American Teen with Dirty Hands

So I saw a documentary tonight called “American Teen” and the end result of my experience was a true understanding of John Hughes and his films!

It was a really sweet, MTV-like doc made by a rockin’ female film maker that follows the stories of a jock, a princess, a geek, a weirdo, and the heart-throb through their final high school days. The film itself felt a little forced and not totally honest in it’s (documentary claim)… but still it was enjoyable.

I also had the fantastic privilege of going to a farmers market today. I don’t know, maybe I am alone on this one, but I feel so satisfied when I eat something that is a beautiful color, and freshly picked out of the ground! I feel such a sense of ease looking at the faces of the farmers growing and selling their wares to us. Tthere is an honest exchange that happens in those moments that is so human.

Something about dirty hands that is so beautifully truthful… That was one of my most favorite memories in China: playing in the dirt in rural China with a little baby and using the dirt as a tool for the play, instead of brushing off the dirt as a hindrance to play.

I think if we all got a little more dirty, the world would be happy, moderate in temperature, and enlightening.

But that’s just me!

xoxo
Allison

  • http://www.daybow.com David Hayes

    I remeber when my Mother took some Hillbilly Tomatoes (they are the best if you can get them!) from our garden to my brother when he was in college. He offered some to his college room mate who had lived his entire life in cities. His room mate was totally grossed out by the suggestion saying he would never eat anything that was raised in dirt.

    Huh?

    The guy was brilliant in many ways, but I wonder if he thinks canned food is grown in the cans?

  • http://www.myspace.com/chlark_calicia_fan Raven

    I totally understand where your coming from with this Allison.Farmers Markets are always fun {unless its just me lol}.I can also related to the dirt thing as well.

  • Kris

    I always say, “The dirtier you are, the more fun you had!” Trying to stay clean and tidy takes away from the joy of the activity your engaged in. When I bake…it looks like a warzone and I’m a mess, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I love sitting in the sand at the beach and digging, building castles,and playing on the rocks. Some of my most fun memories as a kid were playing in the backyard. I appreciate my father’s attitude of “Just go have fun.” He never once said, “Oh you’re such a mess!” It was more like, “So did you dig ALL the way to China?”

    And I agree with buying locally produced goods…it makes me feel good knowing that the money is going straight into the pocket of the person who put his time and energy into making whatever he’s selling.

  • Adam

    I believe Persil washing powder currently have an ad campaign here in the UK, that states that “Dirt is Good.” Perhaps you should become a spokesperson? :P

  • viviane

    is very good market to go!
    see so many colors together!
    plant foods and see them grow and be ready to be consumed … is good, but not all give value to this work!

    good Sunday Allison! ;)

  • me Rachel

    I love farmers market. I used to go there at least once a week when I lived close. I have a garden now. I love my veggies.

  • Jennifer

    I love going to the farmers market. There is one not far from me that opened a while back and is so huge. It’s really nice and is 4 times the size of the one I usually go to. It’s suppose to be one of the largeset around in the U.S. You can check it out at http://www.americancountryside.us/market/

    John hughes movies are the best. I love the breakfast club and sixteen candles. Whenever I see one of his movies on I have to watch it.

  • http://www.myspace.com/devinmichaeld Devin

    I wanted to check out American Teen last night, but got dragged into seeing Pineapple Express instead… a real late showing that caused me to slip into a coma for at least 40 minutes of the film… when I came to, I did laugh though…

    I have a hard time believing in “reality-based on a true story-documentary” labeled pieces… most of the time there’s more reality in Smallville than there is in Laguna Beach… so I have to ignore the claims and just accept it as entertainment or else I get a little irritated with the abuse and misuse of the factual vocabulary.

    And I hear what you’re saying about farmer’s market. If I enjoyed shopping (which may one day be the case should I ever take up cooking with utensils other than the microwave), I’d be going there as opposed to Vons. The appreciation for something homegrown and natural can be an appetite in itself.

