How's that for a title? If I could write a reality TV show about this place, that's what it would have to be called.
I love 'reality' shows. I watch those more than any other type of show on television. The only network shows I can think of that I watch are The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. I can't believe Big Bang has been around so long and I'm just now discovering it. As for THM, I like Ashton just fine, but I don't like it that Jake has been turned into a pothead slacker.
The Voice, America's Got Talent, Nashville Star, X-Factor, but American Idol is still my #1 favorite. Did I tell you I knew Kelly Clarkson before she became a star? Ok, well, "knew" is a stretch...we worked for the same company back in Texas. She was a drug clerk for Eckerd Drug as a teenager in her hometown of Burleson, and I worked for the pharmacy district manager of Eckerd, going from store to store, checking out compliance, and helping with inventory prep and that sort of thing. I remember meeting her during one visit and someone telling me she loved to sing.
Dancing With The Stars: Derek Hough is one hot man. I love watching people who aren't supposed to be graceful find out they can dance.
Top Chef, Next Food Network Star, Chopped, Worst Cooks in America: Love watching chefs create yummy food. Also funny that some people can reach adulthood and not know how to cook an egg.
Celebrity Apprentice: Glad that Gotti is Gone. I had already called bullshit on her twice. I predict Penn Gillette for this season's winner.
How Do I Look is so much better than What Not To Wear, and it doesn't have the snooty Stacey and Clinton.
Project Runway (and AllStars), Project Accessory, and the coming Fashion Star. Gay men making pretty clothes. I love the catfights in the workroom.
All the others...Dance Moms, Tabitha Takes Over, Say Yes to the Dress, Four Weddings and I'm embarrassed to admit...Toddlers and Tiaras.
I watch all of them, except the Housewives and all those slutty women from New Jersey
Who knows, maybe someday we'll have our RHLP show and you will all meet:
Sherita, our resident diva who thinks the rules don't apply to her.
Christina, who doesn't need medical marijuana to spice up HER night life.
Eugenia, who whistles when it's time for hubby to come in from walking the dog.
and of course Dotty the Chihuahua lady who is now spreading her own brand of doggy love to foster dogs ( see Life at Limpdik Park January 2012)
There is no rhyme or reason to this, just whatever happens to cross my mind.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
WOOOHOOOO!!!!!
3000 page views!!!....WOW!!!....I never, in a million years, would have guessed that my little blog would have 3000 page views in less than one year. Less than 9 months actually.
Thanks you, my dear readers, for reading my musings, my memories, my stuff and nonsense.
You are my therapy. You keep me sane.
Thanks you, my dear readers, for reading my musings, my memories, my stuff and nonsense.
You are my therapy. You keep me sane.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?
For the first 20 years or so of my mother's life, she was an only child. Sisters, born to her father and his 2nd wife, would come later, but for the most part, she was alone.
And she longed for a baby brother. Every time she would tell me her story, her eyes would fill with memories and tears.
When she was about 12 or 13, her mother, Lillian, married a truck driver named Elbert. Now Elbert was the total package. He was fun, good looking, and he came with one huge bonus....Elbert Junior. At last!! Mother had her baby brother. Never mind the fact that Junior was 9 years old...hardly a baby...it was good enough for her.
Elbert Sr. who was called Slim, died of cancer with Mother and Lillian at his side.
A few years later, Mother became a teen-age bride, and Junior ran away to Hollywood, where he found the beaches of Southern California so compelling, that he took their beauty as his new name for his new life....he became Johnny Sands. This is his first head shot. Wasn't he handsome?
Uncle Johnny was working as a theater usher when he was discovered by a talent scout. His first movie was The Affairs of Geraldine. Mother always said this was her favorite. His most famous role was as Jerry White, boyfriend of Shirley Temple in The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer. He went on to make about 15 movies, working alongside famous names like William Holden, Cary Grant, and Orson Welles.
