My relationship with Psych (the TV shows, not my major!) is like my relationship with oxygen or water or say fictional young adult book characters- completely and utterly vital to my existence. In 2006 I met this lovely duo (via my television of course) and instantly became addicted to their charm, wit, and friendship. They are probably the best friendship to ever be portrayed on TV, besides maybe Lucy & Ethel or any of the FRIENDS. They're wacky and crazy and HILARIOUS and they 100% understand and love each other.
Shawn and Gus have been best friends since elementary school and are still going strong into their 30's. They see each other every day and even own their own business together. While they each play very different roles in their relationship, they accept who the other person is and love them for it. Shawn and Gus are the greatest!
But this show is full of amazing relationships. It's about friendship, first and foremost, about life and growing up and living your dream (of being a fake cop) and also love. It's basically the most awesome thing in the world.
This week was the series finale and while I LOVED the way it all ended, it was so sad for me the entire time because I knew I wouldn't be going on any new adventures with them, and that was seriously HEART BREAKING. It was like watching the series finale of FRIENDS. It's like the end of an era!! And I've been trying all week to move on from my sadness and grief and remember all the good times we had together. Sure, first I was in denial for weeks leading up to it. No, they're not leaving, they're just going on a...a really long break...a vacation, kind of...it's really nothing! I won't even notice their absence! And then the anger hit. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!! I AM SO MAD AT EVERYTHING!!! THAT'S IT! I'M NOT WATCHING ANY MORE!! I'M GOING ON A STRIKE! WHO'S WITH ME!?! Yeah, that didn't last too long. I moved swiftly (I'm talking like 30 seconds or less here!) into bargaining. Please, please, please don't do this!! Please!! Take back a different show- here, take Vampire Diaries or freaking ANY (OR ALL!) REALITY TV SHOW YOU WANT! Just don't take Psych!! P-L-E-A-S-E!!!! I'm not gonna lie, that one lasted awhile. But then the depression set in. For the last couple episodes I wanted to be happy, and I was for small moments while watching it, but knowing what it was leading up to, it was always bittersweet. But mostly bitter... Nothing will ever be as good as this. I'm just going to stop watching tv altogether. I don't want to get out of my pj's or shower, I'll just sit inside all day. I probably won't even go outside ever again. I probably won't even laugh ever again. Finally, I'm glad to say I've made it to acceptance. Which is where this blog comes in. I want to remember all the good times, the great adventures, the banter and jokes and hilarious almost-pee-your-pants moments! And there's A LOT of them!! I'll re-watch the series over and over (I started last year and I'm currently on season 6!) and it will feel like they never left!
Here are the main reasons why I love Psych so much: It's some of the most witty and brilliant writing on TV, ever, the Pop Culture references from the 80's and 90's, the series long jokes, the chemistry between everyone but especially Shawn & Gus, ...actually, maybe it's better if I just show you.
First, meet Shawn, a *psychic* detective, 80's pop reference junkie, and an honorary ambassador of Paraguay. He has an irrational fear of Patrick Dempsey and is jealous of his hair. He can pass a lie detector test without telling the truth, has a screensaver of a T-Rex biting him, and thinks there are 7 Olympic rings. He has an IQ of 187 and passed the detective test at 15 years old. Not to mention his rington is Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect and if he was a super hero, he would be "The Catch" (i.e. dressed in a catchers outfit).
Shawn's best moments:
Meet Gus, he's technically a pharmaceutical rep, but he's mostly just the other half of Psych, and Shawn's best friend. His super power is his smelling ability (called the Super Snifer), he's lactose intolerant, and he loves jerk chicken. He's got a spotless credit report, drives a B Lou Berry, imitates Michael Jackson and was voted 'most likely to succeed' in high school. Not to mention he discovered a tyrannosaurus skull but Shawn took the credit. (of course) And if he was a superhero, he would be "Tap Man" (like tap dancing).
Gus' finest moments:
Series Long Jokes:
The "This is my partner, --------" joke:
Pop Culture References:
The Bickering:
The Screaming:
The Dancing:
The "Psycic Ju Ju":
The "Spot the Pineapple" Series-long game:
The Fist-Bumping:
The "Gus, don't be a ------" joke:
Going forward, I'll just remember how silly they were.
In my mind, they continue to do what they've always done- goof off, be awesome, and solve crimes.
Gus will continue to cry over everything.
