Corey Feldman, Let's Just Be Friends

If you've been following me for a while, you know all about my love for Corey Scott Feldman. Hell, I've only mentioned him in about maybe six out of about 155 blog entries, so that's not too obsessive, right? 

Anyway, so here's the deal. My BFF blogger Jesse at Not Worth Mentioning tells me about this awesome video he just got his hands on featuring my childhood fave, COREY FELDMAN. 

  

The YouTube video is a Dees Guys production about, well, dees guys Nick and Michael. Nick and Michael are two young dudes doin' their TV production thing in Hollywood while mackin' on girls, chillin' with friends and whatnot. Kinda reminds me slightly of the boyish humor stylings of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Their sketch comedy web series Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Nick is hilarious and can be viewed here on YouTube. I think the Nick character is pretty freakin' skater/indie boy hawt and Michael is too, but in more of a scruffy Luke Perry way. It's easy to relate to Michael having that friend who has nothing but good luck in every sense of the word.

OK, so here's where Corey comes in. 

In this one particular Dees Guys episode (view it here) Corey Feldman is the all-knowing advice-giving guy Guru and that's when it hit me. My childhood crush has matured. I've moved on from wanting to make out with Corey Feldman to wanting to just do coffee with him or maybe check out some cool vintage clothing and record shops together downtown.

To be honest, I think this vibe may have developed prior to the Dees Guys episode of Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Nick. I think it struck me possibly while watching The Two Coreys, his reality show with the dearly departed Corey Haim (so sad). 

As a kid, I had this massive crush on Corey Feldman, not really knowing how else to feel about this cute Bad News Bear who went on to portray the adorable kid-next-door in Gremlins and funny friend in The Goonies.

In fact just the other day Erin at Blogging is for Dorks talked about this. As a married adult, you don't want to "get" with these celebs in the biblical sense, you just wanna sorta be their friend.

So here here my message to Corey Feldman:

Corey, today I'm 37 and married. Friendship is all I can now offer you and I'm sure you're beyond okay with that. Maybe even extremely relieved and breathing easier.  

One thing I will always hold dear is my personal letter from you, old pal Corey Feldman.That's one thing marriage and maturity will never take away from me.

My Personal Letter From Corey Feldman

Today's focus is on Corey Scott Feldman, BC as in "Before Corey Haim."  Corey Haim was adorable as well, but I want to share a few things about Corey Feldman as a youngster.

This is ...

Corey Feldman before he became friends with Michael Jackson.

Corey Feldman before he had long hair and snazzy footwear.

Corey Feldman before he was a dark vampire.

Corey Feldman before he was messing around with drugs.

Sure I adored him in Gremlins and The Goonies, but my love affair with Corey began much earlier than that. So I'm taking you back ... way back...

Just like I love bands before they sell out and feature their songs in car commercials, I loved my child stars before anyone knew them. I loved them when they had only two lines on Mork & Mindy, Love Boat and Cheers. I rarely liked the lead child actor. It was always his friend who appeared in maybe 10% of the episodes, whom I needed to know more about.

I remember Corey in commercials for cereal and McDonalds and later as the tiniest Bad News Bear (the TV series).

I remember catching Corey on an episode or two of Eight is Enough and One Day at a Time.

I remember Corey as the nosey kid next-door on a bizarre show called Madame's Place.  Madame was a feisty old diva puppet (yes puppet) with a heavy smoker voice.  Here's the intro credits - wait for it!!!!!

I remember recognizing Corey's adorable deep voice as Copper the hound dog back in the 1981 Walt Disney's animated film, The Fox & The Hound.

I don't remember Corey in Friday The 13th. That was rated R and I wasn't allowed to see R-rated movies.

I followed Corey throughout the majority of his career. In a way, it's as if we grew up together but as he got older, I outgrew him--yet consider myself somewhat of an adult fan of his today.

When I wrote my book on Aaron Carter, I came up with the pen name, Corey Barnes after the Coreys and another child star, CB Barnes.

