turbine

Turboencabulator. Complete with nofur trunions, reciprocating dingle arm, and of course side fumbling is effectively prevented.

Overalls

I LOVED overalls!!! If I didn't realize how dopey they look on me now, I'd totally STILL wear overalls! If I had a job that required overalls I'd be very happy. Like an engineer. Or... a Snoopy impersonator.

Loved overalls.

Maybe I should wear them around the house...

Ok no. How lame would that be?

science

"The whole universe was in a hot dense state..."

I loved science. I pretty much already said that a few days ago. Well... I talked about physics. I liked chemistry too. Wasn't as interested in biology except as it related to medicine. What else is biology good for really? Physics and chemistry though? Loved them. Just did.

Modem

First thing that came to mind was "Robot Daycare." (Another Geiko commerical.)

The second thing that came to mind is a customer service call I once made about a new modem I'd bought that wasn't working. Previously, I'd always had built in modems. I'd never had a stand alone one before. Tech support and I troubleshot it for over an hour before I noticed the stupid thing had a POWER button. - Yeah that's right. I hadn't turned it on. And tech support never asked if I had!

Railroad

Was just thinking about a train station I'll be going to. There's two main ones where I live. I still feel like the other one is "my" train station. The one I grew up with and always used. I liked it. Loved the station itself. Had good memories going in and out of there.

The one I'm going to soon... I don't know... it's different. Not "mine." I wonder if, at this point, I've used it as much or more than the first one. I still don't like it somehow. I feel stressed... saddened, in a way, when I'm there. I know where I'm going, it's convenient in ways, and yet, I still don't think of it as "my" station.

Harness

First thing that came to mind was learning to ride horses. So much I could write here but won't. I learned from someone who was a real jerk. So it's probably little surprise that when he forced my horse to jump, rather than letting me circle it around to get momentum for another attempt, I was pleased to hear that I'd kicked him in the head while hurtling through the air when the horse threw me.

Motion

Physics classes in Jr. High.

I went to a great Jr. High School. Among its merits, was that we were allowed to choose our own classes - something that wasn't usually allowed until High School. So long as a class could justifiably be said to fulfill state requirements, we could take it. I took several physics classes. Loved them.

I think the reason I didn't go more in that direction as an adult was the theoretical aspects of physics after a while. I like concrete. I like knowns. Or at least working largely within knowns. I can speculate as to unknowns, but I want to know answers in the end.

That's why I often have so much patience with puzzles. The kinds that make other people feel crazy and stupid? I figure if it's a puzzle, (a regular puzzle, not a "meaning of life, the universe, and everything" puzzle) there's a definite answer and a solution. And if other people have figured it out, I can too.

Chills

Chiller Theatre.

That dumb start of the show, with the hand coming out of the ground and the voice saying *CHILLER!!!!!* - Maybe it would seem corny nowadays, but it scared the crap out of me as a kid!

I bet it'd still scare the crap out of me!

** Here it is on YouTube:

Yup! I totally screamed just now when it said "CHILLER!!!" at the end!!!

(- If you read the comments on this at YouTube, I wasn't the only one who had nightmares! - Children should never have been able to see this thing! I'm not even sure adults should!)

Saturday

Ok this should be general enough!

I'm not thinking of anything....

What's coming to me is that it's not "Sunday" so things are still open, whereas on Sunday people sleep in late, the streets are deserted longer, and when I need something, oftentimes it turns out to be from one of the rare stores that's closed.

- But not on Saturday! :)

Wow. For over a month now, every time I try to do a One Word post, I'm reminded of something I do not want to write about. I go to One Word hoping for escape, waiting for a day's word to spark some thought in another direction, but somehow my brain manages to connect every single word to this particular event. Really. Every word. And today's? An incident that involved a computer.

The mind is a terrible thing to have mess with you :o|

hassle

Oh boy. I haven't written any of these in a while because all of them remind me of something that's going on right now. "Hassle".... that's pretty key. I wish the word didn't exist. Who is anyone to decide that someone or something is a hassle. How about we all just "do."

Engine

The one that could of course.

Also my car engine. My first car. I remember looking at it and wishing I knew what everything was and how it worked. I can do basic stuff.... check oil, window washing fluid... other fluids.... check the air in tires... what's left... pump gas ;) That's about it for my car mechanical expertise!

Disregard

I'm wondering if I should disregard someone's request. Well, that's not up to them actually... what's done is done. I'm wondering if I should LIE to cover up that things aren't how they want.

I told them I was going to change my plans. They didn't like that, but it was already done. Too late. So I'm wondering if I should avoid them so they don't have to know, or say "My plans changed before you made your request. Sorry you're not happy with that."

I'm getting really frustrated trying to navigate this person's issues. What's wrong with me that I stick it out with people I care so much about, when they wouldn't throw me a life raft if I was drowning.

luggage

Weird. Someone just told me there was talk of charging for carry on luggage. I've heard this before. It'll probably happen. They got all panicked. I may have to start traveling with no luggage and/or sending things by mail. How stupid.

I wish trains were cheaper. I'd totally do Amtrak instead - HAPPILY - but I'd need a sleeper car for long trips and that makes it cost prohibitive. No way I could sit in a seat for 24 hours. I need my sleep.

