kegn: January 2006

kid profile

[got this from deirdre]

YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70'S & 80'S IF...

You wore a rainbow shirt that was half-sleeves, and the rainbow went up one sleeve, across your chest, and down the other.
---I don't remember, but I had a Mr. Bill, E.T., and a Ghostbusters tee shirt.

You made baby chocolate cakes in your Easy Bake Oven and washed them down with snow cones from your Snoopy Snow Cone Machine.
---Just the Easy Bake-
I wasn't very good. Most of it tasted like chocolate rocks.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.
--Pink Huffy!

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had
metal wheels.
--Yes. I also had beginner skates. Plastic cheapy things that attached to the sneakers. My older brother pushed me down the hill one day. Those things fell apart so easily because I must have been doing 75 mph down the hill. Picture a NASCAR crash in slow-mo except with me as the car.. The wheels flying off , my body doing a spin out, then hitting a wall and bursting into flames.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute
--Guilty. Although now, I realize that Isaac was much cooler. He's the bartender!

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.
--Nope. Loved it . "In Search Of " scared me, but I still watched it

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie," not to mention the "Dorothy
Hamill" because your Mom was sick of braiding your
hair.
--Dorothy Hamil. But with my hair, it's more like Dorothy Hamill as a Muppet.

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.
--I had Holly Hobbie underwear.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.
---The neighbors had one.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.
--Oh yes! Pretty purple dress.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.
---No-not with my hair. But I did collect stinky, gets-you-high-metallic pens. They make a mess too

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals.
--I had Jellies. They make your feet stink tho.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt
with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised
Nellie Olson!
---I have to say I might have been the only little girl in the '70's who didn't care for Laura or Little House.
I found them boring.

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink.
---No!--too many older creepy kids that might steal my money. Backyards are the place for smoochies.

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers" and you kept it "pretty" with the comb you kept in your back pocket.
--"Feathery Muppety"

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.
---and Lemon Merangue!

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.
--Had this--and a poster

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.
--It was the Hardy Boys. But we didn't fight. because I liked Frank & she liked Joe.

Every now and then "It's a Hard Knock Life" from the movie, "Annie" will pop into your brain and you can't stop singing it the whole day.
--I hate Annie. Due to the clique of popular girls who used to sing it every damn day at school. Bitches

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!
Chewbacca, R2, & Luke--why didn't I pick up Han? I always thought he was the coolest.

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.
--Grease is the word, is the word, is the word

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.
--yeah, I made a pot holder. Our church had Christmas bazaars and that's where I did my Christmas shopping. Merry Christmas Dad, I bought you a coin holder [ which I got for 30 cents at the bazaar, but spent my dollar on funnel cake]

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!
---Never had Shrinky Dinks, I think my mom thought I would burn the house down--probably because my dad was a fireman. Toys that required parental supervision were mostly banned in our house. I had one iron-on that I got from a book of the month club. It was a frog.

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
--Oh yes, I do remember recording "Jam on it"

You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club.
---see Iron on Tee shirt story

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)
---and Flubber..[popular girls are mean!!]

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.
--It's not?
I have to confess, it took me forever to realize that "Bad Girls" was about hookers.

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.
--I had Kangaroos sneakers, with a pouch!--which I could fit a quarter in if I wanted to! [how lame is that?]

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.
--I knew I wasn't good enough back then but I did do my solid gold dancing. But I thought I was pretty good roller rink skater. [because I didn't fall]

You had a Big Wheel with a brake on the side, and a Sit-n-Spin.
--Big Wheels : the greatest bike ever. Turn it over and pretend you're churning ice cream!
My older brother broke my big wheel [the same one who tried to kill me with the rollerskates]
I wanted a Sit n' Spin.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.
My friend and I read them at our local Woolworth's. Remember that store?
I remember buying "Bananas" too

You spent all your allowance on smurfs and stickers for your sticker album!
--Smurfs. Astronaut Smurf was my favorite. His plastic helmet broke so I glued it back with Crazy Glue and accidently got my fingers stuck to it. Freaked out for about 5 minutes, then read the directions and pulled my fingers off. Ouch!

something with substance

Subject: Books!
Finished: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I saw the movie that's based on his experiences while writing the novel. Great movie. Incredible book. I have to say it's one of the best books I've ever read. As soon as I finished it I wanted to talk about it. To anyone who would listen, wanting to discuss the portrayals of the convicts in the novel and how they are depicted in the movie, etc. etc. Unfortunately I finished it over the holidays and who wants to discuss a book about two killers while White Christmas is on tv?

Also finished: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.
Not great , but it's better than the sequel The DaVinci Code. But to me, Dan Brown is the next Michael Crichton. DaVinci Code was written as if Brown was planning his movie contract while he wrote it. Characters are very cliched, like the beautiful woman who is the daughter of a well known so and so and helps our hero on his case. But she has a mysterious past that ties to the case. Gee, I didn't see that one coming...give me a break.
What I like most about Angels and Demons were the actual landmarks used in the story. It made me want to visit the Vatican City and see them myself. I would love to go exploring the catacombs underneath the city [with a guide of course, not by myself] Or see the works of art that are hidden away.

Currently reading: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
A book about Dracula. Don't let the subject of Dracula turn you off because this book has an interesting approach that sets it apart from the other vampire Dracula stories. The way it's written is from the perspective of a woman describing past events. How she discovered a strange letter in her father's library when she was a teen and how her father came to inherit a certain book.
So far I am enjoying it. It's rich and detailed.But what I like best is the writing style. The piecing together of a story that you know does not end well, every chapter ends with a sense of doom but it still makes the reader curious about how it ends exactly. I think it subtly suggests that the reader is in jeopardy as well, because it all begins with a letter that states " My dear and unfortunate successor".

I'll be anxiously awaiting her sequel: the real story about Count Chocula ;)