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Friends TV shows on DVD are the best and the worst invention ever. I have to start going to meetings for FAA (Friends Addicts Anonymous) because I am thoroughly and head-over-heels addicted. My spare moments, which really are few and far between, are spent in front of the tube watching episode after episode. I pride myself on knowing the punch lines and expressions and little things to note in each episode. I have actually watched the commentaries, played with the extras and done the quizzes to get my lame-ass prizes. I�m such a geek that I got 100% on the quiz to test my �Friends� knowledge and when I read the commentary �Why I will miss friends�, I wanted to point out to the author that Rachel didn�t rent the wedding dress that she wore in �The One with the Wedding Dresses�, it was her dress from when she ran out on her wedding to Barry. I�m such a huge Friends geek that I can often point out errors that the writers have made. For example: Rachel�s fianc� Barry�s last name changed, it was Finkle in the first episode. I won�t go on, it�s too painfully dorky.I even did the �Which Friend Are You?� Quiz: �You�re Chandler Bing! Or Chanandler Bong, whichever. [I chose Chanandler]. You�re the wittiest of your friends, but also sometimes the nerdiest. [No and no, but sometimes I wish�] When your relationship is going well, your job stinks, and vice-versa. [Exactly!] Your parents have messed up your life, but you try not to take it personally. [Again, exactly. But my dad�s not gay, we never had a houseboy, and my mom doesn�t write bodice-rippers and make out with my friends].� Every time I go to Costco or Wal-Mart or Best Buy I have to stop in and gaze longingly at Seasons 6 and 7. I�m trying to both save money and lose weight so I have made these DVD sets my rewards for weight loss. (I have to lose 11 pounds (5 more) before I�m allowed to buy Season 6 and 16 pounds for Season 7. And it will probably be 21 lbs to 8, 26lbs to 9 and 31 to Season 10. Unless I get any of these as gifts, which I hope to God that I do otherwise I may never get to watch them. If I lose 30 lbs I�m buying a bikini; this tells you how likely I am to reach that goal. My ultimate goal is to lose 45 pounds; my feet will love me for this.) Back on topic, �Friends� on DVD just isn�t the same. A few important things are missing: the bursts of surprised laughter when the show throws an unexpected twist at us, the shrieks whenever a hated character reappears (oh. my. god!) and the stunned silence when a beloved character gets bad news. Most of all I will miss the friends that I�ve grown up with while growing up with �Friends�. It�s not that our friendships will die, but another of the bonds that held us together will dissipate. Most of us met in choir and have since left choir and moved on. Wammick still in our roots and our stories; still a part of the attachment but less integral to the structure and frequency of those friendships. Thursday night TV at the party house was our replacement choir night. It was an open invitation to drop by, hang out, catch up and watch shows together. It often had much the same atmosphere as a choir gathering with gossip and news, hugs and kisses, laughter and tears, teasing and planning and sharing and joy! We cuddle on the Party House couches every week just as the �Friends� perch on their couches at the coffee house. And so while I�m mourning the loss of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross, I am ready to let them go and use what I have learned from their experiences. They are continuing to be Friends after �Friends�, and so will I with my friends. I�m going to try to focus more on interaction than necessarily on shared experience. Instead of watching TV or going to a movie, I will try to cultivate and nurture my friendships by going for tea or aquasize or scrapbooking. I will continue to be more positive and try to learn more about my friends� lives, to grow in understanding them. I love them all, my sweet and funny and quirky adopted family and I know that we don�t have the limits that �Friends� did; we can live on after marriage and babies and divorces and right on to the ends of our lives. And if it�s up to me, we will. 2004-05-14 || 4:36 p.m. |
