A Child of the 80's ...

My coming of age years were spent in the 80's. I know, everyone thinks their generation was the best, but I truly enjoyed the 80's. The music, the fashion, the teeny bopper movies, the mall, the beach, everything. It was the birth of music videos, what could be better to claim fame for?

Most of the 80's, I spent in California, and that was the place to be. I watched the fashion pretty well, I wore bandanas a million different ways, I wore saftey pins along the seams of my pants ... I was a preppy punk. I thought it was really cool.

Like I've said, I love to dance, and there was plenty to dance to in the 80's. I graduated from high school in 83 and went directly to college. It was an alright college. I'm sure there were some that loved it there, I didn't HATE it, but it wasn't where I needed to be.

It was a religious college, practicing a certain religion. (I am not going to name it, so as to not offend anyone) Our classes were scheduled around chapel, church was mandatory ... ect. Plus you had to adhere to their doctrine, no dancing. NONE. ZIP. ZERO. There were more things that we couldn't do, but that was the biggie. We had "ice cream socials" not dances. Lets all sit around and get fat, K? Instead of (OMG) dance.

In late 83 or early 84, Footloose came out. That became a movie (voice) for the ones who felt the oppresion. We sought each other out while we were there, and there were times where we would hide behind our doors and have dances in our dorm rooms. What rebels we were. I was the biggest rebel of them all in our dorm. I played AC/DC all the time, loudly. No one appreciated it. Oh well.

So ... we saw Footloose as a cult movie. We saw it probably about 30 times. I own it in DVD right now, I've had it in VHS. I've had the soundtrack on tape, now on CD ... of course its on my computer. And I'm listening to it right now as I type this. All sorts of memories are soaring back to me.

Its amazing (I'm talking about the movie now), how all the town suppressed the dancing in their little small town, and how they, at the end of the movie, were very good dancers. I have never been able to dance anything more than my own living room type dancing, no matter how much I've tried.

Soooo ... here's the tail end of the movie. What it was all about, what we did in hiding at the college I went to. I still don't understand why we couldn't dance. I'll never get that.

Tin Roof ... RUSTY !!!

I had a friend since I was in the 2nd grade, she was in the first. We were good friends for many years through out school, but circumstances beyond our control made us drift apart.

We lived on separate ends of town our entire school years and tried to get together as much as we could, which was probably about 10 times a year. But we talked on the phone sometimes every night ... for hours on end. I remember one time while talking on the phone with her, I was taking a bath. We wondered what would happen if I dunked the phone under the water. Ummmm ... let me say that its not a very good idea.

Anyway, one time, around the 9th grade, I was looking through her record albums and I noticed a lot of B52's. I had never heard of them and I thought the way they dressed was funky, so I didn't take her word for it that they were a really good band.

Many years later, I started dancing every weekend at a night club. They played a song quite a few times, and I had no clue who sang it. A few years later, I found out it was the B52's. So now, everytime I hear this song, I think of my childhood friend and wish there was some way I could find her. This song goes out to her, where ever she is ... I think of you often.

Unfortunately, the quality of this video isn't very good, same with the other ones. I'm trying to find a different source. Enjoy ...




Oh yeah ... Tin Roof Rusty is what the blonde says at the end of the song. (Pop-up videos told me that, I thought it was "I'm real rusty" ... but I was wrong)

Nations of the World

I'm not now and never have been a big fan of cartoons. Only a few have ever caught my interest. One cartoon that I absolutely LOVE ... Animaniacs. That was a hilarious cartoon. My favorite episode is when Yakko sang the Nations of the World. I know every word to the song ... its great.






Jessie ... I am working on a post to answer your questions, its nearly done. It should be up tomorrow.

WEIGHT ...

I wrote that in big letters today because it is big. Its weighing heavy on a lot of peoples minds lately. I had a comment recently that asked why I haven't talked about weight, so this blog is going to be 100% about it. No Jessie, I will not divulge what I weigh, it is hard to put it down, because it makes it more in my face. I will say I am over 200 lbs. I do not know what that is in kgs, sorry. Last time I checked, my body fat percentage was 41%. I have diabetes, tachycardia, gerd and a few other co-morbidities. (I have a few new readers, so I am doing an update for those who haven't read my entire blog)

I would like to say I eat right and exercise daily, but that would be a lie. Its hard to keep it up all the time. The weight comes off so frustratingly slow that its hard to keep it up for any length of time, then it all comes back. Can anyone say Yo-Yo.

