the mickey mouse showdown

as if junior high wasn't difficult enough for a girl, i somehow managed to meet and face my true nemesis in the 7th grade without even trying. now, when i say nemesis, i mean a girl who believed i was out to get her and her precious jacket, when in reality, i had no idea who she was to begin with. in fact, she only became my nemesis after the awkward confrontation or what i refer to as the mickey mouse showdown. you might be wondering why mickey mouse? well, my nemesis wore a mickey mouse club varsity jacket and apparently agreed to protect it to her death. hence, the mickey mouse showdown.

the day of the showdown was just another average school day. i remember standing in the breezeway by my locker after lunch. my friend had asked me to get something out of her locker for her. remembering this task, i went to her locker and began putting in the combination she had given me. i was on my third failed attempt of opening her locker when my nemesis showed up. she tapped my shoulder and asked me what i was doing. before i could answer, she began ranting and raving about how i was planning on stealing her beloved mickey mouse club varsity jacket and that she was going to turn me into the principal. during this rant, she successfully opened her locker.

meanwhile, thoughts started flashing through my mind. (why is my friend locker partners with this maniac? what jacket is she talking about? and more importantly, who is this girl???) during my inner monologue, my nemesis had pulled a picture off the locker door and was now walking towards me, her arm fully extended. the next thing i know, she is pushing the picture against my forehead warning me never to try to steal her jacket again. (again, what jacket?? i don't know what you are talking about.) all these questions were lost as she passionately pressed the picture she'd taken from the locker against my pre-teen, shiny forehead. (was this really happening? was she calling me on by pressing a piece of paper into my flesh?? this girl is nuts!!! ) shocked and still trying to figure out what was going on, she dramatically pulled her thumb away from the picture. my eyes followed the picture as it slowly fluttered from my forehead and landed on the floor in silence. no one spoke. by now people were surrounding us watching with anticipation. i then looked up, and she was gone.

at this moment, i realized i had just survived my first girl fight. sure, no punches were thrown, no hair was pulled, no one got slapped, and no one was bitten, but her actions were hostile. and, YES, technically i hadn't had a chance to retaliate, but none the less, i had survived. i slowly made my way back to my locker. the surrounding crowd started to dissipate. evidently, my nemesis felt she needed to scream at me, press a picture to my forehead, and then leave. i never had another incident involving her and her jacket, but i will FOREVER remember her as my nemesis.

fyi: 5 years later, she still had and WORE her mickey mouse club varsity jacket. (sigh)

1. her birthday: july.

2. best physical feature: petiteness.

3. embarrassing moment: u.s. postal office

4. a secret we share: one word, conspiracy.

5. why she inspires me: selfless.

6. one of her strengths: humor, laughter.

7. something she has given me:happiness

8. one word that describes her:beautiful. (i know cheesy but, on the inside and out. and i think the title of the picture is perfect of manda, 'another beautiful show'

1. red data in july, 2. look petite 'explosion', 3. Letter Box, 4. conspiracy box., 5. Striped Feetsies + Jeans, 6. Thoughts......, 7. Laughter Captured, 8. I Love New York, 9. Another beautiful show

mosaics

inspired by dani's blog post, i created my own version of the mosaic by answering the following questions.

1. her birthday 2. best physical feature 3. embarrassing moment 4. a secret we share 5-7. a few of her favorite things 8. why she inspires me 9. one of her strengths 10. something she has given me 11. one word that describes her 12. a random like

erin's mosaic

photo credits: pics provided by flickr

1. Traffic TTV: February 6, 2. Night London Eye Green Colors, 3. torn pants (version 2), 4. Uros Petrovic - Old White King, 5. The Road Less Traveled By, 6. Breaking the Sound of Music, 7. A Puzzle of Paint, 8. Creative independence, 9. Acceptance, 10. There IS Nothing Random ABout HER Acts Of KINDNESS - MARCH CONTEST WINNER, 11. compassion, 12. Havin FUN shopping =P

dani's mosaic

photo credits: pics provided by flickr

1. Tonight's Moon, 2. Medicine of my smile, 3. Rock Climbing Protection, 4. window peeper, 5. My Favorite Field., 6. Day 136: And we wear special shoes to beat the path to my house..., 7. Sub zero Refrigerator/Freezer, 8. Original illustration: Three little birds., 9. 10 Eroding belief, 10. kindness, 11. Commonroy - Passionate Ones CD Cover, 12. seashell structure

