A Pirate's Life

Weird Al and Harry Potter

2010-07-28T13:22:00.002-05:00

    We haven't been traveling as much lately as we usually do, so it was nice last week to finally get back down to Orlando again. I've missed everything about the area - the sights, the sounds, the people - so I really enjoyed being able to experience all of those things again. And this trip, we had some new things to enjoy as well.

    After putting the trip off several times, we finally managed to lock in our dates and make all the arrangements. We stayed on premises at the Universal Resort for the first time, and really liked it. We were at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which reminded me a bit of the Polynesian at Disney World. It was relaxing and the room was nice. We definitely plan to stay there again. From our room, it was a short walk over to Citywalk, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The walk was very pleasant, along a winding path by the water. There was a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks living along the path and it was fun to watch them (and listen to them) as we walked along.

    Caradorn and I had visited Universal before, but this was The Kidd's first visit. We all liked Citywalk, and The Kidd especially enjoyed Margaritaville. After we planned the trip, we discovered that Weird Al Yankovic was going to be performing at Citywalk at Hard Rock Live while we were there. We are big Weird Al fans but hadn't yet managed to see him in person so we decided to go and I'm so glad we did! His show was great, especially at the end when the 501st joined him onstage for "The Saga Begins" and "Yoda". I knew he had a very versatile voice, but I hadn't really realized how good he actually is. He does have a very nice voice, and he has a surprisingly large range.

    Though Caradorn and I had visited the parks before, we had not ridden most of the rides. This time we rode almost everything. Spiderman was one of our favorites. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was also great - I especially love that you choose what song to hear during your ride, and I'm anxious to ride again to choose different songs. For my first ride I chose "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. Knowing how much I love Rock Band you might assume that's why I chose the song, but you'd be wrong. I actually just chose it because I always want to drive a car over a cliff when I hear that song thanks to "Star Trek", and I figured hearing it on the rollercoaster was the next best thing, and probably safer.

    One of The Kidd's favorite rides turned out to be Men in Black: Alien Attack. We ended up spending a huge chunk of our last day there riding that over and over and over again just so he could try to get a higher score. We did take a short break to see one of our favorite performers, Blondie, in a show about movie makeup (We were a little disappointed by that - we had hoped he'd be the over-the-top character who is stabbed and sadly he was the "normal" guy instead. He was still very funny, though, and since he doesn't appear there often we were just glad to catch him there at all!), but after that we trooped right back over to MiB again.

    Of course the main reason for our trip was so we could experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and we weren't disappointed. The theming in that area is amazing. It is small, and a bit cramped, but then that fits the despcriptions from the books. The books were fresh on my mind because I started rereading them just before the trip, and I couldn't find anything that didn't look the way the books said it should.   The details were great. Honeydukes (the candy store in Hogsmeade), Zonkos (the joke shop) and the Three Broomsticks carried lots of things mentioned in the books. Plus there were other neat shops and so much merchandise that I just couldn't decide what to buy. . . though I did end up choosing a few things. :) We tried Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Tarts, Pumpkin Juice, Butterbeer (normal and frozen), Peppermint Humbugs, Hogshead Ale, Honeydukes chocolate, Trifle, Strawberry Peanutbutter ice cream and so many other things . . . and loved it all.    The new ride, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Jouney", was amazing. Walking through Hogwarts castle to get to the ride was the first time I ever wished a line would move more slowly - there was so much to see! "Flight of the Hippogriff" was cute, and Buckbeak was impressive. I wasn't quite as impressed by the show at Ollivander's as I thought I would be, but that could be because I wasn't a huge fan of the Wand Keeper that day. The show was very short but cute. I'm sure I would enjoy Ollivander's much more if a former Adventurer had been our Wizard. Face it, I'd be enthralled by a dramatic reading of the phone book if Snoopy was the one doing the reading, so if he'd been our Wizard I would never have wanted to leave Ollivander's! ;)

    And I discovered a new love of rollercoasters. I've always enjoyed them before, but this trip I just couldn't get enough of them. We rode the Dragon Challenge (formerly Dueling Dragons) and it think it was my favorite thing we did on the whole trip. The Ice side (which I think is now the Hungarian Horntail) is my second favorite rollercoaster, after the Manta at Seaworld. We rode it many times, and went back in on our last morning to ride one last time, and I was so sorry to leave. I just wanted to keep riding! Swooping around on the Dragon was the best- and happiest - I've felt in a long time. Maybe I've turned into an adrenaline junkie!

    We did manage to carve out a little time to go over the Disney World. We wanted to get in one last ride on Star Tours since it will be closed for renovations during our next few trips. We also caught the Main Street Electrical Parade and Summer Nightastic Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, and (of course) rushed through Epcot as well. No trip would be complete without a visit to Japan! And as always, we had to swing through Innoventions, Italy and the UK to catch shows by some of our favorite former Adventurers. We bought a few Vinymations and got almost all the ones we wanted, including the Colonel from the Adventurers Club. And on our last night we went back to Pirates Cove for a quick round of miniature golf, as we do on almost every trip.

    The trip was almost perfect, except that it was too short. It always surprises me how quickly the time flies by when we're on vacation. There were several things we didn't have time to get to this trip, and I had several friends in town I had intended to see but somehow our paths never crossed. (Even when we were in the same park, in one case. Sorry I missed you, J!). But we are already planning our next trip, so we have that to look forward to. We have WDW and Universal annual passes, and we'll be getting Seaworld ones in a couple of months, so I imagine we'll be back several times over the next year. Our family trips are always very different than the ones Caradorn and I take together, so I'm also anxious to plan an adults-only visit before too long. But for now, with school starting back again and so much going on here, we'll have our hands full for a bit. I'm sure the time will fly by and we'll be heading to points Southward (and to Congaloosh) in no time. I can't wait!

Life Goes On

2010-05-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

    As some of you know, my father did not win his battle with pancreatic cancer. We lost him a week and a half ago. I've been intending to write a post about the events of the last couple of weeks but somehow I just haven't been able to. Every time I pull up this blog and try to write, I just can't think of any words.

    So many people who have been important to me and to my family over the years have reached out to us during this difficult time. And somehow it seemed that any time I was just overcome with the grief and stress of the situation, I would hear from someone who would say just the right thing to pull me through. I heard from all sorts of people who had good things to say about my father, or had stories about him to share. We reconnected with family members we haven't seen in years, and people who knew us when I was a little girl. I even heard from someone who I believed I would never talk to again, which meant more to me than I can say.

    I don't know how I would have gotten through the past couple of weeks without so many people to lean on.

    The day after my father died, before most people knew he was gone, we were sitting in the funeral home trying to make arrangements for the service. The man who was helping us left the room for a moment to check on something. I made the mistake of glancing up and saw the rest of my family (minus The Kidd) sitting around the table, and it really hit me that my father was gone. He was never going to sit around a table with us again; he was never going to be the one to take charge and make the difficult decisions for us again. I started to feel like I couldn't breathe, and though I knew it would be terrible for me to break down right then I started to tear up anyway. Trying to distract myself, I pulled out my phone and when I saw the cheerful little blinking green light I checked my email.   And there waiting for me in my inbox was exactly what I needed: a message from a dear friend who has lost a parent, who knows what it feels like. He sent me the sweetest message, that had me tearing up again but for a different reason. The panicked, hysterical feeling started to fade away as I read his message. As much as the rest of it meant to me, the part that had the strongest impact on me was the very last line, where he told me something that no one else had mentioned - that this feeling won't get better, but will only dull.

    As strange as it may seem, I needed to hear that. My father is gone, but we aren't ever going to forget him. This isn't something we are going to get over. Tomorrow he will still be gone and we will still miss him. That's okay; it's normal.   And it's something we can live with.

    I stayed with my mom after Caradorn and The Kidd had left, to help her work out some details that needed to be dealt with. A few days later I headed back to Rocket City. I didn't have my car there so I drove my dad's car back home. For the first few miles as I drove out of town I kept the radio off. Somehow it seemed disrespectful to be cruising along in my father's sports car listening to music so soon after losing him. He loved driving that car. I didn't feel right enjoying it, knowing he wouldn't be enjoying it ever again. I felt guilty. But after a few miles I finally couldn't take the quiet and the rumble of the tires against the road any longer and so I turned on the radio.  The song that was playing was one I've never heard on the radio before. I didn't know any station ever played it. It was "Pancreas" by Weird Al.

!

    I couldn't help but laugh. My dad would have found it funny. He would have wanted me to keep finding things funny, to keep living . . . to enjoy driving a fun car with the windows down on a beautiful day, listening to music.   Life goes on. We will always miss my dad, but we still have each other, and all the other people we love. I'm still sad, and still angry. It isn't fair that he's gone, that he didn't get to retire and do all the things he hoped to do, that he got so sick and was so miserable for his last few weeks. But his life was so much more than the last months. He loved life, and he loved us, and he loved for us to be happy. He wouldn't want us to stop living, to stop embracing life, just because of the way he left us. I know we will get through this, and even though things will never be the same, we will still have good times. Our lives aren't over just because my father is no longer with us, and no one would be happier about that than he would be.

Things change so quickly

2010-04-13T17:12:00.000-05:00

    So I've been out of commision for a while. Even though part of me has wanted to blog about all that's been going on, another part of me almost felt like it wasn't real if I didn't write it down. But it's been going on for a couple of months now and as much as I hate to, it's time to accept that this is a part of our lives for the forseeable future.

    My dad has cancer. Pancreatic cancer which has started to spread, to be specific. We initially thought his only problem was a tumor in his kidney, but sadly we've found that to be the least of his problems.

    He went to the doctor about it for the first time on February 15, and by March 15 he had started his first round of chemotherapy. Tomorrow he starts the second round of one of his meds. We don't know if they are helping or not. We were told that a complete cure would be "extremely rare", but we are hoping and praying for a miracle. We don't think about "long term" any more. We think about today. We hope my dad doesn't lose any more weight, and that he doesn't catch anything while his defenses are low from the chemo. We hope he can get through the day without throwing up or falling down. The days when he isn't in the hospital, when he can get out of bed and sit in his recliner and maybe even eat something, those are the good days.

    I've been spending as much time as possible with my parents. It makes me feel better to be there. But I miss Caradorn and The Kidd when I'm there, which makes me feel selfish.

   I want to do something to help, but most of the time there doesn't really seem to be much I can do. My parents don't want to ask for help, so we have to keep trying to find things that need to be done and then we insist on doing them over their objections. And I want to run interference for my parents, because it's amazing how this sort of thing brings out the worst in people. He's had a few nurses caring for him who shouldn't be trusted with any living things. And he's had visitors say the most tactless things - one "friend" laughed about my dad's favorite teams losing in their basketball tournaments, and said "So now you won't have that to worry about" when the watching those games was the only thing my dad had been looking forward to or enjoying. Of course she's the same person who took great delight in telling him something she knew would upset him while he was at a low ebb, alone in his hospital room after throwing up all night. I'm glad I wasn't there; I think I would have punched that busybody in the nose. I hope I don't see her any time soon. I'm sure I would say something I ought to regret later, though frankly I doubt I would regret it.

    Three months ago I thought my dad was the healthiest one of our parents; that he'd be around longer than any of the rest of us. Now I don't know what's going to happen. Suddenly things like vacations and "normal life" are a thing of the past. And I feel bad, because Caradorn and The Kidd are working so hard to make up for me being gone. Cardorn has to work really long hours when I'm home to make up for the hours he misses while I'm gone. The Kidd was so looking forward to our spring break trip, and he didn't bat an eye when we canceled it. He just wants my dad to get better. We promised to do something fun with him when we got home from my hometown on Sunday, but instead we stayed far later than we had intended to working on some things and got home just in time for him to go to bed.   And he still didn't complain; he understands that my dad comes first right now. He loves my dad more than almost anyone, except maybe my mom.

    I appreciate Caradorn more than I can say right now. He's giving up almost all his time to help me and to help my parents because "that's what family does".

And I appreciate all the prayers and positive thoughts that people are sending to my dad. Old friends and new ones, people I barely know, people who I only know by online nicknames . . they are all being so supportive.

I don't know what's going to happen. One day my dad seems like he might be a little stronger and the next he can't even sit up. I don't know when I'll be back to blogging normally again. I don't know when anything will be normal again.

A brief public service announcement regarding bathroom safety.

2010-01-26T16:46:00.000-06:00

If you happen to live in an older house, as I do . . .

And if your home has doors that tend to stick in the winter, as mine does . . .

And if you like to take showers so hot that you use all the hot water and leave the room so steamed up that you can barely see a foot in front of your face . . .

You might want to leave the bathroom door open when you shower in the winter, and just close the bedroom door instead.

    . . . because the heat and/or moisture from the boiling hot shower, when combined with a somewhat warped door and/or door frame, might lead to the potentially awkward situation of you becoming trapped in your bathroom, unable to open the door at all. In fact you might end up spending several minutes trying repeatedly to yank the bathroom door open, followed by several more minutes of trying to slowly wiggle the door open. And if you happen to be the only one home at the time, you might be faced with the question of whether you should call your spouse at work to come rescue you (if you are lucky enough that your cell phone is in the pocket of the pants you took off just before you got into the shower rather than being out in another room) or whether it would be better to just stay locked in the bathroom until the door finally shrinks enough for you to get it open.

    Of course if you panic enough at the thought of having to do either of those things, and you yank on the door even more violently while pulling backward with all your might, it might eventually fly open. Of course when it does you should be very careful so that you don't fly back across the room and fall into the tub.

     (ouch!)

    If all of that did somehow happen to you, and you decided to mention it to your spouse, they might respond by saying that you just have to pull down on the doorknob while pulling on the door in order to open the door after it has become stuck. And in fact they might seem amused by the whole thing, which might just upset you a little bit which might cause you to start yelling and flailing your arms and threatening to saw the top of the door off and beat them with it.

    But I don't recommend that, because you might feel a little bit silly afterward. Of course I don't necessarily speak from experience here or anything. And if I did I wouldn't admit it. But still, you might want to watch out for those doors that tend to stick. I know I will from now on.

Avatar (mild spoilers)

2010-01-22T12:50:00.001-06:00

After all the hype that "Avatar" received before it even opened, I wasn't sure I really wanted to see it. Movies that get hyped that much before their release always remind me of "The Fifth Element". Remember all the ads for that one? It was described as "Star Wars for a new generation", and it most certainly didn't live up to the hype. It wasn't a bad movie, in fact I watch it when it comes on television. But comparing it to "Star Wars" was a horrible move - there was no way on earth it was going to have the impact that "Star Wars" did and building up people's expectations of it that way could only lead to a bunch of disappointed people. And of course it did just that. Maybe the ads were intended to be tongue-in-cheek - the movie was sort of cheesy and campy, and an ad campaign that poked fun at that could have been a great idea. But if that was what they were going for, they failed miserably. As a result, "Fifth Element" was judged much more harshly than it might otherwise have been.

The buildup for "Avatar" was strikingly similar, in some ways. No, I never heard it compared to "Star Wars" but in every other way they raised the expectations for the film sky high. My expectations for the film weren't terribly high, and though I knew I would end up watching it at some point I wasn't rushing to the theater to see it.

After it opened and people I know started seeing it I was surprised by their reviews. They all loved it. Some of them went to see it over and over again. I decided at that point that we would go see it while it was still in theaters, but I still wasn't in any hurry. The Kidd really wanted to see it, but we had other things going on and didn't make time for it. We had so many holiday plans, there just wasn't time to fit "Avatar" in.

We finally made time for it while we were in Orlando for our New Years trip. We ended up going with Mr and Mrs O to the theater at Pointe Orlando. By the time the previews ended I decided that the previews alone had almost been worth the price of admission - "Iron Man 2", "Clash of the Titans", "Alice in Wonderland" . . . they all look like must-sees! But then "Avatar" started and despite how prepared I had been to dislike it, I was sucked in almost immediately. I know it's a long movie, but it really didn't seem long at all. Sure, there were a few scenes that could have been shorter, and it did drag in a few spots. The storyline was predictable - only one thing toward the end really surprised me. (And even then, then thing I had expected to happen did happen, just not at the spot I thought it would.) But even with all that, the movie was amazing. It was gorgeous and engaging. The 3D effects were well done and were well integrated into the film.

As the credits rolled the five of us sat and watched them, and then we gathered our things to leave. Mrs O mentioned that "Avatar" could end up being "Star Wars" for The Kidd's generation and it was the first time I have ever heard a film compared to "Star Wars" without finding the comparison ridiculous. She was right - it could conceivably be groundbreaking enough that people of The Kidd's generation will look back on it the way many of us look back on "Star Wars". Mr O did mention that it was basically "Pocahontas", and he had a point. There were some striking similarities, but we all agreed it was a fun movie and the effects and visuals more than made up for any weaknesses in the storyline.

I'll certainly be watching it again, and it will be a must buy for us when it comes out on Blu-ray.

I was catching up on Failblog the other day and was surprised to find something that reminded me of Mr O. Apparently someone else made the same observation he did, and though I loved the movie I still found it hilarious. Don't read it if you haven't seen the movie yet!

see more Epic Fails

I told you so!

2010-01-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

    Well, maybe I didn't tell you. But I did tell somebody.

    So. I am not the biggest football fan out there, but I do love the Mississippi State Bulldogs . . .

     (I initially typed that as Bullgods, but I promise I don't worship them that much.)

    . . . and I like the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I hate Ole Miss, as any good Dawg fan should. And (I'm sorry, Caradorn) I don't particularly like the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I do try to be supportive, since they are Caradorn's team.  Though I haven't ever really liked them, I have not particularly disliked them. I didn't really care much one way or the other about Phil Fulmer. I didn't care about Lane Kiffin, either, until the day he introduced the new batch of recruits last year.

    It was terrible. He was such a jerk - he went on and on about how the team deserved better than those players, he said they weren't the caliber of player that UT was used to and that next year the recruits would be better. I felt so bad for those boys. They were so excited to be announced as Vols and there they sat while he bashed them in front of the world. It must have been so embarrassing for them. Caradorn says that often coaches will belittle their players in an effort to get them to prove how good they are. I get that, I really do. I've done that sort of thing before too. But not like that - not in such a public venue, on a day that was supposed to be such a proud occasion for those players. I had no respect for Kiffin after that.

    This year, for the first time since I married into a family of UT fanatics, I didn't even pretend to support the team. I openly rooted against them for every game. I wanted them to have a horrible year because I wanted Kiffin fired. My inlaws did not like that one bit. They defended him; they talked about what a good coach he was, and how great he was going to be for UT. They laughed when I said I wanted him to be a one year coach - they said he would be a fixture at UT for years to come and that they were sooooo lucky to have him. When the season ended with the team having done fairly well, they gloated. Kiffin was there to stay, they said. Every new season would be better than the one before, and it was all thanks to Kiffin.

    Heh.

    I was at my inlaws house the night the announcement came out. Kiffin was leaving the University of Tennessee for USC. And I was so pleased. I didn't gloat, I didn't say I told you so. I didn't say much of anything. I just sat there watching television with them as they switched from one channel to another, trying to be sure it was really true. They seemed so shocked.   Once they realised he was really leaving, it was hilarious to hear them talk about him. "Well, he was never one of us." "UT Orange. . .

(which, might I add, is a really sickly creamsicle color and not a "real" orange, but for heaven's sake don't ever mention that to Caradorn's family, it offends them for some reason)

. . . never looked right on him." "UT will be better off without him." "I never liked him, anyway."

    Seriously, Inlaws? Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely positive you are remembering this season correctly?

    Really, truly? Because I think that's what I was saying the whole season! I said he was awful, I said he should leave, I said that he didn't belong. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said it eleventy million times over the course of the season and you people told me I was wrong! And now you want to claim you thought that the whole time, too?! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    You were wrong, and I was right, and whether you want to admit it or not you and I both know it's true! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thththtppppppppt!   (Yes, that's me sticking my tongue out at them. Yes, I am very mature.)

    Ahem.

    I'm sorry about that. I really am.

    It's just that they will be visiting this weekend, the whole lot of them. And I want to keep the peace. I don't want to goad them into an argument. I don't want to jump up and down and say "I told you so" over and over again. Well, okay, I do want to. But I think it would be a bad idea so I am attempting to get it out of my system now before they get here.

    I'm not sure it's working, though. I think I might just be getting myself even more worked up about it. I'll try not to bring the subject up, but if they do I don't think I will be able to keep my mouth shut about it. This could turn out to be an interesting weekend.

Public Displays of . . . something.

2010-01-20T11:39:00.001-06:00

    I've always said that I am not a fan of public diplays of affection. And I really thought that I wasn't, but I've realized recently that I actually quite like public displays of affection. I think they are cute. It's public displays of other things that I dislike.

    After being around other couples quite a bit recently, I've noticed that Caradorn and I tend to be more affectionate in public than most people we know. That surprised me, since I was so convinced that I was very anti-PDA. But we hold hands when we are together, and I often lean my head on his shoulder when we are sitting together. Sometimes he even puts his arm around me. (Gasp!) It doesn't bother me when I see other couples acting like that; in fact I find it adorable. These sorts of displays really aren't even limited to couples. I have friends (both guys and girls) who I hug when I see them, or friends I put my arm around or punch on the shoulder. And those are also displays of affection, from me at least, because if I don't feel some affection for you I'm going to do my best not to touch you at all if I can avoid it.

    But then there are those other displays, the ones that I dislike so intensely. And I've discovered that those aren't really public displays of affection. They are public displays of other things. There are a couple of different types that I've been seeing quite often lately, and I really really dislike them.

    The first is a public display of. . . attraction? Lust? Exhibitionism? I don't know exactly what motivates it, but it's easy to recognize. I think a quick peck on the cheek or forehead is sweet. Open mouthed kissing or groping? Not so much. That sort of behavior that ellicits cries of "Get a room" is not affectionate.   Yes, I get that you find each other attractive, and that's great for you. Really, it is. But I don't want to see that sort of thing, and if I did there are plenty of videos I could watch to get my fix. Plus, they feature people who are much more attractive. (And trust me, there's a reason I am not buying those videos - I DON"T WANT TO SEE IT!) I don't want to see you licking each other's faces (Yes. I've really seen that, and it was as revolting as you might imagine.) I don't want to see you grabbing each other's butts. I don't care if you are exhibitionists or if you are just so wrapped up in each other that you forget the rest of the world is out there. I don't want to be a voyeur; I don't like it! Just get a room.

   Fortunately I actually don't know any couples who act like this. I do seem to encounter couples like that quite often, though. And I have to think they are doing it on purpose. Kissing in a dark corner of a bar is one thing, but I keep running into these couples who are groping each other in the lines at Disney World or at a playground filled with children. Honestly, if you are so close to other people that they can hear the smacky, slurpy noises you are making while kissing then you are waaaaay to close to be behaving that way! It's nauseating. If you are such exhibitionists that you can only enjoy the physical side of your relationship when you have an audience, there are places that encourage that sort of thing. The city street, the grocery store, theme parks, city parks. . . those are not the kind of places where you should be putting on your own adult show.

   The other type is that one that really drives me insane. It's a public display of. . . possessiveness? Ownership? This may seem a little bit hypocritcal since I think this sort of display is rooted in jealousy, and I admit that I can be a jealous person. I don't use PDA to "stake my claim", though, which many people seem to do. I dated a guy in college, Nate, who did that. He was very opposed to public displays of affection. He wouldn't hold my hand, would rarely dance with me, didn't even want to tell people we were dating. It was like I was his dirty little secret most of the time. Unless we were around someone that I had dated or who Nate thought might be interested in me. Then suddenly he was like an octopus - he couldn't keep his tentacles ("Ohhhh. Tentacles. N-T. Big difference!") off of me. He would throw his arm around me or cling to my hand like a vice. It was bizarre - like a weird cross between a little kid clinging to his mother's leg and yanking on her sleeve as she tries to talk to someone ("Mom! Mom! Mom! Hey Mom!") and a dog lifting his leg against a tree ("My tree. Mine. All mine. SQUIRREL! My tree. Mine.") I hated it, and after that relationship ended I swore I'd never be in a relationship like that again.

    I know a guy now whose wife is like that, and it baffles me when I see them together. Why does he put up with that? Does he like it because it makes him feel wanted? Does he tolerate it because they are married and he doesn't have a choice? It seems so desperate and insecure. Seriously, hanging from him isn't going to keep poachers away, it's just going to make you look like you don't trust him. It sort of makes me sad, honestly. I like it when the people I like are in happy relationships, and seeing this weird sort of clingy possessiveness always makes me assume that the relationship isn't very strong. I really don't think that's the sort of message that the clingy people are trying to send - it seems pretty counter-productive. "Look how close we are. We're inseparable. Really. See? He can't get away from me. So give up. Stop looking at him. He's mine. All mine. Really. Right, Honey? Honey? Stop looking at her. Look at me. Me! Memememememe." Sorry, but clinging to your significant other like a vine any time you feel like someone is interested in him is not a display of affection. It's a display of immaturity. He's with you, presumably because he wants to be. Relax and enjoy the relationship and stop worrying about everyone else. Trust me, you - and everyone else - will end up happier that way.

    It sort of makes me feel old, like I ought to be waving my fist and yelling at those pesky kids to get off my lawn. But I want to start treating these annoying couples like I used to treat my cats. Each time I see an innappropriate public display of affection I just want to whip out my water bottle and spray them in the faces. "Bad couple. Bad! No kissing/groping/clinging. No!" Or maybe I could just sneak up behind them with a can filled with coins and shake it by their ears. I suspect that wouldn't go over well. There are probably rules against doing things like that. It's really tempting, though. But I guess that would be considered a public display of aggression, which probably isn't much better than the displays I'm trying to prevent. So I'll do my best to fight the urge, for now at least. But if one day you happen to notice a crazy woman spraying couples with a water bottle, or bopping their noses with a rolled up newspaper, come over and say "Hi". It's probably me.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-19T13:04:00.000-06:00

    I know, you see the title and you're thinking it's awfully late for me to be wishing everyone a happy new year. It's already January 19 which means that the first month of 2010 is already more than half over. But I'm considering today to be the real start of 2010. That's because today is the day that life returns to "normal" for the Piratz family. We've been traveling off and on throughout the holidays, and yesterday we got home from our last trip for a while.

    Since today is the first normal day we've had in a while, it's also the day we're starting to work on our resolutions for the year. Maybe if I tell you mine, I'll feel more like I have to actually follow through with them. So here they are:

*I will be more active this year. I feel so much better when I stay active and when I'm in better shape, and this year I'm going to stop using my headaches as an excuse. I'm going to make myself get out and be active, whether I want to or not.

*I will be more organized. I have made progress with this one lately, but I still have a long way to go.

*I will be more social. I am not a terribly social person. I prefer to stay in the background as much as possible. I have a really hard time making myself talk to people, especially those I don't know well. In the last year I've tried to force myself to be more outgoing, and I've met some really great people as a result. I still feel awkward and nervous around new people, but the more I make myself talk to them the easier it seems to get.   Hopefully someday it will start to feel more natural - and in the meantime, maybe I can at least get better at faking it!

*I will cook more. I like to cook, but I don't do it much. We tend to resort to takeout or going out to eat far too often. This year I hope to make those the exceptions rather than the rule.

    So. . . we'll see how it goes. I have a good feeling about this year. It's been great so far! I have so much to post about, and now that I think about it maybe that's one more resolution to add to my list. I'll keep up with my blog more.   It's a good way for me to sort out my thoughts, and it's a good record of what I've been up to. And maybe more than anything else, it's a great way for me to feel more accountable for following these resolutions. If I can make myself be honest about my progress, at least, and I think I can. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a new lifestyle to work on.

Hiatus

2009-12-17T08:57:00.000-06:00

If you're still checking for updates, you will have noticed that there haven't been any for well over a month, until now at least. For that matter, this really isn't much of a post either. I'm just checking in to let you know that I'm not going to be posting for a little bit longer. "Real life" has gotten too hectic and I've had too much going on. Mainly, though, I haven't been able to think of anything to blog about. Christmas is fast approaching and things have been going wrong right and left (I'm sick, a 50 foot tree fell and smashed our fence, our car windshield broke, my inlaws are about to visit, etc, etc, etc) and we've been going to concerts and playing video games (remember how I'm so bad at first person shooters? I'm still no better, and "Left for Dead" is giving me a nervous breakdown. I'm determined to get better at it eventually!) and so I haven't even attempted to post.

I feel bad about that, though. Each day I try to make myself post and I just can't do it. So I'm giving myself permission to quit for now. I'll be back after the new year has started. (Though I might have to make one exception to post about "Sherlock Holmes", which I am really looking forward to!) And if somehow I get inspired I'll start posting again sooner, but don't count on it. Look for me after 2010 has begun.

If you are looking for fun things to do, I highly recommend any of the things we've been doing lately: Star Wars: In Concert (which was amazing!), "The Princess and the Frog" (which is by far my favorite princess movie, and is a "real" Disney movie in every way), "Left for Dead" (which for me is frustrating but fun) "Super Mario Wii" (perfect Nintendo game, a return to the old-style Mario games), 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live, or the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza (so much fun!).

You'll see me on here after the New Year if you come back then, and some of you I'll actually see before then in real life. :) I'll still be Tweeting and updating Facebook, so if you keep up with me on those sites (or on my sidebar here) then you'll know I'm still alive.

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!

November!

2009-11-01T19:08:00.000-06:00

Somehow the time seems to be flying by this year, and suddenly it's November! This makes me happy. Well, the time flying by doesn't, but I do love November. I really love it once the time changes, since it feels so much more like fall once it gets dark so much earlier. It's cooling off finally, and the leaves are changing. . . or in some cases, they've already changed and have fallen to the ground.

I love the foods associated with this time of year, especially almost anything that uses pumpkin. I love seeing the Christmas decorations and foods showing up in stores. I love that more and more ads show Christmas scenes. I love Thanksgiving, when we usually go to my parents house and spend time with my family and eat way too much. (And watch the Egg Bowl, of course. Go Dawgs!) I love Christmas shopping, even though I worry I won't be finished with that by Thanksgiving. But each year I promise that this will be the year I don't have to fight those crowds between Christmas and Thanksgiving. I haven't managed that so far, but this year. . .

I always threaten to start decorating for Christmas on the day after Halloween, but Caradorn is adament that we wait until after Thanksgiving. We compromise by getting everything ready before Thanksgiving so we can decorate the tree as soon as we get home from my parents' house. I'm not sure that's much of a compromise, though, and I think I need to figure out a way to start getting some of the decorations up before that.

We have lots of things to look forward to over the next two or three months, but this time of year I really enjoy the normal days almost as much as the days when we do something special. Settling in with a mug of hot cider or hot chocolate and playing games or watching a movie, building a fire in the fireplace, baking pumpkin bread, taking a walk and hearing the leaves crunching underfoot. . . there are so many things I love about this time of year! I just want to enjoy every minute of it and forget about working. But of course I can't do that. We do have lots to do, and the one time of year I love even more than this is December. When Thanksgiving is over, I want to be able to sit back and know we've finished everything important for the year. That means we'll really have our work cut out for us this month. But that's okay, because I feel more motivated than I have in a long time. It's fall!

And by the way. . .

2009-10-23T11:48:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention that I am angry! We went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival during our last couple of WDW trips, and found lots of food that we enjoyed. We bought the festival cookbook and I was browsing through it trying to decide which thing I would cook first. Several of the dishes that we enjoyed are in the cookbook, but I've discovered that two of my favorite things from this year's festival that I had intended to cook are not in there! I wasn't surprised to find that the Tangerine Mimosa from Morocco wasn't listed, but I think we can figure that one out on our own. Sadly, though, the Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie from Ireland is also not listed. That is probably not something I can figure out through trial and error, which means I'm going to have to start Googling and hope that I can find a recipe for something similar. And I am most upset that the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee from France isn't in there, either. That was my favorite thing at the festival this year. We trekked all the way through Epcot just to get that on our last trip. I fully intended to cook it once we got home - but now I have no recipe! I'll have to check last year's book to see if it's in there, and if not I guess I'll need to start Googling for that as well. I've been wanting to find a good recipe for orange creme brulee since Disney changed the Soarin' creme brulee at Seasons in the Land pavillion from orange to vanilla, so I guess I will start looking for a good milk chocolate recipe as well.

Grumble, grumble. Oh well, I guess of all the things I could be angry about this is pretty mild. But still, it's irritating. I want that milk chocolate creme brulee. And since I think it is highly unlikely that I'll be able to convince Caradorn to take me back to Epcot before the Food and Wine Festival ends (though of course I'll try!) I suppose I'm just going to have to search until I find the perfect recipe. I imagine that will mean trying quite a few different recipes until we find the right one. Poor us, having to suffer through lots of chocolate creme brulees. Hmmm. . . maybe I'm not as angry about this as I thought!

Odds and ends and way too much shopping

2009-10-23T11:22:00.002-05:00

The past week or so has been really busy, but it's also has it's share of excitement. And somehow we have found plenty of time to shop.

