White House Sex

People Weekly Yearbook: The Year in Review 1999
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donate to AKF

This was a time capsule that I did not need. I am fairly certain I bought it for the shallow reason that it had Geri Halliwell and Tori Amos pictures inside of it. It also featured the Matt Shepherd story. Those things should never stand side by side…

So, here is a breakdown for you. They rated the 25 most intriguing people of 1998. The list included Hilary Clinton, Lauryn Hill, Calista Flockhart, Alan Grenspan, Chris Rock, and The World War II soldier? Quite a list… The 50 most beautiful people included Erykah Badu, Halle Berry, Tony Blair, Leonardo Dicaprio, Angelina Jolie, and Chris Carter. In my list of their list, I agree on the women, but I am a little shocked by the selection of men—not that I don’t love me some Chris Carter cause I do.
Here are your headlines:

• “White House Sex, Lies and Videotape” (you remember the Clintin bizniz, right?)
• “A Convoluted Family Drama” This one starts with this opening sentence, “This is a 1998 story that encompasses many of the problems bedeviling our society—divorce, illegitimacy, highway death, bureaucratic breakdown.” Enough said.
• Sonny Bono die, and his wife “secures his House seat.”
• A school shooting in Arkansas
• Northern Ireland gives “peace a chance.”
• Jesse “the Body” Ventura becomes Governor
• Hurricane Mitch
• Mary Kay Letourneau has her second child with her former student
• So on and so forth

Titanic wins an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Please note that The X-Files also won a Golden Globe for best drama series. The book soon becomes a tribute to people like Tom Bradley, Lloyd Bridges, Florence Griffith Joyner, and so on.

A blast from the past…how was it for you?

OutrageoUS: The Photographs the editors of US Magazine
1998
Weight: 2.3 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donation




This little embarrassing remainder from my teenage-hood came into my possession after I realized that there were two pictures of Gillian Anderson, one of Geri Halliwell, and one of Tori Amos included in its pages. All women I was intrigued by. I took a quick look through the pages once again before tossing it into the donation box. It is like throwing out a landmine. I would hate for someone to find that book in my house. It was fun to see the shifting and ridiculous faces of fame and fortune. My new fascination, Julianne Moore has withstood the changing times. Unfortunately, so has Matt Damon. At least, to a degree. I am fairly confident that Tom Cruise would no longer be one of the first faces you saw in a book like this, with no one at his side like the others had. Just the words, “Icons and Ingenues.” Claire Danes and Sarah Mechelle Gellar look far too young to be in the sexy positions you do not see them in as often now that they are not playing teenagers on tv.

The truth is that I am still a little bit shameless. I tossed the book in a box like it was so much trash and then went back 5 minutes later to tear out the two pictures of Ms. Anderson. You cannot claim that I am not loyal, but you could probably argue that I have trouble letting go.
Ah well. We’re not perfect, are we?