Topic of the Day

The Boardwalk

I just got home after spending three days down at the Santa Cruz beach Boardwalk. It was my first visit, and my daughter's first visits. It's been a place I have always wanted to see, but never made the effort to do so. I am very glad I did.

The first time I ever even heard of the place was in the song called Under the Boardwalk. Now, I have a secret shame to admit here...it's the Bruce Willis version I heard. Yup, Bruce Willis had an album called the Return of Bruno, and I owned it. It really wasn't much to talk about (big surprise!!). However, he did amazingly well on that song. I actually still like his version the best. After hearing it, I wanted to be under the boardwalk on a blanket with my baby.

The next time the Boardwalk came to my attention was during my youthful vampire phase when I couldn't get enough of the movie the Lost Boys. I watched it over and over and loved the scenes where the Boardwalk was the background. The lights, noises and movements called to me and I was sure I was destined to move to Santa Cruz. I had no idea that it would be over twenty years later before I would even see the Boardwalk in real life, and would never live there.

Ok, that actual town of Santa Cruz fell short of what I was expecting. I thought of some classy, artsy, kind of mystical beach town (thanks Hollywood) would be waiting, but it was actually kinda trashy and beat down. Maybe there was a time it was more lively and attractive but those days are clearly over.

Though the town disappointed, the Boardwalk didn't. Ok, it kinda did, but it was no fault disappointment as it closes at five and I was sooooo looking forward to seeing the rides lit up and running in the night. I wanted to sit on the beach and watch the ferris wheel and roller coaster lights, eat corn dogs in the sand. But, alas, it was bright day light when the place closed down. I was bummed.



That said, the rest was really great. There were rides, food booths, souvenier booths, arcades, games and pictures everywhere. We went on a billion rides and laughed so hard we cried. My littlest went on her first roller coaster, the Hurricane, and loved it!!!And it isn't a tiny, baby roller coaster either. She won a teddy bear all by herself. We ate funnel cake with a pound of powdered sugar on it and spent $40 on quarter sized burgers and fries. It was ridiculously expensive but worth it.

I'm sure a lot what made it worth it was the company I kept. My kids were having a blast and that makes everything better. My husband wasn't acting like a cheapskate. And no one was sick!! We usually have one person sick on each family trip. It was a real good time for all of us. I wanted to share that here.

Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea....is where I'll be,
Sissy

Piglet's First Tooth

Well, just the other my little one lost her first tooth. She's a late bloomer so was really looking forward to the hillbilly smile. She realized it was loose when she bit into a popcorn and the kernel jimmied it loose. She was one happy little camper. But once it was loose it wouldn't come out fast enough. The kid just wouldn't leave it alone and yet there it stayed. Stubborn tooth!! But, at last, that fateful day arrived and she bit into an apple and out it popped!!! Whoo-Hoo! Finally. She was jumping all over the place yelping and screaming with excitement. The tooth fairy's coming! The tooth fairy's coming! She was beyond thrilled. She couldn't quit looking at the tooth, looking at the hole it came from, then the tooth, then the hole. And so on.... Until finally, in one of her mirror inspections she dropped the buggard down the drain in the bathroom. It's gone forever!! she cried. And no more tooth fairy. The horror. I got her calmed down and told her to cool her jet and listen. Hey, I said, write the tooth fairy a note and beg forgiveness for the error of your ornery ways. So she did. And here's what it said, word for fabulous word...

Dear tooth faery
I'm sorry thate I lost my tooth. Plese spare me some dollars.

Ha Ha....it's too great. Spare me some dollars!! I about spit all over myself when I read it. Of course, due to that, the tooth fairy HAD to make a stop, regardless of a missing tooth or not. I'm telling you, that child is too smart for her own good. But I love it.

Spare me some dollars.....LOL
Sissy

Topic of the Day

Stephen King

I have always loved reading. Ever since I can remember I have had a book in my hand. Of course I read children's books and then as I got older I switched to Sweet Valley High books. I bought and read and kept every single one, unable to decide if I wanted to be Elizabeth or Jessica Wakefield. Then I decided neither because their brother was so cute on the cover of the book, so I didn't want to be related to him. Anywhoooo.....

I got older (it tends to happen). I grew out of Sweet Valley High and needed to move on. But I wasn't sure what to read. I really had no idea what I might like. At the time I was going through a vampire phase. Don't ask me to explain it, I can't... I'm an odd card friends. Long story short, I came across Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. Naturally, it's about vampires so I decided to give it a shot.

It was much longer than I was used to, and more intense so it took more concentration. I read mostly at night in bed, trying to get tired. I remember at one point in the story a character goes into a room and sees a rotting corpse hanging from the ceiling. In the story, it was figment but, in my imagination that night, it was very real. And not only real, it was hanging in my room. It had come to life and was right there next to me!! Oh, wait, that's my imagination. Oops! Well, it seemed real. At least it did from under my covers where I stayed all night. I was terrified and my vivid imagination was my worst enemy. Yeah, I was scared, so what? Well, I'm a glutton. Because the next morning the first thing I did was grab that book and dig into it again. I was hooked. I was scared, afraid of the dark, afraid of ghosts and afraid of dying...and I loved it.

From then on I was done. Stephen King was the bomb, though that term of affection had yet to be coined, so I guess he was 'tight'. I would now only read Stephen King. Over the next few years no other author's words radiated through my tender optics. I read The Shining, Carrie and Christine, mostly the early stuff. The thought of reading someone else felt like a betrayal. I did realize, eventually, that even Stephen King doesn't only read Stephen King and it was okay to broaden my literary horizons a bit, which I did with authors like VC Andrews and John Saul. Yup, I was a horror nut kiddies.