Last Thursday afternoon my phone rang, and when I didn't recognize the number I almost didn't answer it because I've been getting lot of telemarketer calls lately. I grabbed it at the last minute simply because I knew it was a central Florida number. I'm so glad I did! It turned out to be a friend from the Orlando area. He was calling to let me know that Jonathan Coulton has finally scheduled a concert in Orlando. I was so excited that I almost started shrieking into the phone, but fortunately for my friend's ears I did manage to control myself. As we were talking, though, I was getting more and more excited about it. I was pacing back and forth and almost jumping up and down and talking faster and faster. Shortly before we got off the phone Caradorn walked in, and he looked really confused about why I was freaking out so much. Once I hung up the phone I tried to explain to Caradorn why I was so excited, but I was talking too fast and waving my arms and pacing and jumping and it took a while for him to get the idea. Of course we bought our tickets when they went on sale on Saturday. I am so excited! I am really excited about seeing Coulton again, because I love him. But I'm almost as excited because so many people I like in Orlando have been dying to see his show, and now they'll be able to.

After we bought our tickets we decided to go to Nashville for the day. I've posted before that I hate shopping, but that's not entirely true. I hate shopping for clothing or anything specific that I need, but I enjoy browsing in some stores. We hit all my favorite places in Nashville and I bought way too much. After grabbing sushi at Ru San's we checked out Urban Outfitters, where I found a Snoopy shirt and a book - "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", which I'm reading now. (It's okay, but doesn't have nearly enough zombies so far!) Then we went to Green Hills and spent far too long at Davis Kidd, one of the best bookstores anywhere. I got Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and Caradorn and The Kidd also found some books, plus Cardorn got me a packet of Opus postcards which I am now threatening to frame. I found my favorite new shampoo/body wash/bubble bath at Sephora - Philosophy's Pumpkin Spice, which smells like Fall. And I discovered that Macy's has a great selection of Snoopy shirts - though I controlled myself and only bought one, which has Snoopy and Woodstock and says "Chicks love Nerds". Caradorn and The Kidd found a big selection of Star Wars shirts, so they were happy, too. While we were in Nashville we also stopped by Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to stock up on groceries we can't find in Rocket City. I'm trying to cook more lately, and I have found that I'm more likely to do that if I have lots of interesting ingredients to work with.

Sunday we had to do some errands around Rocket City, and we made the mistake of going into Petsmart. Every time we go there I torture myself by visiting the cats who are waiting to be adopted. This time I saw the prettiest kitten I think I've ever seen. Her name is Willow, and she's white and grey with big beautiful golden eyes. We do not need a kitten. We don't need any more pets, but we've agreed that we would consider an older cat if we found just the right one. No kittens! But I can't stop thinking about Willow. She was so cute, and so pitiful. She really was pretty, though, and so surely someone already gave her a home. Hopefully. Because I am really tempted to swing back by there this afternoon just to be sure she isn't still waiting for a home. And if she's there I'm going to have to play with her. So I really, really hope she isn't there. We don't need a ktten!

Yesterday I found out that Star Wars in Concert is coming to Nashville, so I'm hoping to get tickets for that when they go on sale tomorrow. And tomorrow we are going to another concert. Kiss is going to be in Birmingham, and we are taking The Kidd to see them for the first time. Caradorn and I have seen them before, and we didn't love them - but we did like them, and it was a fun show and I think The Kidd will get a kick out of seeing them. We're going to make a day of it, I think, since we always enjoy visiting Birmingham. And now that I'm back on a cooking kick I need to visit Penzey's again. Penzey's is a wonderful spice shop (and website) and I need to stock up on all the spices I need for fall and winter. I don't know where the time has gone - I can't believe October is almost over! But I do love the fall - the color of the leaves, the cold air, the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and celebrations. The soups and stews and spiced ciders, and of course the baking! I see Pumpkin Bread in my future. And Gingerbread. In fact that sounds like a good thing to add to today's "To do" list. And then this evening we will settle in to enjoy warm gingerbread and "Dollhouse". And most importantly we will enjoy staying home and not shopping for a change!

Proctologist makes an ass of himself, no one is surprised

2009-10-16T12:19:00.001-05:00

    The other day I mentioned that the audience for the first show we saw at Bonkerz last week was not good, and I said that I would explain more about that later.

   First, let me stress that the whole audience wasn't bad. Unfortunately, there was one fairly large group there who was completely rude and inconsiderate, and they just happened to be seated right in the middle of the audience. It wasn't a reflection on the performers that they were like this - they were bad from the moment they got there, and continued the same behavior through each stand-up routine that night. The one good thing was that they claimed that one of them was a proctologist and that most of the rest of them worked for him, which did lead to lots of jokes from the comedians that night.

   Also, I will admit that I am particularly sensitive to what I consider to be bad behavior by audience members. I really have no patience with it at all. It makes me furious. So something that might seem like no big deal to most people can seem like a huge deal to me. I don't really know why I feel that way, but I take audience behavior very personally. . . especially when we are watching a performer that I particularly like. Since Karl Anthony (also known on here as Blondie from the Adventurers Club) is one of my favorite performers, I really wanted him to have a good audience for his show and it bothered me that he had to deal with such rude people.

I have fairly high expectations of audience members. I think that when you choose to attend a show, you are sort of entering into a contract with the performer. They are agreeing to give you their very best performance, and you are agreeing to behave in a considerate and respectful manner during the show. I also think that you have an obligation to your fellow audience members - that you need to make every effort to refrain from doing anything that might distract them from the show.

The group at Bonkerz last Friday night apparently did not feel this way at all. They chose to go to Bonkerz and there's no way they didn't know it was a comedy club. They knew they were there for a show. And yet they barely paid any attention at all to the people on stage. The spent the entire evening talking - loudly - to each other. They seemed almost oblivious to the comedians, except when they would occasionally make comments about the show. And any time a performer tried to talk to them they would argue or make rude comments to him. I guess in a way they were hecklers, but most of the time they didn't seem to even notice that there was a show going on. They were just rude. Each of the comedians tried to deal with them and make them pay attention and be quiet. I thought Karl did the best job of incorporating them into the act in a way that made sense, and his act didn't really suffer because of their behavior. It still made me angry on his behalf, though. I didn't feel as bad for the last performer of the night simply because he did not make any effort to be nice to them, and actually seemed to enjoy the opportunity to be mean to them. It didn't work, of course, but I'm sure he expected that after seeing how they responded to the first two performers.

I admit that I didn't find all of the performers that night to be expecially funny. The person who did the intro and warmed up the audience annoyed me more than he entertained me. He had a couple of funny moments but mostly his humor was not at all my style. Plus, he seemed big on audience interaction and I am most certainly not. (I know, sometimes I do I like shows that use audience participation. It's true that I grew to love participating at the Adventurers Club and of course I always am happy if I am chosen to interact with David Copperfield or Gaelic Storm. But if I am not familiar with a performer and I'm not already a fan of their show, I just want to blend in and not be noticed. It makes me horribly uncomfortable to have some random performer trying to interact with me. I really hate it. I even hated it initially at the Club, though I got over that pretty quickly.) Still, I was there in the audience and so I tried to act like I was paying attention and tried to be polite, while still trying to blend into the background so he wouldn't try to talk to me. I wish the rude group had done the same. But of course they didn't. And as the evening progressed I got angrier and angrier at them.

I wanted to say something to them, but it wouldn't have made any difference. They knew they were being rude - both to the performers and to the other audience members - and they didn't care. At times they actually seemed annoyed that the other people in the room would dare to interrupt their conversation. If it had been up to me they wouldn't have been in the audience at all. I would have escorted them out as soon as it became apparent that they had no intention of behaving appropriately. If they didn't enjoy the performances they didn't have to laugh or clap. They didn't even have to stay - they could have chosen a moment between acts and left the venue. But since they chose to remain there, they should have at least been quiet and acted as though they were paying attention. I don't know what their problem was. Maybe they had gotten an early start on their drinking. Maybe they just enjoy disprupting performances. Maybe they are just jerks. Whatever it was, I am sorry that the performers that night had to put up with them. I'd like to believe that it was an isolated incident, but judging from the reactions by a couple of the performers I'm guessing they are used to that sort of thing. Which is just sad. I know that the days when people dressed to the nines and were on their best behavior for a trip to the theater are gone. However, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to be considerate to those around them. It makes me sad that what was once considered common courtesy isn't very common these days.

But maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe they were the exception and that sort of behavior is not becoming as common as I'm afraid that it is. Since I intend to go see Karl Anthony perform often in the future, I should get the chance to find out. And if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking his show out for yourself. You'll be glad you did!

Brief Recap. . . well, maybe not so brief, actually.

2009-10-13T11:21:00.001-05:00

Caradorn and I just got back from Orlando (again) and I realized that I haven't really been blogging much lately, so I thought I'd try to get some thoughts down about our most recent trip while they are still fresh in my mind.

    This trip was much more low-key than I though it would be. I was battling migraines the whole time and had to take things much more slowly than I wanted to. Plus, it was unbelievably hot and humid - I've never been that uncomfortable at WDW before, which made my head feel worse. Because of this we didn't do everything I had intended to, but we still had fun.

    We left Rocket City mid-day last Wednesday and got to Orlando that night. We spent Thursday morning at Universal Studios. I liked it, but not as much as the "real" studios in LA. After a brief hike through Epcot that afternoon for some creme brulee we went back to the room to crash before Halloween Horror Nights. I enjoyed HHR, but wasn't ever particularly scared. I did get startled and laughed quite a bit, but everything seemed to strike me as funny instead of scary. Of course we skipped the Saw house, which I was afraid would bother me too much. But the houses and scare zones that we did do were well done, just not scary. I was wearing a glow in the dark Snoopy Halloween shirt, and my favorite moment was in one of the houses when some Scareactor who was supposed to be jumping out and growling at people said "I like your shirt" and then waved his arms and said "Rarrrrr". Not too intimidating, but very cute. :)

    Friday morning we had planned to go to Islands of Adventure but ended up sleeping late and lounging around the room for a while. We shopped for a while that afternoon  and went out to dinner before going to Bonkerz comedy Club to see our favorite comedian, Karl Anthony. We always find him hilarious when we see him perform, but until this weekend we hadn't managed to catch his stand-up act. He was wonderful, just as we expected. The audience, on the other hand, was not. Or rather, part of the audience wasn't. I'll have to write more about that another time, but I don't know how Karl managed not to scream at them or throw things at them - I think I would have. We stopped by a party for a bit afterwards, and I know I was probably terrible company since the migraine was trying to come back and I felt sort of dazed. We stayed far longer than we should have, but we were really enjoying the company. (It's always nice to be around fellow Coulton fans!) And someone gave me my very first beer from a keg - yes, I'm sure I've had beer from a keg at bars before, of course, but never at a party. And I've never actually seen a keg before.  Caradorn had trouble believing I hadn't seen one before, and I had to remind him of what I was like in high school and college - the parties I was invited to never involved kegs.   So that was interesting. :)

    Saturday we did make it to Islands of Adventure and we enjoyed it. We grabbed luch at Mythos, which was really good. (Mmmm - Risotto of the day. I'm drooling just thinking about it.) We took a billion pictures of Hogwarts Castle, and I was so excited to see it that I was practically jumping up and down over it. I kept telling Caradorn "But look - it's Hogwarts! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's really Hogwarts! Look at it! Look! Hogwarts!!" I'll post some of the pictures soon. I'm so looking forward to the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter next spring. I'll probably hyperventilate or just freeze and won't know what to do when faced with the "real" Hogwarts (and Three Broomsticks, and Zonko's, and Ollivanders. . .). It will probably be totally overwhelming for a Harry Potter geek like me!

    Saturday afternoon we went back to Epcot for dinner and while we were there we caught the show at the UK, and met up briefly with my sister and brother-in-law. We used to go to WDW together all the time, but in the last few years I've been going with Caradorn and The Kidd and sometimes my parents, and she and my brother in law have been going with his family most of the time. She was with them this trip as well, so we didn't really spend any time together - we'll have to go back together sometime soon.

    Saturday night we went back to Bonkerz to see Karl Anthony again, who was hilarious. The audience was much better this time and he was able to cover more material than the night before. A couple of the bits had me in tears. I'd go back to see him again in a heartbeat - he really is the funniest person I know. (And I know I'm biased, but he was by far the funniest performer of the people that were performing that night.)

    Sunday morning we made a brief visit to the Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates and the Haunted Mansion (and to stock up on popcorn for my dad and The Kidd, and to get a Vinylmation I was regretting not getting earlier - it's wearing bowling shoes! So cute!) and then it was time to head home. For the first time in quite a while we weren't sure when we'd be coming back to Orlando, which made me more unhappy about leaving there than I usually am. I'm always happiest when I am planning another trip to Florida. Not having another trip on the horizon to look forward to makes me sad.

    But then today I discovered that David Copperfield will be in Tampa in January. And of course Space Mountain will have reopened by then, and we promised The Kidd that we'd take him back as soon as we could after the reopening.. And January is usually a good time at WDW - the crowds tend to be low. So now I'm happy again. It's time to start planning another trip!

Different ends of the spectrum

2009-09-30T16:42:00.001-05:00

I've had encounters with two different types of pet owners lately and it has really made me think about how lucky some animals are to own the people that they do.

    Tomorrow is the first day of October, and assuming that they are sticking to their plan my sister in law (Marie) and her husband will be breeding their dog within the month. They have owned several pets since I first met Marie 15 years ago.   Marie bought a puppy shortly after I met her and owned that dog for several years. Then she decided to move into an apartment that wouldn't allow dogs, and so she gave Mollie to her parents. When she was finally able to have a dog again her parents had become attached to Mollie and so they kept her.   After having her child, Marie decided to get another dog and so she adopted a chocolate lab puppy from the shelter. The dog turned out to be more energetic than Marie was prepared to deal with, liked to escape their yard, and the child was afraid of the dog. Marie kept him for a few more months - until he was no longer a cute and easily adoptable puppy - and then returned him to the shelter. This was not a no kill shelter, and I strongly suspect that he didn't manage to find a new home in time. Still feeling that their family was incomplete without a dog, Marie bought a mini daschund who seems to fit in well with the rest of the family.   She wasn't satisfied with just one dog, though, and so she also bought a female Golden Retriever. They had a scare last year when they though they'd be expecting Golden/Daschund puppies and after that I thought they'd get smart and have both dogs "altered". Ha! Silly me. Actually, it made them decide that they really wanted Angel (the Golden) to have puppies and so they searched until they found an affordable, intact male Golden for sale. They bought him and if things go "well" Angel and Prince will be parents before too long.

    I've seen pictures of both of these dogs. They're cute, but I find it hard to believe that either one is a full blooded Golden. Certainly neither one is a shining example of the breed. I'm sure they are both great pets but neither one of them has genes that should be passed on. And of course Marie hasn't had any genetic testing done on them, so they could both be carriers of all the health problems Goldens are prone to. I'm not opposed to the responsible breeding of purebred animals, but with so many dogs and cats dying in shelters each day I think it's horrible to breed a dog just so your pet can have puppies. And I wonder what will happen to Angel and Prince after the cute new puppies arrive. . . I'm afraid that they'll either end up in a shelter (having been replaced by a puppy or two) or that they'll become their own little puppy mill, cranking out puppies as long as they can.

    Marie and her husband aren't abusive pet owners, but they aren't good pet owners, either. At best they are neglectful. Mostly they are irresponsible. They see pets as disposable, and are far more likely to abandon a pet to a shelter than they are to make any significant changes in their lives in order to accommodate the pets. If their dog escapes the yard repeatedly they'll take it to a shelter rather than getting a better fence (or keeping the dog inside, or in the garage, or a pen. . .). If the dog scares their child and acts too wild they will wash their hands of it rather than investing in obedience training. If the dog gets sick they'll have him put down rather than "wasting money" on potentially expensive treatments - but then they'll go buy a new motorcycle with the money they saved by not paying for treatment. A pet might be better off with them than in a shelter, but I cringe when they adopt a young animal because I know that it's chances of finding a new home will not be good by the time Marie's family tires of it and returns it to the shelter.

    On the other end of the spectrum are Mr and Mrs O. They are a very nice couple who lost their cat to kidney failure last weekend. After losing my Newton to kidney failure a couple of years ago, I know how much of a shock that can be. A cat can be healthy one day and on death's door the next day.   I felt terrible for Mr and Mrs O when I heard about their cat. Then I found out that the cat was already older when they adopted her. They are good pet owners. They love their pets and they give them a good home. They chose this cat knowing they were likely to have her for fewer years than they might have a younger cat, but they wanted to give her a chance to find a loving home anyway. I wish I could be like them. I remember how hard it was to lose Newton, and to lose my dog Marc a couple of years before that, and I am afraid to adopt an older pet. I want to, but it scares me - what if I get too attached and then it dies? Of course you run that risk even with younger animals, but it seems so much more real with the older ones. And when we see those older pets at the adoption fairs I feel so torn. . . they look so sad. They need love, too. But it's such a risk for an owner to fall in love with an older pet knowing that your years with them are likely more limited than your years with a puppy or kitten might be. Especially when you are an owner like Mr and Mrs O, or like Cardorn and I. Our pets are a part of our family. They aren't disposable. They are ours for life, however long that might be. And it hurts so much when we lose them. I want to be the kind of person who can rescue an older pet and give it a loving forever home for the rest of it's life. Hopefully I will be willing to take a risk like that the next time we decide to welcome a new pet into our family.

    These days, with so many unloved and unwanted pets filling the shelters, I guess even a temporary home is better than the alternative. But I can't help but think that while an animal might be lucky to find any home (even one with someone like Marie), they are even luckier that there are people out there waiting to give them a second chance. An animal might be lucky to find an owner like Marie, but the really lucky ones have people like Mr and Mrs O waiting to give them loving homes when they are abandoned again.

You Ruined Everything

2009-09-08T14:03:00.005-05:00

For most of my dating life, I was in serious relationships. I had one boyfriend through most of high school and one through most of college, with a couple of shorter relationships thrown in between. I was never the type for blind dates or anything like that. . . I tended to date guys with whom I was already friends, and only those who I could imagine spending my life with. Shortly after my breakup with Nate, I resolved to change that. I wanted to date lots different people, and I decided that I would say yes when people asked me out even if I wasn't sure about them. I went on one date and had met a couple of people I was interested in, and then I saw Caradorn. I saw him across a room and asked a friend who he was, and found out he was the best friend of a guy I was considering going out with. Coincidentally, another girl liked both Caradorn and his friend Chuckie and was trying to choose between them. I was appalled by this (who tells a pair of best friends she's trying to choose between them?!), but once I saw Caradorn I wasn't too worried that she'd choose the guy I liked. Who would choose anyone else if Caradorn was one of the options?

Apparently that girl would, because she chose the other guy. I wasn't too upset about Chuckie being off the market, because I was still planning to keep things casual and date around and one of the factors in the girl's decision was that Chuckie had told her he was hoping for marriage soon. Caradorn had said he was not. A couple of weeks later I was juggling in a place where Caradorn was singing, and we discovered we got along really well. He was friends with two of my best friends and so the four of us started hanging out. One evening I cooked dinner for all of us and after our friends left, Caradorn stayed to help me clean up. We ended up talking for hours and by the time he left I realized that the casual dating thing wasn't going to happen after all. By our second date we were already talking about the future as though it was a foregone conclusion that we'd be together.

Jonathan Coulton wrote a song after his child was born. Every time I hear it, I think of Caradorn. I was happy before Caradorn and I started dating. I had all sorts of plans - most of which I changed after we fell in love. Now I can't imagine my life being any more perfect than it is right now.

You Ruined Everything

I was fine

I pulled myself together
Just in time
To throw myself away
Once my perfect world was gone I knew
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

You should know
How great things were before you
Even so
They're better still today
I can't think of who I was before
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

Bumps in the road remind us
The worst of the best behind us
Only good things will find us
Me and you

Days will be clear and sunny
We're gonna need more money
Baby you know it's funny
All those stories

Coming true
Despite my better efforts
It's all for you
The worst kind of cliche
I'll be with you till the day you leave
You ruined everything
In the nicest way

(Retrieved from http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/index.php/You_Ruined_Everything/Lyrics)

Do I see a light up ahead?

2009-08-28T10:57:00.002-05:00

    I think that maybe - hopefully - there might be a light at the end of this tunnel after all. In the last day or two several things have happened that give me hope that maybe all this stress really is just temporary.

    It seems Caradorn's testing has finally gained momentum and there might be an end in sight after all. I'm so happy that our schedule might be back to normal before too terribly long. These testing periods are really important for his program, and I do understand why they have to do them, but they are really hard on everybody - both at work and at home. I think everyone on his program has a really short fuse at this point and it will be better for all of them when they are done with this round of tests.  I will certainly be happier when they are over!

    I've actually started sleeping again. I'm still really tired, but I don't feel like I'm going to slip into a coma at any moment so that's an improvement at least. Even though I still haven't been managing to get to bed early, I haven't been lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep. I fall asleep pretty quickly after my head hits the pillow - which is really unusual for me even when I'm not having trouble sleeping. I'm feeling so much better than I was even a few days ago. It's amazing what a difference it can make to your whole day when you don't feel like a zombie.

    The Kidd - who I don't discuss all that often on here - is having a really good year at school so far. Last year was a little rough for him. He kept "forgetting" to do his homework (or even to write the assignment down) and we had to be really vigilant about making him keep up with his work. Even when he did do his work, he would often lose it before he got to class. This was especially upsetting because he's extremely smart and capable of easily getting straight As, and his grades were not reflecting that at all. It seemed like he just didn't care about school. It was a very frustrating year and I was worried that this year would be more of the same. Thankfully he seems to be taking school much more seriously now.

    We have all sorts of half finished projects around the house that have been driving me crazy. We have so much to do, but not nearly enough time. Somehow every project we start tends to get far more complicated than we expect it to and they all take ten times longer than we anticipate. For quite a while now I've felt like we've been in a holding pattern - we never seem to make any progress because we are always dealing with unexpected problems that crop up. We had a brief bit of success with one of our kitchen projects a few weeks ago, but then several more things popped up that needed work and I started to get discouraged again. Finally it seems like we really are starting to make progress. We've actually finished a couple of things recently! Even though we still have lots to do, it feels wonderful to be able to check some things off our list.

    We reserved a room for ConGaloosh yesterday. That's something we should have done as soon as we decided to attend the event, but somehow we kept putting it off. I think I've been a little bit afraid that I'd jinx things if we got the room. So many things could go wrong between now and then that would keep us from going! I am glad that we finally have started making concrete plans, though.   We can't stop moving forward just because something might go wrong.

     We are even planning another trip during October. I have decided to be brave and check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios this year, and I'm actually really excited about it. It isn't the sort of thing that I usually do, but I've looked at the pictures for the last few years and the theming looks amazing. I also want to go see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Mad Cow Theatre.    I've wanted to see this show for a while - I've heard good things about it. The fact that one of our favorite actors ("Snoopy") is in this production means that we will like one character even if we don't end up loving the whole thing. I expect to like it anyway, though - everything I've heard makes it sound like something I would enjoy.

And finally, some good and bad news. Gigi's Cupcakes has finally opened a store in Rocket City. We've been hooked on these cupcakes for a while now - we always get some when we visit the Nashville area. I am glad that they are in Rocket City now, but that does sort of pose a problem for the big "lose weight/get in shape" program that we've been trying to follow. It's hard to lose weight when you're constantly eating cupcakes! But we've made a rule that we can only go to Gigi's once a week (except for special occasions!) and we can't eat them on a day when we haven't exercised. And of course it helps than I usually can't eat more than half of one of their cupcakes at a time. Those things are huge! There is a Merry Margarita cupcake waiting for me in the kitchen, and I plan to enjoy it while we play 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live tonight. I know - it's a wild and crazy start to the weekend, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to lots of things right now, which is a nice feeling. Especially compared to the way I felt for the last few weeks. Life seems full of potential again! I was so tired of just seeing the darkness stretching out ahead. It is wonderful to finally see the light again.

In cheerier news. . .

2009-08-26T18:19:00.000-05:00

It seems like all I've done lately is complain. I am usually a happier person than I have seemed on here lately, but I haven't wanted to vent to Caradorn since he's not thrilled with work right now either and this has become my outlet. I haven't been sitting around moping all the time, though.

   Last week we did manage to carve out enough time to go have fun together. Of course the time had to come from somewhere - and a band parents meeting seemed like a great place to find some. So to further dash my hopes of winning parent of the year any time soon, we skipped the meeting and went to a movie instead.

   I used to love Mystery Science Theater 3000 when it was on TV. In recent years some of the folks involved have started doing something new. It's called Rifftrax. Now that they aren't on television they have branched out more. They don't just do commentary for bad older movies anymore. Now they cover all sorts of movies, including things like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

   Last week there was a Rifftrax Live event in some theaters across the country. It was a showing of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" with commentary by the guys from MST3K. There was also a special musical guest: Jonathan Coulton! It was broadcast from a theater in Nashville (and oh, how I wish I had known about it earlier so I could have tried to get tickets for that theater!). Fortunately one of those theaters was here in Rocket City. Caradorn and I debated and debated about whether to take The Kidd or not, but we finally decided we would. We were hoping he wouldn't be scarred for life from the experience. I was half afraid that Coulton would do "First of May", which I like but really don't want The Kidd to hear any time soon. (No, there's no reason he ought to play that at a sci-fi/outer space/zombie movie. It wouldn't have made any sense for him to play it. But I figured if we took The Kidd that he'd end up playing it anyway. Fortunately he didn't; he played "The Future Soon" and "Re: Your Brains" instead.)

   It was great! We all really enjoyed it, and thankfully no one said anything that we would have felt guilty about exposing The Kidd to. I am hoping that they will do this sort of thing again. I think that tickets sold well, even here in Rocket City, so that's a good sign. In the meantime I will be downloading more Rifftrax to listen to while we watch some of our DVDs. It was so nice to just sit back and enjoy something and laugh and I think we could use more of that sort of thing.   Lots more. There are lots of Rifftrax, and I think Caradorn and I need to work our way through all of them. We'll even let The Kidd join us for some.

I am thankful, really. But. . .

2009-08-26T12:54:00.005-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying that I am truly thankful that Caradorn has a good job. . . especially lately, with all of the layoffs that have been occurring here in Rocket City. I was horribly worried when it was announced that there would be layoffs on Caradorn's program, and incredibly relieved when he was informed that he is considered "crucial" to his project. Yay! It would be darn near impossible to support our family (and our Disney habit) on a teacher's salary, so it's important for Caradorn to have a good job in his field. And I really am thankful. Very, very thankful. Truly.

Have I said I am thankful? I really am.

So I wouldn't want him to lose his job. Or to quit. Really, I wouldn't.

I really, really wouldn't. Honestly.

But. . .

I hate his job so much right now that I could scream.

   His hours are usually great. He has quite a bit of flexibility in his schedule most of the time and he can even use "Flex time" to take more vacations without using his vacation days. It works out well for us most of the time. But there are a few times throughout the year when they start testing his product. I hate those times. He works ridiculous hours and spends the bulk of his time in another city during the testing process. The testing goes on almost all day and all night, every day, including weekends, and someone from his group has to be there the whole time. It usually only lasts a few weeks but this time is apparently more complicated because it has stretched into months at this point. That's months of Caradorn being away most of the time including weekends. He was supposed to be done before Labor Day, but now it appears that it's going to take even longer - which means he will likely be working that weekend. That is especially upsetting to me since Labor Day weekend is supposed to be a Rock Band Weekend for us, when my sister and her husband visit and we all do nothing but eat stuff that's bad for us and play videogames (mainly Rock Band) for the whole weekend.

   I'm fed up. Especially since I recently discovered that one of Caradorn's coworkers refuses to work weekends, which means the other group members have to work his share as well as their own. He has also been leaving work when he's ready to leave and refusing to stay late if he is needed. Apparently this is because he needs to spend time with his kids. Well Caradorn needs to spend time with his kid, too. Caradorn finally said something the other day about being unhappy about possibly having to work Labor Day weekend, and Coworker actually said "Well, at least you might not have to work next weekend." Really, Coworker?! You haven't worked any weekend. I think it's your turn to work a few weekends. In fact I think you need to work Labor Day weekend. After, all, at least you didn't have to work last weekend. Or the one before that. Or the one before that. . . I've always liked this coworker before this, but I hope I don't run into him anywhere while I'm still mad about this. If I do it won't be pretty. I am furious with him right now.

   I know the testing will be over soon. I know that things will get back to normal before too long. And in the meantime I do know how lucky we are that Caradorn has a good job. But right now I have had enough of all this testing. I'm tired of not knowing if it's safe to make plans for the family since I don't know when Caradorn will have time off. I'm tired of having to cancel travel plans because Caradorn can't get away. I'm tired of worrying about whether the testing will be over before we're supposed to go to ConGaloosh and what we will do if it isn't. I'm tired of getting angry every time his boss calls or I hear his coworker's name. I'm tired of Caradorn being stuck in telecons and conference calls during the small amount of time he is home. I'm just tired. I've been in a terrible mood lately, and a large part of it is this stupid testing. I want it to be over already.

   But I am thankful he has the job. I really am. I'll just be more thankful when he isn't devoting all his time to it.

Karma

2009-08-20T13:48:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I really believe in the idea of karma. Far too often I have seen horrible things happen to good people, and wonderful things happen to horrible people. I love the idea that "Cheaters never prosper", but it seems that far too often, they do. Usually I can keep myself from dwelling on this kind of thing, but sometimes the thoughts of how unjust life can be get stuck in my head and I have trouble of thinking about anything else.

When I was in high school, someone I respected and cared about had his life almost ruined by false allegations against him. I knew the allegations weren't true, and so did most other people. That didn't matter in the end, though - he ended up settling with the person who was making the accusations and then he moved away to start a new life elsewhere. I still think about him, and I hope he ended up happy, wherever he went. Later, I learned that the woman had made similar allegations against several other people over the years - both before and after the incident I had known about. I believe she benefited greatly from settlements each time. Either this young woman was a perpetual victim with unbelievably bad luck or she was a scheming opportunist who enjoyed ruining people's lives. I know which one I think she was. I hope that wherever she is now she's living the kind of life she deserves.

This sort of thing always makes me furious. Far too often all it takes is a whisper of an allegation and the accused is immediately assumed to be guilty. No one cares about any possible evidence. Just look at the Duke case a few years ago. It didn't matter that there was plenty of evidence that showed that those boys probably were not guilty. As soon as they were accused they were considered Guilty, and nothing they could say or do was going to change that. Those boys' lives will never be the same, and all because someone made false allegations against them. Of course we know the truth now, but still they are remembered for that case and none of their other accomplishments. Many people still consider their accuser to be the victim, even though the boys were the real victims in that case.

I've heard so many stories lately about people who have been accused of things, and everyone assumes they are guilty despite a complete lack of evidence. I'd love to think that these stories were the exceptions, but instead it seems to me that they are the norm.

Don't get me wrong - I know there are bad people out there. I know that often, the allegations are true. But I hate the fact that with any sort of "sex crime", people are always assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. That's not how our society is supposed to work. I don't know what the answer is. Obviously we want the real victims to feel they can come forward. We don't want them to assume that they will be disbelieved when they tell their stories. On the other hand, simply being accused of a crime shouldn't ruin someone's reputation for the rest of his life, and too often now that's exactly what happens - even when the accused turns out to be innocent.

I would like to think that both possibilities would be considered when allegations are brought against someone: Maybe they are guilty. Maybe they are innocent. I would like to believe that sympathy would not always lie with the accuser. I would like to believe that it wouldn't come down to a "He said, she said" situation but that people would consider the evidence involved.

Mostly, I would like to believe in karma. I hope that those who are guilty end up suffering far more than those that they victimized, and that they get to experience more fear and pain than their victims felt. But I also hope that those who accuse others falsely will reap their own rewards. . . I hope that they suffer far more than they would have if their allegations had been true. I hope that they live in their own personal Hell for every day of the rest of their lives, and that eventually the rest of the world sees them for what they truly are. I hope that the day comes when no one will believe a word that they say, and they have to live with the knowledge that it's their own fault they have to live that way.

Could be worse.

2009-08-11T23:02:00.004-05:00

The city tree people came by today and informed me they will be trimming a maple in my yard to keep it away from the power lines. Last time they really butchered it, so I am not pleased by this. In addition, they let me know that they intend to inject some sort of chemical into the ground by the tree to retard it's growth. I don't think I like that idea, either.

This afternoon The Kidd informed me that one of his new teachers had assigned him a project to do by tomorrow. I was sort of surprised, since it's just the second day of school. I was really surprised that she expects it to be turned in tomorrow. This is the sort of project that most teachers would allow at least two or three days to do. Still, I think it's good for The Kidd to learn to work under pressure so I wouldn't have said anything to him about finding it somewhat unreasonable. However. It turns out that this particular project requires lots of supplies that we don't normally have lying around the house (though after this I think I will try to keep some around) but more importantly they were not on the supply list. So this afternoon we were scrambling trying to get everything he needed. He did finish fairly quickly once he got the supplies, but I am not pleased that I had to go get all that stuff on such short notice. I really hope this isn't going to be a regular occurrence with this teacher, since most afternoons are much busier than today was.

And of course I still feel like a zombie. I have even cut out caffeine in the evenings and still I can't sleep until the wee hours of the morning. Since I have to be up by 6:00 to make sure The Kidd is getting ready for school, I am not getting a whole lot of quality sleep. I think I'm going to start running again tomorrow (I was taking a bit of a break) in the hopes that I will be so exhausted afterward that I'll be able to sleep.

But at least I am having a better day than the girl in this video. And my day is better after watching the video - I found it quite amusing. Especially since I know a few girls like this one.

Tired

2009-08-10T20:36:00.003-05:00

Today has not been a good day. It has been one of those days where I would like to go back to bed and stay there - possibly forever. I've been really frustrated with several things and I am really irritated with a few people, and everything just feels like too much today.

