The future is today

Great Scott! It's been 30 years since we first went back in time with Marty and the Doc in a DeLorean. But more importantly, today, October 21, 2015, marks the exact day that Marty traveled into the future. Back then the year 2015 seemed so far away. It was also easy to believe there would be flying cars, hover boards, and the Cubs in the World Series. However, the sad reality is that cars don't fly, skateboards don't hover and the Cubs, well, I'm a Mets fan so....

This past summer I got to see the DeLorean and other assorted Back To The Future items when one of our local libraries had them on display. Being such huge fans of the movie, naturally we had to go. (The "we" in this refers mainly to me and my kid. Bill is a fan but not nearly as ridiculously obsessive as we are. And by ridiculously obsessive I mean we quote from it often and watch it whenever it's on TV, even though I own all three of the movies.)

 

Sadly, they wouldn't even let me sit in it to pose for a pic. With all the buttons and dials in that time machine  Bill might say that it's for the best, especially considering my penchant for pushing every button until I find the one that works. With my luck, if I were Marty, the DeLorean would stall. Then I'd do the obligatory banging of my fist against the flux capacitor, turning the key in the ignition 57 times and pressing all buttons. This would probably lead to me ending up in some other dimension. Or, quite possibly destroying the space-time continuum.



It's weird to think that after today, Back To The Future II will  technically be taking place in the past. Marty and the Doc will be traveling into their future, which would now be our past. I know, this is heavy.

Summer doings

I apologize for my lack of posting recently. Not that I've always been such a stellar blogger but I've been even more of a slacker and the reason is we've been busy enjoying the summer.

We spent a few days in Laughlin, Nevada which was nice. While there, we took a riverboat cruise so I got to cross that off my bucket list. Yahoo!

Apparently camping or RV-ing is a big thing there because each hotel had a section for RVs. This of course prompted us to quote Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation. "That there Clark, is an RV."

On our way out of Laughlin we stopped at a newer hotel/casino built by Indians. It was pretty and way out in the middle of nowhere, which can be cool if you're one to totally get away from it all, or if you're on the lam. Anyway, we passed some farmland and bales of hay prompting Bill to yell "Hay! (Hey)." Hilarious, I know, but it amused our kid. Okay, it amused me, too. I wanted to get out and take a picture of one of the bales but thought it would look weird or arouse suspicion from the guys nearby in the big farm machinery thing they were driving especially if the crops they were tending were non-legalized marijuana. Don't worry, guys, I'm from NJ; I didn't see nothin'.  

I've still got some other pics to upload for future posts and I need to sort my thoughts out so I can write more coherently (yeah, right). In the meantime, hope you are enjoying your summer!

  

My fictional character role models

At dinner the other day we were discussing the differences between when Bill and I were kids and our kid today. Christopher's eyes nearly popped out of his head when we told him we would play outside all day during the summer because there was no computers.

I remember days spent riding my bike, roller skating and playing ball. The neighborhood kids and I pretended to be secret agents, super heroes, and whatever else our imaginations could dream up.

Later that night I got to thinking about my fictional character role models and I decided to what else... make a list! Because that's what you do when you have trouble falling asleep.

So here is who I wanted to be when I was a little scribe:


A Pink Lady - Grease was my favorite movie when I was a kid and who was cooler than the Pink Ladies?

One of Charlie's Angels - Work for a mystery man, catch the bad guys and look gorgeous while doing so? Hell, yeah!

Lois Lane - I kind of succeeded in this when I was a reporter, although my assignments were sometimes boring and Superman didn't come to my rescue on the few that were borderline dangerous.

Wonder Woman - Mainly just because I wanted to fly an invisible jet.

The Fonz from Happy Days- Yes, he's a guy but I really wanted to bang my fist on the jukebox and have it play music. And to wear a leather jacket. I think this is where my love of leather came into play.

As I got older my role models changed and included more literary types. These days I still admire strong, edgy females like Black Widow from The Avengers (and not just because of her super-cool leather outfit or because she gets to fight alongside cuties like Thor). I also want to be like the ladies from Sex & The City, or Lucky Santangelo from Jackie Collins' book series, or even Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The list is long and changes based on my mood, and what I've read, watched, or eaten.

