It Has Come To My Attention

SUMMARY: Some kind of festive holiday thing? "Krismass"?

Feeling: Inexplicably uneasy and, strangely, eager.

It has come to my attention that it is, once again, despite my best efforts, December. It is apparently, without my express written permission, in a brand new year, not repeating any of the perfectly fine Decembers that our holiday factory has worked hard to produce over the years. 

For example, 1987 involved pirates sneaking into our house while we were out doing something important --such as not decorating our tree--and leaving us with a garland skull and crossbones. Remind me to never again give relatives or pirates the keys to my house. At least not while boxes of pending tree decorations are sitting around unguarded. Why has no one submitted a re-use request for this perfectly good December, which required very few holiday decorations for a last-minute reconstitution?

This one was pretty good, too. I'd have signed off on a request for this one. The 2002 when Mr. Alien took over Disneyland. Remember that? It was in all the news. Anyone who neglected to wear their aluminum foil hat was instantly brainwashed into not seeing all the thousands of tiny Mr. Alien-kins swarming the place, aiming to abscond with the rumored "Magic." I don't know whether they succeeded. But then, I never actually saw any tiny Mr. Alien-kins, having left my aluminum foil at home.

1983 had its highlights as well, although no aliens were involved. The household beasts always received a giant rawhide bone each from Santa. Santa must be a dog person. Or maybe the elves are dog elves and Santa just rolls his eyes and goes along with it. Watching them unwrap their gifts gave warm fuzzies to the humans, too. Although why unwrap the whole thing when all you need to start is one end? In fact, why unwrap yours at all when you are a genius husky and are pretty sure that you can end up with two rawhide bones if you play your cards right. If someone had played their cards right and arranged ahead of time with my department, perhaps we could have resurrected this year from the archives.

I wouldn't mind dusting off 1990, either, when everyone in the family received matching "San Andreas--It's Our Fault" t-shirts, which were enchanted like some of those old fairy tales so that we had to keep dancing and laughing while wearing the shirts until we collapsed in the living room to eat cookies, roast beef, candy cigarettes, and matzoh ball soup. My family had an eclectic idea about Christmas buffets. I'd love to dust those off, too. Do you see what I am getting at here? Asking permission is key.

Also, I seem to recall that 1966 would be perfectly reusable, including all of our annual new Christmas nightclothes and not-annual Tressy dolls ("Her Hair Grows!"). Best thing is that they could fit all of Barbie's clothes. Worst thing was how expensive Barbie's clothes were. That Barbie sure could wow 'em at the Met, though. No, worst thing was that I couldn't fit Barbie's clothes. But I could fit my new Xmas nightgown, although I'm afraid that I outgrew it before the following Dec 24. The same thing I did every year, Pinky. But at least I had bright blue fluffy slippers at the time. Pretty sure Tressy is still around in some quiet repose in the playroom here at Taj MuttHall, so redoing that year would be a piece of cake. Or of cookies.

Even Christmas of 1956 holds promise for a revisit, because I still have Dad's hat. Pretty sure I'd look as charming as I did then. In particular, I notice no wrinkles. In me, I mean. Although, in real life, I grew, and the hat shrank.  

Or maybe I transposed the numbers and I mean 1965 instead of 1956. Why I opted to dress like a pirate at Christmas shall remain a mystery.  But, see, if we were reusing this year, perhaps I could solve the mystery. But nooooooo. Also, it is perhaps because I stereotyped pirates as having bad teeth, being visually impaired, and walking with a peg leg, that eventually what goes around comes around and I ended up with a garland skull and crossbones on my tree two decades later. Let that be a lesson: Don't stereotype pirates. Hear that, Disney? It would never sell.

(You can tell it's Christmas because you can see one of the wise men in mom's childhood creche wearing blue and kneeling just to the left of someone's horse that someone added in front. Not confessing who that might have been. Although it's possible that that horse is still in a toy box around here somewhere. Not that it has anything to do with me. But that family might have needed a better way than the back of a donkey to transport mother and child along with all that gold, frankincense, myrrh; hair combs and watch fobs; hippopotamuses; and silver, gold, and drumming drummer boys. Just saying.)

So, in the future, please ensure that you have properly submitted the requests for a December before I have to deny it because the whole corporation goes on vacation December 1, when it is too late to properly implement a new one or reassemble an old one from storage. Who knows what will happen in an unauthorized December. Just this year, I give you after-the-fact permission and will overlook your mistake this time. But don't let it happen again.

Feeling: Nostalgic. Curious. A little at sea. Transmogrifying. 

See? A perfect recreation is possible.
From a 2011 photo

Snippet: On Visiting

SUMMARY: How much time do you have?

My brain automatically plays this recording through my mouth to anyone who's considering going somewhere to visit or coming here to visit. Particularly if the destination du jour is where one used to live, or where you know multiple households, or where One Has Always Wanted To Go Because Reasons.  

I know what it’s like, visiting someplace in which dozens of family and friends might be interested in getting together. The first decade or so of my marriage, we’d go to Los Angeles at least a couple times yearly to visit...

