Dork to the MAX!

Images via MTV

Who else is in love with these two shows? Honestly, I can't get enough of them. First, I'm in love with Ben from The Buried Life. I guess he qualifies as my CCI? He's a celebrity now, right? He sure is in my mind (sorry, B!) And how about how incredibly cool the concept is of the show? Right?! I tear up during the intro every time.

Second, there's a small part of me that wants to be Liz from My Life as Liz. She's quirky, dorky and can rock some red lipstick like nobody's business. I wish I'd been confident enough in high school to stand up to all the Cori's and Tori's . . . all the girls and boys who got off on making others feel like shit. The closest I came was when the Mean Girls of my middle school made a basket filled with deodorants, perfumes, toothpastes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, combs and anything else hygiene-related and put it in a girl's locker. This girl wasn't as pretty, rich or stupid as them, but she didn't stink, have bad breath or need a good hair brushing. She was fine the way she was. The Mean Girls were just . . . well, mean. They needed their fix of picking on someone unpopular. So they stood nearby and waited for her reaction when she opened her locker. And yes, they got what they wanted: a panicked expression, a thousand prayers that no one saw and many tears when she realized that many did. I was standing on the sidelines, my head shaking back and forth, like when you're watching a tennis match. I watched her cry then watched them laugh. Back and forth. I couldn't believe it. How awful (and how real that pain is . . . pain that seems insignificant as an adult, but pertinent as a teenager). So I did what I thought was right. I walked over to Unpopular Girl, grabbed the basket, dropped it, kicked it aside, took her arm and led her away . . . away from those bitches we left with their mouths hanging open in disbelief. I don't really know if what I did helped. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Mean Girls continued to taunt and ridicule Unpopular Girl for most of our remaining middle school years. But I felt like I had to do something, something to stand up to those assholes. So keep on doing the same to Cori, Liz! (Yes, yes I know I am a dork).

Check out a couple of clips from both shows.