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| l-r Cary Grant, Johnny Sands, Rudy Vallee in Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer |
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| Johnny Sands as Aladdin in Aladdin and His Lamp |
You may remember, dear reader, my description of my grandmother on my father's side...Mama C. (See "To Grandmother's House, We Go"...June 2011) It was about this time that Mama C. discovered that my Mother and her only brother were writing to each other. She convinced my father that this innocent communication was somehow immoral and must be stopped. And stop it, Daddy did. He also destroyed all of mother's photos, and letters, and keepsakes...anything to do with Uncle Johnny was gone. I can't really blame Daddy, though. Mama C could be very insistent on getting her way, even when she was wrong.
After Mother and Daddy divorced, and we kids were grown, we started trying to locate Uncle Johnny. She longed to talk to him again, and maybe to see him before she got too old. He had stopped acting and retired to a happy life in real estate in Hawaii, but we didn't know that. We did everything we could think of to find him...We wrote to Paul Harvey when 'the rest of the story' sounded like it could be about Johnny. We wrote to Johnny Carson, because he was an old movie buff. We search Screen Actor's Guild membership roles. All this in the days before computers.
And always, we came up with nothing.
Then along came the Internet. The IMDB website proved invaluable. Through that site, I learned that Uncle Johnny had passed away in 2003. Mother's heart was broken that she would never talk to him again.
Mother passed away on September 1, 2006.
Now here comes the 'rest of the story' as Paul Harvey would say.
A few years ago, I posted a comment on the IMDB website that we were searching for our lost uncle. There were replies from fans and admirers. Then the special one appeared. It was from Mike. Uncle Johnny's son.Oh my gosh, how exciting was that?!?! We exchanged emails for a while, but then it seemed like we had nothing left to say, and the communication stopped.
Then about 3 weeks ago, I got an email. It mentioned a post I had made at www.answerpool.com several years ago. This email was from Uncle Johnny's daughter, Catherine. In the ensuing days and weeks, we have included my sister, Pam, in our conversations. We have exchanged pictures. We have bonded. We have blended our families as we learn more about each other. When Pam and (unnamed family member) and I were growing up, we didn't have much contact with family. There was very little contact on Mother's side. And what contact we had with Daddy's side wasn't always pleasant. This is awesome. We have new cousins! We have Mike and Marco and Catherine.
I wish we could have found each other when Mother and Uncle Johnny were still living. Oh what a reunion that would have been. But I have no doubt that they are together in Heaven and Mother is happy being with her baby brother again.
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| Johnny Sands dancing with Shirley Temple |
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| The caption on this newspaper photo says "Elizabeth Taylor, who's fast becoming Hollywood's most beautiful girl, was squired to the Awards by young actor John Sands." |
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
I have come to the conclusion that women either no longer own full length mirrors, or choose to use them as clothes racks rather than as the public service devices they were intended to be.
I spent today at Costco, Walmart, and Target, or as they are known in the South, The Holy Trinity. I saw things that were down-right embarrassing to see.
You wouldn't believe some of the things that people left the house wearing. Things that I wouldn't even answer the door and be seen in.
When I was a child, I used to ride the bus downtown with my aunt to shop, have lunch, and see a movie. We did not leave her house until her hat was on straight, and her gloves were handy, and my socks were pulled up evenly. A lady dressed to be seen in public, You never knew who you might run into.
Now I'm not suggesting we go back to times like that, but I am suggesting that people purchase and use a mirror before subjecting themselves on innocent bystanders.
For those who are not used to actually using a mirror, here's how they work:
1. Get dressed.
2. Stand in front of the shiny glass rectangle, hereafter referred to as a "mirror"
3. If any of the following situations apply, undress and return to step 1.
*If you can see fluffy places escaping from the back of your bra, do not attempt to wear the tee shirts you wore in high school. The same applies to pants, shorts, jeans and skirts. Tighter does NOT make you look smaller.
