Time, Watches and Turquoise Nail Polish May 25, 2008
Posted by brandy in Tetris & Where's Waldo? were staples of my youth, beauty can get ugly, brookem is awesome!, confession of the day, i should be a P.S.A., it seemed like a good idea at the time..., it's always easier to say it than do it, learning, sigh. i've made a tag for THE HILLS., something I won't forget, thinking, this is where I grew up, this makes me sound dumber than i am, this tag is for you Arm!, what do you say when you aren't sorry?, when i say it anyway, you're skimming this one.trackback
I don’t wear a watch. I stopped wearing one in grade 6 when my mom shelled out serious (well, it was serious at the time) money for a Guess? watch that I had dramatically declared I could not live without. I distinctly remember telling my mom that. I would STOP BREATHING if I didn’t get the white, thin strapped watch with the glow in the dark hands. So my mom, wanting to ensure my survival on the planet (and enable my unhealthy dramatic nature) bought me the watch.
I had it exactly one week before I decided that there was one thing I could do to make it cooler. That one thing? Painting the white bands with my sparkly turquoise nail polish. Naturally. Because what doesn’t look better when coated in thick layers of sparkly turquoise globs? Of course (and rightfully so), my mom was horrified. The nail polish began to flake off as soon as it dried, but the parts I had applied multiple coats to just turned soft and gummy and gave off a toxic smell. I hated what it looked like but I couldn’t not wear it- taking it off would admit that I had been wrong and if there’s one thing a 12 year will not do is admit to being wrong. There would have been a greater chance of me relinquishing my much loved Wilson Phillips cassette than admit I had perhaps, showed poor judgment.
A few weeks later I was swimming in my friend Laura’s pool and realized that I had forgot to remove it before getting in the pool. I didn’t want to admit to my mom that I had ruined my watch because I forgot to take it off (my mom had suggested a waterproof Swatch watch- I held out for the Guess one because in my grade 6 mind, “waterproof” = “not cool enough to wear with my No-Fear t-shirts and acid wash jeans”. And for the record, “me”= “idiot”). So, I continued to wear the watch that had nail polish peeling off of it, didn’t work and smelled.
I wore it until my mom insisted that I take it off. The smell gave me a headache and the gummy remains ruined my bedding and stained my clothes. I took it off because she insisted. Because without encouragement, I would have wore that watch until it fell off to protect my ego. Because I couldn’t let myself admit defeat, admit my mistake and let it go.
I was too proud.
Time has gone by. I’m older. I don’t have nail polish in my hand and Laura’s parents converted the pool room into a games room. And I worry I making the same mistake all over again.
For me, pride is the emotional equivalent of Spencer Pratt. Good in small doses, but overall? Unhealthy and generally bad news.
ha, look at you with all your tags on this one!
i totally owned the swatch that your mom wanted you to get. i also had a guess, not the white band but one sounding samilar.
turquoise nailpolish, eh? intesting!
What devotion to the watch! Pride can make you do strange things at times. Of course, they don’t seem as strange when you’re doing them!
12 year olds are SO stubborn. Ridiculously so. You’re right- pride in small doses.
I believe that we have all painted our white watches turquoise and touted the utter rightness of it at one point or other
um, I have a puppy that may or may not fall in to that category now that you mention it … watch out Scout, if you see me with the OPI, RUN!!
This clearly occurred well before you accepted the sage advice my dad doles out anytime I refuse to flex. He asks, “would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?” Sometimes it’s hard not being right. Even if being right means being totally wrong.
Wow. Loved where you ended up with this one
What a great story. The things we do when we’re young…almost as bad as the things we do when we’re old… I wish I would’ve painted my ex-boyfriend with turquoise nail polish. It would’ve at least made him more interesting to look at as he overstayed his welcome in my too-proud life.
Too funny.
At that age, I never took off my black velour choker. I think I had a black ring around my neck once I finally decided it wasn’t the ultimate accessory.
You? Are awesome. I’m glad you did finally take your watch off though!
LOL, I think I even know what watch you’re talking about!!
When I was 12, I decided my Chow-Chow would look so much better with a new haircut. He came back looking like a poodle. I swear, he wouldn’t stop crying about his lost hair until I put a sweatshirt on him… He eventually forgave me though. At least that’s what I like to think
Made me laugh hard. At about the same age, I decided to personalize my expensive tennis racquet by carving my name in it with a kitchen knife. That, too, wasn’t really a great idea.
I had one of those Guess? watches too. I had forgotten how much I loved that thing!
i concur!! and i’m soooo the same way when in comes to proving a point. i’d definitely say this is one of my shortcomings…pride. my mother never fails to remind me! lol. i loved this story though!