In addition to all the other things that are going on, I am finally facing that fact that a few of my friends are really more like acquaintances at best these days. I know that people change and grow apart, but it still makes me a little bit sad to realize that these people with whom I share all kinds of memories aren't really a part of my life any longer and won't ever be again.

And on top of those things, I still am not sleeping much. I think I slept for 3 or 4 hours last night, but not for more than a half hour or so at a time. I am just so tired. . .and I've gotten overly emotional as a result. The other night I stayed up watching a sappy movie and crying over it. It was silly chick flick, and at one point I was totally sobbing over it. I was the only one awake and I was trying to be quiet, and I was just crying and watching this stupid movie that wasn't even that sad, but somehow it seemed like every scene was just heartbreaking. That's not like me at all, and I hate being this way.

I'm just. . . tired. And frustrated. And angry. And fed up. And I want to just scream at someone or throw things or something. And that isn't like me, either. I am hoping that once I finally start sleeping well again that my outlook will improve and I'll feel more like myself. But of course the things that are bothering me today will still be around then. Maybe by then I'll be better equipped to deal with them.

Antici. . .pation

2009-08-05T23:45:00.004-05:00

As you may remember if you read my blog while I was over on Myspace, I was a huge fan of the Adventurers Club at Walt Disney World until it closed last September. Caradorn and I used to go there as often as we possibly could, and when the closure was announced we tried desperately to convince the idiots who decided to close it to change their minds. Sadly we were unsuccessful, though the Club still stands in Orlando and could be reopened tomorrow if the folks in charge came to their senses. Rumor has it that the building will be removed sometime in October - but I try not to think about that since it breaks my heart to know that it will be gone for good after that. They could still decide to bring it back in another location sometime in the future, though. (And hopefully not just in China, where they are supposedly going to open an Adventurers Club restaurant.) Maybe we'll be able to go Adventuring in a new Adventurers Club someday. We do have one last Adventure to look forward to in Orlando and I am really excited about it.

It's less than two months now until ConGaloosh, the Adventurers Club convention that Caradorn and I are going to. We've really missed the Club over the last ten months and are looking forward to seeing the fans and cast members again in September. And of course I am most looking forward to the evening that we will be spending in the Club itself. There will be a couple of Library shows that night, and I am really looking forward to seeing who will be playing the different characters. There are so many cast members that we would love to see again at the Club, and not enough roles for all of them, so I know we won't see everyone we would like to see.

One of my very favorite cast members is in a musical at another Orlando theater during September, which I am afraid probably means he won't be appearing during ConGaloosh. His Hathaway was always my favorite, and I loved his Fletcher Hodges and Emil Bleehall as well - I had hoped to see one of them at the Club while we were there. We do plan to go see his musical while we are in Orlando, but a visit to the Club just won't be the same without Snoopy there. We do love seeing him performing elsewhere, though, and I'm glad we'll get to see him during the ConGaloosh trip even if he isn't at the Club. He is always fun to watch in any role, and I've never seen the musical that he's going to be appearing in, so I am looking forward to seeing it. I'd rather see him at the Club and in the musical, though!

I'm fairly certain that my other favorite performer from the Club will be there that night, and I've even heard a rumor that he'll be wearing leather. I love Blondie as Hathaway, so I would be thrilled if he was playing that role during ConGaloosh. Of course I also love him as Otis, so I'd be quite happy with that as well. And he's great as Emil, and Fletcher and even Graves for that matter, so as long as he's at the Club I'll be happy no matter what role he's in.

Whoever ends up appearing at the Club, I'm sure I will be happy to see them again. For now, I am enjoying trying to guess who will be in which role. Looking forward to an evening at the Club is almost as much fun as actually being there, and I am enjoying all the anticipation leading up to ConGaloosh.

Happiness is. . .

2009-07-29T14:10:00.003-05:00

I love "Happiness is a Warm Puppy", the Peanuts book with cute drawings about what happiness is. Most of the things in the book are very simple, things like "Happiness is walking in the grass with your bare feet." It sounds so trite, but the more I think about it the more I realize how true it is.

I haven't been particularly happy lately. I haven't felt great, and I've been stressed out by all the projects that we've been working on around here. Caradorn hasn't been home as much as I would like and The Kidd was spending a week with my parents, and I felt sort of overwhelmed by all that was going on. Things weren't progressing as fast as I would have liked and I was getting discouraged - it seemed like a constant case of "1 step forward, 2 steps back."

We made a huge amount of progress over the weekend, though, and suddenly things are looking much better. I think there might be hope that we will eventually finish all of our projects. Some root beer and some sleep last night seem to have cured my zombie problem from yesterday, and this afternoon I finally have time to sit down and relax.

I'm sitting at a bistro table next to a window with the laptop and a cup of tea, and I just realized that I am actually feeling quite happy. I have some 1940s music playing, there's a cat curled up in a sunbeam next to me and a dog sleeping by my chair. Outside it almost looks like fall and the flowers are blowing in the breeze. There's what looks like a young wren singing and splashing in the birdbath and a family of cardinals at the bird feeder, and three hummingbirds keep visiting their feeder right next to the window. The Kidd is upstairs playing one of the computer games he got for his birthday and he occasionally comes down to ask me to come see something new he has built on there. On the coffee table is a big stack of books that are waiting for me to read them, and according to Caradorn's last text he might even be home at a decent time today.

There isn't anything hugely exciting going on, but it's still almost a perfect afternoon. I'm always so busy trying to get things done or looking forward to the big things like trips or concerts or shows that I sometimes forget to stop and appreciate the simple things. I need to remember this more often. Sometimes happiness is as simple as a quiet afternoon and a cup of tea.

Smarter than the average zombie

2009-07-28T16:55:00.000-05:00

I am so tired. I literally do not think I have ever been this tired before. Also, I don't seem to be able to think clearly any longer. I don't know if it's a result of the massive, energy-zapping home-improvement kick I was on for the last few days, or if it's because I am now the parent of a teenager and this is how that feels, but I am exhausted.

Actually, I do think I know what's going on here. I think I died. Maybe it was that huge cabinet that fell on me the other day or maybe it was just a lack of sleep that did it. Or maybe someone killed me during the brief time when I did manage to sleep last night. I guess it doesn't really matter too much what killed me since the end result is the same - I'm dead. Given the way I feel right now I'm not sure I would complain much if I was snuggled into a cozy little coffin six feet under (as long as I had blankets and a TV, and maybe snacks), but I am not. Unfortunately, someone seems to have turned me into a zombie.

No, I don't have a craving for nice fresh brains. I'm not some silly video game zombie (Or a Jonathan Coulton zombie for that matter). Nor am I a horror movie zombie, so you can just put that chainsaw away.

No, I think I am a real zombie - one of those dead people that doesn't know she's dead but instead staggers around trying to complete some task. But I have figured it out, hence the "smarter than the average zombie" part. I'm really stiff and achey - I think it's the rigor-mortis kicking in. I don't seem to be too focused on any one particular task, though, so whoever did this doesn't seem to have done a very good job.

I don't know why someone would have done this to me. It makes me sad. If there was something they wanted me to do, they should have just asked me. They didn't need to do something this drastic.

Anyway, I'm off to try to find a cure now. And maybe get dinner while I'm at it. I'm thinking burgers. Or pizza. Or maybe something I haven't tried before. I might be in the mood to be more adventurous today. I know! I've never tried sweetbreads before. . .

Since I'm feeling lazy today. . .

2009-07-24T12:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I discovered a wonderful site - The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator. Since I am in fact feeling lazy today, and since I have a ton of things to do before The Kidd comes home Sunday, I decided to make use of that site for my post today.
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Holy Blog Of Doom, Batman! I just returned from my daily swim on the beautiful Fijian beach and realised I have not updated this since the 21st... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. But I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it.

I am so busy with discovering time doesn't stand still, learning to speak Japanese, and just generally being an embarrassment to my cats. My day is a nightmare I would like to wake up from, from the second I am woken by murderous Teletubbies to sun down and beyond. I am putting money aside so I can run away. Maybe tomorrow.

I solemnly swear I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. You have my word! Don't hold your breath though, you're likely to turn blue..

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Okay, well. . . I guess there really isn't anything more to say. No promises that I won't use that site again. . . I always did love Mad Libs. :) Now I need to get to work. I've frittered away all the time I was supposed to be using for big projects while The Kidd was out of town and didn't really accomplish anything. (I had fun though - I guess that's something.) I have today and tomorrow to finish my entire "To Do" list before he gets back and life returns to normal. Wish me luck!

Movies

2009-07-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

We've been watching lots of movies this summer, in theaters and at home. I thought I'd take a few minutes today to post my thoughts on a few of them.

Wolverine - This is the first in the "X-Men:Origins" series. I had heard mixed reviews before seeing this one and wasn't sure what to expect, but I actually really enjoyed it. Lots of good actions scenes and more of a storyline than I had been led to expect. It didn't entirely work with the established story of Wolverine from other movies and the comics, but it worked well enough. I'll be buying this on Blu-ray when it comes out.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - I really loved the first Transformers and had high hopes for this one. It didn't entirely live up to those expectations. I liked it, but didn't love it as much as the first one. The action scenes were great, but the story had plot holes big enough to drive Devastator through. That isn't usually a problem for me - I have a pretty good ability to suspend disbelief - but there were several things that jumped out at me while I was watching the movie. They were enough to distract me from the movie, which almost never happens. Add to that the fact that the humor was more suited to a 13 year old boy and it adds up to something less that I had hoped for. But I did still enjoy it and I am sure we'll buy it eventually.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Loved it! We saw this at midnight the night it came out. I continue to be suprised by just how popular Harry Potter is here in Rocket City. The movie was showing on 12 of the 18 screens at our Rave Theater and the place was packed. I saw lots of people I recognized from the book releases, and many people were in costume. The movie would have had to be pretty bad for me not to like it and fortunately it was pretty good. I think it's my favorite of the series to date. I usually re-read all the books in the series before each book or movie release, but I got smart and didn't do that this time. I think I enjoyed the movie much more than I would have if the book had been fresh in my mind. While I was watching the movie I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was only afterward that I started realizing just how much had been left out. There were some fairly important parts of the book that were not included in the movie. I'm particularly unhappy about one thing that was left out and one thing that was greatly minimized. And there was one huge addition that I didn't like at all. Plus, too much screen time was given to a fairly minor plot point. Still, despite all that I did greatly enjoy the movie. I'm looking forward to seeing the last two movies - and I'm really glad that the last book is getting two movies; there's no way they could do it justice with just one film.

Wanted - We watched this one on television. We had intended to see it in theaters but saw Hellboy 2 instead, and in retrospect I'm really glad we did. I didn't love this one. Visually it was fun - the action scenes and effects were good - but there was almost no storyline. And it seemed like there was a story lurking there somewhere, but they just never really explored it. I love fluffy action movies (face it, "Doom" is not ever going to be up for any awards but I love that movie) but this one just didn't do anything for me. I don't think I'll be watching it again. I probably would have liked it more if James McAvoy had kept his real accent; at least it would have been fun to listen to then. (And as a side note - I am so looking forward to "Gnomeo and Juliet". I'm glad McAvoy is going the voice of Gnomeo, though I wish they had stuck with Ewan McGregor.)

Death Race - Loved it. I know it seems strange given the complaint about "Wanted" not having much a story, but I thought this one was great. It did have a storyline beneath all the action. It was a perfect summer action movie - lots of explosions, cool car scenes, characters that you could either love or hate, and a great accent to listen to. Some parts were pretty predictable but there were a few surprises too. I will be buying this one.

Tropic Thunder - Well, I didn't find this one offensive. After hearing so much about it when it was in theaters I thought I would be, but maybe all these years of South Park have dulled me to offensive things because "Tropic Thunder" didn't seem that bad to me. I didn't really find it funny, though. A few scenes, yes, but overall. . . meh. Not great. I really only watched it because Robert Downey Jr. was in it - I don't like Ben Stiller and really don't like Jack Black so maybe that contributed to my dislike of the film. I will definitely not be watching this one again. Just not my thing, I guess. It just kind of left me flat.

Made of Honor - Usually my movie tastes are more "guy-like", but I do like a few romantic comedies. I mainly watched this one because of Patrick Dempsey, and the fact that there were Scottish accents didn't hurt. I really liked it! It was totally predictable, but it was cute. One of those happy, fluffy movies like "You've Got Mail" or "Simply Irresistable" that I enjoy. It's still a chick flick, but one I think boyfriends or husbands could tolerate.

It's a Conspiracy

2009-07-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Darth finally seems to have gotten used to having me home again. He's still sleeping on the bed, which is unusual for him, but he's not trying to keep me awake. Which is great - now I can finally sleep, right?! Wrong. Apparently I am really not supposed to be sleeping.

For whatever reason I wasn't tired enough to sleep at a reasonable time last night, so I was wide awake till around 12:00. I finally started to feel like I could fall asleep, but just as I started to feel drowsy the thunderstorm started. Apparently God, or Mother Nature, or Zeus (is he the one that throws the thunderbolts?) or whoever else is in charge of the weather decided I should stay up a little longer. Kelly (the sheltie) is afraid of storms. Horribly afraid of them. She whines and whimpers and pants and cries and tries to climb up onto the bed. But if I put her on the bed she paces and tries to jump back down to the floor.

By 12:15 the power went out. Apparently Rocket City Utilities also thinks I shouldn't be sleeping. The only way that Kelly will calm down during a storm is if she is in a room with a person and the television is on. By this point I was in the guest room with Kelly because Cardorn has to go to work ridiculously early right now and he really needed to sleep. Kelly was not happy when the power went out. After a couple of hours the storm died down, but the power didn't come back on. She is also afraid of the dark. Usually there is enough light in our house for her to be okay, but with the power out it was pitch black and that apparently made her nervous. I didn't want her to wake Caradorn up, and I also didn't want to lock her somewhere by herself because I knew she'd be terrified. And so I spent the rest of the night in the guest room with a flashlight on, listening to the radio. A few times I thought that Kelly was calm enough for me to try to sleep, but as soon as I turned one or the other off she started freaking out again. If I started to doze off with the flashlight and radio on, the radio station would suddenly play a REALLY LOUD song. I don't know what station it was - it's an old radio and I couldn't tell what I had it tuned to - but apparently whatever local station plays weird elevator music/jazz also doesn't want me sleeping.

The power did finally come back on at a little after 8:00 this morning, almost 8 hours after it went off. Sadly, The Kidd had just gotten up and the cats had decided it was time for me to get up as well. Kelly was fine by this point but it was too late for me to get any sleep. I am seriously considering trying to nap later, although maybe if I don't then I will actually be able to fall asleep early tonight.

Or at least I can try to fall asleep early. But if this really is some huge conspiracy. . .

{ which of course it must be! ;) }

. . .then I won't be able to. In that case, I am anxious to see what will happen tonight to keep me from sleeping! I'm sure it will be interesting.

It's nice to be missed. . .

2009-07-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

. . .but sometimes I wish the animals weren't quite so happy to have me home. Usually for the first couple of days after we come home from a trip the animals are very clingy. This time has been worse than usual, for some reason. Kelly (the Sheltie), Stitch (the Aussie) and Oliver (the orange cat) have been following me around every day looking pitiful if I don't pay attention to them. They are also trying to kill me. Or at least they are going to accidentally kill me, if they aren't trying to do it intentionally. I can't walk down the stairs without at least one of them running under my feet.

On the other hand, Darth (the black cat) has been virtually ignoring me during the day. I would think that he hadn't missed me while I was gone, but he's more than making up for that lack of attention as soon as I try to go to sleep. Each night, as soon as I get into bed, Darth starts wanting attention. I have to keep my hands hidden under the pillow or the covers or he will nibble on my fingers or keep bumping my hands with his head, trying to get me to pet him. He isn't quite as bad if he thinks I am asleep, but if he realizes that I am awake he starts meowing at me until I acknowledge him. If I somehow manage to fall asleep, I wake up later to find him perched on my shoulder, "vulturing" over me like Snoopy. I am glad that he seems to have missed me, but I really need to get some sleep at some point. And even when I do fall asleep, it isn't exactly restful having little feet walking all over me all night. He does eventually get tired and he curls up right next to my face or right between my shoulder blades to sleep. But if I wake up and he realizes it then he's right back to demanding attention.

Oddly, he doesn't bother Caradorn at all. Well, I say "oddly", but I think the fact that Caradorn has thrown him off the bed every time Darth has bothered him when he's trying to sleep might have something to do with it. Darth seems to have given up on getting any attention from Caradorn at night. And The Kidd sleeps far too deeply. Trying to get him to pay attention to you at night is a lost cause. Which leaves me. Add to that the fact that I typically stay awake much later than everyone else and that makes me the logical target, I guess.

I know what you are thinking - you're probably wondering why on earth I don't just shut the door to the bedroom in order to keep him out. And I have tried doing that, but when I do then he and Oliver both sit outside the room, scratching on the door and crying. Plus, each night I figure he must be getting tired of all this by now. Surely he's used to having me home and he will finally go back to "normal" again soon. Of course, by the time he finally gets tired of me it will probably be time for us to travel somewhere else, and then I will get to go through all this again when I come back home.

Half Full? Half Empty? It's complicated.

2009-07-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

I was watching the news yesterday when they started to talk about a new report concerning statin drugs. Those are the drugs such as Crestor and Lipitor which are commonly used to lower cholesterol. During the report, they mentioned that it has been discovered that those drugs can cause muscle damage and other complications in some people. This did not come as a surprise to me. It's a fact that I became well aware of a couple of years ago. It's also a fact that caused me untold hours of stress and really highlighted one of the major differences between Caradorn and me.

During the summer of 2007 Caradorn started taking one of the Statin drugs. By that fall, when he had a follow up appointment to see if it was working, the doctor discovered that some of Caradorn's blood work was not quite right. He told Caradorn to stop taking the drug and to come back for more testing in a month. Neither of us was too concerned at that point. But by Thanksgiving his blood work looked even worse. It appeared that Caradorn was suffering from quite a bit of muscle damage, and it was getting worse instead of better. It was at this point that the difference between us really started to become apparent.

Caradorn is a "Glass half full" kind of person. Actually, he's really a "Look, it's more than half full. I think it's filling up even more. It's practically overflowing! Everything is wonderful!" kind of person. He wasn't worried at all. He knew that his test results were just a side effect of the medicine and they would clear up soon.

I am also a "Glass half full" kind of person. Caradorn would disagree - he thinks I'm more of a "Glass half empty" type. He's wrong, though. I really do see the glass as half full. It's just that I am also a "Wait - why isn't it completely full? Why just half full? Is it leaking? I think it's leaking! What if it gets worse?! What if it ends up empty? What do we do?! Quick, everyone panic!" kind of person. In other words, I worry.

I made the mistake of using Google to try to find other possible causes of test results like his. This was a very bad idea, because every single result was something horrible. The possible outlooks for the conditions ranged from "With treatment you can lead a somewhat normal life for a few years" to "If you start writing your will right now you'll still be too late because you'll be dead before you finish." Caradorn didn't care - he still believed it was just lingering effects from the medication. I did care, and I started watching him like a hawk for any symptoms of all the various illnesses I thought it might be. Unfortunately, the symptoms were all fairly normal things that happen all the time, so I was convinced that he was going to drop dead any minute.

It was a very stressful few months. I couldn't seem to concentrate at all. If I tried to read I just read the same few words over and over, and didn't understand any of them. If I watched television I couldn't follow the story lines at all. All I could do was dwell on all the horrible possibilities. Only a very few things were able to distract me from the worry and stress. Rationally, I knew it was more likely that he was still experiencing some side effects from the medications. That didn't matter, though. I couldn't stop all the "What ifs" from circling my brain constantly.

All that really came to a head in the spring of 2008 when Caradorn had to have a muscle biopsy. By this time I was nearly frantic with worry all the time. Caradorn doesn't like it when I worry so much, and so I did all I could to act cheerful. But once he left for work each day I fell apart. I cried almost constantly and felt like I couldn't breathe most of the time. When he went to Birmingham for his biopsy I went with him, and as I sat in the waiting room I was almost hyperventilating. I couldn't focus on anything and just stared off into space wondering how I could live without him.

The next week while we waited for his results was horrible. By then even he was worried, which made me even more frantic. Finally the doctor called, and the results were good. Caradorn had been right all along - he was suffering some of the side effects from the medication, but he was expected to be fine. He has a lovely scar as a reminder of that time, but other than that he's finally back to normal.

You might think that the fact that Caradorn was right would have taught me a lesson about worrying. I wasted so much time panicking over all the things that could happen, and I didn't spend enough time appreciating everything that wasn't wrong. And I might have gotten a little bit better after all that, but I do still worry far too much. At least I am aware of it, though. And I have gotten a bit better about focusing on the good things and not letting the worry take over my life. But still, if you were to ask me if I am an optimist or a pessimist I'd have a hard time answering. I believe I'm an optimist. I like to think I see the best in any situation. But I also see all those other possibilities - all the ways that something might go wrong. I'm not a "Glass half empty" type, but I'm not totally a "Glass half full" type either. I guess you could sum up my outlook as "Glass half full. . .for now."

I'm Back

2009-07-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

If you've kept up at all with this blog lately, you will have noticed that I haven't kept up with it. I've been posting most of the time over at Myspace. I've decided that it's time to move back over here, and so I will slowly be porting my older posts onto this blog. All of my new entries will appear here first, though some of them might make their way over there eventually.

Where do you draw the line?

2009-07-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

I'm not a huge fan of professional football, but living where I do it's not surprising that I am a Tennessee Titans Fan. Even though Steve McNair wasn't a Titan any more I still was horribly sorry to hear of his death the other day. I remembered him as an all around nice guy and good person, as well as a talented athlete. And then the details started to come out. He had been having an affair with a 20 year old. I feel horrible for his poor wife, and I have to admit that it has changed the way I feel about McNair. It's hard to think of him as a good person when I know he was having an affair with some other girl while he was married, and even though all his other good qualities haven't changed I still think less of him now. I got to wondering about the whole thing, though, and I just don't see how his wife didn't know about the affair. Maybe I shouldn't feel so sorry for her. Maybe she knew and was okay with his relationship - obviously I'm not privy to the details of his marriage, so they could have had an open relationship. Or maybe not. His fans probably won't ever know, and it's really not our business anyway. But it's still hard not to wonder about it. He was vacationing with the girl - surely his wife knew where he was. And if she didn't - why didn't she? It's a fine line, I guess. You don't want to be the kind of person who monitors your spouse's every move, but shouldn't you at least know what city they are in most of the time? His wife shouldn't have had to follow him around in order to keep him from having an affair, but should she have been more proactive about protecting their relationship?

I admit that I can be a jealous person, and I try hard to keep that under control. Caradorn isn't jealous, but I try to avoid doing anything that I wouldn't want him doing. We both have friends of the opposite sex, and with that comes the potential for lots of jealousy - especially on my end. These days, sites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter add a whole new complication to relationships. Caradorn was fine with me signing up for those sites, even though it meant that I reconnected with some of my close guy friends. And of course I've gotten the occasional odd request from random guys who are obviously looking for more than friends, but we laugh at those together before I delete them. I made Caradorn sign up for each of those sites when I did - I thought it would be better if we were both on there. He doesn't use Myspace much, and never uses Twitter but he's really gotten into Facebook. And of course as part of that he's been reconnecting with girls from High School and college. We have each other's passwords, and with my jealousy issues it's sometimes difficult for me to not sign in to see his interactions with the other girls. But I don't, because I do trust him.

Where do you draw the line, though? At what point does jealousy become warranted? What is the line between being too controlling and being foolish and naive? I know that if I were to forbid Cardorn from talking to his female friends that would be too controlling (and I wouldn't want to do that, anyway). I know that allowing him to vacation alone with a female friend would be foolish (and he wouldn't want to do that, thankfully). I think it's foolish not to point out when I think a girl has a crush on him, even though I know he doesn't reciprocate. I think it's overly controlling to expect him to cut off contact with her completely, though - unless we know for sure she has a romantic interest in him, in which case I think it would be foolish not to cut her off. Some things are clearly too controlling, but some are just smart if you're trying to protect your relationship from outside temptations or complications.

I couldn't be happy with someone who didn't understand my friendships with other guys, and I know it would bother Caradorn if I asked him not to have female friends any longer. And I know that neither of us has to worry about the other falling for someone else. Plus, this is a relationship, not a prison. Neither one of us would be happy if we were constantly policing the other's actions. I try to make sure that Caradorn knows who my guy friends are and I include him (or offer to, at least) when I see them. I expect him to do the same. I think if either of us had a relationship with someone that we wanted to keep secret from the other then that would be a problem.

I think if you are the kind of person who would cheat then you will find a way to cheat. Maybe you will hook up with some girl from Myspace like the Barenaked Ladies guy did. Maybe you'll fall for a waitress at Dave and Busters like McNair apparently did. Or maybe you'll fall for a coworker or family friend, or any one of the other people you come into contact with every day. But I also think that people can be stupid sometimes, and in a moment of weakness maybe you will act on temptation and regret it later. I suppose the best thing for a relationship is just to avoid temptation, or to minimize the situations where it might occur. But of course we never know where that might happen - I could tell Caradorn I don't want him hanging out with his female friends without me, but I can't forbid him from going to work without me. Obviously there comes a point where we just have to trust each other. I just wish it was easier to see where that line between being jealous and being smart really is.

Finally!

2009-07-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

Caradorn, The Kidd and I decided at the last minute that we really wanted to spend the Fourth of July in Orlando. We called just to see if there were rooms left, fully expecting that they would be fully booked. Shockingly, they weren't. Even more surprising, to me at least, was the fact that the rates were quite reasonable. And so here we are!

This morning we went to Seaworld and rode the Manta. I love roller coasters but I do tend to get nervous before my first ride on a new coaster and by the time we were about to board I was practically hyperventilating. But then someone from the single rider line joined our row, and he was Irish. There was some sort of delay and it seemed like we stood there forever waiting to board but I didn't mind since I was busy trying to keep Irish Guy talking. He was so fun to listen to that I stayed distracted until we finally boarded and took off. During the ride he kept yelling "Fabulous!" which struck me as really funny for some reason. The ride was great - we all loved it, even Irish Guy.

After Seaworld we headed over to Epcot. We grabbed lunch and did some shopping (yay, Vinylmations and Japanese candy!) And of course we went to see "What's Your Problem?" again since we saw Snoopy in there. It's funny - I had a hard time making myself speak to my favorite Adventurers while they were at the Club. I liked them, but they made me horribly nervous. I've spoken to them all far more in our trips since the Club closed than I ever did while it was open. I still wish we could be at the Club tonight, but I do enjoy seeing the former cast around the World (and Orlando) while we are here.

Tomorrow is the Fourth, and we will spend the morning back in Epcot trying to ride Test Track and Soarin, and seeing if there are any familiar faces in the United Kingdom. And then tomorrow evening is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to - Black Ship Sky will be playing at a Fourth of July benefit. We haven't seen them live before and I am very excited about finally seeing them play. I am hoping that Lancelot will be there, since we somehow haven't seen him at all since the Club closed. The last concert we almost went to he didn't perform at, but hopefully he will be there tomorrow. Either way, it will be great to see the band. Finally!

And of course the whole time we are here I will be pointing out all the reasons we should move here, and Caradorn will be pointing out all the reasons it's good we don't live here. But that's one argument I am confident I will win - though it might take a few years. :) After all, I have the lure of the Space Coast on my side and what Rocket Scientist can resist the call of the Space Coast?!

For now, though, I'll just enjoy vacationing here as often as possible. . . and finally seeing Black Ship Sky performing. I think this is going to be a very good Fourth of July. And I hope it's a good one for you, as well. Happy Independence Day!

Gaelic Storm, Licorice Jelly Bellys . . . basically the same thing.

2009-06-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks have been fairly busy around the Piratz household, and part of that is because we've been going back and forth to concerts more often than usual. We had planned to be in Orlando today, for a Black Ship Sky show tomorrow, but sadly real life interfered. Hopefully we'll be able to catch one of their shows before the summer is over.

The last weekend of May Caradorn and I went to Atlanta to see Jonathan Coulton in concert for the first time. We haven't been fans for all that long - we first discovered him last year because Snoopy was performing "The Future Soon" at the Adventurers Club. We have become huge Coulton fans since then, though, and I was really looking forward to finally seeing him in person. The concert was great! Paul and Storm opened for him, and though I had never listened to them before I really enjoyed hearing them. I would absolutely go see them again if I got the chance. Jonathan himself was wonderful - and was nice enough not to run over me before the show - and I am very anxious to see him perform again as well.

Then last Friday Cardorn, The Kidd and I went to see Gaelic Storm in Atlanta. They were amazing, as always. We got there early enough to snag spots right by the stage, in front of Pete, which is my favorite spot during their concerts. (Which, upon re-reading this, sounds a bit stalkerish. But I am fascinated by the bagpipes and love to watch Pete play them. I desperately want to learn to play them myself, but the closest instructor is 2 hours away so that isn't an option right now.) After the show was over, I started thinking about when we could possibly see them again. Their shows are my favorite of any concerts I've ever been to. They are so much fun to watch! The more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to go to another show as soon as possible. And conveniently enough, they were scheduled to be in Birmingham the following Tuesday. We managed to get it all worked out, and so on Tuesday Caradorn and I headed down to Birmingham to see them again. This show was even better, and they played many of our favorite songs. We stayed to talk to them a bit after the show, and tried to convince them to schedule a show in Orlando next year since we know they have some fans down there. And of course we took a few pictures, and I finally got a picture with Pete - I've always decided not to ask before this, but since he is my favorite Canadian I decided I would go on and ask. He was very nice. :) As were the other band members. They are a great group of people.

Of course once we got home I started wondering when we could see them yet again, and now we are planning to head to North Carolina to see them in October.

Gaelic Storm has an odd effect on me. They inspire this weird lack of self control and temporary obsession that clouds my judgement. I love them, but the longer I go without seeing them the less I think about seeing them. But once I see them again, I can't stop thinking about them - I desperately want to see them again as soon as I can.

(Something else that makes me feel that way is licorice Jelly Bellys. That's one reason I only buy licorice Jelly Bellys very rarely - once I buy them I can't stop eating them until they are gone. I just can not control myself at all if they are available!)

A few weeks ago, the idea of following Gaelic Storm to Ohio or Minnesota would have seemed ridiculous. A few weeks from now it will start to seem ridiculous again. But right this minute, if I could convince Caradorn to go along with it I would follow them anywhere at all. I have no self control about them! I'd like to be like Paul and Storm and sell all our Star Wars figures to buy a van, and then become full time Storm Chasers. (Gaeliic Storm, not Storm of Paul and Storm, though I'm sure he is very nice.) Sadly, Caradorn has informed me that since most of our figures are not "mint in box" they will not bring in enough money to allow us to do such a thing. Which is a shame, but really - how could they possibly be MIB?! I had to take them out of the boxes to play with them!

There are several other things that have this feeling about, but fortunately I can usually count on Caradorn's better judgement to help keep me under control until the temporary obsession passes again. Which is good, I guess. In the long run, I know it's better to have self control. To be a responsible, reasonable adult.

But right this minute, I'd rather be in a van driving toward Texas and the next Gaelic Storm show.

Or heading toward Orlando for Black Ship Sky and a day at Epcot watching some of the excellent performers there.

But for now I will try to be a responsible and rational person and pretend to have some self control until the craziness passes again. Tonight maybe I will settle in for an evening with Caradorn, Licorice Jelly Bellys, and 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live - my newest obsession.

(And then maybe I will grab a Stella and pop in my Gaelic Storm DVD again, and imagine that I am at their show. )

"Up"

2009-05-29T10:43:00.000-05:00

We went to see the midnight showing of "Up" last night. Oddly, there wasn't a Pixar short with our showing, though I had heard that "Partly Cloudy" would be running with "Up". I don't know if it wasn't shown because it was the midnight showing, or if our theater just isn't showing it, or what. I'm anxious to see if it is showing other places, though, since we usually enjoy the Pixar shorts.

I had heard a few reviews of "Up" and knew the basic plot, but had avoided actual spoilers. Having heard the basic premise of the movie, I knew to expect a few sad parts. I didn't expect it to be as sad as it turned out to be. I spent a large part of the movie trying not to cry. It was horribly sad! It might not bother everyone as much as it bothered me, but the movie hits on two of the things that I find saddest. . .

Spoiler the fact that time slips away so quickly and the loss of a much loved spouse, both of which I find heartbreaking. Spoiler

But there were lots of funny bits as well, and overall the movie left me feeling happy. We were smiling and laughing when we were walking out to the car afterward - I didn't wander out sobbing or anything - but thinking about some parts of the movie are still making me a little bit teary today.

The movie was really beautiful. It was presented in 3D, and I wasn't sure at first if that was going to be a good thing. I always love the look of Pixar movies and I worried that the 3D would take away from the visuals. It didn't seem at all gimmicky, though, and added to the look of the film rather than being distracting. And it was very well done - often I spend most of a movie adjusting my 3D glasses or getting a headache from the 3D, but I actually forgot I was wearing the glasses during "Up". The 3D effects were realistic looking but still subtle enough that I didn't just focus on that aspect of the movie as I sometimes do with 3D films.

