Bilingual brain fart

I like to own movies that I know I'll watch over and over.  We have quite the extensive video/dvd library.  Seriously, how else could we play the Kevin Bacon Game??   ;-)
And as you already know, I'm really easily entertained.

So, I'm cruising through Target the other day and I found this dvd on sale:

Disney does that thing where they release movies at a prescribed moment in time and (I'm so not kidding here!), if you want it, you'd better buy it right then and there, because before you know it, it goes right back into "The Vault," and then it's impossible to find it again until they decide to release an anniversary edition of some sort, but that's not important right now.  =D

Anyway, I remember some Disney films from when I saw them as a small child in Cuba.  Yes, in Cuba. As New Releases.  Yes, in a Movie Theater.  Cuba was not the third world country it is today.  But then, that's a rant for another day...

I remember Blanca Nieve (Snow White), Pinocho (Pinocchio), La Cenicienta (Cinderella) and of course, La Bella Durmiente (Sleeping Beauty).  The last being my absolute favorite and so in a moment of weakness and nostalgia, I bought the Sleeping Beauty dvd.  (It says 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition on it - remember I told you about The Vault thing?)

I get home with my prize and both my girls (Amy Kikita and Lucy) ask hopefully and almost simultaneously, "Is it for me?"

No, I explain, I got it for myself.  Then waxing nostalgic I go on to try and explain that one Christmas when I was maybe three years old I received a set of ... ummm.... what's the word?... ummm... CUQUITAS.  The word in English completely eludes me at that moment. (or does it "allude me?" English can be so crazy-making sometimes!)

(Hold on, everybody! Here we go.....)

"Kookeeetahs??" 

Still searching my mental rolodex in vain for the English word, which (I swear!) is right on the tip of my tongue, I fumble around in vain.  My brain is stuck on CUQUITAS and will not budge from there.  Frustrating!

"It featured all the characters from Sleeping Beauty: the Princess Aurora, the 3 Fairies, the Prince, Maleficent.  They came in a big, flat book and then you cut them out and you could dress them. You know ... CUQUITAS!" 

I make big gestures with my hands to form a large book and then scissors for the "...and you cut them out..." part.  It's still not coming to me and the big gestures are no help at all in the quest to make myself understood. 

Besides, the word, CUQUITAS is taking up all the room I have in my already-too-full brain for the description of the elusive item.  The hand motions are no help at all.  They're still staring quizzically at me.

Again I try to explain.....

"Ay! You know....They're like little dolls, but made out of paper..."

The last part sort of happens in slow motion. 

Just as the words "...made out of paper..." escape my lips, my slow-poke bilingual brain finally connects the dots, and I get that late-dawning look of "oh, yeah!" on my face, but of course, it's entirely too late.

Yes, yes, yes. Paper Dolls. Cuquitas.
Sleeping Beauty Paper Dolls.  La Bella Durmiente.
I got them for Christmas in 1958.  Nostalgia, anger and relief co-mingling here.  Shut up. I know. Duh!

They have dissolved into laughter and I know that this story will now go into The Darby Family Favorite Story Archives. 

Or, I suppose we could just call it The Vault.  ;-)

How an arcade game can double as a personality test or WARNING: Perfectionism can strike at any moment!

Our good friends, Gene and Pam were visiting this week, so of course we met them at Disneyland. ;-)

My entire goal for this trip, besides spending precious time with my BFF, was to experience Toy Story Mania, the newest attraction at Disney's California Adventure Park.

So, I call my niece:
"Helen, I'm going to meet Gene and Pam at C.A. and so I can finally go on the Toy Story ride."  (She had been telling me about how much they have enjoyed it, and it's been closed the last few times I've been there, but that's not important right now.)
"Tell me what time and we'll meet you there." (That response right there is one of the major reasons why I so love my family. Can you say, SPONTANEOUS?)

Anyway, through the technological magic of text messaging and cell phones, we all coincided at the attraction at once. How on earth did we coordinate anything before cell phones??

Then we had to make the monumental decision of the day: Who Rides With Who? (or is it Who Rides With Whom?)

Ben chose Lucy, of course.

Which left the other seven of us to pair off by twos.
Gene sacrificially chose to be the solitary rider. (He's a pastor. It totally fits his personality that he would do this, but that's not important right now, either.)

Here he is sporting the mandatory 3-D glasses:

So, Pam and I end up on the ride together. It's a 3-D arcade game. I was Player One (on the left).

The telling question:

What does the Final Score vs. Accuracy ratio tell you about our personalities?

Life would be so dull if we were all the same, wouldn't it? =D

I love you, my friend!

Masquerade!

(Can you guess tonight's movie?)

THE original suggestion was a simple one.  PerHaps we can have AN end-of-summer barbecue for our residenT yOung thespians.  They're here every Friday anyway.  Maybe we can watch a Movie, too.

Ah, but you know what can happen to the best laid plans OF mice and men...

There was festive twirling:

And yes, THEy were all in costume:

(Our neighbors don't even comPlain anymorE: "Those DaRbys are at it Again, Fred," they sigh.)

