I can die now.

Like most people, I count my High School and college graduations, my wedding day and the births of my children as my life’s major moments.

Until today.

With apologies to Saguaro High School, ASU, NAU, Husband and the Things, something happened earlier today that trumped them all.

Scott Baio re-tweeted me.

I’ll say it again:

SCOTT BAIO RE-TWEETED ME.

I can die now.

You guys, I couldn’t write this earlier because it’s literally taken all day for the oxygen to return to my fingertips.

To understand – just a little – the mind-blowingness of this and the hysteria that ensued (and is still ensuing now…10 hours later), I should give you a brief history of my childhood obsession/infatuation/mania with Scott Baio (synonyms, I’m aware, but you need to combine all three to get to the level I was at from about 1979-1983).

baiocollage

Yes, I did just spend 20 minutes making this collage. And no, I’m not embarrassed by that at all.


Other than my inappropriate older-man crush on Donny Osmond, Chachi Arcola was IT for me.  My heart pounded out of my chest every single time he made his entrance on Happy Days.  And I believe I’ve told you before that a fun fact about me that I’m quite proud of is that I can still sing the theme song to “Joanie Loves Chachi” by heart.

I obviously do not have a lot of depth.

I’m not at all embarrassed to admit that I was one of probably 200 people who not only bought his album (shut up) but knew the lyrics to every song and defended his vocal ability to all the critics.  My best friend and I spent hours lying on my bedroom floor passing this album cover back and forth absolutely swooning listening him sing (to us, of course) “tell me guurrrlll…what was in that kiss, that made me feel like this?”

I still own this album. And may or may not take it out occasionally and stare at it.

When I was about 10-years-old my family took a trip to Magic Mountain in California and upon arrival were told that Scott Baio would be performing LIVE on stage there that day.
I immediately burst into tears.
(1) because I was so overwhelmed with emotion and love and adoration and the thought of seeing him in person just overwhelmed me; and (2) because I had worn my hair in dog-ears that day.
Dog. Ears.
So. Childish.
girl crying (Giphy)Scott Baio occupied my every waking moment, and even my non-waking moments. When I couldn’t sleep I would sometimes play a little game I liked to call, “What is Scott Baio doing right now?” to help me fall asleep.
But I totally stopped doing that in like 1995 1984.

So maybe, then, you can understand how it felt to open up my email this morning and see this –
baiotweet.com

Ask my kids if I went a little berserk.
If I maybe ran around like I’d just chopped off my fingertip with a butcher knife.
If I paused mid-run to do a strange happy jig and shout, “HE KNOWS I’M ALIVE! HE KNOWS I’M ALIVE!”
If I had to sit for a moment with my head between my knees taking deep breaths IN through my nose…OUT through my mouth.
If I fumbled with my phone/ipad/computer trying desperately to pull up his actual page to see if, in fact, he had re-tweeted me (which I couldn’t do and Thing 1 had to do for me because my hands were shaking….and because I do not know how Twitter actually works).
baiotweet2.jp

And what’s funny is that over the past few months I’ve had an idea brewin’ for a blog post on how different it is for tweens and teens today to stalk stay up-to-date on the daily minute-by-minute happenings of their celebrity crushes.
Thing 1 can tell us (and believe me…she does) 20x a day what the boys of One Direction are doing…what they are eating…who they are kissing…what they are allergic to and show us photos of them doing it all. Constantly.

eye roll

Not sayin’ I can’t/don’t do the same with celebrities via Twitter.  It’s just so different from when we were kids and only had access to seeing them or hearing them if they were on television or if we saw their photos in Tiger Beat. They lived their exiting lives only in our imaginations and in our dreams.

