If you aren't convinced already, I really WAS a nerd

It's not often that I purchase DVDs. In fact, I own no more than 8 or 10. Some of them I bought spontaneously; wheeled in by sale prices, and some of them were given to me by various people for various reasons. While discussing the ever-controversial subject of funny movies several nights ago, my cousin announced that he wanted to buy The Life Aquatic. We were all pretty jazzed by the idea, so the complete nerdy bunch of us piled into 2 vehicles (it was a stellar event) and headed to Best Buy.

Because, as I said, I don't often shop for these types of things, I wasn't really aware of the myriad of options that are now sold in DVD form. We wandered the aisles for 30 minutes and took turns pointing out the titles we spotted. I saw movies and sitcoms and cartoons that have resided only in my memory for years and years past. Someone had a story to share for just about every selection that was picked up. Two of us decided that this memorialization of our childhoods was like a trip to DisneyWorld...only quicker and without the long lines. Doogie Howser,M.D.; a post-Star Wars Ewok Movie; Pee Wee's Playhouse.... these were just a few of the ones we joked about. There was one DVD set that stood out above all the rest. Its beauty was illuminated by an imaginary spotlight. As soon as I grabbed The Quantum Leap collection, my cousin and I started laughing. Yes, there was a story to tell.....

Quantum Leap was my favorite TV show when I was in middle school. (I guess it was on between 1991 and 1994.) If you weren't fortunate enough to have watched it, the story line revolved around a scientist who traveled around in time in efforts to change things that went wrong in peoples' lives. It starred the chivalrous and handsome Scott Bakula. He was in his late 30's at the time....had an unfashionable, shaggy hairstyle with a grey streak in front. In my juvenile eyes, he was manly beauty personified. So obsessed with him was I that I insisted on watching not only the new weekly episodes, but the reruns that came on every evening on USA. This is where the sick part comes in: somewhere along the way, I decided that I needed even MORE of this show in my daily life. I drug out my boombox and some blank audio casettes. Propping it up in front of the television, I would record my favorite episodes, then listen to them with headphones when I went to bed at night. My entire family made fun of me mercilessly for doing this, but it didn't stop me. They finally forbade me to watch the reruns alltogether. Good move on their part. I eventually moved on and focused my obsessions on people more attainable. Well, people more tangible, anyway. I even stopped calling my pillow "Scotty".

As infatuated as I was with Scott Bakula, he wasn't my first celebrity crush. The first was Davy Jones of the Monkees. Next was David Hasslehoff in his Nightrider days. After that came Matthew Broderick. You know what would be interesting?.....Knowing all the celebrities that had crushes on ME. What a list that would be.