Here's The Story

And the days go by like a strand in the wind... That means, in Stevie Nicks lingo, it's TUESDAY! Welcome back you dirty bastard! This marks "our" 555th post! (Boy are we tired.)

Okay, "Kev" (me) is super excited about an event coming up next week... While I wasn't going to tell YOU about it until it happened, I have nothing else to write about today (my mind is still in Spain, thinking of the sea, the gazpacho soup and the "HOT" Spaniards, hence the picture above). Anyways, (which I say to mock my mid-western dialect) this story was on CNN yesterday, so here it is, I'm coming out with it. Singing like a canary. (I'm too old for secrets and surprises)... You all know that I dream "in celebrity." If you are, ever have been, will be, etc., on TV, recorded a song, written a book, won a prize, chaired a committee, committed a crime, then you're a celebrity. I want to meet you, get your autograph and picture. I'll tell everyone about our encounter for weeks, I'm sure. I love celebrities! They are far more interesting than you or me (sorry, it's true). "We" have been "happy" to bring Reichen Lehmkuhl (remember him), Anderson Cooper, Leslie Jordan and even Jackie Collins to the "Corner." "We" met them. Del Shores even stopped in and commented here (how cool was that?). Anyhoo... Maureen McCormick, aka, "Marcia Brady," like any self-respecting child star, has penned her memoirs/experiences about her life and terrible times with drugs, weight and all things scandalous in her book, "Here's The Story." The book is due out next week and "Kev" has reserved his copy and secured his spot at her signing next week (I still love writing in third person, by the way - makes me feel like a child star myself). Anyhoo, I can't WAIT to meet her! Excited? Most certainly! The gays I am going with are equally excited and are currently refining the speech they will deliver to Marcia (I mean Maureen) the moment they meet her! We feel like we know her. She's our friend. Don't you think Marcia would have lots of gay pals? I do. If you are in Atlanta and want to meet her, come to Outwrite Books on Monday, October 20th at 7:30 p.m.. You WON'T have the number one seat (that's been reserved for me, of course - I know the manager) but good seats may still be available for you (I don't know - I'm talking smack now). Anyhoo, "here's the story" (from CNN). The parallels to my life are startling (I've highlighted them below for you), which may be why I am so excited to meet her! I want to braid her hair.


NEW YORK (AP) -- As Marcia Brady on "The Brady Bunch," Maureen McCormick projected an image of the wholesome girl next door. But off camera, she spiraled downward into drug addiction and depression (just like "Kev," cept different).

Maureen McCormick was 14 when "The Brady Bunch" debuted on ABC, running from 1969 to 1974. ("Kev" watched her in re-runs from 1976 - present.)

Now 52, ("Kev's" 29...)McCormick writes about her struggles in a new memoir, "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice," hitting stores Tuesday.

She discusses her romance with TV sibling Barry Williams, her dates with Michael Jackson (ewww - that had to be just awful - no wonder she turned to quaaludes) and Steve Martin, cocaine binges and parties at the Playboy Mansion (wonder if she knows "The Girls Next Door?") and the home of Sammy Davis Jr., an unwanted pregnancy and trading sex for drugs. (Who hasn't done that now and again?)

McCormick was 14 when "The Brady Bunch" debuted on ABC, running from 1969 to 1974.

Despite her role as a sunny Miss Perfect (I play that role too!), she struggled privately with anxiety and insecurity (again, so has "Kev"), the youngest of four children born to a mercurial father who abused and cheated on their mother (with "Kev").

"As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world," (girl, that never changes) she writes in the book, published by William Morrow. "Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. ... No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing, `It's a Sunshine Day." (I loved that song... Remember "The Silver Platters?")

When "The Brady Bunch" ended, she took up a hard-partying lifestyle in Hollywood, using drugs including cocaine and Quaaludes. (I did too, except I didn't.)

She struggled to regain her earlier success, landing some TV and movie roles, but developed a reputation for unreliability due to her addiction, even botching an interview with Steven Spielberg because she was high.

After interventions, stints in rehab and experimental therapies, McCormick began getting sober in 1985 when she married actor Michael Cummings, with whom she has a daughter, Natalie. (I knew a "Natalie" once. She looks like a man. I know - this has nothing to do with Maureen.) She continued to fight depression through therapy, medication and the help of "Brady" cast mates. (Really?)

McCormick, who is also a singer, starred on the Country Music Television reality series "Gone Country" and "Outsider's Inn." (I like some country too.)

She also confronted her weight issues several years ago as the winning contestant on the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Fit Club." ("Kev" confronted his weight issues earlier this year but that Fit Club show wouldn't return his calls - I guess authoring this blog doesn't count.)

As for her iconic role, "I'll always be struck by how much a part of people's lives Marcia is and always will be. But now I'm not bothered by the connection. It took most of my life, countless mistakes and decades of pain and suffering to reach this point of equanimity and acceptance," she says. (These stars are never happy, are they?)

We will be certain to share "our" photos next week!

Bye everyone!

"Kev"