So who did you want to be when you were younger? Who do you want to be now?

Not another Vacation movie

Oh Hollywood. Is there so little material out there that we have to re-visit movies that were a hit and still remain a fan favorite today? For example, Vacation. This movie and its sequels were great and made The Griswolds a household name.

And now there is another Vacation movie? I do not agree with this, movie makers. At all. In fact...

Then I did some checking and come to find out this isn't a re-make of the original but a sequel with Rusty attempting to take his family to Wally World just like his father did in the first film.

And now I feel much better. And I might actually go see this movie. Also, I'm keeping the Beldar Conehead meme for those times when something is unacceptable.

The diabetes Jedi and four years of Type 1

Four years ago today life threw one hell of a curve ball our way when my son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. No one in our family expected this. It was like that scene in The Empire Strikes Back when we all found out that Darth Vader was Luke's father and everyone went Whaaaaaaat??

Anyway, in the diabetic community many Type 1's celebrate the day they were diagnosed like they would any other anniversary. It's called a dia-versary. We have never made a really big deal about his disease because I want Chris' life to be as normal as possible. But I thought I would remember this day by dedicating a post to it.

Four years. It's not that long, really. But it feels like more when you consider how much of his life and our life revolves around diabetes. That's 1,460 days of daily insulin injections, testing blood glucose levels, counting carb amounts, and doing math calculations with added injections, bg testing and carbs for those high or low sugars, and possible ketone testing if his sugar is too high. Then there's the constant worry on my end. And the physical, mental, and emotional toll this illness takes on his body.

If I had to use one word to describe diabetes I would say 'exhausting'. It requires constant maintenance. It is never-ending. There is no break, no relief. Everything that my pancreas does naturally without me thinking about it is what Chris has to manually do for himself. I could have pizza and a Sprite while watching a marathon of the original Star Wars trilogy in my bathrobe and not think anything of it. My son can do the same thing, except he would have to pause the movie to test his sugar levels and give himself an insulin injection before he eats. Unless he was low in which case he would eat and drink to bring his levels up and then re-test and dose accordingly because pizza is considered a slow-acting carb which can cause his sugar to spike as the night goes on. Once all that was taken care of he could go back to enjoying the movie. Of course, he could bring his supplies to the couch and do his diabetic maintenance routine without interruption. My point is that unlike me, he can't just eat and watch Han Solo get frozen in carbonite.  He has to be mindful of his body because his pancreas doesn't work.

Yes, this disease can be as burdensome as a non-stop chattering C3PO but some good has come out of it. My son has become more responsible for his age. He knows what needs to be done to maintain his health and he takes it as seriously as a young Padawan training to become a Jedi. I'm proud everyday of his mature attitude.

Also, he takes opportunities to educate people about diabetes. He used to be a bit reluctant to discuss it but now if someone asks him about his pump he doesn't mind talking about it. And during certain school assignments, when it was warranted, he made mention of his disease, which his teachers respected.


Sometimes there are battles. Like when he doesn't want to test again. Or the insulin injection hurt. Or when he's cranky because his sugar level is high. I understand all of these and I accept them because they are the Dark Side of this crappy illness. And because they don't occur every day. For the most part Chris handles his diabetes with dignity and grace. A lots of use of The Force.

My birthday party fictional character guest list

It's my birthday and I was thinking about the birthday parties I had when I was much younger. And then I started to think about who I would invite if I had a party now. So I compiled a list of fictional characters I would invite to my birthday party. It's a whimsical mix of different personalities and different backgrounds. But all are from TV shows/movies and books that I love(d). Each would lend their own unique brand of something to make this party one for the ages.

I told Bill about this and he asked if he was on the guest list. I explained that he's not a fictional character and also he didn't need to be on the list because he should be there by default. Then he looked at me with that smirk that says You are so full of shit. Am not.

So here's my Birthday Party Fictional Character Guest List:


Lorelei Gilmore from Gilmore Girls - What's not to love about her? She's fun and funny and it would be like having your very best girlfriend there.

Raylan Givens from Justified - He's a badass with a cool hat. And could also help out when the inevitable fight breaks out.

Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory - He's sarcastic and amusing. I would initiate a game of musical chairs just to watch him freak out.

Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow - He would be fun to teach current party activities to and to learn past party rituals from. 


Gomez Addams from The Addams Family - He's creepy but entertaining in a menacing and loveable way.

Holly Golightly from Breakfast At Tiffany's -She's the coolest party girl. And then after partying all night we could all go have a pastry in front of the Tiffany's windows.

Minions from Despicable Me 1 & 2 - This is an obvious choice.

Worf from Star Trek The Next Generation & Deep Space 9 - Well, what party wouldn't be complete without an alien? Besides Klingons are my fave ST villains.

Lois Lane from Superman -I would invite her to maybe talk shop since I was once a reporter and also hopefully the Man of Steel might make an appearance, too.

Bumblebee from Transformers - He could be the designated driver and DJ. It's a 2-for-1 with the coolest car ever.

Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's Plum book series - She's from New Jersey. That's all the explanation needed. And if you've read the series, you know that something is bound to get blown up at the party.

Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang -Yes, because every party needs comic strip characters.

Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem from The Muppet Show - I love Animal and I would let them sing Happy Birthday to me.

Lestat from The Vampire Chronicles - I would have to make sure there was some blood on tap for him. Who knows, he might hit it off with Gomez. Then again, probably not. One thing's for certain, he'd be the most well-dressed person in attendance.

There's so many others to add to this list and if I put them all down this post would be enormous, so I'll stop here. These are just the ones that immediately came to mind. If I break it down my list is comprised of:

4 women
4 men
1 alien
1 vampire
1 Transformer
Animated characters
Comic strip characters
Muppets

Now that's a party.

When the movie is better than the book

Movies based on books is so hit or miss. Sometimes an author's work makes it to the big screen and is a wild success. Other times our beloved books are huge disappointments in theaters.

But what about the opposite? What about when the movie is better than the book? It happens. I might be in the minority when it comes to this but I have had it happen. I'll give you an example, but remember these are just my opinions so don't shoot the messenger, 'kay? Also, for those who have never seen these movies or read these books there are spoilers below so look away!

                                                                            VS.

I like the movie, Under The Tuscan Sun.  You know the one where Diane Lane's character goes through a bitter divorce and she takes a trip to Tuscany and impulsively buys a villa? She also cooks up these fantastically delicious looking meals that make me wish for my own personal Italian chef.

Anyway, as I was saying, I really enjoyed this movie so I was happy to find the book in my local library. It was a major bummer and I returned it after only making it halfway through the book. It was Nothing like the movie. In the book, Frances is happily married with kids and she and her husband buy the Italian villa together and spend time remodeling it. For those with wanderlust and a love of all things Italy this book is for you. I'm sorry to say I just wanted to revisit the characters and romance from the movie.

I do wonder - if I had read the book first and then seen the movie, would I have been equally as disappointed? Or pleasantly surprised? Or planning a trip to Italy? Olive Garden?


I just finished reading another book after having seen the movie first (and absolutely loving it!). This time I actually finished the entire book which means I wasn't completely discouraged when it ended up being different from the movie.

The book/movie I'm referring to is That Night written by Alice McDermott. The movie starred Juliette Lewis (Audrey in Christmas Vacation) and C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy in The Outsiders).

The book itself was well-written and I might have enjoyed it more if I had read it first. But once again, I wanted to spend time with the characters from the movie. In this instance the movie kept true to some of the book but not enough for me. I guess Hollywood took some liberties. Not that I'm complaining.

By contrast, I've been reading the James Bond novels. I have seen all the movies, numerous times and I can honestly say the books are just as entertaining. Sure the movies are a feast for the eyes what with all the scenery and non-stop action but the books are exciting in their own right.

In the end, I guess sometimes an author's work is adapted and Hollywood hits it out of the park further than they initially intended. And sometimes you have a quirky fan like me.

No, we won't forget about you

Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed.

And so begins one of the most iconic movies of the 80s and one of my all time faves. Certainly one that I quote quite often.

