Stars....

Gosh, the other day we lost Don Knotts ..................



and last night I heard we lost Dennis Weaver......

It really does always seem these things go in three's... so now i sit and wait for the other shoe to drop. Every time a show like the Oscars comes along, they do a small piece In Memory Of.. and somehow I'm always surprised because I didn't hear that this one or that one passed away. Sigh.. I wish I could say that I thought the newer group of actors and actresses are as good as those we are loosing.

I don't think they are "bad".. it just doesn't seem they are the same quality, but maybe that only comes with time. There is one very young actress that interests me, though I probably won't be around when she reaches her prime.. and that's Dakota Fanning.

I like her so much I wrote to her and received her autograph.. besides talented, she's the cutest darn kid ! From her photo I drew her picture.. with a little 'cheating".. but it came out well I think..


I guess my mind is on Actors only because there are so many commercials on right now about the Oscars.

On my last post when I talked about going through an earthquake, I received comments about other parts of the country and their Hurricanes and Tornados and such.. Since i lived in Florida for 13 yrs I went through some of the Hurricanes, just not as many as has happened down there in the past two years! It did make me wonder, remembering those Hurricanes, why some people insist on trying to 'ride them out" instead of getting to safety. It's one of the few disasters that gives warning that it's going to happen, unlike Earthquakes or Tornados... and yet some seem to think it's not worth their life to be sure they make it through by going to a safer area. I will never understand that. Just because, once it's over you find out that you COULD have stayed safely at home.. doesn't mean it's the best idea. Oh, well.. obviously those that stay won't change their minds.

As I thought more on the Earthquake I went through (the Northridge Quake) there was one beautiful moment I remember in the middle of being scared out of my mind.

In between aftershocks we dragged our mattresses outside, along with blankets and any food that wasn't tossed onto the floor for living outside (we did this because we didn't know if the newly acquired cracks in the walls meant it was unsafe to stay or not)...

I distinctly remember looking into the night sky on the first night out there. Because there was no electric the sky was a deep black, and the stars never looked so bright to me.. then it began. Shooting stars all over the place!

I have never seen so many shooting stars in my life. I'll admit, at first it scared me even more than I was.. is something more going on then this earthquake? I think I held my breath for a few moments.. and then I became mezmerized at the shooting stars until i finally drifted off to sleep. Maybe it was a touch of hope?

Places I've Lived..

Betty, Of Minipaws and Menopause, made me think this morning. (yeah yeah, i called the fire department and cancelled their call to my house)

She asked how many places I've lived, ( New Providence NJ, Irvington NJ, Port St Lucie Fla, Fort Pierce, Fla, Encino CA, Sherman Oaks CA, Orange NJ) and then emailed me and said she bet I missed Southern California the most. Which got me to that smokey part. heh.

Living in "the valley" (Encino and Sherman Oaks CA) was a time I will remember forever.... for more then one reason.

I will remember the fun and laughter and the Kelley's, of course. (one of those great feelings you get like seeing your new born for the first time) I will remember some friends I made there and still think of often. A few I still remain in contact with. Sue, the gal we played pranks on, and I am still friends with, and Annie from Texas, who is still a very close friend.

But like any part of life, it wasn't ALL great. It also was a time when I was hurt badly by someone I thought was my best friend. And... then there was the 6.7 earthquake with the epicenter being right where i lived! I will NEVER, EVER forget it. It traumatized me. So much so, that each time after "the big one" that we had an "aftershock", the Kelley's would call me to see if I was alright. I think they were the only ones that really knew how badly it effected me.
I learned some hard lessons from the quake. Oh, did i mention what my wake up call for the quake was? It was going from sound asleep in bed, to being thrown completely acrossed the bedroom!

One was that "terra-firma" is a falsehood. When the ground drops from beneath your feet over and over again, I can promise you, that no matter how many times you may hear it said that you won't forget it.. YOU WON'T!

The other thing I "re-learned" was that your home does NOT mean safety. When you hear and think the roof is going to come down ontop of you and you will die.. it suddenly becomes a place you DON'T want to be.

(we lived and slept in the yard for about a week)

I also learned where some sayings came from that I mistakenly thought, were.. well, .. just sayings! "Having the Chit Scared out of you".. is NOT just a saying. Neither is "cotton mouth".. what a horrid feeling "cotton mouth" is! Instantly your lips stick together and you feel if you don't get a drop of water instantly your throat will stick together and you may die! I am certain that both of those sayings came from someone who had been through their first (and hopefully last) earthquake, and lived to tell about it.

It was some months after the quake, and the aftershocks were getting fewer, smaller, and farther in between, when we had a big aftershock of about 5.4 I thought for sure it was going to be another big one (5.4 is more then big enough!) I called my insurance to see if i was eligible for counciling, and since many were going this route since the quake I found I could go to some therapy. .......I went.

