if you weren't a child in the 80's, i'm sorry. it was awesome.

John and I have been talking about great TV shows from our childhood and I want to share some awesomeness. First, we have the Sesame Street crayon factory. Possibly my favorite Sesame Street segment. The visuals are awesome. The fact that it's an actual Crayola factory is awesome. But the music is just spectacular.



Awesome, yes? Okay, next, there's the nines song from "Square One." My favorite thing about "Square One" was Mathnet, but the nine song is the thing that I think was the most useful to me. It's like it's describing some sort of weird mathematical magic. To this day, when I multiply something by nine (not that it happens often, but still), I picture this cowboy.



Next on my list of 80's children's programming is the opening to "3-2-1 Contact." I remember that I loved this show, but I remember very little about the show itself. This theme song is so cool though! It has the upbeat, inspirational tone of the old EPCOT music I love so much. (If you don't remember me talking about this before, check out this post from February, when I was praying Obama would get the nomination, in which I compare his speeches to lyrics of songs from EPCOT.)



I would love to have found something from "Jellybean Junction," but I couldn't. In fact, the internets are telling me that that isn't even the show I watched, based on timeframes and stuff, but that is the show John and I both specifically remember.

Last, in a departure from the public television theme I have going here so far, is a commercial for Astronaut Barbie. Amy had this doll. And she was really one of the coolest Barbies ever. Listen close to these lyrics.



"We girls can do anything, like Barbie." Classic! Rather than shattering the glass ceiling, Sarah Palin seems to have made it so that our political discourse is now roughly on par with 80's advertising aimed at children. Bravo! I'd just like to point out that the Barbie commercial is the only thing here that I didn't remember. Hopefully, in 20 years (or less), no one will remember Palin either.

who ARE these people?

After watching last night's debate, I have only one question: Who are these undecided voters? Even though I'm an Obama girl all the way, I can understand why people would like McCain. He's got experience, he's pro-life, he says he won't raise taxes, he's super into the military, he's a POW, all of that. I can get how someone, who just happens to be fundamentally different from me on all possible idealogical viewpoints, could back McCain. And clearly I get why Obama is awesome. My problem is that these two guys are so totally different, I can't fathom how there is anyone left anywhere who hasn't made up his or her mind yet.

Yet, somehow, CNN can still manage to come up with a thirty-person panel of undecided voters...and of those 30, only 3 said they'd made up their minds by the end of last night's debate. How? What are they waiting for? What are the magic words? It doesn't appear as if they're people who just aren't up on politics and current events, but maybe that's the case. I want to know how they managed to pick out clothes to wear.

I don't want to sound mean, but I just don't get it. The clock is ticking, people. And not nearly fast enough for my taste.

she was already an orphan, hasn't she suffered enough?

Yesterday, I got a very depressing email from American Girl. Apparently, they're not going to make Samantha dolls anymore. I'm heartbroken. It's ridiculous how upset this makes me, actually.

The way they're wording it is, "After more than 20 years as a beloved historical character, this American Girl original will soon say farewell. At that time, Samantha’s collection—including Nellie and her accessories—will be placed into the American Girl Archives so that we may preserve her place in history."

The American Girl Archives? Seriously? That sounds waaay too much like the Disney Vault. (And what's with the Disney Vault, by the way? Rerelease "Beauty and the Beast" already, come on. How do they keep selling toys of characters from movies you can't currently buy? How does this new crop of kids see these movies? How does this make any sense?)

I didn't have a lot of friends as a kid. I loved dolls and reading and the idea of those two things mixing together was like heaven. I could read by myself. I could play with my fancy-pants doll by myself, too, since I'd never be willing to share her. Plus, I got Samantha at around the time my sister was growing too old to play with me. Being "into" things like American Girls dolls and my Playmobil dollhouse and wrapping string around stuff / making weird crafts was really what I perceived as being my identity, although I'm sure I didn't realize it then.