The 2 main characters were much more likable than I expected from the previews. I especially liked Carl and had not expected to at all - I somehow thought that he was just going to be a stereotypical grumpy old man, but he was much better than that. Dug and Kevin were wonderful, too, and the fact that they were so funny helped to counteract all the sad parts. None of the characters were quite what I expected before seeing the movie, but after seeing it I wouldn't change any of them.

And of course as with most Pixar movies, there were cute details throughout the movie and during the credits. In the credits, some of the badges are quite unusual, to say the least!

I will certainly buy "Up" when it comes out on Blu-ray, and will probably see it once more while it is still in theaters. It was a great movie! Just be warned that if you are the overly emotional, "mushy" type like me, you should plan to bring lots of tissues with you.

Star Trek. . .

2009-05-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

. . . was amazing! The best movie I've seen in quite a while. It's a great reboot to the series and overall a really fun movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it again to catch all the little details I missed the first time. I definitely think it will appeal to Trekkies, but I also think people who have never seen anything "Star Trek" before will also enjoy it. Actually, The Kidd has never seen any of the movies or shows before - clearly we are bad parents for allowing him to miss those till now - and he loved the movie. Said it was one of his favorite movies ever.

The actors all did great jobs of staying true to the feel of their characters but not just imitating the previous actors. I was sort of afraid that Kirk would just end up being one long William Shatner impersonation but Chris Pine did a really good job. There were moments where he was very much like the Kirk we used to know but he never seemed forced or cheesy.

They couldn't have found a better Spock than Zachary Quinto. He was perfect.

Everybody else was great, too. Chekov irritated me a little bit but then the real Chekov irritated me, too, so that's no suprise. But there wasn't anybody who stood out as a bad casting choice - they all fit together quite well I thought.

There was one thing in the movie that I suspect will bother Trekkies - one inconsistency that I think doesn't work with the established Trek universe/timeline. Everything else works well, though. And really the one thing isn't a huge deal and might not be as much of a problem as I think it is - I'm not as up on my Trek history as many people are. And the movie doesn't have to follow the established history for the Trek universe (and they do a great job of explaining why they don't have to follow the established storylines), so most changes don't matter. This one thing, though, isn't explained and feels a little bit like an oversight. (To those who have seen it - it involved them knowing about something before they should have. But there is one way that it would make sense and I might have just missed that, so I will pay more attention to that part when we watch it again.)

My one real complaint was that I would have liked more Bones and Scotty. But that's not a criticism based so much on the movie, because the movie seemed well balanced. I just loved listening to Scotty and would have liked to hear more of his accent. And of course I really like Karl Urban and would have enjoyed seeing more of him in Star Trek. ;)

They mentioned Slusho, which I was thrilled by. (By the way, if you watch "Fringe", did you notice that Walter was drinking a Slusho the other day? I did - I saw the top of his drink and was saying "That really ought to be Slu. . ." when they panned down slightly and I saw the top of the logo and screamed "It is! It's Slusho!" at the top of my lungs. Caradorn and the cats did not appreciate that.)

There were lots of little nods to Star Trek fans and I'm sure I didn't catch all of them. I'm anxious to see it again. I would love to go back today but that might seem excessive. Maybe tomorrow instead. :) And we will definitely be getting it on Blu-Ray the day it comes out. This is one of those movies that I can see myself re-watching often!

They Have Ways of Making Me Talk, Apparently

2009-05-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

I had the weirdest dream while we were in Florida . . . and I usually have odd dreams, but this one was strange even for me. As with most of my dreams, it was extremely realistic even if the subject matter wasn't terribly likely to actually happen.

I dreamed that I was at a house by a lake. I've had lots of dreams that took place at this house, which is odd since as far as I can remember I've never actually been there in real life. Usually the things that happen there aren't good. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a good dream that took place at the lake house. In almost all the lake house dreams I'm there with a bunch of other people. Usually the group of people is made up of random people I know from different parts of my life - high school, college, vacations, places we go on a regular basis. I always recognize everyone in the dreams, though they don't always act like their real-life counterparts.

In this dream, most of the people were at the house together and they didn't know I was there. I think I got there late, or maybe I was trying to surprise them by showing up unexpectedly, but either way they didn't realize I was lurking outside and they all started talking about me. The first really strange thing was that they all had Russian accents. Then the things they were saying didn't make any sense. They were asking each other if they had found out anything new, and wondering if I had cracked yet. Apparently they were Russian spies and they were trying to steal information from me. They were also complaining to each other about having had to put up with me for so long, and sympathizing with each other for having to pretend to like me.

I stood by the window for a while and listened to them, and then one of them - my friend Jack, who I've known since we were in junior high - walked over and looked out and saw me. We just stood there for a second looking at each other and then I asked him if it was true. He said that it was, and told me it would be easier for me if I would just tell them what they wanted to know so they wouldn't have to hurt me. I told him that nothing I knew was worth a twenty year long plot to weasel information out of me, and he pointed a gun at me and said that there was no point in lying about it and I would talk soon enough. I turned to run away and then I woke up.

I was sad when I woke up, and I'm not sure which part was worse. The fact that everyone I knew disliked me and just pretended to be my friends in order to steal information from me or the fact that my real life isn't that interesting. I think both things are pretty sad, actually. One thing is for sure - if I ever end up at that lake house in real life I will be running away as quickly as possible. It is not a good place for me!

Home Again

2009-05-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

We survived the band trip! I ended up being well enough to go, so we left Wednesday afternoon to head toward Florida. Caradorn and I were running a bit late, and when the buses left at 1:00 we were still at the vet dropping Stitch off to be boarded. We weren't too worried about it, though, since we knew which way the buses planned to go and thought we could easily catch up with them. We were wrong! Those bus drivers must drive race cars in their time off, because they kept the buses going upwards of 80 mph for most of the trip. Fortunately they also stopped at rest stops fairly often so we did eventually manage to catch up to them.

We got out of Rocket City just in time. Wednesday evening they announced that schools would be closed on Thursday and Friday because of the Swine Flu. One local band had their trip cancelled that night. Another band was on the buses leaving town Thursday morning when they got the call to turn around and come home. I felt terrible for those poor kids! Fortunately we didn't have to turn back and after spending Wednesday night in Valdosta we got to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday afternoon.

The band managed to hit all four parks plus DisneyQuest while they were there. Caradorn and I tagged along with them most of the time. We weren't officially chaperones since we were driving the emergency vehicle and needed to be able to leave with anyone who was sick or injured, so we needed to stay close to the band but we did have a bit of freedom. We had promised The Kidd that we would also let him have some freedom from us on the trip. So we mostly kept our distance from him, though he did seek us out a few times. Caradorn and I skipped DisneyQuest while the band was there and went to Sweet Tomatoes and played mini golf instead. The rest of the time we shadowed the band pretty closely, though we did head over to MGM while they were on Pleasure Island and DTD since I'm still not ready to stop boycotting yet.

Saturday we did play hooky for a while so we could go see Blondie performing at Epcot. While we were there we also swung by the Velcro show to see Snoopy and we went to see if Judy at the Global Gecko had any new carvings that we just had to have. Then we grabbed lunch and headed over to MGM for the rest of the day. That night was the Festival Disney awards ceremony. The kids were disappointed that their bands didn't score as high as they had hoped (or as we had expected) but they still had fun. They especially enjoyed "Mulch, Sweat and Shears" who performed at the awards presentation. And we were pleased to see Gabby from the Adventurers Club appearing as Mia Mulch.

Sunday morning we all got up bright and early and headed toward home. The drive was a ridiculous comedy of errors. The buses spent the first half of the drive going 80 to 90 mph, and then crawled along at 50 for a while because they were too far ahead of schedule. The buses kept making extra stops because they were trying to kill time before meeting up with replacement drivers. At one point we had to stop so the kids could spend a while hiding in a Kohl's store because of severe weather. By that point a few kids had started getting sick. Then we had to detour through Birmingham because the drivers were afraid that flooding had washed out one of the roads they had planned to use.

I was beginning to think we would never make it back to Rocket City, but finally we did. . . 16 hours after we left Orlando. I'm still so tired - I'm just trying to get through today so I can get some sleep tonight. And still, even though it was an exausting trip, I would like to go back. Caradorn and I will be going back by ourselves this summer while The Kidd visits my parents, and I am looking forward to it. For now, though, it's nice to be home!

Just in Case You Were Wondering

2009-04-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

I'm not dead yet! Things have been hectic around here this week. We ran the Cookie Dash 5K last Saturday . . . well, I say ran but really I walked most of it. I made the mistake of trying to run too fast - uphill - at the beginning. I have issues with my knee (the one that got dislocated several years ago) and it started hurting too much for me to keep running. So I walked most of it, but at least I finished. I got a list of things to do for my knee from my doctor, so I'm hoping that will help me go faster next time.

Caradorn has been in Tucson this week, and so I've been trying to get as much done as possible around the house while he is gone. I've even been rearranging furniture! He will be home this evening, so I am frantically trying to finish everything I wanted to get done before then. In a few minutes I am going to attempt to move the elliptical machine. I want it to to go upstairs in the computer room, but I'm not sure I can get it up there by myself. I intend to try, though, so if you hear muffled screaming you should send help because I've probably been flattened.

Tonight after Caradorn gets home we will have to watch lots of television - our DVR is almost full (really - it's at 97%!) and since most of the shows on there are things we watch together I can't delete anything until he's back. We'll have to clear off some space before next week though, and since we won't be watching anything this weekend then we'll probably be up late watching stuff tonight!

This weekend we are going to watch my sister run in the Nashville Half Marathon. We'll also be going to one of my favorite places to play trivia and we'll get to spend some time with my family. And there's this cupcake place that I've been hearing good things about, so we might have to swing by there.

Next week is The Kidd's band trip to Walt Disney World. We are looking forward to it, though I think some of the people on the trip are going to be disappointed. They have only a few hours in each park, and as bad as the crowds have been lately I don't think anyone will be able to do many rides while they are there. They all seem convinced that they will be able to finish everything in all the parks. I will not say "I told you so" if they complain about it afterward. Really, I won't. I'll think it, but I won't say it.

I feel as though I've been neglecting my blogs lately, and I'm sorry about that. Partly it's because I've been so busy. And partly it's because I don't necessarily want to blog about everything that's been going on lately, but I'm having trouble thinking of other things to blog about. Mostly, though, I blame it on Twitter. If you aren't on there, you should check it out. It's strangely addictive and I really enjoy it. It's so easy to update that I post on there more often than anywhere else.

And now it's time for me to start dragging the elliptical machine around. I've put it off long enough. I know I could wait for Caradorn to get home and help me with it, but I really want to surprise him. I guess he'll be really surprised if he gets home and I'm flattened like Judge Doom after the steamroller incident! Of course, not being a Toon will put me at a serious disadvantage in a case like that, and so I'm going to try my best to avoid that. If I look like a pancake the next time you see me, you'll know what happened.

I'm Not Sure They Realize

2009-04-08T10:39:00.000-05:00

Caradorn and I made it home safely after our anniversary trip over the weekend. We had a great time. I feel lucky that after 14 years we still like spending time together . . . he's still my best friend.

We had intended to go somewhere for the weekend as an anniversary getaway, but of course one of the primary reasons we chose Orlando was so we could see "Fully Committed". I got to thinking about that, and realized that it might seem a little bit strange for us to travel so far to see a one man show starring an actor we like. Those of you who have known me for a while probably don't find it that odd, though.

There are a few performers who we will travel almost any distance to see, if we have a chance. Caradorn loves Rush. I like them, but he really loves them and so we go see them whenever we are able to. We both love Gaelic Storm, and I don't think we could ever get tired of them. Even though they don't do huge, elaborate concerts I enjoy seeing them far more than any other group. They are so fun to see in concert! We are going to see them again in Atlanta this June and I am really looking forward to it. I'd love to see them before that but they won't be anywhere that will work for us until then.

And of course if you know me at all you know that I love David Copperfield. For more than 20 years now I've gone to see him perform every time I am able to, and fortunately Caradorn also really enjoys seeing him as well. Even though I know how he does his tricks - and have even gotten to help with many of them - I never get tired of watching him do them. I had to have seen him perform his trick called "Tides" about 5300 times (or so) during the taping of the Tornado of Fire special a few years ago, but I still love watching it every time I see it. Somehow as I watch him perform I forget that I know how he does the tricks and they are just as real as the first time I saw them. It's magic. :) David knows that I love to see him perform. I do like him as a person, but that isn't why I love to watch his shows. He is just an incredible entertainer.

When Caradorn and I fell in love with the Adventurers Club we found a whole new batch of performers that we enjoy watching. They were all quite talented, and because we associate them with a place that we loved we want to support them in their future careers as much as possible. They were all great, but there are a couple of the performers from the Club that we would have loved no matter where we first discovered them.

One is Blondie. I've said it before, but I think he might be the funniest person I have ever met. There's just something about him . . . he can raise an eyebrow and make me cry with laughter. I've never seen him perform when he didn't make me laugh. We haven't managed to see him do stand-up yet, but I can't wait till we finally do. I've seen a few clips of his shows online and he was just as hilarious as I expected. Oddly, I recognized his name when I first heard it and I couldn't figure out why. It turns out that he used to perform at a comedy club near where I grew up and I heard them mention his name often on the radio. I'm sorry now that I didn't go see him back then, but we fully intend to make up for that now and go see his show as soon as possible.

The other is Snoopy. As we were waiting for "Fully Committed" to start the other day, I was talking with another one of Snoopy's fans from the Club, Robert. He was talking about how talented Snoopy is, and he mentioned the same things that always impressed me so much about Snoopy's performance at the Club. Each of his characters is completely different - and it isn't just the costumes. They all have different voices, different mannerisms, their facial expressions and movements are completely different. Watching him in "Fully Committed" was amazing - throughout the play he became different people. I forgot he was Snoopy, forgot about his Adventurers Club characters, and I was just swept along with Sam and the other characters in "Fully Committed". It was like magic. When the show was over, Robert said "My God, he's talented." And that was pretty much all there was to say. It's breathtaking to see him act - I don't think I have ever seen a more talented actor. It's easy to tell he loves what he does, but I often wonder if he realizes how gifted he really is.

It occurred to me, though, that Blondie and Snoopy may not realize why we enjoy seeing them so much. . .that they might think that we like to see them only because it's like a little taste of the Adventurers Club. And while that may be the case with some of the performers from the Club, it isn't the case with all of them - Blondie and Snoopy in particular. Blondie truly is the funniest performer I have ever seen. And Snoopy truly is the most gifted actor I have ever watched. While supporting the former cast members from the Club I loved is a great thing, it has nothing to do with why I want to see Blondie and Snoopy. I really do consider it a privilege to watch them each perform.

I know that they each have performers that they enjoy watching. I know that Blondie, at least, will travel long distances to see some of his favorites. I wonder if they realize that we feel that way about them. For us, Blondie and Snoopy are on par with Rush or Gaelic Storm or David - we look forward to seeing them perform and consider an eleven hour drive well worth it if it means we can enjoy watching them on stage. And while we were pleased to discover that they both seem like genuinely nice people offstage, that isn't why we want to see them perform. Nor is it because we miss seeing them at the Club, though of course we do.

Recently, they have each posted about their upcoming performances and expressed their appreciation for the support of their fans from the Club. I hope they both realize that we don't just go see them in order to support them. We always appreciate it when they post about their appearances because we honestly want to see their shows. And though we wouldn't ordinarily plan a whole trip just to see them, we would certainly change the timing of a trip to coincide with their performances, just as we do with Rush, or Gaelic Storm, or David. Even though I got the impression that Snoopy is grateful that his fans from the Club are willing to come out and support him in something like "Fully Committed", I don't think he realizes how grateful we are when he posts about his appearances. With groups like Rush and Gaelic Storm it's easy to arrange our trips so we can see them - they always post their tour schedules. It's much more difficult with Blondie and Snoopy, especially since we don't live in the Orlando area. I love it when they post about their upcoming appearances, because I don't always hear about them otherwise.

I've posted before about how grateful I am to Snoopy for making us realize what a special place the Adventurers Club was. He and Blondie gave us hours of entertainment there and we loved every minute of that time. I am also really grateful to the Club, because without it we might never have discovered Blondie and Snoopy. They are both such talented performers! Whether at the Adventurers Club, or at Epcot, or onstage elsewhere, they are each a joy to watch. Hopefully we will be able to continue to do so often in the future.

So Worth It!

2009-04-05T12:17:00.000-05:00

I'm still in Orlando, and just came to the room for a little bit to cool off before heading off to dinner. But I had to take a minute to post. It takes us about 11 hours to get here - really, it doesn't have to take that long but if we stop any then that's about how long we usually take. We've had lots of fun here yesterday and today, and I'm really glad we came. We have had time to stroll around Epcot and notice little details, and enjoy the Flower and Garden Festival, and have some nice meals. We also got to see the funniest person ever performing in Epcot. :) Plus, Caradorn and I have gotten to spend time together, which is especially nice since our anniversary is tomorrow.

However, even without all that, this trip was completely worth the drive. It was totally worth making the whole trip just to watch Snoopy in "Fully Committed" at the Mad Cow Theatre. He was amazing. I was always in awe of his ability to become his Adventurers Club characters so completely, and this was even more incredible than that used to be. The show was fast paced and hilarious, but had its touching moments as well. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and I wish we could see it again before it ends its run at the end of this month. Yesterday evening was one of my favorite evenings I have spent in Orlando, and I definitely plan to return to see more of Snoopy's plays in the future.

If you will be in the Orlando area on a weekend in April, I highly recommend that you go check out "Fully Committed" at the Mad Cow Theatre!

Oh, No!

2009-04-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

http://www.007james.com/news/daniel-craig-quits-the-role-of-james-bond/

At least some of the possible replacements sound interesting.

Summer Travel

2009-04-01T12:18:00.000-05:00

Found this great deal on summer travel, but I bet it won't last long. Thought about going back to Orlando, but this might be better.

http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_home_us

Adventurer Spotting - Like bird watching, but more fun

2009-03-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

While we were in Orlando, I was watching for former Adventurers Club CMs. We were happy to spot a few of them.

We saw Chipmunk as Officer Peabody in MGM (sorry, make that DHS). He had attracted quite a crowd, but we lingered there until we had a chance to talk to him. Since he was a police officer I took the opportunity to report a missing person to him. He shared my concern about poor Mr Bleehall once I explained that he was last seen in the company of a known law breaker (Bessie - She gives more milk than any law allows!) but didn't think Emil or Bessie had been apprehended. Sadly, he had not seen Mr. Bleehall recently but he assured me that he would keep an eye out for him. We talked about the Club a little bit, and it was easy to see that he misses it.

We didn't see Lancelot, but we didn't really try too hard. We went to Idol twice and that was more than enough. I'm sure we'll go back on future trips, but it certainly won't be an every day kind of thing. Hopefully we'll see him at a BSS concert soon.

At Epcot, we saw several Adventurers. We saw Tombstone, Simple and Blondie as part of the World Showcase Players. We haven't really taken the time to watch the Players very much on past trips but we did this time, and really enjoyed them. We also talked to Blondie a bit about some of his upcoming stand-up appearances, and we are looking forward to going to see him perform as soon as possible.

We had quite a surprise at lunch one day. We went to Chefs de France, and we had heard that Yvette was appearing sometimes with Remy from Ratatouille. Sadly, she wasn't there but we weren't too disappointed because Blade was there instead. He did a great job as Armand and we were especially happy to see him because we hadn't expected to see him at all on this trip.

And of course we had to go see "What's Your Problem?". We were very happy to see Snoopy there. He told us about his upcoming one man show, and we are trying to plan a trip in April to see it. Given that we fell in love with the Adventurers Club after seeing Snoopy play multiple characters there, we have to see any play where Snoopy plays all of the characters! I am always amazed by the way he can become different people so completely, and I am really looking forward to seeing him play all three dozen characters in his upcoming play.

In other Club news . . . the rumors continue that the Club will be back in some form. The most recent version has a couple of dance clubs (Mannequins and 8Trax, I believe) reopening soon, but being outsourced. They are currently hiring more DJs/performers, so we'll have to see what happens with that. The other part of the rumor says that the Adventurers Club will reopen as more of a dinner show, where an entire group will go to the different rooms of the Club as a group throughout the evening. Supposedly the Club would be expanding into the BET Club next door. What I want is the Club as we've always known it to reopen, but failing in that I'd take the Club in almost any form - as long as they bring back the cast we know and love!

And of course they are taking bookings for private events in the Club through late September. Complete with cast members, if you're willing to pay enough. Rumor is that they will take bookings for October and later at some point, but of course we'll have to wait and see if that turns out to be true. Given the prices involved, I won't be booking an event unless I win the lottery, but it's nice to know it is still an option, anyway. And of course it's not that long till Congaloosh 2009, and we are going to try to go to at least some of that.

The trip was nice, but it wasn't the same without the Club to go to. At least we still got to see some of our favorite CMs elsewhere around the World, but I'm still hoping that the time will come when we will once again be able to see them as Hathaway, Emil, Otis, Graves, and all the rest of the Adventurers!

My Current Life in 89 Questions

2009-03-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

1. What was the highlight of your week? I don't think there's been one yet - it's been pretty low key so far.
2. Whose car were you in last? Mine
3. When is the next time you will kiss someone? In a few minutes, probably.
4. What color shirt are you wearing? Blue
5.How long is your hair? Too short - chin length.
6. Are you good looking? I don't think so, particulary, but I'm not horrible either.
7. Last movie you watched? Watchmen (Loved it!)
8. Who were you with? Caradorn
9.Last thing you ate? Cheddar-pumpkin seed flatbread with roasted red pepper hummus.
10. Last thing you drank? Club soda with Ribena
11. When was the last time you had your heart broken? September 27, 2008
12. Who came over last? One of The Kidd's friends
13. Are you happy right now? Mostly
14. What did you say last? "I love you"
15. Where is your phone? In my pocket
16. What color are your eyes? Brown
17. Are you left heanded? Yes
18. Spell your name without vowels. Skrv
19. Do you have any pets? Yes, several.
20. Favorite vacation? Orlando
21. What do dislike currently? Hypocrisy
22. What are you listening to? Attack of the show on G4.
23. If you could have one thing right now, what would it be? A Kungaloosh from the Adventurers Club.
24. What is your favorite scent? The smell of leather
25. What makes you happiest? Spending time with the people I love.
26. What were you doing at midnight last night? Trying (and failing) to sleep.
27. When is your birthday? December
28. Who has the same phone as you? My sister.
29. Last time you went swimming in a pool? Last week
30. Do you read your horoscope? Not usually.
31. Where was the last place you bought something? Bennetts Nursery
32. How do you feel about your hair right now? I don't like it.
33. Do you bite your nails? No, never.
34. Do you have any expensive jewelry? It depends on what you consider expensive, but by my standards I do.
35. Do you have any expensive jewelry? Hmm. I though I already answered that.
36. Myspace or Facebook? Neither. I like Twitter best lately.
37. How fast have you driven a car? Probably under 90 mph.
38. Have you ever smoked? No, never.
39. What was your favorite subject in school? Literature
40. Do you have Verizon? Yes
41. What type of boy or girl do you usually fall for? Men.
42. Do you have any hidden talents? If so, they are really well hidden.
43. Favorite song? Not sure - there are so many I love.
44. Do you like to sing at all? Yes, when no one is listening.
45. Dream job? Used to be to work for David Copperfield. Then it was to work at the Adventurers Club. Now? To be a successful author.
46. Where does most of your family live? Tennessee
47. Are you an only child or do you have siblings? I have a sister
48. Would you consider yourself to be spoiled? Probably.
49. What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? It's raining.
50. Do you drink? Occasionally
51. Know any other languages? Sort of, but not well.
52. Ever write a coded message? Yes.
53. Have you ever been in a wedding? Yes, several
54. Do you have any children? Yes, one.
55. Did you take a nap today? No, but I wanted to.
56. Who has the same birthday as you? No one I know.
57. Ever met anyone famous before? Yes, often.
58. Do you want to be famous one day? No, I would hate to be famous.
59. Any pet peeves? Yes, lots of them.
60. Are you mutitasking right now? Yes, I (almost) always multitask.
61. Do you like Britney Spears? No.
62. What is your least favorite chore? Washing dishes.
63. Last place you drove your car? School and then home.
64. Ever been out of the country? Yes.
65. Where were you born? Mississippi
66. Could you handle being in the military? No, definitely not.
67. What is your average cell phone bill? Too high
68. Who are you thinking about right now? You.
69. When was the last time you laughed REALLY hard? Last night.
70. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Lots - I never get rid of any!
71. Are your toes always painted? No, but my toenails usually are. ;)
72. How many piercings do you have? Two - one in each earlobe.
73. What are you doing today? Dodging the rain and taking this survey.
74. Have you ever been gambling? Yes. . . I love Vegas!
75. When is the last time you updated your page? A few days ago.
76. Do you like rollercoasters? Yes, I love them.
77. Have you ever been to Disneyland or World? Yes - both, multiple times.
78. Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Yes - Snoopy.
79. Last thing you cooked? Eggs, biscuits, and sausages.
80. How's the weather? Rainy
81. Do you email? Of course.
82. What's the stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone? I don't think I have done anything stupid with my phone.
83. Last time you were sick? Last week.
84. What states have you lived in? Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arizona and Alabama.
85. Do you wish you could move? Yes.
86. What is your dream car? Eleanor from "Gone in Sixty Seconds"
87. Have you ever wanted someone you can't have? Yes.
88. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be? Orlando
89. Are you happy with your life? Overall, yes - very happy.

Extreme Sheep LED Art

2009-03-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

I don't know how much of this is real, but it made me laugh almost as much as Blondie does. Enjoy!

Trying to let it go

2009-03-23T12:24:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time in Orlando, and I had planned to post about that today, but there's something that's been on my mind lately that I want to get off my chest. I'll post about the trip later.

I've mentioned Nate before on here. He was the guy who taught me to juggle, who I dated for a while. He's also the guy who broke up with me while I was in the hospital with my blood clot, because he couldn't be involved with someone who wasn't perfectly healthy and still be a missionary. Even after we broke up we spent most of our time together. I was still sort of his "unofficial sidekick", performing with him when he did appearances and being a roadie of sorts. Really the only thing that changed was that there wasn't any kissing going on (not that there'd been much of that before, anyway) and we no longer said we were dating. We stayed good friends, though. And he would occasionally mention how much happier he was now that we weren't dating, because he didn't really "believe" in dating - but that eventually, if I recovered from the clot okay and my doctors said I was "normal" again, we might end up married.

I have no idea why I put up with all that. He had hurt me so deeply when he broke up with me, and he made me feel terrible about myself - he constantly criticised me, saying I was fat or that I looked sick if I didn't wear lots of makeup. I wasn't fat . . . I was 5'6" and weighed 110 pounds, but he encouraged me to get healthier and so I got down to 98 pounds. If I sang in the car he'd tell me I really shouldn't; I should leave the music to others who could actually sing. And yet through all this I stayed with him, and I hoped desperately that I could get healthy enough that I would be good enough for him.

For the year after my clot, I had blood tests at least once a week and went back to my specialist several times. Before each appointment Nate would pray that the doctors would declare me "healthy". Each time that they didn't, he would blame me. He said I must not be praying hard enough, or that I wasn't asking enough people to pray for me. He said that if I prayed hard enough that God would cure me, and each time I wasn't cured it meant that I didn't have enough faith. He said that if I was a strong enough Christian that I wouldn't be sick to begin with, and if some lapse on my part had caused my illness then I would be cured as soon as I was "right with God".

After a year of this I was finally declared healthy. And I was thrilled, but of course by this time I was starting to come to my senses and I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Nate. But now that I was normal again he was apparently becoming more sure that we did belong together. I asked him once what would happen if we did get married and then I became ill. He didn't have an answer - he seemed to think such a thing was unthinkable because God would never lead him to marry someone imperfect like that. We still weren't officially dating, and I finally decided that it might be nice to see other people. I warned him I was going to, and he was fine with that. So I started dating again. A few months later, when I told Nate that Caradorn and I were seeing each other, he seemed shocked. Apparently he thought I would get tired of seeing other people and come back to him.

Even after all this we stayed friends. We still juggled together with our other partners Llama and Chelle, we still performed together, we still spent time together. But strictly as friends. He was one of the first people I called when I got engaged, and he was the first person I told (other than family) when we set a wedding date. After Caradorn and I moved to Tucson, Nate came to visit us. We kept in touch for several years after that, but lost touch when I moved to Rocket City. Recently we started communicating again. He still travels around juggling - he even performs at my church and the church in my hometown sometimes. He "friended" me on Facebook a few weeks ago, and that was when I found out the news about his Dad . . . he has cancer, and it's not looking good at this point.

I am not always a very good person. I know I have a mean streak sometimes, and I try hard to keep it under control. I have no problem being horribly mean during raging arguments, or skewering people who I think deserve it, but I try not to hit someone when they are down. What Nate and his Dad need right now is support. They need someone who is upbeat and cheerful, who believes everything will be okay. Someone who has faith and compassion and who can find just the right words to make them feel better and keep their hope alive. So when I send messages to Nate I try to sound like a little ray of sunshine, as though I believe everything will work out for the best and that soon Nate's Dad will be all better.

But that's not what I want to do. I want to ask him what his Dad did wrong. I want to ask him why his Dad didn't have enough faith to avoid getting sick to begin with. I want to ask him why God would let a missionary like him get stuck with a sick (and dying) father who he has to drive to appointments instead of dashing off to his performances. I can't believe I still feel so angry after all these years, but I really do. He made me so miserable for so long, and made me hate myself for not being perfect. Now that it's his Dad who is sick, none of those things apply any longer. Of course Nate thinks his Dad has enough faith. Of course Nate doesn't think it's his Dad's fault that he's sick. And of course I don't think it is his Dad's fault - but I don't think it was my fault I was sick, either. I so want to point out Nate's hypocrisy, but I won't. I will try my hardest to be good friend to Nate and his family, because that's what they need right now. And I know that things worked out for the best - I'm where I am supposed to be, with the person I was meant to be with. I have no regrets about that at all, but I do regret letting Nate make me feel so bad about myself for so long. Hopefully getting all this out here will let me get it out of my system once and for all. I don't want to be the kind of person who would take cheap shots at someone who is losing a family member. I don't want to be the kind of person who would even be tempted to take cheap shots, but sadly I am. I want to be a better person than that. But at least I won't let Nate know that I have any thoughts like that. Hopefully now that I've ranted about it here I can finally just let it go.

So much to do, so little time

2009-03-12T12:25:00.000-05:00

I've been sick for the last few days, and it's really been inconvenient timing. Not that there's ever a really good time to be sick, but this week I was supposed to be getting ready for our Orlando vacation. We had thought about going this summer, but decided on Spring Break instead because Space Mountain will be closed this summer and it's The Kidd's favorite ride. I haven't done much to prepare for the trip - I had intended to be finished with the packing by now, but I haven't really started. I'm hoping to have everything ready by tonight, though.

And speaking of inconvenient timing . . . why on earth does it always work out that Black Ship Sky and Blondie are performing when we're in Orlando on family trips but not when Caradorn and I are there without The Kidd?!? It's annoying! Blondie has a stand-up gig on Friday and Saturday, and we'll actually be in town on Saturday night, but of course we won't be going because The Kidd isn't old enough for that yet. And then at the end of the week Black Ship Sky is in concert,but The Kidd is really not old enough for that yet! I know in theory we could leave The Kidd with some of the excellent child care available, but I don't like to do that on our family trips. That's why Caradorn and I go so often without him. When we're all there, we focus on the things that all of us can do together, and when Caradorn and I go alone we do everything we can't do with The Kidd there . . . or the things that bore him to death, like meandering through World Showcase taking pictures of all the little details, or doing lots of shopping. Caradorn and I have already agreed that if Black Ship Sky or Blondie have any shows over the summer then we will leave The Kidd with my family and head down to see them. I would be really happy if we could also manage to see Snoopy and Blade perform while we're down there!

(Okay, BSS and Blondie? I promise - if you plan shows for late May, or June, or even early July, Caradorn and I will make every effort to be there! So please plan shows for then! Bonus points if we can see both of you on the same trip! And if Blade and Snoopy could be doing plays then also, that would be perfect. As long as all the times are different so we don't have to choose between you. Thanks!)

On this trip, I'll be keeping an eye out for any former Adventurers in the parks. I'm excited about the trip anyway, but I'll be even happier if we spot any familiar faces performing while we're there. I'm especially hoping to catch Lancelot or Sugar Snap at Idol and Blondie and Snoopy at Epcot. And of course I heard Chipmonk is a Citizen of Hollywood sometimes - I'd love to see him. And people have reported spotting Adventurers other places as well, so we'll be keeping our eyes peeled wherever we see entertainers just in case!

We're doing much less on Disney property this time than we've done before. We'll be going to the parks, of course, but spending much more time elsewhere as well. Instead of shopping at Downtown Disney we'll do any Disney shopping in the parks and we'll also visit the local malls. Instead of Goofy's Candy Kitchen we'll be raiding Dylan's Candy Bar, which we actually like more than Goofy's so that works out well! I'm still boycotting DTD - the one possible exception is DisneyQuest and I don't think we'll be going there this trip. We won't be going to the water parks, either - the time we would have spent there will be spent at Seaworld instead. The Kidd hasn't been to the one in Orlando so he's especially looking forward to that.

We're also planning to do more Geocaching around Orlando than we've done on previous trips. Now that we've finally gotten the hang of it and it's easier for us, it isn't such a huge investment in time to do a few park-and-grabs as we travel around town. Hopefully we'll have quite a few new "smilies" on our page when we get home.

