Ghost of Halloween Past

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!!

In continuation of my theme of the week here is a scary ghost circa 1994. Isn't she pretty scary for a 5 year old? When she was out walking in the dark she was pretty creepy. As you can see she took her costuming pretty seriously and completely dropped the cute, bright, sunny look.

I will be back tonight to report on the British Invasion of Maine.

Have fun everybody!

Where Am I?

Yes, that is Bono of U2 at Red Rocks in Colorado on June 5, 1983. Twenty-five years ago. I was there and I am in this photo, it was a little more than a week before my 17th birthday. Somehow 25 years went by and I am NOT a teenager anymore! Here is another post down memory lane and I am not sure why, a friend mentioned U2 in a blog post and it brought this to mind and so here it is. My real claim to fame regarding U2 is that the year before I saw them and was pulled up onstage by Bono and we danced. He led me to the edge of the stage and looked me in the eye and said "Thank You" and kissed my hand. I said "Thank You." and gave him a kiss on the lips. There you have it.

22 Years Ago Today...

It was a Monday just like today. I was up all night and at 4:07 AM, with much effort, my oldest child was born. Twenty-two years have passed, it amazes me that it was actually that long ago. So much has happened in both our lives, it still is a challenge for me to wrap my brain around it! That is including the things I remember as well as the things I don't, the things I don't remember are an unknown quantity but I suspect it is more than I do remember. I may have lost a large portion of my brain when I started having children, at least I think that is when it happened. I actually don't remember.

I do know that when we were recently in California, Uncle Paddy discovered my first gray hair, he pulled it right out of my head and gave it to me. Thanks! I also know that our nephew showed us a copy of a home movie of a Halloween party that was at our apartment, we were in the video, and I have NO recollection of it. None at all. It kinda freaked me out a little. It was filmed exactly 20 years ago and I was in early pregnancy( it must be the children's fault) at the time. It looked like a great party. But I couldn't tell you for sure because I don't remember it!

As always time marches onward as it should and today is a day I do remember very well. It was a very good day. It will be marked with Carrot Cake, a tradition I started on his first birthday and one he requested (when asked) for this birthday. Of my 3 children he is the one whose favorite cake is not dirt cake, or vanilla cake but my personal favorite carrot cake. Our special family recipe. I must get to work...

Guardian of The Video Shop

This lady has stationed herself at the door outside of my store. She has been there for months. I thought she would be gone when we arrived back from our 9 day trip. There she was, still standing guard keeping all the bad guys out of my store.

I have been recently toying with the idea of changing the name of my store. I have never been satisfied with it. Oh, it is basic and it serves the purpose and so there it is. I am always on the lookout for new inspiration.

How about Praying Mantis Video? Rent a movie and then we will bite your head off...maybe not.

Any ideas?

Contrast

This is a beauty I have been watching all week. I can see it from my store. The COLORS blow my mind at this time of year. It is so very different from what I was looking at a short week ago...

Last week I was here, in the Redwood forest outside of Santa Cruz, it is hard to tell from the photo how big that tree in the middle actually is. It was huge. This forest was so cool, it felt good to be walking in it. In fact it felt so good my 1 year old nephew who recently learned to walk took off! He walked for about a half a mile, it was amazing he loved it! Here we are back in Maine. Do you see the hard frost in the field thru my trees? It was 26 degrees at 8 AM yesterday morning. It felt COLD.
I had to remind myself that this is the time of year to get outside and enjoy the weather. Embrace it. That is how I get thru the long, dark, cold winter.

My instinct is to curl up under a blanket and read, knit , or watch TV and comment about how cold it is. It can be hard to go against my instinct.

Fox

I thought I would start with The Planet of the Apes. I mean how cool is that?

So today I am back tracking a bit. The cruise I went on last week was actually a convention for independent video store owners (yes, there are still many of us out there!). Despite everybody saying I have been on vacation, I was actually working much of the time. Not that I didn't have fun-I did. I would not have been on this trip if it weren't for work. Ahem.

Friday, after getting off the ship we were invited to take a tour of Fox Studios. They do not give public tours and it is not a theme park. It is a working lot. There was a lot to see. These two photos are from the wardrobe department and just a small drop in the bucket of what was there.

This block of buildings is in many TV shows and movies, it looks just like New York until you look down and see the palm trees at the end. The diner on the right is from the show Bones.

As is this smashed car. When we first arrived they were hauling this thing out of one of the sets. Which was one of the places I wanted to see most but we were not allowed into any of those and we not even allowed to take pictures from the street. There was actually a lot of stuff we weren't allowed to photogragh.

Still cool though.

There is a Simpsons mural on the building in the front. The tallest building in the back is were they filmed the first Die Hard movie. Currently, it houses any Fox offices.

The coolest thing we got to see was a sound cutting studio where they were working on adding music to the upcoming remake of The Day theEarth Stood Still. We had to quietly file through with no photos, no talking, no pictures. There were all these big screens and the music playing and I would have loved to stay and watch for much longer. The building it was in had previously been the Bat Cave for the Batman & Robin TV series back in the day.

Oh, and we saw Seth Green.