my faith in humanity

the act of falling down usually requires some degree of coordination or the lack thereof. to fall means to leave a standing or erect position suddenly, whether voluntarily or not. and in most cases, well, let's just say in my case, it's usually not. i was currently a junior at college. it was early in the morning, and i had just finished my first class in the business building on campus. before i continue with this story, it is necessary to describe my stature. i'm a 5' tall girl who diligently masquerades around as a 5'4" to 5'5" tall girl. i generally have 4 to 5 inch heels on at all times. mainly because i enjoy being able to look into the eyes of some of my peers, but also to help my neck from being permanently kinked in an upward position. being as tall as the average 6th grader walking amongst college giants translated as potential trample danger, and i wasn't going to be college road kill. in addition to my daily stilts, i hauled around a back pack the size of a small cow. okay, it wasn't that big, but it dang near weighed as much as i did. individually, these circumstances spelled disaster, but together, it spelled guaranteed disaster...you'll see. back to the story...i had just finished my first class and was headed towards my second. i joined the mass of people filtering through the double doors onto the patio outside. i began walking up the stairs when my back pack/shoulder bag/half of a cow slid from my hip to the front of my body. the sheer weight of the bag and my stilt-like state caused me to plummet to the ground, and by ground, i mean, concrete stairs. i actually fell down while walking up the stairs. in addition, the mass of people continued to walk around me. i momentarily felt like i was in the middle of the red sea as the people separated (making 2 huge walls around me) to avoid trampling me on the stairs. while laying on the stairs, in a somewhat upright position, i chuckled to myself and then the reality of the situation hit home. i silently cursed my cow-sized bag and short legs when i realized that not a single soul had asked if i was all right. moreover, i didn't even get a snicker or giggle from the sea of approaching people. i knew i wasn't invisible, so the lack of acknowledgement translated in my mind as apathy. it was this moment that i lost all faith in humanity. honestly, is it too much to ask for a little recognition or at least a smothered giggle for the unfortunate fool spread across the ground? come on, people!! as it turned out, it was. sadly, i picked myself up, dusted the concrete residue off my clothes, checked to make sure i could stand upright, swung my cow-sized bag back on my hip, and continued walking up the remainder of the stairs. it wasn't until later that week that my faith in humanity was restored. this act also involved a campus, rough terrain, and stilt-like foot apparel, but this time it was my friend, and i will let her tell you that story.

jessica rabbit.

i personally want to thank amanda for making our icons anatomically correct and giving my 2-d image bigger boobs than the rest of yours. and let me tell you, thanks to my most recent adventures in dairy production, my dangerous curves turned hearty kids menu are large enough to warrant their own zip code. i even got a "lord have mercy!" from some hayseed at the walmart the other day. i don't know what is most embarrassing about that story: the fact that i was at walmart, the girth of my chest, or the type of crowd my girth is attracting. i long for the days of my junior high mosquito bites... or maybe that was elementary school.

the B is silent!

have you ever had one of those days that just rocks you to your core? a light bulb moment or perhaps a realization or a glimpse of what a fool you had been making of yourself in previous years? well, i happened to have one of these so called light bulb moments at the age of 24. my mom, my sister, and i were driving down the street. we were on our way to town. i don't remember what we had planned, but i remember being excited. i know this because i sat upright and forward in my seat. sitting in the backseat of my mom's ford escape, i positioned myself between the two front seats by placing my elbows on the middle console. i began telling my mom and my sister a story. half way through the story i mention that i was trying to be subtle. now, for the majority of you who read the previous sentence and pronounced subtle correctly, well, i commend you. i said it like this...i was trying to be suB-tle. yes, i pronounced the silent B. my sister giggles and says, don't you mean subtle? (she said it correctly, not pronouncing the silent B). i answer, "no, i mean suB-tle." why? then the light bulb moment occurred. seriously, i had lived the first 24 years of my life believing the word subtle was pronounced suB-tle. nobody had corrected me before, and i liked the word, so i know i used it frequently. why hadn't anyone ever said, "dear, the B is silent." i was flabbergasted that no one besides my sister had ever asked me what i was saying. curious now, i continue to ask, "are there any other words that i pronounce incorrectly...or are there other silent letters that i fail to recognize as silent letters?" fireworks and light bulbs were going off in my head like it was the fourth of july. various public speeches, oral reports, and everyday conversations started playing through my head...omg! the humiliation. seriously, suB-tle! and no one told me...come on, people, next time try not being so suB-tle and help a girl out!

