Wordless Wednesday

Conundrum

I had a very interesting conversation with Mustang Girl when we went out to lunch yesterday.
It seems she is reading this book, (she reads as much as MM and I do) and it has an interesting concept.
The main female character is an 18 year old girl dying of cancer. She has a friend, whom she develops a relationship beyond friendship with.
He's a vampire.
So, of course, to save the girl, he is turning her into a vampire.
Here is where the discussion began.
Would you want to die young, or would you want to live, forever?
Tough choice, isn't it?
We talked about many aspects related to this. Like, is it easier to live forever with someone that you love, who will also live forever? But forever is a LONG time. Look, or think about your spouse. 60 years, 70 years, great, right?? Try on INFINITY.
Can you see yourself with that person, some, 800, 900 years from now?
And what about the rest of your family. The non vampire family? Can you sit, and watch all of them die? And, won't they notice that you haven't aged beyond eighteen? Or whatever age? How often would you have to move so not as to draw attention to yourself?
How about the earth.
Realistically, what direction are we going in? Do you want to live forever, and watch us devolve, possibly back to the dark ages? Or, on the plus side, if you think so, are we EVOLVING into a higher form of life and would you like to stay and watch that?
I ultimately decided that I would NOT live forever. It would suck, but I'd have to accept the fact that I was going to die, young. Because living forever has no appeal to me.
No matter how hot the Vampire is.

Holiday wrap up

Alrighty.
Its all over, and though I had a bunch of fun, I am very glad. Now I need to take the tree down and get the house back to normal. I can wait until New Years Day, (maybe).
So, here is my recap of this year.
Mustang Man surprised me with an iTouch. I surprised him with a guitar. Both surprises were worth it. Mustang Girl came home from her Mom's Sunday and then we bombarded her with many gifts. Including, but not exclusive of, the whole basket of very odd things that Mustang Man and I got when we were bored, at the dollar store. (We were waiting for the start time of our movie). Among the dollar store haul was a bobble headed santa, an elephant shaped air freshener, and a whoopie cushion. Good times....
The big family Christmas was fun. The adults played "steal a gift" for the first time in MANY years (really missed you, rest of the family). I ended up with a very complicated puzzle, MM ended up with a hand painted wine glass. Uncle B had his gift stolen so many times I think he was beginning to think he was cursed. Good times, yet again.
AND, I got something to rival Bubblewenches Guns and Roses pants.
Thats right.
I said it.
See those Guinness lounge pants?
They are all mine.
Somehow, middle sister found those, and got them for me.
Aren't you jealous?
Older sister got me a very phallic looking plant holder. It is, uh. Interesting.
Its outside. Where I can put a plant in it.
Really.
It is.
No where near the dogs....

ahem.

Yeah, Christmas. It was fun. The kids were crazy, the adults probably crazier. So glad it's done...

Wordless Wednesday

I more than likely won't post again until Monday, because I am working, and then we are going to go to my parents for the annual family Christmas extraveganza. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and all the other holiday cheer you can stomach. And I think the Santa on my table got into my home made Kahlua when I wasn't looking....

It's Tuesday, yet again. We all know I have snow, we all know Christmas is coming. My gifts are now almost all sloppily wrapped. There is one hold out.
The post office is holding Tickle Me Ernie hostage on me.

I got a "sorry we missed you!" slip in my mailbox the other day, and thought to myself, "odd, I was home most of the day." Oh well. So I filled it out for re-delivery of Ernie, and I got the slip back, telling me that they would not come through the snow.

Yes, the Post Office won't come through the snow. And I have to tell you, thanks to the hard work of MM, with a little bit of help from me, our driveway really isn't that bad anymore.

So we have to go liberate Ernie from the post office, where he has been held hostage for the last few days. So that I can imprison him again in a brightly, but sloppily wrapped package for middle nephew.

I wonder if he misses Bert? And, is it just me, or does 'Tickle Me Bert" sound a bit skeevy?

OK thats all I got. Off to make cookies.

How much tape can I get onto one box....

