feeling listless

Fashion A couple of years ago when I had time on my hands, I struck upon the idea of printing up t-shirts for films and television shows which would never be merchandised. So every month for a four month period (in other words until I got that job thing in Manchester) I went to the print shop on Bold Street, Liverpool with two printouts. The one for the front was the logo from the particular show, and other was a favourite quote from that same show. The idea was to alternate film and tv, but they pretty much ended up all being from movies. I'll get to the first in a minute (it's the reason I'm posting and I want to create some tension). The second was from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off':

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Life can move pretty fast. You don't stop to look around once in while you could miss it."

Which is sort of my Krazy House t-shirt. Many conversations have begun with the phrase 'I love that film!'. The third was from 'Threesome'. Not an easy film to print a t-shirt for -- so I decided to codify the title to 3 then the 'sum' symbol.

"Its kind of like when you on vacation. You plan everything out, but then one day you take a wrong turn -- or take a detour and you end up in some crazy place you can't find on a map. Maybe you feel a little lost while it's happening, but later you realise it was the best part of the whole trip."

You can see the pattern -- the quotes were probably the point. The last one, was from 'Back to the Future' -- no logo available so a Wingding of a clock saying 6:30 -- I printed it for a birthday night out and having the time of my actual birth seemed appropriate. Although as someone pointed out, having two arrows pointing downwards suggested a lack of modesty on my part. Anyway, the quote:

"The future is what you make it. If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

I suppose at the time I had some ambition to bring some positivity into the world. Either that or I had all the makings of a really good cult.

And now to the rub. The first t-shirt was of 'My So-Called Life'. Regular readers will know how this was always an open wound -- I'll mention it whenever I can and compare it to a hundred other tv programmes. I think you can see where I'm going ...



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Now I'm wondering why (you may be too). I think it was because I'd spent too much time with friends who liked to have their favourite artist on their chest. It's showing your appreciation, if it's from a tour remembering the concert and above all advertising. I suppose 'Life' meant so much that I wanted all of those things -- and also to see if anyone else saw it and and/or it meant so much to them. And besides there is still that stigma about Doctor Who t-shirts.

It took a while to select the quote. The four rejects were:

"Sometimes it seems like we're all living in some kind of prison, and the crime is how much we all hate ourselves. It's good to get really dressed up once in a while and admit the truth -- that when you really look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that they're actually beautiful. Possibly even me."

Which is uplifting, but also a bit grim. Also that last bit would make me sound like I have a low self esteem. Not lately.

Dear Angela,
I know in the past I've caused you pain, and I'm sorry. And I'll always be sorry till the day I die. And I hate this pen I'm holding, because I should be holding you. I hate this paper under my hand because it isn't you. I even hate this letter because it's not the whole truth. Because the whole truth is so much more than a letter can even say. If you wanna hate me, go ahead. If you wanna burn this letter, do it. You could burn the whole world down. You could tell me to go to hell. I'd go. If you wanted me to. And I'd send you a letter from there.
Sincerely,
Jordan Catalano

Which apart from being too long to read, makes no sense out of context. Too many questions.

"Her hair smelled incredible. Her hair smelled like this orange grove we
passed when I was eight on my way to see my grandmother. But I guess that's
just, like, her shampoo or whatever."

Which is about Brian Krakow smelling hair. Poetic.

"What I, like, dread is when people who know you in completely different ways end up in the same area. You have to develop this,
like, combination you on the spot."

Nearly got it. But then I realized I wouldn’t be able to stand the irony of it actually, like, happening. So here we have:

"This life has been a test. If it had been an actual life, you would
have received actual instructions on where to go and what to do."

Nice all rounder. Accessable. Evokes the series. That was three years ago. All of the shirts are looking lives in and holes are beginning to appear – especially in the ‘Life’ t-shirt, probably because it’s the oldest.

The point: I was googling about the other day My So-Called Life territory and happened to stumble onto the site which had promised to be releasing the series on DVD. I mentioned this months ago, and no it still hasn’t happened. In the meantime if anyone is interested, Amazon.com are stocking a vanilla version. I’m looking over the site and I found a link to their t-shirts. One is for the afformentioned teen show. Click. Oh my God!

A lot of typing then, to get to this point. How the hell are there:

(a) My So-Called Life t-shirts on sale (how many would want them now?

(b) How is it out of all the things in the world, that it has the logo on the front and a quote on the back, and for gods sake, that quote? Did they go through the same process of elimination I did?

So now have an order in for the most expensive t-shirt I’ve ever bought. $45.90 including postage and packing. Madness? Probably. But it does have actual quote, like, on the back, in the same font which appears in the credits.

The moral, then, I suppose is never try anything creative. It’ll always come back and bite you.