What I found was sad. I thought I was over reacting and hoped some conciling might help. I found people worse off then I was. There were some who, even after the quake happened months before, would be in their homes during the day to clean house and do chores but would then go and sleep in their cars. There were others who were sleeping in chairs, flashlights in hand, right next to a door for quick escape.

Though I feared having the house collapse on me if another quake happened I was still sleeping (fully clothed mind you) in my bed and still working on the 6th floor of a tall building (which swayed alot when a good aftershock happened) So, I decided I was better off then many others... but still scared from the event.

We'd eventually joke some about the fact that many of us now wore clothes to bed in case we had to run outside from a quake.

"geez, Pat.. what if your dream man George Lucas came along and asked you to get married?"

response: "Well, if he expects me to get undressed for sex with the marriage he'll have to take me out of California to get it!"

Although I stayed in California for several years after the quake, when I could no longer find work to support myself and had to move back to NJ, there was a part of me that didn't mind not having shoes next to my bed, or a flashlight nailed to the wall next to my bed, or not nailing dressers to the wall so that they wouldn't fall on you. A part of me kept saying: this is no way to live.

I knew people like Sue, who had been born in CA and lived their all their life, that quakes did not effect as it did me. I envy those people, because i love southern CA. I loved being around so many creative people, and so many people that accepted many things others don't.

There was much more of a live and let live attitude in the people I met while living there. They just didn't take time away from living their own life to worry about things like how someone else lives, or who or what they believe in etc. They were all just accepted. There's a lesson to be learned there.... it's time wasted that you can never get back.

Anyway... i did find there is good and bad in every place I lived. That much I learned will never change.

The Olympic End

Last night.. very late for me.. a smile crossed my face and a soft "hooray" passed my lips as I watched, cutie pie Apolo Ohno, fly on the short track to victory and the Olympic Gold Medal.

I was so happy he fulfilled his dream. The gold he won four years ago was due to a disqualifcation, and I know on some level, he felt he didn't really win it. But this time, there was no arguement that he didn't do it all on his own.

It has never happend to me personally, but I do get joy out of feeling the happiness of others when a welcomed dream comes true.

I wonder at times, how come I can feel happiness, just seeing someone else happy, but others cannot. Oprah does this to me alot. I see her make peoples dreams come true and i sit here and bawl like a kid. Don't get me wrong, there's always a little bit of envy that it's not me, but how could I not be happy for the person it happens to. Just knowing it's possible that dreams can come true makes me cry. (Which is why I never seem to be able to watch the movie Rudy without bawling.. sheesh.)

Ok.. so that's it for me on the Olympics... it's done and over with today. I will watch some of it tonight but at 10 pm.. it's over for me. I can forgo the closing ceremony when Gray Anatomy comes on lol. Gosh i am hooked on that show and on Lost.


Speaking of shows.. it's only two week until the Oscars!

Since my brothers conditions have gotten worse as time goes by, I no longer have many chances to go to the movies that i love so much. So when I found a list of nominees, i realized for the first time, that i hadn't been able to see even one of the movies nominated.

Boy, how I miss the days when DeForest was still alive. Each year, a few months before the Oscars, De would begin to get the movies, for his consideration, to vote. Once he viewed them, I would get a phone call..

"want to pick up some movies towatch?"

"umm, do the words hell yes mean anything?"

De would always laugh and tell me to come by, that he had a bag full of movies. During those years I think I enjoyed the Oscars the best. I had seen ALL the nominees (via De) and had formed my own opinions, and would watch to see if they were the same as what actually made the Oscars. Quite often I was NOT in agreement with them!

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck

Actress
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Supporting Actor
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

Anyone have any favorites?

Silly Scalzi

A silly idea from John Scalzi's By The Way

Morning thoughts..

(photo borrowed from Michael Weis blog site)

Whelp... figure skating went about like if figured it would. Sigh. Cohen fell, like she does so often. I can say I feel sorry for her because i know how it is not to be "consistant".. at least when it comes to "consistantly being good". I've never conquered it and it looks like she won't either. I did dare to hope that after her short program she might get lucky and pull it off, but yet ... something inside me said it won't happen. Maybe because I can relate ..
It's hard to tell if it's an emotional thing or not. It could be something from her childhood.. something or someone who made her feel she would never really succeed. Something she has in the back of her mind, that never goes away. I hope that's not it for her, but more and more I think it may be.

It's a strange thing how something, even said in passing, could be something to stay with one forever. It's happened to me, and probably you if you think hard enough about it.
Once, when i was young and about the age to get a drivers license, i was in a car with a friend. He was talking to me about driving, trying to be "instructive" and "helpful".. he said one of those things I've never forgotten or gotten over. He told me, "when driving, just imagine that the person in front of you, in back of you, and on each side of you, is about to do the stupidest thing in the world, and be ready for it." Actually.. it's good advice. The problem is, when i got around to driving (many years later) That stayed in my mind. I hated driving, and I always arrived home, with white knuckles. I'd be so tuned into "what's going to happen?" that, no matter how hard i tried, I never liked driving, and stayed afraid of it any time I drove. Strange.. how good advice can turn against you sometimes.

