Okay, I have been wracking my brain all week, trying to come up with my Mandarin. Who did I want to be like as a teen? I don't think I had one particular person. I was the oldest, so I didn't have older siblings to idolize. I loved my mom, but wasn't old enough yet to want to be like her. I loved movies, and books, and wanted to live portions of the character's lives. (Usually the parts where they kissed hot boys. I was all about daydreaming of kissing hot boys when I was a teen.) Luckily I married a hot boy, so I get to live that particular dream whenever I want. But I didn't have ONE that I wanted to be. I wanted to be too many things:
I wanted to be the ugly duckling (who was actually gorgeous but just needed contacts) that the hot boy would fall in love with. [I had the ugly duckling who needed contacts part--particularly in middle school--just not the rest of it...]
I apparently wanted to live in the 1800s and marry a man with a british accent.
I also wanted to be famous and have someone love me for who I really was.
I wanted to be kissed for the first time in a truly spectacular, Michael Vartanian way. (Totally didn't happen btw, my first kiss was horrible. Stupid boy.)
Again, with the accent. And also, wanting a boy to "get" me and love me despite my, um, eccentricities.(I did love movies, particularly chick flicks, if you couldn't tell. I could have kept going, but don't want to bore you. This is just a small sampling of what I could remember loving in my high school years.)
So, where does that leave me?
I don't know. I guess that's why I became a writer. Because I couldn't find the one perfect person/character I wanted to be. I liked pieces of them, parts of their stories... so I'd take those pieces and parts and come up with my own stories where I could live out my fantasies of what I wish my life could be like. Many of the books I wrote as a teen were quite similar to other books I'd read, or movies I'd seen, for that very reason. Luckily, I eventually learned how to come up with my own characters and ideas.
So, tell me, who is/was your Mandarin?
I've heard so many great things about Kirsten's book, and I can't wait to read it. Check out her blog for more. Maybe once I read it, I'll have a better answer to this question!!
10 comments:
Yay, I'm not the only one who spent a good part of (okay, all of) my teen years dreaming of kissing hot guys.
I blogged about my Mandarin on my, well, um, blog today. My copy is still in the mail.
I loved all those movies you picked out. I lived for kissing scenes in movies and books too. Waited forever to be kissed(I was the ugly duckling) - got kissed at the ripe old age of seventeen and just like you it was horrible - stupid boys.
I can't ever picture you as the ugly duckling - you're like model beautiful.
There's nothing wrong with not having a real life person to use as an example. At least you knew what kind of person you wanted to be!
My first kiss was awful too. ew...
Great list Sara!
I love all your movie references! so fun. I'd have a hard time coming up with a Mandarin. I know I wasn't crazy about being the me I was as a teen, but I can't remember who I thought I'd rather be.
Aw, loved all those movies, too! I went through a Hugh Grant phase until he got in with that Brown lady, and then I was all Ewwwww. He's still hilarious, and I'll always love him in LOVE ACTUALLY, but I just can't see him the same now. *sigh*
I always wished that the hot guy would fall for me too. But I was always smarter than them, and way too poor and nerdy, so it wasn't gonna happen for me. I have to wonder now how realistic those stories are...hm.
But I could totally go back in time and live with Colin Firth.
(P.S. Am I the only one who found Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant to be a really freaky pairing?)
You picked some awesome movies! I was 18 when I was first kissed - definitely wasn't a movie kiss!
When I was younger than a teen, I always pretended to be Alyssa Milano when we played. I thought she was so pretty. I guess I just wanted to be pretty and have all the guys fight over me. Never happened...
Aw, I love this! And that Never Been Kissed kiss is one of the best movie kisses EVER (in my opinion, lol.)
Yes, there is a little bit of many good things that I aspire to be too! Great post.
Post a Comment