MelaniePenelope

Sunday Stealing: Halloween

Hello, all you ghosts and goblins - or is that your kids and grandkids and nieces and nephews this weekend?

My three kids want to go trick-or-treating this year, all as ghosts. Mind you, they are 16, 18, and 20 years old! I'm hands-off on this one. Other things to worry about and stuff. Actually I'm pretty happy that they're getting along enough to do that together at their ages!

Let's get to it.

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Welcome to Sunday Stealing, with our host Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World."

 

Here, we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere, with hopes that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Link up here if you're playing along today! Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

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Stolen from madame writer blog

 1) Have you ever played with a Ouija Board?

I have been present when one has been used/played with. I don't recall be2ing part of the game or whatever you call it.

2) Favorite horror monster or villain?

I'm going to flip it on you a little bit, I think, and say Edward Scissorhands.

3) If you were dared to spend the night in a “haunted house”, would you do it?

 

No, I don't take dares. Like, ever. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it anyway and don't need a dare to propel. The converse is also true.

4) Are you superstitious?

Nah, not really. I'll knock wood, but it's more as a habit than any particular belief system that it's going to do anything.

5) Do you ever see figures in your peripheral vision?

What does this question have to do to with anything?

6) Ever made a potion of any sort?

I mean, when I was in my full-on Young Living days, I made what I called potions and concoctions all the time. But nothing like what I imagine this is referring to.

7) Do you get scared easily?

Oh, yeah. Scream, jump, the whole nine.

8) Have you ever played Bloody Mary?

No. I'd never even heard of that until my daughter Chloë, the one who is now 20, came home from Kindergarten or First or Second grade (sorry I can't remember precisely, honey!) at 6 or 7 years old (?), completely traumatized by it. And she still is to this day, even hearing the name of it. So I don't ever mention it.

9) Would you ever go to a graveyard at night?

Sure, and I have. I find them peaceful and restful. Not this one, though; I believe it's in Istanbul. (Hubs has been in Turkey, but I have not!)

10) Would you rather go to a Halloween party or go trick or treating?

If Rob could rig up this costume for me in my wheelchair, I'd totally go around the neighborhood. Shoot, what time is it???

11) Whilst watching scary movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person with their eyes covered the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

I don't know, I told you I refuse to watch 'em!

12) Favorite scary book?

I remember in college, I started to read The Shining. But when I realized I was closing my eyes at all the really scary parts, I tossed it aside. I've never picked up it (or watched it) since. I did read a lot of Dean Koontz back in the day. Best I can do, I think.

13) How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

Heh. Well.

The last movie I saw with my mother before she died was Yentl, at the theater, just the two of us. Mama passed away in April 1984, when I was a little girl. Not too scary, right?

Shortly after Mom died, within a month, Dad put Children of the Corn on HBO one night, for the three of us (my big sister, too) to watch during whatever dinner was. I couldn't leave. I had no choice but to sit there and try not to watch and just keep my head down while I ate. I was seven and sufficiently horrified.

And then... well, let me back up and say that if you told me my dad waited two full months after my mom was put in the ground to start dating, I probably wouldn't believe you. So by the time the first Nightmare on Elm Street came out in July or August 1984, he was already dating his 3^rd or 4^th woman at least - and the one who unfortunately would become my stepmother. So her two daughters (my future older stepsisters) and my sister and I were sent to the theater to watch Freddy do his thing. I was still seven, mind you. I think that was the movie where Mindy (my oldest future stepsis) put her arm in front of my face for the whole movie, or gave me her hoodie, or something, knowing I was terrified. (See, this is all one big reason why I choose not to scare myself on purpose.)

Okay, I know Porky's II isn't a horror movie (or is it?), but hear me out. Same year. I'm still seven. (!!!) Steps are over at our house. Everyone wants pizza except my father, so that's ordered, and then future stepma starts the process of making him fried chicken. Then they queue up Porky's II on HBO because, again, watching age-appropriate television was totally a huge value for my dad. So they go back and forth between dinner prep and Porky's II. Eventually, they become completely transfixed by Porky's and forget to go back to chicken. Soon, a grease fire starts. Pro tip: If you ever have a grease fire, you should throw baking soda on it, NOT flour. Dad threw a ton of flour on it, which blew it up into huge flames. 