Was it better then?
Not sure.
More romantic?
Absolutely.
Nevertheless, I’d have given anything in 1982 to know what Scott Baio ate for dinner or that he had the flu last week or have been able to see current photos of him every day.  And it would have absolutely blown my little mind to know that one day I’d be able to know when he played golf, what he was cooking for breakfast, and seen photos of him out with his family – all on my phone.
And I’d love – LOVE – to go back in time and tell my 12 year old self that one day he’d read something I wrote and he’d like what I said enough that he’d send it along to 50,000 of his friends. (But I don’t really have to wonder what I’d have done.  Flatlined is what I’d have done).
I just wish he didn’t have to see my Twitter photo wearing those stupid New Year’s Eve glasses.
Might as well as have had dog-ears.
girl crying (Giphy)
*sigh*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE!! Friday, October 5…..
Geesh, Scott, just friend me already.

55 Comments

  1. Anonymous on July 12, 2012 at 2:52 am

    Michelle,

    You are just so damn funny!!! I love your blog posts and this one had me almost peeing my pants for so many different reasons: 1) the Scott Baio phenomenon of the 70’s/80’s, 2) the twitter re-tweet (I have no idea how twitter works either) and 3) the current teen culture. As you know, we stayed in the same hotel as One Direction in LA the night after the Kids Choice awards. Sarah was able to figure out exactly what they were doing, where they were going next etc. I had no idea and had no idea how I would figure it out if I were at gun point!! Keep writing … I want to keep laughing with you! Peggy P.S. I clicked Anonymous because I have no idea what the hell the rest of the options mean!! Crap. Another thing I need to learn….

    • Michelle on July 12, 2012 at 1:54 pm

      Thanks “Peggy” (wink wink). !!

  2. Kathe on July 12, 2012 at 2:55 am

    Oh oh oh! I know somebody that is >< this close to knowing Scot Baio! Well I am >< this close to knowing that somebody…okay, I follow somebody(this would be you)! What a wonderful wonderful day you had! Maybe I should follow Mickey Dolenz on twitter and see if he knows I am alive??

  3. Meg O. on July 12, 2012 at 2:58 am

    OH MY GOD.

    I would die.

    This post is hilarious!!! LOVE IT!!!!!

  4. this hive. on July 12, 2012 at 3:15 am

    you get funnier and funnier by the post! holy crap i loooooove you!

    like 10 years ago, a local valley radio station had scott baio on and i called in and got to talk to him! charles in charge was my shiiiiit and i had to tell him. sooo awesome that he retweeted you! love it!

    also – OMGG you went to saguaro!? my ex boyfriend in high school went there.. (i went to a private, catholic school… not xavier, a newer co-ed high school in waaaaay north scottsdale). such a small world! they totally redid it a few years back.. it looks really good now!

    you made my night with this post!
    ps- i think you and hubs should come back to tempe this football season for a game 😉 xoxoxo

  5. Kara on July 12, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Best post of the day! You totally need to tweet this blog post so he can read it!!

  6. kyna... on July 12, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    OMG!!!! That is awesome!! I would die!!!
    ♥ Kyna

  7. *LO* on October 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    omg tigerbeat. LOL congrats on the re-tweet 🙂

  8. Mommy Lisa on October 8, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    That is awesome.

  9. RachRiot on October 16, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    ERMAHGERD, SCORT BAIORRR?!?! You is famous…

  10. Lori on October 16, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    Thanks for the laughs, sharing this now!

  11. Funny Is Family on November 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm

    “Scott Baio once retweeted me” needs to be your Twitter bio. Also, are those Swedish Fish on your Twitter homepage? I just tried to eat my screen.

  12. yourfriendrobin on November 21, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    He was my older man crush when he was in Charles in Charge. I used to get cramps in my eyeballs from rolling them when my dad would call him Chachi. Get with the times, DAD! I can’t believe he retweeted you. That makes me want to get twitter, just for the possibility that my celebrity crushes might retweet my posts.

  13. Sparkling on November 26, 2012 at 12:11 am

    I only loved Scott Baio in Charles in Charge. I have no idea what I thought that show was the THE BEST. And I sincerely disliked him a few years ago when there was some reality show about him. He was such a whiner. Oh poor me, I was a child actor and can’t get my life straight.

