I think LJ is going to start becoming my update of choice again. FB is beginning to piss me off slightly. And given I'm taking e-ver-y-thing personally these days, the slightest jab is going to set me off. Which happened this morning.

I have to avoid that for a while. So I think I'll read stuff out there, and quit posting for the time being. Some people just need to learn that if you can't say something nice...

...then please shut your mouth around folks that are a bit (read: horrifically) on edge.

PONG! My Mom got my sister and I dressed as the Jolly Green Giant and the Sprout for Halloween when we were pretty little, and entered us in a costume contest (this relates...trust me). We won, and the prize was one thing from the store...*any* one thing, regardless of price. I wanted this tiny little doll, but my PARENTS wanted Pong. Being a very young child, I was easily persuaded. And the rest is history. We all loved playing with it (even my Grandma Etta would give it a whirl once in a while!)

That Pong game is actually in my attic. I don't have the hardware necessary to connect it to a tv anymore (and don't know if you could at this point...) but if I could, it'd be fun to fire that thing up.

My first instict was "NO!", but then I thought a bit. What if the vicim was killed in their dream home? And the spirit is just someone who never wants to leave what they truly loved? Why wouldn't you want to share a home with them?

I've always been very convinced that a ghost lives in our house. Named him Louis many years ago. Everyone in the house knows he's there, and has talked to him at least once. He doesn't harm anyone...just likes to follow us up the stairs once in a while. Especially when you're going up the stairs w/the lights off. :-) Never felt his presence upstairs...he just hangs out downstairs.

Besides...it's not like the murderer is haunting you. If you truly believe in spirits, then you'll truly believe there are ways to help them get to where they're going (hopefully Heaven). Spirits are nothing more than the deceased w/unfinished business, right? They can't hurt you. They're just confused...and need help to get home.

Meh. Gametime is bathroom break time for me. It's all about the ads, folks. Oh...and did you know DURAN DURAN will be playing the halftime show! HUZZAH! Who the hell needs football when you've got million dollar ads, and DD?? Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :-)

Ovarian Cancer Ribbon Graphics & Ovarian Cancer Pictures

Without question...Grandma Etta. She was the most artistic person I've ever met...but never used her talents for any sort of work purpose. Just for a hobby. She could paint, draw, sculpt...you name it. I had a few of her pieces professionally framed. I attribute all artistic talent I have exclusively to her. Her birthday's actually coming up on the 14th. Had God not requested her, she'd be 91 this year. Which is VERY doable. But oh well. Maybe I'll do something creative to celebrate the day.

In just 10 minutes, the most famous burger joint of my little hometown of Cloquet (Gordy's Hi-Hat) will be highlighted on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. For years I'd thought about writing in about them, but never did. Apparently...LOTS of folks had the same idea. And tonight they shine!! If you have nothing else to do at 9:00, tune in! I can't wait to see it.

Yay!

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20091203/US.Flag.Flap/

You canNOT be serious. This just sickens me.

No. Way.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/entertainment-movies/20090806/US.Obit.Hughes/

John, you *made* my Movie Weekend. The 80s would not have been the same without you. You helped us all understand that the angst we felt was not exclusive only to ourselves. And your movie legacy will live on.

Sad.

Have you ever noticed that when something unbelievable happens, something you never ever saw coming, years later even after it's not even close to current news anymore, you'll go OH MY GOD *insert unbelieveable act here*. I do it a lot (a LOT) when it comes to my marriage. Out of the blue I'll think to myself, "Oh my GOD I married Ken!" Which isn't a bad thing in the least...he's the brightest star in my sky. But yeah. Sometimes something will just hit you at the weirdest times.

It is still current news. But today it finally hit me. After I finally got a chance to return to the cashier's office this morning (training all morning) I threw in the copy of HIStory that I brought to work with me. And as I heard the first few bars of Billie Jean I nearly burst into tears. And I said to myself, "Oh my God...Michael Jackson is dead".

Michael Jackson! Dead! Gone! Whoda thunk it?! Yeah...he took weird to an entirely new level, but think about Jackson Five Michael...and Thriller Michael. It wasn't always that way. I have so, so many memories of him. I mean, obviously I had a crush on him. What girl my age didn't? But there's other stuff too:

-I had the poster with the purple background. Did you? I still have mine in my attic. Do you?
-My Gramma Mariam and Papa Henry bought me Thriller for Christmas. I cried so hard I couldn't even stand up. And I still have it.
-I was sickeningly jealous of my sister when she got a Michael Jackson picture book.
-I remember any time one of his videos would come on, my Mom and Dad would stop whatever they were doing and watch, making comments about what an incredible entertainer and dancer he was.
-I've seen the Thriller video so many times it's criminal. It scared the shit out of me, and I watched it anyway.
-At one time, I could say the entire Vincent Price "rap" from Thriller in one breath.
-I cried for days when he set his hair on fire during that Pepsi commercial shoot.
-Try as I might, I never did get the moonwalk down. And believe me, I tried.
-On my very first "date" with Ken, he was having some pictures taken at a Glamour Shots-type place, and they were playing MJ in the studio. And shortly after that, Ken bought me HIStory.

So...yeah. Hard as it is to believe, it's true. Once he started getting really strange I used to tell folks I'd just hold on to the memory of "normal" Michael (or "Black" Michael as Carrie calls him), and I guess that rings truer now than ever. I'll hold on to Thriller Michael, that Michael that made my heart skip a beat. May the King rest in peace.