Scattered Brainings XIV

* Old school video games are awesome. We didn’t play a lot (our SEGA machine had Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in), but my limited ‘experience’ won’t stop me from having fun… even though it probably accounts for why I get my behind kicked when playing against my Significant Other. That, plus the fact that he has been gaming for many a year.

* Finding new things to do is fun. I might not be very good, but my Significant Other and I are having a blast playing video games… which makes two and a half hours disappear each time, somehow… We also bought a Monopoly board on Monday – the South African version – and might start making mosaics/ building small things. Having to teach me all these things (excluding the mosaics) probably ties in with that “Love is patient” line.

* It’s ‘scary’ to realize how much you have in common with someone you find a tad annoying and, yes, sometimes overwhelming. Betty Bright drinks green tea, loves cats, doesn’t like rugby… and believes that the two of us think alike. Really?! This coming from someone who thinks she can do everything / knows best and whose species is most likely extinct already. [Sorry, couldn’t resist an age-related joke!]

* Sometimes I think I should either opt for the book or the film version thereof and not both. Just by looking at the cast for the first PERCY JACKSON film – along with what I heard about it from various sources – I immediately knew that I should steer clear. I had the same feeling when I read up on the cast for THE HUNGER GAMES. Yet, in this case, I am willing to wait it out and let the film decide it for me.

* Baking is awesome. What makes it even more meaningful for me (childhood memories aside) is how much people appreciate something as seemingly insignificant as a cookie or two with their morning coffee/tea. I brought some of the cookies I baked on Sunday to work yesterday, and my co-workers were delighted 🙂

* Speaking of which, when our Publishing Manager came to thank me for the cookies, she said that she didn’t see me as ‘domesticated’. This does not make sense to me… unless I am actually a household pet or something *laugh* I think she meant she didn’t see me as the domestic type, and not as someone who isn’t house-bred.

* Why are people so curious? I’m convinced that motorists are the people with the most curiosity. Just look at the excruciatingly slow pace of traffic when an accident has occurred, or when a truck has pulled over, and how immediately after you pass the vehicle(s) things go quicker. And why? Because everyone was staring and turning to look at what happened. Ogling should be a (criminal) offence.

* The fragrance of the air freshener cans in our Ladies Room at work is called “Baby Caress”. I find this highly unsettling…

How do YOU know what baby would taste like, kitteh? Also, with the air freshener: does it smell like dirty diapers and spit (like babies do), or is it the powdered, clean, 'new human' (baby) scent that's enticing...? *shudder*

* In just under a week, three or four people’s fathers have passed away (said people work for OUP). This makes me appreciate the fact that I still have my dad even more… and also makes me worry about his safety/ health/ longevity. Three deaths related to the (people in our) workplace is kind of eerie.

* I was having such a dull day at work yesterday that I actually started jotting down my brainings for today’s post. Talk about being constructive!

You know you’re a 90s kid if…

Quite some time ago (months and months, to be honest), I found a page called “90s Kids” on 20 Something Bloggers. Reading through everything they list there, it put a great big smile on my face – and I’m hoping to spread that smile to you. So sit back, read the list, and have some fun reminiscing…

