"E" is for Everybody! Everybody!

La dee dah dee doh!

Those of you who know what that was all about, I salute you.

I miss Homestar Runner terribly. My group of friends and I frequently make references to things we have seen on that site. It still exists. I visit it every once in a while to see if there is anything new. And miracle of miracles, there was a new Marzipan's answering machine posted this month!

Click here to view it.

Most people who were frequent visitors of homestarrunner.com loved Strong Bad's emails the most. While I loved them, they weren't my favorite. I really loved the shorts and toons. However, I will say that I did have an absolute favorite email. And it didn't even have Strong Bad in it. However, that one is no longer on the site. This is the latest one, though.

***EDIT: I was wrong! My husband found that my favorite Strong Bad email is still there. Here it is!!!***

And then, of course, there's this.

One day I was feeling very nostalgic and I did a google search of Homestar images to use as a rotating background on my Lappier. Here's a sampling:

 This one is actually from my favorite SB email:

"D" is for Doppelganger

I have a history with doppelgangers. I will tell just a few of my stories.

Picking a college was not an easy choice to make. I initially wanted to go to school closer to home. My original plan was for Eastern College in Pennsylvania. However, the closest Southern Baptist school to where I lived gave me a scholarship for being a Southern Baptist. Of course, that school was a 12-hour drive away from home. Despite the distance, I ended up at Gardner-Webb University near Charlotte, NC. That's a long way from Morris, CT.

When I first got to the school, I started noticing a trend. People kept calling me Ashley. My name isn't Ashley. As it turns out, people thought that I looked an awful lot like an older student named Ashley. Once I met her, she told me that she sometimes got called Denise. At the time, I wore hats on occassion and I wore glasses. Someone has a picture somewhere of me and Ashley but Ashley is wearing my hat and my glasses.

***

I am frequently amazed by how much people mistake the identities of others based on a few physical traits. This happens a lot with my husband and his cousin. They have three main similarities. They are big, they are bald, and they have beards. However, my husband has a blonde beard and it is pretty long. His cousin has a dark brown/red beard and doesn't shave off whatever hair he has remaining.

When I worked at the residential treatment facility for the chemical dependent aged 12-24, there was another counselor named Stacy. At the time I had short, brown hair and she had hair so long that she would braid it in a long braid over her left shoulder. Her hair was also wavy and light brown, almost blonde. Yet Stacy got called Denise and I got called Stacy on a regular basis. It happened at least once a day. One day, Stacy got so frustrated that during lunch one day she said, "We look nothing alike! The only similarity is that we are big and wear glasses but are glasses are even very different!" I believe there might have been an "arg" in there, too.

***

This last one is my favorite. One day, as I was walking on the third floor of the hospital I worked at, one of the nurses stopped me as asked if I had a chance yet to see the patient in room 23. Apparently, that patient had been asking about her Medicare paperwork multiple times. 

It took me a while but I finally realized who she thought I was. At the time, my hair had been colored a red violet. The woman that I was being mistaken for is about a foot shorter than me, doesn't wear glasses, has black hair, and a sweet demeanor. Oh yeah, and she is a completely different race than me. I am a very pasty Caucasian and she is a Mexican. 

The only similarity we have is that we are overweight. 

Arg.

"C" is for Craigslist

The idea behind Craigslist is a pretty cool one. At least, until you factor in how disgusting humanity is. Well, a couple of years ago, with our anniversary coming up, I had yet to figure out what to get Curtis. I wanted to get him something he would really like that he would never get for himself. Then one day, I remembered Curtis talking about how he wasn't sure how many episodes of NCIS he may have missed over the years. I started to do a search to see how much it would cost to buy all the seasons to date, which was 1-7.

Whew, it was expensive. I love my husband, but I couldn't afford that.

In walks Craigslist.

To my surprise, there were a lot of people in my area that were looking to sell their DVDs of NCIS seasons 1-7. I looked for someone near where I worked which was in a upper class neighborhood. I found one and the contact information was for a woman who was asking a very reasonable price.

I made contact.

She seemed like a very lovely lady. Her price was really low and when I asked why, she said that she and her husband were trying to downsize. I agreed to meet at her house. She gave me her address and away I went.

As I was driving through the neighborhood, the houses just kept getting bigger and bigger. I pulled into the circular driveway of the house and immediately thought my little Ford Fiesta did not belong here. I knocked on the door and a man answered. I got a little nervous. He knew who I was and then he told me his wife had run to the grocery store. He ushered me into what looked like an office in what could possibly be the biggest single family dwelling I have ever walked into. In his office, he has stacks and stacks of movies and TV series. I told him how much the ad said and I handed him the money. He put the DVDs in a bag and then motioned to another stack and said I could pick two more movies because I didn't give him a hard time on the price. I told him that it would be ridiculous for me to try and haggle when the price his wife set was a really good one.

Curtis really liked the gift.

Now NCIS is on Netflix. I guess I could have just waited a few years.

"B" is for Believable

Since my sister (in-law) moved to Hong Kong 4 years ago, I have found my improvisation skills have weakened. I miss my Lexus for many reasons but this reason proves that her absence is a detriment to me. Let me explain.