And food will still always be the first thing on their minds. And we wouldn't have it any other way. Shawn and Juliet will have little kids who grow up to become super hero detectives and Gus will marry a Jamaican women and have little Harry Potter loving Gus' and their children will be best friends and the cycle will keep going until the end of time. That's a pretty good Happily Ever After!
When I was young, I couldn't wait to grow up. I think that's how we all were. There was something so magical about being an adult, or so we thought. From the youngest of ages, we're playing "house"; pretending to have spouses and kids and jobs. We were putting on Mom's makeup and high heels and pearls and dreaming of the time when we could be free to do whatever we want. Grown ups just seemed to have it all- never being told what to do and staying up as late as they want. They seemed to have the BEST life.
As kids, from the start people are asking you "what do you want to be when you grow up?" and the question is so exciting to think about, because jobs looked like SO MUCH FUN. When I was five or six and being asked that in kindergarten and 1st grade, I always said I wanted to be a figure skater, a gymnast, and a lifeguard. Yup. All three. There wasn't a doubt in my mind I wouldn't be able to have everything my heart desired. I got a little older and I decided I would play soccer professionally and travel to world to different stadiums doing the thing I loved most in life. Never any doubts. As kids we're so sure of our futures.
We had everything figured out because MASH told us so. We'd have 5 kids and be married at 19 years old, drive a nice car, live in house with a white picket fence and be doctors or dancers or heck, even lifeguards if that's what we wanted! Everything was painfully simple and we just knew life would be at it's grandest once we "grew up". Our dreams changed as we got older and in high school nothing seemed greater than having your drivers license and a car. Finally you were free to live life! College seemed like the most wonderful thing in the world and soon enough you'd land your perfect dream job because hey, why not! We were in such a hurry to grow up, which makes you think that sometimes you didn't make the most of it.
Ever hear the old adage "Youth is wasted on the young"? Well, we never really understood that until we were old enough and it was too late. You're an adult now, with adult responsibilities and adult jobs and adult bills! Nothing in your life feels as whimsical as it did when you were young. It's not bad, per say, but it definitely isn't the grandiose picture you had in mind when wishing upon those stars. Now we definitely understand why Peter Pan never wanted to grow up. We always thought we'd get our freedom when we were adults but as it turns out, the only time we were free was when we were kids! Now were imprisoned by jobs, finances, schooling, and adult responsibilities.
But growing up isn't always bad, as long as we maintain some of our childlike qualities. Still, a level of "grown-up-ness" is required for survival in our lives. At twenty-five years old, I'm still learning these things- learning which parts I change and which parts I work at to stay the same. No one every told me as a kid that I'd LONG for the days of being a child, though if they did, I wouldn't have believed them anyways. That's one of the great things about being young- you're always so sure of yourself and life and everything. There are some really great things about being an adult, like you set your own schedule, make your own choices, you can travel with your friends and can "call in sick" without needing a doctors note! Wonderful, wonderful things! But there's also some really hard parts about growing up...
For instance:
1. Budgeting sucks until you nail down what works for you...when you're younger and just first handling your own finances, it seems like you have endless amounts of money! But those are called credit cards and while you might have access to what feels like endless amounts of money, you eventually have to pay it back, with INTEREST. Turns out you just have the ability to get into endless amount of debt!
2. You once thought you'd have so much freedom...until you realize that growing up means things like a car payment, rent, student loans, credit cards, phones, utilities, gas/food money all depend upon a stable income...which requires us to work stable (and long!) hours. Goodbye freedom!
3. Grown up relationships are hard. I'm not just talking about romantic relationships, but friendships too. As we get older, we have less time and energy to devote to things/people in our lives. We start to have to be choosey about who we're spending our time with because there's not a lot of it. So our group of friends get smaller and smaller and that's really difficult. Sometimes it's not even our choice, as we grow up, we sometimes grow apart from people who used to be so central in our lives. I think that's the hardest part- not having a choice at who still wants you in their life. But making relationships successful takes hard work too- it requires us to be more open and honest and diligent to make it work. It requires us to voice our feelings and confront the things that bother us, even if it's uncomfortable and difficult. Adult relationships require a lot of effort from both parties to remain successful!
4. Growing up requires you to take responsibility of your life. You're the master of your own destiny! Committing to a major or a job or a new city or new venture takes guts!! E.E. Cummings wrote that "it takes courage to grow up and become who we really are" and I agree with that 100%. Following your dreams, putting yourself out there, and making goals are sometimes terrifying! It requires us to be brave, relentless, and believe in ourselves, which doesn't always come naturally.