Visiting L.A. in-law relatives, 1985.
Required By Law™ when visiting: Photos.
Guess which one I am.

...His mom. His stepfather. His great aunt and uncle. His cousins. His best man and wife, his 2nd groomsman and his wife, and 3rd groomsman and his wife. A few other high school friends of his. If I were lucky, a couple friends of mine.

And although I enjoyed visiting these folks, honestly, what I really wanted to do was keep going and hit up allllll the things to see in the L.A. area (never did) or  Disneyland (did once, for one day). Ha!  We most certainly did not see everyone every trip, but it was crazy anyway. 

If Disneyland were our higher priority, we'd carefully sneak past the L.A. area, covering our faces so no one could recognize us.

What I’m saying is, would be fun to see you, but I totally get it if you’re swamped when you get here.

-------

Once again I failed at "snippet". I started with one large paragraph, so I figured: Snippet of text! Then added three sentences and a squillion paragraph breaks and, voila, result =  > snippet

Tuesday T-Shirt Tales: Sleeping Beauty Castle

T-shirt tales? Because every t-shirt tells a story, don't it.
And I have so very many of them. Shirts. And stories. ---- Whaaaaat??

All T-Shirt Tales

SUMMARY: My favorite castle(s).

So much for posting weekly. Or even monthly. I'll just have to post multiples per post. --Which I had planned on doing anyway. Like, this week.

Short and simple: I like Disneyland. (And, OK, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom aka Disneyland East is OK, too.) I like far too many Disneyland t-shirts: The quality of the shirt itself and of the image is always excellent. I try to restrain myself, but sometimes...

In the 1980s sometime--and I've oddly lost almost all info about this--my then-husband bought us matching Disneyland castle t-shirts. They were blue with yellow castles. Because who doesn't want Disneyland castle t-shirts?  The only reason that I know that he did is because my faithful inventory notes that he did so, and also that we sold them at a garage sale in 1998, so presumably we'd had them and worn them a lot by then. No photos exist--Crazy, right?!--nor date of purchase, although I'm guessing on our 1983 trip there. 

But, in August 1995, before that garage sale...

... I just couldn't pass up this additional castle shirt in gray with embroidered design. 
I'm a sucker for embroidered shirts, anyway: Look classy and don't fade.
But having this newer one might have been why we let the old blue/yellow ones go.

I have almost no photos of me wearing my t-shirts in the actual locations and time in which I bought them,
but this is one of the exceedingly rare cases. Maybe even the only one.
Me, my sister's years-ago-ex and my years-ago-ex. But we all loved Disneyland trips.

And then, despite already having a lovely gray Disney castle t-shirt--

--in July of 2003, while minding my business walking casually through Disneyland,
someone strolled past in the opposite direction wearing an amaaazing blue tie-dyed castle shirt!
Hit all my buttons, will ya? Blue. Tie-dye. Castle.
We went shopping later that day and found them! Happy dance!

In May of 2012, it took me and my parents to a friend's house to watch the partial solar eclipse.
It's a thoughtful t-shirt that way.

By the early 2000s, my t-shirt buying spree overall had truly taken off, so my t-shirts lasted longer and longer because I didn't wear any given one all that often.  As a result, today, I still have both these shirts and wear them when their turns come up. 

During these Pandemic times and unprecedented closures of the Disney parks, they help remind me of pleasures past and--I hope--to come.

Bonus: Some photos from the trips mentioned:

• September 1983
• August 1995
• July 2003 -- oops, fell into the "scanned earlier photos" and the "started digital photos" gap

Missing Disney Parks and the Parking Lot In Particular

SUMMARY: I'm an addict... sort of...

Disneyland is my happy place.

Not my only happy place, but pretty much guaranteed to be my happy place when I'm there. Which I try to be, roughly every couple of years.  Except, haven't been since November of 2017, and then I did very little in the parks because we were there for races (5Ks, etc.) and friends.

Looking across the dustpile that would become Disney California Adventure towards the Anaheim Convention Center.

We did Walt Disney World nearly a year ago, but it's not the same: Disneyland is home. The addition of California Adventure in 2001 at first was a disappointment but has gradually improved after the huge Disney Corp filled with some of the most creative people in the planet recognized their design flaw, which probably most of us saw while they were still building it:

Let's build an amusement park about doing fun and famous things in California, and put it in... California! 

Now it's better. With some cool attractions that we always make time to do. 

Clearly *something* will be built in here; hoping it will be cool.

However, to add Disney California Adventure (and Downtown Disney, which is between the parks -- a long pedestrian-only street of shops and restaurants, all of which are pretty good and we have a couple of favorites), they built it atop where the dearly beloved parking lot used to be. The one that was right next to the entrance. Convenient. And shoved all the parking into distant huge and pricey parking garages. I've never parked in one, but friends who drive up to join us sometimes don't get to us for as much as half an hour.

Used to be parking lot.

Today, someone posted in the Facebook Group MiceChat, 

"Does anyone remember [the] old parking lot for Disneyland where Disney’s California Adventure is now!"

