musings a go go

Jared and I are so sick of being cooped up in our place during the weekends. We do not have a porch and when we hang around outside in the sunny beautiful air, there are tons of kids running around and playing, so we tend to stay inside. Everyone that lives in our complex works at the hospital across the street and are either nurses, interns, or doctors and all their kids play together outside, taking over our precious little Florida space. We are NOT going to stay cooped up in the mausoleum (the walls are so thick b/c it is supposedly hurricane proof--can't even get a good cell phone signal in there)--we are either going to Silver Springs, Rainbow Springs, or Daytona. Maybe not Daytona since it is spring break right now, but Monday I'll have some pics of SOMEPLACE we went just to get out of the house. But on Sunday, we are trying to entice Sabrina to come to our place for a matinee with heavy hors d'oeurvres to rewatch "Gone With The Wind". Please come!

Haven't you wanted to cover your whole set of furniture in glitter? Or maybe learn the fine cuisinal art of charring food? Now you can, and much more, on Martha today. Check it out on Martha's website: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=learn-cat&id=cat21654&date=March%2031,%202006&_requestid=45425

Woolco is another store from my childhood that is gone with the wind. It was the mass market/discount spin off store of Woolworth's. This was a late response due to S.S. Kresge Corporation, the predecessor of Kmart, converting their 5 and dime stores into K-marts. I can still remember the distinctive red W on the store fronts of the Woolcos. The one I remember most was the anchor of Mellor Park Mall in El Dorado--it eventually went out of business in 1982 (they all officially went out of business in 1983) and some were converted into Wal-Mart's as in the case in El Dorado. Anyway, Stephanie and I were sharing a memory about a pen I got at Woolco's in El Dorado during their "going out of business sale". It was a mouse shaped pen with the nose being the pen tip. Notice in the picture, the store is closing--LOL.

I am getting the blues these days with my blog--Do people read it? Maybe it is because it is boring--it is basically nostalgia mixed with what is going on in my own little world in Florida after growing up in rural Arkansas, going to college and living in Monroe, LA for 10 years. I think I'm going to have to spice it up a bit by including Jared in it--the most fabulous person in the world--wait until you get to know him--you'll never be the same again!! Maybe you will realize how crazy my life really is--LOL. Here is a picture of him.

Once upon a time, back in 1982, I was seven, and went on vacation to central Florida with my parents, brother, sister, and grandmother. We left from Crossett Arkansas to stay in the Tampa area with my aunt and uncle. Coming from a rural community--west of West Crossett with hardly any restaurant chains, I was fascinated by everything--McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Jack In The Box, Holiday Inn, Howard Johnson's--I loved seeing new things and I loved the chains and the signs and anything affiliated with them. Anyway, on this particular trip, we stopped for breakfast at a restaurant called Sambo's. Then for lunch we stopped at a restaurant called Sambo's. And of course, for dinner, we ate at a restaurant called Sambo's. This was a Denny's/Shoney's type of restaurant, and after they went out of business in 1983, they turned into Denny's. Guess why they went out of business? Could it be something to do with racism? Yes, you guessed it. Poor management of a sprawling chain (where employees earned shares of Sambo's restaurants and eventually got their own stores without having the financial means to support it) and public outcrys and boycotts for the name. I am showing a picture of what they used to look like, inside and out, along with the old Sambo's building in my town that has now turned into a blood bank.

This weekend, Jared and I went to The Villages, an extraordinary retirement community about 15 minutes south. It is fully self contained with a fake Disney-esqe Spanish Mission style facade on every building--it has shopping galore--every store that can be found in a mall can be found here. Everyone rides everywhere on golf carts (or Lincolns or Cadillacs--LOL). It has great shopping and it is very remarkable. Here is their website. See the slide show for Spanish Springs. You will be amazed....http://www.thevillages.com/index2.htm