Well, years later (but not too many years), I still am loving Stephen King. Of course, as I've matured I've developed a love of many writers. I love Emily Bronte, Harper Lee, Dean Koontz, Iris Johanssen, Dan Brown, James Patterson, John Grisham and many, many more. I love all types. I am no longer exclusively horror. As a note: I don't always consider Stephen King to be horror. Though I don't know what you might call him. A supernatural-thriller-horror-psychological-dramatic writer.

And I continue to ramble people... make me stop already!

The only times I have not enjoyed reading a Stephen King book is his Dark Tower series. These books have a large following, but I'm not one of them. Everything else... yep, I'm there. It just seems to me that he reaches inside my head and pulls out things in there. His character personalities and the way they talk and move and grow just connect with me. I'm not sure if this makes us epistolary soul mates or I'm just a freak, but I like it.

I'm currently reading Duma Key, his newest book. It seems there has been a bit of a lull recently. Not that his books have gotten bad, they sure haven't, no sirree. But they haven't quite had that zing!! A little piece of I-have-no-idea-what was just missing. He recovered some with Lisey's Story. I finally felt connected again. I finally fell in love with the hero again, or heroine. But, here I am, just over only a hundred pages into Duma Key and I have fallen, fallen, fallen in love with Stephen King again. I don't really have the whole idea yet, it's too early for me to know yet, but what I do know is that Ed Freemantle reaches me just like Fran and Stu and Tom (m-o-o-n that spells moon) Cullen from the Stand, or John Coffey and Paul Edgecomb from the Green Mile, or Andy DuFraine from Shawshank Redemption and John Smith from the Dead Zone (which was turned into a pretty mother flippin good TV show too) did.

I could go on, and often do, but I won't. Just rest assured that a Stephen King novel satisfies me in it's own special way that no one else does, even when I love their novel as much. There is just a special something with Stephen King. He was my first....adult novel writer I read.

Happy Reading,
Sissy

Topic of the Day

I Love Kevin Spacey

I really love movies. I love all kinds of movies: horror, action, sci fi, romance, comedy, drama and so on, in no particular order. I love them for so many reasons. The escape, the entertainment, the appreciation of the entire process and the ability of others to convince me they are someone else. Granted, I don't know them, so it's not so hard to pretend they are who they say they are on the big screen. It might be harder to buy if it was my mother up there. I mean, I actually know who she is, bad habits and all. It'd be a little hard to get past it.

I have many favorite movies, but only one best favorite: Field of Dreams. I have many favorite actresses: Angelina Jolie (who's probably my most favorite), Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Sandra Bullock (whose comic talent is highly underrated). I also have many favorite actors: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Gabriel Byrne and, MOSTLY, Kevin Spacey. (Note: I really have lots more favorites, but not enough to mention all).

Anyway, Kevin Spacey has been my consistent favorite for many years. I think, though I'm not positive, that the first time I saw him was in the movie Seven (with Brad Pitt). I may have seen him before but I can't recall. What blew away about him went beyond his ability to connect with his character in a way that was so convincing and believable that it was borderline uncomfortable. Can you imagine how he felt? The thing that really got me was how he managed to steal the show, take the spotlight from actors like Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and almost make you forget they're in it (well, not really cuz they're awesome, but you get my point). And he did this with only being in the movie for minutes. He doesn't even show up til the bitter, climactic end. Incredible!!

Then I saw him the Usual Suspects. Poor sweet Verbal!! Whatever. I was fooled. He was mesmerizing and captivating and totally believable and so on. His performance could only be upstaged by the incredibly clever and intricate plot and climax.

Now, I don't really love everything he is in. I really didn't care for American Beauty or Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. However, his talent still shone bright. And John Cusack was great in the latter too. I did enjoy K-Pax, Pay it Forward, The Life of David Gale (an underwatched and underappreciated movie also starring Kate Winslet), Fred Claus, the Negotiator and a Time to Kill. Yikes, I can't name them all...there's too many!

Kevin Spacey makes a not great movie bearable. He has a subtle presence that screams out. I'm guessing that's an oxymoron of a sentence, but it's true. His looks and charm are not flashy like those of Nicolas Cage or John Travolta. He's more everyday guy, yet not. Am I making any sense here, folks?? All I have to say is that he makes paying $8 for a movie a little less painful.

Thanks for listening to me ramble,
Sissy

I'm Slacking off

Ok, my posts are gonna be pretty slim for the next four or five days. I have some work issues at the moment and then we're leaving for a few days. I'm gonna try to post something tonight, but not sure I'll have time after doing some work. So, probably the only one really missing me is, well....me.

Topic of the Day

Things People Might be Surprised to Know About me

A girl once kissed me at her house

I didn't have boyfriend until I was 17

I really long to go skydiving

I won't step foot in the ocean, but love the beach

If I think about where meat comes from, it grosses me out

I have never seen a porno, nor do I want to see one

I love loud rock music in my car

The place I want to visit most is the Smithsonian

A great, great, great uncle of mine was Duke in Germany

My step uncle is Sonny Barger, founder of Hell's Angels

I was called the red barron in school

Math is my worst subject, but I work in banking

I once went to drink out of a straw on a date and stuck it up my nose, bleeding

I want to own my own movie theater

I have written 5 screenplays

I broke my sisters finger in the door

Tag

Ok, I did the tag thing. I kinda screwed it up and posted it on Chikku's comments. I have no clue. What happens next??