Looking to Kill Some Time...

24 November 2009

I remember the exact day I first caught a glimpse of PepSi magic on youtube. It was July 11th, 2008. But, let me back up and give a little preface to my “First-Time” story.

AfterEllen made a mention of PepSi in their “Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.” on May 23th. I remember reading the fairly confusing description of the show…and not really thinking much of it. I have to admit that the pictures of MA and LS chosen for inclusion in the article didn’t really make me look twice.

Any interest I might have had in searching out this show, though, was overshadowed by the fact that I was moving into a new apartment the weekend of July 4th. It was going to be a huge move involving three people moving from two apartments into two new apartments…not so much fun. But anyway, I was pretty consumed with getting everything ready for the Big Move and didn’t have much free time to look up tv shows with possible lesbian storylines.

July 11th, the Friday after the move, I stayed home to do some more unpacking. Before calling it a night, I decided to chill out in front of the computer for a bit and I ended up checking out AfterEllen. Well, lo and behold, a new “Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.” had been posted that day. I have to say the pictures definitely got my attention that time.

Since I was finished unpacking for that night and had nothing else to do, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to go to youtube to see what I could find and maybe kill a little time. (A little time? Hah! Try a year and four months so far of time.) The rest of the weekend was spent in a PepSi haze. I don’t even think I did anymore unpacking that weekend. I just sat in front of the computer searching out all the PepSi-related videos and websites I could. I stayed up until 6 in the morning on both Friday and Saturday night, reading and watching (and re-watching) everything I could find. And that was it. I was hooked.

I never thought I’d be an active participant in a fandom, but PepSi got me discussing episodes with others for the first time, commenting on fanfics for the first time, reading (non-classroom) Spanish for the first time, editing other peoples’ stories for the first time, and writing my own fiction for the first time. My “First-Time” with PepSi led to many other amazing firsts…and for that reason, LHDP will never be “just a tv show” to me. I’m grateful to have been able to witness such an amazing story unfold and I’m grateful to share my passion with such a fantastic group of people. Thank you all for being a part of making the “PepSi Phenomenon” so enriching and fulfilling…and fun!

Piper's Note:

I can't remember when we invited Cela to join the Faculty - I think we were all drunk when we did.  Just kidding.  While her initial appointment was to be the Adjunct Bartending Professor and Manager of the 24/7 Bar, Cela's talents lie in organizing parties.  Imaginary parties.  She is also in charge of keeping me distracted when I so want to be snarky; in other words, she is Piper's bouncer.  And I'm hoping she will spend more time in the classroom posting lectures instead of lecturing at the bar, because no one can come up with one-liners better than Cela.  And when you put all her one-liners together into a lecture, it might not make a lot of sense but it will be fucking hilarious.  So thank you C-E-L-A for believing in Pepsi University and for never ever letting the campus go dry.