World's Oldest Blink

Hi, Pack Mates!

If you’re close to my age, or you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you might not know what I’m talking about. A “Blink” is what they call fans of the wildly popular K-pop girl group, BlackPink.

I stumbled on the Netflix documentary last year and fell in love with Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa (especially Lisa). I went to YouTube, right away. Now I’m hooked. I have to watch some version of Kill This Love, Du Du Du, or Lovesick Girls at least one a day. Usually more.

I like to share my musical discoveries with my son, Seth. Sure, there’s a generation gap, but I respect his tastes. After all, he’s the one who turned me on to Cake and Vampire Weekend. So, I queued up my favorite version of Kill This Love and sat him down in front of my laptop.

He watched, cutting sideways glances at me, for about a minute. Then he hit <pause>. “Sexy teenage girls,” he said.

It wasn’t a compliment directed at the group; it was a judgment of my character.

They’re not, by the way. Teenagers, I mean. They’re well into their twenties, by now. All of them.

 “So?”

“So, that’s why you like them,” he elaborated.

I didn’t like the direction this was going. “They’re all very talented,” I defended. “The choreographies are amazing. Their songs make me happy.”

He shook his head. “You’re not obsessed with Taylor Swift, anymore?” (He’s never forgiven me for subjecting him to several hours of selected cuts during a road trip after he claimed that she sang nothing but break-up songs. He’d turn to me after each one was finished to say, “See?”)

 “Not so much,” I said. “Not since she switched to pop. I liked her country sound a lot better.”

 “This is K-pop. What’s the difference?”

“Pop is short for ‘popular.’ It covers all kinds of stuff.”

“Taylor Swift is over thirty, now, isn’t she?” he mused.

“And going strong,” I agreed. “Pretty soon she’ll do a ‘back to her roots’ album, and I’ll be all over that.”

He frowned. “How many times did you binge-watch that mermaid show?” [He was referring to the Australian series, H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2008). I did kind of have a crush on Phoebe Tonkin long before she made it to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.]

Come to think of it, I was really taken with Jessica Alba in her Dark Angel days, and before that, Katherine Heigl and Shiri Appleby in Roswell. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t shared my dirty little secret about BlackPink. But then, I really hadn’t considered it “dirty”…until now.

“You gonna watch the damn video, or not?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“Fine,” I said, closing the laptop and tucking it under my arm. “I’ll keep my musical preferences to myself from now on.” (Sometimes I forget I’m supposed to be the mature one.) “You should try to be more open-minded,” I added.

He snorted.

It took me a while before I could watch any BlackPink videos without feeling like a sleazeball. But, eventually, I got over it.

Here’s the thing: Those kids are busting their butts to follow their dreams. And the hard work is paying off. At a very young age.

I never did that. I spent most of my life just dreaming. I only started working for those dreams when it looked like I might be running out of time, which was a major impetus for me to start writing about ten years ago.

I think that’s really what attracts me so much to kids like Taylor Swift and BlackPink. I see them working hard to achieve their goals and getting the rewards for their efforts.

It’s admirable.

And - I don’t care - male or female, if you don’t think Lalisa Manoban is hot, my condolences. She's the tall brunette with the ponytail in the video: <Watch "Kill This Love"> 

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