I said:

Ooooh yeah I remember--for an extra fee you could park in the spaces closest to the entry if there were any left. So we'd get there early. Miss that for sure.

When we were kids and parents took us to Dland, we had a camper, so the camper would be available if someone needed a nap or for meals--Miss that for sure, too.

Discovered that my Dland-going partner seester had already said:

loved preferred parking. We could leave a cooler and coats in the car, and walk out for lunch and stuff, without having to pay for a locker.

And THEN... I just couldn't resist. Pulled up my photos from 1998, when it was all about bulldozers, not much of a hint about what was to come (views from the monorail),  and this came out:

DCA was the old parking lot
Now it's DCA, not the old parking lot
Been a long time gone, Oh the old parking lot!
Now it's walking afar nowhere near your car--

So, Take me back to the old parking lot
No, you can't go back to the old parking lot
Been a long time gone, Oh that old parking lot
Why did the old parking lot get replaced?
That's for all those new attractions we've embraced!

(Here's the original gold-selling version of Istanbul by The Four Lads, 1954.)

The Turks aren't the only ones who rename things--
Looking across the DCA construction to the hotel originally owned by Tokyu that opened in 1984 as the Emerald of Anaheim.
It was renamed Pan Pacific Hotel, Anaheim in 1989 when Tokyu merged its Emerald and Pan Pacific hotel divisions.
Disney purchased the hotel from Tokyu in 1995 and renamed it Disneyland Pacific Hotel.
The hotel was rebranded as Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel on December 15, 2000,
named after the formerly Paradise Pier (now renamed Pixar Pier) area in Disney California Adventure Park that the hotel tower overlooks.

Disneyland -- I ! Love ! It !

SUMMARY: summarytext

From a facebook MiceChat group discussion 5/12/20

I'm so glad my parents took me there more than once (at least twice when I was 5-6ish)--I ! loved ! it! -- and at least a couple more times in Jr. High and High School. And for the latter visits they let me wander by myself, as long as I made our prearranged check-ins. I ! loved ! it! And in those early years, Disneyland began to fill my heart.

One of at least 2 times in '61-62 when I was young.
(I know, because I have photos w/2 sets of clothing and 2 hairstyles!
Here, me in blue with long braids. Sisters  holding hands with Dad also and with Mom.)

 With my great aunt and uncle, looks like.  [unedited] Look at all the crowds!.... not!
Why am I always looking backwards over my left shoulder?
From shadows, nearly midday--where'z da peoples at?

In high school, I was lucky enough to travel on our speech and debate team for invitational tournaments and the coaches allowed us to come here, at least twice during high school. Holy mickey! I ! Loved ! It!  Thus ended my not-legally-adult visits. And by then, Disneyland fully inhabited my heart and has stayed there ever since.

My college freshman year, came with friends. My junior year, came with the Cal Band. SO MUCH FUN! By then, I knew my way around like the back of my hand; knew the ins and outs of getting in to Blue Bayou; knew the routine for which rides were popular... all of it.

February 1977 - just missed 20th anniversary year (by a few months)
Me in brown pants and sunglasses

Couple years later, visited with my fiancé. Came at least one time that I have no specific memories of shortly after we were married, before we came again with friends, and came again with family, and came again with friends, repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat....

I started taking photos more seriously when we visited right after the all-new Fantasy Land opened. The changes blew us away, and I realized that I had NO PHOTOS of the "before"!  (I look back at the "lot more photos" and there are maybe a couple dozen a year? back then, compared to hundreds and hundreds per trip now!) Sometime later, had a season pass for a year when it cost less than two weekend passes, and visited maybe three times that year. Since then, averaging roughly once every year and a half to 2 years.

I ! Love ! It!

The other person's facebook post reminded me of my multidecade journey, always starting exactly as they described it: going through the security line, walking under the bridge, and onto Main Street. (Well, except before 9-11, I don't recall a security check.) And, yes, nearly EVERY SINGLE TIME after I pass under the bridge, I find things to take photos of right there at the beginning of Main Street.

"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy".

  - Walt Disney, 1955

Now I'll share selected photos from Disneyland anniversary years (mostly) with my traveling compadres. Just those years. Not all the ones in between (wellllll with a couple of exceptions).

1990 35th anniversary--
might have "35th" photo with actual Disneyland sign somewhere, not yet scanned?
Or magnet or mug or clothing...

August, 1995 - 40th anniversary

Feb 2000 - 45th anniversary
Me in the middle; my ex and my sis

x

Feb 2006 - 50th anniversary (note "50" in flowers for 50th anniversary)
(Linda's eyes blinked, sorry, sis! Me on end, same sis and bro-in-law)

November 2009.
OMG did I really not go during its 55th anniversary year?! (2011-mid-2012?)
Me on left, same sis and bro-in-law and her friend from Australia

Sept 2012!  Apparently we completely surrounded the 55th anniversary
without going during that actual time! Ratz! :-)
(My friend Les came with us but preferred not to be in the photo, so there ya go.)