However ... one of the blogs that I lurk at brought this same subject up so I thought I'd elaborate on the subject a bit. She was down because she felt the first sting of people noticing that she's bigger than she used to be. We've all been there, and its not a pleasant feeling. The following is an exerpt of the comment I left on her blog.

"I have found, after 13 years, that you can fight it [the weight], but at the same time, you have to accept it or you go into a depression. What they say is true, you have to like yourself for who you are. Once you do that, then others will too. Its been a long time in coming for me, but I like me. I don't like the fat, but that is what I'm wearing, its not me."

My insurance company is giving me the run around right now, and that is frustrating. I am doubting whether WLS is the right move for me or not. Maybe its nerves or maybe its not the right move. I don't know, but I think I'm okay with the insurance company being like this for now. I need to decide for myself how this is going to play out. One of my very best friends is starting the process of WLS, she has her first consult soon. Although I wanted to go through this with her together, I also want to see how hers plays out too. Okay ... I'm chicken shit, I'll admit that.

This is a HUGE deal, the WLS. They alter your stomach so it works differently, and in turn, everything else works differently too. You have no choice but to change what and how you eat, which is what I want, but it will be difficult. You have a year to make it work, during that time, you can be hit with so many complications. I live at the far side of nowhere, and emergency help for this sort of thing is hours away. I still want to go for it, however, the wind in my sails has deflated.

Maybe after my friend has gone through this, it will renew my faith in my decision to have WLS. I wish her all the luck in the world. She is going through a tough time, she needs something to go her way.

I have big plans for after the surgery. A lot of walking (or running) type of plans. I want to participate in marathons, or charity walking events. I have every intention of making it work for me, and my family.

My 15th Birthday

On my 15th birthday, my friends and I piled into my boyfriends car. It was a small car, and we were crammed in there. We were excited because we were going to the cult show of the previous decade and the decade to come. Most had seen the show 100's of times, this would be my first time, however, I knew about so much about it because everyone talked about it. We came prepared with our rice, toast, lighters and everything that you were supposed to bring. I ended up seeing this movie about 30 times that year, and I knew every word to the movie.

Anyone that is a bit older than me and a bit younger than me knows that I'm talking about the musical, "Rocky Horror Picture Show". It started out with the Lips ... (Lips, Lips, Lips), Meatloaf made an appearance ... yes, even Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry were in the movie.

I actually like two of the songs the best ... and only if I'm watching the movie along with it. Here they are: (sorry Mom, I don't think you'll want to see the first one.)








Brings back a lot of memories :-) ...

How Frightening !!!

Way back ... about a year or so before M!!tv started, there was a show that would play three music videos, then end. Then the show would start again, play three music videos, then end. It would do that for a couple hours at a time. I have no idea what the name of the show was and it only had a select few videos, probably because there just weren't many out at that time. I believe we're talking about 1979.

My friends and I would watch them and dance to the music. We did a lot of that back then, listening to music and dance. Its one of my favorite past times as a teenager, I still like to do it.

Anyways ... this particular video was one of the few that we watched on that show. It never got too popular, but I loved it and I loved the video.





The group is Split Enz. The song, I Got You (I Get Frightened). In America, they were a one hit wonder. They were from New Zealand, but made it big in Austrailia. This is the only song I like from them.

Tonights Pick ...

I love the way this song is slow in the beginning, and then it picks up in the middle. I like listening to this when I'm feeling meloncholy.

My First Love

When I was 7 years old, we moved to Seattle. We lived on Queen Anne Hill in a house that overlooked the Seattle Waterfront, the Seattle Center and Downtown Seattle. This beautiful house was built in the 1940's, had a huge bay window, it was two stories and had a basement that was creepy to a 7 year old and an attic that made strange noises at night. I loved that house.

We had just moved north from California, and I was told to expect a lot of rain. I remember the day we arrived in Seattle. It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees and I was thinking they were lying to me. Just like California, Seattle was HOT, and summer had just started.

