media

I used to believe that the people in magazines and books could see me if their faces were visible. Needless to say, if I wanted to read in the bathroom, I would cover their pictures with my hand and as an added precaution, would always drape a towel over my lap... in the same vein, I thought the authors of books I read and the musicians on the music I listened to could see me, and I tried to never do anything that would embarrass them.

I used to believe…

When i was younger i thought that if i had the radio on and was listening to a song, then the video for that song MUST be on MTV right then.

I use to believe if a movie had a little kid in it and later on in the movie they were grown up that they started filming when the kid was a kid and waited till they grew up to finish filming.

I used to believe…

My mother used to get incredibly frustrated when trying to order clothes for me out of a catalog. I persisted in the belief that if I wore the clothes that were pictured, I would look identical to the person who was wearing them in the catalog -- right down to hair and eye color.

I used to believe…

When I was around 4 years old I would see the show 'Family Feud' on tv. What baffled me was how the answers on the board flipped over right when Richard Dawson called for them. Well for some completely unknown reason I figured it was a kangaroo back there flipping the answers over. Not just one kangaroo, it only made sense if there was a kangaroo mom and a little baby kangaroo back there.

I used to believe…

when we were getting dressed in the morning for school, i would hide behind the couch because i was sure mr. peppermint on the tv could see me undressing.

I used to believe…

My dad told me one night that Steve Marin wore a tupee. For years after that I would watch Steve with my finger in front of my eye trying to imagine what he looked like without the tupee. My dad asked me what I was doing 10 years later and thought I was crazy when I told him. He had no recollection of saying that.

I used to believe…

There used to be a TV ad for Brute 33 which went, "where, where, where would you be without Brute 33?" Well my sister used to go around singing, "where, where, where would you be without Fruit Betty Green?"

I remember when I was little I use to think that when you were in a car listening to a song on the radio, that the next time you got in the car, the song you were listening to before, would just start where it left off.

I used to think that when I saw someone on TV whom I knew to be dead , it meant that it was his or her ghost.

I used to believe…

Back in the 70s in France, there was still a TV chanel in black and white. One day the speaker proudly anounced that they were now using color pencils and the next second, the screen was nothing but colors. I imagined armies of people whose only job was to color the images. I thought it was meant to be a difficult job, considering the efforts it took me to color just one image. I was four.

I used to tell my Mom I was going to take the "Love Boat" to "Fantasy Island".

I used to think that when I was watching tv and I turned it off that when I put the tv back on it would be the same show at the same point as when I turned it off.

I used to believe…

When I was a child, I was deathly afraid of Mister Clean. I cannot explain this irrational fear...he just scares the hell out of me, to the point where I had nightmares about the advertising icon. Whenever a "Mister Clean" household cleanser ad would play itself out on my family's television set, my mother claims I would run from the room screaming.

I used to believe when I turn the radio off, it stopped playing until I turned it back on again. And when I turned it back on it would start where it was when I turned it off.

I used to believe…

When I was a child, living in Western New York State, our family drove up to Lake Erie every summer. We always passed a billboard that advertised DUTCH BOY PAINTS.It was a brand name. But I didn't realize that. I kept watching ahead, waiting, as I wanted to watch the little Dutch boy paint, in his funny cap, billowy blue pants, and funny little wooden shoes. We kept passing signs, but I never got to see the little dutch boy paint!