I Smurf the Eighties

Southern California. 1987. Three twelve-year-old girls play volleyball outside in the sun during third period PE at Oak Crest Junior High. We called ourselves "the Smurf club."Left to right: Natalie, Amy, and me in all our Junior High glory.

Amy was the ringleader. She was the cool girl, the pretty girl. So naturally, she was Smurfette.

I was the red(ish)head, so I was Sassette. Natalie was the funny girl, the crazy girl and, well, shorter than Amy and me. Baby Smurf's gender was unknown, but we decided she was a girl and Natalie became Baby Smurf. Our PE teacher, Mr. Krantz, was straight out of central casting. He was a grumpy old man, still bulgy with muscles, who wore his polyester gym shorts too tight. Everyday he yelled, "Hit the bricks!" (I still don't know what bricks he was talking about or why we were supposed to hit them.) We tortured him by refusing to wear the required PE clothes, refusing to run during the mandatory mile runs, refusing to do much else other than talk and laugh and generally act like preteen girls.

20 years later.

All three of us Sun-In soaked, So-Cal girls have landed in the northeast. Amy and Natalie both live in NYC and I'm here in Boston. The two of them have gotten together in New York, but since I have two different girls keeping me busy at home, the full Smurf club reunion has yet to take place.

And then Amy sent me this: http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-10-smurfs

A Smurf movie?! And I thought Fraggles were exciting! If this doesn't demand a reunion, then I don't know what does.