  • Tabitha

    I reckon you should try eating the rainbow =P

  • taylor nikole

    aww that was a sweet blog :)
    i must admit.
    I’m so jealous…
    all I reallly want to do is travel
    and get a full ‘experience’ in life
    and experience different cultures :)
    I look at travel magazines and want to cry
    because i feel trapped where I am… although happy where i am at the same time
    hmm wow random, sorry.

  • http://www.tehtrashcompactor.com Robert

    Yeah, well I live in a very rural area in Virginia. Nearly everyone on my Dad’s side of the family is a farmer and I live on a farm. We eat fresh fruits and veggies all year round and it amazes me how much more amazing stuff from our garden is in comparison with the taste of some of the crap from grocery stores. It’s sad when people would prefer the frozen stuff since you can just keep it in the freezer and not eat it until a month after you bought it. Same thing with canned fruits. Ick. Every night during the summer, we cut up a bowl full of cucumbers then pour on some vinegar, ice and sprinkle a little bit of salt. Nothing like fresh cucumber from the garden. =)

  • http://deleted Robin

    Hi Allison and everyone,

    Your experiences of playing with children in the “dirt”, for me really harks back to appreciating the simple pleasures in life I guess…before tv, computers and mobile (sorry, cell) phones.
    It’s picking raspberries in a country lane, climbing trees, building sandcastles, just doing simple daft fun stuff for the sheer hell of it.
    I often wish I could step back from things and reflect, rather than getting annoyed over so many unimportant things and learn to just enjoy life..oh well I can only keep trying…

    Just a random thought, a few days ago you mention your future aims and aspirations for your site, as you have mentioned before, you seem to have a real passion for travel, how about a section on your site where we could share share travel experiences of places around the World, must see and do places, to visit, foods to taste, museums/galleries to visit and general travel tips ?…

    Looking forward to the new season of Smallville with it’s new directions, adventures and surprises.

    Keep having fun,

    Robin

    England

  • Lydia

    You’re not the only one who feels that way. I love going to the market, in particular because of it’s special character, the beauty and smell of beautifully colored fresh fruits and veggies.
    A big juicy apple…yummy:-)

    I can’t wait to go to the Public Market on Granville Island when I’m on holiday in Vancouver in September.

    Have a joyful Sunday.

  • C.J

    Being from the south, I enjoy going to the market too. And there’s nothing like a fresh ear of sweet corn. Yum! =D Ironically enough, my dad and mom were talking about going to the one in Nashville sometime in the near future. =]

    Of course we could always go visit my brother at his organic lawn care business instead…

    http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/CloisFan06/IMG_0161_1.jpg

    (That’s my nephew. :D )

  • arash

    I know this lady who got fired from kindergarden because she was letting kids to play in dirt. She still thinks it was worth it.

    Now here is saeid’s “roll of love”;
    Saeid is now a homepathy doctor practicing in Yellow Knife. Back then in our student days we had an appartment near Univerisity of Toronto. Exam time was quiet stressful. One night saeid closed his book got up and said I am going for a “roll of love” you wanna join me ?
    So this is the recipe; you find a down hill grassy slop with sprinklers, then you roll all the way down on the wet grass, it works better at night. Try to do it in the City where people are walking by.

  • Carissa

    Mom says ‘god made dirt and dirt don’t hurt’ course the only time i heard her say it was when my nephew (he’s 20 months) took the hose and made a mud hole in her garden. That’s the good thing about living in a small town, whatever doesn’t grow in your own garden you can get from your neighbour’s or random vegetable stands :)

  • Jack

    I live in village and everyday I eat something freshly picked out of the ground and it look and taste great!

    If you like farmers markets and fresh feed, so start to live in farm!
    With Clark. :D

    Sorry for my english but I don’t know it very good. =)

  • The Great Ymmij

    My family and I go to the farmer’s market several times throughout the year. I love it, especially because it has foods from all around the world. You’re not alone when you feel more satisfied eating something you know came fresh from the farms and not tampered with. I love talking about food. That’s also the reason why I enjoy watching the Food network channel.

  • http://Allisonmack.com Smallvillekent

    I like fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmers markets too. We have a few road side stands selling produce in the area. We used to plant a garden a few years back. Glad you had a good evening. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

  • jennygirl

    As Costco addicted as I am, I do make the effort to buy my produce at the farmer’s market during the summer. I want to make sure my local farmers get SOME of my cash….and the peaches are so good!