In the mid-1980s, I wrote Corey at least ten letters. Finally, the week of August 6, 1985 something magical happened. I received a personal handwritten response that I truly believe was penned by Corey himself.  Weeks later, I received black and white photos, a typed bio, resume and info on how to join his fan club. I have a blue Trapper Keeper filled with letters, cards and other responses I've received from celebrities. Here's my Corey letter. It's hard to believe it's 25 years old. Check it out. Click on it to enlarge!

Show Me The Money!

This weekend our area was hit pretty hard with snow. The total accumulations range from about 4 inches in Westchester to 2 feet in South Jersey and Long Island. Sure it looks pretty, but yesterday some folks on Facebook and Twitter were commenting about the cleanup. Folks over 30 want to know, "Where are the kids looking to earn a few bucks by shoveling their neighbor’s driveway?"

I've noticed this trend since the late '90s actually. I was still living at home and my brother and I would help shovel my mom's walkway and driveway as well as the old lady next door. I'd moan about how when I was a kid, I'd do the entire block and come home sweaty and beat, but with almost $100 in my pocket. The kids on our block were all grown up and had real jobs now.  Driving by, we never saw youngsters shoveling.

We're left wondering... What's the deal with today's youth? Is it just a New York/New Jersey thing? Is it due to all of the newer tech distractions such as way better video games, the internet and text messaging? Could it be an increase in allowance? I only received about $10 a week and tapped out at $20 a week once I was old enough to earn my own spending money. Could it be an increase in school work? I've heard news reports of students receiving much more homework than we did in the '80s.

When I was a kid, all I ever want to do was earn money. When I was sixteen, I even wrote an article about it for Seventeen magazine. Unfortunately although they paid me for my submission, they never printed it. I was crushed, but what can you do.

For years, I ran lemonade stands in front of our house - it was the only benefit of living on a super busy street. When I wasn't selling lemonade, I was running small book and toy sales on our lawn - again cashing in on the traffic. In the end, I found the lemonade garnered the most income.  There was once a sweaty guy doing construction on the house across the street. He popped over to my table holding a big Tupperware tumbler. He handed me $5 and asked me to fill it up. It was so amazing, I decided to close up shop and took the rest of the "work day" off and enjoyed a swim in our yard.

By the age of twelve, I had a busy babysitting schedule which included most of the little kids on our block and my cousins who lived around the corner. It occurred to me that there were so many small children on our block that I could actually run a daycare program in our basement.

Grudgingly my parents gave me the OK, though my dad was concerned about his home owners insurance. I promised I'd keep the kids in the basement and not allow anyone near the fenced in pool area. He agreed and "Allyson's Day School" was open for biz and survived two successful summers until I outgrew it.

I had approximately ten students, including my little brother and maybe my cousins - I'm not sure. I organized each day to include a drawing hour. I had the kids draw something based on a particular theme, "Today you must draw a picture of your favorite animal" or "Today you must draw something square-shaped." Snack time was every day at 11 AM. I would serve happy youngsters Pathmark brand fruit punch and a handful of cookies or pretzels. I would read them a story and we'd play different educational games. To spice things up, I held special events like "Skit Day" and "Sports Day" which included different obstacle courses and ribbons I made for the winners.

I never charged much, but babysitting and the day school helped support my teen magazine and TOPPS trading cards addiction. It seemed as if I were always collecting ET, Gremlins and The Goonies cards. I swear there were some cards TOPPS either only made one of or seriously made NONE of. I owned hundreds of cards, yet never a full set. There were always a bunch of cards missing.

By the age of 15, I was looking for real cash. I became obsessed with Esprit and J.Crew clothing and my parents were far from pleased with the price tags. Mom felt you could get an equally nice sweater from Sears or Penny's, so it was up to me to get out there and increase my cash flow.

