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It took me awhile
to realize, or more fittingly, acknowledge, that I, Casey Hoerth even liked
"The Lion King", much less become a Nalaholic. At about the time that "The
Lion King" came out, I had moved all the way from Kiel, Wisconsin to McAllen,
Texas. Coincidence or not, a family member lent me a back-pack before
we left, and on that backpack, lied a NALA sticker, after awhile, I acted
stupid and tore it off, you'll find out why later. Anyway if anyone can
understand the cultural difference between the two places, they would understand
what I had to go through at age 11. Kiel was a town in which nearly everyone
was of German descent (including myself). Since McAllen was a border city,
it was predominantly Hispanic. Well, I quickly realized the vast difference between these two cultures, and got "culture shock" (this may not seem
relevant, but it is). Well, with that, I tried desperately to fit in with
my new surroundings, so I adopted the conformity, and in case you may not
know what that conformity is, it includes as a basic rule of thumb, no adolescent
males who are popular would be caught dead watching a Disney movie. So, I tore the NALA sticker off and did not
see the movie in theaters (please don't kill me).
The first time
I actually did see "The Lion King" was on video. Deep inside, I knew it
was probably the best movie I had ever seen. Problem was, I had submitted
to this conformity, and held the love for the whole thing down, and just
said "ahhhh, it was OK". However, towards the end of the year, I started
to realize everything. It wasn't JUST "The Lion King", it was everything. I would ask myself "Why am acting so phony?" or "why am
I trying to impress these people by wearing designer cloths" and "why did
I pretend to hate that movie (TLK), why the h*ell had I torn off that NALA
sticker, what the heck is wrong with me?!" It took another year of that
gradual change, and then in the summertime I had gotten lucky, we were
going to Disney world. That had really ignited my love for "The Lion King",
I spent all my money on Lion King stuff over there. By the start of the school year, I was bringing
Timon&Pumbaa cups (with the faces on the front and the handle on the
back) to school, and I really did not care what others had thought. I was
watching "The Lion King" with a friend, and at the time I would only admit
to liking Timon&Pumbaa, but I really did like Simba....and NALA. When
my friend would say "Man, that Simba, he sure is stupid" I wouldn't say
anything, I wouldn't admit I liked Simba (and NALA), but I refused to
say that they were stupid.
By the time I would
admit to liking Simba (and NALA), I was in high-school, but that didn't
bother me. I had over $250 of Lion King stuff at home. It had taken that
long, but I never gave up the dream. Maybe it is because of that sticker,
that I am especially fond of NALA.
Like I said, the reason
I wanted to join NA is because I wanted to be apart of something that I
belive in, a place where we can all feel free to talk about this kind of
stuff. So, when I got accepted into Nalaholics Anonymous, I was really
happy, in fact, I couldn't sleep until about 1:00 am last night! And ever
since I found this sight 3 days ago, Nalaholism inside of me has hit a
frenzied pitch, maybe that's why I wrote so much stuff, I would never put
this much effort into homework. If NA is looking for "NALA nut cases",
you have one right here. But, when I asked Mr. Wiltz what a 'lust sized'
NALA plushie was he just <grinned> and told me to ask all of you guys.
So, as one of the newer members, I ask to anyone reading this.......What
the heck is a 'lust sized' NALA plushie? I just gotta know. E-mail me,
or something. |
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