Primitive

brain

emotions

I wonder if primitive humans had emotions like ours? Did they get as distressed? Distraught? Did they get as happy? Excited? Did they form friendships? Bonds? Did they love the way we do? Both romantic and non? Did they plan? Anticipate? Did they wonder about death and worry about loss? How did they feel? Was it similar to how we feel today? Was it similar to how some of us feel today? Was it more like deviants? The mentally ill? More like well adjusted people? Like children? Like thugs? Like nuns? Did they have deviants, mentally ill, and well adjusted primitives? How were their emotions?

Outgoing

Most people think I'm that. I guess I just see meeting people differently than others. They're a person, I'm a person... unless I see a reason to not treat them like a person, I will. If they seem un-human in some way, then maybe I won't. Or maybe I'll approach them anyway just because I'm curious...

Tasting

I once went to a chocolate tasting event. Happened out of nowhere. I was in a mall and struck up a conversation with a woman in the food court. She told me there was a chocolate tasting event at the mall that day. It was cheap. Maybe $5 or $10? And you got little boxes of chocolates from various vendors. - I was so there! My new friend and I had a very nice time :)

Upright

Haven't been doing a lot of that recently. Ok... before you get the wrong idea ;)

I've been lying down a lot. A LOT. The first few days I may have had the start of a flu. Hard to know. I wasn't sleeping well, the temperature outside and in was much hotter than I'm used to, the air conditioning wasn't on, and that could be what I was feeling. Now flu-ish symptoms have gone, the AC is on high, but I still find myself flopping down every now and then, lying on my back, and closing my eyes as my mind goes from one imaginary conversation to another.

Hallowed

Funny... I thought "Hallowed be thy name" but I was also picturing the Geddysburg address.

"...we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who have struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract."

I memorized the whole thing when I was about ten. My choice. I did it as a memory exercise. I did pretty well. I checked the quote above via Google after I typed it, and I only had 2 words wrong (I changed them!)

Balloons

Why do I think I saw this already? I don't think I wrote on it. I think I imagined it. OH! I KNOW!!! There's a themed "summer movie" series near me. I was thinking earlier today that a great theme would be films with "Balloons!" Wow. Coincidence :)

Ok, for a quick blurb...

I make balloon animals. I deliberately learned how to make 1-balloon animals when I was younger, instead of designs with multiple balloons, because I was on a budget and wanted my bag of balloons to last longer! Nowadays, when I see street performers and their multi-balloon creations, I want to give it a try :)

Poster When I was younger, to enter my bedroom, there was a hallway (about 8 feet long), and then the space opened up into a room. I put theatre and movie posters up in the hallway, and used to pretend it was an alley in a city.

Sound

I would hate to not be able to hear the sound of voices I love. I wouldn't mind not hearing some other sounds though. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to filter things like that? Filter certain decibels or words or voices or... jackhammers!

I wonder how we'd be, as people, if we could pick and choose what to hear - literally. Maybe it's the bad that makes the good so much better, or the noise that helps give clarity its meaning and value. Or maybe not. Maybe hearing only good sounds would be just fine.

Swan

Some people look good when they're dressed up. I have some friends who don't. The clothes don't fit them right, the makeup is a bit off... They DO look how "grown ups" are supposed to look, so it works in that regard, and they look "right" in that way, but they'd actually look more professional, more put together, and more "with it" in their non-work clothes. Because those fit them better. They move differently in them, they look great in them, and they seem younger, happier, more alive. Less awkward. I wonder if someday I can tell them this. Maybe not.

Slight

Of hand.

Not something I was ever good at. Maybe my hands were too small when I started (though plenty of children are very good at it.) Now if I tried I'd probably fumble at times, so it may be best that was never my forte. Heck it was never my anything! Self working tricks always worked best for me. I had lots of those.

Sunglasses

I have a lot of difficulty with these. Most sunglasses distort my view too much so I'm not comfortable wearing them. There was one brand I loved. I could see great out of them. Better than without! They cost $50-$80 each, but they were worth it to me. I don't lose my sunglasses. Mine often last 3-5 years before they break. Eventually that company changed hands and their glasses dropped in quality. They're like all the others now.

Oh to be able to get by with a cheapo $4 pair from a drug store!

Well this makes sense. Most people do have two earrings after all ;)

I have a couple of ear cuffs too. I like them, but they hurt. Kind of in a Princess and the Pea sort of way. I don't know why they hurt but that little bit of pressure on the cartilage gives me a big headache. No matter how loose I make them. I have trouble with stiff bracelets and watches too. No matter how loose, if they're not flexible rubber or fabric, my wrists really hurt within a pretty short time! Bangles? Forget about it!

Earring

I have pierced ears. Always had them. My parents felt the need to put a couple of extra holes in my head when I was about four years old.

I remember getting some really cute Snoopy earrings once from Charles Shultze's skating rink. They infected my ears like nobody's business! Red, scaley...

In retrospect, it think I was allergic to them, and then my ears got infected. My earlobes hurt, the....