There was another that has never left me, and most likely was the start of how i feel about myself even today. "Never good enough"... Would you believe it was a teacher?.. yeah, a teacher. It was the first male teacher i had in 6th grade.. but what he said to me was said in my senior year of high school where I had him again for Civics class. I was never "great" in history of any sort, but being my Senior year I hit the year with a vengence to do good and come out better then i went into it.

The first 6 weeks (a marking period) passed. I knew I didn't do great on the one and only test he gave, but he said that was 1/3 of the grade.. another 1/3 was a term report, and another homework grades (both of which i would get A's or B's) and that if you did something for "extra credit" that would help also. Ok.. so i didn't go good on the test.. did get A's and B's on the other two thirds AND got an A for an extra credit thing i did.

It was the year they stopped giving plus's and minus's .. I got a C (average).. I went to him, and asked if it was a "high C" even though they stopped giving them out.. I just needed some encouragement to try harder.. the words that left his lips have never left ME..
"You were a C student in 6th grade and you will always be a C student".

He proved his words when i never took another test in his class (receiving F's) but still did homework, and term reports (A's and B's) and extra credit, and still received C's. In other words, I didn't learn a darn thing in his class from that time on... and I've never excelled in anything. (no consistancy.... like Cohen and her skating)

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in lieing to a child and saying something is over the hill great when it's not.. but i DO believe everyone needs encouragement for one thing or another..

And so.. instead of feeling disappointed in Cohen.. I feel sorry for her. I hope the day comes she conquers whatever it is holding her back.. holding her from the proof she seems to need to say just how good she is.

Nearing the end..

I am not a night person.

This means, I go to bed early and get up early. I have done this ever since i can remember. Even as a kid 9 pm meant bedtime. So as an adult by 9 pm I am thinking of bed and sleeping, though over the years I did extend 9 pm for 10 or 10:30 pm.. but i still wake fairly early and without an alarm clock. (I wake between 6-7 am).

This said... I am finding it harder each day to keep awake for the Olympics! And OF COURSE, they save the best for LAST. My old body is not happy with this! The Olympics only come every 2 years, I don't want to miss them.. however, Channel 4 who has the rights to show them, are the ones to make the decision when certain things will be shown. To say the least I have a gripe with NBC!

Come on guys, lets get real! This is not a "live" show! You can show what you want in any order you want! People need their sleep! Many have to rise early for work!! Many just can't manage to stay awake that late! (guess who that is, heh) Groan..

Tonight will be the ladies run for gold in figure skating.. anyone want to take a guess what time they will show them?? If it's not after 10 pm I will be shocked! But my aches and pains will NOT be surprised.

Though I watch the skaters, I also have been reading the blog put out by Michael Weiss (one of our U.S. top skaters) http://journals.aol.com/beedaber/MichaelWeiss-TurinOlympics/ I was surprised that he was doing a blog, but glad he is. It's nice to see a communication between one of the skaters I've admired and those of us that follow the Olympics.

I guess no matter how tired and awful I feel from the lack of sleep, I will still be sorry to see the Olympics finish up. All of the countries may not get along very well, but you can see that "the everyday person" like you or I, is not necessarily what their "leaders" are. It's just nice to see everyone there for a sport and not to hate each other. Maybe that's why I enjoy it so much.. I dunno.

Oh well.. Only a few more days and it will all be gone. Then we get to wait two years for the Summer Olympics. At least those are in the summer during "reruns"!!

Commenting on Comments..

Another day without snow... ask me if I'm unhappy about that... ummm, NO!
I think I need to do a little commenting on comments, concerning some posts I've made.
Dorn ( http://journals.aol.com/dornbrau/DUSTBUNNYCLUBOFNORTHAMERICA) was kind enough to mention that "i cleaned up nicely" in the below post. Well, duh.. Dorn.. really?!.. That was FIFTEEN years ago! I was but a child of 47!! haha.. I will admit DeForest didn't know how right on he was about not recognizing me though. I rarely if ever put on a skirt or dress, I like pants better.. more freedom and less concerns if the wind is blowing or not..heh. Marilyn Monroe may have looked great with her dress blowing above her head.. that does not mean I do!

On my blogspot journal (duplicate of the aol journal) Carly (http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/) told me that if she gets to California she will go see DeForest's star and leave a flower for me... wow! How cool is that!! I only hope the star is in good condition yet.. for a long time after De got his star myself and another gal became "star polishers" and every Sunday we went to Hollywood and cleaned and buffed his star so it was the brightest star on the street!! It may sound corny to do that but, I think the only person prouder then I was for De was Carolyn, his wife!

