MY heart will go on...

It's been awhile since I've participated in Way Back When-sday, but I think that shortly you will be agreeing with me: it was worth the wait.

No cutesy logo anymore, since Allison decided to stop hosting. Like her, I was finding it difficult to find inspiration/pictures/time to scan stuff every week. But then there are those times that inspiration just jumps out and bites you. Inspiration so strong that you deem it worth the trouble of crawling up into the attic, fighting through all of the Christmas decorations you haphazardly threw up there a few months ago, digging out the giant Tupperware tub of "old stuff from Mom & Dad's house," and rifling through 25 photo albums ALL so that you can find The Picture.

The other day, I mentioned my excitement about seeing the Titanic preview before Hunger Games started. I also mentioned that back in the day, I saw the movie a half dozen few times in the theater. Luckily, I was rewarded with several comments affirming that I am not the only one cherishing such fond memories of the Titanic phenomenon-- nor am I the only one excitedly anticipating the re-release next month. I was thinking all of this through, when suddenly it all came back to me.

The Obsession.

You know how sometimes your memory blocks things out because if you remembered them all the time, it could be really embarrassing or humiliating? But then sometimes your brain will let you remember them, just so that you can congratulate yourself on how far you've come as a human and how super not-lame you are now. Well thankfully, The Obsession normally lies dormant somewhere in my subconscious. Until now. When I'm going to share it with you. And then I'll need you all to forget it and never bring it up again, thanks.

When Titanic came out, I don't think I just liked it. I didn't just enjoy the soundtrack. I didn't just happen to find myself at the theater every weekend for over a month, watching the same movie. I'm pretty sure I was legitimately obsessed. Here's my evidence:

1) Back in early 1998, I had already reached Level Ten Black Belt Ninja Warrior Internet Stalker status. Meaning I could and would search out anything my little 15 year old heart desired: and what it was desiring, apparently, was Titanic. The script. The whole script. And so what did I do? I found that movie script. And then I printed it.

All couple hundred pages of it.

Oh yes, it took a long time. And STACKS of (my dad's) paper. I had to stand there at the printer for HOURS, feeding paper into that thing! But when it was done? I had the whole entire script to the blockbuster movie, stage directions and all. It was so awesome. I carried it to school in my backpack and was the envy of a few super lame people everyone. And then my dad found out. And he was not as impressed by my dedication to Rose and Jack as I was. Spoilsport.

2) I couldn't NOT be surrounded with reminders of Jack and Rose's true love-- what if I forgot, even for a minute, and found myself whisked off to marry some rich jerk? Can't happen. So since this was before the days when I could just whip out my phone and see pictures of them, and since I apparently spent all of my money on movie tickets and had none left to invest in a Tiger Beat or something, I had to make do with what I did have: my dad's printer.

 Can you see it? It's my Titanic collage! There's Leo, right in the middle-- prime real estate. Across the top we have one of the movie banners, the "I'm flying, Jack!" scene, and our star-crossed lovers embracing. On the bottom are two more heart-wrenching close-ups. And this collage? I carried it with me everywhere. Where I went, it went. And I'm not gonna lie-- people were pretty jealous of it. I probably could have started a sweet collage-selling-side-business if my dad hadn't put his printer in a locked cabinet.*

The only thing that could make this story sweeter would be if I still HAD the collage, but sadly, I don't think I do. At some point, my brain tried to help me save a little face by destroying the evidence of The Obsession, including the collage and the script. Which is super sad, because HOW FUN would it be to still have that script and get some folks together to act out the movie??!!! I know. Dibs on being Rose.

 

*Just kidding, he didn't really lock up his printer. But I think we had to have a Serious Conversation regarding proper usage of paper and ink, leading me to believe he wouldn't want to be fronting the equipment for my new Titanic Collage Business.