I was going to say the alcohol hurt but it wasn't alcohol that was used to clean them... not peroxide either... Darn! I can remember the smell of the stuff but what was it? I know this smell! Drat! Now this is going to bug me. What other liquid stuff did we put on infections back then? Over the counter...

Just did a quick search... Maybe Ethyl alcohol...

Whatever the heck it was, it HURT!

Edit: OMG! It's about 2 years later, and as I was browsing through my older entries, I read this and remembered the smell, and knew immediately what it was. Witch Hazel!

Desk

Elementary school and four desks put together. I remember a teacher asking us what our first through fourth choices would be for who we'd want in our group. I was always worried I'd end up with people I didn't like, but every time, I loved my group of four. I think everybody was happy with their seating assignments. I don't remember any of us looking at another table and pining for friends WAY over there! I always felt lucky and very happy with the outcome. - Impressive that our teacher successfully pulled that off every time.

Entice

Entice makes me think of a deliberate action from another, with an intent to manipulate a specific outcome.

There is no "other" swaying my reason right now. There's just me. Nevertheless, I'm being pulled and swayed towards a set of decisions that might not be best in the long run. Decisions swayed by emotion rather than reason or logic. I think that must be bad. Or maybe it's not. It's different for me.

Logic and reason think towards the future. If I do this and this and that, THEN this other thing will be better. Logic and reason are about planning and outcomes... about putting things off... waiting. An emotional choice would address now. What about now? Living in the moment. Not for an unknown tomorrow or a future that may never come. I want to be happy now.

Nourish

I'm thinking evil villains.

That's what they always say when they're being evil and they're about to eat you! I almost never hear this word in a good or healthy context. I'm thinking Stephen King clown eating children in the sewers, and alien entities that prey upon hapless ships lost in space...

What the heck happened to this word??! ;)

Bitten

Would I want to be a vampire...

No.

I'm not sure I'd be cracked up for immortality. I have enough difficulty with a mortal life. Immortal doesn't mean rich and comfortable. That might be more appealing. Possibly. But having to live off others' blood? No. It might be ok sometimes, but to HAVE to live off that? Ew. Not interested. And sunlight and stakes seem like an awful way to go.

Puddle

I was away at school once. All the kids seemed nervous around me. Our accents were very different. I wasn't from around there. Everyone was friendly, but polite. There was a guy there from out of town too, and he was fitting in great. I don't think it takes guys long to size up one another. Girls watch. A lot. Guys jump right in.

One day a group of girls and I were walking back from class. - All of whom were friendly. None were mean. Just stand-offish. One of them, one I knew a bit better, gave me a shove as we passed by a puddle, trying to knock me into it.

You'd think I might have been upset by that, but I was ecstatic. I knew she didn't hate me. She wasn't trying to be mean. Finally someone had taken a risk! Finally someone had felt comfortable enough interacting with me, to do something besides smile, nod, and stare!

(FYI, had someone tried that with me once we were friends, THEN I might have been pissed! ;) )

Second thought:

♫ "Saltpeter..."

"Pins!" ♫

(1776)

* It's a musical reference. - Again ;)

Pins

I'm thinking of Home Ec again...

How many kids won't know which direction pins should face when they sew with a machine?

- How many kids will even sew with a machine?

It's a disposable time. Something breaks or stains, get a new one. If it's something very nice, pay someone else to fix it.

I wonder if there'll be a time when that's reversed again. When people will be more self reliant and dispose less of their things. When people will buy (and make) things to last.

I wonder if I, and some people from my generation (minus those who've crossed over to the dark side!) will be the last to think this way, or if someday people will laugh at the time when everyone did not.

Ruby

The wife of a man I cared a great deal about. The first time we met, when it was time to say our goodbyes, she hugged me, and I have to say it was the greatest hug I'd ever received. I have no idea why. But I remember being so thankful in that moment, and so thrilled, that the woman who gave the greatest hugs in the world was married to a man I cared about. "He gets to feel this every single day" I thought. "What could be better than that."

Hood

Robin

The Disney cartoon is the one that comes to mind. How good looking was that Robin Hood? Amazing what they can convey with good animation. What I remembered most, though, was the kid character who idolized him. Like a "Thumper." I wonder how many other kids remembered that character above all else?

Flip

BAIN OF MY EXISTENCE!!!

I borrowed a flip mino HD recorder from a friend, hoping I could shoot some video with it for another friend. The only thing worse than bouncy video, is bouncy video in HD! It's awful. It picks up every single movement with nauseating clarity. The picture is only clear if it's on a tripod.

I tried several after-video stabilizing software applications. None did everything I needed. (How do some of these neglect to include a CROP feature??!)

As for hardware, steadicam handles cost too much, so I tried making some - Fail. There's tutorials online but you need tools and a shop and a real hardware store for that.

- OH! And I forgot to mention the part where the battery was so screwy it took me two days of messing with it to get the thing to hold a charge!

Anyway... I haven't returned it yet. My friends don't need it right now and maybe I'll find a way to get ok results from it. So far though, epic fail. Which is upsetting because I thought a better camera might yield better results. .... Nope!

Attendant

A friend of mine is a flight attendant. I'm not sure I could get used to that schedule year after year. - Or really, the lack of a schedule.

