When your friends become famous 0
 |
This is still such a bizarre concept to me.
I have a friend.
And that friend is famous.
Weird.
Technically I have three friends that are famous. Although one of them only counts as a “semi-aquaintance”.
Amber, Streeter and Ben. Still trying to decide which one has the best hair.
Back in the day, I went to high school in Tacoma with Amber Lancaster.
You probably know her as the hot chick on MTV’s The Hard Times of R.J. Berger.
I on the other hand know her as the hot chick from Franklin Pierce High School. Seriously, how was I supposed to compete with that?
Me in 2002. World's most awkward homecoming queen.
Amber was a few years ahead of me and probably has no idea who on earth I am.
In contrast, I have a distinct memory of her being the coolest girl on the planet and showing up to a basketball game in leopard print pants. In the words of my high school self, those pants were “the bomb”.
I feel like it’s extremely creepy that I just admitted that. I promise, I’m not a scary stalker or anything.
I just really like leopard print.
I also remember the time she pulled me aside after my freshman cheerleading audition and told me I did a great job. I believe this was our only face-to-face interaction.
This memory may or may not play in my head every time I see a photo of her in the Us Weekly’s “Who wore it better” section.
Who wore it better? Obviously, Amber! Because she actually gave me a compliment in 1999! And, you know, she's not a Kardashian or anything.
Alright. I feel really pathetic just admitting to all that. But, whatever. At the end of the day, all a girl truly wants is for a D-list celebrity to think she’s a good cheerleader.
Or maybe that’s just me.
Moving right along, my next celebrity friend is Streeter Seidell of CollegeHumor.com and Pranked on MTV.
My favorite Streeter character, the Phantom of the Office
Scott went to graduate school with Streeter’s awesome and lovely wife. We were lucky enough to celebrate with them at their nuptials last year while my face was covered with the infamous breakout also known as the Star Spangled Forehead.
All I will say about Streeter is this: He may actually be even funnier in person than he is on TV. Add to that the fact that he’s super-smart, down to earth and incredibly nice, and you have a guy who deserves every bit of success that has come his way. Seriously — I hope the he becomes the next Brad Pitt. Just without all of those annoying hipster children.
Streeter, if by some off-chance you ever end up reading this, please don’t think I’m creepy. I just like giving compliments. And advising people not to have hipster children.
Seriously, there's got to be at least $2,000 worth of American Apparel clothing in this picture.
Anyway, onto my final celebrity friend.
You may know him as Benson “Smooth” Henderson, but to me, he’s just Ben.
The nicest guy in the UFC. Also the best abs, if I do say so myself.
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or, you know, aren’t into MMA), tonight Ben is fighting for the lightweight championship of the UFC.
Prior to this he was lightweight champion of the WEC.
And prior to that, he was wrestling at Dana College, alongside my husband.
Ben and I actually grew up less than ten miles apart in Washington state, but didn’t become friends until attending college together at a liberal arts school of just under 600 students in Nebraska.
Ben, known in the UFC for being introspective and low-key, was in many of my English classes. He also wrestled for five years with my husband in the 157 pound weight class.
Ben and Scott walking into the arena at the NAIA National Championships.
I love how Scott is glaring at me for taking a picture, while Ben just pleasantly smiles. Totally sums up their personalities.
Scott and Ben, wrestling it out in a consolation match at Nationals in 2006.
Because they were the same weight class, Ben and Scott often times had to wrestle off before a dual, or even compete against each other during a tournament. They were pretty evenly matched — half the time Ben would win, half the time Scott would win.
So, Scott’s claim to fame is that he used to be capable of beating Benson. Pretty sure he couldn’t say the same thing today.
No offense, Scott.
"None taken. Now, fetch me a beer, woman!"
No matter what the result of the match, Scott and Ben were buddies through it all.
At the end of their last match. I don't even remember who won.
Just a few years later, we were honored to have Ben stand by our side as a groomsmen on our wedding day.
The dynamic duo.
And tonight, in the UFC 144, Ben will take on Frankie Edgar for the championship title in Tokyo.
Millions of people will be watching Benson “Smooth” Henderson.
But we will just be watching our Ben.
We love you, Ben, from the bottom of our hearts.
And we mean it when we say that this couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
With all that out of the way, I promise I’ll be back to my usual, snarky self tomorrow.
And, depending on how this fight goes, I may or may not be asking my good friend Ben to buy me a new car or something.
Just kidding.
But not really.
Will the nicest guy in the UFC be nice enough to buy me some new wheels?
Sign up for email notifications and find out!
SPEAKING OF FIERCE COMPETITION: Have you signed up for my free coffee giveaway of excitement and glamour? Hurry! You only have three days left!
|