* If you sleep in the pants you're wearing out....change before you leave the house. Nobody really wants to see 'JUICY' written across your butt, OR your Hello Kitty house slippers.
* If the bottom of your shirt does not meet the top of your pants...try again. This goes for men as well as women. Very few people have 'abs of steel'. Most of us have 'abs of marshmallow' and they should be kept under wraps.
* If you are pregnant, please please do not wear skin tight tops. Yes, pregnancy is beautiful...inch-long outie belly buttons are not.
* If the back of your hair looks like you spent the past few hours doing the horizontal mambo...please purchase a hairbrush and learn to use it.
* Gentlemen, if the tee shirt you're wearing has words on it you wouldn't want your mother or your daughter to read....don't just change it...burn it.
* Girls, if your mother says you look like a hoochie mama in that outfit, she is probably right. People DO judge a book by it's cover. If you dress like a slut, people will assume you are a slut and won't bother getting to know the 'real you'.
These are just a few suggestions. There are even websites dedicated to the things that people wear in WalMart. As a wise young friend of mine says..."Spandex is a privilege, not a right".
I spent today at Costco, Walmart, and Target, or as they are known in the South, The Holy Trinity. I saw things that were down-right embarrassing to see.
You wouldn't believe some of the things that people left the house wearing. Things that I wouldn't even answer the door and be seen in.
When I was a child, I used to ride the bus downtown with my aunt to shop, have lunch, and see a movie. We did not leave her house until her hat was on straight, and her gloves were handy, and my socks were pulled up evenly. A lady dressed to be seen in public, You never knew who you might run into.
Now I'm not suggesting we go back to times like that, but I am suggesting that people purchase and use a mirror before subjecting themselves on innocent bystanders.
For those who are not used to actually using a mirror, here's how they work:
1. Get dressed.
2. Stand in front of the shiny glass rectangle, hereafter referred to as a "mirror"
3. If any of the following situations apply, undress and return to step 1.
*If you can see fluffy places escaping from the back of your bra, do not attempt to wear the tee shirts you wore in high school. The same applies to pants, shorts, jeans and skirts. Tighter does NOT make you look smaller.
* If you sleep in the pants you're wearing out....change before you leave the house. Nobody really wants to see 'JUICY' written across your butt, OR your Hello Kitty house slippers.
* If the bottom of your shirt does not meet the top of your pants...try again. This goes for men as well as women. Very few people have 'abs of steel'. Most of us have 'abs of marshmallow' and they should be kept under wraps.
* If you are pregnant, please please do not wear skin tight tops. Yes, pregnancy is beautiful...inch-long outie belly buttons are not.
* If the back of your hair looks like you spent the past few hours doing the horizontal mambo...please purchase a hairbrush and learn to use it.
* Gentlemen, if the tee shirt you're wearing has words on it you wouldn't want your mother or your daughter to read....don't just change it...burn it.
* Girls, if your mother says you look like a hoochie mama in that outfit, she is probably right. People DO judge a book by it's cover. If you dress like a slut, people will assume you are a slut and won't bother getting to know the 'real you'.
These are just a few suggestions. There are even websites dedicated to the things that people wear in WalMart. As a wise young friend of mine says..."Spandex is a privilege, not a right".
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Many Loves of Cyndilu (Apologies to Dobie Gillis)
For you young bucks who don't know about The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis....Google it.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Which got me to thinking about love. Falling in love, being in love, unrequited love, falling out of love, puppy love, hot monkey love....all kinds of love.
The first time I fell in love I was about 4 years old, and the man of my dreams was the little boy next door. I fell out of love with him when some older kids (I think my brother was in this group) convinced him to taste dog poop behind the bush in the front yard. I could never love a man who was so easily swayed by peer pressure. Or one whose breath smelled like poop.
In the second grade I fell in love with Martin M. He was the most handsome 7 year old I'd ever seen. Perfectly straight white teeth, perfectly tanned skin, not a hair out of place. I remember walking around one day on the playground, lost in dreams of him someday returning my love, when I tripped and fell...skinning both knees, both elbows and busting my lip. Then I learned that he was in love with Joy and would never be mine. Love hurts, in more ways than one.