Too young to work legally, I didn't want to deliver papers and sure, babysitting was quick and easy money, it simply wasn't enough. Most people were paying me a $3 an hour at best (according to my diary). Then one day, my dad introduced me to the dirty underground world of catering. Apparently, these family-run businesses didn't always follow the employment laws the way big retail outfits did. They'd sometimes overlook your age and eagerly put you to work. It sounded too good to be true.

Summer of 1988, I gave it a shot and paid a visit to our local wedding hall. The joint has since changed hands several times, but still exists as The Sand Castle. Walking distance to our home, this banquet hall was the best summer job a kid could have. I was too young to drive and didn't have a crazy social life on summer weekends since we were home all week anyway. I figured, what the heck. I could have my fun Monday-Thursday and kill myself Friday-Sunday earning a quick $150, plus tips.

The job sucked, but I kept it up until senior year. I would never recommend this work to anyone I actually like. It was exhausting and newsflash, people do not tip at weddings! At fifteen, I had only been to maybe two weddings. How the heck did I know? I was a sucky waitress, which meant I was often assigned to the band and photographer table. Luckily, those guys tipped. The bands would say, "Here's $20, keep the pitchers of water and soda coming." I thought, "Hey, you got it!" I think I even dropped off extra food "by mistake".

We'd work our asses off all weekend. Long 10-hour shifts that seemed never-ending. A reception is only 5-6 hours but we had to set up, clean up and sometimes set up for the next event. They worked us like dogs and treated us like garbage. It was the first time I was ever referred to by my last name on a regular basis. Dealing with drunken jerks demanding an extra serving of Prime Rib or people complaining that the Bride and Groom were too cheap to offer Fillet Mignon was the worst.

It's ironic that I'm writing this blog post now. Here I sit in my sweats, sipping tea as I delay my daily online job hunt. Laid off and looking to New Jersey to send me my generous $530 check each week to help pay my rent. Trust me, I'm not complaining about that amount either. It's much better than possibly any other state in the country. Just a bit funny when I look back at how hard I once worked at a time when people said to just kick back, relax and be a kid.

As always, thanks for listening.

Classic Diary Entries

I'm sitting here sipping a cup of Earl Grey with a lengthy to-do list growing by the minute. I need one more gift for the hubby. A huge bag of dirty laundry is calling my name from the bedroom. There's a stack of gifts sitting on a chair that need wrapping. I need to do my daily one hour online job search, which typically comes up negative - without even so much as a lead I'm a fit for.

I'm dressed for the gym, but I know how that goes, I'm lucky if I get there before 2. Ah the life of the unemployed. Hey, it could be worse. I could be dead asleep until noon. I'm sure many unemployed, kidless people do that! I find it somewhat impressive that I'm always showered and dressed by 9. It's out of guilt. I hear my husband shuffling around in his winter coat, grabbing his cell phone, wallet, keys and iPod and I sleepily get into the shower after he gives me my goodbye kiss. Even though 8:30 is late for the employed, it is early for me because I am up soooo late watching TV and surfing the web.

For the past few days, I've been searching for inspiration for future blogs by going back to the history books aka my stack of old diaries. On a recent trip to my mom's house (I was on a quest to locate my high school yearbook which I'm convinced someone stole), I grabbed all 12 of my diaries and brought them to our apartment. I'll include a photo of a few of them for you.



Sadly, there isn't really anything of substance written in there until about 10th grade. I did find the first day I met my Aunt Sue. It was like two lines and summed up with, "I met Sue, she's really nice." There's also an entry about my other aunt having a baby and how I hoped it was another girl. Well my cousin, is now in his late 20s. Most entries just blab on about how much I loved the boy of the moment ... Danny, Eddie, Sean, David, Alfred and other random boys I can't even remember! I think I thought a diary was simply to confess your love for some boy who doesn't know you exist thanks to an episode or two of The Brady Bunch.

Today I'm going back to 7th grade, 1984


I kinda looked like this, it's from my 6th grade photo. I can't find any 7th grade pictures here at our place.