Since when did a cigar smoking rat turn into a child-like mouse? When I was little and would visit the Chuck E. Cheese in Monroe, it was a lot different back then. First of all, the main concept was NOT the pizza or the games, but it was all about the audio-animatronic show by Chuck E. and others. This company was founded by the founder of Atari, and focused mainly on robotic stage shows (of which I was frightened--when the lights went off and the music stopped, the robots would still be twitching and seizing--it was horrible for me). Anyway, during the early 80s their competitor was Showbiz Pizza Palace which had the same sort of audio animatronic performances, except this time with a bear and his band (think of Disney's Country Bear Jamboree). These two competitors merged in the late 80s (actually Showbiz bought out Chuck E. Cheese and kept the name because it was more recognizable). Soon after this, though, a business called Discovery Zone was the main competitor (remember the commercials of the kids going down slides into a ball pit "I'm D Z for Discovery Zone", and in the 90's Chuck E. Cheese bought out Discovery Zone and now there is just Chuck E. Cheese. Oh, but this Chuck E. Cheese is different. Skee-Ball and video games are still there along with the pizza, but now there is a salad bar, and all the elaborate audio-animatronics is gone with the wind. Of couse it doesn't matter to the children these days, because it is still fun, but my main memories are of a dog robot dressed like Elvis singing Elvis songs, along with a whole score of musical numbers with twitching robots. The whole restaurant would be dimmed and then the stage would light up and these scary machines would come to life. Click here to see the whole gamut of Chuck E. Cheese robots: http://rock_afire.tripod.com/characters/pttplayers.html

Don't forget to watch Martha on Monday to see Aretha Franklin cook with Martha Stewart on her show Monday morning--this should be interesting!

Does anyone else think the new Burger King is scary? Actually, when I was little their advertising campaign was similar to McDonald's with the Burger King, Duke of Doubt and other characters in a make believe land---even then I thought it to be creepy. Check out this website to see these old characters.

http://www.pop-arena.com/articles/burger.html

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the old campaign along with the new campaign--it is pretty interesting....

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Burger King used a mascot of the same name to advertise their meals. The "Burger King" was a bearded king, who ruled the Burger King Kingdom, along with other characters such as The Duke of Doubt (his arch nemesis), Burger Thing (a large burger puppet), Sir Shakes-A-Lot (a knight with a craving for Burger King milkshakes), and the Wizard of Fries (a robot powered by french fries).
You can see all these characters in the website above.....this is what they say about the new campaign....

The Burger King was brought back in late 2004, this time to advertise the chain's breakfast sandwiches. The character then had a commercial as part of the chain's promotion of the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The latest commercials feature the King on the field of several National Football League games (using archive footage from NFL Films), in a cross-promotion with the NFL and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket sports subscription package (in the promotion, a code entered from the wrapper from an Angus burger sandwich could net several prizes, including free access to the Sunday Ticket package). (NFL Your Way promotion). In another ad, a man wakes up to find the king lying next to him in bed, suggesting a subtle homoerotic theme of the new campaign [3]. Another set of advertisements which premiered during Superbowl XL featured the King orchestrating a broadway-type show of "Whopperettes" - women dressed as burger condiments and toppings.
The king's unique appearance may have spawned an internet phenomenon where he is seen as scary or evil, such as on sites like ytmnd. He is usually seen attacking other fast food mascots or replacing monsters of horror movies, usually accompanied by the phrase "Where is your god now?"