I have so much to do today to be ready to leave tomorrow. In addition to the normal packing, I have to get the house ready for the housesitter and load the caches on the GPS. And see what we can delete from the DVR so we have room for our favorite shows to record while we're gone. And so many other things! I feel like I'll never finish it all, but I really want to be done with everything by tonight so I'll have tomorrow to deal with any last minute things that come up. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be watching the clock, counting the minutes until we leave rather than running around trying to finish everything. Wish me luck . . . I'll need it.

To boldly go . . . back to Vegas!

2009-03-06T12:26:00.000-06:00

I was unhappy when the closure of the Star Trek: The Experience was announced last year, but it was overshadowed by the fact that the Adventurers Club was also slated to close. We haven't been back to Las Vegas since the Experience closed, and though I am really anxious to get back there sometime soon I was sad that I wouldn't be able to enjoy a visit to Quark's while we were there.
Well, today there is some exciting news . . . the rumors that have been swirling for a while have turned out to be true. Star Trek: The Experience is returning to Vegas! It won't be at the Hilton, and at the beginning it may just consist of a shop and restaurant, but it will be coming back! Yay! Warp Core Breaches for everyone!
http://scifiwire.com/2009/02/confirmed-new-contract-to-keep-star-trek-the-experience-alive-in-vegas.php

30 Things You Wouldn't Think To Ask.

2009-03-04T12:26:00.000-06:00

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
No! Why? What have you heard?

2. Do you close your eyes on roller coaster?
No.

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
I can't remember - probably High School

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
With someone else - Caradorn, of course.

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Sometimes, but not as much as I'd like.

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Yes. (Though wasn't she his ex?)

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
Angelina Jolie - her movies are better.

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
Yes.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes, and I just bought new poker chips.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
No.

12. What's your favorite commercial?
Of all time? No idea. Lately? The Weight Watchers ones featuring the Hungry.

13. Who was your first love?
David

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light?
No

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
Probably.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
Red Sox, if I have to choose one.

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Most of the time, I think.

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
I am ready for next week.

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
In the front seat, always. In the back seat, only if the driver makes me.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could act. Or write really well.

22. Do you like Sushi?
Very much

23. What do you wear to bed?
Pajamas or pajama pants and a t-shirt. Or just the t-shirt.

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
No, but I really dislike a few people.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
I wouldn't - I'm married. If I was single . . . it depends on what you consider famous.

27. What food do you find disgusting?
I'm not real big on the idea of blood sausage or any organs.

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
No. But in front of them, yes.

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yes. But supposedly it was an accident.

30. Do you believe in angels and demons?
Yes.

A last little bit of winter

2009-03-02T12:28:00.000-06:00

Caradorn, The Kidd and I spent some time with family in Tennessee this past weekend. We had a great time, but somehow the weekend seemed to fly by and we didn't do everything we had planned to do.

Of course we did some Geocaching while we were there. I think we must be getting better at that. We had looked for a cache there before with no luck. We knew it was hidden somewhere on or around a train that's on display there but the last time we looked for it we couldn't find it. This time we looked for a little while and as we were deciding to give up because it was starting to rain I looked over and there it was. I can't believe we missed it last time, but I was thrilled when I found it this time.

We discovered a new favorite restaurant on Saturday. It's called Crawdaddy's, and it isn't really new. It's new to us, though. We only went because they have Buzztime trivia, which we love. The food was very good and I think we'll try to go there for trivia every time we're in Cookeville from now on.

My sister and her husband just got a new pool table, so Saturday night we went over to their place to see it. I played a couple of games with Becky, and let's just say there is no danger that I will be going pro any time soon. Actually, someone suggested that we play pool the way some people play chess - by drawing diagrams and playing one game over the course of several months - and that might not be a bad idea. I somehow managed to hit the balls in such a way that they would bounce around and end up almost exactly where they had been before I hit them. And this happened several times. Becky was much better than I was, but of course that's not saying much. She really was fairly good though. I was so bad it was almost embarrassing. Somehow I just can't see how to aim, which is especially bad since I am usually pretty good at visualizing things. And I can juggle fairly well, so I know that I do have some hand-eye coordination, but you wouldn't know it from watching me play pool.

We stayed at their house far later than we had intended to, and by the time we left it had started to sleet pretty heavily. The roads were fine, though, so we headed back to my parents house. By the time we were ready to go to sleep it was about 2:00 in the morning. We glanced outside and were quite shocked to see that it was snowing so much that it looked like a blizzard outside. We have seen very little snow over the past couple of years, so we ran to the front porch to watch it for a bit. I'm really glad no one was out driving through the neighborhood then, because I'm sure they would have found it a little strange that Caradorn and I were outside having a snowball fight in our pajamas and bare feet at that time of the morning. (Although I guess really it would have been odd no matter what time it was.) Yes, we should have taken time to change clothes and put some shoes on. But it was so late, and we weren't thinking all that clearly, and I was afraid that it would stop snowing and we would miss it. We did have fun, at least.

Now we're back home in Rocket City, and although it did snow here as well the snow didn't stick around to wait for us. It's freezing today, but by the end of the week it's supposed to be in the 70s. I guess that was probably our last taste of winter for the year. That's just as well, though. I am ready for warm weather again! Hopefully I'll be enjoying the warmth while basking in the sun in a couple of weeks, since we're heading to Orlando for Spring Break. We hinted wildly about the trip to The Kidd while we were driving home from Cookeville, but somehow he doesn't seem to have picked up on it yet. We are going to try more hinting tonight. I'm really excited about it, and I think he will be too if he ever figures out that we're going. He seems tired of the cold weather, too. And if we decide we miss the snow too much, we can always get another taste of it by riding Wild Arctic while we're at Seaworld or by spending the day at Blizzard Beach!

Not Going to Take it Anymore

2009-02-03T12:29:00.000-06:00

My in-laws visited this past weekend. It stresses me out horribly when they visit, for several reasons. Hopefully we aren't going to have problems with one of those reasons any longer, though. This visit might have taken care of that issue for good.

One reason is that they don't necessarily feel as protective of pets as I do and I live in fear that our cats will end up outside during one of their visits. Cats are more of a disposable commodity to them - they always live outside and when they stop showing up or get run over then it's time to get a new one. Fortunately they haven't gotten any new cats for a while, but I worry that their carelessness when it comes to cats will be a problem while they're here. I'm sure they think I'm nuts because I follow them every time they go outside just so I can close the door that they often leave open.

Then of course there's the fact that my mother-in-law is eagle eyed when it comes to my house. Her own house, not so much - dust could be three feet thick and it wouldn't matter. But in my house any little thing that's amiss is a HUGE problem. (And admittedly, there are always plenty of things amiss, but I am of the mindset that you don't point things like that out in someone else's home.) She says things to be helpful, not critical. Supposedly, anyway. Last time I had forgotten to dust a shelf, which she kindly pointed out. Other times I've missed the dust on the TV or forgotten to wash my breakfast dishes quickly enough. This time it was the guest towel . . . "Skurvy, dear, your guest towel seems to have soured. You might want to replace it." Well, it hadn't. I checked, though I of course thanked her for pointing it out and got out a new one. I think the next time we go visit them I might be as helpful as she is when she's here and point out any housekeeping issues she might have missed.

And then there's my father in law. He's the thing that set me off this time. He wouldn't see it this way, but the truth is that he can be a bit of a bully. He likes picking on people who he sees as weaker than him. I don't know where he learned them, but he has some great bullying techniques. He knows just the right spot to poke you in the ribcage so your ribs hurt for the rest of the day, or how to squeeze just above your elbow so that spot hurts horribly and the rest of your arm is numb for hours. He thinks it's hilarious to do things like that to people, but only the ones who don't fight back. He's done that sort of thing to me since I met him, and now he does it to The Kidd, too. He's sneaky about it - he'll creep up behind us and grab our arms and then laugh because he knows we aren't going to do anything about it but try to avoid him as long as possible.
So they had gotten here and they were talking about the people they've seen recently and he was laughing and relaying the story of how he had hurt a former student when he saw him the other day. It's another one of those wonderful ways he tortures people. He grabbed the guy's hand and folded it down under his wrist and then squeezed. (Go on - try doing that to yourself for a second. Hurts, doesn't it? And imagine if it was someone else doing it who wouldn't stop when it started to hurt!) He kept on about how funny it had been, how the guy couldn't do anything but follow him wherever Dad wanted to pull him. And finally I had just had enough. I've put up with being poked at, and pinched, and all kinds of things like that for years. I haven't said anything about it because I'm very nonconfrontational.

(I know, a few of you are thinking I've lost my mind at this point because you know me and I am not at all afraid of confrontation. But usually I can just confront people with whom I am comfortable, not people I don't know or the ones I think I have to be nice to.)

But at that point I was sick of letting him bully me (and now The Kidd) for so long. I was tired of laughing it off when he hurts me, and letting him think it's okay. So I just snapped, and those of you who have seen me truly angry can probably picture what happened next. I glared at him and told me that if someone had grabbed me that way, I would have broken their nose. He just laughed and said "You can't hit someone when they're holding your wrist like that - that's the beauty of it, they can't do anything!" So I pointed out that I would have a free arm left to hit with, and if that didn't work then I would have the use of both knees and anyone idiotic enough to try something like that on me should keep in mind that some sensitive areas would be within range of a good kneeing. And then I said that if not before, I would break their nose once they let go, and they'd have to let go eventually.

The fact is, if he tried the wrist thing on me then my wrist would be messed up for months and I'd be wearing my wrist brace again. I am not about to let him do something like that to me and I truly would hurt him back and not feel a bit bad about it. And I'm not going to put up with any of the rest of it anymore, either. The next time he sneaks up and pokes me in the ribs he's getting a swift elbow in his ribs. And the next time he grabs my elbow I'm kicking him. And The Kidd has permission to defend himself however he feels necessary. We're not letting someone hurt us for their own amusement any longer. I've had enough. He's been warned. We aren't going to take it anymore.

25 Things

2009-02-03T12:28:00.000-06:00

Several of my friends have tagged me in their "25 Things" notes. I don't tag people - but if you want to write your own "25 Things", consider yourself tagged!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I would rather be at Walt Disney World. Until recently I've gone there as often as I could. Since they closed the Adventurers Club I've been taking some time off, but I'm ready to go back now. I'm still boycotting Downtown Disney until they reopen the Club, though.

2. If I decided to leave the United States tomorrow, I would most want to move to Ireland. I would be most likely to actually move to Poland.

3. I love Irish, Scottish, and English accents. I will listen to anything at all as long as it's in one of those accents. I can't talk to anyone with one of those accents without accidentally imitating them.

4. There are a few performers I go see every chance I get. They are David Copperfield, Gaelic Storm, and several of the former cast members from Disney's Adventurers Club.

5. I can almost always see how magic tricks are done, but there is only one trick that I can actually perform myself.

6. I can play flute, piccolo and piano. I love the flute and piano but hate the piccolo.

7. I really want to learn to play the bagpipes and am currently trying to find an instructor closer than 2 hours away.

8. I spend too much time online blogging and visiting discussion boards, but prefer to keep my real life and online persona separate. Most people who know me online do not know who I am in real life and most people in real life don't know me online.

9. I drink hot tea every day. I rarely drink coffee, though I do love Caribou Coffee's Campfire Mocha.

10. I enjoy juggling and have taught several people to juggle.

11. I collect cookbooks but usually end up cooking the same things over and over.

12. I love electronic gadgets. I really want to go to the Consumer Electronic Show and I always want to get the newest phones, TVs or gaming consoles.

13. I am hooked on video games. I especially love music games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero and platformers like the Mario games or Little Big Planet.

14. My dream car is Eleanor from the movie "Gone in Sixty Seconds" but the next car I buy will be a Mini Cooper.

15. I hope to run my first Disney Marathon by the time I'm 40.

16. Silence hurts my ears. I have to have backround noise all the time.

17. I spent most of my life in Tennesse but I hate country music. My favorite music is from the 1940's.

18. I have a weird memory. I can remember evey detail of conversations I had in high school or college, but I have trouble remembering things from this morning.

19. I am happy to consider myself a geek. I really want to attend the San Diego Comic Con next year.

20. I love action movies. I do not like dramas or "chick flicks", though I occasionally like romantic comedies. I hate tearjerkers.

21. I lived in Tucson, Arizona for two years before moving back to be closer to family. I still miss it and would love to move back there someday.

22. I prefer to spend most of my time with my husband Caradorn, our son The Kidd and the people I am closest to. I am not a big party person.

23. I think people who go on most reality shows are crazy, but I would love to be on "The Amazing Race" or "Don't Forget the Lyrics". I also wanted to be on "The Mole" when it was hosted by Anderson Cooper.

24. I would love to live in central Florida someday, but won't consider it until after my son graduates from high school.

25. There are several people who I consider close friends that I very rarely speak to, but if we spoke tomorrow, we'd pick up exactly where we left off. I believe people come into our lives for a reason, and I am thankful for the people who touched my life and helped to make me the person I am today.

If you pray . . .

2009-02-02T12:30:00.000-06:00

. . . please pray for Bill. A regular at the Adventurers Club, he is the one I sometimes called Sleeping Guy when I talked about our visits to the Club. He is ill and the prognosis is apparently not good. Please pray for Bill and his wife Jean, or send positive thoughts their way.
Some of my favorite memories of the Club involve Bill and the fun some of the cast had with him. Blondie, especially, always used to tease him about falling asleep and it led to some of the funniest moments I can remember at the Club. He was almost always at the Club when we Adventured there, and as much as I want the Club to reopen, it would not be the same without Bill. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Update Feb. 3 - Sadly, Bill passed away last night. Please keep his wife Jean in your thoughts and prayers.

PEDIGREE(r) Super Bowl ad and "Crazy Pet" videos

2009-02-01T12:31:00.000-06:00

http://www.pedigree.com/03Adoption/superbowl/Defau...
Hey, dog lovers! Ever wonder what it would be like to own a pet rhino? Or a bison…or a boar…or an ostrich? To find out, take a look at the new Super Bowl ad and "Crazy Pet" videos from PEDIGREE®. You'll be glad you got a dog!

I'm still here

2009-01-19T12:31:00.000-06:00

I may not have been posting much lately, but I'm still here. Somehow the time just seems to be flying by much too fast and I've had trouble keeping up with real life, much less any of my blogs. We haven't even gotten all the Christmas stuff shoved back up into the attic yet, and we're in the middle of a couple of home renovation projects that I would like to finish eventually!

We went to Atlanta last weekend to see a traveling Muppet exhibition. It was neat - in addition to some actual Muppets that were on display there were sketches and paintings by Jim Henson and lots of other props. I'd love to go see it again, but since it travels around it might be a while before I get to. We saw Bert and Ernie (complete with Rubber Duckie), Rolf the Dog, a couple of Fraggles, things from the Labyrinth (though not Hoggle - they really need to reclaim him from the Unclaimed Baggage Center!) . . . lots of Muppets. Including my favorites, Mahna Mahna and the Snowths.

You might not recognize their names, but you would know Mahna Mahna and the Snowths if you saw them. They are the Muppets who sing the song that is the biggest earworm ever. You know the one? It starts with "Mahna Mahna", and then the Snowths (these hillarious hot pink cow looking things) sing "Doo DOOO doo doo doo". And it goes on for a while, with poor Mahna Mahna trying to branch out and make the song more interesting and the Snowths not letting him. That is my favorite Muppet skit, which is saying something since I love so many of the skits.

It's actually one of my favorite Adventurers Club memories, also. One of the last times we saw Snoopy as Emil he kept singing that during the Balderdash Cup and so of course the audience responded accordingly. Blondie and Blade (as Hathaway and Otis) seemed even more exasperated than usual by him, and the fact that he wouldn't stop until after we had finished the whole song seemed to drive them crazy. So now I think of Snoopy/Emil everytime I hear that song, which makes me like it even more!

We have so many things that we need to finish that we shouldn't have taken the time to go to Atlanta, but I am glad that we did. And of course Caradorn had to go to Tucson for a while which put us even more behind on everything (and he didn't even bring me an In 'N Out Burger or smoothie from Jamba Juice, but he did bring me the Citrus Squeeze Recipe so I'll forgive him, this time). "Lost" is finally back this week, so my goal is to have most of what we have to do finished by Wednesday evening. We will have our work cut out for us but I'm still hoping to manage it. Whether or not we're finished I'll be watching "Lost". And I will be back to posting regularly soon!

The Christmas with No Disney . . . sort of.

2009-01-05T12:32:00.000-06:00

Christmas break went by so quickly, it's hard to believe the whole break is already over. I did have a good Christmas - we spent time with my family and with Caradorn's as well. I also got to catch up with a couple of very good old friends, which was really nice.

The one thing that was missing was a trip to Orlando. We've gone there for either my birthday or Christmas every year recently, until this year. I was sorry in a way that we didn't manage to go this year, especially since Black Ship Sky had a concert that I would like to have gone to. I'm still pretty unhappy with Disney, though, so I wasn't quite ready to go back there yet. We will be going back later this spring for The Kidd's band trip. I am looking forward to going back to the parks but I still intend to boycott Downtown Disney. There's nothing there that I care about anymore, and they won't see another dime from me unless they bring back the Adventurers Club.

I didn't even watch the Disney Christmas Parade this year, and I don't think I've ever missed that unless I was actually at Disney World. I still remember the year we went to the taping of the parade and it actually snowed. And I really mean snow, not the "snow" that falls during the Christmas Party. It wasn't much snow, and it wasn't great huge fluffy snowflakes, but it was definitely frozen precipitation. I don't think it did it during the parade, but it snowed the day before or after. And I remember that we swam anyway, in the pool at Caribbean Beach that had a slide we loved. Somehow we managed not to catch pneumonia.

There was one other small change this year - we hardly gave any gifts that were from Disney World, and usually everyone gets something from there. I did give Becky and Frank a couple of Disney pins, but I couldn't help that. I am completely addicted to the silly things and I always try to get other people hooked on them, too. Other than that, though, we didn't buy any gifts at Disney World this year and that will probably be the norm from now on. I don't feel the same loyalty to the brand that I used to, for some reason.

I did get a few Disney gifts, though. Becky and Frank spent Christmas at Disneyland, and they brought us some pins. They also found me the neatest things . . . some of my favorite Disney pins (other than my "Kungaloosh" one, which is by far my favorite!) are the "Vinylmation" ones. They came in a box so you couldn't tell which ones you were getting, which automatically made me want them - I love grab bags! They were Mickey shaped pins with funny designs on them - like the Yeti, Figment, Kermit, or the Monorail (or several others). At Disneyland, they now have little Mickey shaped vinyl figures in the same patterns as the pins. They brought me a couple of those and I love them. In a way, I am hoping they won't carry them at Disney World. I already know I will break down and buy some pins when we go this Spring, and if they have those figures I'll have to buy those too.

(A note about the Disney pins - I am not one of those crazy pin traders who spends thousands of dollars and drags around a suitcase full of pins to trade! I buy the ones I really like and keep them or give them as gifts. I love the level of detail on all the pins . . .they make perfect souvenirs.)

And I guess I am indirectly supporting Disney with one of my birthday presents, too. I had to wait until after Christmas to get him, but I might be ordering him later today. I am so excited about him - he's something I've always wanted but didn't think I could get. I couldn't get him before Christmas because part of what I wanted was out of stock, but now that it's back in stock I'm going to hurry and get him. He's a Muppet! I've always wanted my very own Muppet and now FAO Schwarz has a Muppet Whatnot Workshop where you can design your own Muppet. I know exactly what mine will look like. His name is (or will be, once they build him) Myron. He just looks like a Myron. (No, I don't know any Myrons. I don't know if I've actually ever seen a Myron. But I know what one would look like, and my Muppet looks just like that.) I'll post pictures when he gets here.

We were so busy enjoying ourselves over Christmas that we didn't keep up with everything we needed to do, so I have quite a bit I need to be doing right now. First thing, I suppose I ought to take down the Christmas tree. It's sort of a shame we didn't stick to just using our Charley Brown tree, because it is much easier to take down and pack away. Instead I have to wrangle a tree that's larger than I am and deal with way too many ornaments . . . most of which have something to do with Disney. Maybe our Christmas wasn't quite as Disney-free as I thought it would be!

50 Random Things

2008-12-12T12:33:00.000-06:00

My friend Carla posted this on another site, and since I am trying to put off all the things I need to do today I thought I would answer the questions here.

1. Do you like cheese? I love cheese! Especially Dubliner Irish Cheddar or Aged Gruyere.
2. Have you ever smoked? No. Smoke gives me a terrible headache.
3. Do you own a gun? No - I don't like guns.
4. Do you like listening to Christmas music? I love listening to Christmas music.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? I'm always a nervous wreck before doctor's appointments.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I like Kosher hot dogs. I will eat reguar hot dogs as long as I don't think about what's in them.
7. Favorite Christmas song? "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Hot tea, usually PG Tips or English Breakfast Tea
9. Can you do push ups? Not very many.
10. Who is your favorite Grey's Anatomy Character? McDreamy, of course (I always picture him doing the African Anteater Dance, though.)

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring, my Winged Heart ring, or a locket that was my grandmother's.
12. Favorite hobby? Playing video games or reading
13. Do you eat "exotic" foods? Well, I like lots of things like sushi and Thai food, but I don't like "weird" things like escargot or bugs - although chocolate covered crickets do taste almost exactly like Kit Kats.
14. Do you have A.D.D.? No.
15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I'm not sure . . . maybe the fact that I'm always second guessing myself. No, wait - umm, I'm not sure.

16. Middle Name? Elizabeth
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I wish it had snowed here last night. I need to be cleaning. I ought to go shopping later (but I don't want to).
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Milk, bread, and Plum Honey Lavender yogurt.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, tea, milk.

20. Current worry right now? Whether I will finish everthing I need to before my family visits on Monday. I don't think I will.

21. Current hate? The way time crawls when you want it to hurry yet flies by when you don't want it to.
22. Favorite place to be? Well I would have said the Adventurers Club, but since it isn't an option now I will just say either home or Orlando.
23. How did you bring in the New Year? Watching a movie marathon with Caradorn.
24. Where would you like to go? Right now, Orlando. Eventually - lots of places, especially Ireland and Japan.
25. Name three people who will complete this? I have no idea.

26. Do you own flip flops? Yes, for the beach, but I never wear them and keep losing them.
27. What shirt are you wearing? A Snoopy T-shirt that says "Girls Love Bad Boys"
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No.
29. Can you whistle? Yes, but I can't do that neat loud whistle with my fingers.
30. Favorite color? Red

31. Would you be a pirate? I am a pirate!
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Usually either songs from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Once More With Feeling" musical or from "Wicked". (Very badly, of course)
33. Favorite girl's name? I don't think I have one. I like mine, though.
34. Favorite boy's name? The Kidd's name, of course.
35. What's in your pocket right now? My cell phone.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? Something on the "Epic Fail" website.
37. Best bed sheets as a child? Kermit the Frog sheets.
38. Worst injury you've ever had? I chipped a bone in my wrist while juggling. I've been lucky so far!
39. Do you love where you live? I really like it, but I don't think I love it.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 5

41. Who is your loudest friend? Loudest . . . that would have to be Frank!
42. How many dogs do you have? Two
43. Does someone have a crush on you? I hope Caradorn does.
45. What is your favorite book? Lots of favorites - too many to list.

46. What is your favorite candy? Toffee Crisp bars or Kinder Eggs.
47. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song? Sadly, yes.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Spamalot, and "The Parting Glass" (an Irish folk song).
49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Channel surfing while trying to sleep.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I wondered if it had snowed. It hadn't. : (

I don't feel any older

2008-12-10T12:34:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was my birthday. I've hit that age where I can now officially say I'm in my mid thirties. I guess I should be unhappy about it, but I don't feel any older. Of course, I already felt pretty old so that's a good thing. Well, I feel old physically. Mentally, not so much. Mentally I'm still just as immature as ever. Which is also a good thing, I think!

My friend Jack () sent me the nicest birthday wish on that other social networking site - he said he hoped my birthday consisted of nothing but Animal Crossing and Adventurers Club memories. Obviously he knows me pretty well, since those are two of my favorite things! And in fact I did end up playing Animal Crossing for quite a while yesterday. One of my animal neighbors on the game baked a cake for my character, and everyone else sent cards or gifts. Today it's snowing on the game, and fishing is always good when it snows, so I will have to play more tonight.

As for the Adventurers Club - I did think about it quite a bit yesterday. I was at Walt Disney World for my last three birthdays, and would have been there again this year if they hadn't closed the Club. Last year, we got to see Snoopy in 'It's a Wonderful Life' on the day before my birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing him in another role as soon as possible. And it was around this time last year that I finally realized how hilarious Blondie's version of Hathaway Browne really was. He sang part of 'That's Amore' to me at the Hoopla on my birthday and I still think of him every time I hear that song. So even though I missed the Club this year, I did enjoy the memories. And who knows - maybe next year I'll be able to see some of the Adventurers performing again on my birthday. Maybe there will even be a new Adventurers Club for me to enjoy.

All in all, yesterday was a very good day. Caradorn and I spent the day together. We played some video games, did some Christmas shopping and decorated a bit more for Christmas, and he even baked me some of his famous, award winning Pumpkin Bread for breakfast! We didn't do everything we had planned - the birthday Kungaloosh will have to wait till the weekend - but we still had fun.

Today, it's back to the usual grind. I've been so busy lately, and that won't get better for at least another week. My grandfather will be visiting my home for the very first time next wek and I want to finish a bunch of projects around he house before he gets here. Plus there are presents to wrap - and buy! - and decorating to finish. Also, I'm in a closed beta on the PS3 and I want to spend a little time on there today because it goes to open beta tomorrow and I'm sure it will be mobbed. And there are lots of other things I need to do, as well - it seems like everything is going on at once. But that's okay. At least I will feel like I really accomplished something if I finish everything I need to do.

And if I finish everything soon, then I can sit back and enjoy my belated birthday Kungaloosh this weekend. And given that it's supposed to finally get cold, maybe I can snuggle up in the new Snoopy sweatshirt that Caradorn got me and watch Christmas specials and enjoy the snow they're saying we might get. That would be a great belated birthday gift!

Animal Crossing

2008-11-25T12:35:00.000-06:00

I've not been online much lately because I've been spending much of my free time playing Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii. If you played either Animal Crossing for the gamecube or for the DS then you know what to expect from the Wii version. If you have not played it before, it probably doesn't sound like the sort of game that would appeal to adults. In the Animal Crossing games, you play as a character that moves to a town inhabited by animals. There's no real end goal to the game, except those that you set for yourself. There are lots of fish and bugs to catch, a museum to stock, and errands to run. Plus hundreds of items to collect and lots of neighbors and special visitors to interact with and befriend. It sounds like a game for children, but it is strangely addictive.

One of the best things about the game is that things happen in real time. After I post this I'll get back to Krakatoa (our town on the game; you name your town yourself) so that my character, Skurvy, can do some fishing. I want to sell a few more fish tonight before the town store closes. Plus, one of our villagers thinks he lost his keys in the river and needs me to find them so he can get back into his house. On Thursday afternoon we'll be fighting over the Wii so we all have the chance to steal utensils to give to a nervous turkey in exchange for furniture. (We will try to each collect the whole set, but whatever pieces we don't get Thursday we can't get until next Thanksgiving!)

I had never even considered getting the Gamecube version until my sister and brother in law gave it to us for Christmas a few years ago. We weren't too sure about it but tried playing it anyway, and then we played it every day for a year. We bought the Wii the day it came out just so we'd be sure to have one when Animal Crossing Wii finally was released. We've really enjoyed this one so far, and the addition of Wii Speak is a nice touch. Now when friends visit our town to fish or deliver fruit we can talk instead of having to type at each other.

This is just one of those games that can't be adequately described - you really have to play it to understand the appeal. Be warned, though - if you do play you may also become addicted.

(For any of you that are playing - Send me your friend codes! Our native fruit is Pears, though we now have a few orange, peach, and apple trees. So far our cherry trees keep dying and we don't have coconuts, though I might be getting a couple later this evening.)

Have a good Thanksgiving

2008-11-20T12:35:00.000-06:00

This time of year always makes me nostalgic. This year, especially, I find myself thinking of old friends - partly because I'm starting to reconnect with some of them thanks to Myspace and Facebook. I had lost track of many of my friends from high school and college, and I'm glad to be getting back in touch with them again. (That means you, Jack!! )

One friend that I always think of at this time every year is Fred. In addition to being one of my best friends during high school and even during college, Fred was also my first boyfriend. We dated off and on throughout high school. In college we each moved on to other serious relationships but we stayed close friends. It was Fred who encouraged me to date Caradorn after I found out that Caradorn was divorced - I had always said I wouldn't get involved with someone who had been married, but Fred saw that I loved Caradorn and convinced me to give the relationship a chance.

I thought that Fred and I would be friends for the rest of our lives.

I still consider him a friend, but we don't talk anymore. We haven't for years. Fred's wife, Ann, doesn't like me . . . but of course I don't really blame her. As much as I like to say that Caradorn should keep in touch with all his old friends, I would probably be uncomfortable if he still had a close friendship with one of his exes. Still, if Fred and I had wanted to be together we wouldn't have been dating other people, so I hoped that eventually Ann would accept my presence in Fred's life. I hoped that eventually Ann and I would become friends. I hoped that Fred would refuse to cut me out of his life if Ann made him choose between us. I chose to end a relationship with a guy who objected to my friendships with Fred and a few other guys, and hoped that Fred would value our friendship enough to do the same if necessary.

And of course I was to blame, too - the nail in the coffin of our friendship, I think, was the fact that I didn't tell him I was getting married until after the fact. He knew I was engaged, but I didn't tell him when the wedding was because we were only having family there . . . he found out that Caradorn and I were married from a classmate that went to Caradorn's church. Not the right way for a friend to hear that kind of news!

It's been years since we had any contact, though I do see his parents occasionally. We were always better friends than "significant others" and I often wish we had never dated, because then maybe we would still be friends today. This time of year I always sort of wish that we could revive our friendship again. After all, Thanksgiving saved our relationship once before.

We had a volatile relationship in high school. We were constantly arguing and breaking up, only to get right back together again. After a particularly ugly breakup, we didn't speak for quite a while. I thought he owed me an apology and he thought I owed him one and neither of us would bend. It was just before Thanksgiving vacation, and I was lugging my stuff out of the band room after school, when we passed in the parking lot. And even though I am horribly stubborn most of the time, I just couldn't take the silence between us any longer and I missed him terribly and so as I passed him I said "Have a good Thanksgiving".

It wasn't much but apparently that was enough, because he called me a few days later and we were best friends - and dating - again. We still had our arguments, and of course we ended up breaking up for good, but for the most part we stayed friends for years after that.

It's been years since we spoke last, and I do still think of him. When I heard that the Ventures had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame my first thought was that I had to tell Fred - they were one of his favorite groups. Every time I go see Aerosmith I think of him, because we used to go see them together. And every year when I hang my Snoopy ornaments on the tree I am reminded that he gave me my first one because I used to call him "Snoopy".

Caradorn only knew Fred for a little while, but he liked him. I think they would be good friends now if Fred and I had stayed friends. When I am reminded of him I often wonder if things would be different now if we had never dated. I would gladly give up having dated him if it meant we could have kept our friendship. I would much rather still have him as a friend.

So Fred - if you're out there. . . I hope you and your family are well, and happy. I hope that your life so far has turned out the way you wanted it to.

And I hope you have a good Thanksgiving.

The Bermuda Triangle of Socks

2008-11-13T12:36:00.000-06:00

I do not understand where all the socks in this house go. The Kidd has a band concert tonight and has to wear black socks, and they are gone. All socks seems to disappear around here. I know it isn't the washer or dryer eating them, because I saw the socks in question just the other day. They were with the other clean clothes, and I remember setting them with The Kidd's other clothes to put away. Now they are gone.

Half of my socks have also vanished. The ones I can find are usually mismatched, which is especially odd because I normally buy the same kind and yet they somehow seem to have been replaced by socks that are different but similar.

Caradorn doesn't seem to be losing his but he has way more than we do so maybe he just doesn't realize that he has fewer than before.

Maybe one of the animals is dragging them away somewhere and someday we'll find a giant nest of socks hidden behind some piece of furniture. Darth does constantly attempt to drag blankets away somewhere, and socks are much easier to carry off, so maybe I need to keep a better eye on him.

Now I have to go buy more black socks before tonight, and I have too many other things to do! I have to find and charge the video camera, clean the guest room since my parents will be visiting, make the kitchen look a little less like it should be condemned . . . plus so many other things that there is no hope that I will finish it all. These socks may be the last straw- I might have some kind of breakdown and spend the rest of my life just staring blankly and muttering about missing socks. Either that or I'll start carrying them with me everywhere so they can't wander off. Or something. I'll figure it out tonight, if I make it through the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

Accentuate the Positive

2008-11-12T12:37:00.000-06:00

The XM channel switch happened at a minute before midnight (eastern time). It was sad listening to the channels that were being killed off - they were all playing songs about endings - "Closing Time", "Last Dance", "My Heart Will Go On", "So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday", "Sing Me to Heaven" . . .you get the idea. Except for the few that were angry, and they were sort of funny (in a sad way), especially the one that played "How to kill a Radio Consultant".