Gad Shimron once said, " In espionage, like in police work, there is nothing better than having a woman accomplice on hand..." In high school and college there was nothing like having a whole crew of girls, your best friends being an accomplice to espionage especially to the high school morp dance. (Girls choice dance.)There was a huge group of people going, and I did not want to be one of those people. I hated school dances. Really. Especially the dancing part, and the asking part. And the awkward door scene.

For some reason manda, erin, and jana decided not to go. We decided we were all going to try our hand at espionage. We got the plans of the big group. They were going to a big park, and a house later that night for night games. So that night we all piled in the sea foam green skeen van. We had our special black clothing and binoculars, and I think we had walkie talkies. If not, what were we thinking! Nonetheless so we got to oak lawn park and ran through the trees and we spied. Nobody saw us. And I don’t know if they would have cared personally, I think it was fun just running through the trees. I remember it was gorgeous! The barker field. It had been raining and there we stood surrounded by fields and mist. And jana was blowing our cover. She had a black sweater, with a white shirt underneath, and she took it off to cover her hair because she did not want to straighten her hair the next day, well that was another matter. So we got out of there, and decided to go to the house that everyone was meeting at later that night to play night games.

I remember I had my new Ralph Lauren shorts on. Everyone else was in jeans. It was dark and we had to climb fences. Which make me nervous. I am gangly and awkward. Well as we were spying, and it all happened so quickly. I remember being chased, more importantly, someone said that someone saw us, and they began to chase us, but I am pretty sure what they saw was their shadow or a cat. It most defiantly was our imaginations. Maybe someone ‘thought’ we were being chased to make it all too exciting. I remember we had to hop over that ghastly fence again. I was the last one. The only one wearing shorts. The fence was chain link with sharp twisters at the top. Nonetheless, I got caught; I did not clear the fence. And there I was hanging in midair, not by my britches but by the skins of my hide.

This is what I do remember clearly, I remember laughter and lots of it. And I had to yell for them to get me down. Finally from what seemed like hours as they gained their composure, they got me off of the fence. I told them I was injured. Because I hurt real bad. They looked and saw one tiny gash. They then proceeded to tell me I was a wimp yadda yadda yadda. The night was over for me. I remember thinking why does it hurt so much? That tiny gash, couldn’t be causing this much discomfort? I asked them to take me home; they said they would only after we stopped to wash the van. It was covered in mud from our excursions.

I was dropped off and hurting real bad. But I took one for the team. (I kept telling myself that.) The first thing I did was go to the bathroom, dropped my britches and looked in the mirror, to see 3 large long gashes. Then the tiny scratch. I screamed in horror. My shorts were ruined, with holes, and blood, and my hide was gashed open and not just 1 gash but 3 long ones. My mom comes running in; I show her. She sleepily tells me I am okay, and tomorrow morning, first thing, we will go to the emergency room. I thought to myself, "Mother, it is not like we’re going to get an egg mcmuffin in the morning; I am wounded, and severely." I realized then how hardcore my mother was. She really was just tired. But still. (I was bleeding, but it was just oozing; nothing deadly, but still.)

That morning I for some reason put on chirstmas underwear. I, being naive, thought nobody would look down there. I do not know what I was thinking; I was going to the emergency room for that area alone. What did I think would happen? We go, and I remember having to tell my story 3 times. To the register nurse. The girl who took me back, and the doctor. The doctor checked me out, and he says…oohhhh. You really did yourself a number didn’t you! Nonetheless they could not stitch it up; it had been longer then a specific amount of hours, but he cleaned me up and ordered a tetanus shot.

As he is doing this, all kinds of people are coming in and out, and the doctor goes out to get something, and I hear him say, that girl in there is wearing chirstmas boxers! Telling all the folks he saw. Nonetheless I am laying on my stomach and the nurse is trying to give me a shot. I could not relax my arm. I was so nervous, he couldn’t give me the shot. My hide was exposed, and I was mortified, but everyone else just laughed. And I said to myself what I always said in situations like these since I was 7 or 8, “We’ll get em’; we’ll get those bastards!” -the tall one