It was a nice summer, full of fun, friends, camp and lots of activities. My adoptive mother (J) was a single, so she had to work. When school started in the fall, I remember the three of us,(J), my adoptive brother and I getting ready for our day. (J) would always put a record on and we either listened to the Carpenters or Simon and Garfunkel. There was a third one too, but for some reason, that album escapes my memory.

I learned every song by memory, and to this day, those songs have probably the most free flowing lyrics I know. From that time on, I started listening to music and expanding my horizon.

People who know me, know that music is a HUGE part of me. I used it as an escape when I was a kid, going to my room and listening to whatever was popular at the time. It was my friend, sometimes it would make me cry, but most of the time I wanted to sing and dance to it. I still see music in the same way.

When I was a teen, they used to have a magazine that had all the lyrics of popular songs. If I couldn't find the lyrics, I would listen to a song endlessly until I had the lyrics written down. I now have a computer and Windows Media Player, so writing the lyrics is much easier.

I guess you've probably realized that the title of my post, my first love, is about music. I watch at least one music video a night on my computer. YouTube has an awesome variety.

So I've come to a decision. Everytime I look up another video, I'll add it to my blog. If there is some sort of memory attached to the song, you will be forced to read my boring diatribe. (not really, but it sounded good)

There will be no particular order for any of the music I will post, it will be random. I thought about what I wanted to post as my very first one. I thought it would be fitting to post one from when I fell in love with music.

My tribute to Karen ...

PICTURES

Annie GOT her gun ... and MORE

For a couple weeks before the play, I kept thinking that everyone was going to forget their lines and it was going to be a disaster. Some never got their part down ... just one scene and it was a group working together. It didn't ruin the show though ... not in the least. The show was a HUGE success, sold out all six nights that it showed. The audience was interactive which made the show even better. I ended up being the sound tech and that was challenging to hit my mark each time, but it was fun ... and yes, I hit my mark well.

L was fantastic with everything she did with the play. She was a hit with everyone, they just loved her. She has been such a good kid lately. That scary teen has disappeared for a time and this new kid has emerged ... more on that later.

I have some pictures of her and the show, and I'll post them soon. There is this scene in the play, the ballroom. She is at the end of this line of three people. She comes out slowly, and as she came out on stage, I saw her in this ball gown. It was so beautiful on her, she had long white gloves on as well. The first time (and the next few times following) as she came out on stage, tears rolled down my face, my baby was just beautiful !!!

Between practices and the play, the last few weeks have been busy. On Friday, we drove the LOOONNNNGGGG drive to Southern Oregon to a small town a few miles north of the California border. We could almost spit in California and still be in Oregon, we were that close. That's where my birthmother lives. L and I went and got back early this morning.

The drive is enough to kill me. I live at sea level and she's at 1635 ft above, so the elevation gets to me too. It throws my whole system out of whack and I felt yucky the whole time I was there. However, I tried really hard not to let it keep me down. We went for walks, went swimming and worked out at the local Y, we went shopping a couple times ... and we went to the neighborhood skate park.

I have to say, my daughter has to be the most boy crazy child in the world. Ummmm ... young lady. She has no shame in announcing it to whoever would listen, and telling Grandma was no different. This is the first time L met her Grandma, and they just fell in love with each other. L thinks she has a very cool Grandma. I will post pics of them soon.

L was perfect the whole weekend. Not only was she helpful with EVERYTHING she was asked to do ... but there was NEVER a word of complaint, no "awwwww, do I have to?" or anything like that. She was awesome. No whining or sassiness or anything.

I am leery that my teenager will come back. In fact, its in her nature. However, she's still this nice, kind chi ... young lady, and I'll take it as I can get it. She is more mature than her 13 years. I am so proud of her.

We got back early this morning, and I had to work early this morning. I was dead tired all day at work. I came home and took a nap. I'm still trying to shake this headache-lightheadedness that I feel. I don't feel quite myself yet. I'm hoping by tomorrow or the next day I will.

Its my bedtime ... I'll come back on Saturday and load up those pics from the play. There aren't any pics OF the play, since there was no flash photography, but there are pics of players getting ready and lots of pics of L and her friends.

Take care all ...

I will try to post more often so my posts don't become books. I've heard from a few people that they are just too long. I'm sorry :-( ...