Oh how it's progressed…

TRL started: Total Request turned into Total Request Live on September 14, 1998

I started watching: January 1999. Okay, so I was a few months late. I was on a streak where I watched little to no MTV, and TRL basically brought me out of it.

I really remember clearly the first day I watched TRL. I was all excited to see who was going to be #1 and was SO surprised that people actually knew the answers to the Video Snapshot things and what not. It was the very first day I'd EVER heard of anyone called Britney Spears or that Baby One More Time song of hers. When #1 came on, it was 'N Sync (I think-it could've been Backstreet Boys). At the time I BARELY knew who they were. I was by no means interested in that kind of music. Anyway, the second day I watched TRL, I realized that the reason people knew what video was coming on was because it was the SAME videos everyday. And when I discovered that numbers one and two were always gonna be the BSB or 'N Sync, I usually turned off the TV or changed the channel. But I kept watching nevertheless… aren't you glad?

I started writing down the top 10: February 22, 1999

Site debut: September 13, 1999, the day of TRL's '99 new season.
The site started out VERY simple. It was all written in Times New Roman, font size 12, and I had Angelfire do all of the html work. As you can see viewing the archives from that time, I experimented with different colors… yeah… it was interesting.

In the beginning, I think all I had was the countdown, a list of retired videos, my personal records back to February, and Korn's travesty. I started from the very beginning with the commentary (and looking back at it, I pretty much cringe…lol).

By the time November of 1999 rolled around, I had a completed my archive and posted the TRL Weekend results, which began the whole Ideal Countdown thing.

November 30, 1999 was the last day I updated for over two months. I basically refer to this as my not-caring period, or the time in which I didn't find the time to update (see the summaries for the months of December, January, and February for more explanation). I don't even know why this happened. I was busy with soccer, school, and despite Christmas vacation I was too lazy to spend time updating. Plus I didn't think that anyone was coming.

BUT, in February 2000, I picked it up again, and started renovating. Making frames, adding more and more features, using the same font and color every time for a little consistency. AND, people started coming. =) Gotta love that.

On November 3, 2000, I discovered that the people over there at TRL KNOW WHO I AM. Aaaahhh!

Okay, so today was definitely a crappy day. You don’t wanna hear it, but it all climaxed at the point when some girl backed into my car and took off. All I wanted to do was go home and take a nap before tonight, but she made me so mad, that I couldn’t. So I instead decided to get more lyrics for the lyrics page. And then I checked my email. And then... OH MY MOTHER OF GOD. Two (TWO--it just HAD to be real then!...lol) people emailed me to mention that a “Sarah in Arizona” was told that “TODAY is the 61st time on the countdown for 'Come On Over Baby.'” (It’s not, but we’ll get to that later.)

Cue jumping up and down and excited “Oh my god”s. (Hey, I’m a BSB fan: I’m quite susceptible to the excitement.) And I still had to wait 2 hours for the show.

How TRL might possibly know about my site is a mystery to me. I didn’t send them any email or anything. A site visitor did send them a letter about all of the travesties (to which Christina is about to be added), and apparently she mentioned the site as the source. Maybe that's why?

Needless to say, that day is officially awesome. (Thanks Rachael and Ginni--because of your enthusiastic heads up, the moment is taped. Gotta love the living on the West coast thing now.)

Anyway, my “travesties” have so much proof backing them up, that it’s not even funny. :) I have a notebook... I’ve counted and recounted (and I shouldn’t have to count that much), and 11/2/00 was Christina’s 61st. It debuted on my birthday, after all (why that should make me right is unknown, but we’re not going to worry about that logic’s fallacies today :).

OH MY GOD.
Carson: "And, uh, Sarah in Arizona, if you're watching, today is the 61st time on the countdown for 'Come On Over Baby.'"

Carson: “And I don’t remember and I… don’t quote me on this ‘cause I get letters… what, who’s that girl, that one? Yeah… Sarah in Arizona… this one chick has like EVERY single stat, I swear EVERY SINGLE little thing… I don’t remember Jennifer Lopez ever really being in the top three.”

Aaahhh! You know at TRL’s website, when you vote, it says “who knows, you might just get your name on TRL!” about the comments you can type in? I never really thought much of that… like ‘woo!’ my name’s on TRL, big deal. I was wrong. It’s a pretty big deal. Oh, and Carson was right this time… she hasn’t been in the top 3.

[One way TRL has influenced my life (not really significantly… but whatever): the first song of 'N Sync I heard was "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You" on TRL. Let me tell you how much I hate that song. The first time I consciously remember anything Backstreet was the "All I Have to Give" video. And with those both vying for the #1 and 2 spots daily, I naturally decided which one I enjoyed more... and went for the slightly faster BSB song. Did I mention that I REALLY dislike that God song? Anyway, TRL made me a Backstreet Boys fan… especially by the time I Want It That Way came around.]

So, even though I started a little late, I've been watching TRL habitually for over a year and a half. (How freaking crazy is that.) The site's grown DEFINITELY, and people write me and everything. If anyone remembers what it looked like back in the day, feel free to FORGET. Although, I think I've had that picture of Carson on the front since the beginning.

Thanks to everyone who's ever come, enjoyed, maybe laughed, sent in stuff or ideas, participated, told me I've done a good job, told me I sucked, yelled at me for making fun of 'N Sync (or whoever), or just written to be nice and say hey. And a really special thanks to anyone whose emails have made me laugh. Y'all are REALLY witty, you know that right? =)

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