Update...kinda

School starts tomorrow, not sure how busy I'll be, but I'm glad I managed to get a few posts done over the summer.

I have a children's literature class this semester, and i'm really looking forward to it. I think it's gonna be interesting, and... if we have a project part of my brain is wondering whether the baby-sitters club would work?

Ten Rules for Living With My Sister

Ann M. Martin has a new book coming out in September called "Ten Rules for Living with My Sister." She posted a link to the first two chapters on her facebook page, and I immediately went and read them, glad that even though she had ended the Main Street Series (*Tear*), she was still writing.

From the first two chapters I can already draw parallels to the BSC. Some things never change, but that's okay. The book is told from the viewpoint of 9 year old Pearl, who lives in an apartment in New York City with her 13 (going on 14) sister Lexi, (short for Alexandria) her parents, and her cat Bitey. Right off the bat, she goes into a chart of differences of herself and her sister, which include boyfriends (she lists her cat as her boyfriend), friends (poor kid only has one friend who's in first grade), interests (what ELSE would a thirteen year old do other than baby-sit?), and a bunch of other lesser differences.

Lexi has a WIDE range of interests. Listed among them other than baby-sitting is....

knitting.

soccer.

violin.

ballet.

She wears lipstick, has a boyfriend and has fashionable clothes. (not to mention her own key to the apartment.)

So looks like Lexi is a combination of Abby/Anna/Mary Anne/Jessi/Stacey.

It actually looks really cute. I would have kept on reading, but there were only 2 chapters.
Another interesting parallel I drew was that Lexi is "practically brilliant".. and Pearl doesn't apply herself academically, but in fact is actually "practically brilliant" as well. Her parents put her in kindergarten early, and she's bitter about it. There's a trio of girls that Lexi makes it sound like they're kind of like Pamela/Jannie/Leslie from BSLS.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, here's the link to the first two chapters:

http://media.us.macmillan.com/excerpts/9780312367664EX.pdf

Oh. My. Lord

So I was wandering around on youtube looking for a good new BSC fanvid video to post, and I stumbled upon this:

According to the youtube profile it's a thirteen year old. I can't really say much, because if I had a bunch of dolls (American Girl or otherwise, I only had the Claudia doll myself in the BSC set), I'd probably have done something similar.

If you can get past the "Spyer" and "David Mitchell"... it's rather amusing.

BSC TV Show Where Are They Now? UPDATES

I did one of these a long time ago, not long after I started this blog. There were a couple of people missing, because I couldn't find ANYTHING on them. Well, I'm happy to say, I have now found them. (Well, it's been a couple of months since I discovered the last one on FB, I was just too lazy to do anything.)

Because I already feel so stalkerish, i won't post their links to their profiles, but I will say, the majority of these were NOT hard to find, because A), with the exception of one, they all look the same and B) the ones that were a bit harder, were friends with someone else. Also, I think I have a pretty good memory, and if they got married at some point when I was randomly looking people up, I have a tendency to remember their married name as well (if applicable).

Avriel Hillman: (Kristy)

As far as I can tell,, she's done a lot of plays and directing. The most recent thing on IMDB says she was the executive producer of a short called A Doctor's Image in 2010.

Jeni F Winslow (Claudia)

I wish I'd gotten a picture when i first found her profile page (thanks to someone who clued me in on one of the comments on this blog), because it actually showed her entire face, but alas, she's got the bod, so why not.

There's not a whole lot of info on her available. but she lives in New York and is married

Meghan Lahey: (Mary Anne)

Okay, I was gonna use her facebook picture (which would entail all kinds of cropping and it was small to begin with), but I found another one! According to the website I found this on, she's no longer working as a school counselor (at least where she WAS), but still involved in counseling. I'm not really sure. It's too early for me to delve too much into the company info and the company works with schools. Steinbrecher & Partners if you're interested.

Anyway, she's got three kids, and I'm assuming married (because our Mary Anne would never have kids without getting married, am I right?) Two of which are boys.

Jessica Prunell (Stacey)

She's still working as a lawyer at a lawfirm in New York (different one, though.) She's now married and has a son who inherited her dimples.

Meghan Andrews (Mallory)

Still acting, still singing. Nothing much to update on from the previous post, but still flawless looking.

http://www.myspace.com/meghanandrewsmusic

I couldn't find Nicole Leach (Jessi) on facebook. She might not have one, her name might be too common (nor could I find her under the name she goes by now, which is Nicole Rochelle), or I was just too tired and didn't feel like digging very far, and she's not friends with mallory (which she was on myspace)

HOWEVER, I did find this fabulous video of her on youtube. Girl's got talent coming out the wazoo. From what I can tell, she hasn't done much screen work, but she's very active in theatre.