I don't like transitions. I prefer to be in places for long periods of time. Back and forth and back and forth with only enough time to sleep? I wouldn't want that.

I'd want to stay places longer and see the sights more. Eventually I'm sure they all do that, then it probably gets old.

She's been a flight attendant for years. Kinda neat to me :) I couldn't do it!

Splash

The movie

I'm picturing Daryl Hannah and that annoying mermaid sound...

Also someone I used to know who was supposedly in the film somewhere, but said she wasn't visible and not to bother looking for her. I never did, but others felt the need to dissect every second of the film to try to find her. I don't think anyone ever did. I think she said she was one of several hundred reporters. That or maybe 3rd mermaid from the left.

Catcher

In the Rye?

I don't even remember that story. I vaguely remember reading it in High School, thinking about bleachers and the hill at our football field, and remembering that the book was supposed to be controversial. But I don't remember why. Nor do I think I knew at the time, so how shocking could it have been? Mostly I remember being bored by it. Really painfully BORED. I hated it.

(Sorry to any JD fans or family! It just wasn't my thing. I'm also not a big reader, so take that into consideration too!)

Drifting

How I've been. I feel like I've been drifting. I was out of it. I felt lost for a while. Trying to keep above water. Now I'm back and still trying to stay afloat. Too much to do. Stressed. Knowing I have it in me to get it done. Wondering when I'll do it all. And then what...?

Emotions rising and falling... security up and "Ooooh! Look at the view!!!" and then down again in a sea of uncertainty. Waves of emotion, of nausea, of fear, of joy... Of doubt. Self doubt. Doubt in others. In my abilities. In the Universe...

Too much influenced by things not in my control at the moment. I don't like that :o/

I'm drifting... And I don't know that I even want to look for "land" right now. Maybe living in a drifting state could be better in the end... if I could get past the motion sickness.

Exquisite

Not in my vocabulary. I know what the word means, but I don't use it. I can't imagine myself using it. I picture marble floors, high ceilings, like a museum... women with deep black finely sprayed Jackie Kennedy type hair, silk gowns, champaign sipping, crystal glasses, diamonds glistening... everything sparkly.

Even if I were in an environment like that, near something worthy of the word "exquisite," I'm pretty sure I'd still say something like "Wow! Neato! COOL!!!!"

Trunk

I think I did this one before too?

I like trunks. I'm not sure why. I love the idea of them. The mystery. The craftsmanship... But they're heavy.

If I could, I would design a room full of trunks. Each with its own story; About the trunk, and about the contents inside.

* Again I was right. January 14th was a "Trunk" day too :)

Pageant

Of all the Pageant associations in my head, my mind just went to Lynda Carter.

I was a big Wonder Woman fan when I was younger. I was a big Superhero fan. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and of course, since I'm a girl, I was a huge fan of Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter could do no wrong when I was ten. I wanted to fight crime and be Wonder Woman's sidekick. I wanted to be Batman, Spiderman, and Superman's sidekicks too.... wait, no. Superman pissed me off once. I wanted to be Wonder Woman's sidekick ;)

Recycle

I was just thinking about this. Actually, as the page loaded, I was thinking about dropping off a bunch of stuff at a thrift store, which is kind of the same thing.

I'm usually good about recycling. There have been times when I've been bad about it. Usually those are times when life is immensely stressful and, in the grand scheme of things, it's more logical to forego recycling in exchange for oh, I dunno... leaving immediately and saving a life! (It happens!)

Gourmet

My friend :) Ok she's not a gourmet but she cooks really well. I'm used to pretty basic tasteless food! And I'm ok with that. I like food "as is." Plus I have allergies, so simple is often best with me. To be honest, restaurant food doesn't taste a whole lot better to me. That's not to say I cook as well as a restaurant, but I rarely eat somewhere because I think "The food here is SO GOOD." I eat out if I'm tired and don't want to cook for myself! If the food isn't bad at a restaurant, that's good enough for me!

But my friend cooks really well. I've eaten at her place several times and she's amazing with seasoning. I know nothing about seasoning. I have four I use and that's it, and I don't even use those all the time. She's got an encyclopedia of spices. All fresh. All combined well on the food... her cooking is fantastic. I'm trying to get tips from her because it seems effortless for her. I'd love for it to be effortless for me too. Right now, for me it's just "clueless."

brunch

My mother used to have a teal plastic plate set. Possibly Bakelite. VERY teal with some lighter shades of teal and some white/yellow/green daisies. She used these outside when she had guests over for a special occasion, like brunch. Funny to me that a set of plastic plates was perceived by me to be the "special" plates :)

Swing

Interesting... The first thing that came to my mind was "swingers." I recently had a conversation about open marriages - I'm not married. It wasn't about me! We were actually talking about cheating spouses, and a situation that involved a wife repeatedly sticking by her husband despite his history of cheating on her.

I'd said that if they'd had an open marriage and were both ok with that, his actions wouldn't bother me so much (not that it's any of my business either way.) Then I said, maybe they DO have an open marriage and just never told anyone. Then I realized that, if he keeps cheating, and she keeps sticking by him, that's exactly what they have. An open marriage they're both ok with.