You know you’re a 90’s kid if…

You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “PSYCHE!”
You yearned to be part of the Baby-Sitters club.
You use to love playing with your My Little Pet Shop.
You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
You wore a ponytail on the side of your head and had fluffed bangs.
You remember reading “Goosebumps.”
You know the profound meaning of “Wax on, wax off.”
You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female Smurf.
You still get the urge to say “NOT” after every sentence… Not…
You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green ranger, were meant to be together.
You ever got injured on a Slip’ n’ Slide
You knew what it meant to say “Care Bear Stare.”
You remember Alf, the little brown alien from Melmac
You knew all the characters names and their life stories on “Saved By The Bell.”
You used to wear those stick on earrings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes.
You’ve gotten creeped out by “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”
You know the Macarena by heart.
Talk to the hand … enough said
You thought Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) would finally take over the world.
You remember when Michael Jackson was not so creepy but really cool!
You owned a bag of marbles!
Computer’s hadn’t taken over your life
Neon was cool
You owned every single Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle accessory.
The phrase “I am the terror that flaps in the night…” Still get you a little excited!
You always said, “Then why don’t you marry it!”
You remember when everyone went slinky crazy.
—
When we were younger:
Before the MySpace frenzy.
Before the Internet & text messaging.
Before Sidekicks & iPods.
Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX.
Back when you put off the 5 hours of homework you had every night to play outside with your friends.
WHEN LIGHT UP SNEAKERS WERE COOL
When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.
When we recorded stuff on VCRs
When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.
—
Way back.
Tag.
Hide-n-Go Seek at dusk.
Red Light, Green Light.
Hopskotch.
Slip-n-Slides.
Tree Houses.
Hula Hoops.
Reading R.L. Stine’s Goose Bumps and Fear Street
Running through the sprinklers.
That “Little Mermaid”
Crying when Mufasa died in the Lion King. Every time you watched it.
Getting the privilege to sit in the front seat of the car.
Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons in your PJ’s still wrapped up in your TMNT, Power Rangers, Barbie, Fairy Princess comforter.
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school.
When Christmas was the most exciting time of year.
When Toys R Us overruled the mall.
—
Go back to the time when:
Decisions were made by going ‘eeny-meeny-miney-moe’.
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming ‘do over!’
Money issues were handled by whoever was banker in ‘Monopoly’.
It wasn’t odd to have two or three ‘best’ friends.
Being old referred to anyone over 20.
Scrapes & bruises were kissed & made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the ‘big people’ rides at the fair.
When playing Nintendo was the hardest thing ever.
—
Before we realized all this would eventually disappear
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU’D MISS THE 90’S SO MUCH!!!!

Boredom can lead to making up silly songs…

I’m slightly bored.

But you probably could have deduced that from the title of this blog post…

For some annoying reason, I have a song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC stuck in my head – the one about some of her favourite things. You know what I’m talking about… right?

Quite some time ago, I was wondering how I would put a few of my favourite things into a song (yip, blame it on Julie Andrews and whoever wrote the lyrics). And now, here at work, a line popped into my head: “puppies and kitties and ponies in pockets”.

Starting to scare myself…

If you’re a child of the 80s and 90s, you probably know what I’m talking about – the Puppies and Kitties in my Pocket you could collect and play with. This later extended to Ponies and Teddies, as well. I’ve noticed over the last few years that these little pocket critters are back… at a laughably high price, I might add.

But all that aside (and not to sound very foolish and silly by talking about what marketers thought you would keep in your pocket since they were so small, not that I believe that any of us did carry them around with us), here is what a moment of boredom ‘inspired’ – a few verses from that favourite things song, now more suitably titled: “A few of our childhood memories”.

If anyone ever finds me doing something like this again, plus feel free to pull a Garfield on me and proverbially drag met out into the street and shoot me.

—–

A Few of our Childhood Mem’ries

[Verse 1]

puppies and kitties and ponies in pockets

girls with their make-up and boys with their rockets

make-believe stories and climbing up trees

these are a few of our childhood mem’ries

[Verse 2]

video games for the boys and the girls

playing we’re pirates or doing some twirls

running and falling and scraping of knees

these are a few of our childhood mem’ries

[Verse 3]

‘camping’ in bedrooms and wanting to bake

not worried ‘bout waistlines so “let them eat cake”

driving mums crazy, then afternoon z’s

these are a few of our childhood mem’ries

[Chorus]

Barbie concerts

fancy dress up

birthday parties galore –

thinking of all the dear childhood mem’ries

and missing them mooore… aaand more

So am I also supposed to wear my PJs like they did in the movie if I ever decide to sing this song out loud??