October 15, 2016- More Toys and Childhood Fun Part 3

I was a little jealous that Kathy had that Barbie Styling Head and the Cher doll. I had fun reading her Archie and Friends comic books. We also enjoyed playing her Family Feud game. Terry had an Easy Bake Oven; I wished that I could have one too.

   We made a tent by putting sheets over our swing set. Cindy and Jessica were in it too. We used a blanket over a card table to make a cave in our basement. I made a camper out of a cardboard storage box and blanket over this. I slept inside of it with my Kerri doll.

   Was it just mom or both of our parents that made us a hut/cave out of the limbs and branches from the tree that we had cut down in our yard? One of my favorite childhood photos is of us in this. I’m wearing my Rocky and Bullwinkle sweatshirt and holding my Kerri doll. We would sometimes climb up the Christmas type tree in our front yard, Mike more so than me.

   Some other outdoor fun included bike riding, the tree swing at Grandma’s farm, badminton, Frisbee, lawn darts, playing in the leaf piles, our sandbox, and building snowmen. We made a snow fort once with Kelly. Mom helped Mike and I make a house out of the big cardboard box from our new fridge.

   
   I remember Cindy, Jessica, Mike and I were having such a good time on the swings up by the town school but then a little later something scary happened to my brother. He fell off of the monkey bars and had trouble breathing for a bit.

   Kelly and I played tennis there once but we gave up after only a little while. I was so bad at this. My parents had bought me a Miss Chris (Evert) racquet on clearance at either Service Merchandise or Consumers; I still have it.

  Some crafts that I did were making a couple of Shrinky Dinks over at my friend Michelle T’s house and the Make It – Bake It kits (which were like stained glass window decorations) with my brother.

   I botched up a Merry Christmas latch hook rug that I made though. Mom did a cute koala one. I was better at Punch Embroidery. We were into that craft in the mid-late 1980s. I still have the raccoon one that I made. Thank goodness that my cousin gave it back to me before moving to Florida. I let her temporarily take it to hang in the craft store that she was manager of.

   Mom was into the Tri-Chem paint craft in the late 70s and early 80s. The catalog from that company had some very nice pictures. She did a raccoon one for me which is hanging in my room. She also made a religious one for our grade school principal. I used the paint to do drawings on stuff like a t-shirt and the pillow case that I kept my Girl Scout sleeping bag in. 

   Is it weird that I actually liked the smell of that paint? Probably yes. I also have 2 little pictures – a dove that mom did and one of a doggie done by our babysitter Dina. She wrote the name of our dog, Rusty, on the sweater that it is wearing.

 

1975

1975

1975

1974

1975

Shrinky Dink

 

Make It Bake It 1979

Tri-Chem picture

photo for our school principal

 

 

 Internet photos- #1-7, Make It Bake It leaf, Tri-Chem Paints and religious photo.

Dreamtime-

July 1, 2013- Tennis Event and JT

I was at a tennis event.  Part of it involved a fashion show with some of the players in it at a hotel. I showed up in the holodeck program for this right as this show was about to start. There were no seats in this room though which was odd. A section of 3 rows up in front was reserved. I was in the 4^th row.  There were about 160 people in the audience.

    I saw someone who looked like John Taylor in the front row; it was him.  I overheard him telling a young, beautiful girl that his wife wouldn’t be here because she was sick. He was wearing black pants; a red, white and black shirt, and a black jacket with a bit of red in it. I got a little nervous when looking at him. Part of me was wishing that I could talk to him.

   Two tall guys were standing in front of me so I had some trouble seeing the show. There wasn’t really any stage which was odd. The guys came out first. I got an okay view of Djokovic, and Tsonga. But the view of Melzer wasn’t as good which was very disappointing.

   The female players were next- A. Radwanska, Vesnina, and Ivanovic. Theirs and the men’s outfits were sporty and/or casual. They were all nice- nothing too strange like at some fashion shows that I’ve seen clips of on TV.