  • http://www.myspace.com/powelltowel James Powell jr

    hey first off i love you in smallville and i would love to meet the cast and be a part of it im a screenwriter. well im off topic so ill start i do agree with you that if people just stop and and fun in the dirt people would be happier and joyful. and that people has to stop worrying about stuff rolling around in dirt relives stress i dont know how but it dose. love James Powell jr

  • Gaia

    You’re absolutely right! The world would be better! I’ll do everything I could to help to have a better world! You’re not alone, I love to eat fresh and tasty food. Oh, you know, today I finished to watch Smallville’s 6 season. At the final episode, I almost cry when Chloe fainted…. But your tears are awsome they can purify… I know it’s a show but I think you, in the real also life have a great heart!!!

  • http://www.lizmoser.co.uk Elizabeth M

    I saw a trailer for that movie sometime ago. I would really like to see it but who knows when it will come out here in Scotland.
    Thankfully we have one of the best Contemporary Arts Centres in the country and it has 2 small cinemas (there are like 20-30 seats in each so intimate- I just love going there!) so hopefully I will get to see it eventually!

  • Stephanie

    I love watching documentaries. I like seeing things from other people’s perspective, I think it helps me rethink my opinions. I havn’t seen “American Teen” though so I have to check that one out too.

    And playing in the dirt is still one of my favorite things to do! The washing machine wasn’t invented for nothing, so don’t be afraid to get dirty. You will miss a lot of fun times if you do!

  • Brittany

    Hey Allison, I can definetly relate to the whole teen thing since I am one. Sometimes I feel obligated to change to be cool, but then I end up finding my true self and know that , that’s who I am, and no matter how hard I try I can’t change that. Now I’m comfortable in my own skin. When I was little and when I played with my cousins, I’d make dirt roads with little cars and pretend that “the little people” owned lands and so on. I enjoy eating food that was picked fresh out of a garden. I was eating over at my friends’ house and their parents had a garden outside and got one of the girls to pick out a fresh juicy tomato. I find that fresh fruit out of your own garden tastes so much better then the stuff you buy out of a store, even if the product is grown out of the ground. Just not the same. Anyhow! Have a great weekend, well end of the weekend and enjoy every little thing! Much love and support, Brittany

  • George

    Oh no, teens with dirty hands and I can’t think of a good masturbation joke.

    ARRRRRRH Alison Mack said we should all be more dirty and I can’t think of anything to say. I’m not on top form tonight.

  • Brazilian Girl-Kml

    Good point today Allison… Eating a fresh fruit or a vegetable, get dirty in the mud, enjoy the simple things in life are things that are losing thenselves day by day…
    I believe that while the time goes on people will not have the pleasure to take this… Picture this, only a few years ago we lived very well without a cell phone … Can you stay without one these days?
    I live in Brazil and here we have many places where we can buy fresh fruits and vegetables… I love to go to the market and see all the colors of fruits and vegetables together… Everything that is colorful I like…. and then come home and get a basket with all this in the kitchen… A beautiful scene for me… Or maybe prepare a dinner for my friends and serve them an amazing colorful salad… During the rainning Carnival this year my friends and I turned children again and made a war of mud…. we were at a farm’s friend… very funny …
    While reading the comments I thought 2 of them very interesting… So I would like to propose like Robin said, how about a section on your site where we could share travel experiences of places around the World or even switch information about where we live so we can have a cultural exchange … I wonder that I am not the only one who dreams and desires to know the world …
    Have a nice Sunday and a week even better…..
    Thanks, amigos!!!

  • The Friday Philosopher

    I absolutely love going to Farmer’s Markets. I live in a small town that is comprised mostly of farm land. Because of this, long ago, my Grandmother sat me down and told me,

    “If you ever want to get yourself a wife, you have to learn how to cook!”

    So after many years of culinary training from someone who created meals for several people on a daily bases, whilst also sticking to strict rationing laws during the Second World War, I finally realised the real value of fresh food. If I can help it, I will go to the nearest of the markets everyday, not solely for the fresh produce but also to unleash my inner child!