I got concerned for a second when the 40s went silent, but then it came back. The first song they played after the switch was "Accentuate the Positive". :) Sirius didn't have a comparable channel, so I am really hoping that they will keep channel 4 the same as it has been. Most of the other merging channels are switching to Sirius DJs and playlists. It's hard to tell, so far, if the 40's on 4 will change much, but I'll be listening often so hopefully I'll get an idea soon of whether it's changed. They are already doing the "XM/Sirius" station identifications instead of just XM. I know lots of DJs and programming people were let go, which I hate. I just hope the music on the channels I like doesn't suffer.

Cinemagic changed from channel 27 to 76. The screen says that 76 is indeed Cinemagic, but apparently it's off the air right now. I hope that's sorted out by morning. I'm anxious to hear if it still sounds like Cinemagic! (ETA- No Cinamagic until January 2! They're using the bandwidth for a Christmas channel. I'll have to wait till then to see how it's changed.)

The first Christmas channel, Holly, has started. I do love Christmas music but I won't listen to it till Thanksgiving. I am glad they brought it back. There will be several other Christmas channels starting soon, and I am looking forward to seeing if they bring back all of the ones that they had last year. There was one that mostly had weird/humorous Christmas songs, and I heard a couple of songs from the Adventurers Club on there last year, so I am especially hoping that one returns.

There are a few new channels available now that I am interested in (like "Radio Margaritaville" and "Siriusly Sinatra"), but overall I much would rather have XM back instead of XM/Sirius. Still, I'll give it a chance. If the channels I love have changed too much then I will just cancel my subscription. I hope it doesn't come to that, though. Even though I love my Ipod I listen to XM most of the time. I always find new songs to download to my Ipod by listening to it, and I would hate to lose that.

They just did a "Savoy Express" identification on the 40s channel, which makes me feel better. . . it's a really good sign - I was afraid they would have stopped calling it that. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll have a better feel for whether it's still the same channel I love. I hope it is!

Where I get my daily dose of humor

2008-11-11T12:38:00.000-06:00

There are a few sites that I check daily when I get online. I discovered a couple of them fairly recently and I've enjoyed them, so I thought I would share. So here are a few of my daily reads:

Cake Wrecks- http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ - A site that shows what happens when cakes go horribly wrong. Some of them aren't that bad, but the ones that are more than make up for it!

I Can Has Cheezburger - http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - Lolcats and other funny pictures.

Failblog - http://failblog.org/ - Pictures of epic fails.

Engrish - http://www.engrish.com/ - Unfortunate (and sometimes bizarre) translations.

Star light, star bright. . .

2008-11-10T12:39:00.000-06:00

I love looking at the stars, but I am not great at identifying most constellations. There is one that I can almost always find, though. That was a bad thing, years ago, but now I always have to smile when I see "my" constellation.

I am very interested in outer space in general. That's a good thing, living here in Rocket City - there's a big emphasis on space here. Occasionally they will announce something on our news like a meteor shower, or a time the International Space Station will be visible, and so we'll run outside to peer into the sky to try to see whatever it is. I recently discovered a neat site that forecasts space weather, and I find it completely fascinating.

We can see the stars fairly well from our yard. Certainly much better than you can in most larger cities. We were a bit spoiled by living in Tucson, though. There is a fairly major observatory on a mountain overlooking Tucson, and so the entire city kept it's lights dim at night. It was sort of shocking at first - it seems so dark there. We did eventually get used to it, and we loved being able to see the stars so clearly. During the summer they would set up a telescope at the Desert Museum and we enjoyed being able to see the rings of Saturn and other details much more clearly than we ever could when we were growing up in Tennessee. We have a telescope now, though we rarely use it. I would like to start using it more often - I think The Kidd would really enjoy it.

When I was growing up, the only constellations I really knew about were the Big and Little Dippers. When I got to high school I learned more about the different constellations in physics class, and at the end of the unit about outer space we had to do a photography project. I still remember the assignment. To get full credit, we had to work with a partner to take pictures of the following: The circumpolar constellations, the moon rising, and any ten constellations (which we had to identify).

It was freezing the night that my then-boyfriend Fred and I set out to take all of the pictures we needed. We had to wait for a clear night, of course, and in Tennessee the clearest nights are always the coldest. We had an old camera that my dad had picked up while he was in Vietnam - we couldn't use just any camera, because we had to be able to control the shutter speed. We set the camera up on a tripod and tried to use the attachment that allowed us to take pictures without shaking the camera - but it promptly broke. We spent what seemed like forever soldering it back together and then started taking our pictures.

We did the moon first - we had to take multiple exposures in the same frame to show the moon rising over the course of the evening. Next we did the circumpolar constellations. Finally we started taking pictures of every constellation we could see. We were freaking out by this time, because it had gotten really late and we had reserved the darkroom for the next day so we had to finish the project, no matter what. By the end we were frantically taking random pictures of the sky. We were sure that between all of the pictures we had taken we would easily have far more than ten good shots of different constellations that we could identify.

The next day we went to the darkroom to develop our pictures. Neither of us had ever used a darkroom before and I was horribly afraid that we would somehow ruin our film, but it went surprisingly well. We had planned to only develop the pictures we needed for the assignment but we ended up doing them all. When the picture were finally ready we went home to identify them and choose the ones to turn in. The moon picture turned out great, and so did the one of the Circumpolar Constellations circling just above the horizon. We also had several great shots of Fred's dog, Foxxy. Plus one picture of the two of us that I didn't even remember taking and one picture of Fred's dad.

All the rest were constellations. We identified the first one quickly - it was Cassiopeia. The next one was, too. The third one was harder to figure out - until we turned it sideways and realized it was also Cassiopeia. I still remember taking the pictures . . . we took pictures in every direction, of every part of the sky we could see. I still can't understand how it happened, but every single constellation picture was of Cassiopeia. We didn't get one picture of any other constellation except the ones in the shot of the Circumpolar Constellations, and since that picture was of them in motion it was worthless as a specific constellation shot.

Fortunately we weren't the only ones who had that problem, though we were the only people who got Cassiopeia. There was a booming black market trade in pictures at school the next day. Thanks to lots of trades we ended up with all the pictures we needed, and if our instructor ever noticed that everyone seemed to have the same pictures of some of the constellations she never said anything about it.

These days the only constellation that I can always find and identify is Cassiopeia. If she's visible at all, I see her almost as soon as I step outside. It irritated me at first that I couldn't seem to remember all the other constellations. Even the ones I can identify on paper or in pictures I can't always find in the sky, but I know that I can almost always count on seeing Cassiopeia if I look up into the night sky.

No Matter Who Wins Today

2008-11-04T10:44:00.000-06:00

I voted this morning. I expected to have to spend a long time in line, but even though there were long lines at our polling place we did not have to wait long. We were in and out of there in fifteen minutes. Now we just have to wait to hear the results. I'm interested in several of the local races, but of course I am most anxious to see who will be our next President.

This election has been far uglier than I have ever seen before. People have been downright hateful about the candidate that they don't support - and about the people who do support that candidate. There have been cries of racism, sexism, and lots of other "-isms". Some people have been saying that they'll be glad when it's all over tomorrow. I think that's naive. I think there's a good chance that things will get even uglier before they finally get better. The aftermath of the last two elections was prety horrible, and given the hideous lead-up to this one I think it's a safe bet that the aftermath of this one will be even worse. There will be gloating and complaining, and insults will fly. It will be quite a while before people are willing to put all this behind them and unite as one nation again.

I hope that the candidate that I chose to vote for will be our next President, but I realize that he might not be. Regardless of who wins, we will have a new President in January. I may or may not agree with him, I may or may not believe he was a good choice, but I will respect the fact that he holds the highest office in this country. If I don't agree with his politics then I will work harder to see that his opponent is elected in 2012. If he does or says things that I disagree with while he is in office I will feel free to express my opinion about that. I will argue the issues, but I will not insult the person himself. I may not like or respect the person who is elected today, but I have a great repect for the office of President of the United States. I think whoever holds that position deserves to be treated with respect while he is in office. If you hope that he is defeated in the next election, if you disagree vehemently with his politics, even if you want to see him impeached, he still deserves to be treated with the respect that is due the office. Disagree with him all you want, as vocally as you want, but be polite about it.

Tomorrow, if my candidate is not the winner, I will respect the fact that a large part of this country wanted his opponent to be our next President. I will disagree with their choice, but I will still respect it. I may argue the issues with them over then next four years, but I will not insult them personally. I will not insult the man they selected to lead our nation, though I may argue against the choices he makes.

I hope if my candidate is the victor that the supporters of his opponent will show me, and my candidate, the same respect. I hope that they will respect my choice just as I will respect theirs. Regardless of the outcome tonight, I hope that we can unite as one nation in January as our new President is sworn into office.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that

2008-11-03T12:40:00.000-06:00

On Friday Caradorn sent me a text that said "Joe Perry came out today." I just sat there looking at the phone trying to make the words make sense. First I thought maybe I was thinking of the wrong Joe Perry, that there was some other Joe Perry somewhere that I ought to have heard of that would have come out.

Finally I decided that he must actually be talking about the Joe Perry. I love Aerosmith - I go see them in concert every chance I get. I turn into a silly fangirl when they first come out on stage, jumping up and down and squealing. It's really sad, but I'm sure they're used to that sort of thing.

Other celebrities I like have come out before, and it doesn't really matter to me. Unless it's someone I'm actually romantically interested in I figure it doesn't matter who else they'd be interested in. So when Neil Patrick Harris and T. R. Knight came out I didn't consider it big news. I wasn't terribly surprised about either of them, though.

Joe Perry, on the other hand, is another story. I kept looking at the text and trying to figure out how I could have had no idea that he was gay. I just didn't believe it at all.

Finally I got the next text from Caradorn, which said " . . . in support of John McCain."

I found that almost as shocking as the first text. Aren't all those rocker types supposed to be all liberal? But at least he's still interested in girls, so the crush I had on him years ago wasn't a completely lost cause.

I'm somewhat relieved. Now I can still threaten to run off with Joe Perry someday if I catch Caradorn eyeing some redhead. :)

Little Big Planet

2008-10-22T17:44:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that I have not been posting much for the last few days. I've been busy. We got the call Friday night that our copy of Little Big Planet would be at Gamestop on Saturday. So it was early! Well, really it was late, because it didn't come out on Oct. 21 as it was supposed to. (Boo!) But it came out before Oct. 27, which was the new date. (Yay!) So I'm not sure whether I'm still irritated that they delayed it or impressed that they replaced the original disks so quickly. Maybe both. Either way, we have the game now and we love it!

Caradorn, The Kidd and I played for around 8 hours on Saturday and another 8 hours on Sunday. The only reason we didn't play more was that real life kept interfering. (Grumble, grumble.) The controls are easy and intuitive, the levels are challenging but not impossible, the Sackboys are adorable, the soundtrack is catchy . . . so far I have no complaints. None of us have even tried to get online yet, which is just as well because they turned the servers on yesterday and back off today - lots of lags and glitches, apparently, but Story Mode should keep us occupied for quite a while. We also have not tried to design any of our own levels yet, but I'm coming up with lots of ideas and I'll probably start doing that soon.

I've watched videos of other player created levels on youtube and some of them look almost as good as the Media Molecule created levels. This game has the potential to last a loooooooooooooong time with all of the user generated content that will be shared. The story mode is really only a small part of the game, but it's a really good small part so far. LBP definitely gets my vote for Game of the Year at this point. . . it has completely lived up to all the hype and I feel like we've barely scratched the surface so far.

I'm still looking forward to Animal Crossing, which comes out in a little over two weeks. I don't know what I'm going to do when it gets here, though - I don't have enough time for all these games and real life. Maybe I'll just go without sleep for a while to buy myself more gaming hours.

Little Big Delay

2008-10-21T17:45:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest reasons that we got our PS3 was so we could play Little Big Planet as soon as it was released. As soon as we heard about it we knew we would buy it. It looks like it's a great game. It is a four player co-op game (or can be, at least - it can also be competitive) and it's hard to find games that we can all cooperate on. Plus, it's such a cute game, which apparently is off-putting to some but I love things that are cute. (I don't love obnoxiously over-the-top cute and sickeningly sweet, but I do love cute.)

It has already won awards, and the reviews so far have been great: "A must own game", "a five out of five", "the reason to buy a PS3". Other than a few small critiques of the controls I haven't really heard any complaints yet. Everyone who was chosen for the beta fell in love with the game.

For months we have been counting down to today. And finally the day is here! But Little Big Planet is not.

I was doing the rounds of all the sites I read on Friday when I saw the headlines announcing that Little Big Planet would be delayed in Europe. A few minutes later the other reports began to trickle in. Little Planet was delayed globally, and it was all because of two lines of lyrics in the backgound music of one of the stages. The Singing Safari stage, to be specific. The lyrics aren't even in English, and I think most people wouldn't even realize that they were actually words. Someone did, though, and more importantly he realized that they were actually two lines from the Qur'an. Apparently this is a very bad thing. The lyrics themselves aren't particularly offensive, though they don't really fit the game all that well.

At the 18th second of the level, the line says "Every soul shall have the taste of death". At second 27, the line is "All that is on earth will perish". Not exactly cheery, but certainly unoffensive. And not exactly a unique concept, either - the same basic idea can be found in many other songs, as well as other books and movies. Though I don't know for sure, I would be shocked if the same concept didn't also appear in most other religious texts.

Muslims are supposedly offended by this because the Qur'an is their holy text and shouldn't be set to music or included as part of a game. I say supposedly because some people are saying that Muslims themselves often set lines of the text to music. So some Muslims are offended, and Sony was afraid that more would be so they recalled all copies of the game - which were already waiting at the stores for the release this week - and they are releasing new copies starting next week.

I have two problems with this.

The first is that a recall was completely unnecessary. Media Molecule, who made the game, had a Day 0 patch ready before the recall was announced. They could have released the patch when the game servers went live and required everyone to download it. Sony found that solution to be unacceptable because not everyone has internet access, though they could easily have sent replacement disks to the 2 people who have PS3s and don't have access to Playstation Network.

The other problem I have with this is more complicated. I am bothered by the fact that Sony was so quick to delay the game to avoid offending Muslims. It's not the fact that they are changing the game that bothers me. Certainly if people are offended by such an inconsequential part of the game then changing it makes sense. I believe that the only reason they want to destroy all of the affected disks is because those that are offended are Muslims. I think that a few extremists have made people afraid to offend Muslims. There are extremists in almost every group, and right now Muslim extremists are getting lots of press. Because of this, it seems to me that a double standard has developed. Companies who don't care if they offend most groups will fall all over themselves to avoid offending Muslims.

Ideally, no one would be ever be offended, but that's really not possible. People can be offended by almost anything, and in fact it seems some people look for reasons to take offense to everything. The problem is that most companies, especially those that make video games, don't seem to care if they offend most groups - as long as Muslims are not offended. I've seen games that are offensive to almost everyone - Christians and Jews, Gay and Straight, Black and White - but not Muslims. I think it should be all or nothing. Once you put one group off limits, then offending everyone else seems wrong to me.

It's sort of like South Park. Everything they do on that show is offensive to someone, but the whole thing is so over the top, and they are such "equal opportunity offenders", that it is funny to me. If they were to put one group off limits then the rest of the show would seem far more offensive.

And again, the background music of this one stage of the game is not a crucial part of the game. I don't mind a bit that they are changing it. I just think they should have used the Day 0 patch rather than issuing a recall.

I still intend to buy Little Big Planet, of course. I'm impressed that there will supposedly only be a one week delay before we can get our copy. I'm frustrated and irritated that there is a delay at all, though. The patch that Media Molecule made would have solved the problem much more quickly and efficiently. And I can't help but feel that they would not have delayed the game if I had been offended because they had included something from my religion. But maybe I'm just being cynical. I hope they would have gone to all this trouble and expense if it had been a Christian or a Jew that was offended because quotes from the Bible or Torah had inadvertently been included.

And I hope that the delay will really only be a week, because I'm anxious to start building my own Adventurers Club themed levels!

Vote for Blondie!

2008-10-17T17:46:00.000-05:00

The amazingly talented Blondie is asking his fans for help. He and his wife have created a video that is now in the top ten of the "High Five on the High Seas" contest. The winner gets to cruise with the Barenaked Ladies and Gaelic Storm, among other bands. I will be terribly jealous if they win but I will also be quite happy for them.

If you are so inclined, please check out the video . . . and then cast a vote for them! You can vote daily until Oct. 24, so vote often! He's given all of us Adventurers so many hours of entertainment and laughter, and this is our chance to return the favor. The video can be found at the following link. It is the one entitled "1st Annual Epcot International FIVE and Wine Festival" by Karl O. The voting does require a quick registration, but Karl has assured us that they will not be sending any spam.

Thanks, and Kungaloosh!

http://highfiveonthehighseas. shipsanddip. com

I feel like such a fraud

2008-10-15T17:48:00.000-05:00

I've said before that I am a bit of a geek, but I have some things to confess. Sadly, they might take my "Geek" title away from me after I admit these things.

I don't like comic books and I won't watch "Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan".

There. I've said it. I feel so much better now!

Before you discount me completely and consider me a total non-geek, let me explain. First, the comic book thing. I had a bit of a scare yesterday when we passed our local comic book shop and I saw a "For Lease" sign out front. It turns out that another store in that strip mall has closed, but The Deep (our comic book store) is still open. It got me to thinking, though, that I very rarely buy or read comic books. There are a few that I collect but not that many. Overall, comic books really irritate me. It's because I read quite fast - too fast, really; I read the last Harry Potter book in under 6 hours and that was with breaks to grab more kleenex (there were some sad parts) and snacks. When I read a comic book I finish it in only a few minutes and then I have to wait a month to find out what happens next. I hate that! I would much rather wait until the graphic novel comes out and read the whole storyline at once. Or at least wait and read all of the comics in that storyline in one sitting. So it's very rare that you'll see me sit down to read a comic book, though I do enjoy the stories. I don't like all the different storylines that go on, though - I do much prefer it when there is one accepted universe for a story rather than the multiple (and often conflicting) storylines in the comic universes.

[Here is where I should admit another shameful secret - I don't like to start to read a long ongoing series of books until it's finished. (The exception being the Harry Potter books.) That started when Stephen King was hit by a car before finishing the "Dark Tower" series. What if he had died?! We would never know how it was supposed to end! As a result I refused to read "The Wheel of Time" series even though Caradorn wants me to. Finally I was about ready to go on and start them anyway but I held off a little longer. And you know what happened? Robert Jordan died, that's what happened! I stilll haven't read the series and I might not. Supposedly he left instructions and someone else is going to finish the story. If they ever do, then I'll read the books.]

I do love Star Trek. I willl admit to not being a real Trekkie - I can't name all of the episodes and the dates they aired, and "DS9" is my favorite of the Trek shows. (Followed by Next Gen, then Voyager, then the original, then Enterprise.) I like the TV shows more than the movies, but I do enjoy most of the movies. I'm really excited about "Star Trek: Nemesis". I do admit to finding the whole Save the Whales (Collect the whole set!) thing cheesy, but I'll still watch the movie. I refuse to watch "Wrath of Khan" ever. You can't make me watch it. I hate it. I do have a good reason, though. When I was younger my dad used to take me to see the Star Trek and Star Wars movies in the theaters and so when "Wrath of Khan" came out we went to see it. The scene with the earwigs absolutely terrified me, and it didn't help that my ear was hurting a little bit. By the time I went to bed that night after watching the movie my ear was really hurting and I had nightmares all night that there was an earwig burrowing into my ear. When I woke up the next morning I was even more terrified because my ear hurt really badly and my pillow had a big wet spot on it. I was convinced that there really was an earwig eating my brain. My mom took me to the doctor and it turned out that I had an ear infection and my eardrum had ruptured. Talk about bad timing! I still feel sick even thinking about the movie and I just can't bring myself to watch it. The few times I've stumbled across it on television I almost ran out of the room and my ears started hurting. I'm sure it's a great movie but I don't think there's any way I will ever watch it again.

In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should add that I like "Star Wars" better than "Star Trek", though I didn't love the newer trilogy. And I do think the Ewoks are cute (I'm sorry! They're just so fuzzy and adorable!) but I hate Jar Jar Binks, so that should help a little bit.

I hope you don't think too badly of me because of these shortcomings. I promise I usually embrace all other things geeky. Hopefully they won't kick me out of geekdom just because I finally admitted my failings to the world!

Underneath the moon in Florida

2008-10-11T17:49:00.000-05:00

We're still here at the beach and are heading out for a walk in a few minutes but since they just fixed the router here in our condo I thought I'd post a quick update.

Did you know there's such a thing as a Mole Crab? I've seen their shells often but today we finally saw a live one. It looks like a cross between a horseshoe crab and a lobster, and it's a tannish white color. Apparently some of them are bioluminescent, but it was light when we saw the one earlier so I don't know if the ones here are or not. Maybe we'll dig one up while we are walking and find out.

Also, did you know that there are octopi that live along the Gulf coast? I didn't, but one of the wives from the work group caught one today. I was about to start marching up and down the beach with a "Free the cephalopod" sign, because I was afraid they were going to hurt it, but it escaped.

A fish adopted us today and followed us around for a while. It stayed right by my shoulder for a long time, and I felt bad when we went back up on the shore. Hopefully he found someone else to keep him company.

I had forgotten how much more active the dolphins are on this part of the beach. On our vacations we stay further down the beach and only see the dolphins in the early morning and the early evening. On the island where we stay for work trips (which is where we are now) we see them all day. I sit on my bed and drink tea every morning and look out the glass doors and watch the dolphins jumping. I wish I could do that every day but we don't have too many dolphins in Rocket City, which is a shame. I've gotten a few pictures of them but no good ones yet - maybe tomorrow.

No Gypsy Moth sightings yet, though we have seen some F-15s. I've been hoping to see some Warthogs but we rarely see those here. We do sometimes see the Blue Angels, but none yet this time. We have seen lots of other interesting planes, though.

I saw some shooting stars the first night, so of course I had to make some wishes. They haven't come true yet but of course they will (isn't that a requirement of wishes made on shooting stars?) so I'll just have to be patient. I think I even saw one breaking up fairly close to us (a meteor, not a wish), though I'm not sure - all the others I've seen have been a brilliant greenish yellow, and the thing I saw the other night was a silvery blue. It was pretty, whatever it was. Hopefully we'll see more tonight.

Time to go walk. I wish I could go swim - the water is beautiful with the moon reflecting on it. The waves look like liquid silver. I don't swim in the gulf after dark anymore, though. I haven't since the unfortunate Jellyfish Across the Eyelids Incident. I only swim in the gulf when it's light enough to see the jellyfish. I don't ever want to dive into one again! Fortunately, unless it's storming, the water here is clear enough to see everything.

I'll let you know if we see any bioluminescent mole crabs!

It's still Florida - just a different part

2008-10-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to be at Disney World right now. We had initially planned to go there not once but twice this month. Once for a family vacation during fall break and once for an Adults only trip at the end of the month for the Tower of Terror 13K.

Obviously we are not there after all. Once they announced the closure of the Adventurers Club we decided not to renew our premium annual passes. We also decided not to go back again until The Kidd's band trip in the spring. Even though I don't have any desire to stay in a Disney owned hotel again any time soon, and even though I don't want to set foot into the shops and restaurants at Downtown Disney again, I do still like the parks and I sort of wish we were planning another trip. This is the first time that I can remember when I haven't already known when my next family trip to WDW would be. And even though we will probably still plan frequent trips to do non-Disney things in Orlando, I miss the idea of always dashing off to WDW. Most of the changes there lately have not been improvements, so it wouldn't be the same even if we were still going there as often. It's just sad to me to see this family tradition ending, but I guess that means we'll just have to start some new traditions to replace that one.

This weekend there's a Black Ship Sky concert in Orlando that I really want to go to. Of course we wouldn't have done that anyway on a family trip since even though I'm sure The Kidd would like to go he's not old enough for that yet. (And I'd prefer to think for a while longer that he wouldn't understand all of their lyrics!) Still, it's times like this that I wish we lived closer to Orlando even without the Adventurers Club. I'd love to be there to cheer on Black Ship Sky in the Battle of the Bands.

We will be in Florida for part of the week, just not the Orlando part. It turns out that Caradorn has to go to the beach for work. (Really, I'm not kidding. He actually does.) I wouldn't want him to be lonely so The Kidd and I are going to sacrifice our time to go keep him company. And of course we'll have to come up with something to do with our time while he's in meetings, so I guess we might have to swim or hang out on the beach while we wait for him to finish with work.

Oddly, we might still see another Adventurer there - last time we were at the beach, Andre, one of the former bartenders from the Club, was working at a place across the street from one of our favorite Irish pubs. We'll have to keep an eye out for him.

Time to get to work finishing trip preparations, I guess. I'm still hoping to finish Lego Batman later today but I have quite a bit to do before I can play. And then later this week I'll be relaxing on the beach in Florida. We do see lots of interesting planes flying over the beach we go to - and Hathaway Browne won't be spending all his time at the Adventurers Club anymore, so maybe I'll spot the Gypsy Moth flying over the beach!

Even better than Pizza Day

2008-10-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

Today we are having a Pajama Day. We don't actually spend the entire day in our Pajamas - but we could, if we wanted to. On Pajama Day we stay home all day. We don't go anywhere at all, and no one comes over. We don't answer the door at all. We don't do any work around the house or yard, we don't run errands - we don't do anything at all except the things we really want to do. That means a whole day of lounging around, playing video games (and board games and cards) or watching movies. And surfing online, obviously.

We don't do this very often, but it's one of my favorite ways to spend a day. We don't even cook on days like this. We went to Fresh Market last night to stock up on some our favorite things, and we have leftover Thai food, so we don't even have to worry about figuring out what to eat.

Tomorrow it's back to life as usual and we will have to be productive again, but today I'm going to enjoy an entire day of doing nothing but whatever sounds most appealing.

They haven’t carried me away yet

2008-10-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

I was reminded today that I haven't posted an update lately about our bizarre Africanized Butterfly infestation. They haven't gone away - if anything, there are more now than there were. I think Becky summed it up best when she got here the other day. I opened the front door to find her staring around the porch. She stood there and then said "Well, it's like 'Silence of the Lambs' out here!" And it really is kind of creepy out there at night, with all of those cocoons hanging everywhere.

During the day it's very pleasant, with all the butterflies fluttering all over the place. We seem to have reached an understanding with them. I've been rescuing them when they are about to get eaten or stepped on, and they seem to have decided not to attack us. Today when I was walking out to my car one of them fluttered over in front of my face and when I held out my hand it landed on my fingertips. I'm going to assume that means we have a truce.

But he’s married!

2008-10-03T17:52:00.000-05:00

I really, really have a problem with people who are interested in married people. As far as I am concerned, if someone is married they are Off Limits. Completely. Think you have feelings for them? Get over it. They are married. They are not available. Forget it and move on.

When Caradorn and I were newly married he was active in several different sports and I often went to the games to watch him play. At one volleyball game there was a pack of girls sitting next to me who kept talking about one of the players. They were giggling over him and talking about how cute he was. Eventually I realized that it was Caradorn they were discussing. I found it funny, at first. They weren't being at all subtle about it, but Caradorn (being his usual self) was totally oblivious about all of it. At some point during all the giggling one of the girls realized that he was wearing a wedding ring and I would have thought that would have been the end of it, but no. (Bonus points if you just heard that in a Snoopy/Fletcher accent. I did!)

They kept right on, and each time he would glance in our direction they'd giggle more and squeal "Oh, he looked at you!" or "Look! He's checking you out!" at each other. It was rapidly becoming less amusing, because now they knew he was married and they still were trying to catch his eye. It wasn't until the end of the game, when he came over and starting talking to me, that they realized I was his wife. Only one of them looked at all embarrassed; the others just glared at me. Caradorn never noticed any of it and was shocked (and didn't entirely believe me) when I told him about it.

On our last few visits to the Adventurers Club I noticed something similar going on. There was a gaggle of girls there, and one of them (who we dubbed "Stalker Girl") seemed to have a crush on one of the actors. They were really giggly about it and being very silly, and at first it wasn't that weird, but as the evening continued it got odd. It started to seem like more than just a casual crush. Stalker Girl kept staring at him and the group was making all kinds of comments about their interactions. Of course there was the chorus of "He's looking at you!" and "He's totally in love with you!" but then there were also comments about the fact that he was being a jerk because he didn't speak to her at one point. At another point they were calling him mentally ill because he wasn't as nice to her as he sometimes was.

Now if you were to overhear some of my comments at the Club you might wonder about me, I suppose, because as I've mentioned I often joke about Hathaway Browne. Caradorn and I would often talk about our plans for the next day while we were at the Club, and I would often agree to whatever plans we had come up with and then add " . . . unless Hathaway asks me to run away with him before that." Or I'd joke that he'd be on his own if Fletcher needed any help with his artifact. Of course we both knew I was just joking, but I guess it's possible that someone who didn't know us might have thought I was serious. I really doubt it, though - I think it was obvious that we were kidding. So it's possible that I misunderstood these girls and it was all just innocent fun, but I really don't think so.

It was weird and would have made me somewhat uncomfortable anyway, but it was much worse since I know the actor is married. There is a possiblity that the girls don't know he is married, but I suspect that they do. From what Stalker Girl was saying it sounds like she has really researched him. She seemed to know quite a bit about his personal life and if I knew he was married then I would imagine someone who was setting out to learn as much as they could about him would certainly know it too.

Even if he wasn't married it would have struck me as strange that they were talking about him the way they were. I think Stalker Girl actually thinks he's interested in her. The problem is that he flirts with lots of people at the Club. It's obviously nothing personal - it's just how his character behaves. Stalker Girl seemed to be taking it awfully seriously and really seemed angry when he wasn't paying as much attention to her as she thought he should. I got the impression she was really desperate for attention - she seemed to read far too much into it when his character interacted with her. I know big groups of girls do thrive on drama, so maybe it was all just silliness and they'll get over it now that the Club is closed. Maybe the old "out of sight,out of mind" thing will hold true and Stalker Girl will move on to a new obsession.

And maybe I was just overly conscious of it because I know the cast does have problems with stalkers sometimes. Maybe it's just a silly crush and she has no idea that he's married. Or maybe she really is madly in love with him and doesn't know he is married, and she would leave him alone if she knew. However, I really think she does know he's married and just doesn't care.

To be fair, I guess it's possible that he really is interested in her. I would be completely shocked if that turned out to be the case, though. I don't really know him but I know enough about him to believe that he is a good person. I really like him and I would be crushed to find out he was the kind of jerk who would cheat on his wife - but he doesn't seem remotely like that kind of person. I don't think he would be interested in anyone other than his wife. I think he's like Caradorn, and is just oblivious to the fact that he's the object of Stalker Girl's affections.

Hopefully now that the Club is closed Stalker Girl will find someone else to fixate on. If not, I hope she at least leaves the actor alone. I would hate to think that he'd be stuck dealing with Stalker Girl just because he's such a good actor that she believed it was real when his character was nice to her.

Plus, if he's running away with anyone it's totally going to be me. As long as he's willing to stay in character as Hathaway Browne, that is!

It breaks my heart

2008-10-02T17:53:00.000-05:00

I knew I shouldn't watch it, but of course I did anyway.

I've loved the Adventurers Club so much for the last few years, and gotten so much happiness from it, that I guess in a way I felt that I owed it to the Club to mourn it properly. So I watched.

It creeps up on me sometimes - I'll see something or hear something that reminds me of the Club or one of the cast members and then I remember yet again that there's no "next time" any longer. I can't look forward to seeing Snoopy as Hathaway or Blondie as Otis again. But overall my life is fairly happy and I have lots of ways to keep occupied and to keep myself from dwelling on the loss of the Club.

Still, I've been checking youtube to see when the videos of The End would start to show up. I saw Otis celebrate his Balderdash victory and it didn't bother me, though I do have mixed feelings about Emil not winning that last competition. The one video I was most anxious to see was Snoopy singing his last Hoopla song, but of course it was also the one I thought would upset me the most. I knew he had sung "When You Go" by Jonathan Coulton. The song makes me sad even when Jonathan sings it . . . he's usually so funny and it's such a serious song that the impact is even stronger than it would be coming from some other singer. Once I heard that Snoopy had sung it as Emil I found it even sadder, and I sat there on Saturday night (or rather early Sunday morning) listening to it and getting all teary because the Club had closed.

The video of Snoopy singing "When You Go" showed up on youtube today. I knew it would make me sad to watch it, but I still had to. I didn't get teary over it.

I flat out cried instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN3XDPCh1II

Quick! Run to the store!

2008-09-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday, and we all know what that means. New DVDs! For someone who doesn't like shopping, I do seem to buy lots of things. Movies, music, books, games, watches, pajamas and action figures are the things I buy most often. (Yes, action figures. I've already admitted to being a geek and being very juvenile - what do you expect?!) I have very little self control when it comes to all of those.

Today I have to head over to Target because Iron Man is out. Target has a neat case for it that looks like the Iron Man mask, so of course we have to get that! I'm going to get the Blu-ray version because it's just such a pretty movie. ;) If you haven't seen Iron Man yet, go buy it! You'll love it. If you have? Go buy it! You know you want to watch it again!

In other news:

-We had fun at Big Spring Jam. .38 Special was my favorite act - they were really good. Sister Hazel did a cover of "Your Love" and it was uncanny how much it sounded like the original. I had to hop online as soon as we got home to be sure that none of them had been members of The Outfield, but they weren't. I'm sure we'll go back next year, unless "Con-Galoosh" actually happens that weekend. That's the Adventurers Club Con that some people are trying to plan. If that works out we may have to do that instead.

