Monday, August 16, 2010

August Happiness Challenge 2010 -- Day 16

Sleep. My slumber had been disrupted alot lately, and I think it contributed to my catching a pesky summer cold. So I really enjoyed sleeping in yesterday at the hotel, today in my own bed, and (most delicious of all) an afternoon nap on my sofa. Tomorrow it's back to my real life and regular schedule, but today I was able to savor blissful sleep.

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #49

It's called The Watch Me Watch You Meme. So hunker down with your spyglass and bourbon, don dark sunglasses if you choose and tell us your deep dark and guarded secrets. Or not.

1. I have given you a pair of binoculars. If you could watch anyone in the world in the act of being creative or creating something, what would you choose to watch?
Sir Paul. He plays so many instruments completely by ear and composes on both guitar and piano. He has begun painting, too. So I'd just like to watch his creative process unfold, seeing which media he chooses.

2. Turn your head to the left. What do you see? Explain its significance in your life. A fan in the window. This is the first evening in freaking AGES that I haven't had the air conditioning on. I hate hot weather.

3. You are watching a parade. You see a float float by (they float, don't they?) with three of your favorite people on it. Who are they? Joe, Mika and Willie

4. What do you like to watch on television?
NCIS. I love Gibbs. He's my TV boyfriend.

5. Your blog is under surveillance by the Blogwatchers Association.
What are they watching for?
Threats against Carlos Zambrano.

6. Watch out! Your greatest superstition has befallen you. What do you "watch out" for on a daily basis? I always hold my button when I pass a cemetery.

7. Have you ever "watched" at a wake in the deceased home or funeral parlor? I don't really understand this question. I have attended visitations, if that's what you mean.

8. Name one thing you always want to be awake for. Sex.

9. What is the next opportunity you are waiting or watching for? Sex.

10. You are standing guard in Central Prison. It is your job to watch the prisoners online activities. What site would you recommend to someone in prison? Nancy Grace. She'll scare them back to the straight and narrow!

"I loved a man, truly I did ..."

From an old Barbra Streisand song. Because in my head, I sound like Babs.

I did have a great love with a good man. He was the wrong man for me, too remote, but he was smarter than I am and well read and steady as they come and very good looking. I have many happy memories. We broke up but I have never stopped loving him. I understood his short-comings, even as I was unable to deal with them, and since he wanted a family so badly, hoped he would find a woman who could deliver all I couldn't.

Which is why, when I saw his profile on a professional networking site, I was thrilled to see that he mentioned his son. I wish I had left well enough alone.

Out of boredom and curiosity, I searched around and found the woman he married. Looked her up on Facebook. So far, so good. She's hyphenated, using both her maiden name and his surname. Pretty, but not gorgeous. Tall and but not THAT thin. Works for the local Republican Party (figures, he has quite the Libertarian streak). 43, with a 9-year-old son. That checks out. Lists herself as, "In a relationship."

Maybe she just didn't scroll down far enough for "married."

I could see from her wall that posted and conversed often with an author who writes exclusively about autism. She wrote of her 9 year old's son struggle with language, using words like "desperate," "frustrated," and "frantic." She's looking for help with how to get him to use a keyboard, and was hopeful to learn that children with a condition similar to her son's respond well to using an iPad.

I am afraid of the conclusion that I am drawing ... that the child he wanted so much is autistic, and that because of his remote nature he wasn't able to be the husband his wife needs as they dealt with their son's condition and they divorced.

I don't want that to be true.

Yet, until recently, he and this woman lived in the same town (white pages listings) and they both have one child, a son.

The girl he was with before me committed suicide. Then there was our misfire of a relationship. Now this.

I don't want him, but I do love him and I hope he's happy.

And I hope I'm wrong.

Movie Monday

This week's topic is all about the films of the late John Hughes. Admit it. Once upon a time (in your life), you were bitten by the John Hughes bug. I haven't seen all of his movies, but those I saw still beat those chick flicks running around these days. Show how much you love John Hughes' movies by answering this:
John Hughes... How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
and then link back to The Bumbles.

I love John Hughes because he gave us Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And by giving us that movie, he:
1) Introduced me to one of the most fabulously cheesey songs of all time, "Danke Schoen"
2) Made parades cool again
3) Showed how funny Ben Stein could be, simply by intoning a single word ("Bueller")
4) Contributed a valuable quote to my vernacular, "He's so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond."
5) Gave us the funniest scene over the credits EVER ("You're still here? Go HOME!")


August Happiness Challenge 2010 -- Days 14 & 15

"She died laughing." Spent this weekend with my oldest friend at the annual Fest for Beatle Fans. For me, the highlights all came on Saturday. They were:

1) Listening to Klaus Voorman, artist and Beatle insider since they met in Hamburg back in 1962. You have seen Klaus' work -- he designed both the Revolver and Beatles Anthology album covers.

2) Seeing Denny Laine, Lawrence Juber and Denny Seiwell, all members of Wings.

3) Laughing. I always laugh a lot with my oldest friend. Much of it was ridiculous, silly. Since I have been battling a cold, at times it was hard for me to breathe. She assured me she would tell my mother, "She died laughing."