Coupons?!

Have you seem this show?! If you haven’t, let me tell you …

There are certifiable people out there who clip coupons, buy hundreds of dollars of groceries and pay no more than a few dollars. Sure, this sounds like a good idea until you realize that it takes hours upon hours of researching store fliers, cutting dozens of duplicate coupons and arranging friends and/or family in a shopping cart caravan to amass a year’s worth of deodorant, canned tomatoes and 60 bottles of barbecue sauce. For real.

One extreme couponer acquired large quantities of sale items just because it would “look good” in her stockpile. And a teen college boy picked up 20+ packages of maxi pads to store in his dorm room because, according to him, his family can use them.

Yet another reason to turn off the TV and read a book.

Bread, Must Get Bread

I don’t necessary eat bread on a normal day but when a weather emergency hits, bread seems to be the most popular choice. I hear the stores are sold out. Of bread. No bread to be found. I guess I will make my way to the grocery after work to see what is still there to buy. Bread-schmead. I’m going for cheese and chocolate. I mean, if I’m going to be stuck in the house for an extended period of time, I’m going to live it up!

I’m actually very embarassed to be going to the store tonight because I will be lumped into the masses of people who are freaking out and stocking up on canned goods to weather this storm. I actually am just low on food since I was away for the weekend. Honest!

Candy or Peanuts?

At this time of year I can’t help but wonder…

What came first – Peppermint Patty the character or Peppermint Patty the candy? Did Charles Schultz simply fancy the cool mint covered with dark chocolate? Or did the candy makers fancy Peanuts so much that they named a candy after “Chuck’s” biggest sandal-wearing fan?

I might have more to say

I’m back!  All right all right, I never really went anywhere but I haven’t had much to say lately.  Shush, it happens.  Actually, life has been pretty good which means that I don’t have much to vent about.  This translates into less blogging.  But what the hell.  There must be more to me than venting, right?  I have things to say that aren’t driven by stress.  I might find that boredom is suitable motivation to write.  So I will strive to put more thoughts to paper, erm … screen.  Stay tuned.

Rediscovering Ithaca – Day 2

While walking about today, I found myself once again navigating the torn-up streets of Ithaca which is common for this time of year. Ithaca has two seasons; Winter and Road Construction.

It seems that I’m not the only one who noticed these guys because one of the staffers of my favorite lunch spot, Collegetown Bagels, very generously gave the workmen ice cream sandwiches on this rather hot and muggy day. Hooray to CTB for taking care of these guys!!

Rediscovering Ithaca!

It is finally summer and after being cooped up for a particularly gray winter (see: Does it Still Exist?) and fearing a larger waistline, I have decided to get out at lunch hours and wander about the City with my iPhone and my new iWalkAboutTown (or something like that) app.  It’s really cool!  It tracks my distance, elevation, etc. on a little map which I can share with anyone who might want to stalk me.  I love technology!   

Stalkers note that I have only walked twice so far (Monday was my first day) but after my second walk it occurred to me that in all of the years that I have lived in the area and worked in downtown Ithaca (14 to be exact), I still haven’t really explored Ithaca.  I, just like the next person, have taken my surroundings for granted.  Of course I know where to find a good sandwich, a nice bit of shade and a good happy hour but I have rarely ventured on foot beyond a three block radius of my office.  After a couple of walks, I have begun to realize that the only way to truly see a place is to put on your comfy shoes and tackle it on foot.

So here we go – this is my new blog segment – Rediscovering Ithaca! (insert trumpet fanfare sound here)  Each day I walk I will post a picture or two to give you the flavor and feeling of the downtown you may or may not know.  As you can imagine, this blog will be as diverse as the City itself from suits to dreads to gas-guzzling beaters to gorges.   And so it begins…

Day 1

My first walk about the City was merely for exercise purposes only.  I borrowed a coat from my co-worker as it was unseasonably chilly (figures) and I set my iPhone app to track my progress.  I managed to walk 1.79 miles on this first ½ hour trek and was happy to be out of the office for a short time gathering up fresh air.  I walked a simple skinny rectangle through the residential areas of the City and had no idea I would come upon so many things to photograph.  I am a bit of a photo hobbyist and my favorite things tend to be doors and windows.  I find them so charming and interesting.  You never know what is on the other side of a door and it’s definitely in my nature to be curious.  So instead of breaking and entering, I choose to take a picture of the door or window itself and imagine what might be inside.  In the case of windows, though, you can get a little glimpse of the other side, like in my first picture.  I found the cutest little house with a friendly stranger peeking out from an upstairs window.  And how delighted I was to see that it was PeeWee!

I actually took that photo as it reminded me of a childhood friend and I know that she would love to know that PeeWee is loved here in Ithaca too.  Gretchen, that one is for you!