This time of year can be rather frightful.
The whole gift thing.
Not the giving. Or the receiving. (Though, certain members of my family can make the receiving painful. *Cough* Older sister ugliestdamnplanterihaveeverseen*Cough*)


What gets me, every time, is the wrapping paper. And the importance placed on wrapping paper, and how your wrapped gift is supposed to look like you took 10 hours to do it with it's perfectly folded corners, perfectly aligned ribbon with a good bow to ribbon ratio, and just a certain amount of tape.
Or, if you prefer gift bags, there is the whole tissue art thing going. Different colors, some with sparklies sprinkled on it, peeking out of the bag, or rioting out of the bag like an exploded volcano.

Last year I had surgery on my hand. It was THE PERFECT EXCUSE for my half assed attempt at getting things wrapped in any kind of decent shape. I simply didn't. My attempts at wrapping were hilarious. Lots of gift bags were used last year, out of necessity. And the tissue got shoved in left handed and willy nilly. It worked.

This year, I am feeling the pressure again. TV commercials run amok with those tape dispensers that rest on your wrist, like a bracelet, or on your fingers, and now, the newest thing, a blade thingy that you can use to cut the wrapping paper without shredding it with scissors. I don't actually have that problem, though.

Every time I see those commercials I think that I should start wrapping. Then I don't. Don't get me wrong, I have some things done. But the bulk of it? Not really.
But today, today I am going to work on it. Really I am.
And, unless my hand surgery somehow gave me miraculous wrapping skills, my gifts will look as they usually do, and, as usual, my Mom will make fun of me.
Gotta love this time of year.

And on a fun note, I must send out interweb xoxoxoxoxox's to Jo and Daryl. The fedex man was cursing Daryl friday when he had to drive up our iced over snowy drive way. But I don't care. The picture she sent me is GORGEOUS, and MG is very taken with the picture on the holiday card. Thank you!
And Jo. The book is awesome. And so funny. (211 Things A Bright Girl Can Do). I am so glad my slippers won your contest. My favorite chapter thus far was the" How to fart with grace and charm at the ambassadors do". I do have one question for you, though. What is Cava? And why does the book recommend I pour myself some, frequently?
And the socks and the chocolate that came with the book are very much loved and appreciated, as well.

Friday Mieography

This one came about as just a laugh between me and MM, because, we were discussing celebrity endorsements of certain things, like, oh, say, US Cellular?
For which Joan Cusack used to be the celebrity voice for...
for whom MM used to work for....

ANYHOW

She was born in NYC, but raised in an Illinois suburb, the daughter of a political activist mother (Nancy) and her actor father, Dick. She has four siblings, Ann, Bill, John, and Susie, who have also been actors. She did go to college, graduating from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelors of Art in English. Because her father, and siblings (eventually) all acted, Joan grew up on the stage, and trained with the Piven Theatre Workshop.
She started out in movies with lots of roles that were frequently in movies her brother John was in, like My Bodyguard, and Sisteen Candles. Always a comedienne, she accepted a position with Saturday Night Live, but ended up feeling constrained, and that there was a lack of good material for women. She left after one season. She continued to play supporting roles in multiple movies (she is known well for this role, actually) but finally got her breakthrough role with Working Girl, and got an Oscar nomination fr that film.
In 1990 she accepted a part in the comedy "My Blue Heaven", with Steve Martin. The role ended up being a negative experience for her, and she abandoned Hollywood for awhile, and concentrated on her family. She is married, with two sons. She sporadically visited the big screen, and finally made a come back of sorts in 1997, with the movie "In and Out", scoring another Oscar nomination. She continued her work in many, scattered films, continuing to act in movies that her brother John was in, such as Grosse Pointe Blank. When not acting in some of his work, she is frequently seen in the "best friend" role. She was also the voice of Jessie in Toy Story 2, and 3. She even had her own TV series, which was filmed in Chicago so she could be with her family.
All told, she has had a steady career, with over 47 movies in the last 20 years. One of my personal favorites was the role she played in a very odd little film called Toys, with Robin Williams.
Some of you may be wondering why I chose her today (despite her MM and Cellular connections). I have just always liked her. She makes me laugh almost every time I see her in something, unless she is playing a sad role. Her sense of humor seems fun, and she was smart enough to figure out how to have a career and family. Sure, she isn't exactly a high priced, much sought after big name, but she is satisfied, and I bet her life is much less stressful than those big name actresses. Plus, we all need a funny best friend in our lives, right? Where would these movies all be without her?