Tangible Tidbits 2011 #37: Teen Idols & A Day of Remembrance

Hey, everyone! Sorry I didn't get here yesterday, but I was watching a series that ran for eight episodes on VH-1 at the beginning of 2009 called Confessions of a Teen Idol. I found it on VH-1's website after seeing The Pirate Movie (1982) earlier in the week for the first time in nearly 30 years, and looking for more recent pictures/footage of Christopher Atkins. He was one of the seven former "heartthrobs" from the '80s and '90s in the series. Although I never saw The Blue Lagoon -- which I may soon rectify -- I had a major crush on him back when The Pirate Movie first came out. He's still a cutie, and he seems to have aged better than I first thought...guess I saw a bad photo. :o Anyway, I have three more episodes to watch, so I'll be doing that as soon as I finish up here! ;)

While watching the series on the internet, I started making a dual color macramé spiral necklace. I saw a few in shops on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, and I wanted to see if I could do it myself. I figured it out pretty quickly, but the spirals are very small because I'm using 1mm WireLace®. Next time, I will use a thicker material. :)

Yesterday's (Newark, NJ) Star Ledger newspaper reprinted the whole original front section from September 12, 2001 in a special section for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. You couldn't get away from the news coverage all last week, although I do realize it is not something we should ever forget. Needless to say, it was a very emotional week for many, regardless of where they live or their native culture. United Airlines Flight 93 -- the plane that went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- took off from Newark International Airport, which is just 20 minutes from my home. A number of students from my high school were killed that day, including one from my class. We could see the smoke at Ground Zero from a lookout in the nearby South Mountain Reservation almost a week later. We wore "patriotic" clothing to the office on Friday, so I made some new red, white, and blue pieces, as I didn't have any! I made a tricolor rubber and metal jump ring bracelet, a pair of simple earrings and a beaded macramé pin in the shape of a commemorative ribbon (see below). I watched a special with Tom Brokaw on Friday evening that recreated the sequence of events. It was educational for me, as much of the timeline was not clear in my memory. I cried many times watching the program. My mother put the ceremony from Ground Zero on the television Sunday morning; I saw parts of it, but I couldn't make myself watch the whole thing. I did read some of the newspaper articles from 2001, as I do not think I read them at the time. Some were very prophetic in terms of our country's anticipated reaction over the decade to come.

Don't forget, there are still two weeks left in our Strut Your Stuff Photo Contest! I haven't received any entries yet, although my nieces did wear some of their "stuff" on vacation and their father took pictures for them. They wanted me to assure them they had places in the display, but I told them I had to be unbiased. LOL Luckily for them, my relatives CAN participate in the contest! ;) If I don't update the website in the next two weeks, I may have to extend the deadline. Then again...if no one enters, I guess I can just scrap the idea entirely. :p

Well, I'd better get back to my teen idol viewing! Have a great week!



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