In addition to doors and windows, I also love to photograph beautiful buildings.  And the William Henry Miller Inn is no exception.  This home was designed and built by Cornell’s first architecture student, I believe, and is full of the most amazing stained glass art.  Both architecture and stained glass are very high on my list of favorite things and I just love this house.

Definitely check out William Henry Miller Inn’s website for examples of the stained glass!  Who knows, maybe my next stroll around the City will include a little recon INSIDE this beautiful place!  I guess you will just have to stay tuned to see …

Does it still exist?

Grey/gray, however you spell it, the sky is the color of some Bela Lugosi movie. I don’t even see any contrast in the sky itself. It’s as if someone draped a monochromatic grey cloth over us. Is the sun still out there? Am I in NY State or am I Charlie Bucket living in some non-descript European small town? I don’ t know about you but I’m about ready to give Slugworth the Everlasting Gobstopper to get out of here! I need some sun. I need some light … I need a candy bar.

Lips Just Like Paula

I swore to avoid watching American Idol this year.  Not only has this show gone on much too long, but without Simon Cowell, I see no point.  Aside from enjoying the ridiculous audition attempts from singers only a mother could love, Simon was the only redeeming factor of this show.  I loved his sarcastic barbs and scant praise.  I think Kara Whatshername was smart to abandon this show.  Now we have good-ole’ Randy Dawg, J Lo, and Steven Tyler (a/k/a “Lips”), which I am convinced is really Paula in man-drag. 

I was able to avoid the very tempting auditions this year and was only drawn in when I heard a friend mention an actual musician-type, Casey Somebodyorother.  This type of singer was the reason that I started watching Idol 27 seasons ago – to see those worthy yet undiscovered talents.  If you haven’t heard, America chose to vote for Casey less than the others (as America often does to actual talent) and he was ‘saved’ by the judges last night.  I actually caught 15 minutes of that episode and noticed that Paula isn’t gone – she has simply morphed into an old rocker.  Not only is Steven as worthless a judge as Paula was, he has the same doped/comatose face at the table and inconsequential remarks like “Slap that baby on the ass and call me christmas” (huh?).  Like Paula, Steven Tyler and his iconic lips have been donned in some sort of animal print each time he has sat at the judges’ table.  Also like Paula, his hair is some coifed version of 80’s Bon Jovi.  I’m sure I’m not the first to say this but, dude looks like a lady!  A lady who is bored and tired.  Well he is 75 after all.

(notice the animal print)

Anyway, bravo to the “judges” for keeping Casey for another week.  Sadly, America will probably make the wrong choice again next week and axe him and some other poor schlep.  And then we will only have Paula-Steven’s lips, vacant stare and bizarre lines to entertain.  I wonder what he will wear and say next (so basically, it’s just another season of AI).

Teenage Heartthrobs

Guy or girl, we all had them.  Whether it was Debbie Gibson, John Travolta, Alyssa Milano or Tom Cruise, we all taped those pictures from Tiger Beat or 16 Magazine to the walls of our rooms and wrote letters to the fan clubs with the unrequited hope of getting an autographed picture from our crush.  If any of us were lucky enough to get a response back, it was likely penned by some underling on the payroll but we didn’t care!  That underling was somewhat connected to our heartthrob even if she was a 40-something staff flunky for the agency who represented the hottie.

Here are a few that I swooned over.   My first thought about this topic was to find out where they are now.  Many have undoubtedly fallen into the pits of child-star fame but I prefer not to discuss that.  I would rather remember them as I saw them back then – up and coming with promising futures ahead.  I found that many are still in the biz, however meager their roles may be, but who cares?!  Let’s remember them as they existed 25ish years ago …

 Brian Bloom – what happened to you?  I mean, with those blue eyes you were an 80’s heartthrob worthy of a cat fight romance between Debbie Gibson and that blonde girl from Kate and Ally.   What is the world coming to when a gorgeous teen boy actor can get no further than soaps and made-for-TV movies?  How can those electric eyes fade out of the limelight?

(nice hair, by the way)

John Cusack.  Now there were some who I considered cute but for other reasons – like John Cusack.  Of course he was cute – in a way – but my heart was throbbing more for his straight-faced dry wit and sarcasm.   After consulting IMDB, he might just be one of the most successful teen heartthrobs out there.  He has been consistently employed since 1983 and you can be sure that he is always playing that dry and witty character who I personally think is just himself.  In any event Lane Meyer, I heart you … and I got ‘ur two dollars right here, darlin’ 🙂

Christian Slater.  I don’t know, maybe it’s those Nicholson-esque eyebrows but this bad boy always made me look twice.   No folks, he isn’t dead – there was no snowboarding accident.  That one almost stopped my heart a little bit but as far as I know, he’s still out there and working on a new TV show.  Here’s hoping this one does better than the last one about his double life (which I watched religiously, by the way).  Jack Nicholson is getting old and someone needs to carry on with those sarcastic brows.