November 2015 - 60th anniversary
For a change of pace in the group photo

Nov 2017 -- just because it's the biggest group we've been with at Disneyland
--technically in Downtown Disney, because only a couple joined us in the actual park.

I didn't get there in 2019, which would've been the 65th anniversary, but had expected I'd go this year while they're still celebrating. But no: thanks, COVID. [grumble] And thanks, hip and knee, for keeping me home.  [I don't exactly mean that, either.]  I *did* have an opportunity a couple of days after we got back from Walt Disney World, but turns out I had made a couple of commitments for that time (oh, and also ended up with a nasty cold, so really good that I didn't go then).

Had been doing so well on anniversaries! Well, if they reopen soon, mayyyyybe they'll still have "65th" up. But more than likely they'll take this opportunity to decommission it.  Still, hoping there will be many more anniversary years for visiting Disneyland.

And I did go to DisneyWorld during the Disneyland anniversary year, so that counts for something!

Nov 2019 - Disneyland 65th anniversary year
But this isn't actually Disneyland.
It's the Magic Kingdom. You can hardly tell. can you!

But you know what's really cool about that last image? Far as I know, it's the first time since the first photo in this post that these 3 sisters have been in a Disneyland (ish) photo together! How cool is THAT?!

Alllll the T-shirts

SUMMARY: All of them.

Updates Aug 8 '20: Small corrections and rearrangements, not marked. 

This list will be out of date at any time because I've already ordered another one. But, here goes.

(And, BTW, there are some photos here:The T-shirt Project)

(Note: I have other themed shirts that are polo, not t-shirts, so aren't included here)

(Note 2: I did not type this all in today. It's all in my inventory database. For here, I just invented some categories and moved shirts under each.)

Disney related:

• Dead Men Tell No Tales-black-Disney Designs 100% cott
• Disneyland castle and characters-navy and blue tie-dye-Disneyland-100% cotton
• Disneyland castle-embroidered grey- Disney Originals 100% cott
• Disneyland dragon/Mickey Ears Disneyland-gray-Disneyland 90% cott/poly
• Disneyland Mickey & Donald postcard/photo selfie-blue-Disneyland 100% cotton
• Disneyland w/Tigger-teal-embroidered Disneyland 100% cotton
• Haunted Mansion-black-glow-in-dark Disneyland 100% cotton
• Pirates of the Carribbean-black-Disneyland 100% cotton <<missing purch cost; 10% off>>
• Space Mountain-black-Disneyland 100% cotton
• Tomorrowland-green-Mickey Inc. 100% cotton
• Walt Disney World 2017 Mickey Mouse Wizard-blue tie dye-Disney Parks 100% cott
• Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom with tickets-green-

Dragon related:

• dragon Celtic gold stone-look-black-United Design Soft Goods 100% cott
• dragon green/gold/brown Celtic circle-black-JT's Classics 100% cott
• dragon-purple Maleficent dragon-black-Disney Designs 100% cotton
• dragon w/red eyes on black tie dye-The Mountain 100% cott
• dragon-blue/green tie-dye, black/purple dragon-Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton
• dragon-w/purple handpainted dragon-black w/glitter-D.G. Riddle
• Dragoncon 96-black-Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton [need price]
• DragonCon-white-w/William Stout water dragon-Touch of Gold 100% cott
• dragons purple w/gold interlace-black-Jt s Classic 100% cott
• dragons-ivory-sunlight-activated color-Del Sol 100% cotton
• Easily Distracted By Dragons & Books-black-Fruit of the Loom HD Cotton 100%cott
• gray w/dragon embroidered-xhileration 90%cott/poly
• navy tie dye-dragon w/wizard-The Mountain 100% cott

Dog clubs:

• Bay Team golden gate bridge-blue (light)-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cotton
• Bay Team golden gate bridge-peacock blue-Hanes Beefy T 100% [date info est]
• Bay Team logo-black-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cotton <<need price>>
• Bay Team logo-teal-Hanes HeavyWeight 100% cotton
• High Sierra Summer Classic (NADAC trial)-gray heather-CPort & Co 99% cotton
• I Want You for the Bay Team- blue-Gildan Heavy Cotton 100% cott women s L
• Mixed Breed Dog Club-teal-Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton [date info est]
• VAST logo-lt blue-Hanes Beefy T 100% cott

Dog training, including camp:

• Clean Run/Power Paws Camp Taking Agility... -gray heather-Gildan Activewear Ultra Cotton Heavyweight-99% cott/poly
• Dogs Dig Camp-brown-Port&Co 100% cotton
• Clean Run/Power Paws Camp-purple-Gildan Ultra Cotton 100%
• fetch sam! embroidered logo-purple-Live And Tell 40% poly/60% cott Ladies XL
• Power Paws Camp 2002-gray (lt. heather)-Gildan Ultra Cotton Heavyweight 100% cott
• Power Paws Camp-olive drab-Fruit of the Loom Heavy 90%cott/poly
• Power Paws-gray heather-Hanes BeefyT 100% cott [no purch info--est--at least a couple of yrs before 8/02]
• Power Paws-teal-Hanes BeefyT 100% cott [no purch info--est--at least a couple of yrs before 8/02]

