Before I was hot...

Okay, people. You need to check out this hilarious new site: www.beforeyouwerehot.com. And not just because yours truly is on it! (Click here to see the post.) The amazing awkward-stage photos are totally awesome in all their feathered-hair, braces, glasses, mullet, floral jams, and acid-washed jeans glory.

I know some of you would rather forget those years when your mom cut your hair or when you dressed like MC Hammer or when your teeth were as crooked at Bernie Madoff. But I'm here to tell you that embracing that version of you--and celebrating it on a website such as this--is a liberating experience.

This photo of me and George Takei (aka Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek series) has been fan favorite among my family and friends since it was taken waaaaaay back in 1984. People love how ginormous my glasses were (my cheeks were exposed to more lens than my actual eyes) and that lame "Beam me up, Scottie!" t-shirt my mom made me wear (to make matters worse, my NAME was printed on the back of it, so you could pick me out of a Trekkie convention crowd, no problem). Other people just love George Takei and his unforgettable laugh (heard most often on Howard Stern's radio show).

Here's what I love most about it--that smile on my face seems pretty authentic, even though I didn't like being dragged to any ST convention within a five hundred mile radius of Binghamton, or having a boy's hairstyle. That's kind of what's incredible about being a kid: you have the ability to find joy in simple things. In this case, it was getting my picture taken with some dude who helmed a starship on TV. The smile on George's face feels very real to me, too. Not only did he greet me by name (like I said, it was printed on THE BACK OF MY SHIRT), but he talked to me for a few minutes and never treated me like a child. I think that genuineness comes through in the picture for sure.

This is precisely why I've posted this photo on various social networking sites, and made a holiday card out of it a couple years ago. It captures me at my most awkward and innocent and hopeful of times. And let it be known that while my mom stopped dragging me to conventions when I turned 15 (she would have to had done so with me in a body bag), I actually developed a true fondness for the entire Star Trek franchise, including the J.J. Abrams movie (sheer genius). 

Delving into my love for ST would take a whole other blog post. However, I will illustrate it with this Halloween picture from last year, when I was all about getting back to my convention roots.

Live long and prosper, give that awkward kid inside of you a hug, and don't forget to check out Before You Were Hot!