It's been 31 years since that memorable Saturday detention with a group of misfits played by a cast that was affectionately dubbed "The Brat Pack". We've all grown up. Some of us have our own school-aged children who are or will go through the same teen angst portrayed in this movie. My kid is just 11 so I'll wait until his teen years before introducing him to the The Breakfast Club.


In the meantime, here's some fun trivia about the movie according to IDMb (with my comments in blue):

Judd Nelson made up many of the terms used in the movie, including 'Neo-Maxi Zoomdweebie'. I loved this back then and used it to refer to people who annoyed me.


Alison does not speak until 33 minutes into the film. She only squeaks and giggles in the first half hour. 


Other proposed titles were "The Lunch Bunch" and "Library Revolution". No, I don't think so. Good call on keeping it "The Breakfast Club", John Hughes.




At the very closing part of the film where Judd Nelson raises his fist in defiance, that was actually ad libbed. He was supposed to just walked into the sunset, so to speak, and the director asked him to play around with a few actions. When he was done and they were finishing up, Judd Nelson threw his fist up without running it by anyone. Everyone loved it, and it has become an iconic symbol of the 1980's. 

Yeah!

My suggestions to Netflix

I have a love/hate relationship with the Netflix app on my smartphone. Wait, perhaps I should clarify and say I have a love/hate relationship with the people who choose the content for Netflix. Sometimes they have some good things to watch. And sometimes I question whoever does the ordering of movies/shows for them? Like, are you high?

I don't think they take my past viewing history seriously when their suggestions for "Top Picks for Sandy" include movies like Liz and Dick or sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver. Sounds like bad porn. Maybe someone at Netflix is playing a joke on me.

Recently I was bored so I checked what They picked for me and I was happily surprised. The Twilight Zone. Roseanne. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Weirdness, and sarcasm and slapstick hilariousness. Finally, they get me!

I really should write them with a few suggestions. For example, more classic movies and less movies I've never heard of. And while I do enjoy a good conspiracy theory I could do without all the doomsday shows. I know that in years to come our planet will either combust or plunge into a deep freeze; get taken over by aliens, zombies, or mutant killer bugs; or get hit by an asteroid or meteor. I just don't need to watch it. Repeatedly.

And could someone in charge of programming please add The Addams Family? I'm talking about the TV show not the movies. Yes, I enjoyed the movie versions but I love the original black & white show.

Also, Dirty Dancing is on some such TV channel every other week so is it really necessary to have it available on Netflix for months on end? Does someone really say Damn! I missed Dirty Dancing for the 1,257th time while it was on TBS. Now I'll have to go watch it on Netflix? Yes, the movie was great and yes Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze (may he rest in peace) were great, but come on.

My diversity in movie viewing is almost like sour patch kid candies - sour and sweet. Sometimes I want to watch old, romantic favorites like  Sleepless in Seattle and sometimes I want to watch action-packed, excessive violence like, The Expendables. And sometimes I want to binge-watch all the James Bond movies because he was a sexy badass who drove cool cars and had great music. Netflix, this is a not-so-subtle hint to you.

I know this guy, or at least I thought I did

For Valentine's Day the husband got me brakes for my car. Not the most romantic thing but practical and necessary. It's better than a Jelly of the Month club subscription because it says "I love you and I want you to be safe". And not accidentally kill anyone on the road. In case people are wondering, yes I did receive other little gifts for that day but the brake job was the biggie.

My vehicle has started to show its age. It's still reliable and damn good on gas but it needs work. For example, the a/c is shot. Thankfully it waited until the end of last summer before crapping out. Living out here in the desert where the temperature reaches 110 degrees in the summer months, air conditioning is mandatory. And costly to repair.

The other day Bill told me he mentioned this to a co-worker. The co-worker said he knew a guy who might be able to do the job and not charge us an arm and a leg.

Now, you know how we speak in movie quotes? Usually one of us will do a bit and the other person catches on and we recreate the entire scene. Bill started and let's just say I dropped the ball. On the wrong guy. Here's how the conversation played out:

Bill: We might be able to get the car fixed at a reasonable price because B told me he knows a guy.

Me: (At this point I'm just looking at him, waiting for more info.)

Bill: His name is Danny.