And so now, when I'm already shaken up by this economic crisis and how it's beating the crap out of my little business and others like mine, now is not the time for bad news. The books aren't going out of print, but it's just not the same. I never even wanted my car as badly as I wanted that doll. I've still never wanted anything as much as I wanted Samantha. In the months leading up to that Christmas, I think I even slept with the catalog. I know it's not like they're going to come and take mine away, but, she's an antique now. She's vintage. And I'm old.

look what john made for me!

Obama's gonna ride his hope stallion all the way to the White House, you betcha, yup, yup! And also, too, doggone it, he'll be AWESOME! (That's Palin-speak for GOBAMA!)

So, yeah, John loves me and indulges my girlie whims. He rocks.

i want a frickin camera phone.

You can keep your Straight Talk Express, my man obviously travels on these:

The blue pony clearly says Hope, but the purple one next to it that you can't really see says Dreams. I very nearly bought this. I still may. There were, like, 10 ponies in there and they each had some huge ideal tattooed on the side...I mean, the awesomeness...is just out of the park.

And I'm throwing in two more pictures that came off John's phone. Just 'cause.



From the McEwen Dairy Queen. I love it. Love. It.



This mask was only $2.97. I didn't get it, but I can't for the life of me say why. The eyebrows alone are worth $5. By the way, does anyone else notice how much Christian Bale pouts as Batman? The new James Bond is a pouter too. What's up with the pouty heroes?

what I've been reading.

Yesterday I finished reading an advance copy of a book called The Little Giant of Aberdeen County that I picked up when Mom and I were at BookExpo this summer. It comes out in January, so I've actually read it in time to contribute to the Indie Next List, which I haven't done yet. The book started out really strong. It felt whimsical and fantastical and magical and all sorts of things that end in -ical. But then it took this turn... And I can't quite explain it, but the writing style seemed to change, the plot got really weird, and suddenly I wasn't sure I liked the main character. Somehow though, I felt compelled to see it through to the end. I'm glad I did, just because it would've felt mean and wasteful not to, but I'm not sure what to think.

I've started another book that also comes in in January that's called Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I find the title trite and reminiscent of a bad 90's album title, but the story is promising, so...fingers crossed. I don't have much energy for it now though, having rushed through Little Giant without much reward.

The beginning was sooo good! I think it was almost worth reading all the way through. Maybe.

christmas ideas.

I tried working on a rather ambitious project yesterday. It's a Christmas present, so I won't go into details. I didn't get very far with it. In fact, I got just far enough to realize it's going to be harder to do than I thought. I'm going to figure it out, but I wasn't up to the task yesterday.

My goal is for all of the gifts John and I give this year to be handmade. A couple of them might be made using John's fancy-pants computer, rather than something more traditional like a sewing machine or Elmer's glue, but this is my plan and I make the rules. I've almost finished my sister's present. I know what I want to do for my mom, but I'm not sure when I'll ever be able to actually go get the stuff to make it. My dad's gift is a little up in the air still. I have no ideas yet for my brother-in-law or my father-in-law, but I've got ideas like crazy for my nephews. Some of my ideas for the boys include:
Soap with little toys suspended in it
Dress-up hats (this might be too hard for me, we'll see)
Felt puppets
Crayon rolls, like this
And I've also thought of some stuff that might be fun to do with printable magnet paper, if I can find it.

It's the beginning of October, so I'm giving myself until mid-November to start working on these things in earnest. If I'm still nowhere with the gift-making process by then, I'll break down and start shopping. We shall see...

follow-up that trails off into 80's movieland.

You may remember from a recent post I made, that I suggested Richard Dreyfuss could play McCain in a movie because he's suddenly become old and cranky/creepy looking. I didn't know then that he is in a new movie called W. about Bush that's coming out later this month...and he's playing Dick Cheney. What's funnier than that, to me anyway, is that Josh Brolin is GW. This is only funny because, no matter how much other work he does--and I've noticed him getting a little artsier lately, he will always be the big brother from Goonies to me.

Imagining Josh Brolin as president, therefore, makes me assume that asthmatic, One-Eyed-Willie-hunting Mikey must be governor of Florida in the Jeb Bush role. Which would be awesome. Plus, I'm pretty sure Mikey could find Ponce de Leon in a cave in Boca.