In the fourth grade I fell in love with Steve. He gave me a silver disc, engraved with his name, to wear on a chain around my neck. We were officially going steady! Our affair consisted of glances in the hallway as we lined up for lunch, and clandestine meetings on the playground, where we'd exchange a quick hand hold, away from the prying, teasing eye of his best friend Martin (alas, not Martin M). I wore that disc for two years.....and then....
Middle school came along...Steve and I grew apart...and his best friend Martin and I fell in love. I had my first real date with Martin, in the 7th grade. He had a paper route for the Fort Worth Press, and they were having a special showing of the movie My Side of the Mountain for their paperboys. He asked me to go! I remember I wore a yellow skirt and a white ruffled blouse and carried a white plastic 'straw' purse, which I clutched tightly in my lap. Martin put his arm around my shoulder (!) and nervously started to flick a little piece of plastic straw. Unbeknownst to him, every time he flicked that straw, his finger also flicked my budding adolescent breast. I was too embarrassed to make him stop. I also got my first kiss from Martin. He had ridden his bike to my house, and when he left, I was riding half-way home with him. As I stopped and turned to go back home, he came riding up behind me, grabbed my neck and pulled me toward him, and laid one on me, right on the lips. Then took off like he'd been stung. I don't remember why Martin and I broke up. He was killed in a freak accident when we were in high school. Damn shame.
8th grade brought a whole different kind of boyfriend. CARS. I went to an ice cream social with my friend Mary and met another Steve. We never really went out on a date, because I told my mother he was 17 when he was actually 21 and a college sophomore. I was devastated when I called his apartment one day and he told me the girl who answered was his sister. He didn't have a sister. This was the first boy who made me cry. I remember sitting on my bed, bawling my eyes out, after he had come to pick up his records and things that I had, and my mother asked me why I was crying. I told her Steve and I had broken up, and she slapped my face for letting a boy make me cry.
9th grade...Life was different now...the boys were different...they had cars and I could go out in them. Gary took me parking after downing 2 tacos from Jack in the Box and chewing a pack of Adams cherry gum. Benny bought me a double mum and took me to homecoming. Doug took me to the movies in a VW with a hole in the floor that made my feet freeze.
Then I met Jim. And fell in love. Real love. Deep love. Love that continued through 30 years of marriage and 2 children. Love that saw good times and bad times, sickness and health, love that forgave him as he suffered bout after bout of WDS (see previous post). Even though he hurt me beyond what I thought I could endure, I will always have love for him, because of our life we spent together and because of the children we share.
During the times that he was relapsing with WDS (see previous post) there were a few times that I thought I was in love, but they turned out to be just the hot monkey variety mentioned above. (Hey, a girl's got needs ya know...)
And now I'm in love again, for what I hope is the last time. My Dave. When I met him he was just words on a screen...just a guy who liked cats. But the more we talked, the closer we got. He became my friend, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on as my marriage crumbled around me. We never expected to be more than just friends on the internet. But to our surprise, we met, and we fell in love. I have no doubt that this is the man I'll spend the rest of my life with. We've been together for 9 years now and we still haven't run out of things to talk about. Things are tough sometimes, as age and health issues start to creep up on us, but we are so comfortable with each other, we can face anything that comes.
I hope all my readers will take a minute to think about all the times you've been in love and to let the one you love now, know just how you feel. Whatever kind of love you're in, or out of...I wish you a Happy Valentines' Day.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Which got me to thinking about love. Falling in love, being in love, unrequited love, falling out of love, puppy love, hot monkey love....all kinds of love.
The first time I fell in love I was about 4 years old, and the man of my dreams was the little boy next door. I fell out of love with him when some older kids (I think my brother was in this group) convinced him to taste dog poop behind the bush in the front yard. I could never love a man who was so easily swayed by peer pressure. Or one whose breath smelled like poop.