Santa Cruz Swap Meet / Beach

Oh, this was so amazing! This is a Flea Market and this was a small bit of what food was available. It was all so beautiful I wished I could pack it in my bag and take it home.
I somehow missed getting shots of the fruit. We did eat some strawberries. They cost $1. Yes $1 and they were delicious. I eat a lot of fresh berries here and these tasted so different than the ones from Maine. I bought a pomegranate for 50 cents, but I never got to eat I don't know where I put it.
This speaks for itself. I found this display interesting. It is good to have balance.

Ahhh...the beach. What beauty. It was a perfect day and we just stopped by for a little while, it was amazing to me that there were so few people on the beach it was Saturday afternoon and a glorious day.

So, I digressed from the Fox Studio tour that we went on Friday. Anybody who knows me knows I can jump from one thing to the next so there it is, I will go back to it.

California Trip

I am now in Santa Cruz. It is real nice here and it feels so good to relax and enjoy. I had A very busy week. The Cruise was so many things-busy, fun, productive, bizarre, enlightening and a real trip. I worked A lot and I got sick which was super frustrating but I pushed myself and worked through it, only napping the one time.

We got off the boat to go to Catalina Island which is pretty but very brown and dry. Everyone there uses golf carts instead of cars and to be honest I was surprised at this stop there was not much to it. I was feeling pretty crappy though and I went back to the boat after an hour and a half. I may have misjudged this island. It was however, better than the next stop.

Ensenada, Mexico is a big city with some very poor people living there and they and their small children beg in the streets. We bought some candy and a necklace from some of them. The kids looked up and gave me the biggest smile when I paid too much for their Chiclets. We saw many more women sitting in the streets with their babies and small children, it was quite sad. Uncle Paddy gave some of them money. We found an incredible restaurant and I pigged out on fish tacos, I ate until I was going to burst they were so good. We bought few t-shirts and a blanket and headed back for the boat. On the way back I read A sign telling us to not give money to the begging women and children in the streets because they were being exploited by a men who would take their money at the end of the day. It was thoroughly depressing, Uncle Paddy was a bit dejected after reading this bit of info.

The next day was spent at sea, this was a work day spent mostly in conferences. I really learned a lot and my brain was full at the end of this day. We stopped at 4pm. We had a cocktail party at 4:30pm and then the last work meeting which was basically a announcement of who won the marketing contest. My team! They also had a raffle for a PS3 player and one of my fabulous new friends from England won that and then realized that she couldn't use it over there and she gave it to me! Thanks Moira!

We were all feeling fine and had some fun that night. I must say that I really liked the new friends I made. It is amazing how you can connect with some people even though you hardly know them( you know who you are!).

The next day it was on to the Fox Studio tour...

Early Sunday

I looked out the window this morning and saw the fog and the sun. I knew I had to go out and take some pictures. These are some of them, the light is so incredible in the fall. It was cold out too, although I didn't notice until I was coming in and my hands were freezing so I looked at the thermometer and it was 35 degrees. Brrrr.

I am leaving for a trip in the wee hours tomorrow morning. I'll be gone for 9 days and if I get the chance for it I will post during my trip.

Stay Tuned...

My Knitting Bag & I go to Knittting Group

I went back to my knitting group last night and it was so familiar and comfortable despite the fact that I have not been since June (gasp). I truly love all those ladies and it was great to see them and most of all laugh with them. Politics of course came up (it was the night of the vice presidential debate after all) and fortunately we were all of like mind!!! A couple of minutes after I got there I received a phone call from my sister telling me that my Mom was headed for the emergency room because of a bacterial blood infection. Can you say stress and worry? Among the knitting group ladies there is a former nurse and an almost nurse who both talked to me. I was in the right place because I was able to relax and put aside my worries until a had some more information. When I went home and googled it I was not so reassured. I am now waiting for it to be late enough to call Colorado. Whew.



So any way I am working on a Uncle Paddy's Hat Try #2. In my bag you can see Try #1 which ended up my hat for well shall we say personal reasons, which you can read about here http://auntkirstie.blogspot.com/2008/04/whos-hat-is-that.html .



The knitting is great and the group is as well. My bag and I will go back happily many times this fall.

I will need some support and encouragement as I attempt to get back to this project.

I started it 2.5 years ago and I finished the first and biggest piece. I continued on until I made a mistake and got frustrated and set it aside. I am now finally feeling the urge to work on it again. I love the idea but I also know that is much more of a commitment that knitting a hat. I think I can handle it.

The Anti-Mayonnaise Movement

Support this worthwhile cause? The Anti-Mayonnaise Movement? Okay, so I have a funny kid. I mean really funny and creative. I never know what he is going to say or do or draw next. His mind is so different from mine, he just does what he does and he doesn't care what anybody thinks, he just cares what he thinks. Amazing really. That is something I am learning how to do now, at age 42. I hope he can keep his sense of self intact in the coming years and into adulthood. If you want to see a bit of his work Check him out here: http://drinkblot.blogspot.com/ .

Oh and did I mention the flips? This kid flips morning, noon and night. This kid flips inside our house, out in the yard, on a walk, in stores, at parties, at offices, and everywhere. This morning I was wondering at 7AM if he was up yet...I heard him flipping down the hall into the bathroom and I knew he was up!

Flippin' Awesome!