Dog agility nationals & some regionals:

• Bay Team USDAA 2014 Western Regional-blue-District Made 100% cott
• Bay Team USDAA 2015 Western Regional-navy-Fruit of the Loom Heavy HD 100% cott
• Bay Team USDAA 2019 Western Regional-denim blue-Anvil Lightweight 65% poly/35% cott Ladies XL
• Bay Team Western Regional 2018 - gray- Anvil lightweight 100% cotton
• CPE Nationals 2004 embroidered-teal-Gildan ActiveWear Ultra Cotton 100% cotton
• CPE Nationals 2006 Haute Dawgs-teal-Jerzees Heavywt 50% cott/poly
• Cynosport Rocks 2008-orange tie dye-Hanes Heavyweight 100%cott
• Cynosport World Games 2006-white-tiedyed by Wendy Bruce
• FCI 2011-gray heather-B+C Collection 99% cott 1% viscosa [don t know actual date rec d]
• My Dog and I... Cynosport World Games 2007-navy-Jerzees Heavyweight 50% cott/poly
• USDAA Cynosport-lilac-Hanes Tagless 100% cott
• USDAA Grand Prix 01-gray-Fruit of the Loom Best 50% cott/poly
• USDAA Volunteer-green-Gildan Dry Blend 50 poly/cott
• West East Titlemania 2018 - lt. gray heather - Port & Company Essential T 98% cotton/2 poly
• Western Regional 2013-mustard-Port & Company 100% cott [INFO?]
• World Cynosport Games 2004 USDAA nationals-brick red-Anvil 100% cott
• World Cynosport Games-lt blue-Gildan Activewear Ultra Cotton 100%cott

Dogs misc:

• agility-- cave dogs -blue-green-Gildan Ultra Cotton Heavyweight 100% cott
• Doggone Good-teal-Anvil 100% cotton
• Honored Member 0-pt Snooker-blue-Anvil 100% cotton
• My dog and I...agility humor-bluegreen tie-dye - Hanes Heavyweight 100% cotton
• Nike Animal Rescue (NARF) Walk 2016-navy-Gildan Heavy Cotton 100% cott
• Peace Love Dog-blue tie dye-Hanes Heavyweight 100% cott
• Tortola BVI dog pirate-green-Comfort Colors 100% cott

Personal (made for me specifically w/maybe a few friends:

• BAG Ladies-gray-design by Laura Hartwick for our dog agility team (Boost Ariel Gustavo) [need shirt info Aug 10]
• HD (handling Distortion) 2008 for our DAM team-purple-Hanes BeefyT 100% cott [where s price info?]
• Monta Vista Debate-gold-Champion 100%cott
• [there will be more if I ever decide to add polo shirts, too]

Writing related:

• Clarion West-blue denim-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cott
• RTFM Softpro-grey-Oneita Power-T 100% cotton
• Zombie Tea Mummies-purple-(custom-made) Hanes Beefy-T 100%cott

Photography related:

• Believe In Your Selfie-gray-LOL Vintage 95% rayon/spandex
• Main Street Photo Shoppe-blue-Twenty Eight And Man 65%poly/cott (ALSO DISNEY-related)
• Smugmug-gray-American Apparel 50/50

Companies that don't fit neatly into other categories:

• Adobe-blue teal-Bella 100% cott
• white-Adobe Primetime-Hanes Comfortsoft 100% cott
• Adventure Boot Camp-black-Hanes Tagless 100%cott
• CRI Sensational Relationals baseball-blue-Whang 50%poly/cott
• Netboost-tie dyed-Hanes Beefy T 100% [date info est]
• Relate To Me-blue-50%poly/cott
• Wombatnet-tan-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cotton

Travel/tourist/parks/like that:

• Adirondack Mountain Club -purple (light) - Vapor Apparel American Backcountry Moisture Wicking 93%poly, 7spandex
• Alaska State Parks-blue-Jerzees 100% cotton
• Aloha-denim blue-embroidered H.L. Miller Gold 80%cott/poly
• Bryce Canyon-black-Oneita Power-T 100% cott
• Butchart Gardens-purple Hanes Beefy T 100%cotton
• Canyon de Chelly-green-E.M.I. 100% cotton
• Fort Verde-gray heather-Hanes Beefy T 99% [date info est]
• Grand Canyon embroidered w/condor- cactus green-[NEED INFO]
• Grand Canyon w/petroglyphs-blue-Fred Harvey 100% cotton
• Hermit s Rest Grand Canyon-blue-Gilden Ultra 100% cotton
• Island Life-Hawaii-blue w/gold & silkscreen-Crazy Shirt 100% cott
• tie dye-blue/purple-Madonna Inn-Janis style 1182
• Martial Cottle Park-gray-Gildan Ultra Cotton 90% cott/poly
• Monterey Bay Aquarium jellies-black glow-in-the-dark-Harborside Graphics 100% cotton
• Petrified Forest-tan-Screenworks 100% cotton
• Santa Clara County Parks Trail Watch-dk green-Gildan Heavy Cotton 100% (BELONGS to SCC PARKS) [ date est.]
• Take a Hike Point Arena Lighthouse-red-Comfort Colors 100% cott
• Timberline Lodge-tan-embroidered Suttons Sportswear 100% cott
• Victoria w/indian eagle-green (forest)-Wilson Sport 100% cotton
• Yellowstone baseball style-black-Sportswear 50%poly/38cott/12 rayon