Johnny Depp.   All right, this one is pretty obvious and very cliche but I stand by my judgment back then.  And there’s something to be said about that my 12 year old judgment because I think Johnny is the only one who has maintained his heartthrob status throughout the years.  From young cop to a pirate, women are still swooning (me too, for the record).

Mackenzie Astin – you were my favorite.  I first saw you in the late 80’s as Andy on the Facts of Life.   You know, when that show jumped the shark and Mrs. Garrett no longer had school-aged Joe and Blair to push around so she had to open a bakery or something.  Anyway, you were the cutie bad-boy 12 year old and I savored every one of those episodes.       
(I’m lovin’ the multi-tonal stone washed jean jacket, Mac)

THEN!  I found you again in the late 90’s in one of my favorite romance movies, “Dream for an Insomniac” (yes, I admit that even I like a romance from time-t0-time).  This movie was some backwards connection to Old Blue Eyes (Sinatra for you youngin’s) and Mac’s eyes were the main event in this movie. 

So let’s sum up … blue eyes and bad boys … yup, that about covers it!

I Stabbed Myself at 7

I still have a scar. It was a gorgeous sunny summery day – August 6th, 1980 – and I was in my bedroom. I know the date because it was my 7th birthday! I don’t remember if my birthday party was that day but both my mother and my sister Darcy (12 at the time) were home and preparing for something in the kitchen. And I was alone in my bedroom studying my piggy bank. Actually my bank was not a pig at all. It was a brown fuzzy bear bank. While writing this story I thought it would be great to show you a picture of that very bank of my childhood but after Googling for days, I have come back empty handed. I’m having a hard time believing that with all of the zillions of pictures on the interwebs that no one has a picture of their 1970s fuzzy bear bank! I could go on and on about what I did find (see amazing photo of Sam Elliott below), but that is not what I was looking for.

(courtesy of 70sthoughts.blogspot.com)

(Don’t ask how Googling 1970s fuzzy bear bank begets a porn-esque picture of Sam Elliott. Ladies put your eyeballs back in their sockets and let’s get back to the fuzzy bear bank.)
Please note that this was not a FOZZY Bear bank. No, my bank was a plastic non-specific bear shape with little fuzz glued on to make it appear more bear-like. Similar to this one below (but not the same … because it’s a rabbit … and mine was a bear).

(courtesy of Etsy – you can buy this delight for $4.00 in the US …)

Anywho, my bear had my treasured money in it and it was chock full from the sheer weight of the thing. And I wanted to get it out and quick like. I can’t recall what I thought I was going to do with that money at that very moment, but I wanted it nonetheless. There was one problem, though. This bank must have been designed by my father himself because there was no stopper on the bottom of the bear. It only had a coin-sized slit in the bear’s head. Now I can recall many things about my dad and his favorite five words in succession were “put it in the bank.” Now you could substitute a great many words at the beginning of that saying like “Did you” or “You should have”, but the premise was the same. The money belonged in the bank. And now as an adult who banks often, I now realize that he never said anything about taking the money OUT of the bank. It was just about putting it IN. And this bear had only one opening – that coin-sized slit on the top of its fuzzy head. That was it! So yes, my father either designed my fuzzy bear bank or, at the very least, endorsed it because there was NO WAY of getting the money OUT of the fuzzy bear bank. Well, there was always fuzzy bear surgery … 🙂

At the age of 7 I had never operated on a thing in my life. I wasn’t even one of those kids who went around collecting bugs to see how the looked up close (ick). But I have always been the problem-solving type and surgery seemed my best option. So I went into the kitchen, grabbed a serrated steak knife from the silverware drawer and went back to my bedroom to cut open that fuzzy bear bank. I’m sure there were better ways to do this but my genius 7 year old self thought it best to balance the bear on my right knee while performing a sort of stabbing motion at its fuzzy head. This did not end well. There was blood and a good amount of it. I don’t remember it hurting, but I do remember about 2-3 inches of a bloody knife blade and my leg oozing blood to the south-east side of my kneecap. I’m sure it did hurt but I was more concerned with how I was going to cover up this unfortunate incident and keep Mom and Darcy blissfully unaware that I was trying to perform fuzzy bear surgery for money. If only I could remember my 7 year old thought process I could help bridge the gap between parents and their kids. But the only thing I can remember is that I threw the knife under my bed and walked into the kitchen whilst bleeding. When Mom asked me what happened, I said …. come on, you can guess it … “I don’t know.” Yup, I did it. I, like all of the other 7 year old kids out there said “I don’t know” when faced with that question. Of course I knew how it happened but I wasn’t going to admit it right away! As my mother – the nurse – was grilling me, Darcy went into my room and did her own little investigation. I’m sure it took her about 20 seconds to piece together the scene. She found the knife and my jig was up.

Thankfully the wound was patched up at home, no stitches and no major damage was done – even the fuzzy bear bank remained unscathed and the money remained safe in its carcass.  But that’s the story of my scar.