Randomacity

OK. I will admit that I had NO CLUE what to write about yesterday, which is why there was no posting. I know that I left that note on FB promising something really special today…but guess what? I lied! There. Now you know the truth. I feel much better…

SO…that means rummaging through that box in my mind called “Random Thoughts”. Sorry. It’s all I got right now. The muse has apparently gone camping one last time this season.

We’ll start with the title of this blog. I know that “randomacity” isn’t a real word. It’s a little tribute to Phil Hartman, a comic genius who was taken from us far too soon. In an episode of NewsRadio, his character, Bill McNeal was having fun with the word “adequate” by coming up with a lot of variations on it just to annoy Dave Foley’s character. It was a cute little episode that has stuck with me all these years.

I really miss my childhood closet. It was HUGE. My bedroom itself was small, but the closet was HUGE. For the last 33 years I’ve been making do with a VERY small section of closet in our bedroom. When Sarah moved out, and her room became the craft room, I immediately took over the closet for my use. Still not enough. YOU CANNOT HAVE A CLOSET TOO BIG. No such closet exists. Except maybe the one that leads you to Narnia….boy, I’d love to have THAT one! I’d have my own set of closets on the other side in Narnia!

Enough randomology for you? No? You want more? OK. One last thought. (Stop cheering! It’s rude!) Just as you can’t have a closet too big, you can NEVER have too many books. Marv, Sarah and Paul would take issue with that statement. But it’s true. Books are life. I love books. Seeing all those books on my shelves give me comfort. I grew up with a ton of books on the shelves in our house. My mom was a voracious reader. My only regret is that I never really got to discuss books with her before her decline. It would’ve been nice especially to discuss some of the books in HER library once I had read some of them. I remember checking out a book from the local library when I was in high school. It was Dragonwyck by Anya Seton. I loved that book. Very dark and gothic. I was stunned some time later to discover that very same book amongst my mother’s books. She had read that same wonderful novel! I truly wish I could have discussed this with her…

OK. Time to put the randomlicious box back in the TINY LITTLE CLOSET of my mind. I will try to have a “real” blog for you next week. But probably not. Buwahahahahahahah! I am evil!!!!

Really, I’m OK. No cause for concern. Move along now…I mean it! Get outta here! 

Billie

I was looking through some of my blog sites for prompts and came across one written about bullies and kids named Billy. The writer had very poor experiences in his childhood with boys of that name and couldn’t think of anyone named Billy that included a positive experience. I immediately thought of a little girl I knew whose name was Billie.

I was 5 and she was about the same age. She and her family lived next door. She was one of my first friends, simply because of proximity. None of the families in that area had much in they way of money, ours included. I don’t know how it came about that we knew it was Billie’s birthday, but we had a little celebration at our house, just us and Billie. My mom got a coloring book and crayons and we wrapped them up. I was so jealous, because I never got a new coloring book. All I had to color on was paper. I didn’t understand why Billie was so special.

We had a little cake and sang Happy Birthday, and then Billie burst into tears. That totally floored me. Why!? She was getting a new coloring book and crayons! Looking back, and sort of remembering some of the adult conversation going on, I think perhaps that Billie had never celebrated her birthday before, and was just overwhelmed by it all.

Some time later, Billie was playing outside and ran into the street and was hit by a car. She only ended up with severe road rash on one arm. My mother took her aside a couple of days later and very carefully explained why you NEVER run out in the road, and you NEVER go NEAR the road without looking both ways. I already knew that information—why didn’t Billie? Why did she have to have this explained by another person? Again, vaguely remember conversation going on around me, it was apparent that no one had ever told Billie this stuff.

And that’s about all I remember about Billie. She was my first friend. I don’t know when they moved away, but I was aware that suddenly she didn’t live next door anymore. I hope she’s doing well. 

Grandma’s Continuing Education

When my kids were little, I knew almost all the names of the various cartoon people in their world. I knew all the Ninja Turtle folk—both good and bad, most of the Smurfs, Rainbow Bright and her friends, Strawberry Shortcake and her friends, most of the My Little Pony gang, etc. And Barbie was Barbie! No matter what hair color she had. Yes, she had a few friends with their own names, but they looked different, too.

Now that Lia is in my life, I’m finding that I have to learn a whole new cast of characters. There are different looking ponies now, with different names. All the Disney movies now have their own “Barbie” dolls, with specific looks and names. And even the regular Barbies often have their own look and name. And Lia has them all, by the way. Ponies and Barbies. And now there’s Tinkerbell and all her fairy friends to learn too! And since S & C don’t have cable, Lia watches movies all the time. Over and over. The same movies. Then she’ll move on to another movie or two and watch those over and over for a while. While I was visiting this last time, we saw the 2^nd Mermaid movie and the old Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. Over and over. In play, Lia will re-enact parts of the movies, using her various dolls and stuffed animals for the characters. She will assign me a doll/animal and tell me who it is, then she’ll take her “character” and feed me lines! I may not have paid strict attention! I won’t know my lines! She’ll correct me! She’s memorized these movies! Then she’ll switch without notice and the former Rapunzel doll which had become Pocahontas, is now Ariel from the Mermaid movie. And if I voice the wrong character, Lia gets mad at me! Can’t win!

But it’s all good, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Bring ‘em on…Grandma can handle it…

Alphabet Soup - part 8

U – U is for Ukulele

To me, the ukulele is the symbol for Arthur Godfrey. When I was young, I listened to Arthur Godfrey on the radio and watched him on TV. I remember his commercials for Lipton tea and soup and for Axion detergent. To me, he always sounded like he had a slight cold, but his voice was very comforting. I enjoyed the talent shows. One of my favorite movies is The Glass Bottom boat, where he plays Doris Day’s father. They do a duet where he is playing his ukulele.

V – V is for Vegemite

I’ve mentioned being an Anglophile before, but I am also an Australophile. It’s a fascinating country and fascinating people. I love the native artwork. I had never heard of Vegemite, though, until the song “Down Under” by Men at Work. I loved that song and did a little research into Vegemite. I don’t think I would care for it…

W – W is for Windchimes

I love windchimes. When Marv and I were first married, we found some local artist who made ceramic windchimes. They were gorgeous, and that first Christmas we gave EVERYBODY windchimes. Sadly, ours broke a few years later after we had moved and by then the guy was no longer in the area. I tried finding him on the internet a couple times, but I don’t really know how his named was spelled. If I didn’t think it would drive the neighbors nuts, I’d hang windchimes all around the outside of the house so we would be sure of catching SOME kind of breeze on a spring or summer night. I’d have all the windows open and go to sleep listening to those chimes.

June/July Book Report

Never got around to doing a report for June, so decided to combine last months and this, since only 4 books were read.



Camilla by Madeleine L’Engle

This is from the young adult section. I read it when I was in high school and enjoyed it once again. It’s a bit dated by now, but still a good book. Camilla comes of age and discovers her parents are only human. No one is perfect, parents make mistakes, the world does NOT revolve around YOU. In the process, she discovers her first love is the brother of her best friend. The book definitely does not have a happy ending, but the ending is real, and is one that can be dealt with.



Bedelia by Vera Capsary

This was a real corker from my mom’s library. Turn of the century suspense about a black widow that marries lonely middle-age men and makes them deliriously happy until they die “normal” deaths. After taking out huge life insurance policies, of course. The plot wouldn’t work in today’s modern age, but still a great book.



Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

Non-fiction book that I’ve had for years, but never got around to reading it until now. Heyerdahl was convinced that the Polynesian islands were first inhabited by primitive sailors from the Americas. He set out to prove that a primitive raft, such as was available back then, could safely make it from Peru to Polynesia. He did it. Great read for anyone loving true adventure stories.


Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Since this is the newest Stephanie Plum book, and has only been out for a short time, I won't reveal too much. If you're not a fan of this series, you REALLY need to be! As usual, Stephanie goes after her FTA's with her usual flair and incompetence, aided by the plus-sized Lula. I will only add two more words: Ranger action. OK, I'll make that 3 words: MAJOR Ranger action. As in lots of action. Wow. With Ranger. Excuse me, I'm going to take a cold shower...

Alphabet Soup – part 7

R - R is for Roller Skates

I grew up in a very rural area where there were no sidewalks. I had roller skates, but no good place to skate. The street was far too rough, and there wasn’t enough room in the driveway. There was a local roller rink, but we NEVER went there. I didn’t even know it existed until I was in high school. The roller skates I had were the clamp on kind that you attached to your shoes and had to tighten with a key. I have no clue why my parents got them for me when there was no place to use them. My friend Shirley had a very large back patio where we could do a little skating back and forth a few feet. We were there one day when my skate caught on something and I fell forward into the little garden area at the end of the patio. I put out my hands to break the fall, and punctured my hand on a rusty nail sticking up from a board. That meant a trip to the doctor for a tetanus shot.

S – S is for Scurbles

I don’t remember when I came up with the word “scurbles” but it was some time when the kids were very small. It could be used as an interjection or anything you wanted. Sarah was always drawing little creatures with odd names and I guess decided to draw what she pictured a scurble looked it. Very cute, kinda like a little mushroom creature. Many years later when “Fantasia” first came out on video tape, I got it and watched it. One of the musical sections had little critters dancing around that looked just like the scurbles that Sarah had drawn! I was amazed! We had never rented that movie before, so it wasn’t an image that had crept into Sarah’s mind earlier.

T - T is for Tapioca

I have always loved tapioca, but since it was a cooked pudding, we didn’t have it very often. This was long before Jello came out with the packages that still required some cooking, but you didn’t have to soak it overnight first. My grandmother used it a lot to thicken fruit pies and cobblers. One time we had large pearl tapioca, which we’d never had before. After it was soaked, my grandmother made pudding. It was like having small eyeballs in your dessert! I loved it!

Alphabet Soup - part 6

Just a little preamble regarding the “L” posting a few weeks back: I got the ‘Leather & Lace’ CD and it was like going back in time!!! I was singing along with the ladies and lovin’ it! I was listening to it today while paying bills, balancing the checkbook and getting this blog ready. Awesome!! J

O – O is for Opal

I love opals. I love the fire within them, the prism of colors, the variations. Oddly, I have no opal jewelry. Wish I did.

P – P is for Pollock

I’ve blogged about Jackson Pollock before, so I won’t say much here. I love his work. He was a deeply flawed human being, but his soul was amazing. I was talking to Sarah once about accent walls, and I said I’d love an accent wall done as a Pollock abstract. I thought Marvin would barf. He does NOT appreciate Pollock.

Q – Q is for Quark

I’ve loved ALL the Star Trek TV shows and movies and have seen them all. I was deeply saddened by the non-ending of Deep Space Nine. I really hate when there are loose ends. Quark was such a great character. Yes, he was a greedy, conniving Ferengi, but he had a heart…

He certainly had mine ♥