Also on blogspot Astaryth (http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/) mentions that when she saw John's "star" theme she figured she'd see this one of DeForest's.. hmmmm, I can't imagine how she got that idea.

Meanwhile robinngabster (http://journals.aol.com/robinngabster/Thesearethedaysofourlives/) asked how i got to be friends with him (De)? Well, basically I mentioned some of it (I think) in older posts that I met DeForest and Carolyn on a Star Trek Cruise, that went from Miami to Nassau to an out island and back again. A friend of mine, was De's "body guard" and introduced me to them with a visit to their state room, where i was asked to do the Lilly Tomlin impersonation. From there I also had quality time with them on the out-island spending nearly the entire day with them. That led to letters, which led to phone calls which led to dinners at other conventions etc, etc.. I guess I knew I was a "friend" rather then a fan when they flew me to a convention of De's that i couldn't afford to go to. He was being given an honor and they didn't want me to miss it. We just grew closer as time went by.

I thought since I was mentioning all of this i would post a few photo's of De and Carolyn. The first is one I took on that very first meeting on the cruise. The second was taken by a photographer I know, who was and still is the official photographer for Tippi Hedren and her Shambala Preserve, Bill Dow. And the third photo is just one that I took.. but I think it is one of my all time favorites of De, with the scruffies. He was in the midst of filming Star Trek 6 when we had a picnic and I took the photo.


I may have started out as "just a fan" but it grew to oh so much more. Besides all the laughter and fun we had they showed me something I had grown to think was impossible. I was recently divorced and was probably on the edges of thinking thatthere was no such thing as a lifetime commitment, and that true love for someone was, in reality just a Cinderella Fairytale and nothing more. I can tell you with much certainty that there IS true love, and that it CAN last a lifetime. I know it to be true because I saw it first hand when I got to be friends with the Kelley's.

De used to say often that "he made the living and she made the living worth while".. it wasn't just any quote to him.. it was real. He lived for nothing more then to make Carolyn happy and to love her, and she lived for nothing more then to make him happy and to love him back. These people still held hands! You could see the love every time they looked at each other. I was incredibly lucky to have witnessed this, for otherwise I would still never believe it.

So.. before I ramble on until this post is longer then even I would want to read.. I just want to thank those that read my journal for putting up with any and all of the "De and me" stuff lol... I guess I need to relive it, because I miss them so. And because it was the only time in my life I didn't feel totally unworthy.. they did that to me, so I never want to forget the time I had with them.

I hope everyone has some memories that make them feel good inside when they come to mind. Don't ever forget them.. don't ever let that feeling go away.

Monday Photo Shoot..on tuesday

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Seeing Stars

Your Monday Photos Shoot: Take a picture (or find a picture) of something with stars -- the "twinkle, twinkle" kind, not the "famous people" kind. However, they don't have to be real stars: Fake stars -- like the ones on Christmas trees, on neon signs or on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are just fine, too.

Gee.. anyone want to guess what sort of star I will post? I'm sure if you read my journal at all you will have guessed "the walk of fame star". Of course there are many of them but (of course) I will just post one.. DeForest Kelley's.

Ok, that's my photo for John's photo shoot..........

But, since I was planning one day to post photo's of DeForest's Star Ceremony, I thought I may as well do it now, since the photo shoot is about stars.. you will see parts of the walk of fame and DeForest holding his "star", and Carolyn (his wife) Kissing "the star" !

On December 19, 1991 DeForest Kelley received his much deserved Star on the Walk of Fame. At 7021 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, in front of the Hollywood Galaxy. (now tell me "where" it was wasn't thought out!)

Johnny Grant presented DeForest, as he rode an escalator down from The Galaxy. Among the many to speak to and about De were his fellow Star Trek actors. Leonard, George, Nichelle, Walter and Grace Lee, were there to tell the world that no one deserved a Star more then De did.

And they were right! No one did deserve it more!

In the audience watching De get his Star were many fans, and many friends. Sue (De's Fan Club Prez) and Annie (all the way from Texas) were there ...

And you can bet I was!! Me and my trusty camera snapping away!..

It was sorta funny.. De had never seen me "dressed up" and walked right past me before he realized it was me and backtracked and pointed at me saying "There you are!".. well duh.. He was kind and said it was the clothes, I knew better... he just didn't see me cause the camera was in my face the whole time!

After the ceremony was over we were off to Paramount for a luncheon party given for De. At least there he noticed me and tried to make amends by planting a kiss on my hand like the knight in shinning armor he was.

I hold the Kelley's deep in my heart.. and I will never forget the day De became a Star on the Walk of Fame.

