The Scrappy Episodes

OMG!

I am watching (albeit I've had a couple glasses of wine) a DVD (The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo) of Scooby Doo. It's one of those made in the "Scrappy Years." Scrappy had been made fun of (seriously) in one of the more recent Scooby Doo live-action/animated movies. Somehow I had missed these Scrappy episodes in my youth.

I'm not sure when it happened, but we have instilled the love of Scooby Doo into our beloved daughter and she bought this DVD of Scooby Doo, the Scrappy Years. (It is NOT titled this way...)

It's the DH's BD (that's "Darling Husband's Birthday" to you unenlightened 50-somethings), and we are having Sandwich/Chips/Movie night since it's Friday. DD (darling daughter) picked the "movie."

These episodes are set in the "Himalayas" which include "Vincent Van Ghoul" (played by Vincent Price--I didn't know he'd had tax problems) and a very Dickensonian-like village (in the Himalayas?--yes, you are getting the idea), and a "flim-flam" kid in a sweatsuit who is very "Artful-Dodger like" and at the same time poor Mexican/Indian begger-kid like. Oh my. Really? The mixed metaphors are making my Kendall-Jackson soaked brain absolutely nuts.

OK , there's even a pair of ghosts that have New York Jewish accents. Straight out of vaudeville or a Three Stooges movie. I kid you not.

I still can't figure out why it's set in the Himalayas. I'm sure a Yeti is going to make an appearance. OMG, I just saw a Nutcracker reference (mouse guards), and now a court scene.

Really, you do not need to have drugs to take a trip--just a couple glasses of wine and watch this DVD and you will experience the most disjointed animated/sci-fi/mystery/ghost story ever told.

You know it's bad when animated characters have apparently refused to be a part of the production. I guess Fred and Velma have higher standards. (Only Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy and Daphne are in this one.)

I think I'm seeing a party theme here...why not have a Scooby Doo party?! Lots of original Scooby  Doo episodes, one or two of the live-action movies, and then THIS! These episodes will elicit emotion from even the most ardent non-Scooby fans, No formula, mixed metaphors, absent characters, and ...wait for it...no "real" people just creating a hoax while dressed in monster/ghost/ghoul costumes. Insane.

OMG, now a Round Table refererence with Scooby in a Robin Hood costume yet called a "Great Dane" who kissed the princess (Sleeping Beauty) to wake her...

Ok, that's enough...the stories area continuing, yet I am losing steam to write. I may heavily edit this in the morning (or hit "delete"). Read it now while you can....!

(And at some time I MIGHT relate how Scooby Doo...Shaggy, actually... is connected to our three rounds of IVF before Allie joined our family!)

NaNoWriMo 2010

As if I don't have enough to do...I have decided to joint the frenzy and attempt a novel this month. All I know about my story so far is that it is another "Trilogy Cottages Mystery." This time, set in Sebastopol, probably on Florence Avenue. That's it. That's all I've got. I tried thinking about a plot as I got in bed last night and all I did was fall asleep. I don't even have a title yet. I'm  happy to take ideas....but it has to be three words like my first novel....Beadboard, Sea Glass and Driftwood.  OK, that's more than three, but you get the idea, right?

Wish me luck!

Perhaps this house...

Warm flashes, irritations and pounds, oh my!

I was really hoping I'd escape a certain symptom of menopause. Grace, maybe, for having endured nearly 40 years of on-the-floor-wish-I-was-dead-painful periods.

But oh no, proof, that if there is truly a god, it is a HE, because no female deity would have ever come up with a design so intrinsically flawed.

The flashes have started. They are just "warm" still, not really the "hot" flash I witnessed at a conference a few years ago, turning the woman next to me (who only a moment before looked normal and a lot like me), into a sweat-dripping red-hot being fanning herself as if we were sitting under a magnolia tree in Savannah in August instead of an air-conditioned hotel conference room.

Ironic that my first warm flash was at another organizing conference just this past month. Maybe I'd been having them before, but they started quietly, I think, disguised as just making me think my environment was a little too warm. But this time, I was in a room full of women who were all complaining they were cold and needed sweaters. I was the one fanning myself this time, looking around to see if anyone else was uncomfortable in the same manner. No, they were all still shivering. First official hot flash...Saturday, October 9, in Sunnyvale, California. Not a sweat-drencher, just a scalp-warmer.

I was having another flash just before I started this post, which is what prompted me to write.  And, which prompted what is another apparent symptom of menopause...irritation.

Irritation has actually preceded the hot flashes. I find myself irritated quite often...everyone and everything irritates me easily. Yes, I love each member of my family, but each member of my family seems to be able to irritate me in new and uncommon ways. I know it's not really them (well, sort of...), that this is menopause controlling my brain, but it's still there.  Hopefully they will still be there when this is all over and menopause has taken its last hot, irritating hike. Of course, since I hadn't logged into this blog in quite awhile, it wanted me to sign in. Twenty minutes later I got the right combination of e-mail address and password and it graciously let me into my own blog. Thanks.

Oh, and did I mention the weight-gain? As if needing to lose 20 pounds before all this wasn't enough...another 10 has found its way onto my frame when I wasn't looking. (Maybe while I was having a hot flash or being irritated by my loved ones.) I've never been so active (which isn't saying much, but I have been MORE active the last few months), and I don't over-eat (I don't think), but a solid ten has attached itself to me. I'll be seeing a nutritionist this week to see if I can regain some control over this body that has gone on its own roller-coaster ride with the big scary "M" monster at the controls. I'll keep the blog updated on my progress.

(I've started some food changes on my own--trying some fun raw-food blender recipes for soups and smoothies. I'll post my versions of the successful ones on my "It's a Cookbook"  (http://toservevegetarians.blogspot.com/) blog soon.)

Oohhh...there's another one....I guess I'll save on heating bills the winter, huh?

Ukulele Festival September 11-12

Don't miss a chance to see James Hill and the lovely Victoria Vox at the Ukulele Festival in St. Helena in a couple of weeks...

Allie is signed up for some workshops with Victoria Vox on Saturday.

Here's a little taste of my DD and friends from a year ago. Mine is on the left.

This is not a-musing

My mom gets Time Magazine and I picked up the mail yesterday. This issue was in the mail. This is a photo of a young woman in Afghanistan who ran away from her abusive in-laws. The Taliban said that was a no-no. So her husband cut off her nose and ears while his brother held her down. They left her to die.

All in the name of religion?

She lived.

She is now in protective custody and will be coming to the US for reconstructive surgery.

This is the beginning of a much longer post which I will finish later. But as I read this article (as I suggest you do), so many thoughts and feelings came to the surface...thoughts and feelings that I've had for a long time, but this picture seemed to solidify them and reinforce my beliefs.

Blog Background change--Pardon the dust...

Background and template issues...please pardon how this looks for awhile. I have no time for learning curves right now, so it's just set to whatever I could figure out on Blogger's NEW design template do-hickey.

Arrgh.

Pomplamoose

These two are fun to watch and listen too. They are already a hit on YouTube. (I'm a little late to the party.) Do yourself a favor today and watch them. You won't be disappointed!

They are on YouTube, MySpace and iTunes. And their own website: http://www.pomplamoose.com/

Tons of songs covered as well as originals. Her eyes are mesmerizing.