    This specific market encourages the customers to get involved in the whole farming process. I don’t get much chance to go and help with the cultivation side of it any more but even when purchasing goods they allow us to go into the fields and pick the fruit and vegetables for ourselves. Some don’t like this, but I love it. Not only do I get to pick the best straight out of the ground, I also get to let the child in me out to play in the dirt.

    Talking of this child! I went to the market today as I won’t have much chance for the rest of the week, it’s been raining heavily here for at least three days straight so as you can imagine the fields were kind of water logged. As we walked though the various fields with the different produce growing, I couldn’t help but unleash the child, probably a little sooner than some might have wanted. I scooped up a mud ball and threw it at my brother, who is obviously as clairvoyant as I am, because he stepped out of the way, and the mud ball came to a stop as it spread across the farmers face.

    As I’m sure you can imagine; I nearly died. I know him, but not so well that I could get away with throwing mud in his face. Now I am a big man, but he dwarfs me. My brother stood to one side with his mouth wide open and a shocked look on his face, I honestly expected the farmer to get hold of me and give me a beating. Instead, he scraped the mud off of his face, bent over, scooped up his very own ball of mud and threw it back at me.

    I managed to turn just in time for it to hit the side of my head, but the shear force of it knocked me off my feet. This is quite a long story so I’ll cut it down for you, after my brother realised what was happening, the three of us had a mud fight in the middle of a carrot and potato crop. I guess we were lucky that the market is only a mile from my home; we would have made one hell of a mess of the car otherwise! Passers by were giving us strange looks as we walked home, and one girl even told me that I looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, from the Predator movie! (I hope I spelt his name correctly!) I’ve not managed to see the film all the way through, so I figured that she must be complimenting me on my physique, but my brother happily burst my bubble; informing me of the scene of Arnie caked in mud!

    Needless to say, not only did I have a great time, we arrived home two hours late, and I have almost laughed my voice away, which isn’t good; I have to give a presentation in the morning. I also managed to make a new friend, which is always worth the laundry bill!

    On top of all of that, I realised that no matter how old you are; it’s good to be just a little bit childish every now and then! I think perhaps both Persil and Adam are correct, “Dirt is good!”

    I have to go now, my inner child is pooped! :)

    I hope you all enjoy the remainder of your weekend; mine will be ending in a little under two hours!

    Friday

  • Robin Hebert

    Hi Allison and folks. I’ve been waiting to see American Teen ever since January when it was at the Sundance Festival and us smallville fans found out that Tom Welling and Jamie went to it. I might wait until it is on DVD. I really admire Hannah for her creative ways. Its sad that she equated her town’s religious ways with fuddy duddy-ism. What I think is sadder is that people get so stuck in their way of being or thinking that there is no freshness to their lives- no excitement! Anyway I love farmers markets. From April to October, WA state has them all over. You can see the dedication and love people put into their homegrown treasures. That is what makes it special!! Robin (from WA)

  • mar1013

    Playing in the dirt is something we shouldn’t forget to do from time to time. We sometimes need to play, forget our worries and just enjoy life without having to think about some spots in our clothes.I think it is really the way to enjoy the game.
    Fresh fruits and veggies are the way. I live in a little town in Spain and i have to say the taste is really, really different if you buy them from a big store or from a little shop in the nearest villages.

    And if you prepare a salad, you do not forget to put olive oil :P

    The key in the Mediterranean food are the olive oil and the fresh fruits and veggies

  • arash

    I just remembered this song;
    estas manos
    by
    facundo cabral
    My spanish is not good by I used an on-line translator. Talking about hands eh?