Patrick's Sunday Seven-Episode 25

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: List up to seven Saturday or Sunday morning programs you loved as a kid, cartoon or live action.

If you want to play here is the address: http://patricksweekender.blogspot.com/

Below are seven shows I remember watching as a kid (before teenage even!) Gosh, hard to believe there even WAS television that long ago!!


Rocky and Bullwinkle .....










Quick Draw McGraw......












Kukla, Fran and Ollie......








Howdy Doody.............









Huckleberry Hound...







Beany & Cecil..








Underdog.......

Wish in one hand..

Sometimes I wonder.. why do we wish for things that we know we can't have?

When I was young and would say the words "I wish..." for this or that, my ever so wise Nana would come out with her famous saying: Wish in one hand and "chit" in the other and see which gets filled first. Heh, that was Nana's way of saying that you were wishing for foolishness. But that's expected from children isn't it? To wish for foolish things?

Wishing sure changes when you get old. No longer is it for a new toy or an expensive pair of jeans with a designer label.. Now, thoughts go towards wishing you didn't live in pain all the time, or for over all better health, or even that you could be assured a longer amount of time before you die.

But every now and then a wish... or maybe it's just a silly thought, floats up into your mind. Rarely, have I ever Wished to be Young again.. (well.. maybe a little.. like to be able to be in my 40's again lol.. but never YOUNG!)

I've wished to get rid of pain and wrinkles and look and feel better.. You know, attractive enough that maybe George Lucas, or Harrison Ford would at least notice you! hahahaha... But at least that's a reasonable wish. I'm not asking to be gorgeous or to be anything but what I am, just look and feel a tad better.

Then.. that silly thought floats back.. I'll be danged if I ever wanted to be young again.. but then there IS this very young skater that would certainly have me drooling if I were!

Yeah.. Apolo Anton Ohno... is he gorgeous or what?!! Now there is someone who makes me wish I was 20 again!! Gads! Where was Apolo when I WAS 20?!

I think I fell for Apolo the first time I saw him at the Olympics four years ago. I had never seen or heard of Short Track before, and doubted it would interest me.. until this fine looking young man skated on to the track! Just look at that face and tell me he isn't the cutest thing to come along in a long time! haha..

Oh well.. I sure know what Nana would say if she were here now! .... yeah, yeah Nana, I know! I know!

Last night I watched as Apolo managed to win his way in the heats to be in the finals. I sure don't know if he will win gold or not, but if he doesn't it won't be from not giving it everything he has.

If you didn't watch and hear stories about him on the Olympic channel, let me tell you.. I was SHOCKED. Shocked, and afraid for him. It seems since his win in short track 4 years ago the South Koreans have built a very large hatred for him.. so much so that at some meets Apolo has had to have body guards, because of death threats.

Ummm, what is wrong with that picture? Death threats? For winning a sport event? Doesn't it make you wonder what someone would do to you that actually did harm to you ?? Somehow, the word SPORTMANSHIP seems to have escaped their minds.

The kicker to that story is that Apolo won that gold because of a disqualification.. ummm, the last I heard Apolo wasn't one of the judges that made that decision, so again I wonder why he is hated so? I find now that I know about the threats, I am watching the people in the stands as much as I trying to watch Apolo when he races. It has to weigh heavy on him that any person sitting there watching could be wishing harm on him .. and worse, have intentions on doing something about it.

Sigh, so.. I will watch tonight to see if Apolo wins the gold. I will pray that there is no one at the Olympics that wishes him harm, and I will hope he wins the gold (or any medal) but if he doesn't.. well.. he's still so dang cute, who cares?! !!

One Week into the Olympics..

Whenever the Olympics are on I am glued to the television.. I'm not a sportsminded person but there's something that just draws me into the Olympics, be it Winter or Summer.

SometimesI wonder about the newscasters, sigh. Why do they harp on the bad and barely mention the good?

Poor Lindsay Jacobellis of the womens snowboarding team...
Did she or didn't she hot-dog?Lindsey Jacobellis, leading near the finish line, got up to take second in snowboardcross after a tumble.

The kid made a mistake and the one feeling the most pain is Lindsay herself so why not be nice and downplay it instead of harping on it? The poor kid got caught up in a moment of excitement and did something she would probably never do.. but she did. I hope the media finally drops it so she can at least feel good that SHE DID MEDAL!


Then there's Emily Hughes..

Talk about pressure: Seventeen-year-old Emily Hughes jumps on a plane to fly to Italy to take Michelle Kwan's spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Between the fact her sister won at the Olympics and Michelle Kwan decided it was best if she didn't compete, they pounce on the kid. Obviously, she's a good skater or she wouldn't be where she is.. but secretly, I still wish we could see Kwan one last time.