    But your post about his retweet is hysterical. If JOey McIntyre from NKOTB were to do that for me, I would do exactly what you did.

    And I have never met another soul who called pig tails dog ears. We called them doggie ears but dog ears is the closest I’ve ever heard! My mother never called them pigtails. And I always got smacked with the brush for squirming when she ripped my hair to part it. Oh was that just me? Not part of the whole doggie ears thing?

  14. mod mom beyond indiedom on November 30, 2012 at 11:38 pm

    Oh girl, I so get this. I was all about Scott Baio back in the day. Did you see him on Anderson Live this week? I just posted that same photo (with the yellow shirt) on my Facebook page this week. haha Memories of Tiger Beat and Chachi. Hilarious!

  15. Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms on January 8, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    AHHHHHHHHHHH! YOU know that I KNOW exactly what you are experiencing!!!!!!!!!!! (I wish I could use hearts for my exclamation points instead of dots.) Fantastic!

    And I remember that album! But is it just me or did every heart throb pose like that (Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garret, Michael Jackson, Andy Gibb, etc.), amiright? Never realized that before. Ellen

  16. Bee on January 11, 2013 at 1:19 am

    That’s so cool!

  17. Larks on January 11, 2013 at 8:51 am

    Wow! I don’t know what I would do if I were retweeted by one of my childhood crushes. Definitely freak out but, ooooooh, to ponder the specifics!

  18. Dana Hemelt on October 31, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    I am so jealous! I had a tshirt with “Scott Baio” ironed on the front in fifth grade – I wore it constantly. Joanie loves Chachi? Something magic/in the way/you hold me in your eyes…

    And since I can’t comment on your about me page, I will tell you here with no shame whatsoever that I also have a somewhat inappropriate crush on Zac Efron. Just sayin’.

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:27 pm

      Have you seen Zac lately making the talk show circuit?? HOLY HELL he looks yummilicious. And yeah, totally totally inappropriate for me to be thinking that, but in my mind I’m like 24 so it’s all good. 😉
      Thanks for reading!
      Now let’s sing some Joanie Loves Chachi together and sway.

    • Dana @ Kiss my List on February 6, 2014 at 12:45 am

      I knew I had read this when I saw it on the Dose girls – and here I am! Yes, I’ve seen Zac and I don’t think it’s inappropriate at all 🙂

  19. VITA Train for Life on February 5, 2014 at 11:50 am

    This is so great on so many levels!! Who can’t relate to your love of Scott Baio? I used to have his face plastered all over my walls as a pre-teen and watch all his shows. I couldn’t be happier for you!!!! You’ll have to never wash that tweet 🙂

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:24 pm

      I’ve gotten a LOT of mileage from that tweet and the subsequent “favorite” (see the link at the bottom of the post). My family is SO sick of me saying, “I know him. He loves me.” every time we see him on Nickelodeon or in a magazine or random talk show. But I mean, it’s totally true, right??

  20. Amy Flory on February 5, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    I know I’ve already commented on this, but I just noticed your Twitter handle was @hellonewman21, which I love. Goodbye now.

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:22 pm

      hellonewman is and has been my personal email since email started. And yes, it’s a Seinfeld thing. Because we got SO sick of everyone saying it to us back in the day and thinking they were so terribly clever. It was my twitter handle before I changed it to match the blog. Branding, ya know. 😉

  21. AnnMarie on February 5, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    I am dying!!! First, my sister was a die-hard Scott Baio fan. She had his record, too. I can’t wait to show her this. Second, I still hope and pray that Taylor Kitsch will get a real twitter so that I can hope he’ll retweet me. This is so awesome that I did a little jig for you. Mine, back in the day, was Matt Dillon. Maybe I’ll stalk him a little bit to see if I can get a retweet. Third, I absolutely LOVE your blog name. I say these exact words all the time. 🙂 Consider me a new follower (and how the heck it took so long, I have no idea).