Lexus can be somewhat gullible. It has provided me with much amusement over the years. The way this usually manifests with me is that she will be wondering about something out loud and I provide the answer. More often than not, my answer is made up on the spot. However, Lexus finds them very believable. In her defense, I'm very good at making them sound plausible while keeping my face straight. Let's see if I can think of any example.

I just texted her to see if she remembers an actual example. Meanwhile, I'll make one up. One day, Lexus and I may be talking about some of the plays I've been in including Nunsense. Then in the midst of the conversation, Lexus will wonder, "I wonder why nuns wear those habits." The following is something I might tell her:

Well, you know how back in the early church, women always had their head covered? When Peter was named the first Pope, the Catholics want to still show respect but want to prove how they were better. So they took it further and covered themselves from head to foot. To differentiate themselves from the Muslims, they would leave their faces completely bare with the white framing to symbolize God's purity in their lives. 

Lexus would say, "Really?" then, "Wait, are you lying to me?"

Seems totally believable to me.

"A" is for Anime

I am totally copying my friend, Jeremy, and doing a blogging challenge. The goal is to do a blog a day in April (except Sundays) and use the alphabet as the guide. I'm starting a day late so I'll blog on this Sunday to catch up. So here we go.

"A" is for Anime

I have a friend that has a problem. Anything that has to do with Japan makes her squeal like a little kid opening presents on Christmas morning. Her biggest obsession (of sorts) is anime. I have a few other friends that are also really into anime but she's a bit ridiculous.

Since she and I are really close friends, I have been exposed to more anime than I care to admit. I even went to Anime North Texas (there was a Groupon). I gave in and started watching one called Attack on Titan. It was interesting but it kinda lost me after a while. I stopped watching right before the female Titan came around.

Then came RWBY. I watched all that was available because I was watching it with others. And true, I even have a favorite character. It was fun but when the third season came out, I didn't watch it. I know I will eventually but I think it can only be watched on Crunchy Roll and I don't have a subscription. I'm sure it will come out on Netflix. I'll watch it then.

Now, I'm making an effort with another one. Full Metal Alchemist. I've been told that the Brotherhood is the best but how can you jump into the middle of a complicated story. I've started from the beginning and so far it has my attention which means that it is distracting me from homework and paperwork.

Gotta say, the little kids in this show are absolutely adorable.

You can read Jeremy's A to Z Challenge here.

Thanks, Jeremy, for introducing me to the A-to-Z Challenge.

Cement and a Baby Food Jar

I arrived here at Denny’s to do homework and needed to get my backpack out of my trunk. As I was walking to my trunk, I lost track of the cement barrier used to stop the cars from going over a curb. I knew it was there and I even picked my foot up to step over it. But, I was too late. 

I went down. 

As I am sprawled with my left leg tucked under me and my elbow in the grass, I take an assessment of myself and I seem to be doing just fine. Nothing is screaming in pain and I can still feel all my fingers and toes.

I hear a voice, “Are you ok?” 

There’s a lady a couple of cars down who saw the whole thing. “Yes, I'm fine. Thanks so much.” 

“Do you need help up?” 

I giggle. “No, I'm good. Thank you for asking. That's really sweet.”

I look down at the grass where my elbow is currently encased in cold mud and see that there is a shattered baby food jar right near my hand. “Whew! That could have been bad.”

I hobble myself off the ground and notice some red spots on the curb. Then a couple more. Apparently I did NOT miss the baby food jar. My pinky had a large piece of skin that was “shaved” off.

Nice.

I wrap my finger in a napkin from my car (thanks to the example set forth by my father, I had plenty) and go inside to the bathroom. Good thing no one was in there because it looked like I had killed someone. Who knew a pinky could bleed so much? I wrapped it up in a paper towel and secured it with a hair tie from my bag. Linda, the manager, took one look at my bandage and told me that, "It's ok, Mexicans do that, too." She then got me a Band-aid.

So now, as I sit here writing this, I am starting to feel the spot where my knee smacked the pavement and where my ankle twisted a little. Doesn't hurt that much though.

Only I could fall in a concrete parking lot and get hurt by a baby food jar.

1% for 5 years

I know how it will go down

I know what I will say

I know how she will react

But I still must say it

I have to

“I’m praying for you.”

“As long as you don’t pray

For me to get better”

“Don’t worry. I’m not”

“What?”

“Instead, I’m praying that

I will stop

Being angry at you”

“Why would you be angry?”

“You chose. You chose this.

I’ve watched you slowly kill yourself

My whole life

My brother’s son won’t know you

He deserves to know you

And you, him.

My future child will not know you

That child deserves to know you

And you, the child.

As I long for an uncle I’ve never met,

Our children will long for you

I’m angry because you are making

Your mother lose another child

But most of all,

I’m praying that

You will remember the God of your youth”

“It’s the same god.”

“No, it isn’t.

Your god wants you to be love

And to transcend to a higher plane

My God IS love

And descended to our lowness

Because He loves me

And you

Remember Him. Please.

He remembers you.”

I know how it will go down

I know what I will say

I know how she will react

But I still must say it

Mustn't I?