The last one to hit the news in a big way is Belbin and Agosto who are sixth, at the moment. I don't remember seeing what they all did last night, the same Waltz.. I know I wear glasses but.. lol.. they all looked pretty much the same to me! I'm not sure what that was supposed to prove?? (yep, I am more then sure that i don't like the new scoring system)

Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were sixth, but a slim margin separates the top group of skaters. Belbin and Agosto are just 1.42 points out of first place, which means the USA still has a serious shot at its first Olympic medal in ice dancing in three decades.

I grew up in a small country town (wish i still lived there!). In the winter, the fact that there was still land without buildings on it, made it so that any standing water that froze became a place for kids to meet and ice skate.

I wasn't very good .. if someone could earn medals for nearly skating on your ankles I'd have "gold" for sure hahaha.

I wonder if there are still ponds that draw kids to them in the winter to skate and have fun? Anymore, there isn't open property around here and the sight of kids skating is something you don't see unless you pay money to go to an ice skating rink. Whatever happened to "free fun"?

Wow

OMG! Can you believe it? Dorn, who has two great journals of her own ( http://journals.aol.com/dornbrau/DUSTBUNNYCLUBOFNORTHAMERICA and http://journals.aol.com/dornbrau/ThroughtheEyesoftheBeholder/ ) has picked ME as one of her Guest Editor Picks!

For sure she is a sick woman..heh. I'm nobody special, and never have been. So what she see's in some old ladies journal is beyond me!.. but hey, I guess we all take FAME where we can get it !!

I do enjoy my journal.. it's a hodge-podge at the very least. Sometimes I'm in a meloncholy mood and post things from when I was young. Other times I am ranting, and still other times I talk of some good times. I'm just glad I had some to remember.. when I'm not suffering from CRS, I even make my own attempts at writing my Fantasy-Fiction story. That allows me to escape my everyday life and be in a place I'd really like to be.

Over my long life, I've dabbled in sketching some, and love playing in paint programs.. but it's all "hit and miss"..but hey, it may be the long way but eventually I get there.

I've been a wife, a mother, a homemaker. I've had some people enter my life that I never expected, and am happy we somehow found each other. Most of the time though i have alot of depression and stress, though I try to keep that out of my journal, trying to keep it a place I want to return to again and again.

Although Dorn chose me as one of her picks.. it's HER journal you must read!! Now that lady can make even ME laugh!! I'm glad she got to be Guest Editor.. she deserves it. (and i'm betting she didn't have to beg for the job!)

Sketch... plus

I had some time to do nothing today when an electrician was at the house. I didn't want to get involved in anything I had to leave at any given moment .. so i played in PSP and Photo Impact...

First i will show you the one and only sketch I made of DeForest as Dr. McCoy.. (just a pencil sketch) But gads I can't believe how putting them on the web changes it.. i see all the light sketchmarks when in the paint program and when I bring it here those lines are "smudged".. really odd.. it does that to photo's also, if anyone knows why I would like to know.

Then I took the sketch and played with it in the paint programs.. I guess I wasn't really being very creative.. i kept getting interrupted lol.. ah well.. it passed the time away.

Another day..

Today is Thursday.. only four days after 24 inches of snow fell in New Jersey. You wouldn't believe what it looks like outside.. the snow is disappearing so fast it's hard to believe it even happened! I can't ever remember a blizzard that disappeared so fast. Tomorrow we are to have 50 degrees, and the day after rain.. it will all be gone!

I'm not complaining!! Nooooooo no, no, no...! This winter has been so unusual, I've had no real complaints! We've had it very mild and when it does snow it's gone fast. Sure can't ask for anything better. Ok, well I could ask to live in Florida or some other warm state, but as winters go, this one (so far) has been the best I've ever been through.

I am changing the subject here... has anyone besides myself been reading Michael Weis's blog about the Olympics? (here's the address: http://journals.aol.com/beedaber/MichaelWeiss-TurinOlympics/ ) You may or may not know that Michael barely missed out on going to the Olypics. Evan Lysacek, Matt Savoie, and Johnny Weir were the lucky ones in the Mens Figure Skating that made it instead. Michael is another of the top skaters, and I think doing this blog is a really nice thing to do considering he must be hurting that he didn't make it there himself. You may want to check out his daily blog if you miss any of the skating.

One thing that bothered me when reading his blog. One of the people commenting. There's always someone ready to jump in and put a damper on things. This one person made me feel pretty bad about myself.. not that I don't feel that way already, but I sure don't need reminders.
They talked about Michelle Kwan as a "has been" and "should not have even gone to the Olympics".. I think they said something like, "step aside and let the younger skaters take over." My mind cried at that moment, because that person, and many like them feel the same way about "old people". "Why don't they die and leave things to the young folks". Humph... don't these people realize that one day THEY will be that old person?? What is it with much of the young generation that makes them not want the elders of their family with them for as long as possible??