   I was wondering why Sam didn’t include Haas in this storyline. He hasn’t been in one in a long time.  This is sort of weird, since he is my favorite player. I should just be happy that I got to see a few of the other players that I like.

   The next part would be the men and women coming out together, in pairs. Something strange and annoying happened before this though. It was as if the program had been reset and now I was further back.  Around 60 additional people were in front of my row, so I was in the 7^th one now.

  The pairings for this part of the event were Ivanovic and Tsonga, Djokovic and Vesnina, and Melzer and A. Radwanska. The outfits that they were in now were much fancier than the previous ones. I liked Radwanska’s emerald green dress.

   I found out that these players and others would be in a couple of the conference type rooms signing autographs for a couple of hours that night. Only the people who had been at the fashion show and about 100 others would be able to take part in this.

    I wanted Melzer’s autograph but was too afraid to approach him for it. I just stood across the room and watched other fans talking to him. I basically was there to observe, not to interact which I’m not that good at. Sometimes in the holodeck I don’t have the social anxiety but this time.

   I went out into the hallway after about 20 minutes. I was about to go into the 2^nd room but when I saw John talking to someone over by the front door in the lobby, I went over to a nearby souvenir booth, pretending to be browsing and eavesdropped for a little while. It’s so bad that I was being nosy.

    I walked towards the other conference room but stayed outside of it for a few minutes. John was now over by the elevator; I guess that he’d be staying here for the night. I know that I wasn’t a guest at this hotel; the info for a cheaper motel where I’d be at for a few days was in my purse.

   I acted as if I was heading towards the restrooms just so I could walk past John. I should not have done this; it felt as if I were stalking the guy. That’s what my brother would’ve said about what I was doing like he did about me going to his 2 book signings in reality.

    I sort of wanted to say hello when I got closer to him but was afraid to. I was so surprised when he actually said hi to me and smiled. Yes, even in this fantasy world, I was slightly embarrassed to be thinking “What a lovely smile!” Just as I was about to say something to him, I was teleported back to my bedroom on Earth.

   The tennis was on my TV. I watched it for about 30 minutes.  I was thinking how nice that it would have been to have seen some matches at that event in the holodeck, esp. a Melzer one!  This was not a tournament that actually exists though; it was taking place somewhere in upstate New York.

   Maybe Sam had wanted to keep me there for longer but couldn’t because he was close to getting caught – humans are no longer allowed to be on his planet. I wonder if their government would ever reverse that law like he was hoping might happen someday soon.

Jurgen Melzer

September 6, 2015- US Open-Part 2

  

 I was only at a set and a half of a Tommy Haas match. He was playing against Verdasco who beat him in 5 sets. If I hadn’t watched a few games of Jelena Jankovic’s match, I would have seen some more of it. The court was so crowded that I had to stand.

   Mike came over to it after the Jankovic match which she lost. I didn’t see him until afterwards though. He got Verdasco’s autograph. I sort of wish that I had to but at the time I was mad that he beat my Haas.

   I had wanted to see Haas’ doubles match but I stayed with him for Errani. I wish that I had gone with the voice in my head that said to leave after the second set so I could at least see some of that. I ran over to that court afterwards but it was over.

   Luckily, they were still at the court signing autographs so at least I got to see him. Mike had already gotten that for me several years ago. I got a couple of nice photos of Haas.

    I wouldn’t even be into tennis if it wasn’t for Haas. I was depressed about Mom being in the hospital psych ward so I put the TV on to watch “The Price is Right” only it wasn’t on because the tennis coverage was.

    I saw 2 cute guys, Haas and Ginepri, which got me to keep this on. Then I was kind of getting interested in the actual sport that I used to think was boring. That was in 2006.

   Would I have watched it if they hadn’t been cute? Maybe not, which is so bad. Yikes, I am pretty embarrassed about this.

   I wish that I hadn’t been so afraid to go to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens for this event in 2007 and 2008. I would have gotten to see more of my favorite guys matches. I only got to see one Safin match which he lost against Melzer in 2009. He retired at the end of that year.

   I shouldn’t have been afraid to ask my brother to get his autograph for me after his practice session then. I was the same way about James Blake another year. Mike has gotten me at least 8 autographs of tennis stars.

   My brother has many more autographs of them than me. He even got Sania Mirza’s three times. And he calls me obsessive for getting John Taylor’s twice. He was at the Mirza/Hingis match then joined me for the Gasquet one.

   We saw Victoria Azarenka at an autograph signing booth. My brother sort of regrets not standing in line for this. We watched Djokovic on the practice court for a couple of minutes. As we were leaving the center on our 4^th and final night there, we saw Federer at the ESPN booth doing an interview.

   The long, tiring days were well worth it. One year we went the first 6 days of it; I think that was 2010. The 6^th day was a last minute decision. I really wanted to see Fish and Melzer in their 3^rd round matches. I didn’t get to see all of Melzer’s though because the Fish one was very long.

   I didn’t like Melzer when he beat my Safin but the following year when Haas was out with an injury I was rooting for him a lot. I went to 3 of his singles matches and 2 of his doubles (with Petzschner) then.

   This was our last time ever at that event. We had gone there for 7 straight years. It is no longer in our budget. Mike said that he might try to save up and go to it again in a couple of years but I won’t be able to do that.

Tommy Haas

Hewitt

Feliciano Lopez

Tommy Robredo

Fernando Verdasco

 

 

September 6, 2015- US Open - Part 1

I was watching Mardy Fish playing tennis on a court near a beach; he was part of a charity event. Lots of kids were at it. I hadn’t even known that he was going to be there. Mom, Mike, and I were on a vacation. Our motel was near this court. When I looked out the window, I could see him. I just had to get closer so I walked over to that area. I was so happy to see him.

   I wish that I could remember more details about this dream. There might have been more tennis stars at this event. I think that we were in Florida. Or it could have just been the Jersey shore. Fish has only been in one other dream of mine and that was a long time ago. He was playing doubles at a tournament in a park.

   I actually got up enough nerve to get Mardy’s autograph at the US Open last week. At first, I asked Mike to do so for me as he has with other tennis stars in the past. Well, now we both have it. Mike seemed a little surprised that I had done this.

   I had tried getting his autograph in 2010 (or was it 2011?) but was unsuccessful. I am so embarrassed that I was yelling out “Mardy, please” at one moment during this attempt. He retired this year. I will miss seeing him play.

   My brother and I pretty much stuck together this year as we did last year. Other years we would go our separate ways and only get together for some matches.

   We were in Louis Armstrong Stadium for all of Wednesday. Fish vs. Lopez was first. I like them both but wanted Fish to win which he didn’t. The woman’s match, Mattek-Sands vs. Vanderweghe was next; the former won that.

   Nadal was on last. I can’t even remember his opponent whom he defeated. He is usually on Ash which isn’t included in the grounds pass so we have never seen him before. My brother said that he would have left if it went on any longer. I would have stayed by myself if he had; no way was I going to miss out on any of this.

   We saw two French guys, Simon and Gasquet. Simon lost to the American, Donald Young. We both got Young’s autograph, as well as that of Gasquet, who won his match. I like Gasquet’s style; he is fun to watch.

   I was upset when I saw a couple tiny water spots on the daily schedule magazine that he signed afterwards. Did I get something on it? Maybe it was Gasquet sweat. Did I make it worse when trying to dab it dry with a napkin?

   I didn’t get to see my Italian guys, Seppi and Fognini. We saw his two Italian girls, Vinci and Errani. They used to play doubles together; we saw them in a match once.

 

Mardy Fish

Fish- autograph

Richard Gasquet

 

 

Nadal

Ostapenko and Errani (right)

Donald Young

 

Simon

 

August 24, 2015

I watched Rob Thomas on the “Today Show” this morning. I was wishing that I had gone to the Plaza to see him. I doubt that I would have won the fan pass for this. I just remembered that I had tried to do so for Luke Bryan 2 years ago but wasn’t lucky then.