This is very interesting--it is from a study/survey from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. See if you agree...
The Average American is a U.S. or D.C. citizen, lives in the same home as five years previously, is a resident of their native state, resides in nation’s most average community, believes family is extremely or very important, is a high-school graduate, is in the paid labor force or working toward it, has at least one married couple in their home, has offspring, is regularly in bed before midnight, believes in God, is Christian, is respectful of others’ religions, attends church at least once a month, believes religion is “very important” in own life, and is respectful of all races.
The Average American is an annual moviegoer, lives in owner-occupied home, resides in one house (one-unit, detached), has direct access to one or two motor vehicles, has a home with a garage or carport, has a driver’s license, has two to four people residing in his or her home, regularly wears seat belt, who’s household has discretionary income, is in full-time paid labor force or retired from it, has at least one pet, is not trying to be nationally known, is satisfied with the way things are going in his or her personal life, supports current abortion laws, but believes the act of abortion is wrong, and supports the stricter enforcement of environmental regulations.
The Average American describes themselves as very or fairly happy, believes money can’t buy happiness, owns a home valued between $100,000 and $300,000, participates in recycling, has fired a gun, believes in the right to bear arms, is against public use of semiautomatic weapons, is in favor of registration or waiting lists for gun owners, believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option, and has gambled with money in at least one organized game of chance in the past year.
The Average American household has a craft or hobby, donates money to charity annually, gives time to charity annually, and has a net worth between $30,000 and $300,000. They live where there is at least 0.1 inches of snow annually, and where the average annual temperature is between 45 and 65 degrees. He or she is between eighteen and fifty-three years old, spends most of their time indoors, gets moderate exercise weekly, has health insurance, walks under their own power, weighs 135 to 205 pounds, lives in urbanized and suburban America, resides on zero to two acres, and has a private lawn.
The Average American supports the U.S. troops, drinks soda, drinks coffee regularly or occasionally, has an electric coffeemaker in the home, eats bread weekly, believes music can bring family closer together, has a stereo in the home, wears glasses and/or contacts to “correct his vision,” has all five senses, can read English, and can speak English fluently. His or her community mirrors the racial/ethnic make-up of the nation, claims their life is “impacted” by drugs or alcohol, opposes legalization of marijuana for recreational use, supports the use of pot for medicinal use, has visited the ocean, lives within 100 miles of the ocean, and lives in the Eastern-most time zones.
The Average American has consumed alcohol, considers homosexuality an acceptable alternative lifestyle, has color television, and cable service, has a DVD and/or VCR, commonly watches television daily. The Average American household’s per capita income is between $15,000 and $75,000, any primary weekday destination is within five 5 miles of home, their primary mode of transportation is the privately owned motor vehicle, lives in a home with a porch and/or deck and/or balcony and/or patio, has an outdoor grill at home, eats meat (red and white), has one to three registered voters in household, lives on a local road, files federal income-tax return and state income tax return, pays sales tax in state, eats ice cream at least once a month, lives within 2 miles of a public park, and uses recreational facilities annually.
The Average American’s chief local politician is a Democrat, and their local governing council is mostly Democratic. He or she reads a local newspaper daily, has read or has started to read at least one book within the past year, uses a landline phone, uses mobile phone on a regular basis. Their home is within range of cell service, they believe friends are “extremely” or “very” important, their home has a paved parking area to the garage or carport, their favorite way to spend the evening is in the home.
The Average American’s home is between ten and fifty years old, has between four and six living-purpose rooms, grew up within 50 miles of their current home, has a kitchen, a clothes washer, a clothes dryer, an automatic dishwasher, at least one full bathroom, brushes teeth daily, visits the dentist annually, showers daily, has a Christmas tree every year, has a credit card, ATM card, and household credit-card debt.
The Average American uses the Internet, has played video or computer games over the past year, is a football fan, is a baseball fan, has political viewpoints which are three, four, or five on a scale of one to seven, owns jeans, has done better financially than parents, has at least one living parent, and has at least one living sibling. They are represented by at least one Democratic U.S. senator and a Republican U.S. House representative, takes annual vacation time, has a listed phone number, eats at McDonald’s annually, lives within 3 miles of a McDonald’s, within twenty minutes of a Wal-Mart, shops at Wal-Mart annually, is between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 10-1/2 inches in height, and lives in the middle majority of the nation’s populated areas.