I loved my Nana. We had no choice but to put her in a nursing home when she broke her hip. But we never...NEVER, missed a weekend going to visit her. Letting her know we loved her, and wished she was with us. I can even remember making friends with another older lady there.. I was only about 9, when she taught me how to play the "string game". That's where you make these strange string things with your fingers and the next person has to take it off in such a way as to make yet another design with it. (wanted to show it but found i couldnt take a photo while both hands held string lol.. so i did a quick sketch ..)


The USA certainly does not treat their elders as some countries do, where their elders are taken care of (total medical) and looked up to as people with the knowledge of having lived a long life. (kids actually WANT their parents with them!) I wonder why we mean so little here in the land of opportunity? Maybe "opportunity" gets in the way of family life as it used to be? I don't know the answers.. i wish i did.

Anyway.. got way off the subject there.. I hope others are enjoying the Olympics as much as I am!! It looks like we are winning a good share of those medals! Watch them while you can... it will be over before we know it and then it's 2 more years until the Summer ones begin.

Round Robin..

The Round Robin (http://roundrobinphoto.blogspot.com/) for today is to show photo's of how ever you choose to have fun.

For this I decided to dig up an old memory.. one from October 1990 to be precise. It took place at yet another Star Trek Convention hosted by a dear friend named Sandy Zier.(at least at that time I THOUGHT she was a dear friend!) The guest of honor, was of course DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy).

On Mondays post I tried to prepair you for what was to happen to me and another gal just because we were always so thoughtful and so nice and so reverent (or is the irreverent?) to our club President named Sue.

For MONTHS leading up to this convention (she knew how to really make this Gotcha last a long.. long..long time!) Sue would keep talking about a surprise in store for me and the other gal I roomed with.(Utoh, a surprise?).. "IT" was to be a secret until Sue saw fit to let us know what "IT" was.

When I arrived at the hotel and met with the gal I was sharing the room with ,we were told that "the room wasn't vacant yet". Ok, so we waited. Little did we know that the hotel folks were in on "IT" and just stalling us until Sue could arrive from California. (Hmmm, I wonder if they got paid to help them? hmmm?)

Anyway, when the time finally arrived Sue came with us as we were all given keys to our rooms. It wasn't really odd that she would be with us, though the thought of "IT" jumping out at us as we entered our room came to mind. heh.

When we opened the door we found our room "TRASHED"!! The floor was covered with balloons, ...streamers hung from everywhere.... and even yellow disaster/ caution tape was strung up throughout the room! (well at least the yellow tape told the truth, it WAS a disaster!) I think I let out a slow... very long.. groan as I swam my way to my bed thru the balloons to put my suitcase down.

Ok, ok.. sooo after all, I guess I deserved this.. "this is IT right?"....
WRONG!

Ahhh.. there's more?

Why, yes... yes, there is.

*groan*.. oh no.. the bathroom too?

Mmmm, maybe..

*sigh* so we enter the bathroom. Low and behold, there "IT" was! In our bathtub! FILLED WITH SHAVING CREAM!... and... and.. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, "BONES"!!! How thoughtful! heh..

We laughed so hard we were crying.. or at least I was. (that is his knee sticking up isn't it??) It's funny how things start to snowball.. and this was one thing that snowballed big time! Before I knew it I was leaning over giving "our dear BONES" a kiss! From that time on Sue and Bones became "fair game"!

Could we just say ok.. you got us? nooooooooooo.

Could we just sit back and take it? Nooooooooooooooooooooo

So the next thing we did.. (once Sue and the others left us to our very trashed room!) was to give BONES a clean off and start taking pictures so that everyone would know. .. just how much we APPRECIATED the gifts we were given!

Soooooooo, we loaned BONES our bed. (it seems he wasn't very tired!)

He of course needed the potty after all the wine! (wine went right thru him)

And of course.. we danced. (he was light on his feet)

There wasn't much we didn't do with BONES.

When it was all over, poor BONES was all tired out from one l-o-o-o-ong party.

Here are some of the pictures that were taken when Sue decided to LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL ... and roll they did! Thanks Sue for many fantastic memories I will never forget.


It just goes to prove................

When all was said and done and DeForest was on stage.. I dragged out my camera with the 300 zoom lens and did what I always did.. took MORE photo's of DeForest!

I hope you all have had many GOOD TIMES !!

February 14, 2006

(ummm, that would be: Happy Valentine's Day.. heh)

Ready, Set.. Gotcha!

I am going to take today to prepare for Wednesday's post. Why? Well, Wednesdays post will be "Let the Good Times Roll" hosted by the Round Robin. (http://roundrobinphoto.blogspot.com/)

The idea is to post some photo's of "a good time". Easy enough eh? And I have a number of photo's from "a good time" to post that day.