So, who am I missing?

Oh, yes. The ever elusive Melissa Chasse (Dawn.)

Well, here you go.

NOT from her direct facebook page, (most of those pictures were pretty blurry) but found it FROM her page. She's a dancer, choreographer, (high school musicals) and manages a spa in Connecticut. She also has a daughter from what I can tell.

Dawn Schafer managing a health spa? NO WAY.

(Although there was something about chocolate fondue. YUM. Claudia obviously must've had a say in that.)

While I'm at it, a couple of those clients:

Danny Tamberelli (Little Pete/Jackie Rodowsky)

Lives in New York. Adds everyone to his facebook friends (I know. I'm on there, Thanks, Danny!) He studied writing and music, and is in a band. http://www.jounce.org/home/

Gina Gallagher (Charlotte Johanssen)

She had a stint on All My Children as one of the many Bianca Montgomery's in the nineties, then had a brief part in Analyze This.

She's now married and has been working as a teacher, and she lives on Long Island.

The page for the TV show on IMDB has failed me. There are very few other parts that are listed, and except for "Katherine" I've covered them all, so I had to go look for my epic post on the LJ community Howtheylooknow, because I had added an extra few...AND IT WONT LOAD.

Anyway, as a wrap up, here's Karen Brewer's IMDB page.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1860307/ (Those pictures are old).

OOPS it finally loaded.

Let's have a little Jamie Anderson (Dawn's "Dream boy" aka Shane McDermott)

was in the movie Airborne (which I think I must seriously be missing out on haven't seen) and is now a realtor in Galveston Texas.

Ah, hell, how could I forget Zach Braff in Dawn Saves the Trees who played David Cummings...

I could with the name but I won't.

Okay, I've decided if I find more info on anyone else that appeared, I'll just post and forget the whole Edited to Add crap:

Say hello to Dave Buzotta aka Pete Black:

His IMDB page is somewhat active, and has done a couple of stints the past couple of years appearing in tv shows. Nothing huge, but it looks like he's still acting.

Anyone remember the Goloff's from Dawn and the Haunted House? Brittany Slattery played Annie, the one with the mop of curly blonde hair.

Same as Dave, still doing some acting work here and there, and she went to NYU and majored in film.

BSC product placement Picture

I was scanning a bunch of old pictures that my mother sent me, and while I was going through them, I stumbled upon this deliciously awkward picture of me in my early stages of pubery (4th grade)and if you look really closely at the bookshelf behind us kids, you'll see Baby-Sitters Club books.

And can I just say, I had a crush on the kid on the left. Mullet and all. Too bad he moved after fifth grade :P

Mallory Jacklyne ?

So I was flittering around on the wikipedia page for the BSC, and I was startled to see a middle name listed for Mallory. Her middle name is listed on other websites as well, and I cannot for the life of me recall where it was mentioned in the books.

I haven't read all of the books, so can someone help me out here?

ANM? Really?

Anyone who's floated around in the internet fandom of the Baby-Sitters Club has probably seen people call Ann M. Martin ANM. Whether it be from Tiff's blog (Claudia's Room), or on LiveJournal where there is a BSC community and various snark sites, people are calling the author ANM instead of calling her by her full name, or actually using her real initials... AMM.

Let me just say it plainly and simply.

IT DRIVES ME NUTS!

I can be a bit of a Karen when it comes to spelling. Mistakes happen, sure...and if there's a cute kitty involved, well, I admit I have a soft spot for Lolcats... (because... they're cats. Who knows what they really sound like other than meow? ;) ),but there is something about calling the author ANM that just bugs me. Mistakes happen, but this is obviously intentional.

I know there's some inside joke that I must have missed, but I truly don't get it. I don't see any point at all in changing the middle initial of her name. Is it easier to type? No...because you're adding a different letter, where as before there would only be two. Nor does it have any alliterative sense, as in Kristy's Krushers. To me, it makes the people who do this repeatedly look like they can't tell the difference between an N and an M (which is clearly shown on every single cover of every last one of her books.)

As with those people who always mess up your/you're and their/they're and there, it makes me cringe and I have to bite my tongue (or clench my fingers if you will).

Rant ended.