Science Fiction conventions:

• Baycon 98-blue-Hanes Beefy T 100%
• ConFrancisco-white w/SF full-color silkscreen; Fruit of Loom 100% cotton
• ConJose World Sci Fi Convention-gray heather-Delta Pro Weight 99% cotton

Volunteer activities:

• Christmas in April 98-dark green-Oneita 100% cotton
• Christmas in April 99-dark greenFruit of the Loom Heavy 100% cott
• San Jose Composts-natural-50% fortrel 50% recycled cotton
• VEP Volunteer-yellow-Port & Co. 100% cott

About, by, or for friends:

• Briar s Patch sled dogs (from Liz Parrish in Iditarod)-green (dk)-Gildan Ultra Cotton
• Slave Labor (for Mike/Ginny moving)-black-Belton Tough Tee 100% cotton
• Vicon 5-0-black-Hanes Tagless 100% cott [NEED INFO]
• Vicon No Pirates-black-Mervyns 100% cotton custom-made
• In the Beginning (Mark Saunders)-white

Humor (others may be included in other categories)

• Billy Jean King/Bobby Riggs-white-Stallion 50% poly/cott (purchase date est.)
• California Raisin Grape New Year-white
• In the Beginning (Mac humor - Mark Saunders)-white
• May the Forest Be With You Darth Vader-navy-California Classics 100% cott
• black (Midnight) w/The One Sure Thing About Luck & coyote, Laura Hartwick design, Bella 65% poly, 35 viscose
• When I Am Old, I Will Wear Purple-purple-Hanes 50-50

Random

• cross celtic picture -black-Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton
• flamingos Xmas -white cotton/poly
• Great Quake-Loma Prieta Quake-white
• I Heart Ada-navy-Stedman 50%poly/cott
• rhinestones purple & turquoise-peacock blue
• Shakespeare Santa Cruz Much Ado-oceana-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cott
• Sojourner Truth-black-Hanes Beefy-T 100% cott
• Team Shakespeare-teal-Hanes Beefy T 100% [date info est]
• tie dye-blue w/red & yellow at neck- by Wendy Bruce-Hanes BeefyT 100% cott
• tie dye-brown/purple/blue/teal - by Wendy Bruce-Hanes BeefyT 100% cott
• tie-dye-blue/purple spiral
• tie dye-blue/purple w/circle on left chest-Anvil 100% cott
• tie dye-blue/purple-Lait Sportswear 100% cotton
• wolves picture-grey-San Segal 99% cotton [need price]

Disabilities, Disney, Dissonance, and related musings

SUMMARY: Walt Disney World planning vacation with scooter.

I did Disneyland 2 years ago with a scooter, after two miserable trips to Walt Disney World without one, where I was in agony constantly, making it a challenge to enjoy my dream come true. Seriously--after wanting to go to WDW my entire adult life, I finally got to go, and my body failed me.  It was a weird dissonance between full-on joy at being there and being in so much pain that at times I could barely walk.  Thoroughly having a grand time when sitting, and not so much when trying to move. I did a *lot* of walking those trips, but only a fraction of the miles I used to cover or needed to cover for that park.

I did my best to keep myself functional...

So I finally caved and got the scooter after that for my next trip to DL (see link above). I'd cover the longer stretches in the scooter, then park and walk around a smaller area, stand in line for rides, and so on. Sure wish I could've taken the scooter in some of those lines, but I didn't try. Just learned that at WDW you can take the scooter in many lines! Very happy! The less time standing with bad knees and back, the better.

I still took a lot of photos at that last DL trip, although tougher when managing a scooter.  Like this one of my sis, bro-in-law, and Mr Fox on the train.

Wait... what was sis taking a photo of??

It was good strategy, I think, to get a lot of scooter practice at a park with which I am intimately familiar, before crossing the continent to try at a much larger, much less familiar place.

Earlier this year I got a new hip, and after I get back from my 3rd-ever trip to WDW later this year I'll get 2 new knees.

I just got home from a walk of nearly a mile (on mostly level surfaces, with a couple of brief stops to talk to people) without needing to sit down. By the end, however,  I was wishing that I had taken a shorter route, and I'm not going to do much more walking today. And, BTW, that was to pick up a form from my doc allowing me to get a temporary disabled placard for cars I'm riding in because I can't always walk a long way.  A little dissonance there, too.  Some days are better than others.

