Midnight Trivia and Song of the Day

At a quarter to 12:00 last night I received a text message from one of my friends. The text read "What Disney movie is the song a dream is a wish your heart makes". My reply "Cinderella." Next message received "When does she sing it". "In the beginning. When she wakes up to the clock." Then I wrote "Any more questions (I wanted to go back to sleep)? I'm glad I'm your go-to Disney guide." The response: "Lol no thank you...I'll facebook you an explanation." I'm still awaiting an explanation, but it makes me happy that my extensive knowledge of Classic Disney movies is useful to somebody.

Not Traditional, Yet Nostalgic

One of my favorite Disney movies is Lilo & Stitch. I watched it today after not having seen it for a while and about half way through the movie I remember thinking "man, I forgot how good this movie is." It truly is fantastic. The artwork alone is breathtaking. If you haven't seen it I suggest you do so. This movie is not just for children to enjoy. I happen to enjoy all (well almost all) Disney movies, but this one has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi, that allows anyone to find something special in it.

If you don't feel like watching it then I suggest you at least listen to the score which is magnificent. The best thing to do would be to watch the movie, buy the score, listen to it a bunch of times, then go watch the behind the scenes feature on the DVD. It shows the orchestra recording the music along with the movie and if you are an ex/current band geek like me you will think it's awesome.

The artwork in the movie is spectacular. The watercolor backgrounds are perfect for a movie set in Hawaii. The colors are vibrant and the shapes are indeed "soft and friendly." The design of the movie is truly different from every other Disney movie you have seen. If I can suggest one more thing it would be that you watch the movie once to understand the story, then watch it a second time and this time look at the backgrounds, and the colors, and the shapes.

Please do not just blow this off as some kid's movie. It's that attitude that keeps us from enjoying many aspects of life. I will now leave you with two very related quotes that I adore. "Never lose your childish enthusiasm and things will come your way." "No matter what happens, always keep your childish innocence. It's the most important thing." Trust me.

Song of the Day

"Merry Unbirthday" from Alice In Wonderland

A Girl and Her Fish

Diego and I are playing right now. I was sitting here on my bed reading for anthropology and for an unknown reason I turned my head and saw him looking at me.

"Hi Boy."

"Blub." (That means "Hola Mama.")

"Whadda ya doing?"

"Blub blub." ("I'm bored Ma.")

So, I reached over and bumped my tiki man bobble head that I have sitting next to him. Ooh he liked that. It slowly came to a stop then Diego turned his little head slightly towards me. "Do it again." I did. This continued for about five minutes. I tried to do it again but accidentally bumped the whole desk. This was exciting and he swam around in three lightning quick circles. Then he stopped and looked at me again. I put my finger to his bowl but he doesn't like that. I do it anyway even though I know he doesn't like it. That's what mothers do.

"Now what?"

No response.

Then I decided to blog about our 5 minutes of bonding so I picked up my computer and put it on my lap. This got his attention again. The Don loves the computer. I had forgotten about this. His new home is above the computer on my little shelf so he doesn't get to surf the web as much as last year. I put the Little Mermaid soundtrack on because that's his favorite and started playing around. He was mesmerised.

He's a little bored now because blogging isn't all that exciting for a fish...I'll have to visit YouTube next.

The Little Mermaid

Last Saturday was the annual Tumwater Family Practice summer party. This year they decided to do a camp out at Millersylvania. I was excited because the parties are always pretty fun and I get to hang out and chat with people. The only downside to these parties is that a few of the mothers always expect Ali and/or me to babysit their kids while we are their. I'm not a fan of babysitting especially when you're not paying me and I'm trying to talk with my friends. The moms always run up to me, ask me to watch their kids for "a few minutes," shove them at me, then run away before I can say no. So then the people I'm chatting with move away because they don't want to be stuck watching a bunch of 5 and unders either. They want to have a good time. Even last year at my graduation party the kids got pawned off on us for a while. It irritates me because it makes me feel like they don't respect me as an adult. They don't realize that I might actually like to have a conversation with someone at least my own age and not have to explain why I don't have my fins on today. I also don't enjoy people being incredibly close to my face and if you've ever been around a child you know that they like to be half an inch from your face while they are talking to you. Not pleasant.

So, as my mom and I were driving up to the party I said "Jennifer and Bridget better not make me babysit." Then Mom said they probably wouldn't because there would be plenty of other kids there to play with them. We got there and said hi to a few people then got some food and sat down to eat and chat. I was starving because I hadn't eaten yet that day and it was like 3 o'clock. And wouldn't ya know it, I hadn't taken two bites when I hear "Ariel!" I looked around and saw the moms coming at be saying "can you watch the girls for a bit?" I turned to my mom and sighed. She mouthed "sorry baby." I looked back at the moms and nodded. Why couldn't I have said "no, I'd like to eat first." But I assumed that they would say in the bouncy house they were playing in (I know right, who brings a giant blow up bouncy house camping?). I went to take another bite when suddenly I heard one of the moms say "Go to Ariel" then three little voices yelling "MERMAID! ARIEL! ARIEL! MERMAID!" Then they were all over me.

