Ten Things Tuesday
Mamacita says:
1. Why does every packaged food item contain so much sodium? It’s ridiculous! Even the supposedly “diet” or “healthy” stuff is loaded full of salt. I’m serious; why IS that? It’s really difficult – and in most cases, it’s IMPOSSIBLE – to find salt-free processed food. Did the salt industry make a deal with somebody? What’s going on?
2. I love fresh flowers, and any house is more like a home with fresh flowers. Would someone please explain this fact to my cats, so they’ll stop tipping over the vases and using my flowers as salad?
3. It was in the seventies yesterday, and it’s in the thirties today. What’s going on? Oh wait, I live in Indiana. ‘Nuff said.
4. I have a fantastic birthday present for my Tumorless Sister, but if she doesn’t get down here soon to lay claim to it, I’m going to play with it, myself. (Happy Birthday, Tumorless.)
5. Looking at all these old photographs strewn over my living room carpet, I am struck anew by the mind-blowing fact that people I’ve known only as older adults had a LIFE before that! They used to be young and hot, and they had fun! I know, I know, we all used to be young and hot and we all had fun, but, but, this is different. It’s DIFFERENT! How it’s different, I have no idea, but it’s different. If I allow myself to think otherwise, I might blow some brain cells out my ears. Do my kids think this way about me? Because, you know, there was once a time when I was young, and hot, and interesting. . . . Honest. There was!
6. I’m still angry over all the salt in everything.
7. My mother-in -law’s purse is in my dining room, right where she used to put it when she sat up to the table. Every time I notice it, I instinctively look around for her. I need to move it somewhere else, but I don’t feel that I have any business touching it. Eventually, I know.
8. I love scented candles.
9. Everything hanging on my walls is crooked. I think it’s because we like to crank the volume to eleven. It’s either that, or the New Madrid Fault.
10. The older I get, the more precious my family becomes, and the more I wish we could all get together frequently, instead of just at holidays and funerals. I wish we weren’t all so busy.
Things I Haven't Done Yet
Mamacita says:
1. I haven’t picked the ten thousand pictures we’re going through, off the living room floor yet. We’re still looking at them. Plus, we’re expecting family to come down any day now and look through them with us.
2. I haven’t sent out any “Thank you for your sympathy” cards yet, but I’ve got them all ready. I am usually quite a stickler about thank -you cards, but I just can’t seem to get going on these. No, online thanks will not do. People who go out of their way for us, in any aspect of life, deserve something they can hold in their hands, even if they really couldn’t care less. Why do I do it, then, if it doesn’t matter to them? I do it because it matters to me.
3. Whenever my children come down, I like to have a humongous peanut butter Rice Krispie treat awaiting them. The peanut butter not only makes the treats tastier; it also turns them into breakfast really nutritious snacks. Today was no exception; the treat was still warm when the kids arrived, and they took the leftovers back with them. I do not put my peanut butter Rice Krispie treats in a pan, however. I just spread them out on a big piece of waxed paper. Why dirty a pan when the kids are just going to dive into that Rice Krispie treat like a couple of starving wild animals? On a piece of waxed paper, it’s easier to tear off a hunk. More fun, too.
4. I haven’t put my midterm grades on Blackboard yet. When I first tried, I couldn’t get in, and now I’m not motivated. I’ll do it tomorrow. I know my students want to know their standing, and I will let them know in the morning, by which I mean, around noon. I’m on Spring Break now.
5. I’m coming down with a terrible cold, but I haven’t actually come down with it yet. I seldom actually come down with anything, but I occasionally try. I think I’d feel better if I actually GOT something, rather than just be GETTING it.
6. Those of you who have seen my bathroom know how classic and subdued it is. I brought home some new wall art for it yesterday, but I haven’t put it up yet. I’m not sure I know how. Item: the new wall art does not sing, dance, chirp, or talk. In fact, it’s kind of, well, ordinary. Imagine.
7. I haven’t stopped missing Michele Agnew yet.
8. I still haven’t accepted the fact that last year’s BlogHer is over, even while I’m already counting down until this year’s BlogHer! July isn’t all that far away, you know, and I’m going to be a Mic Jockey this summer! To say that I absolutely CAN’T WAIT would be an understatement. I love you, BlogHer!
9. I haven’t run my sweeper for over a week. How can I, with all those photographs spread out all over the floor?
10. I h aven’t made Rice Krispie treats with real Rice Krispies in years. Today’s batch was made with generic marshmallows and Kroger Crispy Rice, and NOBODY could tell the difference. Why buy that expensive name brand stuff when the store brand is three dollars cheaper and tastes exactly the same? (Item: be persnickety about those store brands. I’ve tried some that weren’t fit to eat, but most store brands seem to be pretty much exactly the same as the ritzy stuff.) (Experiment!)
There Are Phantoms, and There Are Phantoms. . . .
Mamacita says: Mmmm, I do love me the Broadway musicals! I’m particular, though.
Sometimes, I love a show nobody else likes, and sometimes a show that everybody else likes, I don’t. But aren’t we all like that, in every aspect of life?
For example, I like Arthur Kopit’s Phantom more than I like ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera. I like them BOTH, mind you, but Kopit’s is just, well, better. That’s my opinion and I’m stickin’ to it.
The miniseries that ran back in the early nineties was Kopit’s version, and there is also a musical version of his script. I like them both. I’m not sure which I like better, sometimes.
One reason I like that miniseries is that it uses real opera music in it. Phantom is about the opera; it takes place in an opera house, and there is supposed to be opera music in it. In Kopit’s version, there is! Get people engrossed in a good story, and they will probably like all the peripheral lessons included in it. In Phantom, there is opera music. My students, back in the middle school, were fascinated by Faust – the storyline and the music, both, and that’s a pretty complicated combo. (I’m sorry about the synch on that video, but you can still get the gist of it. Pretend you’re watching a Japanese film dubbed in English or something.) (Speaking of Japanese phantoms, check out the Takarazuka Revue! ) (Then look at this one.) (Fascinating concept.)
Don’t make the mistake of underestimating middle school students. Everybody else does, but don’t any of you. Our young teens are quite capable of not only understanding a complicated story, but also enjoying it.
Honestly? I believe that one – and there are many others – reason so many of our teens hate school is that it’s boring; everything in our public schools seems to exist for the sake of getting the lowest common denominator crammed full enough of answers to pass that big test. Of COURSE our smart kids are bored! Wouldn’t you be?
This is one of my favorite scenes from the miniseries:
. . . and, this is a montage from the stage musical:
If you like that, or are just curious about a Phantom that isn’t ALW’s, you might check out “My Mother Bore Me” on YouTube, as well. Bonus points if you know the point of origin for the lyrics!
The original Kopit phantom was Richard White. If you have children, I’m sure you know what he’s the most famous for these days.
You don’t? You’re kidding. Yes, you do. Check out your child’s video collection.
Find him? Excellent. More bonus points for the title.
