Where Did IMDB Message Boards Go? And Why...Why, Why, Why???

When I was a kid, I was pretty awkward and weird, and I immersed myself in the world of movies. They meant everything to me, and I was pretty convinced I'd be a big star and in movies of my own one day.

While that second part hasn't quite happened yet, it's still true that I LOVE movies. I'll watch just about anything once, and some movies are truly a part of my soul.

And, ever since my movie love developed, I've had glorious IMDB to rely on as well. For years and years, including back in high school, I would spend hours on message boards for movies and actors/actresses I loved, connecting with people who were, in some small way, a little more like me than the others I knew and who, along with the movies we discussed, helped me to feel less alone.

Now, though, I'm on a frantic mission to print out (ahh, the paper waste!) all of the conversations I've ever had on IMDB's boards. Why? Well, the iconic site has announced it's doing away with its even more (at least to me) iconic message boards.

The news hit me like a punch in a gut, and I'm still adjusting to it.

For years, my first instinct whenever I watch a movie has been to rush to the boards and see what others have to say, to see what I missed, etc.

I did it just this weekend when I watched The Dirties on Netflix and then again when I watched Saw III on DVD. Oh, and every episode of Teen Mom I watch is followed by a visit to the boards.

With them gone, I am going to feel so lost. Where will I talk about these things, especially the rarer movies that only me and a handful of people in internet world have seen?

I am feeling this like a real loss, and also a bit like an ending of an era. Not cool, IMDB, not cool.

^^^A low-key embarrassing exchange from my early IMDB message board days (2003!). We were talking about MTV's "Rich Girls" of all things :) ^^^

The Love for "Vintage:" What's it All About?

I think it's pretty clear from my blog that I have a true love for all things vintage. I love the past, even though those times weren't always the happiest of my life. They were times when I found things I was passionate about, and, to be honest, most of those things still remain passions.


In fact, while J and I were at the flea market this weekend (the perfect place for a vintage-lover), I joked that, if anybody needed a gift for me, they could just buy me what they would have bought me when I was fourteen.


J laughed and said, "That would be silly since you'd probably still have it."


And, he's absolutely right. I have hung on to a lot of things, as much as possible, and I'm kind of curious as to why. Why do some people hang on to the past, literally and figuratively, while others move on and "grow up?"


There are a lot of potential reasons in my own life:


Stunted?


To start with, I developed a severe eating disorder at 14 years old, and "they" say that people who have addictions/other problems often get "stunted" at the age they were when the problem developed. So, part of me thinks that, in some ways, maybe I'm stunted at fourteen.


A Promise I Made to Myself


I still have all of my old journals (planning to do some funny videos in which I read them melodramatically :).


I can read that at 14, 15, 16, and beyond, I was making promises to myself to "not grow up," to not lose the joy of things like coloring or playing with sidewalk chalk. Maybe I just actually meant that promise and stuck to it.


A Lot of Loss


I can also say that I am someone who struggled with a lot of loss in life. My father basically abandoned us when I was fairly young and, before that, we were very unstable, bouncing from house to house.


I have one horrible memory where he needed money and secretly sold a lot of my toys to the neighbors. I remember walking through the neighbor's house one day and saying, "I have that," and then, "That too," and then realizing that these were all my things that had been sold.


There's another memory where my dad sold our home and all the things in it for money at one point. I remember crying and being so upset that the woman who had just bought it all offered me five dollars. I didn't want it. I wanted my home and things back.


So, maybe that's part of it. Maybe it's that I had a lot of loss and, because of that, I try to hang on to all of the things that I can.


Child at Heart <3


Maybe it's a happier reason than all of this. Maybe it's just that I'm a child at heart and like to hang on to the things that remind me of those times.


I don't know what the reason is. Maybe it's all of these things.


But, I'm curious. If you're a "vintage lover," which you probably are if you're on this blog, what do you think makes you the way you are? Why do you love the past and hang onto it?


