all I've got is time and I'm gonna spend my time on you
Alexa, play "Summer on You" by PRETTYMUCH.
First things first: raise your hand if you saw Barbie, and immediately remembered this one during the one throwaway line from Michael Cera’s Allan.
Now that that’s out of the way…
Let's not beat around the bush: it's been a Minute. I have to admit, it's been mostly related to a battery of personal issues (family! My own mental health! My dog! General societal malaise!), but several times during my absence, I've been thinking of this little community and ideas for future issues. I have several drafts, and pages of notes, but just have been trying to find the time and clarity to get it out.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I got inspired by a post from my friend Lyette of Pop Culture Potluck. While I iron out the kinks on upcoming posts (including one semi-related to a trip I'm taking in August, one about a banger of a song from 2000, and one where I ruminate about one of the aspects of boy band fandom that I've been ruminating over since I was 13), I figured that I may pull back the curtain and talk about myself. So:
25 Things About Candice:
I grew up singing in my church choir, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I hated that we had two hour long rehearsals on Friday nights (I was missing out on Jeopardy and the first part of TGIF!), I hated how awkward I felt marching down the main aisle of the church at the beginning of service, and I hated the white blouse and navy skirt that I had to wear. I was a child that did not wish to be perceived unless I wanted to be perceived, basically.
I was born in Durham, North Carolina, home of Duke University and the world's most famous Minor League baseball team, the Durham Bulls. My family moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2000, but I don't consider myself a Texan. There are people here I love deeply, but barbecue for me is pulled pork (vinegar style), and the only time I get excited about sports is during March Madness. Carolina Blue > UT Brunt Orange, sorry not sorry!
My all time favorite singer is Mariah Carey. I wrote about her for the blog One Week, One Band back in 2015, and I enjoyed the experience so much. I saw her live for the first time in 2003, during the post-Glitter doldrums and before Emancipation of Mimi, and I might've cried a little.
I went to Catholic school for eight years (kindergarten through seventh grade). I like to say that everything that is wrong with me and everything that is right with me is because I was not Catholic (the less big deal) and Black (the slightly larger deal) in this environment. It wasn't a terrible experience for me but years later, when I learned about microaggressions and code switching, a LOT of my childhood/early teen years made more sense.
I'm one of those people who was an indoor kid because I thought that I hated sports and athletics. Turns out, I don't like people yelling at me when my heart's not into playing soccer (thanks, PE teacher from those years at Catholic school!), or being assumed to be good at basketball because I was the tallest kid in my grade for a while!
Even though I didn’t love church choir, I did (and do) like singing. Like, to the point that when I was in high school I desperately wanted to be a singer/songwriter pop star. I'd go on to try out for American Idol in both 2007 and 2009, but I never got past the first round. [insert sad trombone sound]
I'll take this moment to list some of my other pop cultural obsessions in semi-chronological order: Peanuts (I won a Peanuts game show at the last fan con I went to this March), American Girl (Addy and Molly are my historical faves), teen movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, romance novels, and Lupin III.
I'm currently querying a young adult contemporary romcom, which means I'm putting it out there for literary agents to read, and decide if they want to represent me and send my book to publishers. I've wanted to become a published author since I was at least six years old.
I've been to 38 concerts since 1998. I recently got bored and tried to figure out exactly how many boy band concerts I've been to since I started going to concerts, and I found out that it was about 1 out of every 3 shows that I've been to, which is more than I thought it'd be!
My first concert was the Backstreet Boys. They were actually my first three concerts. I saw them once a year from 1998 through 2000. I then had an eleven year break, and the next time I saw them again was on the NKOTBSB tour in 2011. It brought back my boy band fascination that had been dormant for so long.
Back in the day (read: middle school, which was 1997 through 2000 for reference), I was a rare BSB fan who also liked *NSYNC. It was a contentious, fraught time that hasn't really been replicated since and that adds another level to my fascination.
When I was 13, I jokingly wrote out a five year plan that would detail my ascension to pop stardom and would end with Howie Dorough proposing to me. I do not have written proof of this list, but it was something that, when I wanted to depart from the drudgery that was seventh grade, kept me afloat.
Freshman year of high school, I saved lunch money so that I could get tickets to see *NSYNC on the Pop Odyssey tour. I also started a blog/online journal to chronicle my attempt to get tickets to this show but it's been lost to the internet (RIP, scribble.nu!).
Boy bands are why I'm kind of chronically online. To make this story short and sweet: spring break 1999, I got online, looked up "Backstreet Boys" on AltaVista, and found a fansite that had a fan fiction section on it. I have been online being weird ever since.
Remember how I mentioned the whole "trying to be a published writer" thing? One of my other projects is a romance novel that I've pitched as "Singin' in the Rain, but Gene Kelly's a former boy bander, and Debbie Reynolds is a photographer."
My most unpopular music related opinions: whatever it is about both Beyonce and Harry Styles that makes people just… wild? I don't get it. Like, I like some of their songs but my reaction to them is more like that line in 10 Things I Hate About You when Patrick says, "What is it with this chick? Does she have beer flavored nipples or what?"
I have a dog, a miniature pinscher/dachshund mix named Roxy. She's long, medium-legged, and an adorable jerk. She's the second minpin mix I've had. The first was Pepper, a rat pinscher (rat terrier/min pin), and she may have been my soulmate.
I love recommending things to people.
I will make these first two recommendations separate because they benefit me. The first is Passion Planner, a brand that I have been an Ambassador for since 2021, and I like how easy it is to adapt it to what I need. You can save 10% off of your order by clicking my link, and I receive a small commission. The second is Book of the Month, a classic subscription box that gives you access to a selection of new releases each month. If you click this link, you can get your first book for $5. If you're not into the month's picks, you can select member favorites from prior months, or you can skip it and not be charged for that month, which is awesome.
It's summer, and because I was an Indoor Child and a big reader, I have book recs for you! Some of them are probably ones you've heard of before, but some are also personal faves that I first read during the summer and feel like they deserve some love. So: My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger; Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin; How it Ends by Laura Wiess; Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore; Stardust by Neil Gaiman; Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean; and All Downhill with You by Julie Olivia. If you’d like to not shop with an A to Z website for your books, look them up on Bookshop.
Some movie suggestions: Polite Society, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Band Wagon, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Do Revenge, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!), and Out of Sight (which is twenty-five this year!).
Podcast suggestions: Hit Parade, Fated Mates, Black People Love Paramore, About a Girl, That Vampire Show, This is Jeopardy!, Twenty Thousand Hertz, You Must Remember This, and Criminal.
An app recommendation: PangoBooks, which is kind of like Mercari but with books.
There was this meme where you had to describe yourself by using six fictional characters, and mine were: Grizz from We Bear Bears, Charlie Brown, Louise and Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers, Synclaire from Living Single, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.
You can find me on other spots online! I'm on Twitter (for however else long it exists), Bluesky, Hive, and Instagram as chaoticgirlie, and Tumblr and Pinterest as viewparadise. Come say hi if you'd like.
That's it for now. I'll be back in two weeks, and I hope that you will too.