October 24, 2002

Today is the day to hit one out of the park.

Send me questions. Jay, Denise, Chad, Tung, Ben, Claire, Chris and the lurkers, especially the lurkers. I'll make it short for you; send me questions you think would be essential to any good interview. When it's all done tomorrow you'll see why I'm harvesting these.

Being a Beatles fan can be hard. Read about my feelings regarding Paul McCartney in today's piece in the New York Morning News.

I was going to write about Clinique Bonus Time today, but then, lo and behold, right after The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Grease was on TV.

I don't think I've ever seen any movie more times than I have seen Grease.

I remember the first time I ever saw it. It was Tiffany Nodell's birthday sleepover party, and we all fell in love with it. My favorite was Kinickie (a babysitter explained to me that later in life I'd come to realize why everybody thought John Travolta was such hot stuff.) We icked over how unattractive the Teen Angel was. We pretended to understand sexual jokes and innuendo that we didn't. We all loved Rizzo, were nonplussed by Sandy until, of course, after her transformation.

I'm still, in a puritan way, kind of shocked by some of those jokes, I guess because I can't believe that I was allowed to hear words like "pussy wagon" when I was in grade school, and of course I had no idea what Kinickie's "25-cent insurance policy" was.

Oh, I also noticed, later in life, that Jan is not at all fat, but merely wears baggy sweaters to indicate such.

Anyway, I really can't figure out my addiction to this movie. It's not as if I have Grease posters up in my room or own the movie or anything like that. I enjoy musicals, but it's not like any time Singin' in the Rain is on, I watch it (although Gypsy is another story.)I did, however, go to see Grease when it was re-released in theaters. People sang and danced in the aisles, and it was fabulous.

It's just that whenever it's on, I have to watch.

Most of my other friends are like this, too. Oh, sure, there are other girly movies that are always tempting, like Steel Magnolias, but Grease, just like Vince Vontaine, is the living end (if you like older guys.)

Any boys or girls out there have any explanataions why Grease is like movie heroin? Is it the dancing? The singing? The costumes? John Travolta in his pink shirt? The opening credits? Cha-Cha DeGragorio's dress? The quick cuts during the Hand Jive sequence? Sandy's tight pants and virginal white dress?

Drop me a line.. Tell me why Grease is the word or if it should bite the weenie with relish. In the meantime, keep rockin' and rollin' and whatnot.