Crew

They couldn't afford a crew, so they recruited volunteers. "Volunteers for the cause." Passionate. Loyal. Highly skilled. Each believing in the dream of Utopia. Their Utopia. A place they would finally belong. But "The Powers that Be" had other plans.

Crescent

The moon the other night. But it wasn't just a crescent. It was a kind of lower crescent. Like a smile. Odd. I wondered if it looked like that a lot (vs a "side" crescent, that looks like a thin letter "C".) and I never noticed, because I don't see moons nearly as much as I'd like.

Popcorn

A staple :) Cracker Jacks when I was little (I still have some prizes!), my lime green "lightbulb" kids popper at home, then air poppers ever since.

Since I talked about the UK yesterday, I'll continue a bit here. When I lived there, nobody made popcorn in their homes. It wasn't done. They didn't know it *could* be done! People bought popcorn at theatres, but they had no idea it started out as hard little kernels.

It took me a while to find a bag of un-popped popcorn to make on the stove. I had to special order some through an International store (which happily got me a few bags, then asked what in the world I was going to do with them? They thought the wrong items had arrived.) Later, when I made popcorn in a student kitchen at my school, people gathered around like I was doing a magic trick.

"Is it safe?" they'd ask, as they heard the kernels exploding in the pan. "What's happening in there? Can we look?"

"Sure" I'd say, "but the popcorn will fly out."

I'd lift the lid, a few kernels would pop out of the pan, and everyone would scream!

The "Popcorn making show" was a big hit. I was often asked to give repeat performances.

(FYI, "Bagels" were also unheard of there, back then. - And good luck trying to get hummus in Canada.)

Lift

Elevator.

I've been speaking with several people recently about the differences between UK English and USA English. They're different in just enough ways to get you into trouble if you use the wrong words.

The odd things is, even with the different accents, in the UK, people don't usually think "They MUST mean something else. I'll bet there's a different word for that in the US." - They think Americans actually meant whatever strange thing they said. (I think that outside of large cities, the same may be true here. But in the UK it seems to be true everywhere!)

BLAST!!!!!

I just got back from visiting the Space Center. So much fun for me. Totally touristy. I don't usually do this when I'm here, but other family members were in the area, they had a kid with them, they were going, and I thought "Space? Can I go too? :) "

Saw lots of cool things (Cool to me. Maybe boring to someone else!) Touched a moon "shaving" - That's what I called it. It's supposed to be a moon "rock" and they talk it up a lot. But it's a small flat triangular sliver. They probably replace it with a new sliver after it wears down.

Re "Blast," I saw a rocket launch. It sent a new satellite into space. Kinda neat. You can see it from other areas miles away, but it was neat to see anyway. There was also a simulation of the control room during an Apollo launch, and everything shook, and I couldn't help thinking that, although I wasn't nervous during the simulation, if it had been real, and the ground and control room and windows had shaken like that, I think I would have been freaked out by the extent of the power and the ground shaking.

Lots of things made me far more nervous about space travel instead of more comfortable with it. We/they must be out of their minds to do these things. They said the reason viewing areas are 3 miles away, is because the amount of explosives in a rocket was the same as a nuclear bomb. How insane is that for everyone involved?! And we do this regularly??? Is 3 miles even far enough away to escape a nuclear-type blast?!

The more I learn, the more I fear for these people. I don't think it's cooler and I don't think more along the lines of "Gee! I wish I could do this!" I think "HELL NO!" But there are people who know all of this, and more, and think "Cool!" - Must be out of their minds!

Loss

I am bad a this. Any kind of loss. You'd think I'd get better with it over time. Certain kinds of losses anyway. I don't. They're all horrible. Loss due to death being the worst of course. But other losses too. Friends moving away, loss of trust, loss of faith, loss of items... I don't do well with loss. I want the people and things I love to be around me forever.

Medical

Oh boy....

Too much I can't say. But I will say this: Make sure your elderly family members have all their documents in order, so that if there is ever a medical emergency, someone has the authority to help them and advocate on their behalf. Without papers, no one has the authority to view their records, to talk to doctors, or to make decisions on their behalf. Being related by blood does not automatically give you that right. Get durable medical power of attorney papers. Get health care surrogate papers. Get HIPPA forms for individual doctors at the very least. We should all have these filled out for ourselves too. The younger we are, the less we think we need them, but the reality is, tragedy can strike anyone at any age at any time.

The site that hosts this template's images went down. I have no idea if the outage is temporary or permanent. I've re-uploaded the images to Blogger and I think I've fixed them all. If anything looks "off" with this page (re missing or wonky looking background images) let me know.

* Note: This isn't a One Word post! All the template images really did go *Poof!*

Gallery

I had to go to a gallery once for a class. I still don't understand what the purpose was. We were probably supposed to feel a deep connection of some sort. - I get bored in museums.

After the class trip, a bunch of us went out for lunch, and the teacher joined us. Everyone was sitting around, talking. Most were fawning over the teacher and asking her lots of questions, which she answered. I don't think I asked anything, but I listened. At one point, a guy in the class started talking about something. I think he may have been enthusiastically telling a story. Eventually the teacher interrupted him and told him that here she was, with us, a rare opportunity for us to ask questions of her and learn about her and her insights, and here he was talking about himself.