Now, he's looking at me expecting the obvious reply. And my inner dialogue is going Uh oh! He's expecting a reply. I'm supposed to say something. What am I supposed to say?!  And so I quote from a SpongeBob episode.

I knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy's cousin.

And he looks at me all disappointed and says, "No, from Ocean's Eleven. Danny Ocean? I know a guy?"

Smack to the forehead. Of course!! I hate when I screw up a perfectly good pop culture reference. 


In case you're curious:
*The SpongeBob episode is where SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward go camping outside in front of their homes and encounter killer sea bears.

*The Ocean's Eleven scene is near the end of the movie when George Clooney's character, Danny Ocean, is confronted by Andy Garcia's character, Terry Benedict, about a robbery in Benedict's casino. Also, I'm talking about the remake of the original movie which featured the Rat Pack.

*It's scary and ridiculous how easily I can recall these things but have no idea where I put the pen I was using 5 minutes ago.

Not so happily ever after

So I think I'm the only woman who could give a hoot about that 50 Shades movie coming out this weekend. I didn't read the books and I have no interest in doing so. Not that the subject matter bothers me, I just don't do what's trendy. But that's me and I'm weird like that.  Now, I may not have read the book but I know it's about a couple and if you're like me you always root for the two leads to ride off happily into the sunset or, at least go off to get ice cream together.

Then I got to thinking, what about stories where the couple didn't end up happily ever after? It happens. Pisses me off but still, it happens.

Valentine's Day is all about love and romance and sadly some of the best known love stories, like the ones below, did not end on a warm and fuzzy note.


Rhett and Scarlett from Gone With the Wind: Every time she watches him walk out the front door I want to slap her silly for not running after him. Actually I want to smack her for choosing Ashley over Rhett to begin with. Girl, what were you thinkin'?


Romeo & Juliet: Two families who can't get along forcing their kids who love one another to commit suicide. Way to go people.


Heathcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights: Pride. Vanity. Greed. Jealousy. And love. All the ingredients for a seriously tragic love story.



Jack and Rose from Titanic: I'm one of those people who think that Rose could have moved over and made room for Jack.


Anakin and Padme from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: I'm not as big a fan of the prequels as I am of the original trilogy. That being said, the entire ending annoyed me and made me want to bop George Lucas on the head.


There are so many others, in fact, there are tons of ill-fated love stories in both movies and literature. It's rather depressing. I think I'm going to counter it with some chocolate chip cookies and watching a romantic comedy like 13 Going On 30. This way I can be mushy and laugh at the same time. Plus it has a great 80s soundtrack.

Christmas Eve eve

Twas the night before the night before Christmas when all through my house, everyone was stirring because well, it's only Dec. 23rd and also way too early for bed.

Thankfully all my shopping and wrapping is done. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent more time at Target and Walmart this season than any person is meant to because I was always forgetting something or other. But that's all done now.

So tonight I'm relaxing with some hot beverage, maybe tea or cocoa, and watching The Santa Clause and whatever other Christmas movie is on.

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Speaking of, it's been 20 years since The Santa Clause came out in theaters. Back then Bill and I were just dating. I remember we spent a nice day together first Christmas shopping at one of the jersey malls before going to see the movie and then ending with a nice dinner. He takes my word for this because of course his memory is shaky at best.

If you're still out and about doing last minute shopping, you have my sympathies and understanding. In years past I've spent many of the last few days and hours before Christmas in crowded stores frantically trying to get that final gift, or two, or five.

If you're still up to your ears in wrapping paper, remember gift bags are your friend.

And if you're all done then woo hoo! Curl up in your jammies and have a hot (or cold) one with me.

I'm secretly a Griswold

I watch, quote and know way too much about "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and I freely admit it. In fact my current ringtone is the scene where Cousin Eddie yells "Merry Christmas! Shitter was full." It makes for interesting looks and much amusement if I'm out somewhere and someone calls me. I'm sure none of this is considered healthy behavior. Or normal.

Knowing all of this it should come as no surprise to anyone that my dad recently sent me the following and I did really well.

The Hardest "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" Quiz You'll Ever Take

You got 13 out of 14 right!

