Believe it or not, back when I wrote my original post there were more things I could’ve added but didn’t. Since everyone seemed to enjoy that post so much, I decided to make a sequel post! Enjoy!
1. When I was about 8 or so, I decided to don a backpack and fill it with thread. One end of the thread was tied to a plastic pirate hook, which I threw up to our second story deck while standing on the ground in an attempt to scale it. All of this was so I could be like the He-Man villian, Webstor.
2. When I was in fourth grade, I won a random drawing for a “Ducktales” themed prized, hosted by a local TV station and Burger King. My name got announced on TV during my afternoon cartoons and everything! I got a cool yo-yo and frisbee thing, but I also got a “one-size-fits-all” T-Shirt, which needles to say at 130 pounds, didn’t fit.
3. I have a favorite Teddy Bear, named Boo Bear, who I got when I was one day old (see the “groom” in the banner above). When I was 4, I took him to a local pizza joint, because I took him everywhere. When we got home, I realized he was gone, I had LEFT HIM THERE!!! Thinking that he might be gone forever, and trying to deal with this new empty hole in my life, my Uncle Billy called and told my parents that he had Boo Bear. It turns out that they went to the same pizza place as us, right after we left. They got the SAME BOOTH and recognized the bear as mine. It’s amazing to think how one tiny detail (or in this case a few) could have altered a good chunk of my childhood (and our banner and wedding invitations)!
4. Back when I was a kid, Trix cereal had only three colors and came in the form of little balls, not the fancy fruit shapes of today. Occasionally I’d run into a piece that had a small hole in it, just a random imperfection. I was afraid of these pieces, as I thought they were going to turn into little mouths and start talking to me.
5. Speaking of irrational fears, certain sitcoms of the 80s (probably late 70s, too), were produced by a certain company whose mascot was a small house cat. I believe that they’re “title card” (or whatever its called) that used to appear at the end of the show was a spoof of the “MGM Lion”. The cat would make a little meow noise, or sometimes say “Meow!” This cat scared the living Hell out of me to the point that I had to leave the room, go to my parents room, and hide under their bed while covering my ears and singing loudly. Even as an adult, I’ve seen this cat and it’s freaked me out. Offending sitcoms that I remember were “Newhart” and “WKRP In Cinncinnati”.
6. I liked Crystal Pepsi.
7. When I was a kid, I had a “chemistry lab” in one of our bathrooms, which was basically a bunch of empty containers, food coloring, and sugar pills. Sometimes I’d bring in grass and rocks and stuff to mix into my potions. One day I mixed some grass pieces with water in a tupperware bowl, and called the mixture “Yum Yum Feast”. I brought one such mixture to the beach with my Mom and sister and spooned it into me right there in front of the other beach goers. I think my Mom may have been a little embarrassed.
8. When I was 10 I was waiting in the car at the bank with my sister, while my parents went in. A man got into a black pickup truck beside us with a german shepherd and drove off casually. Another man ran out into the trees in front of our car holding a bag and looking behind him. My parents came out a few minutes later to tell us that the bank had just been robbed. The cops wanted to know if we had seen anything, and naturally I told them all about the guy in the truck and not the running man.
9. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
10. When I was very young, maybe 4 or 5, there was a show on prime time TV called “V”. All I remember about it was these aliens that were living amongst us in human disguises (although wearing red spacesuits). They’d rip off their faces and be this green alien “lizard” (as I called them ) underneath. My Mom got a red and black bathrobe, similar to the look of the space suits. I spent an entire evening terrified that she was going to rip off her face, despite my parents’ efforts to convince me otherwise. After pulling at her cheeks several times, I finally conceded that my Mom was in fact was not an alien lizard.
11. When I was 14, I spent a night over at my best friend Corey’s house. His Mom bought us bagels for breakfast. One week later, I spent the night again. When we went looking for something for breakfast, Corey mentioned that they still had a bagel left, while casually picking up and dropping the bag. The bag make a “thunk” sound. Thus was the birth of “Mr. Bagel” who we kept in a Ziploc bag for many years. In fact, I just discovered his remains last fall while cleaning our garage…just an empty shredded Ziploc bag and mouse poop.
Wow my mouth dropped open for #8. Whew!
#9 Christopher said under gun and liverty
#11 ewww
Enjoyed it. For the record I am still not fond of Scooby doo. I did watch it as a kid but with the volume down. I was also not thrilled by the remake of V. I did not entertain trying to scare myself with the 21st century version.
LOL@Mr Bagel.
I just love ya'll so much! Thanks for sharing, seriously. You and Jenn have become part of my mornings….even on weekends when I try (try) to get some sleep. Yep, country music videos and neat people from Maine. Hey, do ya'll know Stephen King? He's my fav, I have a few first editions…. I assume that since Maine is so small….lol! Ya'll keep writing, keep sharing. Truly a gift.
I remember the kitty cat–I think the production company was Mary Tyler Moore's, with the initials MTM (thus the take-off on MGM). I could probably Google all that, but I'm lazy. For "Newhart" I'm pretty sure the "meow" was actually Bob himself.
As to the bathroom chemistry lab–my sisters and I (along with a particular set of family friends), used to create what we called "potions" by mixing all sorts of actual chemical crap in the sink–bathroom cleaner, mouthwash, dandruff shampoo. It was probably actually dangerous to be combining all those chemicals like that, which might explain the degree to which my mother flipped out when she discovered our secret!
Lastly, I remember "V," but was older when I saw it so I never suspected any family members of being lizards in disguise. I was, however, very convinced during a particularly feverish afternoon (I had pneumonia) that the Russians had replaced my grandmother with an exact replica humanoid robot. My delusion fell apart when I couldn't answer the question, "What the hell would the Russians want to spy on us for?"