My Teenility

Hello, everybody, nice seeing you again.

A few weeks ago, a day or two after my birthday, I was on the train and the conductor came through collecting tickets. I have a monthly pass that I keep in a little wallet-type holder, and I pulled it out of my bag and a weird thing happened. It’s a cute little Paul Frank ID-holder-type wallet, sky blue, with Clancy the giraffe on it, and I’ve always liked it because I like how cheerful it is. I was pulling it out of my bag, and all of a sudden—I was embarrassed by it. I was embarrassed by my Clancy train pass holder, and my red glitter Paul Frank skull-and-crossbones wallet, and my pink Julius make-up bag. These are things I carry with me every day.

I’d never even thought about how much other Paul Frank stuff I have: My sky blue Julius messenger bag, and my red Julius slipper socks, and my three pairs of white Julius panties. But suddenly I was mortified by it all. “Omigod!” I thought. “I’m TEENILE!”

I never thought about my red sparkly wallet until I was down in Florida last year and pulled it out to pay for something. “Is that a skull and crossbones?!” the cashier squawked. I thought she was going to call in her minister to pray for me. I couldn’t believe something so cute could terrify somebody so much, which made me like it even more. But now I have to replace it. I have come to the conclusion that it is finally time for me to grow up. Good-bye, happy little skull and crossbones.

Here is my new wallet, and I hope you can see it from the scan. It’s dark burgundy tooled leather with dark green lacing, and it shows a hound dog chasing a raccoon over a log, which is about as much grown-up sophistication as I can stand.

Thanks for reading my blog post this week, and don’t forget to pull out your wallet and make a pledge to the WFMU fundraising marathon.

Comments

[Mac]

Growing up doesn't mean giving up fun things. It means you don't have to care what other people, who you don't know or respect, think about you. Silly is good forever.

Mac

[Krys O.]

Yeah, screw 'em if they can't take or understand the joke.

[Parker Jacobs]

Ouch! Sorry you outgrew us. I think you're new wallet's pretty cool, though. I'd rock it.
I guess I'll still frequent this blog, but maybe not daily any more ;).
Your friend,
Parker Jacobs
Senior Design Director
Paul Frank Industries
Neverland Division

[Elisabeth]

I just turned 40 recently and purged all my Hello Kitty pocketbooks to my 25 year old punk rock niece. I got embarrassed by them all of a sudden too! Having someone to send them to made it a bit less difficult, though I still mourned.

[zoe]

I still like Paul Frank. And Sanrio.

[annukka]

Moistworks blog
http://www.moistworks.com/
addressed this dilemma a while ago (27.2):

"J. and I are talking - wondering, really - about how strange it is to go to bed one night feeling like a teenager, and wake up the next morning - a thirty-something - a future home-owner - a husband - a wife - a bestower of proud familial names - a real woman, or - for imaginative purposes, and keep in mind that I don't know you personally - a full-grown man."

I feel like that often, and I'm almost forty. I just try to think that being "grown-up" and taking care of business isn't the same as being boring, buying boring-looking stuff or looking boring.

[That Darn Kat]

"Teenile" is an excellent coinage, may I borrow it? I'm 45 and similarly afflicted. I didn't really start to question my age-inappropriate tastes (Powerpuff Girls backpack, assorted Sanrio crap, etc.) until this year. I think the corporate-type job I took this summer, my first ever, had something to do with it. However, my Hello Kitty sneakers and my socks with the repeated intarsia image of "Chef" from South Park make my 26-year-old boyfriend smile, which makes me feel a bit better about these things, I admit...

So I'll buy that sparkly skull wallet offa you if you've still got it. (It'll go with my red sparkly checkbook cover with the flaming skull patch that I bought at a local craft fair two Christmases ago.) Regardless of your accessory choices, Bronwyn, you rock, now and forever.