I Should Pay More Attention

Saturday 9: I'll Be There for You (1995)

You can hear the song here. It is the theme from Friends. I never watched the show but it was nice to see Courtney Cox looking better than she does in that Cougar Town show. She's kind of scary in that.


1) This song begins with, "So no one told you life was gonna be this way …" What do you wish you knew five years ago about your life now?

A. I wish I had known five years ago that I needed to take better care of my health. Well, I knew that, actually. But I didn't do it, and I wish I had. I also wish I had known that the economy was going to remain stagnant.

2) This is, of course, the theme from Friends, which is frequently shown back-to-back on TVLand and TBS. Have you ever "binge-watched" a show, catching episode after episode?

A. Of course. I own DVDs strictly for that purpose. Some of the shows I have binge-watched include Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Voyager, Cagney & Lacey, and Charlie's Angels (the original). And many nights we watch four episodes in a row of Big Bang Theory, because truthfully there is absolutely nothing else on.

3) On the show, Monica and Rachel shared a beautiful 2BR/2BA Soho apartment with a private balcony. It's estimated that such a pad would cost at least $3500/month in today's real-life New York. Describe your dream home.

A. Ah, yes, the dream house. Mostly, mine would have a maid. Other than that, I don't care too much about specifics. The house I live in now would be just fine if someone other than I were the clean-up crew, although I might want maybe another 500 square feet of space and a nice covered porch. But otherwise I am content.

4) Of the six main characters, only Chandler was an only child. Do you have any siblings?

A. I have a brother. He is three years younger than I. He has given me a niece and a nephew, and he answers my calls when I need him. Can't ask for more than that. He also reads my blog.

5) Gunther was the barista at Central Perk, the coffee shop where the Friends hung out. He had an ongoing, unrequited love for Rachel. Are you crushing on anyone right now? Does he/she know? 

A. I just crush on my husband of 30 years, and he is well aware of it. However, he says I have a crush on Orlando Bloom, but only in his role as Legolas in Lord of the Rings.

6) Currently Matt ("Joey") LeBlanc stars in the Showtime series Episodes, playing a character named Matt LeBlanc. If there was going to be series based on your life, who would play you?

A. I'm not sure what this says about me, but probably Kathy Bates, though she is about 20 years too old for the part. Other choices? Diane Lane. Susan Sarandon, though she too might be a bit old for the part. I'm not familiar enough with younger actresses to know who might play the role of a more youthful me. 

7) Courtney Cox, who portrayed Monica, has the Twitter handle @CourtneyCox and has 628,000 followers. What was your last tweet?

A. I don't tweet. My last post on Facebook was this: "One full hour and 10 different sticks with a needle to insert an IV for five minutes for some testing. I look like a pin cushion."

8) The creators of Friends were massive soap opera fans. They named their characters after recurring characters on All My Children* and had Joey appear on Days of Our Lives. Have you ever been hooked on a daytime drama?

A. When I was quite young I was a fan of Dark Shadows. In my teens and early twenties I liked Guiding Light. Those are the only two I ever watched with any regularity.

9) The band who performed this song, The Rembrandts, took their name from the famous Dutch painter. Can you see any artwork from where you're sitting right now? Tell us about it (and yes, a school painting by your 7-year-old nephew counts).

A. I have a painting of a cabin in the woods on my wall to my left. It is by local artist Jessie Stull Burton. I bought it about 15 years ago and hung it in my office because I liked it. It's a peaceful, tranquil scene.

I also have a series of photos I took in 2006 pinned to the wall. They are not particularly good shots but remind me of the day when I realized a deer was my animal totem and that I should pay more attention to them because there were things I could learn from their ways.