You should've been born a Griswold. (This sounds like a back-handed compliment)

1. Warner Bros.

The only one I got wrong was how many strands, bulbs, and lights does Clark put on the house? In my defense this question wasn't fair because it involved numbers and I'm a self-confessed math idiot. Anyway, below is the link to the quiz if you want to test your knowledge of the movie. If not then Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass, kiss his ass, kiss your ass, Happy Hanukkah. 


The Hardest Christmas Vacation Quiz You'll Ever Take

Can I refill your eggnog for you?

Every now and then the local casinos "give away" some cool gifts to its gamblers, I mean patrons. I say "give away" because you need to gamble a bit every now and then to be recognized as worthy. Most people (Vegas residents) just use the "free play" like $5 or $20 that they award you for coming to their casino rather than using their own hard-earned money. Either way you have to earn the gift.

Yesterday my dad came home with such a Christmas gift. He was very excited about it and couldn't wait to show me and the rest of the family. No, it wasn't money. Nor was it a gold watch. Something way better, at least to our easily entertained eyes.

I give you The Clark Griswold Glass Moose Mug.

It looks exactly like the one Clark drinks Eggnog out of when Cousin Eddie and family came to visit and also when he got his Jelly Of The Month Club bonus.

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And because my family and I are such fans of Christmas Vacation, we loved it. I told dad he should fill it with red and green M & M's for the holiday. I'm not sure if he plans on using it to drink with this season but right now it is proudly displayed on the living room end table.

Jake and Jenny and Me and Bill

In between all the reality shows and the endless Christmas movies on the Hallmark channels, a few of my favorite movies have been on television recently. And even though I can quote them by heart I watch them, sometimes keeping them on as background noise that I refer to as I'm doing other random things on my computer but always following happily along.

Sixteen Candles was on yesterday. This movie makes me laugh (a lot) and cry a little. I liken Bill to the main male character. He's the guy worth waiting for who always comes to my rescue.

For the hundred-thousandth time, Forrest Gump is on TV, as I write this. I love this movie for its sweetness, its great soundtrack and the love story. Whenever I ask Bill why he loves me or why he's so good to me, his reply is:

Corny? Probably a little. Okay, a lot.  What can I say? We speak in movie quotes so it stands to reason that we should reference movie characters when describing our love story. Minus the fact  that Bill doesn't drive a red Porsche and I was never a flower child/hippie chick.

I probably should have skipped this writing prompt and written about anything else

The first writing prompt for this month's NaBloPoMo is: Write about an amazing imaginary brand or organization you'd love to work with. I was going to skip this and write about something else because I'm not creative enough to think of an imaginary brand/organization. Then it hit me. Not so much hit me like a bus but more like the splat you get when a bird poops on you.

I speak in movie quotes so this seemed like a great idea. I would like to work with an organization dedicated to archiving random quotes from movies and television because let's face it there's a quote for just about every situation in life. We could have a phone number and  live people on hand to research the perfect quote or, a mobile app for instant access to our library database. This could seriously help benefit those with weak comeback responses.


Does something like this exist? It probably does. Which means I'm already screwing up NaBloPoMo. And the month just started!

In all seriousness, if I could work for any imaginary brand I'd like to work for Santa Claus. I could even learn to love all the cold and snow because of the great perks, like an endless supply of cookies from Mrs. C. Yes, I do love Christmas and all that it brings so working at the North Pole would be so much fun. Besides, everyone's always so jolly and happy, it would be better and cheaper than anti-depressants. Now, I'm not talking as an elf making the toys but I wouldn't mind being a journalist on the North Pole Gazette or contributing to their website.

And now that I've added to the full on rush of Christmas by mentioning it this early in November and also possibly traumatized any children reading this, I'm going to end right here and hope that my month and my posts get better. Maybe I should have asked the Great Pumpkin to bring me a list of acceptable topics to write about.

Driving around in cars

I was driving behind a bunch of old classic cars the other day. It was like driving down the local drag in American Graffiti. Or driving behind ZZ Top.

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So I started thinking about cars back then and cars now and seriously, classic cars were so much cooler back in the day. They looked badass and had tough names like GTO, T-bird, and Dart.

Now we have cars with tame names like Encore and Cadenza. Can you just see Vin Diesel tearing it up down the road in a Versa Note? No so much Fast & Furious as it is Slow & Steady.

Not that I'm making fun of these cars. I'm sure they're good vehicles and as long as you can get from Point A to Point B in one piece and with as little aggravation as possible it's all good. I just prefer muscle cars with kick-ass names. My first car was a Mustang. I also owned a Camaro (which my son was delighted to find out) and a Grand Am GT. These days I drive a sensible car, not because I want to but because it's what I can afford. My dream car is a yellow and black trim Camaro that I will happily name Bumblebee. I'll even take the '76 version, I'm not picky. And if he turned out to be an Autobot, well that would be a bonus.

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Hello, I'm Morticia Addams

And here we are at October 1st already. Even though candy, costumes and pumpkins have been in the stores for a few weeks, I usually don't feel the Halloween spirit until October.

I'm not big on the scary Halloween stuff like horror movies. I prefer the "family-friendly" films. One of my all time favorite TV shows/movies is The Addams Family. So, because of this and the time of year it is, I took a "Which Addams Family Member Are You?" quiz. I was not surprised by the results.

You are:

Morticia Addams
 

Morticia is described as a vamp; she is slim, with extremely pale skin and long flowing straight black hair. She commonly wears black gothic dresses to match her hair, tightly form fitting, with a hobble skirt. According to Wednesday, Morticia applies baking powder to her face instead of actual makeup. In each episode, she easily allures her husband Gomez by speaking French (or any other foreign language for that matter). Morticia is musically inclined, and is often seen freely strumming a Japanese shamisen. She frequently enjoys cutting the buds off of roses which she discards (keeping only the stems), likes cutting out paper dolls with three heads and making sweaters with three arms, collecting the mail from the hand-in-the-box Thing, and cooking unusual concoctions for her husband; including eye of newt. She also has acarnivorous plant, an African Strangler named Cleopatra, which she enjoys feeding. Morticia also has an affinity for making certain that her family upholds the traditional Addams way, and is usually the most taken aback when one of the clan goes astray and does something "pleasant."

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Let's break this down.

I'm far from a vamp but I do like vampires. I'm not as slim as I once was, but then again, who is? Considering I live in a sunny climate my skin is not pale but I do have straight, black hair (with some grey in it). I wear more color in my wardrobe than I used to but I still have more than enough black.

I don't speak French but I do hope to visit Paris one day and I can still allure my husband, which might be mistaken for nagging, but still.

I'm not musically inclined unless you count my iPod or the Pandora app on my phone. I don't have a green thumb which explains why my roses end up like Morticia's. I don't knit but I imagine if I did my sweaters would come out with three arms as well.

I wouldn't mind a hand-in-the-box Thing getting my mail for me. And I certainly wouldn't protest Thing giving me a hand (pun intended) in the kitchen. Hold the eye of newt, please, but pass the Strawberry Newtons.   

I also love our little family traditions like the annual viewing of  "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". If only I had a big wicker chair to sit in while watching.

We need more kindness in the world

Because the world is full of tension and unrest. Because life is short. Because it really does make a difference.

I think Abraham Lincoln said it best when he addressed an auditorium full of students.

"Be excellent to each other."

- "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"

Back in time to Saint Elmo's

This past weekend I went back in time. No, I wasn't in a DeLorean with the Doc. I was watching "St. Elmo's Fire".

I'm one of those people who can watch a certain movie and instantly be transported back to a specific time and place. People feel that way with music a lot. There's a clinical term for it, I think. Associative Mood Takes Me Back something or other. Or, more simply, nostalgia.

So, there I was late Sunday afternoon watching Demi, Rob, Judd, Emilio, Ally, Andrew, and Mare. And instantly I was back in my town's small theater with my two best friends. We were sixteen then and we thought these young people on screen who had just graduated from college were so cool.

It made me smile to remember such good times. And I'm grateful to still be friends with those girls who sat next to me as we watched a group of friends and dreamed of ourselves someday hanging out at a bar, having a drink and trying to figure out life.

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I'm adding the pic below because, who didn't love (and want?!) the huge Billy Idol face painted on Jules' apartment wall? 

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