   I could have seen Wrangler too; they had him outside. I am pretty sure that Rob and his wife are into helping abused and neglected animals. And pet adoptions organizations also. I am doubting my memory again.

   I shouldn’t have gotten excited about seeing Rob because my brother started telling me to calm down and did some other teasing about him too. I had watched part of the show upstairs and the 9:00 hour downstairs.

   I am glad that I went to that Matchbox Twenty concert a couple of years ago. I would love to see just Rob in concert too but that just isn’t in my budget. I was a bad girl and dipped into my auto repair fund for that DD private concert. I will have to do this for the MSG one also.

   Sharon said that I wasn’t crazy for wanting to skip a day at the Open if I have to for the ordering of a good ticket to that concert. I sure hope that I won’t have to though. She told me that I could always tell Mike that I have woman’s problems. I was thinking of that too.

   I should have written about my dream first thing this morning. It was entirely gone by 8:30 a.m. I just have the memory that it was a good one. Some people might say that it is weird that I even want to write about my dreams. What is so wrong about enjoying doing so; it is like a form of entertainment to me.

   I saved the pictures of the DD show that Jenny posted on Facebook. She is in one of them near the advertisement for this event. I had thought about taking a picture of that but didn’t.

    It was a blue and white Planet Earth shirt that Jenny was wearing, not a gold and black one. The girl at the August 1^st show had that color combo in a different style. I think that she said that this was part of her fan club membership, so she obviously is in the gold level.

   I looked up the membership info; you are able to get VIP tickets in the regular level. I wasn’t too sure about that. Should I even try doing so for the MSG show? How does that even work? At the 2011 MSG show, I think that the members were in a standing section near the stage, or were there folding chairs there?

   I am so embarrassed to admit that I would want to be on a certain side of the stage again, or even center would be good if I had to be. I should not be thinking so much about this. It wasn’t as much on my mind earlier in the day but now it is. Maybe that is because I listened to a John Taylor interview on the fan site.

   I did cringe a bit when he mentioned the 2 upcoming Port Chester shows. This was from the middle of July. I was trying to tell myself that cute guy and even some others- but probably not many- also are sharing in my disappointment about the missed encore. That does help a bit.

   I saw on either Facebook or Tumblr that John is on the cover of Bass Player magazine; is that an October issue? I was a little ashamed that I was thinking that he has such a nice smile in that photo. Someone else made such a comment and I was laughing a little on the inside.

    I hate that a part of me wants to buy this. I didn’t get it the last time that he was cover boy (or was this the British version of it?)  I did the time before that though.  It is kind of twisted that I was willing to get over my driving anxiety to look for this at B&N but didn’t do so for Billboard mag when DD was on the cover recently.

   I just saved some more photos of DD two days ago. You would think that I’d be sick of seeing them by now but part of me isn’t. I feel ashamed to admit that looking at and saving photos of them makes me happy. Even after being a bit mad at them for that encore incident.

   Maybe they were having technical problems that night and this is why they didn’t come back onto the stage until much later. I really need to stop thinking about this. I have analyzed it to death. I do feel really embarrassed that I got so emotional about it.

  I mentioned the shame topic in regards to DD a lot in this entry. I guess that I am not entirely over that issue. I am much better than I used to be though.

   As I was watching “American Pickers” yesterday, I was thinking that although it is nice that Mike and Frank have such an enthusiasm for what they are doing, I couldn’t help feeling jealous of them. I don’t seem to have such a passion for anything anymore. I’m wondering if I ever really did anyhow- it seems as if that love of reading was that of another girl and not me.

    I also had the thought that those 2 guys really know their stuff- bicycles, motorcycles, signs and more- which makes me feel like such an idiot. I don’t even have much or any knowledge about my interests because my brain isn’t capable of retaining it.  I know a little about things like dog breeds but not enough to talk even semi-expertly about them.

   I should really try focusing on the Mets game now. deGrom is pitching. I was watching the tennis a lot last week so I didn’t really get to see them much then. I am already thinking about what outfits that I want to wear at the Open next week; I always pre-plan this. I might even wear my Planet Earth one. Mike will probably get annoyed that I have 3 DD shirts but I don’t care.

Matchbox Twenty

Jacob deGrom

 

Note-both photos are from the internet

 

August 19, 2015

Mom probably will be calling me soon to ask me to pick her up from the senior center. It is food pantry day. I feel kind of anxious about having my projects interrupted. It is a little difficult to refocus on them afterwards.

   I forget last night’s dreams which I am even more upset about than usual because one of them had Duran Duran in it. I only have this image of being at an outdoor flea market looking at the nice jewelry and handbags at one table. I saw Nick Rhodes nearby. This was before a DD concert that was taking place at a venue in that town.

   I found out what date that DD is going to be on the “CBS Sunday Morning” show- September 13. This post was shared by Jenny on Facebook. I should really tell her that I got that ticket but I am afraid to.

    It would be nice if we meet up again someday like she assured me could happen but I have my doubts. Part of me wishes that we could be friends instead of just acquaintances. But mostly I am thinking that I am not that good at any relationships so it probably would not work out. I would have a better chance of it if I wasn’t such a freak.

   I am more fascinated by Duran Duran now than ever before despite being mad about the encore incident. I want to keep checking Facebook and the fan site every day for updated information on them- tour, press, news, etc.

   I haven’t purchased any of the magazines that they have been in though and sort of regret this. I should have at least gone to B&N to see if they had that Billboard mag. My driving anxiety prevented me from doing so.

   I told Amy that this NYC concert is like a chance for me to make up for their cancelled AC show 3 years ago. It would have been three times of seeing them for that tour. The previous one was four and the Astronaut one was only 2. If I hadn’t been afraid to go to AC, it would have been 3.

   Mike would have a fit if he knew that I have seen them more than he believes that I have. I know that the “obsessed” word would be mentioned by him. There are fans who have seen them a hell of a lot more than me. I wish that I could have done so at least a few more times within the past 10 years that I have been majorly into their music.

   I hope that I don’t get really sick during my time at the US Open like I was last year and a previous one. I need to be fully healthy for my Luke Bryan and DD concerts that are shortly after this.

  On the “Today Show” yesterday- or was it on Monday? - Tamron said that Stevie Wonder had recently done a free concert in Central Park. That would have been nice to have been at. I think that she said that the news about this was only on Facebook so you would have to be following him to know about it.

    I am so damn ashamed that I raced over to the computer the second my brother read out Lee Majors name as one added to the Chiller Theatre guest list. I said “I’m there!” Mike was teasing me about this, naturally.

    I have only had this retro-crush for the past few years. Mostly, when we started watching “The Big Valley” for the first time. Later, I saw that “The Six Million Dollar Man” was on Cozi TV; if I had noticed this sooner, I would have seen more episodes.

 Mike liked that when we were kids and sometimes I would watch it with him. I bet that he wishes that he hadn’t gotten rid of that action figure.   

   Hopefully, his autograph won’t be over $40.00. I guess that Mike wants this too. I am going to be pretty nervous then. I just hope that my brother doesn’t say anything to embarrass me. With my luck, Mr. Majors will cancel which would be disappointing.

   I am watching the tennis coverage today but my mind had been wandering into Duran Duran territory during it. I decided to check DD on FB before watching it. I saw a post about a concert at MSG on October 8. More info about the presale and general sale won’t be out until August 28.

   I am so excited but also worried about this. What if the tickets go on sale on a day that we are at the US Open? That would be bad. I am praying that this isn’t the case. I want to be able to order this as close to the start of the sale as possible.

   My twisted mind is thinking that if I have to sacrifice a day at the Open then I certainly will. I could always go there late that day. I would miss out on a match but that’s okay, unless it is Fish- that would be upsetting.

   Fish vs. Murray is on later; I am really looking forward to this one. I hope that it isn’t on too late though because I don’t think that I will last through very much of it if so. I really don’t want to DVR any tennis.

   Maybe I should not have written “presale DD” on the calendar. Mike will see this and might want to go with me. I will want to order a ticket close to the stage, even if it is expensive. He will have to sit elsewhere because I know he won’t be willing to spend that much on this.

      They showed the last game of the Robredo match; he won it. I was glad about this. James Blake is doing commentating during matches today. I still am beating myself up for being too afraid to try to get his autograph. He was doing this for a lot of people that day.

   I am trying to remain optimistic about the upcoming events that I am going to but as always I think of all the possible things that could prevent me from attending them. I will be so happy if I am able to get close to DD again, whether it is at the September 14 NYC show or the MSG one, if I even am lucky enough to get a ticket to that.

US Open 2011 Photos

I haven't been here in so long because of going to the US Open, being sick for a week afterwards and my brother's computer giving him problems. I'm going to have so much catching up to do with all my blog friends. I have started my picture project of this event and just wanted to share some of the better ones with you all. It seems like I am a bit obsessive with the picture taking when I'm at these matches but for every 10 photos I take only a couple come out good. The first 3 are of my favourite player, Austria's Jurgen Melzer. I kind of semi stalked him after the match and got the one of him with a couple of other people having their photo taken with him. The Juan Carlos Ferrero ones didn't come out that great because it was night time. You aren't really supposed to use a flash while they are playing. The bottom photo is of the guy who first got me into tennis 5 years ago - Tommy Haas. I missed part of his match because I was watching all of the Petzschner 5 set one - should've left after the 4th.

Because of Hurricane Irene our power was out for 4 days and we were unable to recharge our batteries until Wednesday night. If I had been more conservative with the picture taking on Monday my 2 batteries probably would have lasted all of the first 2 days but they were dead by Tuesday afternoon. I had a regular 35mm camera and film with me just in case this happened but unfortunately wasn't even able to use it because I forgot that it takes a special battery and had waited until we got to the tennis center to put batteries in it - it takes 1 lithium, not AA. If I had grabbed our 80's camera too, I could have at least used this even though there isn't any zoom on it, not that the zoom on the 90s one is that good.

At first in the bus terminal - we couldn't take the train because service of New Jersey transit was suspended- I bought 2 of those disposable digital cameras at one store. They were kind of expensive- 45.oo for 2. I went into another store, saw the 4 pack of film which I bought then returned the disposable ones which I totally regret now. I obviously was not thinking clearly during this whole day. It turns out that it would have been cheaper to get like 6 of those disposable ones than it was the way that I did things. I had all the film put on a discs so I'd be able to send the best shots to the computer than to Walgreens photo to have printed out. I had put off looking at them because I feared that there would be alot of crappy shots which turned out to be right. Very disappointing.

This whole camera incident feels like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone as does the fact that we were the only block in our small town to actually lose power during that Hurricane. We had to throw out like 80.00 worth of meats and dairy products. I'm just glad that I was smart enough to think to charge all our batteries on Saturday so at least we were able to take digital photos on Monday and part of Tuesday. It's been like 6 years since I've last used a regular camera. I didn't go digital until the end 0f 2008. I can't believe that I resisted the technology for so long. And I also looked into the bus schedule on Saturday because I was afraid that the trains might not be running. We had to walk 15 minutes to the bus stop which we wound up doing for the 5 days. We weren't even sure when the trains starting running again. The money that I saved on parking in the train lot wound up going towards the film but that was only a small portion of what I wound up throwing away because of the power outage. Things could have been much worse so I shouldn't even complain. We didn't get the flooding like many towns in Jersey did. And thank goodness that New York had their subway system up and running in time for us to get out to Queens to attend this event.

I hope that everyone has been well lately. I will have much more on our US Open experience in the future. It's nice to be back here. I'm looking forward to reading and commenting on your posts.