I tried to continue eating my burger, but gave up after a few minutes because one of the three little girls was convinced I was the little mermaid and wouldn't stop asking me questions about mermaid life and the other two were basically sitting on top of my food. I stupidly answered her questions like I actually was mermaid Ariel instead of almost mermaid Ariel. Here are some of the questions:

"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Where are your fins?"
~"I only have them when I'm in the water."
"Ariel?
~"Yes Gracie."
"Where is Eric?"
~"He's at the castle."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Are you wearing a purple bra?"
~"I only wear that one when I'm in the water." The guy next to me loved that one.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"How come your hair isn't red?"
~"It turns red when I'm in the water."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you have a mean daddy?"
~"No. I have a nice daddy."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you have a mean mommy?"
~I looked at mom, then looked back at Gracie and said "Only right now." Of course Gracie didn't get it, so I had to tell her that I had a nice mommy just like her.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you know any sea witches?"
~"Only Ursula, but she's gone now remember?"
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Can we go swimming?"
~"Not right now." The three girls started whining and begging for me to go swim with then, but I turned on my mommy voice and said no again. They quit.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Why do you collect things?"
~I couldn't come up with anything. My brain was shutting down from exhaustion. I looked at Mom who said "because she likes to learn," and I nodded in agreement. Good one Mom.

Then Gracie ran off and I thought I was free. So naive. A couple minutes later she came back with her mom who said "Yes I know Ariel." Then Gracie ran off and got her dad who said "Yes Gracie. I've known Ariel for a long time." Then Gracie sat back down and continued to ask me more mermaid questions. One of the moms came back and took two of the girls to the bathroom. Mom and I were cold so we decided to go to the van and get our sweatshirts. Gracie didn't want me to go, but I had to leave. I was just getting more and more frustrated with each question. We walked to the van and mom was trying to convince me that they make me babysit their kids because they "trust me." We both knew that was bull, nice try Mom.

When we started to walk back to the camp site I started to get nauseous. I was already feeling a little car sick from the drive, but my anxiety about going back to face the mini-interrogator was making it worse. Mom said we would walk back and get some dessert because I still hadn't eaten much and just try to avoid the little girls. By the time we had gotten up to where the food was I had made myself so nervous and nauseous that I couldn't even look at the food. I told Mom that was going back to the car to read the Celestine Prophecy. As I turned to go one of my friends who I hadn't seen in a while started talking to me. I wanted to stay and talk because that was the whole point of my coming, but I was so nervous that I would suddenly feel one of the girls tugging at my pants that I told him I wasn't feeling well and had to leave.

I told Mom to stay as long as she wanted because my book was getting really good and I wanted to read it anyway. As I walked back to the van I felt like I was on the brink of tears. I couldn't believe how sick I felt and how frustrated I'd become. It was silly. As I sat in the back of the van I saw more people pull in that I wanted to talk to, but I stayed in my place and tried to grasp the various insights in my book.

About an hour or so later Mom came back to the van and said we could go. Then I felt worse because I wanted her to have a good time and I felt like I was ruining it for her. I told her I was fine and she could go back, but she said she was bored anyway and wanted to go home and read her book. She informed me that 10 minutes after I had left, Gracie and her parents went home and the other two girls went to sleep. I was upset, but I let it go because I really had enjoyed my book, so I guess it didn't really matter.

Now the whole clinic knows what happened. Yesterday and the day before I had to wait there for my mom after work because we had carpooled and several people came up to me and asked me where my fins were. It was funny, but then they wanted me to talk about it and had heard from other sources that it pissed me off. I didn't want to admit that it really had made me mad because all three of the moms were in the clinic somewhere and I learned earlier that week that I shouldn't talk about people if there is any chance in the world that they could hear me and I didn't want to hurt any one's feelings. So, I just laughed and said it was kinda cute.

"He can call me a flower if he wants to"

Christina and I watched Bambi on Sunday night. We were going to watch Aladdin but during the previews, which you have to watch on old movies because they're great, there was one for Bambi. We started throwing out our favorite Bambi quotes and then with a pitiful face I asked "Do you wanna watch Bambi?" "Yeaaah," Christina replied with an equally pitiful face. So we did. And yes, it's still sad.

Twitterpated

The inspiration for today's Song of the Day came to me this morning during my English class. We were all seated in our desks working on an in class writing assignment when all of a sudden the birds outside started chirping and singing at an incredible volume. It made me smile because one word always pops into my head when the all the birds sing at once or when the frogs at my house croak together at night...My teacher walked over to the window to close it, but changed his mind.
"Wow those birds are loud," he said.
"They're just twitterpated," I replied.
"I haven't heard that word in a while," he said as he walked back to his desk.
Twitterpated is a word from Walt Disney's "Bambi". Ever since I was little my mom, sister, and I have used this word every spring. Oh the joys of Disney classics! I hope during this lovely month of April you all find yourselves twitterpated.

Song of the Day

"Little April Shower" From Walt Disney's animated classic "Bambi"

My Turn

I'm Ariel. I am currently a student at Oregon State University, but as you have probably read I will be going somewhere else next year. I am an international business major and Spanish minor. I plan to study in Spain next year to fulfill my Spanish minor requirements and I want to study in Italy my senior year to fulfill my international business requirements, but we'll see how that goes. I'm not a journalist and I don't write like one. I tend to rant when I write and get really wordy, so I apologize ahead of time for that. I consider myself to be the more aesthetic member of the Anomalous Happenings team, where as Christina is the analytical/politically savvy member. I am an obsessive list maker so expect a few of those. I love the beach and the ocean for obvious reasons. I watch too much TV and quite a bit of that is the Food Network (I just learned how to link). I love swimming and playing softball. I amuse myself really easily. I just about always have some sort of lip gloss/chapstick with me. Josh Groban is my favorite singer, but I listen to all types of music. I often describe myself as a fountain of useless information and it's true for the most part. Some of my pet peeves are when people have their pants tucked into their shoes, being treated like a child, really dirty bathrooms, stupid questions (yes they do exist), and Disney sequels.

I find myself encountering anomalous happenings on a regular basis. I promise to do my best to report them to you and stay true to the theme of this blog. If anyone reading this ever has any questions for either Christina or me please ask them. We love to know that we have an audience.