5. And lastly, growing up means moving on...that could be from relationships or dreams or ideals, or any number of things. But moving on is difficult. Sometimes it takes us a long time to realize what's good for us and what's not. And then to have the courage to leave it behind you and move forward...I think this is something we'll probably struggle with at many points in our lives.
It's important to grow up but it's also important with some things to embrace your inner child, the trick is knowing when it's appropriate and when it's not. We unfortunately don't have the option of going back in time or staying young forever, so we haveto grow up at some point. But one thing's for sure, Peter Pan was definitely onto something.
Girls got problems. Lots and Lots of 'em. Boys will never know what it's like to have to constantly monitor about 12 different things- Is my hair frizzy yet? Did my eyeliner run? Do I have lipstick on my teeth? Is my bra/bra straps showing? Is my skirt turned the right way? Do I have toe cleavage in these shoes? Are my heels too dry to wear these sandals? Can you tell my nail polish is chipped? Is it going to rain the day I wear a white shirt? Can I even bend down in these shoes? What are the chances I start my period TODAY of all days? Are my boobs uneven?
You know, real problems. But girls with curly hair...we have even MORE problems! Because monitoring the status of your hair could take NSA level of technology, just to keep it looking decent on any given day. But we don't, which is why we have SO MANY PROBLEMS! Girl Problems: Curly Hair Edition 1. Moisture. Everything about it. 2. "Is your hair naturally curly?" -"No, I just get up at the crack of dawn to do THIS to my hair." 3. Never being able to run your fingers through your hair in fear of losing one. 4. "A foggy day in London town..." sounds lovely and romantic when it's being crooned by Frank Sinatra but to you it sounds like the hell. (Except the London part, obviously.) 5. The only way to fix a styling error is to take another shower. 6. Being afraid of a new person cutting your hair because they'll cut it too short. 7. You develop a fear of running out of conditioner. 8. The sheer amount of product you need to keep your curls contained, and the amount of $ you spend on them. 9. When you only have people with straight hair around so there is no one to complain to who will understand. 10. A Caribbean vacation sounds awesome until you realize you forgot to account for this:
And the only option you have is to try to cover it up...
Which of course never works out. 11. "Why do you use so many bobby pins?" -........ 12. If you put your hair in a ponytail, you've now committed to it for the entire day (...and the entire time until you wash your hair again.) 13. When someone with beautiful naturally straight hair says "Aww! I wish I had your curls! You need to appreciate what you've got!" and you just want to slap them. 14. Needing at LEAST an hour to straighten your hair...not to mention the HOUR you needed to blow dry it AHEAD OF TIME. 15. "Do you have a brush I can borrow?" -"Does it LOOK like I brush my hair?" 16. Going to school with wet hair because drying it means you would've had to get up an hour earlier... 17. Taking pictures with your friends and being the only one without silky straight hair. 18. Pulling a sweatshirt over your head. 19. Being envious of everyone who can just brush their hair and leave the house. 20. Going to bed with wet hair means you wake up with...wet hair...HOW IS IT STILL DAMP!? 21. The underside of your hair that no one ever sees always has PERFECT curls. 22. Your hair shrinks AND expands. 23. Even brushing your hair out in the shower with conditioner seeped in HURTS and takes FOR-EV-ER. 24. Sweat. 25. The curls by your face always have a lot of volume but everything else is flat. 26. Your hair is actually twice as long as it is curly, but people rarely see it. 27.
28. The amount you shed the day after you washed your hair. 29. Wanting to cause bodily injury to all the straight haired girls complaining about frizz in the bathroom. 30. Not being able to go somewhere at the drop of the hat because you need double the time anyone else needs to do your hair. 31. Leaving the salon with hair only half dry because your stylest has run out of time. 32. Girls with straight hair: "It takes me 15 minutes to straighten my hair in the morning!" You: ...hand twitching... 33. Your hair looked decent when you left the house and then you catch it in the windows walking into work... 35. Getting excited to try a new curling product but it ends up in the back of the drawer with the other 20 because it either leaves your hair too crunchy or too tacky..there never seems to be anything in between. 36. WIND. 37. Pool parties. 38. If you wear a hat or beanie you can't take it off, for anything. 39. You get WAY more split ends than everyone else because your ends are ALWAYS dry. 40. Your hair somehow gets wrapped around the top button of your cardigan and every time you try to brush it off your shoulder, you pull out at least 5 strands. 41. THIS.
People with straight or wavy hair will NEVER know how good they have it. Lucky jerks. ;)
