Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Polka Dots: Theme Thursday



Don't you just hate certain songs?   When I was growing up, there was a singing duo named "Paul and Paula" who came out with a song called, "Hey, Paula."



For years I hated that song because it totally embarrassed me.  Why?  Guess what my first name is?  Yeah... made famous by that song.  When you're in the 4th grade, this is totally humiliating! 

Then there was this ditty..



In the seventh grade I had my first two piece swimming suit.  We're not talking bikini here, but a fairly modest, high-neck top with ruffles to make up for the fact that I had no boobs and shorts-type pants.  Unfortunately, it was yellow with white polka dots.  And of course the first time I wore it, my mother started singing a certain song.  Yep... what I thought was going to look really awesome was now a total embarrassment.  Talk about being afraid to come out of the water...



I've been self-conscious in a bathing suit ever since!

37 comments:

Janice said...

I SO relate to those songs. Memories. Not necessarily good.

Lee said...

I never had a song that had the Hot Flash Queen in it...although it would be a great song.

gayle said...

I am so sorry about those songs but I Loved that first song and use to know it by heart!! Tonight was the first time I have seen it sung..Sorry but can't wait for tomorrow when I can come back and play it again..Really don't know why but it makes me feel good...must have been a good time in my life...I think I was a preteen ..Not sure Do you know when it came out?

Michael said...

Ha. I really must get myself one of those but boy version@ Umm...no! LOL. Yes, not heard the Paula song but can well imainge the stigma that left you with, nice enough song as it is. My sis, 10 years my senior, always sang the bikini song. I though tit so bizarre as she;d never have worn anything like that but she did love bright colours and yellow, just not bikinis! LOL

Baino said...

I remember the songs but unless I'm kidding myself (which I often do) I was very young. Poor thing with your not so itsy bitsy.

Dr Max Tunguska said...

Give your child mental blocks to play with this Christmas.

Brian Miller said...

lol. i remember the second one...and as a young child teasing by singing it...a few years later it was less a tease and more a prayer. smiles. happy tt!

Mike said...

Remember that song that went, "My name is Michael, I gotta nickel, I gotta nickel, shiny and new....."

Talk about a song that I hated! My neighbor was a girl named Cindy, seriously!

Tess Kincaid said...

Heehee, yeah, songs that include our names are ALways annoying. Fun dot post!

The Peach Tart said...

I forgot how much I love Connie Francis. I did have a yellow polka dot bikini although it was before I even had breasts.

nonamedufus said...

Boy Paul and Paula did a hell of lot of "waiting". It's a wonder they ever got together.

Michelle H. said...

So cruel. I have the polka dot bikini song in my head now. Droning on, and on, and on...

What's worse, this computer doesn't HAVE SPEAKERS. So cruel...

ReformingGeek said...

I love Otin's comment.

It's unfortunate the things that stick in our minds. Why can't we forget the teasing and the painful associations?

My brother's name just happened to be the same as a singer that became popular when we were kids. Poor thing.

Alan Burnett said...

Ok, I can understand your hatred of Hey Paula, but I used to quite like the song. Nice song, nice name, nicew post.

Anonymous said...

So where's the pic of YOU in the itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini?

Come on now. Don't be shy.

*smile*

RLM Cooper said...

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - absolutely silly song. Nice post, though.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Same thing happened to me when I wore my bikini...err...nevermind.

Me-Me King said...

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - wow, I can still recall all the words and in order. Must have made an impression on me in my young life.

gayle said...

Had to come back and hear that song again!! It's been a long time!! Well, I mean not counting last night!!

Anonymous said...

Your blog is hilarious! Wait until I show it to my cats:)

~Angela

JeffScape said...

Cats are not self-conscious! They're just nude!

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Janice: Now you're showing your age along with me!

Lee: Surely someone has made up a song about the Hot Flash Queen. (You could always substitute Hot Flash for Dancing in that ABBA song.)

Gayle: 1963. I was all of ten years old and all the girls in my class still hated boys.

Mmm: Bright colors are good... songs about polka dot bikinis are not!

Baino: You must have been very young!

idifficult: I have a lifetime of mental blocks, thanks to my family and the cruelty of others!

Brian: So did all those prayers ever pan out?