And, as an added bonus, here are two vintage outfits I wore to work and snapped pictures of in the work bathroom :)

My first unboxing video...

So, I'm kind of new to the whole Youtube thing, but I decided to try an do an unboxing video since I got something in from Ebay today.

It's an American Girl Samantha figurine that I got for around 6 dollars!

I didn't even know they made these, but when I saw it, I had to have it.

Check her out and let me know what you think. Oh, and please subscribe to my Youtube channel <3

Here's a simple link for subscribing: Subscribe to me!

Rocking out to 90s Britney Spears...

So I posted a video yesterday...of me singing Britney Spears in my car.


Be honest- do you "rock out" like this when you're alone?

<3 <3 <3
-S

5 Things That Happened Since I Started Playing Again....

So, ever since that first excited blog post, I haven't really done much with this blog. That's largely because, despite it being a blog about being a kid at heart and playing with toys, I am, in all actuality, an adult- an adult with a real job and real responsibilities that often get in the way.

That doesn't mean, however, that I haven't been having some fun! In fact, in the short time since I've started playing, a lot has happened for me.

#1) I've realized I'm not a weirdo...(or at least that I'm not the ONLY weirdo)

So, to start things off, when I went to the AG store for the first time, my boyfriend and I were definitely the only adults in there without kids. I thought, "that's it. I'm a weirdo." Of course, I didn't let that stop me from buying some AG clothes and accessories.

However, when I got home, I found an AG board full of none other than adult collectors. This led to finding an AG Instagram community and basically coming to find that there are plenty of other people out there who are "weird" like me, and you know, it's nice to connect with other people over some fun, slightly out-there interest we share.


#2) I've gone outside

Anybody who knows me knows that, deep down, I'm a real introvert and an "inside" kind of person. After work, I head for my house, and, unless forced, I probably won't leave it until the next day.

However, having my doll and being a big kid again has caused me to venture out into the sunshine for the photo ops alone. This is most certainly a good thing.

#3) I've rediscovered "forgotten" toys

So, I've always been an adult who will occasionally impulse buy toys at the thrift shop.I have a lot of plushes, some dolls I've found cute, and sitting up in my closet, I also had a Baby-Sitter's Club Mary-Anne doll. I am a HUGE BSC fan, by the way.

For several years, that poor doll has sat in my closet, atop my well-read BSC collection,untouched and unplayed with. She was just a random Ebay buy that I never bothered with.

But, playing with Samantha made me want to play some more, so I got old Mary-Anne down and incorporated her into my photoshoots. It's nice to finally get some use out of this stuff, and I think actually using some of it will help me to purge the things I really have no use for.

4) It's been fun for me and my guy...

This is kind of a surprising one, but playing with toys has actually helped bring me and my guy closer together.

He bought me Samantha in the first place, so it's been giving him a lot of joy seeing how happy the gift made me.

And, surprisingly, he's even finding it fun helping me find doll-size items (we went on a Hobby Lobby run together), helping arrange her for photos, and has even had some ideas on dolly things he can make.

Plus, we've been talking a lot about the nature of "play," how we each played as kids, the different ways that people play, and what it all says about us.

Pretty fun, right?

5) I'm creative again!

Finally, and most importantly, I feel like playing with this doll has opened the floodgates of creativity for me.

I used to be someone who wrote and even published stories. I used to be someone with lots of ideas.

With my demanding job and life, however, those things have fallen by the wayside in recent years. If I write, it's always for work, not fun.

Since I've started playing, though, it's opened something up inside of me. I have ideas for photos, for blogs, for Youtube videos, and for stories.

In fact, I found a thrift store doll last night, and I'm excited to use her as inspiration for a story and to design a character around her.

I feel like I'm getting back to me.

Long ago, as a child, dolls gave me ideas for stories, helped me write, helped me think, helped me explore, and it's pretty awesome that they're doing it again now.

As you can see, playing has been a great thing for me...and it probably will be for you too, so I encourage you to find and release your inner child.

Much Love,
S.