Seeing those flames licking the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling (right above which was my bed, my room), Dad panicked and grabbed that pan to take it outside. Instead of sanely going out the front door, he went through the garage side door, to go out through the garage. But the pan handle started to get too hot for him to hold, and he was afraid that if he dropped it, he might get some of that burning hot grease on his precious classic cars in that garage. So what did Dad do? He turned around and came back in. He made it about three steps before the handle became unbearably hot for him, and then he dropped it. Right where Mindy and I were sitting. (The other two girls managed to escape the worst of it.)

I'll skip the rest of that story for now except to say that I still have the scars from that night. Some are physical.

14) What was your first Halloween costume?

I'm pretty sure I was an old lady. With the curlers. And maybe a cane.

15) If you could have a spooky Halloween pet (black cat, owl, bat, rat, wolf), what would you pick?

 

I already do! Okay, so technically this little lady, Sugarplum Yogurt Fairy, belongs to 16yo Sophia, but we all love her to pieces! She's full of nonsense, whimsy, troublemaking and mischief, but not spook. And she's soft as a motherfluffer!

 

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Look at that, y'all - I did Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing in the same weekend! I haven't done that in ages. Shouldn't there be some kind of prize? 😆😆😆

 

I hope you all have a delightful Sunday and just the kind of Hallowe'en you're hoping for. Cheerio!

 

Fin.

Saturday 9: Werewolves Of London

 

Hello, hello, meme-blogging fam! Every time I can't join you guys, I miss you all, and I feel like I am missing out (especially on Crazy Sam's expert questioning) -- but trust me, it's not for lack of trying or desire to play!

So, although I'm late, let me join. You too, right here:

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Saturday 9: Werewolves of London (1978)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.

 

 

1) In this song, Warren Zevon sees a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. He wanted beef chow mein. If we Saturday 9ers got together for Chinese, what would you likely order?

I would probably order vegetable lo mein and a spring roll or two. I don't know. If it's a more upscale-type restauarant with more authentic food, I'd want to have a good look at their menu and see what they had that was vegan, or at least vegetarian. Now I want Chinese.

 

2) He also says the werewolf's hair was perfect. Are you having a good hair day?

 

Not yet! I haven't showered yet. I really don't know if I'm going to, but I might, so I can fiddle around with this flower headband and figure out how I want to get it where I am happy with things.

 

 

3) Linda Ronstadt was a big Warren Zevon fan and recorded several of his songs. Do you have a favorite Linda Ronstadt song?

 

Oh, I love a lot of Linda Rondstadt recordings and performances - despite (and also because of) her being a favorite of my (&%$^ stepmother - but I think my favorite was when she joined up with Aaron Neville to perform Don't Know Much in 1989. An immediately close-behind second, though, would be the theme to "An American Tail," teamed up with James Ingram.

 

 

Oh, and I sang that one with my junior high choir.

4) Warren Zevon admitted being afraid of doctors and avoided check ups. Are you scared when you go to the doctor or dentist for a routine visit?

 

Not anymore. I grew up being "allowed" to see a dentist regularly, and being "allowed" to get visual exams and wear glasses and/or contacts, but I never saw a medical doctor in my entire childhood until a week before I turned 18, was away at college, and became very ill. That was kind of... A. Big. Deal. Picture an ER doctor having to beg some kid's parents to give permission for their own kid to be treated. I didn't even remember getting to the hospital, nor did I know how it happened!

 

So my point is, I guess, that that could go lots of different ways for people in adulthood. Instead of being afraid, I guess I flipped into the extreme opposite and was like, here I am, do all the things!

 

5) In 1935, the movie Werewolf of London was released. Do you enjoy being frightened by scary movies?

 

No. Not at all. No.

 

No.

 

6) In your younger days, did you ever trick or treat while dressed as a monster?

 

I don't remember a monster. I usually kept it pretty girly, I think!

 

7) When you were a kid, what sweet treats were you happiest to receive?

 

Oh, I have had quite the lifelong sweet tooth, so there wasn't much I didn't look forward to! Mostly I was into Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Whatchamacallits. I got my daughter Chloë obsessesed with the latter when we lived in Miami, too. Now we've just found out about Whozeewhatzits. Now we're dying to try those, too!

 

8) Can you see any Halloween decorations as you answer these 9 questions?

 

 

Since we're largely still living out of boxes, there really aren't many. But we do have this Autumn wreath I recently made hanging on the front door, just below.

9) Halloween is most popular in the United States and Canada, and isn't really celebrated at all in Japan or South Korea. How would you explain our Halloween customs to a visitor from another land?

 

In these cases, I prefer not to reinvent the wheel. Also, I was taught to teach such concepts to people as though they were five years old. So I like to rely on sites like this one to help me explain all the ins and outs of Halloween in America.