- This teacher was a piece of work.

I also remember that, at one point, she said she liked stuffed grape leaves. She had some on her salad. I had some on mine too. I was saving mine for last because I also liked them. After she finished hers, she asked if I was going to eat mine. I said yes. I just hadn't gotten to it yet. She paused, then asked me again, as if I hadn't answered correctly. - I gave the same answer again. She seemed shocked that I didn't give her my grape leaves. - She had her own!

Balloon

The Red Balloon. I remember the red balloon and then lots of balloons and being sad for the kid who lost his balloon. I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again now. I don't like movies that made me sad. But I did like the movie. I bet it's on youtube somewhere. (Yup, it is.)

Shelter

Did you know you can be blacklisted from adopting animals at all major shelters? There's a central database shelters can check to prevent them from adopting out pets to people who are hoarders, neglectful, or abusive to animals. I'm not sure if this database is nationwide or citywide, but check with your local shelters if you know of someone who should be on that list.

Track

I remember the day someone I know very well figured out a sport they excelled at. Track. Ironic I thought, that the one sport they did better than anything else, was running as fast as they could, trying with all their might to get away from, and be ahead of, everyone else. Running... in circles. A great big circle. This was the sport they did best.

Ants

Wow, again, a 5 year old memory. What is it with childhood stuff always popping straight to mind? I guess that's when I thought about ants. Now, not so much. Red ants and black ants. And ant hills... and ant farms!

Have you see the ant farms with the blue stuff? The blue gel? That seems wrong to me. I know most people considered them to be "just ants," but still... that can't be healthy. It seems mean.

Carnival

I loved carnivals. I only find them creepy now, as an adult. I still like them though. Amazing what we don't notice as kids.

Remember the McDonalds do it yourself carnivals? Those were cool. We'll never see giveaways like that again! I remember EVERYBODY having one at my school. Lots of mini carnivals with bean bag tosses, roll the ball into the cans, and knock down the cup games ... with turnouts of 3 or 4 people!

Maze

♫ "It's a maze this garden it's a maze of ways..." ♫

You know the best way to do a maze is from the end to the beginning right? No? Now you do :)

* Some people say pick one directly and always turn that way. That doesn't always work for tricky mazes, but it's another strategy to try. Or you could do what the family who got stuck in a corn maze did when it started to get dark. Call the police on your cell phone.

Once again I think I've done this one before. Probably due to a different word that makes this same song come to mind:

♫The King is holding a Festival! I wish to go to the festival! And the ball!

I miss my kingdom up in the sky...

More than anything...♫

That's what comes into my head first. I could write about other festivals, of course, but my 60 seconds is up!

* AH HA! I'm right!!!! "Festival" was the word 11 days ago (2/1/12)! - Well at least I'm consistent.

Pony

"... stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni."

Um... what? I'm going to have to look that up. There must be a story behind it.

* Ok got it: In the 18th century, "Macaroni" was British slang for a type of overdressed high society person. The Yankee Doodle song was meant to insult colonists by suggesting that Yankees were so clueless and backwards that they could stick a feather in a cap, and believe that simple addition would elevate the cap (and themselves) to a level of high fashion comparable to the "Macaronis." Rather than take offense, colonists embraced the song and sang it with pride.

My guess is the colonists did that to annoy the British during battle. It's kind of funny if you think about it. Imagine the insult was something more relatable to today. Imagine a warring country called the other side a bunch of clowns. Then imagine that other side dressed themselves up as clowns as they pummeled their opposition!

So... completely un-pasta related. Who knew?

Butterflies emerging from cocoons... ugly ducklings transforming into swans... What about someone who's already beautiful? What happens when a beautiful person goes into a cocoon? I've never known one who came out again. What happens to them?

Walls

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Camera

My first camera used 110 film. I loved it. I also loved learning how to develop my own pictures in school. I think I wrote about that already. Using the dark room and the chemicals and the special paper and tongs... We only developed black and white photos. I don't think I ever developed color film.

Photos... negatives... I wonder, in the future (let's say 20 or more years from now), if we want to get copies from negatives someday, do you think it will even be possible?

Sacred

I remember a teacher I had, who was intrigued by the power of words and symbols. About how people could revere a symbol but behave entirely differently towards the actual thing it represented - and see nothing wrong with this.

She gave the example of a group of men who were outraged by the burning of a flag. They shouted at reporters about how the people who burned the flag had disrespected this country. All the while, these shouting indignant men were chewing tobacco and spitting on the ground between sentences.

So we have:

1) People burning a piece of cloth. - Forget what it symbolizes. They didn't physically harm anyone or anything of our country. What they burned was a piece of fabric.

2) Indignant men standing around actually spitting ON our country as they spoke.

Chief

Big Chief Steve

We had a summer carnival type of thing at my day camp when I was very little. About 4 to 6 years old. I can't remember the name of the carnival. I want to say "Color Wars" but I think that was something different involving competitions. This was like a carnival or fair. We got a certain amount of "Wampum" (different colored paper that represented money) each day, and we could earn extra by winning certain sports or games or doing well in our activities at camp. Then we could use our wampum to play games at the carnival.

