you are talking to on the internet is definitely a sex predator. When the police catch him, they will take your computer away as evidence.
*All except condoms in school–I think Donna Martin had good ideas about that.
The General Enthusiast 