Who in Ashley County is old enough to remember the Magic Mart store in Crossett? It is where the Main Mall is on Main Street--if you look closely, Main Mall has the same amount of letters in it as Magic Mart, so they didn't have to really go out of the way to acheive that feat--only use the extra space for a hyphen. In fact the 70s lettering style on the side of the building actually came from the inside of the store--they were styrofoam letters that designated the different departments--this was before the monster called Wal-Mart came and disintegrated every discount/retail store in the area such as Howard Brothers (later simply called Howard's), Gibson's (in El Dorado), TG&Y (El Dorado and West Monroe), and of course K-Mart (El Dorado, Monroe, West Monroe). Wal-Mart came into existence in Crossett in 1977 (can you believe it?) and Magic Mart went out of business around 1982 or so--I may need Stephanie to help me with my facts--LOL. Anyway, what I was getting to is that Magic Marts are still around---they are in West Virginia and Kentucky. I just thought that was interesting....
Here is their website: http://www.magicmartstores.com/

Finally, I am able to post the pics of my "urban exploration" of Price Elementary. I have had to upload them one at a time and had such a hard time that I didn't even rotate some of them, but here they are as promised. Sorry for the delay!

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

Let me suggest to you a most delicious recipe that Jared cooked the other day--baked rigatoni. It is SUPERB! Of course it is a Martha Stewart recipe and believe it or not, it is not that complicated even though the sauce is homemade. The recipe is below and the picture is right before we ate it. Try this--It is a "good thing"--LOL.


Baked Rigatoni

Serves 8 to 10
This hearty pasta dish comes from John Barricelli, the manager of our prep kitchen at the television studio. It can be made the day before and reheated.


3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 six-ounce can tomato paste

2 twenty-eight-ounce cans unpeeled crushed tomatoes in purée

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon coarse salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste

1 pound rigatoni

2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1 1/2 pounds whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add tomato paste, and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and sugar. Season with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add rigatoni, and cook, stirring occasionally, 9 minutes. Drain in a colander, and rinse under cool water until cool. Set aside.

3. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to break up any large pieces, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta with half of the mozzarella. Stir to combine. Season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.

5. To assemble, spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add half of the rigatoni in an even layer. Spread with 1/2 cup sauce, ricotta mixture, sausage, and 1 cup more sauce. Top with remaining rigatoni, and 1 1/2 cups sauce. Any remaining sauce may be reheated and served on the side or reserved for another use. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the top to cover. Place baking dish on a baking sheet, and transfer to oven. Bake until bubbly, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.

Like many elementary students in Crossett, I attended Price Elementary. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1978 destroyed the original building (which part of that still remains). This new building was completed in 1979 just in time for me to start kindergarten in 1980. I remember this school so well, had many great teachers, and learned a lot in this new "modern" building. It was a colorful school, with each teacher's door painted a bright yellow, orange, blue, etc. I attended Price from 1980-1986. Two separate times, once during the third grade (in 1984) the school was deemed unsafe due to it sinking in the ground and I remember cracks in the wall and the floors buckling--every grade had to go to a different place (third grade went to First Baptist Church and used the Calhoun cafeteria for lunch and presentations). The other time we were in the fifth grade and had to go to Hastings. My mom was a teacher at North Crossett Elementary and instead of having her three kids go to three different places, during this time she enrolled us at North Crossett so it would be easier. Even though Price has a rather unsafe history, I still have fond memories of it. Now, don't be shocked by these pictures of this modern school---a lady lives in there and operates a penny saver type newspaper out of Mrs. Vought's room (my old kindergarten room) and has a dog that has defecated all up and down the hallways. I simply knocked on the lower grade entrance until this lady came to the door and I explained that I wanted to tour it and she obliged. The pictures I took are of: the lower elementary hall with the office on the left, the upper elementary hall with the teacher's lounge on the right, the bright blue doors are where the library was (can anyone say "Dewey Decimal System" like Miss Porter?), the fountain thing was where boys and girls, when they came out of the restroom washed their hands--you stepped on a bar and water would come out--the stairs lead up to the stage in the "cafetorium" and there is a picture of the lunch room (where the lunch line was and the lunch ladies served the food) and there is still even that hole where you placed your tray when you were finished. The big open space that is cluttered with junk was the cafetorium. What a waste and what such memories of this place.