  • Jo

    lol. I don’t know. I work on a farm every day and someyimes I think it would be nice to have a single day where I go to work without hay in my hair. :)

  • Jo

    On a more serious note. I knwo what you’re talking about. There is something very fulfilling when doing something like farming. It’s hard, labour intensive work, but very rewarding. Especially in the world today, where everything is processed or made by machines. You never know what you’re getting. :)

  • Rosewell

    when will there be more juice peach product? i want that calendar, and that photo of Kristin and Allison

  • Jackie

    Hey Allison!!!
    I’ve been waiting to see American Teen for so long! It looks super good and i believe its coming to theatres soon where i live! Can’t wait!
    As for eating the fruits and veggies that farmers grow, i think its very enjoyable as well! : )

  • Wally West

    I love going to Farmers markets. There is a few around where I live (suburbs a bit outside of Philadelphia) and my folks love going down there to get some grapes and watermelons. My mother always complained about the ones from the supermarket =P.

  • Becca

    There is nothing like fresh vegetables!

    I have a few questions…
    Did you get to meet One Republic when they were on the show? Do you like their music? (I am a little behind on smallville because of boarding school rules)

    Have you seen any of “the secret life of the American teenager”? It caught my eye because I’m a huge Molly Ringwald fan, but it’s really addicting and the personalities are like the ones I found in high school. Minus the pregnancy thing – it’s pretty real. Then again smallville when it was in high school wasn’t far off either. i guess these are all really shallow things.

    I’ve really been thinking about diversity and acceptance lately. I know the answer is education and to talk about differences. People need to learn about each other and get over the initial fear of something different. I’ve definately seen how not to deal with diversity. My school did a workshop day and it backfired completely and all it did was leave our very small school upset and divided.

    thanks for your blog – i’ve spent my senior summer really sick so it’s brightened up my days and given me food for thought while i get better.

    Have a beautiful day!

  • http://www.chloesullivansite.com/ Bouroux

    Hi Allison.
    I saw the trailer of the film.

    The film seems very interesting in terms of human behaviour.
    This weekend, I read a comment from a Belgian actress Marie Gillain very inspiring about romantic comedies.
    Why do people like romantic comedies?
    Her answer.
    “We love romantic comedies because they give us hope.
    It reassures us to see very neurotic characters who obviously work to do on themselves to find love and happiness. It feels good ”
    Why in recent years for a film has good reviews (Academy Awards) it must be a drama, that is very dark and not particularly happy ending. I find it a bit depressing.
    This could be a good topic for discussion.
    For foods purchased directly implemented farmers I find it extraordinary.
    This is the only way to know from where the food we eat. In supermarkets, some fruits and vegetables that you buy from the other side of the globe while there are farmers who grow a few km from my house. Unfortunately for reasons of time or simply laziness, I buy at the supermarket.
    Allison, I like your small chronic that combine what you do and what you think. It’s great.
    Bye

    Claude.

  • arash

    Hey Becca,
    The concept of unity in diversity is not well understood everywhere. The idea is to learn our differences and respect it, to learn our similarities and feel connected. I have been a part of organizing a lot of these sort of events. If it is not well planed and directed it will be disasterus. The best approches I have seen is usually in form of Art. We had invited a group of exceptionally tallented kids from a dance school to perform on this exact subject in our university, after the dance, people around me burst in tears and started huging eachother and me, They didn’t know eachother and they where from all different backgrounds.
    We have a very good example right here, people on this blog are from all around the world, today if you don’t deal with diversity, you’ll be isolated.

  • Medina

    Peace , stop Russ x Georgia War

  • steve

    god blessed with the earth but alot of people would rather destroy it. than take care of it or grow knowledge from it kinda sad that we as people believe in such destruction instead of life.

  • Phil Damico

    A developer wants to take our farmers market here in lansing MI and turn in it into condos and shopping. They say they will build a new for 1.6 million, yet the city is already in debt. Go figure. They had a huge sale at the capitol it was awesome, massive turnout. You should always support a farmers market, as farmers are becoming a dying breed, (anyone remember the okies?) Anything grown and organic always tastes the best, no preservatives, maximum vitaminage, the works. Put your hand to the plow, dont look back and the reward will be great! My hat is off to you Allison, a star who buys local/supports farmers markets! Your awesome! Thats a huge thing in our state, I love buying locally grown produce! Michigan has the best crops in the World(:
    Thank you Allison!

  • http://www.clarabryant.net Ashley

    I think if you did more film reviews, it would be very, very interesting. I know I’d love to read them.