-Maybe by next year we'll be celebrating the new Adventurers Club. I'm not giving up hope yet. As sorry as I was to miss the End of the Club (for now) I think I'm glad we didn't go. I couldn't have listened to Snoopy singing Jonathan Coultons "When You Go" without crying. (I couldn't listen to Jonathan singing it without crying once I heard that Snoopy had sung it!) I have mixed feelings about the fact that Otis won the final Cup. On one hand, I would have voted for Emil just because that's what the cast wanted. On the other hand, I see why everyone wanted Otis to win. I don't think it would have happened if anyone else had been Otis, but everyone loves Blondie so much and his Otis is a crowd favorite.

-I'm not happy that so many people are using the Adventurers real names now. It's one thing when they use the names in public themselves, like a couple of them here on Myspace, but some are very private and I can't imagine they want everyone posting their names everywhere. Maybe I would feel differently if I hadn't already known the names of my favorites, because it does certainly make it easier to follow their work when you know their names. Still, I intend to keep using nicknames until/unless they make it clear that they would prefer to be referred to by name.

-I was relieved to hear that most of my very favorite Adventurers are staying with Disney. Though I don't intend to set foot in Downtown Disney again (with the possible exception of DisneyQuest as long as it's there), I do still love the parks and I'm sure we'll keep going to them while we're in Orlando. It will be nice to see Blondie, Lancelot, Blade, Cheeks and Snoopy there. And maybe Disney is trying to be sure they still have the cast on hand for when they bring back the Club! (I know, I know, but if I'm in denial just let me stay there.) Plus, I was really afraid they'd leave Orlando entirely and I would hate that. Now that I know what great actors they are I want to see them perform more!

-Tonight on XPlay they're giving away beta keys for Little Big Planet so I'm hoping to get one. I'm looking forward to that game.

-Rock Band 2 seems much easier than Rock Band did. This past weekend Moustache Hat unlocked quite a bit and 5 starred most songs. We even played on "expert" some and didn't fail! I still don't see how real drummers do it - my arms felt like noodles after we played.

-New Weird Al song! He just posted a blog that he'll have a new song on itunes next week. Yay! I love Weird Al.

-It finally feels like fall. The high here on Thursday is supposed to be in the 60s. I love fall weather. I also love fall foods, and now I have the mad urge to start cooking soups and stews and pumpkin flavored everything. I've already started decorating for Halloween, even though it's much too early for that. I did notice that a few stores are already putting Christmas stuff out, which seems crazy. Can't we just enjoy fall for a while first?!

Time to head out to get Iron Man!

Sometimes we do cry because it's ending

2008-09-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

On our last few visits to the Adventurers Club, during the Radiothon, Yvette said "We don't cry because it's ending, we smile because it happened." For the most part we have done that, but today it is difficult. Tonight is the last night that our fellow Adventurers will experience the magic that is the Adventurers Club.

Today I find myself thinking of the Pixar movie "Wall-E". I know that Disney now owns Pixar, but I never think of Pixar movies as being Disney movies and the situation with the Adventurers Club very clearly shows the disconnect between the two companies. On the very day that Pixar's breathtaking masterpiece was released, the Disney company announced the pending closure of the most unique and magical experience offered anywhere. At the same time they were promoting a movie that spells out the dangers of living a life based on mass consumerism and gluttony, they were planning the closure of a unique entertainment option in favor of . . . shops and restaurants. Disney, who was once the paragon of entertainment, is choosing to eliminate interactive experiences in favor of shopping and dining, calling this a "bold new vision". Typically Disney movies hold a lesson for those who watch them. The lesson of Wall-E has been hotly debated - does it encourage us to protect the environment or to forego mass consumerism in favor of experiences? Does it tell us to live life rather than simply observing it? Does it warn of the dangers of choosing the easy way rather than making an effort? In the end, perhaps the lesson Disney wants us to take from "Wall-E" is simple: Do as we say, not as we do.

Tonight, when the doors close following the final Hoopla, the world will become a much less magical place. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to experience the Adventurers Club over the years are well aware of what we are losing. After tonight, the Colonel will no longer lead us in the Club's all purpose salute. Graves the Butler will not induct new members. Hathaway Browne will not charm the ladies. The French Maid and Beezle will not entertain us in the Treasure Room, and Claude and Arnie will not reign over the Mask Room. Otis T. Wren will not spin his tales to lure Hathaway away from the Balderdash Cup. Emil Bleehall will not make the trek from Ohio. The Yakoose will not startle new visitors. Babylonia will not gain new worshippers. Fletcher Hodges will not show us his artifact. Samantha Sterling won't hear Adventure calling her name. And Pamelia Perkins will not tell us "We don't cry because it's ending, we smile because it happened."

We do smile because it happened, and we will for years to come. We will always remember this magical place, and the people we met there, with a smile. We will laugh at the memory of Emil and his pigeons or of the "nude member induction". We smile because we remember the excitement and unpredictability of that wonderful place. We will treasure each moment we spent there.

Today, though, we will cry because it's ending. We cry because something unmatched is vanishing and most people will never realize it. We cry because we are powerless to stop this, though we know what a mistake it is. We cry and we rage because Disney is taking away our favorite place, someplace with no subsitute, and giving us shops and restaurants to replace it. We are angry because Disney is taking the easy path, eliminating unique entertainment in favor of just another mall. We see clearly what a poor choice this is, but there is nothing we can do to prevent it.

Today we mark the passing of something truly magical. Those of us lucky enough to have Adventured there will always feel fortunate to have experienced it. We will smile when we remember the time we spent there. We will always have fond memories of our fellow Adventurers and the Adventures we shared.

For the rest of our lives, we will smile because of the Adventurers Club.

But today, we will cry.

At least he isn’t a Saint Bernard

2008-09-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

When we got our dog, Stitch, he was mostly intended to be The Kidd's dog. Somehow that didn't really work out right - I think he's decided he is mostly my dog. He follows me around when I'm home, lies on my feet half the time if I'm sitting still, and sleeps on the floor by my side of the bed for most of the night.

I didn't intend to care about him as much as I do. I had lost my 14 year old Aussie mix, Marc, the year before we got Stitch and then lost my 10 year old cat Newton to kidney failure a year after Stitch joined the family. I wanted another family pet, but did not want to bond that much with another animal for a while. It just about killed me to lose Marc and Newton (who slept on my pillow every night - I still wake up sometimes expecting him to be there) and I didn't want to risk going through that again.

We chose Stitch because Aussies are highly intelligent and very active. We thought he'd be a perfect addition to the family since our Sheltie, Kelly, is very dainty and not very playful. We thought The Kidd would enjoy having a more rough-and-tumble type pet. The Kidd does love Stitch, and Stitch does love The Kidd, but they aren't as inseparable as I expected them to be. When Stitch was still a puppy he seemed to like all of us humans equally. I think Kelly was the family member he loved the most.

Now that he's grown, Stitch seems to like me the most. Which has proved to be a problem for the whole "keeping my distance" thing I had planned to do. I don't think anyone could look at that fuzzy face and puppy dog eyes and not fall in love.

Lately I've discovered a problem. If I am talking, and start to sound upset, it apparently worries Stitch. I've been talking about the Adventurers Club (and how angry I am at Disney) often recently and Stitch doesn't like it one bit. I guess he thinks it's his job to cheer me up, because the second I start to sound upset he immediately climbs on to my lap and tries to lick my face. He weighs 50 pounds! It does usually make me laugh, though, so I guess it works. I've started trying to sound cheerful when I talk about things that make me sad just so I don't end up getting trampled. I think I just end up sounding crazed, though, and Stitch keeps looking at me suspiciously so I think he's starting to figure it out.

I guess I should just be glad that we didn't choose the other breed that I had strongly considered . . . an Irish Wolfhound.

Wow that really doesn’t mean the same thing at all

2008-09-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

I keep being shocked when I watch one of our local newscasts because they are promoting an upcoming event, and every time they mention it what I hear is ". . . and be sure to bring the kids to our 'Touch a Drunk Day' . . ."

You'd think I would remember by now that it's actually "Touch a Truck Day". They are going to have lots of different kinds of trucks that kids can climb on and in. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it more than they would enjoy "Touch a Drunk Day". Though with Big Spring Jam coming up this weekend I'm sure there will be ample opportunity for those who want to touch a drunk to do so.

At least it amuses me every time I hear it. I'm a little down today and anything funny is a welcome change. Last night was Snoopy's last night as Hathaway Browne at the Adventurers Club. He was Fletcher for the last time a couple of days ago, and Lancelot is done being Graves. Every day seems to be someone's last night either as a specific character or at the Club as a whole. It's so sad to see it ending!

I think to get my mind off of it I'll go shopping later. Those of you who know me from the message board where I posted my furious rant at Disney about the "We want more shopping" thing know that I don't usually love shopping. However, there are several things I've really been wanting lately and I think today is an excellent day to get them. So hopefully later I'll return victoriously bearing shopping bags containing new fleece to make myself a cozy Snoopy blanket, the "Watchmen" graphic novel, and "Lego Batman" for the 360. (Update - I did get my fleece, book and game! I was good and didn't get the Heroes or Dark Tower graphic novels that I found. Yet, anyway.)

And then this weekend I'll be playing Rock Band 2 with Moustache Hat. Plus going to "Touch a Drunk Day" (otherwise known as the Jam). So despite my sadness over the Club, I do expect to have a good weekend anyway. Maybe we'll even go to European Market and stock up on Kinder candy. It's impossible to be sad with a bag of Kinder candy, a good book, a comfy blanket, good company, and new video games!

Weird Encounters

2008-09-23T17:59:00.000-05:00

We had a few weird encounters at the Club over the weekend, including one that is probably the strangest encounter I've had in a long time. I was sitting in the Main Salon, which wasn't horribly crowded yet, and a guy walked past me. As he wandered by (looking a bit unsteady) he leaned toward me and said "I'm more of a butt man, myself."

?

I'm not sure what prompted him to tell me that. Maybe he was trying to assure me that he wasn't looking down my shirt . . . not that I was too worried about that. I didn't respond except to laugh, and he just kept walking.

Later that evening the Club was much more crowded and people were crammed together in the Main Salon like sardines. We were close to an older couple who were there with their daughter and son-in-law. The man started to tell us a long, involved story about a funeral they had to go to and the daughter and her husband groaned and covered their faces. The story turned out to be a series of really bad jokes. The daughter kept apologizing for her dad and said that if we kept listening he'd never stop talking. During all this the mom didn't seem to be paying much attention to what he was saying. She made a few comments about everyone having to stand so close together and getting to know each other very well. Then Snoopy/Hathaway walked by looking quite dashing with his vampire cape on, and the mom (who appeared to be in her mid 60s) said very loudly "There's the cutie! I wouldn't mind being stuck this close to him for a while!" And while staring at him she started muttering things like "Hey, cutie, come on over here!" Her daughter looked absolutely horrified. She said "Mom!" in this really appalled tone of voice and the Mom said "Well have you seen him?!" She looked at me as though waiting for someone to agree with her and so I smiled and nodded. She looked quite happy about that. Then the daughter turned to her husband and said "See? This is why we shouldn't let them drink!"

Caradorn and I were the weird encounter for someone else on Sunday. We had stopped at a gas station when Caradorn spotted a pair of Love Bugs. Love Bugs are these annoying bugs that swarm all over Florida during some parts of the year. For the first time in forever we didn't see any at Disney World and we had really hoped to - The Kidd has to have a collection of 75 different bugs by Christmas and Love Bugs aren't ever found in Rocket City. So when we saw the Love Bugs at the gas station we really wanted to catch them. We were running around the car with a ziplock trying to grab the things. After we finally caught them, Caradorn went in to the station while I sealed up the bag and found someplace to store the bugs for the ride home. Whe he walked in to the station the clerk started laughing and said "You catch the Love Bugs?" Apparently he found us very amusing. Caradorn did explain why we wanted the bugs, but the guy still found it very funny.

Maybe he's blogging about us today! :)

We’ll miss you and we love you, and from all of us - Kungaloosh!

2008-09-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

I was so sad when we came back from our last trip to the Adventurers Club a couple of weeks ago. Not that I expected to be happy about the impending closure, but it just felt wrong that we wouldn't be able to go back there again. I started joking on the way home from that trip that there was still time for us to go back one last time, but I didn't really think that it was a possibility. Imagine my surprise when Caradorn told me to pack my bags because we were going back for one more Adventure! I was thrilled!

Initially he had planned for us to drive down on Saturday and then back home on Sunday, but he ended up working things so we were able to go on Friday instead. The drive usually takes us around 11 hours, with a couple of stops. We made it in 9.5 hours on Friday. (Yes, we were very anxious to to get there!)

We had a great time at the Club. Friday night Blondie was Emil, Lancelot was Hathaway, and Snoopy was Graves. Saturday night Blondie was Graves, Lancelot was Otis and Snoopy was Hathaway. Our other favorite cast members - Yvette, Chipmonk Cheeks, Blade, and more - were there as well. The Club was open from 6:00-2:00 both nights and they were doing extra library shows as well as an extended Hoopla. There were two "Graveseses" and two French maids each night and Emil Bleehall's father was even visiting. We got to celebrate Halloween and Christmas and everyone sang at the Hoopla, which was a nice change.

I was so happy and excited to be back at the Club again that I didn't dwell on it being The End as much this time as last. There were only two moments that got me at all teary this time. The first was during the Christmas show, when Blondie (as Emil) sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". That song always gets to me, but seeing Blondie sing it while looking so serious really bothered me. The second moment was on Saturday night. To understand why this one got to me you need to remember that I first fell in love with the Club the night we first saw Snoopy as Hathaway. After the last trip, one reason I didn't feel like it ought to be the end was that I felt like our visits ought to end the way they really began - with Snoopy as Hathaway. On Saturday evening we had seen almost everyone except Snoopy, and the only two characters still unaccounted for were the second Graves and Hathaway Browne. When Hathaway walked in I had to leave the room for a minute - I had so hoped that it would be Snoopy, but it really made it feel like The End that it was him.

There were so many great moments over the course of the two nights. We got to see several songs in person for the first time and some of our favorites one last time. Blondie kept up his streak of making us laugh until we cried every single time we saw him at the Club. When we saw he was Graves on our last night we thought he wouldn't be as funny as usual, but we were wrong - he sang some Queen songs before the Radiothon in what proved to be one of the funniest (and most bizarrely random) moments we ever saw at the Club. I got to see my favorite Beezle during the the Maid's Treasure Room show - I loved hearing that accent again! We also got to see lots of familiar faces in the crowd. . . people I "know" from some of the online groups, people we have seen often during our visits over the last few years, and family and friends of the Adventurers Club cast. Even though I don't actually know many of them, I'll miss seeing all those faces at the Club.

Saturday night during the Hoopla, Hathaway changed his verse during "Oh When the Saints" and said goodbye and "Kungaloosh" to the all Adventurers who were there for the last time. As much as I hate that the Club is closing, this seemed a fitting way for our time at the Club to end. I still believe that Disney will bring back the concept again someday, though it may be greatly changed. I hope that they do it sooner rather than later, and I hope that they bring back the amazingly talented cast that makes the Club the magical place that it is. Whatever happens in the future, though, the Adventurers Club that we have loved so much for the last few years will be gone. I am glad that we got another chance to Adventure there - and this weekend was the perfect way to say goodbye

Blondie and Snoopy always make me laugh - even when they aren’t really there.

2008-09-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

Caradorn and I ended up getting back to our hotel room around 2:30 or so yesterday morning after our last night at the Club. It was after 4:00 when I finally fell asleep. At 7:30, Caradorn woke up and found me shaking violently. He thought at first that I was crying and asked me if I was okay but I didn't answer. He was starting to get a bit freaked out. He finally asked me if I was even awake, and even though I still didn't answer him it did finally become obvious that I wasn't crying - I was laughing.

I wasn't awake when he first started talking to me. I have, a couple of times over the years, woken up crying after a particularly sad dream. I've also had entire conversations while still asleep. At least once I woke up screaming after a nightmare. I have never woken up laughing before this, though.

I woke up yesterday morning laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, with tears running down my face. When Caradorn asked if I was awake I couldn't even answer because I was just laughing too hard. He kept asking what was going on and I finally tried to tell him, but it was difficult (what with the not breathing and the hysterical laughter). I managed to gasp out a few words in between shreiks of laughter, which apparently didn't make any sense. Five minutes later I had calmed down enough to try to explain what was so funny.

Just before all this started I had been having a dream about the Adventurers Club, obviously inspired by something I saw there a few hours earlier. Friday and Saturday nights Mailman/Fletcher did something I had not seen at the Club before. It was basically a human version of Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone.

(For those of you who somehow don't know about Marvin and the Muppaphone - it was a recurring skit on the Muppet Show. Marvin played an instrument like a xylophone which was made up of fuzzy little creatures. He hit them with a mallet so they would make noise. I find this hilarious! I have an action figure of Marvin and his Muppaphone which I love. Yes, I am very juvenile - thanks for noticing.)

So anyway - Fletcher did this skit with people instead of the fuzzy creatures. They sang "Witch Doctor", which Marvin also did on the Muppet Show. Apparently the skit made quite an impression on me because I dreamed about it. In my dream, though, it was slightly different. In the dream, the people involved were standing in two rows. When one was bashed on the head they were all supposed to move over one space - the front row to their left, the back row to their right. The people on the end of the row then went to the other row. The lines were made up of Blondie and some other guests at the Club. Snoopy (as Hathaway) was standing close to the stage watching. When Fletcher hit the participants, instead of doing what they were supposed to do, everyone switched spots randomly. Some people moved two spaces in one direction or the other, some ran in circles around the lines before finding a new spot, some took a step forward or backward - it was chaos. The only person in the lines who didn't move was Blondie, who just stood there with one eyebrow arched. Somehow it was obvious that it was all his fault. Fletcher didn't really react except to keep flailing his mallets.

Snoopy/Hathaway just stood there watching for a second and then said in an exasperated tone of voice "I don't even know what the hell just happened there." And then I woke up, laughing hysterically.

I don't know exactly why I found the dream so funny. Something about the look on Blondie and Snoopy's faces was just hilarious. For the rest of the day, every time I thought of the dream, I started laughing again. I am still chuckling over it today.

I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked yesterday, but it was totally worth it. I wish I could wake up laughing about Blondie and Snoopy every morning!

Keep Marching Along!

2008-09-19T18:02:00.000-05:00

If you want to see the Adventurers Club survive in some form, now is the time to make your voice heard! If you haven't signed the petitions, written letters or emails to Disney or sent a map to Iger, please do! Rumor has it that decisions are being made now that will affect the future of the Club. Though there is no longer any doubt that the Adventurers Club will close as of September 28, there still remains the possibility that it may reappear in the future.

The fact that it closing is no reason to give up; there is still a real chance that we may have further opportunities to go Adventuring again. . . but only if we let Disney know how we feel. Please visit http://www.savetheclub.blogspot.com to find out how you can help. Every voice counts!

Life is short, eat dessert first!

2008-07-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

My family can sometimes be a bit unusual. We camped out in front of Target to get a Wii, we dash off to Disney World every chance we get, if the ice cream truck comes by before dinner then we get ice cream for dinner and "real" food for dessert. Now we're spending our time making websites, buttons, business cards and writing letters to try to save the Club we love even though our chance of success is small.

We plan for the future and don't just live for today, but we certainly aren't living only for the future. It strikes some people as weird, and I can't count the number of times that people express shock that we always go to midnight book or movie releases, go to every concert we can manage and spend half our free time playing video games. They ask why we do all that - I think they feel we should just grow up already - and I tell them it's just what we enjoy. Truthfully, though, there is a better reason than that.

When I was still in college I came home after giving a bunch of calves their vaccinations and I noticed that my arm felt a little odd. It was slightly red as I stepped into the shower but I wasn't concerned; I figured something at the farm had irritated my skin and it would be fine once I washed it off. I was a little more alarmed by the time I stepped out of the shower - my arm looked like I was wearing a bright red opera glove. Plus, now my fingers were going numb. The rest of the evening passed in a blur. . . I remember going to two doctors offices and our scary local hospital before the frantic drive to a better hospital in Nashville. We made that trip in record time.

As it turns out, I had a blood clot in my arm. Apparently that was just unheard of in someone my age, especially since I wasn't in any of the risk groups.

I was 19 at this point and the doctors involved in my case should have talked to me, but they wouldn't. I looked about 12 at the time, and my parents were there, so everyone sort of ignored me and I didn't really know what was going on. I spent a week in a Nashville hospital. The youngest person on my floor other than me was in his 70s and my doctor was planning to write a paper about me. I was scared and annoyed that no one would tell me what was going on, but I heard enough to get the general idea. They mentioned amputation, they mentioned I might have a stroke, they said I might die. They did tons of tests. My best friend drove 3 hours to visit me every day and kept me sane, but I lay awake every night wondering if I would die or lose my arm. (My boyfriend at the time also visited me once. He was planning to be a missionary and decided that my health crisis was a sign from God - he couldn't marry someone who was too sick to travel all over the world with him, he told me, so he broke up with me.)

And then.

Then, one morning, She came breezing into the room. The Nurse from Hell. She apparently was still in school, and shouldn't have been allowed around patients alone, but there she was. I had just finally dozed off when she came in and opened the window and cheerily announced that it was time to start preparing for my surgery. Um, what surgery?! No one had told me I anything about it, and I told her she must be in the wrong room. She was sure she wasn't and I was almost hysterical since the only surgery that had been mentioned as a possibility was amputating my arm.

She was in the wrong room, thank goodness.

You might think they'd have kept her away from me after that, but no. She came in the next day when they brought me lunch. I was finally off the worst of the meds I'd been on, the one that made everything smell like a skunk to me, and so I could actually smell the food. I said something about the pie smelling good just before she walked out of the room and she stopped and just looked at me for a second. Then she glanced at my chart and IV and my arm, shuffled her feet a little, and said "Yeah, that pie is good. You should eat it first. After all, life is short and you never know . . . well, just eat the dessert first."

And then she left.

I truly believed I was going to die.

Actually, I was released from the hospital the next day. I spent the next year on unpleasant medication, getting blood tests constantly, but I was okay. They decided that my blood clot was a freak thing caused by practicing flute for hours at a time with my arm in a weird position. These days there are very few reminders that any of that ever happened.

I hated that nurse, and I hope that she never worked with another patient again. But I did learn something from her. (Cue the South Park "I Learned Something Today" music) Life is short. Sometimes tomorrow doesn't come. It's important to make the most of the time you have. Sometimes that means eating ice cream for dinner, and sometimes it means running off to Disney World "just because". Sometimes it means fighting to save a place you love even though the likelihood of success is small. I never want to look back and regret the things I didn't do or the chance I didn't take, because life is short. Sometimes you don't get another chance later to do something. Eat dessert first.

Walt Disney World Resort - Becoming just another mall.

2008-06-30T10:19:00.000-05:00

I have been, for years, an unabashed "Disney fan". I have been one of their most vocal supporters. I have defended their sometimes questionable decisions. I have helped people to plan trips and convinced people who weren't "amusement park people" to give Disney a chance. I kept visiting after they took away the Early Entry benefit for Disney Resort guests. I kept visiting as they dumbed down menus to accomodate the Dining Plan. I kept staying on Disney property, and encouraging others to do so, even when it cost far more than other lodging choices. I have repeated to anyone and everyone who would listen that Walt Disney World was more than just the parks, it was a resort destination with so much to do that no trip could be long enough to do it all. I kept visiting both with and without my child, because I chose to spend my vacation dollars supporting my favorite place in the World - the Adventurers Club. But no more.

I'm sad to say that Disney seems to have lost their creative vision, at least outside of the parks. They are closing a uniquely "Disney" entertainment spot to make way for "more shopping and dining". I only eat one meal each evening, and normally I stay awake for quite a while afterwards. According to the bean-counters who appear to be making the decisions at Disney these days I am apparently supposed to shop for the rest of the evening. And that might be okay for a day or two, but not every evening of a 10 day trip. The bean-counters that control Disney World these days seem to have hit on a new money making strategy - "Give the guests no choice but to shop and they'll HAVE to spend more money with us!" And while I do like shopping, I go to Disney World for the entertainment - something they are choosing not to offer anymore.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that Disney doesn't want my business if I want to do anything but shop and eat in the evenings. Those of us who prefer to spend our vacation dollars on experiences, not items, will be left with no choice but to spend our money elsewhere.

So, Disney bean-counters, here's what you'll be losing from my family if you continue along this path:

*Our purchase of three adult premium annual passes every year.
*Seven to ten days of lodging for at least one of our two family Disney trips each year.
*Four to seven days of lodging for each of our two adults-only trips each year.
*Our purchase of tickets to the Party for the Senses each year.
*Our purchase of all meals, snacks and beverages on each of our trips. (Normally including at least one full-service meal each day.)
*Our purchase of all of the beverages we buy at the Adventurers Club each night of our trips.
*The price of any souveniers we buy on premises, particularly at Downtown Disney. Of course, you've made that one easy for us. Thanks to the way you've homogenized the merchandise sold in Disney shops, if you've browsed one Disney owned shop you've browsed them all. And of course all our favorite non-Disney owned shops at Downtown Disney have locations elsewhere that we can and will choose to support.

That's at least $8000 to $10,000 a year. And that's not including the extended family that often travels with us, or the trips when we decide to really splurge.

Of course, for a company the size of yours I realize that we are small potatoes. But what you fail to consider is that there are thousands of other visitors like us (as well as many locals), who have spent their evenings -and dollars- in the clubs on Pleasure Island. And we are a very vocal minority. We have provided positive word of mouth for your company for years, and have been more effective than any advertising that money can buy. You might not mind losing our business, but I'm sure your Orlando area competitors such as Seaworld and Universal will appreciate gaining it. And you may suffer from our loss much more than you realize.

I urge you to reconsider closing all of the clubs on Pleasure Island. In a resort the size of Walt Disney World, surely there is a place for shopping and dining as well as after hours entertainment. The Adventurers Club, in particular, is unique not only on Disney property and in Orlando but everywhere else as well. It has a loyal following despite your lack of advertising and support. Imagine what it could be if you gave it the chance it so richly deserves. Many of us will be voting with our dollars based on your decision in this matter. I certainly hope you strongly consider the mistake you are about to make.

Update

2008-06-16T09:01:00.000-05:00

Last week didn't turn out quite like I thought it would, since I was sick for most of the time that The Kidd spent with my parents. Still, Caradorn and I did manage to do a few of the things that we had planned to do. And this weekend was very hectic.

*Caradorn did end up getting the ps3 Metal Gear bundle, though we still haven't hooked it up yet! If we manage to control the jungle that was our yard and still have the energy, we might do that tonight.

*"The Incredible Hulk" was good. I didn't love it as much as "Iron Man", but I did really like it. And there were lots of cute little easter eggs for Hulk fans, from a shot of Bill Bixby and an appearance by Lou Ferrigno to the one crucial line that was missing from the first Hulk movie. My favorite part was the last scene before the credits. We stayed through the credits, of course, and surprisingly there wasn't a scene after them. (Though the scene right before them did seem like more of an after-the-credits kind of thing, so maybe it was originally intended to be afterward.) None of the people I know worked on the movie but I always enjoy reading the credits anyway.

*We finally got our tickets to see Gaelic Storm in Atlanta. I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't seen them since Ellery left last year, and I'm anxious to see the new fiddler. I'm still trying to convince Caradorn that we need to go see them in Birmingham the next night as well!

*Of course, right after we got our Gaelic Storm tickets we found out that Weird Al will be in Knoxville the same day. Grrrrr. Also, the symphony will be performing Video Games Live in Louisville, KY, the day before. It would mean quite a bit of driving, but we might have to go to that anyway. Otherwise we'd have to wait until October to see it in Birmingham. And that would interfere with our family Disney trip!

*Saturday we went to Nashville and Cookeville, and Sunday we went to Knoxville. We got home yesterday evening and you would have thought we'd been gone for a month. The cats acted like they were completely starved for attention.

*It is looking like the XM/Sirius merger might be approved soon. Still no word on what that will mean for subscribers. I just hope that XM channel 4 (1940s) survives - I listen to that almost constantly when I'm home. Well, and Cinemagic, of course. I always look forward to the "Dragonheart" and "Rocketeer" soundtracks!

*I really have my work cut out for me. My parents will be visiting for the Air Show later this month, and Becky and Frank will be here for July 4. I want to finish all of our works-in-progress before their visits. I'm not sure that's even possible, but I do intend to try. Wish me luck! [(See, Becky?! - You're a good influence :)]

At least he doesn't have a chainsaw

2008-06-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

At least he doesn’t have a chainsaw

Every morning while I drink my tea I sit in a chair by some windows and watch the birds and critters in my backyard. Sadly, there have been very few hummingbirds so far this year, but the squirrels and chipmunks have been very active, especially this morning. Because of the way my house is oriented, I don't really have to worry about anyone seeing me through the window. Even though three yards do have views of my yard, the trees make it difficult to see my windows.

This morning, though, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a guy looking at me from just outside our fence! He wandered away once I looked at him, but came back a minute later waving a large pipe of some kind. A few minutes later a couple of other guys joined him. They appear to be doing something involving the pump for my neighbors' pool. I suppose it's kind of sad, but after the initial shock at making eye contact with the guy faded, my main thought was just relief that he didn't have a chainsaw.

One day over the winter I was home alone and about to let the dogs out into the backyard when I glanced out the window and stopped in shock. There was a man standing under a tree in the backyard, not far from the door, holding a chainsaw. As I stood there gaping at him, he glanced up and saw me . . . and then started revving the thing like someone in a horror movie. I just stood there, trying to figure out what to do. He then starting cutting up a large part of a tree that was lying in the yard. Apparently the neighbor was have a giant pine tree removed, and because it was right against our fence they were lowering the sections into my yard instead of their own.

I was furious. We have locks on the gates into our yard and I would have thought that would convey the message that people aren't welcome there without permission, but they just hopped the fence without even asking or letting us know. Imagine if I had let the dogs out without realizing?! Kelly would have been frantic to get back in the house, but Stitch would have gone after the guy - and dog versus chainsaw just isn't going to end well for anyone.

I couldn't decide what to do, but I was really afraid they were going to damage our trees and I wanted to be sure to document everything, so I stood at the window snapping pictures while I called Caradorn. He went out and talked to them after he got home, and I thought that we had everything settled after that. We gave them permission to use our yard as long as they didn't damage the trees or our fence. They said they'd finish up as soon as possible and be out of our way.

We went out for most of the afternoon and evening, and it was dark when we got home. I grabbed a flashlight to go out and be sure everything was okay, and I was shocked at what I found. Large braches of one of our trees were pinned to the ground under huge pieces of the pine tree. More chunks of the pine were balanced drunkenly against our fence, pushing it slightly outward. We moved what we could but most of the chunks were much too large for us to budge.

By the next morning I was glued to the window waiting for the tree people to get back. I am a very nonconfrontational person most of the time, but at this point I was livid. Just before they showed up I went out to take pictures of the way they had left everything, and I was still doing that as they pulled up. They didn't seem to like that at all, and immediately ran over and stood in front of me. They especially seemed unhappy when I was taking pictures of their company trucks. They wanted to know the problem, so I told them. In great detail. Loudly. One of the guys made the mistake of telling me that they might have no choice but to damage our tree and fence, and that "These things happen". Not smart. By the end they were apologizing profusely, as was the neighbor. They also agreed to pay to replace anything that they damaged.

In the end things worked out okay, but I think I scared my neighbor. And of course I will never use or recommend that tree service - they have shown that they have no respect for personal property.

I don't think these new people will have any reason to come into our yard today, but I notice they keep glancing this way. Hopefully the neighbor has told them to steer clear of me. I'll be keeping an eye on them, though, just in case!

Identity

2008-05-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

I rarely post about The Kidd online. I may post about things we do as a family, but not usually about him personally. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that I just don't want to put his information out there too much - he's almost at the age where he would be embarrassed if his friends found stuff about him online, and I figure he can choose what he wants to share for himself before too long. The other reason is more selfish, and I feel a little bit bad about it. Soon after The Kidd was born I became a stay at home mom. He even played soccer for a while, so then I became the dreaded "soccer mom". And even though I would never trade him for anything, I sometimes feel that, for moms much more than dads, once you have a child you no longer exist as an individual any more . . . you are always "The Mom" after that. And because we left the city where I had grown up and moved a couple of times before settling down here in Rocket City, very few people I interact with much now knew me "Before". Now most of our conversations revolve around our kids.

I love The Kidd and I don't say often enough how proud I am of him. Still, I have started to understand more what people mean when they say they have "Lost themselves". It is so easy as a parent to become swallowed up in that role and to forget to have a life of your own as well. Staying at home made it that much harder for me; everyone I met for several years was either a parent or teacher from The Kidd's school or someone we interacted with as a family.

I even lost track of most of my closest friends from high school and college, though I still care about them a great deal. There were a few reasons for that, as well. We had The Kidd before most of our friends started their families, which made socializing more difficult for a while. Also, add to that the fact that most of my friends have always been guys. Even though Caradorn doesn't seem to have a jealous bone in his body, I still feel strange about maintaining close, one-on-one friendships with other guys. And often their wives or girlfriends weren't too thrilled with the guys hanging out with me, either. Not that I really blame them; I say I want Caradorn to stay in touch with his female friends from school, but I think I'm somewhat relieved that he doesn't have much contact with them. Fortunately a few of the friendships have morphed into friendships between two couples instead of two individuals, but some of my friends I've lost track of completely over the years.

