no shame.

I feel like I need to defend my obsession with One Direction
And maybe explain it a little more.
And document it. So my kids can know I'm a weirdy.
But fo realz, there are so many haters. HaTeRz. Guys, you gotta understand!

First things first, after I lost Madelyn, I couldn't listen to music.
All my old music made me think of when I was pregnant.
It was hard to get into new music because I was so sad.
If you know how important music is to me, you can see how awful this was.
One Direction's songs are happy and upbeat and I had never heard them before.
They helped me be able to listen to music again
I realize I sound like one of those cray-cray 14-year-olds who says crap like, "One Direction saved my life and they love me, I KNOW IT!!!!"
I don't think they saved my life, but they did make it possible for me to enjoy music again.
So just remember that before you judge this 25-year-old woman for loving a boy band.
Because seriously, I love them.

It's really all Jenna's fault. She made me go see their movie.
I had really only heard their two hits "That's What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing"
I likes those songs, but never really thought more about it.
I also knew one of them had dated Taylor Swift.
That's as far as my 1D knowledge went.
As we watched the movie, here's how my thoughts went:

"Woah, they can actually sing!"

"Woah, that ethnic looking one can really sing!"

"I think I have a crush on him."

"They are really funny."

"I love this song."

"I also love this song."

"I think I love every song."

"I wish they were my friends."

"I think they are my friends."

After we left the theatre, I quickly got their first two CDs and I fell in love.
Their third one came out a couple months later, and it is by far their best!

I thought I was done with my boy band phase, but I guess not!

Here's some of the beef people have with One Direction. I shall address the issues.

They're not like the boy bands of Yore

NYSYNC and BSB still rock my world. I love them. But One Direction is nothing like them. They don't dance. They don't wear matching clothes. They don't do photo shoots in overalls or thick, woolen turtlenecks. But it's a different age now, they are a boy band for a new area. They hate dancing, so they don't dance. They don't want to dress alike, so they don't. They go up on stage and just have a lot of fun! I also love that all of them sing in every song. Yes, some of them have better voices than the others, but let's be honest; NSYNC was the JT show with some JC sprinkled on the side. There were always a few weirdies who liked Lance (yes, I'm talking about you, Michelle), but pretty sure no one ever liked Chris and Joey. BSB was the same, except with 3 lead singers instead of 2. I like that they share the wealth in this band. They really all seem to be legitimate BFFs. Their closeness in age probably helps with that too.

They don't write their own music

Au contraire my sweet friends. They write a great deal of their own music. The first album there was not a lot, but they were little teenagers. Now, on their third album, they wrote almost all of the songs. SO THERE. Their music is also getting better. There first two albums are full of fun, upbeat, boy-bandy stuff. Their third album has some of that, but you can tell their taste and writing style is maturing. And I like it.

They're lame.
NO THEY'RE NOT. YOU'RE LAME!

They can't sing.
You shut your sweet mouth! Just check out this acoustic video that I love so much. And that is when they are wee little babies! They are even better now! Or just watch this video I have seen a million times of all of Zayn's best solos. Or just this 20 second video that will blow your mind. (PS. I heart Zayn)

They're douchebags.
They are so sweet to their fans even though their fans can be freaking crazy. Also, my People magazine told me that they were #2 on the list of the most charitable celebrities of 2013.

They are just a group of Justin Biebers.
Sorry, but none of them have ever been arrested or are seen doing drugs or walk around with gigantic pants on or think that they're black. They're nice, British boys. One is even engaged! Now let's take a moment of silence to mourn the Justin Bieber I used to love so much. May he rest in peace.

I consider myself a person with good taste in music, but I am also not a music snob.
I can worship The Beatles and The Killers and Vampire Weekend, and still admit that Hannah Montana made some good records in her day.
I am not trying to say that One Direction are musical Gods.
But they are nice guys who make really good music.
And you should give them a chance.
Because they're my friends.