// posted by andy @ 11:32 AM 3 comments

More pictures from Silver Springs. Did you know that Florida is the only state that has a monkey population? Over one hundred years ago, a man populated an island near Silver Springs with hundreds of rhesus monkeys. Of course, these monkeys are some of the few that can swim so they repopulated themselves around the state and from North Florida all the way down to Central Florida you can find the random rhesus monkey in the woods. Here is a picture of one.

Sorry I have neglected my blog, but my mom, dad, and grandmother stayed from Saturday until this morning (Wednesday). I am sad that they left, but we all had a good time. I am going to post some pictures of my parents at Silver Springs. Silver Springs was the "premier" Florida attraction and many tv shows and movies have been filmed there. If you have heard of the "famous" glass bottom boats, this is where it is. My mom and dad enjoyed themselves so much, they bought me a season pass. Of course, I prefer the "Mouse House" as people call it...

Did anyone read this book when they were a child? I did, and I loved it. It was very much a picture book about a town called Chewandswallow whose only weather came three times a day as food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was very cute and I remember it to this day. In the second grade at Price Elementary in Crossett, twice we students got to pick out a book each. This was sponsored by the RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) program, and this book was one of the choices. I, however did not pick this book--the two books I picked were Crictor (the story of an elderly French woman and her pet snake) and Potato Chips and a Slice of Moon (a collection of poetry). My friend Christopher Harris picked Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and he picked The Witches Catalog (more on that later). I loved those two books.....anyway, fast forward to 2006--I was at the library this weekend (I love going there) and decided on a whim to visit the children's section to see if I could find the book and I did! I not only found that book, but a sequel to it which was written in 1997! The sequel is called Pickles to Pittsburgh, and I checked both of them out, along with an Encyclopedia Brown book and a few Nancy Drew books--haha. They are cute and are very good books to give as gifts to neices and nephews around 5-8.

I know, I know, the packaging is fabulous and it seems like it is a great product, with the name of Blistex, after all. BUT, I bought this the other day and it is a very bad product. I do agree that the ads and packaging are genius--3 aromatherapy lip balms, and you know I have to have something on my lips all the time! I love lip balms, so I thought this was down my alley, BUT, immediately after applying any of the three kinds, it wears off FAST and leaves your lips dry. I mean DRY--dryer than before. I even tried it at night and had to keep applying all night. NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY. Of course I wrote a complaint letter and had to provide the batch numbers to the customer service manager (who claims it was the batch) but he is sending me tons of free things in the mail, so I guess the experience wasn't that bad. I'll stick with Carmex and Burt's Bees, thank you.

OK, y'all. I should have waited until I get everything set up, but I just can't help myself. A movie of the TV show Dallas is currently in the process of being made. John Travolta as J.R. Ewing, I can stomach, but Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen baffles me. As a child I remember Sue Ellen being drunk, throwing liquor in J.R.'s face and then smashing the glass into the wall. She was fabulous. I can't picture J Lo portraying this character--I mean, come on--Apparently this former TV series as a movie will go the way that most lately have gone--it will SUCK and all the soul of the series will be sucked out. I emailed the producers and told them as much--I told them that I was against J Lo portraying Sue Ellen. I do that a lot--I write a lot of complaint and complimentary letters. What do y'all think? A big bootied latina throwing drinks in J.R.'s face just isn't going to be the same. Here is the link to keep you posted about the progress of the film: http://www.ultimatedallas.com/movie/. Let me know what you think.

This is a "soft launch" of my blog. I hope to add more and get more involved in it later. Thanks to Stephanie with her fabulous blog, Dubious Achievements, to get me hooked on blogging. I am excited about this new opportunity to share my musings about the trivial, the obvious, the innane, and the important aspects about my life. Right now, I am getting ready to be off work on Monday and Tuesday, because my mom, dad, and grandmother are coming to Florida to stay with me during their Spring Break. This will prove interesting, to say the least. I will share some photos later and post periodically about the visit.