Yeah I agree with you on that. I wish I could just let things go or give in once in awhile. I’m working on it.
What a great story! You’re right, pride gets in the way of making good decisions every now and then. Sometimes I have to remind myself that i’m NOT that 6th grader anymore–and that I can back down. It’s smarter sometimes, in the long run.
Maybe the old adage should be “pride comes before the smell” for you and your watch
)
oooh remember pop swatches? Who really had the dosh to fork out every few weeks for a new band or face, srsly?
very true indeed
Why did we do things like that as kids?? I love how much sense it made at the time, but when you look back at it, you think, “what. was. I. THINKING?!?!”
Nail polish can’t possibly make anything look better other than nails. (Or if there is something, I have yet to discover what that is…) Especially when it turns whatever it’s on into a toxic smelly mess.
Good story
Cute story……and don’t you hate it how mom’s are always right?
Heh, good story, even if it did drudge up a whole ‘lotta childhood memories (the Swatch – bwa ha ha ha ha!).
Luckily for me at this point, most of that childhood pride is gone, having made enough mistakes by now to know what a complete fool I can be!
I’d do the same thing, however I probably would have used a marker.
“For me, pride is the emotional equivalent of Spencer Pratt. Good in small doses, but overall? Unhealthy and generally bad news.”
That is the funniest thing I read all day! LOL! So true about the Pratt man.
who would have thunk that this post will full circle around to spencer pratt!
Dude, I think we were the same twelve year old girl! haha
That last line is PERFECT.
Great story, Brandy! Funny as always!
I just wrote you a whole long email and it vanished.
Damnit to all hell.
amen, sister. amen. (this post really hit home) xo, bb
I’ve had a watch constantly since the age of about six (not the same one, obviously!) and I couldn’t live without it. I don’t think I would have dreamed of trying to vandalise it (sorry, “customise” it) though – my mum WOULD have killed me!!!
Stop it with the Hills references…you’re making me admit to myself that I actually watch it more than just when comedy central is on commercial.
Oh Miss Brandy… how I’ve missed your stories
I hear you about the pride thing… regardless of age. And for the mistakes? Well… think of it this way; you’ve found ANOTHER way that DOESN’T work.
great success.
I did skim the post just because it seems like the right thing to do with your tags. Brookem is awesome. Fine, I’m just going to comment on your tags and not the content of this post because I know that sort of thing pleases you very much. I might as well send you a hate letter about vaginas while I’m at it.
Did you ever own a video game watch? Those were pretty cool and were a great way to ignore your grade school teacher. I mean, middle school.
I love a good Hills final thought. Very precious Brandy.
I LOVE your blog! I just started reading it and have read random entries that caught my eye – you know, pictures, the word “Stephen Colletti” and tons of other embarrassingly fun things that made me immediately start reading entries not in order. But I just wanted to tell you how much I love it and that I really look forward to reading more. The inner-monologue type stuff i pretty awesome.
)
You seem to be on everyones blogroll, so I thought I better start reading you too.
And I’m delighted. Good stuff, missy!
Interesting trivia- outside of expensive pieces, watch sales have plummeted with the pervasiveness of cell phones (with clocks on them)!
Spencer Pratt is like manure- he sticks, you dont want him on or around you, but in the right setting, he serves a purpose- fodder for others (fertilizer)!
I received a message from Lauren about how to get rid of Spence and Heid for good, we are going to have to move “The Hills”
Lol hahaha, love the Spencer simile. !!
I don’t wear a watch either, but not because I’m too proud.
Because I hate things constantly being attached to me. Get off me, and give some personal space y’know?
Furthermore (there is a furthermore here), I completely agree with you. Pride is a dreadful thing. I mean, look what good it did for Mr. Darcy (in the beginning, not in the end).
No, I think pride is best left to small doses – used when necessary.
Oh how funny! I accidently flushed my cool, cool glow-in-dark Swatch down the toilet and kept that a secret from my parents for like 6 months.
I love love LOVE the Spencer comparison. SOOO FUNNY! I am new at your blog, love it!!
Loving the Spencer Pratt analogy. I got my first watch on my first day in nursery school. It was pink and a Rainbow Brite one, I think. One of the girls told me it was ugly, so I cried and threw it away. Hehe.
Which is also why when I taught kindergarten, I always looked out for the sibling-less (”only children” sounds wrong) kids.
That’s hilarious! Maybe if you took small steps like getting a water-proof, paint-proof watch, you can overcome the watch thing. :p
I hate it how moms always end up being right when we’re 12 and strongly believe we know everything! I may have done several things along the same lines as your watch and probably still haven’t learnt.