But-- "nearly a mile" of walking will hardly get one in the door at any Disney park (historically I think I averaged 10 or more miles a day of walking happily at DL -- good way to burn off all the goodies).

So I'm hoping to be able to do a lot of walking at WDW, but following the same strategy as at DL.  I'm probably the kind of candidate that people might glare at or say something, grumps who don't understand that not all disabilities are full or are visible, but if they do, no worries. I'll be very, very glad to be able to enjoy this trip so much more than the last 2 and not have to cut my days so short and miss things. And then my joy at being there, and delight at doing things with good friends who are also my relatives, shouldn't have to fall into dissonance with my body's other plans. We hope!

Scooter at Disneyland

SUMMARY: It's not all fun and games

Facebook July 11, 2019: My comments (edited here) on a Disney group discussion about scooters

I've been to Disneyland many, many times.

My historical approach has been to cover as much ground as quickly as possible--e.g, dash over to Disney California Adventure (DCA) for ice cream at the Pier and dash back to Small World [at the far side back in Disneyland itself], or some such. And walk over from the offsite hotel and arrive at rope drop and stay until the park closes, hauling my camera and lenses with me, trying to take fun photos of many details and of my friends.

The early crowd, waiting in Main Street for the rope to drop to allow us into the rest of the park

It has been much to my dismay that my body no longer allows me to do this. Last time I went, I rented a scooter. I will say that it allowed me to do much, much more than I did the previous trip, where I tried to walk the whole thing but pretty much died in agony after a couple of hours each day.

I will also say that riding a scooter took a bite out of the fun--there is no dashing from place to place in a scooter because you don't want to hit anyone in the dense crowds or who isn't paying attention and walks right in front of you.

And taking photos as I go--no, can't really stop in the middle of the walkway, people will get upset, and it's difficult to steer off to the side, and it's not very maneuverable to get a good shot. Plus, now I'm at butt level instead of being able to see over or around people.

Taking photos of Linda and Paul at butt level from my seat

On the other up side, I *can* walk, and I can walk "quite a bit", just not nearly enough to get through part of a day at Disneyland. I wasn't overweight, I'm not old looking (well--anyway, *I* don't think so), I'm not visibly crippled. I'd use the scooter for the longer stretches, then park it off to the side and do the rides at that location, repeat, repeat, repeat. No one said anything to me about why are you using a scooter if you're perfectly able to walk--if they had, I'd have explained that my severe arthritis and nerve damage aren't visible on the outside.

I did hit a small child once while I was in a crowd, moving inches at a time, and the kid literally spun an inch or two in front of me; I immediately released the handle, but I dare anyone to react quickly enough to not move those couple of inches. Parent gave me some nasty words. I don't recall saying anything, because what can you say other than pointing the finger back at them. and it is, after all, the happiest place on earth and I try to remember that and act accordingly. :-) Thanks for reading. I'd so very much rather be walking.

Mr Fox No.12 did *not* need the scooter but, you know, red privilege and all that.

Where Literature and the Jungle Cruise Meet

SUMMARY: Books at Jungle Navigation Company Skipper Canteen secret room

I've been to Walt Disney World only twice--once 2 years back and once this past couple of weeks. Not nearly enough time to see and do everything.  (Compare to Disneyland plus California Adventure, which is much smaller, although jam-packed--and I've been there more than a couple dozen times.)

One of our always-must-do rides at both Disneyland (Cal.) and Magic Kingdom (Fla.) is the Jungle Cruise. Terrible puns  and other jokes all the way through, and we love it.

This visit, my seester booked us for lunch at the highly recommended Skipper Canteen at the Jungle Navigation Company Ltd.  It continues the Jungle Cruise ethos for those of us who can't get enough. The waitperson told us, "If you're familiar with the Jungle Cruise ride, we're nothing like that.  Would you like me to point out some things on our menu?  Well, here's some printing, here's some more printing, here's the paper it's printed on..."

Luck placed us into the secret library meeting room of the S.E.A., and we had a chance to peruse some of the titles on their massive bookshelf doors that hide the room (although they were wide open at all times). They include some real titles but mostly lots of in jokes and world of Disney references. I can't begin to identify what a lot of them are, but just the titles of many should be entertaining for even the uninitiated.

Here are the ones I had time to photograph. Among them are;

• Book by Dr. Albert Falls, after whom the famed Schweitzer Falls are named
• A trilogy of waterfalls: "Exploring Great Waterfalls," "Standing on Great Waterfalls," and "Surviving Falls from Great Waterfalls"
• Another nonfiction trilogy starting with Born Into the Jungle
• "Reasonable Expectations" by Charles Skippens
• and more.

(Here's another fan's post with other titles and lots of explanations.)

I have so many things to say to myself that I want to track--

SUMMARY: --and yet they stay in my head.

About my current dogs.

About my past dogs.

About my friends' dogs. Who are getting older as I'm not doing agility and not seeing them and their new dogs whom I don't recognize and whose names I don't know and I don't know what they're like. And

About agility and missing it and not missing it.

About pain and pain and pain, inside and out.  About still finding pleasure in life.

