I'm a Geek
But you knew that, right?
One of the passions the girls and I developed this winter/spring was for Project Runway, a weirdly addictive reality show where a bunch of clothing designers vie for a big prize that will help them in their career. The show is filled with outsize personalities, people you love to hate, people you love despite the fact that their talent is clearly not quite up to the others--all that gooey reality show goodness. And because when I was a kid I wanted to be a clothing designer (no one who looks at me now would believe that, since most days I am Mom Shlub, and quite cheery about it) I find it rivetting.
Okay, so last week when we were in NY on holiday we went to the huge Toys R Us in Times Square so that Younger Girl could take photos for her classmates, who didn't believe there was a three-storey high ferris wheel inside the store. We wandered through the store and into the Barbie section (which is a huge temple to all things Barbie and is, of course, pinkpinkpink) and there collided with a bit of Project Runway neepery. One of the projects on this season's show had been to design an outfit for a new "My Scene" Barbie. The winning designer was Nick Verreos, a very talented designer who was eliminated from the contest just short of the final three.
So there, as we turned a corner, was Nick's Barbie. All three of us (SG, YG and I) giggled and shrieked and said "Oh my God!" and agreed that while it looked miles better on a full-sized adult human, it was really cute. And Sarcasm Girl turned to me and said, "God, I'm such a geek!" Then, accusingly, "God, you're such a geek." Guilty as charged.
One of the passions the girls and I developed this winter/spring was for Project Runway, a weirdly addictive reality show where a bunch of clothing designers vie for a big prize that will help them in their career. The show is filled with outsize personalities, people you love to hate, people you love despite the fact that their talent is clearly not quite up to the others--all that gooey reality show goodness. And because when I was a kid I wanted to be a clothing designer (no one who looks at me now would believe that, since most days I am Mom Shlub, and quite cheery about it) I find it rivetting.
Okay, so last week when we were in NY on holiday we went to the huge Toys R Us in Times Square so that Younger Girl could take photos for her classmates, who didn't believe there was a three-storey high ferris wheel inside the store. We wandered through the store and into the Barbie section (which is a huge temple to all things Barbie and is, of course, pinkpinkpink) and there collided with a bit of Project Runway neepery. One of the projects on this season's show had been to design an outfit for a new "My Scene" Barbie. The winning designer was Nick Verreos, a very talented designer who was eliminated from the contest just short of the final three.
So there, as we turned a corner, was Nick's Barbie. All three of us (SG, YG and I) giggled and shrieked and said "Oh my God!" and agreed that while it looked miles better on a full-sized adult human, it was really cute. And Sarcasm Girl turned to me and said, "God, I'm such a geek!" Then, accusingly, "God, you're such a geek." Guilty as charged.
posted by Madeleine Robins at 7:23 AM
3 Comments:
I think, in this case, geek means "enthusiast about things most people would find trivial and weird." But I'm just guessing. We probably like to think of ourselves that way; I'll check with SG.
Ohhhh, I love Project Runway. I wanted Daniel V. to win but I like Chloe, too. I ended up feeling sorry for Santino. I am very late to the reality show bandwagon, but I love Project Runway and like America's Next Top Model and am ambivalent about Top Chef, for which I had high hopes...
If I know the names of most of the people who were on Project Runway, and if I am a Tim Gunn enthusiast, does that make me a geek? (I think the Time's Square Toys 'R Us is the only place where you can still get Nick's My Scene Barbie.)
They had dozens, if not hundreds, of the Barbie, but at $32 a pop it was beyond my impulse-purchase threshold, and anyway, I'm not a Barbie fancier either.
Yeah, I wound up feeling bad for Santino, who clearly had a failure of nerve at the end, and was appalled by how he appeared on the show. I wanted Daniel to win too--even with the tassel on the evening dress. Though I did like the cut of Chloe's clothes, I thought Daniel's were more interesting.
I loved Project Runway; I watch Top Chef because YG was on it (they did a show with Boys and Girls Club kids, and YG, predictably, is one of the kids they quote and name, singing the praise of some yogurt). But I have to say that fashion works better than food: you really don't see the cooking process (as wiith a cooking show) and the end results, while pretty, cannot be judged on TV by the home audience. Just because something looks good doesn't mean it tastes good. So we're left judging purely on personality, which I find unsatisfying.
Haven't seen America's Next Top Model, and resist most other reality shows. But when Runway starts next year, I'm likely to be right there.
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