We set up the big screen outdoors to watch the musical melodrama that set the theme for the night:

 

My kids looked cute in a disturbingly-scary-creepy way:

 

Have you guessed yet which movie we watched?

Does this help?

 

Who else thinks to have an-end-of-summer-Masquerade??

(Umm... the offspring of the uber-geeks?)

I blame myself.

(HEAVY SIGH)

Grounded

I'm grounded on Fridays.

It's not really a bad thing. I just like that it sounds dramatic. =D

It's not that I've done anything wrong or that I'm being punished in any way. It's just that on Fridays we have a group of young people in our home. That's right. Our house. Every Friday.

This started well over a year ago when all the junior high kids would get together at our house once a week to play improv games (like the tv show - "Who's Line is it Anyway?").  Well, last year's 8th graders went on to high school, but Jonathan decided to continue the tradition with his friends.

So, here we are again.  Every week since the beginning of the year, they've been meeting together, with Adam as their fearless leader.  Week after week they get to practice thinking on their feet, communicating ideas to each other, and getting comfortable in their own skin as they practice physical comedy. 

Here's a group of "unsocialized" homeschool kids who have found that they've grown together and learned from one another in a non-threatening atmosphere.  They've grown pretty confident in their abilities and they've learned that they are FUNNY.  They've gained skills that maybe they could have picked up in a formal drama class setting, only in this case, they get to try out their comedy muscles in a pretty well-controlled environment. (umm... is this a bad thing?)  Unless, of course,  you count those kids who eventually become the Class Clown, but gratefully, Adam graduated from high school four years ago and now he's got a great outlet to channel all that creative energy. ;-)

They've grown into a lovely troupe and all of them look forward to Improv at the Darbys every week.

From left to right:
Jonathan K., Aaron, Jonah, Jonathan D., Shoshana, Lucy, Tori, and Tessia. And yes, that's my Adam (Merrymaker in Chief) in the background. (sigh)

My job is to keep the snack table loaded and to throw out ideas.  A job that I do willingly and that, as a Cuban mother (and all-around smart-aleck), I'm very well suited for.  I love our time together every week, and so do they.

Maybe I should re-phrase my opening line...

It's not that I'm grounded on Fridays.  It's what happens here on Fridays that keeps me grounded.

PSYCH-out

My darling blog-friend, Chantel has tapped me for the following meme:

Choose a favorite book or movie or television program (wait! Stop right there..... I have too many favorite books and movies and I only watch tv when someone I know and love and trust recommends something that I then have to go out and rent because we don't get any channels without cable here in The Bubble, and because we've chosen not to have cable I depend on my friends to know me well enough to know what I would enjoy watching, but that's not important right now....phew!) and name the characters you would:

- Bake cupcakes for:
- Trust with the keys to my car:
- Put thumbtacks on the chair thereof:
- Have a crush on:
- Pack up and leave if they moved next door:
- Vote for President:
- Pick as my partner in a buddy movie:
- Pair up:
- Vote off the island and into the volcano:

My current favorite tv program is PSYCH (because Season 2 is now on dvd, otherwise I couldn't be watching it, so... thanks, Pam & Gene!) and there are only a handful of regular characters on the show, thus making this either really difficult or entirely too easy.....

- Bake cupcakes for: Henry. He'd be confused at first, but he'd totally appreciate the gesture once he got to know me.
- Trust with the keys to my car: Gus (aka Magic Head). He's the sensible one.
- Put thumbtacks on the chair thereof: Lassy. That goes without saying.
- Have a crush on: Shawn. (if you watched the show you'd understand)
- Pack up and leave if they moved next door: Lassy. That goes without saying, too.
- Vote for President: Chief Vick. I'm not being politically correct, either.
- Pick as my partner in a buddy movie: Juliet. She would, of course, be the beautiful ambitious blond and I would be the plucky Cuban comedy relief.  ;-)
- Pair up: Shawn and Juliet. (umm.... I think they date in real life anyway....sigh.)
- Vote off the island and into the volcano: Lassy. Seriously. It goes without saying.

The following 29 seconds will explain everything:

I swear, if we had cable, I would NOT have a life. =D

Finding Nemo (and everything else, too.)

It's not like I don't already have enough projects going on in my life.  But this one I couldn't resist.

If you're the holder of a Disneyland Passport (which we are) this will be as familiar a sight to you as it is to us.
Most of our friends are also passholders and Lovers of All Things Disney.
So last week Helen (my niece) calls me:

"It's Gina's Birthday and I want you to make one of your Disneyland Scavenger Hunts for her."

Create a GAME?? Are you kidding? No need to ask twice. I'm all over it. We are all such uber-geeky lovers of anything competitive. I swear.
So we went to Disneyland this week and I took my beloved camera with the longer (40-150 mm) lens and went nuts.

Here's how we did it:

1) We took pictures of things (signs, statues, landmarks, etc.) all over the park.
2) We printed them and put them into a mini-album ($2.00 at Target).
3) Helen took Gina to Disneyland yesterday and gave her the album.
4) Gina had to provide photo-proof she had found the 40 items. (I won't mention how old she is. wink. wink. =D)
5) I have included the pictures in a photo album over on the left called Disneyland Photo Scavenger Hunt if anyone is in So Cal and going to Disneyland and feels like playing. I gave hints in the photo comments section as to which "land" you need to be in to find each item.

Can I just tell you right now that Gina ROCKS!!

She claims she had a blast finding everything.  I think I had more fun coming up with the game.

Happy Birthday, Gina! I hope you had a great day.

I should quickly explain that Gina has been hanging around MBFCF since she could toddle. She's definitely one of the family.  So of course, none of this surprises her.  It's so awesome.

Now I'm thinking I want to go back and do another scavenger hunt over at California Adventures and maybe a kid-friendly version just for the kid areas.  I can feel my creative booster rockets preparing to launch.  Stay tuned. I'll be letting you know whenever someone chooses to play and lets us know.  I'll also be letting you know if my brain accidentally explodes. ;-)  I should have been an Imagineer. (sigh)

And because I have Gina's attention (and I can). . .

We use this clip of my brother-in-law dancing with all the women in just about every family video we've ever created. It's our very favorite.  Gina is in this scene, which puts her in every single one of our family Christmas videos. See? Family. She's the one of the far right with the long curly hair and the butt bow. (lighten up. it was the 80's - everyone had a butt bow!) If you look closely enough you'll see a little blond girl trying to get in the dance - that would be my Amy.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Gina! You Wild Thing, you. And yes, you made the video again. =D

There's nothing like a lunatic to brighten up your day

The game is called Squint and it involves creating and manually animating those tiles with the squiggles to get the other players to guess your object. 
I had a medical procedure the other day and I'm sooo not going into detail about what or why, but let me just tell you that it involved sedative-type drugs.
I came home from the hospital a little depressed and my family was trying desperately to cheer me. 

"Let's play a game, Mom."

I couldn't string three words together to make a coherent sentence, but I was so ROCKING these hieroglyphic looking tiles.

I won the game . . .
by a landslide.  =D

What does this tell you about the way my brain functions??

Shut up.  I'm a little fragile here.  =(

The category is "Andy Garcia"

Have I mentioned how we are serious game players?

Serious.

We love any kind of game, really, but trivia games are our special favorites.

Lucy got a fabulous Electronic Catch Phrase game for Christmas and we've already chewed through a pair of double-A's.

Serious.

We have a family reputation as serious game players, too.  And a lot of the time my brain seems to be as slow as molasses and I cannot think clearly at all, but sometimes I have moments.

Take, for example the following true story:

The phone rings and it's one of Adam's 22 year old friends and he wants to talk to me. . .

Me: "Hello?"

Young Man: "Drew Barrymore."

Me:  "Drew Barrymore was in Riding in Cars with Boys with Steve Zahn, who was in That Thing You Do with Tom Hanks, who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon (taking a deep breath before I continue) . . .  and Kevin Bacon was in The Air I Breathe with Andy Garcia, and I only mention that because I have a blog category for Andy Garcia, and I think this is a really funny moment and I want to blog about it, and by mentioning Andy Garcia this gives me a category to put this conversation into, but that's not important right now." =D

Young Man: "Wow. You ROCK!"

Sometimes I seriously do.  ;-)

Cheaters never prosper.

I'm so obedient.

My friend, Nora, posted about her love for Scrabble which gave me an idea for our family game night.

The snack, BTW, was my pastelitos de guayaba.  ;-)

So we got kind of psyched about our Scrabble game, and we pulled out the dusty old board.

(Hey, it's actually pretty nice. Who knew?)

Somewhere along the line we picked up the Deluxe Edition with a lazy-susan type bottom, so you can spin it to face you as you're playing.  Nice.

It has been so long since we played that we had to actually read the rules (whoa!) and we determined that it would be boys against girls (the gender thing always seems to add to the competitiveness).

And we made sure we had a dictionary nearby. 

Just in case . . . the boys tried to cheat.

They start arguing for "QUORDY." 

"QUORDY??? You cannot be serious."

"And no. Just because it sounds real, doesn't make "TIFOOD" a word."

I know. That's sooo wrong.

"No way, guys. . .

KAZOOSTAIR  is not a word in ANY language."

sheesh!  =D
 

Kevin Bacon and Historical California Landmarks

We spent the day at the beach here on Coronado Island in San Diego at this hotel.

It's called The Hotel del Coronado.  Or just The Del, if you're a local or you just know stuff.  It's my absolute FAVORITE place down here because of the beautiful turn of the century architecture and all around general coolness of the history of the place.

Because we're trivia-dorks, practically the first thing we did was . . . 

play The Kevin Bacon Game, of course!

It's time for the Special Vacation Edition of the Kevin Bacon Game - Landmark Challenge Round!

Link The Del to Kevin Bacon.  (It can be done a few different ways.)

GO! (we're having some fun now, right?) =D