Saturday, June 30, 1984
Today our town had a big flood. Up to 8 feet [of water] in the basement. The basement and pool are destroyed! Dad was so mad when he came home-the yard and basement are destroyed [no shit, I just said that!]. Everyone is cursing. It's really scary. Dad drained the basement. Mom took Joey [my brother] and I to Mitchell's for dinner and a movie. We saw Karate Kid with Ralph Machio (sic). I think I love him.



Saturday, July 14, 1984
Today Aunt Chris came over with her friends. We went to see The Last Starfighter at the movies. We also went to Burger King.

Wednesday, July 18, 1984
Today Sharon and Debbie K. and I went to see Gremlins. I love Corey Feldman.

Thursday, July 19, 1984
Today I spent the day and night at Grandma's. I am reading The Outsiders again.

Wednesday, August 14, 1984
Today Sharon and her friend came over. Yesterday the guy at Friendly's [in Franklin Square] who looks like Ralph Macchio put my sunglasses on and I told him he looked great. Kathy was here.

Saturday, November 10, 1984
Today I went to Green Acres [Green Acres Mall] and bought a Bruce Springsteen and Prince tape also a neon pink sweatshirt, a blue mesh shirt and 4 gumy (sic) bracelets. I am going to get blue and red gloves with the fingers cut off of them. [GAG! Mesh shirt! I remember wearing these over a different colored tank or top, so ugly! I bet if I were 12 today, I'd insist on wearing those ugly Uggs!]

November 21, 1984
Today was a 12:00 day [dismissed at noon]. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Eddie punched me in the back so hard I couldn't breathe [I probably deserved it, I wouldn't leave that kid alone for a minute]. All I was doing was drinking from the water fountain. M-K, Tricia, Jennifer and I had to sing for a prayer service. We all started to laugh! [I vaguely remember this, the song I hated singing the most in church was called "On Eagles Wings" and the lyric was, "Lest you dash your foot against a stone." M-K and I would playfully kick each other in the foot - so mature!] Then after school Eddie came out dressed in black jeans and a layered blue and red sweatshirt. He is so mint! It's radical! [What a fool, how could I seriously say "mint" and "radical"?] Grandma came home from Florida. We went to Mitchell's for dinner. I love Eddie.

Thursday, November 22, 1984
Today is Thanksgiving. We all went to Aunt Maria's house [Weird! That's my grandpa's sister and I totally do NOT remember this at all]. I wrote a love letter to Eddie on the computer saying, "Dear Eddie, I love you. I'm not telling you who I am, so keep guessing." [How embarrassing!]

Friday, November 23, 1984
Today I babysat for my cousins. I made $2. Michelle [my little cousin who is now a nutritionist and mom to two kids] is sleeping over. Kathy, Kathy, Serena, M-K, Tricia, David, Danny, Jose, Eddie, Sean and I all went to Alden Terrace and played run and kiss whomever you see. [Totally can't believe I have this crap in print].

Monday, December 3, 1984
Got my report card. Got all G's [that was our school's grading system and "G" was for "good" ha ha!] except I got an AA ["above average"] in Religion. Eddie has my free writing book still. Tomorrow is the Christmas Boutique.

Saturday December 8, 1984
Today David, Eddie, M-K, Kathy, Kathy, Tricia, Jose, Danny, Jennifer and I went ice skating in the park [Hendrickson]. We picked Eddie up and took him ice skating. We took Kathy P. home and stopped at Taco Bell for a snack. Then I went to the library. I also set up the Christmas lights. Joey [my brother] is sleeping over Grandma's house. We all ate Chinese food. I watched Spencer - Chad Lowe is totally RAD! ["RAD"? Ugh!]

Thursday, January 24, 1985
Today was a hot dog sale. John has to fight Michael and if John wins, Michael has to get a new and different hair style. If Michael wins, John can't talk to me for two weeks. [John was a really good friend of mine in 7th grade. I remember the hair style part, but the no talking part seems weird!]