The photo's will be from a GOTCHA, when two friends of mine, Sue Keenan (then president of the DeForest Kelley Fan Club) and Sandy Zier, (then Vice President of the club) Planned and pursued the idea of "getting even" with me and another gal.

The question is: WHY would two such nice people want to do "harm" to me??? I can't think of one reason!

Unless... unless, it may be because when we all attended the Star Trek Conventions (to follow DeForest and watch the other fans drool over him) we had a bit too much time on our hands when we weren't either with De, or watching him on stage.

Too much time? Ummm.. Yeah those things happen at conventions. After all, the guest only is on stage for an hour each day, and there's just so many times you can walk around in the dealer's room looking and watching what prizes everyone is purchasing.

So.. the rest of the time, you are kinda "on your own". Hmmmmmm. What shall we do... What SHALL we do?

Funny, but somehow joking around and pranks jumped into my mind. heh. So, possibly.. just possibly mind you, Sue had a teeny tiny reason for the "GOTCHA" that you will see on Wednesday.

Though, still... we didn't do all THAT MUCH to her!

There was the time though.. (and i wish I had photos here) that we watered down her bottle of wine that she would have in her room for when we all got together... umm, and we did sorta, kinda fill her bathroom with balloons up to the top of the sink so she couldn't even see her toilet. Oh.. and we did leave typed notes on the toilet paper when she finally managed to get there.. heh.

That was one of the better ones we did, if I remember right.. we also short sheeted her bed that time. There was a bit of a flashback for us as we sat in our room waiting for the inevitable phone call to our room when she finally hit the bed and found it short sheeted. As we awaited we remembered something that sent us into hysterics.

Let me tell you, that whenever we wished to "get Sue" we'd go right to the hotel folks and get permission AND entrance into her room to do the dirty deeds. Well this one particular time, they let us in and we did all the balloons and wine and short sheeting and went to hide! heh.. then we got a call from one of the hotel workers saying they had to change Sue's room. Gulp.. we need help! They helped! hahahaha! We gathered up the balloons and we all kicked them down the hall to the new room that would be Sue's. Got the watered down wine, and the typed toilet paper and set it up a second time. It wasn't until "bed time" that we looked at each other and realized that we hadn't UNDONE the short sheeted bed in the original room!! Ummm, so besides Sue, some unfortunate person got a short-sheeted bed, heh.

Then there was a different time I made a cardboard podium and cut out a life sized poster of DR MCCOY and put him behind the podium. I then made signs to hang on the podium and we set that up in Sue's bathroom. (photo's below) You never heard such a scream or shocked noise as when Sue needed the bathroom...heh. The first sign we had on it was "Are you ready for your Exam Sue?"... She came from the bathroom laughing and shaking her head. Innocently I asked, "Something wrong Sue?" Giggling, I think she uttered something like, "I've got to stay away from the wine, I could swear McCoy is in my bathroom". hehehe.. We then brought it out into her room and each time she left the room we'd sneak back and change the sign, so she never knew what it would say next.

Oh yea, then there was the time (..are you beginning to get the picture why she wanted to get even?)... when we made her and DeForest authentic plaques. I thought it was rather nice of us to honor them both with a plaque of love and admiration, don't you?

Ok.. so.. it was more like our way of "apologizing for our behavior at conventions"..yeah right lol..
These plaques consisted of a rather "nice sized" Elephant dung. Ummm, yes, you read right.. Elephant dung! (Which was confiscated from Shambala Preserve). Now, you may not know this but Elephant Dung consists of 99% hay. And like "meadow muffins" when dried they are light as a feather. So we managed to get two PERFECTLY ROUND ELEPHANT DUNGS, dried them out, sprayed with bug spray (just to be sure) and then sprayed with lacquer (wouldn't want them to actually SMELL!).. They were attached to a plaque board and then we purchased a piece of bronze on which we had written "thanks for putting up with all our "shit".. heh.. Appropriate??!! You betcha!!On top of the dung we put two little lady bugs talking to each other.. (see photo below)..

Sue just couldn't begin to express her gratitude ..but there was alot of head shaking again.. she did that alot around me, I wonder why?On the other hand DeForest made "no bones about it" and told the whole convention audience of the plaque we had bestowed upon him!!

There were other things too.. like the time during one of her Fan Club Parties, another gal and myself brought along a Karaoke machine.. We took over her Party singing parody songs about her and Sandy.. voting them for Pres and Vice Pres (tune of zip a de doo dah)

We even made a song about DeForest for all of the club to sing. When DeForest and Carolyn showed up the club members sang it to him (to the tune of hello dolly).. He and Carolyn were nearly brought to tears hearing his fans singing to him.

So, now maybe you have a good idea of what "really" goes on at those Star Trek Conventions..hehehe.. and why Sue did what you will see she did on Wednesdays post.. Boy.. the Good Times sure did roll back then... memories that I'll never forget.... ummm, and neither will Sue!