About back surgery being very likely in my very near future. And being very afraid.

About my dad who is gone. And still have no words.

About good friends and good times--I don't have many close friends, and I'm not excellent at staying in touch, but somehow we manage.

About Trail Watch Academy coming up and trying to walk 10,000 steps a day and seldom being able to do so.

About Disneyland! In 4 weeks and very excited because I love going there yet with trepidation because trips in January and May were excruciating.  But still wanting to go.

About truly feeling like I'm working towards being Old, not merely Older Than Before.

About beautiful weather and terrible drought and even with that, the survival of civilization with no zombies at all. So far.

About photography and loving it.

This was supposed to be my daily diary of my life with my dogs. Now it is just rather a personal version of Pinterest.

OK, I have another post to do, so on to that.

Measles vs Disneyland

SUMMARY: Idiots don't vaccinate, and now we have this media frenzy and what could be a health catastrophe.

A personal journey into measles--

November 2009: Friend comes from Australia to do Disneyland. We make plans to meet again in 5 years and do it again.

Jan 2015:

Tickets are purchased, plans are made, friend arrives from Australia for the first time since then  specifically for that planned Disneyland trip. But braces yourselves--

From AP:

"While still a scourge in many corners of the world, measles has been all but eradicated in the U.S. since 2000 because of vaccinations. But the virus has made a comeback in recent years, in part because of people obtaining personal belief exemptions from rules that say children must get their shots to enroll in school."

From AP, Jan. 23, 2015 (that would be yesterday): "A major measles outbreak traced to Disneyland..." [starting in mid-December] ...[has sickened 70 people, most traced back to Disneyland.] "To control this latest outbreak, those who are not vaccinated were warned this week to stay away from Disney theme parks." "Disney employees who have no proof of immunization and may have come into contact with sick colleagues were placed on paid leave until they are given the medical all-clear."

From CNN, Jan 22:

Forty-two of the state's 59 measles cases since December can be linked to initial exposure at Disneyland and the adjacent Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California Department of Public Health officials said. 

Since Friday, California's public health department had been saying the disease linked to Disney was over. 

But on Wednesday, Kathleen Harriman, chief of the Vaccine Preventable Epidemiology Section for the state public health department, said the most recent case was diagnosed, in a park employee, on Sunday. 

This outbreak, health officials said Wednesday, is ongoing.
Read more: http://www.kpho.com/story/27908793/outbreak-of-51-measles-cases-linked-to-disneyland#ixzz3Po73Q900

From USA Today:

A quarter of the patients in this outbreak have been hospitalized.

Measles is damaging and deadly. From the Immunization Action Coalition:

The 1989–1991 measles outbreak in the U.S. resulted in more than 55,000 cases and more than 100 deaths. In the United States, from 1987 to 2000, the most commonly reported complications associated with measles infection were pneumonia (6%), otitis media (7%), and diarrhea (8%). For every 1,000 reported measles cases in the United States, approximately one case of encephalitis and two to three deaths resulted. The risk for death from measles or its complications is greater for infants, young children, and adults than for older children and adolescents.

From a friend:

"Measles is THE most infectious disease known."

From the IAC again:

How contagious are measles, mumps, and rubella?
Measles is highly infectious. It is primarily transmitted from person to person via large respiratory droplets. Airborne transmission via aerosolized droplets has been documented in closed areas (such as an office examination room) for up to 2 hours after a person with measles occupied the area. Following exposure, more than 90% of susceptible people develop measles. The virus can be transmitted from 4 days before the rash becomes visible to 4 days after the rash appears.

 And IDIOTS continue to not vaccinate.  Back to AP:

The vast majority of those who got sick had not gotten the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine.

From the CDC:

"You do NOT need the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR) if you had BLOOD TESTS that show you are immune to measles, mumps, and rubella."

Well, that's scary--how quickly can I get a blood test done?

... But wait--

From the LA Times:

 "Do I need a shot if I had the measles long ago?
A: No. "The people who had measles a long time ago, there's good evidence they're protected for life. The only exception to that is if they got it in the first year of life," said Dr. James Cherry, a UCLA research professor and primary editor of the Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Virtually all people born before 1947 would have had the measles, Cherry said."

(That last sentence-- wow.  We don't realize how lucky we are that the vaccines were developed.)

From my baby book:

April 26, '62. Came home from school with fever of 102. 4 days later, developed measles rash. Maximum fever recorded--104.5. Back in school after 2 weeks.

From my doc, when I asked about whether I shd get a blood test anyway:

All patients born before 1957 even without clearly documented history of Measles are considered to be immune and do not need any additional immunization.

Well, there ya go, I had it "long ago" (doesn't SEEM like that long ago) and so I shouldn't need a blood test or a vaccine. Guess I'm going to DISNEYLAND!

Flashback: Random People at California Adventure in September

SUMMARY: Wordless Wednesday.

(I don't know any of these people--they just caught my eye--and only 8 of the 17 show park employees.)

>>  Visit the Wordless Wednesday site; lots of blogs. << 

Also: