Well, well, well. It has been a successful week in the life of Jess!

Why, you ask?

Because, thanks to a lucky roll on the Quest-a-Palooza board game,  I’ve finally caught up!

…to 1997.

Ah, 1997. You were a good year, what with your catchy Spice Girls tunes and your sappy Titanic movie and your pretty pastel-colored nail polishes. I was 16 (for most of the year) and 17 (in the fall). I had a busy and vibrant high school career, and on TV a little show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a popular choice with teenagers across North America.

Except for me. I was oblivious.

OK, but that’s been fixed! Or is on the way to being fixed!

I totally watched episode 1 of Buffy. And here’s what I thought:

1.       Cordelia is a total bitch.

2.       Xander is a nice dude. The type of dude I would’ve totally fallen for in high school.

3.       Willow and I would’ve been friends, and I totally respect Buffy for being awesome and overlooking her awkward ways. I was sort of a mix of Willow (the lack of fashion sense and kind heart) and Buffy (the good vocabulary and awesome vampire-slaying skillz. OK, so I never ACTUALLY had to slay a vampire. But…I totally could. Totally. Cough.)

4.       Buffy had great hair. I had serious hair-envy while watching.

5.       Cordelia’s tan pants made me giggle. Every girl had at least one pair of those tan pants in the ‘90’s. 

6.       The dialogue is just a little bit dated. Overall, the only thing that really made it feel like a nineties-era show was the fashion.

7.       Angel was hot. Holy cow. I would’ve watched it the first time if I knew the full magnitude of Angel. Whew.

8.       And the vampires…gotta dig that makeup!  They’re pretty bad-ass, though. Honestly, I don’t know why they didn’t just finish Buffy off when they had the chance, but when the episode ended, she was lying in a coffin, and the super-freaky vampire was lurking about. I guess I’ve got to keep watching now.

SO! That’s a pretty great show. I’m sorry I missed it, 13 years ago.

My goal is to catch up on the various television series that I missed. I probably won’t do them in order, but I’ll get through all of them. (I think I might watch Star Trek next. I’ve been encouraged to just get all of season one and watch it in one sitting. MAYBE next week…one night after work. I’ll just…watch Star Trek. The question is: which series is best? )

I’ll end by saying that even my nearest and dearest friends were unaware of the lack of pop culture/geeky knowledge I have. And old friend of mine and I were having drinks last night and I was telling her all about this crazy Nerd-Quest. She’s a self-confessed nerd herself. I asked which movies she liked best and she rattled off a list of about ten.

I hadn’t seen any of them.

She shook her head in disbelief and said (almost sadly). “What happened, Jess? What happened? This is really important stuff to know.  Like, REALLY important.”

Dude, I know. Let the quest continue!