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:21 pm

      Yep — the blog name comes from me telling a chosen member of the family that on a daily or weekly basis. Depending on who scooped the cat box or emptied the dishwasher or refilled my wine glass.
      Matt Dillon was AWEsome! Still is. Go forth and stalk.
      Thanks for following and for chatting with me! Happy to have you along for the ride!! 🙂

  22. AiringMyDirtyLaundry on February 5, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    Haha, awesome. I would be just as excited if John Krasinski re-tweeted me. I’d also be like, “HE KNOWS I’M ALIVE!”

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 6:06 pm

      Ooh. John Kasinksi. That would be a good one. Sigh.

  23. another jennifer on February 5, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    I’m so jealous! I used to be a big Scott Baio fan too. But do you know what’s sad? The fact that he only has 50K followers! Crazy

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:30 pm

      Do you know what’s even sadder? That I’m like 40K of them.
      Nah, but he’s hot and cold on Twitter so maybe that’s the issue? Because it’s certainly not the fact that he’s a teen star from THE 70’S. 😉

  24. Nicole Goodman on February 5, 2014 at 2:44 pm

    This is awesome! I got excited when Bart Yasso (a veritable celebrity in the running world) replied to one of my tweets and then followed me. Then I sent the screenshot to my husband (who’s also a runner). And he was like, who?

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:31 pm

      Twitter is creepily cool like that. Love it!
      Thanks for reading!!

  25. Katy on February 5, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Coming over from the Dose Girls. Love it! Joanie loves Chachi was da bomb.

    Can I brag that my favorite singer – who was really big in the 80s – actually REPLIED to my tweet last year and I nearly died, too!? It was Bryan Adams. Omigosh. That’s why I love Twitter.

    BTW, while you were hanging out at Saguaro High in the 80s I was at Agua Fria. Our perms and neon may have passed each other at MetroCenter!

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:19 pm

      Excellent! It’s entirely possible! 😉
      You have total cred getting a REPLY from Bryan Adams. HE KNOWS YOU ARE ALIVE!!!! Isn’t it an amazing feeling??
      Thanks for popping over!!

  26. Alexa B on February 5, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    Dose Girls sent me over and I’m glad they did! Oh, to be retweeted by Scott Baio…

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:28 pm

      Thanks for popping by! It was a great day that is fun to be re-living thanks to the lovely Dose Girls!!

  27. Tamara Camera on February 5, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    I had that same crush! And now I have a new life dream. Or maybe just a February 2014 goal…
    Scott, it’s on.

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:28 pm

      Go get him.
      I’ll share.
      😉

  28. myspecialkindofcrazy on February 5, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    I am over here from the Dose Girls. That is WAY.AWESOME. I watched Happy Days ONLY for him. You now are just 1 degree of separation from Scott Baio because if a celebrity retweets something you wrote, they totally know you. Absolutely counts.
    And hold on- Direct TV cancelled Nickelodean??

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 5:17 pm

      This was written a year and a half ago and yeah, they did for like two weeks. RIGHT BEFORE ‘SEE DAD RUN’ debuted. I was dying. But it was all fixed in time. Now my 12 yo and I watch that show all the time and I get my Baio fix! 🙂

  29. Michelle Nahom on February 5, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    That was absolutely hysterical. I would be on top of the moon too if he retweeted me too…or anyone famous for that matter. And I loved that show too but I don’t remember a thing that went on on it. Or Happy Days either for that matter. Is it age? I probably would remember if I saw the re-runs. Sad what age does to you!! But you are right, things are so different. Kids today know everything about what is going on in celebrities lives…makes me glad I don’t live in a glass room like that. I would hate people knowing so much about me. The personal trainer, personal chef, housekeeper, etc would be nice though.