 

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And that is it, folks! Thanks, Sam & thanks to y'all who visit, too! I'm hoping to hop around later this evening but for now I'm working on some cards for kids of my fellow Mama Dragons, who are needing support. ♥

 

Fin.

 

 

Saturday 9: Livin' La Vida Loca

Hey, hey, ladies and gents! Happy Saturday! Thank you, Hostess Sam, for bringing us these questions.

I'm excited for this week. Ricky Martin and Livin' La Vida Loca were a huuuuge part of the space between my college years and the doctorate. I loved it and always blasted it in the car. I didn't know Enrique Martín Morales during his Menudo days, but I've loved him ever since La Vida. ♥

Let's go.

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Saturday 9: Livin' La Vida Loca (1999)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Ricky Martin sings that he and the girl dance in the rain. Do you feel like dancing this morning?

 

 

If dancing from the hips up counts, I already have while sitting here listening to Sting and Shaggy start off with "Englishman in New York" on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert. So fun!

2) The lyrics tell us the girl prefers champagne. When did you last enjoy a glass of the bubbly?

 

 

Oh a verrrrry long time. I have three reasons for that: (1) I have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, and I kept having reactions to alcohol, even when I was down to maybe two drinks a year, so that was enough of that (and Sophia asked me to stop since the reactions freaked her out); (2) I take far too many medications that don't play well with medication; and (3) tomorrow, I'm starting disulfiram, aka antabuse, for my Lyme disease. Since it was intented for alcohol abuse, I will get a nasty set of reactions if I touch alcohol - including cough medicine or rubbing alcohol! - and that seals the deal for me.

 

3) When Ricky first heard "Livin' La Vida Loca," he imagined  the subject of the song was a "Bond girl," the glamorous love interest of James Bond in the movies. Since 1962, there have been more than 20 Bond films. Have you seen any/many of them? Do you have a favorite Bond?

 

 

I've seen 1983's Octopussy with Roger Moore (I was 7; interesting parenting choice) and 1995's Goldeneye with the sexy-as-hell Pierce Brosnan and his equally stunning co-star, Famke Janssen. I like them okay; I don't know why I haven't seen more of them. Just not a huge priority. I suppose.

 

4) Ricky tells interviewers that when he was very young, he'd sing in the family kitchen, pretending a wooden spoon was his microphone. Crazy Sam admits to lip synching into a black Magic Marker. When you gave imaginary concerts, what did you use as a microphone?

 

 

Whatever was available - usually a hairbrush

5) Ricky began working at the tender age of 9, performing in commercials. How old were you when you received your first paycheck?

 

 

I was 15 and working as a cashier at the Big M in "B'ville," in New York.

 

6) Ricky does yoga to stay in shape. Have you ever tried yoga?

 

 

Oh, sure. I had been practicing mostly "gentle" yoga - not these advanced asanas - from high schools until I got really sick, just before we moved to Boise in 2017. I still kept trying, but it became clear that my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobile Type, among other issues, was too much for that right now. Everything is dislocating because I can hyperextend everything. I don't stretch to sooth my aching bones and joints and muscles - I hyperextend and hold that for as long as I can. So yoga is now a different animal for me.

7) Ricky is of primarily Spanish descent, with a little French mixed in. When you think of French cuisine, what comes to mind?

 

 

Oh, lots and lots of things, but lately I have had soufflé on the brain. Yum, yum.

 

8) Ricky once had his own restaurant, Casa Salsa, in Miami Beach. Have you ever worked in food service?

 

 

I have, but not a lot. While I did my fisheries internship, my co-intern and I decided to moonlight in catering at the now-defunct The C0lony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, Florida. That lasted 10 weeks, as long as our internship, and we had a blast. I loved it, and I loved the clients. We had a lot of fun! So when I later moved up to St. Petersburg, I secured a job at the expansive Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club there. Oh, my God, it was beautiful.

 

But on my first day of actual work after orientation, I was serving in a dining room full of businessmen wearing fancy suits. We were delivering bowls of soups to their table. and I approached one particular man. As I was about to set his bowl down, my hand gave out, and I dumped the soup ALL. OVER. HIM. Holy shit. It was mortifying, and that guy stood up, using his napkin, and dressed me up and down, up and down, and up and down once again. I was so embarrassed, my pride so wounded, I went across the hall and let my captain know what happened and promptly quit.

 

9) Random question: What is your best quality?

 

 

Empathy. I can say that with absolute certainty.

 

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Have a swell day, y'all. Namaste. 🙏

 

Fin.