WhaHappen?

Let’s start my first post of 2009 by introducing myself and why I started this blog. You can also check out my philosophical view on my About page, but here I want to just lay down some basic facts. My name is Marissa Kessler and primarily, the purpose of this blog is –

1) To try to “out” anyone who sees things in the same skewed way that I do, which is: There’s disturbingly too much stress and drudgery in daily adult life and not enough carefree silliness to lighten the load. And –

2) That we can create a not-so-secret society of grown-up-only-on-the-outside kids who are forced to pose as adults, mostly because we have pesky bills to pay, our own rambunctious kids to raise, and because (like the mafia) other big people annoyingly demand that we act right – or else.

So that’s why I’m here. I’m almost 43 and I think back about my struggles through the last 25 years. When I was in my early 20s, I thought I’d feel young and energetic FOREVER. Not so much now. I’ve gotten so little done, well, unless you count having 4 kids, 1 divorce, and one current marriage under my belt.

So when I think about how the years blew by, my mind just swirls and all I can gasp is, “WhaHappen?”

I’m still 27 in my head and even younger in my heart. And I’m going to say it: I hate going to work and being around serious people. I don’t understand why people are so fixated on somber propriety about everything in life.

Yes – I KNOW there are tragedies bombarding us daily. But that’s all the more reason to counter the resulting sadness and heartache with laughter and lightheartedness. Be someone who brings light into the dark times. Challenge yourself to have the perspective of an ever-hopeful, positive kid in spite of all the disappointments in life.

I hope you continue to check in with this blog and share with me your own experience about your refusal to grow up and reluctance to get old. If more people allowed themselves the authentic freedom to laugh and goof off, I am absolutely certain the world would be a better place. I have a theory that if all the nations’ governments allowed children to have some input about world diplomacy, there could be global peace.

Okay, so I went off on my philosophical rants again. So instead, here’s a Joe Friday list of the facts about me, so you know just who you’re dealing with:

• A true Gemini and part-time Cancer, but I also read Leo and Scorpio horoscopes because, well, they always seem so directed towards me.
• Clearly I’m not a writer and my sentences are always too long because I think long thoughts and I’m frustrated by short, staccato sentences — and slow talkers.

The Early Years -

• Gained street cred from age 5 when my parents decided to migrate in 1971 from the Manila-ppines to South Central L.A., roughly 88th & Hoover (insert fist bump here).
• Grew up in South Gate, California, and hung out mostly in Downey, Lakewood, and Seal Beach.



• Total geek all through school – but I was an outcast even among the geeks.
• Got married in 1984 at age 18 and birthed my first daughter that same year. I decided to have a second child, mostly because I was pregnant again (3 years later).
• As with many teenage marriages, mine didn’t last long. (Feign shock and surprise here.)
• Remarried and promptly delivered 2 more kids at the request of new husband.
• Said husband promptly got vasectomized at the request of wife.


Fast forward to the present -

• Still happily married, second batch of kids are now ages 11 and 14.
• Firmly planted in Ventura County, California.

I can’t imagine life without -

• Jason Statham (cute) and Chris Rock (smart and funny)
• TV Shows like House and Everybody Hates Chris.
• Netflix, so I can rent Alias, Frasier, Will & Grace, M*A*S*H, and also watch over and over: Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, Rush Hour 1 & 2, Lethal Weapon 1 through 5, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and 24 Seasons 1 through 5, Transporter 1 & 2, Punisher, and The Princess Bride.
• Music: Motown and R&B 60’s thru 70’s, rock/pop/mellow 60’s thru present, 90’s country, hip hop, and pretty much anything with a catchy beat or clever lyrics, including Weird Al Yankovic.
• Reading mostly non-fiction: history, how-to’s, self-help, Dave Barry, PJ O’Rourke, anything funny, sarcastic, or enlightening.
• The Beach. Any beach.
• My kids – without them I couldn’t keep up with the latest music, slang, celebrities, fashion, and pop culture in general. They keep me young and give me gray hairs at the same time.
• Happy, fun-loving, goofy, carefree people of all ages.

That’s it. Now you know who writes these posts. I’m a simple creature with a simple message for the entire world, or at least for my immediate surroundings and its population, which right now only consists of my half-asleep, disinterested cat.

Relish each day and act like an uninhibited kid; don’t be bullied into a boring, strict-rules existence. The world is too harsh already. Be fun and lighthearted and most importantly, get others to join you in an exuberant, laughter-filled game of life.