when i was little, my sisters, friends and i all had the requisite barbies and friends-of-barbie. i remember spending hours re-enacting tv shows or books or movies with our barbies cast in the key roles. as our older barbies became outmoded by newer models (bendable legs, twisty waists), they were relegated to the roles of ugly stepsisters or tragic victims in our ongoing barbie dramas. i remember one particularly dramatic scenario we used to play at my friend jill's pool, in which we would tie a rope around an old midge doll and drag her through the water until her head fell off. because of these games and my tendency to give all my dolls haircuts, i now have a box full of dolls that WOULD be worth some money had they not been chased by imaginary sharks, had their ears pierced with straight pins (which always turned the plastic blue for some reason) or were otherwise maimed by my young hands.

thisaway - thataway