Stuff and Nonsense

So do you ever have a hard time taking yourself seriously as an adult (providing of course that you are an adult and not an eight-year old reading this blog. If you are an eight-year old or such, I hope you have permission to read this blog, as it may be too ridiculous for children). Anyways, there are moments when I do believe I am an adult, like when I deposit a paycheck, slide my debit card, boil water, or use the word "husband" in a conversation. Then there are moments (most of my moments) when I still think of myself as a youngling (Star Wars term for child). I find my imagination very active, when I'm engaging first graders in a story about a little mouse on vacation with a mini beach ball. I talk in silly voices to my husband in the privacy of the Manor. I envy babies when they're all bundled up and cozy. And I still find children's literature very amusing. In case you do take yourself too seriously as an adult, I've decided to introduce nonsensical quotes from great childish literature. I hope it tickles you with warm fuzzy feelings and helps you find your long-lost child within. (or finalizes your decision to stop reading this blog)

"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One CAN'T believe impossible things.'
'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'

--Through the Looking Glass

Snore Fest

I was at the doctors yesterday for a check-up and was watching this health show on their TV. One segment was called "Cute Things Falling Asleep". And they showed all these cute baby animals and some baby humans going about life and then suddenly literally falling over asleep! Some were really cute, like a little puppy resting his head on a coffee table, and it keeps slipping off as he dozes. Or the little chick nodding off. And some were really funny. Like this dachshund running in the yard that suddenly falls over asleep! Or this one year old baby sitting on the floor and he falls backward asleep! Apparently there's a website dedicated to this: cutethingsfallingasleep.org.

While I was laughing and cooing over these cute things and their ability to fall asleep spontaneously, I felt a little jealous too. Normally I'm a pretty good sleeper, I can fall asleep easily (as long as I didn't have too much caffein that day). But the last couple of nights have not been good sleep for the Fauf. A cold never helps. It took awhile to fall asleep, especially if I woke up during the night. Last night I almost dreaded the whole process as I lay down. Luckily I slept better. Now I thought I was sort of a cute thing, but I wish I could fall asleep as easily as them.

A Play on Words

So last night we watched the documentary WordPlay. It's all about crossword puzzles, how they're made, who enjoys them, and the tournaments held each year. It's really great and interesting. And will probably blow your minds. It focuses on the New York Times crossword puzzles and the editor for those puzzles. Let me just say, you thought it was hard solving a crossword, try creating one! Pure genius behind it! I found myself in awe over some of these people's brains. And fans who go to the tournament (the really good ones) can do a standard crossword in like two minutes! It's crazy. After watching the movie, I found myself wanting two things: first to live in a great city like New York, and second to have the ambition to tax my brain with crosswords. However, a common trait was found among those who were whizzes at crosswords: they were either musicians, or mathematicians. So that counts me out. (hey, if you play an instrument or are good with numbers, why are you wasting your time? Grab a crossword now! You could be the next champion!) My strengths are linguistic and artistic, so I guess I'll just stick with Scrabble and pictionary. Hey, everyone has their strengths....

What's yours?

Mystery Sighting at Avila

I had a strange sighting today at Avila Beach! I was walking toward the pier with Courtney and we spotted what looked like a bride and groom. Two professional photographers, complete with assistants holding reflector screens, were posing the couple and snapping away. But from a distance, the couple looked a little young and petite. We thought it strange that it was Monday and this was going on. We saw no other evidence of a wedding party. As we got closer, we commented that the bride was wearing red flip-flops (a little informal) and their mannerisms were very detached, nonchalant, and almost bored--not typical mannerisms of a bride and groom. As we passed under the pier past them, I recognized the "bride"--ready for this? It was the lead actress from PCPA, the operatic singer who starred in Sound of Music and recently played Cosette in Les Mis! What does this mean???

Quite the mystery....

Every Story Has a Tombstone

I have come to realize that people in general hate endings. You know, endings of book sagas, endings of TV shows with longevity, endings of comic book series (to name a few). I have found more often than not, people give me negative reviews on endings. They're never satisfied, and oftentimes quite angry with the author or director. Then I read the last book or watch the last episode and wonder why they were so disappointed. I have given this much thought and I think I have come up with an explanation to this astounding difference of opinion.

People hate endings. Endings are so final, like death. And in a sense, endings are deaths. The deaths of characters we've grown attached to, the deaths of settings we've longed for, and the deaths of stories we've invested in. People are reluctant to let go and move on. And instead of admitting this, people badger the authors and directors for making poor choices with the way they ended their stories. They lament the fact that the ending was not what they expected and the creators did not take their advice and ideas about how to end it all.

While I am at times sad that endings are inevitable (even to the most beloved characters and intriguing stories), I tend to approach the ending with an openness of mind, trusting the creator to do his/her creation justice in the end (after all, I've trusted them long enough to get as far as the ending). And when I approach endings in that way, I am able to understand the creator's reasons and purposes behind the ending.

As a result, I am rarely disappointed. Yes, I may shed a tear as I close the book, or sigh farewells as I click off the TV, but I rarely join the rampage of fans unwilling to say goodbye.

The Color Issue

I think it's time for a Fauf recap of her life the past few weeks...it's still as COLORFUL as ever...

Brown: the color of her hair that seemed to darken when she got it trimmed last week.

Black: the color of most people's clothing at Disneyland...I regret leaving my Goth gear at home because I stuck out

Yellow and Green: the colors of Fauf's birthday party that still linger in the house in the form of lemons and limes (that's right, we're carrying on her bday through May)

Blue: the color of Fauf's bag that holds all secrets pertaining to Performing Arts, which is her dominant job till June--also a dominating job--whew!

Purple: the color of Fauf's cell phone that she has spent lots of time on trying to figure out why we haven't received some of our mail--all very mysterious

Golden: the color of the orange-cranberry scone that Fauf is craving, but Starbucks is out of

Gray: the color of Fauf's hubby's hat that she finds around the house and makes her think happy thoughts towards him

Red: "the blood of angry men!"--Les Miserables was fantastic, except for the excessive spitting from Javert (if you're in the front row, DUCK!)

White: the color of our Apple laptop that has proved invaluable to blogging, emailing, and writing stories, to name a few...may it never die!