While reading entertainment "news" on the web recently, I came across a "Where Are They Now?" link that caught my attention...a picture of a young Ricky Martin, before he was Livin' His Vida Loca; a time when he was affectionately referred to as "Kiki", and a member of the Puerto Rican boy band, Menudo. Some girls had New Kids on the Block or New Edition. Some preferred N'Sync or Backstreet Boys. I got my my teen boy band kicks from Menudo. (Although, under the influence, I'll probably admit to a crush on BSB's Kevin.) After moving to South Florida from the outskirts of Atlanta, I guess I assumed that was just what girls in Miami did...when in Rome and all that.
I'd say he's aged like fine wine....(Source: Google Images)
I blame my friend, Barbara, for Menudo. She turned me on to the group by hanging these cute boy band posters in her room and sucking me into her Menudo subterfuge after inviting me to Six Flags to see Ricky's last concert in Miami with the band (In the Menudo tradition, Kiki was replaced shortly thereafter because he was too old for the group and no longer a boy.)
We'd drag my dad, a friend's parent, some first-time chaperone to wherever we could....Fountainbleu Hotel, Bayfront Park, Mall of the Americas, the set of Sabado Gigante, Six Flags....we didn't care. As soon as we got wind of where they'd be (The Menudo fan network was incredible considering the technology available was basically the telephone and beepers! - 143 143) we'd be on the hunt. Hotels, malls, parking garages, airports....we were like paparazzi. I was hysterical at 1am remembering the trip into NYC to visit the Menudo Store (I swear this place existed) so we could buy memorabilia. I also convinced my fun-loving aunt and her unsuspecting sidekick to take us to a Manahttan apartment building that might possibly be but who really knows for sure Ruben's building, where I was able to take a picture of the buzzer panel and decided to play really freakin hard to get by not actually ringing the buzzer for fear that I could get arrested or something. Occasionally, they would sing in English rather than their traditional Spanish, and during my tenure in the fandom they released an all-English album, including a *hit* song with "You Got Potential".....Finding this video on YouTube sort of scares me. Listening to it, I actually threw up in my mouth a little. I couldn't get all the way through it.
And then....Oh!...came the heartbreak when Ruben got booted from the group for pot possession (obviously, this is way before the success of the Crack is Wack campaigning that goes on now), and how I thought I'd just die if I couldn't see him again. We didn't have blogs for me to pour out my soul and grief. We didn't have internet so I could cyber-stalk him. It was total isolation from my Ruben.
I hadn't thought about that phase of my life in quite some time, so it was a whimsical journey as I clicked the links to discover where they are now, wishing I could visit Brazil to see (a hopefully sober) Ruben in concert and uploading current photos of Sergio to my cell and messaging them to my sister for her birthday (Happy Birthday, sis!) That short sojourn into history reminded me of good times with my sister, helped me better understand Bieber Fever and gave me a chance to reflect on how I became the person I am today - the mother of two half Puerto Rican boys who will one day be the Rubens of some young girls' hearts, Lord help me. Here's hoping it's not because of the way they can Shake their Bon Bon.
I blame my friend, Barbara, for Menudo. She turned me on to the group by hanging these cute boy band posters in her room and sucking me into her Menudo subterfuge after inviting me to Six Flags to see Ricky's last concert in Miami with the band (In the Menudo tradition, Kiki was replaced shortly thereafter because he was too old for the group and no longer a boy.)
We'd drag my dad, a friend's parent, some first-time chaperone to wherever we could....Fountainbleu Hotel, Bayfront Park, Mall of the Americas, the set of Sabado Gigante, Six Flags....we didn't care. As soon as we got wind of where they'd be (The Menudo fan network was incredible considering the technology available was basically the telephone and beepers! - 143 143) we'd be on the hunt. Hotels, malls, parking garages, airports....we were like paparazzi. I was hysterical at 1am remembering the trip into NYC to visit the Menudo Store (I swear this place existed) so we could buy memorabilia. I also convinced my fun-loving aunt and her unsuspecting sidekick to take us to a Manahttan apartment building that might possibly be but who really knows for sure Ruben's building, where I was able to take a picture of the buzzer panel and decided to play really freakin hard to get by not actually ringing the buzzer for fear that I could get arrested or something. Occasionally, they would sing in English rather than their traditional Spanish, and during my tenure in the fandom they released an all-English album, including a *hit* song with "You Got Potential".....Finding this video on YouTube sort of scares me. Listening to it, I actually threw up in my mouth a little. I couldn't get all the way through it.
And then....Oh!...came the heartbreak when Ruben got booted from the group for pot possession (obviously, this is way before the success of the Crack is Wack campaigning that goes on now), and how I thought I'd just die if I couldn't see him again. We didn't have blogs for me to pour out my soul and grief. We didn't have internet so I could cyber-stalk him. It was total isolation from my Ruben.
I hadn't thought about that phase of my life in quite some time, so it was a whimsical journey as I clicked the links to discover where they are now, wishing I could visit Brazil to see (a hopefully sober) Ruben in concert and uploading current photos of Sergio to my cell and messaging them to my sister for her birthday (Happy Birthday, sis!) That short sojourn into history reminded me of good times with my sister, helped me better understand Bieber Fever and gave me a chance to reflect on how I became the person I am today - the mother of two half Puerto Rican boys who will one day be the Rubens of some young girls' hearts, Lord help me. Here's hoping it's not because of the way they can Shake their Bon Bon.
(Seriously? I think I found my 2011 Christmas Card. No, really.) (Source: www.rubengomezonline.com)
P.S. I get all my news from E!Online. I heart Ted Casablanca.
P.S. I get all my news from E!Online. I heart Ted Casablanca.
P.P.S. If you know Husband #1, don't you agree that he and Ruben kind of look alike? Except the hair, I mean.
P.P.S.S. Yeah, it's kind of why I keep him. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment