Day 13: 30 Days of TV - Favorite Childhood Show

Day 13: Your favorite childhood show

I struggled with this purely for my uncanny love for the Captain Planet theme song and remembering that I used to watch it with a blue ring with waves in it and pretended to be Linka anytime the powers were called.

But, its not Sesame Street.

There were muppets, Maria, songs, dances, learning and Kermit.



I was a latchkey kid growing up as well as having a brother that was more high-maintance than me growing up, which meant that the television was a babysitter. My mother when at home would use it as a baby sitter and Sesame Street was enthralling.

And I fell in love with the characters, but mostly Grover.



Kermit and Grover were my favorite characters. It was something in the gentle, supportive, caring nature that they expressed. Through Sesame Street I realized the traits of what was important in friends.

And I have a best friend who is the equivalent to a blend of Kermit and Grover.

Beth. 

So I guess this is more a friend love letter to her.

Ceasing Ramble.

Day 8: 30 Days of TV - Best Twist in a Series

Day 8: Best twist in a series

I have been stuck on this post for over a week. In fact, I had a conversation with my friend Kamiah about it.

Me:  I'm stuck on the TV blog. It's Best Twist. I think I'm overwhelmed, because I watch so much twisty TV.

Kamiah:  What are you thoughts?

  

Me:  Most of them revolve around death, because that's always a good shocking thing. But I think it should be something that you go, "Oooooooooh" everytime you see it.

Kamiah:  End of The Newhart Show. Does that count?

Me:  That was LAME So angry.

Kamiah:  Not LAME

Me:  LAME

Kamiah:  COOL

Me:  BOOO

Kamiah:  YOU'RE COOL

Me:  You're Boo!

Kamiah:  Mine's better

Me:  Well you're nicer than me. And btw, I'm blogging this. It's going to be the intro to the post.

Death as an abrupt end is always a twist that cuts to the core when done right. Showing the audience that they cannot find anything to be a constant makes the choices and consequences feel like they have more weight. I would say this is the main faltering point of Heroes and Lost. The dead do not stay dead, or perhaps I just never said that I had a favorite character on that show. 

So yes, the shows that I watch are all pretty twisty and the thing that continues to shock me (although it shouldn't anymore) is the curse that I have somehow looming over me. When I state out loud, "This person is my favorite character." I have doomed them for death. I'm a Joss Whedon girl. I know that you have to earn the death to make it meaningful and the first one to make me feel the twist, was of course on Buffy.

If you have not watched Buffy, Angel, or Six Feet Under do not read below unless you want a large spoiler. Beth you can read to the cut.


SPOILERAGE SPACE




"I think Jenny is my favorite character." 

SNAP! CRACKLE! Awwwww. It caused me to stop watching because I was so upset. I nearly did not pick the series back up, but I did.

"You know, Anya is so my favorite."

It slices! It dices! It also makes juilenne fries!

You'd think I'd learn.

"God I love Doyle, he just brings the whole show together. He's like the Willow."

I miss Glenn too. Sigh.

"I don't know what it is about Angel, but Lilah is the best character on this show."

That one I really didn't see coming, at least how it happened.

Beth told me I really should at this point just no longer talk about who my favorite character is ever. I still didn't learn.

"I love Conner."

"Man, I miss Cordelia so much, she was the best part of this show."

"You know Fred is the heart now that Cordy's gone."

"Hey Beth, Rach and I are members of the club 'What Wes Wants Wes Gets'"

Slice! Poof! Faghenbottom! Denied!

And even though every single one of them hurt and shocked me to some extent. (They had to tell me for an entire episode that Fred was dead. I didn't believe them. Until the very last shot and then I finally started bawling. Ask Beth. It was as snot-a-riffic as every viewing I do of that cheese-tastic Jodie Foster movie Sommersby. She has great stories about me and Sommersby.)

Nothing made me drop my jaw like a character death on Six Feet Under. A show that always has a character die in every episode, perhaps two. But this one. Is when I thought the show might be stupid and brilliant all at the same time.

BETH STOP READING RIGHT NOW DO NOT CLICK ON THE BELOW BREAK LINK AND FINISH SIX FEET UNDER ALREADY YOU'VE HAD IT FOR YEARS!

I can hear her going "Ooops" followed by a giggle right now or a cackle, depends on how happy she is...

Time Warp 2010: Halloween

I had taken a lot of pictures of my costume prep this year for Halloween so I thought I'd put them up on here for the sake of 'Look what I did!'

Halloween is taken very seriously with my group of friends. We go all out, we sew, we go for minute detail.

After last year's Kevin the bird from Up I decided that I was going to go comfortable next Halloween.

So in February I decided upon Dr. Arizona Robbins from Grey's Anatomy. It would require me to grow my hair for the remainder of the year (the hardest portion of the costume process).

I had a plan to piece together bits through the year so I wouldn't be rushing in October to finish it all up. This worked a bit. I purchased Heely's in July and didn't learn how to use them.

I went to Joann's fabric and got the fabric for the scrub cap and the press ons for the coat... and then just forgot about it until September.

Then the sewing, buying of the lab coat, embroidery, etc. started to happen in a whirlwind.

So I cut the four fabrics into 3" by 3" square-ish pieces.



Then began sewing together strips to sew together. This took the longest amount of time. Granted I only sew once a year (for Halloween), but it took me roughly eight hours of statements like this: "How do I fill the bobbin again?" "No! You're supposed to be facing!" "Damn you, you damn thread, damn you to Hades!"



But it turned out pretty nice.



Then came the embroidery on the coat, I did not do this, it was machine embroidery at one of the places in town. I brought in screen shots and print outs of blown up sections of Arizona's coat and we worked together to get text that made me happy.



There is a typo, it drives me crazy. I looked back at the items I gave the nice lady and I saw it was her typo. Oh well.




I rushed to get the other pieces of my costume together. The navy scrubs, the heart necklace, the PEDS stethoscope, the silver watch, my fake ID badge (which I can't not laugh at it was pasted to my Health Insurance card) and of course dying my hair.



There were many different 'wearing of the costume' as I knew it would get hot.

In the meantime I convinced my work spouse to dress up as "Gauze Paws" Callie and we had a fun time at the party.



The beginning of the evening "nice hair" photo.




Already getting warm, possibly due to my own martini bar I was working for guests. So the transition phase. The fuzzy due to being taken on a phone by an inebriated person.



Nice cameras take pretty photos! (For more on the party see Nik's blog.)



With my favorite webcomic zombie. There are other pictures of the night that I found on my phone that are going to stay on my phone.

While I did practice on the Heelys I never felt fully comfortable with them and nearly died on the hardwood floor twice that night, but just having them on felt right. Until I took them off, hid my socks somewhere that I would be sure to find them the next day... and wound up curled up asleep on a couch.

Fantastic party, because Beth always throws the best Halloween parties.


Ceasing Ramble.

Let's Walk... Outside

I put off walking tonight for a good long while.

This being after I didn't do cardio on Wednesday because I was meeting Beth and Daniel at the Royals game for some shenanigans. I ended up actually seeing a baseball in the fountain and was so upset that I didn't think ahead like Zack Hample and bring my own water retrieval device. (And if you don't know Zack or haven't heard of him check out both the blog and his website. He's a stand-up guy who catches baseballs for charity.)

So instead I just emo tweeted about it and took a picture.



And then Beth took some other ones with her camera that apparently have me reaching desperately for the ball. I told her that I would get the ball when I go back tomorrow. I am fully determined to copy Zack's device and will fully credit him as well as re-read Watching Baseball Smarter, which he signed, great baseball book.

Hm, after re-reading Zack's entry on the colander I'm not sure that I'll be able to get the ball off the bottom of the fountain. We'll see.

That leads us to Thursday and the nap of death, followed by Grey's (Yay! Arizona!), and then my subsequent dead zone of sleep.

After chatting with Kamiah we talked about the exercise plan for tonight and Saturday and I'm pretty sure I can stick to it.

Tonight I decided to do the cardio and then I came home and sat down and watched my taped Project Runways and sighed about getting on the treadmill. So I decided to walk outside and after I had left my house I remembered a few vital things.

1. At 8:19 at night the sun is down.
2. I live in the ghetto part of the Burg where we don't believe in street lights.
3. While I was wearing a bright orange/white/green baseball cap I stupidly had a black t-shirt on.

I walked around my neighborhood and got out to the highway and looped back around enjoying the inclines on the road and not seeing numbers tick away in front of me.

Then a red Monte Carlo passed by me going very slowly. I had my music up loud, but they had the window rolled down and I thought I heard a squeaking sound. I kept walking. About eight minutes later the Monte Carlo came by again this time behind me and passed by... and I realized that I was in the middle of the Pet Smart commercial where they try to find the dog by squeaking a toy out the window.

I nearly asked them the third time what type of dog and what the dog's name was since I still had some time left before I hit thirty minutes, but I didn't.

Two minutes before I was done a black lab trotted up alongside me and I wondered if he was the dog they were looking for, but he wouldn't let me touch his collar to see if he had tags on.

Miles Walked: I'm not sure I'll check in the morning
Circuit: Beginner - 3

Ceasing Ramble.

You don't even want to know how long this took

I gakked this from Nikki's blog as I was re-reading bits of it during my slow workday today.

This was originally posted on her blog in October 2005 I wonder what it would be like now.

(Hint, you should do another one Nik. I also lay down a challenge to anyone who reads this and blogs)

10 years ago:
1. I finally was dating Andrew after realizing that it wouldn't necessarily ruin our friendship like I thought. Even after my rationalization about how it would be like if Mulder and Scully started dating! (I love teenage logic)
2. Beth was my best friend and we were excited to be going to Europe in the summer.
3. I had already decided that I was going to Truman State University for college and I would be entering as an English major. I would be a high school English teacher. Well, two out of three ain't bad.
4. I worked at Hardee's. Where I had a ridiculous amount of fun singing with Dillon through headsets to each other.
5. I loved talking on the phone. I would watch television shows with Dillon and talk the entire hour. I'm not sure how my parents didn't throttle me for this.

5 years ago:
1. I was delivering pizzas for Domino's and saving up money to go to Tampa to a Buffy convention. I will always geek out about something; normally pop culture.
2. Beth was my best friend and we were realizing that she was going to not be my roomie anymore; but we were excited about where our lives might lead now that we weren't going to teach.
3. Avenue Q was the soundtrack of our lives.
4. On a whim I accepted to move to Columbia with Candra, just because she wanted a roommate. I often wonder where I would have gone just if someone asked. That is the most 'moveable' I have ever been in my life.
5. Beth and I still shared a cell phone plan. She's the closest to married I've ever been and probably ever will be... I'm so okay with that you shouldn't feel sorry for me.

1 year ago:
1. I was finishing my first regular school year as an advisor and loving my job.
2. I was already embroiled into the baseball season and trying to convince myself that driving to Kansas City all the time was okay.
3. Molly was getting ready to move to Minnesota and I knew I'd be losing my closest friend in the 'Burg. So... that sucked.
4. The wheels in my head were already turning about the 4th of July float trip.
5. I still had no idea how to live by a budget.

Yesterday:
1. I had writing night with Nikki; one of my favorite times of the week.
2. I finally felt better from my week-long cold.
3. My cat, Mr. Bandito, showed me he still didn't understand how his feeder worked. Or that he purposefully didn't want to understand this 'new technology'.
4. Our student worker, B, had her final day. I fired her about five times. I will miss doing that.
5. I realized I needed to get my reading list filled up again as I had plowed through three books.

5 snacks I like:
1. Salt and Vinegar Chips
2. Peas
3. Cheese
4. Granny Smith Apples
5. Chipotle Lime Pistachios

5 songs I know all the words to:
1. Racheal Yamagata - Worn Me Down
2. Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
3. Guster - What You Wish For
4. Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
5. Common Rotation - Fortunate

If I had a million dollars:
1. I'd pay off my remaining debt.
2. I'd move to Kansas City and buy a house.
3. I'd throw some money at my friends so they could pay down debt.
4. I'd place the rest in a long term savings
5. I'd make sure my parents were taken care of and didn't have to worrry.

5 things I would never wear:
1. Leather pants
2. Five inch heels
3. Fur... well unless I was in Siberia.
4. Halter Top
5. Thong

Favorite TV shows:
1. 30 Rock
2. Chuck
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Buffy
5. Angel

5 bad habits:
1. Distractability
2. Sometimes too Biting Sarcasm
3. Untidy House
4. Leaving my phone in another room and not hearing it...
5. Inability to set and keep a routine

5 biggest joys:
1. Friends that make you laugh so hard you can't breathe.
2. Finishing a chapter or update to a story.
3. Real honest to goodness letters in mail.
4. Hearing the crack of a bat and the roar of a stadium when the Royals score.
5. Board games with friends.

5 fictional people I want to date:
1. Chuck Bartowski - Chuck
2. Anya - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. Jim Halpert - The Office
4. April Hoffman - Definitely, Maybe
5. Jim Levenstein - American Pie

Ceasing Ramble.

Adoption

Today marks the day of an adoption.

My friend Adrienne woefully spoke of her cat Bandit at "New Year's in St. Louis" (which happened in March) and how he was not getting along with his new dog siblings inherited from her marriage.

After talking about Bandit and realizing he meets all of the specifications my landlord said a cat would need to live in my wood-paneled abode I let Adrienne know I would be happy to adopt Bandit.

I mean, he has his own theme song.

Beth, being the biggest pal ever, shuttled Bandit to me today...

I let him be to wander around my apartment and get to know it. He mewed, he hissed, he stared out windows.

And then...





He decided to take a nap on my treadmill. This was made of awesome.

And get ready for Bandit Watch to see when/if he decides he likes me.

Ceasing Ramble.

Update! Bandit has now found that the papasan chair is actually more comfortable than the treadmill.

Poor Man's Weight Loss Challenge

Update: Neither Beth, nor I owe each other money yet.

My weight loss is in a standstill. I've had many people weigh in on what they think is happening to my body.

I think it's just trying to hold onto the fat storage because it's so damn cold outside.

I feel better and I'm eating better, which really that's what matters.

Beth and I continue to marvel at the motivation behind a penny.

Also pork and black bean verde stew is delicious. Thank you Biggest Loser recipe book.

Living in Words

I recently finished a book that my new penpal from the far off shores of Canada sent me with a lovely handwritten letter and a Coffee Crisp bar (which thank heavens I can't purchase them readily here in the States).

I would name the book, but there is the chance that someone who reads this blog might be receiving it soon... so I'll edit that when that event happens.

The imagery washed over me and I got lost in the story.

The beginning, the middle, and the ending has been following me around for more than a week. As I flipped through the pages hungrily devouring pages, words, and letters I became so wrapped up in the book that at the end I found tears in my eyes.

Now, I am not a solemn 'no tears' type of individual, but usually I don't cry when reading books. There are sighs and hmmms and aaaahs, but usually vocally letting out the excitment and feeling is all that matters.

But not in this book.

Which led me to search out in my bookshelf something that I had read before and where the pages felt worn and comforting. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. Thanks to Candra I have many copies of Fannie Flag, but this is the one that feels like home. The bits of storytelling that weave together stories along time bring that same vivid imagry of the first book.

Idgie and Ruth have the biggest pull for me and often times I think of that relationship, that love and if it's mirrored in my own life.

I think it is, although, not romantically as Idgie and Ruth are linked through pages and charm.

I have a friend who I feel as strongly about as Idgie did Ruth.

So Miss Beth, I'll love you... even if you don't make pie without blueberries.

Even when you infuriate me.

Because you're who I tell my tall tales to and can hear the real story behind them and that I'm always thankful for, even when I can't find the words to say so...

As I sift through books and sink into stories I hope that you can find one that touches you deeply too.

I love you.

(Except you Fred Phelps, I still firmly hate you.)

Ceasing Ramble.

The Poor Man's Challenge Excersice Routine

Okay, so I know I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but it's worth it.

I did weights today.

In prep of the circuit training I'm going to start on Friday.

And this is what my workout schedule is going to be like.

Sunday - Rest Day (20 minute walk)
Monday - Circuit and Light Cardio
Tuesday - Heavy Cardio
Wednesday - Circuit and Light Cardio
Thursday - Rest Day (20 minute walk)
Friday - Circuit and Light Cardio
Saturday - Heavy Cardio

My Saturday/Sunday will most likely switch back and forth depending on what is going on over the weekend, but I should be able to keep with the circuit training very well at home. It's those darn weekend in Kansas City and elsewhere that worries me, but most likely I'll just switch those around to heavier cardio if I can't take my weights with me. (Yes I own weights... I used to do crunches with a barbell weight cuddled to my chest how awesome of me huh?).

I am taking the circuit options from the Biggest Loser workout book I didn't feel like opening until today. It's pretty great because the reason I never did circuit training is I didn't know how to put together all the exercises.

And man I'm going to hurt tomorrow.

But it will be a good hurt.

The hurt of not having to pay Beth a penny.

Ceasing Ramble.

The Poor Man's Weight Loss Challenge

I was talking to Beth today and she told me that she had been working out everyday.

You must understand hearing Beth say that is like hearing Fred Phelps say that he loves gays, a whale speaking perfect British English while drinking tea, or for me to say I dislike Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I was amazed.

I asked her how long she's been doing this and she said since Friday.

Multiple days. I was impressed.

After working out tonight I gave her a call and issued a challenge.

Beth and I might be penny pinchers.

For everyday we catch the other not working out, cardio or weights, at least 20 minutes of sweat.

I work out on the treadmill, Beth does crazy dance workouts as coregraphed... by Beth. To each his own.

But if we don't work out a penny is owed. If we don't work out two days in a row a nickel is owed. If we don't work out three days in a row the big money comes out and a quarter is owed.

So begins the poor man's weight loss challenge as coined by the new Richard Simmons.

Updates will be made when I owe Beth the big coin and I'll keep track of the running monies that I get from Suzanne Somers.

For my personal weight loss I'm hoping for a 10% weight loss of 18.8 pounds as a first goal. I had made some progress when Kris Kringle decided to leave me four pounds for Christmas (he really shouldn't have). When I reach this goal I'll be able to buy my new TV. After that hitting a goal weight of 169.2 I will then go for the next 10% loss of 16.9 pounds. When hitting that goal weight I'll be able to buy an XBox 360 with a weight of 152.3. I don't have a time goal to go with this and the updates won't be as frequent as my last blog because I know that no one is as interested in my workouts as I am. (The same goes for my own personal fiances).


So here's hoping that Beth and I can slim down to where we were in this picture.


Interesting where you can find yourself after four years when you're not paying attention to your own body.


Ceasing Ramble.