I remember we called the head of the camp "Big Chief Steve."

I also remember a kid saying their parent took their wampum to work and copied a whole bunch of extras onto colored paper using the office's machine (- Basically printed a bunch of fake money for their kid!) So that kid was then super rich in wampum and could do whatever they wanted. Smart parent ;)

Wagon

Didn't have one. Can you believe that? I never had a red wagon to ride around in as a child.

I also think of covered wagons. Remember how people sometimes had a single wagon wheel as a yard decoration? Maybe leaning against a tree? I remember, several times, thinking about locations where I'd seen lone wagon wheels and imagining gathering them up to make new wagons.

♫ The King is holding a festival! I wish to go to the festival. And the ball!

I miss my kingdom up in the sky...

More than anything... ♫

I liked "Into the Woods."

I enjoy "Once Upon a Time" too, though I didn't like last week's episode. Time will tell.

Function

I had a lot of "functions" to attend when I was younger. Family things. Impressive and all very proper. I never knew if anyone had any fun. They were always so tense. The people, the atmosphere... So much pressure to dress right, look right, speak correctly, mingle correctly... Condescension all around.

A few times I got so aggravated and stressed that I started trashing my whole family. Dishing the dirt to anyone who'd listen. - I wasn't drunk. I was STRESSED, and I let it out. Not loudly. Quietly, to anyone who'd listen. So in the end, I guess I did exactly what everyone was afraid of. If not worse. - Made them all look bad.

Maybe if people had spent their time and energy trying to genuinely BE perfect, instead of trying to give the impression of being perfect, the outcome would have been different. Maybe if they had treated me and others like we were fantastic, just the way we were, instead of embarrassments, there would have been no resulting self fulfilling prophecies.

Odds

The Odd Couple

I did the show (or maybe some scenes?) a very very long time ago. I played one of the Pigeon sisters. I barely remember it. It may have even been for someone's class. I had to smoke in the show. I did. Didn't like it. Never inhaled... - No really! I didn't. I held the smoke in my mouth and puffed it out. It didn't matter though. The smoke still wafted down into my throat and messed up my vocal cords for several days. I'm the only person I know who's that sensitive to smoke. I was glad when it was over. After that I said "no" to anything that required smoking. Even pretend. Even for a few days. Even for money.

Hoop

Hula.

I can't do the darned thing. It spins around me two or three times then continues spinning as it makes its way all the way down my legs to the floor. The closest I can get to "using" a hula hoop is to grasp it with both hands, flip the ring over my head, and bring it around under my feet, like a jump rope.

Cabin

Camp. I loved camp. Sleep away camp anyway. - Which is the one that had cabins! (I did not like day camp!) I was so happy to be away from home. Away from family, from the same ole grown ups. Away from teachers and the kids I knew. I thrived at camp. It was a dream come true for me in many ways. Dreams I didn't really know existed. After my first summer, I wanted to go to camp all year round, so I asked my parents to send me to boarding school. They said no.

Coming home from camp was always awful. Really really awful. Most people are sad to leave friends, of course, but it was deeper than that for me. I fell into massive depressions that lasted all through the winter and never let up. "Time" never healed anything for me. By spring, I'd start to get hopeful about returning to camp. Then I'd have another great summer, in yet another cabin full of kids, and when it was time to go home I went through the same thing all over again. It never got easier.

- I'm going to stop here because, even now, in thinking about it, I could still get *that* upset all over again. Like I said, it never got easier. The feelings never went away.

Collar

Collars... what a hassle those were. Something that would stay on my pets, that would be comfortable for them even when lying down. Something that they could slip out of if they ever got caught up in something, so they wouldn't strangle to death... I gave a lot of thought to collars. They were important to me because I needed to be sure my pets had visible ID on them in case they got lost. They never did but I had regular dreams about their wandering off and my frantic attempts to find them - The dreams even continued for years after they died. I "collar trained" any pet I had as soon as they got home, no matter what the age. Usually they were so overwhelmed with the new surroundings they didn't even notice the thing around their neck! All my pets were pretty great about keeping their collars on. Never fussed with them or pulled them off, even though they could. On the rare occasion when I noticed one of them running around without a collar, it was always due to the collar having been caught on something and their slipping their heads out to free themselves - and for that, I was grateful. I still have most of their collars. I keep them with their ashes.

Beehive

The hairdo.

What were they thinking? Seriously, what was it about those that made people think they were a good thing? I understand when someone goes through a punk rock stage or a fun or freaky stage and they wear styles that are non traditional, but I don't understand when something like a beehive is not considered "wacky and fun" but mainstream and fashionable. Unless you're wearing a ball gown and/or a tiara, I don't get it.

Hinge

She turned, almost in disbelief. Was it?

The door opened, and she saw at once, the Master. She hadn't sensed him. Quickly, she straightened, concealing her emotions as best as she could. She'd become practiced in this over the years, but his appearance, now, had caught her off guard.

"Come in," she said, "but stay quiet."

"Come in but stay quiet?" he asked.

She turned to look him directly in the eyes and said "My patient. I don't want her disturbed."

"Your patient," he snarled with contempt. "I don't know why you bother."

It worked, she thought. He believed she'd been talking to him.