Otin: And they wonder why we're just a tad bit off kilter...

Willow: I think I should change my name to Willow... surely there are no embarrassing songs about a willow.

Peach Tart: Ahh... Connie Francis. Wasn't she the perky one?

Dufus: I think they actually did get married. Bleh!

Michelle: I'm so sorry about the song... didn't mean for it to get stuck in your head. (But it is an awfully catchy tune.)

Reffie: I suppose they would have just found something else to tease me about, even if the song had never been written. (I was very teasable.)

Alan: Thanks... glad someone likes it!

Quirky: There wasn't much to see back then and there's too much to see now!

AngelMay: Silly? It's downright stupid!

VE: Don't even go there!

Me-Me: Is that why your wallpaper has polka dots?

gayle: It's been so long since I last saw you!

Mistress: Hope your cats enjoy it. (Just don't let them come visit to tell me about it.)

JeffScape: A yellow polka dot bikini would definitely rub a cat the wrong way!

Jen said...

I feel for you. I was lucky, I grew up in the 70's and 80's so I got hit with "Jenny(867-5309)" by Tommy TuTone. I have a friend named Stella and you can guess that every time a boy saw her he started shouting "STELLAAAAA" so it could be worse.

Betsy Brock said...

LOL! Isn't everything in 7th grade embarrassing? ha.

ME said...

Happy New Year!

UberGrumpy said...

You're called Paul? That's a strange name for a gal

BlackLOG said...

You have to admit that the Connie Fancis version had a bit more class than the Bombalurina. I guess that does not help you with the wearing of said item....On the plus side I suspect that you only wore the Bikini once, which means that photos of you in it are few and far between. This might no have been the case if the Bikini had been Dayglow green. This may have saved you years of ridicule in later life.

justmakingourway said...

I never liked that Hey Paula song either. Of course, I think the first time I heard it was in the movie Dirty Dancing....but I would always skip past it when I got the soundtrack!

Shieldmaiden96 said...

I always think of 'Animal House' when I hear that 'Hey Paula' song. Because when they are in the bathroom smoking pot with Donald Sutherland and Amadeus and the woman from the Indiana Jones movies, they sing it.

Also? I feel your pain-- I'm a 'Mrs. Robinson'. Though never prone to wearing animal prints or seducing college-age boys. Though I'm only 39. I guess anything's possible.

Jayne Martin said...

I remember those songs... At least "Hey, Paula..." was a nice love song. The bikini song made me want to gouge my eyes out every time I heard it and should be used today to replace water-boarding.

Occasionally called Robbie said...

Have no fear you are not alone, I too have a bathing suit fear - My mother was mean =[

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Jen: Wow! And to give out your phone number besides..... Ha!

Betsy: You're right... with raging hormones, everything was humiliating!

Lyn: Back at you!

Uber Grumpy: Why do you think it was so humiliating? I got enough grief already for having a boy's name.

BlackLOG: It's true... I never had a day-glo green bathing costume.

Just making my way: I guess it's a good thing I never say Dirty Dancing then... probably would have hated it just for that.

Shieldmaiden: They just couldn't leave it alone, could they?

Jayne: There are several songs I can think of that are more painful than waterboarding. (Not that I've ever been waterboarded or anything.)

Robbie: You poor thing... did she make you wear one of those Victorian bathing costumes?

Anonymous said...

Time to get a new bathing suit then, that polka dot one is probably all faded by now anyway!

Secretia

Anonymous said...

Sheez Cat Lady, bummer childhood horror stories. I too now have the tweeny weeny song in my head and there is no way of switching it off OMG!!!!!!!!

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Secretia: Yeah, and I finally grew into the top.

frigginloon: All around the blogosphere that song is stuck in people's heads and I'm now being cursed from the far ends of the earth!

Moonrayvenne said...

I completely understand the clutter thing. It's like being surrounded with love...lol. Well, you know what I mean. And, I thought the same thing. If thieves ever broke in they would either kill themselves falling on something or figure it had already been ransacked & give up...LOL! Great minds think alike! (((HUGS)))

Corrie Howe said...

Wow, the Paul and Paula song...can you believe culture's music and videos were ever that innocent and sweet?

I remember the second song. It's got a catchy tune to it...good for working out at Curves.

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