In the second grade I fell in love with Martin M. He was the most handsome 7 year old I'd ever seen. Perfectly straight white teeth, perfectly tanned skin, not a hair out of place. I remember walking around one day on the playground, lost in dreams of him someday returning my love, when I tripped and fell...skinning both knees, both elbows and busting my lip. Then I learned that he was in love with Joy and would never be mine. Love hurts, in more ways than one.
In the fourth grade I fell in love with Steve. He gave me a silver disc, engraved with his name, to wear on a chain around my neck. We were officially going steady! Our affair consisted of glances in the hallway as we lined up for lunch, and clandestine meetings on the playground, where we'd exchange a quick hand hold, away from the prying, teasing eye of his best friend Martin (alas, not Martin M). I wore that disc for two years.....and then....
Middle school came along...Steve and I grew apart...and his best friend Martin and I fell in love. I had my first real date with Martin, in the 7th grade. He had a paper route for the Fort Worth Press, and they were having a special showing of the movie My Side of the Mountain for their paperboys. He asked me to go! I remember I wore a yellow skirt and a white ruffled blouse and carried a white plastic 'straw' purse, which I clutched tightly in my lap. Martin put his arm around my shoulder (!) and nervously started to flick a little piece of plastic straw. Unbeknownst to him, every time he flicked that straw, his finger also flicked my budding adolescent breast. I was too embarrassed to make him stop. I also got my first kiss from Martin. He had ridden his bike to my house, and when he left, I was riding half-way home with him. As I stopped and turned to go back home, he came riding up behind me, grabbed my neck and pulled me toward him, and laid one on me, right on the lips. Then took off like he'd been stung. I don't remember why Martin and I broke up. He was killed in a freak accident when we were in high school. Damn shame.
8th grade brought a whole different kind of boyfriend. CARS. I went to an ice cream social with my friend Mary and met another Steve. We never really went out on a date, because I told my mother he was 17 when he was actually 21 and a college sophomore. I was devastated when I called his apartment one day and he told me the girl who answered was his sister. He didn't have a sister. This was the first boy who made me cry. I remember sitting on my bed, bawling my eyes out, after he had come to pick up his records and things that I had, and my mother asked me why I was crying. I told her Steve and I had broken up, and she slapped my face for letting a boy make me cry.
9th grade...Life was different now...the boys were different...they had cars and I could go out in them. Gary took me parking after downing 2 tacos from Jack in the Box and chewing a pack of Adams cherry gum. Benny bought me a double mum and took me to homecoming. Doug took me to the movies in a VW with a hole in the floor that made my feet freeze.
Then I met Jim. And fell in love. Real love. Deep love. Love that continued through 30 years of marriage and 2 children. Love that saw good times and bad times, sickness and health, love that forgave him as he suffered bout after bout of WDS (see previous post). Even though he hurt me beyond what I thought I could endure, I will always have love for him, because of our life we spent together and because of the children we share.
During the times that he was relapsing with WDS (see previous post) there were a few times that I thought I was in love, but they turned out to be just the hot monkey variety mentioned above. (Hey, a girl's got needs ya know...)
And now I'm in love again, for what I hope is the last time. My Dave. When I met him he was just words on a screen...just a guy who liked cats. But the more we talked, the closer we got. He became my friend, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on as my marriage crumbled around me. We never expected to be more than just friends on the internet. But to our surprise, we met, and we fell in love. I have no doubt that this is the man I'll spend the rest of my life with. We've been together for 9 years now and we still haven't run out of things to talk about. Things are tough sometimes, as age and health issues start to creep up on us, but we are so comfortable with each other, we can face anything that comes.
I hope all my readers will take a minute to think about all the times you've been in love and to let the one you love now, know just how you feel. Whatever kind of love you're in, or out of...I wish you a Happy Valentines' Day.
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