Runway

My first thought was "Runaway." - I'll save that for tomorrow maybe ;)

Runway...

A friend and I took a modeling class together when we were around 14 yrs old. Our mothers signed us up. It was... odd.

I wasn't interested in modeling, and to be honest, neither were the teachers. The whole purpose of the "class" was to teach teens about how to improve their health, their hair, their bedrooms, their clothes, their makeup, and oh look! This store has ALL the items you need for that! You can get them after class if you'd like!

The class did culminate with a fashion show and runway walk. We were taught nothing about that of course. I didn't like my outfit, I didn't like my makeup, but there was free food. There was always free food. That was the best part of the course. If nothing else, my friend and I definitely ate our parent's money's worth of cheese, fruit, and vegetable platters.

Liberty

"And to the republic, for Richard Stands..."

Someone should name their kid that :)

Below

Somehow I knew this would be today's word after yesterday's "bellow" - which I tried to write about but ended up deleting. I wrote something like "Look out below!" she bellowed!

There. Now I've covered both ;)

Bench

I hated the sun at camp. I hated outside activities. I didn't even like going in the pool because that was in the sun too! I remember sitting on a bench at the end of a field quite often because it was TOO DARNED HOT to run around and play whatever game they were trying to make us play. Of course the benches were also in the sun, but sitting, even in the sun, was still better than running around.

When I think about day camp, I always think of blinding sun and heat. "HOT!" Hot hot hot!

I'm still not a sun person. Gimme rain and some indoor AC!

Crisp

Rice Krispies

I remember mailing away for some Snap, Crackle, and Pop, wooden figures. I thought they were the coolest things in the world when I got them. I loved them!

Cereal boxes don't have decent mail-ins anymore! Nor does bubble gum or any other food product that I can think of. Do they even put prizes IN cereal boxes anymore?

- Remember tilting the box and bowing out its cardboard sides so that all the cereal went to one side, and then the other side, and then the other.... looking for just a corner of the plastic prize bag? Ah yes... Those were the days!

Savage

John Savage

Hair

Laurie Beechman

I remember first seeing her in Annie, singing "NYC." Apt at the time. One solo moment, playing the part of the "Star to be," that stole the show and got her seen. "Who the heck was that?!" everyone said. - There are no small parts ;)

Later I recognized her in the movie "Hair" singing "Black Boys", and then she was pretty much everywhere. Great voice. Died during her prime - of life and her career I think. I remember her voice, her eyes, her hair...

Joseph... Cats... - Phenomenal.

Oil

Olive Oyl

When I was little, I loved the Popeye cartoons, and I loved spinach because of it. Every time I ate spinach I'd make a muscle with my arm, like Popeye, and I'd ask my father to feel it to see if it had grown. He always made a big deal out of it and told me it DEFINITELY had. -And I believed him every time :)

Apron

Smock

Remember art smocks from when we were little? I had to bring one to nursery school and to part of elementary school too, I think? I had a couple of plastic smocks, and I also remember having a large man's shirt at least one year. It was probably my father's.

So practical.

I should probably wear smocks now. Instead, I have a set of already ruined paint/craft/hair dye clothes :)

Thorns

Fairytales

Crown of...

Lion's paw

Why do so many fairytales and children's stories involve thorns? They're not deadly. (Unless you're a hemophiliac.) I'd have thought there were more dangerous natural phenomena that could have been common themes in literature, rather than thorns. I guess thorns were a big problem "once upon a time."

Trunk

I love trunks. Loved my camp trunk.

Wow... lots of stuff coming up....

Harry Potter's trunk of course.

A set of antique trunks (more like rounded suitcases really) that I loved but have no room for...

I still have one of my camp trunks. It's low to the ground and used as an extra low coffee table or seat when needed.

Champagne

I have a small bottle of champagne that's probably about 15 years old. Unlike wine, I don't think champagne improves with age. I keep trying to tell people I don't drink, but once in a while I'm given a bottle of something anyway, which I keep for "whatever." - Where "whatever" seems to equal "until it turns to vinegar."

Glimmer

My mind is on the water these days... I've learned so many things. Things other people probably never stop to realize "I didn't know this at one time."

I love that I've learned the difference between the sound a Pelican makes as it crashes into the water (Disintegrating upon entry is how someone described it!), the sounds that fish make jumping in and out of the water (They really do jump. Some little ones jump super high!), and the sounds that dolphins make (plural because there's usually two) as they swim along, breach, and re-enter the surface.

I don't even have to turn around to know what's happening within a certain radius of me now. I know without looking, because even with my eyes closed, breathing in the air... I now know the sounds. And I love that.

And "glimmer?" Sunrises and sunsets on the surface of that water.

Estate

I've been wondering about estate sales. Those that might happen for my family in the future. How to do that... So much stuff... how to whittle down belongings, little by little, in an "ok" manner, so that someday (someday far away most likely) when everything must be sold, the amount is manageable.

Looking around, even now, I see things I would want to have stay in the family, but I know I couldn't keep them. Not enough room.

I hope nobody around me realizes I'm looking at their homes and belongings in this way. But I am. Sort of. Because I think I might be the one who has to manage it all someday.