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      It has kind of heightened my expectations on Twitter, I have to say. Now whenever I tag some celebrity in a post I run around all day thinking for SURE they’re going to RT it or ‘favorite’ it. Sadly, it hasn’t happened again.
      And yeah, I’ll take the perks but not the bubble of being a celebrity. A price they pay, for sure.
      Thanks for commenting!! 🙂

  30. Stacey Hatton on February 5, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    Michelle, I believe I’m a touch older than you for although I did think Scott B. was awesome, Donny Osmond was the God of all Gods! I would sing into a purple hairbrush or purple magic marker with you and do harmony to any of his songs when we get together. Get your act primed because I’m ready.to.go! Loved this. You are a STAR!!

    • Michelle on February 5, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      And HE STILL IS. One of my bucket list items is to see Donny & Marie in Vegas before they end their show there. And I’m not ashamed at ALL to admit that! “Morning Side of the Mountain” — you and me — it’s ON. xo

  31. Chris Carter on February 5, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    OHMYGOSH THIS IS HILARIOUSLY AWESOME!!!!!!! I am starstruck on YOU now…. and WOWZA me likesee Scott TOO!!! But- not half as much as you…actually not a quarter either. Perhaps I like him 1/457th of what your feelings are- and perhaps I need to not even be in your category because you say love- and quite frankly, I only love Kevin Costner.

    If you happen to get retweeted by him? Let me know, wouldya?

    *PS: I couldn’t open your new link for the update- said problem loading page?

  32. Kristi Campbell on February 6, 2014 at 3:50 am

    Amazingly well awesome, you. I LOVE Scott. Ok actually I’m totally lame, wondering whether he’s Charles in Charge? IF so, LOVED him and holy shit to him retweeting you. Also, LOVE THIS. Glad that the Dose Girls featured your freakiness today 😉

  33. Crystal Green on February 6, 2014 at 4:27 am

    I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who would have a fit if a character I had a crush on while I was a teenager acknowledged me today. This is so cute and funny. I’m so utterly glad I got to read it.

  34. workingonworkingmom on February 6, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Stopping by from the Dose of Reality and I love this post! I totally know how you feel! I got a retweet and then later a direct response from Jason Ritter and I was so excited you would have thought I won the lottery. This was two-fold too because I was obsessed with John Ritter when I was younger (what did you say about inappropriate older-man crushes?) and then of course fell in love with his son when he was on Parenthood. Congratulations on your retweet! You should print out the screen shot and frame it!

  35. Carla Bruns on February 8, 2014 at 1:46 am

    Oh, my! Now, I have to admit, that while I’m not totally with you on the Scott Baio thing, I truly, truly understand. It would be like Leif Garrett retweeting me or if we’re talking tween years for me it would be Ricky Schroder. Seriously, I could not get enough Silver Spoons. I’m so happy your dreams just came true. And a coffee mug is totally in order. And a mouse pad. That way every time you go to the computer you remember he’s there watching you. 🙂

  36. Dawn Pasco on February 10, 2014 at 12:45 am

    That is too cool and here I was all excited that I got a retweet from Chobani yogurt 🙂 I used to be a big fan of Donny as well, but David Cassidy was the bomb. Stopping by from The Dose of Reality.

  37. […] romantic situations with both imaginary and real suitors (and yes, I am talking about Scott Baio). I read every single one of the Sweet Dreams teen romance novels that were published between 1981 […]

  38. […] been following along, you’ll know why I choked on my wine.(For my new friends, read THIS and THIS to understand. Seriously, he KNOWS I EXIST).But then I started reading the list […]

  39. […] I also think of Weeble Wobbles, moon boots, latch-hook rugs, ESPRIT clothing and, of course, Scott Baio — but also, […]

  40. Charlene Snyder Ross on March 20, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    Haha! Just came across this and LOVE it. For me it was Shaun Cassidy and if he ever retweeted me I’d feel exactly the same!

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