Tonight I watched Star Trek the Next Generation on Youtube as I ate my dinner. There are some really cruel people in the world. You start watching an episode because it says 1 of 5 or 3 of 6 (I jumped into the middle) and then you can’t find the rest of the story! I searched…nothing. That’s heartless! I’ll now have to go buy the whole series just to watch the end of two episodes. My dad would be proud. Heck, I could probably call him up and ask him how the episodes end. He had a massive stroke about two years ago which means he can’t remember what he’s doing from one minute to the next, but he can remember important things like Star Trek story lines. I’d e-mail him and ask him, but he changed his e-mail address and then forgot to tell everyone…same with his phone number. I wonder if he wonders why no one calls?
Watching Star Trek used to be our family’s equivalent of a vacation (we almost never went anywhere together except for the rare visit to dad’s family up in Seattle which was usually traumatic. The trauma arose out of having to function in situations that required in depth social skills…skills neither of my parents possessed so couldn’t pass on.) Star Trek was like a vacation because for about an hour we could all sit down together and forget how much we irritated each other and pretend we were a happy family, sometimes even without mother giving a running dialogue. If you’ve never tried to watch tv with someone sitting nearby telling you about the program (they’ve never seen before) while you’re watching it you haven’t yet had your metal tested. I survived. Mother survived. I must be extraordinarily sane…either that or I’m one of those alien creatures…accompanied by freaky weirdy music…
I think most people who had the misfortune of knowing me during my formative years would probably put their money on the alien, but then I have this awful propensity to wear clothes that make me look stupid even when I try to look normal. You’ll have to take my word, but I’m a very good fashion designer, however when it comes to dressing myself…I run into problems. During my teen years through the 80’s I had some major fashion issues!
In my high school most of the people looked like clones. I had a very hard time telling them apart; same perm, same hair cut, same jeans, same shirts, same shoes, same almost everything. You would not have been able to mistake me for anyone else…at least no one local. In my private universe it was “cool” to dress like Elton John…think of Elton at his most sartorially low…cut off his head and put my head on the picture…not good! It somehow failed to occur to me that this was not the best way to win a boyfriend. They probably all thought I was gay and I suspect wearing my older brother’s pants didn’t help (he’s 6’3 I’m 5’3). What was I thinking? It was probably just as well the boy I fell in love with at 12 and then watched from a distance until he graduated (every time our eyes met I swear I was electrocuted) he never knew or never let on he knew. At least I was kind and spared him the hell of being laughed at by all his mates. And even if he hadn’t been horrified by being adored by a super-freak it probably would have ended up something similar to what happened to my sister…there was this “popular” boy who really liked her (she’s much better looking than me), but at the end of the summer he made it clear no one could know that he liked her and that their relationship would be on ice until the following summer. My sister told him he where he could go…and it wasn’t the beach!
You know what’s weird…I keep wishing I had another hat like that black hat I had in Highschool (anyone who can remember said black hat celebrated the day a jerk tore it off my head and threw it in the path of an oncoming car where it died). It would have to be a different colour as I now hate black. I don’t look good in black, most people don’t. It was a broad-brimmed felted wool with a mostly flat top…it wouldn’t go with anything in my wardrobe…I’d look like a freak…but I want one! I have some wool fabric…I could make one, but that requires effort. My husband is safe for now! It’s a pity I can’t go back in time though and take photos of myelf looking like an idiot…I’d never be depressed again…I’d laugh myself to death!
Cari-I have the distinct right to say yes I would probably put my money on the alien but only because of the freaky weird music accompaining you. I loved your black hat. It was cool and I did not celebrate when it died. Isn’t it a shame we don’t have pictures from back then. It was so important to me to try to fit in and now I find myself liking the type of clothes and stuff I wore back then. My little brother’s friend recently told me that all he remembered about me was my really weird, big hair. Great.
Speaking of my little brother, he passed away a little over a week ago on February 27th. It is so sad to lose him.
Anyhow, it is always great to hear from you and I love your writing. I always!! laugh out loud when I read your memories because they are so true and so real. I was there. I know.
Love you,
Gidget
Gidget Walters » Again…my deepest sympathies! Thank you for always being So lovely and So kind! I’ll never forget that day in fourth year French when Madame Byler asked the class if anyone believed if there were other people out there in the Universe and we were the only two who raised our hands!
oh cari,
your writing makes me laugh. I can feel myself living in your situation-good writing! I love reading what you write because i love learning more about my family:) you crack me up, i still cant believe how everyone turned out….i mean with the situation and all:) I can only imagine what “vacations” were like at the kelley house. well much love and keep writing! i love it.
Kelly…the Kelley family is SO blessed to have you! Your superior decorating skills alone make you a treasure (though obviously you have many more talents). Have you seen interior photos of The Brown House? I’ll have to make copies of the stash I have and send them to you. I like looking at them. They make me laugh. I just wish the outside photos showed the postholes mother dug around the perimetre of the front yard for the fence that never got built…the holes that never got filled…the holes hidden by uncut grass that would bring unwary vistors and idiot residents like myself to our knees. Miraculously no one ever broke a leg or ankle…that I remember.
“Vacations” in the Kelley household were decidedly unfun! If you’ve yet to experience the joy of riding in a car being driven by your father-in-law…pass up the experience. “Vacations in Seattle” were sandwiched between long hours trapped in a moving vehicle driven far too fast and irradically by a man usually in a rage before he got behind the wheel…if not he was certainly enraged after half an hour of Mother’s unhelpful running commentary. I have memories of sitting there thinking in a weary resigned tone, “We’re all going to die…” It’s must have taken a million miracles to ensure we didn’t.
I look incredible in black if I do say so myself. 🙂 It’s one of my best colors, but only when it’s fresh… washed, faded black is just dreadful.
I’m so excited for this new Star Trek movie that it makes people look at me oddly.
At work the Maintenance guys have a pass on log that is titled ‘Captains Log’ and when I first spotted it’s title I said “Stardate 030709” only one of the people I work with got that… then everyone called me a Trekky for the rest of the day.
These young’uns just don’t understand.
Esperity, you make me laugh! I understand the new Star Trek movie is supposed to be really good. I bet you get to see it before we do! We’ll probably have to wait a week longer. The other month I was talking with my next in age sister on the phone asking her if she remember how when we were kids we used to pretend we were married to different characters. I couldn’t remember which of the Star Trek characters I preferred. She remembered! She was married to Captain Kirk (having lots of siblings is good because you all remember different things) and I wanted to marry Bones, the original doctor…though I believe Spock took a turn…and I think we fought over Superman and Buck Rogers on other occasions. Buck Rogers was the very first movie we ever saw. Oh my goodness…I have it on DVD…it’s SO bad, it’s hilarious!!!! The theme song on the TV series is the tune from the movie song which has words…totally cheezy…love it! The 70’s inspired intergallactic fashions and disco dance sequence is the best!!!!
Well bones was quite attractive, in a emotionally barren woman needs to fix me sort of way… just my sort of man. Have you seen who they’ve got picked to be him? The one and only Eomer from the LOTR movies *gasps* he such a hottie. lol.
It comes out on May 8th over in these here parts, but I imagine you’ll get to see it in a better theater…that’s one of the problems with living in such a small town the theater’s are dismal.
I think it’s so funny how our personalities are attracted to certain types and it can start showing quite young. Come to think of it, McCoy may have qualified as Goblin. I married a Goblin. This type of man has ALWAYS been my favorite. Read the free chapter to my book, The Curse of Love and you’ll get the idea. When he falls in love…he fights it because caring makes him feel vulnerable…but he cracks in the end…love wins…because it’s part of the curse! I shall have to look up Eomer…can’t remember which one he was. One of the elves? Whoever did the casting for Lord of the Rings was very good. Is it just me or does Orlando Bloom look a thousand times better as a blond? I think he looks boring with brown hair, but then I don’t think he’s a very good actor either. He should have stopped at being an elf and then gone into some other field. We would then have all died think he was a brilliant actor. But then there are a number of “actors” who can’t actually act…you know which ones they are…they play the same role…in the same wooden character…ie themselves. I think acting is a really important talent (even if I don’t have it) and shouldn’t be take over by a bunch of pretty faces. Actors are story tellers…and if they can’t act out the story they should be shown the backstage door!
My particular characters that I fall for are always the incredibly masculine emotionally… dangerous ones. Like Sirius Black (cried so hard when he got it) or Jacob in Twilight (whose last name is black too I think) or Aragorn (oh my goodness).
Jen thinks it’s a rather interesting trait in a sister of her’s but admits that she’s about the same. Then we chuckle about how we both married masculine military types that drive us nuts with their emotional walls (well, mine does at least).
I still fall for them every time though. My friends thinks it’s rather amusing how they can pick out which character I’ll like within the first ten minutes of the movie. Yes, yes, I’m sooo predictable.
Anyway Eomer is Eowyn’s brother that’s exiled by Wormtongue’s conniving. Wormtongue calls him a war monger and that makes Eomer pretty mad, he’s a very attractive righteous indignation sort of fellow.
Hmm, I think I should go watch LOTR again… robert’s downstairs studying and I think I need a good dose of masculinity. 😉
I looked up Eomer…he’s good looking! Very Viking! I think my favorite LOTR’s characters were the Elves…but the Hobbits were cool too…do we have to choose? No? Good!
As for Harry Potter my favorite character is Snape…he has that world weary cynical intelligence and hides his loving heart…the definition of a true Goblin! I love Goblins!