As I was growing up I was almost painfully shy. I overcame that somewhat in high school, and by college I was far more outgoing than I had ever been before. Staying home with The Kidd for the first few years of his life, though, I lapsed back into being much less outgoing. It's been difficult for me to force myself to become more interactive again. It's just easier to be in the background as "The mom" or "The wife" than to step to the forefront as an individual.

Online, though, most people I interact with just know me. It's the place where more people identify me as "Skurvy" than as "The Kidd's Mom" or as "Caradorn's Wife". And I have missed that more than I realized. Over the years my interests got lost in the shuffle, and I focused more on things we like as a family. Aside from insisting on keeping the car I got in high school and going to see David Copperfield, I let most other things that really were part of my identity as an individual slip away over the years. I even stopped playing flute and juggling for the most part, and those were the two things that were most important to me for a long time.

Caradorn and The Kidd are most important to me now, though I don't say it enough. Being The Kidd's mom and Caradorn's wife are the most important things about me these days, but that isn't all that I am. I am trying lately to make myself remember that. I don't want to be floundering for an identity in a few years when The Kidd heads off to college! I want to be an equal part of this family, with a life of my own, and not just the support staff. Caradorn has tried for years to get me to follow more of my own interests, and I am going to try to force myself to finally do just that. I feel like an individual online already; hopefully I can start feeling that way in "real life" again soon.

The Trip

2008-05-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

I always feel a bit guilty when Caradorn and I go to Disney World without The Kidd. Really, though, if we weren't going there we'd be going somewhere else without him sometimes. And the things we do when we're there without him are things that he either doesn't want to do or isn't old enough for.

We went on 5 rides this trip. Yes, just 5, and it wasn't because of lines or crowds, it was just because we used our time doing other things. We did manage to do Pirates at the Magic Kingdom, the Safari at Animal Kingdom, and Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios (which will always be MGM to me!). No rides at Epcot, though we spent more time there than in the other parks. We mostly just wandered around enjoying the details.

We also spent time shopping at Downtown and snorkeling at Typhoon Lagoon, both of which the Kidd doesn't enjoy.

The sad part of the trip was that it was colored by the persistant rumors that two of our favorite places might close. DisneyQuest, one of the two, seems fairly safe for right now. The Cheesecake Factory-run restaurants inside are closing at the end of this month, though, and it was sad eating our last traditional meal of pizza and dessert in there.

The other rumor is that The Adventurers Club might close or change significantly. (You may remember that if you read my rant a while back about that "Night Kingdom" idiocy. It's somewhere in the archives if you missed it.) We love that place - as I may have mentioned once or twice - and I hate the thought that it might close. Still, it's not closed yet, and it has a big following, so maybe things will work out okay.

I got to see my favorite cast members this trip. Lancelot was there every night, Blondie was there two nights, and Snoopy was there two nights as well. Sunday night all three were there, and I always love the nights when that happens. Their interaction is great!

The first night there was a guy that was sleeping in the Main Salon. I didn't realize until I saw him wake up and wander away that he was holding an almost full bottle of beer the whole time, but somehow he didn't spill it. Blondie as Emil and Tiny as Otis had far too much fun with him, and I don't see how he slept through it - at one point the whole Club was yelling to wake him up, but he slept right through it. Shortly before the Hoopla he woke up and wandered into the library, where he promptly fell asleep again. Blondie was so funny when he saw sleeping guy (who had woken up again) during the Hoopla - suddenly he decided we were all just characters in the guys dream, and the lights started flashing and Blondie's voice was all distorted and he was talking about Hell. I was crying because I was laughing so hard! The same night, Hathaway pulled me into the closet/secret passage by the stage, but sadly he took me back to the table when he realized that Caradorn was my husband and not my brother.

The next night, Lancelot was Hathaway. The bit before the Hoopla was priceless, as Skunk/Otis was trying to get rid of him with a ridiculous story about missing wooden shoes and naked European women. Hathaway was obviously messing with Otis, who was having trouble making the story make any sense at all. If I hadn't loved Lancelot/Hathaway before that, I certainly would have afterward. At one point he could have helped Otis out a little bit, but instead he asked a question that made things even worse and then just sent Otis this hilarious look that said he knew full well that Otis was in trouble and just dared him to get himself out of it. It was wonderful! That night Snoopy was Emil and he sang a Jonathan Coulton song, so I was thrilled about that as well.

The third night we got to see Lancelot as Fletcher. I had seen him briefly before but Caradorn had not. During the Radiothon, Skunk/Hathaway just about fell apart after the Mayonaise bit. I don't have a clue why he found it so funny, but he just stood there for the longest time unable to talk because he was about to laugh. Annelle, my favorite current Pamelia, seemed to be having fun with it.

The last night was my favorite. Lancelot/Hathaway, Blondie/Otis, and Snoopy/Fletcher were all there. Caradorn got to be the sound effects guy for the Radio Broadcast. During the Hoopla, Hathaway did the Masochism Tango with a girl who had just turned 21. It was . . . interesting. She really got into it more than I've seen before. It was funny, but in a "things are about to go horribly wrong and this could get ugly" kind of way. The cast handled it really well, though. Plus, Fletcher was really funny when he was trying to "cool things off".

After the Hoopla, Caradorn and I stuck around for one last Kungaloosh and a few more pictures, and then went back to get ready for the trip home. It was a great trip, but far too short. I'm really looking forward to our annual Food and Wine festival trip! Of course, it's at this point after every trip that I try to convince Caradorn that, being a Rocket Scientist, he should get a job at the Cape so we could go the the World more often. It hasn't worked yet, but I'll keep trying! :)

A Few Quick Notes

2008-05-21T07:54:00.000-05:00

There are so many things I've been meaning to post about that I thought I'd borrow a page from Miss Zoot and go with the whole bullet thing today rather than tiny little posts all day.

-Speaking of Miss Zoot, today is the big day! AndyZ will be born today. I am so happy for the Zoot family. Not that I'll be checking for updates obsessively today, or anything. I haven't checked in at least 5 minutes.

-I forgot to update about the symphony! We went to see the local Symphony do "A Night of Fantasy and Fairy Tales", which mostly consisted of famous movie songs and Ashman/Menkin pieces. It was great. I really enjoyed seeing Jodi Benson sing. The songs from The Little Mermaid were great, of course, but oddly my favorite part was the medley from "Little Shop of Horrors". I also enjoyed the tenor - can't remember his name, but he used to be Raul in Phantom of the Opera. The Kidd was thrilled with the Star Wars music they played, and the fact that there were several people in Star Wars costumes there.

-Not only did HB196 not pass, it didn't even get heard. Not too surprised, really, but only around 220 things out of 1500 did get heard, which surprised everyone. I wonder if the senators will be surprised when the next election rolls around? People are furious with them, and I think they need to start getting their resumes in order.

-Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast as the lead in the upcoming "Prince of Persia" film. ??? I was hoping for Orlando Bloom or someone like him. Jake seems like an odd choice.

-No we still have not finished all the yard work. We ended up buying even more plants, and thought we have planted most of them, we still lack some. Plus, the passionflower has finally come back. I have to transplant that from the front yard to the butterfly garden this weekend or I risk losing everything that we've planted in the front beds. That stuff is great for butterflies but it's almost as bad as kudzu when it comes to taking over everything. Last year in the space of one WDW trip it escaped the flower bed and started to engulf the house!

-Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones!!! Today is the day. Well, tomorrow, but we would have to be at the theater today for the midnight showing. The Kidd still hasn't seen "Last Crusade" yet, though, so we have to finish it before "Crystal Skull". We'll see the new one by tomorrow, at least.

-Wii Fit is supposed to be out today and I am really looking forward to it. I spent several years being as inactive as possible because of my headaches, and now that I'm finally feeling better I'm trying to become more active again. It's much more difficult than I expected; I can't believe how out of shape I've gotten, and anything that gets me moving is a good thing!

-Today is the last full day of school for the Kidd this year. He is so excited. I hope he is still happy when he realizes that summer does not mean all video games all the time. We 're going to try to have a more productive summer this year, including getting some more "smilies" for our geocaching. There are bunches of caches within walking distance of our house, and I want to find all of them before them end of the summer. Maybe we'll even hide some of our own this year!

-The trip. . . I think the trip deserves its own post. Stay tuned for that! :)

-Between both blogs and the message boards I'm on, I sometimes forget what I've posted where. If you see any weird duplications, blame my faulty memory!

Thanks, Snoopy

2008-05-20T14:00:00.001-05:00

The annual trip to Disney World was a family tradition as I was growing up, and when Pleasure Island opened I couldn't wait to be old enough to go there. Once I was an adult, I wasn't quite as interested in it.

After Caradorn and I were married we tried going to Pleasure Island a few times, but not often. Caradorn doesn't really dance, so the dance clubs are lost on us. The Jazz Club was nice, and the Comedy club was too, but still they weren't really our thing. We also tried the Adventurers Club, and I didn't like it at all the first time. We came in mid-evening, just in time for the Colonel on the wall to start talking to people. I was not at all comfortable with it, I felt conspicuous and I was afraid he'd try to talk to me. After a few minutes they opened the doors to the library and we went in to the show. I don't remember which show it was, but we were somewhat lost. We left right afterwards and didn't go back for several years.

A few years later we bought premium annual passes for the first time. When Caradorn and I went to the Food and Wine Festival that year, we decided to try the clubs again since they were included in our passes. Again, the other clubs weren't really our cup of tea, but this time we enjoyed the Adventurers Club more. We went a couple more times on other trips, and enjoyed it when the parks were closed but we weren't ready to head back to the room.

The next year we went back to the Club on our annual Food and Wine trip. This time, there was a Hathaway Browne that I had not seen before. He was perfect as Hathaway - exactly what I had imagined Hathaway should be. By far my favorite character that I had seen at the Club. The next night we went back to the Club, and I was horribly disapointed to see that Hathaway was not the same guy. I was afraid that my favorite Hathaway was gone forever, that we had seen him the night before on his very last night at the Club. We decided to stay that evening for a while anyway, and as we were sitting there, Caradorn said "There he is! I hear his voice." But when the guy attached to the voice rounded the corner, it was someone completely different.

Hathaway was dark haired with brown eyes. So was this other guy (who turned out to be Fletcher Hodges) but other than that he wasn't anything like Hathaway. His eyes were a different shape, he moved differently, his voice sounded entirely different (even aside from the Indian accent that Fletcher had) . . . there was no way that it was my Hathaway. Caradorn swore it was, I swore it wasn't, and the guy must have thought we were both completely crazy because for the rest of the evening we stared at him while having a hushed "Is not, is too" argument. Finally, just before the end of the evening, his accent slipped for a second and his eyes changed and I realized that yes, as a matter of fact it WAS my Hathaway!

What I had never realized before was that the actors at the Club change characters all the time. We had never been to the Club more than once in a trip, so we had missed the most amazing thing about it. After the Hathaway/Fletcher incident we started going to the Club more frequently, and we were amazed by the actors. The dashing, handsome Hathaway Browne one night might be the naive, fumbling junior Adventurer Emil Bleehall the next night. The ditzy, giggly French Maid might be the businesslike, loud President Perkins the next day.

Since the first time we saw him, we've seen the Hathaway/ Fletcher that started the whole thing ( who I've since learned is called Snoopy by the online community of fans) as Emil Bleehall and Graves the Butler as well, and each character is completely unique.

For our last few trips we've gone to the Club almost every night. Snoopy is my very favorite actor there - but now I have several other favorites as well. And even though all of my favorites are not there every night, there is almost always at least one of them there at any given time.

We actually were fortunate to be able to see Snoopy in a play elsewhere, and he was wonderful there as well. He is a very gifted actor - once the play started I forgot that he was Hathaway, Fletcher, Graves, Emil, or even Snoopy, and he was just George (his character in the play). I hope that we'll be seeing him at the Club for a long time to come, but even if he moves on to other things we'll still be going Adventuring as long as the Club lasts. Thanks to Snoopy we've grown to love the Club and have discovered the many other wonderful actors there. They are really an amazing bunch - they make the characters so believable and the shows fresh every night. We've gotten many hours of enjoyment from the Club and the talented cast there, and we hope to be able to spend much more time there. And it's all thanks to Snoopy

Class Act? No. Tacky, yes.

2008-05-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

This morning I was reading one of the boards that I frequent when I noticed that someone had posted a short review of a concert they saw last night. I was really surprised to read it - and the responses - because they were so different than my opinion of the same artist when I saw him in concert.

I love going to concerts, though Caradorn and I don’t go as often as we used to. Usually when I see a group in concert I end up liking them even more than I did before. Peter Noone, Gaelic Storm, and Nickelback I liked before I saw them in concert but loved afterward. The same with The Guess Who, Kool and the Gang, Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar), Phil Collins, Sting, Squeeze, Phish, Edwin McCain, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kiss, The Waiting, Aerosmith, and many others.

There are some exceptions to that, though. I liked Collective Soul till their concert - but (and this was probably a bad night for them; I’ve heard plenty of good reviews of their concerts) they were awful when I saw them. I’m not a big fan now. The same goes for Fuel, The Turtles, KC and the Sunshine Band, and George Clinton.

Caradorn and I went to see Michael Buble in Birmingham a couple of years ago. We enjoy his music quite a bit. The concert was interesting. First I must explain that the audience was mostly women. I knew he had many admirers but I hadn’t realized the extent until the concert. It was just crazy - the women were screaming and crying and trying to touch him. It was like he was Elvis or the Beatles or something. I spent as much of the concert watching the crazed fans as I did watching him. I just really don’t get it.

Now I am married but I’m not blind. I can appreciate an attractive man when I see one. (Though of course none are as attractive as Caradorn! ) And on paper I guess I should like Michael Buble, since he sort of sounds like my type. Really though? No. Not my type at all.

He reminded me of one of those little Bantam Roosters, strutting around the stage talking about how wonderful he is. Seriously. He kept comisserating with the men in the audience, telling them how sorry he was that they got dragged along by their wives and girlfriends. Which irritated me, but wasn’t that big of a deal. But THEN . . . he started with the bicycle metaphor. Ugh.

He said, to the men, that they shouldn’t be upset that their women were getting so worked up over him, because "I put the air in the tires but you can go home and ride that bicycle all night."

Okay, well, ick. Just ick. Here’s this cocky little guy gloating to the men that their women are wanting him but that they get the consolation prize later. Eww.

I like him much less now than before all that. It was just obnoxious. And he complained about the type of music he sings for a big part of the time. Don’t like it? Fine - Don’t sing it. Don’t keep complaining about it and keep singing it, though.

It’s not that I mind confidence or the premise that someone is a total ladies man - I love Hathaway at the Adventurers Club. The difference? He’s a fictional character! And what is cute and funny from a character is decidedly less so from a real person.

I still like his music, and I will admit that musically the concert was very good. His band was great. Buble himself was so annoying, though, that I won’t be sorry if I don’t see him perform again. (And for me, that’s a big deal - normally I’m trying to get tickets to the next concert as soon as possible.) One of the reviews this morning called him a real "Class Act". Unless he’s changed in the last couple of years I would really disagree. Talented performer? Check. Great voice? Yep. Class Act? Nope.

Like junior high all over again

2008-05-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

I'm active on a few message boards - and by actice of course I mean I mostly lurk, but occasionally post. A couple of years ago one of my favorite boards had a meltdown of sorts, and many of the members left and formed their own board. They objected to the fairly heavy moderation on the original board; their new board isn't really moderated at all, though they will delete posts or ban posters who don't agree with the majority of posters there.

Within the last couple of weeks my other favorite board seems to be going through the same thing. It's funny, in a way. Other than the names it's almost exactly like the breakdown of the other board, even though the two boards are really nothing alike.

I'm still not sure I completely understand what started all this, but I think I have the general idea now. The board on which I am active, Board A, is a very friendly place for the most part. The posters are generally supportive of one another and the mood is usually upbeat. By the nature of the subject matter, the board also tends to attract some "odd" people, who in some cases are socially awkward. The posters also tend to post about things that can sometimes seem trivial or silly to others.

A few posters started being a bit more harsh in their treatment of others on the board and apparently became frustrated with the moderation that kept them from saying some of the meaner things they wanted to, so they started Board Z. They stayed active on Board A but would then also post horrible things about Board A and the posters there on Board Z. In the threads there they provided links to the threads and posters on Board A that they were making fun of.

The Mods at Board A realized this and somehow redirected links from Board Z back to a thread on Board Z. Who then retaliated, and things escalated from there.

Now 100+ members have been banned from Board A and are trashing it on Board Z. Those Board Z members who have not yet been banned from Board A keep starting threads to complain about the bannings and have been hijacking other threads to complain since the ones they start keep getting deleted. They are egging each other on in threads on Board Z; encouraging each other to disrupt Board A as much as possible. They sneak insults and complaints into as many threads on Board A as possible. They start threads on Board A in an attempt to goad the posters on Board A into saying things that will get them in trouble. As of this morning they are even trying to attack the real-life business owned by the owner of Board A. Board Z member who are not yet banned from Board A are now TRYING to get banned - because for whatever reason they can't just leave on their own to post elsewhere; they need the "bragging rights" that being banned seems to give them.

It's ridiculous.

The thing that makes me absolutely furious about this is the fact that they keep insisting that Board A has no right to ban them or to delete their threads because "This is America! What about our freedom of speech?!"

No. It doesn't work that way. Board A is a private message board. There is no freedom of speech. You don't have the right to use the board at all, much less to use it to spout whatever opinion you feel like spouting.

Then they start griping that the deletions are wrong because "It's censorship!". So? Censorship isn't always wrong. Sometimes it's a good thing. Just because you may have the right to say or do something, it doesn't mean you have the right to say or do it anywhere you want to.

Want to stand in your living room and yell profanities about me? That's your right. Want to stand in MY living room and yell profanities about me? No, sorry, you'll have to leave. You have no right to say ANYTHING in my home. I could let you, but I certainly don't have to. Want to post on your message board to promote your own agenda? Go for it. Want to use someone else's board for your own agenda? Only if they choose to let you.

Board A doesn't allow "strong language", but Board Z allows pretty much anything. It's funny to me that the posters on Board Z sound like Jr. High kids with their first taste of freedom. The can't seem to say ANYTHING without sprinkling it with language that wouldn't make it through the filter on Board A. Even completely calm and reasonable posts have to have "Oh, and F--- You, so-and-so" to whoever they are replying to. I know that most of these people are adults, but if I didn't know that and had to guess from their posts I'd think they were all 15.

I'm not worried about Board A, it will be fine - the people currently being idiots were a very small part of the board (though you wouldn't know it to read their posts; they think the board will wither and die without them!). Still, it is irritating to keep seeing them try to stir up trouble, especially since Board A is currently dealing with a tragic real-life issue, the death of one of the webmasters.

Disagree with the way a board is run or dislike the majority of posters there? By all means start your own board where you can say anything you want. But stop acting like the world should revolve around you! The Board Z people, with a few exceptions, are coming across as bitter children who refuse to take their toys and go home, instead insisting on throwing their tantrums in their host's living room until they get their way. Grow up already!

Now I remember

2008-05-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

(Originally posted on myspace last week)

I sometimes forget that Alabama doesn't always have the best reputation in the world. Living in Rocket City, where there is a huge focus on technology, I often forget that many outsiders view Alabama as somewhat. . . well, "hick-like", maybe? It's certainly not someplace that anyone would think of if asked to list the most progressive, modern states.

It's a shame, because Alabama really is much better than people think. For the most part, at least. Today is one of those days when I am almost embarrassed to live in Alabama. Listening to the Senate audio feed, I almost thought it was a bad joke. It's like bad stereotypes of Alabamians escaped from some comedy and took over the feed.

I don't normally like to listen to the Legislature, but today I decided to listen to the Alabama Senate so that I could hear whether HB196 makes any progress today. Many of us have been calling our Senators for the past few days in the hopes that it would come up for a vote. We had hoped that it would be heard on Tuesday, but when it wasn't we felt fairly confident that it would come up today.

Ha! I'll be amazed if they make any progress on anything today. A Senator has taken offense at something, apparently, and has basically decided that he'll spend the rest of the day reading anything and everything while preaching about what God expects us to do. I spent several minutes trying to figure out why I would "hep" someone "with a cup on the cone who needs change". I finally realized he was saying I should "help someone with a cup on the corner". All this because Alabama still has a tax on food. (Though dropping that tax would actually cost most of us more than keeping it does, since they would eliminate deducting federal taxes to "make up the difference.")

It's absolutely absurd. Thank goodness he's not representing me, because if he was I would move. It's not just him, though. Several of them are being completely immature. They are willing to waste the entire day and taxpayer money because they didn't get their way on something. It shouldn't be allowed, but apparently it is. They are breaking for lunch right now, and some people seem optimistic that things will be better when they get back, but I'm not too sure about that.

I know that HB196 isn't really that important, and certainly the world will keep turning if it doesn't pass today. I imagine that there are bills that ARE important that should have been heard today, though, that now may die because these people can't just get their acts together and move on. It's embarrassing. And I realize that this sort of thing happens in governments everywhere, but I've never just sat and listened to it before. I have a new appreciation for that commercial where the firefighters are acting as the goverment! I hadn't realized just how unrealistic it is. It would be nice if it seemed that our Senators were actually trying to accomplish ANYTHING today. I know that government doesn't typically move fast, but I thought it would at least move.

UPDATE - Well, the bill wasn't heard but the Senate did at least start passing other bills. Our next (and last, for this session) chance is Monday May 19.

Ironman - Joining the Ranks of Other Movies that Ruin My Life!

2008-05-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

(Originally posted on my myspace blog a few days ago. I'm trying to copy everthing over here, too!)

Caradorn has really been looking forward to seeing Ironman since we first started seeing the previews for it. I was certainly willing to go see it, but wasn't quite as anxious as he was, since I have never really followed any of the Ironman comics or cartoons.

We had planned to wait until our trip to see it, since we weren't sure it would be appropriate for The Kidd to see , but after reading a few reviews I decided it would probably be okay so we piled into the car and went to the theater.

We all loved it! Cardorn was quite pleased with Robert Downey Jr. - he said that the Tony Stark performance was "spot on". The Kidd also really enjoyed the movie. I am already wanting to go back and see it again. It is on our must buy list for the day it comes out.

The only problem is that I think Ironman will be one of my "time suck" movies. There are a few movies that come on TV occasionally that I have to watch. As long as I don't start watching them I'm fine, but if I try to change past the channel that one of them is on I get stuck on that channel until it's over. No matter how many times I see these movies I always end up watching them again the next time I stumble across them on television.

The really sad thing is that I do have each of these movies on DVD but that doesn't matter. No matter what else I'm supposed to be doing, no matter what I HAVE to accomplish, I forget everything and watch the movie on TV even though I could just watch it on DVD as soon as I finish everything else I need to do.

I wouldn't feel quite as bad about all this if the movies were highly regarded things like Schindler's List or classics like Casablanca. But they're not. The movies are: Mr and Mrs Smith, The Matrix, all the LOTR movies, The Mummy, The Mummy 2, and (worst of all) Doom. (I really, really love Doom. I know it got horrible reviews and I'm not sure if anyone else actually likes it, but I do. It's so embarrassing!)

And now I think Ironman will be one of these movies. I loved the whole thing, except for one horrible scene that almost made me cry. (A scene involving a beautiful blue car. I gasped and actually covered my eyes for a second - the only time I did that during the whole movie. I think I'll close my eyes for that part next time!)

There have been so many evenings lately that I have not done one thing on my to-do list because I found one of these movies on TV and promptly dropped everthing to sit and watch it. Even if I can recite the lines along with the actors ("You must not read from the Book!") I still have to sit and watch. Normally I multitask and do several things at once - the more the better, usually - but with these movies I don't do anything else.

I'm going to have to stop using the TV for background noise in the evenings or I'll never finish anything around here. I think I'll try radio for a while.

ETA: As Caradorn has reminded me, I forgot to list "Simply Irresistible", the cheesy romantic comedy with Sarah Michelle Gellar. And somehow I also forgot "Accepted", with Justin Long. That one has been on TV often lately, unfortunately, and I almost have it memorized now. :)

Why I've been missing - and a name change

2008-05-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Since I started this blog I've tried to do better about posting, but for the longest time I just couldn't seem to actually follow through with it. I'd think of something that I wanted to post, but I wouldn't be near the computer and by the time I was able to post I would just decide not to fool with it.

Lately I've gotten much better and I've been posting much more often. Not that you'd know it from looking at this blog, because for the most part the posts have been over on Myspace.

There's a reason for that, actually. I prefer to maintain more anonymity on this blog. Mainly, I have family and friends who don't read (or even know about) this blog and I'd like to keep it that way. Most of my posts recently have been things that I don't mind any of them reading, though, so I've been posting more on Myspace where I know that they do read.

I'm going to try to remember to copy posts to both blogs from now on, unless it's something that I only want posted over here. Still, if I seem to have gone silent for too long I'm probably just over at www.myspace.com/skurvycur .

Also, my husband, who has been DreadPirate on this blog, will be Caradorn from now on. That's his name everywhere else online, and I decided it would just be easier to stick with that over here, as well.

Bad Day

2008-03-06T11:03:00.000-06:00

I am quite irritated today. There are several things that always irk me, and it seems they’ve all decided to hit today. And since I would ordinarily complain to Caradorn about these things – but he is actually the cause of some of them – I’ve decided to vent about it here. So if you want to avoid seeing Skurvy in a bad mood, stop reading now.

Still there? Okay, here are the things driving me crazy today. I realize that the are very trivial, but that doesn’t matter. I’m still getting more and more irritated as the day goes by.

* I have homework to do. I have been out of school for many, many years. I hated homework when I was in school and now that I’m out I certainly don’t want to do any. I don’t enjoy helping The Kidd with his homework, but I do it because I’m the mom and that’s part of the job. One of the Kidd’s teachers this year got the bright idea of assigning actual homework to the parents, though, and it is making me more and more irritated every time I think about it. Which is OFTEN today since it’s due tomorrow. I am supposed to read a book and write a series of letters to the Kidd about it – TO BE TURNED IN TO THE TEACHER. I really do not want to do it. At all. And I wouldn’t, except that it would hurt the Kidd’s grade and I would feel bad about that. I have spent far longer helping the Kidd with other homework and projects than this would take, but the idea of it just makes me furious. The teacher has no right whatsoever to expect me to produce and turn in 50% of this project. It’s ridiculous for her to even ask. She should have had the students pair up and write the letters to each other, or to her if she really wanted an adult involved.

* It is still winter. Every year at about this time, as we start having some spring-like days mixed in with the freezing days, I get the mad urge to start landscaping. I want to plant flowers and trees all over the yard. I always come up with elaborate plans but it’s too early to actually implement any of them. Until the danger of frost is past I can’t plant anything. By the time I can we’ll be about to go out of town and I don’t want to plant things unless I can water them every day at first, so I’ll put it off even longer. Before I know it half the summer will be gone and I’ll decide to just wait until next year to do most of the planting and then the whole thing will start over. Of course, I could start getting the flower beds ready so that it would be easy to just pop the plants into the ground when spring really hits, but that leads me to my next problem.

* Caradorn and his stupid work schedule. Caradorn is a Rocket Scientist with a Very Important Job. He is also much stronger than I am. I can not dig the flower beds (or move yard timbers or big rocks) with my puny little arms. I need his help. A few weeks ago his hours at work were fairly reasonable and he was ready and able to help with the yard work, but he couldn’t because he was in the middle of some fairly major medical tests and couldn’t do anything strenuous until they were done. Now that he has the all clear from the doctors his work is picking up and he doesn’t have time for yard work anymore. His job is like that – great hours for a while, and then they get longer and longer until he is never home while the Kidd is awake and he’s working practically every weekend. That lasts for a while and then things get better for a bit. He will probably have to work this weekend. I know that it’s not his fault and he doesn’t want to, but it still makes me mad. There’s so much we need to do around the house and so much we want to do everywhere else, and he’s spending all his time at work.

* I like to plan. Caradorn doesn’t. We have a trip coming up and the only way we talk about it is if I bring it up. He will not mention it at all. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to plan ANYTHING. The only trips we go on are the ones that I carry on about. He doesn’t come up with them on his own. I’m about ready to start traveling alone sometimes , not because I don’t like traveling with him, but because I’m sick of coming up with all of the ideas myself. I want to go to Disney World, and Tucson, and Las Vegas, and New Orleans, and LA, and Ireland, and Japan, and everywhere else. Where does Caradorn want to go? I have no idea – he doesn’t talk about it. As far as I know he’d be happiest plopped down in front of the television playing Oblivion. Which at this point I’d be fine with, so Caradorn consider this your invitation to just stay home for Spring Break if that’s what you prefer. I’m going anyway.

* The dogs are making me crazy. We have occasional explosions that rattle the house – one of the hazards of living so near the arsenal. At first it used to freak me out, but I’m used to it now. The dogs are not, however, and so each time there’s an explosion they start barking and running around like wild things. I can ignore it most days, but today it makes me want to throw something – maybe one of the dogs – out the window. By the time the roars from the rocket engine tests start I’ll need to be committed, I’m sure.

* I am going to kill the neighbors' cats. I don't want to do it, but it seems inevitable. Even though it is illegal in Rocket City to have free range cats (cats actually have the same leash laws as dogs here) all my neighbor have roaming cats. They all lie in my driveway, usually right behind or under my car. I'm afraid I'll end up running over one. I've never killed an animal before and I don't want to start now. I try to check behind the car every time I go anywhere, but I don't always remember. Plus the idiot animals run right in front of the car when I pull into the driveway and I'm afraid one day I won't see one of them. I've caught a couple of them actually in our fenced back yard lately, which really bothers me since I have bird/critter feeders out there and I don't want the cats eating the birds or chipmunks. I want to go yell at the cats' "owners" but I'm sure all that would do is convince them I really am nuts.

If I can get through today without a screaming fit I’ll consider the day a success. At least Lost is on tonight. There had better not be any breaking news or weather that interrupts Lost or I will just snap and go running and screaming down the street. Stay tuned – if you hear about some crazy woman being carted off by the guys in white coats in Rocket City it’s probably me.

Getting Better All the Time - but There's Still Room for Improvement

2008-02-27T10:28:00.000-06:00

I enjoy living here in Rocket City, but I am sometimes frustrated at the things we lack here. I grew up in a fairly small town, and Rocket City is certainly larger than Cookeville. However, I spent two years in Tucson which is much larger than Rocket City.

There are several stores and restaurants that I really miss from Tucson. Plus, we have our favorite places in Atlanta and Orlando that I always wish were closer. Thanks to BRAC we have a large number of new people moving to our city in the next few years, and many of them are used to the shopping/dining/recreation options found in larger cities. That means good news for Rocket City - more and more businesses are realizing that Rocket City is a great place to be.

A new area called Bridge Street opened recently. So far there are already many new places: P F Changs, Dolce, Anthropologie, Kate Spade, and others. Still to come are Ulta and the Apple Store and many more. And of course, there's the new Westin, which will also have condos.

Other areas of town are also growning. Our end of town is almost perfect now. Fresh Market, Five Guys Burgers, Nothing But Noodles, Super Target are all here. Plus great local places. We barely ever need to leave the area.

I am especially excited today, because they have finally officially announced that we will be getting a Mellow Mushroom in August. Rumors have circulated for years that we would get one, but this is the first confirmation that we really are.

So Rocket City is really improving, but there are still a few things that we need.

*Sweet Tomatoes - A great soup and salad place. They also have pasta and muffins. We used to go there at least once a week in Tucson. Now we only go when we're in Atlanta or Orlando.

*Cost Plus World Market - There are some in Birmingham but we need one here, too. A great source for food, wine, and other items from around the world.

*Whole Foods - We stock up on stuff at Whole Foods every time we're near one, but I'd love to be able to do more of our shopping there.

*Trader Joe's - A much smaller grocery, specializing in their own house brand. They have a great selection of some hard to find ingredients, and they're the only place in the Southeast (other than Cheesecake Factory) that has my favorite Paradise Tropical Tea. They have finally opened around Atlanta. I know they would do really well in Rocket City.

*Sephora - The best place for cosmetics. Doubtful that we'll get one any time soon, since we're getting an Ulta. At least they have stores in Birmingham and Nashville now, but again I would love to be able to run by there whenever I wanted - you never know when you'll have a perfume emergency!

*Caribou Coffee - I'm not usually a coffee fan, but I love Caribou. They don't over roast their beans like SOME places (I'm looking at you, Starbucks) and they have a great variety of espresso drinks. Including the best one ever, the Campfire Mocha.

*MINI dealer - You can buy almost any car here, but not a MINI. I keep hoping our BMW dealer will add MINIs, but no luck yet. If we want a Porsche we can run across town to get one, but for our MINI Cooper we'll have to go to Nashville or Atlanta. Which is silly, because they are hugely popular here.

*Macys - I rarely shop in department stores now, but I do like Macys. And now that the evil Belk closed our Parisian stores we do have space for a Macys.

I would love to think that we'd eventually get places like Tiffany and Co., In-n-Out Burger, or Cheesecake Factory, but I don't think that's too realistic. Still, I think that the other places I listed would do really well in Rocket City. Especially since many of our new residents are already addicted to one or more of them.