| So I played it over and over and over. I think it pissed everyone off, but oh well. I came back to Michigan and called Tiffany to tell her that I found the Fluffy CD. She didn't care, she was into the Macarena by this time. So soon we drifted apart since she listened to rap and I listened to good music :) I continued the band as a one person mission to change the world. I recorded three tapes and distributed them among people at school and my family. Soon I became tired of doing all the instruments myself and not finding anyone who shared my interest in Fluffy. Sometime after I got a computer in like 1999 I think, I searched the web for Fluffy infol. That's when I saw the horrible news that they had broken up! I cried for two weeks thinking that music was dead and I would never find another band I adored so much. This was worse than when I turned on the news and found out my idol Kurt Cobain had shot himself. It was worse because I had never gotten a chance to see them in concert or meet them! I retreated to my room until my Junior year in High School when I met Tommie Funk. She had gone to our school years ago and I had a HUGE crush on her brother Zach, but I never thought she was into good music. Soon we were forced into being friends and she introduced me to bands like MOD, Sloppy Seconds and the Misfits. I was so happy! Finally someone who didn't suck! I played her my Fluffy CD and she loved it just as much as I did. At one point we had taped it for my car and played it over and over for a month straight! We started partying and being bad and the more we listened to Fluffy, the more I realized these songs were about us! Soon we formed a band called Stealing Stuff For Free with Tiffany, Margie and Andrea. Tiffany was the first to drop out beause she sucked, then Andrea and then Margie. By the time our third concert came around, it was just me and Tommie. We decided to play not one but TWO Fluffy songs at the concert. Sometime before the concert, Tommie went to Florida for spring break. I was sad and I did nothing but watch tv and listen to music. One night I was flipping through the channels when I spotted a familiar face. "It can't be!" I shouted "Why would she be on VH1???" There she was, Amanda Rootes, singing inside of a limo with a group of people. I was intrigued, I doubted it was really her until they showed her talking and said her name was Amanda. I almost fell off the couch! I watched the rest of this show and was slightly mad that I didn't know she was on here. When it was over, I went online to VH1.com and checked out the Bands on the Run site. From there I found Harlow's site. So I checked that out and saw that I could write Amanda an email. So I did. It was really corny and stupid, but she wrote me back like the next day and I was so happy! I wrote Tommie an email telling her that Amanda from Fluffy was in a new band called Harlow. I knew she wouldn't get the message until she returned to Michigan, but I had to tell someone! So then I found Amanda's Live Journal and signed up for my own LJ. I was facinated that I could read her thoughts (sorta) and get to know the wonderful woman behind my favorite band. At first I felt weird because I realized I didn't really know anything about her! I had only read like two articles and I only saw the Fluffy website Dave UK made. I then began backtracking and reading articles online about this woman. I wondered how she was in real life, was she a stuck up rockstar bitch? Or was she really cool? It wasn't long before I realized she was the latter. She always responded to my comments on LJ and she was just so down to Earth. I felt bad that she wasn't this rich glamorous star like she should be. I then made it my mission to spread the word about Harlow. I told everyone to vote for them on VH1, I told them to watch the show, I told them to send them money! I didn't seem to be getting across to many people, so then I created a website on Homestead.com for Amanda worshippers. This is when people started to talk to me online. I got emails, instant messages, people on LJ, lots of people pouring in with thier support. I realized then that there had ALWAYS been fans of Fluffy out there, and especially fans of Amanda Rootes, that I just didn't know how to find them before. I voted every day on VH1.com, in every category. I was determined that they would win this competition! I stayed up every night watching BOTR, or taping it if I was too tired and I crossed my fingers hoping they wouldn't get kicked off. At first thought the show was utterly stupid and only watched it for Harlow, but soon I was hooked and I wanted to know what happened next. I began making friends through Harlow and I felt like I had finally met some people who weren't big posers. As the show continued, my interest in this band kept growing, then when they lost and had to go home I was so mad! How could they lose? They were the best band on there! I stopped watching it and just talked to Harlow fans online and Amanda. Tommie kept watching and she let me know who won between Soulcracker and Flickerstick. I was too bummed to watch it without Harlow on it. I did realize that I had a secret love of Flickerstick, but it was still nothing compared to Harlow. I saw Flickerstick play at St. Andrew Hall in Detroit and Tommie passed out because it was so hot. We met the band afterward and they signed our CDs and I showed Fletcher my underwear. (I had made Flickerstick underwear on the computer). Then in October we went and saw Harlow at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor (which is another story!!!!). So as time wore on I made changes to this site and kept in touch with their fans and as of this writing Amanda still thinks I'm cool and not a big nerd who annoys her. |